Zhang Fei saw changes in the city and was about to lead his soldiers into Xiangyang City. Liu Bei quickly stopped him and said, "Don't be reckless and disturb the people!"
Wei Yan was greeting Liu Bei's troops to enter the city. Suddenly, a group of people from the city came out with troops and horses, shouting: "How dare you rebel, a nobody! Do you still recognize my general Wenpin!"
After Wei Yan heard this, he was furious and did not answer. He came to fight with his gun drawn. The two troops fought together at the edge of the city, shouting loudly.
Liu Bei saw this situation and said: "I was originally going to protect the people, but I didn't expect that it would harm the people! If this was the case, I would not go to Xiangyang!"
Kong Ming knew that Liu Bei was incompetent and could not stop his benevolence from overflowing. He immediately suggested: "Jiangling is an important place in Jingzhou. It is better for us to take Jiangling as a place to settle down."
Liu Bei nodded and said, "This is the best thing to do." So he led the people and left Xiangyang City and walked towards Jiangling.
Many people in Xiangyang city took advantage of the fighting opportunity to escape privately, hoping to follow Liu Bei's footsteps. Wei Yan and Wenpin fought until all the soldiers around him were injured, so they could only turn their horses around and leave quickly, but Not seeing Liu Bei outside the city, he sighed and had no choice but to go to Changsha to join the prefect Han Xuan.
Liu Bei led more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians, thousands of large and small vehicles, and countless baggage trains, bypassing Xiangyang City toward Jiangling. Passing by Liu Biao's tombstone, Liu Bei led everyone to pay homage and cried. : "I have neither virtue nor talent. I have let down the trust of my brothers. I have accumulated all my sins, but they have nothing to do with the people. I hope that my brother will show up and protect the people of Jingxiang!" His expression was very sad, and both soldiers and civilians shed tears.
Suddenly a sentry came to report that Cao Cao's army had entered Fancheng and sent people to pack up the ships and would cross the river soon.
The generals said: "A dangerous place like Jiangling can be defended. Now we can only walk more than ten miles a day with tens of thousands of people. When can we reach Jiangling at this speed? If Cao Bing arrives, we will How can we resist the enemy? Why don’t we just abandon the people and let’s go first.”
Liu Bei cried and said: "Those who do great things must put people first. Now everyone is willing to follow me, how can I abandon them?"
When the people heard Liu Bei's words, they became sad one after another, and their mood to follow Liu Bei became even stronger.
Liu Bei led the people and moved forward slowly. Kong Ming said: "At this speed, Cao Jun will catch up with us soon. We can send Guan Yu to Jiangxia to find Young Master Liu Qi for help, and ask him to take the troops and horses to Jiangling quickly." .”
Liu Bei agreed and sent Guan Yu and Sun Qian with 500 sergeants to Jiangxia to ask for help. Zhang Fei was asked to cut off the rear, Zhao Yun protected the people, young and old, and the rest protected the people moving forward. They could only walk more than ten miles a day. Just rest where you are.
Cao Cao was in Fancheng at this time and sent people across the river to Xiangyang to summon Liu Cong. He was a little scared and did not dare to meet him, so he sent Cai Mao and Zhang Yun first. Wang Wei secretly told Liu Cong: "My lord has surrendered to Cao Cao now, and Liu Bei also If they leave, Cao Cao will definitely be unprepared. I hope the lord can set up some surprise troops and deploy them in dangerous places, so that Cao Cao can be captured. After capturing Cao Cao, he will definitely become famous all over the world. Although the Central Plains is vast, he can be kidnapped. Send an order to quell the situation. This is a very good opportunity and cannot be lost."
Liu Cong told Cai Hao this idea, and Cai Hao angrily said, "You don't know the destiny of heaven, how dare you talk nonsense here?"
Wang Wei cursed angrily: "You traitor, I can't wait to eat your flesh!"
Cai Mao drew his sword and prepared to kill Wang Wei in public, but was dissuaded by Kuai Yue.
Cai Mao and Zhang Yun went to Fancheng together and met with Cao Cao. Their attitudes were very flattering.
Cao Cao asked: "How much money and food do the troops and horses have in Jingzhou? What is the current situation?"
He replied: "The horse army is 50,000, the infantry is 150,000, and the navy is 80,000. There are more than 200,000 in total. The money and food are basically in Jiangling, and the rest can also be provided for a year."
Cao Cao asked again: "How many warships are there? Who is commanding them?"
He replied: "There are more than seven thousand large and small warships. It turns out that Zhang Yun and I are in charge of them together."
So Cao Cao made Cai Mao the Marquis of Zhennan and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, and Zhang Yun was the Marquis of Assistant Shun and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. Both of them were very grateful. Cao Cao added: "Since Liu Biao has passed away and his son has surrendered to the court, I will report to the court and make him the lord of Jingzhou."
The two left very happily. Xun You said: "Cai Mao and Zhang Yun are both flatterers. Why did the lord give them such high titles and appoint them as navy commanders?"
Cao Cao laughed and said: "How come I don't know who these two people are? It's just that the northern generals we lead are not good at water warfare, so I will use these two people for the time being. When it is completed, I have other arrangements. .”
Cai Mao and Zhang Yun went back to see Liu Cong and said, "Prime Minister Cao has told the emperor that he will forever reward you as the lord of Jingzhou."
Liu Cong was very happy after hearing this. The next day, he and his mother Cai took Jingzhou's seal and ribbon and crossed the river to thank Cao Cao in person.
Cao Cao comforted him and then led his troops and horses to the outside of Xiangyang City. Cai Hao and Zhang Yun ordered the people to burn incense in the city to welcome them, and Cao Cao comforted the people.
When he arrived at the government office in the city, he summoned Kuai Yue to him and said, "It doesn't matter whether I get Jingzhou or not. The key is to get you." So he made Kuai Yue the prefect of Jiangling and the Marquis of Fancheng; Fu Xun, Wang Can, etc. He was appointed Marquis of Guannei; and Liu Cong was appointed as the governor of Qingzhou, and then he was ready to set off.
Liu Cong was very surprised when he heard about the appointment and declined: "I don't want to be an official. I hope to protect my parents' homeland."
Cao Cao said: "Qingzhou is very close to the emperor. I want you to serve as an official with the court to avoid being plotted in Jingxiang."
He repeatedly refused, but Cao Cao disagreed, so he had to go to Qingzhou with his mother Cai. Only Wang Wei, a veteran general in the past, followed him, and the rest of the officials just arrived at Jiangkou and then returned.
After they left, Cao Cao found Yu Jin and told him: "You can take some light cavalry to track Liu Cong and his son and kill them both to avoid future troubles."
Yu Jin received this order and rushed over with everyone, shouting: "I have been ordered by the Prime Minister to kill your mother and son! You can do it yourself to avoid trouble."
When Mrs. Cai heard the news, she hugged Liu Cong and cried bitterly. Yu Jin and his sergeants began to attack. Wang Wei came out to resist, but his martial arts skills were too low and he was beheaded in minutes. Soon other followers were also beheaded, and Mrs. Cai and her son were also killed. Not immune.
After the sergeant killed Liu Cong and Mrs. Cai, he went back and told Cao Cao. Cao Cao rewarded Yu Jin and sent people to Longzhong to find Kong Ming's family, but they didn't know where they were. It turned out that Kong Ming had sent people to move his family to Sanjiang to hide. Cao Cao hated Kong Ming even more.