Jiaozhou, Jiaozhi County, Longbian City, Governor's Office.

A middle-aged man with a long beard and a dark complexion hurriedly walked in.

"Father, Sima Yi has sent someone to ask for tribute salary again."

An old man with white hair sitting in the middle of the lobby said with a displeased look on his face: "It's only been less than three months, why are you asking for it again? How much do you want this time?"

The middle-aged man replied: "He said that the imperial court is now intensifying its troops and preparing for another northern expedition, so he wants me to pay tribute to the state of 5,000 people, 300,000 shi of rice, 800,000 jins of iron ore, 30,000 jins of spices, and fire."

Two hundred thousand catties of oil, and eight thousand cattle, sheep and other livestock.”

"Bah, little thief Sima is wishful thinking." A man who looked somewhat similar to a middle-aged man, but was obviously several years younger couldn't help but cursed.

"Brother, go back and tell the envoy to send a message to Sima Yi, telling him that we don't have much in Jiaozhou to offer as a salary, so that he can stop trying to take advantage of us."

"That's right, what kind of court is this? It knows that it wants this or that from us every day. If it ignores it today, what can it do to me?"

Another man, who looked younger, also said with a dissatisfied look on his face.

The white-haired old man in the middle is the controller of Jiaozhou, Shi Xie. Ever since Liu Yan, the beneficiary state, made him king, he has considered himself a scholar king here, and he has the intention of breaking away from the Central Plains court.

Shi Xie turned to look at the old men sitting on both sides and asked, "How do you gentlemen think we should deal with this?"

There are two old men sitting on the right side of his head, and an old man sitting on the left side. They are his second disciple Shi Yi, his third disciple Shi Wu, and his fourth disciple Shi Wu.

Shi Yi was energetic, his eyes were like lightning, and his figure was extremely tall. However, his appearance looked a bit older than his elder brother Shi Xie. He applied at this moment, with a hint of disdain in his anger.

"Humph, Sima Yi, how much can a mere yellow-mouthed kid weigh? With my mountain-breaking ax, even if he wants to come and ask for punishment, he will come and die one thousand times."

"Second brother, don't be reckless."

The third disciple objected: "Although we have worked hard here for several years, we have enough troops and food, and the location is convenient. It is not difficult to resist Sima Yi's mere 300,000 to 50,000 troops. But now I

The army is at war with the Linyi Kingdom in the south. Although this country is a small country, it still has an army of 60,000 to 70,000 people, and each of them is not afraid of death. It cannot be conquered in a short time. If Sun Ce turns against Sun Ce at this time and Sima Yi comes to attack, we will wait.

If the two sides fight, it will only be disadvantageous."

The eldest son of Shi Xie, Shi Ren, who came to report at the beginning, also followed up and said: "Sima Yi said that if these many tributes cannot be collected, there is an alternative method."

Everyone was a little surprised when they heard this. Sima Yi acted decisively and ruthlessly. A few months ago, when he was wiping out a mountain stronghold in Yangzhou, he entered Nanhai County and asked for a few days of rest. The local magistrate only said that he would report to the governor's office. Sima Yi

The head of the county magistrate was sent back to Shi Xie, but now he appears to be open to discussion, which is a bit unexpected.

Shi Xie motioned for his son to continue.

"Back to my father, Sima Yi said that in half a month, he will join forces with the Wuxi barbarians to attack the two largest mountain villages in Guiyang County, Jingzhou. Guiyang County is connected with Cangwu County, Jiaozhou. He wants Cangwu

The county sends eight thousand soldiers to outflank the two strongholds from the south, so that this tribute can be waived."

"Huh?" Shi Xie became more and more surprised.

"Only eight thousand sergeants?" He seemed a little unbelievable and confirmed again. After Shi Xie gave him a positive answer, Shi Xie turned to look at his younger brothers.

"Such a request is really easy for our army. What is Sima Yi's intention in doing this?"

Shi Yi was somewhat dissatisfied: "What kind of conspiracy can this Huangkou boy have? The two strongholds in Guiyang County are not weak. They each have no less than 20,000 troops. The terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Without our army

If he cooperates, if he wants to capture the two villages, he will definitely suffer a lot of losses. In exchange, it is natural for him to be exempted from the tribute. In my opinion, I agreed to his request."

"No."

Fourth disciple Shiwu, who had never spoken a word, spoke out against it.

"Sima Yi is a man whose ambitions are not small and should not be taken lightly. Cangwu County borders Yulin to the west and Nanhai to the east. It is the most populous county in Jiaozhou except Jiaozhi County. If Sima Yi attacks from the east to the west, not only will Cangwu County suffer, but he will also suffer losses.

We will be cut off from all contact with Nanhai County from now on, and even Hepu County in the south may no longer be ours, so we must be on guard."

"Hiss... what the fourth brother means is that Sima Yi will take advantage of the Cangwu County garrison being transferred to Guiyang territory to take advantage of it?"

"Although I am not sure, I must be on guard against others. Cangwu County only has a total of 16,700 soldiers and horses. If half of them are mobilized, it will definitely be difficult to resist Sima Yi's attack. Therefore, in my humble opinion, I must agree to his offer.

The request is not impossible, but we must secretly dispatch 10,000 elite troops from Yulin County to garrison Cangwu, and then dispatch 6,000 troops from Jiaozhi County to Hepu County. This way we can ensure safety."

After hearing this, Shi Xie nodded slightly and showed approval.

"Well, what my fourth brother said makes sense. Sun Ce has always wanted to annex my Jiaozhou, so we can't give him an opportunity to take advantage of it. With this arrangement, if Sima Yi comes to invade, he can attack from both sides and teach him whether to come back or not."

"Humph, if that's the case, I'm actually afraid that he won't come. If Sima Yi comes to attack me, and I deal with him, I can use this as an excuse to lead an army to invade Yangzhou and seize the home of his Sun family."

Shi Yi's eyes were filled with light and murderous intent.

In Guiyang County, on the southwest side of Qujiang County and on the northwest side of Hanwei County, between the Weishui River and the Qinshui River, there are towering mountains. In the center of the Wanshan Mountains, there is a grand canyon surrounded by extremely steep cliffs. Somewhere in it,

There was a loud sound of water, and when I looked closer, I saw a large waterfall. People said that in ancient times, there was a dragon that flew out of the cave behind during thunder and lightning. It successfully escaped and transformed into a dragon. Therefore,

The people call this cave Tenglong Cave and the waterfall Tenglong Waterfall.

In the jungle surrounding the Grand Canyon, there are rows of houses made of bamboo, forming a complex of buildings surrounding the Grand Canyon according to the mountains.

Among them, the buildings on the east side and the buildings on the west side are separated by more than a hundred feet from each other, and are separated by fences nearly two feet high.

These are the two largest mountain villages in the Lingnan area. The two village owners are sworn brothers and support each other, so they can build such a foundation among these thousands of miles of mountains.

The two mountain strongholds occupy difficult terrain, are backed by water sources, are built on the mountains, and rely on each other. There are 40,000 to 50,000 people in each stronghold, about half of whom are capable of fighting. Even if a hundred thousand troops come to attack, the two strongholds

The strongholds can be protected even if they join forces. Therefore, for more than 20 years, no one can control the three areas of Jing, Yang, and Jiao.

However, at this moment, at the foot of the two mountain strongholds, there was a large army in full force, ready to attack the mountain.

The leader of the army on the west side is a strong man who looks like a barbarian. He is none other than the leader of the Wuxi barbarians, Samoko.

The army on the east side is none other than Sima Yi.

The two of them each led 30,000 troops and prepared to capture the mountain.

"Report..."

The scouts rushed over quickly and reported to Sima Yi: "General, eight thousand sergeants sent by Jiaozhou Governor's Office have assembled at the southern foot of the mountain. The leading general reported that we will attack the mountain on time at noon in accordance with the general's order."

Sima Yi had no expression on his face and waved his hand: "I understand."
Chapter completed!