When Sun Quan, who was in Yong'an City, was about to send Zhang Wen as an envoy because of fear, a delegation from the north came to the outside of Xiangyang City first.

The chief envoy of this mission was Jiang Ji, who was the attendant of the Great Wei at that time and the attendant of the scattered cavalry.

Jiang Ji sat in the car and looked at the white curtains hanging on the gate of Xiangyang in front of him, and there was a sense of separation in his eyes.

The year before last, he was also ordered by the first emperor Cao Cao to visit Liu Bei outside the city of Xiangyang.

It's just that Emperor Wu was still there at that time, and Guan Yu was also stationed outside the Han River as Liu Bei's first general, blocking the Wei army led by Emperor Wu to the south.

Unexpectedly, in less than two years, Emperor Wu and Guan Yu both passed away, and the world is changing so fast that sometimes it is really embarrassing.

Jiang Ji, who was sitting in the car, looked at the white curtain hanging from the city to mourn Guan Yu, he couldn't help but tidy up his outfit between sitting upright, and then bowed to the white curtain with a solemn face.

Although he is an enemy, Guan Yu's integrity and meritorious deeds are enough to worship Jiang Ji.

When the world is handsome, even though they are their masters, they are often sympathetic to each other.

After Jiang Ji bowed, Dong Yun, who got the news in advance and was in charge of greeting Jiang Ji, led some Han soldiers to Jiang Ji's car.

Originally, after burying Guan Yu, Liu Bei wanted to leave for Chengdu.

But at this time, Liu Bei received a message from Xinye.

This news informed Liu Bei that the mission from Cao Wei was heading south.

After receiving this news, Liu Bei temporarily dismissed his plan to return to Chengdu.

He also wanted to see what the reason for Cao Pi, who had just experienced a big defeat, suddenly sent an envoy south.

It's just that although they planned to receive Cao Wei's delegation, on the surface, the Han and the Great Wei were incompatible forces, and neither side recognized each other's dynastic legitimacy.

Therefore, Liu Bei just sent Dong Yun, who was not of high status, to take some Han troops to meet Jiang Ji outside the city gate.

And Jiang Ji was not angry when he saw that the Han sent to greet him was an unknown young man.

The Wei army had just fought a big defeat, and he had no right to be angry because of the other party's poor manners.

So after Dong Yun came to his car, Jiang Ji hurriedly got up from the car.

He slowly came to the car and bowed to Dong Yun first:

"Jiang Ji, a native of the Beidi Scholars, came to pay homage to the Han lord on the orders of my lord, and I hope that the king will introduce him on his behalf."

In Jiang Ji's words, he did not claim to be an envoy of Emperor Wei.

Because he knew that if he dared to claim himself like this, he would definitely directly anger Dong Yun on the other side.

However, he was a Wei minister, and it was impossible to call Liu Bei the Emperor of Han, so he could only use the ambiguous term Han Lord to honor Liu Bei.

The lord of Han can be understood as the master of the Han Dynasty and the master of the Hanzhong Kingdom, which is quite appropriate in today's situation.

This title is also the most commonly used title for Liu Bei when Cao Wei's important ministers corresponded with the Han courtiers in private.

Judging from past experience, this title is at least acceptable to both forces.

When Jiang Ji's words fell into the ears of Dong Yun in front of him, sure enough, Dong Yun's face did not show hesitation.

And Dong Yun saw that Jiang Ji, as a famous man in the world and a high-ranking official in Cao Wei, could take the initiative to worship himself, and this low posture also made him unable to find any fault with Jiang Ji.

So after Dong Yun bowed to Jiang Ji to himself, he also returned the salute, and then said to Jiang Ji: "Messenger, please come with me." ”

As soon as Dong Yun's words fell, he walked in front alone with a serious face, leading the way for Jiang Ji behind him.

Dong Yun will not embarrass Jiang Ji in particular, and he will not snub Jiang Ji in terms of etiquette, but it is also difficult for him to have a good face for Jiang Ji with his character.

Dong Yun's indifference did not make Jiang Ji unhappy, he just followed closely behind Dong Yun and walked towards Xiangyang City under the watchful eye of a group of Han troops.

To Jiang Ji's surprise, Dong Yun did not continue to take him to Xiangyang City after taking him into the city gate.

Instead, Dong Yun took him to turn and step on the stone steps and head towards the city tower.

This scene made Jiang Ji feel a little apprehensive.

However, what worried Jiang Ji did not happen, and after Dong Yun took Jiang Ji to the city tower, he gradually retreated.

When Dong Yun stepped aside, Jiang Ji, who had been carefully observing the environment on the city tower, immediately saw a figure standing with a negative hand wearing Liu's crown not far in front of him.

After seeing this figure, combined with Dong Yun's actions and the impression of Liu Bei in his mind before, Jiang Ji recognized at a glance that the figure more than ten steps away in front of him was Liu Bei.

After realizing this, Jiang Ji couldn't help but be a little frightened.

He didn't expect Liu Bei to choose to meet him here, and he didn't expect that Liu Bei would be on the city wall, observing his every move.

If he had done anything arrogant just now, I am afraid the consequences would have been unimaginable.

It's just that although he was frightened, Jiang Ji's movements were not slow at all.

He hurriedly stepped forward and took a few steps behind Liu Bei, bowed respectfully to him behind Liu Bei and said, "Jiang Ji, a scholar from the North, meet the Han Lord." ”

When Jiang Ji's worship fell into Liu Bei's ears, Liu Bei slowly turned around and looked at the acquaintance in front of him.

"Zitong, don't come to harm?"

Liu Bei's tone was full of gentleness, and he didn't have any dislike for Jiang Ji just because he was a minister who was against Wei.

The reason why Liu Bei treated Jiang Ji like this was not only because Jiang Ji's own reputation and talent were appreciated by Liu Bei, but also because of Jiang Ji's talent.

Due to the obstruction of the city wall and many white curtains, Jiang Ji, who may have been under the city just now, did not see Liu Bei in the city.

But Liu Bei, who was condescending, saw Jiang Ji's behavior of bowing down to the white curtain clearly.

Jiang Ji's move was enough to make Liu Bei appreciate him more and more.

Facing Liu Bei's condolences like an old friend, Jiang Ji's heart flashed with warmth.

It's just that Jiang Ji quickly suppressed the warmth in his heart, and he replied to Liu Bei: "Everything is fine, and the Lord of Lao Han is worried." ”

After saying this, Jiang Ji, who was on a mission, took out the letter that Liu Fang had written for Cao Pi from his arms, and then he respectfully raised the letter above his head and said to Liu Beiyan:

"This is a letter from my lord to the lord of Han, and I hope that the lord of Han can read it."

Hearing Jiang Ji say this, Liu Bei ordered the guards on the side to step forward and take the letter from Jiang Ji's hand.

When the guard took the letter and handed it to Liu Bei, Liu Bei immediately unfolded the letter in his hand and looked at it.

The news of Cao Pi's return to Luoyang in the north was already known to Liu Bei some time ago.

Cao Pi is a traitor who usurped the Han Dynasty, and it stands to reason that he and Liu Bei should be incompatible.

But after he returned to the north, he would specially send an important minister like Jiang Ji to the south, and the purpose was definitely not simple.

Thinking that the envoy sent by Cao Pi was Jiang Ji, Liu Bei guessed that maybe Cao Pi wanted to make a deal with him like Cao Cao did back then.

It was for this reason that Liu Bei was interested in meeting Jiang Ji.

Great righteousness is great righteousness, but Liu Bei is not a pedantic monarch.

On the premise of not violating the general righteousness, Liu Bei did not mind making some transactions with Cao Pi that were beneficial to the Han Dynasty.

As for the specific transaction, it is all in this letter.

When the content of the letter fell into Liu Bei's eyes word by word, Liu Bei's expression was quite calm at first.

It's just that as he watched more and more content, even Liu Bei, who had been through the wind and rain, also had some different colors in his eyes.

Not long after, when Liu Bei read all the contents of the letter, a look of melancholy and deep thought appeared on his face.

In this letter, Cao Pi first stated his purpose in writing this letter straight to the point:

That is what he hoped that Liu Bei could release Xiahou Shang, Man Chong and others who were captured by Mi Yang in the Battle of Xicheng.

Of course, Cao Pi was not a child, and he knew that he was writing this letter for the purpose of trading.

So in this letter, he also identified him as a bargaining chip.

The bargaining chips that Cao Pi used for trading were not gold and silver treasures, nor were they land.

It is the family members of the generals of Liu Jun who were captured by the Wei army in the first battle of Dangyang that year.

Looking at the chip that Cao Pi took out in the letter, Liu Bei's thoughts couldn't help but drift back to that turbulent and bloody afternoon.

In that battle, there were tens of thousands of Liu troops, and in the end, only Liu Bei and a dozen other horsemen were left to escape.

And in that battle, the families of the generals who followed Liu Bei for a long time were either killed by the Wei army or captured by the Wei army.

The reason why Cao Cao did not kill the families of the generals of Liu Jun at the beginning was nothing more than to use them to disturb the hearts of the generals of Liu Jun, especially the hearts of the generals of the Yuan Cong faction in the Liu Jun camp.

Guan, Zhang, Zhao Mi, Jian, Sun Liu and other surnames were the first ministers of the founding fathers to assist Liu Bei to create a great cause, and they were also the backbone of Liu Bei's early camp.

But it is a pity that Cao Cao underestimated the weight of the word loyalty.

However, although the original goal could not be achieved, Cao Cao was grateful for the loyalty of those ministers, so he did not order the cruelty of their family members.

Therefore, the hundreds of family members of Ji Hanyuan's ministers have been imprisoned in Yecheng.

When Liu Bei knew that Cao Pi was using the release of those people as bargaining chips, Liu Bei's face obviously showed a look of intent.

Among the ministers who followed him at the beginning, many of them are no longer there, such as Jian Yong, Sun Qian, Guan Yu and others.

Compared with Guan Yu, the fate of Jian Yong and Sun Qian was very tragic, because after they died, there was no family to send them to their deaths.

Their surviving family members are now being held in Yecheng.

When a person dies without relatives, this is the saddest thing in the world.

When Jian Yong and Sun Qian died, Liu Bei felt most sorry for them, and it was this incident that made him feel the most.

Not only Jian Yong and Sun Qian, the two ministers of Yuancong, but also other ministers of Yuancong also had this kind of experience to a greater or lesser extent.

This has always been a thorn in his heart for the affectionate Liu Bei.

From the emotional aspect, the chip that Cao Pi took out had already made Liu Bei very moved.

Of course, as an emperor, Liu Bei certainly does not think about problems only from the emotional aspect.

In this letter, Cao Pi also explained a reason why Liu Bei, as an emperor, was quite moved.

"His name is Yuan Cong, but he is actually a clansman. Clan Maintenance, Ancient and Modern Theorems. ”

Why was Cao Pi so sure that Liu Bei would definitely make a deal with him?

His confidence comes from this sentence.

Cao Pi may not have a good strategy, and he is not broad-minded, but his political wisdom is certainly not low.

He and Liu Bei were both emperors, and they both knew the importance of clan relatives to a dynasty.

Because of this, even if Cao Pi himself is quite jealous of his clan, he has always been stingy in giving power to the clansmen he trusts.

Clans are an important barrier to the stability of the dynasty.

Compared with Cao Wei, the Han established by Liu Bei has a big shortcoming.

Although there are many Han clan relatives in the world, there are almost no clan relatives of his own clan around Liu Bei.

Before the Han Dynasty established by Liu Bei did not unify the world, those Han clan relatives scattered throughout the world were unreliable, such as Liu Ye, Liu Fang and even Liu Ba.

This makes the Han established by Liu Bei lack a very important cornerstone.

History has proven how dangerous it can be without a clan force that is determined to uphold its rule.

As an emperor, it is impossible for Liu Bei not to know this.

Judging from Ji Han's specific national conditions, Liu Bei is surrounded by a force similar to his clansmen, who have always firmly guarded his great cause, that is, his Yuancong minister.

Therefore, after Liu Bei's power has developed, he has spared no effort to let the ministers occupy important positions, and even he has been painstakingly promoting and cultivating Mi Yang for this reason.

However, this is not a long-term method, because the people of the ministers are not with them.

Without a clansman by their side, Yuan Cong's ministers are equivalent to having no family behind them to support them.

In this way, within one or two generations, there will be a Qilin'er among the ministers of the Yuan Cong Department to support the overall situation.

But in the long run, the political share of the ministers of the Yuan Cong system will definitely be continuously seized by the ministers of Jingzhou and Yizhou, which will cause this force to dissipate among the Han established by Liu Bei.

One of the very important reasons for the rapid decline of the Yuan subordinate forces in the Ji and Han forces in history is this.

At that moment, anything can happen.

For example, in the historical Beidi King Crying Zongmiao incident, if the ministers of the Yuan Cong Department were still in power in the government and the opposition, it must be Qian Zhou and others who should cry.

Perhaps Liu Bei didn't know the helplessness of his grandson in history, but with his extraordinary political wisdom, he certainly understood the benefits of taking back a group of Yuan from the clansmen of the ministers.

As long as their hundreds of clansmen return, then he can use the power of the emperor to let them marry the female scrolls of the ministers of Jingzhou and Yizhou, and then form a Yuan subordinate family force at the fastest speed.

And with the continuous improvement of the status of Zhang Fei, Mi Yang and others, their family will definitely slowly prosper.

At that time, the biggest shortcoming of the Yuancong system will be filled, and the political forces between the Han dynasty and the opposition can also form a situation in which the three factions of Yuancong, Jingzhou, and Yizhou stand together and check and balance each other.

Even because of Mi Yang's existence, the Yuan Cong system will gradually override the political forces of the Jingzhou department and the Yizhou department in the future, and continue to guard his descendants and the foundation he has worked so hard to create.

This kind of temptation is indeed something that Liu Bei can't resist.

Because this is related to the century-old foundation of the Han Dynasty.