Yijing is indeed a good place, relying on each other with the two cities of Yi County, surrounded by both Yi Water and Juma Water, Gongsun Zhan also chose this place back then, and has been competing with Yuan Shao for many years. In the hands of Yuan Shao, the advantage is more prominent, and there are two soldiers and horses behind Gecheng and Puyinjing to support, he is not afraid of Liu Bei, this time he lost a game, so he collected troops in Yijing and set up a camp to confront Liu Beijun here.

Liu Bei led the army to set up a camp, so he invited Jia Xu and Xun You, and said: "I want to break Yuan Shao and annex Hebei, but its foundation is deep and difficult to shake, what can you teach me?" ”

Jia Xu pondered for a while and was about to speak, but when he saw Xun Yu looking at himself, his heart moved, and he said: "Gongda, I have a plan to break Jizhou." ”

Xun You sat down at the table and said, "I also have gains." ”

Jia Xu smiled: "In this case, it is better to write it in the palm of your hand, how about it?" The two took the pen and wrote, looked at each other with the same palm, and when they saw it, they couldn't help laughing.

Jia Xu and Xun Yu both had a parallel word written in their palms. Liu Bei saw it and said with a smile: "If you want to break Yuan Shao, attack and merge the state first?" ”

The two said yes, and then Jia Xu said: "General, Jizhou has a wide land and many people, and there are abundant products, defeat Yuan Shaoyi, and destroy Yuan Shaoyi." Yuan Shaozhi's roots are in Wei County, Wei County has a boundary bridge in the north as a danger, Yanzhou in the south as an ally, and a merge state and division in the southwest to rely on. The war together, with the power of our youth and Xuzhou, is also difficult to get down in a hurry. Even if Yuan Shao was defeated, he could lead his troops to retreat to Bingzhou and Hanoi. There are big rivers and Taihang mountains, which can be attacked and defended, so whether to fight or not to fight, are all in his mind.

It is better to attack and merge the state first, and the state is high-level, so that it will not be enough to stop the army of our state. Once the high cadres are broken, the general can lead the army to occupy the entrance and block Yuan Shao's retreat. One east and one west, two ways of attacking, Yuan Shao can't escape. ”

Xun You stood up, walked to the map, pointed to the Taihang Mountains, and said to Liu Bei: "General, Taihang Bashan, it has been a dangerous place in the world throughout the ages, if our army can capture the state and occupy the Guan, Yuan Shao will have no way to retreat." ”

Liu Bei also stood up, and stood in front of Yutu with Jia Xu and Xun You, and the majestic Taihang Mountains stretched from Youzhou to Sili. Since ancient times, if you want to enter the Jin land from the secluded and Ji Dynasty, Taihang Bacheng is the only way. Yuan Shao can also flee to Bingzhou if he is not defeated, and he will be in danger and fight against him. If he retreated to Sili and brought in Liangzhou soldiers, the joke would be big. How much time will it take to deal with it?

The passes and valleys of Taihang Mountain really can't be ignored, look at Zhang Yan of Montenegro, how many years has Yuan Shao been in Jizhou, and there is no way to take Zhang Yan, and he has repeatedly suppressed it. If you can't beat someone and hide in the Taihang Mountains, you won't have any temper at all.

Hey, Zhang Yan, a flash of inspiration flashed in Liu Bei's mind. Suddenly, I saw Jia Xu speak again: "And there is Zhang Yan between the Taihang Valley, and he has repeatedly made enemies with Yuan Shao. If the general sends an envoy to say it, treat it with courtesy, reward him with a knight, and use the prestige of the general, Zhang Yan will gladly come to vote. When the time comes, it is agreed that the internal and external cooperation should be combined, and the general will be accomplished. ”

As soon as Jia Xu said it, Liu Bei knew what the thought in his mind was just now. Zhang Yan, such a key figure, how could he forget him.

Since the defeat of the Yellow Turban Army, Zhang Yan has been entrenched in Zhongshan and Changshan counties in Jizhou. After Yuan Shao came, he spent countless efforts to fight with Zhang Yan again and again, killing people so much that his blood flowed like a river, and then Zhang Yan was driven into the mountains. Since then, he has also formed a mortal enmity with Zhang Yan. Therefore, every time Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan went to war, Zhang Yan had to send troops to make trouble. In the last battle between Gongsun Chan and Yuan Shao, Zhang Yan rode to help as much as he could, but unfortunately he was a step too late, and Yuan Shao saw through the plan, took the lead in setting up an ambush, broke Gongsun Chan, and then pursued with his tail and took advantage of the situation to repel Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan lost Gongsun Zhan, an ally, and his life was not very easy, and he has been shrinking in the Taihang Mountains for several years, picking mulberries in Tuntian, and being self-sufficient. Until Cao Cao pacified Yuan Shao in history, Zhang Yan saw that the general trend in the north had been decided, so he led the crowd out of the mountain and surrendered to Cao Cao.

Now that he is fighting with Yuan Shao, if he sends an envoy to him, it will not be difficult to persuade Zhang Yan to throw himself to his side. Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao had a gap, and the Son of Heaven of Chang'an came to his side again. Zhang Yan can survive in this troubled era, presumably he is also a rare handsome, and he naturally knows how to choose him. At that time, with Zhang Yan's help, Yuan Shao will inevitably fall faster.

Everyone had already decided, so Liu Bei asked, "Who can send Zhang Yan as an envoy?" ”

When Jia Xu first came, he didn't know much about the people in Qingzhou, so he didn't speak. Xun You listened and said, "Cui Jiqi can be a messenger." "Qinghe Cui is a famous family in the north, and he is very influential in Kanto, and Cui Yan is handsome, although he is not very good at words, but what he says is enough to convince people. Let him go on an envoy, it's best.

Liu Bei also felt that Cui Yan was the best candidate, the court minister would not go to run errands for him for the sake of a bandit leader, Xun Yu, Lu Min and others he relied on a lot, and he couldn't get out. The rest of the people, their family backgrounds are not as loud as the signboard of the Qinghe Cui family. So Liu Bei sent someone to summon Cui Yan, but he sighed in his heart, the appeal of this family should not be underestimated.

Here, Liu Bei led Zhang Xiu, Lu Bu and Liu Ke, planted false flags, stationed troops outside Yi County, and continued to confront Yuan Shao, but secretly made Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun lead their troops north to Dai County, out of Gaoliu, and Huang Zhongbing, to attack Gaogan.

Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun took the order and left. Yuan Shao's side is also secretly plotting. After he consulted with the strategists, he left Yan Liang and Wen Chou to guard Yijing and Yi County respectively, and then led the army not to return to Wei County, but to take the Flying Fox Road to save his nephew Gao Gan.

Tian Feng said to Yuan Shaojin: "The army is stationed here, and it consumes a lot, and it is useless. It is better to leave two generals to defend the city, don't raise an army, go to Puyin, go out of the Flying Fox Road, and cooperate with Gao Gan inside and outside to defeat Huang Zhong. If Liu Bei heard that the northern army was defeated, his army dispersed. ”

When Yuan Shao heard this, he was overjoyed. Leaving an army here to hold Liu Bei back, he sneaked away and merged with the state, and worked together with Gao Gan to break through Huang Zhong, and then the offensive and defensive situation was easy. As soon as Huang Zhong was defeated, he could lead the state army to attack Dai County, and then go straight to Guangyang, and then besiege Liu Yu. At that time, the dilemma will be Liu Bei. If you go north to rescue Liu Yu, you can make Yan Liang and Wen Chou attack his back road; If you don't save it, Youzhou will not be protected.

Both sides crackled the small abacus, but they didn't know that they all thought of it. At this time, the winner is determined by who is faster and who is slow. Whoever can get to the state one step faster will have a strategic advantage.

Not long after, Cui Yan arrived in Liu Bei's camp, and Liu Bei said so to Cui Yan. Cui Yan smiled and said: "This little matter is willing to be done for the Lord." ”

In the past few days, information has come that Zhang Yan's department is divided into Changshan Pass, Niuyin Mountain and Fangshan. Where is Zhang Yan specifically, but he is still inquiring. Without Zhang Yan's specific location, Liu Bei couldn't let Cui Yan go out rashly. After waiting for a few more days, the news came that Zhang Yan was in the Niuyin Mountain.

Liu Bei was overjoyed, so he invited Lu Bu and said: "Feng Xian, I ask Ji Qi to send an envoy, the road here is dangerous and difficult, I want to borrow the general under Feng Xian to escort Ji Qi, how about it?" ”

Lu Bu saw that his generals were favored by Liu Bei, and he was also quite happy in his heart, and said with a smile: "Who does the general want to use?" ”

Liu Bei said with a smile: "Under Wen Fengxian, Zhang Liao and Zhang Wenyuan are both wise and brave, and they can travel with Ji Qi." ”

When Lu Bu heard this, he ordered someone to send Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao was thirty years old at this time, and it was when he was full of energy, and Liu Bei took a fancy to him as a native of Yanmen and was quite familiar with the north, so he chose him to accompany him all the way.

Zhang Liao came to see, Liu Bei gave a face-to-face lecture, and after Zhang Liao listened, he bowed and said: "General, the last general will sacrifice his life to protect Cui and make him safe." Between the words, the determination can be seen in the categorical way.

Liu Bei was delighted, and comforted him, so he sent Cui Yan and Zhang Liao to the outside of the camp, held the hands of the two, and said: "I am here to wait for the good news of the second secretary." ”