The Warriors of the Three Kingdoms

Runan County is adjacent to Chen State. If you conquer Runan County, you can indirectly control Chen State.

But Runan County is no stranger to Liu Zheng.

In the early years, Liu Zheng first raised troops in the Three Kingdoms, and when he led a group of remnants of the Yellow Turbans against the imperial court, he was in the Runan area.

Moreover, he stayed in the Runan area for more than half a year, so he is quite familiar with the Runan area.

Now that he has returned to Runan again, after eight years, he already has a different identity.

"Your Majesty, what shall we do next?"

After leading the soldiers and horses to the border of Runan, Xu Huang asked about Liu Zheng's intentions.

"Gongming Xu Huang said, our purpose is not to occupy Runan, but to take over Runan. You ask Pei Yuanshao to split up some troops and go directly to surprise Xincai County. Xincai County borders Jiangxia. As long as we control Xincai, then we Then you can directly attack Jiang Xia, follow me, go to Runan, and take down Runan."

Liu Zheng's occupation of Runan was actually because he wanted to go directly to Chen State to avoid being besieged in Runan.

And the idea of ​​going to Chen country is mainly because of his captive, King Chen Liu Chong.

Liu Zheng once sent many Jinyiwei to the vicinity of Chen State to inquire about news.

Although King Chen Liu Chong was captured by Liu Zheng, the State of Chen did not disappear because of this. The Prime Minister of the State of Chen, Luo Jun, was still there, and managed the State of Chen well.

Luo Jun has been trying to rescue Liu Chong, but Liu Chong was under strict custody by Liu Zheng. Luo Jun never had a chance to rescue Liu Chong, and even sent an envoy to find Liu Zheng directly, wanting to ask Liu Zheng Are you willing to release Liu Chong?

Liu Zheng met the envoy sent by Luo Jun, but the two sides did not reach an agreement.

Liu Zheng wanted to annex Chen Guo, while Luo Jun only wanted to pay a price in money. Naturally, there was no way to negotiate, but Liu Zheng was not in a hurry.

After all, he holds Liu Chong's life in his hands, and Liu Zheng is not afraid that Liu Chong will not give in.

Before he came to Yuzhou, he had already talked about these things with Liu Chong in private.

Liu Chong has been imprisoned under Liu Zheng's men for so long, and his spirit has been completely wiped out.

Now when Liu Zheng asked him if he was willing to surrender, Liu Chong didn't think much about it, so he chose to surrender.

Liu Chong himself had some personal admiration for Liu Zheng. When Liu Chong was young, it happened that Liu Zheng was commanding the Yellow Turban Army in Runan to fight against the imperial court. At that time, Liu Chong had a relationship with Liu Zheng. .

Later, as Liu Chong grew up, Liu Zheng remained unchanged in his heart, knowing that Liu Chong had been captured by Liu Zheng.

At the beginning, Liu Chong was not willing to surrender to Liu Zheng, because Liu Zheng was a traitor and a person who resisted the court.

But later, after Liu Zheng proclaimed himself emperor, he actually continued to use the national title and name of the great Han, which had a different meaning to a descendant of the royal family like Liu Chong.

Inheriting the name of the Han Dynasty, Liu Zheng fought in the name of inheriting the fate of the sky and succeeding the throne of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Zheng's surname is Liu, so there is nothing wrong with doing this. Although some people think that Liu Zheng's position is not right, but referring to Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu's experience of becoming emperor, it is similar to Liu Zheng.

Therefore, in the eyes of some people, Liu Zheng proclaimed himself emperor, and in the name of inheriting the Han Dynasty, he has washed away his reputation as a traitor.

A descendant of the Han Dynasty like Liu Chong doesn't have so much resentment towards Liu Zheng.

When he learned that Liu Zheng would not kill him, Liu Chong naturally surrendered.

When Liu Zheng knew that Liu Chong had surrendered, he also conferred the title of King Chen on Liu Chong.

Liu Chong was flattered.

You must know that Liu Chong was nothing more than a Chen king in the previous court, and these princes and kings were usually not welcomed by the court.

Because the emperor had some fear of the princes and kings, and was afraid that the princes and kings would rebel. The Seven Kingdoms Rebellion in the Western Han Dynasty meant that the princes from all over the country rebelled. Therefore, the later princes and kings no longer had actual military power.

The reason why King Chen and Liu Chong had some troops was that at the end of the Han Dynasty, the imperial court and the royal family had already declined, so there was no way to control him here.

Otherwise, it is impossible for King Chen and Liu Chong to have so many troops.

After Liu Chong surrendered, Liu Zheng hoped that Liu Chong would return to Chen State, take over the soldiers and horses of Chen State, and unite with Liu Zheng's troops to occupy Yuzhou together, and then rush to Yuzhou and surprise Jingzhou.

In this way, Liu Zheng can easily rush to the south and east, surround Jingzhou in two directions, and defeat Liu Biao and Ding Yuan's troops in one fell swoop.

After Runan was defeated by Zhang Liao's men, it was taken over by Zhang Liao's men, but the imperial court had not yet sent a prefect, and the people who took over here were Liu Biao's men.

Although Liu Biao is known as the Shepherd of Jingzhou, but because most of Jingzhou has been occupied by Liu Zheng, he, the Shepherd of Jingzhou, only exists in name only.

Among the nine counties of Jingxiang, Liu Biao only occupied one of Nanjun and half of Jiangxia.

Later, after Zhang Liao took down Nanyang, Runan, Yingchuan and other places, Liu Biao sent his staff to take over these counties.

It is precisely because of the territory and population of these counties that Liu Biao managed to recover some of his strength.

But in the same way, Liu Biao recruited too many soldiers in these counties and counties, which aroused the resentment of many local people.

Many people who criticized were suppressed by Liu Biao's men.

The prefect in charge of the Runan area is called Kuai Liang.

Kuai Liang was Liu Biao's first and most important staff member.

He set the political direction for Liu Biao to appease Jingchu, and assisted him in his success. He was hailed by Liu Biao as "the theory of Yongji".Afterwards, Kuai Liang was promoted by Liu Biao to be the chief secretary. It is conceivable that he has a high status.

But later, after Liu Biao was defeated by Liu Zheng, Liu Biao's territory shrunk severely. Taking advantage of Zhang Liao's acquisition of some territories in Yuzhou, Kuai Liang suggested to Liu Biao that he quickly seize these territories in Yuzhou that originally belonged to Yuan Shu.

This strengthened Liu Biao and made Kuai Liang the master of events in Yuzhou.

When Liu Zheng led the cavalry and flew down Runan City, Kuai Liang's men and horses had not received any news. When the cavalry surrounded Runan City, Kuai Liang was so frightened that he ran out quickly, stood on the tower, and observed Who are these besiegers?

Kuai Liang never imagined that Runan City would be surrounded by people.

"Who is under the city, why did you surround Runan?"

Liu Zheng's cavalry didn't carry flags, so Kuai Liang on the tower couldn't use the flags to identify these men and horses and who they belonged to.

Unable to see who was besieging the city, Kuai Liang could only ask.

Chapter 782 Celebrity Kuai Liang

Liu Zheng under the city heard what Kuai Liang said, but he didn't answer Kuai Liang.

Because Liu Zheng's current status is different from before.

This can be regarded as his personal conquest.

Do not reveal your identity casually.

In case others find out, he dared to go deep into the enemy's hinterland with only a few thousand cavalry in this area, which is not good news.

"Who is the guard on the city?"

Liu Zheng didn't answer Kuai Liang's words, but asked Kuai Liang directly.

Kuai Liang on the tower was wondering, but when he saw the people below asking the tower, he didn't hide it, but directly answered Liu Zheng who was below the tower.

"My Xia Kuailiang is Bo, the subordinate of Jingzhou Mu Liubiao. I have been ordered by my lord to temporarily take over Runan here. Who is your Excellency and why are you surrounding Runan?"

When Liu Zheng in the city heard Kuai Liang's self-report, he immediately recalled it. Liu Zheng didn't have a deep impression of Kuai Liang.

I just know that this guy is Liu Biao's staff.Liu Biao relied on him to truly control the entire Jingzhou.

The main reason is that this Kuailiang did not have much description in history, and he did not explain what he did later. It may be that he was an official in Wei State, but he was not reused because he was a surrendered minister.

In addition, what Wei Guo lacked most were counselors. People like Kuai Liang could only belong to the middle class in Wei Guo, and it was not their turn to make their mark on the stage.

After all, the Kuai family and the Cai family both advocated surrendering to Cao after Liu Biao's death, and it is very likely that they will join Cao Wei.

But for now, the Kuai family is also a prominent family in Jingzhou.It is definitely a big family comparable to the Cai family in Xiangyang.

If Liu Zheng can persuade Kuai Liang to join him, it will be of great convenience for him to control Jingzhou Nanjun, Xiangyang and other places.

Anyway, Kuai Liang has always been a somewhat useful celebrity.

Perhaps Cao Wei was nothing in history, but for Liu Zheng, who was the first to build the empire, people like Kuai Liang were of some use.

After pondering for a moment, Liu Zheng spoke to Kuai Liang on the tower.

"I didn't expect the guard in the city to be Mr. Kuai Liang. I've admired Mr. Kuailiang for a long time, but I didn't expect to see him here today. Could you open the gate of the city and let me in, so we can sit down and talk about it in detail?"

Liu Zheng didn't directly attack brutally, but tried to persuade him with good words and planned to be courteous before fighting.

Let's see if we can take this Runan without using weapons.

But obviously, a smart person like Kuai Liang would not be fooled by Liu Zheng's mere words.

"Hahaha, don't you underestimate me, Kuailiang? Do you want me to abandon the city and surrender with just one word? Although you have thousands of cavalry, it is not so easy to take down my Runan, right? .”

Kuai Liang is delaying time at this time, and at the same time, he is thinking quickly in his heart, whose soldiers and horses are these troops outside the city.

Runan, the Central Plains, is not too far from Liu Zheng and Yuan Shao's territories.

You can come here directly from Huainan, and you can also reach Runan from Yecheng by crossing the Yellow River.

So for a while, Kuai Liang didn't recognize who these cavalrymen belonged to.

However, this identity is not difficult to guess.

After all, as far as the princes in the world are concerned, there are not many who can have thousands of cavalry.

Besides Yuan Shao, there is only Liu Zheng.

As for the other people, they are too far away from Runan, and it is impossible to come in this direction.

So Kuai Liang quickly locked these people outside the city on Liu Zheng and Yuan Shao.

Compared with Yuan Shao, Runan was still separated by the Yellow River, which was not so easy to cross, so these cavalry were most likely Liu Zheng's men.

Besides, Kuai Liang also knew that Liu Zheng had a cavalry under his command.

After hesitating on the tower, Kuai Liang had already figured out all the things inside.

But if you want to go directly from Liu Zheng's territory to Runan, you must pass through the Lujiang River.

Could it be that Lujiang has

Kuai Liang didn't dare to think about it.

Because the more he thought about it, the more ugly his face became.

"Mr. Kuai Liang, do you really want to meet me in battle? You know, when I break through the city, Mr. Kuai Liang, I won't be so easy to talk to."

Kuai Liang disagreed, and Liu Zheng was not in a hurry. After all, there were no elites around him at this time, only a few thousand cavalry around, and these cavalry were not good at attacking the city. Liu Zheng is actually not sure about attacking the city.

The reason why Liu Zheng was not in a hurry was that he had to wait until Zhou Yu and Sun Jian's men rushed over from Yuzhang, about two or three days would be enough.

At that time, when the army comes together, this mere Runan City will not be a cause for concern.

Hearing the calm answer from the man under the city, Kuai Liang became more convinced of his guess.

"Is Liu Zheng's team under the city?"

Kuai Liang couldn't bear it anymore, and asked a question towards the city.

This question made Liu Zheng a little curious.

"Heh, this Kuai Liang is really smart. I didn't put up a banner. How did he judge that we are His Majesty's men?"

Hearing that Kuai Liang had guessed the identities of Liu Zheng and the others, Xu Huang, who was standing beside Liu Zheng, was somewhat surprised.

Liu Zheng smiled lightly and glanced at Xu Huang. ,

"Gongming, it's not difficult to guess. Among the entire Han Dynasty, apart from us, only Yuan Shao and the court are the only ones who can gather thousands of cavalry."

"It is impossible for the imperial court to attack Runan, and Yuan Shao is far away from Runan, and there is Liu Bei blocking him, so how could he come over? We are the only ones who are closest to Runan and have the most motivation."

After Liu Zheng explained this, Xu Huang also nodded.

"Mr. Kuai Liang, you are really smart. Since you have already guessed our identities, why don't you sacrifice the city and surrender? I can recommend you to serve under my Majesty's account. It will definitely not be much worse than you under Liu Biao's account."

In order not to expose himself, Liu Zheng pretended not to be Liu Zheng, and had a conversation with Kuai Liang.

Kuai Liang in the city just showed some sneers and didn't answer Liu Zheng.

After waiting for a long time, Kuai Liang didn't speak any more, but Liu Zheng got a little impatient and continued talking.

"Mr. Kuai Liang, it seems that you have no intention of surrendering. If so, then I have no choice but to lead people to attack the city."

"Hmph, attack if you can. I'll see if you can beat my Runan City."

At this time, there were still thousands of defenders in the city, but Kuai Liang was really sure that he could hold the city and not be afraid of Liu Zheng's cavalry attacking the city.

However, Liu Zheng only pretended to attack the city, and did not attack directly. After ordering people to run around the Runan City, he stopped and set up camp.

Chapter 783 Chen Guo Chen Wang

Kuai Liang was already ready for the challenge.