Xiaoqi

However, what Xun Yu said was not unreasonable. Unless forced to, Cao Cao would not be willing to be an enemy of Jingzhou Liu Biao.After all, he and Liu Biao share a common enemy. If he wants to completely defeat and even eliminate Li Li in Xiliang, it may be difficult to accomplish without Liu Biao's firm support. Cao Cao's strength alone is not enough to defeat Li Li.

Therefore, before officially ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor, Cao Cao still needs to appease Liu Biao.Even if it is hypocritical, it is necessary to show some degree of recognition, to acknowledge Liu Biao's orthodox status, and to verbally support Liu Biao to show goodwill.In this way, when Cao Cao proclaims himself emperor, even if Liu Biao is unhappy, he has nothing to do, which is equivalent to blocking Liu Biao's mouth; it's not that I, Cao Cao, backtracked, but that you, Liu Biao, don't have the guts to succeed and proclaim yourself emperor. If you don't dare, then let Cao Cao Be the first bird.If you don't want what you want, don't you let others intervene?

This is Cao Cao's real intention.It is very brain-burning, if it is not for the confidant who has been with him for a long time, he will mistakenly think that Cao Cao really intends to support Liu Biao's ascension to the throne, and cannot understand his real intention.

Liu Ye and Cheng Yu stood with Xun Yu in the lobby for a long time, but Chen Qun wanted to leave when he saw that Xun Yu didn't appreciate it at all, so as not to make trouble for himself. Mian had to stay, and stood beside Cheng Yu bravely.Speaking of it, Cheng Yu and Liu Ye were also recommended to Cao Cao by Xun Yu. They were like-minded with each other at the beginning of their official career, but with the continuous promotion of official positions and the rapid changes of the current situation, people's hearts have also changed.Now they all chose to follow Cao Cao, and they no longer have the idea of ​​revitalizing the Han Dynasty. Only Xun Yu still sticks to his original intention and has not changed from beginning to end.

Everyone is changing, only you remain unchanged, and you are destined to become a loner.From this point of view, Xun Yu is the same as Cao Cao, but the situation is completely different.

"Hey, everyone wakes up and I'm drunk alone. In the end, it's all for naught! Forget it, forget it." With a sigh, Xun Yu turned around slowly, dragging his legs out of his thighs, his back was so thin and lonely.

Seeing the old friend who had been with him for decades leave sadly, Cheng Yu sighed softly: "Wen Ruo, Wen Ruo, what's the trouble! The decline of the Han Dynasty is a foregone conclusion, and the change of dynasty is the general trend, how can it be changed by one's own efforts Yes." Gu Zi shook his head and sighed, Cheng Yu, Chen Qun, and Liu Ye quickly left the lobby.After the three of them left, Cao Cao walked into the lobby through the side door, staring deeply at the backs of Xun Yu, Cheng Yu and others, and stood there for a long time.

Chapter 195 Optimus Prime

Time flies, and it is another year in a blink of an eye.

In the past year, the sun of peace has shone on the earth, and the situation in the world has remained stable.

On the borders of the various forces, although there were constant frictions and never stopped fighting, they were all small fights and there were no large-scale wars.

This year, there was more rain than in previous years, so that the north presented a scene of smooth weather, but the south had frequent floods and natural disasters.And this also seems to indicate that the seemingly stable Jingchu land is actually not peaceful. The Jiangdong forces that were forced to attach themselves to Liu Biao in Jingzhou are not reconciled to the status quo, and are still trying to get rid of Liu Biao's grip and restore the original separatist situation.

With Liu Biao's vital interests involved, he must not let it go, and he will never sit back and watch the fat in his mouth gain and lose again.As a result, the continuous rain concealed the desperate fights one after another, and covered up the battles again and again; although it was a small-scale local war, the battle situation became more and more tragic, and the scene was extremely tragic.Moreover, the heavy casualties and the wide range of the situation are not inferior to a large-scale confrontation between the two armies.

According to the post-war data sent by various parties, during the year-long infighting, more than [-] soldiers and horses under Liu Biao's account in Jingzhou lost more than [-] people, and the casualties of the Jiangdong Army were comparable to those of the Jingzhou Army. Excessive.It is worth noting that the Jiangdong Army and the Jingzhou Army did not collide head-on, and all battles were carried out by ambushes, assassinations, or assassinations.Therefore, the soldiers and horses lost on both sides were all elite soldiers selected from a hundred, and most of them were dead soldiers privately cultivated by major families and princes. That is to say, most of the huge casualties were private soldiers.

It is worth mentioning that.Among these shady assassinations, almost all were carried out around Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao and his civil and military officials.Among them, Liu Biao was assassinated six times.The most dangerous time was that he was shot in the right arm by a poisoned back arrow and almost died.Fortunately, Liu Biao has always cherished his life.He is cautious in his affairs and lives a very regular life. Five hundred soldiers are guarding around his dormitory all the year round;Therefore, no matter when and where, Liu Biao was surrounded by at least a hundred guards, and it would undoubtedly be difficult to assassinate him, and there was almost no chance to do so.But even so.Liu Biao still encountered six assassinations, and was almost succeeded by the assassin.

If Liu Biao is like this, let alone the civil and military officials under his tent.They were assassinated again and again, so that even when they went to the bathroom, they had to bring martial arts subordinates or generals. They had to be protected at all times within ten steps, and even if they were sleeping, they had to arrange hundreds of servants or guards in front of the house. guard.

Even so, there are still as many as hundreds of officials who died of assassination under Liu Biao's account in Jingzhou, and even more people have no official positions.The Cai family headed by Cai Mao lost twelve family members, seven of whom were generals in the army; the Kuai family where the two Kuai Liang brothers belonged lost more than 20 members.Among them were Kuai Yue's own nephew and three cousins; such casualties are too numerous to enumerate.In addition to the clansmen, the maids and servants suffered even more casualties. Half of the [-] casualties were servants of major families. Even the maids and servants in Liu Biao's mansion were killed by more than [-] people.The casualties of the soldiers and guards were as many as [-].

Such a reckless assassination has never been seen or heard in the classics of the Han Dynasty for more than [-] years, and it can be called an anecdote.And the source of all this comes from Liu Biao.He successively used ambushes and assassinations to assassinate Sun Jian, Sun Yi and his son.It stirred up chaos in Jiangdong, and the chickens and dogs were restless.Everyone in Jiangdong civil and military is in danger.

Although Liu Biao acted meticulously, he did not leave any flaws.But he underestimated the wisdom of Jiangdong Qunxian.In the chaotic situation, they may not have thought that there was an external force intervening to disrupt the situation, but after the situation stabilized, they only needed to think a little bit, and they would understand everything.Therefore, the serial assassination in Jingzhou is obviously a violent counterattack by the Jiangdong forces. They want to return blood for blood, tooth for tooth, and their own way for others. They dispatched a large number of assassins to assassinate the officials in Jingzhou. The first assassination target was Liu Biao.

The year-long continuous assassination finally succeeded in angering Liu Biao.

It was almost the end of the year, but Liu Biao suddenly dispatched an army to attack Qu'a camp, trying to break through the defense line along the river in one fell swoop.Although the Jiangdong army had been prepared for this, they did not expect Liu Biao to make such a determination. They dispatched [-] sailors to forcefully cross the river, which resulted in the loss of more than [-] warships and warships in the first battle. Nearly ten thousand soldiers.

Seeing the menacing approach of the Jingzhou army, Chang Shi Zhang Zhao was frightened, so he summoned Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang three veterans overnight to discuss countermeasures, then sent someone across the river at night to beg for peace with Liu Biao, and offered [-] gold to show his sincerity.Except for Liu Biao, the Kuai brothers, and the Cai family brothers, what was promised in the book of begging and peace, outsiders have no way of knowing.All I know is that the battle of crossing the river lasted for three days and then ended hastily. However, Cao Cao in Jizhou and Li Li in Xiliang didn't know there was such a farce at all, and they didn't hear about it until more than a month later.

Just as the counterattack of Jiangdong forces was suppressed, just as Liu Biao was preparing to spend a new year, the Jizhou envoy came to Xiangyang City with the alliance letter written by Cao Cao.

Xiangyang State Shepherd's Mansion, the main hall.

"Your Majesty, Liu Ye is ordered by my lord to meet Uncle Liu Huang!" As soon as he walked into the hall, the envoy of Jizhou, Liu Ye, bowed down and knelt down, and gave Liu Biao, who was at the top of the rank, the gift of an official to meet the emperor.This was the first time that the princes and guests respected Liu Biao as "Uncle Emperor" in public, kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times, which stunned all Jingzhou bureaucrats in the hall.

It is not surprising that there are many people in the ceremony, not to mention that it is an arrogance.The high-ranking Liu Biao suddenly had a good impression of Cao Cao's envoy in the hall, and his heart was quite good. His calm old face instantly became kind, and he said with a smile, "Nephew, please hurry up." People carried people in flower sedan chairs, and Liu Ye's ceremony of meeting won Liu Biao's favor, so he directly bypassed the ceremony of diplomatic relations, calling Liu Ye a good nephew, and instantly drew their relationship closer.

However, Liu Biao's "nephew" was not a polite way of greeting, because Liu Ye was indeed a relative of the Han family. He and Liu Biao were of the same clan and origin.

Speaking of which, since the founding of the country by Gaozu, over 400 years later, there are not [-] or [-] descendants of the royal family scattered in various states and counties. Liu Ye is one of them, and he is a descendant of the Liu family recorded in Zongzhengfu. It is clearly recorded in the royal family tree It is the inheritance of Liu Ye's lineage.

Liu Ye, courtesy name Ziyang, was born in Chengde, Huainan (southeast of today's Shou County, Anhui). He is a descendant of Fuling King Liu Yan, son of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu.He was well-known when he was young, and he was said to have a talent of the world. Since he became an official, he has been appreciated by Cao Cao.

Therefore, Liu Ye, like Liu Biao, is actually a Han family clan member whose root is Zheng Miaohong. Liu Biao knows this well, because before he became Jingzhou Mu, he was the Zongzheng of the Liu family's royal family, and all the Han clan clan members distributed in various states and counties were under him. In his heart, no one knows the whereabouts and situation of Liu's descendants better than him.

It's a pity that today's world is in chaos, and the bloodlines of the royal family's descendants have been cut off, leaving only collateral branches. In addition, the identities and fortunes of the Han family's clan members are also different from the past.Ten years ago, once a descendant of the Liu family like Liu Ye became an official, they would contribute to the foundation of their ancestors, add bricks and tiles to the Liu family, and consolidate the supremacy of the royal family.Fortunately, except for Liu Biao of Jingzhou, all the clan members of the Han family who entrusted the state shepherds, governors, and county guards have almost lost their lives, so that the descendants of the dignified royal family have become pawns under the tents of the princes in troubled times.The talented Liu Ye in front of him is a typical representative of them.

There is no need to verify Liu Ziyang's talent.According to Jingzhou's detailed investigation report, the thunderbolt chariot used by Cao Cao's army in the Battle of Jizhou was made by Liu Ye; the strategy of building a dam on the upper reaches of the Zhang River to store water for a month, and then flooding the [-] Xiliang army was also contributed by Liu Ye. Policy.These astonishing and wonderful ideas are enough to show that Liu Ye is a man of great wisdom, not only good at strategy, but also proficient in the art of investigating things. He is actually a rare genius among the Han clan.

To Liu Biao's embarrassment, Liu Ye, a descendant of the royal family, actually served under Cao Cao's tent, joined forces with rebellious officials and thieves, and helped Cao Cao, a traitor in troubled times, destroy the Liu family.What behavior is this?It is not an exaggeration to say that he is helping the emperor to abuse and disobey his ancestors.

Thinking of this, Liu Biao was deeply pleased with Liu Ye's respectful and polite behavior, and couldn't help being a little annoyed, angry at Liu Ye's disobedience and disobedience.It's just that it's inconvenient to say these words in public. After all, he now needs some time to stabilize the situation and strengthen his control and restraint on the forces in Jiangdong. Therefore, Cao Cao in Jizhou needs to contain most of Li Li's troops in Xiliang, forcing Li Li to have no time for others. Unable to spare troops to go south to Jingzhou.

Therefore, in a sense, Liu Ye came to negotiate with Cao Cao's handwritten alliance letter this time, which undoubtedly hit Liu Biao's arms and coincided with what he thought in his heart.Under the current situation, Liu Biao, like Cao Cao, needs the help and support of his allies.In other words, under the three-point situation in the world, whether it is for self-protection or long-term interests, it is an inevitable choice and the only choice for Liu Biao and Cao Cao to form an alliance to fight against Li Li.

If not, could they still form an alliance with Li Li?As long as he is not mentally ill, who would not know that forming an alliance with Li Li is tantamount to seeking skin from a tiger and throwing himself into a trap.Therefore, at present, Liu Biao had no choice but to borrow the donkey from the slope, signed the alliance agreement readily, and hosted a grand banquet to entertain Liu Ye and his party.

"The emperor's uncle dominates Jingchu, has millions of soldiers, and grows strong when he is old. He is actually a pillar of the southern sky, the Optimus Prime of the Han Dynasty!" At the banquet, Liu Ye did not hesitate to praise Liu Biao's merits.

ps: Heartfelt thanks: book friend "Longyou Merchant" monthly ticket support, thank you!

Chapter 196 The Emperor's Heart

After the banquet, Kuai Yue personally sent Liu Ye and his party to live in the Guanyi, and returned to the state capital immediately after the arrangements were made.

The Jingzhou bureaucrats in the main hall had already dispersed, and there was no one there, so Kuai Yue stopped for a while and went straight to the second hall.

At this moment, he was full of doubts and urgently needed to discuss with Liu Biao. He believed that not only was he full of doubts, but his brothers Kuai Liang, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Liu Qi, and Liu Pan were also full of doubts and confused.

Just now Liu Ye presented two letters, one of which was an alliance letter. After reading it, Liu Biao readily agreed without even thinking about it.All the officials in Jingzhou have no objection to this, and they are happy to see it succeed, because they all agree that although Jingzhou is not weak after uniting Jiangdong, it is not enough to fight alone against Li Li from Xiliang, who is as powerful as a giant beast swallowing the sky. Cao Cao's alliance is inevitable, and only the two can fight the Xiliang army together.

This is a matter of two harms if divided, and two benefits if combined, but anyone who is familiar with the situation in the world will do this, the only choice, there is no other way.

Therefore, Liu Biao's agreement to form an alliance is expected by all, and it is beyond reproach.But the other letter was quite strange, Liu Biao just read it once and put it down casually, and then ignored it as if he had never seen it.After the banquet began, Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, Cai Mao and others quickly circulated the slips. At first glance, they all showed ecstasy and were excited, but Liu Biao was not in a high mood and looked indifferent. I'm not interested, so I don't care about it at all.

This will not work!

Liu Biao could turn a blind eye to Cao Cao's handwriting on the slips and look calm, but the Kuai brothers, Cai Mao, Liu Qi and others could not calm down no matter what.One by one was on fire as if being scratched by a cat's paw.They were eager to know what Liu Biao was thinking. How could such an important matter be avoided?

Three steps and two steps into the second hall.Sure enough, Kuai Yue saw Liu Qi, Kuai Liang, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Huang Zu and Liu Pan sitting in the hall, with Liu Biao at the top.But none of them spoke, and the unresolved letter was still circulating in their hands.

Bowing to salute, Liu Biao waved his hand to signal Kuai Yue to take a seat, and then Cai Mao, who was sitting at the top, handed him the slip and told him in a low voice that Liu Biao asked everyone to examine the slip in detail to see what problems there were before discussing it.In fact, it is to test their observation ability, to see whether they can still find problems in the face of temptation that they cannot refuse.Can you still keep your head clear.This is both a school test and a test. Liu Biao knows that he is old, and no matter what kind of temptations are not very attractive to him.

He is already a rare person who is fond of grandchildren, maybe he still can't be pure-hearted and ascetic, but he has long since lost the desire to be strong and competitive.Fame and wealth are like passing clouds to him, but he clearly knows that the things he doesn't care about don't mean that the subordinates and generals don't care too.Therefore, it is necessary for him to test the minds of the civil servants under his command, and to know who else can stay awake when they face a huge temptation, and who else can consider him from Liu Biao's standpoint.To put it bluntly, Liu Biao wanted to know whether his most trusted cronies were loyal to him.

In troubled times, people's hearts are unpredictable, there are countless people who have forgotten their ancestors, and people who are disobedient and unfilial emerge in endlessly, just like Liu Ye who Liu Biao admires but hates.As a clan member of the Han Dynasty, he was willing to be the minion of the rebellious officials and thieves.In troubled times, the most precious thing is not rare toys, gold and silver, but a pure heart.Loyalty is more important than anything else.Without a heart of loyalty, no matter how talented you are, no matter how talented you are, you will not be able to use it.It is not a pity.

At present, what Liu Biao most hopes to see is that the civil and martial arts under his command can unite as one and wholeheartedly defend the last piece of territory of the Liu family.Everything you do and any choice you make can be centered on the Han Dynasty, the interests of Jingzhou as the starting point, abandon the heart of fame and fortune, and focus on the overall situation.If this is the case, Liu Biao has the confidence to reorganize the country and rebuild the Han Dynasty. Even if he cannot rejuvenate the Han Dynasty, he can still keep half of the Han Dynasty.

"Have you ever seen anything wrong with the letter?" After a long silence, Liu Biao asked calmly.

The hall was silent for a while, Liu Qi and Kuai Liang paid attention to each other's expressions, but they all kept silent.In fact, they all saw the problem with the letter, it was too obvious, who couldn't see it, if they didn't even have this bit of vision, they would have lived in vain all these years.Liu Biao used such an obvious flaw to test them, it was an insult to their IQ, so none of the six of them answered immediately, and no one came out to answer.

Seeing the seven people in the hall looking at each other, but no one answered, Liu Biao was not angry, but a smile appeared on his face, so he turned his eyes to Liu Qi, who was on the first right, and said gently: "Qi'er, tell me, the letter on the letter What's wrong?"

Liu Qi is the eldest son of Liu Biao and the first successor of Jingzhou, so he has a very high position in the hall, ranking first.However, his status in Jingzhou is also limited to his seat, and being the chief does not mean that he is under one person and above ten thousand people in Jingzhou. In fact, he is in name only.Liu Biao loved him very much in the early years, because their father and son looked very similar, but after his younger brother Liu Cong got married to Cai's niece last year, the situation took a turn for the worse.Cai often played pillow talk in front of Liu Biao, telling stories and sowing dissension, which gradually alienated the father and son.

Fortunately, it hasn't been long, Liu Biao has not given up on Liu Qi completely, and still has some intentions to observe the school.After all, Liu Qi is the eldest son and has already grown into an adult. At a time when the Han Dynasty is in peril, it would be unwise to abolish the elder and make the younger one special. Liu Biao knows this well and will not be confused.Unexpectedly, Liu Qi has a romantic nature and has been addicted to wine and sex all the year round. At a young age, he has been hunched over all day long, unable to straighten his waist, his steps are light, his face is pale, his eye sockets are deep-set, and he has two dark circles all the year round.People can tell at a glance that he is dissolute, unrestrained, excessively indulgent, and showing a premature aging appearance at a young age, so that every time Liu Biao sees him, he is so angry that he blows his beard and stares. .

No matter how Liu Biao reprimanded Liu Qi, he always thought of the relationship between father and son, and to save some face for his son, it would not be too unfeeling.So Liu Qi is still sitting in the first place on the right at this moment, which is a seat that only the crown prince is qualified to sit in, which is equivalent to the "Prince of the East Palace".However, Cai Mao, who was sitting under him, had coveted this seat for a long time. Cai Mao himself was not qualified to sit, but Cai's son-in-law Liu Cong was qualified to compete with Liu Qi for this seat.

For more than a year, Cai Mao has always wanted to put Liu Qi to death and then quickly, but because Liu Biao did not give up Liu Qi completely, and was still protecting him, Cai Mao did not dare to openly attack him, so he could only bear it and wait in dormancy.But Liu Qi didn't notice all this, he still felt good about himself, went his own way, and didn't realize that the crisis was approaching him step by step. If he made a mistake, he would completely lose his position as the son of the prince, and even his life would be lost.

"Reporting to my father, although the letter was written by Cao Cao himself, the date of writing was June 21, half a year has passed since now. Coincidentally, the agreement between Cao Cao and his father in the book happened to be limited to half a year, that is to say, the book will be sent to By the time I arrived in Jingzhou, this booklet had expired. From this, it is not difficult to see that Cao Cao did not sincerely support his father’s succession to the throne, it was purely false and blackmail, and it was not credible. Even” At this point, Liu Qi paused and raised his head. Looking at Liu Biao, he hesitated to speak.