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

Chapter 383: Dividing Jingzhou, Storm is Coming

"It seems that it was because of the request of Huang Zhong, the current governor of Yuzhang County. Liu Bei has a highly skilled military doctor under his command. It seems that Huang Zhong asked the military doctor to treat his son. His son has been suffering from tuberculosis since he was born and his body is weak."

Zhou Yu explained to Cao Cao that he knew something about the uncle and nephew from the Jiangxia Huang family who had been fighting with Jiangdong for many years, and he immediately told them all about Huang Zhong.

"He is just the governor of Yuzhang County. No, he is the governor of half of Yuzhang County. Is it worth it for Liu Bei to travel so far? Is he going to see the effect of the treatment in person? It doesn't make sense no matter how you think about it."

Cao Cao's spirit tensed up instantly. After fighting with Liu Bei for such a long time, he was 100% sure that Liu Bei would never do something without a purpose and would definitely not run to a prefect for no reason.

"Could it be that there is something important in Yuzhang County?"

Sun Ce asked tentatively, but then denied it. After all, Yuzhang County had been under their control for so many years. There was no reason for them not to discover any important treasures.

"Or Huang Zhong, or Huang Zhong's son is a peerless general?"

This sentence was said by Liu Zhang. If it is not for the matter, then it is for the person.

"Compared to his uncle Huang Zu, Huang Zhong is not good enough, and in the previous battles with Jingzhou, Huang Zhong did not show high military talent and force."

Liu Zhang's words were immediately rejected by Zhou Yu. The study fell into a brief silence, and soon Cao Cao raised another question.

"When did Liu Bei leave Yuzhang County?"

"Not yet known."

The four words "Sun Ce" made Cao Cao, Liu Zhang, Shi Yi, and even Zhou Yu turn their heads to look at him. After all this time, you don't know when Liu Bei will leave, so you have to wait until Liu Bei leaves before attacking. Sun Ce reacted immediately and hurriedly added.

"We have people hiding in Nanchang County. As soon as Liu Bei leaves, we will inform you of his departure time. Just postpone it for four days. By then, Liu Bei will have left Yangzhou, which will make it easier for the Prime Minister to deploy defenses. How do you do?"

After hearing this, the others stopped looking at Sun Ce like he was a fool and started to discuss other things. The most important of these was the division of the big piece of fat meat, Jingzhou. Again, Shi Yi spoke first.

"We will contribute the least, so how about taking the Cangwu County that originally belonged to us and the Lingling County, the poorest county in the south?"

Several people nodded. What Shi Yi asked for was reasonable. After all, Cangwu originally belonged to him. He couldn't just give him nothing but Cangwu. That would be a bit too much.

"Wuling County belongs to me. I don't have a big appetite. One Wuling County plus half of Nan County is enough."

Liu Zhang smiled brightly and exchanged a smile with Cao Cao. It was not that his appetite was small, but that it was too big. Jingzhou was originally a wedge for the alliance between Liu Zhang and Cao Cao, and now Sun Jian and Shi Xie both wanted to have a piece of the pie. No problem, then they would share some. After all, Jingzhou's army of more than 200,000 was not made of clay, and it would be best to have two people share the burden.

However, they did not think so about the cession and division of Jingzhou. As for this rich land, they naturally wanted to get as much as possible.

"Hahaha, Brother Ji Yu is really courageous. In that case, I will take the remaining half of Nanjun, plus Jiangxia County and Changsha County. After all, I am the one who is going to stop Liu Bei's troops, so they will definitely suffer the most casualties. It is reasonable to take more."

Cao Cao's bright smile gave people the feeling that he was smiling with a dagger hidden in his heart, which made people feel alert. However, when it came to matters of interest, how could Sun Ce and Zhou Yu compromise?

"Are they only going to leave us Guiyang County? We worked so hard to conquer three counties, and in the end, they are only going to leave us a poor and remote Guiyang County? No, absolutely not!"

Sun Ce had a hot temper and he started to slam the table and challenge Cao Cao on the spot. They were going to send troops to three counties, but in the end they would hand over the richest counties, Jiangxia and Changsha, which they had conquered. How could he agree to this?

"Look, young people are always impatient. There is not only one Guiyang County, but also half of Yuzhang County."

Liu Zhang said this with a smile, and this sentence made Sun Ce, who was already furious, almost jump up and curse.

"Yuzhang County was originally our territory, so it definitely cannot be counted as part of the spoils of war! Jiangxia, Changsha, and Guiyang are all ours! Whoever conquers them will own them!"

Sun Ce's hot temper came out and Zhou Yu couldn't stop him.

"Everyone, please sit down and discuss this properly. There's no need to get angry."

Being in Cao's camp in Xudu, they would definitely not gain any advantage by confronting Cao Cao head-on. If they really angered Cao Cao and killed him in a rage, there would be nothing they could do. What's the point of talking about revenge? By then, everyone would be dead, so what's the point of revenge for them?

"I see that you have no intention of fighting and no intention of a proper negotiation! Jiangxia, Changsha, Guiyang, you want them all? What about me? I only want half of Nanjun? You Jiangdong are making too much wishful thinking. I was responsible for resisting Liu Bei's attack, but in the end you only got half of Nanjun? Didn't you say that whoever fights will get it? Fine, I don't care about Liu Bei, I will let him march straight into Jingzhou! Then I will see if you Jiangdong can take down these three counties!"

Cao Cao stroked the teacup with his right hand. At this moment, he only regretted that he didn't have a bowl of rice in his hand so he couldn't put it on the table.

"Prime Minister, that's not what Bofu meant. Please don't be angry. Let's discuss it slowly. I can't just give you half a county, and you definitely won't let Liu Bei enter Jingzhou. We have the same goal, so why not talk about it slowly?"

Zhou Yu was exhausted both physically and mentally at the moment. He had been traveling all night, and the current intrigues made him feel tired. Although Sun Ce's words just now were to fight for the rights and interests of Jiangdong, his way of speaking was really wrong. If Sun Ce continued to talk, the talks would break down sooner or later. Not to mention the breakdown of the talks, he and Sun Ce might have to die here today. Thinking of this, Zhou Yu's tiredness disappeared, and he felt particularly energetic.

"Our ultimate goal is not Jingzhou. Taking Jingzhou is just the first step to cut off Liu Bei's left and right arms. In the future, we will not only have Jingzhou, but also Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and Jizhou. Do we have to sit down and quarrel every time we take a state?"

Zhou Yu said, looking around at the people present. Needless to say, Shi Yi was on his side, and the other side only wanted Lingling County, a poor and remote place, and he must not give it up. Liu Zhang was also hard to say. Liu Zhang attacked Nanjun and Wuling County, and then only wanted Wuling County and half of Nanjun. It was not reasonable to give up. In fact, in the final analysis, it was a problem between them and Cao Cao. Both sides wanted to take Jiangxia and Changsha counties for themselves, and neither side wanted to make concessions, which led to the current result.

"We are willing to give up half of Jiangxia County, but we need you, Prime Minister, to send troops to help us take over Jiangxia County together."

Zhou Yu proposed a reasonable solution. Since he could not get the expected profit, he could reduce the investment cost appropriately, which was also an effective method. However, he was rejected by Cao Cao.

"No, you know Liu Bei's strength. My men can hardly stop Liu Bei. If I withdraw some of them to attack Jiangxia, our defense will collapse. Once Liu Bei attacks Jingzhou, the result is predictable."

Zhou Yu couldn't help but roll his eyes. It was obvious that Cao Cao didn't want to put in any more effort. Why would he collapse? Could it be that Liu Bei could mobilize all his troops to support Jingzhou?

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. After I conquer Wuling, the Wuling part will be divided into two parts. We will go north to attack Nanjun and go east to attack Jiangxia. At that time, Nanjun will be divided equally between me and the Prime Minister, and Jiangxia will be divided equally between Jiangdong and the Prime Minister. How do you think?"

In the end, it was Liu Zhang who broke the deadlock.

"it is good."

"agree."

"I have no opinion."

With the three people voting in favor, the attack on Jingzhou was decided. Later, they discussed the related matters after taking Jingzhou. After all, Liu Bei was now so powerful that all the remaining princes needed to unite to attack him. If they did not unite to take down Liu Bei, they would definitely be taken down by Liu Bei. This is the general trend of the world. When a super powerful force appears, others will put aside all grievances and unite to attack the strongest one.

Last time it was Dong Zhuo, this time it was Gu Rubing.

Just when everyone was about to end the talks, Sun Ce suddenly knocked on the table and said something that made everyone present fall into deep thought.

"On the day Liu Bei went to Yuzhang County, he had a conflict with my Jiangdong general. Liu Bei's subordinates used a new type of weapon. We don't know what it is. We can only tell you that the special weapon will explode and has great lethality. It can be attached to arrows. As for whether it can be attached to other weapons, we don't know."

After saying this, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and Shi Yi stood up and resigned at the same time. Since everything had been discussed and the relevant information had been shared, there was no need for them to stay here.

"It's late at night. Why don't you stay here today? It won't be too late to leave tomorrow."

"Thank you for your invitation, Prime Minister. We still need to go back to Yangzhou to keep an eye on Liu Bei, so we won't stay any longer."

Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and Shi Yi left with a hundred cavalrymen, leaving Cao Cao and Liu Bei sitting opposite each other in the study. They were both thinking silently about what kind of new weapon could actually explode. In fact, they already had the answer in their hearts, but they just didn't want to believe it. After all, who could believe that in this age of cold weapons, Liu Bei would suddenly take out a bunch of gunpowder? It was totally against common sense.

The lights in the study of the Prime Minister's Mansion in Xudu were lit all night long.

Nothing happened for a few days, so Gu Rubing stayed in Yuzhang County. He saw Huang Xu's health getting better day by day. After a week, Huang Xu, who had difficulty sitting up, was able to move on his own. His complexion also became more and more rosy, no longer as pale as before.

Huang Zhong also became visibly more energetic, as if he had completely changed. Every day he either played chess with Gu Rubing or went for a walk with Huang Xu. Huang Xu was fed up with it and was forced to take a walk with Huang Zhong every day. Now he was no longer afraid of the wind and had no problem going out at night.

Huang Zhong delivered all the medicinal herbs that Hua Tuo listed for him, which was enough to show how much importance Huang Zhong attached to them. In this way, another week passed, and Huang Xu was basically no different from an ordinary person. He just needed to take the medicine prepared by Hua Tuo for him every night.

He could even ride a horse and shoot arrows. Huang Xu also inherited Huang Zhong's talent for archery. At the age of twelve, he showed a level beyond ordinary people and could draw a forty-stone bow. When Huang Zhong saw Huang Xu draw the forty-stone bow, the general cried like a tearful man.

Seeing Huang Xu gradually recovering, Gu Rubing was also ready to say goodbye to Huang Zhong. After all, he had stayed here for too long. Now was the stage of preparing for war, and Gu Rubing had to return to Qingzhou to keep an eye on it. Once the war started, Gu Rubing had to stay in Qingzhou to ensure that the soldiers in other places could fight normally and the morale of the army would not be disturbed.

On the day when Gu Rubing was about to leave, Taishi Ci actually came to Nanchang City alone on horseback. Gu Rubing immediately knew that something big was about to happen.

At that time, Gu Rubing was playing chess with Huang Zhong. Taishi Ci walked into the room in a hurry. Seeing Gu Rubing and Huang Zhong playing chess, Taishi Ci stood quietly by the side, waiting for them to finish. Gu Rubing did not see Taishi Ci standing behind him until Huang Zhong coughed. Looking at Taishi Ci's expression, Gu Rubing guessed what the problem was.

"Just say it, Han Sheng is not an outsider."

"Cao Cao has assembled a large army and started to deploy defenses along the southern part of Yuzhou. He also intends to expand towards Yangzhou. Liu Zhang of Yizhou has withdrawn his garrisons along the border and started to move eastward. It seems that he is stationing troops in Nanjun and Wulingjun. Almost at the same time, Sun Jian has sent people to gather in Yuzhangjun. The leader of the troops is the Jiangdong general you bumped into that day, Gan Ning."

As Taishi Ci was speaking, Gu Rubing pinched a black chess piece with two fingers and tapped it gently on the chessboard. The only sounds in the room were Taishi Ci's voice and Gu Rubing tapping the chessboard.

"Shi Xie of Jiaozhou has also stationed troops in the southern part of Cangwu County. It looks like he will attack Cangwu County soon."

After Taishi Ci finished speaking, he stood quietly behind Gu Rubing. Gu Rubing frowned slightly. He was not surprised that Shi Xie could be instigated by Sun Jian. In history, Jiaozhou was finally taken over by Sun Quan, so it was normal for Shi Xie to be instigated by Sun Jian. But what about Liu Zhang? Who could persuade Liu Zhang?
At this time, Gu Rubing did not know that Liu Biao died due to a series of coincidences. From Liu Zhang's perspective, Liu Biao refused to form an alliance with Liu Bei, so he was killed by Liu Bei. Then Liu Qi replaced him and gathered his old subordinates to submit to Liu Bei. The same happened to Ma Teng, who was killed by Liu Bei and then Ma Chao succeeded to the throne. So he gave up the alliance with Liu Bei or did not help either side and turned to form an alliance with Cao Cao.

"Did the Prime Minister say anything?"

Gu Rubing believed that since the news was sent by Taishi Ci, Zhuge Liang must have known it. As long as Zhuge Liang knew it, there should be a solution to this matter. This was the level of confidence Gu Rubing had in Zhuge Liang.

(End of this chapter)