The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 240 239 Liu Biao's Birthday
In Yiji's humble house, Liu Bei became a guest of honor and chatted for a long time with Yiji, Liu Ba, Jiang Wan, Pan Jun, Liu Min, and the four brothers of the Ma family.

After some in-depth discussions, Liu Bei found out that Pan Jun was Jiang Wan's aunt's cousin, and Liu Min was Jiang Wan's aunt's cousin.

The three have known each other since childhood, studied together, ate together, and were often inseparable.

Liu Bei's invitation to Yiji this time was not in vain. There were four talented people in succession, Jiang Wan, Pan Jun, Liu Min, and Ma Liang, who were willing to follow him to Jingnan.

Not only that, but even Yi Ji expressed his plan during the meeting, planning to ask Liu Biao to go to Jingnan to help Liu Bei after Liu Biao's birthday tomorrow.

Liu Bei was very happy. There is a saying that there are only a thousand cups of wine with a bosom friend. He was very drunk that night, and he talked a lot when he was drunk. Then he cried to everyone present about his fate. The clan members of the Han Dynasty only wanted to restore the Han Dynasty, but in the end they achieved nothing.

There is a saying that a man does not flick his tears lightly, but he has not reached the point of sadness.As Liu Bei spoke, hot tears dripped down his cheeks, making everyone else in the room feel sad too.

That night, Liu Bei did not return to the inn. Yi Ji was afraid that something would happen to Liu Bei, so he directly arranged Liu Bei to rest in his guest room.

Early the next morning, after Liu Bei woke up, his head was still a little foggy. Remembering his drunken gaffe last night, he quickly apologized to Yi Ji.

Yi Ji didn't blame Liu Bei, but thought that Liu Bei was a mild-mannered person, and the rest of the people were also very moved.Even Yi Ji himself seemed to have gotten closer to Liu Bei because of Liu Bei's tears last night.

After they had breakfast, they went to Liu Biao's mansion together. At this time, all the civil and military officials of Jingzhou gathered together, and Liu Biao held a grand banquet in the compound of the mansion to entertain the group of bureaucrats who came to celebrate their birthday.

Liu Biao is 53 years old this year, and currently has three sons, the eldest son Liu Qi, the second son Liu Cong, and the youngest son Liu Xiu.

The eldest son, Liu Qi, was born to Liu Biao's ex-wife and is now 20 years old. Liu Biao just held a crowning ceremony for him this spring.Liu Qi's appearance is very close to Liu Biao's. At the same time, he is erudite, knowledgeable, witty and quick-witted, so he is deeply loved by Liu Biao.

The second son, Liu Cong, and the youngest son, Liu Xiu, were both born to Liu Biao's stepwife Cai. Liu Cong is only five years old this year, and Liu Xiu is less than one year old, so they are still very young.

When Liu Biao came to Jingzhou to take office, the people of Jingzhou were dissatisfied, and the sect thieves gathered to make trouble, and each occupied the county.In order to win over people's hearts and solve the difficulties he faced at that time, Liu Biao discussed with Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue, and finally decided to marry Cai as his wife. Relying on Cai's influence in Jingzhou, he strongly attacked the local clan thieves.

The Cai family is a famous family in Jingzhou, and it is also a family name.As a result, the Cai family gradually entered the stage of history.Liu Biao put Cai Mao and Liu Biao's nephew Zhang Yun in charge of the army because of Cai's contribution.

Cai Mao was cronyist and vigorously promoted members of the Cai clan, and his younger brothers Cai Zhong and Cai He even held important positions in the army.As a result, the Cai clan gradually became arrogant and domineering.

The Cai family also tried their best to win Liu Biao's nephew Zhang Yun and donated a lot of money, so Zhang Yun and Cai Mao stood on the same front.

Since the birth of Liu Cong, the Cai family has been waiting for opportunities. There are Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Cai Zhong, and Cai He on the outside, and Liu Biao's wife Cai Shi on the inside. The purpose is to let Liu Cong take over Liu Biao's position as the Lord of Jingzhou in the future, and not want Liu Qi to become the Lord of Jingzhou.

Cai's series of actions were all carried out in secret. They did not intend to touch this sensitive topic prematurely. After all, Liu Biao's body is still very strong, and he has not yet mentioned the matter of heir inheritance. Cai is not good at speaking blatantly. .

Of course, the Cai family also has some scruples. The area they can control is only Xiangyang and Jiangling. Jiangxia's Huang Zu is Liu Biao's best friend. The crowd, almost catching up with half of the entire Jingzhou soldiers.

As for Huang Zu, who is used to fighting, he won the trust of Liu Biao. The key point is that Huang Zu just looked down on Cai Mao the most, thinking that Cai Mao climbed up through nepotism. Although his position was higher than Huang Zu, Huang Zu never regarded it Cai Mao put it in his eyes.In addition, Huang Zu still has several strong generals under his command, and the combat effectiveness of the army is also the strongest in Jingzhou, and Huang Zu's son, Huang She, is Liu Qi's life-and-death friend, so Cai Mao dare not act rashly. Once he publicly supports Liu Cong As the lord of Jingzhou, Huang Zu will definitely fight against him!
The situation in Jingzhou seems to be a bowl of calm water, but in fact it is an undercurrent. In addition to the two major forces of Cai Mao and Huang Zu, this year Jingzhou has another army, that is Zhang Xiu.

Zhang Xiu led his people to Jingzhou from Guanzhong. For his own consideration, Liu Biao took in Zhang Xiu's soldiers and horses, and played Zhang Xiu as the prefect of Nanyang, stationed in Wancheng, and spying on the situation in the Central Plains for him.

Since Zhang Xiu became the prefect of Nanyang, he has been conscientious and conscientious. On the one hand, he rectified the administration of officials, and on the other hand, he secretly recruited and trained troops. His troops were originally brave men from Liangzhou and Guanzhong, so their combat effectiveness was also extremely strong.

In the spring of this year, Yuan Shu sent an army of [-] to attack Nanyang, but was defeated by Zhang Xiu and even beheaded more than a dozen of the enemy generals.

In the previous battles between Liu Biao and Yuan Shu, there were more losses than victories, but now Zhang Xiu became famous in the first battle, and his reputation in Jingzhou suddenly became turbulent.

Cai Shi once tried to send someone to win over Zhang Xiu, but Zhang Xiu has been there all along, neither agreeing to be attached to Cai Shi, nor refusing.

Today is Liu Biao's birthday. Most civil and military officials from all levels in Jingzhou have come. Accompanied by his eldest son Liu Qi, Liu Biao met officials at all levels one by one. This subtle move alone, many people can see that it is a kind of trick released by Liu Biao. Signal.

After the banquet officially started, Liu Bei was appointed as the governor of Jingnan because he quelled the Zhang Xian Rebellion, and also became Liu Biao's guest. Sitting in the hall, the rest of the people are sitting outside in the open air.

This birthday, Liu Bei did not come in vain. When entering Liu Biao's mansion, Yi Ji was by his side and kept introducing the people present.However, Liu Bei has a very good memory, and he can remember people after seeing him once.

Liu Biao is very happy today. Compared with last year, two new faces have been added this year, namely Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei. At the beginning, Liu Biao only came here out of benevolence and righteousness. Unexpectedly, these two people helped him this year Two puzzles are solved.

Zhang Xiu defeated Yuan Shu's army, defended Nanyang, and still took the initiative to attack. The victory was also very beautiful. 2 people came, and they were almost wiped out by Zhang Xiu. This is the first time since Liu Biao guarded Jingzhou. war.

Liu Bei helped him put down Zhang Xian's rebellion, so that Liu Biao would not lose the four counties in Jingnan.Although it is said that there are many barbarians in and out of the four counties in Jingnan, it is not easy to govern, but after all, it is also a territory belonging to Jingzhou. Pan took revenge.

For this reason, in Liu Biao's opening remarks, he first praised Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei, and introduced them as your acquaintances.

Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei also looked at each other in blank dismay. After hearing about each other's deeds, they felt a sense of heroism and pity for heroes.

According to the strategy formulated by Liu Biao, Liu Bei is in the south, Zhang Xiu is in the north, and Huang Zu is in the east. Three sides protect the Jianghan Plain in Xiangyang and Jiangling. This is the most affluent area in Jingzhou and the main grain producing area. More than half of Jingzhou All taxes come from this area.

In Yizhou in the west, Liu Zhang and Liu Biao are related by clan, so they don't invade each other, so there is no need to worry.

If this strategy is maintained, Jingzhou will become more prosperous and prosperous in a few years.As for the area beyond Jingzhou, Liu Biao has not thought about it yet.

As people get older, the ambitions of the past will disappear. Liu Biao's current idea is to enjoy his old age peacefully. When he is old, he will let his eldest son Liu Qi inherit his mantle. As for the future, he will not be so With more energy to manage, whether Jingzhou will continue to adopt his main defense strategy or expand its territory outward is a matter for future generations.

An hour later, the birthday banquet was over, Liu Biao was in a good mood, drank a few more glasses, and ended up getting very drunk.

After the birthday banquet was over, civil and military officials at all levels were ready to embark on the return journey. Liu Bei went to Yiji's home again, bid farewell to Yiji, and then hired two carriages to carry Jiang Wan, Pan Jun, and Liu Min The four young talents, Ma Liang and Ma Liang, returned to Jingnan.

Jiang Wan, Pan Jun, Liu Min, and Ma Liang were all homeless people, with their bedding covered and no worries, they directly set foot on the road to Jingnan with Liu Bei.

The next day, Yiji took the initiative to meet Liu Biao and reported the investigation report to Liu Biao. He said that Liu Bei was a general who knew how to govern the region and could govern Jingnan well. He was also loyal to Liu Biao and always grateful Liu Biao's kindness in sheltering him did not show disobedience.

After hearing this, Liu Biao felt relieved.

Later, Yi Ji said that Liu Bei lacked practical talents, and he was willing to go to Jingnan to assist Liu Bei in governing Jingnan.

Liu Biao felt that there was nothing wrong with Yiji staying by his side, so he agreed with Yiji's opinion and appointed Yiji as the prefect of Changsha to assist Liu Bei in governing Jingnan.

Later, Yi Ji declared that Jiang Wan was the prefect of Lingling, Guan Yu was the prefect of Wuling, and Huang Zhong was the prefect of Guiyang. Liu Biao also agreed.

Yi Ji took Liu Biao's letter of appointment and left the hall. Before he could leave Liu Biao's mansion, he heard a shout from behind.

"Sir, please stay!"

Yi Ji looked back and saw that the person calling him was none other than Liu Biao's eldest son Liu Qi.

"I don't know why the eldest son called me?"

(End of this chapter)