Exchanging Xinye for Nanyang County was something that Liu Mang had long thought of. Liu Bei knew that he could not hold on to Nanyang County, so he naturally abandoned it. Although Nanyang County had more than 20 counties, it was of little value to Liu Mang. It was a pity to throw it away.
Even though Nanyang County had more than 20 counties, it was also the capital. Because it was surrounded by tributaries of the Yangtze River, the soil here was very fertile. Once these 20 counties were added, it could be said that there were tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. The nobles of Jingzhou would have another large piece of cake. Nanyang County did not know how to govern when it was under Zhang Xiu's command, so the fertile land there was empty. There were not many people there. On the other hand, Jingzhou had millions of people. They just needed to migrate a little. With Nanyang County, they could create another Nanyang Deng Family. Therefore, the nobles of Jingzhou were all looking at Nanyang County with fervent gazes. What was lacking in these twenty county cities could create a huge amount of wealth.
Nanyang County was not much to Yangzhou. First, Nanyang lacked people. If Liu Mang obtained Nanyang County, he would need to migrate people there. Yangzhou was not smaller than Jingzhou. Although a million people was a burden to Liu Mang, it was because of the problem of food. Once Yangzhou stabilized, a million people would not be able to fill up the various places in Yangzhou. Therefore, Liu Mang did not have that many people to fill up Nanyang County. Even if there were people to fill up, Nanyang County's location was not suitable for Liu Mang's Yangzhou. Nanyang County and Yangzhou were separated by half of Yuzhou. It could be said that half of Yuzhou and Yangzhou were completely separated by the Yangtze River. If Liu Mang obtained Nanyang County, how could he take care of it?
It was fine if they were in an alliance with Jingzhou. However, if they broke the alliance, Nanyang would be in danger.
Comparing the two, Liu Mang could not keep Nanyang County. However, if he gave it to Jingzhou for free, Liu Mang was not willing to do so. The Battle of Fan City could be said to be the Yangzhou Army's contribution. The 30,000 soldiers that Liu Biao sent out were either laborers or soy sauce. The Jingzhou Army was only there to provide food. Nanyang County could not be given away for so long for nothing. They had to exchange it with something.
Liu Mang's base price was Xinye City. Xinye had only become a county city a few years ago. In the past, Xinye was also a part of Nanyang County. There were a total of four to five counties around Xinye, while Nanyang had more than twenty counties. This kind of transaction would depend on whether Jing Province was willing to do it.
To Yangzhou, Jingzhou had the Yangtze River as a natural barrier. It could be said that Liu Mang's Yangzhou Army would not be able to do much damage to Jingzhou. However, Jingzhou had a bridgehead to enter the Central Plains, and that was Xinye City.
It was impossible for a feudal lord to have an eternal friendship. No matter what, Liu Mang had to control Xinye City.
To Liu Biao, he was not willing to lose Xinye City because Xinye City gave Jingzhou a chance to develop. However, to the nobles in Jingzhou, Xinye City was not as valuable as Nanyang County. No matter how much Xinye City developed, it would only have a few counties, while Nanyang County had more than 20 counties. Furthermore, there was Wan City, which could accommodate dozens of nobles. The Zhang family, in particular, wanted Nanyang County the most. The Zhang family was already a great nobleman, but they still wanted to become an aristocratic family. Nanyang County was an opportunity. Once Nanyang County belonged to Jingzhou, there would be no one who could compete with them. Therefore, the Zhang family had been putting in good words in front of Cai Mao, saying that they would give half of the benefits to the Cai family after obtaining Nanyang County. Of course, Cai Mao did not dare to take half, but he could still take 30%. The remaining 20% would be given to the Zhang family. After all, the two were allies.
Even the Huang Clan and the Lumen Academy were excited about the Nanyang County. Exchanging five counties for more than twenty counties in the Jing Province was almost four times the profit. With more cities, there would naturally be more official positions. There were still many students in the Lumen Academy who couldn't fill the vacancies. The Huang Clan was also an aristocratic clan, so they also wanted to gain benefits. Originally, the Huang Clan had no fate with the western border of the Jing Province because there was only Fan City, and there was only the Zhang Clan in Fan City. However, with the addition of more than twenty counties in Nanyang County, the Huang Clan was close to occupying two or three more counties.
There were a lot of smart people in Jingzhou who knew that Liu Mang wouldn't want Nanyang County even if they didn't exchange it for Xinye. Xinye was too important to Jingzhou since it was a bridge to the Central Plains. With this bridge, Jingzhou would be able to set foot on the Central Plains. Even though the Yangtze River was a natural barrier to protect Jingzhou, the Yangtze River would be able to completely block Jingzhou's path to Jingchu.
It was just like how Lujiang was to Jiangdong. Sun Ce had sacrificed more than 100,000 soldiers for Lujiang. Even now, Sun Ce was eyeing Lujiang like a tiger eyeing its prey.
However, these smart people didn't say anything. Kuai Liang was one of them. If it was before, Kuai Liang would have already stood up to oppose. However, for some reason, he remained silent this time.
Just like that, with the support of all the aristocratic families in Jing Province, the indecisive Liu Biao could only agree to exchange Xinye for twenty cities in Nanyang County.
"Xinye is in our hands!" When Liu Mang heard Liu Biao's messenger, he almost couldn't hold back his laughter. With Xinye in his hands, it could be said that both Jingzhou and Sun Ce would be completely sealed on the south bank of the Yangtze River. As long as Xinye and Lujiang weren't lost, they wouldn't be able to cause any harm to Yangzhou.
After Liu Biao's messenger left, Liu Mang finally laughed.
"Congratulations, Milord. Congratulations for obtaining Xinye and occupying half of the Central Plains!" Jia Xu was also smiling. He knew that Liu Mang was in a good mood, so he immediately flattered him. With Xinye, Liu Mang had already occupied half of the Central Plains. If he took over Yuzhou and half of Xuzhou, the Central Plains would be under Liu Mang's control.
With Xinye, Liu Mang didn't need to station troops in Yiyang and Zaoyang. He only needed to keep one unit in Xinye. He could also withdraw from Guangzhou.
Liu Mang smiled and didn't refute. Jia Xu spoke again. "I wonder if Milord has a candidate in mind for Xinye's governor?" Jia Xu continued to ask. Now that Xinye City belonged to Liu Mang, it was only natural that he would need to transfer troops and resources to Xinye City.
"Xinye's governor?"
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