After Lao Cao withdrew from Chang'an, Liu Bei occupied Hanzhong. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info And what Liu Bei wants to do at this time is to send soldiers and horses to attack several areas near Hanzhong to stabilize Hanzhong, and pursue Lao Cao and then enter Chang'an, this kind of thing will not be in Liu Bei's current plan, to be honest, the current Liu Bei does not have that strength.

is doing these things in his hands, and at the same time, he also sent a detailed work to Lao Cao to take a look, after all, the news he received before surprised the people on Liu Bei's side. It can be said that they thought of various reasons that might trigger Lao Cao's withdrawal, but they never thought that it would be the coalition forces of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions that intervened.

But something that surprised Liu Bei even more immediately followed. A few days after Liu Bei's fine work was sent out, the envoy of the Western Regions Alliance came to see Liu Bei......

"What do you say? You Western Regions Alliance want to join forces with Gu to punish Cao Thief? ”

Hearing such a statement, the people on Liu Bei's side were all stunned. To be honest, in Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Pair", there is indeed a suggestion of "Zhurong in the west, and Yiyue in the south", but this so-called "harmony" mainly refers to "peace and quietness", and even includes the meaning of using force to suppress it. To put it simply, just don't let Xijon come out to make trouble, and no one thinks about other things. After all, everyone knows in their hearts that these Xijon are not good birds, and if you want to get any benefits from them, it is basically no different from seeking skin from a tiger. But now the problem is that we haven't planned this skin yet, why did the tiger send the skin so well-behaved?

Everyone sensed that something was wrong, so it was natural to interrogate the envoys sent by the Western Regions Alliance. And according to the envoy's words, it seems to make sense again.

The envoy said that the Han Dynasty opened up the Western Regions Trade Route during the strong period, and set up the Western Regions Protectorate to manage it, which made the Western Regions Trade Route of the Han Dynasty relatively stable, and the 36 countries of the Western Regions on the Western Regions Trade Route all reaped a lot of benefits. However, with the gradual weakening of the Han Dynasty, the Western Regions Protectorate existed in name only, and the Western Regions trade route was cut off because of this, and these small countries that originally relied on the Western Regions trade route to make money and became rich are not as good as day by day, so I hope that the Han Dynasty can become strong again and reopen the Western Regions trade route, so that these small countries can rely on the Western Regions trade route to make a fortune again.

Next, the envoy said that they had not made any moves before, because they didn't know what the situation was on the Han side, so they didn't take any rash action. Later, I heard that Liu Bei, who has the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty, has occupied Shuzhong and launched an attack on Hanzhong, so the next step should be to go out of Hanzhong and enter Chang'an, and this is just an opportunity for the Western Regions Coalition Army to help the Han Orthodoxy to ensure the Western Regions, and even now to rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate, so they formed a coalition army and launched an attack on the Liangzhou side, and successfully forced Lao Cao back to Chang'an, so that Liu Bei successfully occupied Hanzhong.

Then the next thing is that they want to help Liu Bei attack Chang'an, as for whether they will further help Liu Bei to attack Luoyang after taking Chang'an, it depends on the situation. But at this time, they also put forward conditions to Liu Bei, that is, to divide Liangzhou into two, the eastern part of Liangzhou belongs to Liu Bei, and the western region belongs to the Western Regions coalition army, and Liu Bei will immediately rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate in the east of Liangzhou after taking Chang'an, and at the same time open a trade route to the Western Regions. As for the goods...... Shu brocade, lacquer, medicinal materials and other things in Shu are very popular in the Western Regions. Even if Liu Bei hadn't won the whole of Huaxia yet, these commodities alone would be enough to eat half of the Western Regions Trade Road.

Such a condition sounds quite reasonable, and because there are so many reasons for wanting to take advantage of the conditions, it can also give people a little more reason to believe. But Liu Bei is Liu Bei after all, at least for now, he has not yet reached the point where he will be dizzy by the pie falling from the sky. Besides, Pang Tong and Fa Zheng are still there, and with them, they can completely persuade Liu Bei. Therefore, Liu Bei's choice was not to agree immediately, but to think about it first and then make a decision.

On the other hand, Liu Bei also received some information at this time, and the fact that the Western Regions Coalition Army used artillery when attacking the town of Liangzhou also attracted Liu Bei's attention. For artillery, at this time, Lao Cao is no stranger, Liu Bei and Sun Quan are also no strangers, after all, the three families have study groups in Lu Ren's academy, and there has never been a shortage of fine works, and some information can always be inquired about.

And this inevitably triggered Liu Bei's conjecture, saying that this could be the dark chess arranged by Lu Ren's side? First of all, artillery is only in Lu Ren's hands, and Cao, Liu, and Sun don't know how much effort they spent to get information about artillery from Lu Ren, but it has never been fruitful; And next, Lu Ren has always appeared in front of the world as a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, and he is also lukewarm to Lao Cao, and he will react to some of Lao Cao's actions, so it is indeed reasonable for Lu Ren to make arrangements in other aspects.

For example, if the current Western Regions Alliance Army attacked Liangzhou, could it be Lu Ren's hands and feet playing inside? And there is another very important one in this, that is, Lu Ren has always been in contact with the Western Regions on the sea route. Then it is entirely possible that Lu Ren secretly reached an agreement with these countries in the Western Regions.

If this is the case, should Liu Bei agree? At this time, Liu Bei was divided into two factions, one faction supported Liu Bei to reach an agreement with the Western Regions Alliance, and used the strength of the Western Regions Alliance to complete the strategy of Chang'an, and this was tantamount to secretly joining forces with Lu Ren; The other faction believes that there should be no unity, and on the basis of Lu Ren's arrangement in this case, they made a four-word comment on Lu Ren: "Lead the wolf into the house!" ”

And Liu Bei was indeed hesitant at this time. After all, if he unites the Western Regions Alliance, Liu Bei will be able to save a lot of things next, and even take advantage of the opportunity of Hanzhong's great victory and morale to take down such a strategic place as Chang'an in one fell swoop; But on the other hand, whether these Western Regions Alliance forces are trustworthy or not, and whether the Western Regions Alliance Army is Lu Ren's arrangement, these are all things that need to be carefully considered. If something goes wrong here, or something happens, wouldn't Liu Bei have to die on the way to Chang'an? You must know that Liu Bei had just taken Hanzhong at this time, and his ass was not yet hot, so what he had to do was really not a little bit.

After discussing and discussing, Liu Bei still decided to delay it first and not rush to give a reply. Anyway, the Hanzhong region needs to be consolidated at the moment, and there is a rhetoric for the Western Regions Alliance, and Lao Cao almost fled back from Hanzhong to Chang'an, and he should not be able to confront the Western Regions Alliance for the time being, so the Western Regions Alliance Army can stay for a while in Liangzhou, and there is naturally a period of time for Liu Bei to wait and see, and he can inquire about some things clearly. When it comes to inquiring about things, the most important thing at the moment is naturally to get in touch with Lu Ren, and at least to determine whether this is Lu Ren's arrangement.

So, Liu Bei's fast horse messenger set off from Hanzhong and rushed to Guiyang under the stars.

Liu Bei's fast horse messenger has set off, will Lao Cao be idle here? Moreover, Lao Cao is person wrote a handwritten letter when he was still on the way back to Chang'an, asking the fast horse messenger to go to Xuchang as soon as possible, and handed over the letter to Lu Ren's "office" arranged in Xuchang, and then the people from the "office" handed it over to Lu Ren as soon as possible.

Liu Bei made a judgment on the matter of the Western Regions Alliance, thinking that this matter would have something to do with Lu Ren, so Lao Cao would not think of this layer here? But correspondingly, after all, Lu Ren had stayed with Lao Cao for a few years, so Lao Cao knew more about Lu Ren than those on Liu Bei's side.

It is precisely because of this understanding that Lao Cao immediately felt that something was not quite right after he calmed down, because with Lao Cao's understanding of Lu Ren, it was unlikely that Lu Ren would sell such a terrible thing to the countries of the Western Regions, so where did those things come from? Of course, there are some things that Lao Cao is not sure about, but it is necessary and necessary to get in touch with Lu Ren immediately and get an answer from Lu Ren, at least to see what kind of reaction Lu Ren will make. Because if it was really Lu Ren's hands and feet, the area that Lao Cao would defend next would not be as simple as one or two. If one trouble is not good, it will be an all-out war on the entire Chinese continent. And at this point, Lao Cao still didn't believe that Lu Ren would do such a thing.

Lu Ren's intelligence strength in Hanzhong was not enough, after all, Lu Ren knew that there would be a large-scale battle there, and Lao Cao would do something to empty the population of Hanzhong, and it was not convenient to arrange the manpower. But Xuchang's side is different, Lu Ren has always had a stable intelligence branch squatting in Xuchang, so when Liu Bei's messenger was still running wildly on the road, the content of Lao Cao's handwritten letter had been transformed into a telegram code and slapped into Lu Ren's hand......

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"What!? That's impossible!? Where did the artillery of the thirty-six countries of the Western Regions come from!? ”

This was Lu Ren's first reaction when he saw the telegram, and Xun Yu and the others also looked at Lu Ren with a suspicious gaze after circulating the telegram.

Lu Ren glanced at Xun Yu and the others, and shook his head incessantly: "Xun Gong, don't you believe me either?" Although I, Lu Ren, am not a good person, and I have not played some intrigues and tricks, I can still distinguish between right and wrong in the face of major rights and wrongs. The thirty-six countries of the Western Regions are not a good thing, and they have always coveted the territory of our Great Han, so how could I, Lu Ren, sell these advanced weapons to the Western Regions? No matter how greedy I am for money and how much I like money, I won't sell these terrible things indiscriminately! ”

Xun Yu frowned and thought about it, nodded silently: "Yihao, it's the old man who is too careful." ”

When Lu Ren saw Xun Yu's appearance, he could only shake his head helplessly. For a long time, Lu Ren has been very tight about these things, so tight that the Cao Liu and Sun families don't know how many fine works have died in Lu Ren's hands, and this is one of the main reasons why the Cao Liu and Sun families have not been able to have artillery and muskets for so many years. Lu Ren is not stupid, how can he not know what he can sell and what he can't sell if he wants to make money? Don't talk about those arms dealers in modern society, the situation in modern society is that if this one does not sell, other companies will also sell, and there is a fundamental difference in the situation, okay? But even in modern society, there are many weapons that can't be sold indiscriminately, right? The firearms that Lu Ren now holds are similar in meaning to those weapons that cannot be sold indiscriminately in modern society.

Seeing that Xun Yu was still a little puzzled, Lu Ren had no choice but to explain: "Xun Gong, think about it, although my military industry here is tightly covered by me, you don't know very well, but if it is really loaded on a ship and sold outside, will you not know anything about it?" Your old man is my big butler here! There are many things that I myself may not be as clear as your old man! ”

Xun Yu thought about it very carefully, and then nodded suddenly. Lu Ren is right, as Lu Ren's current "big housekeeper", Xun Yu is helping Lu Ren handle almost all the details of government affairs. If there was such a thing as an arms export, Xun Yu would know about it as soon as possible, and he wouldn't be able to hide it.

"Minister of Finance" Zhen Mi looked at Chen Yiyi at this time, and Chen Yiyi immediately understood what Zhen Mi meant, asking her to stand up and help Lu Ren say something. After all, Zhen Mi is one of Lu Ren's wives, and it is not appropriate for Zhen Mi to stand up on this occasion.

"Xun Gong, I believe that Uncle Lu will not do that kind of stupid thing in order to make money. Moreover, most of Yizhou's finances are handled by me, and if there is such a thing as an arms leaving the country, I will stand up and stop Uncle Lu at that time. ”

Xun Yu waved his hand: "Enough is enough, I believe that Yihao will not do such a stupid thing, but now it is a fact that the thirty-six countries of the Western Regions already have such a powerful weapon as artillery, and where can ordinary city walls and gates block the bombardment of artillery?" Cao Mengde left behind elite soldiers on the border of Liangzhou, and if it weren't for the breach of the city gate by artillery and other weapons, which made them lose the fortifications they could rely on, they would not have lost a few key towns so easily. ”

Lu Ren said: "I don't understand where they got their artillery. Even if some artillery pieces were lost due to shipwrecks or smuggling, and they fell into the hands of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions, one is absolutely limited, and the other is the most critical, that is, where did they get the gunpowder formula? The gunpowder used in artillery is not the gunpowder used for matches, it is very different! If you don't have a more accurate formula, the shells in the chamber won't be able to shoot! ”

In fact, Lu Ren didn't say a word, that is, in addition to the formula of gunpowder, there is also a very key point is the purification process of gunpowder raw materials. If this aspect is not in place, the prepared gunpowder is also gunpowder of little use. It's okay to set off fireworks or something, but if you can use them for military purposes, you should save it.

But Xun Yu immediately waved his hand and said, "Yihao! None of that matters anymore! The important thing is that you don't think that the thirty-six countries of the Western Regions are making a move at this time, is it too much of a coincidence? And what I'm most worried about is whether they will take this opportunity to cause an accident in my Huaxia!! ”