In Panlongzhai, Jingzhou, Liu Yizheng, who was "seriously ill", and Xi Sengshi, the Nanman captain, were playing chess in the house, fighting in black and white, and they were inseparable.

Xi Sengshi put down a sunspot, stroked his beard and said, "Brother Xile, count the time and it's almost time for me to leave the capital and come to Jiangling."

Liu Yi stared at the chessboard, thinking about where to move, and replied: "Yuan Zhi (Liu Fan) (1) wrote a letter to Yu when he left Guangling, and he should arrive in mid-October."

"Brother Xile, are you going to ask Yuan Zhi to go to Wuling, Jianping, and Tianmen to recruit troops, and then attack Qiaoshu?"

Liu Yi placed the white piece on the chessboard, reached for the tea beside him, took a sip, and said: "Huituo (the courtesy name of Xi Sengshi) is worthy of being Yu's good friend. He guessed Yu's thoughts right away. Liu Yuzhang won the victory over Yan.

The country has become famous in the world, why should Yu be weaker than him? In just two years, Yu can raise 40,000 soldiers and horses, pacify Qiaoshu, and let the world see that Liu Nanping is not inferior to Liu Yuzhang."

Xi Sengshi held the chess pieces between his hands and pointed at the chessboard and said: "It's a great chess game, each one has half."

Liu Yi smiled and said: "It should be three-thirds of the world. Don't forget that there is also Yang Hongnong."

The two were chatting and joking, and the attendant called softly from outside the door: "My lord, Hongnong Gong sent someone to deliver a letter."

Liu Yi was stunned. He had no friendship with Yang Anxuan and had never exchanged letters in private. The last time Yang Anxuan gave up Dangyang City, he was probably too frightened by his own power to hand over the counties and counties together.

"

"Send it up," Liu Yi commanded in a deep voice.

The letter was very thick, so Liu Yi did not rush to tear open the seal. Instead, he pointed at the words on the envelope and said with a teasing smile to Monk Xi: "Yang Hongnong's literary name is famous all over the world. This handwriting can compete with Liu Yuzhang."

When Liu Yu was a child, his family was poor. He was only fluent in calligraphy and his handwriting was ugly. Liu Muzhi asked him to intentionally make his handwriting larger, which could hide his clumsiness and make him powerful. When Liu Yi got together with the gentry and literati, Liu Yu was often mentioned.

The words are funny.

Monk Xi smiled while stroking his beard and said: "If you are inferior to Duke Yu Zhang in terms of martial arts, and inferior to Duke Hong Nong in terms of poetry, but in terms of writing and painting, these two people are beyond your reach, Duke Nan Ping."

Liu Yi laughed proudly, tore open the letter and opened it to read. After reading a few lines, he stood up in shock and knocked the chessboard in front of him away. The black and white pieces scattered on the table, making it a mess.

Seeing Liu Yi's change of color, Xi Sengshi asked hurriedly: "Brother Xile, what did Yang Anxuan say in the letter?"

Liu Yi quickly read the letter and handed it to Xi Sengshi with a pale face, saying: "Yang Anxuan said that Liu Yu had corrected his decree and killed Yuan Zhi and Shu Yuan (Xie Hun), and was raising an army to attack."

Xi Sengshi's hand trembled when he took the letter, and he said anxiously: "How is it possible? Yang Anxuan is lying. How dare Lieutenant Liu risk the disapproval of the world to come and attack the lord."

Liu Yi paced around the room quickly and loudly ordered: "Hurry and prepare your horses, I want to go to the Governor's Mansion."

The lobby of Jingzhou Governor's Office was full of people. Liu Yi was much calmer at this time, but Xi Sengshi was a little restless.

Liu Yi coughed twice, and everyone fell silent. Liu Yi said: "I have received an urgent report that someone pretended to be the right general Liu Fan and came to attack Jiangling. No matter whether it is true or not, we must not slack off."

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief, and some were suspicious. Xi Sengshi bowed and saluted and said: "The imperial court ordered Duke Nanping to take charge of Jingzhou. He has the responsibility to guard the land. Please give the order to Duke Nanping."

Most of these people were officials brought by Liu Yi from Jiang and Henan provinces. They were quite loyal to Liu Yi. They all raised their hands and said, "We are willing to listen to Duke Nanping's orders."

Liu Yi said to Yang Sui, who was proposing to join the army: "Send someone to send a message to Zhao Hui in Xiakou quickly and ask him to intercept the ships coming to Jiangling. If there is any abnormality, make a decision immediately."

"Zhu Xianzhi, lead 3,000 troops to garrison Baling; Zhao Cai, lead 300 warships and 6,000 soldiers to guard Yuzhangkou; Huituo, hurry up and recruit troops, and try to recruit 5,000 troops within a month."

As orders were passed down one after another, the whole Jingzhou became tense. Many people found that there were many more soldiers patrolling Jiangling City. War horses came and went from time to time. The number of merchant ships on the river became scarce. Could it be that there was another war?

Champion General Tan Daoji, Jianwu General Shen Linzi and Ningshuo General Liu Zhong led a hundred ships as the vanguard and rushed all the way to attack Jiangling.

Shen Linzi suggested to Tan Daoji: "It is difficult to cover up people's eyes and ears during a long-distance attack. It is better to pretend to be Liu Fan and go to Jiangling. The guards along the way will not be suspicious."

Tan Daoji adopted Shen Linzi's strategy and hung the flags of the right general Liu Fan on the left and right sides of the battleship. As expected, the journey was smooth and unimpeded, all the way to Xiakou.

Xiakou is where the Han River enters the Yangtze River. It is the only place where Xiangyang and Jiangling go to Xunyang. It is under the jurisdiction of Jiangxia County in Jingzhou. After Liu Yi came to serve as the governor of Jingzhou, he replaced a large number of officials in Jingzhou counties and counties. The location of Jiangxia County is so important. , Liu Yi appointed his confidant General Ningshuo Zhao Hui as the prefect.

Zhao Hui received an urgent letter from Jiangling, informing him that someone was pretending to be the right general Liu Fan to attack Jiangling. It is self-evident who dared to pretend to be Liu Fan, but as a subordinate of Nanping Gong, Zhao Hui must of course obey Liu Yi's orders.

Zhao Hui immediately led his troops from Jiangxia County to Xiakou, and ordered the navy stationed in Xiakou to block the river and search for ships coming from the east.

Half a day later, Tan Daoji's warship arrived at the Xiakou River. When he saw the sails covering the sky and the sun on the river, he felt darkly, wondering if the news had been leaked.

Tan Daoji secretly ordered the warship to be ready, and asked the signalman to wave the flag and ask questions and ask for release.

Zhao Hui was on a boat in the middle of the river. When he saw the ship coming from the opposite side, he said that it was indeed the ship of General Liu Fan heading to Jiangling. Zhao Hui said: "Tell them, General Zhao Hui, General Ningshuo, the former general of Right General, asked him to go to Xiakou for a break." He washes away the dust and catches the wind."

Tan Daoji felt something was wrong. He knew that Zhao Hui was the governor of Jiangxia County and Liu Yi's favorite general. Why did he come to Xiakou? It seemed that he could not get through. He immediately ordered: "Charge over."

Zhao Hui saw the opponent's ships suddenly speeding up, but he was already prepared, and his powerful crossbows exploded, tearing apart the first few warships that charged.

Tan Daoji saw the large number of soldiers and horses in Jingzhou and ordered the evacuation of Zhengrongzhou, which is twenty miles downstream of Xiakou. Liu Yi stationed his troops here after defeating He Danzhi and capturing Fankou.

Liu Yu's army was in Xunyang. After receiving the news that Tan Daoji was blocked in Xiakou, he led his army to Zhengrongzhou on the third day.

Liu Yi received an urgent report from Zhao Hui and learned that Liu Yu was coming with an army of 40,000 troops. He was panicked and sat in the hall in despair. On the surface, he was not afraid of Liu Yu, but in fact he was deeply afraid of Liu Yu's combat power. , if the two armies were to fight, Liu Yi would not have the confidence to defeat Liu Yu at all.

When Yang Sui proposed to join the army, he saw that Liu Yi was confused and said: "My lord, you need to be calm and respond to the situation. The imperial court must have misunderstood the lord when it sent troops to attack. Why doesn't the lord send someone to the capital to appeal to the emperor and ask the court to withdraw the troops?" "

Now that the situation has come to an end, Liu Yi said repeatedly: "That's right, please quickly appeal to the imperial court and request a withdrawal of troops."

When Xi Sengshi saw Liu Yi and learned that Liu Yu's army was approaching the border, he was not at all calm and elegant as usual, and he secretly regretted in his heart. If he had known that Liu Yi was just a man, why would he abandon Danyang Yin and choose Nanman captain.

At this moment, he was on the same boat with Liu Yi. Liu Yu even killed Shangshu's left servant She Xiehun, so naturally he would not let him go. Thinking of this, Xi Seng said: "My lord, the imperial army has 40,000 people. Xiakou is afraid that

It was difficult to resist, so General Zhao abandoned Xiakou at the cost of his life and returned to Yuzhangkou to fight Liu Yu to the death."

Liu Yi thought for a while and said: "Yes, go quickly and notify Zhao Hui and let him return to Yuzhangkou. Yu still has 30,000 troops in his hands, enough to fight Liu Yu to the death."

"Liu Taiwei has always been afraid of Duke Hongnong. Why don't your lord ask for help from Duke Hongnong? As long as the Yongzhou army goes south, Liu Yu will not dare to go deep alone. He must send heavy troops to garrison Xiakou to prevent his retreat from being cut off." Xi Sengshi continued.

"Not bad." Liu Yi spat out the word "not bad" again. When he mentioned Yang Anxuan, Liu Yi calmed down a little and said: "Liu Yu came to attack Jingzhou in the name of the emperor, but it was Duke Hongnong who informed Yu. He

I definitely don’t want to see Liu Yu using the name of the Emperor to eliminate dissidents. As long as Yongzhou soldiers and horses are willing to help, why should we be afraid of Liu Jinnu?”

In Xiakou, Zhao Hui led his troops to withdraw overnight. The imperial navy suddenly appeared and engaged in a melee in the dark night. At dawn, the wreckage of warships was scattered on the river, with dots of flames and black smoke drifting away. Zhao Hui will transport the baggage ships

He abandoned them and fled towards Jiangling with more than 200 warships.

At that time, the imperial troops and horses moved to Xiakou City. The county magistrate Shen Yu brought the gentry in the city to work for the army. Liu Yu comforted him with words and sent Longxiang General Yu Qiujin to lead 2,000 troops into the city, using Xiakou City as a base.

Baggage, grain and grass are transferred here.

At the temporary camp, Liu Yu summoned the generals to discuss matters. The movement of the Yongzhou army was the biggest controversy. General Ningshuo Zang Xi believed that the Yong army was being troubled by the Qin army and had no time to go south. General Wang Zhongde suggested that he issue an edict in the name of the imperial court to let the Yongzhou army go south.

Yang Anxuan could not intervene in the battle of Jingjing; Shen Tianzi, who joined the army in the Taiwei Mansion, thought that he should be careful to prevent the Yongzhou army from taking advantage of the fishermen...

There are different opinions, Liu Yu said: "Jingzhou soldiers and horses already knew that the imperial troops and horses were coming to attack, and the plan of the sneak attack failed. The army rested for a few days and stocked up on food in Xiakou. When the troops were sent out, they sent spies to Xiangyang to inquire about the news and wait for the confirmed information from Yongzhou.

We’ll talk about it later.”

Shen Tianzi, who joined the army in the Taiwei Mansion, vaguely knew the inside story. After Liu Yu was appointed Taiwei, a powerful person in Xiangyang secretly communicated with him. Apparently, the Taiwei was waiting for news from Xiangyang.

On October 20, a secret letter was delivered to Liu Yu. It was a letter from Xiang Chou, the head of the Xiang family in Xiangyang. Liu Yu was speechless for a long time after reading the secret letter.

Yang Anxuan sent the Qin army to attack Shangluo. Liu Yu thought that the Yongzhou army would be too tired to cope with it. Unexpectedly, Yang Anxuan counterattacked and broke through the Aoguan Pass, threatening Chang'an.

Not only that, Yang Anxuan mobilized five troops and horses to attack Qin together, with the potential to destroy Qin. From Xiang Chou's letter, it is estimated that the number of troops attacking Qin was at least 70,000, plus the garrison troops, Yong Yanliang Division and others

The number of soldiers and horses on earth exceeded one hundred thousand.

Liu Yu was horrified. He had always thought that the number of soldiers and horses in the imperial court was twice that of Yong Yan's army, so he planned to seize Xiangyang after destroying Yan. Now it seems that it is fortunate that he did not do it, otherwise he might have gone and never returned.

If he knew that Yong Yan was so powerful, he would not regard Liu Yi as the first target to be eliminated, but would first join forces with Liu Yi to suppress Yang Anxuan. In comparison, Yang Anxuan poses a far greater threat to him than Liu Yi.

Now that I have killed Liu Fan and Xie Hun, I have no choice but to fire the arrow on the string. I can only hope that Yang Anxuan will lose his troops when he attacks Qin, and his vitality will be severely damaged. After successfully defeating Liu Yi, he will go north and take advantage of Yong Yan's soldiers and horses to be trapped in Qin.
Chapter completed!