There are gentlemen in the Three Kingdoms

"Obtaining Xiangyang is equivalent to obtaining the northern land of Jingzhou. Obtaining the northern land of Jingzhou is equivalent to winning Nanyang County. Mr. Cai's contribution to this battle is indispensable. The things that Tao promised you in the previous letter will naturally come one by one. cash."

When Cai Mao heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

He knelt down on one knee towards the potter, cupped his hands and said: "Thanks to the kindness of the prime minister, Cai Mao will definitely serve the court and the prime minister in the future, and do the work of a dog and a horse."

"It's good that the general has this kind of heart."

After the pottery merchant comforted him, he changed the subject again: "In today's world, when it comes to navy, one is my Yangzhou navy, and the other is the Jingzhou navy that was governed by generals in the past. Now the north of Jingzhou has calmed down. If I start gathering the navy and warships in the Northland, how many will I have?"

Cai Mao said: "Since Jingzhou established its capital in Jiangling, a large number of naval forces and warships have been moved to Nanjun and Jiangxia Commanderies for the purpose of patrolling the river. If you drop a little, although there are not as many as Nanjun, you can form your own army."

The pottery merchant nodded, and said: "Then if I ask the general to go out and gather these warships and water troops, maybe I will go eastward along the river to support Jiangxia?"

Cai Mao cupped his hands and said: "Cai, how dare you refuse your order! Prime Minister, don't worry, Jingbei is as stable as Mount Tai with me, Cai Mao. Prime Minister can rest assured to gather troops and horses to go south and attack Jiangling City."

The pottery merchant nodded, and said, "Pang Tong has destroyed Xiangyang's registration form and household registration. If I want to take over Xiangyang's political affairs, I'm afraid I won't be able to leave for a while. I'm afraid Jiangling City will have to wait a while. gone."

After hearing this, Cai Hao hesitated, and said: "Prime Minister, the general thinks that you should not slow down your pace of conquering Jiangling because of these things. The reaction is to gather troops and horses to go south quickly is the best policy."

Tao Shang raised his eyebrows: "Why?"

Cai Mao gave a soft chuckle, and explained to the potter: "Prime Minister, to be honest, the northern part of Jingzhou is very close to the Central Plains, and it is in the middle of the world, so it is extremely difficult to keep it. In Cai Mou's view, Jiangling City is the strongest city in Jingzhou, and the only city that can be called a barrier to the north."

"Is it very difficult to fight?" The potter was very surprised. Logically speaking, although Jingzhou is rich, it is located in the middle of the world and there are few mountains. Shouldn't it be a difficult place to defend?

"It's quite difficult to fight." Cai Mao said to the potter with certainty.

"why?"

Cai Mao let out a long sigh, and said, "Jiangling is surrounded by water on three sides. If the northern army wants to fight, they can only attack by force from one side, and cannot besiege the city."

The potter frowned.

"In addition, Jiangling City itself is also extremely strong. Its walls are about three feet high, more than two feet thick, and twenty miles in circumference, covering almost the entire city. , going up and down according to the terrain, winding along the lake and pool, looking from a high place, the water is like plain practice, and the city is like a dragon."

Hearing Cai Mao say so much, the pottery merchant finally understood.

No wonder Pang Tong wanted to withdraw, it turned out that this was what he had in mind.

He must buy time for the construction of Jiangling!

8Chapter 17 Final year

Just as the potters reacted, Liu Bei and Pang Tongtong's initial strategy was to use Jiangling City as the front line of defense to the north.

In fact, it is true that only by using the landform of Jiangling City can we defend the Tao army in the north.

After the Battle of Chibi in history, Liu Bei occupied part of the territory of Jingzhou.

In the years when Liu Bei occupied Jingzhou until he entered Sichuan, the reason why Jingzhou was able to block Cao Cao in the north, except for the weakening of Cao Cao's power after the Battle of Chibi and Sun Quan's support for him, is that Liu Bei has always been The forward position used to fight against Cao Cao is Jiangling.

The special terrain of Jiangling allowed Liu Bei to always guard the Jingnan gate, even though Cao Cao's troops and territory far surpassed him.

But now, the wheel of the times has changed, but after the situation reached this point, the potter found that Liu Bei was still following the old path of history.

But this step of the old road is really very difficult.

According to Cai Mao, he wanted the potters to take advantage of the morale of pacifying Jingbei and pacify the south quickly, lest Liu Bei and Pang Tong make preparations and be discovered in the future.

But after careful consideration by the potter, he had another consideration and idea.

Since Liu Bei and Pang Tong had calculated that Xiangyang would be lost sooner or later, the strategy to stop the Northern Army based on Jiangling City had already been finalized by Liu Bei and Pang Tong.

Right now, I am in a hurry. I guess Jiangling City is also heavily guarded. In this situation, it is better to consolidate the territory in my hands first.

The sixth year of Jiankang is a leap forward for potters.

In this year, he pacified the Central Plains, conquered Jingbei, drove Cao Cao to Guanzhong, and expelled Liu Bei to Jingnan.

In this year, he completely established his position as the overlord of the world.

But the expansion of the site was too fast, so quickly that the potter felt a little indigestion.

He decided to use the remaining months of the sixth year of Jiankang to consolidate the territory and re-plan the policies for the territories under his jurisdiction.

But the potter stopped, but the others did not.

In August of the sixth year of Jiankang, the navy formed by Cai Mao in Jingbei went down the river to Jiangxia County to assist Lu Su, Tao Ying and others.

In October of the sixth year of Jiankang, Zhuge Liang planned to defeat Liu Bei and Huang Zu in Jiangxia County. Huang Zu died in battle.

In November of the sixth year of Jiankang, Zhuge Liang, Lu Su and others all occupied the territory of Jiangxia, while Cui Jun and Meng Jian, who had just returned to Liu Bei's command, surrendered.

In fact, it is very normal, Liu Bei now has only one state in his hands, how can he compete with the potters?In addition to his former die-hard fans, how could these people who had just joined his command take their lives for him?At most, it is just a brief expression.

After all, for Liu Bei, he is no longer in the general situation.

At the same time, news also came from Guanzhong. Cao Cao successfully entered Hanzhong in December of the sixth year of Jiankang. Zhang Lu led the crowd to surrender, and the potter's allies Li Ru and Dong Bai It was missing again.

Cao Cao's strategy of developing to Hanzhong was quite beyond the expectations of the potters.

According to what he knew about Cao Cao, he should have found an opportunity to counterattack back to the Central Plains from Hangu Pass, but he never expected that he would change direction and kill Xichuan.

But no matter what kind of tactics Cao Cao is currently using, for the potters, this year's events have passed, and it is already the time of the new year. No matter what ideas he has, he will implement them in the seventh year of Jiankang.

All relatives and important subordinates have gathered in Xuchang, and everyone is looking forward to spending this festive season together.

Tao Qian, Wang Yun, Diao Chan, Mi Zhen, Lu Lingqi, Zhen Mi, Yuan Wan, Erqiao, Tao Ji and others all came to Xuchang from Xuzhou.

Tao Hua's illness is not conducive to walking around, so she can only stay in Pengcheng for the holiday.

As for little Liu Xi, he is now six years old. Although he is still young, he is extremely filial. He voluntarily chooses to stay in Pengcheng to serve his mother and fulfill his filial piety before his bed.

On the night of New Year's Eve, a grand banquet was held in Xuchang City, and the potter's family, including the close officials in the city, celebrated the festive season together, creating a joyous scene.

The female relatives are in the inner house, while the courtiers are in the outer hall, it can be said that it is very lively.

"Father, my father-in-law, I would like to respect you a glass of wine. I wish you two elders good fortune forever, and live as long as heaven."

After listening to the pottery's New Year greetings, the two old men, Tao Qian and Wang Yun, were very happy.

But anyone who seeks immortality and asks for immortality, there is no one who does not like these two words.

These are two godly words that gather the essence of the 2000-year-old way of cultivating immortals in Central China.

Not to mention that these two are old and not ashamed, even the leader of the Dragon Sect can't handle it.

Tao Qian raised his head and drank a glass of wine, sighed: "Time flies, it has been more than ten years since I beat you to fight against Dong Zhuo, and you have grown from an ignorant boy to me, Tao Shi!" The pillar of the family, my son. How old are you this year?"