Soldiers come to the world

Although Cai Mao didn't know that Deng Yi had secretly pledged allegiance to Liu Jing, but from the division of factions, Deng Yi was obviously not loyal to him, nor was he an alliance like Kuai Yue. Deng Yi's attitude was unclear, so Cai Mao deduced that he was either loyal to Liu Qi, Or it is biased towards Liu Jing.

Just like this, Cai Mao naturally felt a kind of dissatisfaction with Deng Yi, even hostility. Fortunately, Deng Yi didn't know the secret, otherwise he would end up with Liu Xian. At this time, he asked Deng Yi, which was actually a kind of temptation. Cai Mao wanted to know whether Deng Yi was from Liu Jing.

Deng Yi has long been accustomed to Cai Mao's indifference, and he smiled slightly: "As long as everyone agrees to pay homage to the new prefect, I will not object, but I think some details need to be considered, such as how many troops Liu Jing is allowed to bring into the city? When will he enter the city?" ? These details have to be finalized before we can arrange it calmly."

Deng Yi's proposal was approved by everyone, but it made Cai Mao suspicious. He couldn't figure out Deng Yi's attitude from the proposal, but some things really needed to be clarified.

Cai Mao pondered for a moment and said: "We can give Liu Jing and Wenpin a security guarantee, but no more than 500 people can enter the city, and the time is set at Chenshizheng tomorrow morning."

.........

The meeting dispersed, and in a small living room not far from the discussion room, Cai Mao and several of his confidants continued to discuss some details, including Li Gui, Cai He, Cai Zhong, and Zhang Yun.

Li Gui sighed slightly: "Actually, I wanted to suggest that Liu Jing enter the city tonight, and he would not pay homage to the state shepherd. He could leave directly after offering sacrifices to the ancestor. This would not have any impact. Did the military commander ever consider the welcome of the people?" ?”

Li Gui was the prefect of Xiangyang, and he considered public opinion more. In fact, he guessed that the real purpose of Liu Jing's coming to the city to pay homage to Liu Biao was for public opinion.

Cai Mao was startled, and then he realized that Liu Jing would be welcomed by the people when he entered the city tomorrow morning. He couldn't help but glared at Li Gui, meaning why didn't he just say,

At this time, Cai He said from the side: "In fact, it is dangerous to enter the city at night. We must guard against Liu Jing taking the opportunity to seize Xiangyang, so entering the city at night is absolutely not allowed. The military adviser suggested that entering the city during the day is a wise move. As for the worry that the prefect Li is worried about the people. Support, it’s actually very simple, we’re keeping people off the streets for safety reasons, so there won’t be any problems.”

Cai Mao nodded, this Cai He is indeed smarter than Cai Zhong, at least he can make effective suggestions, he is not as reckless and cruel as Cai Zhong, who makes trouble for himself.

"That's the decision!"

Cai Mao said to Cai He: "You can lead an army of [-] to put martial law in the whole city, and the people are not allowed to go to the streets to welcome them."

"Don't worry, military commander, I will do my best!"

........

While Cai Mao and his party members were discussing the countermeasures for the next day, in the Deng Mansion in the north of Xiangyang City, Deng Yi called several confidantes to his study, and explained to them: "Mr. Jing will go to the city to worship First Lord, you guys can split up and spread the word around the city, so that every household knows about Young Master Jing's entry into the city tomorrow."

An old man said: "Master, there are people in the city who specialize in doing this kind of thing, you can entrust them to promote it, and the effect will be better."

Deng Yi nodded, "Let's discuss this matter with you guys! Just go to the cashier to withdraw how much money you need, and keep it a little more secretive, and don't let the other party know that I, Deng Yi, did it."

"Don't worry, master! We will consider everything carefully."

"Go! Start now."

Several family members saluted and retreated separately. Deng Yi pondered for a moment, then wrote another letter and ordered someone to go out of the city to deliver it to Liu Jing.

........

Fancheng was also immersed in the joy of victory. The sound of firecrackers exploded from time to time in the city, and many taverns that were closed due to funerals also opened to sell alcohol one after another, allowing the people to drink to celebrate the victory.

On the pier, people who were preparing to cross the river were crowded and lined up in long lines. The ferries in the river shuttled back and forth like crucian carp crossing the river. More than [-] ferries seized from Cao Jun were put into use again, and the ferries were returned to them. The original owner and the burned ship were also paid by Jiang Xiajun.

By the riverside, Liu Jing was inspecting the situation at the ferry. After the war, Fancheng and Xinye would naturally be controlled by the Jiangxia Army and would not be returned to Xiangyang, but Xu Shu had other ideas.

"Prefect, in fact, Fancheng and Xinye have no strategic significance. Cao Jun went south, and Fancheng and Xinye were the first to bear the brunt. We are actually serving as gatekeepers for Xiangyang, but they are very important to Xiangyang. I think it is better to put these two Return the city to Xiangyang in exchange for some more useful military resources."

Liu Jing glanced at Xu Shu, and asked with a smile: "I have a lot of military resources now, Yuan Zhi thinks there is something old in Xiangyang?"

Xu Shu smiled slightly and said: "I heard that there is a batch of shipbuilding wood stored in the warehouse outside Xiangyang. They are all dried for many years. There are 10,000+ thick logs. Thousands of warships can be built with them. If If the land in the north of the river is exchanged for these woods, then Xiangyang will not be able to build large warships within three years, and even if Cao Jun goes south, there will be no boats to cross the river, what does the eunuch think?"

Liu Jing nodded. He knew that new wood could not be used to build a large ship. The wood had to be air-dried for at least three years, otherwise it would be easily deformed. Xu Shu's reminder was indeed necessary. The wood left in Xiangyang was ultimately used to support Cao Jun.

As for Xu Shu's proposal to return Fancheng and Xinye in Jiangbei to Xiangyang, in fact, Liu Jing has also considered that Xiangyang has only [-] troops. Once they get the land of Jiangbei, they will inevitably divide their troops to garrison. This will reduce the defensive army against Jiangxia. bad thing.

Liu Jing pondered for a while and smiled: "I will leave this matter to you. You can go to Kuai Yue. Although he no longer supports me, but after all, his affection is still there. I believe he will try his best to facilitate this matter. In addition, I can also Promise not to attack Xiangyang within a year."

Xu Shu understood Liu Jing's meaning, Cao Jun's iron cavalry will go south, and it is really meaningless to attack Xiangyang now, so he nodded, "This matter will be handled well."

At this moment, Liu Jing suddenly heard someone calling him behind him, and when he turned around, he saw Wenpin galloping towards him on horseback, followed by a man wearing a crown on his head, wearing a large Confucian robe, with fair skin, About forty years old.

Xu Shu knew this person, and whispered to Liu Jing, "This person is Han Song."

Liu Jing thought to himself, "So it's him!" '

Han Song was the first official in Jingzhou to work as a general in Zhonglang. He was one of the powerful ministers in Jingzhou. After he was sent as an envoy to Cao Cao for five years in Jian'an, he turned to the pro-Cao faction. After Liu Biao died, Han Song came back again under the recommendation of Cai Mao, and now takes over the post of Liu Xian's assistant.

Han Song belonged to the pro-Cao faction, but he was not Cai Mao's henchman, but like Kuai Yue, he formed an alliance with Cai Mao. After discussion today, they unanimously elected him to negotiate with Liu Jing about worshiping Liu Biao.

Han Song didn't know Liu Jing well, but he had a very good personal relationship with Wenpin. He found Wenpin first, but Wenpin told him frankly that the lord's dying words were to let Liu Jing succeed him, and others would not recognize it, but Wenpin did. Admitting that he had decided to be loyal to Liu Jing, Han Song was surprised but helpless.

Wen Pin made it very clear that he was only accompanying Liu Jing into the city, and he had nothing to do with the specific details of entering the city, so he could only discuss with Liu Jing.

The horse galloped in front of him, Han Song got off the horse, smiled and saluted, "I have heard about Mr. Jing's name for a long time, and I met you for the first time today, Mr. Jing is really a talented person, and his reputation is well-deserved.

Liu Jing also smiled and bowed his hands in return, "Mr. Han is too modest, and I have heard of Mr. Han's name for a long time. I am lucky to meet you today."

The two exchanged a few words of greeting, Han Song greeted Xu Shu again, Liu Jing pointed to a large ship not far away and said with a smile: "That is my military ship, we might as well talk in detail on board."

"Then it's better to be respectful than to obey."

A group of people walked quickly to the big boat and boarded the boat. Everyone sat down in a spacious cabin, and some soldiers served them tea. Han Song stroked his beard and smiled and said, "Mr. The joy and joy made Jingzhou's army and people elated, the news spread, and the state government was also elated, Han Song expressed his most sincere thanks to Young Master Jing on behalf of Zhou Mu and Cai Junshi!"

After speaking, he straightened his body and bowed deeply to Liu Jing.

"This is my job, Mr. Han doesn't need to be too polite."

Liu Jing didn't mention the victory, and said with a faint smile: "Mr. Han, let's talk about the future! How to arrange it? I want to know the details."

Han Song sat up straight again and said, "Tomorrow morning is the hour, and Mr. Jing's entourage should not exceed 500 people. We will ensure the safety of Mr. Jing and General Wenpin. In addition, the state shepherd wants to see Mr. Jing."

Liu Jing was silent for a moment and said: "Let's talk about seeing Zhou Mu tomorrow! I can't give you a clear answer now. As for the arrangement of worshiping uncle, I can agree!"

.......

The next day, it was getting brighter and it was almost Chen’s time. More than one hundred Jiangxia warships had already parked on the river outside Xiangyang City. The warships were full of more than ten thousand fully armed soldiers. Fully prepared to attack at any time.

Five hundred elite cavalry stood in line outside the city gate. All the cavalry wore armor and helmets, held spears, and were full of murderous looks. They would accompany Liu Jing into the city to worship.

Standing on the top of the city, Cai He watched the warships in the Han River from a distance, and at the [-] cavalry lined up neatly below the city, he couldn't help beating a small drum in his heart. The posture of Jiang Xia's army made him feel nervous.

Although he can understand that it is to protect Liu Jing's safety, if Liu Jing intends to capture Xiangyang City, the combat effectiveness of these five hundred cavalry will be astonishing. The thousand guards at the city gate are by no means their opponents. There are tens of thousands of Jiangxia soldiers in the middle of the river, and it will be difficult to keep Xiangyang City.

Cai He pondered for a long time, took out his military badge, turned back and handed it to a confidant, and said, "Quickly go and report to the military division, saying that I still need to send [-] archers to defend the northern city. The situation is urgent, so go immediately."

The soldier took the military badge, promised, and rushed away immediately. At this moment, an officer shouted in a low voice: "General Cai, the time has come!"