The night is deep and long, and the endless black curtain envelops all the light in one's hands, making people feel terrified and at the same time, they can't help but stretch out infinite reverie. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

It is now July of the eighth year of Jian'an, and the south is still very stable, but the war in the north has not ended. Yuan Shao, the former biggest overlord in the north, had fallen into trouble with the defeat of the two decisive battles at Guandu and Cangting, and Yuan Shao himself was even more worried about dying in May last year. Subsequently, the Yuan family split, and Yuan Shao's three sons split into two factions, one led by the eldest son Yuan Tan, and the other dominated by the youngest son Yuan Shang. At this point, the power of the Yuan family has changed from a predicament to a desperate situation, and it can only be eaten by Cao Cao little by little, and there is no possibility of rising again.

"Alas, what a pity. Why are the two sons of Ben so uncompetitive? If the three brothers work together, they can also fight with Cao Cao. When the news reached Jingzhou, Liu Biao couldn't help sighing, and then said to Liu Bei, who was invited by him, with some regret: "I really shouldn't have listened to your advice." No one would have thought that Cao Cao's expedition to Yuan Shao would take so long. If you had sent elite troops to attack Xuchang as you had said, we would have been able to see Cao Cao's bitter face by now. It's really ...... to lose an opportunity" Liu Biao sighed, didn't say anything, just poured wine into his wine glass. He was undoubtedly depressed, because he was not a fool, and he could already see that with Cao Cao's further strengthening, Jingzhou where he was located was likely to become Cao Cao's next target.

"My body is not well. Scruples only have so many years to live. Once he dies, what will Jingzhou look like? Although the eldest son Liu Qi also has some skills, he is not cowardly enough to protect his family and country, and although the youngest son Liu Cong is smart, he is very young and ....... Why doesn't God let me live a few more years, it seems that this Jingzhou is entrusted to this virtuous brother. After all, with his talents, if he can assist my son to resist Cao Cao, then my Jingzhou should still be able to survive. Liu Biao groaned, looking at Liu Bei in a daze, still thinking in his heart: "Is he loyal to me?" ”

As a monarch, the most important concern is not the ability of his subordinates, but the question of whether his subordinates are loyal to him enough. It's just that a wise monarch will spare no effort to improve the loyalty of his subordinates to him, and use heart-to-heart and rewards to let his ministers keep up with their chariots step by step. And the stupid monarchs, most of them only know how to guard against and persecute the courtiers he suspects step by step, and often the villainous ministers who are not loyal to themselves do not find one, while the loyal ministers are demoted a lot. As a result, people's hearts are scattered.

Trust and suspicion are the two edges of the same sword, and the specific choice often depends on the monarch's own temperament and the way of the people.

Although he didn't do anything that made him suspicious, Liu Biao was a little suspicious of Liu Bei. This is different from his suspicion of Li Sheng at the beginning, Li Sheng at that time was the target of many people's slander, and Liu Bei in front of him was the object of his entrustment.

"If Liu Bei is loyal to me, then everything is especially easy to say. If not, then I have not given him my territory for nothing? "I don't feel at ease about this Liu Biao. Although he is generous, he is still not generous enough to give everything he has to others.

So, he planned to give Liu Bei a try and test his opinion of his time at home. This is also a very reasonable thing, after all, Liu Bei is his brother and the same clan, so he is naturally a family. He talked about the lost opportunity first, and saw if Liu Bei had any resentment about not listening to him. Of course, these are the things that have been secretly missed in the heart, and they are not shown on the face. As a monarch, he already has a deep understanding of the joy and anger that does not work.

"Brother doesn't need to regret the loss of an opportunity, at the moment Cao Cao is still fighting against Yuan Shao in the north, and he will not be able to return to Xuchang for a while, as long as there is real intelligence help, then there will naturally be an opportunity." Liu Bei was relieved with a pleasant face. It's not that he doesn't feel sad that he has lost another opportunity to defeat Cao Cao, but as a guest general who has been under the fence for a long time, he has learned to read words and feelings, and knows what to say and what not to say.

"Really?" Liu Biao smiled bitterly, and shed tears a little helplessly: "What the virtuous brother said is very true, it's just that you look at my body...... Alas...... I'm getting old, and I'm worried about a lot of things, and I'm afraid I won't see that time anymore."

"Why did my brother say such an inauspicious remark? If you really have trouble in your chest, you can tell your little brother. If it is useful, the younger brother will never give up to repay the kindness of the elder brother. Liu Bei said sincerely.

"Brother Xian has a heart." Liu Biao nodded with satisfaction and said, "I can't help but think about the future when I am old, and the affairs of the Yuan family are in front, which also makes me have some scruples. My eldest son is cowardly, but my youngest son is wise. I want to have a young son, but I am afraid that the etiquette is not in accordance with the law. I want to have the eldest son again

I'm afraid that the Cai clan in this city will cause trouble and Xiao Wall. ”

"This ...... But how dare I meddle in my brother's family affairs? Liu Bei groaned slightly, and dealt with it quite carefully, as if he couldn't bear to look at Liu Biao's frowning bitter appearance and said: "Since ancient times, abolishing the long and standing young has been the way to take chaos. If you are worried that the weight of the Cai family can be slowly weakened, you can't stand up because you dote on the young son, otherwise Yuan's original disaster will be in front of you. ”

"Hmm......" Liu Biao sighed, and then he was silent without any words, making people wonder what his thoughts were under his uncertain complexion.

For a moment, the atmosphere between the two became dull and eerie. Liu Biao was certainly thinking about whether there was a difference between what Liu Bei said at the moment, and Liu Bei also closed his mouth and secretly regretted it in his heart. He saw Liu Biao's noncommittal appearance and felt that he was too talkative. Because no matter whether he is a guest general or Liu Biao's courtier, he must rely on Liu Biao to exist, and he neither has an identity much higher than Liu Biao, nor is he equivalent to Liu Biao's identity, so he must not say anything about Liu Biao's family affairs. Even if this statement was made at Liu Biao's own request.

"I'm afraid, Brother Jingsheng is suspicious of me because of this." Looking at Liu Biao's silence, the uneasiness in Liu Bei's heart was expanding. He knew what kind of person Liu Biao was. The so-called "wide on the outside and taboo on the inside, heavy name and light on the solid", his brother who was a famous family at the beginning of his family simply has the same personality as Yuan Shao, who has died out.

"We can't let that suspicion continue. I have a deep relationship with Liu Biao and the celebrities in Jingzhou, and Li Zixu is different. Liu Biao doubted that he would be able to move him much and give him a chance to buffer, and Liu Biao suspected that I was only afraid that I would immediately swing the knife at my head. Liu Bei was in a hurry, and the sweat on his head immediately dripped.

"What's the matter, Brother Xuandexian, do you have any difficulties?" Seeing the changes in Liu Bei's face, Liu Biao, who had just turned around from his thoughts, asked curiously.

He had basically confirmed that what Liu Bei had said to him before did not have any special meaning, and he reminded himself purely out of consideration for the stability of his own forces-"I would like to establish the eldest son." This is the practice of the Dharma since the Han Dynasty, and even the emperor needs to follow such a convention. Unless he really kills his eldest son, he can only set him up. "Alas...... Why didn't Qi'er try harder? Liu Biao sighed a little, but the decision in his heart had already been made.

"Uh...... That one...... I want to go and change my clothes. Liu Bei said with an embarrassed face. Just like when he used thunder to cover up Emperor Zhang in his heart when he met Cao Cao, Liu Bei at this moment also borrowed this "change of clothes" to cover up his panic at the moment. He wanted to go out for a while, and he thought about how he should answer Liu Biao's next "doubts".

"Oh, then please take care of yourself." Liu Biao kindly nodded his gray-haired head and raised his glass. Since he already believed in Liu Bei's loyalty to him, then he would no longer doubt Liu Bei's various things in such a trivial matter. He let Liu Bei go, and he still tasted the wine on the table.

This is a new sake that has just been launched this year, and it seems to be much more mellow than the varieties it was two years ago.

"Hehe, my righteous son-in-law has the ability, but he doesn't put it on that political matter, so that he can learn the Tao and do business. It's a shame to make such a beautiful sake. Liu Biao muttered, his eyes slightly closed, as if he was savoring the little bit of intoxication.

After a while, Liu Bei came back. When Liu Biao raised his eyes to look, he happened to meet Liu Bei's faintly red eyes, and there were still some tears as if he was crying.

"Brother Xian, what's wrong?" Liu Biao asked with concern.

"Nothing...... I'm a little embarrassed to see me like this. Liu Bei said embarrassedly, he seemed to resist Liu Biao's gaze, so he had to lower his head and say, "When I went to change clothes just now, I found that my thighs were already full of hip meat. It's a very uncomfortable thing. In the past, I was friends with horses all day long, and I rarely left the war horse, so I never grew hip meat, but I didn't expect it to be like this now. I didn't move much, and my muscles and bones were a little rusty, so I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to ride a horse in the future. Liu Bei's eyes were red, and he patted his thigh with his palm, and let out a "snap...... snap", he seemed to want to use this to show how thick his meat was.

"It's not a big deal." Liu Biao smiled disapprenorovingly: "The warriors left the war horse, it was because of the arrival of peace." We should be happy about that. After all, compared to the wars in other parts of the world, peace is rare. Liu Biao said proudly, he believes that the peace in Jingzhou is brought by him. Although he occasionally has the idea of fighting for world dominance, more often than not, he still thinks about how to ensure the peace of Jingzhou more durably, and he does not like to join the war.

"That being said, just watching the time pass year by year, I still have nothing to do, and I feel a little sad when I see the years passing." Liu Bei grimaced, and gently patted his thigh with his hand.

"Oh?" Hearing Liu Bei say this, Liu Biao couldn't help but think of one thing: "I heard that when the virtuous brother returned to Cao Cao in Xuchang, Cao Cao and the virtuous brother Qingmei cooked together to discuss the heroes of the world. The virtuous brother has traveled all over the world, but Cao Cao still shook his head and denied it: 'The heroes of the world, only the king and the ear!' With Cao Cao's ability, the situation at that time still did not dare to rank his name in front of the virtuous brother, which shows that the talent of the virtuous brother has always been regarded by Cao Cao. Cao Cao's talents are numbered in the world, and the virtuous brother is not weaker than Cao Cao, so why worry about not building his achievements? ”

"Huh!" Hearing Liu Biao comfort himself like this, the smile on Liu Bei's face became more and more bitter, he drank the wine one by one, and he didn't know how many cups he had eaten, so he lost his words and said: "The reason why Bei is bitter is that it is only bitter and has no foundation." If there is a foundation, then there is nothing to worry about in the world. ”

"What ......" Liu Biao heard this, but his smiling face suddenly became slightly gloomy. He was frightened by Liu Bei's words, and he was also a little confused by Liu Bei's behavior of confiding in his heart at this moment. He was almost certain that Liu Bei was not drunk at the moment, so what he said could not be regarded as a drunken "mantra". Since it is not a "mantra", what does it mean? His heart grew on its own.

On the surface, this seems to be Liu Bei's desire to establish a meritorious career, which is similar to what he said earlier. Although the people in that sentence faintly included themselves, considering the kind of anger that Liu Bei showed when he said this, Liu Biao thought that it was just his angry words, so he ignored it all of a sudden.

He didn't care about Liu Bei's anger, what he cared about was what was behind Liu Bei's desperate idea of making a contribution. The so-called "meritorious service" is for heroes like him and Liu Bei, that is, to obtain their own territory. Liu Bei is so eager to "make meritorious contributions", doesn't it mean that he desperately wants to have his own territory. This was nothing, but it was only because Liu Bei was in his guest seat that it became troublesome. As a guest general, the fastest way for him to get his territory is undoubtedly to kill himself and accept his own territory. Such a thing that seems ordinary in troubled times is fatal to oneself. In this regard, I can't help but be vigilant.

Of course, vigilance is just vigilance, and Liu Biao does not think that Liu Bei will be harmful to himself. After all, if Liu Bei really wanted to seize his foundation, then he would only do all this in secret, and would not say these things to his face.

He wasn't drunk, and that's critical.

"Perhaps, he just wanted me to say that?" Liu Biao thought about it for a while, and then calculated Liu Bei's reputation in the world, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, "You can rest assured for the time being." He looked at Liu Bei's body that shook his head and was getting more and more drunk, and a playful smile flashed across his mouth: "Since Brother Xian is already drunk, let's go to the pavilion to rest." ”

"Thank you, brother!" Looking at Liu Biao's face that never showed much expression, Liu Bei's heart was slightly hairy, he felt a little dangerous, so he hurriedly bowed like Liu Biao and then saluted. He walked as fast as he could, as if he didn't want to stay here for a quarter of an hour.

Watching Liu Bei go out, the smile on Liu Biao's face suddenly converged, and the speed of his transformation was almost comparable to the famous face change in Shudi. He regained his calm appearance, returned to the table full of wine and food, ordered his subordinates to remove them, and then ordered his mastermind to be found Kuai Yue Yue.

"Look at Liu Bei's thing, how to solve it?" Liu Biao is not an arbitrary person, although he has already made a decision about Liu Bei's affairs in his heart, he still wants to listen to some different opinions from others, so he waited for Kuai Yue to come over, and simply told him something about what happened tonight, and then asked him directly.

At this moment, the night was already deep, and at this time, both Liu Biao and Kuai Yue were resting on their respective couches, but because Liu Biao had a thought in his heart, the two had to endure a lot. Liu Biao asked quickly, he didn't seem to intend to take up too much of his courtier's time.

As far as the lord described, Liu Bei is undoubtedly a person with ambitions, of course, he is also very charming, and he also attaches great importance to feelings. As far as betrayal is concerned, he will undoubtedly not do it, after all, the lord is kind to him, and he will not do anything sad. Suffice it to say that as long as the lord is here, he will have no problem, unless we press him too hard. Kuai Yue thought about it and said his judgment. This judgment was undoubtedly made by him on the basis of a combination of the information provided by Liu Biao and the information he had privately gathered. Because the relationship between him and Liu Biao is extremely close, he can directly discuss the existence of Liu Biao in front of Liu Biao: "It's just that with his ambition, if the lord is no longer there, I'm afraid that none of the two sons can restrain him." The scholars in Jingzhou heard that they have often gone to Xinye recently. This is a sign. If the lord is not there, I am afraid that with Liu Bei's prestige and ability, it will not take much time to receive Jingzhou. ”

"Then you say I, do you want to cut him down from now on?" Liu Biao asked Kuai Yue softly, and his eyes clearly flashed with a chilling light.

"Why?" Liu Biao asked again.

"Because of the general trend of the whole world." Kuai Yue explained, with an unnatural hint of bitterness on his face: "The two battles of Guandu and Cangting have laid the foundation for victory, and whether Yuan Shao is the split of the Yuan family will make this foundation even more solid. Now Cao Cao's sweep of the north is just around the corner. And after sweeping the north, Jingzhou, where the lord is located, and Jiangdong, which has always been against us, are undoubtedly Cao Cao's next targets. When the army from the north moves south, the lord will directly face Cao Cao's edge. Does the lord think he can beat Cao Cao? Kuai Yue is a wise man and a direct minister, he used his loyalty to Liu Biao and Liu Biao's trust in him to directly say this thing that no one could want, but no one dared to say.

"Cao Cao? I'm not as good as him? Liu Biao shook his head lightly across his face.

"So what will the lord do when he falls? Surrender Cao Cao directly? Or fight to the death with Cao Cao? Kuai Yue asked a very pointed question. In the entire Liu Biao camp, he was the only one who dared to question Liu Biao directly.

"This ......" Liu Biao began to hesitate, and he was pondering this in his heart. He is an old man, and the spirit of fighting and winning in the past has undoubtedly dissipated a lot with age. Now what he wants most is not to use his own hands to create a unified world, but to grasp everything in front of him and live the second half quietly. Of course, this so-called possession also includes the preservation of one's current territory - Jingzhou.

"What did Cao Cao go south for? Isn't it for my Jingzhou? In that case, how can I surrender and surrender to him the country I have worked so hard to fight? No one can take Jingzhou away from me, no one! Liu Biao remembered that he had worked hard all his life for the Jingzhou territory in his hands, and the unconvincing in his heart suddenly rose. He seemed to want to compete with Cao Cao, but he still took into account Cao Cao's strength after all.

In the past, Liu Biao thought that he was not as good as Yuan Shao, after all, Yuan Shao's strength was there. So, he befriended Yuan Shao as much as possible. But now Cao Cao actually defeated Yuan Shao, which made him extremely unwilling, but he also had to admit that he was not as good as Cao Cao.

"Can I do this with just Jingzhou and one state to compete with China?" The old Liu Biao is really bottomless. Under Kuai Yue's questioning, he was silent for a long time and couldn't say an answer.

For the hesitation and groaning of the lord, Kuai Yue was prepared in his heart. He knew that his lord was a scheming and decisive man, so he didn't plan to let his lord make any decisions at this time. After giving Liu Biao a time to think, Kuai Yue began to say: "No matter what the final decision of the lord is? We can't move Liu Bei for the time being. If the lord finally surrenders, then we can offer Liu Bei, an opponent whom even Cao Cao considered a hero, in exchange for our best interests in Jingzhou. Similarly, if the lord decides to contend with Cao Cao in his heart, then Liu Bei, as the first line of resistance to Cao Cao, will become an important combat force for us. Although Cao Cao has broken the power of the Yuan family at the moment, it will take several years to completely sweep away the Yuan family and unify the entire north, and this is also an opportunity for us. We are not without the possibility of development. ”

"Let Liu Bei go for the time being? Aren't you afraid to develop him too? You yourself said that most of the scholars in Jingzhou went to Liu Bei. Liu Biao felt that what Kuai Yue said was very reasonable, but he was still a little worried about letting Liu Bei develop. How many people in Jingzhou are attached to Liu Bei? It was the first time he had heard of such a terrible thing. With a little lack of confidence, he suddenly thought of a little bit according to this budding thing: "If the people in Jingzhou all go to Liu Bei's side, then what else should I, the Jingzhou pastor, do." ”

"Liu Bei's development must be restricted." Liu Biao said to Kuai Yue, and he also gave Kuai Yue a task: "You help me think of a way, don't hurt Liu Bei's life, and don't let him suffer very serious losses, just let his development slow down." ”

"This ......" Kuai Yue pondered for a moment, and a brilliant idea was generated in his mind: "Lord, didn't Lord Liu Bei say that he hopes to make a contribution?" Then we will give him a chance to make a difference. We asked him to take all the elite troops to raid Xu County, promised that no matter how much territory he conquered, it would be his own, and promised him to give him some rear support so that he could fight Cao Cao himself. Since Cao Cao's heart was focused on exterminating Yuan Shao at this time, I am afraid that for Liu Bei's attack, he would just send a general to come. There will not be many troops, and naturally it will not give Liu Bei too much blow. At most, all of Liu Bei's soldiers are gone, so let's just supply him with some more. I don't worry about the lives of Liu Bei and his group of generals, because they are all models of escape. Kuai Yue was like a cunning fox, and soon calculated Liu Bei and his generals.

"Uh......h That's fine. Liu Biao nodded lightly: "The matter of rear support will be handed over to Changsha to be responsible." After all, Changsha is now the richest place in Jingzhou outside of Nanjun. Zixu's development is very good. It is undoubtedly most appropriate for him to bear the supply of supplies to the north. As for when the materials in Changsha can be handed over to Liu Bei, it can only depend on everyone's efforts. After all, Changsha is far away from Xinye, and it is normal for it to be slow for a day or two if something changes in the middle. Liu Biao is not a fool, as soon as he heard Kuai Yue's plan dedicated to himself, he understood what his opinion was in the end. He quickly revised this opinion, and even calculated Changsha's son-in-law Li Sheng. For the central government of Jingzhou as a whole, it is normal to weaken the local strength as necessary. It has nothing to do with Li Sheng's identity.

That was largely the case. The next day, Liu Biao was in a hurry to get up the strategists around him, and after a little talk about this plan, he quickly obtained everyone's consent. Although Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, two people who have received a lot of benefits from Changsha, are quite disgusted by the idea that Kuai Yue's plan even counts their own people, but when most people agree with it very much, and even Liu Biao himself smiles, they really don't have much to say. So the plan became an order, and it quickly reached Liu Bei and Li Sheng.

Regarding Liu Biao's marching order, Liu Bei felt a little inappropriate in his heart, thinking that this was not the best moment to attack Cao Cao. However, at this moment, he was under Liu Biao's command and had to be cautious, he couldn't help but obey Liu Biao's orders, so he could only quickly return to his territory Xinye to prepare for war.

As for the victory or failure of the war, he still had some confidence. He knew that Cao Cao's goal now was to deal with the Yuan family, and Cao Cao might not have much reaction to his own attack, at most, he would send a general over, and he would not personally recruit himself again. After all, there is Liu Biao behind him, and Cao Cao will not fight Liu Biao until he completely takes Hebei.

"As long as Cao Cao doesn't come in person, what do I have to be afraid of? Although it is completely impossible to capture Xuchang, it is still possible to gain some territory through a series of battles. Xinye is too small, and it is no longer enough for the cultivation of my tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. So, we need to expand. Liu Bei, who returned to Xinye, had already made a decision on Liu Biao's order, and he said calmly in front of his own subordinates.

"Oh! Finally, there is another war. The two years of idleness have left my old Zhang idle. I drank and painted all day, and I sometimes wondered if my head was all painted. The white-faced Zhang Fei suddenly became excited after hearing what his brother said. Although he knows the things of the literati, his own job is still a military general, and he is really bored with the idle past two years.

"It's just that how much support will Master Liu Biao give us? Could there be some conspiracy involved? I heard that Lord Liu Biao has always disliked war. Guan Yu on the side asked relatively cautiously.

"For this time, Lord Liu Biao asked Changsha to guard Li Sheng's rights and cooperate with our actions, Changsha's current prosperity is second only to Xiangyang, and its money and grain are still quite a lot, and it is not a problem to support us, but it is a little farther away from our Xinye, and the transportation in the middle is a little troublesome." Liu Bei nodded with satisfaction with Guan Yu's caution, and then explained.

"Then why don't you just use Xiangyang's supplies to support us?" Zhang Fei's eyes widened, revealing an incomprehensible look.

"Lord Liu Biao's explanation is that the supplies of Xiangyang and Jiangling need to be supported in Jiangxia to prevent the attack of Jiangdong. For Jingzhou, the possibility of Jiangdong coming to attack is much greater than that of Cao Cao. Liu Bei first said the explanation given by Liu Biao, and then expressed his opinion: "Actually, I think that is not the most critical thing, the important thing is that Changsha's development is too fast, and Changsha is too guarded Li Sheng is a soldier who is too guarded, although his relationship with Liu Biao is much deeper than ours, but Liu Biao still has some scruples about him, let him undertake our logistics, undoubtedly to let his strength be weakened." ”

"I see, what about us?" Everyone nodded incomprehensibly, and then asked again.

"We are naturally the target of Liu Biao's weakening. But no matter what Liu Biaocun thinks, we must fight this battle. Because we have our own needs. Saying that, Liu Beiteng stood up, and a majestic light shot out of his eyes: "All the generals and departments will quickly prepare, and after half a month, the army will set off and point to Wancheng." ”

"No!" Everyone in Liu Bei's army up to Guan Yu and below was suddenly ordered.

The dragon, which had been dormant for two years, finally swung its tail gently.