Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 359: Draw, Cai Mao's plan

The distance from one side to the other is about one hundred meters, and the time it takes for a warhorse to gallop past is about thirteen or fourteen breaths. Taishi Ci can shoot one arrow per breath, which means about thirteen or fourteen arrows.

Taishi Ci gripped the reins tightly in his hand and then whipped the horse's butt.

"drive!"

With a low shout from Taishi Ci, the warhorse galloped out like an arrow, and the arrows in the hands of the horsemen were indeed shot out at a rapid speed. After a dozen breaths, the warhorse soon reached the finish line, which was almost the same as Taishi Ci had estimated. In a total of fourteen breaths, Taishi Ci shot a total of fifteen arrows, all of which hit the target. The last arrow was shot when Taishi Ci was about to reach the finish line, while he lay backwards on the horse's back.

After Taishi Ci finished, it was Huang Zhong's turn. Huang Zhong looked at Taishi Ci's performance and still felt some pressure.

After a brief rest, Huang Zhong also rushed out on his warhorse, holding the bow in his left hand and pulling the arrow with his right hand. He repeated this more than ten times, and the warhorse also rushed out of the bushes of wooden stakes.

Huang Zhong dismounted and sighed slightly. He was still not very good at riding and shooting. One of his arrows missed the target and failed to hit the tree stump. It left a deep arrow mark on the stump and then flew out.

Huang Zhong shot a total of thirteen arrows, including the one that missed the target, a total of fourteen, which was fewer than Taishi Ci. The result was obvious. Taishi Ci won this round. In three rounds, he had one win, one draw and one loss respectively. The reason for this result was that the strength of the two men was almost the same, and they were good at different things.

Liu Biao's face looked obviously worse. After all, in his territory, one of his two most powerful generals was defeated and the other ended in a tie, which really made him lose face. However, Huang Zhong at least protected him and did not let him lose completely.

However, Gu Rubing on the other side thought more. You know, Taishi Ci has the characteristic bonus given by him. Although Liu Biao should also have it, Gu Rubing is confident that Liu Biao's bonus is definitely not as good as his. Therefore, the strength between the two should be quite different.

"General Huang, you have great archery skills. Ziyi is the best archer among my subordinates. He once competed with Lu Bu in shooting the halberd at the gate. When I heard the news that Lu Bu was dead, I thought that no one in the world could match Ziyi in archery skills. Now it seems that this is not the case."

Gu Rubing smiled and told everyone his ideas, which finally made Liu Biao smile.

After Huang Zu put on his armor, he, Huang Zhong and Taishi Ci returned to the training platform. Liu Biao pretended to scold them and the soldiers below the platform.

"You all saw it, right? This is a truly strong person. There are always people who are better than you. Why don't you hurry up and practice!"

Several teams of soldiers, including their generals, left in a hurry, not daring to react in any way.

"Liu Zongdi, this coward who dares not get angry or speak out, has been bullied to the point of being in the face, yet he is still smiling happily."

"Brother, you are the second wave one. Why does he dare to be angry and speak out? He was the one who proposed to challenge Liu Caoxie. In the end, he failed and even gave Liu Caoxie a cold shoulder. Liu Caoxie still had the patience to say good things to him and flatter Liu Zhongdi. This is Liu Caoxie's kindness and righteousness. If it was Cao Zhonger or Sun Menghu, do you think Liu Zhongdi would dare to do this? Do you think Cao Zhonger and Sun Menghu would dare to slap Liu Zhongdi in the face? He is lucky to meet Liu Caoxie, otherwise he would definitely not be able to escape this beating."

"It turns out that Huang Zhong is so awesome. I thought he was just a general in Changsha County before, but I didn't expect him to have such strength. He can compete with Taishi Ci in archery and even surpass him."

"Huang Zhong is not only good at archery, but when he attacked Yuzhang County, he held a red-hot sword and fought with Gan Ning, a subordinate of Sun Menghu. He chopped off the ribbon on Gan Ning's helmet and almost beheaded him on the spot. What Huang Zhong said just now about not being as good as Huang Zu was just self-deprecation. He can say that he is a loser, but if you really think he is a loser, you will suffer a great loss."

"Liu Zongdi is really a piece of shit. Liu Caoxie just gave him Yuzhang County, and he treated Liu Caoxie like this. No wonder he is dying. It would be strange if such a person could live long."

"I checked Liu Biao's symptoms yesterday. It looks like he has back gangrene, and it's about to get worse. If it gets worse, there's no way they can save him with their medical conditions. It looks like Liu Biao will die in a dozen days. Mr. Zhuge's predictions are really accurate."

"With these two guys' archery skills, coming here and participating in the Olympics to win a gold medal in shooting wouldn't that be a piece of cake? It would be so easy."

"Just to clarify, the Olympics aren't that difficult. Your Olympics are shooting at a straw man from 700 meters away."

"Then according to what you said, why don't I just ride Red Hare and go to gamble on horses? There's no need to gamble at all, just choose me without thinking, and then set up a pig-killing scheme and reap some profits. It can be said that I will make a lot of money."

Netizens in the live broadcast room were discussing the affairs of Gu Rubing and Liu Biao. After all, they had entered a tacit period of preparation for war. Cao Zhonger was busy recruiting soldiers and restoring the organization of his army as soon as possible, while Sun Menghu was busy cleaning up his own mess.

In Jiujiang Chengde, the matter of hundreds of thousands of corpses has not been dealt with yet. At this moment, the corpses have begun to rot. Countless crows are circling in the sky, and from time to time they come down to pick up a piece of rotten meat.

However, many crows were immediately driven away, and only a small number of them were able to pick up a piece of meat and eat it. Not only was there a problem with the corpse, but Sun Menghu also had a lot of lost territory to recover.

So after netizens learned that both parties would not make any big moves for a while, they all came to the live broadcast rooms of Gu Rubing and Liu Biao at the same time. After all, they were the only two who had some content to watch now.

Liu Biao didn't want to stay here any longer. After all, what he just said was refuted by someone else. Who would be happy?

Led by Liu Biao, everyone returned to the governor's mansion from the parade ground. Most of them gathered in the meeting room, except Gu Rubing, who was called aside by a young man.

"Your Highness greets Uncle Liu!"

The young man called Gu Rubing out and immediately knelt down in front of him. Gu Rubing only needed a little thought to understand who the young man in front of him was.

"Nephew, why are you doing this? Your father and I are close friends. Get up quickly."

Gu Rubing helped the young man in front of him up. The young man's face was already covered with tears.

"I am dissatisfied with what Uncle Liu said. Ever since my father married Cai and had a younger brother, Cai and Cai Mao have teamed up to slander me in front of my father, making my image in my father's heart worse and worse. They have also arranged assassinations many times, so that I dare not leave the mansion. Uncle Liu, please, save me!"

Liu Qi knelt down again, but was quickly stopped by Gu Rubing.

"Nephew, this is your family affair after all. I can't get involved too much. I can only remind your father a few words, but I can't interfere too much."

"Uncle Liu, I heard that Mr. Wulong from Nanyang County is now under your command?" Liu Qi asked tentatively, feeling uneasy. He hoped that Liu Bei was the person that Zhuge Liang said could save him from the dire situation.

"That's right. Kong Ming is now under my command, serving as the military advisor of the three armies."

After hearing Gu Rubing's words, Liu Qi suddenly felt that he had guessed correctly. The person Zhuge Liang had mentioned was Liu Bei!
"Uncle Emperor!"

Liu Qi shouted excitedly.

"Mr. Zhuge once told me that when the time comes, someone will come to save me and the entire Jingzhou. Uncle, I have finally waited for you!"

"Nephew, what do you mean?"

Gu Rubing pretended not to know, so Liu Qi told Gu Rubing that he had once asked Zhuge Liang for help, and then relayed what Zhuge Liang had said to him. Gu Rubing pretended to be in deep thought, and only spoke slowly after a long time.

"After all, your father has the final say on the affairs of Jingzhou. I can help you improve your image in front of your father, and I can also be your supporter behind the scenes, but I will never interfere in the affairs of Jingzhou. I will only help you deal with the matters that concern you."

Gu Rubing's words were clever. He expressed his approval of Liu Qi's support for him, and at the same time told him that he would not directly interfere in the affairs of Jingzhou. Even if you take control of Jingzhou in the future, I'm just the man behind the scenes. He also conveyed an important message to Liu Qi, which was to acknowledge that he was the person who saved him as Zhuge Liang said.

These words made Liu Qi suddenly feel that he had found a ray of light in his gloomy life. Liu Qi knelt down again and kowtowed to Gu Rubing, performing the etiquette between a monarch and his subject. This was also Liu Qi's way of expressing his loyalty to Gu Rubing.

Two smart people always talk about things much faster. In just a few words, they had confirmed their cooperative relationship with each other, and this cooperative relationship was much more reliable than the Sun-Cao alliance.

After the conversation, the two returned to the conference room one after the other. At this moment, the conference room was clearly divided, with Liu Biao as the dividing line. Cai Mao sat in the main seat on the right, below him was Liu Cong, and below that were the five great prefects.

Jin Xuan, prefect of Wuling; Han Xuan, prefect of Changsha; Zhao Fan, prefect of Guiyang; Liu Du, prefect of Lingling; Wu Ju, prefect of Cangwu.

On the right hand side, the first seat was empty, which was reserved for Liu Bei. The second seat was occupied by Taishi Ci. Further back were Huang Zu, Huang Zhong, Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang. The last seat was for Liu Qi.

Liu Cong, the second son, sat second from the left, while Liu Qi, the eldest son, sat at the end on the right. Their positions were enough to explain everything, showing that Liu Qi was indeed no longer favored.

"Today, General Taishi, who is under Brother Xuande's command, showed us what it means to be a real enemy of ten thousand men on the battlefield. You must never be complacent or arrogant again. You must know that there are always talented people."

When Liu Biao said this, he emphasized some of the words very heavily, making it sound like gnashing of teeth.

Gu Rubing burst out laughing. This Liu Biao was really interesting. He failed to inherit the advantages of Liu Biao in history, but instead had all the disadvantages.

"I called everyone here today because of one more thing. Now that I am old, I should establish the position of the crown prince. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Liu Biao sat high in the first seat, looking at the people below with a serious expression. Over the years, due to Cai's pillow talk and Cai Mao's rumors, he no longer believed in Liu Qi at all. The purpose of this parliament was to support Liu Cong as the crown prince. After all, the traditional custom was to establish the eldest son as the crown prince rather than the youngest, and the legitimate son as the crown prince rather than a concubine's son.

Liu Qi was the eldest son and the son of a legitimate wife, while Liu Cong was the second son and the son of a concubine. Liu Biao could certainly make the decision himself to make Liu Cong the crown prince and inherit the position of Governor of Jingzhou, but after all, he had many generals under his command. If he really made the decision alone, he was afraid that Liu Cong would not be able to convince the others, so he brought up the matter in the conference room and let others make the decision.

Everyone present, Cai Mao and the five governors of the five counties under him, all supported Liu Biao, that is, to make Liu Cong the crown prince and inherit Jingzhou. Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Huang Zu and Huang Zhong, had no factional distinction and were the kind of people who would follow whoever was the wise leader. As for Liu Bei and Taishi Ci, two outsiders, they were just watching here, and even if they were asked to give their opinions, they might not necessarily heed them.

"I believe that when selecting a crown prince, one should focus on his character. He must have high morals and good conduct. Therefore, I recommend Liu Cong as the crown prince. Since he came of age, Liu Cong has been diligent in government affairs every day without any slackness. Some time ago, he helped Liu Du solve the livelihood problems of Lingling County and is deeply loved by the local people."

Cai Mao stood up, bowed, and recounted the events that had been prepared in advance to build momentum for Liu Cong. After he finished speaking, a smile appeared on Cai Mao's lips. This time, they were determined to win the position of the crown prince.

Liu Qi sat at the end and clenched his fists. Some time ago, the people in Lingling County almost lost their newly planted crops because of a flood. Thanks to Liu Qi's advice and help to Liu Du solve the flood problem. However, under Cai Mao's operation, the credit that originally belonged to Liu Qi inexplicably became Liu Cong's.

This was tantamount to making Liu Cong's status in Liu Biao's heart higher, and he himself had even less say. As a result, he would not have a seat in similar meetings before. It was only this time that he was called because it was related to him.

Gu Rubing looked at the situation in front of him and knew that now was the time for him to take action.

"Brother Jingsheng, we in the Han Dynasty have always had the rule of enthroning the eldest son over the youngest, and enthroning the legitimate son over the illegitimate son. There should be no need to discuss this matter."

As soon as these words came out, the whole place fell into silence.

"Could it be that Brother Jingsheng is planning to change the rules of the Han Dynasty?"

This sentence put Liu Biao on the fire and pushed him to a crossroads. If he chose to make Liu Qi the emperor, then there would be no point in Liu Biao holding this meeting today. This meeting was originally a show to allow Liu Cong to succeed to the throne. However, if he made Liu Cong the emperor, it would mean that Liu Biao had betrayed the rules of the Han Dynasty and turned his back on the Han Dynasty.

Liu looked at Gu Rubing with a stiff expression. He never expected that Gu Rubing would suddenly say something like this and muddy the waters.

Cai Mao snorted coldly, sat back in his seat and glanced at Gu Rubing. If looks could kill, Gu Rubing would probably have been killed by Cai Mao's glare just now.

"Brother Xuande is right, but my eldest son Liu Qi is inconsistent in his words and deeds and has bad conduct. It is really difficult for him to take on such a big responsibility, so I came up with the idea of ​​making my second son Liu Cong the heir."

Liu Biao thought for a long time and then spoke slowly.

"Liu Cong can take on this important task!"

(End of this chapter)