Long before Liu Qi captured Linxiang, Huo Jun's 5,000 army had already been in Liling City, the empty Liling County Commander in the city was shocked when he saw this, and immediately surrendered the city, Huo Jun after occupying Liling, he let the county order still act as the consul of political affairs, and took over the defense of Liling to prevent Huaxin of Yuzhang, but seeing that Huaxin had not shown any signs of transferring troops for many days, he knew that this person was trying to protect himself and not to fight, so he quickly reported the news to Liu Qi, and built yì to send troops to Yuzhang at the right time to occupy Yuzhang County.

After Liu Qi occupied Linxiang, in the name of Changsha Taishou, he sent an official letter to the county commanders, asking them to come to Linxiang immediately, and soon Luo County, Xiangnan County, Youxian, Chaling, Ancheng, Liandao, Zhaoling, and Rongling eight counties paid their respects successively, and returned the seal to express their surrender.

At this time, only Xia Jun in the entire Changsha County did not know the news of the fall of Linxiang, so he was still resisting stubbornly, but after receiving the order from Liu Qi, after a short hesitation, he also announced his surrender.

Huang Zu led the army to attack Xia Jun, who had not been conquered for half a month, and was surrendered by Liu Qi.

Now Huang Zu's heart is also convinced by Liu Qi, although the surrender is by no means so simple, but after all, it is also because Liu Qi used a strategy to capture Linxiang, he originally thought that this battle would last for two or three years, but he didn't expect it to be conquered so quickly, the shock in his heart is really indescribable, and he doesn't feel impressed by Liu Qi.

"I really didn't expect that my Jingzhou would be so lucky, there was such a talented prince, in my opinion, I'm afraid that even if it is the lord, it is quite inferior to him, so it seems that the whole Jingzhou will probably fall into the hands of the eldest prince sooner or later, why don't I take advantage of it now and accept it? When the eldest prince inherits the position of Jingzhou pastor in the future, my Huang family can also be regarded as having the merit of supporting it, yes, I will write to discuss it with my eldest brother now. ”

On the one hand, Huang Zu hurriedly wrote a letter, and the celebrity hurriedly sent it to Huangjiawan in Baishui, Cannan, and on the other hand, he sent Su Fei back to Shaxian with his troops, and he rode a horse to Linxiang to meet Liu Qi.

Liu Qi couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw that Huang Zu was here, he now knew the meaning of the string song when he heard the strings, and naturally saw through Huang Zu's purpose.

But Liu Qi did not dislike Huang Zu's approach, but was overjoyed. After all, Huang Zu has been running Jiangxia for a long time, and he can be regarded as a general in Jingzhou, if he is willing to defect to his command, then he will be more sure of competing with Liu Cong for the position of heir in the future.

Therefore, Liu Qi was very polite to Huang Zu, and he accepted him deeply, and left Huang Zu for three days before letting him go back.

Of course, in just the past three days, Liu Qi can only think that Huang Zu has a good impression of him, but he does not necessarily defect to his command, because the other party has not clearly raised the issue of supporting him or forming an alliance with him.

But just like this, Liu Qi is already very satisfied, after all, behind Huang Zu is a big family and a county, and they all have a pivotal position in Jingzhou, not only will he win over the other party, but Cai Mao will definitely not let go of such an important force.

What's more, Cai Mao and Huang Zu are close to each other, because Cai Mao's second sister Cai Yunxiang married Huang Zu's brother Huang Chengyan, so in such an intertwined relationship, Huang Zu can take the initiative to show favor to himself, how difficult should it be?

And more importantly, in the three days of friendship with Huang Zu, Liu Qi proposed to completely clear the Jiangxia thief Zhang Hu, and obtained Huang Zu's consent, which shows that the two sides have begun to realize the first step of cooperation, which is enough to prove that Huang Zu still has the possibility of being drawn into his camp.

A few days later, the news that Liu Qi had completely quelled the rebellion in the four counties of Jingnan was sent to Liu Biao's account by Kuaima, and the overjoyed Liu Biao immediately convened a civil and military meeting to discuss how to deal with the four counties of Jingnan and arrange for Liu Qi.

"What? This little beast of Liu Qi actually pacified the four counties of Jingnan so quickly? After Cai Mao listened to Liu Biao's words, she was so shocked that her jaw was about to fall to the ground, and her heart was like a calm lake setting off a monstrous wave, and for the first time she felt that she had made a mistake in her choice, and she actually pressed the treasure on Liu Cong.

But he has no choice now, because who in the entire Jingxiang region doesn't know that Liu Cong is his son-in-law? And he has already spent too much effort on Liu Cong, how can he say that he will let go? What's more, although Liu Cong is ruthless, his mind is not high, and he can play with it between applause, and Liu Qi, this kid is now a character, even if he puts him in Liu Biao's position, I am afraid that he can only be a man with his tail between his legs in the future, as for dominating Jingxiang and becoming the first family in Jingxiang, it is simply impossible.

So Cai Mao has no choice but to grit his teeth and continue, he must find a way to deal with Liu Qi again, and he should first find a way to snatch the fruits of his victory.

Cai Mao thought for a while, and then came up with an idea, first pretending to praise Liu Qi, and then said: "Qi'er is an all-round talent in civil and military affairs, it is really my blessing in Jingzhou, Your Majesty thought, didn't Yuan Shao send us a letter a few days ago, let us attack Cao Cao?" Why don't we transfer Qi'er to Nanyang, cooperate with Zhang Xiu, deal with Cao Cao together, and ensure the stability of our northern border of Jingzhou. At that time, the Ming Duke was named the prime minister of the Han Dynasty for supporting the virtue of the Son of Heaven, and he will definitely leave a name in history with the Son of Heaven to order the subordinates. ”

When Liu Biao heard this, his eyes couldn't help but shine, and he nodded and said: "What De Jue said is very true, this official sacrificed heaven and earth in the last year, and everyone objected, if Qi'er can take Xuchang and support the Son of Heaven, who dares to say more?" ”

At this moment, Kuai Yue suddenly said: "Lord, this matter must not be, Jingnan is newly determined, the people's will is not attached, if the eldest prince is forcibly transferred back, the lower officials are afraid that Zhang Xian's matter will be repeated again, not to mention that Xu Du is a place where Cao Cao worked hard to manage, the soldiers are full of food, even if the eldest prince has the talent of Liangping, I am afraid it will be difficult to overcome, not to mention that our army has been using soldiers for many years, and the army is tired, so we should rest and recuperate, in order to protect ourselves, otherwise, once Xuchang is not restrained, Jingnan rebels again, and the ministers are afraid that the great cause of the lord will be difficult to preserve." Therefore, according to the opinion of his subordinates, the lord might as well send the eldest prince to stay in Changsha, on the one hand, to recuperate, and on the other hand, to fight against Jiangdong Sun Ce with Huang Zu, so as to ensure that Jingnan is not lost. ”

Liu Biao listened to Kuai Yue's words, muttered, felt very reasonable, and his enthusiasm turned into reason, nodded and praised: "It's still a different strategy, and the cash is competing, I don't need to wade into this troubled water in Jingzhou, sitting on Jingzhou is the best policy, and this official doesn't want another Jingnan rebellion in Jingzhou." In this way, he still appointed Qi'er as the Taishou of Changsha, and at the same time supervised the military of Jingnan and Jiaozhou, responsible for guarding Jingnan and preventing the invasion of Jiangdong Sun Ce. ”

"But my lord, what should I do in Nanyang? Zhang Xiu is a guest after all, if he leaves Nanyang, or defects to Cao Cao, won't we lose the fundamental importance of this generation? Cai Mao was still unwilling and continued to persuade Liu Biaodao.

Liu Biao smiled and said: "Don't worry, Zhang Xiu has a grudge against Cao Cao, how can he stoop to Cao Hu?" As long as our army connects with Zhang Xiu, Cao Cao can't help me at all? What's more, the last time Cao Cao went south to conquer Zhang Xiu, he was defeated by Zhang Xiu and Qi'er, how dare he come back? ”

Cai Mao sighed helplessly, but he was still unwilling, and after thinking for a while, he came up with an idea: "Lord, the current Yuzhang is too guarded by Huaxin and does not cultivate military equipment, you can order Qi'er to send troops to Yuzhang and occupy Yuzhang County, so that Cangwu, Nanhai, Lingling, Changsha, and Jiangxia counties can be completely connected, and then our army only needs to guard Yuzhang and Jiangxia, and we can completely ensure the stability of Jingnan and the entire Jiaozhou." ”

"Well, I'm afraid it's not big, right? Hua Xin is a virtuous person, and he is also a county appointed by the imperial court, how can our army forcibly occupy other people's territory? What's more, this official is the pastor of Jingzhou, but Yuzhang is already Yangzhou. Liu Biao said hesitantly.

"Hehe, don't forget, the lord didn't forget, when the imperial court canonized you as the pastor of Jingzhou, but he deliberately added a sentence to let the lord supervise Jing, Jiao, and Yangzhu's military, then it proves that the counties of Yangzhou should have listened to the lord's orders, and now the lord is marching into Yuzhang, isn't it justified?" Cai Mao smiled and said to Liu Biao.

Kuai Yue couldn't help sneering in his heart, he naturally knew that Cai Mao's move was not for Yu Zhang, but for Liu Qi to directly confront Jiangdong Sun Ce after annexing Yu Zhang, in order to consume Liu Qi's strength, but he didn't speak, of course, not because he didn't see through Cai Mao's conspiracy, but because he believed that Liu Qi would definitely be able to defeat Sun Ce in the end.

This is not blind trust, but a wise man's intuitive judgment.

Liu Biao saw that Kuai Yue no longer spoke, so he nodded and agreed, appointed Liu Qi as the Taishou of Yuzhang, ordered him to occupy Yuzhang as much as possible, and at the same time appointed his nephew Liu Pan as the Taishou of Changsha, so that he could take office after Liu Qi entered and occupied Yuzhang.

After the matter was over, Cai Mao immediately ordered someone to secretly accept Liu Pan, hoping that the other party could be used for his own use, and wrote to Lai Gong, asking him to speed up his actions and take away the military power of Jiang Wan and Pan Jun, the Taishou of Nanhai and Cangwu counties, and completely control the entire Jiaozhou in his own hands.

And at this time in Xudu, Cao Cao was also worried about Liu Qi's pacification of Jingnan, and now Liu Bei attacked and killed Xuzhou Assassin Shi Chexuan, occupied Xiapi and Xiaopei, the East China Sea thieves Changfeng and counties are more rebellious and prepared, prepare tens of thousands of people, send envoys and Yuan Shao to join the army, become their own henchmen, in addition, Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zhan, is transferring troops to the south, the purpose is obvious, is to prepare to compete with himself in the Central Plains, now there is Zhang Xiu in the south, Yuan Shao in the north, Liu Bei in the east, if Liu Qi goes north to the Central Plains to attack Xuchang, I'm afraid I'm really going to burn out.

Therefore, after Cao Cao consulted with the strategists, he decided to send Wang Zhong and Liu Dai to crusade against Liu Bei, ordered Wei Kai to pacify Guanzhong, and named Sun Ce as the general of Andong, Wu Hou, and Lujiang Taishou, and ordered him to attack Yuan Shu, and at the same time appointed Liu Qi as the general of Pingdong, Yangzhou Assassin History, the purpose is obvious, that is, to let them compete with each other, what they do is Xun Yu's plan to compete for food.

Although Liu Qi knew that this was Cao Cao's trick, there was no way, after all, his name was Yangzhou Thorn History, but he didn't have an inch of Yangzhou land in his hands, how could he settle down in the future? What's more, sooner or later there will be a battle between himself and Sun Ce, it is better to take advantage of the time when he has not developed to defeat him and possess Jiangdong, and establish a rich base for himself, and Sun Ce because Liu Qi was appointed as the Yangzhou assassin he wanted to get but never obtained, and knew that the other party would inevitably attack Yuzhang, which was close to Changsha, so he ordered Yu to go forward to persuade Huaxin to surrender, trying to control Yuzhang in his own hands in advance.

Suddenly, around Yuzhang, a protracted battle began between Liu Qi and Sun Ce.

(To be continued)