My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 278 Cai Mao is responsible for being a villain, and Zhuge Liang is responsible for promoting his deeds
When Cai Mao heard Kuai Liang reveal this secret, he broke out in a cold sweat:
"You mean, even if my brother-in-law recommended Lai Gong and Wu Ju to become governors, they might betray us and be wooed by Liu Bei in the future?"

Kuai Liang taught him angrily: "Everything is prepared, and failure is inevitable. If it were an ordinary person, this would be hard to imagine, but who is Liu Bei? Is his ability to win people's hearts comparable to that of ordinary people? We must be on guard!"

Cai Mao finally felt that it made sense and nodded subconsciously.

He didn't care about etiquette at the moment, and hurriedly thanked Kuai Liang for his advice, said goodbye in a hurry, and went straight back to the Jingzhou Mu Mansion to ask for an audience with Liu Biao.

As soon as the two met, Cai Mao pretended to be very thoughtful and relayed to Liu Biao Kuai Liang's opinions on how to fill in the gaps in the plan, making it seem that he had thought of all this himself.

This time, Liu Biao had a higher opinion of Cai Mao, and his previous impression of him was also restored a few points.

He was just a little suspicious: Why did his brother-in-law's political wisdom fluctuate? Could it be that someone had given him some advice after he returned?

But Liu Biao still didn't want to believe that his personal charm was so low. After pondering for a while, he still refused to change his mind: "Although this is a mature and prudent statement, Ji Bo has already been sent as an envoy, and the matter is almost settled. Wouldn't it be child's play to change it again? A real man should keep his word and not be so worried about gains and losses!

As for Lai Gong and Wu Ju, they have always been my confidants. I know them well. How could they be wooed by Liu Bei? Moreover, they already know my appointment of them. If I replace them, it will cause them to become disloyal. I can't find anyone else who is loyal enough and absolutely impossible to betray me to take over. Let's just leave it at that."

In the end, Liu Biao chose to believe in his personal charm and appeal to scholars.

After all, he was a famous scholar known as one of the Eight Talents in his time, and he was also very old and virtuous. He was over 60 years old, and many of his thoughts had become rigid.

Liu Biao's self-esteem could not accept the fact that "his personal charm was far inferior to Liu Bei's, and it was even possible that his confidants who had followed him for many years would be won over by Liu Bei."

There are some things that Liu Biao has firmly believed in all his life. If you ask him to overturn himself when he is old, he will not be able to bear it.

So he chose to ignore it and decided to take a chance.

Cai Mao was a little tactless. When he saw Liu Biao's excuse that "even if Lai Gong and Wu Ju are removed, there is no better candidate", he immediately plucked up his courage and wanted to recommend a few close relatives of the Cai family to take over: "I think Zhang Yun can also be the governor of Wuling. Wu Ju is just a military official, loyal and brave but not cultured. Zhang Yun is no worse than him..."

Cai Mao sincerely thought so, because he felt that the people of the Cai family and the Kuai family were now enemies of Liu Bei.

What kind of people are least likely to defect to Liu Bei? Of course, those who have a grudge against Liu Bei's camp!

Therefore, the more hatred someone has against Liu Bei, the more the brother-in-law should use him!

However, Cai Mao's simple and brainless idea, which came out of his mouth without any hesitation, obviously provoked another round of rebuke from Liu Biao.

"Nonsense! Are you really worried that Lai Gong and Wu Ju might change? Or do you want to place your confidants in a position? Don't mention this matter again!"

Liu Biao was so angry that he laughed and coughed violently for a while. Then he ordered Cai Mao to leave and not get in his way anymore.

Even Cai, who was behind the screen, heard that her husband was so angry with his brother that he became sick, so she hurried out to smooth things over. She also complained to Cai Mao and told him to leave quickly and not make his brother-in-law angry.

Then Cai came back and put on a face of three obediences and four virtues, helping Liu Biao to rub his chest and calm his breath, and whispering in his ear to heal the rift just now:
"Degui is just ignorant, but his intentions are good. He is just afraid that outsiders will betray him. Even if he is not capable, if we talk about unity, it is definitely more united with our family."

After much persuasion from his wife, Liu Biao finally calmed down and the matter was over.

……

At the same time, Wuchang County, Jiangxia County.

"After sending you a thousand miles, we must finally say goodbye. General Chariot and Cavalry, please return quickly. I am grateful for your kindness in returning the administrative power of Wuling and Lingling counties. By returning this time, I can also report to my lord, and I have fulfilled my mission!"

At the dock outside the city, Liu Bei brought Zhuge Liang to personally see Yi Ji off.

Just in the past two days, Yi Ji, on behalf of Liu Biao, formally signed an alliance with Liu Bei and agreed on many details.

Liu Bei also got the list of officials that Liu Biao was going to send to Wuling and Lingling, and then he assured Yi Ji:

He would immediately notify Zhang Fei who was patrolling the river defense, and give Zhang Fei the list to ensure that these people would not be intercepted when they came to take office.

But we also hope that Liu Biao will keep his promise and not make any more temporary substitutions, so as to avoid miscommunication between the two sides and more misunderstandings.

Yi Ji naturally gave his full guarantee, then he bid farewell to Liu Bei and boarded the ship to return.

Liu Bei felt a little reluctant as he watched Yi Ji's boat sail away. After he disappeared over the Han River, he turned around and quietly asked Zhuge Liang:

"Kong Ming, while we are negotiating with Ji Bo, we also sent people to Xiangyang to spread those words... Isn't that a bit unfair? I mean, it won't harm Ji Bo, right?"

Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan and smiled wisely, "My lord, don't worry. Liu Jingsheng is also a respectable elder, and Ji Bo is his fellow Shanyang native and close friend. This rumor cannot hurt him.

Besides, Liang's plan would not work without the cooperation of Cai Mao and the Kuai family - so if it really worked, it should be blamed on Cai Mao for excluding dissidents and framing loyal people. We are also helping the scholars of Jingzhou to see the greedy faces of Cai, Kuai and other clans more quickly!
If we spread rumors directly, Liu Biao would not believe it. But if we just leaked the secrets of what Cai Mao had done, and Cai Mao really said these things to Liu Biao, Liu Biao would be moved. I just calculated that with the despicable nature of the Cai family, they would definitely do some things. "

...Six days later, Yi Ji hurried back to Xiangyang with the alliance signed by Liu Bei, and told Liu Biao the details. He also mentioned that Liu Bei specifically stated that he would notify Zhang Fei as soon as possible to ensure that the new officials would be released.

After hearing this, Liu Biao finally put his mind at ease and asked Lai Gong, Wu Ju and others to take up their posts the next day.

Before leaving, Liu Biao gave them a few instructions: "After you take office, you must take charge of local government affairs as soon as possible. By the way, you can check whether Wuling and Lingling have any light and precious property, or other things that can be tributed, and send some to Jiangling.

Don't worry, I don't want the money, anything is fine. I'm just testing the waters to see if Liu Bei will let Zhang Fei stop me."

Lai Gong and Wu Ju were still Liu Biao's confidants, and they immediately expressed that they understood the envoy's intention and promised to do so after taking office.

The things are not important, what is important is to test the attitudes of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei.

Just two days after Lai Gong and Wu Ju set out on their journey, that day was already August 17th.

After a month and a half of running back and forth, the fatigue of traveling and contract negotiations, Yi Ji was finally able to take a break.

Liu Biao only gave him a few days of vacation and allowed him to arrange the rest of August on his own.

Yi Ji had nothing to do, so he visited some old friends in Xiangyang City. After all, he had been to Wuchang several times and brought back some "Wuchang specialties", which he could distribute to his colleagues during these few days.

Especially in Wuchang and E County today, there are people like Xu Shu in charge of farming with high technology, and Zhuge Liang occasionally gives advice and guidance.

Whether it was a new type of woodblock-printed folding book, or various other celadon tea sets, thin iron pots, or decorative steel-cast swords, all kinds of new products emerged in an endless stream, and there was always a new product coming out every year or so.

To the extent that whenever officials from Jingzhou had the opportunity to go on a business trip to Wuchang, if they did not bring some novel and special gifts to their colleagues when they returned, they would easily be secretly ostracized and accused of being stingy.

Yi Ji was a man of high position and was responsible for helping Liu Biao with diplomacy. Such a position required him to bring local specialties to people and shut them up.

At noon that day, Yi Ji came to visit his colleague Han Song's house.

Han Song also found an excuse to invite several other distinguished colleagues under Liu Biao, such as Liu Xian and Song Zhong, to the banquet, in order to welcome Yi Ji.

Yi Ji also knew about this situation in advance, so he prepared three sets of specialty gifts at once, and planned to give them to Han Song, Liu Xian, and Song Zhong respectively.

Liu Biao's subordinates did not always send envoys to Yi Ji. He even appointed two assistants, Yi Ji and Liu Xian. Liu Biao did this in order to "send different people to different princes".

After the Yidaizhao Incident broke out, the princes of the world were divided into two groups. Some followed the Yidaizhao Incident and opposed the power center of Xudu, while others still respected the power center of Xudu.

When Liu Biao wanted to contact people to support Yuan and oppose Cao, he would send Yi Ji. If he wanted to contact people to support Cao and oppose Yuan, he would let Liu go first.

Two teams are suitable for Liu Biao's fence-sitting style. However, with the recent conflict over Wancheng, the operating space for fence-sitting has gradually decreased, and Liu Xian is in a semi-unemployed state with nothing to do.

Song Zhong and Han Song were relatively neutral.

Han Song hoped that Liu Biao would make a decision as soon as possible and not hesitate and offend both sides.

Song Zhong was a noble scholar, as famous as Sima Hui and Pang Degong, and was a famous scholar. Therefore, he usually did not interfere in Liu Biao's foreign attitude. He just did whatever Liu Biao asked him to do.

Yin Mo, Xiang Lang and others who had followed Sima Hui to join Liu Bei had consulted Sima Hui and Song Zhong on Confucian classics for several years, which shows Song Zhong's status as a senior in the academic world.

The four of them exchanged greetings and sat down at Han Song's house. After the banquet was held and gifts were distributed, three rounds of wine were served.
Liu Xian, who had always been at odds with Yi Ji, said indifferently: "Brother Ji, I have something to advise you. When you go to Wuchang next time, just bring back some gifts that are small but meaningful. There are a lot of rumors going around nowadays, and I am doing this for the sake of Brother Ji's reputation."

Upon hearing this, Yi Ji's hand holding the wine cup immediately froze in mid-air and his brows furrowed.

He had only been back in Xiangyang for two days. He was so tired that he slept at home yesterday. He had no idea what rumors were circulating in Xiangyang City during the time he was away.

As the host, Han Song's face slightly changed when he heard Liu Xian talking about something irrelevant. He quickly tried to mediate and slow down the pace: "Shi Zong! Why are you bringing up these things? Don't you and I know Ji Bo's character and integrity?"

Yi Ji's face turned even darker, and he forced a smile to thank Han Song: "Brother Degao, you don't have to be silent on my behalf. Could it be that during the time I was away from Xiangyang, some people in the streets said that I was taking advantage of someone?"

(Note: Liu Xian's courtesy name was Shizong, Han Song's courtesy name was Degao, and Song Zhong's courtesy name was Zhongzi.)
Han Song said apologetically: "We all know Ji Bo's character. How could we believe such nonsense!"

Yi Ji was so angry that he laughed: "I know that too. It is likely that someone has slandered me in front of the lord."

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PS: There will be three updates today, and one more after dinner.

(End of this chapter)