There were five naval armies in the imperial court, except for Sun Ce and Zhou Yu who set up water villages on Heishan Island off the coast of Donglai in Qingzhou, the remaining four water villages were set up in Jiangjin, Xiakou, Xunyang and Wujiang. Wen Ping, who was attacked by the Jingnan naval army, led the naval army he led was stationed in Jiangjin.

Wei Yan proposed to Wen Ping to go to Wulin, not because he hoped that friendly troops stationed elsewhere would support their warships, but that the imperial court had a shipyard in Wulin, and as long as they went to Wulin, there would be ready-made warships available. Although the number of warships may be insufficient, with the combat strength of the Jiangling Naval Army, it is not impossible to deal with the Jingnan Naval Army, which has more losses and fewer victories. Moreover, the population of Jingnan is insufficient, even if Liu Bei occupies Jiaozhou and subdues many barbarians in the mountains and forests to expand his strength, but in terms of total troops, the number is still far less than that of the imperial court.

This time Liu Bei sent troops to Jiangling, even if he didn't come out of the nest, there would definitely not be too many people left in Jingnan. But Wei Yan and Wen Ping had nearly 20,000 men and horses in their hands at this time, as long as they could bring these 20,000 people across the river, Wei Yan was confident that he could turn Jingnan upside down with these 20,000 people.

Wen Ping and Wei Yanna are both arrogant people, this time they have suffered such a big loss, how can they not get the field back? Waiting for rescue, that's not their character!

The two can be said to hit it off, and immediately ordered the army to turn around, and after Wei Yan broke off, Wen Ping sat in the Chinese army, and Wen Ping's nephew Wen Hou served as the vanguard, and went straight to the Wulin Shipyard. As for Wen Dai, he was ordered to go to Jiangling to report the details to Xu Shu in person.

There is plenty of grain and grass in Jiangling City, and there are Xu Shu and Hu Che'er, who are civil and military, so there will be no problems in a short time, and the Han An Army of White Emperor City can help at any time. Wei Yan and Wen Ping were confident not to return to Jiangling, and went straight behind Liu Bei to make trouble. And Xu Shu acquiesced to the decision of the two after listening to Wen Dai's report, blindly sticking to it is not the best choice, and letting Wei Yan and Wen Ping go to Jingnan to make trouble can indeed reduce the pressure on Jiangling. The rear is unstable, so I don't believe that Liu Bei can attack Jiangling wholeheartedly.

The only thing that worried Xu Shu was the trouble of Jingnan Neiying hidden in Jiangling City. Since Wen Ping and Wei Yan both thought that there were people in Jingzhou who collaborated with the enemy, and Wei Yan was ambushed by Zhang Fei not long after leaving the city, what happened was indeed suspicious.

The thousands of people who have the ability to settle Zhang Fei are not noticed, and their status in Jingzhou is definitely extraordinary. It is possible for ordinary people to hide one or two people, but where are thousands of people hiding? This is only possible for those who own large tracts of private land. And thousands of people want to hide from the unknown, and the best hiding place is where no one usually goes.

Since Jingzhou was under the rule of the imperial court, the imperial court obtained a large amount of cultivated land from Cai, Kuai and other families through purchase, and the Kuai family and the Cai family are all junjie who know the current affairs, and they know very well the truth that their arms can't twist their thighs, and they dare not resist the imperial court, but in addition to arable land, the mountains and forests they own have not been taken back by the imperial court. In Jingzhou, there are only two families with mountains and forests that can hide thousands of people. But the imperial court is not thin on the Kuai and Cai families, and these two families will give up the thighs of the imperial court for the sake of temporary petty profits?

Cai Kuai's two families are suspicious, the Cai family has no successor since Cai Mao's death, and the Cai family can only live by guarding their ancestral business, and it is difficult to ensure that they take risks in order to restore their former glory. Compared with the Cai family, the conditions are better, Kuai Liang is dead, Kuai Yue is still there, although only Kuai Qi is in the officialdom in the next generation, serving as the county guard of Shangyong Xicheng, but it is also a future, in comparison, the Cai family is more suspicious.

Just when Xu Shu was considering whether to notify the imperial court to send someone to investigate whether the Cai family had any suspicious behavior recently, Wen Xiu came to report that Kuaiqi was ordered to escort grain and grass to the outside of Jiangling City. Xu Shu's brows furrowed when he heard this, Kuai Qi is the county guard of Xicheng, how could he be responsible for escorting grain and grass.

Since it has not yet been determined who is the traitor, Xu Shu has some grass and trees. As soon as he heard Kuaiqi escorting grain and grass, his mind unconsciously leaned on the matter of the mole.

"Wen Xiu, how many soldiers does Kuaiqi bring?"

"Almost five hundred soldiers."

"Five hundred soldiers...... You go and ask General Hu to lead his troops to the north gate, and I will arrive later. Xu Shu sent Wen Xiu away, and immediately ordered his guards to mobilize 200 crossbowmen to ambush near the north city gate. In an eventful season, if you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what happens, Xu Shu would rather provoke Kuaiqi's dissatisfaction than dare to be careless.

Although Hu Che'er is a reckless man, he is quite self-aware, he knows that playing with his mind is not Xu Shu's opponent, so he obeyed Xu Shu's words, and after listening to Wen Xiu's order, he rushed to the north city with five hundred elite soldiers without saying a word, and according to Xu Shu's instructions, one hundred were left to replace the soldiers who were originally on duty in the city, and the rest were ambushed nearby, ready to respond at any time.

After arranging everything, Xu Shu went to the city to meet Kuai Qi, who was waiting outside the city to open the city gate. Seeing that Xu Shu was late, Kuaiqi couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied, but she didn't dare to show it on her face. He knew that this Xu Shu was the hardcore confidant of today's son, although the Kuai family was quite famous in Jingzhou, but if a conflict broke out between himself and Xu Shu, he would definitely suffer in the end.

"Kuai County Shou, why are you responsible for delivering food this time? Where did General Liao go? Xu Shu stood at the head of the city and asked Kui Qi loudly. Kuai Qi had already prepared to say something about this, and replied when he heard this: "General Liao got a new fierce horse some time ago, and accidentally fell off the horse and injured his leg during the test ride, and my father also had a headache about who to send to deliver food. It happened that I was returning to Xiangyang on official business, so I volunteered to come. Here is an official document written by my father's pen, and I also asked Xu Junshou to check it. ”

Kuaiqi's explanation was not flawed, Xu Shu looked at the official document that was hung up with a hanging basket, and the big seal on it was indeed true. Then he asked: "Kuai County Guard, but escorting some grain and grass, why do you bring so many soldiers?" ”

"I'm not afraid of Xu Junshou's jokes, I recently heard that the road is not very peaceful, so in order to avoid accidents, I brought more soldiers to prevent accidents." Kui Qi replied loudly.

“…… Kuai County will wait for a while, and I will order someone to open the city gate and let you wait to come in. Seeing that he couldn't ask anything anymore, Xu Shu immediately shouted to Kuaiqi under the city.

"I'm tired." Kui Qi also replied loudly.

As the city gate slowly opened, Kuai Qi commanded, and the grain convoy waiting outside the city slowly moved towards the city, but when the first two cars of the grain convoy entered the inner side of the city gate, Kuai Qi followed into the city, and saw Xu Shu, who came to greet him, suddenly shouted: "Do it!" ”

Before the words fell, before Kuaiqi could react, several knives were placed on Kuaiqi's neck. And immediately after that, someone in the grain cart jumped out violently, the blade in his hand was bright, and he rushed to kill the soldiers who surrounded him.

Xu Shu just wanted to cheat Kui Qi, if it was really nothing, it would be a big deal to apologize afterwards, saying that it was acting and fooling the past. But I didn't expect this deception to really deceive the ambush soldiers! Wen Xiu didn't quite agree with Xu Shu's approach, and when he saw that there was really an ambush soldier jumping out of the grain cart, he immediately admired Xu Shu's foresight.

Since there is really an ambush, what else is there to say, start fighting. Except for Xu Shu himself, who knew that he was blind, no one else knew how Xu Shu saw through Kuaiqi's tricks. Five hundred soldiers, it is not difficult to take advantage of the unpreparedness to capture the next one, but now that the Jiangling defenders are on guard, Hu Che'er's five hundred elite soldiers, plus Xu Shu's two hundred crossbowmen transferred in advance, the five hundred ambush soldiers originally wanted to rely on the grain cart to defend it, but when Xu Shu ordered someone to set the grain cart on fire, these people could only abandon the city and leave. It doesn't matter if they escaped, the key is that Kuai Qi didn't escape, and before the two sides could make a move, he was taken down by Xu Shu's order.

At present, Kuaiqi is alone, and the plan has been revealed, and Kuaiqi at this time is like a defeated rooster, dejectedly letting Wen Xiu lead someone to tie it up.

"Kuai Qi, the Holy God treats your Kuai family well, why did you do such a rebellious thing, then what kind of benefits did Liu Bei promise your Kuai family, and it is worth taking such a big risk for your Kuai family?" Xu Shu shouted and asked Kuaiqi. It's just that I don't know if Kuaiqi knows that she is speechless or is ready to resist to the end, bowing her head and remaining silent.

Xu Shu didn't really want Kuai Qi to say the answer, since Kuai Qi had defected to the enemy, then the Kuai family couldn't get out of it. After all, the Kuai family has been operating in Jingzhou for many years, and it is easy to cause people's hearts to fluctuate if they move rashly. But now it's different, Kuai Qi collaborated with the enemy, intending to assist Liu Beijun to deceive the Jiangling City Gate, this reason alone is enough to clean up the Kuai family and those who have something to do with the Kuai family.

At this time, Xu Shu didn't have time to interrogate Kui Qi, and asked Wen Xiu to take him down and keep him under strict supervision. Xu Shu himself immediately took action and ordered people to thoroughly search all the people in the city who were involved in the Kuai family. Don't be afraid of 10,000, just in case, at this critical moment, you can't tolerate mercy. There may be those who have been wronged, but for the sake of the safety of Gangneung, the wronged should be wronged first, and then find out that there is compensation for themselves, but now, if anyone dares to resist, there will be no forgiveness.

Xu Shu's reaction was not timely, if it was a little more later, there would be a civil unrest in Jiangling City. Before Kuaiqi arrived, those inner dragons who had infiltrated Jiangling City had no leader and had different opinions, but after learning that Kuaiqi was captured, these people's reactions were quite unified, and they were ready to take advantage of the night to make trouble and rescue Kuaiqi. But while they were discussing the assignment of their respective tasks, the officers and soldiers who had been ordered to come to arrest them came to the door.

If they make trouble in secret, these dead soldiers of the Kuai family can still make do, but they can confront the well-trained officers and soldiers head-on, and they will almost be on fire. Although there was resistance, it was quickly dealt with by the officers and soldiers. In addition to the stubborn ones who were killed on the spot, most of the "smart people" disarmed and became prisoners.

But Xu Shu was not happy after getting the battle report, the Kuai family surrendered to the enemy, did the entire Kuai family join the enemy or was this just Kuaiqi's personal behavior. If the Kuai family takes refuge in Liu Bei, it will have a great impact on the situation in Jingzhou, and it will even affect Liu Xie, who is preparing to compete with Yuan Xi at this time.

The more Xu Shu thought about it, the more uneasy he became, knowing that this matter could not be hidden, he immediately spread out the paper and picked up the pen, and began to write a letter to Liu Xie. Because it was not clear whether the Kuai family had defected to the enemy, Xu Shu did not plan to let the letter go through the official channel, but planned to send it to Liu Xie's hands in the form of a secret letter.

"My lord, Mr. Sima has arrived." Just as Xu Shu was considering the wording and writing the letter, Wen Xiu's voice came from outside the door. Xu Shu was stunned when he heard this, there are only two people who can make Wen Xiu call Mr. Sima in Jingzhou, one is his own husband, the current head of Jingxiang Academy, Sima Hui, but Wen Xiu used to call Mr. Sima. The other is Sima Yi, his classmate and friend. But Sima Yi should be leading the Han'an army to arrive at this time, how could he appear here?

"Which Mr. Sima?" Xu Shu asked.

"Okay, you Xu Yuanzhi, it's really a noble person who forgets things, but I haven't seen him for a while, and even my classmate and friend have forgotten." Without waiting for Wen Xiu to answer, Sima Yi had already stepped in.

"Zhongda, why are you here?"

"Why can't I be here? How? Not welcome me? Then I'm leaving. Sima Yi said that he was about to leave, but Xu Shu hurriedly stepped forward to stop and explained: "Zhongda, of course I don't welcome you, but I'm just a little puzzled, shouldn't you be in the Han'an army?" How did you come here? ”

"Youzilong led the Han Anjun to come, so I naturally took the first step and learned a little more about the current situation. Yuanzhi, tell me everything you know. ”

"Well, let's come in and talk about it." Xu Shu nodded and let Sima Yi into the study.

"Zhongda, the situation is a little bad...... "When Sima Yi sat down, Xu Shu told him all kinds of things that happened during this time, Sima Yi also frowned slightly after hearing this, and he muttered for a long time before he said quietly: "That Zhuge reptile is really not to be underestimated, it seems that our impression of him in the past is a little inaccurate, this guy not only has a cautious side, but also is unambiguous when it is time to take risks." ”

"Zhongda, why do you think this is Zhuge Liang's handiwork?"

"Apart from him, who else do you think Liu Bei can come up with such an interlocking scheme? Is it Li Yan or Lou Gyu? Sima Yi asked rhetorically.

"Uh...... Although Li Zhengfang is brave and strategic, Zhuge Liang is indeed the only one who can persuade Liu Bei to take such a big risk. So how do we deal with it now? Wen Chang and Zhong Ye had already led their troops to Wulin, preparing to cross the river by boat to make trouble behind Liu Bei, and now even if they sent someone to inform them to return to Jiangling, it would probably be too late. ”

"Yuan Zhi, why do you want them to come back? They are going just as I want, and even if they weren't going to go, I'm going to send them both of them. ”

"Then this Gangneung ......"

"Guard. Yuan Zhi, now is not the time for you and me to fight with that Liu Bei. Liu Bei sent troops at this time, just to make it impossible for the saint to deal with Yuan Xi of Hebei wholeheartedly, and what we have to do is not to let his conspiracy succeed. If my estimation is correct, this time it is not only Liu Bei who sent troops, but Sun Quan of Jiangdong will also take action. Our main task at present is to wait for reinforcements, and when the saint solves Yuan Xi, maybe we don't need to rush at that time, and Liu Bei and Sun Quan will take the initiative to withdraw their troops. ”

"Zhongda, I understand what you said, but the question is how do we keep it? As you said, Liu Bei sent troops at this time to share Yuan Xi's worries, but it is precisely because of this that he will definitely do his best to attack Jiangling. You and I both understand that once the Holy Lord recovers Hebei, whether it is Jiangdong or Jingnan, it is wishful thinking to fight against the imperial court, as long as the imperial court is delayed for a year or two, it will be their end. In order not to face that day too soon, they will definitely spare no expense this time. ”

"So the time has come to test us." Sima Yi replied with a smile. "Two months, at most two months, the war on the grassland will have a result, and at that time, it will be the time for the Holy Lord to make a move against Yuan Xi, once the Holy Lord solves Yuan Xi, we will not be far from victory. Yuan Zhi, Jiangling City is high and deep, and there is a lot of grain and grass in the city, so it won't be a problem to keep it for a year and a half, right? And now that the inner ghost has also told you to catch it, what else do you have to worry about? ”

"I'm worried about whether this Kuai family is the one who surrenders to the enemy or the Kuai family."

“…… I see, you're worried that Kuai Yue has also joined the enemy, right? ”

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about. Kuai Yue is the county guard of Xiangyang, and the location of Xiangyang is extremely important to my Jingzhou, if he also defects to the enemy, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

"If you really can't rest assured, you might as well test it."

"How to tempt?"

"Let's use Kuai Qi to test, if he is willing to hand over the power in his hand and stay at home honestly, then there is no need to worry about him for the time being, but if he refuses to hand over power to show his innocence, then we will assume that he has defected to the enemy, and at that time we will deal with him as a collaborator."

"He is a county guard appointed by the imperial court, on the same level as you and me, and you and I have no right to dismiss him." Xu Shu frowned and said.

"Doing extraordinary things at extraordinary times is related to whether the imperial court can successfully recover Hebei, if you are afraid that the imperial court will blame you afterwards, I am willing to bear it."

"What do you call that? I, Xu Shu, am not a timid and afraid person, and the consequences of this matter are borne by you and me. Xu Shu said unhappily when he heard this.

"Okay, then it's a deal." Sima Yi immediately responded.

……

Xiangyang Kuaijia

Looking at the nephew and daughter-in-law who knelt in front of him to ask for sin, Kuai Yue was like a thunderbolt from the sky, the nephew and daughter-in-law were Zhuge Liang's eldest sister, and she married Kuai Qi soon after Zhuge Xuan settled in Jingzhou, and the husband and wife usually love each other, and the Zhuge family was able to get the recognition of the Jingzhou family, and it was also through this way of marriage.

When Kuai Qi volunteered to go to Jiangling to deliver food instead of Liao Hua, Kuai Yue still felt that this was his nephew sensible, and he knew that he was still a little happy to share his worries and solve problems. But now that he heard his niece and daughter-in-law tell him the truth, Kuai Yue couldn't help but want to look up to the sky and sigh, where is this Kuai Qi sensible, he clearly said that it was not enough for him to die, and he wanted to drag the hundreds of people from the Kuai family to accompany him to the funeral. At present, although the Kuai family is not as good as before, with the accumulation of several generations, it is not certain that the family will not be able to produce one or two talents who can revitalize the lintel in the future. And what is Liu Bei's promise? He himself is a mud bodhisattva crossing the river, and his promise is useless!

"Go down, and don't talk to anyone about it." Kuai Yue instructed his nephew and daughter-in-law, and sat alone under the lamp and thought about countermeasures.