Chapter 221

"Haha! Naturally not!"

Su Xuan laughed upon hearing this: "Don't you know my strength? I don't think there is anyone in this world who wants to hurt me, let alone danger!"

"If there is danger, it is for others!"

"Not to mention, Lord Yuan Shu is just a straw bag and is simply not the opponent of our army!"

"Going there this time is not really to deal with him, but purely for the subsequent peace talks;"

"After all, now is not the time to go to war with him comprehensively."

Let alone Lord Yuan Shu, even if he and Lord Yuan Shao were added together, and Dong Zhuo was brought along, Su Xuan would have the confidence to block or even defeat them.

Admittedly, his main force of troops is not large now, even counting the hidden Qilin Battalion, it is only about 60, 00.

But if needed, he could raise an army of over 100, 00 at any time.

Once he completely takes all the counties in Jingzhou, even 200, 00 is not impossible for him.

Military equipment, battle armor, weapons... etc., because of the innovation of steel technology and forging technology, he is not lacking at all.

He has also accumulated and hoarded a lot of money and food over the years, even if it is enough to supply an army of 200, 00 for a year or two.

That's how arrogant he is.

"Why are you suddenly going to war with Lord Yuan Shu?"

At this time, Xun Cai couldn't help but ask.

Su Xuan raised his eyebrows slightly: "Didn't I say? The imperial court officially appointed me as the Governor of Jingzhou today!"

"This is Dong Zhuo's deliberate means to provoke me and Lord Yuan Shu to go to war."

Xun Cai was puzzled upon hearing this: "Since the husband knows this is Dong Zhuo's conspiracy to provoke, why not just have peace talks with Lord Yuan Shu?"

Before Su Xuan could answer, little Cai Yan pondered and spoke: "It shouldn't be possible, right?"

"I heard that Lord Yuan Shu previously instigated Sun Sun Jian to kill the former Prefect of Nanyang before forcibly occupying Nanyang;"

"Although he later forced Dong Zhuo to officially appoint him as the Prefect of Nanyang through the influence of the Lord Yuan clan, it was ultimately inappropriate;"

"And, since Brother Su Xuan is now the Governor of Jingzhou, Nanyang is naturally within Brother Su Xuan's jurisdiction;"

"Lord Yuan Shu will inevitably worry that Brother Su Xuan will send troops to attack him and take back Nanyang;"

"Perhaps, he has already taken the initiative to go to war with Brother Su Xuan, right?"

"If we choose to negotiate without fighting, the situation will be very unfavorable to us;"

"It will make Lord Yuan Shu push his luck, thinking we are afraid of him;"

"In that case, Nanyang might not be taken back at all!"

"Therefore, Brother Su Xuan's idea should be to beat Lord Yuan Shu hard first, and then negotiate?"

"Oh?"

Su Xuan was a little surprised to hear little Cai Yan analyze the key points so clearly, so he reached out and pinched little Cai Yan's cheek and teased: "Our little Zhaoji is so smart!"

"You actually guessed it right!"

"Hee hee!"

Cai Yan laughed happily when she heard Su Xuan's praise.

But then she noticed Su Xuan's mischievous hand, thought of something, and her pretty face blushed, she stepped back, dodged Su Xuan's hand, hid behind Xun Cai, and poked her head out to look at Su Xuan.

She remembered what Xun Cai and the others had teased her about recently.

Saying that she was already 15, already a big girl, and could marry Su Xuan, and so on.

Cai Yan herself had always had a good impression of Su Xuan, and after getting along for the past few years, their feelings had been constantly warming up.

She actually had thoughts in this regard in her heart, and after being told by Xun Cai and the others, she was completely moved.

Now, facing Su Xuan, she would naturally be shy.

Xun Cai saw Cai Yan's expression and actions, looked at Zhen Jiang and the others, and they all smiled knowingly.

Su Xuan naturally discovered this too, but he didn't have time to think about it for now, and looked at Cai Yan with a smile and asked: "Then you tell me, why must I have peace talks with Lord Yuan Shu?"

"Why can't I just destroy Lord Yuan Shu, or at least drive him out of Nanyang?"

"You should know that I have the strength to do it easily."

Cai Yan smiled confidently upon hearing this: "Brother Su Xuan, you won't do that!"

"Because, it's not good for you!"

"Now Lord Yuan Shao has already raised an army in Bohai and issued a manifesto to crusade against Dong Zhuo, calling on all lords in the world to crusade against Dong Zhuo;"

"At this time, Brother Su Xuan, you have just accepted Dong Zhuo's appointment, although it is in the name of the Son of Heaven, but the scholars in the world are very clear about what is going on;"

"If you go to war with Lord Yuan Shu comprehensively at this time and annihilate or defeat him, Lord Yuan Shu and Lord Yuan Shao and others probably won't let go of this opportunity to strike you, Brother Su Xuan;"

"They will definitely spread the false news that you, Brother Su Xuan, colluded with Dong Zhuo to the whole world, thereby striking your reputation and completely ruining your name;"

"Brother Su Xuan, you are so smart, you definitely couldn't have thought of this, right?"

Seeing Cai Yan's confident appearance.

Listening to her clear analysis, Su Xuan nodded with a smile, gave a thumbs up and said: "That's exactly right! That's how it is!"

"Therefore, this time it's at most a small collision, there won't be a real comprehensive war!"

"Once I beat Lord Yuan Shu up, it will be time to negotiate with him!"

"Of course, I have already sent several armies to take the counties of Jingzhou!"

"So, the General's mansion will be very busy recently, Cai'er, if you can help, please help!"

He felt that Cai Yan had the potential to be a female Zhuge!

Worthy of being the number one talented woman of the Three Kingdoms.

"Hmm!"

Xun Cai and the others nodded: "Husband, don't worry, we will!"

"Good!"

Su Xuan nodded with a smile, gave Xun Cai and the others a hug each, and finally left.

After leaving the General's mansion, he went out of the city all the way to the Personal Guard Battalion.

At this time, Xu Chu had already gathered and reorganized the troops, and Zhang He had also led his troops to arrive.

"Set off!"

Su Xuan waved his hand, led them to set off, and rushed toward Xiangyang City in the north at full speed.

The Brave Cavalry Battalion and the Personal Guard Battalion were elite among elites, and the warhorses had been cultivated through the exotic beast cultivation method.

Although not all of them were exotic beast warhorses, every warhorse's endurance and strength were comparable to a thousand-mile horse.

The speed can be imagined.

In just over an hour, Su Xuan and his party arrived at the Hanshui water navy camp north of Xiangyang City.

"The end general Wen Pin greets the Lord!"

Wen Pin had long led people out of the camp to welcome them.

"Wen Zhongye, no need for extra courtesies!"

Su Xuan didn't even dismount, waved his hand and said: "The military situation is urgent! The latest report from the secret guards says that Ji Ling and Sun Sun Jian's army is less than 30 miles away from Xinye, and we don't have much time to delay!"

"I asked the secret guards to send you a message, ordering you to prepare the ships, have they been prepared?"

Wen Pin hurriedly bowed and replied: "Reporting to the Lord! Everything has been prepared! We can set sail at any time!"

"In addition, all dry rations have been prepared, enough for you and your men to eat and drink on the way!"

"However,"

Speaking of this, Wen Pin bowed to Su Xuan: "Lord! The river from Xiangyang to Xinye has been dredged to a certain extent in the past few months, we can completely use ships to send you and your men to a place 10 miles south of Xinye City;"

"With the speed of our new medium-sized ships, taking the water route should be much faster than the land route:"

"And, this method can also allow you and your soldiers and warhorses to get a good rest. Do you need to use this method, Lord?"

To be honest, he also wanted to participate in the war!

He had heard that even the Jiangling water navy had gotten the job of taking Changsha, Jiangxia, and Guiyang this time, but their Xiangyang water navy had gotten nothing. How could he be reconciled?

Therefore, he had been preparing to take Nanyang early on.

That's why he went to dredge the river to Xinye.

Admittedly, they wouldn't truly take Nanyang this time.

But they definitely would next time.

This is the opportunity.

"Oh?"

Su Xuan was slightly stunned upon hearing this: "Wen Zhongye, you actually dredged the river in advance. It seems you haven't been honest during this time! You want to participate in the war!"