Soldiers come to the world

The envoy who came to see Cao Cao from Jiangxia was Liu Min, who came to negotiate with Cao Cao as Liu Jing's plenipotentiary representative.

With the experience in Yecheng and the experience of going back to Jiangxia all the way, Liu Min is no longer that scholar who just debuted. He learned a lot of ways to behave in the world from Li Fu, which he couldn't learn in books.

The swords and axes were shining in front of the big tent, and two hundred swordsmen stood in two rows, watching Liu Min murderously. Although Liu Min was also a little uneasy, he still walked into the big tent calmly.

In the big tent, Cao Cao was wearing armor and sitting in the middle, holding the Yitian sword in his hand, watching Liu Min walk in coldly. There were nine guards with swords standing on each side of him. Behind him, on both sides stood four or five counselors and a dozen generals.

Liu Min stepped forward without haste, and bowed deeply to Cao Cao, "Jiangxia Liu Min sees the Prime Minister!"

Although Liu Min didn't salute, Cao Cao didn't want to waste this kind of etiquette with him. He gave Liu Min a cold look and asked, "Are you a member of the royal family?"

"I'm from Lingling, the nephew of Liu Biejia from Jingzhou, not from the royal family."

"So you are Liu Shizong's nephew, no wonder!"

Cao Cao has a deep memory of Liu Xian. In the fifth year of Jian'an, Liu Xian and Han Song were sent to Xuchang by Liu Biao's order. Liu Xian denounced Cao Cao's censure of Liu Biao in public, which left a deep impression on Cao Cao.

Hearing that he was Liu Xian's nephew, Cao Cao's attitude was a little slow. Seeing Liu Min's baby face, he asked with a smile, "How old are you this year? Are you an adult?"

Liu Min heard the sarcasm in Cao Cao's tone and felt displeased, but still replied calmly: "I have reached the year of weak crown."

"Only 20 years old!"

Cao Cao laughed loudly, "Liu Jing sent a boy who was only 20 years old as an envoy, and Jiang Xia is deserted?"

Liu Min was silent for a moment and asked back: "When the prime minister was 20 years old, he used a five-color stick to beat the night walk. Can people jokingly call him a boy?"

Everyone around turned pale, Xu Chu was furious, and shouted: "If you dare to be rude again, you will be beaten to death!"

Cao Cao was not angry, and nodded secretly. This person is quick-witted, neither humble nor overbearing, but he is a talent to create, so he smiled slightly, "Why did Liu Jing order you to come?"

"I was ordered by the prefect to negotiate with the prime minister about the prisoners of war."

After finishing speaking, Liu Min glanced back, and a guard presented a letter on a lacquered plate, Liu Min said again: "This is a letter from my eunuch to the prime minister, I believe the prime minister will care about the contents."

Cao Cao took the letter. This was the first time he had received a personal letter from Liu Jing. He couldn't help being very interested. He opened the letter and read it carefully. It turned out that Liu Jing proposed to exchange Cao Hong and Li Dian for the imperial court to recognize him as Jingzhou Shepherd.

Cao Cao read it several times, and asked again: "What about the more than 1 captured soldiers?"

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, the more than 1 captured soldiers have all been released by Mr. Jing, and they should have returned to their hometowns to reunite with their families."

Cao Cao was stunned, and there were whispers in the big tent. No one could believe that Liu Jing released more than 1 prisoners of war without any conditions.

"Why?" Cao Cao asked.

Liu Min smiled, "Young Master Jing said that self-cultivating farmers are the foundation of the country, and the prime minister is a man of great talent, so he will naturally understand his original intention. I hope the prime minister will allow them to return to their hometowns to work in agriculture and not to be recruited as soldiers."

Cao Cao was silent, which was really beyond his expectation. Why didn't he understand the importance of self-cultivating farmers to a country? If Liu Jing really meant this, it would really impress him.

At this time, Liu Min said again: "My family's prefect also asked me to tell the prime minister that the prime minister conquered the Hulu in the north, so that the Han people in Hebei will no longer be invaded by the Hulu, and he admires him. Therefore, he will not take advantage of the vain to send troops to the Central Plains. Please don't worry, the prime minister. We will do our best to eradicate the humiliation in Liaodong."

Cao Cao felt an inexplicable emotion in his heart. He pondered for a moment, and his tone softened, "Please go back and tell Mr. Jing that if he is willing to surrender to me, I can ask the emperor to make him the king of Xiangyang, and his descendants will always be the king of Jingzhou." Shepherd."

Liu Min was silent for a while, and then said: "Young Master Jing has one more sentence for me to bring to the prime minister."

"Speaking!"

"Young Master Jing said that no matter what conditions the Prime Minister asked him to surrender, he would not agree to it. Young Master Jing said that he was looking forward to fighting the Prime Minister on the Yangtze River."

Cao Cao is also a heroic person. Liu Jing's statement immediately swept away his worries, and he laughed loudly: "In this case, I will not let him down. Please tell Mr. Jing that I agree to his exchange conditions. I will ask the emperor to make him the shepherd of Jingzhou, and then make him the Marquis of Fanxiang."

Liu Min bowed and saluted, "Thank you, Prime Minister, for your permission. When the emperor's edict arrives in Jiangxia, it will be the day when Cao and Li will be released. I will bid farewell."

Liu Min bid farewell and wanted to leave, but Cao Cao stopped him and asked calmly, "Also, I want to ask one more thing, is Jia Xu in Jiangxia now?"

Liu Min didn't hide anything, and nodded, "Mr. Jia is indeed in Jiangxia, and now he is an aide to Mr. Jing. As for the reason, the prime minister can ask Mr. Chang after he returns to Yecheng. He knows better than anyone else."

Cao Cao couldn't say a word for a while, and when Liu Min left, he dismissed the crowd, and then sighed to Cheng Yu: "As expected, Jia Wenhe surrendered to Liu Jing."

Cheng Yu understood a little bit in his heart, but he couldn't say it directly, so he could only comfort Cao Cao: "Wen He is not someone who surrenders easily, there must be a reason for it, let's ask after you return to Yecheng!"

Cao Cao was helpless, shook his head and said with a wry smile, "But today I made a good deal!"

Cheng Yu also smiled and said: "I have a feeling that if the common people treat each other, the Prime Minister and Liu Jing can become friends who forget their age."

Cao Cao sighed: "It's a pity that he is not used by me. If I don't destroy him, this person will be my strong enemy in the future. After returning to Yecheng, I must immediately prepare to attack Jingzhou."

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Two months later, Cao Cao got the news in Yi County that Gongsun Kang sent people to bring the heads of Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang. This was Guo Jia's plan before his death. If you wait a little longer, Gongsun Kang will not tolerate the two Yuans, and kill them to earn a favor.

Sure enough, in Guo Jia's will, Cao Cao missed Guo Jia so much that he went to pay homage to his tomb again.

Cao Cao immediately ordered that Yu Pufulu, the tribe of Wuhuan Daijun, be appointed as the Zuotai Shanyu of Wuhuan, and the Shanyu Nalou of Shangjun tribe be the Chanyu of the Right of Wuhuan, allowing them to lead the tribes to nomadic Liucheng.

Both of these two are pro-Cao faction, they have lived on the border of the Central Plains for nearly a hundred years, and they are deeply Sinicized. Letting them come to Liucheng is actually letting them contain the growth of the rest of the Wuhuan tribe.

After the arrangement was completed, it was late autumn and September, and Cao Cao ordered the army to return to Yedu and began preparations for going south to Jingzhou.

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Jingzhou in June is the hottest time of the year. The scorching sun throws clouds of hot air to the land of Jingzhou. The abundant water vapor seems to have just come out of a hot pot, which makes the whole Jingzhou fall into a kind of turmoil. In the hot stuffiness like a steamer, there has been a saying since ancient times that steaming Yunmengze.

This kind of weather will last for nearly a month, until the end of July, and it will be slightly cooler in the morning and evening. This is also the most difficult month of the year for Jingzhou people, and Jingzhou people call it the Steaming Moon.

It was quiet at noon, except for the summer cicadas on the tree screaming more vigorously, the rest of life seemed to have disappeared, and even the old dog who lay listlessly on the threshold every day hid in the house to escape the heat.

However, officials and rich families have their own ways to survive the most difficult steaming month of the year. As early as March [-], when it was extremely cold, rich families would use mountain spring water to freeze it into ice, cut it into large pieces and put them in deep wells for storage.

In summer, the ice in the well has not melted, and it has become the best thing for rich families to spend the summer.

It’s just that this kind of deep well that can store ice is difficult to dig. Even the most experienced well crafter can only dig one out of ten eyes. Therefore, digging an ice well not only requires a special environment, but also costs a lot of money, which is not affordable for ordinary people.

For ordinary people, most of them make a fuss about their diet, eat light food, drink herbal tea, or take a bath with well water. If you are lucky, you can get a piece of ice from a rich family to make iced tea, which is also a rare and precious thing for the whole family. .

Liu Jing's mansion is also hot and stuffy, but his mansion is Huang Zu's house in the city, and the conditions are naturally not bad. There are actually five ice wells in the back garden. Liu Jing didn't know it in the first year, and only regarded them as It was an ordinary well, but later, an insider told them that it was actually five ice wells.

Huang Zu is fat and afraid of heat. In summer, Huang Zu put ice cubes on the wall of the study to make the room as cold as spring. Therefore, Huang Zu never took a step out of the study during the whole moon. The 10,000+ catties of ice in the five ice wells The block is the ice of Huang Zu's wall.

Naturally, Liu Jing didn't need ice to build walls. Except for an ice well for his family to enjoy, the other ice cubes were given to the soldiers, which became a special benefit for the soldiers.

Tao Zhan walked quickly through a long corridor with a bowl of iced tea, and walked towards Liu Jing's study. She walked in a hurry, not as if she was afraid that the iced tea in her hand would melt, but rather agitated. She had something important to tell husband.

Today happened to be Xunxiu, Liu Jing didn't go out, rested at home in the shade, enjoying this rare steaming moon holiday, he was writing a letter to Wenpin stationed in Anlu County at his desk.

Xu Shu did not disappoint him, and finally exchanged Fancheng and Xinye for 10,000+ thick dry logs in the Xiangyang warehouse, and Xiangyang did not suffer, and at most another 10,000+ logs were cut and stored for three years.

Jiangxia's army no longer needed to garrison Xinye and Fancheng, and Wenpin's [-] troops were transferred to Anlu County to garrison the north gate of Jiangxia.

Liu Jing was concentrating on writing the letter when his wife Tao Zhan's sweet and crisp voice came from outside the door, "Husband, may I come in?"

"My lady, please come in!"

Tao Zhan came in with iced tea, pursed his lips and smiled, his eyes were full of flair. Since Zhang Ji began to treat their illnesses, the young husband and wife have been loving each other every night for a month. Incredible.

This is mainly because Zhang Ji's prescription is very weird, it has a strong aphrodisiac, although it is a bit unimaginable, but the effect is there. Tao Zhan offered the iced tea to her husband, "Drink the tea first, and I will tell you later." good news."

Liu Jing gulped down the iced tea with a smile on his face, and the icy air rose from the bottom of his heart, making him extremely refreshed, but he unconsciously put his hand into his wife's skirt, but this time Tao Zhan slapped him away, "In the future It can't be done!"

"why?"

Liu Jing was taken aback for a moment, but he immediately came to his senses and said happily, "Does the lady have one?"

Tao Zhan nodded shyly, "I don't know if there is, but I haven't seen Yuehong, who was supposed to come four days ago."

Having said that, Tao Zhan's eyes burst into joy.