My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 416: Cai Degui is a villain in vain

Yi Ji told Zhuge Jun privately about the difficulties Liu Qi was facing and the internal conflicts in Jingzhou without reservation, which shows that he was sincere in his desire to join Liu Bei.

In Yi Ji's view, there is nothing wrong with betraying the Lord.

After several years of thinking, Yi Ji had figured it out: being loyal to Liu Biao and being close to Liu Bei were not contradictory and could coexist. This was because he had seen that Liu Biao had neither the qualifications nor the ability or time to fight for the world.

But Liu Biao is so old, how many years can he live?
As long as he has no ability to fight for the world, and no ambition to form a separatist regime that dares to completely resist the imperial court, then the governor of a state is not legally qualified to pass the throne to his son. After all, it is only the eighth year of Jian'an, and there are almost no examples of successful succession of princes.

Originally in history, Sun Ce's passing of the throne to Sun Quan was considered the second successful case.

Before that, the throne was only passed to Liu Zhang when Liu Yan died, but the rebellion of Zhao Wei in Ba County and Zhang Lu in Hanzhong broke out. This meant that Yizhou was divided into three parts: Ba, Shu, and Hanzhong. Liu Zhang only occupied Shu at the beginning, and later he barely pacified Ba, but he could never get Hanzhong back. After his father died, it was completely separated and became an enemy.

Because of this, when Sun Ce died in history, he was not confident in passing on the throne. He knew that Jiangdong was far from being as geographically isolated as Bashu, and foreign enemies could enter at will. So the last words he left to Zhang Zhao and others were very soft, saying something like "If you can't occupy Jiangdong, you can ensure that Zhongmou slowly returns to the west."

But in this life, Sun Ce was destroyed by Liu Bei as soon as he died, and Sun Quan fled directly to Cao Cao, so this only "successful case of succession in a geographically open area" no longer exists.

Going back further, when Tao Qian died, he was not able to pass the throne to his son. Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan, Lu Bu, etc. were all destroyed in their first generation.

Yuan Shao succeeded to the throne reluctantly, but Yuan Shang died in just two years. Only Yuan Tan survived by clinging to Liu Bei.

Such "historical records" have led to the fact that all the knowledgeable people among the various princes, except Liu Zhang, have seen the current situation clearly and formed path dependence:

It is almost impossible for a small or medium-sized power that only controls one state to pass on the throne smoothly when the lord dies, unless it is in an independent geographical unit like Shu. Forcibly passing on the throne and pushing the son to fight for hegemony and hereditary succession may also lead to the destruction of the entire family.

If you want to achieve intergenerational inheritance of status, you have to find the two major forces fighting for the world and choose one to cling to. You have to give up some of your real power in exchange for the other party's recognition of your status and support for your rise to power.

The "advanced deeds" and "model cases" in this regard are obviously Sun Quan and Yuan Tan. One of them defected to Cao and the other to Liu, and both received protection.

So in Yi Ji's view, he was loyal to Liu Biao and would be loyal to Liu Qi in the future, and at the same time he also defected to Liu Bei, so he did not have any moral burden.

Liu Qi is his future lord, and Liu Bei is his lord's lord.

The people of the Han Dynasty did not have the Western tradition of decentralization of "my vassal's vassal is not my vassal", and there was nothing wrong with being loyal to both the governor of their state and the overlord of the world at the same time.

When Yi Ji spoke clearly to Zhuge Jun this time, he was actually hinting at the tendency of the "pro-Liu faction in Jingzhou": as long as Liu Bei supports Liu Qi to continue to be the governor of the state in the future, they can naturally respect Liu Bei.

Yi Ji also knew that Liu Bei would definitely be willing to give up the title and treatment of "Jingzhou Mu". Liu Bei could even accommodate Yuan Tan as the Qingzhou Mu, so how could he not accommodate Liu Qi? If the title was given, there was nothing wrong with Liu Bei's people actually taking charge of the affairs.

Liu Bei's eating manners were still very polite, definitely much better than Cao Cao's.

In fact, didn’t Cai Mao and other “pro-Cao factions” on the other side have similar considerations?

Cai Mao supported Liu Cong, was it really because he expected Liu Cong to fight for hegemony? Impossible, as Cai Mao knew best what kind of person Liu Cong was and how capable he was.

Cai Mao wanted nothing more than that Liu Cong could keep the title and status of governor a hundred years after Liu Biao's death. At the same time, the Cai and Kuai families could continue to hold power and enjoy real benefits in the local area. It would be even better if Cao Cao could give the Cai and Kuai families some high positions in the court.

Historically, Cao Cao did not do anything to Liu Cong who surrendered, and he still retained his treatment as a governor.

……

Zhuge Jun had never really thought through this problem before, but now after listening to Yi Ji's frank talk, he finally understood it completely.

Before coming, my elder brother did give him some instructions, telling him that the confrontation between the two factions in Jingzhou was very serious. But he also told him: You are not capable enough to handle it, so don't get too involved, lest you suffer the consequences. Just bring the people here, and when you get to Pei County, the lord and I will win them over.

So Zhuge Jun was happy to be lazy.

Looking back now, my elder brother was really far-sighted and saw things too clearly. Especially before I left, my elder brother casually chanted a few prophecies, saying that Liu Jingzhou's territory "will begin to decline in eight or nine years, and by the end of the year there will be nothing left."

Zhuge Jun didn't understand at first, but now he finally understands. What his elder brother meant when he said that Jingzhou was beginning to decline was the eighth year of Jian'an, when Liu Cong married Cai Mao's daughter and the two sons of Liu Biao started to fight openly.

Just one year after his second brother got married, Liu Qi was forced to seek external help. This shows how critical the situation was.

……

Two days later, in the headquarters of General Zhennan in Xiangyang, Liu Biao's condition improved slightly. He woke up early in the morning, had breakfast, and walked around in the back garden for a few laps.

Hearing that his father was in good spirits, Liu Qi hurried over to visit and ask how he was.

When Liu Biao saw Liu Qi, he exchanged a few words of family conversation, then said, "You are now the governor of Jiangxia, and the matter in Hanyang is also urgent. You cannot stay too long to visit the patient. When Zhuge Jun and Ji Bo return, you should also send them to Hanyang and send the navy to escort them across the river."

According to Liu Biao, it has been decided that Yi Ji will go back with Zhuge Jun.

Liu Qi agreed first, and then mentioned his previous request: "Father, Uncle Xuande rebuilt the mausoleum of King Xiao of Liang, and let all the royal family members in the world watch the ceremony to expose the evil of Cao. For such a thing, we only sent a non-official Beijia to watch the ceremony, which is not serious enough, and we are afraid of being criticized by the world.

I am still willing to follow Yi Beijia to show my father's generosity to the world." Liu Biao sighed and said, "Liu Zhang may not dare to send Liu Xun. I heard people say the other day that Liu Zhang would definitely use the excuse that his sons were still young to send Beijia of another surname."

Liu Qi quickly explained: "So what? Liu Zhang is narrow-minded and petty. Doesn't this only highlight the magnanimity of father? How can we compare with Liu Zhang? Moreover, what those people said to father was also untrue. Uncle Xuande's envoys haven't even arrived in Chengdu yet. How can they know how Liu Zhang will respond?"

Liu Biao narrowed his eyes and asked, "How do you know that Xuande's envoy has not arrived in Chengdu yet?"

Liu Qi was stunned, but fortunately he reacted quickly and explained immediately:
"I calculated it based on the journey time. When we received Uncle Xuande's delegation in Hanyang, another envoy, Sun Shao, was also passing through at the same time.

But Sun Shao did not cross the river, but went directly upstream along the south bank of the river. I saw the flags of his fleet from afar on the river, so I knew where he was. "

Liu Biao nodded and said, "But I am still worried about your safety."

Liu Qi then cheered up and explained to Liu Biao that "Uncle Xuande treats Yuan Tan so well, let alone me". Finally, Liu Biao changed his mind and stopped worrying about his son's safety.

Liu Biao stroked his beard and pondered, "In that case... this matter can be discussed - this principle was not taught to you by Zhuge Jun, right?"

Liu Qi was not good at lying, but he answered this question confidently: "I only escorted Zhuge Jun all the way to Xiangyang. After arriving in Xiangyang, I never saw him again, let alone asked for advice."

When Liu Qi answered, Liu Biao kept staring into his eyes.

He knew his son's temperament very well and knew that Liu Qi was not good at lying. As long as there was no flickering in his eyes, it meant that he was not lying.

It seems that these were all thought of by the son himself.

Liu Biao suddenly felt a little relieved and said, "It's rare that you have such insight. Well, go back and make preparations. I will make a final decision after I meet Zhuge Jun."

Liu Qi knew that his father had agreed in principle, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, he kept telling himself: I really didn't lie, I didn't deceive my father... I really didn't communicate with Zhuge Jun. As for Yi Ji's retelling of Zhuge Jun's words, that can't be counted, right?
……

After Liu Qi left, Liu Biao formally met with Zhuge Jun the next day, hosted a banquet for him, and talked about his alliance and friendship with Liu Bei.

Cai Mao, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue saw that Liu Biao had made up his mind. Although they intended to slander and obstruct the eldest son from getting external support from Liu Bei, they had no new excuses for the time being.

Who made Liu Qi's words so righteous and logical, and there was nothing wrong with them?

However, just after Liu Biao formally met Zhuge Jun but before he sent him away, when Liu Qi and Yi Ji were packing their bags and selecting their accompanying team, a new piece of information from the Xudu court greatly helped Cai Mao.

It was a day in early December, and Cai Mao was feeling depressed about the failure of his plan. Early in the morning, Han Song, who was in charge of Jingzhou's liaison with Cao, suddenly came to his house to ask for a meeting and brought him an urgent message.

"General Cai! There was a change in Xu City. Minister Cao submitted a petition to deprive Liu Bei of his official position, but Your Majesty rejected it. However, the Minister Xi Lu petitioned to promote Liu Bei to the position of Minister of Rites and have Liu Ai take over as Minister of the Imperial Clan, and Your Majesty accepted it.

Now that Liu Bei is no longer a clan leader, what right does he have to interfere in the family affairs of the Han royal family? "

When Cai Mao heard this, he was also delighted and hurried to find Kuai Yue to discuss it.

Kuai Yue thought it was a good thing at first, but he soon realized the problem: "However, the eldest son did not explicitly state that he was going to Pei County to please the chief minister and win his support. Even if Liu Bei's official position was changed, how can we use this as an excuse to persuade the lord not to let the eldest son go?"

Cai Mao was stunned and realized this problem.

Indeed, anyone with a little political acumen could see that Liu Qi's purpose of going to Pei County was to seek the support of the Zongbo on the issue of succession to the royal family, and to use the Zongbo's power to force Liu Biao to establish the eldest son as the heir.

But Liu Qi never said explicitly that this was his purpose. What he said on the surface were always those righteous and awe-inspiring words, which were for the sake of "loyalty and filial piety" rather than profit.

In this case, whether Liu Bei can take care of the matter of Zongbo has nothing to do with whether Liu Qi goes or not?

This cannot be a reason to stop Liu Qi from going, but it can only be a reason for Cai Mao and Kuai family to protest when Liu Bei interferes in the internal affairs of Jingzhou in the future.

But how could Cai Mao just sit there and watch? He paced back and forth anxiously, and finally made a decision:
"I finally found a reason, but I'm unwilling to let it go! No, no matter whether my brother-in-law understands this or not, I can't give up this opportunity to stir up trouble! I'm going to tell my brother-in-law that Liu Bei is no longer the chief minister, and Qi'er should try not to go if possible!"

Cai Mao made his suggestion so rashly.

After hearing this, Liu Biao naturally understood the situation and became even more disappointed with Cai Mao.

But Liu Biao didn't want to show it on the surface, so he pretended not to understand. He just called Yi Ji to confront him again, told Yi Ji the news and asked him to comment.

Yi Ji was indeed knowledgeable and responded directly with a righteous argument, which was almost the same as what Kuai Yue had said to Cai Mao just now: The eldest son went to show his loyalty to his master, not for any other selfish reasons. Does it matter whether Liu Bei is the chief minister of the imperial clan?
Liu Biao then pretended to have just figured this out and nodded repeatedly: "Ji Bo is right! It is I who am old and confused. How could I not have thought of this? Degui, are you meddling too much?"

Cai Mao was speechless and could only retreat in shame. As he left, he secretly hated the old man: "The old man is really easy to fool. I just hate Yi Ji for ruining my good deeds again! If he hadn't reminded my brother-in-law, maybe my brother-in-law would have been fooled by me!"
But he had no way to stop it, and finally had to watch Liu Qi, Yi Ji and Zhuge Jun board the boat down the river to visit Liu Bei.

The pro-Cao and pro-Liu factions in Jingzhou became increasingly hostile to each other after this incident. The conflicts that had been hidden behind the scenes were gradually coming to the surface and were becoming increasingly intensified.

(End of this chapter)