Just when Sima Yi's words turned the topic to Jingzhou, something big was about to happen in Jingzhou. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, it was the 65th birthday of Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou.

Speaking of which, Liu Biao has been in charge for 16 years. Although the rule is not good, the people here have a relatively better life than other prefectures and counties in the world. At least the Jiangnan area has not been attacked by war for more than ten years. The people are grateful to Liu Jingzhou and want to take this opportunity to show filial piety to this state governor who is quite enlightened to the people.

Liu Biao is now 64 years old. In another month, he will reach 65 years old. In that year, it is really a blessing to be able to live to Liu Biao's age. What's more, the Han people have always valued the fifth and tenths. Since Liu Biao passed the hurdle of sixty, his health has been getting worse and worse. He knows that he is approaching. Therefore, he attaches great importance to the birthday of 65 years old. As early as two months ago, he had already written a letter to the officials of the nine counties of Jingxiang. During the Chinese New Year, officials from various counties gathered in Xiangyang to celebrate the birthday together and welcome the New Year together.

Of course, these are all superficially. Liu Biao held a birthday party with such a big fanfare. In private, only a few people know about it. There is another reason.

In recent years, due to the weakening of health, Liu Biao has been bedridden for at least half a year. The internal affairs are all dependent on the greeting of his wife Cai. The external affairs are all entrusted to Cai Mao, Kuai Liang and others. Everyone knows that Liu Biao has been alive for a few years. Therefore, the successor candidate for Jingzhou has naturally attracted more and more attention. In fact, the private competition for the seat of the master of Jingzhou has been in full swing.

Although Liu Biao is eight feet tall and has a romantic and charming woman's heart, his fertility is obviously not as good as Cao Cao, who is only 1.6 meters tall. It is said that Cao Cao has twenty-five sons and there is no way to verify the number of daughters. Liu Biao is in his sixties this year, but he only has three sons. The youngest son Liu Xiu is still young and has not yet been able to compete for the position of Jingzhou. The only ones who are truly qualified are Liu Qi, Liu Cong and the power groups behind them.

Liu Qi is Liu Biao's eldest son. He was born to Liu Biao's ex-wife. He is 25 years old this year. Because of his appearance very similar to Liu Biao, Liu Biao loved this eldest son very much at first. If there weren't some episodes in the middle that he gradually changed his mind. Perhaps he would have entrusted Jingzhou to Liu Qi without hesitation.

This episode is about this group of people like Liu Cong, the Cai family of Xiangyang, Cai Mao, and Zhang Yun.

Liu Cong was also born to Liu Biao's wife. Just because he was the second son, he naturally did not have the status of Liu Qi as the eldest son of Liu Qi. But he was not as tall and handsome as his brother Liu Qi. Originally, Liu Cong didn't have much chance to compete with his brother for Jingzhou. But Liu Qi had his own blessings or wisdom.

A few years ago, Liu Cong married the niece of his stepmother Cai and used this channel to please his stepmother Cai. He also formed a deep relationship with Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, the local tyrants in Jingzhou. With these actions, Liu Cong gained the capital to compete with his brother for Jingzhou little by little.

Cai is Liu Biao's second wife. She was very happy because of her beauty. Unfortunately, she didn't know if it was her or Liu Biao who was not good at it. She served Liu Biao for more than ten years and failed to give birth to a man and half a woman for Liu Biao. There was no way. She also needed to rely on Liu Cong to stabilize Cai's status in Jingzhou. So she treated Liu Cong, who married her niece, as her own son. She always blew the wind beside Liu Biao's ears, praised Liu Cong, and slandered Liu Qi.

Liu Biao was fascinated by the Cai family in his later years. There was Cai Mao, and Zhang Yun said openly and secretly that Liu Qi was not. Gradually, Liu Qi was no longer favored by Liu Biao. Liu Biao gradually intended to pass Jingzhou to Liu Cong. It was just because of Liu Qi's identity as the eldest son, which made Liu Biao hesitate.

The ancients always emphasized orderly in the elderly and the young. Since ancient times, the abolition of the elderly and the establishment of the young have been regarded as a way to cause disaster. Many people will inevitably oppose it. Moreover, the Cai family's power in Jingzhou is now very powerful. Giving up to Liu Qi will inevitably cause the Cai family to rebound. An internal strife is inevitable.

Giving up to the second son Liu Cong also made Liu Biao worry. With the character of Mrs. Cai and Cai Mao, Liu Qi will definitely not have a good ending after his failure. Moreover, there will be a risk of not being surnamed Liu in Jingzhou in the future. So who to choose as the heir? Liu Biao has been hesitating for several years but still has not made up his mind.

Although Liu Biao was not determined, the people under him had tried many efforts. Although Liu Qi was the eldest son and was kind and filial, he learned to be romantic from me since he was a child. He was addicted to alcohol and sex. He relied on his eldest son to fight for the throne at first. It was too late to regret it when he found out that the situation was not good. The most powerful Cai family in Jingzhou and Kuai family had already stood in the team and clearly supported Liu Cong to inherit the main position. In contrast, Liu Qi was lonely and had few supporters around him.

Now there is any important activity every time. Both sides will fight for it privately. With the support of the Cai family of Jingzhou, Liu Cong has become more and more active on the surface. Liu Qi's situation is becoming more and more dangerous. This time Liu Biao celebrates his birthday. Liu Cong and Cai both want to make a conclusion on the matter of becoming a crown prince through this birthday. Liu Qi also hopes to win back his father's wishes through his performance on this birthday.

Although the situation is bad, Liu Qi is not completely unchanged. That is, the left general who is in Nanyang and holds tens of thousands of troops, Liu Bei, the governor of Yuzhou.

In the county government of Wancheng, Nanyang County, a handsome scholar with a handsome figure and a feather fan and a scarf said with concern: "Lord, in my opinion, you should agree to the eldest son's request. The eldest son's letter has already begged like this. Could it be that lord would rather see Jingzhou fall into the hands of Cai Mao's group of wine bags?"

"Military advisor, it's not that I want to see the Cai clan in charge of Jingzhou and that the crown prince can be established. After all, it's the family affairs of Brother Jingsheng. I am an outsider. Why do I have the nerve to interrupt?"

On the main seat of the hall, a man wearing a brocade robe with his ears hanging down his shoulders and his hands over his knees shook his hand and replied. The man's lips were red and his teeth were white. There was always a hint of kindness between his eyebrows and eyes. It made people feel so moved that they could not help but feel close to him.

That's right. These two are Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang who have not appeared for a long time.

If it follows the true direction of history, Liu Bei was not able to manage Liu Biao's establishment of a crown prince. At this time in history, Liu Bei was trapped in Xinye County. He had only a few thousand soldiers. All the money and grain was supported by Liu Biao from Xiangyang.

At that time, Liu Bei people were under the eaves. They had to rely on Liu Biao to breathe in their noses. It was not possible to protect themselves. How could they have the heart to care about Liu Biao's establishment of the crown prince?

But it's different now. Because Zhuge Liang came out early. Liu Bei's fate began to change from the battle of Guandu. Zhuge Liang operated from it. Liu Bei got a good opportunity in Wancheng and established a foundation in Nanyang in one fell swoop. In the past few years, he relied on Zhuge Liang's in-law relationship with the wealthy families of Jingzhou. He once established a good relationship with Cai, Kuai, Pang, and Huang. With the help of these people, he gained control of Nanyang with legitimate control.

Cai Mao and others were willing to help Liu Bei, mainly because they looked at Zhuge Liang's face. Secondly, it was because they valued the tens of thousands of troops in his hands. They hoped to win him over to the Cai family and strengthen their power. But Liu Bei was not a person who was willing to surrender. He was the one who relied on nepotism to gain military power. Liu Bei looked down on Cai Mao from the bottom of his heart. He started to ask for Cai Mao. After he gained a foothold in Nanyang, Liu Bei gradually lost contact with Cai Mao.

Although Cai Mao hated Liu Bei for being ungrateful, he had no choice but to do anything. Nanyang, under the management of Zhuge Liang, a political genius, was well-mannered in the internal affairs and was as solid as an iron barrel. It became a powerful force in Jingzhou that was not in conflict with Cai Mao.

Not being held in Cai Mao means not being held in Liu Biao. Of course, Liu Bei was inevitably suspicious of Liu Biao. Some time ago, Zhang Liao attacked the Xianbei in the north. Liu Bei personally went to Xiangyang to ask Liu Biao to attack Xuchang while Hebei was empty and seized the land of Henan. However, Liu Biao pretended to be pondered and rejected it. It is true that Liu Biao accepted Wen Yuan's benefits. The suspicion of Liu Bei cannot be ignored.

After all, something happened before. The 50,000 troops he gave Liu Bei had never been back. Nanyang has now become an area not under Liu Biao's actual jurisdiction. This makes Liu Biao feel at ease with this virtuous brother.

Liu Bei also knew Liu Biao’s suspicion about him. So Liu Qi wrote three letters to him, but he received no response from him. He wanted to remain neutral first and manage his own acre of three-point land in a row. He then made plans after Liu Biao died.

Seeing that Liu Bei did not agree, Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan and said with a smile: "My lord is worried that Liu Jingsheng is suspicious, so he refuses to trek into this muddy water. In fact, things are not as you think. In my opinion, if the lord is really involved in this fun, it will reassure Liu Jingsheng."

Liu Bei asked curiously: "How do you say this from the military advisor?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "Lord, think about it. Liu Jingsheng is guarding against his lord. Are you still worried that you will take his Jingzhou? If you publicly support the eldest son Liu Qi, what will Liu Jingsheng and others think? Of course, Liu Jingsheng will think that his lord has not taken Jingzhou's heart. In this way, Jingsheng's heart will be at peace. As long as the lord helps Liu Qi successfully seize the throne, will the lord be in Jingzhou in the future? "

Liu Bei's eyes lit up and said, "A military advisor's words made me suddenly enlightened. It was just a military advisor. Then what should I do?"

Zhuge Liang whispered: "This time Liu Jingsheng's birthday is a good opportunity. The lord can do this like this... If he can seize the opportunity, there will definitely be great potential in the future."

Liu Bei nodded repeatedly when he heard this. Somehow, his thoughts turned to another aspect. He suddenly sighed and said with emotion: "Yes. Time cannot be wasted. I am afraid that it will not take long to face Zhang Liao's army. By the way, what news has been happening with Zhang Liao recently."

Zhuge Liang's eyes, which had always been confident, also rarely flashed a trace of solemnity. He said: "There is nothing special about Zhang Liao recently. He has been training troops and preparing to fight for Shouchun in the south. But something big happened to Cao Ang."

Liu Bei asked in surprise: "What a big deal."

Zhuge Liang said: "The envoy sent by Zhang Liao to meet Cao Ang was intercepted and killed halfway. It happened on Cao Ang's territory in Runan. Now, even if Cao Ang intends to surrender to Zhang Liao, he will be out of his way. I am afraid that at this moment, the envoy sent by Cao Ang to make good lords should have rushed here..."

Before Zhuge Liang finished speaking, he heard a report from his personal soldiers outside the hall: "Lord, Sima Lang, under Cao Ang's tent, said that he had something to ask for a meeting with the lord. The man had arrived at the inn."
Chapter completed!