After Yuan Shu left the city, he turned south and ran for fifty or sixty miles before he dared to stop.

Only hundreds of cavalry followed, and other infantry were still behind.

At this time, he was tired and hungry. He looked towards Wancheng and sighed deeply: "How could this happen! How could this happen!"

"I thought I would win, but I didn't expect the result to be like this, alas!" Yuan Shu sighed again.

"General, stop talking, we'll be fine when we get to Yuzhang, let's go quickly!"

The chief clerk, Yan Xiang, looked helpless at this moment.

Such a result was unexpected by him. Who would have thought that the general guarding the city would rebel and surrender to Liu Bei.

"Everything is gone!"

Yuan Shu thought of his beautiful concubines, and also thought that he left in a hurry and even forgot to take the imperial seal.

"General, let's go!"

Zhang Xun and Chen Lan were both leading the troops from behind, but were not with Yuan Shu now.

Yuan Shu thought of Liu Yao and Sun Quan again. He estimated that when they fled to Yuzhang, they were in the same mood as himself.

He shook his head, sighed again, then patted his horse and continued forward.

Liu Bei settled the people in the city and counted the battle losses. This time the casualties were not large, only more than 600, but he killed more than 3,000 enemy soldiers and captured more than 5,000.

Countless gold and wealth were seized from Yuan Shu's mansion, as well as a lot of grain, weapons and armor.

"Sir, do we still want to give Lujiang River to Huang Zu?"

Liu Bei did not expect to win Wancheng so easily, and he was very reluctant to give up Lujiang to Huang Zu.

"Of course I have to do it. How can my lord break his promise?" Zhou Ping replied.

Liu Bei nodded slightly, but he felt very regretful in his heart, regretting that he had spoken out in the first place.

"Also, although Lujiang is easy to get, it is not easy to defend. If Yuan and Cao join forces to attack Xuzhou, Sun Quan and Yuan Shu will definitely join forces to capture Lujiang. And Huang Zu's son died fighting to help us. If he can't benefit, he will definitely resent us.

.Lord, we will still need to rely on the power of Jingzhou and Jiangxia in the future!"

"Hahaha... what you said is absolutely true, but the Lujiang River can be given away, but the food and grass left by Yuan Shu cannot be given away." Liu Bei said with a smile.

"Yes, we can quickly transport half of the grain and grass to Hefei and leave the other half to Huang Zu. If he doesn't have grain and grass, he won't be able to defend Lujiang. Lujiang is better in Huang Zu's hands than in Sun Quan's."

Liu Bei asked: "Then shall we pursue Yuan Shu?"

Zhou Ping shook his head slightly: "No, Huang Zu has sent troops and horses. According to my expectation, Yuan Shu will not dare to stay in Lujiang and will definitely flee to Yuzhang. If we send troops to pursue him, we are afraid that when Yuan Cao's troops come to attack Xuzhou

, it is difficult for the troops and horses to return. In addition, my lord, we should first send troops and horses back to Xuzhou to help defend."

Xuzhou now only has 10,000 troops from Langya Zangba, 5,000 troops each from Pengcheng and Xiapi, and 5,000 troops from Chen Deng in Guangling.

Zhou Ping expected that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao would definitely lead troops to attack, but it was difficult to predict when they would send troops and how many troops they would have.

Now that Yuan Shu has been defeated and Lujiang has been given to Huang Zu, he can first send 5,000 troops back to Xuzhou to prevent Cao Cao from suddenly sending troops.

"Then let Boping lead five thousand troops back to defend Xiapi first!" Liu Bei thought for a moment and said.

Guan Yu wanted to stay in Yangzhou, and Zhang Fei wanted to follow him, so the best candidate to lead troops back to defend Xuzhou first was Gao Shun.

Zhou Ping's candidate was also Gao Shun.

Gao Shun is not very powerful, but relatively stable. With him and Xu Sheng guarding Xiapi, even if Cao Cao suddenly leads an army to attack, it is impossible to break through it all at once.

Liu Bei asked Guan Yu and Li Jia to lead 15,000 people to transport half of Wancheng's grain and grass, and return to the fertilizer first.

Counting the captured soldiers and horses, Liu Bei still had 20,000 people in Wancheng.

He had to wait for Yuan Shu to escape from Lujiang and Huang Zu's troops to arrive before he could leave.

He also asked Lu Su, who was stationed in Xiang'an, to lead 3,000 people to cross the river and station in Chungu. Including the original 2,000 people in Chungu, there were a total of 5,000 people, who together with Taishi Ci guarded Danyang.

Taishi Ci was also recruiting troops in Danyang.

Zhang Kai made great achievements this time. Liu Bei worshiped him as Zhonglang General and rewarded him with a hundred gold. The soldiers who followed him also received heavy rewards. Anyway, Yuan Shu left a lot of gold and money.

The rest of the soldiers also received generous rewards. Liu Bei was more generous in this regard. He was not a money-lover.

Zhang Kai took the initiative to ask to go to Wu County, saying that he wanted to assist Mi Fang in co-governing Wu County. Although he did not explicitly say that he wanted to be the captain of Wu County, Liu Bei understood what he meant.

Liu Bei did not agree immediately and asked Zhou Ping for his opinion.

People like Zhang Kai have no talent or ability, and are afraid of death and greedy for profit. They are a disaster wherever they are placed.

According to Zhou Ping's idea, he should keep him by his side and keep an eye on him at all times. As long as he breaks the law, he can be killed or demoted. Or when Cao Cao comes to attack, let him lead the troops to charge into the battle, and use Cao Cao's help.

The knife killed him.

But Zhou Ping did not tell Liu Beiming. He only said that Zhang Kai was in a great position and could be allowed to stay with him as a way of showing preferential treatment.

Liu Bei did not adopt Zhou Ping's advice, and finally agreed to let Zhang Kai serve as Qu'aling, and command two thousand soldiers to garrison Wu Commandery together with Mi Fang.

Zhou Ping sent someone to inquire about Duke Qiao, and it turned out that he had two daughters with stunning looks, named Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao.

Da Qiao is seventeen years old this year, and Xiao Qiao is fifteen years old. They live outside Wancheng.

He asked a county official in Wancheng to go to Duke Qiao to be a matchmaker for him, saying that he wanted to take Da Qiao as his concubine.

This county official is a member of a wealthy family in Wancheng, and his words have a certain prestige.

Soon I got a reply from the county official, saying that Mr. Qiao agreed.

When Duke Qiao heard that it was Zhou Ping, he immediately agreed to make his daughter Da Qiao his concubine, which surprised Zhou Ping.

I originally thought that Guild Qiao would refuse and I would need to find another way, but I didn't expect it to go so smoothly.

Because he might have to return to Xuzhou, Zhou Ping went to fetch Da Qiao without further delay.

The moment he saw Da Qiao, Zhou Ping was stunned.

Gan Qian is beautiful, but Da Qiao is even more beautiful!

Even Liu Bei was full of praise after seeing it: "Sir, you are really blessed to have found such beauty!"

"Hahaha... The only thing I like in peace is wine and sex! When the world is calm, I can always be with you at home and enjoy the blessings of everyone!" Zhou Ping laughed.

"If the world is stable, sir, I should help the emperor to rule the world together with Gu. I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany the beauty every day!"

"Hahaha... When the world is stable, there will be people who can help the lord govern the world. I just want to enjoy happiness at home and don't want to be so busy anymore."

Zhou Ping quickly expressed his attitude to Liu Bei. What he wanted was not power.

"I want to be like my husband, so I don't have to travel so much to fight!"

Liu Bei looked at Zhou Ping with admiration and sighed slightly.

"The lord is the Liu family. He has a heavy responsibility to revitalize the Han Dynasty. How can he stay out of it like Ping! What Ping can do is to know people, so he can recruit talents for the lord. But the lord's ability lies in calming the chaos and calming the people. Can the people of the world be able to do it?

Our safety depends on the Lord’s strength!”

"Hahaha... In this case, I am afraid that I will not be able to enjoy the blessings of everyone like my husband!" Liu Bei laughed.

Zhou Ping laughed together and suddenly remembered something and said, "My lord, Mr. Qiao has two daughters. Xiao Qiao is fifteen years old. Ping wants to be a matchmaker for her. Xu and Kong Ming. What do you think, my lord?"

Zhou Ping cannot win Xiao Qiao alone. Zhuge Liang is now eighteen years old and not yet married, so it may be appropriate for him to marry Xiao Qiao.

If Zhuge Liang did not go to Jingzhou, he would definitely not be able to marry Huang Yueying again. If he married Xiao Qiao, neither he nor Xiao Qiao would suffer.

It will also be of some benefit to me. Zhuge Liang may be reused by Liu Bei in the future, and I want to retreat after I succeed. With people like Zhuge Liang protecting me, I will be safe after retreating.

"This is a good thing, but we need to ask Kong Ming and Zhuge Zhizhong if they agree." Liu Bei said.

Indeed, there is no need to rush this matter now. It is better to wait until we return to Xuzhou before telling them about it.

Yuan Shu ran to Xunyang and saw that Liu Bei had not sent troops to pursue him. He wanted to stop and rest. However, he heard that Huang Zu was personally leading troops to Lujiang. He was so frightened that he hurried across the river and ran to Chaisang before stopping again.

At this time, before Cao Ren and Xu Huang led their troops back to Yanzhou, Cao Cao came to Yecheng again to pay homage to Yuan Shao.

"Isn't the general in a hurry?"

Cao Cao asked Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao looked puzzled and said with a smile: "Gongsun has been destroyed, why are you so anxious?"

"Hasn't the general heard that Liu Bei has captured Wancheng, retreated by road, and Lujiang has been captured by Liu Bei. Liu Bei has captured four of the six counties in Yangzhou. Wang Lang of Kuaiji is from Xuzhou, and he may be interested in Liu Bei. Only Yuzhang

In the hands of Sun. Liu Bei's troops are still in Lujiang, and they will continue to march towards Yuzhang. This is a good opportunity for us to capture Xuzhou, we can't miss it!"

Cao Cao only knew that Liu Bei had captured Wancheng and Yuan Shu had retreated. He did not know that Liu Bei had promised to hand over Lujiang River to Huang Zu, nor did he know that Liu Bei had sent Gao Shun to lead five thousand troops to retreat to Xuzhou first.

He thought that Liu Bei would continue to march towards Yuzhang, and he would not stop until he defeated Yuan Shu and Sun Quan and captured the entire Yangzhou.

"Of course I've heard about this. What does Meng De mean?"

Now that Gongsun Zan has been destroyed, Yuan Shao believes that his biggest threat has been eliminated and is not in a hurry.

"If Liu Bei attacks the highway and the Sun family, he will gain the entire Yangzhou. Peter's two states, with strong military strength, will definitely come to capture our Yanzhou. If Yanzhou is lost, the next place he will capture is Jizhou. Benchu

, we must raise troops to capture Xuzhou as soon as possible, cut off its roots, and make it weak so that it can no longer threaten Jizhou and the emperor!" Cao Cao urged.

"General, what Cao Yanzhou said is absolutely true. We must take advantage of Liu Bei's troops in Lujiang and send troops to seize Xuzhou as soon as possible. Only then can Jizhou be at peace!" Tian Feng, the governor of Wei County, continued.

"Yes, if Xuzhou is captured, no one in the world will be dissatisfied with the power of the general!" Guang Luxun Guo Tu also said.
To be continued...