Liu Mang did not know what Little Fire Chicken Pang Tong had given Huang She. However, he knew that there was something called the Long Zhong Pair. It was a plan that Zhuge Villager had devised for Liu Mang. It was to plot against Jingzhou and then Yi Province. Even if the world was in chaos and Cao Cao became the Emperor, Liu Bei would still be able to divide the world into three parts.
Now, it was an amazing coincidence that Liu Mang was sent to Jingzhou by Liu Mang. Pang Shiyuan's talent was not inferior to Zhuge Liang's. Before Zhuge Liang left, he had told Liu Mang that he and Pang Tong had discussed how to conquer Jingzhou.
Therefore, Liu Mang mentioned this bait in his letter to Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang.
Kuai Yue smiled and looked at Liu Bei. "Lord Xuande, what we want you to do is very simple. That is to help us take back control of Lord Zhou Mu!" Although Huang She had killed Liu Biao, Huang She still retained a trace of rationality. He allowed Liu Zong to live and used him as a puppet. If Huang She killed Liu Zong, then he would be considered a traitor.
With Liu Zong in hand, the nobles in Jingzhou would more or less give him some face. The Cai and Kuai Family were the same. If they had Liu Zong, then they would have the righteousness of Jingzhou. Most of the soldiers in Jingzhou would listen to this banner.
"Prefecture Overseer!" Liu Bei muttered. "The three of you may not know. Although I have Huang She's trust, I am in Jiangling. However, the Prefecture Overseer is in Xiangyang. With Huang She watching me day and night, I am afraid that it will be difficult for me to make a move!" With the young master Liu Zong, Huang She's troops would collapse by half. When that time comes, Liu Bei, Cai Family, and Lao Family would join forces. They would be stronger than Huang She. Naturally, Huang She would be able to win.
However, the Cai Family and the Kuai Family knew the importance of Liu Zong. At the same time, Huang She also knew that if the Cai Family and the Kuai Family couldn't get Liu Zong, they could at most fight with Huang She. If Huang She lost Liu Zong, then it would be a matter of life and death. Therefore, Huang She didn't dare to be careless. He moved his personal guards to the Prefecture Overseer's Mansion. In name, it was to protect Liu Zong, but in reality, it was to ensure that Liu Zong was under his control.
After that, Huang She also moved into the Prefecture Overseer's Mansion. After all, when Liu Biao was building the house, it was ridiculously big. One more person wouldn't make a difference.
Liu Bei's army was in Jiangling. To take Liu Zong away from Xiangyang under Huang She's surveillance was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Cai Mao also frowned. If he couldn't get his eldest nephew, then what was the point? Cai Mao contacted Liu Bei because Liu Bei was Huang She's trusted aide. He wanted to use this trusted aide to exchange the crown prince. However, Liu Bei said that Huang She always brought his eldest nephew with him. Cai Mao had no other choice.
"If Huang She is here, then we can just transfer him away!" Kuai Liang said.
"Transfer him away? How can we transfer him away? " Cai Mao shook his head. In the past, there was Xiu Cheng's rebellion which made things difficult for Huang She. Huang She could lead the troops to battle. Now that the war in Jingzhou was over, Huang She could just sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. How could he transfer him away?
Furthermore, Xiangyang was the most prosperous place in Jingzhou. Everything that Jingzhou had, Xiangyang had. What Xiangyang had, Jingzhou might not have.
"Although Huang She is Huang Zu's son, his ambition is much bigger than his father's!" Kuai Liang continued. He had a good relationship with Huang Zu, but he didn't treat Huang She well. After all, Huang She had questioned Kuai Liang loudly in court. Moreover, Huang She was a playboy. Kuai Liang had also managed Huang She and Liu Biao. After all, they had worked under Liu Biao. Liu Biao was old and muddle-headed, but he treated them well when he was young. Now that Liu Biao was killed by Huang She, Kuai Liang's influence on Huang She was even worse.
"If there is a chance for our Lord Huang She to expand his territory, do you think our Lord Huang She will let it go?" Kuai Liang said with a smile. Huang She's ambition was revealed the moment he dared to kill Liu Biao. Originally, Huang She was still uneasy and wrote letters to the Kuai Family and the Cai Family to appease them, saying that he wanted to discuss important matters with his two uncles. However, after killing Xiu Cheng, he didn't mention a word. Even the orders to come were from the military advisor. He had already treated Jingzhou as his own.
"Brother Zi Rou, what do you mean?" Cai Mao asked anxiously. Actually, Cai Mao was the most wronged. He had placed a good bet on the Young Lord's nephew Liu Biao and was about to reap the rewards. As long as Liu Biao died and Young Lord Liu Zong inherited the position of the Lord of Jingzhou, his Cai Family would definitely rise and become the number one family in Jingzhou would be inevitable. However, he didn't expect Huang She to snatch it away. Whether it was Lady Cai and the King of Han, Liu Mang, Liu Biao, or killing Liu Biao, all of these were done by Young Lord Huang She.
The fool was afraid of the wise, and the wise were afraid of those who didn't follow the rules. Therefore, Liu Biao's death was unjust and Cai Mao was also unjust. He had become someone else's dowry for no reason. Now, the Cai Family was implicated and had to settle in Nanyang.
Kuai Liang unhurriedly asked his family to bring over a rough map of the Han Dynasty. He unfolded the map and looked at Liu Bei from the corner of his eyes. As expected, Liu Bei was looking in the direction the King of Han expected.
Kuai Liang pointed at a place on the map and said to everyone, "It's here!" “
Everyone looked in the direction Kuai Liang was pointing at. There were two big words written there: Yizhou.
Liu Bei's eyes flashed and dimmed. He pretended to be puzzled and asked Kuai Liang, "Mister Kuai Liang, what do you mean?"
"Ever since the Ten Permanent Attendants started to rebel, the world was in chaos. Various warlords rose to power. First, there was Dong Zhuo's rebellion. Then, there was the Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu, Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, and the others. It could be said that silver bears rose together and heroes fought for supremacy. However, there was one place that was very quiet, and that was Yizhou!" Kuai Liang explained. Yizhou was originally the territory of Liu Yan, the descendant of Liu Yu, King Gong of Lu of the Western Han Dynasty. The Yizhou Provincial Governor, Qie Jian, was in Yizhou. Greed was prevalent in Yizhou, and with the world in chaos, Liu Yan wanted to find a place to settle down and establish himself. Therefore, Liu Yan asked the imperial court for the position of Yizhou's Magistrate and the title of Marquis of Yangcheng. After Qie Jian was killed by the Yellow Turban Bandits, Liu Yan entered Yizhou and sent Zhang Lu to occupy Hanzhong. Zhang Lu cut off the traffic and killed the Han envoys. From then on, Yizhou was cut off from the central region. Liu Yan further attacked the local warlords and consolidated his power. As a result, Yizhou was in a semi-independent state.
At that time, the world was in chaos. The warlords came and went. Even Jingzhou was in a life-and-death battle with Jiangdong's Little Conqueror, Sun Ce. There was only one place that was the most stable, and that was Liu Yan's Yizhou. With Chengdu, the Land of Abundance, there was no need to worry about food. Furthermore, it was connected to the mountains and was a natural stronghold. It could be said that Yizhou was blessed by the heavens. If Liu Yan had not died early, it would have been Liu Biao and the others who had to worry about it.
"It's a pity that Liu Yan died early and took over the position of Yizhou's Magistrate. Liu Zhang was cowardly and suspicious while Zhang Lu in Hanzhong was arrogant and did not listen to Liu Zhang's orders. As a result, Liu Zhang killed Zhang Lu's mother and brother, and the two sides became enemies. Liu Zhang sent Pang Xi to attack Zhang Lu and defeated him. Only then did Yizhou's internal strife begin to be pacified. Zhang Lu and the others are his enemies, and internally, the warlords of Yizhou are not convinced by Liu Jiyu. With both internal and external troubles, Liu Jiyu's time to dominate Yizhou is not long!"
Liu Bei's eyes flickered as he looked at Kuai Liang. It would be great if such a talent could assist Liu Bei. However, Liu Bei also knew that this was only a dream. The current Liu Bei did not have the strength to recruit such a talent. However, Liu Bei was not discouraged. If this plan succeeded, he, Liu Bei, would not be afraid that Kuai Liang would not assist him?
"What does Liu Jiyu have to do with my Jingzhou?" Cai Mao was not an aggressive person. As long as he could defend his Jingzhou, everything would be fine.
"Today's situation is almost clear. In the north, there is the overlord Cao Cao who occupies Ji Zhou, Bing Zhou, Yan Zhou, Zhi Li, You Zhou and Qing Zhou. He is the strongest. Next is Yangzhou's King of Han, Liu Mang who occupies Xu Province, Yu Province, Yangzhou and Jiangdong. Our Jingzhou, after passing through Nanyang and entering Yan Province, is no match for Cao Cao. Going through Jiang Xia and entering Jiangdong, we are afraid of Liu Mang. The only place we can advance is Yi Province. Now that Yi Province is weak, as long as we enter Sichuan and take Yi Province, we can obtain a piece of the world. Then we can sit back and watch Liu Mang and Cao Cao fight like tigers. We can retreat and defend. Ba Chuan and Chang Jiang, how can our Lord Huang She not take these places? "Once Huang She was moved, he would not be far from leaving Xiangyang.
In order to advance to Yi Province, Huang She did not have enough generals. Huang She, as the main general, would definitely be present. Once Huang She left Xiangyang, it would be time for Liu Bei to take action.
"Master Kuai Liang, although Yi Province is weak, it is not something that Huang She alone can contend against!" Huang She had hundreds of thousands of troops, but only twenty to thirty thousand elites. As the saying goes, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. No matter how weak Liu Zhang was, he was still stronger than an aristocratic family in Jingzhou.
"The Huang Clan is naturally not enough, but there is still us!" Cai Mao and Kuai Liang said with a smile. If the Cai Clan, Cai Clan, Kuai Clan, and Huang Clan fought together against Liu Zhang, Liu Zhang would have no chance of winning.
"The Cai Clan and Kuai Clan also want to enter Sichuan?" Liu Bei asked with his eyes wide open. Kuai Liang and Cai Mao nodded.
Liu Bei was overjoyed. If Huang She, the Cai Clan, and the Kuai Clan all entered Yi Province, then Jingzhou would be empty. Liu Bei could completely occupy most of Jingzhou's land. Moreover, Liu Bei was now Huang She's confidant. Huang She would definitely leave behind a general to guard his headquarters. Huang She did not have many generals in his army. The most capable ones were Liu Bei's third brother, Zhang De, and Liu Bei. No matter who stayed and who took away, it could be said that Liu Bei had occupied Jingzhou. When the time came, they would block the path of Jingzhou's army. With enemies in front of them and their retreat blocked, their morale would be greatly reduced. It would be best if they fought with Yi Province's army until both sides suffered losses. If they were lucky enough to win, it would be impossible for them to return to Jingzhou. Liu Bei could use Jingzhou's power to develop himself and then attack Yi Province.
If they lost the battle. Liu Bei was not afraid of Yi Province, which had already experienced war. If Huang She's army was defeated, it would speed up Liu Bei's takeover of Jingzhou. Liu Bei could almost see the position of the ruler of Jingzhou waving at him.
It could be said that both sides were very satisfied with the negotiations tonight. Liu Bei also did not continue to stay there and returned to Starry Night to make preparations.
A few days later, Jingzhou's parliament was held as usual. Huang She looked at the taxes of various places and could not help but frown. If one was not in charge, one would not know the cost of firewood and rice. Huang She had seen it for himself. He was now the actual ruler of Jingzhou. The food and drink of the troops were all counted on him. The amount of food allocated to each troop and the salaries of the civil officials were all given by Huang She.
However, Jingzhou's income was not enough for such a large expenditure.
"What are you doing? Where are the taxes of the five prefectures in Jinnan? Where did the taxes go? You only took back 10%? It's not even 10%, right? With such a small amount of taxes, are we going to drink the northwest wind? Didn't the new grain just come in? Why aren't there any taxes? Could it be that you guys have embezzled them? Investigate, you must investigate thoroughly! Huang She roared angrily.
"M-My Lord!" A civil official in charge of the tax collection of the five prefectures in Jingnan spoke carefully. "My Lord, the taxes of the five prefectures in Jingnan are all here. That Xiu Cheng bandit drained the pond to catch fish. He took away some of the young sprouts and forcefully recruited most of the able-bodied men into the army. As a result, the five prefectures in Jingnan are in arrears. Some places even had no harvest at all. This 10% of the taxes was forcefully distributed by the tax officials!"
The tax official explained his difficulties. He thought that Huang She, as the Lord, would be understanding. However, Huang She sneered. "Chaos? Chaos again? Isn't it just Xiu Cheng? Xiu Cheng is already dead. Even his master, Liu Pan, was killed by me, Huang She. Don't use him as an excuse. You're talking about chaos, right?! Jiangling was also attacked by Xiu Cheng. Why can the Left General receive 40% of the taxes but you guys can't? " Huang She roared.
Although Jiangling City had been breached by Xiu Cheng, Xiu Cheng had only harmed the people inside the city. The seedlings outside had been spared by Xiu Cheng. But the five counties of Jinnan were different. That was Xiu Cheng's main camp. Moreover, Huang She's army had pressured Xiu Cheng. Therefore, Xiu Cheng had no choice but to go all out. In the end, the unlucky ones were the people of Jinnan. However, they didn't dare to tell Huang She these words.
"I'll give you one more chance. In half a month, no, in ten days, I want you to hand over all your taxes to me. If you don't, you don't need to be prefects anymore. All of you can get out of here!" Huang She angrily said. How can Huang She not be angry? These provisions were collected for the purpose of invading Yi Province according to Mr. Shiyuan's words. Huang She wants to be the emperor, he wants to divide the world into three and occupy a place in the world. Without provisions, how can he send troops?
"Reporting, reporting to the Military Advisor. Nanyang Prefect Cai Mao requests an audience!"
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