On September 1, the eighth year of Guangxi, Guan Yu suddenly marched into Yiyang under the pretext of pursuing and suppressing thieves.

Sun Ce was furious and publicly condemned Liu Bei for his treason. Liu Bei argued that Guan Yu entered Changsha County to pursue and suppress the thieves, but found that behind the thieves was Sun Ce who supported him. Sun Ce appeared to form an alliance with Liu Bei to fight against Cao Cao, but who knew that behind the thieves was doing these things that were crowing and thieving.

Then, local officials from Liu Bei in Jiangling, Nanjun, Anhua, Wuling County and other places also reported that they had discovered Sun Ce's army under the banner of bandits. So, Liu Bei submitted a letter to the emperor and demanded severe punishment of local tyrants such as Sun Ce who was traitorous and ignored the emperor's orders. He also issued a manifesto on September 4, claiming to attack Sun Ce.

On the same day, Zhang Fei's army headed south to Xiangyang and prepared to launch an attack on Jingling.

At the same time, Cao Cao quietly increased the attack, and the two guys obviously joined forces.

There were not many defenders in Yiyang and the city was small. Under the fierce attack of Guan Yu's army, the city broke and changed hands in less than two days. After taking Yiyang, Guan Yu went south to attack Xinyang. In order to completely cut off the western part of Changsha County, Han Dang immediately advanced west from Linxiang and defended Xinyang to resist Guan Yu.

At this time, Fan Chou suddenly sent troops from Jiangling and attacked Jingling fiercely. Zhang Fei's troops turned out to be a cover, but the real main attack was Fan Chou.

Sun Ce's situation is really bad now. In a few days, Linhu was captured by Cao Cao, Zhou Yu and Huang Gai retreated across the Yangtze River, and Sun Ce from Wan County was not allowed to retreat to Xunyang. Zhu Zhi's navy was stationed in Jiujiang and was busy picking up the people in Jiangbei across the river.

"It's unreasonable. Where did these rumors come from? Find the source immediately and behead all those who spread the rumors!"

Sun Ce angrily patted the desk, and the things on the desk were scattered all over the ground. Sun Quan knelt on the side with fear, closed his mouth and did not dare to speak.

Zhang Zhao hesitated for a moment and said, "Lord, this rumor is probably unblockable."

"Why is this?"

"Because the rumors must have been spread by Yi Ren, how can it be blocked!"

"This is abominable. Can you bear this humiliation and reputation of the elders?"

"Lord, this is the only thing that matters. It's best not to pay attention to it, otherwise it will probably become darker and darker."

The rumor that made Sun Ce furious was about his father's wife and concubine. It is said that Cao Cao would be the best at this. Therefore, he attacked Lujiang because he fell in love with Sun Jian's woman. Fortunately, Sun Ce's family ran fast, otherwise Cao Cao might succeed. What's more excessive is that there are rumors that Sun Ce wanted to truce with Cao Cao in order to please his mother. He secretly sent Sun Jian's widow to Cao Cao for enjoyment. As a result, Cao Cao refused to miss Sun Ce at all. After sleeping with Sun Ce's aunt, he raised his trousers and hit him again, making Sun Ce avengers to compensate his wife and his soldiers! It became a huge joke.

These rumors spread as fast as lightning because they involved the secret history of wealthy families, and soon spread to Sun Ce's ears. Sun Ce, who was full of energy, was furious. Unfortunately, it is useless to get angry in such a thing. It has always been an impossible task to block people's mouths.

"Damn it! Don't let someone know who did it!"

"Lord" Zhang Hong thought for a long time and thought that he should tell Sun Ce that if he didn't tell the matter in advance, it might be even more troublesome when Sun Ce knew about it in the future.

"Does Mr. Zigang know who made it?"

"This is not difficult to guess!"

"Zi Gang!" Zhang Zhao shook his head and signaled Zhang Hong not to say anything.

Zhang Hong sighed and said, "Yi Ren has always liked to spread rumors. I'm afraid this was caused by Yi Ren. Why should you be angry with them?"

"Mr. Zigang's words are wrong. Liu Bei is obviously profitable in this matter, so most of this matter is a rumor released by Liu Bei. Yi Ren is just hired!"

Unfortunately, Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao's painstaking efforts were easily destroyed by another guy who thought they were smart. Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong looked at Qin Song angrily and helplessly. Qin Song seemed to have no idea and squintedly glanced at the two of them.

"It's too much! Liu Bei, you a mat seller, are really a despicable and shameless villain, a villain!! My Sun Ce swears that one day you will chop off your dog's head!"

"Cold! Crack!"

The ancient ingot knife in Sun Ce's hand flashed by and chopped off a corner of the desk. Sun Ce was still angry and his eyes were red and gasping!

Zhang Zhao thought for a while and said, "Since that's the case, how will the lord plan to cut off Liu Bei's dog head?"

"Ti's army advanced westward and went to full war with Liu Bei!"

"Then Danyang and Yu Zhang don't want it?"

"this"

"Does the lord really plan to make peace with Cao Cao? Isn't this just enough to confirm the rumors?"

"this"

After thinking about it, Sun Ce realized why his oath looked so ridiculous. The problem now was not that he settled the score with Liu Bei, but that Liu Bei and Cao Cao joined forces to settle the score with him.

Think about it carefully, I would never be able to fight these two guys in any way. Now there is only friction between Liu Bei and Sun Ce. If they really fight, Cao Cao might have really crossed the Yangtze River south!

After a bitter smile, Sun Ce dejectedly put away the ancient ingot knife and silently packed up the things on the ground. Sun Quan hurried over to help. With these actions, Sun Ce slowly calmed down his excitement. When he sat behind the desk again, his face was already calm, as if what had never happened just now, except for a corner missing from the desk.

"Mr. Zibu, please teach me how to deal with the current crisis?"

"This is what my subordinates should do. The lord, now Lujiang is no longer sustainable. It is best to retreat back to the south of the Yangtze River as soon as possible, relying on the Yangtze River's natural chasm to confront Cao Cao across the river. As for Liu Bei, he should send an envoy as soon as possible to see if the misunderstanding can be resolved and try to stop the friction between the two sides."

"Mr. Zibu, Liu Bei wants Jiangxia and Changsha. How can friction be erased easily?"

Qin Song said again at the right time, Sun Ce nodded and looked at Zhang Zhao. Zhang Zhao glanced at Qin Song, stroked his beard and said, "This is indeed the case. So I would like to ask the lord, is the lord confident that he can defend Jiangxia, Changsha, Yuzhang, and Danyang at the same time? Are you sure to face the attacks of the two major warlords at the same time?"

"This is not!"

"So, you must pull one to fight one. You cannot fight at the same time. In addition, you should ask for help from the strangers in the world as soon as possible. I believe they don't want to see Cao Cao cross the river."

Sun Ce pondered. Although Zhang Zhao didn't say it clearly, he would definitely be trying to pull Liu Bei. Liu Bei took the initiative to break the agreement, but he also spread rumors everywhere, insulting his elders and his father. The grudges among them were great, but if he didn't make peace with Liu Bei now, he would be a dead end.

On the other hand, Liu Bei was planning to Jiangxia and Changsha, and his current military strength could not be defended at the same time. If Jiangxia could be given up, it would be a feasible choice. Zhang Zhao said that he also had the idea of ​​provoking the relationship between Liu Bei and Cao Cao. If Jiangxia was given to Liu Bei, the border between Liu Bei and Cao Cao would be much bigger, and the conflict between the two became even more prominent. Perhaps this was really the only opportunity to resolve the current crisis.

As for the suggestions to contact the World Association, Sun Ce still didn't want to adopt them. The World Association easily reached out to pick the fruit that originally belonged to him, but now he has been asking for these unkind and unrighteous strangers. Sun Ce really can't save this face.

"Mr. Zibu means to win over Liu Bei?"

“It’s right”

"What?!"

"This is ridiculous! The world is so ridiculous!"

Sun Ce glanced at the crowd of ministers, raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. Then he looked at Zhang Zhao and said, "Please explain the reason in detail by Mr. Zibu."

"What is the situation now? I believe everyone knows that it is impossible to fight against Liu Bei and Cao Cao at the same time. If our army completes the migration of the people, then Cao Cao's pace of going south will definitely be stopped. From this perspective, we should find a way to make peace with Cao Cao and then fight against Liu Bei with all our might! But now Liu Bei has made this conspiracy, which prevents our army from making peace with Cao's army."

Zhang Zhao's words made everyone unable to speak out. In this case, making peace with Cao Cao would confirm the rumors now. Such embarrassing things are really impossible to do. Liu Bei's tricks were indeed vicious, and it blocked Sun Ce's retreat in advance, forcing Sun Ce to bow to Liu Bei.

Zhang Zhao paused, glanced at everyone, and then said, "In this way, we can only temporarily follow Liu Bei's pace to see what he wants. At the same time, we also try our best to delay time, first, to strive for the opportunity to redeploy, and second, to find foreign aid."

"Mr. Zibu means delaying time?"

"If you have this idea, it's hard to say whether the other party will fall into a trap. In short, the problem with Liu Bei's current side is friction, and he himself claims this way, so there is room for ease, and there is no room for ease with Cao Cao. It is inevitable to make peace with Liu Bei. Of course, we must also make plans to not reach an agreement."

"What if we can't agree on it?"

"Retract your strength, give up Jiangxia, seek unity within, and seek foreign aid outside."

"Give up Jiangxia and shrink your strength?" Sun Ce whispered to himself, savoring the taste. Zhang Zhao actually meant to give up these two places. As for foreign aid, it can only be a stranger. Could it be that he could find Cao Cao?

However, Sun Ce was really unwilling to give up. It would be fine if Jiang Xia was just picked up for nothing, but Changsha was the foundation left by his father! Now that it is easy to say, but it is difficult to do!

"this"

"Lord, no matter how you choose, you can't hesitate. Time is very important!"

Zhang Hong's words left Sun Ce without hesitation, and gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let's prepare according to this strategy. The people of Jiangxia evacuate as soon as possible, and let Zhu Zhi and Sun Ben be responsible. In Changsha, General Cheng Pu quickly goes to Changsha, cooperate with General Han Dang, and gradually gathers the people, gather in Linxiang, Liu Yang, Wu Chang, Xiajun, and defend at all levels. In addition, Zhou Yu was appointed as the governor of Jiujiang and was fully responsible for the Yangtze River defense line. Mr. Zigang and I went to Xiangyin as soon as possible. Qin Song went on a mission to Xiangyang and tried his best to persuade Liu Bei to continue the alliance to fight against Cao. If necessary, we can give up Jiangxia County."

Zhang Zhao was stunned for a moment. It seemed that Sun Ce was still unwilling to accept it and wanted to meet Liu Bei. However, Sun Ce was still prepared for failure, so Zhang Zhao did not continue to fight. As for Yi Ren, it seemed that Sun Ce had ignored it intentionally or unintentionally, so he could only let it go. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!