Chapter 106: Feng refers to Liu Lin

This moment was particularly difficult for Liu Bei. Liu Lin rebelled, and Liu Bei's army and horses advanced. Seeing victory, Cai's control ran out of food. Liu Bei's army and horse had no food and grass, so he could only postpone the advance. Fortunately, the Iraqi nationality raised funds to buy food, which was barely maintained. At this time of crisis, Liu Jingsheng died suddenly, and the situation in Jingzhou changed dramatically. Before the foreign forces intervened, the Cai clan was the strongest force and they obviously wanted to kill Liu Bei very much.

Liu Lin's forces were independent from the Cai clan, Liu Qi, Liu Bei and other forces, and were alone in Jingling. As for Liu Lin himself, he really wanted to get closer to the Cai Group, but unfortunately the Cai Group didn't trust him very much. As Liu Biao's old-fashioned attitude became more apparent, Cai began to rush to the prefectures and counties, and controlled most of them.

Liu Biao held fewer and fewer regular meetings, and Cai Mao often presided over them. However, when Liu Biao was in better spirits, he participated in and presided over a regular meeting, decided on important matters of the county and state, and appointed and dismissed personnel. Although Liu Biao was old, he had been involved in political struggles for many years, and he immediately realized that the atmosphere of the meeting was only following Cai Mao and others. Of course, Liu Shibiao trusts Cai, and he is old and weak, and does not want to get rid of the malpractice. But according to the old rules, no matter how much you trust, you can't monopolize the power.

"Yi Ji, the work of the Tingwei Department is going well, right?" Liu Biao said lazily.

"The overall operation of the Tingwei Department is orderly and quite successful." Yi Ji said humbly and authentically. It is good to say that Yi Ji is doing well. In fact, the work of the Tingwei Department is not going well. So that desperate Iraqi is often a little pessimistic now. Liu Biao let go of power little by little, and Cai Shi took control little by little. Liu Biao used to look at the military affairs and was more careful to prevent the Cai clan from dictatorial power in major decisions, and reused Liu Bei and others. As Liu Biao's health deteriorated, the Cai clan became more and more in control of major decisions. The Cai clan's influence spread from the central Jingzhou to the counties and counties, and it was difficult for Yi Ji to intervene. The current situation of Liu Qi's faction can be said to be very bad, and perhaps they can only barely hold Jiangxia.

"Okay." Liu Biao seemed to be intentional or unintentional, and then changed the topic, "You are a consultant doctor, and your work is quite effective. You can also serve as a chief clerk, assisting Jingzhou's internal affairs and the appointment and removal of officials." After speaking, Liu appeared tired.

"My lord, is Mr. Yi Ji overworked..." Mengyue, as a rational minister of the Cai clan, still expressed her attitude out of responsibility. However, Liu Biao didn't seem to hear it. With a tired expression on his face, he changed the subject lazily: "Is there anything else?"

"Liu Lin, the prefect of Jingling, has been running Jingling for a long time. It seems that he has formed gangs in the local area and has become a local snake." Cai Mao stepped forward.

"What do you mean?" Liu Biao originally thought that he had nothing to do and went back to rest, but when he heard Cai Mao participating in Liu Lin's performance, he raised his spirits a little.

"The people of Jingling don't know the lord, they only know Liu Lin. If things go on like this, it's easy to form a separatist regime." Cai Mao further pointed out.

"Yes... I think Liu Lin responded passively to the central government's decree. The last time he was asked to raise food for the emperor, there was no movement." Liu Biao seemed to be a little unhappy with Liu Lin. Liu Biao entered Jingzhou alone, and Jingzhou was well organized. One of the important principles is to weaken the local power. While reaching a reconciliation with the clans and clans, on the other hand, gradually weaken the clans that control the local power, and ensure the smooth flow of the central government's decrees.

"You can order to seize Liu Lin's official position, transfer him to the central government, and serve as the Minister of Supervision. Only the name is given, not the real power." Everyone knows that the position of the Minister of Supervision is a standard and nominal, although the rank is high, but its power It was completely overridden by the Tingwei Department and was an honorary official position for retired cadres. Granting this official, isn't it an obvious request for Liu Lin to retire?

"In this case, Liu Lin will rebel." Mengyue immediately left the class. "Jingzhou is now dominated by stability, with Cao Cao in the north and Soochow in the south, all of which are eyeing them. If there is internal chaos, the consequences will be disastrous."

Cai Mao was a little surprised. Mengyue is a die-hard Cai clan, who often spares no effort in the interests of the Cai clan, and is loyal to Cai Mao and others. How can he directly oppose him in the hall now? But Cai Mao thought about it, could it be that this decision was not discussed with them in advance? The matter of participating in Liu Lin was a decision made by Cai Mao on the fly, and it was not discussed by Mrs. Cai, Zhang Yun, Meng Yue and others. Because of the promotion of Iraqi nationality, Cai Mao was eager to deploy to the prefectures and counties. Jingling was the gateway to the Yangtze River in Jingzhou. The place was prosperous, and the strategic position was important. Now that the Iraqi nationality is in charge of internal affairs, I don't know what kind of moth there will be, so I simply participate in the performance directly in the hall, bring Liu Lin down, and Cai's forces take over Jingling. However, Mengyue expressed opposition in court, probably because he felt that his decision was too hasty and inappropriate, but he was already in the hall, so he couldn't help it, Cai Mao had to do things according to his own ideas.

"Doctor Meng should be deeply concerned with the scourge of local dictatorship. If there is an internal calamity and the decree fails, it will be impossible to resist Cao Cao in the north or Soochow in the south."

"What should we do about Liu Lin's rebellion?" Liu Biao was too lazy to listen to their quarrel, so he acquiesced to Cai Mao's suggestion.

"Please ask Liu Huangshu to lead the army to attack him." Cai Mao said it succinctly.

Meng Yue was shocked, how to let Liu Bei control the military power? Isn't this too risky?

"Yes." 863 Liu Biao agreed as soon as he heard it. "You have full authority to handle the specific matters. Mengyue wrote a letter to Uncle Huang for me and asked him to lead his troops to Jingling to take over Liu Lin. If Liu Lin rebelled, he would be escorted to Jingzhou City." Obviously, Liu Biao was still full of confidence in Liu Bei. , did not pay attention to Liu Lin at all.

As soon as the regular meeting was over, Mengyue was anxious to see Cai Mao: "General, why let Liu Bei lead the army? If Liu Bei holds on to the military power, his generals will be like clouds, and we are likely to be wiped out!"

"Mr. Meng...don't worry." Cai Mao looked quite complacent, "There is another layer here, you may not have noticed, the specific things are all arranged by me, and the room for manipulation is enough to turn Liu Lin over and turn it over. Liu Bei is down."

"Please make it clear, General." Meng Yue couldn't believe it, this Cai Mao was a sinister villain who was politically turbulent and indeed sinister. But when it comes to great wisdom, there is no such thing, and it is easy to think that it is overturning.

"Liu Biao asked Liu Bei to lead the troops, but he didn't say how many people. He could be asked to lead the troops and horses of the headquarters. It's easy for Liu Bei to overthrow Liu Lin, but his horses need food. Once we run out of food, they will be in a dilemma." Cai Mao is in Mengyue He whispered in his ear, and laughed proudly. He patted Mengyue frivolously on the shoulder and walked away, saying that there was no problem. .

Chapter 107: Meet Liu Biao

You can imagine how surprised and angry Liu Lin was when he received this order. Unexpectedly, Liu Biao had already arrived at the time of his death. Of course, it may be the instigation of either the Cai Group or the Liu Qi faction. The order reads succinctly and grimly:

Removed from Liu Lin Jingling's post as the prefect, was promoted to the Minister of Supervision, and immediately went to Jingzhou to take office on the day he received the order. The position of the prefect of Jingling was replaced by Zhang Yun, the general of the navy.

The inscription is clearly marked with the big seal of Liu Biao.

Judging from this letter, it should be the ghost of Cai's Cai Mao's group, because Zhang Yun is their person. However, according to the news, Liu Bei raised troops from Xinye, it seems that Liu Bei's group is not a good thing. To put it simply, the Liu and Cai forces suddenly joined forces to attack themselves. Liu Lin had two choices: one is to honestly hand over the military and political power of Jingling and go to Jingzhou to retire. But there is a problem here, that is, how long can the Jingzhou regime last? Cao Cao has already swept Hebei and is finishing up. When Cao's army goes south, Jingzhou will inevitably collapse. Who will he go to for retirement? The second is to raise troops to rebel immediately and rely on Cao Cao or Soochow Wu. Obviously, it is more promising to rely on Cao Cao, because Soochow Wu was destroyed at some point. In fact, although Liu Qi, Liu Bei, and the Cai clan agreed on the issue of fighting Liu Lin, they each had their own plans, and everyone wanted to take the treasure land of Jingling into their own hands.

The complexity of the situation made the furious Liu Lin calm down quickly. After all, although this paper order almost drove him to a desperate situation, in this chaotic world, the forces around Jingzhou and the forces within Jingzhou are intricately complicated, so Liu Lin is not incapable of manipulation.

The first person Liu Lin sent to contact was Zhang Wen of Soochow, asking Soochow for support. It would be better to attack Jiangxia, which would make Liu Bei unable to take care of it. Although I heard that Liu Bei and the Luochen Group are very familiar with each other, Liu Lin still can't give up after thinking about it. After all, Luochen is also a powerful foreign force, so he sent someone to Huang Zhong's place, offering money and grain, and asking for support. Of course, Cao Cao is also indispensable. Liu Lin also sent personnel to Fancheng and other places in Yujing to request Cao Cao to be contacted.

Regarding this letter, Liu Lin took a procrastination attitude and tried his best to buy more time. But that Cai Mao is not stupid. Anyone with a little common sense can see that Liu Lin is arranging troops, promoting his trusted officers, preparing for the rebellion, and contacting foreign forces, clearly wanting to fight against the Central Committee of Jingzhou . Cai Mao ordered that if Liu Lin did not arrive in Jingzhou for three days, it could be regarded as a treason. At the same time, Zhang Yun was urgently ordered to lead 50,000 navy troops to cut off the route from Jingling into the Yangtze River to go to Soochow. Of course, Liu Qi and Guan Yu of Jiangxia would not let Liu Lin go. It can be said that Liu Lin was trapped in Jingzhou.

Liu Bei even received two letters, one informing him that he had decided to dismiss Liu Lin from the post of the prefect of Jingling and transferred him to Jingzhou, but Liu Lin might not obey, so please be prepared. Liu Bei was in Xinye with not many troops, and he was tasked with monitoring Cao Cao in the north. However, since it was Liu Biao's order, Liu Bei could not refuse, so he led Zhang Fei to order eight thousand infantry and cavalry to prepare for battle. Two days later, Liu Bei received another order. Liu Lin had already committed a rebellion and asked Liu Bei to leave immediately. Liu Bei ordered eight thousand cavalry and led Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun to Jingzhou.

Originally, Liu Bei wanted to know the situation in Jingzhou, so he wanted to take a look at Liu Biao's current situation. Unexpectedly, Liu Biao has been seriously ill for several days and cannot see guests. Hearing Liu Bei's arrival, despite everyone's opposition, he struggled to meet Liu Bei. Then Liu Bei followed Cai Mao into a secret room. It was quite warm inside. Although it was spring outside, the charcoal fire was still burning inside according to the standard of winter. Liu Bei was wearing thin armor, and soon he was sweating profusely. "Brother Xuande...々ˇ..." Liu Biao struggled to grab Liu Bei's hand. When Liu Bei saw Liu Biao, he had grown old rapidly in just a few months. "I barely survived the middle of winter, but I'll be dead soon..."

"Brother why did you say this?" Liu Bei said hurriedly, "Please take care of your brother slowly, don't be in a hurry."

"Xuande", Liu Biao ignored Liu Bei's words, but was eager to say what he said, "If I grow old, Jingzhou sage brother can take care of himself."

Liu Bei immediately said, "How could Liu Bei do such a thing?" He burst into tears, "Liu Bei must try his best to assist the young master, and he has absolutely no intention of taking control of Jingzhou himself."

After hearing this, Liu Biao didn't say anything, just sighed. Liu Bei didn't say which son "Young Master" was. This was Liu Bei's tact, because Cai Mao was also beside him, so he took all of this into consideration. Maybe Liu Qian can't make up his mind now, and he still can't make a decisive decision until the last moment.

Seeing that Liu Biao was tired, Liu Bei thought that he would have no chance if he didn't talk about it, so he stepped forward and said, "This time my brother is taking Liu Bei to take Liu Lin, but Liu Bei's headquarters are too few troops, so I hope my brother will allocate more troops. "

"Okay." Liu Biao agreed immediately, ".'Let Cai Mao handle it." He reclined on the bed, as if falling asleep. Liu Bei felt that these words were useless, so how could Cai Mao send troops to him? Cai Mao also felt that Liu Bei didn't know what else to do if he stayed here, so he said, "Uncle, please come back, the lord is tired."

Liu Bei didn't pay attention to it at all. He didn't stop doing either. He stepped forward and said beside Liu Biao's ear: "Brother, General Seal." When Cai Mao heard this, he was shocked, and hurriedly pulled Liu Bei and said, "Uncle Huang, take a rest, my lord, please. Come back!" As he spoke, he was about to force Liu Bei to walk away, but Liu Bei had also mounted his horse to lead the battle, so how could he be afraid of Cai Mao? Liu Biao seemed to have heard Liu Bei's words, and pointed faintly to the back of the scroll by the bedside. Liu Bei took a look and took the seal of a general of the Zuo Camp in Jingzhou. Most of the left battalion were cavalry, and Liu Bei had commanded them last time, about 50,000 people. When Cai Mao saw this situation, he came to rob him. How could Liu Bei take him seriously, and said sharply, "Cai Mao! What are you doing? What kind of style are you (Wang Hao)?" go.

Liu Bei was non-stop, and immediately took Zhao Yun and a hundred guards from the headquarters to the left camp to transfer troops. Then Cai Mao panicked, and hurriedly contacted Mengyue and others. The Cai clan was powerful, and many senior officers in the army belonged to the Cai clan. Cai Mao followed and ran to the left camp.

Then Liu Bei, holding the seal of the general, arrived at the tent of the central army, called all the generals, and said sternly, "Liu Jingsheng granted me the seal of the general, and now all the soldiers of the Zuo Daying must obey my orders and immediately move out of the city, the target is Jingling. !"

When the generals heard it, although there was a bright seal, and Liu Bei also had a precedent for commanding troops, this matter was not notified in advance, which was hurried and out of order. The last time Liu Bei led troops to Jiangxia, although he had also led them, it was a notice from Liu Biao and the general Cai Mao a few days ago, and then Liu Bei came over to organize and take them away. This time, how did Liu Bei rush to transfer troops with his general seal? .

Chapter 108 Under the Jingling City

But he said that Liu Bei got the general seal and immediately went to Zuoying to transfer troops, so how could Cai Mao give up? Hastily followed.

Liu Bei coldly ordered: "All commanders will lead their own troops immediately, leave Jingzhou from the east gate, and head towards Jingling immediately!" Some commanders who were not closely related to Cai's forces shouted: "Yes!" and went out to transfer troops. . Those of the Cai clan, don't they know that the Cai clan and Liu Bei are very difficult to get along? Now that I haven't received Cai Mao's notification, I saw Liu Bei hurried over to transfer troops with a general seal. How can he listen? So more than half of them stood below indifferently, as if they didn't hear Liu Bei's order. Liu Bei glanced at Zhao Yun, and then Zhao Yun walked down with his sword. That Zhao Yun is powerful, but it is not easy to kill in Zuoying. This is equivalent to reflecting the conflict between Liu Bei and Cai's in the swordsman's view, which is obviously not acceptable. Zhao Yun had to gently lift the obviously disobedient general and threw it out. The general kicked his feet from side to side and drew his sword. Zhao Yun threw it lazily and with a "thump", he threw him outside the tent.

At this time, Cai Mao also rushed over: "Don't transfer troops! Liu Jingsheng didn't send a notice, and I, the general, didn't have permission from 613. How can you transfer troops without authorization!"

That Zhang Fei had been impatient for a long time, and suddenly changed his color and said: "What are you doing here with the general Yin given by Liu Jingsheng?!" He raised his right foot and kicked. Liu Bei was shocked, and it was too late to stop him. Zhang Fei's kick hit Cai Mao's lower abdomen. Cai Mao was kicked to the ground in an instant, rolling around with his stomach in his arms, screaming. Cai's subordinates were shocked, some panicked and retreated, some ran forward, and some wanted to draw their swords.

Seeing this situation, Liu Bei lowered his face and shouted sharply: "Cai Mao! Liu Jingsheng approved my transfer of troops and pointed me to the general's seal, but you obstructed it in every possible way. What's your motive?! You falsely claim that you need your general's approval to transfer troops, can you reject the lord's order?" Saying this, he walked down the stage angrily, Zhao Yun was a fine person, and whispered in Liu Bei's ear: "I am afraid that these troops will not be transferred, just accept it when you see it... "..." Then why didn't Liu Bei understand? Nodding lightly, under the protection of Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, they walked out of the central army tent proudly. The cadres of Cai Mao stared wide-eyed, and no one dared to stop and question them, so they had to carry Cai Mao to see the military doctor. . Then Liu Bei dispatched about 20,000 troops not under the command of the Cai clan in Zuoying, together with nearly 10,000 troops from the headquarters, a total of 30,000 people, out of the east gate of Jingzhou, and went straight to Jingling.

The three-day deadline has come. According to the plan that had been drawn up earlier, Mengyue drafted a crusade, declaring that Liu Lin had rebelled against the central Jingzhou, but it was a rebellion. That is, Zhang Yun, the governor of the navy army, blocked Liu Lin's way of defecting, and Liu Huangshu led the army into Jingling. After capturing Liu Lin, he went to Jingzhou to meet Liu Jingsheng.

Then Cai Mao was kicked by Zhang Fei and lay on the hospital bed for several days. He was so angry that he vowed to make Liu Bei and others suffer. However, if you can't bear it, you will be in chaos. According to the original plan, let Liu Xuande lead the troops to attack Jingling, which can be regarded as a default of Liu Xuande's command of the soldiers he brought.

Then Liu Lin naturally refused to go to Jingzhou to die, and didn't know how to deal with it, so he had to deliberately ignore the statement of Cai Mao and others. In addition, Jiang Dong and Cao Cao and other forces were urgently urged to help. Although Huang Zhong of the Luochen Group is closely following the situation in Jingzhou, he remains on the sidelines about Liu Lin. Although Cao Cao in the north planned to intervene in Jingzhou immediately, the main force was still in Hebei. When Cao Cao heard about Liu Lin's rebellion, he immediately led General Zhang Liao to gather cavalry in Xu (baac) state. support. Cao Cao beat Yu Jin on the mountain to shake the tiger, and supported Liu Lin from the north, but in front of Yu Jin was his lifelong enemy Huang Zhong, and Yu Jin couldn't get away at all. It was Soochow who was most capable of supporting Liu Lin. Earlier, Soochow went to Liu Lin with his advisor Zhang Wen to lobby, suggesting that Liu Lin should join forces with Soochow. Now that things have really developed like this, the idea of ​​seizing the territory of Soochow before Cao Cao and Luochen came to the top and bottom of Soochow. However, facing Jiangxia City at the gate of Jiang's house, Soochow Wu Junchen was a little irritable. The sons Liu Qi and Guan Yu are now guarding Jiangxia. The strength of Jiangxia's troops and the quality of its soldiers have also been greatly improved. There are about 50,000 or 60,000 elite soldiers, enough to make Jiangxia an unbreakable fortress. If Soochow is eager to expand to Jingzhou, it is bound to pay huge losses. So Soochow organized a huge navy, but only dared to cruise around, put pressure on, and conduct tentative attacks, but did not dare to use the main force to launch a substantive attack.

Now Liu Lin really can't cry out in agony. The only way out is to stick to Jingling until the arrival of Cao Cao, or the arrival of the Soochow navy. So the question is, can Jingling hold on? Can it last at least a month?

Originally, Liu Lin had fantasies and organized more than 60,000 defenders of Jingling City, known as 100,000. In addition, the civilians of Jingling were forced to go to the city to assist the guards. Crying and swearing to the death to defend Jingling's safety and independence.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei's men defeated Liu Lin's fantasy in the first battle, and Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun led the cavalry team to easily defeat the peripheral defense line. Liu Lin's army collapsed with a single blow, fled wildly, and most likely became a prisoner. Liu Lin's painstakingly managed outer fortress was like tofu, easily broken by iron hoofs. In just one day, Liu Bei's cavalry gathered at the foot of Jingling City. Poor Jingling City claimed to have 60,000 or 70,000 defenders. Facing Liu Bei's 30,000 troops outside, they huddled inside the city and dared not come out. Liu Bei did not besiege the city. Once Liu Lin's troops left the city, they could attack and attack Liu Lin's army. Liu Lin's army was crushed, and he was probably beaten into a unit and fled everywhere, or became refugees or prisoners.

In a few days, more than 10,000 men and horses became prisoners or were defeated, and thousands of men and horses took the initiative to surrender. .