Soldiers come to the world

As soon as he returned to Dow's Firm, Liu Jing got the news that Liu Biao had sent someone to find Tao Li in the morning.

In fact, Liu Biao looked down on the Tao family in his bones. On the one hand, he enjoyed the huge amount of money and food provided by the Tao family every year. The family was strongly dissatisfied, so they interrupted the confession that had been made for more than ten years.

Liu Biao felt the huge pressure of money and grain after only one interruption of the offering, which made him quite regretful, and wanted to appease the Tao family to save the situation, so this time to celebrate his birthday, he specially invited the Tao family to attend as honored guests.

It should be said that Liu Biao's attitude towards the Tao family was within Liu Jing's expectations. The Tao family's donations were very important to Jingzhou. After he came to Xiangyang, he felt it more deeply. It would be strange if Liu Biao continued to ignore the Tao family.

Although it was expected, Liu Jing still felt a little uneasy, after all, the Tao family was equally important to him.

Without hesitation, Liu Jing immediately went into the inner hall and found Tao Li. Tao Li was the second son of Tao Lie and the second person in the Tao family. He was mainly in charge of Jingzhou business, while Tao Lie's third son was in charge of Jiangdong business.

Tao Li was the representative of the Tao family when they came to Xiangyang to celebrate their birthday. Logically, Tao Sheng, the head of the Tao family who visited Liu Biao several times, was highly respected. But this time, Tao Lie decided to let his second son be the representative of the Tao family. It is also his shrewdness.

This time, the Tao family was not independent, but only as a vassal of Liu Jing. In this case, it would not be appropriate to let the head of the family show up, but let a secondary person appear on the stage to show the low profile of the Tao family.

Tao Li also just finished his lunch and was about to take a nap when Liu Jing's voice came from outside the door, "Does Second Uncle want to rest?"

Tao Li hurriedly stood up to greet him, bowed and smiled, "Why are you here, Master?"

Although Liu Jing followed Tao Zhan's address and called him "Second Uncle", Tao Li had to be ignorant of good and evil, let alone call himself "Second Uncle".

"There's something I want to talk to my uncle about."

Tao Li nodded, "Please come in and talk!"

Tao Li invited Liu Jing into the cabin, and the two sat down. Tao Li poured him a cup of hot tea and said with a smile, "If you have anything to do, young master, just tell me directly."

Liu Jing smiled and said, "I want to talk about the Tao family's birthday celebration."

Although Liu Jing didn't mention the fact that Liu Biao sent people here, Tao Li knew that Liu Jing's coming to him at this time must be related to this matter.

Without waiting for Liu Jing to continue, he took out an exquisite invitation card, put it on the table and pushed it to Liu Jing, "This is an invitation letter written by Zhou Mu himself. He invites me to meet at the state office tomorrow, but I won't go. I'll excuse it by being sick."

Liu Jing carefully looked at the invitation, the smile on his face disappeared, and he pondered for a while and said: "Frankly speaking, the Tao family's birthday celebration is actually a key condition for me to negotiate with the state shepherd.

When I was in charge of Chai Sang, Zhou Mu’s biggest opinion on me was that the Tao family no longer paid tribute to him, which caused him a shortage of military expenses. Today, he specially sent an invitation to invite his second uncle to meet with the state government office, which can also be seen It shows how much he attaches importance to the Tao family. "

Tao Li nodded, "The Tao family pays a huge amount of money and food to Jingzhou every year. The state pastor has said more than once that the Tao family is the pillar of Jingzhou. Every year, the Tao family is the guest of honor. We know the Tao family's respect for the state pastor. important."

After a pause, Tao Li said again: "Father also talked to me before leaving. The Tao family will fully cooperate with the son's trip to Xiangyang. This time, the Tao family will never act alone, and will follow behind the son. Accompany He Shou."

The so-called congratulatory birthday is to sign Liu Jing's name in the greeting card. This kind of situation is often used in exchanges between people with disparity in status. Tall people lift themselves up.

Although the Tao family itself was highly valued by Liu Biao, they had to keep a low profile this time, so they would write the words "Chai Sang and Liu Sima's subordinates" on the greeting card to show the relationship between the Tao family and Liu Jing.

When Tao Li said this, he showed Liu Jing the attitude of the Tao family. No matter how Liu Biao tempted him, the Tao family would never betray him.

Liu Jing nodded. Since the Tao family was so sensible, he didn't need to say any more. He got up and smiled, "Since Second Uncle wants to rest, I won't bother you any more."

． ． ． ． ． ． ．

When Liu Jing returned to his room, he also planned to take a nap. At this time, a soldier reported outside the door, "Speak to Sima, the Prime Minister of Xiangyang County wants to see you!"

Wang Ke is Liu Biao's son-in-law and the backbone of the Kuai party in Jingzhou. He helped Liu Jing a lot in dealing with Gan Ning's slave trade the year before last and made [-] false slave contracts. The magistrate of Zhonglu County was not reinstated until the beginning of this year.

In this matter, Liu Jing has always felt guilty towards him, and when he heard that he came to visit her, Liu Jing quickly responded: "Please invite him to the guest hall!"

After speaking, he felt that something was wrong, so he greeted him personally. Outside the gate, Wang Ke was standing with his hands behind his back, smiling. Wang Ke came from a famous family and had been an official in Jingzhou for many years. He is very popular in official circles, but in the Jingzhou faction, he belongs to the Kuai party and is Kuai Yue's number one ally.

"Keep Wang Juncheng waiting for a long time!" Liu Jing walked out quickly, smiling and saluting.

Wang Ji returned a salute and said with a smile: "Young Master Jing is busy with business, I'm sorry that I still came to disturb you."

"Wang Juncheng is too polite!"

Liu Jing smiled and waved, "Come in!"

"Please!"

Wang Ji followed Liu Jing into the guest hall, the two sat down separately, a sergeant served tea, the two exchanged a few words of greeting, Wang Ji complimented Liu Jing on Jiang Xia's victory, and his reputation spread far and wide. Theme of.

"Young Master Jing, did you find something wrong with Zhou Mu's body?"

Liu Jing nodded, "Last night I went to visit my uncle and found that he was very old, like a person in his 80s or [-]s. I was also a little surprised. How could he suddenly become so old? Is there something inside?"

"Hey!"

Wang Ji sighed, "Zhou Mu also suspected that he was poisoned, but no matter how hard he checked, there was no sign of poisoning. Later, Zhang Yizheng said that it may be that Zhou Mu worked too much when he was young, and accumulated the root causes of the disease. After sixty, the root causes of these diseases It was immediately exposed, and with this explanation, everyone will believe it."

Liu Jing pondered for a moment, then asked again: "In that case, how many years does Uncle have?"

Wang Ji stretched out three fingers, "Doctor Zhang is saying, two or three years at most, but I'm just telling you this in private, only a few people know, even Zhou Mu himself dare not say it."

Liu Jing was silent, and at this time Wang Ji said again: "The people in Jingzhou's high-level people are panicking now, and they are all worried about the future of Jingzhou. Mr. Jing, I might as well tell you the truth, Mr. Qi is worried."

Liu Jing frowned, "You mean uncle is likely to make Mr. Cong his heir?"

Wang Yan nodded, "Judging from the current situation, it is very likely that it is Mr. Cong, hey! This can't be blamed on Zhou Mu's partiality, Mr. Qi is really disappointing sometimes."

Liu Jing thought of what Yi Ji had said to him, and asked, "So, is it true that Mr. Qi is dating a prostitute?"

Wang Ji sneered, "That one is relatively light. The most terrible thing is that he dares to do anything when he is in the mood. He loves Li Qingmei, a famous prostitute in Jiangling, and once took her to the study to review documents and make decisions on his behalf. , As a result, the seeds for the spring plowing of official fields this year were released two days late, causing public complaints.

This matter was later reported to the state government, and Cai Mao secretly brought Li Qingmei to Xiangyang to confront Zhou Mu, and added fuel to the matter. It was this incident that made Zhou Mu furious and basically ruined Mr. Qi's future. This time Zhou Mu celebrated his birthday, he was not allowed to participate in the preparations at all, and he was not allowed to come to Xiangyang. "

Liu Jing only felt a headache for a while, if this is the case, it will be difficult for this Liu Qi to help him up.

At this time, Wang Ke took a deep look at Liu Jing, and said slowly: "If Liu Cong becomes the lord of Jingzhou and the Cai family is in charge, we will be finished, so I discussed with Kuai Gong, we consider giving up Mr. Qi and supporting Jing instead. son."

Liu Jing smiled and shook his head, "How could it be possible for me? Zhou Mu would not consider making a nephew as his heir. I suggest you find a way to reverse Mr. Qi's decline. This is the way to win."

Wang Ji sighed, "We have invested so much money in Young Master Qi, we will try our best to fight for any opportunity, but people have short-term worries, and we must plan for the worst, so Kuai and I We discuss that while fighting for Young Master Qi, we must also support Young Master Jing's ascension to the throne."

Liu Jing bowed and saluted, "Thank you, Jun Cheng, for thinking about me, but Liu Jing has little talent, low ability, and is not an heir, so I'm afraid he will disappoint your expectations..."

Before Liu Jing could finish speaking, Wang Ji waved his hand and said, "Young Master Jing is too self-deprecating. Young Master Jing's defeat of the Jiangdong Army in Jiangxia has long been admired by everyone. Not only us, but many high-level officials in Jingzhou hope that Young Master Jing will be the leader of Jingzhou. Lord, we just want to take advantage of the young master's current reputation, strike while the iron is hot, win over as many high-ranking officials in Jingzhou as possible, and lay the foundation for the young master to succeed the lord of Jingzhou."

Speaking of this, Wang Yan said sincerely: "The key is that you need to express your attitude, and give reassurance to many high-ranking officials who support you, including me."

It should be said that Wang Ke's suggestion was exactly what Liu Jing had dreamed of. If Kuai Yue hadn't talked to him about what he said this morning, he might have agreed without hesitation. People have too much intersection.

And this kind of thing is not something that can be discussed in depth with people casually. Although he owes Wang Ke a favor, the favor is not enough for him to have a heart-to-heart relationship with Wang Ke.

But Liu Jing didn't want to refuse straight away. After all, Wang Ke had a high status and deep connections. If he really supported him with all his strength, it would be of great help to Liu Jing in the future. He also wanted to try his best to win this relationship.

After pondering for a moment, Liu Jing also responded sincerely: "First of all, I would like to thank the county magistrate for his support, but this matter is of great importance. Let me think about it carefully, and I will definitely give the magistrate a satisfactory answer."

Wang Ji smiled happily, "Of course, this matter must be discussed in the long run."

. . . . . . . . .

At night, in Liu's study, Liu Biao listened intently to Wang Yu's report, and after listening to Wang Yu's final statement, Liu Biao frowned and asked, "You mean, he didn't expressly express his willingness to participate in the competition for the state shepherd's position? "

Although Wang Ke belonged to the Kuai party, it was only for Cai Mao. In front of the state shepherd Liu Biao, he had no factional conflicts of interest. More importantly, he was Liu Biao's son-in-law, and Liu Biao could entrust him with confidant matters. .

Just this morning, Liu Biao entrusted him with an important task, asking him to test Liu Jing's ambitions, that is, whether he had any plans to seize Jingzhou Mu, so there was a process of Wang Qi's meeting with Liu Jing in the afternoon.

Wang Ke was very loyal to Liu Biao and did not hide anything. He told the story of his meeting with Liu Jing, but he did not mention that Liu Biao had two or three years of life left, which would make people sad.

"Reporting to my father-in-law, my son-in-law tried repeatedly and felt that Liu Jing was very cautious. Although he didn't make a clear statement, he didn't explicitly refuse. It's just that I don't know him well, and he refuses to show his sincerity in front of me, but I think It can be seen that he really thinks that Jingzhou has an opportunity to take advantage of, and he does have the ambition to annex Jingzhou."

Liu Biao's face was ashen, he didn't need Wang Yu's explanation, he had already understood Liu Jing's ambition from Wang Yu's narration, and he slowly clenched his fists, "This ungrateful, ungrateful bastard wants to take over his son's money." Foundation! '

At this moment, Liu Biao's heart suddenly became murderous!