After all, Liu Qi didn't hear what Chen heard. He decided to come to E County in person to have a "showdown" with Zhou Yu.
When Chen Dao's letter was delivered to Liu Qi, Liu Qi had actually led the rear army and set off from Xiling under the protection of Su Fei.
Liu Qi saw the letter from Chen Dao urging Liu Qi to return to guard Xiling. Liu Qi was indeed worried and wanted to withdraw to Xiling, but Su Fei dissuaded Liu Qi from his idea.
The army had just set out, and it only took three days for them to retreat. Military orders were changed like this day and night, which greatly affected morale. Moreover, they were also suspected of being afraid of Zhou Yu, which was not good for Liu Qi's reputation.
Su Fei has always commanded troops, unlike Liu Qi, a novice who has no military knowledge.
Therefore, for the sake of his own reputation and the morale of the army, Liu Qi had no choice but to lead the army to Zhu County, where he originally planned to observe the situation.
As a result, not long after Liu Qi arrived in Zhu County, he heard that Zhou Yu, who was under the city of E County, had withdrawn his troops. Of course Liu Qi could not wait any longer and hurriedly crossed the river to E County to personally preside over the "battle" against Jiangdong's army.
Everyone knows that this prefect is here to pick peaches, but he is a prefect, the highest official in a county, and everyone is his nominal subordinates. What can be said? !
Just doing this, although Liu Qi can "grow a face" in front of Liu Biao, only God knows what the soldiers thought in private.
Therefore, in the military report to Xiangyang, Liu Qi "visited Echeng in person", "heroically commanded", and "repulsed" the 30,000-strong army led by Jiangdong Army General Zhou Yu, killing thousands of enemies and gaining countless military supplies.
Fortunately, Liu Qi wanted to show some respect and did not exaggerate the number of enemy troops or the number of gains, nor did he forget Zhang Xi and Wei Yan, the main contributors to the defense of Hubei City. He more or less mentioned this in the battle report to Liu Biao.
Just mentioning it or not would have no impact on Liu Biao.
Liu Biao didn't care about Zhang Xi and Wei Yan at all. He only cared about whether Jiangdong Army really retreated.
As for whether it was his son who personally repelled the attack, Liu Biao did not want to go into details.
Of course Liu Biao knew what kind of virtue his son had.
But as long as Jiangdong's army really retreated, it made no difference to Liu Biao whether it was his son who repelled it himself, or whether his son's civil and military generals helped to repel it. It was all his son's credit.
Therefore, Liu Biao asked the Nanjun Navy to send out sentinel ships to investigate the battle in Echeng.
As a result, Liu Biao soon received his own information.
Jiangdong's army was indeed unable to attack Hubei for a long time and was forced to retreat.
But Jiang Dongjun was not without gains.
First, they defeated the Jiangxia navy in Echeng, forcing the Jiangxia navy to sink their ships and cut off the river, and then retreated to Shaxian to rest.
Then before retreating, Zhou Yu set up an ambush at Xia Zhi and defeated thousands of Jiang Xia's chief Huang She's troops in one fell swoop. He gained a lot and then retreated calmly and returned to Chaisang.
In other words, although Jiangdong Army retreated, it did so on its own initiative.
But Liu Biao didn't care about this. His son repelled Jiangdong's army, not only giving him a bad face, but also slapped some people in the face.
Especially Huang Zu, who was still uneasy in Xiangyang.
Liu Biao was so happy that he ignored his physical condition and insisted on following Xiao Feng and drinking a small amount of wine that night, and ended up getting drunk.
As a result, the next day, I couldn't get out of bed because I was infected with wind and cold.
Liu Biao was already old and had a weak foundation. Winter had just come out recently and the weather was still cold, so his health had not been good. He had been ill and recovered intermittently. After a while of drinking and the wind blowing, he lay down completely.
As soon as Xiangyang's civil and military officers and representatives of aristocratic families heard about this, they immediately went to the Prefectural Mufu to visit him again and again.
The purpose was nominally to express condolences for Liu Biao's illness, but in fact, everyone came to see if Liu Biao's illness was serious.
After all, Liu Biao was already over fifty, and he was not young at all. In this era, he was considered a long-lived person. No one would be surprised if he died one day.
It doesn't matter if an old man in his fifties dies, but if Jingzhou Mu dies at this time, Jingzhou will face a power reshuffle.
Not to mention anything else, in February this year, Cao Sikong defeated Wuhuan, his troops returned to Xudu, and re-established the position of prime minister. After taking over as prime minister, the first thing he did was to make high-profile preparations for his troops and prepare to go south. The first target was Jingzhou.
If something unexpected happens to Liu Biao at this juncture, the Jingzhou family is all considering whether it is better for Liu Biao to have an accident or not to have an accident.
Therefore, Liu Biao's illness immediately affected the minds of countless people, and everyone was very "concerned" about Liu Biao's condition.
Liu Biao also understood the thoughts of these people, so he always acted like nothing was wrong, but in fact, Liu Biao himself knew about his physical condition.
If we survive this time and wait until the weather gets warmer, we'll probably be fine.
But if you can’t get through it this time, then you may really not be able to get through it.
Therefore, Liu Biao began to seize the time and make some arrangements for his aftermath.
The first thing is to send people to Xinye to invite Liu Bei to discuss the issue of Jingzhou's successor.
At this time, Liu Biao didn't know whether he was really old and spoke kindly even when a man was about to die, or he had ulterior motives and really buried a swordsman under the corridor. In short, Liu Biao took Liu Bei's hand and said the following.
"My son is not talented, and all the generals are scattered. After my death, you will take over Jingzhou."
Liu Bei was stunned when he heard this, and immediately comforted Liu Biao and said, "All of us are virtuous, why should we stop here?! Brother Jing Sheng, just rest in peace and recuperate."
This was a polite rejection of Liu Biao's suggestion.
Liu Biao looked at Liu Bei complicatedly, and finally sighed and said, "Xuande, this is what I say from the bottom of my heart. There are many aristocratic families in Jingzhou, my son Liu Cong is still young, and his past with the Cai family is very secret. After my death, I am afraid that Jingzhou will fall into the hands of the Cai family. .At the time of introduction, I hope Xuande will take care of my son for the sake of my stupid brother."
Liu Bei immediately bowed his head and bowed.
In the first sentence, although Liu Biao said it more euphemistically and used the word "photo", he did not really want to give Jingzhou to Liu Bei. But in these troubled times, the word "photograph" has little meaning. It is just to allow Liu Bei to treat Liu Biao's two sons well after he becomes the shepherd of Jingzhou.
Therefore, Liu Bei really couldn't agree, because although Liu Biao had been wary of him over the years, he still took in Liu Bei who had nowhere to go, and gave Xinye a place to live, and he did not feel sorry for Liu Bei.
With Liu Bei's character and style of life, agreeing at this time would really ruin his character.
But the second sentence should be Liu Biao's real thoughts. This is Liu Biao asking Liu Bei, as an elder named Liu, to help look after Liu Cong in case Liu Cong fails to control Jingzhou.
Liu Bei must agree to this.
Regardless of whether Liu Biao said this sincerely or not, Liu Biao was indeed kind to Liu Bei. He said such words of entrustment, and Liu Bei must repay the kindness and help Liu Cong stabilize the situation in Jingzhou when necessary.
Liu Biao had no choice.
Jingzhou is a place with many aristocratic families. He was able to hold the position of pastor in Jingzhou only because of the support of aristocratic families.
But Liu Cong is not Liu Biao. Not to mention his young age, his methods are far worse than when he was young.
If Liu Biao could live a few more years and train Liu Cong, then Liu Biao really wouldn't have to take the risk of asking Liu Bei to be his orphan.
But now Liu Biao himself didn't know if he could survive this disaster, so he had no choice but to tell Liu Bei this.
Liu Biao knew the faces of these aristocratic families very well.
Although this group of aristocratic families each have their own interests and usually have some fights, when it comes to the issue of ownership of the land of Jingzhou, each of these people is more powerful than the other.
Liu Biao didn't believe that these Jingzhou aristocratic families would wholeheartedly assist this child Liu Cong. Maybe once he died, the entire Jingzhou would be in turmoil, and each aristocratic family would fight for the best interests for themselves and fight among themselves.
To say the least, even if these aristocratic families were not in chaos, Liu Biao would not dare to trust their integrity, not even the Cai family and Kuai family, who were closest to him.
Liu Biao has also seen clearly the style of the Kuai family over the years, which is that he only cares about himself. It doesn't matter who is the pastor of Jingzhou, as long as the interests of the Kuai family are ensured.
The relationship between Liu Cong and the Cai family is too close. He is young and has no scheming skills. He will easily be ignored by the Cai family. By then, it will be hard to say whether the entire Jingzhou family will be named Liu or Cai.
As for the Pang family and the Huang family, although they are better in terms of moral integrity, they are still the eldest brother, not the second brother. Liu Biao is not very good, so how could he really approve of a child Liu Cong as the lord of Jingzhou?
Therefore, Liu Biao wanted to leave Liu Cong with a back-up man, a back-up man who was not used normally but who could effectively threaten the four major aristocratic families once he was in trouble.
And Liu Bei, an outsider who had nothing to do with the Jingxiang family, had military power, and was very close to Xiangyang, was simply the most suitable candidate.
Once the four major aristocratic families dare to ignore Liu Cong, then Liu Bei can use his own life to lead troops into Xiangyang to quell the chaos and help Liu Cong secure his position as Jingzhou Shepherd.
Of course, Liu Biao was not on guard against Liu Bei. Although he said such things to Liu Bei, he was limited to speaking verbally, and had no intention of leaving anything written or evidential to Liu Bei.
This will is naturally useful when needed, but once Liu Cong secures his position in Jingzhou, this will is useless, and he can refuse to acknowledge it at any time. After all, Liu Bei can't produce supporting documents at all.
It can be said that Liu Biao has already made arrangements for Liu Cong quite well.
As for his other son Liu Qi. To be honest, Liu Biao has never regarded Liu Qi as his qualified heir. It is the greatest blessing in his life that he can be a Jiangxia prefect with peace of mind.
But Liu Qi obviously didn’t think so.
In early June, news that Liu Biao was seriously ill reached Jiangxia, and Liu Qi became panicked at that time.
On the one hand, it is the relationship between father and son. Liu Qi is really worried about the physical condition of his father Liu Biao.
On the other hand, Liu Qi is now in Jiangxia. If Liu Biao is really good and others are not in Xiangyang, what chance will there be to seize the position of Jingzhou Mu? !
Therefore, Liu Qi was very anxious and called Chen Zhen, Su Fei, and Zhang Xi to discuss going to Xiangyang to visit Liu Biao.
This matter is not a question of whether to do it or not, but a question of how to do it.
After some discussion, Liu Qi decided to take Chen Zhen to Xiangyang to visit his father.
(End of chapter)
