Chapter 243 Don’t Ask Ghosts and Gods
After the banquet, Black Bear invited Zhuge Liang to sleep on the same bed.

Many candlesticks in the bedroom were blown out, leaving only one candlestick on the table.

Under the sheep oil lamp, a cowhide map was spread on the table.

Black Bear told Zhuge Liang in detail about his family background and concerns.

The wealth of the family naturally made Zhuge Liang astonished.

But he also had two concerns. The first was that the Black Bear clan had few relatives, and the Ma family was the most powerful among the relatives. Considering the Cai Zhenji he was about to marry, the Cai family's influence in the army and Guanzhong was far less than that of Ma Teng.

The Ma family is very likely to merge, and with Ma Liang brought by Zhuge Liang, a very spectacular Maoling Ma family is about to take shape.

The cultural influence that Ma Teng and his son lacked was not lacking in the direct descendants of the Ma family. However, after the death of Ma Riti and Ma Yu, the cultural influence of the Ma family declined greatly. The emergence of Ma Liang will take over and fill the vacancy of the great scholar of the Ma family.

The rise of the Ma family is almost a foregone conclusion.

Countless people will make friends with this family, and they will become important pillars of Black Bear, led by the Ma family.

But Ma did not have any overwhelming advantage in military power, and he did not even have one-tenth of the troops in Black Bear's hands.

Therefore, the probability of something like the Lu family rebellion happening is very small at present.

In addition to this concern, the second concern is that the foundation is extremely shallow and cannot withstand the blow of failure.

Now Cao Cao gathered his main forces and began to advance towards Liyang along the frozen river.

The decisive battle of Liyang is imminent, and countless people are watching and waiting for Black Bear's decision.

During this sensitive period, the imperial envoy was about to arrive in Guanzhong.

Black Bear suspected that the mission of the imperial envoy team was to delay him and buy time for Cao Cao.

As long as he does not send out troops, Yuan Shang, Liu Qi, Liu Bei and those scholars within the country who try to rely on him and want to use him to restore the Han Dynasty will be disappointed.

After hearing this, Zhuge Liang said, "The Ma family is growing unstoppable, and the lord has agreed to the marriage proposal in Hebei. We can use the power of the Yuan family to suppress the Ma family."

As long as one family does not dominate the harem, many trivial problems will naturally be resolved over time.

Zhuge Liang hesitated for a moment before asking, "May I ask, sir, what is your mother's origin?"

"When I kidnapped the two Yuan brothers and escaped from Hebei, the wives of the three Yuan brothers were in the car. Yuan Tan swore to kill his wife in order to escape, and Yuan Xi's wife also committed suicide with a hairpin, but was rescued by me afterwards."

Zhuge Liang didn't know Zhen Mi's surname, but he knew that she was Yuan Xi's wife.

Zhuge Liang opened his mouth when he heard this. He wanted to say something several times but finally held back.

Then Black Bear said, "When I returned from the withdrawal a few days ago, I also told her about Yuan Shang's intention to form an alliance. In the next few years, I will move to Ganquan to station troops so that I can use the troops outside the Great Wall. There must be spies among Yuan's dowry, and I will set up a vassal before these people come."

Zhuge Liang was relieved: "If we can conceal it for a few years, I have nothing to worry about. I am only worried that this matter will be leaked, and Yuan Xi will raise an army to join Cao Cao, so that Hebei will easily fall into Cao Cao's hands."

"Your concern is justified, sir. I am also concerned about this."

Black Bear said with a smile: "What people fear the most, this kind of thing will often happen, and it is difficult to stop it."

Zhuge Liang smiled at this statement and asked the second key question: "What do you want to do about the battle of Liyang?"

"I can't let Cao Cao capture Liyang City, and I can't give him Liyang West City either."

Black Bear stood up and took the map of Weijun and Dongjun from the shelf. He spread it out and pointed at Liyang City. "Cao Cao failed to besiege the two cities in the autumn, and now he comes again. He wants to use the vigor accumulated in the winter to break the tiredness of the two cities after a long siege. In addition, he wants to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements, so as to weaken the elite troops in Hebei, and then divide the troops to wreak havoc!"

Zhuge Liang could naturally understand that Yuan Shang could not allow the two cities to be besieged and broken. If Yuan Shang did nothing during the siege, the people of Hebei would be in panic. Who would dare to work for Yuan?

Yuan Shang must be rescued, so a field battle is bound to break out outside Liyang City.

Taking a step back, if Cao Cao used special tactics to break the city, it would not only dampen the morale of Hebei, but would fail to dampen or attack Hebei's elite field forces.

Then Cao's army would be in a passive position. Should the entire army attack Yecheng directly, or should they attack Yecheng directly while dividing their forces to plunder and destroy?
If the entire army attacks Yecheng directly, the food supply route will be destroyed; if the troops are divided to plunder and destroy Hebei, and expand the area controlled by Cao's army... then the size of the army besieging Yecheng will be reduced, and the advantage of a field battle will be reduced; the various teams going out to plunder will also be at risk of being ambushed in field battles.

Therefore, it was necessary to lure Hebei's elite troops out of Yecheng, inflict severe damage on the enemy, and undermine Hebei's morale.

Only in this way could they pursue the victory, and at the same time divide their forces to disrupt Hebei's spring plowing and vitality, and plunder precious supplies for the army.

If the opportunity is right, it would be normal for Cao Cao to repeat what happened in Xuzhou.

Cao Cao probably did not expect to capture Ye City in one battle, but he must have wanted to disrupt spring farming in Hebei on a large scale.

Only this level of destruction can make the people of Hebei feel fear; only then can they reflect and regret in the subsequent hunger, thus reducing the resistance to the future annexation of Hebei.

Black Bear briefly stated his opinion and said, "I cannot let Cao Cao capture the two cities of Liyang, let alone severely injure the elite troops of Hebei and destroy the foundation of Hebei. But if Cao Cao is defeated in Liyang, his prestige will be greatly damaged. I am worried that the people of the Central Plains will abandon Cao Cao and welcome Liu Yuzhou."

Zhuge Liang raised his hand and pinched his thin mustache. He was also thinking about the possibility of Liu Bei replacing Cao Cao. With Pang Tong, when Liu Bei marched into the Central Plains, Liu Qi would make great efforts to assist Liu Bei with Pang Tong's support.

If Liu Bei fought fiercely, the imperial court might really plot against Cao Cao.

Cao Cao now does not even have a decent successor or political substitute. Once Cao Cao himself is attacked, the Cao family will collapse.

It is one thing to mobilize the people of Guanlong to fight against Cao Cao, and it is another thing to fight against the imperial court.

The imperial court represented by Cao Cao is the mortal enemy of Hebei; but if Cao Cao is replaced by Liu Bei, then Hebei is very likely to join the imperial court in order to fight against itself.

Zhuge Liang pinched his beard and said, "My Lord, what you mean is that we can help in the battle of Liyang, but we can't hurt Cao Cao's base?"

"Well, Cao Cao led an army of more than 100,000 troops to attack, wasting countless money, food and manpower, but failed to capture the city and was defeated in Hebei. I'm afraid he will drown in the Yellow River. If he is recruited as a son-in-law by the Yellow River lord, wouldn't it be troublesome?"

Seeing that Black Bear was still in the mood to joke, Zhuge Liang also started laughing.

His father served as the prefect of Taishan County during his lifetime. At that time, the famous Taishan scholar Hu Wuban became famous for helping the Lord of Taishan to deliver a letter to his son-in-law, the Lord of the Yellow River.

Black Bear looked at Zhuge Liang's smile and felt a little complicated for a moment, so he asked, "Sir, what do you think about ghosts and gods?"

Zhuge Liang stopped laughing, but couldn't help laughing again, with a cheerful expression: "Keep your distance."

Black Bear raised his hand and touched his chin, and asked again: "Sir, you should have heard some legends about me, so why did you come to Guanzhong?"

Zhuge Liang stopped smiling and said, "My personality does not match Cao Cao. The factional struggle in Hebei is fierce, and the conflicts between the natives and immigrants in Jiangdong are no less than those in Hebei. They are not good to deal with. Liu Fubo has Pang Shiyuan on his left and Liu Yuzhou has Xu Yuanzhi as his right-hand man. Liu Jiyu of Yizhou is not a powerful leader. Looking at the world, Liang can only come to Guanzhong to give it a try."

Zhuge Liang picked up the black pottery teapot and poured himself some tea. The tea was warm, and he took a sip and savored it carefully. "There is also a dispute between the host and the guest in Jingzhou. Yuan Zhi served Liu Yuzhou, and Liang went to Guanzhong. This is evidence. May I ask, lord, did you decide to march into Guanzhong with a lone army at the beginning to avoid the dispute between the host and the guest in Jingzhou?"

"A little bit, I was far inferior to Liu Xuande in terms of fame, and even less in terms of subordinates. Anyone who founded a business must have killed people."

Black Bear also opened a cup for Zhuge Liang to pour tea, drank half a cup, and continued: "I came from the chaotic Central Plains, and deep in my heart I really like the peace and prosperity of Jingxiang. I really can't bear to destroy Xiangyang, such a paradise, for my own selfish reasons."

After finishing the rest of the tea, Black Bear said, "Thanks to the bravery of Taishi Wengong and Gan Xingba, I was lucky enough to establish this foundation. In September, I just wanted to form an alliance with the Xiongnu, but when I saw that their power was too great to be balanced, I attacked their Chanyu and defeated them when they were careless. To be honest, I am far inferior to veteran generals like Cao Cao and Liu Xuande."

He was thinking about how to reveal some tricks to Zhuge Liang without being as rough as he was with Gan Ning.

In Zhuge Liang's eyes, spreading all kinds of rumors while marching and fighting was just a basic operation of the military's yin and yang and the military situation.

For example, the rumors between Black Bear and Lu Bu did not exist before, so how did they arise when we were attacking the Huns?

It was simply because Lu Bu, Zhang Yang's former subordinates and fellow villagers returned to the northern part of Taiyuan one after another, as well as Lu Bu's reputation among the Huns.

In Zhuge Liang's eyes, many sudden events must have their deeper reasons.

He was not curious about what these deeper factors were. If he dug deeper, he would only seek benefits and avoid harm.

Seeing Black Bear modestly praising Cao Cao and Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "It is hard to find a man who can command troops like you, so you don't need to be modest."

Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and said, "With Cao Cao's ability, he can only command 30,000 at most. Liu Yuzhou has a strong character and lacks strategy. He is a brave general in the vanguard. If he is the commander of the army, he will surely make mistakes. As for the ability of our lord, even if he is not as good as the Marquis of Huaiyin, he is not much worse."

"Sir, don't say that. I just took advantage of the situation and defeated the Huns using the Huns' military tactics."

Black Bear felt a little embarrassed, so he temporarily gave up discussing ghosts and gods and otherworldly arts, and asked, "How many soldiers can you lead, sir?"

Hearing this, Zhuge Liang coughed twice and said with a proud look: "When I was living in seclusion in Longzhong, I often compared myself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi. People laughed at me. I wonder what you think of this, my lord?"

"Then we should first verify the talent of Mr. Guan Zhong, and then verify the talent of Mr. Yue Yi."

Black Bear made his decision and said, "When I become the Grand Marshal and open a government, I will appoint you as the Chief Secretary."

Zhuge Liang instinctively thought that this was natural and that everyone should be given the right position, but he asked: "Nanyang Chen Xiaoqi has done nothing wrong, so it is unfair to replace him."

"If it were just the three prefectures, Chen Xiaoqi would be able to take charge of the overall situation. Now, four more prefectures have been added: Hongnong, Hedong, Taiyuan, and Yanmen. When I withdrew my troops, I also recovered Xihe, Anding, and Shangjun. In addition to the three prefectures, there are seven more prefectures, which are beyond the capacity of Chen Xiaoqi to manage."

After thinking for a while, Black Bear smiled and said, "I will communicate with Liu Xuande and ask the Nanyang County Governor Mi Zizhong to recommend Chen Xiaoqi as a filial and honest official. When the Grand Marshal's Office is established, I will ask Chen Xiaoqi to go to Xudu to thank the emperor and offer local products."

As usual, the court would follow the procedures to retain Chen Zhen in Xudu and serve as Black Bear's spokesperson in Xudu.

If Chen Zhen was unwilling to stay in Xudu, the court would go through the process and recruit Chen Zhen as an idle court official such as a counselor, and after a few days he would be appointed as a county governor and sent away.

How can I say it? This world is still ruled by the Han Dynasty.

Politically speaking, there were only some conflicts between some governors and generals and Cao Sikong. In principle, everyone was a subject of the Han Dynasty.

To the officials of Xudu, there was only one traitor in the world: the Yuan family of Hebei.

Only after the Yuan family is eliminated will other governors and generals be identified as the next traitors.

(End of this chapter)