My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 425 Supporting Liu Qi
This banquet to establish one's authority finally ended in a very perfect atmosphere.

Yuan Tan, Liu Qi, and Zhang Song all fully felt Liu Bei's strength. Whether it was agriculture, smelting industry, or navy, every aspect had its unexpected highlights, which made the audience feel awe.

Even if they couldn't understand the details, the civil servants accompanying Liu Bei's camp would help them with scientific literacy at the right time.

For example, tell the envoy that the rich and fragrant cheese and yogurt served at the banquet are just by-products of the medical research of Dr. Hua in Guangling County.

Our army's research on the treatment of soldiers' injuries and illnesses is beyond the reach of other princes. As long as you regard my lord as the leader and unite with me to fight against the rebellion, you will definitely receive support from our army in terms of military supplies and medicine, so that more of your army's experienced veterans can survive the consumption of future wars...

In this way, through a banquet, some strengths that were originally not suitable to be displayed at the banquet were also shown off, subtly and without leaving any trace.

……

After the banquet, the envoys from all parties took their leave and went back to rest.

Only Liu Qi had not forgotten his extra mission. That night, after digesting his food and sobering up, Yi Ji took Liu Qi to stay alone in the side hall, listened respectfully to Liu Bei's teachings, and closed the door to privately talk about Liu Qi's current predicament.

As for Liu Bei, after the banquet to establish his authority was over, Zhuge Jin took him aside and found a free moment to briefly explain the situation to Liu Bei so that he could be mentally prepared.

When Liu Bei heard Zhuge Jin's retelling, he was a little confused at first. It was mainly because he had drunk a little too much today and his brain was not reacting quickly.

"Brother Jingsheng's family is so riven by strife that it has become so serious? I never expected this.

I originally thought that Cai Mao and his ilk were just trying to seize power, but I didn't expect them to be so involved in Brother Jingsheng's succession. "

Zhuge Jin helped explain: "Originally, Cai Mao would not be so rampant, but the situation changed last year. Liu Cong married Cai Mao's daughter, so the Cai family's support for Liu Cong suddenly became much more resolute, and it has reached the point where they must seize the throne.

However, the eldest son was already in Hanyang, holding the post of governor of Jiangxia, and was protected by his own army and generals, so Cai Mao could not frame him in a hurry. However, as a result, the eldest son dared not return to Xiangyang, and had fewer and fewer opportunities to meet Liu Jingzhou and his son.

Since ancient times, even between parents and children, the relationship has become increasingly distant and closer. One cannot serve his child all year round, while the other is always by his side to greet him. After a long time, it is hard to say whether Liu Jingzhou will be tempted by the three people and gradually change his mind. "

Zhuge Jin was of course very familiar with these situations. He didn't even need Yi Ji to tell him. He could just copy the historical answers, repackage them, and pass them on to Liu Bei.

The nursery rhyme of Jingzhou, "It began to decline in the eighth or ninth year, and in the thirteenth year there was nothing left," is very famous in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Even people who have not read the history books but only the romance know it.

Last year was the eighth year of Jian'an. After this time point, the conflict between Liu Qi and Liu Cong officially passed the critical point. Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. In the end, one of the two must lose his foothold in Liu Biao's family.

Liu Bei also just learned after listening to this explanation that Liu Cong had married Cai Mao's daughter at the end of last year. When this happened, Liu Bei was in a stalemate with Cao Cao and was focusing on military affairs. How could he care about Liu Biao's family affairs thousands of miles away?

After sorting out the cause and effect, Liu Bei nodded and said, "So that's how it is. This makes sense. Deposing the eldest and enthroning the youngest has always been the way to chaos. As the chief minister of the imperial clan, I am in charge of the family affairs of the Han royal family. How can I not care? I will definitely help with Qi'er's matter!"

Liu Bei burped, then waved his hand proudly, saying that he would definitely take care of the matter. Then, he signaled Zhuge Jin to invite Yi Ji and Liu Qi to meet alone.

Soon, Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin arrived at the side hall.

When Liu Qi saw Liu Bei, he bowed deeply and said, "Uncle is a man of great talent and strategy, and he has made plans for the world. I am not talented, but I am willing to do my best to help you. I only regret that my influence is not strong enough to convince you to use the power of Jingzhou to help you..."

Liu Bei hurriedly took two steps forward and helped Liu Qi up, saying, "My dear nephew, there is no need to be polite. Brother Jingsheng and I have been allies since the rebellion of Zhang Xian and Sun Ce, and we have been fighting against Cao's wings together.

The proposal I put forward today was also a whim of my own, and I did not inform Brother Jingsheng in advance. If he came in person, he would definitely join in the celebration. I have never worried about the situation in Jingzhou. The only thing I worry about is Brother Jingsheng's health.

Brother Jingsheng is already 65, right? Is he still as healthy as before? If he becomes old and weak, I will need you to share your worries with me, so that we won’t miss out on our great cause of fighting the rebellion.”

Liu Bei had already hinted through his words that he would fully support Liu Qi in Liu Biao's family affairs.

Liu Qi understood what he meant and was finally relieved. He was also overjoyed and quickly continued, "Uncle, you are so righteous. I am deeply grateful. But my father's power to govern Jingzhou comes from the court. How can it be transferred privately? Even if we are close relatives, I dare not overstep my authority.

"If my uncle has any orders, I will do whatever I can. But if I can't do anything, I can only help to wave the flag and shout."

Liu Bei nodded and gave a flawless answer: "The power of the court cannot be transferred privately. However, the court is held hostage by Cao Cao. If the local governor is too old to exercise his power, the local officials should jointly recommend a new leader.

However, as a Zong Bo, I naturally have to take care of the family affairs of the Zong family and whether the legitimate and illegitimate children are rebellious. "

Some of these conversations were forced courtesies. Although everyone knew what was going on, respect for the court could not be ambiguous.

Even if the local government wants to decide on its own "the issue of succession after the death of the governor", the "joint recommendation" petition still needs to be written, and the superficial work still needs to be done. When Liu Yan and Sun Ce died before, such petitions were written. When Liu Biao met with an unexpected event in the future, this procedure would be inevitable.

Yi Ji, who was listening to the conversation between the eldest son and Lord Xuande, was also secretly worried about the eldest son:
Why don't you pick out the main points when you speak? You always bring up the topic of etiquette and procedure. Isn't that forcing Lord Xuande to follow your lead in order to respect the court?

There are some topics that you should take the initiative to ask for advice. Besides, there are no outsiders here. The princes have already made arrangements. There are only four people on both sides. What is there to be embarrassed about? Seeing this, Yi Ji had no choice but to take over the conversation and let him be the bad guy. He took the initiative to point out the last taboo:

“Zong Bo is a righteous man. We in Jingzhou are all grateful for your kindness. But Zong Bo does not know that since Cai Mao married his daughter to the second son last year, the power of Kuai and Cai in Jingzhou has become more and more rampant. They have often instigated our lord to depose the eldest son and establish the youngest son.

Although my lord wants to respect the court etiquette and not disrupt the order of seniority, he is worried about the power of the Cai family, so he can only pretend to be submissive for the time being. I am afraid that the Cai family will become too powerful to be eliminated in the future, and the Cai family has always been close to Cao Cao, so even if you want to respect the alliance, it will be impossible. "

Liu Bei was waiting for this sentence. When Yi Ji finally spoke out without caring about his dignity, he pretended to be furious: "What? How could there be a traitor like Cai Mao in Jingzhou who has no respect for his king or his father and is so rampant?
Don't worry, my dear nephew. If there really comes a day when the Cai family dares to rebel and destroy the family ethics of the Han Dynasty, I will order the general to lead an army of 100,000 to support you, eliminate the rebels, and restore peace in Jingzhou!
However, at present, Cai has not shown any signs of rebellion, and Brother Jingsheng is old and has remarried. If I act rashly, it will ruin the relationship between Brother Jingsheng and his wife, and will also damage my nephew's reputation as a virtuous and filial person. Therefore, it is better to be patient and wait and see what happens for the time being.

Anyway, today's discussion was heard by only the four of us present here. My dear nephew also knows the priorities. As long as you and Mr. Ji Bo keep your mouths shut after you go out, I and Zi Yu will naturally keep my mouths shut as well.

In this way, after returning to Hanyang, my nephew will not immediately arouse the Cai family's fear. My nephew just needs to remember that if you don't have absolutely safe guards, don't easily return to Xiangyang in the future, so as not to be plotted against by the Cai family. As long as you hold on to Hanyang, you will be invincible.

If there is an emergency and you have to go back to Xiangyang, you can send someone across the river to Wuchang to ask for reinforcements. I will send elite guards to accompany you back to Xiangyang, so that everything will be safe."

After hearing this, Liu Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief, thanked the emperor profusely and said he would obey the order.

While thanking him, Liu Qi secretly felt lucky: he was too shy to directly accuse his father, stepmother and brother in front of Uncle Xuande. In the end, he had to rely on Mr. Jibo to clear the window paper.

Fortunately, the final result was good and nothing major was missed.

Liu Bei was also not vague. After discussing the plan of backing with Liu Qi, he returned to the main hall of the temporary shogunate with Liu Qi. He immediately issued an order, asking Chen Dao, who was now in Pei County, to come and meet him quickly, as he had something to tell him.

After a while, Chen Dao came hurriedly. He had already fallen asleep and was woken up from his bed in the garrison. However, when he heard the lord summoning him, Chen Dao came quickly without any delay.

Liu Bei was not vague. He pointed at Chen Dao and ordered him in front of Liu Qi: "Uncle Zhi, the battle between Xuzhou and Huaihai will soon end. You will not be able to use your skills here. I order you to take 3,000 elite soldiers with Qi'er back to Jiangxia, cross the river and station in Hanyang. You will be under his command to prevent Cai from making any rash moves."

Chen Dao heard this and said with some concern: "How can there be no one to lead the personal guards around the lord?"

Liu Bei: "Let Youping (Zhou Tai) help lead the troops temporarily. I think he is loyal, brave and diligent, so he can be trained."

Liu Qi, who was standing by, heard this conversation and realized that Chen Dao had actually been in charge of the command of Liu Bei's personal guards. He was immediately flattered and quickly declined: "How dare my nephew accept such a generous offer? Uncle is willing to send reinforcements to protect me, and sending that... General Youping is no different."

Liu Bei patted the back of Liu Qi's hand and said, "Zhou Youping was once a general under Sun Ce of Jiangdong. The Sun family and your family have a lot of grudges. If he leads the troops, he himself will not mind the past, but other generals under my nephew will inevitably have grudges. So, it is better to let Shuzhi go. It is also a good opportunity for Youping to change his job and gain some experience."

Liu Qi was even more moved when he heard this. His uncle was really thoughtful. He even took into account the possibility that his own generals might have conflicts with Zhou Tai, who was a former pirate from Jiangdong.

Indeed, he borrowed some of his uncle's troops for protection. This was more or less a reflection of his distrust of the local army in Jingzhou and his fear of Cai Mao's family infiltrating the Jingzhou troops.

If we really speak frankly, it will be disadvantageous for Liu Qi to gain the hearts of the people in Jingzhou, and it will easily make people think that "Liu Qi led foreign troops into Nanjun and Hanyang was on guard against his own people."

Therefore, it is definitely better to use Chen Dao, whose identity is less sensitive and has always belonged to the ally faction, than Zhou Tai, who once worked for Sun Ce.

After Liu Bei arranged the personnel work for the general, Zhuge Jin, who was standing by, also made a suggestion:
"After Shu Zhi led 3,000 soldiers to rescue the eldest son, the old subordinates under his command must have some resentment. Especially when they saw that Shu Zhi's soldiers and horses were well-equipped, while they lacked strong armor and sharp weapons.

We know that these weapons were allocated to them by the Lord, but the soldiers in the army do not know. If there are rumors that the eldest son is using money, food and weapons to support foreign soldiers and mistreating his own troops, it will be disadvantageous for the eldest son to win the hearts of the people in Jingzhou. "

After hearing this, Liu Qi looked a little confused, but was too embarrassed to ask for advice.

Liu Bei was quite proactive and asked directly on Liu Qi's behalf: "This is a problem. Does the military advisor have any solution?"

Zhuge Jin snapped open his folding fan and said in an unquestionable tone: "I do have a humble opinion. Why don't you give the eldest son some more weapons and armor? After you take them back, you can give them to the old subordinates in Hanyang and even Jiangling to win their hearts.

You don't have to tell them that these armors and weapons were sent by my master. You can just say that you raised money and food and bought them from my army on behalf of others."

Liu Qi's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he felt suddenly enlightened. He quickly expressed his gratitude: "Mr. Ziyu, you have such a brilliant plan. I am very grateful to you!"

Zhuge Jin used the fan to press Liu Qi's hands, which were bowing, and reminded him, "Young Master, don't rush to thank me. Think about it. Do you have anyone worth rewarding? If these weapons and armor really fall into your hands, to whom should they be distributed?"

Liu Qi thought about it seriously and said in a serious tone: "Although Wang Wei and Wen Pin are known for their loyalty, they often go to Xiangyang and only obey my father. They are unwilling to take sides between us brothers. In this matter, we should not win them over, so as not to make things worse.

"Most of the other generals are Cai's followers and cannot be trusted. The only ones left are my brother Liu Pan and General Huang Zhong, who is stationed in Jiangling with him. They may be loyal and brave and willing to serve me. After I get the steel armor army, I may give some to my personal guards and some to my brother and General Huang. Do you think this is okay?"

Zhuge Jin heard the answer he wanted to hear, so he naturally didn't say anything more and just smiled and nodded.

Steel Armor cannot be given to allies casually as military aid, but if it is used to win over Huang Zhong, then this deal is definitely a good deal.

(End of this chapter)