After staying in Xiangyang for three days, Liu Bei decided to resign to Liu Biao. But Liu Biao was very cordial to Liu Bei at the moment, and he was reluctant to leave Liu Bei for a while, so he said that he would stay, and at Liu Biao's insistence, Liu Bei had to temporarily postpone the trip back to Xinye, and Chen Zhi took fifty Bai Yu elite soldiers to continue to stay in Xiangyang City, so that Guan Ping led his troops to return to Xinye first.

At noon on this day, Liu Bei came to Liu Biao's state pastor mansion as usual and had lunch with Liu Biao. When he pushed the cup and changed the lamp, Liu Bei suddenly sighed and couldn't help but burst into tears. This time is different from the past, Liu Bei did not add any performance ingredients this time, but felt sad from the heart.

Liu Biao asked in surprise: "Brother Xuandexian, this wine is so good, why did you suddenly cry?" Liu Bei sighed and replied: "Don't hide it from Brother Jingsheng, in the past, the body will not leave the saddle, the sword will not leave the hand, and the flesh will be scattered; If you don't ride a horse for a long time, your hips will be reborn. Bei is nearly forty years old, but he is stumbling on the sun and moon every day, and he is about to get old, and he has not yet made achievements, so he feels a little sad in his heart. ”

When Liu Biao heard this, he was reminded of the long-standing worries in his heart that had been difficult to decide, and he couldn't help but sigh: "Alas, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, the virtuous brother is worried about the resurrection of the flesh, but the foolish brother is worried about the family affairs that are difficult to break." ”

Liu Bei comforted Liu Biao and said: "Brother Jingsheng doesn't have to worry too much, if there is something to use Liu Bei, Liu Bei will never give up." Liu Biao waved his hand to rebuke the waiter, and said in a low voice: "Virtuous brother, foolish brother has two sons, the eldest son Liu Qi was born to his ex-wife Chen, although he is virtuous, he is weak and not enough to achieve great things; The second son, Liu Cong, was born to the Cai family and is quite smart. The foolish brother wants to abolish the elder and the young, but he is not in line with the etiquette; wants to set up the eldest son Liu Qi as the son, but is worried that the Cai clan will not accept it, and there will be trouble in the long run. Therefore, it will not be commissioned. "The Cai clan in Liu Biao's mouth is the clansman of the second son Liu Cong's biological mother, and the most representative figure is Cai Mao, the governor of Jingzhou's navy, Jingzhou's navy is all controlled by Cai Mao, if Cai Mao launches a rebellion, it is a very deadly threat.

In fact, in Jingzhou, on the surface, it seems to be calm, but in fact, the undercurrent is turbulent. When Liu Biao was sent to Jingzhou by Liu Hong, the previous son of heaven, it was Xiangyang that rode into it alone. There are no soldiers in his hands, and there are no generals in his hands, Liu Biao relied on the strength of several scholars in Xiangyang to gradually develop, and then controlled half of Jingzhou. Later, Liu Biao's climate had become successful, and his dependence on the local scholars was reduced. Relying on his own strength, he pacified the other half of Jingzhou.

Although Liu Biao later gradually reduced his dependence on the scholars. However, the Cai family headed by Cai Mao, the Kuai family headed by the Kuai Liang Kuai Yue brothers, and the Huang family headed by Huang Zu and other major families respectively control huge military power and money and grain, and it can be said that Jingzhou has half of the soldiers and horses and money and grain. are all in their hands, these big families have already formed a trend of tail not falling, and Liu Biao can only dispatch from it. Let them use it for themselves, but they will not be able to take back the power from their hands. Liu made it clear that when he was still there, these big families would never betray him, because only by taking charge of Jingzhou himself could he bring them rich benefits; But if Liu Biao dies, it is unknown whether these major families will continue to support Liu Biao's successor.

Liu Bei naturally knew very well about the situation in Jingzhou, he didn't want to express his opinion on Liu Biao's family affairs, so as not to cause disaster, but since Liu Biao asked, Liu Bei could only say his opinion: "Brother Jingsheng, abolishing the elder and establishing the young has been the way to take trouble since ancient times." If the elder brother is worried that the power of the Cai family is very heavy, he can slowly weaken it in the future, and he can't make his young son the son of the world because of a moment of doting. ”

Liu Biao sighed and said with feeling: "What Brother Xian said is very true, but this matter is too tricky, if you need Brother Xian's help in the future, I hope Brother Xian will never shirk it." Liu Bei hurriedly agreed.

After being silent for a moment, Liu Biao sighed again: "A few days ago, Cao Cao raised troops to attack Xuzhou, and the virtuous brother suggested that he lead his troops north to take Cao Cao's Yanzhou camp. Now it seems that Cao Cao's army is flourishing, and he will have the heart to annex Jingxiang after a long time, which is really regretful for not being at the beginning, and missing the perfect opportunity. Although Liu Bei looked down on Liu Biao's cautiousness in his heart, he comforted him verbally: "Fang is down today, it is divided, and the heroes are together, and there will be all kinds of opportunities in the future, so why should my brother regret it?" ”

While the two were talking, Cai Mao suddenly broke in, first glanced at Liu Bei with bad intentions, and then said respectfully to Liu Biao: "Lord, Gongzi Pan sent an urgent report, Zhang Wu and Chen Sun gathered tens of thousands of bandits in Jiangxia, intending to conspire to rebel, and they have now swept through the two counties. ”

Liu Biao said angrily: "These two thieves are capricious, and they are going to rebel again this time!" Cai Mao, raise the account and order the troops, and you will lead your troops to pacify these two thieves! Liu Bei, who was sitting on the side, heard this, quickly calculated in his heart, thinking that this matter was profitable, and hurriedly stood up and bowed his hand to Liu Biao and said: "Brother Jingsheng, General Cai is the general of Jingzhou, and he can't be moved lightly. Bei Yuan led the army to the expedition to relieve his brother's worries. ”

Liu Biao was overjoyed, and immediately agreed to allocate 30,000 soldiers and horses to Liu Bei, so that Liu Bei could gallop to Liu Pan in Jiangxia. Liu Bei immediately returned to the post house, sent two elite soldiers back to Xinye, and summoned Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to lead a total of 3,000 troops to help in the battle. Before Guan Yu and Zhang Fei arrived, Liu Bei went in and out of the Jingzhou military camp every day to select the 30,000 elite soldiers that Liu Biao had promised.

Three days later, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led their troops to arrive, and Liu Bei's soldiers and horses had been selected, so he immediately resigned to Liu Biao and led the army to Jiangxia. Less than twenty miles out of Xiangyang City, Zhang Fei, who was in front of the road, sent someone to report back, saying that there was a scribe with an ugly face on the road ahead, sitting in the middle of the road, saying nothing and refusing to get out of the way.

Liu Bei was greatly surprised in his heart, and hurriedly urged his horse to the front, and sure enough, he saw a man about thirty years old with an extremely ugly face, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the road, his eyes half-open and half-closed, and he didn't seem to see the advance of the army at all. Zhang Fei, who had been repeatedly persuaded to no avail, was already on the verge of going berserk, and his eyes were ringed at the boss, as if he might stab the scribe's heart with the Zhangba snake spear in his hand at any time.

With intuition, Liu Bei sensed that this scribe was not good, and hurriedly stopped Zhang Fei, then turned over and dismounted, walked to the scribe, and arched his hand and said, "Sir, prepare for the order of the state pastor." He went to Jiangxia to quell the rebellion, and hoped that Mr. would stoop to the side of the road to make way for the army. ”

The scribe opened his eyes slightly, and these eyes were the only part of his whole face that was not too ugly. With a long voice, the scribe spoke for the first time: "Are you the Uncle Liu Huang who was cleared out of the temple by the Son of Heaven and has no real name?" Liu Bei felt a burst of anger in his heart, this incident was a great shame in his life. In the past, in order to gain fame and status, Liu Bei talked about his identity as a member of the Han family all day long. A large part of Liu Bei's accumulated contacts came to him as a clan member of the Han family, but since he was removed from the identity of a clan relative by the Son of Heaven, Liu Bei no longer has this convenience, and was even reduced to a laughing stock for a time because of this matter. This ugly guy in front of you. It's really a pot that can't be opened.

Zhang Fei shouted violently, shocking the birds in the forest on the side of the road and flying in all directions: "I'm angry!" Who are you? Dare to speak to my eldest brother like this. See if I don't poke you in 10,000 transparent holes! As he spoke, Zhang Fei was about to urge him to step forward and pick this ugly guy with a spear.

"The third brother must not be rude!" Liu Bei stopped Zhang Fei again. Although he was angry in his heart, Liu Bei didn't show it on his face, when it came to the kung fu of self-cultivation, Liu Bei thought he was the second in the world. I'm afraid no one dares to claim to be number one. With a smile, Liu Bei saluted the scribe again and said, "Sir, Bei is indeed the queen of King Jing of Zhongshan." It is an authentic Han family relative. The Son of Heaven was young, and he was deceived by others and did not notice it for a while, which eliminated this branch of the lineage, and one day, Beihui regained the recognition of the Son of Heaven with meritorious deeds. ”

The scribe suddenly jumped up from the ground, bowed deeply to Liu Bei, and said apologetically: "Just now it was just a temptation to the imperial uncle, and I hope the imperial uncle will not be surprised." can bend and stretch out the square as a big husband, and the emperor's uncle's bearing is admirable. ”

Test? Liu Bei was stunned when he heard this. In the Han Dynasty, talented people would often test the lord before serving the lord, so as to determine whether the lord they chose was the Ming lord. Could it be that you have picked up a treasure today? Do you want to bring back a genius by the way?

Thinking of this, Liu Bei's attitude became more respectful: "Haven't you asked Your Excellency for your name?" The scribe Ha Luha smiled, his expression was suddenly full of the momentum of looking at the world, but the tone of his voice was very humble: "The cheap name is really not enough to worry about, since there is Uncle Lao Huang asking, I should tell the truth." Not only is he a person from Xiangyang, his surname is Pang Mingtong, the word Shiyuan, and the number Feng Xiao. ”

"Phoenix chicks?" Liu Bei shouted out in shock, it turned out to be Feng Xiao Pang Tong! In the past, Mr. Sima Hui once said that Wolong and Phoenix Chicks can settle the world with one piece, and now Wolong Zhuge Liang and even Mr. Hao Si Sima Hui have defected to Ao Lie, but Liu Bei didn't expect that he would meet Feng Xiao Pang Tong! If he gets Pang Tong's help, Liu Bei's chances of turning over will be greatly increased!

With the greatest sincerity, Liu Bei saluted Pang Tong again, and said sincerely: "Have eyes without beads, almost missed Daxian!" I wish to ask Mr. to go out of the mountain and jointly support the Han family, and please Mr. will definitely agree. ”

Pang Tong Ha said with a smile: "It's just a scattered person in the mountains, but he can't afford to be the emperor's uncle's high hopes." Liu Bei saw that Pang Tong did not agree, and he was in a hurry, so he directly used the killer weapon, and cried and said: "Sir, I am a relative of the Han family, but I see that the Han Dynasty is divided, the people are in trouble, the Son of Heaven is deceived by others, and I can't help myself. I would rather die in front of my husband and live this life! After saying a word, Liu Bei was already in tears, with sad tears, Liu Beiqing sword in his hand, if Pang Tong did not agree, he would immediately kill himself, and Zhang Fei, who was anxious, roared again.

Perhaps out of the same idea as Zhuge Liang in history, he thought that the person he served should not only have a good reputation, but also have a heart for the Han family, and his strength should not be too strong, so he could give himself enough space to display, therefore, under Liu Bei's tear offensive, Pang Tong thought carefully for a moment, and finally nodded and agreed. Pang Tong will serve Liu Bei, instead of following in Zhuge Liang's footsteps to serve Ao Lie, also has its own reasons. Pang Tong has lived in Xiangyang for generations, and his affection for this land is too deep, and he is unwilling to leave his hometown too far, which is one of them; Second, Pang Tong's family background is good, the kind that belongs to a small family, this kind of family background that is not up or down, but also created Pang Tong's criteria for choosing the master, Ao Lie is too strong, Pang Tong missed the best opportunity to put into effect, worried that he will not be reused after the past, but Liu Bei is different, Liu Bei is still in its infancy, and it is the stage that best reflects Pang Tong's wisdom; Another point, when Zhuge Liang gave up his studies and went to Youzhou to find Ao Lie, Pang Tong was somewhat dissatisfied with Ao Lie, thinking that Ao Lie had some small favors to Zhuge Liang and asked for great favors, and these factors were superimposed, and finally Pang Tong chose Liu Bei.

After receiving Pang Tong's surrender, Liu Bei was overjoyed, and immediately appointed Pang Tong as a military lieutenant general, responsible for coordinating all combat policies. Things once again exceeded Ao Lie's expectations, and they were discovered in an even more unpredictable direction. (To be continued......)

PS: PS: Pang Tong finally surrendered to Liu Bei, because for the sake of the plot, the time and place of the service do not coincide with history, Liu Bei is about to turn over, and Ao Lie will have another powerful opponent.