My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 58: I am afraid of the people who killed Tadun, how dare you look down on them?
"My Lord, you..."

Xiao He looked at Liu Bei blankly.

Liu Bei then showed Zhuge Liang's letter to Xiao He and everyone present.

The truth came out.

This is a letter from Zhuge Liang offering advice.

Although Zhuge Liang was in Yicheng, he had already calculated that Xiangyang was running out of food and could no longer support an army of 40,000.

So Zhuge Liang took the initiative to propose to publicize the crimes of Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, to take action against both the Cai and Kuai families, and to confiscate their land, money and grain to provide for military supplies.

Only then did Xiao He suddenly realize what Liu Bei meant by that sigh.

"I am not as good as you, Bo Wen, in understanding Kong Ming's military strategy. I am truly ashamed."

Liu Bei looked ashamed, then exclaimed:

"Bo Wen, not only do you know Military Advisor Kong Ming, you even predicted that he would take the initiative to propose a reckoning with the Cai and Kuai families. You truly are as good as a god!"

Xiao He was sure that Zhuge Liang was selfless. However, as for the fact that Zhuge Liang would take the initiative to write a letter to offer advice and take action against the Cai and Kuai families, it was just a casual remark of his.

I didn’t expect that he would be right.

Faced with Liu Bei's admiration, Xiao He didn't know what to explain and could only accept it with a smile.

After everyone circulated the letter, they naturally admired Zhuge Liang's ability to distinguish between public and private matters, and were also impressed by Xiao He's "divine foresight."

Guan Yu bowed and said happily:

"Brother, since even military advisor Kong Ming has this intention, what is there for you to worry about?"

"There is no time to lose. Brother, please give the order to settle accounts with the Cai and Kuai families immediately!"

Liu Bei no longer had any concerns, a cold expression appeared on his face, and he said sternly:
"Cai and Kuai, those two traitors, first plotted to harm me, then betrayed their master for personal gain, forcing Liu Cong to surrender Jingzhou to Cao. Now, they're responding to Cao Cao's call and raising a massive army to attack, hoping to trap me here!"

"I've been tolerant again and again, but now I can't tolerate it anymore!"

"Pass on my orders. Immediately confiscate the Cai family's property. Take their land and distribute it to the people. Take their stored money and grain to provide for the army!"

"Within three days, I want to see all the money and grain of the Cai and Kuai families returned to the government warehouse!"

...

Yuzhang County, Chaisang City.

In the Jiangdong Army’s water camp, the sound of the piano is melodious.

A man with a face as beautiful as jade and an elegant demeanor was sitting cross-legged by the river, his eyes slightly closed, playing the piano.

Lu Su stood behind the man and wanted to speak several times, but he didn't want to disturb him playing the piano.

The piano sound reached its climax and then suddenly stopped.

The strings were broken.

The man stared at the broken string, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and a bad premonition seemed to flash through his mind.

"Gong Jin!"

Upon seeing this, Lu Su hurried forward and bowed to greet him.

The Gongjin he mentioned was none other than Sun Quan's naval commander, Zhou Yu, the handsome Zhou Lang from Jiangdong.

"Zijing? Why did you return to Chaisang instead of following the lord to attack Hefei?"

Zhou Yu was obviously quite surprised by Lu Su's arrival.

"My lord has ordered me to go to Xiangyang again to monitor the battle in Xiangfan so that I can pass on news to you at any time."

Lu Su knelt down and explained the reason for his visit.

Zhou Yu frowned slightly.

"Zijing, you should stay with the lord!"

He poured Lu Su a bowl of tea, with a hint of criticism in his tone.

Lu Su was stunned, his eyes blank, unable to understand the implication of Zhou Yu's words.

"You and I are close friends, so I'll have a few words with you behind closed doors."

"My Lord, I neither approve nor trust your personal command to attack Hefei!"

Zhou Yu and Lu Su were honest with each other.

Lu Su's heart trembled slightly, and he glanced around to make sure that the guards were far enough away and could not hear their conversation.

"What do you mean, Gongjin?"

Lu Su lowered his voice and poured a bowl of tea for Zhou Yu.

"Our Jiangdong strategy has always been to take Jingzhou first and Huainan second. Now that Liu Biao has died of illness, Jingzhou has fallen into a situation of division among the three Lius. This is a godsend opportunity for us to seize Jingzhou." "Even if we can't take all of Jingzhou, we must at least take Jiangxia County so that we can cut off the Han River and the Yangtze River at any time."

"But because the lord feared Cao Cao, he allied himself with Liu Bei, leaving Jiangxia behind and instead mobilizing his forces to attack Hefei."

"This move is truly putting the cart before the horse, failing to distinguish between the important and the unimportant. It is a very bad idea!"

Lu Su lowered his head and coughed a few times, not daring to express his opinion.

After all, it was he who strongly advocated the alliance with Liu Bei, and he eventually changed his mind and agreed when Sun Quan personally led an expedition to Hefei.

"Since the Lord has made his decision and is determined to personally march to Hefei, the matter is settled, and I will not say anything more."

"How could you, Zijing, be so careless as not to stay with the lord?"

After Zhou Yu expressed his dissatisfaction with Sun Quan's strategy, he turned his attention to Lu Su.

Lu Su was stunned, and said with a puzzled look:
"What do you mean by this, Gongjin? Please explain clearly."

Zhou Yu took a sip of tea and sighed:

"You and I both know that our lord has the potential to be a great leader, but he is, after all, good at civil governance but not at military strategy. Now he is eager to win and is anxious to capture Hefei to establish his prestige."

"Leading an army in person with this mentality is a major military taboo. I'm sure you don't understand this, Zijing."

"You have always been steady. With you by my Lord's side, you can always remind him. But now that you are gone, if my Lord does something impulsive, who can stop him?"

Hearing these words, Lu Su was startled.

After a moment's thought, Lu Su pretended to be calm and said:

"Gongjin's concerns are not without reason. I actually thought about this at the time, but then I realized that Cao's army in Hefei only had 5,000 men, while our army was nearly ten times as large."

"My lord, as long as you follow the plan and lead your troops ashore to besiege the city, even if you fail to storm it, at most you will return empty-handed. There shouldn't be any mistakes."

Zhou Yu pointed his wine glass to the north and said meaningfully:
"Cao's army in Hefei is only 5,000 strong, but Zhang Liao is no pushover. Don't forget, he slew the Wuhuan Chanyu Tadun in battle at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain!"

"I think this man is the best general in Cao's camp among non-combatants. Even if I were to lead the army into battle, I would still be wary of him."

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Lu Su's back.

He knew very well how conceited Zhou Lang was and how high his standards were for others.

Even Zhou Yu claimed that he was afraid of the Three-Point Man, but now Sun Quan wants to confront him, which seems a bit arrogant.

"Then I will immediately set off eastward to Hefei to assist my lord!"

Lu Su became alert and jumped up to set off.

at this time.

A boat sped into the water camp. Jiang Qin jumped off the boat and ran to Zhou Yu in a few steps.

"Reporting to the Governor, the Xiangyang spies have an urgent report!"

"Liu Bei recently launched a surprise attack on Deng County, defeating 10,000 Cao Cao troops, capturing Cao General Yu Jin twice, and burning all of Cao Cao's 400,000 hu of grain!"

Jiang Qin half-knelt forward, holding high the silk scroll with the battle report.

Zhou Yu's expression suddenly changed, and the hand holding the tea bowl trembled slightly.

Lu Su, who had turned around to leave, was shocked and turned around suddenly.

"Bang!"

Zhou Yu slammed his wine glass on the table, jumped up, and snatched the silk book from Jiang Qin's hand.

Lu Su also hurried forward to take a look.

All the details of the Dengxian battle that could be made public were written in black and white, clearly and distinctly.

"Liu Bei's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain and launch a surprise attack on Deng County is truly a stroke of genius!"

"This Xu Shu actually has such a clever plan?"

Zhou Yu's eyes flashed with surprise, and he exclaimed in amazement.

Zhuge Liang was in Yicheng, and he subconsciously judged that this plan came from Xu Shu.

"No, this doesn't look like the work of Xu Shu."

Lu Su suppressed his surprise, shook his head heavily, and said in a deep voice:

"In my opinion, Liu Xuande's plan must have come from Xiao Bowen!"

"Xiao Bowen?"

Zhou Yu was shocked and looked at Lu Su fiercely:

"Is that Xiao He, the mountain hermit Liu Bei recently recruited, whom you mentioned earlier, Zijing, whose origins are mysterious but whose wisdom and tactics are unfathomable?"

(End of this chapter)