Chapter 21 Liu Cong Natu

In July of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao followed Xun Yu's plan and deployed seven armies, including Yu Jin, Zhang Liao, and Zhang He, in Yingchuan on the surface to create a momentum to go south; .This attack was caught off guard, and Liu Biao's deployment to the north of the Han River was immediately in chaos. In just half a month, many counties in Nanyang fell, and Cao's army was overwhelming. Faced with such a ferocious attack, instead of actively resisting the attack, Xiangyang fell into chaos. Liu Biao was bedridden with a serious illness. Hearing about the incident, his condition got worse and he finally passed away at the age of sixty-seven.

There are powerful enemies outside, but the master is lost inside. Liu Bei and Liu Qi support their own troops, and the officials in Xiangyang are at a loss.Fortunately, Cai Hao, the prefect of Jingling, and Kuai Yue, the prefect of Zhangling, came out to preside over the overall situation, and supported Liu Cong, the youngest son of Liu Biao, as the lord of Jingzhou, which stabilized the situation.The funeral had to be done, but the situation was critical and everything was kept simple. Fortunately, when Liu Biao's original wife passed away, the tomb had been repaired in advance, and the funeral utensils had been prepared in advance; Cried twice in front of the grave, then hurried back to the city to discuss the countermeasures for the war.

The huge main hall of the shogunate was crowded with people, except for the generals and officials at all levels, all of them were dressed in mourning, and their eyes were white as far as they could see.Liu Congfang and Ruoguan, the new shepherds of Jingzhou, have delicate faces, still childish, and are even thinner than their peers.Although he is full of ambition to take over from his father, but the enemy is full of mourning, and he always feels that this is an ominous omen.Fortunately, with his stepmother Cai's hanging behind the curtain, and the leaders of the two wealthy families Kuai Yue and Cai Mao on the left and right, he was not so uneasy.

"My lords..." For the first time, Liu Cong spoke shyly to so many officials as his master, "Cao Cao invaded very quickly, and the north of Xinye fell one after another, and my father passed away at this time, what's the matter?" A good strategy to retreat from the enemy comes quickly." The group of officials was silent, even Kuai Yue and Cai Mao held their breath and were speechless. Liu Cong frowned slightly, and asked again bravely: "My brother has always wanted to win the throne, and now he is holding soldiers and horses in Jiangxia. I was the lord of Jingzhou again before I was in a hurry to inform my father. If he raises troops to fight How about it?"

The group of officials whispered a few words to each other, but still no one came forward to offer advice.Kuai Yue frowned into a big pimple, wanted to speak a few times but hesitated to speak, and finally lowered his head silently; Cai Mao stood there blankly with empty eyes and a helpless face. "Alas..." Liu Cong shook his head again and again, "There are so many talented people in Xiangyang, can there be no one who can share my worries?" In fact, it is not that the ministers are unable to share my worries, but that the situation of internal and external troubles is clear, and people's hearts have changed.

"The subordinates are willing to share the worries of the Lord!" Yi Ji stood up suddenly, "The most urgent thing is to send a mourning letter to Jiangxia, understand it with reason, move it with emotion, soothe the heart of the eldest son, and call Liu Bei, Wenpin and other troops to join the army Hanshui, and then transfer the food and supplies of Jiangling to reward the three armies. The lord came to the riverside to encourage the soldiers, and the lord and brothers work together, and Jingzhou can still be preserved!" Liu Cong also vaguely had this kind of thought, but unlike Yi Ji's well-planned plan, his thoughts immediately became clear after hearing this, and he stretched out his hand to get the command arrow, but heard a deep voice shouting: "Absolutely not!" Liu Cong looked up— ——The speaker is Fu Xun (xun), a native of Beidi County, Liangzhou.

"Uncle Ji's words are wrong." Fu Xun cupped his hands and bowed, "My lord and brother Ling have been grudges for many years, how can they be resolved in a moment?" As soon as the words came out, all the officials echoed: "Yes...the words are reasonable..." In fact, Liu Cong also felt that it was reasonable--Liu Qi came to visit from Jiangxia before Liu Biao died of illness. Zhang Yun, who was guarding the shogunate, was afraid that Liu Biao would change his heir at the end of his life. Liu Qi didn't even see his father for the last time.How can such grievances be resolved in a few words?Liu Cong's nature was weak and weak, which made Fu Xun lose his mind when he asked, "According to what you want?"

Fu Xun stroked the goatee under his chin, and said solemnly: "This subordinate has a plan, which can make the people of Jingxiang as safe as Mount Tai, and protect the lord and lord." Kuai Yue at the side immediately breathed a sigh of relief—someone has publicly proposed it! Liu Congquan failed to comprehend the meaning of "preserving the mingjue", and asked: "The plan will be safe?" Fu Xun saluted deeply: "Return to Cao Cao." "What!" After all, Liu Cong was highly valued by his father, and he was full of enthusiasm to defend Jingxiang. Hearing this, he couldn't help being furious, "Why did you say that, sir? I will occupy the land of Jingchu with you, and guard the land of my father. Looking at the world, why not? Now that my father's bones are still cold, how can I abandon my ancestral property and dedicate Jingzhou to others?" The more he spoke, the more angry he became, his fair face turned red, and he stretched out his hand to pick up the command arrow, "You have deceived me when I was young. , let me show you my idea! Leaving aside the matter of my brother, call Liu Bei to come and discuss the strategy of defending against the enemy!"

Before the words finished, Mrs. Cai heard the cry from behind the curtain: "Silly boy, Liu Xuande and your elder brother are accomplices, and have long wanted to fight for your position. If he is called to come, he will conspire with Liu Qi to seize Xiangyang, how can we, mother and child, stand there?" land?" Although the words were not loud, Liu Cong sounded like pouring cold water, his fingers trembled slightly, and the arrow fell to the ground with a "dong".Fu Xun was already worried, but when he saw that there seemed to be a turning point in this situation, he hurriedly said, "My lord, calm down...Since ancient times, there has been a general trend of obedience and obedience, and a certain trend of strength and weakness. Cao Cao entrusted the emperor to conquer the world, and he was not an unknown teacher. What's more, the northern land Crowds are added to Jingchu, such as the top of Mount Tai. Rejecting the lord with human subjects is against the times; using the emerging Chu to control the country is bound to be unstoppable; using the often defeated Liu Bei to resist Cao Cao is also invincible. These three Everything is short, resistance and failure to surrender is the way to death!"

"But...but..." Liu Cong was in a mess, he was full of reluctance but didn't know how to refute. At this moment, another human said: "I have something to ask the lord boldly, I don't know if it is OK?" Everyone looked sideways, the person who spoke was young and short, with a thin body and a snow-white complexion, his hands were raised like a beautiful girl, and his feet were like the wind Putting on willow, with a bookish face, he is more frail than Liu Cong.But people should not be judged by their appearance. This man, whose surname is Wang Can and whose style name is Zhongxuan, is also from Gaoping County, Shanyang. He is the grandson of Wang Chang, the third Duke of the previous dynasty, and the son of Shi Wangqian, the governor of He Jinfu. Mansion, reciting poems and composing fuss, all literati admire him.

"It's okay for Zhongxuan to say something!" Liu Congping had a good relationship with him every day when he sat down and talked about articles, so he was naturally overjoyed to see him take the initiative to speak up now. Wang Can bowed deeply: "May I ask how your master compares himself to Cao Cao?" Liu Cong also sought truth from facts: "How can our stepfather's career be compared with Cao Cao's." Wang Can asked again: "How do you think your lord is better than Liu Bei?" Liu Cong thought about it, Liu Bei had led the army for many years after all, so he had to admit: "It's not as good." "Yes." Wang Can changed his tone, "Master, please think about it, if Liu Bei is not good enough to control Cao, then Jingzhou will be lost; if Liu Bei is talented enough to control Cao, he will not be willing to submit to the general. The subordinates are My lord is concerned, at present... there is only one drop." Liu Cong was stunned by him.Wang Can strolled to the center of the hall, and made a statement: "In the past, the world was in chaos and heroes rose together. In a hurry, there was no distinction between the strong and the weak. Therefore, every family wanted to be an emperor, and everyone wanted to be a duke. Now the general trend has been revealed, and the victory and defeat have been decided." It is decided that the lord can only preserve Hengfu by acting according to circumstances. I think that Cao Mengde is also an outstanding man. Bai Deng, using soldiers like a god is invincible." As he spoke, he lifted his clothes and fell to his knees, "When my subordinates encounter chaos and entrust this state, how dare you not say enough about the kindness of the lord and his son? , Cao Gong must treat each other with kindness, and preserve the patriarch to enjoy the blessings, this is a perfect strategy!" Everyone in the hall applauded secretly—as expected of a talented man, he can persuade you to surrender so gracefully!A large group of officials fell to their knees, and followed suit: "Preserving the patriarch of the clan to enjoy the blessings, this is a surefire strategy..." "You...how did my father and son treat you badly?" Liu Cong was so anxious that he was about to cry. Kuai Yue saw that the heat was about the same, he took a step forward and said in a low voice: "What Fu Gongti and Wang Zhongxuan said is true. During the days when the late Lord was alive, he always wanted to protect the environment and the people. The world has been in turmoil for a long time. If the Lord can completely quell the fighting, the people will also I am grateful for your kindness. My lord, please rest assured, since Kuai was entrusted by the late Lord, he must try his best to speak up in front of Cao Gong. Even if he tries his best, he will ensure that your mother and child are safe..." Tears welled up in his eyes at this point . Liu Cong saw that Tuo Gu's ministers said so, and his heart turned cold, but then he thought, there are still uncles who hold soldiers and horses. As long as uncles support him, these people will definitely obey; nowhere to be seen. Seeing Liu Cong looking around, Zhang Yun hurriedly said, "My lord, don't look for him anymore. Mr. Cai was ill at first, and he had to work hard for the funeral. He felt unwell just now, and he has already returned home." Is this attitude not clear enough?Liu Cong's heart was completely cold, and he turned his head to look at his stepmother in the curtain—the shrewdness just now was gone, and he knew how to cry when he was babbling.Looking again at the civil servants in the hall, some bowed, some kowtowed, some wept bitterly, anyway, they kept saying "surrender"; only Yiji was full of indignation, regretting that he had mediocre qualifications and no power in his hand, so he stomped his feet anxiously. Liu Cong's tears finally fell, and he understood—mother is not his own mother, uncle is not his own uncle, the powerful family wants to protect themselves, the refugees want to return to the north, Cao Cao is invincible, Liu Bei is unreliable, and his brother must follow him Play your own life.It turned out that what I fought so hard to get was the seat of hot buttocks.Everyone had colluded with each other in advance, but I was the only outsider, standing alone and alone. "Since that's the case... that's the only way to go..." Liu Cong muttered incoherently, and staggered back to the back hall; behind him was a little brother Liu Xiu who was a concubine, let's hug and cry. As soon as Liu Cong left, the wailing officials immediately stopped their mourning, and their speech became much more free, and some even immediately showed a happy expression.Kuai Yue suppressed his sadness and sighed heavily, but he immediately realized that surrender was not so easy.Liu Bei is near Fancheng, the generals are scattered outside, and the situation is still unstable.He rushed to the handsome case and took out a command arrow and threw it to Zhang Yun: "Close all the city gates quickly, and no one is allowed to leave without my order." Zhang Yundao: "Mr. Cai's family is outside the city, and they may have gone out by now." "Your Majesty Cai is fine. No one else is allowed to let go. All affairs of the shogunate will be kept secret. Anyone who dares to leak the news, I will kill him!" Kuai Yue glanced at Yi Ji with ulterior motives when he said this; then he took the second order, "Deng Xi obeys orders." "In!" Deng Xi, who was engaged in Zhizhong, came out. "I order you to hold the festival of General Zhennan, and hurry to Nanyang to ask Cao Cao to surrender. You don't want to take more followers, take detours and wading through remote paths, and don't expose your whereabouts." "No." Deng Xi hurriedly made preparations. "Fu Xun and Wang Can listen to the order!" "exist." "The two of you arranged documents and secretly transferred the generals of the various ministries near Xiangyang into the city...except Liu Bei." Kuai Yue knew that Liu Bei was shrewd, and if he was transferred back, he would surely guess the surrender. You have to hide it from Liu Bei. Fu Xun had doubts: "What about Eldest Young Master? He doesn't know that the First Master passed away." Kuai Yuezao had a plan: "You can give him the seal of the former Lord Cheng Wuhou to reassure him, and don't mention the matter of surrender for the time being." In fact, he also wanted to hide Liu Biao's death from Liu Bei, but Liu Bei garrisoned Fancheng and Xiangyang are close at hand, and there is such a big commotion about the funeral that they can't hide it if they want to, so they can only make a fuss about the surrender. "Yes." Fu Xun and Wang Can also went. Kuai Yue drew out another command arrow, but this time he was not as decisive as before. After thinking for a while, he slowly inserted it back into the arrow pot, raised his head and asked, "Has Mr. Song Zhongzi come?" "My subordinate is here." A long-bearded scribe in his sixties squeezed out from the crowd. Song Zhongzi, named Song Zhong, was a great Confucian in Jingzhou. He once edited and annotated "Zhouyi" and "Fayan", and compiled "Five Classics".Although Liu Biao appointed him as an officer, it was to raise his own value and never bothered him to do things. "Mr. Song, I would like to ask you to do something, but it may be dangerous. I wonder if you would like to go?" Kuai Yue was very polite. "Why do you have to be polite in different degrees? It's only natural for the upper branch and the lower school." "Okay." Kuai Yue grabbed Song Zhong's wrist, "Let's go to the back hall, and I'll tell you in detail." After Kuai Yue left, the rest of the people had no scruples. If Jiang Cao Jicheng was on the table, some people even took off their mourning clothes and began to discuss what officials Cao Cao would give them and how to arrange their industries in Xiangyang.Stamping one's feet and beating one's chest has turned into a happy smile, and crying bitterly has turned into a celebration...