Jianming Chaos

When Cao Jun arrived in Xiangyang that night, Cai Mao welcomed him into the city and told Cao Cao what had happened.

Cao Cao called Wenpin out, rewarded him heavily, and named him "General Against Rebellion", responsible for chasing Liu Bei.Wenpin thanked him and said that he would live up to the entrustment.

Xu Shu said: "In order not to implicate Liu Qi, Liu Bei will not go to Jiangxia, but will go to Jiangling. It is an important place in the north of Jing, and there is plenty of money and food. The prime minister should pursue him quickly."

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "Don't worry. Since they have no boats to use, they must walk slowly with the people on foot; the roads are difficult, and they can walk more than ten miles a day. This place is about 150 miles away from Jiangling. Calculated from this, it will take them more than ten days to reach Jiangling; besides, it is getting late and horses tend to stumble, so it will not be too late to pursue them tomorrow morning."

Cao Cao asked how many troops remained in Jingzhou, and Cai Mao said, "About 28: 15 cavalry, [-] infantry, and [-] sailors."

"How many warships are there? Who is in charge now?"

"There are more than [-] large and small warships, and Zhang Yun and I are in charge now."

Cao Cao appointed Cai Mao as the Marquis of Zhennan and the Governor of the Navy, and Zhang Yun as the Marquis of Shun and the Deputy Governor of the Navy. The two jointly led the Jingzhou Navy.The two were overjoyed and thanked Cao Cao.

Suddenly, Cao Cao noticed that Liu Cong was not there, so he asked, "Where is the young master? Let him come out to see the old man."

Cai Mao went to the back hall and brought Liu Cong out.It turned out that Liu Cong was very afraid of Cao Cao, and when he heard that he was coming, he quickly avoided.

Cao Cao restrained his smile on purpose and asked, "Why doesn't the young master come out to see me?"

Liu Cong hurriedly replied: "I have neglected my duty. I didn't know that the prime minister is coming. I am far away to welcome you!"

Cao Cao stared at each other for a moment, then smiled and said, "The young master is really smart! This old man has thought about it for a long time, and decided to give the young master a new task."

"What mission?" Liu Cong asked cautiously.

"After much deliberation, the old man decided to play the role of the emperor and seal the young master as the governor of Qingzhou. The young master will go to Qingzhou to take up his post tomorrow morning, how about it?"

Liu Cong immediately prostrated himself on the ground and said, "Prime Minister, don't drive me away. I just want to stay in Jingzhou to guard my father's tomb!"

Cao Cao helped him up and said, "Qingzhou is close to the imperial capital, which is beneficial to the young master's career. If you go, the old man will protect the emperor and let you enter the court and govern as soon as possible; if you stay in Jingzhou, you will be killed by traitors sooner or later. "

"However, even if you want to go to Qingzhou to take up the post, logically speaking, you should wait for the imperial decree to come down before you go? Besides, there are currently incumbents in Qingzhou's governor, right?" Liu Cong argued hard.

"You don't believe the old man's words? You don't have to worry about the imperial decree, someone will send it to Qingzhou directly; the old man will write a 'decree on behalf of the imperial decree' for the young master to take to Qingzhou as a temporary basis for the young master to succeed the governor. ;As for Sun Guan, the current governor, the old man wants to transfer him to Bingzhou and make other arrangements. The young master just prepares his luggage for tomorrow." Cao Cao has made up his mind.

Cai Hao helped to speak: "The young master is still young, and he has just inherited his father's business not long ago, so he can't adapt to the overall situation. Please be kind to the prime minister, and let him hone in Jingzhou for three to five years. I don't know what to do?"

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "Jingzhou is a land that connects Soochow, the Central Plains and Xichuan. Its strategic location is particularly important. If Soochow invades in the near future, how will the young master resist it? The old man's intention is to let General Cai act as the governor of the state first, and then Reject Liu Bei and Sun Quan. The young master can be tempered in Qingzhou, and there are few wars in Qingzhou, which is also a good thing for the young master."

When Cai Mao heard this, he was overjoyed. He didn't expect that Cao Cao's southern expedition would lead to his plan for a thousand years!But he who is good at superficial skills still said: "The prime minister underestimated the young master. With the young master's wisdom and ability, he can resist Liu Bei and Sun Quan's generation. The young master is naturally intelligent and eager to learn. As long as he is tempered, he will become a success in the future." Great weapon."

Cao Cao said with a smile: "Of course! 'A tiger father has no dogs'. In the past, Liu Jingsheng managed Jingzhou in an orderly manner. I believe that if the young master stays here for a long time, the same can be done. But the situation is forced. We can only make such a bad policy, for the sake of the people of the great man! If Liu Bei and Sun Quan are not eliminated, our great Han country will not be stable for a day."

Liu Cong repeatedly begged to stay, but Cao Cao firmly refused.

Cai Mao pulled Liu Cong aside and said in a low voice, "Nephew, now it seems that you have to make a compromise and go to Qingzhou first; after Cao Cao has left, uncle will find a way to get you back."

Liu Cong was dubious, but due to the situation, he had no choice but to agree.

Cao Cao asked Mrs. Cai to come out again, said some good things hypocritically, and asked her to go to Qingzhou with Liu Cong.On the surface, Mrs. Cai could only accept it happily, but she was uneasy in her heart.

After the meeting, Mrs. Cai secretly told Cai Mao to be careful about Cao Cao, and to find a way to get their mother and son back afterwards.Cai Mao verbally agreed, but he had other plans in his heart.

The next morning, Liu Cong's mother and son took the luggage they had prepared overnight and got into the carriage.Cai Mao sent them two miles away from the city gate, and said, "Sister and nephew, this is the end of the matter, so I don't want to say more. You should all know what the prime minister has in mind. But please rest assured, I will definitely try to persuade him. Let you come back as soon as possible, after all, Jingzhou needs a real governor."

The mother and son nodded.Mrs. Cai said, "It's all up to you, Degui."

Cai Mao nodded, comforted them again, and then went back.Only the loyal veteran Wang Wei, two guards and a coachman followed the carriage. The rest of the soldiers were left behind by Cao Cao and were not allowed to take them away.

On the way back to the city, Cai Mao couldn't help but think of Cao Cao's "teaching" last night: "Those who achieve great things, don't be entangled by emotions..."

"I'm sorry, sister and nephew!" Cai Mao reluctantly said in his heart.

Wang Wei is Liu Biao's favorite general, a man of loyalty and patriotism, who has always been dissatisfied with Cai Mao in Jingzhou, so he became a thorn in Cai Mao's side.This time, he would rather go to Qingzhou with his young master than stay in Jingzhou and work for Cai Mao. Cai Mao seized the opportunity to propose to Cao Cao that Wang Wei escort Liu Cong's mother and son to Qingzhou and take the opportunity to drive him away.

When the carriage just set off, Liu Cong said to him: "General Wang, you should go back. Although Cao Cao drove us away, you can still stay. 'The tiger falls in Pingyang and is bullied by dogs', you follow us to Qingzhou, There is only suffering."

Wang Wei said angrily: "I'm always destined to live forever. I don't want to be comfortable. I just want to follow the young master for the rest of my life. I would rather die than follow Cai Mao, a traitor!"

Liu Cong sighed: "It's rare to have a loyal minister, it's a pity that my father died early!"

The carriage traveled five or six miles, and suddenly, dust rose up behind it, and a group of people chased after it.

Liu Cong looked back and saw that it was Cao Yujin, who said happily, "Could it be that Uncle persuaded Cao Cao to send someone to pick us up?"

Mrs. Cai also became happy.Wang Wei felt strange: "If you are taking us back, why send so many people?"

Cao Jun overtook the carriage and blocked the way.Yu Jin pointed at it with a knife and said, "I am ordered by the prime minister to take the lives of your mother and child!"

The mother and son were shocked.Wang Wei said angrily: "I expected Cao Cao to make such a move, but it's a pity that with me, Wang Wei, you can never succeed!"

Yu Ban's men hacked and killed Wang Wei, and several cavalry rushed over.Wang Wei sneered, patted his horse and danced with his spear, and showed extraordinary spear skills, causing the cavalry to fall off their horses one after another.

Yu Jin was startled, he didn't expect an old man to be able to fight like this, so he went into battle himself.Wang Wei roared and stabbed his horse with a spear.The horse screamed and fell down, and Yu Jin also fell off the horse.

Wang Wei shot at Yu Jin who was on the ground, and Yu Jin turned around and stood up.

"Let me get off the horse and play with you!" Wang Wei jumped off the horse.

Yu Jin used the quick knife attack technique.Wang Wei easily blocked all the attacks and said, "Your sword skills are too tender, it's too early to defeat me! Let you try my marksmanship!"

Although he is nearly [-] years old, in terms of force, Wang Wei has not diminished.His marksmanship was sharp and swift like the wind, and he flew away from the forbidden knife in less than ten rounds.

Startled, Yu Jin pulled out the throwing knife on the inside of his boots and let it go.Wang Wei blocked the flying knife lightly with his gun.

Yu Jin turned around and wanted to escape.Wang Wei kicked him away, and Yu Jin lay heavily on the ground, eating a mouthful of sand.

Wang Wei pointed at it with a gun and said, "You don't want to escape my golden gun today!"

Wang Wei stabbed him with a single shot.When Jinzheng was helpless, a soldier behind him jumped from his horse and jumped in front of Wang Wei, smashing the handle of the gun with one palm.Wang Wei was startled.

The soldier helped Yu Jin up and said, "General Yu, get on your horse first, and I will deal with him."

Yu Jin didn't have time to think about it, so he got on the horse quickly.

Wang Wei drew out his sword and asked, "You are not an ordinary soldier, who are you?"

"Before I die, let me tell you that I am the deputy general of the White Tigers——Yue Xin!"

"White Tiger Squad!" Wang Wei was shocked, "Cao Cao actually sent people from the White Tiger Squad to kill us?"

Yue Xin sneered, and said, "Because General Cai said that you are superior in force, and I am afraid that ordinary generals are no match for you, so the prime minister sent me to deal with you."

"Cai Mao! He actually wanted to kill his relatives!" Wang Wei was furious, "Are there any members of the White Tiger Team among the Cao troops who came to Xiangyang this time?"

"It's not just me, there are several lieutenant generals among the soldiers," Yue Xin said.

"Why did Cao Cao do this?" Wang Wei asked.

"People who are about to die don't need to know so much!"

"You?!...Okay, even if you're from the White Tigers, I'm not afraid!" Wang Wei struck with his sword.

Yue Xin blocked the sword with his forearm.Wang Wei was surprised: "Hard Qigong?"

"That's right!" Yue Xin clamped the sword between his palms and broke it in one fell swoop.

Before Wang Wei could react, Yue Xin had already inserted the broken sword into his forehead, and the blade pierced through the back of his head.Wang Wei stared blankly and fell to the ground dead.

Liu Cong's mother and son were shocked.Two guards rushed up with guns and shouted: "Revenge for General Wang!"

Yue Xin made a move of "Two Dragons Turning the River", and two tornado-like air currents swept the guards away.He walked towards the carriage, the driver saw that the situation was not good, he quickly apologized to Liu Cong's mother and son, and ran away.

The mother and son knew they were going to die, so they embraced and wept.Yue Xin drew out the saber, raised the saber and dropped it...

Yu Jin cut off their heads, wrapped them up, and brought them back to Cao Cao.Cao Cao was overjoyed and said: "The future troubles are over, and Jingzhou belongs to me! Wen Ze (Yu Jin's character), well done!"

Yu Jin said, "Actually, Yue Xin from the White Tiger Team killed them."

"Oh? It's the White Tigers?" Cao Cao pretended to be surprised.

"Yes, at first I didn't know that there were members of the White Tigers in my army." There was something in the forbidden words.

"Well, it should be arranged by Xu Shu. It's better to have them here, it's easier to do things." Cao Cao said lightly.

Although Yu Jin nodded in agreement, he was puzzled: "I can understand the White Tigers going out, but why should I put people in my army? Could it be that the prime minister doesn't trust his relatives' troops and must let the White Tigers intervene? The prime minister seems to trust Xu Shu very much recently , and Xu Shu had been enmity with the prime minister because of the death of his mother before, and after he went to Baihuzhai and came back, he seemed to be a different person. Isn't this too weird? And the most strange thing is why the White Tiger team treats Xu Shu like this Obedience? Is there something hidden in it?"

Cao Cao saw that he had an idea, and said: "Wen Ze, don't think too much. It's not that I don't trust you, but this time, I vowed to eradicate Liu Bei's gang, so I specially 'added fuel' to the army to make it easier to realize the plan. .”

After all, he ordered someone to tell Yue Xin to come, and rewarded them both.

Cai Mao who was at the side didn't say a word, and had a lot of thoughts on his mind.Cao Cao comforted him: "Family love can be abandoned, but official career can't be abandoned. You are already the real lord of Jingzhou, so you should be happy. However, the task ahead will be arduous."

Cai Mao thanked with tears: "Thank you, Prime Minister, for your promotion! I will do my best to help the Prime Minister eliminate the chaotic party!"

After the generals retreated, Xu Shu said: "Liu Cong is dead, my lord can rest assured to pursue Liu Bei."

"Of course! If Liu Bei and Kong Ming don't die for a day, the old man will have trouble sleeping and eating, and his back is like a glow!" Cao Cao said with a frown.

"Prime Minister, don't worry, I have specially arranged for the three brothers of the White Tiger Team to mix in the pursuit force. They are all people with strange moves. They will definitely be able to take the heads of Liu Bei and Kong Ming! Jiangling is an important place in Jingzhou, and we must not Let them seize the opportunity!" Xu Shu's tone was firm and full of confidence.

Cao Cao immediately issued an order that all the generals of the army should make arrangements and set off immediately, and they should catch up with Liu Bei within one day; he also ordered Cai Mao and Zhang Yun to stay in Xiangyang and focus on training the navy.The "strange combination" of the White Tigers is also in the pursuit of the troops, and its real target is not Liu Bei or Kong Ming, but Zhiming.