The Autumn Harvest Festival is being held in Yecheng, and Jingxiang is also organizing an annual temple fair. Unlike the Northern Kingdom, the aristocratic families gathered in Xiangyang will first go to Cai Mansion for a dinner after paying a visit to Liu Biao.
After all, they were the number one family in Jingxiang, and Cai Hao held half of the military power in Jingzhou, which was limited by the three mutual laws. Otherwise, Cai Hao would have been promoted to an important position in government affairs.
Therefore, here in Jingzhou, the Cai family's appeal is not much weaker than that of Liu Biao, and even many things cannot be implemented without Cai Mao nodding.
Before the temple fair, Liu Biao, as a shepherd in Jingzhou, would naturally know that major aristocratic families gathered in the Cai Mansion, but he could only turn a blind eye to this.
In addition to worrying about the Cai family's background, Cai Mao, who controlled half of the Jingzhou army, had a prestige in the army that even surpassed Liu Biao's power in the holiday. These all forced Liu Biao to tolerate some of Cai Mao's excessive actions as much as he could.
This is the current situation of this era. Yuan Shao, the head of the emperor's noble family, seems to be the gathering of all the major families in the territory, but in the end he is burdened by the families;
Cao Cao, who needed the support of the family and wanted to get rid of the family's control, had no choice but to use the power of his clan to fight;
Liu Biao belongs to the third category. He has to rely on the aristocratic family, but he can only be restrained by them, and eventually becomes a semi-puppet.
In fact, for so many years in Jingzhou, it's not that I haven't thought about how to compete with the aristocratic family. Since Liu Xiu, the aristocratic family has been unable to lose its tail. He is not the only one who has had a headache. It has been difficult for everyone from the emperor to the local prefect and even the county magistrate in the past two hundred years. Self-rounding thorns.
The aristocratic families have always stayed together. This was due to the integration of interests. Lin Mo was able to quickly break the tacit understanding of the northern aristocratic families in a short period of time. It sounded like a simple matter of killing three people with two peaches, but not everyone could get this peach.
For example, Liu Biao couldn't get it. Even if it was a simple matter like letting Liu Qi serve as the governor of Changsha, he would still have to bear huge pressure to get it done.
But tonight, Liu Biao was still in a good mood. It had been more than half a year since their separation, and he had not seen Liu Qi much during this period. Taking advantage of this temple fair to reunite father and son, he still had a lot to say.
"Changsha County's taxes, grain collection, and gold payments have all increased this year compared to last year. Under such circumstances, you can still expand your army by eight thousand, which shows that you have put in some effort."
After dinner, the father and son sat on a stone bench in the backyard, admiring the moon and talking.
Liu Biao was still very pleased with Liu Qi's results.
"Thank you very much, father. Speaking of this matter, I really relied on the help of the emperor's uncle, especially his newly worshiped military advisor Zhuge Kongming, who is truly a national scholar."
Liu Qi is obviously still too young. At this time, in fact, all he needs to say is that he has achieved this meager achievement only because of being under the influence of his father. He will still need more teachings from his father in the future.
Moreover, when he talked about Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's help to him, he kept talking as if opening a floodgate, so much so that he didn't notice a flash of displeasure in Liu Biao's eyes.
After he finished his speech, Liu Biao chuckled and said calmly: "During the war in the Central Plains, did Xuande mention to you about going north to Xuchang?"
"some."
Liu Qi blurted out subconsciously, and then realized that this problem was not due to the parents' shortcomings, and hurriedly said seriously: "But don't worry, father. Without father's military order, none of the soldiers and horses in Changsha County dare to go out!"
Liu Biao just smiled slightly and didn't dig deeper, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Next, the conversation between father and son seemed very dry, and they seemed to be a little absent-minded. The imagined father and son's filial piety disappeared in an instant, leaving only mechanical questions and answers.
"Father, if you are tired of the child, I will help you go back to rest." Seeing Liu Biao yawning, Liu Qi hurriedly suggested filially.
Liu Biao nodded slightly, but did not extend his hand for support. Instead, he asked, "What kind of person do you think Xuande is?"
"A benevolent and righteous king, who cares about the world and takes it as his own duty to help the Han Dynasty, is a pillar of the imperial court. The child has benefited a lot from spending time with the emperor's uncle day and night these days."
When Liu Bei was mentioned, Liu Qi's eyes shone again, like a fanboy canvassing votes for his idol.
Maybe he didn't realize it himself, but unknowingly, he was impressed by Liu Bei's personal charm and willingly followed all his suggestions.
Of course, the main reason was that Liu Qi firmly believed that the emperor's uncle was sincere in helping him take over the throne.
Not to mention, the governance of Changsha County is in order, and Liu Qi's reputation is naturally spread in Jingxiang. This is completely dependent on Liu Bei.
In this process, of course it was because of Zhuge Liang's good governance and broad connections, but wasn't it also because of Liu Bei that Zhuge Liang was willing to assist him?
Liu Biao looked deeply at his eldest son and hesitated to speak.
He wanted to say something, but he didn't know where to start. He just sighed and said with a wry smile: "Actually, the Cai family was also determined to serve the country at the beginning."
Liu Biao knew in his heart that if it weren't for the power of the Cai family, Liu Qi would not have grasped at straws after getting Liu Bei's help.
However, it is necessary to be wary of others. Many times, people can only share hardships, but not wealth.
Who can guarantee that Liu Bei will not become the second Cai Mao when he gains power in the future?
Early the next morning, Liu Biao first led Liu Qi, Liu Cong and the younger generations of the family to the ancestral temple to pay homage, and then held an autumn harvest temple fair at the school grounds in Xiangyang City.
"General, everything is ready. We have ambushed two thousand elite cavalry, two thousand axemen, and one thousand crossbowmen outside Fancheng. As long as Liu Bei leaves the city, no matter how brave Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are, they can't stop our army from ambush." Kill!" Zhang Yun, who was Cai Mao's right-hand man, approached and whispered the military situation.
At the temple fair, Liu Qi was smiling and chatting with the heads of aristocratic families from all over the world, and Liu Bei was also following him to get acquainted with them.
In fact, in addition to his status as the emperor's uncle, Liu Bei, as Lu Zhi's disciple, still had many people he was willing to make friends with.
Especially now, the imperial edict that Liu Cong went to Xuchang has not changed. Everyone feels that this matter is 80% stable. In other words, Liu Qi's appointment is certain, and Liu Bei shares the same father-son relationship with him. Of course, he is no longer as poor as before. It doesn't hurt to make friends with the emperor's uncle who is at the end of his life.
Cai Hao, who saw all this in his eyes, snorted coldly, his eyes filled with coldness.
In Cai Mao's opinion, the fact that Liu Cong was in office for too long and too well was entirely Liu Bei's fault. During this period, Liu Biao and the Cai family had been contacting important officials in the court. Cai Mao even trusted Cao Cao, but there was no improvement at all. The reply was just one sentence Say it, brother, it’s not that my brother won’t help you, Liu Bei keeps causing trouble, and I can’t use my strength.
Cai Mao was convinced of this, because he himself could not completely control Liu Biao, so of course the culprit was Liu Bei.
"I can't trust other people. You must rush to the outside of Fancheng in person to ambush at dusk. I will lead my troops to pursue you from behind, and immediately double-team you in front and behind. Just to see what this man who weaves mats and sells shoes, butchers pigs and sells beans, can do. Can’t escape!”
"Here!"
Cai Mao considered it very carefully. Killing Liu Bei was not a big problem, because Cao Cao would give him an imperial edict at that time, but he must not kill Liu Bei under Liu Biao's nose, otherwise it would provoke a head-on conflict.
Fancheng is a good place. It is separated from Xiangyang by the Han River and is the only way for Liu Bei to return to Changsha.
After explaining all this, Cai Mao never took his eyes away from Liu Bei. He just kept watching him get closer to the heads of the major families, with a cold light in his eyes that he chose to devour.
No matter how you look at it, you will despise it.
This group of people likes to accuse Liu Bei of being hypocritical and deceiving the world. In the final analysis, they just look down on his background of weaving mats and selling shoes.
This is the same as the reason why the princes of major aristocratic families look down on Lu Bu.
The sun was setting, and the temple fair had actually ended long ago, but not everyone would be in a hurry to leave that day, but Liu Bei was planning to return to Changsha first.
Cai Mao watched him dutifully get on the boat and cross the Han River, and then he was completely relieved.
However, when he accompanied Liu Biao back to Xiangyang City, he found an excuse to escape, then took a boat across the water, and led his men to chase him all the way to Fancheng, where he ran into Zhang Yun, but Liu Bei was nowhere to be seen.
"What's going on? After crossing the water, there is only one way back to Changsha. Why don't we see Liu Bei?" Cai Mao was confused. They had hundreds of people with them, how could they disappear out of thin air.
"General! General!"
Just when Cai Hao and Zhang Yun were confused, a horseman chased them from behind, "We were fooled. It turned out that Liu Bei did not take the land route after crossing the water. He turned back and got on the boat and went to Jiangxia along the Han River!"
"impossible!"
Cai Mao, eyes wide open, shouted: "Liu Bei came by land. Where did he get the warships to take the Han River?"
"Just now a boatman saw their men boarding Huang Zu's warship!"
After the scout finished speaking, Cai Mao realized that he had forgotten about Huang Zu. From Jiangxia to Xiangyang, he took the Han River and took a boat all the way upstream.
But Cai Mao did not panic, and snorted coldly: "Immediately send fast horses to the downstream ferry and order to intercept Huang Zu's warship. I will lead the navy to pursue it by boat!"
"Here!"
Of course doing this would offend Huang Zu, but Cai Mao was not afraid of him. In terms of family power, the Huang family was not as good as the Cai family in terms of military prestige, and even Liu Biao might not be as popular as him.
To put it bluntly, even if Huang Zu doesn't agree when the time comes, he, Cai Mao, won't be afraid of Huang Zu if he really takes action in water fighting.
Going down the Han River from Xiangyang, there is a ferry crossing fifty miles away, which is guarded by the Jingzhou navy. As long as Huang Zu's warship is stopped, Liu Bei will still die.
With this belief, Cai Hao directly launched twenty red horse speedboats and a large ship to pursue them.
Huang Zu's eight warships were indeed intercepted by the downstream ferry, but Cai Mao did not come, and no one dared to board the ships to search for people.
After all, Huang Zu was the governor of Jiangxia, and with the strength of the Huang family, ordinary people would not dare to provoke him.
Cai Hao was not polite at all after catching up, and directly ordered their warships to be surrounded, while he himself shouted to Huang Zu to hand him over.
"General, Liu Bei is not on my ship. If you don't believe it, just get on the ship and search." Huang Zu leaned on the ship's pole on the deck with his hands folded, with an indifferent attitude on his face.
"Search!" Cai Mao waved his hand, and the soldiers gathered up.
When the soldiers came back to report one by one, Cai Mao was confused again. Liu Guanzhang was nowhere to be seen on the boat.
What the hell, could Liu Bei have wings and fly away?
At this time, it was already dark. Cai Mao was angry and annoyed, and he could not detain Huang Zu's people for torture and interrogation without any reason. He could only let people search them thoroughly again, but still found nothing, and finally left with a curse.
By the time he returned to Xiangyang, it was already past his ugly time.
However, Cai did not sleep, because there had been no news about the battle in Fancheng, so she guessed that Liu Bei must have taken the waterway, and could only wait patiently for Cai Mao's battle report.
Even if Liu Bei doesn't die, she won't be able to sleep.
"I understand, you've all been fooled."
When Cai Mao told Cai what happened, the latter cursed: "Liu Bei must have boarded Huang Zu's ship first, and then disembarked on the way and took the land route, so your people couldn't find him at all!"
"Hateful! The big-eared thief is really hateful, and he actually teased me like this!" When Cai Hao heard this, he was so angry that his back teeth were almost broken. He never thought that in Xiangyang, his home ground, he could be tricked by someone who weaves mats and sells shoes. Round and round.
Shame, such a shame and humiliation.
"It must have been A Chou's man who gave him the idea. That boy is not an easy man. If I look for an opportunity later, I must teach him a lesson!" According to seniority, A Chou Huang Yueying is the niece of their siblings. Naturally, the same is true for Zhuge Liang and the others. Some understanding.
"Okay, what's the use of talking about it now."
Cai frowned, feeling that her stupid brother was so stupid that he could not defeat Liu Bei even though he sent out thousands of men.
Now that she was fine, Liu Cong's stay in Jingzhou was ruined. She didn't know what to do for a while, pacing back and forth in the room, her heavy chest rising and falling like her mood.
Cai Mao sat cross-legged on the mat, unable to do anything but beat his thighs in annoyance.
After waiting for several months, I finally waited for such an opportunity, but it was wasted. It is really annoying.
The two siblings were like this, one pacing back and forth, the other beating their chests and struggling until midnight. It was almost dawn and they still didn't come up with a feasible plan.
"If it doesn't work, I'll go to Xuchang to meet Meng De in person!" Cai Hao felt that there was no other way.
Ms. Cai ignored him. In her opinion, if it could be done, she should have agreed long ago after sending so much money and food. If it can't be done, what's the point of going.
Finally, Ms. Cai finally stopped, her eyes turned from uneasiness to coldness, and finally to determination, and she sat down in front of Cai Mao.
"For today's plan, there is only one feasible way." Her voice was very soft, but it was not difficult to hear that an important decision had been made.
"Sister, please tell me." Cai Hao became interested and hurriedly sat upright.
Ms. Cai did not answer him immediately, but picked up the lamp stick on the side and kept rolling the wick. The dancing fire finally slowly extinguished, and she exhaled a breath of orchid breath, "If Cong'er is wearing Xiao, then According to court law, he cannot leave Jingzhou within three years."
Cai Mao took a breath, swallowed his saliva and stared at the sister in front of him. At this moment, he felt that the person in front of him was strange.
He didn't even dare to think about this kind of thing, how his sister could make up her mind.
"Are you afraid?" Through the dim light outside the window, Ms. Cai saw the fear on Cai Mao's face.
"But, but"
"Don't worry, I know what to do and leave no trace."
Cai's autumn-like eyes reflected the coldness, and the corners of her mouth were slightly outlined, "It always takes some time to prepare. There are still three months. You can also use this period of time to visit the Kuai family and the Pang family more. Don't let them get into trouble. .”
"Okay, okay, sister, don't worry." Cai Mao nodded slowly, as if she hadn't recovered from this shocking decision.
Obviously, Mr. Cai is more like a person who does great things, and just murmured coldly, "For Cong'er, I will do anything for Cong'er, and no one can take Cong'er away from me."
(End of chapter)
