Not all of the 20,000 troops entered the city, and only about 5,000 troops entered You County. The rest of the troops were stationed outside the city. After all, You County alone was not enough to station so many troops.
In the county palace of You County, Liu Qi was sitting on the main seat and Xu Shu was sitting on both sides.
Liu Qi looked at Huo Jun. Liu Qi was very satisfied with Huo Jun's performance just now. Even Xu Shu looked at him with admiration. However, Liu Qi was now concerned about the situation in Jiangdong. Liu Qi asked directly without any nonsense: "General Huo, has anything happened in Jiangdong during this time?
trend?"
Huo Jun stood up and said: "General, there has been no action from Jiangdong during this period. Usually Jiangdong often sends people to harass, but it is suddenly quiet during this period. You County has not been harassed, and the direction of Jiangdong is also extremely calm."
Liu Qi was a little confused and said: "Are you saying that Jiangdong often harassed You County before, but he didn't take any action during this time?"
Huo Jun nodded and said, "Yes."
Liu Qi was a little confused. How could it suddenly stop harassing you from time to time? The one who knew the situation in Jiangdong here was Huo Jun. Liu Qi then asked: "General Huo, does he know why Jiangdong suddenly stopped harassing You County?"
Huo Jun shook his head: "My subordinates don't know that this is the first time in recent years that Jiangdong has stopped disturbing You County." Huo Jun has been in You County for nearly three years. During these three years, Jiangdong City has made exploratory attacks in You County from time to time. He has become accustomed to and
Jiangdong's army has recently stopped its actions against You County. This made Huo Jun a little uncomfortable. Although he didn't know what happened in Jiangdong, he secretly stepped up his guard.
When Liu Qi couldn't get anything out of the question, he turned the topic to Zhang Xian: "How many troops did you have in You County? How many are left now?"
Huo Jun did not hide anything and replied: "You County originally had 5,000 troops. Since Zhang Xian's rebellion, 3,500 people have been transferred away. At this time, there are still 1,500 people left in You County."
"Oh, then why didn't Zhang Xian ask you to be transferred together? Instead, he kept you." Liu Qi was a little curious. Since Zhang Xian had made up his mind to fight to the death with him in Linxiang, why did he keep Huo Jun's thousand and fifty men?
Hundreds of people.
Huo Jun said with a smile: "These 1,500 people used to be my private soldiers. Later, when they followed their elder brothers and defected to Lord Zhou Mu, they were incorporated into the army and have always been under my command. Zhang Xian couldn't believe me, fearing that if I were in a critical situation
When I rebelled, I simply left me here hoping to use Jiangdong’s hand to deal with me.”
Liu Qi was a little surprised. He knew that aristocratic families had their own private soldiers, but he did not expect that the number of private soldiers was so large. Based on this calculation, Jingzhou's army would be much larger than it is now. According to the highest standard, Jingzhou has 10 to 1.
How can we raise so many troops? Even according to the current Jingzhou standard of fifteen to one, it is not enough.
How did Liu Qi know that those aristocratic families often send their family members to serve as local officials, and they will underreport part of the number of people they report, so that the final population count is much smaller than the actual population. This is the food and salary of the private soldiers of the aristocratic families.
origin of.
"Do you know how many troops Zhang Xian mobilized in total?" After all, Huo Jun knew more about Changsha than they did in the past three years in Changsha. He and Xu Shu speculated that there were nearly 30,000 troops in Xiangyang, but Liu Qi wanted to know the exact number.
Huo Jun thought for a while, silently calculated in his mind and said: "Based on my subordinates' estimation, there are at least 35,000 troops."
"So many, why are there so many soldiers and horses in Changsha?" Liu Qi was a little surprised. You must know that the average county only has 20,000 soldiers and horses. Xu Shu's inference of 30,000 was already very high. He did not expect that it would exceed this.
number.
Huo Jun analyzed: "First, Changsha County is adjacent to Jiangdong and has more soldiers and horses than other counties. Second, there has been no war in the Jingxiang area for a long time, so it is richer than counties in other places and naturally has more people. In fact,
There are more soldiers and horses in Jingxiang area than in other places.
At this time, Liu Qi truly understood the richness of the Jingxiang area and why Liu Bei later chose Jingzhou as his place of Longxing.
Jingzhou was the richest place in the country during the Three Kingdoms period, but Liu Biao was a city defender and was not good at expanding his power. In addition, Jingzhou had few wars, and there had been almost no wars in the more than 20 years since Liu Biao unified Jingzhou. During this period, Jingzhou was the richest place in the country.
Sun Jian attacked Xiangyang and died in Xiangyang. Others like Zhang Xiu did not attack the interior of Jingzhou at all and did little harm to Jingzhou. Over time, the population and food supply in Jingxiang area ranked first in the country.
Liu Qi's face was a little solemn. He only had 20,000 people on this expedition. The outcome of the battle against 30,000 people was still unknown. Fortunately, Xu Shu helped him, otherwise Liu Qi really didn't know how to quell the rebellion.
Looking at Huo Jun in front of him, he was calm and rational. Liu Qi felt that this person was worth training and asked: "I will give you three thousand soldiers and horses, can you be sure to defend You County?" The three thousand people are plus the original fifteen hundred people.
This is Liu Qi's limit.
Huo Jun was a little confused. Liu Qi actually continued to let him station in You County. He was already ready to go home. He had promised not to pursue him, which meant that he would not pursue his betrayal of Liu Biao, but he speculated that even if
It would be impossible for him to become an official if he was not investigated. Unexpectedly, Liu Qi would let him continue to be stationed here. He immediately replied: "I must guard this place for the general and not let in a single soldier."
"Brother Pan." Liu Qi lowered his head and shouted.
Gan Ning and others who were standing by were a little surprised. Did Liu Qi remember wrongly? When they left, Liu Pan and Liu Xiu were left behind and did not follow. Only Xu Shu on the side smiled and did not speak.
One of the guards behind Liu Qi walked out and slowly came to Liu Qi. He said awkwardly: "Brother, do you already know? I just want to go to the battlefield with him. It's boring to stay in Xiangyang." After that,
He lowered his head and waited for Liu Qi's announcement.
"This, you are Mr. Liu Pan?" Ma Zhong was the most surprised. He didn't expect that Liu Pan was hiding under his men, and he didn't even notice.
Others also shook their heads, obviously not expecting Liu Pan to appear here.
Liu Qi looked at Liu Pan and shook his head. He knew Liu Pan's character, but he didn't expect him to be among the guards. If he hadn't accidentally discovered him the day before yesterday, he wouldn't have known about it now.
Liu Pan's skin was dark at this time, and there were many scratches on his body. That was Liu Pan, the former rich man. Liu Qi looked a little distressed. Liu Pan was training like the guards these days, walking hundreds of miles a day, and who was on the ground.
.For a well-off person, such determination is rare.
Liu Qi smiled and scolded: "You kid, I know you won't be honest."
Liu Pan raised his head and smiled: "Brother, you didn't blame me?"
Liu Qi shook his head and said: "If I blamed you, I would have driven you back a long time ago, why would I keep you here until now?"
Liu Pan laughed. Although Liu Qi had been very strict with him since childhood, he would never really punish him every time.
Liu Qi turned to Huo Jun and said: "General Huo, this is my second brother. He will lead 1,500 troops to stay to assist you in defending You County. From today on, he will be your deputy general."
"Ah, brother, do you want me to stay here? I want to go to the battlefield with you." Liu Pan shouted from the side before Huo Jun could say anything.
"Don't underestimate this matter. When we go to attack Zhangxian, You County is our rear. If it falls into Jiangdong's hands, we will be very passive. Therefore, this place is very important to us. I don't think it will be long before Jiangdong comes back to attack."
You don't have to worry about no battles here. General Huo is the guard here, you should learn more from him. I will keep Ji Chang to help you." Liu Qi persuaded. Keeping Liu Pan is not only to train him in other aspects.
He was asked to monitor Huo Jun. After all, Huo Jun had just surrendered, and Liu Qi would not leave the rear to outsiders unless it was absolutely necessary. Ma Liang was cautious and had him on his side to advise him, so Liu Qi felt relieved.
Liu Pan knew that he would not be able to go to Linxiang this time, so he had to salute Huo Jun: "See you, general."
"Haha, you don't have to be polite, general." Of course Huo Jun knew Liu Qi's intention of keeping Liu Pan, but he didn't care. He knew his own situation. Liu Qi was particularly grateful to Liu Qi for continuing to serve as guard general in his current capacity.
There's nothing wrong with him not trusting him. He would do the same thing himself.
When Liu Qi saw them finishing the ceremony, he looked at Ma Liang and said, "Ji Chang, you are a military commander. Please give me some advice." After speaking, he looked at Liu Pan and said, "Ji Chang's words are my words. If you let me know that you don't listen to Ji Chang's words,
, I’ll let you go back to Xiangyang.”
Liu Pan solemnly said: "Don't worry, brother, I won't cause any trouble to you."
Ma Liang also stood up and thanked him: "Thank you, my lord." Ma Liang was very grateful to Liu Qi. Without Liu Qi, he would still be at home with nothing to do. He had defected to many people, but no one accepted him, but Liu Qi accepted him.
, and still reused him. Although the Army Sima was a minor official, Liu Qi himself was the general now, and the Army Sima's status under Liu Qi was not low.
Wu Xiong's eyes flickered on the side. He had long persuaded his eldest brother to join Liu Qi's subordinates, but his eldest brother had always been hesitant. Now Zhao Lei and Ma Liang, who have defected to Liu Qi, have been trained by Liu Qi as confidants. In time, they will definitely become important figures under Liu Qi. And Liu Qi's side
There were more and more capable people. Wu Xiong felt anxious when he saw it, but he couldn't question his eldest brother's decision. He could only remain silent and thought about how to persuade his eldest brother to defect to Liu Qi.
Liu Qi kept her gaze in his eyes without leaving any trace. Regarding Gan Ning, Liu Qi naturally hoped that he could join her, but Gan Ning was cautious and never expressed his opinion. Although Su Fei had a good impression of him, he always listened to Gan Ning.
.Wu Xiong is the most active one, and Liu Qi has put the weight of regaining Gan Ning on him. However, he is not in a hurry. Ma Zhong, Xu Shu and others are not sure of the people around him at the moment.
Not long after Liu Qi entered You County, the spies arranged by Zhang Xian in You County immediately reported to Zhang Xian the situation of Liu Qi's army.