Liu Cong asked tentatively: "What does father think of Liu Bei?"
Liu Biao chuckled: "You want to ask why I still accept Liu Bei when I know he is ambitious, right?"
"To resist the Cao family?" Liu Cong said.
"This is only secondary. The most important thing is that Liu Bei was a hero. His reputation for benevolence and righteousness spread throughout the world. His subordinates, Guan Zhang and others, were all fierce generals. The most important thing is that he was a firm anti-Cao faction."
"He has ambition, strength, and ability, but he just needs someone to advise him. You brothers were ineffective at first, so I thought that by giving Jingzhou to him, you brothers can be safe and prosperous for the rest of their lives."
"Cao Cao goes south. If Liu Bei wins, he will win. If he loses, he won't drag you little characters down. If the sky falls, tall people will hold up, right?"
Liu Cong was a little moved when he heard what Liu Biao said. Everything Liu Biao did was for their brothers.
Liu Biao looked at Liu Cong thinking and said: "Back then, you wrote to me saying that you would support Liu Bei with food and grass. I didn't agree because you were an outstanding person and my Liu family had successors. How could I do it again?"
Support him Liu Bei?"
"Now that you are in charge of Jingxiang, you should change your policy towards Liu. The defense against Cao will be the same with or without him. The huge Jingzhou does not lack Liu Bei's more than 10,000 troops. But you cannot kill him. Liu Bei's reputation is too great.
It’s heavy.”
"The child understands that we should not only use him, but also guard against him." Liu Cong said.
Liu Biao showed a cowardly expression: "That woman you brought back?"
Hearing this, Liu Cong looked embarrassed again: "She, she was brought back from Jingnan by her son. Yes, she was dedicated to his son by Zhao Fan, the prefect of Guiyang."
Liu Biao nodded and said with a bit of teasing: "My subordinates offer women, it's good to take them. They can win over and calm people's hearts. You are still young and full of vitality. I can understand it, but Sun Quan's sister is not an ordinary one."
Women, be careful about backyard fires in the future."
Liu Cong looked embarrassed: "I know that."
"If you have nothing else to do, go ahead and don't disturb me and your mother fishing."
"My dear, please excuse me." Liu Cong walked out of the backyard and felt relaxed. As expected, from ancient times to the present, there has never been a more pleasant conversation between father and son.
Thinking of what Liu Biao had just said about Sun Shangxiang, Liu Qi suddenly shuddered. According to that girl's strong temperament, could she tolerate his "premarital cheating"?
Liu Cong shook his head and didn't want to think about it anymore. He decided to hide it for now and went straight to the courtyard where Fan was...
In Cai Mao's mansion, Kuai Yue and Cai Mao were sitting under the pavilion, drinking tea and playing chess.
"Degui, you lose." As the black stones in Kuai Yue's hand fell, the white stones on the chessboard lost all life.
"Oh, no more." Cai Hao was annoyed and threw the chess pieces in his hand towards the chessboard. He took a sip of tea and put it down again.
"Come here, get some wine!" Cai Mao stood up, with his hands behind his back and his back to Kuai Yue.
Kuai Yue smiled bitterly, stood up and said, "Degui, are you worried about what happened today?"
Cai Hao turned around and looked back at him: "You called me uncle a few days ago, but today, you don't even give me a soldier. If you look at Jingxiang and train the navy, who can be better than me?"
Kuai Yue smiled and asked: "Degui, if you lose the battle with the Cao family, will you surrender?"
"I..." Cai Hao couldn't help but say "I" when asked this question.
Absolutely. If he, Cai Mao, leads his troops and fails in a confrontation with Cao Jun, he will definitely surrender!
Kuai Yue said nothing, turned around and sat down, minding his own business and poured a bottle of fruit wine that had just been brought to him.
The bleak autumn wind blew a bit of coolness on his body. After a long silence, Cai Hao turned around and sat opposite Kuai Yue.
"Ah, do you think he can really resist the Cao family?" Cai Mao took a sip of wine and asked comfortably.
Kuai Yue still said the same thing: "I don't know." Seeing Cai Mao's face getting ugly, he continued with a smile: "Degui, the way we survive is to invest in multiple places."
Many investments were made, such as the Yingchuan Xun family, Xun Yu, and Xun You followed Cao Cao, and Xun Chen was Yuan Shao's chief counselor. No matter who Yuan Cao wins, the Xun family will continue to prosper.
As for the Zhuge family in the later period, Zhuge Liang was in Shu, Zhuge Jin was in Wu, and Zhuge Dan was in Wei (Zhuge Liang's cousin). Unfortunately, in the end, none of the Zhuge family, which held high positions in the three kingdoms, rose to prominence.
Cai Mao heard this and said angrily: "Since you know that we have multiple investments, why don't you support my surrender to Cao Cao?"
"What if Liu Cong wins?"
"Cao Cao even destroyed Yuan Shao, how can Liu Cong stop him? How could such a contingency be possible?"
"You have already said that Cao Cao destroyed Yuan Shao. Before the Battle of Guandu, who among you and me thought that the Yuan family would be defeated? Now, how dare you conclude that the lord will definitely be defeated?" Kuai Yue called Liu Cong "
Lord, a wise man will not leave any excuse for others when he speaks.
Cai Mao still didn't believe that Liu Cong could resist Cao Cao, but he didn't know what to say to refute Kuai Yue.
"Degui, you are not as quiet as you are now. Think about it, if the lord really wins and your daughter marries him, what kind of power will you have in the future?"
"Then just wait?"
Kuai Yue smiled and nodded.
In Xudu, hundreds of officials gathered in the court hall. The emperor Liu Xie sat on the imperial dragon chair. The twelve crowns covered Liu Xie's face so that others could not see his expression.
Under Liu Xie's left hand, Sikong Cao Cao is sitting here!
"Xuan, the envoy from Jingzhou has come to visit you!"
As the waiters at Huangmen shouted one after another, Yi Ji slowly walked into the court hall.
After entering the court hall, Yi Ji bowed once every three steps and kowtowed once every nine steps. During the Hajj, he bowed eight times and often bowed his head once. Today, when he met with the Jingzhou envoy, Cao Cao didn't know why he had to hold a big court.
Until he was fifty steps away from Liu Xie, he knelt down again and said: "My lord, I am a native of Yi in Jingzhou. I would like to pay my respects to your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live my emperor."
"Messenger, please get back on your feet." Liu Xie stretched out his hand to support him.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After the symbolic etiquette questions ended, Emperor Liu Xie did not speak again.
"Ahem, what is the purpose of the envoy meeting the emperor?" Cao Cao was wearing official uniform today, and his appearance was even more majestic than before.
Yi Ji bowed to Liu Xie again, then bowed to Cao Cao, and said: "Your Majesty, Sikong, my lord Jing Shenggong, although he is far away in Jingzhou, he often misses the emperor, so he sends his ministers to see the emperor.
.Specially sent..."
Before Yi Ji finished speaking, Cao Cao laughed and said, "I miss the emperor, so Liu Biao can come to Xudu."
"Hahahaha!"... These words caused the pro-Cao officials to laugh.
Yiji was not angry that Cao Cao interrupted him and said calmly: "My lord is guarding Jingxiang for the emperor. Although he misses the emperor every day, he dare not take off his burden and leave Jingxiang."
"Oh? There are so many talented people under Gu's command. You can choose any one of them to guard Jingxiang for the emperor and share the emperor's worries. Liu Jingsheng is old, so he might as well come to Xudu to take care of himself. The court will confer him the title of Situ! How about that?" Although Cao Cao smiled, he could
Every word he said was aggressive!
"Although my lord is old, my two young masters, Liu Cong and Liu Xiye, have been crowned adults." Yi Ji continued to say in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.
Cao Cao snorted coldly: "Liu Xiye? Liu Jingsheng has such great ambitions?"
"Mr. Cao is so complimentary. My second son, Liu Cong, defeated the Sun family in Jiangxia, made good friends with the Sun family, protected Jingxiang and expanded the territory. He killed Jin Xuan in Jingnan and safeguarded the dignity of the royal family."
"There is no one in Jingzhou and Xiang who is more suitable to inherit the title of Prefecture Shepherd than the Second Young Master. My lord Liu Biao invites the Emperor to confer the title of Second Young Master Liu Cong as Jingzhou Shepherd and General Zhennan!"
Yiji finally told Jingzhou's request, and Cao Cao was not surprised after hearing it. These days, which prince is not succeeded by his father after his father dies? Who will listen to the court's appointment? It's just a formality when people come to see him.
"Envoy, what do you think of making Liu Bei the Shepherd of Jingzhou and the General of Zhennan?"
[Author's digression]: In the previous article, Sun Quan and Liu Bei should be called orphans in some places. It was my mistake. I beg you readers to forgive me.