Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 613: Divide
Wei Yan didn't know what Liu Bei and Liu Ji had talked about. He only knew that more than two hours had passed, and Liu Ji's personal soldiers were trying to force their way into the hall. When they were confronting Wei Yan and others, Liu Ji and Liu Bei finally came out...
When the generals of Chen Cang who were originally confronting Wei Yan saw Liu Bei removing his makeup, they couldn't help but be stunned.
Looking at Liu Bei in disbelief, and...Liu Ji next to him!
The Duke of Qi was still alive? And the "Duke of Qi" was also beside him?
At this moment, Liu Ji could vaguely see traces of crying, but Liu Bei had a serious expression on his face - but Wei Yan had also heard that Liu Bei's crying could even bring rain.
They are professionals, so…even if they really cried, they can’t tell now!
"Send an order, and send someone to send an urgent letter to General Guan and the military advisor who are attacking Chang'an... ask them to come back and apologize!" Liu Ji said seriously.
Liu Bei on the side still didn't say anything, but Liu Ji turned to Wei Yan and said: "Master Wei, thank you for your hard work. I have prepared a place for you and everyone else to rest..."
"No, they still have to protect Lord Xuande." Wei Yan showed a hearty smile, but his eyes did not give in at all.
Let’s all go and have a rest?
It doesn't exist. If Liu Bei dared to say that he didn't need "protection", the personal soldiers around him would dare to go up and pull the grenade to die with him, so that he would never need protection again!
This was what Fa Zheng had told him before...
Under the current circumstances, no prince can be trusted, especially an old fox like Liu Bei.
After all, Liu Ji now looks like he is really convinced. What if Liu Bei changes his mind?
Although Wei Yan did not think that Liu Bei could do anything in Chencang at this time - they were not the Chu State, waiting for them to notify Qingxu? Even if General Jinyu personally sent the letter, it would take a month or two to arrive!
Only the State of Chu could react so quickly. Within a month or two...Xuzhou would have changed hands.
At this time, Liu Ji was also staring at Wei Yan.
Wei Yan vaguely felt that this fellow was not like before, when facing himself, or facing the Chu State he represented, he was so worried and anxious. Instead, he looked like he would not be surprised if he ordered to "take him down" at any time!
But at this moment, Liu Bei took the initiative to speak: "Since you want to be the Marquis of Qi, then do your last shift! Commander Wei and I... want to have a candlelit talk at night."
Seeing Liu Bei take the initiative to give in, Wei Yan also breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Ji did not force it, but continued to live in the main courtyard of the Chencang military city government office that night.
"How did Lord Xuande persuade Liu Ji?" Wei Yan actually had a candlelight conversation with Liu Bei at night.
"Nothing special, just acknowledged his title as Marquis of Qi." Liu Bei said lightly.
This matter is said to be "light", and it is really light. After all, they will soon surrender to Chu, and by then even the King of Qi or the Emperor of Qi will not hold back.
However, to say "heavy" means that even in the last few days, this was also a recognition of him by Liu Bei...or a test.
If it were Wei Yan, he would have definitely retaliated with fists and kicks by now!
Now Liu Bei and Wei Yan are worried about Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang...
I hope nothing goes wrong before the urgent letter is delivered - if Guan Yu can still listen to Zhuge Liang's advice, there shouldn't be any big problems.
On the other hand, in Xuzhou, Chu's surrender... or "incorporation" was obviously going to be smoother.
After all, what was conveyed to Xuzhou was that Liu Bei was already in Chu!
Moreover, Zhang Fei was already isolated and separated from the Xuzhou gentry.
Whether it is to recruit Zhang Fei or to go to Pengcheng to persuade a group of Xuzhou gentry, it is very easy.
With Liu Bei's handwritten letter, Zhang Fei did not hesitate much. However, to be on the safe side, he followed Jia Xu's advice and sent people directly to Pengcheng, while ordering Zhang Fei to keep his troops in Xia Pi.
Instead of persuading and taking over Pengcheng as Zhang Fei had requested...
What if there is some secret code in Liu Bei’s letter?
Once Sima Yi stirred the pot, it could be said that Wei had already taken Guanzhong. It was too late for Chu to take advantage of the chaos. Qingzhou, which was closer to Wei, would most likely not be able to be defended. Yuzhou... mainly the areas around Xu County and Yingchuan, could still be fought over.
If the State of Chu just took the opportunity to attack Xichuan and gave up Xuzhou at this time, it can only be said that it would neither lose nor gain. It must take Xuzhou to avoid "losing" to the State of Wei in this process.
After all, Sima Yi had been in contact with the State of Wei from the very beginning, and this advantage could not be changed.
I have been able to achieve this point thanks to the use of wireless precision reporting!
At the beginning, it only took half a day to transmit news from Hanzhong to Jinling - because the threshold for using wireless precise reports was somewhat high, so except for focused places like Jinling, other small places did not have people on duty in real time, and communication was only during fixed time periods.
Later, because the situation was urgent, there were people on duty at all times, and almost instant communication was achieved.
Otherwise, before the State of Chu could react, the State of Wei, which had been secretly communicating with Sima Yi for a long time, would most likely directly seize the former Marquis of Qi's base, and at most the southern part of Xuzhou would be captured by the State of Chu.
However, neither Sima Yi nor the State of Wei had obviously expected that if the State of Chu took it seriously, at least in terms of news, it would be a real "a thousand miles in a moment".
There were even Qi trams transporting troops on the main roads, and the Chu army was mobilized very quickly in the territory. It was still the first month of the year and the weather was still very cold, but for the garrisons in Jinling Road and Jiangdong Road to enter Huainan Road, it only took three days for the vanguard to arrive, and seven days... basically even the logistics were in place!
The person in charge of Xuzhou at this time was Chen Deng - in name only he still supported Liu Chan, but in reality a group of local gentry controlled the military and political affairs.
Chen Deng's second son, Chen Ying, has followed Bai Tu since the time when he was in the General's Mansion. The Chen family now has a branch in Jiangdong.
As expected, the Xuzhou gentry were generally accepting of the State of Chu!
Although they were somewhat envious of Wei's "great aristocratic policy", they could not deny the fact that Chu was closer to them, not to mention that since Liu Bei was still alive, Zhang Fei must have already contacted Chu.
Given the strength of the Chu army, if Xia Pi surrendered directly to Chu, how could Pengcheng be defended? If Pengcheng could not be defended, what was the point of Xuzhou's stubborn resistance?
Moreover, there were also Liu Bei's supporters in Pengcheng. The reason why he was able to successfully expel Zhang Fei was mainly because he was stupid. After the news of Liu Bei's death came, he made a series of bad moves, which led to the Xuzhou gentry who were loyal to Liu Bei not wanting to be "dragged down" by Zhang Fei.
At the same time, the State of Chu also sent an urgent letter to Deng Ai, who had been in office in Nanzhong for more than a year. Although Nanzhong and the mainland of Chu were connected on the map, they were all wilderness and the city density was too low. There were not enough city girls to assist, and Huang Tianji's signal could not get through, so the urgent letter could only be sent from Jinghu South Road!
Although Deng Ai arrived nearly two years earlier than planned, it would be nice to take advantage of this opportunity to capture Xichuan in one fell swoop...
