The beginning of the Three Kingdoms Cheng Yuanzhi

Chapter 243 Liu Biao died and Jingzhou changed hands

In April of the 13th year of Jian'an, Liu Biao was seriously ill, so he sent someone to Xinye to invite Liu Bei to take care of Gu.

At this time Zhuge Liang had assisted Liu Qi in superficially commanding the four southern counties, returning from Wuling to Xinye.Liu Bei ordered him to guard the house, and invited Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to Xiangyang to meet Liu Biao.

Liu Biao was lying on the sickbed, and said to Liu Bei worriedly: "I am terminally ill, and I know that I will die soon, so I am alone with my virtuous brother. Both of my sons have no talents, and I am afraid that I will not be able to carry on the career. After I die, my virtuous brother can Take Jingzhou yourself."

Hearing this, Liu Bei was calm and calm, knowing that Liu Biao was just talking, and all the military power in Jingzhou was under the control of the Cai family. How could the latter be able to take control of Jingzhou smoothly by saying "take Jingzhou by himself"?

Thinking of this, he bowed his hands and said: "If you go, brother, be prepared to do your best to help your nephew. An Ganfu has other intentions!"

Liu Biao sighed: "Since my dear brother refuses, I will make Qi'er the lord of Jingzhou. I also hope that my dear brother will help me with all my heart and protect my Liu family's inheritance from falling into the hands of others."

While speaking, people reported that there was a change in the Northern Army. Yuan She (Cheng Yuanzhi) was in Yecheng to rectify the troops and horses, and seemed to have the intention of going south.

Liu Bei hurriedly bid farewell to Liu Biao, and hurried back to Xinye to deploy his defenses in the starry night.

When Liu Biao heard the news while he was ill, he was quite surprised and worried, and became more ill.

The conversation between the two was overheard by Mrs. Cai, who secretly hated her and ordered people to close the gate of the house to prevent the news of Liu Biao's serious illness from leaking out.He also asked Cai Mao and Zhang Yun to guard the city gate so that outsiders would not be allowed to meet Liu Biao again.

Liu Qi learned that his father was critically ill in Wuling, and went to Jingzhou to visit him. When he was outside the mansion, Cai Mao stopped him and asked:
"My son was ordered by his father to guard Wuling and command the four southern counties. He has a heavy responsibility, but now he leaves his post without authorization. What if soldiers from the east of the river come to attack us?"

Liu Qi cried: "My father is critically ill. I just want to see him. If I see him, I will turn around immediately."

Cai Mao waved his hands and said: "No, today the young master leaves his post without permission. If he visits the lord, the lord will be angry. Such a sickness will turn serious instead. This is not a filial son. Please come back quickly."

What he said was well-founded, blocking any possibility of Liu Qi wanting to visit.

Liu Qi had no choice but to stand outside the door and cry loudly before turning back to Wuling.

Liu Biao's condition became more and more serious, and he hoped that Liu Qi would not come. The future affairs in Jingzhou were still pending. At the beginning of August, he died screaming and regretting.


After Liu Biao's death, the Cai family negotiated with Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, falsely passing on the will, making the second son Liu Cong the lord of Jingzhou, and then mourned for the funeral.

At that time, Liu Cong was fourteen years old and quite intelligent. He said to all the civil and military men in Jingzhou: "My father passed away, my brother is now in Wuling, and my uncle is in Xinye. You will make me the master. If the brother and the uncle raise troops to question the crime, how can we explain it?" ?”

Hearing this, all the officials responded silently.

Li Gui, the curtain officer, said: "My son's words are very true. Today, I urgently send a letter of mourning to Wuling. I ask the eldest son to be the lord of Jingzhou and order Liu Xuande to be a council member. In this way, the north can fight against Yuan She, and the south can inherit the foundation of the former lord." .This is a surefire strategy.”

Cai Mao held his sword and shouted: "Bold! How dare you speak nonsense and go against the will of the lord!"

Li Gui pointed at Cai Mao and scolded: "You are a friend at home and abroad, pretending to be a will, abolishing the elders and erecting the young, and the nine counties of Jingxiang will be buried in the hands of your Cai family! Therefore, the master has a spirit, and you will be smashed into thousands of pieces! "

Cai Mao was furious when he heard the words, and ordered the generals to be beheaded, as a warning to others.

Li Gui yelled and cursed until he died.

Seeing that none of the civil and military personnel in Jingzhou had any objections, Cai Mao made Liu Cong the master.The Cai family led all the soldiers in Jingzhou to guard against Liu Qi and Liu Bei.

Afterwards, Liu Biao's coffin was buried in the east of Xiangyang City, and Liu Qi and Xuande were not informed of the obituary.

After Liu Biao's death, someone who secretly communicated with the northern army sent someone to spread the news to Yecheng quickly.

Cheng Yuanzhi then had the idea of ​​going south, and called the people together, saying, "Liu Biao's new funeral, Jingzhou is divided into three factions, Liu Bei, Liu Cong, and Liu Qi each command an army. I want to take the opportunity to wipe out Jiangnan, what do you guys think?"

At that time, Kong Rong was in the hall and remonstrated: "Liu Bei, Liu Cong, and Liu Qi are all clan relatives of the Han Dynasty, so they should not be attacked lightly. Now Liu Biao is newly mourned, and his teacher is unknown; the waterways in the south of the Yangtze River are crisscrossed, and it is not easy to attack. The prime minister promoted this unknown teacher. , Cutting down the royal family, I am afraid that I will lose the popularity of the world."

Cheng Yuanzhi said angrily: "Although the three Lius are relatives of the emperor, they are all ministers who rebel against fate. Today, only the two states of Jing and Yi are left outside. How can we not ask for it! The public is just a child's opinion, so there is no need to say any more."

Then Kong Rong retreated and ordered: "If anyone remonstrates again, he will be killed."

After Kong Rong left the mansion, he looked up to the sky and sighed: "If you beat the most benevolent with inhumanity, you will be invincible!"

At that time, the imperial censor Xi Ji's family guest heard this and reported to Xi Ji. He was often insulted and belittled by Kong Rong, and he hated him, so he told Cheng Yuanzhi with this remark, and said:
"Kong Rong always slanders the Prime Minister during the meeting when the guests of the conference are on weekdays."

Hearing this, Cheng Yuanzhi smiled slightly: "You can talk wildly after drinking, don't worry about it, I'm definitely someone who can't tolerate others, so don't mention this matter again!"

Xi Xi said again: "Kong Rong has a good relationship with You Heng. He said that the death of You Heng was because the prime minister was angry at his rudeness. He asked Liu Biao to kill him in the name of 'going envoy'."

Cheng Yuanzhi was secretly annoyed, and said angrily, "How dare Kong Wenju slander me behind my back?"

So he ordered Ting Wei to arrest Kong Rong's family, old and young, and put them in prison.

Guo Jia was shocked when he heard the news, and came to persuade him with his sick body in his arms: "My lord, Kong Wenju is a famous scholar in the world. When Jia was a child, he heard his allusions about letting pears and learned from him. There are no scholars in the world like this. His fame is so great that no one in the world can I don’t know, I must not kill him.”

"If you kill this one person, you may lose the hearts of the world."

Cheng Yuanzhi thought so, and said to Guo Jia: "I won't kill him, but let him reflect in prison."

Hearing this, Guo Jia heaved a sigh of relief, and went home to recuperate at ease.

After Kong Rong was imprisoned, Cheng Yuan, Zhiliu Shenpei, Yang Xiu and others assisted Dabai to guard Yecheng, and ordered the three armies to set off in sequence.

A total of 30 soldiers were recruited for this southern expedition.Wen Chou and Yan Liang were the first team; Zhang He, Xu Huang and others were the second team; Cheng Yuanzhi led the generals to the third team: each team led 13 troops.He also ordered Xu Chu to lead [-] troops as the vanguard, and selected the army to launch in the autumn and September of the [-]th year of Jian'an.

The news of Liu Biao's death and the 30 Northern Army going south also spread to Xinye at the same time. Liu Bei was shocked and hated when he heard the news, and burst into tears.

Zhang Fei persuaded: "Brother, the matter is already like this, it is better to raise troops to cross the river, capture Xiangyang, kill Cai Shi; Liu Cong, and then fight Yuan She."

Guan Yu also advised: "Xinye City has few soldiers and it is difficult to resist the large soldiers. I agree with what the third brother said."

Liu Bei stopped crying, and said to the two, "I have my own discretion."

After all, I asked Zhuge Liang to discuss it.

When Zhuge Liang arrived at the hall, it was reported that Liu Qi, the prefect of Wuling, sent Yiji to come.

Liu Bei was grateful for Yiji's life-saving grace in the past, greeted him outside the door, and thanked him again and again.

Yiji hurriedly said: "Young master is in Wuling. He heard that Liu Jingzhou was dead, and Cai and Cai Mao made Liu Cong the master. The young master sent someone to Xiangyang to find out, so he knew it was true. I'm afraid you don't know it, so I sent someone to bring it with you." A letter of mourning is here to report, and I beg the envoy to gather all the best soldiers under his command and go to Xiangyang to question the crime."

After reading the letter, Liu Bei said to Yiji, "Uncle Ji only knows that the Cai family is in power, but he doesn't know that the Northern Army is coming!"

Yiji was shocked and said, "The northern army is coming?"

Xuande then showed Yiji the information sent by the spies in Yecheng.

Yiji sighed: "If this is the case, it is better for the envoy to go to Xiangyang in the name of mourning, and lure Liu Cong out to meet him, and then he will be captured and punish his cronies. Then Jingzhou will belong to the envoy. If Jingzhou is won, it will be enough to go north. Anti-Army."

Zhuge Liang echoed, "Uncle Ji's words are absolutely true. Your lord should follow him."

Liu Bei said silently: "Jing Sheng entrusted me alone in danger. If he seizes his son and seizes his land today, how will he face him when he is under the Nine Springs in the future?"

That being said, it's not that Liu Bei doesn't want to take Jingzhou, it's just that the operation is too difficult.

What if when you arrive in Jingzhou, people don't open the city gates, don't come to greet you, and refuse to see you, then, will you have to send troops to attack?
Therefore, Liu Bei has basically denied this strategy in his heart.

At this juncture, Cai Mao would definitely not believe that he was really going to pay his respects.

People are not stupid.

Zhuge Liang said: "If this strategy is not adopted, the northern army's forward has already reached the ancient city, so how can we resist the enemy?"

Liu Bei said: "Military division has already made a plan, why not go to Wuling to avoid it."

Zhuge Liang sighed, "Alright then."


(End of this chapter)