Chapter 195: Strong on the outside but weak on the inside
The reeds on the wall are top-heavy and light-footed; the bamboo shoots in the mountains have sharp mouths, thick skin and hollow bellies. ----------Ming Dynasty Jie Jin
It is said that Chen Long and Zhao Yun had some discussions and believed that Liu Cong was the future successor of Jingzhou. If Liu Biao, the second son, could be taken hostage, they would not be afraid that Liu Biao and Cai would not submit obediently. The two formulated a strategy to outwit Liu Cong, using Zhang Xiu's invasion and Jia Long's cooperation to lure away Liu Cong's bait.
After the plan was drawn up, Chen Long and Zhao Yun still transformed into guards and met Jia Long in the study. Seeing that the two of them had important matters to discuss, Jia Long ordered Zhang Ren to be invited, and the four of them had a detailed discussion alone in the study.
Although Zhang Ren refused to surrender to Chen Long, he did not reject Chen Long's plan to help Jia Long seize Yizhou, so he has always been cooperative. However, Zhang Ren was more curious about the internal strength of Zhao Yun's Hundred Birds Chaofeng Spear. After all, Zhang Ren never stopped pursuing a higher realm of marksmanship. I am still a little bit worried about losing to my junior brother Zhao Yun. As long as I practice hard, I may be able to win back a victory in the future.
But Zhang Ren couldn't understand Chen Long at all, so he had to stay away from him. This time listening to Chen Long's plan to capture Liu Cong in the secret room was the first time he got to know Chen Long. Without the mastermind around, it can be said that the plan Chen Long came up with is quite good and very feasible.
After hearing Chen Long's plan, Jia Long stood up and paced around, beginning to hesitate. Chen Long was not impatient and waited for Jia Long to speak. Jia Long finally stopped and said, "General Chen, do you want me to return to Yizhou as an undercover agent in the future?"
Chen Long nodded slightly and said: "Jia Zhizhang, I know that you all have wives, children, children, and nobles in Yizhou, so naturally you can't expose that you are helping me. Therefore, I asked you to ask Young Master Liu Qi to cooperate in sending troops in advance, and wait until everyone objects, If you propose to let the Second Young Master lead the army again, no one will suspect that you are targeting the Second Young Master."
"Then, let's take a look at Liu Biao's side. There happens to be no general who can personally protect Liu Cong. The most powerful one is Su Fei. Although we don't know much about Su Fei, we believe that his martial arts skills are better than those of General Zilong and Zhang Ren. under."
"Liu Biao should be happy to see that Liu Cong is protected by strong troops from Zhang Ren and Jia Cheng, so he should not refuse to take Jia Cheng's warship. Let's put on a good show on the ship."
"My plan is to kidnap Liu Cong on the ship. The ship is full of my soldiers. It will be easy to catch Liu Cong, but it is still a little difficult for Liu Cong not to suspect that Jia Zhan is involved. We need to put on another play. How about letting General Zhang Ren and Zhao Zilong fight again?" After saying that, he laughed.
Jia Long understood and said: "Even if we put on a good show, my ship is full of servants I brought from Yizhou. How could there be a master who attacked Liu Cong? I'm afraid I am not exempt from the blame." "
Chen Long said: "Actually, you don't have to face Liu Biao's wrath. After I kidnapped Liu Cong, of course I would ask Liu Biao for conditions. And my only request is that Liu Biao terminates his alliance with Yizhou and immediately issues an order to All Yizhou officials and troops are driven out of Jingzhou. Jia Zheng does not need to return to Xiangyang at all. When I take Liu Cong off the boat from the north bank, you and General Zhang can just find a way to return to Yizhou. The rest of the rhetoric to Liu Yan , I’m afraid I don’t need to make it up.”
Jia Long finally felt relieved and nodded in agreement, but finally said: "A gentleman's words are followed by a whip. General Chen, Jingzhou is yours and Yizhou is mine. You must keep your promise!"
Chen Long laughed and said: "The world belongs to the people of Great China!" Jia Long heard this for the first time about Great China, and said in astonishment: "Great China? General Chen believes that there will be unification in the future? How can this world belong to the people?" Chen Long didn't answer, and he and Zhao Yun stood up and left, leaving Jia Long with a stunned look on his face and Zhang Ren who frowned slightly in thought.
A few days later, at a military meeting, Liu Biaojun and Jia Longjun received a tip almost at the same time, which made Liu Biao deeply uneasy. It turned out that Wancheng Zhangxiu's troops, who nominally belonged to Yuan Shu's party, actually appeared near Xinye and had already crossed Bowang Slope. Fancheng was only within a day's march of the opponent.
Liu Biao was greatly shocked, and at the same time he was very confused as to why Zhang Xiu's troops suddenly appeared in Xinye. Could it be that Yuan Shu was behind it? This is not good news for Jingzhou, which is planning to seize Lingling.
Fancheng is the northern gateway to Xiangyang and one of the backup water strongholds for the navy. There is absolutely no room for failure. Liu Biao selected the troops, and Zhang Yun immediately said that the navy could immediately cross the river to garrison Fancheng.
Liu Biao was hesitant. After all, it was not enough for the navy to defend the city. Huo Jun's army was slightly insufficient to defend Xiangyang, so Liu Biao still allocated 10,000 men to Zhang Yun and had people arrange various supplies.
The ministers began to panic, and some people had already proposed to call back Cai Mao's troops to defend Xiangyang. Liu Biao was hesitant. The people below were noisy, and the hall was like a toad pit, making everyone upset.
Kuai Liang thought for a long time and finally spoke. Everyone knew that he was resourceful and they all fell silent. Kuaizi Judo: "It is not easy to achieve cooperation with Yizhou, and Yizhou's army is about to attack Lingling. It is like an arrow on the string. If we withdraw our troops now, we will have no chance in the future."
"Now, the movements of Zhang Xiu's army are unknown. We have to use the troops at hand to give it a try. As long as Fancheng is defended, Zhang Xiu won't be able to take advantage. Moreover, maybe Zhang Xiu is just testing it. If he really attacks Fancheng on a large scale, There is no problem in guarding for more than a month, and it will not be too late to mobilize reinforcements when the time comes."
Kuai Liang's words temporarily suppressed the opposition. Just as Liu Biao was about to ask Zhang Yun to lead the army, Jia Long suddenly stood up and cupped his hands and said, "What Zirou said is very reasonable. This time I The cooperation between Yizhou and Jingzhou is extremely difficult, and the soldiers have come from thousands of miles away, wasting money and food, and if there is no gain, the loss will be too great. Now, Zhang Xiubing has not harmed the foundation of Jingzhou, and the number of troops is only tens of thousands. According to the art of war, attack The number of soldiers in the city must be several times more than those defending the city to be effective. We still have tens of thousands of people defending the city, why should we be afraid of Zhang Xiu?"
After saying this, Liu Biao and Kuai Liang nodded slightly. Unexpectedly, this Jia Long was not astonishing in appearance, but he was quite strategic. Just listen to Jia Long continue: "But the morale of Jingzhou still needs a general to boost it. I am willing to go to Fancheng with General Zhang Yun to show the determination of Jingzhou and Yizhou to jointly defend Xiangyang, so that other local forces will not dare to intervene. "
Liu Biao thought to himself that it would be useless to keep hundreds of you in Xiangyang, so he nodded and said: "That's fine, just follow Jia Zhi's words. Where is Zhang Yun?"
Just when Zhang Yun stood up and clasped his fists, Jia Long raised his hand to stop him and said: "Liu Inspector, wait a minute. I think if the sergeants don't have the confidence to win now, their morale will be low. And now that there are heavy troops in Jiangling, the sergeants will inevitably lack confidence. Liu Inspector is the lord of Jingzhou. , It is not advisable to move lightly, but I heard that the two young masters of Liu Prefecture are both versatile in civil and military affairs and talented. Why not ask the eldest young master, General Liu Qi, to be the chief general? It is also good to gain experience in the military."
As soon as these words came out, the whole hall fell silent. Before Liu Biao spoke, Zhang Yun couldn't help but objected: "Mr. Jia, Mr. Liu has never led an army. Isn't this inappropriate?" Liu Qi had already stood up. Seeing Zhang Yun say this, he looked at Zhang Yun bitterly. Zhang Yun turned around and pretended not to see.
As soon as Zhang Yun said this, his subordinates spoke one after another. Most of them were against Liu Qi, saying that Liu Qi was inexperienced and could not bear the heavy responsibility. Liu Biao didn't like Liu Qi very much, so he immediately said: "Qi'er, please be patient. This matter is important, so I'd better listen to everyone's opinions." Liu Qi could only nod in agreement and sit down in silence.
When Jia Long saw that Liu Biao disagreed with Liu Qi's decision to lead the expedition, he was secretly happy. He cupped his hands and said, "I heard that the second young master, Liu Cong, has been promoted to a general and has the talent to lead troops. Why not invite the second young master to come out?" Liu Cong heard that he immediately He stood up excitedly and signaled Zhang Yun with his eyes.
The flattering voices of subordinates immediately spread, even covering up Zhang Yun's praise of Liu Cong. Liu Qi was so angry that he fell back. He didn't expect that it would be so difficult to win a military award.
In the midst of the commotion, Liu Biao spoke up: "What Jia Zheng said is reasonable. My two sons can indeed boost the morale of the Jingzhou soldiers on my behalf, and they can also gain military experience."
"However, the eldest son is partial to literature. It's okay to write an article and lead troops. It's not as good as the second son who has led troops for many years and all his men have sacrificed their lives." Liu Qi's face was extremely ugly and he lowered his head angrily.
All the ministers agreed one after another. Liu Cong was so proud that he raised his hands to signal to everyone, showing off his idiot style. This Liu Cong is taller and more handsome than Liu Qi, but in fact he is still just a strong man on the outside, a complete playboy who only knows how to find beautiful women to practice in bed. He was favored by the Cai family and was lawless in Jingzhou, but he had no real talent or learning. Liu Biao also regarded Liu Cong as his natural successor, but there were always objections, saying that since ancient times, the elders have been established instead of the young, which made Liu Biao upset.
In the midst of the crowd's commotion, Liu Biao waved his hands and announced loudly: "I have made up my mind. I will let Liu Cong be the commander of Fancheng's defense this time. No more words are allowed." Everyone shut up and supported Liu Cong. All the ministers have a cheerful face.
Liu Cong was extremely excited. He glanced at his brother with disdain and knelt down to thank his father for the appointment. Liu Biao said again: "Cong'er, although you are the commander-in-chief, your sword has no eyes. I will ask Su Fei to lead people to follow you to ensure your safety."
Liu Qi objected loudly: "Su Fei is the only general who protects his father. How can he let his father take risks without protection?" Jia Long took the opportunity to also say: "My general Zhang Ren is the eldest disciple of the sharp gun Tong Yuan. He has If Governor Liu doesn't despise the bravery of a man, he can leave the safety of the Second Young Master to us."
Liu Biao began to hesitate again. After thinking about it, he still felt uneasy, and finally announced: "Thank you Jia Zhanzhi for your kindness. However, I still ask Su Fei to lead someone to protect Liu Cong. I am very happy that Jia Zheng can help guard Fancheng." With a wave of his hand, Jia Long and others had no choice but to resign. The plan was mostly successful. Except for the unknown factor Su Fei, everything was already going according to Chen Long's plan.
