The Rebirth of Lu Bu in the Legend of the Heroes of the Later Han Dynasty

Liu Biao, who was promoted from Jingsheng to the throne after Liu Yu, the king of Lu Gong, was eight feet tall and majestic in appearance. He participated in the Taisheng movement in his early years, but was affected by the chaos of the party and fled to the world.

Later, Liu Biao chose to surrender to General He Jin and was able to return to Beijing and serve as the Lieutenant Commander of the Northern Army.

When the Yellow Turban Rebellion resumed, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty appointed five royal family members as local governors in order to strengthen his power. Liu Biao was able to display his talents and enter Jingzhou alone.

Cai Mao, the head of the Cai family in Jingzhou, also came from the general's palace. Through a series of marriages, Liu Biao obtained the support of the four major families of Cai, Kuai, Huang and Pang, and was able to secure the position of governor of Jingzhou.

After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, Liu Biao sent an envoy to pay tribute and professed his vassalage. He was awarded a false ax and was granted the title of Marquis of Wu.

During his tenure in Jingzhou, Liu Biao showed kindness and power, established classics and schools, loved the people and raised scholars, made friends with Yuan Shao, and dominated Jingjiang.

Although there were frequent conflicts with the Sun family, after Sun Quan came to power, he gave up his father and brother's expansion strategy and chose to manage Yangzhou and Jiaozhou, so that the people of Jingzhou were able to enjoy a peaceful life.

After passing his sixtieth year, Liu Biao completely lost his ambitions. He only listened to music, watched dances, drank and had fun every day, and left the military and political affairs of Jingzhou to Cai Mao. Cai Mao controlled all the counties except Jiangxia County and became the real lord of Jingzhou. However, due to the official system of the Han Dynasty, locals could not be appointed as governors, otherwise Cai Mao would have replaced him long ago.

Seeing that Liu Biao's time was running out, Cai Mao wanted his nephew Cong to become Liu Biao's heir apparent. To this end, he worked hard. However, the young master Liu Qi had already grown up and had been stationed in Jiangxia for many years. He was also followed by brave generals like Liu Guan and Zhang. Difficult to remove.

Cai Mao thought of his good friend Cao Cao, whom he had met in the General's Mansion. Now Cao Cao is no longer what he used to be. He was granted the title of King of Wei and took charge of the government. Liu Xie, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, was just a plaything in Cao Cao's hands. All the imperial decrees came from Wei. When leaving the palace, the emperor's imperial edict must be stamped with the royal seal of King Wei in addition to passing on the national jade seal to take effect.

Cao Cao has pacified Liangzhou and eliminated the hidden danger in the northwest. Liu Zhang of Yizhou chose to pay tribute and express his willingness to obey the court's instructions. Lu Bu of Hebei was Cao Cao's staunchest ally. The Han Dynasty now only has Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou, and there are still Separatist forces, for Cao Cao, who aspires to unify the world, the next target is Jingzhou.

Cai Mao sent troops from Zicaizhong to Luoyang to meet with Cao Cao and express his willingness to surrender.

Cao Cao's intention was to let Cai Mao handle the internal affairs of Jingzhou first before discussing surrender. If Cai Mao could not handle it, the imperial army would use force to regain Jingzhou.

Although there are many soldiers in the territory controlled by Cai Mao, there are no generals under his command. How can Zhang Yun, Cai Zhong, and Cai He compete with veteran generals like Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei on the battlefield. Cai Mao also valued family background when employing people. Wenpin, Huo Jun, and Wei Yan were all brave enough to be commanders of an army. However, they were not from famous families and were suppressed by Cai Mao. The three of them found themselves unable to stand out under Cai Mao. On that day, he chose to leave Jiangxia and join the eldest son Liu Qi.

Liu Qi himself did not have much talent, but he benefited from his teacher Yi Ji, who was a famous scholar in Jingzhou. When Liu Qi was a child, he was appointed by Liu Biao as the teacher of the eldest son, teaching Liu Qi the teachings of saints and the way of life. With the addition of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, although these three brothers have suffered repeated defeats, they are also long-established battlefield generals. Together with Wenpin, Huo Jun, and Wei Yan, Liu Qi's military group is far superior to His younger brother Liu Cong.

Liu Qi was a filial son, and his father was still alive. He couldn't bear to take action against his younger brother. Although Liu Bei persuaded him several times to send troops to the four counties of Jingnan, Liu Qi rejected them all. Liu Qi made it clear that as long as his father was still the lord of Jingzhou, he would never He will not raise troops to seize the throne.

Liu Qi is a true gentleman, and Cai Mao is also a true villain. In order to eliminate Liu Qi's power, he ignored the many years of grievances with the Sun family in Jiangdong and sent Cai Zhong to secretly cross the Yangtze River and go to Jianye to form an alliance with Sun Quan.

Sun Quan met with Cai Zhong and said that he needed to discuss with his staff and asked Cai Zhong to wait at the post first.

Sun Quan said to his subordinate Wen Wu, "Jingzhou Cai Mao sent an envoy to me to form an alliance with me and jointly attack Jiangxia. After this is accomplished, Jiangxia will belong to me. What do you think?"

Zhang Zhao said, "Currently, Governor Lu Xun is stationed at Chaisang. The 30,000 elite soldiers under his command are all our elite Jiangdong troops. There are currently 20,000 elite troops that can be mobilized. To attack Jiangxia, we need to send another general to lead it."

Sun Quan looked around, "Who is willing to lead the army?"

There was silence and no one answered.

Seeing that Sun Quan was about to get angry, Gu Yong said, "My lord, Gongsun Ce, and all the generals, Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Huang Gai, Cheng Pu, Han Dang, Zhou Tai, Ling Cao, and Lu Meng are all capable of conquering and fighting. Now they are They are all idle at home and farming, so I would like to ask my lord to recruit them to come, and they will be able to capture the nine counties of Jing and Xiang."

Sun Quan was in a dilemma. In order to successfully seize military power, he had dismissed all the beloved generals who had served under his former brother. What reason should he use to recall them now.

Seeing Sun Quan's expression of embarrassment, Zhang Zhao had already guessed it. He said, "I heard that my lord has a sister named Sun Ren, who is not yet married. My lord will be led by Zhou Yu. Why don't my lord marry his sister to Zhou Yu?" , and marry him, so that all the generals can join the lord."

Sun Quan said, "I heard that Zhou Yu has two wives, a pair of sisters, named Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao. They are both beautiful and charming. The sister-in-law is young and is the dearest child of my mother. How can she endure such injustice?" ?”

Zhang Zhao said, "My lord, now is the time to make a choice. Once Cao Cao sends troops according to the imperial court's wishes, Jingzhou will surely surrender. At that time, only Jiangdong will be left in the world, and it will be destroyed by Cao Cao. Forming an alliance with Cai Mao is the best strategy."

Sun Quan bit his lip and said with difficulty, "I agree. I will leave this matter to you. I allow you the right to act expediently and adapt to circumstances. As long as Zhou Yu is willing to lead the army, I can agree to any conditions."