Xu Maogong and the others didn't say anything, but Xun Yu, Xun You, Zang Hong, Chen Gong and others all felt that it was not inappropriate to negotiate peace with Cao Cao at this time, and it would be of great benefit to the army to attack Luoyang, and the Son of Heaven had the same meaning at the end of last year. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info it's just that Li Yi didn't implement it according to the edict.

Li Yi resolutely disagreed with Cao Cao to negotiate peace.

Xun Yu was very strange, so he asked him: "When you were in Jinyang, you appeased Zhang Yan, Yang Feng and other Yellow Turban Army, since you are even willing to appease the Yellow Turban Army, why are you unwilling to appease Cao Cao?" Just because he broke the embankment and flooded Jizhou that year? Or, do you want to take Xuzhou before attacking Luoyang?

"This time and that time." Li Yi shook his head and said, "Back then, the Yellow Turban Army was recruited mainly to solve the problem of displaced people and to stabilize the society. Now it is different, now the Son of Heaven and the imperial court are reinvigorating their prestige, and the great cause of Zhongxing is taking off, so we must not be forced to bow to the rebellion because of the situation, accept the unreasonable demands of the rebels, and encourage the arrogance of the rebels. ”

"Back then, I was ordered to appease the Yellow Turban Army and take hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban Army soldiers to fight outside the fortress. In order to defend and expand the territory of our Han Dynasty, these Yellow Turban soldiers paid countless blood and lives, and more than 100,000 heroes and martyrs were buried in the mountains and rivers of the border fortress. Today I asked Cao Cao to give up Xuzhou and hand over the army, why is he unwilling? Don't you know what his purpose is? Can this be compared to the appeasement of the Yellow Turban Army back then? ”

Xun Yu was speechless. At that time, Zhang Yan and others not only handed over the territory and the army, but also firmly guarded the frontier for the Han Dynasty, conquered the desert, opened up the territory for the Han Dynasty, and made great achievements. On the contrary, now Cao Cao is not only unwilling to hand over Xuzhou and the army, but also treats himself as a prince, and negotiates with the imperial court on an equal footing, which is indeed an insult to the Son of Heaven and the imperial court.

"Lord, do you have any plans to attack Xuzhou?" Xun You asked, "If the lord has no intention of attacking Xuzhou, I think we can talk to Cao Cao." This is a good opportunity to split the rebels, and it would be a shame to miss it. ”

Li Yi hesitated for a moment and did not speak.

"My lord, judging from the current situation in Qingdao and Yanzhou, it is obviously unrealistic to attack Xuzhou in the spring." Seeing that Li Yi did not make a clear statement, Chen Gong immediately said, "Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou twice back then, but both failed, in addition to the various reasons we know, there is also a little-known reason. ”

Li Yi and everyone looked at Chen Gong together.

"When Cao Cao formulated the strategy for attacking Xuzhou, I also participated, and we all ignored an important situation at that time, that is, the terrain and climate of Xuzhou. Xuzhou is covered with dense rivers, whether it is marching or transporting grain and grass, we have encountered great difficulties. The southern counties of Xuzhou, near Jianghuai, have very cold and humid winters, while the northern winters are cold but dry, and these two colds are fundamentally different things. The soldiers in the north could not adapt, and many froze to death from frostbite. Due to our lack of preparation, coupled with the lack of troops, and the Xuzhou army under the command of Tao Qian, it also held the city to the death, vowing not to surrender, and the first attack of Cao's army failed. ”

"The following year, Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou again, and by this time we had already learned a lot from the first attack, and we were well prepared, and the time was chosen in the summer, so this attack went very well. If it weren't for Zhang Miao leading us to attack Yanzhou in time, Cao Cao would definitely be able to defeat Tao Qian and take Xuzhou. ”

"Cao Cao has always formed an alliance with Liu Bei since stabilizing Yanzhou, and he has never found an excuse to send troops to attack Xuzhou, which has a lot to do with the fact that he lost confidence in conquering Xuzhou."

"Now if we want to fight Xuzhou, we need to meet several conditions. First, there must be enough infantry troops. On the battlefield of Xuzhou, because of the terrain, the main thing is to attack the city, and it is difficult for the cavalry to play a role, so it is necessary to have enough infantry troops to speed up the attack. Second, it is best to choose the attack time in the summer. In addition to the cold that penetrates deep into the bone marrow in winter, the northern soldiers cannot adapt to it, and there is also the 'plum rain' weather at the turn of spring and summer. In this kind of weather, the rain is dense, the air is humid, and all things are rotten, so it is also called 'mildew rain'. When the soldiers encounter the rainy weather, not only will they not be able to fight, but they will also lose a large number of troops due to the lack of adaptation to the water and soil, and the morale of the army will be easily weakened, burying the hidden worry of defeat. ”

"At present, part of our infantry army is on the battlefield in Guanzhong, and part of it is on the battlefield in Hanoi, Henan and Yuzhou, and only the army of Zang Ba, Gao Shun, Wei Yan and others can attack Xuzhou. And among these armies, except for some southern soldiers who were transferred from captivity, most of them were northern soldiers. Therefore, if we want to go south to fight Xuzhou, we not only need to prepare for a long time, but also gather more infantry troops. ”

However, in the summer, after the two states of Qinghai and Yanzhou stabilized, the Luoyang battlefield had already begun to fight. The imperial court's wealth this year can only supply one battlefield at most, so it is impossible for the lord to go south to fight Xuzhou this year. ”

"Cao Cao of Xuzhou has been given precious time, he can stabilize Xuzhou, he can take Yangzhou, he can restore and develop his strength, and he is very likely to attack Yanzhou when we attack Luoyang." Chen Gong arched his hand at Li Yi and said, "My lord, although my speculation may not be correct, judging from the current situation, we really have no possibility of taking advantage of the situation to attack Cao Cao and go south to Xuzhou. ”

"In order to quickly stabilize Qing and Yanzhou, and start attacking Luoyang as soon as possible, the lord should think carefully. Although you are not willing to accept Cao Cao's conditions and do not want the Son of Heaven and the court to be humiliated, you can accept Cao Cao's marriage in a private capacity with the permission of the Son of Heaven and the court, so that the goals of both parties can be achieved. ”

For Cao Cao, what he wants is the promise of the lord. As long as the lord does not fight Xuzhou this year, his goal will be achieved, and he can concentrate on stabilizing Xuzhou and fighting Yangzhou. ”

"For us, what we want is the fact of this peace. Using this fact, we can drive a wedge between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei, isolating Cao Cao from the rebel alliance. At the same time, we can also use this fact to appease Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in Jiangdong. ”

"Without our containment in the northern part of Xuzhou, Jiangdong would be fiercely attacked by Cao Cao. Once Jiangdong is in danger, Liu Biao of Jingzhou will go down the river and attack Cao Cao on both sides. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu will be appeased immediately when Jiangdong is in danger, and this is the only way to keep Jiangdong. ”

"After Sun Ce and Zhou Yu returned to the imperial court, the lord could Chen soldiers in the north of Xuzhou to threaten Cao Cao. Cao Cao was worried that the lord would break his promise, so he had to withdraw his troops, so that his hope of seizing Jiangdong and trying to make a comeback was dashed. As for Liu Biao, when he saw Cao Cao withdraw his troops, of course he didn't dare to attack Jiangdong alone, so he could only withdraw his troops. ”

"The lord did not have a single soldier, but Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu fought on both sides of the Yangtze River, and Xuzhou, Jingzhou, and Jiangdong were greatly injured. Cao Cao was busy in Jianghuai for a long time, but in the end he found nothing. Liu Biao wanted to pick up a sesame seed, but lost the watermelon. And whether Sun Ce and Zhou Yu of Jiangdong are sincere in submitting to the imperial court or not, they still have Jiangdong, which can pose a huge threat to Cao Cao and Liu Biao, which will be of great benefit to us in attacking Luoyang. ”

"Because Cao Cao did not take Jiangdong, he was damaged in many battles, and his relationship with Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei was bad, and Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were eyeing him on the other side of the Yangtze River, so when he took advantage of our attack on Luoyang, the possibility of sending troops to attack Yanzhou was very small. With his strength, we will go south to recover Xuzhou in the future, and we will not go down in one go? ”

"Lord, you weigh it carefully and see if the marriage and peace with Cao Cao are in our greater interest?"

Li Yi accepted the advice of Xun Yu, Xun You, Chen Gong and other ministers, and decided to marry Cao Cao in a private capacity, but Guan Yu, Xu Maogong, Liu Bowen and others were worried that this matter would bring unnecessary trouble to Li Yi and tried their best to dissuade him.

Guan Yu said: "Big brother, this kind of thing must not be done, if someone frames you with this matter in the future, saying that you are fornicating and rebellious, how can you explain it?" ”

The more Guan Yu thought about it, the more angry he became, ran to the big tent, and scolded Xun Yu, Xun You and others who were deliberating, and finally said: "Either the ministers will jointly play this matter, or you will just be a fart, there is no such thing." ”

Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang and others dragged Guan Yu away.

………………

Although Xun Yu, Xun You and others were a little unhappy when they were scolded by Guan Yu, they felt that what Guan Yu said was indeed good. With Li Yi's identity, he can't negotiate peace with Cao Cao by marriage no matter what.

Considering the prestige of the Son of Heaven and the imperial court, they suggested that the Son of Heaven issue an edict to let the general Li Yi come forward in his private capacity to negotiate peace with Cao Cao, so as to stabilize the Qing and Yan prefectures, so that the army would have more time to devote to the preparations for the attack on Luoyang.

Before the imperial decree came down, the three ministers Xun Yu, Xun You and Zang Hong were responsible for discussing marriage and peace matters with Mao Jue.

After the two sides met, Xun Yu opened his mouth and told Mao Jue what they had discussed.

After listening to Xun You's words, Mao Jue's face changed suddenly, his eyes suddenly widened, and he asked in disbelief: "Gongda, who did you just say?" Who will marry the daughter of my lord? ”

"Xiaoxian, you're old, aren't your ears bad?" Xun You smiled unhurriedly, "I'm talking about Tian Yu, the general's righteous son, Tian Yu, the general of Duliao." ”

"What? Cao Cao doesn't really want to marry his daughter to my father-in-law and let my father-in-law be his son-in-law, right? Xun Yu stroked his long beard and laughed, "If Cao Cao really thinks like this, then we won't talk about it." He's a madman who kills himself. ”

Mao Yu ignored Xun Yu's ridicule, and said angrily at Zang Hong: "I want to see the general, I want to talk to the general in person." ”