"What?"

On September 17, the twelfth year of Jian'an, eleven days earlier, Huang Zu's fiasco at the mouth of the water was quickly sent to Xiangyang.

Liu Biao looked at this battle report with trembling hands, his face full of disbelief.

With an army of more than 100,000 people, the main general is still Huang Zu, who has always been known for his steadiness and prudence, was actually successfully attacked by Jiangdong at night?

Of the 50,000 Jiangxia sailors, less than 30,000 fled back to Jiangxia.

And in that night attack, most of them died not in the Jiangdong attack, but in the camp roaring, fleeing and stampede, and missing after the war.

In other words, they only scared them with night raids, but they didn't kill a few people at all, and most of the soldiers were killed or disappeared by their own people, which can be described as extremely embarrassing.

Knowing that at this time, Liu Biao's already pale blood color became even more exhausted, and he slapped the table and said angrily: "Yuanyang has always been cautious, why is this so?" ”

Seeing this, Jia Xu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this must be due to the recruitment of Mei Gan, Lei Xu, Chen Lan and other rabble, there are too many people, and General Huang has been unable to attack for a long time, neglected to take precautions, and was suddenly attacked at night. ”

"Ugh."

Liu Biao sighed: "It is true that as Taifu expected, this battle was due to Yuanyang's long-term neglect of night defense, so that when Mei Gan, Lei Xu, Chen Lan and others encountered a night attack on the camp, they were unprepared for the first time. ”

Although the Huang Zu people were in the city of Ochre at that time, half of the main force of about 20,000 people was also in the city and was not affected, but the other part of the main force was outside the city.

Some of them set up camp in schools, while others lived on ships and guarded their ships.

After Jiangdong triggered the camp roar of Mei Gan, Lei Xu, Chen Lan and others, he immediately organized a fleet to storm the dock of Zheqicheng, hoping to wipe out the fleet of Huang Zu's army.

Fortunately, although Huang Zu was negligent in taking precautions, the veteran was experienced, and almost at the moment when there was chaos outside the city, he immediately became vigilant, and immediately summoned all the soldiers in the city to rush out to fight at the dock, repelling the Jiangdong army and protecting a large number of ships.

Therefore, most of his main force fled back by boat, and the troops stationed outside the city, such as Mei Gan, Lei Xu, Chen Lan and the Jiangxia Naval Division, were killed by their own people because of the camp roar, or fell into the river, or trampled to death, or were pursued by the Jiangdong Army and were killed and captured, or there were more than tens of thousands of missing people.

Among them, Mei Qian and others have not yet been counted, but Huang Zu's Jiangxia sailors are about 20,000, of course, it may be less, because most of them are missing, some will flee in the direction of Yuzhang by themselves when they become routs, some become bandits on the spot, and some are killed or captured.

It's just that from a strategic point of view, Huang Zu's defeat this time can only be forced to choose to withdraw to Jiangxia, and even Yuzhang can't continue to occupy it, from the original strategic offensive to strategic defense, it is really a bad battle, resulting in a complete loss of the situation.

"Although Jiangdong and Jingzhou are connected by water, there are lofty mountains and mountains in both places, and the roads are rugged, only waterways can be walked, as long as the cities on both sides of the river are guarded, the battle of attacking the fortified positions is protracted, and it is difficult to distinguish the victory or defeat in a short time."

Jia Xu groaned and said: "Back then, Sun Ce repeatedly attacked Jiangxia Buke, so you can know that the water war is not easy, and General Huang is probably doing his best, Your Majesty should first let General Huang hold Jiangxia and stabilize the situation." ”

"Hmm."

Liu Biao sighed and sighed: "It can only be like this." ”

He couldn't blame Huang Zu.

Huang Zu is already the strongest water warrior in Jingzhou, at least before this defeat, it is not easy to defeat the Jiangdong naval army, and it seems that it is not so easy to destroy the entire Jiangdong in a short time.

At that moment, Liu Biao sent someone to appease Huang Zu, asking him to collect the defeated soldiers first, hold Jiangxia, and at the same time mobilize a batch of materials to go over, and then send someone to send an edict to Liu Qi.

By November, Huang Zu and Liu Qi had finally maintained the situation, and although Jiangdong took advantage of the victory to pursue, the attack on Jiangxia was repelled by their leading troops.

In this way, so far, the situation between the two sides has only changed from the original Jingzhou army to take the initiative to attack Jiangdong and return to the beginning.

It was fast to early December.

It was the middle of winter, the snow was falling, Liu Biao felt cold and became more and more serious, and he rested in the small building in the backyard that was warm like spring with the stove every day.

This afternoon, Liu Biao looked at the official document in the small building, and Mrs. Cai, who was full of charm, came over with a bowl of medicine to serve him.

At this moment, someone outside the door suddenly came in a panic to report: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! ”

"When was you so alarmed?"

Liu Biao's face was slightly unhappy, he didn't recruit internal servants after he became emperor, nor did he engage in any kind of permanent servants, so the people who served in the back garden were all maidservants, that is, palace maids.

The palace maid was pale and covered in sweat, and she crawled in tremblingly and said, "Your Majesty, there is a messenger in front of the palace to report that the Taiwei has been defeated. ”

"What?"

Liu Biao instantly only felt that his breath was not smooth, his heart was a little unbearable, and his whole chest began to tighten.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

Mrs. Cai, who has now been made the queen, hurriedly rubbed his chest, and then said to the palace maid: "Go and pass on the imperial doctor's order!" ”

Liu Biao endured the discomfort, and after a while, the corners of his mouth overflowed with a touch of bright red, his body was already not good, and when he suddenly heard the news, he suddenly felt like being struck by lightning, and he was very painful.

Soon the imperial doctor ordered to come over, diagnosed and treated him, and prescribed some medicine, barely slept today, and recuperated for three or four days before calling Jia Xu to discuss the matter.

In the small building in the back garden, Liu Biao's face was pale, almost bloodless, and he was already seriously ill, although he was not dying, but he had no spirit.

Jia Xu stepped into the small building with small steps, bowed down and bowed, "Your Majesty." ”

"Wenhe."

Liu Biao looked at him blankly and said, "Cai Mao has retreated to Jiangzhou in defeat." ”

Jia Xu sighed: "I also know about this matter, Taiwei was in a hurry to attack Hanchang, so that the grain route transportation was too lengthy, and Zhang Lu sent people from Bashu Dao to attack the ditch, burned the grain and grass, and returned to Jiangzhou in defeat, and was pursued by Zhang Lu taking advantage of the situation, losing tens of thousands of horses. ”

Liu Biao lamented sadly: "On the day I am alive, I will not be able to seize the entire south after all, and leave a great foundation for my son to plot the world." ”

Jia Xu hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty doesn't need to worry, although Jingzhou has lost twice, its foundation has not been damaged, Your Majesty only needs to recuperate his body, and slowly figure it out, maybe he will be able to gain something." ”

"Forget it, I know my body."

Liu Biao shook his head and said, "Maybe I won't be able to live next year, Wenhe, what do you think I should do now?" ”

Jia Xu asked, "Does Your Majesty want to ask about the war in the south, or about the heir?" ”

"How's the war going in the South?"

Liu Biao asked.

Jia Xu said: "Jiangdong can't be tried in a short time, but Yizhou may be available, after Zhang Lu defeated Taiwei, he will besiege Chengdu, and we can profit from it." ”

Liu Biao frowned and said: "Cai Mao is incompetent, and the people and horses are lost, where did I get the soldiers and horses to map Xichuan again?" ”

Although he has a thick foundation, he has to train soldiers with a thick foundation.

Sending soldiers who have not trained anything to the battlefield is undoubtedly asking for death, so it will take at least a year to re-recruit troops and retrain.

There are troops in other places, such as Nanyang scattered 50,000, Zhang Yun still pinched 30,000 in Xiangyang, but these troops are coming to defend Xiangyang and defend Cao Cao in the north.

So it seems that Liu Biao is strong, but in fact, before the new soldiers are trained, whether it is facing Cao Cao, Sun Quan or Zhang Lu Liu Zhang, he can only take a defensive posture, and there is no extra force to take the initiative.

Jia Xu smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, don't forget, Liu Bei still has men and horses, and when Zhang Lu attacked Liu Zhang, he ordered Liu Bei to go to Xichuan." ”

"Liu Bei has always been ambitious, if he gets Xichuan, I'm afraid?"

Liu Biao frowned.

Jia Xu said: "Liu Bei has few soldiers, and it will be difficult to conquer Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang in a short period of time when he enters Xichuan, so we will step up the training of soldiers, and after a year or two, they will be exhausted, and we will send troops to destroy them in one fell swoop." This is called the strategy of driving away the wolf, and it is also said that the praying mantis catches the cicada and the yellow finch is behind. ”

"I see."

Liu Biao nodded, feeling that this plan was really good, so he said: "Then do it according to Wenhe's intentions, what should I do with my heir?" ”

"This matter can only be handled by His Majesty, and I believe that Your Majesty already has the answer in his heart."

Jia Xu smiled.

"Hmm."

Liu Biao's eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness, and he said softly: "Well, I know, you can step down." ”

"The minister retired."

Jia Xu walked backwards and turned around, with a gleam in his eyes.

Shen Xiaoqing, the old man can only help you get here.

In the future, it's up to you!

He raised his head and looked at the sky in Jingzhou in December, which was already overcast and snowflakes were flying.

．

．

By the first day of mid-December, Mrs. Cai came to deliver medicine to Liu Biao as usual, and at this time, Liu Biao, who was drowsy in the afternoon due to his illness, had fallen asleep.

Originally, Mrs. Cai only wanted to put the medicine on the table and wait for Liu Biao to get up before drinking, but she suddenly noticed an official document on Liu Biao's table, which had the name of her younger brother Cai Mao on it, and she picked it up with curiosity.

After a while, her face changed drastically, and after the unpredictable change, she immediately picked up the decoction and left the room, and at the same time instructed the palace maid waiting outside the door to hide the news of her visit.

In the harem, everyone knows Mrs. Cai's methods, so the palace maids are trembling one by one, and no one tells him about it even if Liu Biao wakes up.

And after Mrs. Cai left, she immediately found people from the Cai Group, including Cai Zan and Cai Yan, as well as Kuai Yue and Zhang Yun.

What many people don't know is that Zhang Yun is also a member of the Cai family, or it cannot be said that it is a person of the Cai family, but it should be said that it is the person of the second son Liu Cong, who grew up with Liu Cong and is a hardcore who supports Liu Cong as the heir.

At this moment, everyone gathered, and after Mrs. Cai told them about the situation, everyone's faces were very solemn.

Kuai Yue said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has long wanted to get rid of me and Taiwei and pave the way for the eldest prince, originally thinking of destroying Jiangdong and Yizhou and dominating the south before making a move, but Your Majesty's time is running out, and he is a little anxious, forcing Taiwei and Huang Zu to attack, resulting in a big defeat, and now I am afraid that he intends to let the eldest prince succeed to the throne." ”

Cai Zan nodded and said: "Yes, although Taiwei and Huang Zu were defeated, but now Jingzhou's strength still exists, and Zhang Lu and Sun Quan can win if they are slowly consumed, but Your Majesty is too anxious to cause this." Now that His Majesty's deadline is approaching, he will inevitably want to arrange things after his death. ”

Liu Biao is actually not poor in strength, but because he has too little time. With the current size of Jingzhou, it is very easy to kill Jiangdong and Zhang Lu.

Don't look at Zhang Lu's army of about 50,000, in fact, the population under his rule is less than 100,000 households, counting the northern part of Ba County that he occupied before, there are only 450,000 people, which can be described as a poor army.

Sun Quan is similar, the population under his rule seems to be three or four million, but hundreds of thousands of Shanyue, and then at least half of them are controlled by the family.

Therefore, there are clear historical records that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of Yangzhou increased from 3.2 million to 4.33 million, and by the time of the fall of Eastern Wu, it became 520,000 households and more than 2 million people.

Liu Biaoguang has a direct population of more than one million people in the Nanyang Basin, not to mention more than seven or eight million Dingkou in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou. Counting the hundreds of thousands of Tuntian people under his control, he was provided with countless grains and grass, and the supply of soldiers was also endless, almost the same as Yuan Shao on the eve of Guandu.

Therefore, if it continues to be consumed, the south will belong to Liu Biao sooner or later.

But it's a pity that he knows that he has no time, so he can only hand over the task of recovering the world to the next generation.

Liu Cong can't.

One is not the male master, and the other is controlled and manipulated.

So it can only be handed over to Liu Qi.

At that time, it is best for Liu Qi to give birth to a son, and if he can't give birth, he can just pass Liu Cong's son over in the name of the emperor.

Liu Cong's son was born to the Cai family, in order to prevent the Cai family from continuing to control the government and affecting his grandson, Liu Biao finally planned to make up his mind to deal with Cai Mao and Kuai Yue's gang to prevent future troubles.

But Cai Mao and Yue and others naturally know this, they are a thorn in the side of Liu Biao's eyes, but don't they want to hold power and dominate the south?

Therefore, the intimacy between the two sides after Liu Biao entered Jingzhou at the beginning suddenly became opposite positions and became enemies to the death.

As the saying goes, the king regards the minister as a mustard, and the minister regards the minister as an enemy. Liu Biao wants them to die, and they will never sit still.

Kuai Yue looked around at everyone with a cold gaze and said, "Everyone, Your Majesty doesn't want to let the second prince inherit the throne, but we are closely related to the second prince. Now Your Majesty wants me and the Taiwei to die, but when the eldest prince succeeds to the throne, you will also follow in our footsteps. ”

Zhang Yun hurriedly said: "The eldest prince and I are maternal brothers, so it won't be like this after all." ”

"Once a son of heaven and a courtier."

Kuai Yue looked at him and said coldly: "You are close to the second prince, even if you don't kill you, do you think you can still have today's power?" ”

Zhang Yun stopped talking.

Mrs. Cai is also a ruthless character, looking at everyone and saying: "Situ is right, now we are both prosperous and lossy, if we can't let the second prince ascend the throne, we will die." ”

"What does Situ think we should do?"

Cai Yan asked.

There were actually only two things that Mrs. Cai saw in Liu Biao's official document before.

The first is to recall Cai Mao, and the second is to recall Liu Qi.

Moreover, he asked Liu Qi to secretly order Shen Chen, asking him to bring the Huangmen soldiers and Gan Ningjun to personally escort Liu Qi back.

Mrs. Cai immediately realized that something was wrong, and then approached them to discuss the matter.

Kuai Yue and they analyzed the results of these two things.

First, recall Liu Qi.

You don't need to think about this to know, Liu Biao knows that time is running out, and I am afraid that he wants to pass on Liu Qi.

Second, recalling Cai Mao is naturally to find an excuse to get rid of Cai Mao and his Kuai Yue, so that Liu Qi can take the position smoothly.

So they are already at the point of life and death.

Kuai Yue pondered for a long time and said, "You should immediately send a message to the Tai Lieutenant, so that he can find an excuse to continue to stay in Ba County and delay time." ”

Cai Zan frowned and said: "Since the defeat a few days ago, the Taiwei retreated to Jiangzhou, and Jiangzhou went down the river, but it will be possible to reach Xiangyang in a few days, even if it is delayed, how long can it be delayed?" ”

"And after the eldest prince receives the edict, he will send someone to ask Shen Chen Ganning to go to Jiangxia Hu to send him back to Xiangyang, and the round trip will only take twenty days at most, once the eldest prince arrives in Xiangyang, His Majesty will issue an edict to make him the crown prince, then aren't we the general trend gone?"

Zhang Yun also objected.

"This."

Kuai Yue rubbed his temples and said, "Let me think, let me think"

"If you want me to say that it is better to send someone to intercept the messenger and intercept the letter sent to Jiangxia, as long as it is delayed for another two months, maybe Your Majesty will"

"No, for such a big matter, it is definitely impossible for Your Majesty to send a messenger, not to mention how long can this kind of thing be hidden? Not to mention two months, it can't be delayed for half a month, and it will cause His Majesty to be furious and start in advance. ”

"But aren't we going to do anything? When the eldest prince returns to Xiangyang, His Majesty is bound to kill Taiwei and Situ, and after the eldest prince ascends the throne, can we still be better? ”

Several people talked about it, but they couldn't come up with any ideas.

After a while, Mrs. Cai said to Kuai Yue: "Situ, there is no way yet?" ”

As soon as she said this, everyone cast their eyes on Kuai Yue again.

The people who made the idea of the Cai family and the Kuai family were Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, and now that Cai Mao is not here, they can naturally only hope that Kuai Yue will give him an idea.

Kuai Yue pondered for a long time, a hint of firmness flashed in his eyes, and he said softly: "There is a way." ”

"What's the solution?"

Everyone hurriedly looked at him.

Kuai Yue looked around and looked at Zhang Yun.

Cai Yan and Cai Zan are cousins and stakeholders of Cai Mao and Mrs. Cai.

If they fall, the Cai family will fall, so naturally they will not betray Kuaiyue.

But Zhang Yun is not necessarily.

After all, he is Liu Qi's cousin, if he reports meritorious, he can't say that he can still be reused by Liu Qi in the future, so he has to guard against it.

So Kuai Yue said: "This method is still a little immature, let me go back and think about it carefully, I will come here today, and you should also go back as soon as possible, so as not to be suspicious of Your Majesty." ”

"Okay, Situ will come up with an idea as soon as possible."

"Then let's go back first."

"Let's go."

The crowd didn't think much about it, so they got up and planned to leave.

But after a while, when Mrs. Cai arrived at the door, Cai Mao's wife said to her: "The queen, please stay, there are some things that my sister has to tell the queen." ”

"You go first."

Mrs. Cai gave an order, and then went back to the back garden with Cai Mao's wife.

She thought it was Cai Mao's wife looking for her, and when she returned to the back garden, she saw that Kuai Yue hadn't left yet, and said strangely for a while: "Didn't Situ leave?" ”

Kuai Yue looked at her and said word by word: "Empress, if you want the Cai family not to lose power, Your Majesty must die in advance!" ”

"Huh?"

Mrs. Cai's eyes widened and her mouth grew into an "O" shape.

She immediately understood what Kuai Yue meant.

"You are going to murder."

"Shh

Kuai Yue said softly: "Your Majesty is seriously ill and died violently!" ”

"I see."

Mrs. Cai froze, and her eyes also revealed fierceness: "Only when Your Majesty dies can the Cai family not fall, and for the sake of the Cai family, it can only be like this!" ”

"I'll leave everything to the queen."

Kuai Yue arched his hand and said: "The second prince will succeed to the throne, the queen will be the queen mother, and in the future, whether it is the Cai family or the second prince, they will be grateful to the queen!" ”

"Okay."

Mrs. Cai turned around and left.

After leaving Cai Mao's mansion, she calmed down and returned to the palace.

After about half an hour, Liu Biao woke up groggily, he was still covered with fluff stalls, and slept on the main seat of Xiaozhu.

At this moment, he felt some pain in his head, and he couldn't breathe, and at this moment, Mrs. Cai, who was bewitching outside the door, was already holding a bowl of soup medicine in her hand, and walked in with a smile.

"Your Majesty, it's time to drink the medicine."

(End of chapter)