The county seat of Nanjun is Jiangling, which is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River. It is a water and land transportation hub with constant exchanges of merchants and is very prosperous. Because the northern part of Nanjun was occupied by the imperial court, many scholars and wealthy families moved south, and Jiangling became more prosperous.
But the most prosperous area is Xiangyang.
The two places, one in the south and the other in the north, are 500 miles apart and directly connected by a road. The imperial army has pushed to Dangyang County, which is less than 200 miles away from Jiangling. People in the city are panicking.
Cai Mao was also panicked.
He was placed under house arrest.
I have been detained for more than a month since I went south in April.
The Cai family was the head of Nanjun County. The head of the family was actually imprisoned by his clan members. Cai Zan's branch gained great power in the clan and rebelled against heaven.
I was just afraid of his identity and didn't dare to kill him.
His father is Cai Xi, a famous scholar in Jingzhou, and his aunt is the wife of former Taiwei Zhang Wen. Old Taiwei Zhang is one of the current benefactors. Although he was killed by Dong Zhuo, the Nanyang Zhang family was treated differently by the emperor, which was different from other families.
The eldest sister is married to Huang Chengyan and is the head wife of the Huang family in Miannan. The second sister is married to Liu Biao and is now the official wife of the Minister of Rites of the imperial court.
He himself had known Cao Cao, the chariot and cavalry general, since he was a child, and he was also the minister of war in the imperial court.
With his status, he could enjoy both the north and the south. Even Huang Zu didn't dare to attack him blatantly, so he was imprisoned by his clan members.
It’s really a disgrace!
Although he couldn't leave the house, his power was still there, and he could get some news from the outside world. Now the imperial court was marching south, reaching Dangyang in the north and Yiling in the west. Faced with the pressure from Huang Zu, Cai was afraid that he would die.
Guaranteed.
I wanted to make another contribution, gain a firm foothold in the court, surpass my father, and make the Cai family prosperous again.
This matter is not difficult for him. Nowadays, unification is the general trend. No one in the Nanjun family will think that Huang Zu can stop the imperial army. With the Cai family's connections, he only needs to lobby a lot, and he will definitely be able to unite the various families, and Nanjun will change its banner.
, easy as pie!
Unfortunately, God did not fulfill his wishes and he fell into the hands of his own people.
How stupid!
"If you don't understand the general situation and fight against Master Wang, the Cai family will be destroyed by your hands." Cai Hao sat behind the desk and glared at Cai Zan and Cai Yan who came to see him. These two clan brothers were short-sighted and only knew how to fight for power.
He is the sinner of the family.
"Degui misunderstood. Mr. Huang wanted to assassinate you. He hid you at home for the sake of your virtuous brother's life." Cai Zan said in a serious tone that no one believed.
Cai Mao had no time to make excuses with him. He wanted to take advantage of the imperial army's march south to fight for his own life.
"Master Wang is going south. Do you know the detailed battle report? You are determined to follow Huang Zu and drag your family to death together. It is too late to turn back now. If Jiangling City is destroyed, more than a hundred members of the family will not be able to survive."
The situation in Nanjun was very dangerous. The Cai Zan brothers also knew that Huang Zu could not stop the imperial army. They came to Cai Mao because they wanted to find a way out, so they did not hide anything and shared all the information they had found:
"The four-pronged army of the imperial court attacked Jiangxia and Nanjun. The Runan route sent troops to the northeastern border of Jiangxia; the Nanyang route went south along the Jianshui River, passed through the Green Forest Mountains, and attacked Anlu; the Xiangyang route reached Dangyang County; and the Yizhou route
, march eastward along the Yangtze River to threaten Yiling. I don’t know what happened to Jiangxia, but Nanjun may not be able to defend it."
Cai Zan sighed, frowned, and looked at Cai Hao earnestly: "Degui, whether you believe it or not, my brother has no intention of harming you. He hid my virtuous brother at home because he was afraid that Mr. Huang Fu would harm your life.
"
Cai Mao didn't believe this, but now was not the time to refute, so he could only follow the other person's intention and say: "Brother's difficulties, I understand that the situation is critical now, how to save ourselves is the most important thing, and the nest is overturned."
There is no intact egg underneath, Cai's family will collapse, and my brother will not recover."
"What good strategy does De Gui have?" After chatting for a long time, he finally got to the point. Cai Zan came here to ask this question. Of course he can cross the Yangtze River to go south, but people can leave, but property cannot. In the days of poverty, he will
I don't want to think about it.
"Capture Jiangling and welcome the king's division."
Others have also thought about the idea of Jiangling becoming independent and surrendering to the imperial court, but they have no idea how the imperial court will react in the future.
Only when Cai Mao, as the Minister of War of the imperial court, and with the reputation of being the head of the Cai family, the largest family in Nanjun, initiated a righteous act could he truly calm people's hearts.
After more than a month, Cai Mao finally walked out of the small courtyard, suppressing his hatred in his heart, and first visited the Kuai family. Kuai Liang surrendered to the imperial court with him. Now he is serving as the long history of the Western Regions. Kuai family is his natural ally.
, the head of the family, Kuai Yue, hit it off with him.
Then he visited his eldest brother-in-law Huang Chengyan and received support from the Miannan Huang family.
The Huang family of Miannan and Huang Zu, the prefect of Jiangxia, were not from the same family. Huang Zu was born in the Huang family of Anlu. The two families had no relatives. Otherwise, how could Cai Mao dare to contact them.
Under the recommendation of his brother-in-law Huang Chengyan, he visited Pang Degong again that day, pulled Pang into his camp, and abducted Pang Tong, known as the Phoenix Child, to be his staff officer.
Although this man is young, he has a great reputation and is a leader among the younger generation in Jingzhou.
Once the Cai family, Kuai family, Huang family and Pang family united, Nanjun was out of Huang Zu's control. Under Pang Tong's suggestion, the Ma family and the Xi family were also pulled onto the chariot.
Changing flags in Jiangling is like drinking ice water in midsummer, it is smoother than you can imagine.
The troops on the two front lines in Dangyang and Yiling mutinied that night after receiving the news that their retreat was cut off. Most of the lower-level soldiers abandoned their weapons and surrendered, while the rest fled.
Especially the noble officials in the army were confused and couldn't figure out the situation, so they had no choice but to flee first. The people sent by Cai Mao to contact them only saw the imperial army gathering surrender troops, and all the scholars had disappeared.
Three days later, Gan Ning led his navy down the river and entered Jiangling. The day after that, Le Jin led his troops to arrive. Two days later, Xu Huang and Guo Jiacai arrived in the city.
The war in Nanjun came to an end, but the city defense of Jiangling was still in Cai Mao's hands.
Guo Jia offered his advice and attacked Jingling County in Jiangxia County, echoing Anlu's army.
But there is a problem that needs to be solved urgently.
"Military advisor, if the big families in Nanjun can rebel against Huang Zu and cut off the front line's retreat, they will naturally be able to rebel against His Majesty and cut off our retreat. With this hidden danger, I can't feel at ease." Xu Huang couldn't believe the people in Jiangling City, mainly him.
His subordinates did not take over the city defense and felt uneasy.
"Six days have passed since Jiangling changed its flag, and His Majesty's edict has still not arrived. There is a profound meaning in this." Guo Jia could vaguely guess the emperor's thoughts. His Majesty does not like big families, but these families in Nanjun are the heroes of the city.
, it’s hard to start rectifying it.
"This matter still has to fall into the hands of Cai Degui." He muttered and decided to invite Cai Mao for a drink. He was now on the receiving end of a crime and needed to make more achievements so that he could make more mistakes in the future.
No one knows what Guo Jia and Cai Mao talked about.
On the night of May 21st, Cai Degui held a banquet, during which he beheaded 82 people from the six ethnic groups and stained the hall with blood.
The Right Army took over the city defense of Jiangling, Gan Ning took over the Nanjun Boat Division, and Le Jin's troops attacked Jingling along the Han River.
The imperial court issued an edict to confer Cai Mao the title of Marquis of Li Qiuting.