After leaving Xiangyang, Lai Gong crossed Jiangling, took a boat from Jiangjin Port to Xiaoling, and then came to Chenxian by way of Hanshou, Linyuan, Yuannan, Yiyang, Linxiang, Yuxian, and Leiyang, and visited Liu Qi along the way.

Liu Qi didn't know until this time that it was Lai Gong who was appointed as the assassin of Jiaozhou, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss in his heart, but since the other party was appointed by the imperial court, and in the letter written by Liu Cousin in his hand, his father Liu Biao also entrusted himself to take care of it, so naturally he could only greet him with a smile, Liu Qi was accompanied by Xu Shu and others to entertain Lai Gong with Lai Gong, and then enthusiastically sent him away, so he put away his smile and looked thoughtful.

After a long while, Liu Qi said slowly to Xu Shu: "Xu Junshi, you said that the imperial court appointed Lai Gong as the assassin of Jiaozhou, is this the meaning of the imperial court, or the meaning of my father?" ”

Xu Shu thought for a while, and then said: "According to what the last general thinks, it shouldn't be the meaning of the state pastor, because the previous letter from the state pastor has clearly proposed to the general that he wants to recommend the literary line to the imperial court to Jiaozhou Assassin History, since the lord said so, how can he not believe it?" What's more, now is the most critical moment to pacify the traitor Zhang Xian, even for ordinary generals, the state pastor can only be gracious and firm, and it is impossible to do this kind of disappointing former enemy generals, not to mention that the general is an adult's son. ”

Liu Qi nodded and said: "What the military advisor said is good, if it is really my father who changes his mind and recommends Lai Gong as the assassin of Jiaozhou, he will definitely not let him see the general so ostentatiously, and it is impossible for him to let him come here to stimulate the general at the critical moment when the general is about to raise troops to attack Changsha, so it must be Cai Mao's intention to recommend Lai Gong." It's just that I don't understand how Cai Mao made my father change his mind? Or did he not make his father change his mind, but found a way to make Cao Cao change his mind? But this general thinks that Cao Cao will never agree to Cai Mao so happily, and he will definitely not appoint my Jingzhou general to serve as the assassin of Jiaozhou, but it is more likely that Shixie, who was originally from Jiaozhou, and others. ”

Xu Shu nodded, and then went to the guard entourage, and then said to Liu Qi: "The last general said something inappropriate, in fact, even if the state pastor recommends Wenxing and Lai Gong to serve as the assassin of Jiaozhou, the imperial court is also very likely to appoint Wenxing, because the father of Wenxing, Lord Pei Mao, is an important minister of the imperial court, and he was ordered to lead Duan Xuan and others to destroy Li Dao in the third year of Jian'an, if Wenxing is appointed to Jiaozhou Assassin History, Cao Cao can use Pei Mao to persuade Wenxing to surrender, and now the court has not appointed Wenxing, but appointed Lai Gong, This can only show that in the compromises sent to the imperial court, Wen Xing was not recommended to Jiaozhou Assassin Shi, but recommended Lai Gong. ”

"Huh? What does Mr. mean is that in the end of his father's compromise, he recommended Lai Gong? But how is this possible? My father obviously said in the letter that he recommended Wenxing. And the letter was very resolute, clearly mentioning that Cai Mao recommended Lai Gong, but was rejected by his father. Liu Qi was silent for a moment, and then said: "Father shouldn't be wrong about such a big event, and he shouldn't deceive me, right?" ”

Xu Shu sneered: "Lord Zhou Mu naturally won't deceive his parents and children, and the fold must have recommended Wen Xing, but the book that the last general said about not recommending Wen Xing at all may not have been written by Lord Zhou Mu." ”

"What? Does Mr. think that Cai Mao actually tampered with the folds? Liu Qi couldn't help but be shocked, and then suddenly realized: "What Mr. said is good, maybe it's really like this, this Cai Mao does have such ability, and he is the only one in Jingzhou who has such ability." If it is other possible, with the paper of the main book, it will definitely be able to find a way to prevent it. ”

Xu Shu sighed: "There is another news from the last general that can support this possibility. During his time as an official in Jingzhou, Lai Gong had been helped by Cai Mao many times, and he had long been loyal to Cai Mao. ”

Liu Qi nodded and said softly: "There is no problem, this matter must have been done by Cai Mao's old thief, but it is a little strange, why did Cao Cao really agree to appoint Lai Gong?" If Shi Xie and others are appointed, wouldn't it be more conducive to him to control Zhan Jiaozhou? ”

Xu Shu said lightly: "It's just that he wants to figure out that Lai Gong has caused internal disputes in Jingzhou, and Cao Cao wants us to fight with each other, so that he can profit again." It's just that Cao Cao underestimated the general too much, and also looked too highly on Lai Gong, now the South China Sea has been occupied by Jiang Wan, Lai Gong is okay, if he dares to be unfavorable to the general, the last general dares to guarantee that he will have to leave the South China Sea obediently in a few days. ”

Liu Qi also said approvingly: "What Mr. said is extremely true, and the general also believes that this Lai Gong will not be so blind, and he will do something unfavorable to the general when our army is doing its best to attack Changsha, not to mention that the two counties of Cangwu and Nanhai are also under the control of our army, see what big waves Lai Gong can turn over?" ”

Liu Qi thought about it, and then wrote a letter to Jiang Wan and Pan Jun, two cousins, explaining his strategy to Lai Gong, and ordering someone to send the two letters to the two of them as soon as possible, then he raised his head and asked Xu Shu: "By the way, how is the matter of our army's expedition to Changsha?" ”

Xu Shu bowed slightly and said, "The last generals are all ready, and the army can march at any time." ”

Liu Qi nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "Now the land and water army of Jiangxia has been mobilized to Shaxian, Changsha is also ready to fight, and Yiyang's Yu Ban and Gan Ning are also ready to go, and they will set off immediately after the arrival of Jingzhou reinforcements, and our army should also rush to Yuxian as soon as possible, and we are ready to go to the expedition at any time." I don't think it's better to do this, tomorrow is an auspicious day of the zodiac, and our army will immediately set off for Youxian, how about it? ”

Xu Shu bowed down and said, "Obey the general's orders, and the general will arrange it." ”

After Xu Shu finished speaking, he immediately ordered Wei Yan and Huang Zhong to lead the army to set off.

Because Sima Zhi, Pang Tong, Pei Qian and others have been appointed as Taishou, so Xu Shu is now concurrently serving as Junzheng, Changshi and other positions, and the soldiers under his command have also reached 10,000, Wang Cang was promoted to the main book, Wei Yan and Huang Zhong also led 10,000 troops respectively, Wei Yan is also the Sima of Changsha County, everyone immediately took action after receiving the order, and early the next morning, all under the leadership of Liu Qi, they were full of spirit and high morale to Yu County.

Ten days later, Liu Qi's army came to Youxian County, and Huo Jun had already led the generals in the city to welcome him.

After Liu Qi came to the county office, he said directly before he sat down: "Zhong Miao has worked hard these days, I don't know how the battle situation is in the near future?" ”

But saw Huo Jun smiled faintly and said: "Since the general went to Guiyang, Changsha saw that the last general here was empty, so he led the army to attack several times, but all returned in vain, and then saw the general Dingguiyang, he never dared to invade again, the last general heard that Changsha City is recruiting troops to prepare for war, the city has collected nearly 50,000 troops, and more than 10,000 troops are guarded by Xiajun, 5,000 people guard southern Xiangnan, 5,000 people guard Liling, in southern Hunan into a corner, to defend Linxiang, and the city is also equipped with more city equipment, many people also dedicate the door panel of their homes, each holding a stick, assisting Zhang Xian to defend the city. The last general is afraid that it will not be easy to capture Linxiang this time. ”

In the end, Huo Jun's face had become extremely stern.

In fact, it's not just Huo Jun? Even Liu Qi felt a trace of solemnity now.

This time, the three-way army of their own side will attack Changsha, at most 80,000 people, and there are 50,000 people in Linxiang City, plus the enemies of Xiajun, Xiangnan and Liling, there are also 70,000 people, not to mention that there are people to help defend the city, so that even if the city is broken in the future, it will cause heavy casualties in the city, and it will be difficult to recover for a long time.

And those residents who survived will have hatred for their own army because of the death of their relatives in the defense of the city, and there may even be excesses such as popular revolts, which will cause Linxiang to fall into turmoil for a long time.

This last point is what Liu Qi is really worried about.

Unless he encounters the people who help defend the city like other warlords, he will completely eliminate the resistance by slaughtering the city after the city is broken, and then move the people from other counties to Linxiang.

But whether it is from the perspective of personal feelings or the future development of Changsha, Liu Qi has never been able to make up his mind to give such a cruel order.

At this moment, Xu Shu, who mistakenly thought that Liu Qi's confidence was shaken, smiled and said with relief: "The general doesn't have to worry too much, although there are many thieves, most of them are new to the army, and they are all scattered, how powerful can they be?" Although Zhang Xian is quite popular with the people, we can design it to make the people's hearts gradually lose. ”

Unexpectedly, Liu Qi shook his head and said with a wry smile: "The general is not worried that the city is not broken, but is worried about the people in the city, they are originally the good people of Jingzhou, but now they are lured by Zhang Xian's thieves, and they will have to die in the war. ”

Xu Shu and the others were silent when they heard all the words, and they all sighed: "The Lord of True Benevolence and Righteousness is also." ”

Xu Shu was silent for a moment, and then said: "If the general reduces the casualties of the people, it is not impossible, our army only needs to be trapped in the city, and after a long time, the people's will will be slack, as long as it is time to harvest at the beginning of summer, the people will inevitably return to the fields to harvest food, and our army will take advantage of the situation to attack the city, and Shu can try to avoid casualties among the people." ”

Liu Qi sighed, thought for a while, and sighed softly: "It seems that this is the only way, I hope that Zhang Xian will be able to understand the current affairs at that time, and will not let the people of a city fall to death, in this way, I will ask my father to spare his life." ”

After Liu Qi sighed a few words, he asked Huo Jun again: "Zhong Miao, are all the siege equipment left by the Ordnance Department still intact?" ”

I saw Huo Jun bow down and said: "Since Lord Huang of the Ordnance Division led the crowd to leave, the last general ordered his own soldiers to strictly guard, and did not dare to relax a single cent. ”

Liu Qi nodded and exclaimed, "Zhong Miao has a heart." This will order you to command an army of 5,000 troops, advance lightly, take advantage of the void to attack Liling, and garrison here to guard against Huaxin of Yuzhang, I don't know if Zhong Miao can be confident? ”

Huo Jun hurriedly bowed down and said, "Please rest assured, the general will definitely live up to his mission." ”

Liu Qi stood up suddenly, and said loudly: "Hehe, since Zhong Miao wants to break Liling, our army must also cooperate, the army will rest for a day, and start to set off in the direction of Linxiang from tomorrow, Wen Chang, you lead a thousand troops first, don't drag the five thousand troops of Liling, create a zào fighter for Zhong Miao, and as soon as the general army arrives, the three armies will stand side by side, and a total of thieves will be destroyed, and Zhang Xian's 10,000 army will be annihilated first, and he will be given a deterrent." ”

"No." Xu Shu, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong, Wang Cang, and Huo Jun all stood aside solemnly and said with solemn expressions.