Liu Ye watched the emperor enter the door and stood up to greet him.

The emperor looked at Liu Ye and wanted to speak but stopped. He walked slowly through the atrium, climbed the steps and stood in front of the hall. Cao Pi rushed over to relieve the emperor's shoes. The emperor had no reaction and went to the hall with his back to Liu Ye, standing motionless, without saying a word for a long time.

Liu Ye was uneasy and said tentatively: "Your Majesty, I have already drafted an edict to Yuan Tan. Has Your Majesty reviewed it?"

The emperor answered the question irrelevantly. "Ziyang, if Yuan Tan lost Hebei, will we still have a chance?"

"Yuan Tan lost Hebei..." Liu Ye was stunned for a moment, frowned and pondered for a long time. "Of course, there is also. Although the navy is powerful, it is difficult to enter Guanzhong, and although the stone throwing machine is strong, it cannot break Taihang. If you are condescending and defending with danger, you still have a chance. But..."

"It's just that it's difficult to last. Most of the world's wealth is in Kanto. Sun Ce has seized the property of aristocratic families and is planning to give oral land. The people yearn for it. The population of Kanto will increase. The population of Kanto will not be enough to resist. The court has less wealth and fewer household registrations, so it's afraid it won't last for a long time, right? Then, how many years can we last?"

Liu Ye scratched his head a little. This prediction is difficult to make, especially when facing Sun Ce, his opponent, who knows how many hidden weapons he has. All predictions are based on common sense. If this common sense is broken, there is naturally no way to talk about predictions.

"I'm not sure?" The emperor turned around, looked at Liu Ye, and raised the corners of his mouth.

Although Liu Ye felt a little uncomfortable, he still nodded. He was indeed not sure now. Several predictions were lost, making him afraid that he would judge the situation easily, for fear of misleading the emperor again and causing irreparable disasters. The situation is unclear, so it is naturally more safe to be conservative.

"But you have one thing right. Although the navy is profitable, it is difficult to enter Guanzhong. Although the stone throwing machine is strong, it cannot break Taihang. We still have dangers to defend, but Yuan Tan is afraid that he can't hold on. But he can buy us some time or... create some opportunities."

Liu Ye knew the emperor's thoughts and understood it as soon as he heard it. If Yuan Tan could hold Sun Ce's main force in Jizhou, the emperor would have a chance in Nanyang. He breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Xun Yu could not persuade the emperor to leave. If the emperor wanted to go far away from the Western Regions, he would not want to. He could not bear it in Liangzhou for a few months, let alone the Western Regions farther than Liangzhou. Try the fine wine from the Western Regions, see Hu's singing and dancing, and live in the Western Regions, and live with Qiang and Hu, he would not want to.

"Your Majesty, if Yuan Tan wants to defend Jizhou, he must have cavalry. Youzhou has cavalry, but Liu Bei is greedy and will never provide support for free. He must have Yuan Tan exchanged money and grain. In Jizhou's current situation, I am afraid that I can't get any money and grain."

"Chiefs were drawn from Bingzhou and ready for reinforcements at any time." The emperor had made a decision and raised his hand.

Liu Ye deeply agreed. Strengthening control over Bingzhou and assisting Yuan Tan and Sun Ce in confronting Jizhou and waiting for the opportunity was the best choice for the court. It not only avoided his own casualties, but also prevented Yuan Tan from losing hope. Jizhou's terrain was flat and suitable for cavalry to gallop. Youzhou, and Bingzhou could go south and advance east at any time. Sun Ce was both defending the cavalry and attacking the city, and his troops could not be shortened. If you were not careful, you might suffer severe damage.

"Your Majesty, Sun Ce may arrange for Taishi Ci to take Youzhou first and then attack Bingzhou."

"So it is very important whether Liu Bei can defend the western part of Youzhou. Zi Yang picked a few people from the court to assist Liu Bei. Liu Bei was brave in combat, but there were fewer counselors. Although he had Feng Ji, he was afraid that it would not be enough, so he would choose a few suitable counselors and military affairs. In addition, he picked another Dayuan horse and sent it to him. I heard that Guan Yu had always lacked a suitable war horse and could not exert his combat power. I hope this Dayuan horse could solve his problem."

Liu Ye understood it. This was not only a favor to Liu Bei, but also a monitoring of Liu Bei. The emperor always used Liu Bei, not a real trust. He used the title of King Zhongshan to exchange for Zhao Yun, but now he had to use Dayuan horse to win over Guan Yu.

"I'll make arrangements."

The emperor paced back and forth for two steps and said, "Zi Yang, the Wood School in Guanzhong should pay attention to it. The Tao is not separated from the instrument, and it is like a shadow. We did not pay enough attention to practical studies such as wood school in the past, so we were controlled by others."

Liu Ye deeply felt the same. "It is the minister who has neglected his duties, so he must pay attention to it in the future and narrow the distance with Sun Ce as much as possible."

——

Guan Yu had a dark face, jumped off his horse and changed to a spare war horse.

This time he went out with Liu Bei to fight against Taishi Ci. He did not bring the three Liangzhou horses that Taishi Ci gave him, but prepared three other good horses. These three horses were tall and slightly inferior to Liangzhou horses. After riding for a while, the horses were a little exhausted. The march was barely enough, but the rushing was unable to speed up.

As a forward, he had to stay alert and be ready to fight at any time.

"General, look." Zhou Cang stretched out his hand. Guan Yu looked forward along his finger and saw a black spot on the distant hillside, which seemed to be a knight. Behind the hillside, there was a faint smoke and dust, which was a sign of a large group of people. Two knights rushed down from the hillside and were galloping towards him.

Guan Yu did not dare to neglect and immediately ordered the entire army to be on guard and prepare for battle.

Deputy General Tian Yu also discovered the abnormality in front of him. After receiving the order, he ordered his soldiers to push out the Wugang car, which also serves as a baggage car, and line up on both sides. He knew that Taishici had armored cavalry, but without the Wugang car, it would be difficult for the light cavalry to face the armored cavalry head-on. Using the Wugang car as a cover and shooting with a strong crossbow can resist it and create opportunities for the light cavalry to attack the armored cavalry side.

Just when Guan Yu and Tian Yu were busy, more knights appeared on the distant hillside, spreading on both sides of the knight and extending to the bottom of the hillside. Even though they were far apart, they still conveyed a strong sense of fighting. The armor that shone with light from the sunlight showed that these knights were the armored cavalry that made the Xianbei people frightened.

Two knights came to Guan Yu and turned over and dismounted. One was a scout sent by Guan Yu, and the other was Taishi Ci's personal guard. Guan Yu had seen him many times. The personal guard came to Guan Yu and bowed to him.

"God of General Guan, my governor congratulates the general on his promotion to the front of Zhongshan Kingdom."

Guan Yu's face was hot, but fortunately his face was red, so he couldn't tell. Liu Bei was named King of Zhongshan, and he was promoted to the former general, with the prefect of Jieyue, and the commander of Zhuo County, Yuyang and Guangyang. Since these two or three counties were facing Liaodong and were the vanguards when fighting against Liaodong, they were also called the front governor. Taishi Ci ordered people to pass on the message, not mentioning his official position as the former general, but called him the front governor, which was naturally to tease their current hostile relationship.

"Is it okay for Ziyi?"

"My governor is very good. He wants to meet with the general. I wonder what method the general wants to do?"

“Is there a few other ways?”

"Yes, one way is that the governor and the general meet in front of the formation, either reminiscing about old feelings or martial arts; one way is to command the army and compete with each other. However, my governor said that you have insufficient troops and poor equipment, and the two armies are not strong in fighting each other, so he still wants to meet with the general alone, but I don't know what the general wants?"

Guan Yu sneered and retorted habitually. "Is it not a good thing to win? He thought that a cavalry could defeat me?" He paused and felt bored. Although the troops on both sides were equal, his troops had infantry and only more than 5,000 cavalry. If he really wanted to fight, he would definitely suffer a loss, at least he had no chance of winning. Unless Liu Bei led the main force to come, both sides might have the power to fight.

"Still the sword, I'll go and meet Ziyi to see if his martial arts have improved."

Zhou Cang stepped forward, handed the spear, and whispered: "General, you don't have a knife."

"Oh." Guan Yu responded embarrassedly, took the spear, kicked the horse's belly lightly, and rushed forward. The horse had just ridden and had not yet run away. He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to run. Zhou Cang ordered people to notify Tian Yu to take over the command while jumping on the horse to chase Guan Yu. Fortunately, Liu Bei had known about the relationship between Guan Yu and Taishi Ci for a long time, and it was estimated that they might face it alone, so he specially arranged for Tian Yu to be Guan Yu's deputy general so that the army would not be without a leader or without command.

Seeing Guan Yu rushing out of the formation, Taishi Ci also ran down the hillside, strangled his mount under the slope, and looked at Guan Yu with a smile. Guan Yu ran to the front, strangled his war horse, and sang: "Ziyi, are you safe?"

"Thank you, Chief Yun, for your concern, I am very good. I heard that Chief Yun was promoted to the title and failed to congratulate you. Please forgive me."

"So, are you here to congratulate me today?"

"Yes, ten thousand elite riders and two hundred armor riders are enough?"

"Haha, it's not enough. Ziyi, you underestimate Guan Mou. If you don't believe it, you might as well attack." Guan Yu pointed his hand at the position behind him. Tian Yu had arranged the position, and hundreds of Wugang cars spread on both wings, with strong crossbows and spears waiting for the front. Even if it is an armored cavalry, it will be quite difficult to break through from the front, unless it takes a detour from the side, but in that case, the physical energy consumption of the armored cavalry will be greater, which will undoubtedly affect the duration of the armored cavalry's continuous battle.

Taishici laughed. "Chang Yun, you and I have known each other for several years, there is no need to be mysterious. If I want to attack you, why ask you to meet you? Today I just want to reminisce about the past with you, and there is no intention of meeting you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have only brought two hundred armored horses."

Guan Yu smiled slightly, but as soon as his smile spread out, he froze, his heart skipped a beat, and then he sank.

Taishi Ci had something to say. He had only more than 500 armored horses before. After resting for more than a year, the losses had been made up for a long time, and it would only be more, but not less. Why are there only 200 armored horses here? Where did the remaining armored horses go?

Guan Yu looked up and roughly estimated that if the armored cavalry led by Taishi Ci was on the hillside, there would be only about 200. He was scared and sweated coldly at that time. Taishi Ci was a suspicious soldier. His real target was not himself, but someone else. The armored cavalry was arranged to another battlefield, and the most likely one was Liu Bei behind him.
Chapter completed!