Chapter 244: Jingzhou Heroes
In Jingnan, after learning about the situation in Yuzhou from Zhang Fei who led his troops to assist, Liu Bei did not say much, but just sighed deeply.
Zhang Fei and Tian Yu have tried their best. This may be the best outcome and the inevitable result after compromise among all parties.
However, when Liu Bei later learned that Cao Cao had sent troops to Nanyang, he was shocked.
"Changwen, why did Cao Mengde attack Nanyang?"
Liu Bei knew Cao Cao very well and was aware of the current situation. He could not think of any reason why Cao Cao would attack Nanyang. Did Cao Cao think that the Wenpin Army in Nanyang was made of paper?
As long as they can hold out for more than half a month, Cao Cao will have to withdraw his troops when the two Yuans get the news, and he may even lose some territory.
Chen Qun was also puzzled, but he quickly reacted: "Cai Mao!"
"It must be Cai Mao!"
Chen Qun's face turned pale when he noticed the problem.
Compared to domestic affairs, he was not weak in military strategy and general situation, but he was still far behind Xi Zhicai. That was why he was suppressed by the opponent in strategy.
"My lord, we are incompetent and are willing to accept the punishment." After Chen Qun expressed his guess, he apologized to Liu Bei.
How could Liu Bei blame Chen Qun? He quickly helped him up and said, "Why do you say that? Entering Jingzhou is a necessary strategy. Cao Mengde's plan to seize Yuzhou is because I am not strong enough. What does it have to do with Changwen's plan?"
"Besides, hasn't Nanyang been lost yet? With Zhongye and Guo Rang here, Cao Mengde will definitely not be able to take Nanyang."
After hearing Liu Bei's comfort, Chen Qun still felt extremely guilty and could not help but look towards the direction of Xiangyang.
There are many talented people in Jingchu, and we must recruit one or two people who are good at military strategy for our lord. Otherwise, not only will our strength be weak, but we will also be suppressed in military strategy. How can we turn the situation around?
"Changwen, should we support Nanyang and go to Xiangyang now, or continue to pacify Jingnan?" Liu Bei asked.
"My lord, it's too late to send support now. With Cai Mao interfering, even if the cavalry makes a long-distance raid, it will probably take more than half a month to reach Nanyang."
"If Nanyang is lost, we have no objection to going to Xiangyang. If the country allows them to survive for half a month, we don't need to go to Nanyang and Xiangyang."
"Therefore, what we should do most now is to quell the rebellion in southern Jing as soon as possible." Chen Qun analyzed calmly.
Although he was tricked by Xi Zhicai, Chen Qun had to continue following the route he had planned.
Otherwise, if he went back and fought Cao Cao to the death, he would not be able to please both sides and would completely lose the chance to take control of Jingzhou, and it would even be difficult for him to protect himself.
Now he could only pray that Wen Pin and Tian Yu were strong enough to hold off Cao Cao's attack.
Soon, bad news came one after another. As soon as Cao Cao arrived in Nanyang, all the counties in Nanyang were basically lost, leaving only Wancheng.
However, the news of the fall of Wancheng has not yet arrived.
In the first two days, Liu Bei was quite worried, but later he gradually calmed down.
It was not until the news came that Wen Pin had fought with Cao Cao for five days and Wancheng had not yet fallen that Liu Bei was completely relieved.
He was right.
Wen Pin was only slightly better than Tian Yu, and using him as a general was completely enough to resist the warlords in the Central Plains to the north.
Completely relieved, Liu Bei began to continue suppressing the rebellion.
With the assistance of Reckless Zhang Fei, the speed of suppressing the rebellion in Jingnan was greatly accelerated. In just over two months, the Jingnan rebellion that had caused Liu Biao so much headaches was suppressed.
Of course, a good general is also needed to help, and that is Huang Zhong.
Tian Ze always felt sorry for Huang Zhong. His son Huang Xu's illness had been cured by Tian Ze a few years ago, but although Huang Zhong was very grateful, he did not join him.
Huang's family was a big family in Jingzhou, and they had a strong sense of regionalism, so it was not surprising that Huang Zhong made such a choice. Even when Tian Ze was promoted to governor of Youzhou, he never gave up on recruiting Huang Zhong, but he never succeeded.
However, when Liu Bei put down the rebellion in southern Jing, he successfully recruited him under his command.
However, nothing can be perfect. Tian Ze was already satisfied with having three of the Five Tiger Generals. Huang Zhong was unwilling to go along with him, so it was not a good idea to force him.
After taking Jingnan, Liu Bei did not rush north to Xiangyang. Instead, he left most of his troops in Jingnan and marched north to Xiangyang alone with 30,000 soldiers.
With the general trend and the support of the people in mind, facing the almost legitimate Liu Bei, the aristocratic families of Jingzhou, although somewhat unwilling, still opened the gates of Xiangyang City.
As for Cai Mao, he had already seen the bad situation when Cao Cao withdrew to Yuzhou, so he led thousands of his trusted aides to the north of Yuzhou.
Before leaving, the Cai family decisively broke with him. When welcoming Liu Bei, they donated most of their family property and apologized for their crimes. The members of the clan were almost all disbanded, leaving only dozens of direct descendants.
For the aristocratic family, these are routine operations.
Although the broad-minded Liu Bei knew the twists and turns behind this, he still magnanimously helped the head of the Cai family up, comforted him, and gave him many rewards to appease his heart.
Upon seeing this, the noble families of Jingzhou also breathed a sigh of relief.
While feeling impressed by Liu Bei's genuine benevolence, I also had more recognition of Liu Bei as the lord of Jingzhou.
After Liu Bei took over Jingzhou, he did not neglect Liu Biao's original team. Instead, he recruited them all under his command and appeased them, and even used them more than Liu Biao.
Moreover, with the recommendation of Chen Qun, Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue and others, he vigorously promoted talented local people in Jingzhou such as Yi Ji and Xiang Lang.
He even condescended to visit in person, showing the spirit of Emperor Gaozu. His eagerness to seek talents attracted countless wise men to come and join him.
At the same time, Liu Bei stabilized people's livelihood in Jingzhou, implemented benevolent policies, and promoted his own ideas everywhere. Relying on his extraordinary charm and talent, he quickly gained the trust and support of the people of Jingzhou.
At this point, the situation in Jingzhou was completely stabilized by Liu Bei. Although Nanyang was swept away by Cao Cao, the entire Jingzhou still had a population of nearly four million and was quite wealthy.
After Liu Bei made friends with Liu Yan, the diplomatic environment of the entire Jingzhou became relatively stable, and he only needed to be wary of the Central Plains and Yangzhou.
With Wen Pin guarding Nanyang and Tian Yu guarding Jiangxia, Liu Bei began to focus on domestic affairs, preparing to wait for an opportunity to return to the Central Plains or seize Jiangdong.
However, Chen Qun, Kuai Yue and others set their sights on Yizhou.
After all, compared with the heroes in the Central Plains and Sun Ce, who is in the limelight in Jiangdong, Liu Yan is much easier to deal with.
Moreover, Liu Yan is now over 60 years old and seems to be in poor health. His three sons are detained in Chang'an, and only the third son is by his side, without the appearance of a leader.
If he had "unfortunately" died, with Liu Bei's current reputation, it would be natural for him to take control of Yizhou and take charge of the situation.
It has to be said that this trip to Jingzhou brought Chen Qun a lot of benefits.
Although we lost Yuzhou, it was still a gain overall.
Staying in the Central Plains, where there are many heroes and constant wars, is definitely not a long-term solution. It is better to develop peacefully for a while.
At this point, as winter approaches, the world's conflicts have temporarily come to an end, and a new pattern has been formed.
Tian Ze dominated Hebei, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao occupied the Central Plains, Liu Bei was lurking in Jingzhou, Sun Ce was conquering Yangzhou, and the other princes were also busy developing their businesses, preparing for the chaos of the following year.
(End of this chapter)
