Cai Mao finally chose to surrender, he had no courage to commit suicide, and there was no difference between throwing himself into the river and committing suicide at this time, but because of his surrender, Sun Ce ordered people to save all the Jingzhou soldiers who were still struggling in Jiangzhong, and as soon as Cai Mao fell, Jingzhou would be considered his own territory, and the most important thing was that Cai Mao's surrender could largely represent the attitude of the Cai family in Jingzhou, which was the biggest benefit, Jiangxia could take it in an instant, and then let Cai Mao persuade his old department as soon as possible, before Jingzhou did not react, Capture as many cities as you can.

Because of this reason, Sun Ce did not humiliate Cai Mao, and even smiled and pulled Cai Mao to talk all the way, and at the same time, in his attitude towards Jiangxia counties, he kept asking Cai Mao's opinion, which can be said to have given Cai Mao a great face.

It can't be said that it is gratitude or helplessness, or it is a broken jar, Cai Mao also began to cooperate with Sun Ce and help Sun Ce write letters to various counties in Jiangxia.

even secretly ordered people to send letters to some officials and generals in Jingzhou, so that they secretly defected.

This is the power of scholars, as long as you can subdue a figure like Cai Mao, what you can get is a large area of cities and armies, and Sun Ce took Jiangxia almost bloodlessly.

Chen Mo continued to weaken the family in all aspects, and he was also worried that this would happen under his rule.

"Marquis Wu, Jiangling Shou General Wen Hire, is quite paranoid, and is more loyal to Liu Biao, I am afraid that I will not be able to convince him." Jiangxia's affairs, Cai Mao has already arranged, but for several important towns in Nanjun, Cai Mao is powerless, Jiangling is an important town in Nanjun, although the Cai family is quite powerful, but it has not reached the point of covering the sky with one hand.

"It's rare to be like this, Brother Dejue don't have to worry about it, I'll go to Xiangyang first! I wonder if Brother Deqi has a plan to teach me? Sun Ce didn't care too much about this, Cai Mao brought him an unexpected joy, the soldiers took Jiangxia without blood, saving Sun Ce a lot of time and troops, now there are not only 30,000 elites in Jiangdong, but also 20,000 troops in Jiangxia, plus Zhou Yu's 20,000 soldiers and horses transferred from Chaisang and absolute control over the river, Sun Ce is confident that he will take Nanjun.

Being called a brother by a person who can be his son, Cai Mao is naturally very awkward, but now that he has surrendered to Sun Ce, he can only hold back his awkwardness.

"If you want to go down to Xiangyang, you must first go down to Fancheng, these two cities are opposite each other across the Han River, and there are pontoon bridges to connect them, no matter which side is attacked, the other city can be supported, which is equivalent to the soldiers of the two cities." Cai Mao bowed.

"In that case, how about I break the pontoon bridge with a naval army?" Sun Ce smiled when he heard this.

"I'm afraid it's difficult, this Han water is not as wide as the Yangtze River, especially between Xiangfan, it is not more than a hundred paces, the bows and arrows and ballistas of the two cities can attack the river, if the naval army comes forward, the crossbow arrows on both sides will be fired together, but the damage will be heavier." Cai Mao shook his head, if the contact between Xiangfan and Fan could be broken so easily, why did he say it so solemnly.

Sun Ce frowned when he heard this, but Jiang Qin on the side frowned and said, "Since this is the case, we can directly attack Xiangyang, why attack Fancheng first?" ”

Cai Mao shook his head and said: "Xiangyang is the seat of Jingzhou, the city is nearly five zhang high, the city is strong, and the soldiers are full of food, but Fancheng is only three zhang insufficient, and many of Xiangyang's equipment are difficult to send over through the pontoon bridge, and it is easier to attack in comparison." ”

"I see." When Sun Ce heard this, he nodded suddenly: "Then when the Jiangxia matter is over, I will attack Fancheng first." ”

"But it's not easy to attack this Fancheng." Cai Mao said solemnly.

"Naturally, I know that in the past, I had a foothold in Xuzhou and was the lord of Xuzhou, but unfortunately I was defeated by Cao Cao, and I went to Suiyang for a period of time, and then I went to Jingzhou." Sun Ce nodded, he and Liu Bei had an alliance back then, but unfortunately Cao Cao's offensive was too fierce, and Liu Bei failed to fully control Xuzhou, and finally lost.

Cai Mao nodded and said: "This Liu Bei is now stationed in Fancheng, his people are quite means, after entering Jingzhou, he has attracted a lot of celebrities, and there are more elite soldiers and fierce generals under his command, if the lord attacks Fancheng, Liu Bei must be guarded!" ”

Sun Ce nodded, he didn't expect that his former allies had now become enemies, and the changes in this world were really amazing.

Turning his head, he looked at Zhou Yu: "What does Gong Jin think?" ”

"I haven't been here to see it, so it's hard to judge, but what Mr. Dejun said is true, you might as well send someone to investigate first, and then make a calculation." Zhou Yu smiled and said, Cai Mao naturally wants to use it, but this person can't be trusted, the Cai family, most of them are now in the Jingxiang area, if they fight too hard, it will not be good for the Cai family, so Zhou Yu decided to go and see first, and then talk about how to attack.

Sun Ce nodded, and immediately said: "According to Gongjin's words, the generals will go to prepare, and in addition, send some people to take over Jiangxia." ”

Although he has also conquered Jiangxia in the past, he mostly plundered population and wealth, but this time, Sun Ce's approach is clearly to regard Jiangxia as his own territory, and directly send people over to take over the county orders.

"Whoa!" The generals bowed down and said yes, and each of them left.

……

On the other side, Xiakou was defeated, the Jingzhou Navy Division was almost wiped out, Cai Mao was captured, and the news of Jiangxia's loss soon spread to Xiangyang.

Fancheng, government office.

"Lord!" Zhuge Liang and Chen Gong came together to find Liu Bei.

"The two gentlemen came just in time, have the two gentlemen heard about Xiakou?" Liu Bei welcomed the two of them in and asked in a deep voice.

"I already know that this is what we are here for." Chen Gong nodded, frowned, and said: "The defeat of Xiakou was originally not to be lost, but now Jiangxia has fallen rapidly, and I suspect that Cai Mao has already surrendered to the enemy." ”

Liu Bei nodded, he also had this guess, looked at the two of them and said, "I want to go to Xiangyang again and ask my brother to send troops, what do you think?" ”

When Chen Gong heard this, he looked at Zhuge Liang and motioned for him to say.

Zhuge Liang bowed slightly, and saluted Liu Bei: "Lord, Liang thinks that the lord should indeed enter Xiangyang at this time, but he is not looking for the king of Chu." ”

"Why?" Liu Bei was stunned.

"The palace is now under the control of the Cai family, if Cai Mao defects to the enemy, this side will definitely respond, if the lord goes to find the king of Chu, I am afraid that the Cai family will coerce the king of Chu in a hurry, and even threaten his life." Zhuge Liang said solemnly, if this is the case, it will be tired of the lord's father-in-law and be suspected of being a bad brother.

"How can this be!?" Liu Bei is also worried about this problem.

"Now that the king of Chu is seriously ill and can't be a director, the Jiangdong army is menacing, and after the lord enters Xiangyang, he can go to find the eldest prince Liu Qi and the Xiangyang guard Liu Pan." Zhuge Liang bowed down and said: "Please ask the eldest prince to temporarily give orders on behalf of the king of Chu to fight against the Jiangdong army!" ”

Although the Cai family controlled the palace, Liu Biao also took precautions against the Cai family, so the Xiangyang garrison has always been handed over to his nephew Liu Pan to command, in order to worry that once something goes wrong, at least he can ensure that Xiangyang is in his hands.

Now that the Cai family has blocked the palace, it is just right for Liu Bei to justifiably support Liu Qi to preside over the overall situation, so that as Liu Biao's nephews, Liu Pan and Liu Hu will definitely stand on Liu Qi's side, and Liu Bei is also a relative of the Han family, so it is naturally easier to accept at this time.

"Okay, I'll go." Liu Bei got up, prepared to leave, and went to Xiangyang to deploy.

"Slow down!" Zhuge Liang hurriedly stopped Liu Bei and said in a deep voice: "After entering Xiangyang, if someone asks the lord to preside over the overall situation on behalf of the king of Chu, no matter who suggests, you must not agree, you must insist on supporting the eldest prince!" ”

Liu Bei nodded, didn't ask more, but Zhang Fei on the side stopped doing it, frowned and said, "Why is this?" My brother is also a member of the Han family, and in terms of prestige and ability, he is more suitable for presiding over the overall situation than Liu Qi's child. ”

Zhuge Liang shook his head, he knew that if he couldn't convince everyone at this time, it would inevitably be bad, and he said patiently at the moment: "If the lord shows this intention, it will inevitably make Liu Pan, Liu Hu and other people who support the king of Chu repellent. ”

Liu Bei nodded when he heard this: "Kong Ming's words are my intention, and my brother treats me well, how can I do this at such a time to take advantage of people's danger?" Don't say it again! ”

"The lord is going, when he takes Gongtai and Yide and Shuzhi to the two generals, Fancheng needs General Yunchang to stay and guard, Jiangdong has got Jiangxia, I am afraid that he will come to take Xiangyang directly, but this Fancheng needs to be defended." Zhuge Liang bowed to Liu Bei.

"Then Yun Chang will be stationed in Fancheng." Liu Bei nodded, Guan Yu stayed here, he could rest assured, as for the army, Liu Bei only brought ten personal guards, and then left in a hurry with Chen Gong, Zhang Fei, and Chen Zhisan, and went straight out of the city to cross the river to Xiangyang to discuss the matter.

It's just that when he arrived in Xiangyang, the city gate was blocked, and Liu Bei hurriedly called out Liu Pan outside the city.

"Duke Xuande is not stationed in Fancheng, how did he get here?" Liu Pan brought Liu Bei into the city and asked.

"General Liu, Cai Mao has voted for Jiangdong, and now Jiangxia has been obtained by Jiangdong, according to the information we have inquired about, Jiangdong has begun to mobilize troops and horses to prepare to attack Xiangyang, the king of Chu is now seriously ill, my lord is here to invite the eldest prince to come out and preside over the overall situation, I don't know what the general wants?" Chen Gong bowed to Liu Pan and asked.

Liu Pan frowned and hesitated when he heard this.

"Bo Jian, if it weren't for helplessness, Bei would not want to do this move, but Jiangdong is menacing, my brother is now in the mansion, controlled by the Cai family, if Cai Mao really votes for Jiangdong, at this time, if I forcibly break into the palace, I am afraid that my brother's life will be endangered, so I want to invite the eldest prince to come out and preside over the overall situation!" Liu Bei looked at Liu Pan and hesitated, and said in a deep voice: "The eldest prince is the eldest son of the king of Chu, and he is also the prince, and now the king of Chu is seriously ill and unable to manage the government. ”

After Liu Pan hesitated for a moment, he nodded and said, "Okay, Liu Hu!" ”

"The last general!" Liu Hu came to Liu Pan's side and bowed.

"You hold that I will order Xuande Gong to go to the eldest prince, and ask the eldest prince to come forward to preside over the overall situation, if anyone dares to stop it, kill it!" Liu Pan took out his general order and said to Liu Hu.

"Whoa!" Liu Hu received the order, and after receiving the arrow, he went to the Shizi Mansion with Liu Bei.