Chapter 28: Together

Cao Chong leaned on the kilogram and watched Sun Gan pull things out from a large box with interest. Dashuang looked at the gifts handed over by Sun Gan happily, and looked at them happily, screaming from time to time. Xiaoshuang had a cold face, and kept notes without a trace of smile on her face. She lowered her head slightly, and her dark hair was simply wrapped in a round bun and hung behind her head, revealing her slender and white neck and translucent ears as jade.

"Xiaoshuang, your father has sent so many things, why are you not happy?" Cao Chong looked at a light red mark on Xiaoshuang's cheeks and smiled quietly in Xiaoshuang's ears.

"There is nothing? This is less than one-tenth of the things my husband gave me." Xiaoshuang has been married for a month and is still a little unable to speak. She looked at Sun, who was smiling with dissatisfaction, and pouted and complained: "I won't say that my husband gave him so much food. The gift from Xiangyang alone was filled with ten cars. He only had so many things, and he gave it to the two of us. It was just a box. It's a pity that he can take."

Cao Chong couldn't help laughing. Just as he was about to speak, Da Shuang screamed, twisted his body and walked over quickly, holding a brocade box in his hand and carefully delivered it to the desk in front of Cao Chong, with a look of surprise: "Xiao Shuang, guess what did your father deliver to us?"

"What can you do? It's so funny." Xiaoshuang said carelessly, raising the pen in his hand: "Tell me quickly, I still have to register the account. After counting, I'll send it to the warehouse."

"Xiaoshuang..." Dashuang shouted coquettishly next to Xiaoshuang, looked at her with a smug look, stretched out her slender fingers, gently lifted up the copper buckle on the brocade box, and opened the brocade box with a "pop", revealing the big red silk cube inside. On the big red silk, ten milky white pearls with a diameter of about an inch were quietly lying on the big red silk, emitting a soft light.

Not only did Xiaoshuang cover his mouth in surprise, but even Cao Chong, who was used to seeing a lot of things, was a little surprised. He exclaimed and raised his hand to the two brothers Mi Zhu who were chatting around: "Uncle Mi, come and see the good things, there are such big pearls."

Mi Zhu also came over to take a look when he heard the sound, and couldn't help but take a breath. He turned his head and smiled dryly at Sun, "Gongyou, did this bead just obtained from Hepu? Such a big bead is rare."

Sun Gan was very satisfied with everyone's reaction. He wiped the sweat beads on his head, walked to Cao Chong and gave a gift. Then he sat down and smiled, "What I gave to my son-in-law, Miss, of course, is the best thing. These ten Hepu beads were selected by the lord himself, and he searched through the entire Hepu County, and found the ten largest and most round ones."

"Yingzi bronze mirror, diameter of Cunhepu Pearl." Cao Chong smiled, looked at Hepu Pearl with satisfaction, and recited a poem that had not appeared yet, "It's all treasures. It seems that my father-in-law has made a fortune recently. Lord Sun, Hepu, how can he get the address easily?"

Sun Gan smiled slightly and bowed: "With a general as a supporter, the lord took the Jung Site and Hepu for a smooth sailing without any effort. After the general's food arrived in Guiyang, General Zuo ordered General Guan to go south to get the Jung Site and the Mi School Captain went south to take Hepu. The war between the two counties went smoothly, and they were all done in just half a month."

Cao Chong nodded with a smile, picked up the teacup and looked at the green tea leaves in the teacup. After looking for a while, he raised his eyelids and looked at Sun Gan, who was smiling on his face: "The seven counties of Jiaozhou, my father-in-law has taken the fourth place, Jiuzhen, and Rinan must be his belongings. Does he... still want to take the South China Sea?"

Sun Gan smiled humbly, but his voice was extremely firm: "Since the lord is the governor of Jiaozhou, of course he has to take over Nanhai County. However, Nanhai County is no better than other counties. Ten thousand elite soldiers in Buzishan have not been in the South China Sea. Recently, Sun Yangzhou transferred the general Sun Boyang, the general of the expedition, to serve as the prefect of Jiuzhen. The two of them joined forces, with a total of 18,000 soldiers and sufficient food. My lord was a little helpless, so... sent Gan to discuss with my son-in-law to see if the general can respond from the side and then support some food and weapons. The general must also know that although Hepu produces good pearls, it does not produce rice, and most people feed on fish. Our army is really not used to it. Moreover, the journey is too long and the consumption on the road is too large, so the food sent to the front line is not sufficient."

Cao Chong did not respond to him. He took a sip of tea, savored it in his mouth for a long time, and turned a tea green around his mouth. He knew that with Liu Bei's personality, sending such a good Hepu Zhu is definitely not just to please his daughter, and his son-in-law was happy. When he was not at a loss, he must have felt Sun Quan's determination to retake Jiaozhou and was worried that he could not handle it, so he wanted to pull him into the water, causing a situation of attack on Sun Quan. As for the food problem, it was just mentioned by the way. Guan Yu has not yet taken Jiuzhen and Rinan, and the food is still tight. It is possible, but it is definitely not a big problem. Once he enters Jiuzhen, Sunnan, that is, Vietnam in later generations, his food problem can be solved immediately. The rice cultivation there has always been very prosperous. Although it has not reached the scale of later generations, it is still no problem to meet the food of his 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers. With the combat effectiveness of Guan Yu, those barbarians are simply savages who can farm and are vulnerable. Of course, the premise is that you don’t go into the jungle with him, and I think Guan Yu will not be so mentally retarded to fight the jungle with those savages.

From this perspective, Liu Bei asked him for food again to test him and how much assistance he could give him, not really wanting food. Of course, if you want it, he will definitely be 100% willing to accept it.

The problem is that Cao Chong just wanted to watch the two families fight to consume each other's strength. He had no idea of ​​letting Liu Bei really dominate Jiaozhou. Once Liu Bei really gained his foothold in Jiaozhou, it would not be so easy to deal with now.

That is what it means to raise a tiger.

Seeing that Cao Chong didn't say anything, Xiaoshuang snorted and said to Sun Gan: "Mr. Sun, my husband has sent his brother to fight Lu Meng in Yichun. The elites of Jiangdong have been dragged to Yuzhang and did not set off. Could it be that my father's lifelong military service, and even people like Bu Zhi and Sun Ben can't deal with it? He only knows that he wants food. Do he know how much pressure his husband has withstood him in order to help him?"

Sun Gan hurriedly smiled and said, "Miss, of course, the lord knows. He also said that if it weren't for the help of his son-in-law, he would not be able to regain his strength in any case. But the lord also knew that the lord's troops were really limited, and General Guan still had to take Rinan, Jiuzhen, and the lord took away two or three thousand people. Now the lord's subordinates only had 15,000 people. It was really difficult to deal with Bu Zhi and Sun Ben."

Xiaoshuang said unhappily: "Do you still pretend to be confused in front of me? If my father really had 15,000 people in Cangwu, with his arrogance for thirty years of war, would he be afraid of Bu Zhi and Sun Ben? Uncle Guan went to Rinan, wasn't Uncle Zhao still by his side? With Uncle Zhao's ability, only 10,000 people could beat these two people to the point of being in chaos. How could my husband still need to respond?"

Sun Gan's face remained unchanged and he talked: "Miss I don't know that General Zhao is right around the lord, but General Zhao is good at using cavalry. The lord's cavalry has not been many, and the waterways near the South China Sea are crisscrossing, so even if there are cavalry, General Zhao is useless, so..."

"So General Zhao is still in Guiyang, right?" Xiaoshuang interrupted him without hesitation.

"Well... cough..." Sun Gan was a little embarrassed and secretly glanced at Cao Chong. Seeing that his expression remained unchanged, he nodded.

Cao Chong was not surprised that Liu Bei kept Zhao Yun, the tiger general, in Guiyang. If Liu Bei, the old fox, did not do this, he would be surprised. What he was surprised now was that Xiao Shuang was so aggressive and had no consciousness at all for being a woman. Her elbow turned out without mercy - of course, she turned towards him.

He was very relieved.

"Mr. Sun, this Guiyang is not the territory of Jiaozhou. Since my father already has a territory, it should be handed over this Guiyang, right?" Xiaoshuang seemed to sense Cao Chong's thoughts and immediately raised it, staring at Sun Gan with his two almond eyes.

Sun Gan was embarrassed and speechless, and the smile on his face froze. He forced his face to pull the noodles and squeezed out a smile: "This... Miss, don't worry, once the lord takes all of Jiaozhou and gains a firm foothold, he will naturally consider this issue."

Cao Chong smiled. Sun Gan said this very skillful sentence. He didn't say it or not, but he didn't say it. He just said that after taking all Jiaozhou, Liu Bei would consider it, and the result of the consideration was not determined. And there is another premise. If you help me take all Jiaozhou, we have to hand over Guiyang before taking all Jiaozhou. This is impossible.

This man is indeed free and easy. He raised his hand to stop Xiaoshuang, who was still refuting Sun Gan, and said with a smile: "General Zuo has been using troops for many years. He has always been able to use people and has good reputation for using people. It is a bit untrue to make Zhao Zilong, a tiger general who is idle in Guiyang. In my opinion, when General Zuo's main force goes out of the South China Sea, Zhao Zilong can attack Ganzhou sideways to play a role. It is not difficult to defeat Sun Zhenglu in one fell swoop. Once Sun Zhenglu defeated, Bu Zhi could not deal with General Zuo. It is easy to take this Nanhai County, so what is the difficulty?"

Sun Gan smiled bitterly in his heart, but he couldn't say anything on his face. Zhao Yun was in Guiyang and had nearly 6,000 soldiers under his command, to prevent Cao Chong from attacking his back while Liu Bei was attacking the South China Sea. Guiyang County was very strange. To the north of Qushui, it was embedded between Yuzhang County in Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and to the south of Qushui, it was embedded between Cangwu and Nanhai County. If Guiyang County fell into Cao Chong's hands, he could rush his troops south at any time and cut Jiaozhou into two parts in one move, so that Liu Bei could not correspond to the head and tail. Not to mention that Liu Bei was reluctant to abandon Guiyang, even if he was willing to give up, he would not dare to give up at this time, let Cao Chong sit on his waist and sharpen his knife.

"Ganzhou is the territory of Yuzhang County. If General Zhao leaves Ganzhou, he will definitely fall in love with Sun Yangzhou. General Zuo just wants to take back Jiaozhou and be a real governor of Jiaozhou, and effectively fulfill the court's entrustment, but he has no idea of ​​having a dispute with Sun Yangzhou. No matter what, General Zuo and Sun Kuaiji are both colleagues and in-laws."

"Are you threatening me?" Cao Chong lowered his face and said unhappily.

"Don't dare." Sun Gan quickly bowed deeply: "Gan is just to be honest."

Cao Chong stood up with a stern face, walked slowly to Sun Gan, and looked down at the lobbyist who knelt in front of him: "General Zuo and Sun Yangzhou are in-laws, aren't Sun Yangzhou and I? They are colleagues, but we are not colleagues? The relationship between us three parties is complicated, isn't it as simple as you said?"

He stopped and said sternly: "Do you think Sun Yangzhou will be fine if he doesn't enter Yangzhou? Others are in Luling, but their hearts are in Hainan. Do you think I am a deaf or a fool? You don't even know this, and you still want to fool me?"

Sun Gan leaned on the ground and couldn't see Cao Chong's expression, but listening to the sound above his head, Cao Chong was probably in a bad mood. He didn't dare to raise his body, so he had to hold on and listen to Cao Chong's angry.

"Do you think a box of Hepu Zhu can impress me? That's what big and small do you deserve." Cao Chong said unhappily: "I want Jiaozhou, I give him Jiaozhou, I want food, I give him food, but he takes Guiyang and refuses to let go. Do you want me to return the four counties in Jiangnan to him, and even Jingzhou, so that he will be satisfied?"

"I dare not." Sun Gan could hear that Cao Chong was really annoyed and did not dare to speak back.

"Don't dare?" Cao Chong flew up and kicked the little girl in front of Sun Gan, shouting angrily: "I think you dare everything. Guan Yunchang went to get the address, Rinan and Jiuzhen, only brought less than 5,000 troops, and most of the troops were still in Yulin County. Who was he guarding? Isn't he just guarding against me to take Yulin? I withdrew Liu Ziju, and Deng Shizai's subordinates now have only 5,000 people. What else should he guard against? Do you want me to give him Wuling so that he can really feel at ease? Zhao Zilong is in Guiyang, Xiangdong threatened Ganzhou to restrain Sun Boyang, but placed its main force in the Jiuyi Mountain area. It was not to guard against me or who was guarding against me? You really thought Buzishan was a soft persimmon, and you could pinch it as much as you want. Don’t forget that when he entered Jiaozhou, he only brought five hundred pieces, and these ten thousand elite soldiers were built by him. Go back and tell General Zuo to deal with it carefully. I don’t want him to fight a lifelong battle and finally give his life to a young boy. He can afford to lose people. I’ll lose it.

I can't afford this person."

Sun Gan heard Cao Chong clearly stated Liu Bei's arrangements and dared not say more. It seemed that Cao Chong's intelligence organization was not a false reputation, but was afraid that his people had already been scattered in various parts of Jiaozhou with the caravan. Liu Bei's every move was under his nose. He wanted to deceive him and was really unable to get along with him.

Cao Chong turned around, turned his back to Sun Gan, changed to a more gentle tone, and said with a hint of disappointment: "Get up, rest in Linxiang for two days, and then go back and tell me that father-in-law that if he wants to be a good governor of Jiaozhou, he will give me some trust so that everyone can cooperate."

Sun Gan sweated like a slurry. In a moment, it seemed like a few hours had passed. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and replied repeatedly: "I will definitely bring my son-in-law's words to my lord."

"Go." Cao Chong waved his hand in slight interest. Sun Gan stepped back to the door. Just as he was about to turn around and go out, Cao Chong called him again, turned his head to look at him, and said calmly: "Tomorrow, the envoy from Sun Yangzhou will come, and you are also acquaintances with you. If you have the intention, you might as well go and see him and listen to his sincerity."

Sun Gan was stunned, responded quickly, and left hurriedly with his head down.

Cao Chong didn't move, and just turned his head to watch Sun Gan go out. He didn't turn around until he disappeared outside the door, looked at Mi Zhu with a smile on his face, and shook his head helplessly: "Uncle, it seems that my father-in-law still hasn't given up."

Mi Zhu smiled and said, "He ran around and fought all his life, just to grab a territory? Although Guiyang is small, compared with the counties in Jiaozhou, it is still OK, whether it is population or territory. It is reasonable for him to be reluctant to give up." He turned his head and said to Xiaoshuang: "Girl, if your words today reach your father's ears, I'm afraid he will be furious again."

Dashuang also looked at Xiaoshuang with some concern, but for herself, how much her father got angry was a matter of thousands of miles away. As long as Cao Chong didn't get angry, she would feel relieved. When Cao Chong was angry just now, her face turned pale and she recovered.

"What are you afraid of?" Xiaoshuang rolled his eyes: "People are afraid of being unsatisfied. It is already an unexpected surprise for him to be the governor of Jiaozhou. He still wants to dominate Guiyang and let his husband do what? Guiyang is from Jingzhou. He, a governor of Jiaozhou, occupied Guiyang. What would people say? Besides, Uncle Zhao doesn't go to attack Hainan, but instead guards his husband. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse? My husband really wants to take Guiyang, even if Uncle Zhao is there, what's the use? I really don't know what he is thinking, just like Uncle Zhang guarding Wuling..."

Xiaoshuang was talking in a hurry, and suddenly remembered that Zhang Fei died at Cao Chong's hands. She didn't want Zhao Yun to end up like this, so she quickly stopped the topic.

When Cao Chong heard them talking lively, he suddenly remembered something. Liu Bei's five tiger generals, Ma Chao was still a bandit in Xiliang, Huang Zhong had become his subordinate, and the remaining Guan, Zhang Zhang, and Guan Yu fled in a panic under Xiling City. Zhang Fei was bitten to death. I don't know what the end of Zhao Yun would be. Seeing that he had been guarding Guiyang, he would have to fight sooner or later, and he didn't know what the result was. But at least the situation like Changbanpo is impossible. With his steady appearance and fear of death, Zhao Yun had no second chance to approach him on the battlefield.

"By the way, my brother-in-law's messenger will come tomorrow, and you will also go and meet him." Cao Chong said to Mi Zhu: "Go and strengthen the momentum."

Mi Zhu smiled, looked back at Mi Fang, and nodded together, "It's so good."

Cao Chong got up and went out. He wanted to discuss the matter with Pang Tong and others. The Mi brothers also went out, and there were only a pair of sisters left in the room. Dashuang was packing up the small table that was kicked over by Cao Chong, and complained to Xiaoshuang: "Sister, it's not that I'm talking about you. No matter how bad my father is, you can't talk about him in front of so many people. When Mr. Sun goes back, his father will not be angry to death."

"Do you think I'm willing? I'm saving him." Xiaoshuang gave Dashuang a blank look, put down the pen in his hand hatefully, and closed the account book heavily. She was a little confused, looking at the warm but not dazzling sunshine outside the door for a while, and suddenly said, "Sister, which one is stronger than your father or your husband?"

Dashuang straightened his waist and blinked his eyes and smiled, "It's still a question. Of course, it's my husband. My father's subordinates only have more than 20,000 people, and he still lacks this and that. He is so poor that he can't even have enough food. He took a box of Hepu Zhu to give it to us, and he wanted to make some benefits. How could he get back with his husband's subordinates 50,000 or 60,000. There are three or four thousand cavalry alone, and his soldiers are so good that they are rich."

Xiaoshuang rolled his eyelids and smiled, "You only see the surface, but not the essence. How many people and whether you have money, are they external things. You have to see the difference in their abilities. My father is in his fifties and has fought for thirty years. How many people are under him? Guan, Zhang and Zhao are still the old foundation twenty years ago. What he has gained recently are Huo Jun and others. Speaking of counselors, he can count a few of them. Several talents gathered in Jingzhou have left their father one after another in recent years. Mr. Xu can also be said to be his own reasons, but what about Zhuge Kongming, the Ma brothers, and Liao Gongyuan? They have all left their father for various reasons. When they think about it, what is the difference between his father now and twenty years ago? Except that he is twenty years older."

Dashuang was a little surprised after hearing what Xiaoshuang said. She sat down and held her cheek to look at Xiaoshuang. Xiaoshuang continued, "Look at your husband again. How many talents have he collected in five or six years? There are Pang Shiyuan who came to the door, Jiang Ziyi who met like this, and Zhang Yongnian who is unknown to Zhang Yongnian. The father-in-law of the Xun family, Yan Shengnong, Yu Zhongxiang, Lu Gongji, Yizhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou. If the husband's men are counted in detail, they are several times that of his father. Whether it is literary or martial, who is comparable to his father."

"That's true." Da Shuang felt enlightened, "So, my father is indeed inferior to his husband in all aspects. But why is this?"

"Methods." Xiaoshuang sighed: "My father is destined to be a governor of Jiaozhou. Even if he has a large territory, he cannot control it. His fate is destined to be such a big pattern. No matter how many he has, he can't bear it even if he gives it to him. Just like a person can only lift a hundred pounds of things, and he can't lift a two hundred pounds of pounds, he will be exhausted to death."

"Fate?" Dashuang came out of the God of God and suddenly laughed: "We were abandoned by our father, almost killed by that guy Xiahou Shang, but saved by our husband. This is our fate. I don't care about those things, I only know how to serve my husband well. As for what they are fighting, I can't control it anymore. I just learn from the Sun sisters, only my husband in my eyes, and I don't care about anything else."

Xiaoshuang stared at her, burst out laughing, and shook her head.

Dashuang stood up and stretched: "Xiaoshuang, I know I am not as smart as you, nor as capable as sisters in the Xun family, so I don't want to be that much. However, my sister also wants to advise you that the affairs between father and husband are the affairs of men. If you are a woman, don't care too much, so as not to fall behind."

Xiao Shuang sat silently for a while, and suddenly laughed and said, "I don't care. I have done everything I can. Just as my husband said, I have tried my best and I will have no regrets. As for what he is, it is his life and has nothing to do with me."

"This is the truth." Da Shuang chuckled, picked up a Hepu bead and looked at the sunshine carefully: "Xiao Shuang, how do you think you can use the ten brown beads?"

Xiaoshuang gave her a blank look, curled her lips, and said nothing.
Chapter completed!