Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 96 91. The Xi Brothers
In Jingzhou, after Guan Yu advanced northward and Lu Meng crossed the river in white clothes to attack Jingzhou, there were many people in various places who resisted, such as Fan Zhou.

In Lingling County, there were also two brothers who wanted to rise up against the rule of Eastern Wu. They were Lingling Northern Commander Xi Zhen and his younger brother Xi Hong.

The two brothers were both born into powerful local families and were considered local tyrants. The elder brother, Xizhen, practiced martial arts and was good at fighting; the younger brother, Xihong, studied literature and was quite strategic, and his martial arts skills were not too weak.

When Fan Zhou first raised his army, he contacted the surrounding counties. Xi Zhen originally wanted to respond immediately, but his brother Xi Hong dissuaded him.

"Brother, you must not raise an army at this time. The king has not yet sent out his troops, and the Eastern Wu has just acquired Jingzhou, so they must be on the alert. Moreover, Sun Quan is now on good terms with Cao Wei, so if there are no external worries, they will surely eliminate the internal troubles.

If we raise an army now, firstly, we will have no one to unite us and we will have to fight on our own, which will make it difficult to accomplish anything; secondly, it will be difficult for us to gather enough soldiers in a hurry. Dongwu only needs one great general and 10,000 soldiers, and we will be defeated by them.

It would be better for us to pretend to submit to the Eastern Wu, and when our army from Sichuan comes to recapture Jingzhou, we can cooperate with them internally and externally. In this way, we can save our lives and be loyal to the king at the same time."

Originally, in history, Xi Zhen did not follow Xi Hong's advice and joined forces with Fan Zhou to start an uprising. As a result, he was besieged by Pan Jun and committed suicide after his defeat.

However, in this timeline, Liu Bei followed Feng Xi's advice and asked Ma Liang to write a letter to many wealthy families in Jingzhou, expressing his consolation and hoping for their assistance.

Xi Zhen naturally received this as well. Therefore, under the influence of these factors, Xi Zhen did not directly raise an army as had been done in history. Instead, he decided to listen to his brother's advice, lie dormant, and pretend to be in harmony with the Eastern Wu.

In Lingling, the Eastern Wu naturally sent a new governor, and the two brothers of the Xi family knew this new governor:
Liu Xian, the son of Liu Du, the former governor of Lingling.

When Liu Bei conquered the three counties in the south of Jing outside Changsha, all three counties surrendered. However, Liu Du and Liu Xian wanted to feign surrender, but Zhuge Liang easily saw through their plan, so Xing Daorong, the general of Lingling, was also stabbed to death by Zhao Yun.

Later, Liu Du died of old age as the prefect of Lingling. Liu Xian was not able to inherit his father's career smoothly. Instead, Liu Bei sent someone else to take over the position of prefect of Lingling. Liu Xian was resentful about this and quietly escaped and defected to the Eastern Wu.

Dongwu had always been determined to gain control of Jingzhou, so when a "guide" like Liu Xian came to Dongwu, they naturally gladly accepted his surrender and promised him the position of governor of Lingling, allowing him to stabilize the area and assist Dongwu in governance.

This time, when Lu Meng crossed the river in white clothes, Liu Xian also "returned home in glory" and was appointed by Sun Quan as the governor of Lingling as he wished. He was very famous for a while.

The Xi Zhen brothers and Liu Xian were also acquaintances, so seeing that the Xi Zhen brothers were so obedient, Liu Xian trusted them quite a bit and would discuss all matters, big or small, with them.

After all, although Liu Xian returned to his hometown, he was troubled by the lack of capable people under his command to share his worries. It just so happened that Xi Zhen and Xi Hong, one a civil official and the other a military officer, naturally became Liu Xian's right-hand men.

When Pan Jun went to attack Fan Zhou, he also ordered the surrounding counties to send troops together. Naturally, Liu Xian also arrogantly sent troops together with the two brothers of the Xi family.

When Xi Zhen arrived at the front line and saw Fan Zhou's army, he couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and was glad that he had listened to his brother's advice and did not rashly respond to Fan Zhou.

How could Fan Zhou's army be called a large one? Because he had contacted the Wuling barbarians, the army was a mixture of Han and barbarian troops, and it was extremely chaotic. When the battle started, even Fan Zhou couldn't command the army, and Pan Jun's 5,000 elite soldiers just charged and killed them once, and they were completely defeated.

Xi Zhen sighed lightly and led his troops to attack from the flank, but it was just a lot of noise but little action. Apart from killing a few hundred iron-willed Wuling barbarians, the rest of the Han and barbarian troops almost all fled.

Liu Xian was also very satisfied with Xi Zhen's performance and became more and more of a confidant of her.

Lingling enjoyed peace for several months, and the news that Liu Bei was leading his army out of Sichuan to the east soon reached Lingling County.

"Master Xi, Liu Bei has sent all his troops to attack us. We are in a precarious situation. How can we resist him?"

Liu Xian was naturally disturbed when he heard about this. After all, strictly speaking, he was also a traitor, and Liu Bei would definitely not be so generous as to spare him. So Liu Xian quickly summoned the Xi brothers to discuss countermeasures.

"Don't panic, Governor Liu. I heard that General Han Dang, a veteran general from Jiangdong, has personally led a large army to the area around Yiling to deploy defenses. I think the King of Wu will not give up Jingzhou easily. We can first gather the troops, train day and night, and wait and see the outcome of the battle of Yiling."

Xi Hong thought for a moment and proposed this plan of waiting and watching. Firstly, Liu Bei's army had not yet entered Jingzhou, so it was not wise to start a rebellion at this moment; secondly, if Liu Bei's army was defeated, wouldn't his two brothers die without a burial place? After careful consideration, Xi Hong decided to continue to lie dormant, and his advice to Liu Xian was just nonsense.

"Okay, okay. Then I'll have to trouble General Xi with the training."

But Liu Xian was not a man of strategy, and he was overjoyed to hear Xi Hong's consolation, and assigned Xi Zhen the task of training troops.

"Don't worry, my Lord, I will train you wholeheartedly."

Xi Zhen answered with a hint of meaning, but Liu Xian thought it was just an ordinary reply and didn't take it seriously.

The three did not have to wait too long, and soon news came that Jiangdong had appointed Lu Xun as the new commander-in-chief of the army and sent him to the Yiling front.

Less than a month later, the news that the Wu army in Yiling was defeated, almost all the generals were killed, and Han Dang and Lu Xun were captured alive spread to Lingling County.

"Master Xi, what should we do? The Wu army has been badly defeated. The Shu army will surely rush into Jingzhou like a hot knife through butter. How will Lingling County protect itself then?"

Xi Hong touched his chin and decided to test Liu Xian's attitude first.

"Liu Taishou, why don't you follow your father's example and avoid the Han army?"

Xi Hong's words were relatively tactful. In fact, he just wanted Liu Xian to surrender.

"No, no, when my father passed away, I rebelled against the Shu army because Liu Bei did not want me to inherit his position. If I rebel again, I am afraid Liu Bei will not tolerate me."

Liu Xian shook his head repeatedly, eliminating the possibility of taking this path.

"Lingling is a mountainous area with many forests. Lingling City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. We should defend the city and wait for King Wu's reinforcements to arrive, and then attack from both sides."

Xi Hong pretended to think about it and proposed this safe method. Liu Xian had no better idea and could only nod in agreement.

A few days later, Liu Xian learned that Gan Ning had died in battle and Zhang Fei's army was approaching Wuling. However, what Liu Xian did not expect was that Wuling City was breached in less than two days.

"I heard that it was the former Wuling governor Gong Zhi who sneaked into Wuling City and contacted the noble families to rebel, which led to the fall of Wuling."

Xi Hong told Liu Xian the inside story with a serious face.

Liu Xian was not worried about the former prefect, because the former prefect sent by Liu Bei had been killed by Liu Xian.

"Liu Taishou, we must keep a close watch on the noble families in the city to prevent them from contacting Zhang Fei and colluding with him."

Xi Hong gave Liu Xian advice in a serious tone, and Liu Xian nodded repeatedly.

"With brothers Xi Zhen and Xi Hong as my right-hand men, I can rest assured!"

Liu Xian thought secretly in his heart, but he didn't know that his right-hand men had actually been harboring evil intentions for a long time.

While Liu Xian was worried, Zhang Fei's southern expedition army reached Lingling County from Wuling County after a few days.

(End of this chapter)