He only moved one step, and Liu Biao became so nervous, so bold and decisive.
Liu Biao's panic and his own composure were clearly visible to the five hundred people in Jingzhou present, and I believe it will spread throughout Jingzhou soon.
Yan Liang's goal had been achieved, and he didn't want to waste any more expressions, so he loudly said: "I believe Yi Boji has already discussed the details of the alliance with Liu Shijun. If Liu Shijun has no objection, let's make an oath on this."
Liu Biao was eager to end this tense scene quickly, so he immediately said yes again and again.
It stands to reason that forming an alliance requires either the sacrifice of blood, or burning incense, kneeling, and swearing an oath to the heavenly alliance, but considering Liu Biao's wariness, the ceremony had to be simple.
The two parties bowed to each other on horseback, swore an oath to heaven, and said some words of alliance, and the alliance was considered complete.
After the alliance ceremony, Yan Liang bargained with Liu Biao for a long time about his sphere of influence.
Giving up land was equivalent to cutting off flesh, so Liu Biao was naturally heartbroken. According to his original intention, he only wanted to give Yan Liang the three counties of Xinye, Chaoyang and Huoyang, and claimed that he would fully supply Yan Liang's army with military rations.
Yan Liang is not that easy to fool.
Although Xinye is a prosperous place, the combined population of the three counties is only 40 to 50,000, which is not enough to support more than 10,000 troops, not to mention that he plans to continue to expand his army in the future.
If you place all your hopes on Liu Biao for the supply of grain and grass, it is equivalent to handing over your life to him. When necessary, Liu Biao can use the grain shortage to restrain himself at any time.
Obviously, Liu Biao alone cannot rely on Liu Biao to solve the food problem. He must have his own family resources.
So Yan Liang decisively rejected Liu Biao's proposal, and in turn demanded that all Nanyang counties north of the Han River be placed under his jurisdiction.
Yan Liang opened his mouth like a lion, but Liu Biao was not that stupid and agreed. After several rounds of bargaining, the two parties finally reached a compromise plan.
The seven northern counties including Xinye, Chaoyang, Rang, Anzhong, and Huyang were placed under Yanliang, while Caiyang, Deng, Anchang and other counties closer to the Han River were still under the rule of Liu Biao.
Jingzhou has not been in war for a long time, and there are millions of registered residents. Among them, Nanyang is a large county with a large population. The seven counties allocated to Yan Liang alone have a total population of more than 100,000.
In this era of sharp population decline, a population of 100,000 is already a large number. According to the extreme ratio of military to civilians of one to ten, 100,000 people are enough to support an army of 10,000.
Moreover, these 100,000 people are only registered Dingkou people, and there are even more people who have escaped from registered residence and are no longer registered.
Yan Liang was very satisfied with this division, and immediately smiled boldly and said: "Liu Shijun is really a generous man. Please rest assured, I, Yan Liang, will help you guard Jingbei. You can just leave Ma Nanshan alone and enjoy peace without worries."
"
"With these words of a good general, I feel relieved." Liu Biao felt miserable in his heart, but he still had to force a smile on his face.
The cession of territory and alliance had been completed, and Yan Liang didn't want to talk too much nonsense to Liu Biao, so he said goodbye.
The frightened Liu Biao was afraid of causing trouble, and wished to get as far away from the tiger and wolf general in front of him as possible, so he left immediately.
Liu Biao, escorted by Cai Mao, turned his troops away.
"Mr. Boji, if there is an opportunity in the future, Yan will ask Mr. Yan for more advice." Yan Liang said to Yi Ji who was walking behind.
Yi Ji was startled and hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "General, your words are serious. How dare you?"
Yan Liang didn't say much, just watched Yi Ji leave with a smile.
Liu Biao, who had already turned around, heard this and turned around to look. Seeing the friendly expressions on the two of them, he couldn't help but frown slightly.
His parting words showed great respect for Yi Ji, but they were deliberately staged for Liu Biao to make Liu Biao suspicious of Yi Ji and make Liu Biao think that Yi Ji had a secret affair with Yan Liang when he was on a mission to Xinye.
What an ulterior conversation.
Liu Biao's fleeting suspicion could not escape Yan Liang's eyes. He smiled secretly, turned his horse's head, and rode away towards Xinye.
Five hundred men and horses returned north to Xinye. Yan Liang was in a good mood and was already thinking about the next step along the way.
Although he now has seven counties in Xinye and has a foothold in Jingzhou, Yan Liang knows very well that his strength is still very weak compared to the princes in the world.
Whether it is Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, or the Jiangdong Sun family, they are all far stronger than themselves.
However, Yan Liang has the confidence to deal with all forces, relying on his courage and superhuman insight to create a world of his own.
"New territory has been gained. The next step is to win over people's hearts, expand the army and train soldiers, gradually encroach on Jingzhou, and then reap some profits from the Guandu battle..."
As Yan Liang rode his horse slowly, he was planning a blueprint for the future in his mind.
"General, there seems to be a fierce battle ahead." Zhou Cang's rough voice interrupted Yan Liang's thoughts.
He raised his eyes and looked into the distance, and saw that there were indeed more than a hundred people fighting on the road beside the Huoshui River.
The two parties fighting, the one with more people, were dressed in different colors and were holding various weapons.
The besieged party was dressed in uniform and surrounded a carriage.
Yan Liang immediately understood that this was probably a group of robbers who were robbing the wealthy households passing by.
Under the rule of Liu Biao, the public security in Jingzhou was still good. Now this group of bandits dared to block the road and rob in broad daylight. They just wanted to take advantage of the chaos in the new country and take advantage of the chaos.
"General, the bandits are probably robbing them. Let the general lead a team of soldiers and horses to destroy them." Zhou Cang also understood and asked for a fight.
Yan Liang originally planned to agree to suppress this gang of gangsters in order to establish his own image of protecting the country and the people.
However, just as he was about to nod, he suddenly discovered something interesting.
"Let's take a look first and then talk."
Yan Liang raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and then ordered the soldiers and horses to stand still. He only led Zhou Cang and a few people to move their horses closer.
When they were thirty steps away, Yan Liang could clearly see the whole scene of the fight.
There were about seventy bandits, and the big family had only about twenty servants, so they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers.
But these twenty people surrounded the carriage, locked horns, and supported each other. The bandits were unable to attack them for the time being.
When I looked more closely, the positions of each of the servants seemed to be very organized, vaguely resembling a military formation.
How can a mere group of servants set up a formation? There must be an expert commanding it.
Yan Liang glanced around and quickly found the person, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
That was a young girl.
The girl has an apricot face and peach cheeks, and is pretty in appearance. She is wearing a royal blue brocade fur coat with a piece of mink fur exposed at the collar. The clothes are quite gorgeous.
She stood on the carriage, the wind blowing her hair, which was very touching.
Being among the bandits, she showed no fear at all. Instead, she calmly and calmly gave orders to the servants around her, and beat back the bandits who were approaching her again and again.
Seeing that girl with beautiful appearance and calm demeanor, Yan Liang couldn't help but feel a slight movement in his heart.