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The sun is setting in the west, and the night is pervasive.

A majestic pass stands between the mountains and mountains, and the two armies are far away from each other, but they do not interact with each other.

Under the same sky, forty miles apart, when there was laughter and laughter in the pass, it was a different scene in the Allied Dazhai.

At the foot of the mountain near the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains on the right side of the camp, here is the camp of Sun Ce in Jiangdong.

As night fell, a group of Jiangdong generals walked quickly into the big tent, bowed and sat down.

After the greetings, Cheng Pu took the lead in asking: "The lord has just returned from Yuan Shaoshuai's tent, I don't know if the princes from all walks of life can take countermeasures?" ”

"Countermeasure? Hmph, what countermeasures can a group of intrigues, greedy for life and fear of death have! ”

Hearing this, Sun Ce spread out his hands and snorted coldly with disdain, then shook his head with a disappointed face, and sighed softly in a low voice, as if he was completely dead to the princes and allies.

"At the princes' meeting just now, Zhang Yan proposed that the allies retreat to Hedong County to rest, and then cross the river to fight Li Li in the spring next year, but Cao Cao immediately stood up and vetoed it. Cao Cao said that it was the bitter cold season in the middle of winter, and the water surface of the Yellow River had already frozen, which was not conducive to the army crossing the river, and the allied Dazhai was too close to Hangu Pass, and Li Li could immediately know about the slightest disturbance, so he sent the Xiliang Iron Cavalry Army to chase and kill; Therefore, now is not the best time to cross the river, and we can only continue to garrison the Loudiyuan camp and wait for the next year. ”

"Results??? Yuan Shao also agreed with Cao Cao's suggestion and agreed that the Allied forces should continue to be stationed in the same place. Hang up the war-free card and strengthen the defense of the battalion to prevent the Xiliang army from going out of the customs and sneaking attack. Other than that. Lü Bu took the initiative to ask Ying to lead his troops to attack Xu Rong in Xingyang to open a retreat for the allies in case of emergency. ”

After hearing Sun Ce's account of the princes' deliberations, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and Han Dang frowned, their faces were sad, and their eyebrows were filled with deep worry.

After a while, Cheng Pu said in a low voice: "So to speak." Shall we continue to stay in the Allied camp and not be able to get out? ”

Before the words fell, Huang Gai said angrily: "Get out at this time." How easy is it to say? What's more, Li Thief is untrustworthy and treacherous, and he is really the most shameless and despicable untrustworthy villain in the world!

Back in the time of the Battle of Donggaki Castle. Li Thief said that when the first snow of this winter fell, it was the day when the edict was given to the lord. Now, three months have passed. It has snowed five times in succession, and it will soon be the end of the year, and there is no shadow of the edict. If there is no edict, even if we can break away from the allies, what use will we have, what can we do, there is still no place to stand, there is no other way but to rely on Yuan Shu! ”

Speaking of this, Huang Gai blew his beard and glared angrily. Angry, he scolded: "Before, we all thought that Li Thief was the general of the imperial court. Famous, known as faithful, true to his word, true to his word, will never break his word and fat. Now it seems that I have lost my eyes. Li Thief is a hussar general in vain, with a good manner, selling his reputation and reputation, and gaining fame; In fact, he is an out-and-out sinister villain, it is better to fart than to speak, and it is really shameful to be untrustworthy in his words! ”

"Ugh!" Seeing Huang Gai so angry, Cheng Pu and Han Dang were shocked, but then they were also as indignant and furious as Huang Gai.

It is true that although Huang Gai's words are difficult to listen to and scold Li Ligou bloody, they are also true.

Up to now, none of them have seen Li Li send someone to secretly send an edict to seal Sun Ce, which shows that Li Li has indeed broken his promise, and he and others have been deceived by him. Without the edict in hand, what can these people do?

Although all the states and counties in the world have now been separated from each other, they do not take the Son of Heaven into account at all; However, there are also many officials and scholars who are still loyal to the Han Dynasty, and there are not a few. Especially in the wealthy Yangzhou area of the south of the Yangtze River, the scholars and heroes attach great importance to reputation and fame in their bones, and believe in orthodoxy.

If Sun Jian was alive, even if he did not have the edict of the Son of Heaven, he would still be able to get the support of some Jiangdong scholars and gate lords, and then gain a firm foothold in Jiangdong. Because Sun Jian has enough prestige and prestige, enough to impress a considerable number of powerful and noble clans, he is willing to fund Sun Jian to achieve a great cause. Relatively speaking, although Sun Ce was also born in Jiangdong, and he is also Sun Jian's eldest son; But it's a pity that Sun Ce is too young, his prestige is not obvious, and his prestige is not enough, and many Jiangdong clans and gate lords don't take him seriously at all, let alone fund him to gain a foothold in Jiangdong and achieve great things.

Therefore, the edict that is worthless in the eyes of many powerful princes is very important to Sun Ce, whether he can achieve a great cause and whether he can gain a foothold in Jiangdong is on this edict. As long as the edict is in hand, Sun Ce can justifiably break away from Yuan Shu and lead his troops to Jiangdong to take office, without being criticized, let alone regarded as a trustworthy villain who betrays the mastermind and rebels. At the same time, after the Jiangdong scholars and Haoqiang saw Sun Ce's edict, even if they were unwilling to help Sun Ce, they would not openly resist Sun Ce's foothold in Jiangdong. Only in this way can Sun Ce stay in Jiangdong, and then slowly figure it out, and realize his ambition step by step.

Regarding the importance of the edict, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others did not really realize its weight before, and even thought that the edict was just a small roll of dragon pattern brocade, dispensable and insignificant. It was not until Liu Bei, who occupied Xuzhou, led an army of 50,000 to join the Allied forces uninvited, and also provided hundreds of thousands of stone grain and grass for the Allied forces to help the Allied forces through the grain and grass crisis, that Cheng Pu and others truly realized the importance of the edict of the Son of Heaven and truly saw that the edict they despised had such a powerful power.

Why did Liu Bei come? At first, the princes of all walks of life did not know what was going on, but only Yuan Shao and Cao Cao knew it. However, after Liu Bei voluntarily donated more than 100,000 stones of grain and grass to the allied forces, the princes of each town knew his true purpose. It turned out that Liu Bei was so generous to help the allies not to defeat Li Li and his Xiliang army, but to ask for an edict from the Son of Heaven who enshrined him as the pastor of Xuzhou. Perhaps Liu Bei has other unknown intentions, but the edict is undoubtedly the top priority, and other intentions are secondary.

There is a contrast to reflect the weight of the edict of the Son of Heaven, Liu Bei sent troops and food to meet the alliance, which invisibly made Cheng Pu and others re-understand the huge magic of the edict of the Son of Heaven, so they secretly rejoiced. Because their "young lord" Sun Ce has received Li Li's personal promise, the edict of the Son of Heaven will be delivered in a few days, and then Sun Ce can lead his troops to break away from the allies and lead his troops back to Jiangdong to make great achievements.

It's a pity that the ideas are very plump, and the reality is too skinny.

It has been nearly five months since the war, and the Allied forces have been at a disadvantage since crossing the river, except for the smooth progress on the battlefield east of the river. Hangu Pass could not be captured for a long time, the allied army continued to lose troops and generals, and the grain and grass camp was robbed, which was tantamount to adding insult to injury for the princes and allies. After repeated setbacks, the victory had unconsciously distanced itself from the Allied forces, and the situation was very unfavorable and worrying.

Seeing this, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others tried their best to break away from the allies and return to Jiangdong, but they couldn't find a suitable opportunity and excuse. As the end of the year approached, they became more and more anxious, and they wished to quickly break free from the shackles of the Allies and leave this place of right and wrong immediately. If it drags on until the beginning of spring next year and the two armies officially fight a decisive battle, then they will not be able to leave if they want to. And with only 20,000 or 30,000 Jiangdong soldiers, they can only be reduced to cannon fodder in the decisive battle of hundreds of thousands of troops of the two armies, and they will be completely annihilated under the iron hooves of the Xiliang army in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, in recent days, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang and others have been anxious, so anxious that their hair has turned white, their livers are furious, and their lips are blistered, but they are still at a loss.

At this moment, when the edict of the Son of Heaven was mentioned again, the three veterans couldn't help but be furious, and scolded Li Li for being untrustworthy and despicable.

"Hahaha!" Just when Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and the others were in a hurry, Sun Ce, who was sitting on the main seat, stared at them with wide eyes, lost his mind, and then laughed out loud.

"Why are the three old generals so angry, don't you all think that Li Li has broken his trust in me?"

"Ugh!" Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and Han Dang looked up at Sun Ce in amazement, and Cheng Pu said angrily with a look of indignation: "Isn't it? It's been a full three months, how can I see the edict of the Son of Heaven, is this clearly the Li thief distrusting the lord! ”

Sun Ce shook his head with a smile, then took out a roll of dark yellow dragon pattern brocade silk from his arms, got up and walked to the hall, and handed it to Cheng Pu and the others.

"The three generals are wrong to blame General Li Li, this is the edict he personally promised me three months ago. Moreover, the time when this edict was delivered to me was exactly what Li Li said, and when the first snow of winter fell, it was the day I received the edict from the Son of Heaven. In fact, this edict was delivered to me as early as when we crossed the river with the allies and camped together. However, for the sake of secrecy and to avoid unnecessary trouble, I have never mentioned it to you, let alone shown it to you. Therefore, you have never known about this, and mistakenly think that Li Li has broken his trust with me. Hehehe! ”

As soon as the edict was unfolded, Cheng Pu was immediately dumbfounded. Then Huang Gai and Han Dang came up to watch, and the first time they saw the edict, they were like Cheng Pu, they were instantly stunned, as if they couldn't believe their eyes, let alone that this edict was true.

"It's ??? What's going on? Li Li is so generous, and he is such a high official title? After being stunned for a long time, Cheng Pu and the others finally came to their senses, and they all looked suspicious and said in shock.

The smile on Sun Ce's face quickly retracted, nodded lightly with a solemn expression, and sighed lightly: "Yes, when I saw the edict for the first time, I couldn't believe that this edict was genuine, and I thought that the edict sent by Li Li was an edict. For this reason, I specially found the edict of my father before his death and carefully checked it, and finally confirmed that this edict was true, a real edict of the Son of Heaven! ”

――――――――― (To be continued......)