Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 20 Secret Affairs
Cai's Villa is quiet and quiet, and the incense is alluring.

Cai Mao, wearing a scribe's uniform, was flipping through documents submitted from all over Jingzhou, tapping his fingers on the desk.

"Liu Qi, Liu Cong."

While murmuring their names, Cai Hao's eyes were focused on the document.

"Zhang Yun!"

Cai Mao carefully browsed the official document. It was an impeachment letter for the magistrate of Jiyang County to impeach General Zhang Yun. Zhang Yun set up a military city in the county. The officials in the army often invaded and insulted the people of the county. The magistrate of Jiyang County hoped that Xiangyang would be fair. The document that handles this matter.

Just when Cai Mao was deep in thought, his attendant reported: "Marquis Kuai has come to pay a visit!"

Because of his meritorious service in helping Liu Biao pacify Jingzhou, Kuai Yue was named Fan Tinghou on Liu Biao's recommendation.

"Hurry up and welcome!" Cai Hao stood up and went out to welcome him.

"Degui, I took the liberty of visiting you today, please disturb me!"

"With Marquis Kuai's arrival, my family is in full bloom, so why bother?" The two of them greeted each other politely and walked into the inner hall.

After a while, the two of them sat opposite each other on the table. Incense had already been lit in the incense burner. Several maids filled the tea and cakes and then stepped back gently, leaving only the two of them chatting in the hall.

"In the past, Liu Jingzhou rode alone into Jingzhou and met a group of bandits gathered in Jingxiang. At that time, Jingzhou and we met in Yicheng to conspire to defeat the bandits. After that, we followed Jingzhou to kill the clan bandits and pacified the seven counties of Jingxiang. It has been more than ten years now, and it can be said that things have changed and people have changed."

The incense curls up, refreshing the heart and mind.Kuai Yue took a long breath and let it out slowly.

Immediately, Kuai Yue's eyes became sharp and he said: "Now that Duke Cao's troops have entered Hebei, the Central Plains will be unified. If Duke Cao takes advantage of the victory and sends his troops southward, directly aiming at Jianghan, what will happen to us? De Gui is an old friend of Duke Cao. , and he is a relative from Jingzhou, I don’t know how he can teach me?”

When Cai Mao heard this, he moved the pastries in front of Kuai Yue and said calmly: "Although Duke Cao and I are in touch with each other, the important military and state affairs cannot be known by me as a warrior."

"However, Marquis Kuai is worried as well. Now Liu Jingzhou is old, and it is difficult to predict the spring and autumn. But the eldest son only knows how to talk with the people from the north, and refuses to get close to our family members. How can he govern Jingzhou in this way? , how can we succeed Jingzhou?"

Kuai Yue held the tea cup and said tentatively: "Oh, I wonder who De Gui can succeed Jingzhou?"

Cai Hao drank the tea in one gulp and said: "I think the three sons of Liu Jingzhou are mediocre people who cannot handle big tasks. Liu Qi is good at nothing, Liu Cong is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and Liu Xiu is weak in talent and ambition."

"However, Mao's second sister wants to marry Liu Cong, my niece."

"It turns out that De Gui likes Mr. Liu Cong." Kuai Yue chuckled.

"Otherwise, as this woman sees it, my second sister only knows about family affairs and doesn't know about world affairs." Cai Mao denied.

After a long time, Cai Mao said meaningfully: "Although Cong is incompetent, he can be used by us. Compared with Liu Qi, he is at odds with us and close to Liu Bei. If Liu Qi is allowed to succeed, he must follow Liu Bei's words and work with Cao Cao. The public is an enemy. In this way, the land of Jingxiang will be destroyed. How can we, the people of Jingxiang, let it go?"

Kuai Yue took a deep sip, put down the tea cup, cupped his hands and said with a smile, "In that case, I, Kuai, can advance and retreat together with Cai."

"good!"

The Q&A between Kuai Yue and Cai Mao, which was only two to three hundred words long, allowed Cai and Kuai to reach an alliance agreement again.

Now that the situation in the Central Plains is clear, Kuai Yue has begun to look for future shelter for his family, and what he values ​​​​is Cao Cao.However, he was worried that Cai Mao, who was also from a prominent family in Jingzhou, would be greedy for his own power and would not surrender to Cao Cao because Mrs. Cai wanted to support Liu Cong.

To his surprise, Cai Mao was not optimistic about the Liu family's rule in Jingzhou. Instead, he planned to use Mrs. Cai to help Liu Cong ascend to power and squeeze out Liu Qi and Liu Bei, so as to achieve the purpose of submitting to Cao Cao.

After a pause, Kuai Yue asked: "Now that Mr. Liu Qi is still favored by Liu Jingzhou, I wonder how Degui can plan?"

Cai Mao stood up, took the official document from the desk, handed it to Kuai Yue, and said: "Zhang Yun established a military city in Jiyang County, and often oppressed the people. The chief of Jiyang County impeached Zhang Yun, the general of the army. Mao thought it might be possible. Let the eldest son go on inspection and deal with it impartially."

Kuai Yue took a few glances and knew what Cai Mao was thinking.Zhang Yun is the son of Liu Biao's sister. He holds military power and is deeply favored by Liu Biao. However, he is determined to retaliate against others and is narrow-minded.If Liu Qi disposes of his tribe, Zhang Yun will hate Liu Qi.If Liu Qi does not deal with it, Liu Biao will become even more dissatisfied with Liu Qi due to verbal provocation.

With Liu Qi's character, there is a high probability that he will punish Zhang Yun's men, and Cai Hao has always had close contacts with Zhang Yun, so he can naturally win over Zhang Yun.With the support of Zhang Yun's troops, Liu Qi's survival space will be greatly reduced.

"What does Marquis Kuai think?" Cai Hao asked.

Kuai Yue raised the tea cup and said with a smile: "Good! Even if Huo Zhongmiao can figure out the mystery, he will be helpless."

Cai Mao also sighed: "It's a pity that Huo Zhongmiao."

"So, you should respect it."

"Same respect!"
-
The next day, at Cai Mao's suggestion, Liu Biao announced that he would send Liu Qi to inspect the counties in Jiangbei and resolve the infringement of local people in Zhongjun City, Jiyang County.

Liu Qi, who received the mission, had not noticed anything was wrong yet and was happily accepting the congratulations of his subordinates.

"The Lord ordered the young master to inspect the counties in the north of the Yangtze River and deal with the case of the military market in Jiyang County. This shows that the Lord has great trust in the Young Master!" Wang Kai congratulated him. "Ha ha!"

Liu Qi was very happy and said: "This trip is easy, and we can just rely on public law."

Huo Jun looked at Liu Qi, who still didn't understand the danger of this trip, and shook his head.I apologized in my heart. For the great cause of going south to Jiangdong, I can only wrong our Mr. Liu.

"My eldest son, there may be some difficulties in this matter. The Jiyang military market is owned by General Zhang Zhonglang. General Zhang Zhonglang holds the military power and is appreciated by the prince. If his subordinates are dealt with rashly, General Zhang Zhonglang may be angry with the young master." Someone said worriedly.

"This?" Liu Qi said hesitantly.

At this time, someone else said: "Eldest Young Master, don't listen to this man's nonsense. The Lord of the Palace ordered the Young Master to visit Jiyang in the north, so that the Young Master can deal with it impartially. If things are done unfairly, it will not only damage the reputation of the Young Master, but also harm the virtue of the Lord. .”

"Zhong Miao, do you have any advice on this matter?" Liu Qi hesitantly turned his attention to Huo Jun.

"Wei, Jun believes that during this trip to Jiyang, we should enforce the law impartially and severely punish Zhang Zhonglang's generals. This will not only show the righteousness of the prince, but also win the hearts of the soldiers and the people. Then the prince will treat him differently."

Liu Qi was stunned for a moment after hearing this. Liu Biao has never officially confirmed Liu Qi's identity as the heir in these years. The main reason is that Liu Qi himself lacks ability and is greedy for wine and sex.Therefore, Liu Qi is sometimes gloomy. It can be said that this is his knot. If Huo Jun said it, it may improve his father's opinion of him.

"As for General Zhang Zhonglang, I am a close relative of my own flesh and blood. There are twists and turns here. You may be able to explain it to me face to face," Huo Jun said again.

Liu Qi calmed down his expression and said seriously: "What Zhong Miao said is reasonable. Qi went north because of his father's appreciation. How can he abandon it because of official duties?"

Huo Jun cupped his hands again and said, "If the eldest son will not give up, Jun is willing to follow him north."

In order to better 'help' Liu Qi, Huo Jun could only accompany him northward in tears to prevent Liu Qi from listening to the slander and not wanting to offend Zhang Yun.

Liu Qi took Huo Jun's hand in surprise and said, "Zhong Miao is willing to accompany him, how can Qi not want to!"

After saying that, Liu Qi ordered his attendants: "From now on, whenever Zhang Zhonglang comes to your door with gifts, I will reject them all."

"promise!"

After a pause, Liu Qi smiled and said: "Zhong Miao will follow me on my inspection tour. Why don't you stay today and enjoy the beauty of the singer."

"Jun has important things to do and needs to go home tonight." Looking at the good man Liu Qi, Huo Jun couldn't bear it and warned him: "Although women are beautiful, you still need to exercise restraint and not harm your body."

Liu Qi laughed a few times and said, "Although Zhong Miao is talented, he doesn't understand the beauty of women. Qi has his own plans in mind, please don't worry."

Huo Jun sighed imperceptibly. It seems that there must be many people advising Liu Qi to take care of his health and not to lust after women. Unfortunately, Liu Qi couldn't listen to them.Huo Jun didn't want to say anything more to Liu Qi with this attitude, in case he would be displeased.

As for the beauty of women, how could Huo Jun not understand it, but he knew how to restrain his desires instead of being dominated by them.For example, although the singer was beautiful that day, she would be in dire straits if she contracted X-ray disease.

After such a long period of contact, Huo Jun suspected that Liu Qi died young in history. It is estimated that a large part of it was due to long-term addiction to wine and sex, which led to physical depletion, and then contracted X-ray disease, which led to his death.

Afterwards, Huo Jun was invited by Liu Qi to get on the carriage heading to Jiyang.

The car drove out of Xiangyang City, and as it approached the countryside, children on the roadside were playing in groups and singing nursery rhymes loudly, "The son is a wolf from Wu Yue, and he becomes rampant when he succeeds; he avenges his father for the first time, and takes the head of the thief after three years."

Liu Qi frowned as he listened to the nursery rhyme and asked, "Zhong Miao, this nursery rhyme is a little strange. Have you ever heard of it?"

Huo Jun blinked his big innocent eyes and said, "Eldest son, this is the first time I have heard this nursery rhyme."

After saying that, after thinking for a while, Huo Jun said: "But Jun also thinks this nursery rhyme is a bit weird."

"What's the interpretation?" Liu Qi asked.

Huo Jun pondered for a while and said: "In terms of nursery rhymes, the descendants should be 'grandsons'. Wu Yue Lang should point to the people who occupy the two counties of Wuhui. Looking at it now, it probably refers to Sun Quan. At present, Sun Quan has just assumed power, and his status If his position is not stable, he may act arrogantly and seek revenge for his father's murder against the Lord and Governor Huang."

Hearing this, Liu Qi was shocked and said, "How dare Sun Quan?"

Huo Jun shook his head and said, "Maybe it's just a coincidence, but Jun thinks that Jiangdong is interested in spying on me in Jingzhou, so he must be on guard against it."

"What's the explanation?" Liu Qi asked.

Huo Jun pretended to think, and then said: "Sun Quan has just taken over the power, but his reputation is not strong enough. I am afraid that in order to gain momentum, he will send troops to Jiangxia. However, Huang Taishou is old and Jiangxia's military force is not strong, so he may not be Sun Quan's opponent."

"When I return to Xiangyang from this trip, I should report this to my father." Liu Qi said worriedly.

Huo Jun raised his head and looked at the countryside scenery, with the corners of his mouth raised.When I come back from this trip, maybe...

(End of this chapter)