"Lord, could it be that the family in the city and Cao Jun secretly communicate with each other?" Jian Yong said in a low voice.

Liu Bei's eyes narrowed slightly, and he shook his head for a long time, "It won't be like this, the Xuzhou family has a deep grudge with Cao Cao, when the Cao army attacked Xuzhou in the past, the family did not contribute less, if they choose to take refuge in Cao Cao, they will not get too many benefits, and if the family takes refuge in Cao Cao, why not act when the Cao army attacked Xuzhou last year." ”

Jian Yong also nodded when he heard this, for some reason, Jian Yong has always been a little distrustful of the family in Xuzhou, feeling that the existence of these people has greatly squeezed out the military generals who originally followed Liu Bei, no matter where they are, there will be a division of camps, and the officials under the princes are no exception.

For example, Sun Qian, although Liu Bei trusted, still lacked a foundation in Xuzhou, and the family in the city was an extremely powerful force, they could influence the decision of the state governor through their own means, even if Liu Bei had entered Xuzhou for a long time, he did not dare to shake the family in the city.

Sometimes, Liu Bei even wondered what kind of changes would happen in Xuzhou if Lu Bu was allowed to enter Xuzhou, and with Lu Bu's temperament, would the family be so rampant in Xuzhou, especially during the war, the family in the city was particularly excessive, secretly hoarding rice and grain to raise the price of grain, and the people in Pengcheng suffered from it.

What can Liu Bei do, can he learn Lu Bu's methods to eradicate all these families from Xuzhou, if this is the case, if this is the case, if he does not wait for Cao Jun to attack Xuzhou, he has been driven away by the family in Xuzhou, in fact, Liu Bei is very envious of Lu Bu, because Lu Bu has an army loyal to him, and there is a Jinyang Academy, and there are wise and resourceful people such as Jia Xu and Guo Jia under his command.

"Lord, don't underestimate the family in Xuzhou, these people can do anything for the sake of profit." Jian Yong reminded.

"Xianhe, pay close attention to the movements of the family in the city, if there is anything abnormal, you can cut it first and then play." Liu Bei said.

Jian Yong bowed his hand and left quickly.

The mountain rain is about to come and the wind is full of buildings, Pengcheng is once again shrouded in the shadow of war, this is the third time, Cao's army has to attack Xuzhou once a year, even ordinary people are unbearable, whether it is war or not, the people need to eat, and when the war, the city gate is closed, the source of life they rely on is cut off by the war, it is far from enough to count on some of the stored grain and surplus money at home, every time there is a war, the price of rice and grain in the city will skyrocket, usually a hundred dollars can buy a stone of rice grain, when it comes to the war, I'm afraid it will cost three hundred dollars.

At the beginning, Liu Bei's means of agitating the people may still be useful, and Liu Bei is also really good for the people of Xuzhou, and he also has a good prestige among the people.

Anyone with the slightest bit of resourcefulness will see that this sentence is weak-minded, but ordinary people will believe that they do not desire war, they want a stable life, and this has not changed.

The army in the city reached 40,000 people, but the atmosphere in the army was not very good, and many soldiers were even talking in a low voice, mainly because Cao Jun offered a reward, if he could kill Liu Bei, a reward of 10,000 gold, a marquis, capture or kill Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, it was also a bounty.

If it comes to official positions, Cao Cao is just a pastor of Yanzhou, and the matter of the marquis is what the court says, but this cannot prevent the soldiers from discussing in private.

Chen Deng also sensed a trace of danger from Liu Bei's subtle attitude, and he was relatively low-key during this time.

"Yuanlong, the Chen family is a famous family in Xuzhou, I heard that Ling Zun is now at home, I don't know if I can invite him to the state pastor's mansion, the Yanzhou army will come to Xuzhou in a few days, this is the time of the siege of Xuzhou." Liu Bei said.

Chen Deng agreed after a little contemplation, if he refused, it would definitely arouse Liu Bei's suspicions, on the surface Liu Bei gave people the feeling of generosity, but Chen Deng, who had been in contact with Liu Bei for a period of time, found that this was not the case, besides, a person who can go to the position of state pastor will not be easy, and generosity is just what Liu Bei showed to ordinary soldiers and civilians.

Seeing that Chen Deng agreed, Liu Bei's doubts in his heart were slightly reduced, he valued Chen Deng very much, and he became the master of Xuzhou, the Chen family did not help from the side, Chen Deng himself is a talented person, maybe there is a gap between him and Cao Jun's top strategists in terms of strategy, but he is much stronger than the strategists under his command.

"Yuanlong, now Xuzhou is worried about internal and external troubles, Lang evil Zangba does not obey the orders of the state minister, and there is only Pengcheng in the hands of this official, if he can hold Pengcheng, the Chen family is the hero of Xuzhou." Liu Bei stared at Chen Dengdao with burning eyes.

"Thank you, my lord, my subordinates will definitely do their best to assist your lord to defend Pengcheng." Chen Deng said with some excitement in his tone.

After leaving the State Pastoral Mansion, Chen Deng's face became a little gloomy, and Liu Bei's words today were to test his attitude, if he didn't answer well, I was afraid that Liu Bei would make a move on the Chen family.

The Chen family has such a certain influence in Xuzhou, and they are not arrogant enough to be able to confront Liu Bei.

Cao Jun did not stop because of Liu Bei's series of actions in Pengcheng, when 80,000 troops gathered outside the city, the atmosphere in Pengcheng became more solemn, the defenders of the city looked at Cao Jun with some fear, they also thought of Cao Jun's siege weapons and Cao Jun's soldiers' methods.

Cao's army set up camp outside the city, showing off its might, and after the baggage was delivered, Cao's army began to attack Xuzhou City.

Thunderbolts were displayed outside Pengcheng, and outside each city wall, the number of thunderbolts gathered reached 100, and with the suppression of thunderbolts, Cao Jun could calmly fill in the moat without taking too much risk.

The moat is the reliance of a city, with the moat, it can greatly ease the pace of the enemy's attack, not only can delay the enemy's siege, but also in the process of the enemy filling the moat, cause huge damage to the enemy, once the moat loses its effect, it is extremely unfavorable for the defenders.

Although the Cao army was numerous, it did not surround Pengcheng, which was also to give hope to the defenders in the city, so that the defenders felt that there was a way to retreat, once the soldiers had such thoughts, they would have more scruples on the battlefield, and when attacking the city, unless the besieging side occupied an absolute advantage, it would not completely surround the city.

(End of chapter)