Soldiers come to the world

The night is getting darker, and the city of Jiangling is silent. Although the Xiangyang war is about to start, for most ordinary people in Jiangling, it seems that the war is still too far away, but there are also a few far-sighted people who are worried. They know that the war is imminent.

Pang Ji is also one of the few people with foresight. He is very clear about the situation in front of him. Cao Cao's 30 troops attack the south.

Liu Jing still evacuated the people from Xiangyang, which was a harbinger of abandoning Xiangyang. Once Cao Cao captured Xiangyang, he would be killed in Jiangling within two days, and Jiangling's fall was inevitable.

Pang Ji is also very clear about Liu Bei's strategy. He will retreat to the south, to Wuling County or Hengyang County, what about himself?Are you willing to retreat to the sparsely populated Wuling County with Liu Bei?

The answer is no, he will never bet his future on a fallen lord who has no chance of making a comeback.

From the very beginning, Pang Ji didn't really surrender to Liu Bei, now it's time for him to make a choice, Pang Ji sighed, what should he do?

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At this time, a carriage stopped in front of Pang Ji's mansion, and two people walked out of the carriage. The first person stepped forward and knocked on the mansion door. The door creaked and opened a crack, "Who are you looking for?" asked.

"We're looking for Mr. Pang. There's a greeting card here, please pass it on to him." The leading man handed a greeting card to the concierge. The greeting card was put in an envelope, and the letter was sealed.

"Please wait a moment." The porter closed the door and hurried away.

Two men were waiting on the steps outside the door, and the man behind him looked at the gray sky with his hands behind his back, and said calmly, "I'm afraid it will rain in the middle of the night."

"Is it raining in Fancheng too?"

"No, there hasn't been a single drop of rain in Fancheng since April. I'm afraid there won't be any good harvests in Jingzhou today."

"Actually, if war breaks out, even if the weather goes well, there won't be any good harvest."

"That's a good point, so the prime minister doesn't want to fight, but Liu Jing doesn't know how to play!"

While the two were talking, hurried footsteps came from the yard, the door opened, and Pang Ji appeared at the door. Seeing two people standing at the door, he hesitated and asked, "Which one is Mr. Mao?"

The middle-aged man behind smiled and said, "I am!"

"excuse me!"

Pang Ji cupped his hands, "Please come in, both of you."

This middle-aged man called Mr. Mao was naturally Mao Jie, Cao Cao's adviser. He was ordered by Cao Cao to visit Pang Ji, hoping to open a breakthrough from Pang Ji.

In the study, Pang Ji asked Mao Jie to sit down, and then ran out to serve tea to the servants. He did these things that he shouldn't worry about, but he did it himself, which also reflected his inner tension from a certain angle.

Pang Ji was indeed very nervous at this time. He did not expect that Cao Cao would send someone to see him, and he sent a heavyweight adviser like Mao Jie, which showed that Cao Cao attached great importance to him.

But besides Pang Ji's excitement, there was also an inexplicable nervousness. He knew very well that to get a feast from Cao Cao would require him to pay a high price, especially at this extremely sensitive moment.

When Pang Ji walked into the study again, his heart had already calmed down. He explained with a somewhat embarrassed smile, "Recently, the mansion is a bit chaotic, which made Mr. Mao laugh."

Mao Jie felt Pang Ji's nervousness, and he smiled slightly: "I will first convey the prime minister's greetings to Pang Gong. The prime minister said that he misses the friendship he had when he was young, and he very much hopes to reminisce with Pang Gong in Xuchang."

Of course Pang Ji understood Mao Jie's implication, that he wanted him to work for Xuchang, and this was what Cao Cao said personally. At this time, Pang Ji became more calm. He wanted to know what he could get. The key was benefits. He was willing to do things for Cao Cao. , but what can Cao Cao give him?

"Does Prime Minister Cao have a letter for me?" Pang Ji asked slowly.

He asked very frankly. He wanted Cao Cao's personal promise, not Mao Jie's report. Mao Jie smiled, took out a letter from his pocket, and handed it to Pang Ji, "This is a letter from the prime minister to Pang Gong. , Everything he wants to say is in the letter."

Pang Ji had finished the letter, held back the tension in his heart, opened the letter and read it again, his heart skipped a beat, the prefect of Nanyang County, this is exactly what he wanted, Han Song was named Dahonglu after surrendering, but That's just a false job, meaningless, far less important than the local prefect.

Moreover, he was the prefect of Nanyang County. Pang Ji knew the value of this promise and the price he would have to pay. He took a deep breath and asked slowly, "I don't know what Prime Minister Cao wants me to do?"

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After three days of negotiations and preparations, the first meeting between Liu Jing and Cao Cao was finally held in Hanshui River. For this reason, the warships of the Jiangxia Navy had to stay [-] miles away, and the warships of the Cao Army had to stay [-] miles away from the mouth of the Bishui River. .

There were only three large ships on the entire river, and a large ship with thousands of stones used as a temporary meeting place was provided by the Jiang Xia Navy. Cao Jun sent people to check the ship thoroughly twice to make sure it was safe.

The remaining two ships belonged to Cao Cao and Liu Jing, and they could only be five hundred shi. The entourage of both sides should not exceed 20 people, and there could only be one personal general, and there must be an official from the other party on board. This is also very clear. , both parties try to be considerate and meticulous.

The time was three o'clock in the morning. Under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides of the strait, two five-hundred-stone boats slowly sailed towards the center of the river. A thousand-stone ship was quietly moored in the center of the river. There were only a dozen civil servants on board. .

Cao Cao and Liu Jing boarded the big ship almost at the same time. Since they first met in Rangshan, Runan seven years ago, Liu Jing has left a deep impression on Cao Cao. He has been paying attention to Liu Jing, but he did not expect that In just seven years, Liu Jing has gone from a desperate boy to the new owner of Jingzhou in one fell swoop, and has become the second most powerful enemy in his life after Yuan Shao.

If he had known about today, he would not have let Liu Jing go anyway, even if he leveled Rang Mountain, he would have killed Liu Jing in Runan.

Of course, now that Cao Cao is the prime minister, he must maintain the demeanor of the prime minister. In fact, he also wants to take a look at this young man who he hates and admires from the bottom of his heart.

"The opposite is Mr. Jing?"

Cao Cao finally saw Liu Jing, a tall, heroic, and handsome young general. He narrowed his eyes with a smile, "I wanted to see you seven years ago, but I didn't expect it to last for seven years. Yanqing, you really I was not disappointed."

Liu Jing took two steps forward and bowed deeply to Cao Cao, "Liu Jing has troubled the prime minister for the past seven years!"

Cao Cao chuckled, stepped forward and grabbed Liu Jing's hand, and said with a smile, "As I said before, business affairs are business affairs, and personal friendships are personal friendships. I hope to see you today so that we can form a friendship."

Liu Jing suddenly had a sense of absurdity. The two deployed troops on both sides of the Han River, wishing to tear each other into pieces, but now they are talking about each other and talking about their friendship. I don't know what it will be like for the soldiers on both sides of the strait to see it. Mood.

"Liu Jing is a junior, it is a great fortune to meet the prime minister, and he dare not talk about friendship with the prime minister."

"Hehe! Mr. Jing is too modest. My friendship with Cao Mengde is not about friends and enemies, but about strength. Mr. Jing does have this strength to talk about friendship with me."

Both of them laughed tacitly, and walked into the discussion cabin together.

The big cabin was covered with carpets, and there was nothing extra except for a table. Cao Cao faced west and Liu Jing faced east. The two sat down respectively. Three steps behind Cao Cao, Xu Chu, who was like half a black tower, hugged him with both hands. Standing with his chest closed, he stared at Liu Jing coldly.

Liu Jing smiled and asked, "Is this general the famous Huhou?"

Cao Cao glanced back at Xu Chu, his face darkened, and said, "Don't be so nervous, back off!"

Xu Chu saluted, took a few steps back, and fought side by side with several civil servants. Liu Jing looked at the civil servants again, and said with some regret: "I have heard that Cheng Zhongde and Xun Gong are famous in the world for a long time, but I can't see them. It's a pity! "

Cao Cao chuckled, "Isn't it easy? Zhongde and Gongda are both on the boat. If Mr. Jing wants to see you, I'll just let them in."

Cao Cao then ordered Xu Chu, "Two gentlemen, please come in!"

After a while, Cheng Yu and Xun You walked into the cabin together, and Liu Jing hurriedly stood up to greet him. Cao Cao introduced the two of them to Liu Jing one by one, and Cheng Yu sighed: "It's really awesome to be a younger generation. Only when I saw Mr. Jing did I know that I am old. Yea!"

"The two gentlemen are too modest, please sit down!"

Cheng Yu and Xun You knew in their hearts that this was a meeting between Liu Jing and Cao Cao, not that they could participate, so they sat down far away and watched the meeting between Cao and Liu with smiles on their faces.

Although both of them said that this meeting was just a personal exchange, only talking about personal relationships and not involving official business, in fact, they both knew in their hearts that it was impossible not to talk about official business, and the essence of this meeting was a negotiation.

After pondering for a while, he asked: "I heard that Mr. Jing took half of the good land from the Cai family. Xu Chang has a lot of discussions. Mr. Jing first took over the land of the Huang family and then the land of the Cai family. Many people think that Mr. Jing will not tolerate the Jingzhou family. This matter?"

Liu Jing smiled, "Three people become a tiger, most of the rumors are exaggerated, not believable."

"Is it all right?"

"It's not entirely true. The matter is true. The Huang family has no heirs and no one to inherit. The government will naturally take it back. As for the Cai family, it is because the family is powerful and the fields are too strong. This is the root of the disaster of the Yellow Turban. Yu Min, this is also a guarantee of long-term stability, I think the prime minister should understand it more deeply than I do."

Cao Cao nodded silently. Of course he knew that the root cause of the disaster of the Yellow Turban was the annexation of the land, and the hungry people had no food to eat, so he revolted. He sighed and said, "Mr. how?"

Liu Jing pondered for a while and smiled: "Actually, from ancient times to the present, it has been a process of one round of dignitaries replacing another round of dignitaries. At the beginning of the dynasty, there was often chaos, a sharp drop in population, and abundant resources. At that time, the new dignitaries took Qiantian It can be nourished and does not compete with the people for profit.

After a hundred years, the descendants of the rich and powerful will grow and grow. Thousands of fields are not enough to support. Tens of thousands of fields and millions of fields are needed. The population of the people is also increasing, and the demand for land is also increasing.

At this time, resources were insufficient, and the rich and powerful began to compete with the people for profit, taking advantage of everything, and there was no shortage. Conflicts began to accumulate. "

"Then how to solve it?" Cao Cao asked after a long thought.

Liu Jing smiled, "Actually, there is also a solution. That is to go out. With the vastness of the world, the abundance of resources, the lack of land, and the survival of the people, the dynasty can be extended. As for how long it can be extended, it is not up to you." All I know."

Cao Cao couldn't help but sighed: "I once heard the barbarians say that the road to the west is a hundred thousand miles away. Now Mr. Jing has made me ambitious again. I will definitely conquer the west in my lifetime and see what the world is like. How vast is it?"

"If the Prime Minister's Western Expedition is not completed, Liu Jing is willing to inherit the Prime Minister's ambition, and then lead the Han family to conquer the West and complete the Prime Minister's unfinished business!"

The two looked at each other and laughed together.

The atmosphere in the room became lively, and Cao Cao continued: "Now there is another saying that I, Cao Mengde, emphasizes the law and suppresses Confucianism, and is the enemy of the gentry in the world, and Mr. Jing built an academy in Jiangxia to support the gentry, value Confucianism and encourage learning, so that I will be able to learn from Confucianism. The gentry of the world returned their hearts, so that my southern expedition attracted the criticism of the Manchu gentry, saying that my southern expedition cut off the last hope of Confucianism, I want to know, does Mr. Jing really value Confucianism and despise law?"

Liu Jing smiled faintly, "Prime Minister does things as long as he is worthy of his heart, why should he care what others say?"

Cao Cao shook his head, stared at Liu Jing and said, "I just want to know, are you really the Confucianist they say?"

This question is difficult to answer. Liu Jing pondered for a long time before saying: "If the rule of Buddhism can last long, why did the Qin Dynasty die? If Confucianism can govern the country, why did the Han Dynasty fall to where it is today? I think we should use Confucianism to govern the country. Govern the mind, use the law to govern power, use the Tao to govern the country, use both Confucianism, Law and Taoism, and use each to its own strengths, this is the long-term way.”