Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 367: The Seventh and Sixth Marquises of the Han Dynasty
Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others were still confused until a knife was put to their necks - who am I, where am I, what should I do?
Soldiers? Backyard? Why did they rush out from the backyard?
Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang and others looked angrily at Cai Mao, who was equivalent to the in-laws of Jingzhou Prefecture, but found that Cai Mao was also being held with a confused look on his face.
When he saw the leader of the army, Kuai Yue shouted angrily, "Zhang Hu, Chen Sheng! What are you going to do?"
These two passers-by were both bandit leaders who once banditred in Jingzhou. After Liu Biao accepted the strategy of the Nanjun gentry, their living space was compressed, and they later surrendered to Liu Biao as marginalized people...
"How dare you! Let us go immediately. Do you think these people can rebel against Jingzhou Prefecture?" Cai Mao also said angrily.
Zhang Hu and Chen Sheng smiled, then bowed to Cai Mao and said, "Master Cai is wrong. How dare we brothers rebel? We are following the orders of the governor and the lady to protect you."
"Madam?" Cai Mao was stunned when he heard that, but he saw that his sister, who was originally in mourning, had now calmed down and looked like she was giving instructions to the three armies.
"Sister...what are you doing?" Cai Mao called out in surprise.
"Send a message to Lu Jie to open the west gate to welcome the returning army. General Huo will cooperate with you. Anyone who disobeys your order will be executed immediately!" Cai Shuang said firmly.
As she said that, she looked at Cai Mao, who was anxious and annoyed and said, "Sister! Who provoked you ..."
"General Cai, please hand over the token..." Zhang Hu said as he bowed in front of Cai Mao, and then added: "Otherwise, please forgive me for my rudeness!"
Cai Mao's military token had already been taken away by the abducting soldiers. Seeing Cai Shuang's look that said "I'll beat you to death even if you are my brother", he had no choice but to hand over the token agreed upon with the generals of the Cai family.
Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue glared at them and were about to speak when they saw Huang Chengyan and his men rushing in from the main gate, holding a few people - not important people, but... the doormen of the Kuai family and other aristocratic families.
The "gatekeeper" is already here, so naturally their house must have been surrounded...
"Huang Jun! It's indeed you... Do you, do you want to be the sinner of Nanjun?" Kuai Yue said angrily.
"I don't want to be a sinner of Nanjun, but a hero of Jingzhou and the people of Jingzhou!" Huang Chengyan said with a frown.
Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue had also discovered that not everyone present was anxious. It seemed that Yi Ji, Deng Yi and others all had calm expressions on their faces. Obviously, although they were not accomplices, they did not show too much dissatisfaction either!
That’s right, Cai Shuang and Huang Chengyan were not just blindly acting recklessly. They had also persuaded some of Jingzhou Prefecture’s staff before.
After all, not all the staff are from the Nanjun nobles...
These staff and generals of Jingzhou Prefecture have been at odds with the Nanjun gentry for a long time. Not only have they been suppressed by the Nanjun gentry, but when Liu Qi came to power, they also supported Liu Biao in suppressing the Nanjun gentry. Now they are worried about retaliation, and secondly, they themselves come from Nanyang or Jiangxia, or even Jingnan, and their interests are not consistent with those of the Nanjun gentry.
In this way, after Cai Shuang and Huang Chengyan extended the olive branch, they easily won over a group of people. Although most of them did not know about today's plan, after seeing this scene, after the initial shock, they all chose to watch the fun...
Basically...it’s those Jingzhou Prefecture staff who followed Liu Bei in history!
In history without the "white rabbit effect", Liu Biao would have lived a few more years. However, in his later years, he not only neglected government affairs, but even acquiesced to Liu Bei, who defected to him, and won over some of the staff of Jingzhou Prefecture.
It was also because of the peculiarities of the internal relations of Jingzhou Prefecture that all non-Nanjun nobles were basically swept away by Liu Bei , and the only ones who were determined to surrender to Cao Cao were those from Nanjun. However... they were indeed the ones who had the final say.
However, Cai Shuang now directly controls each family, and then issues an order to open the city gates...
Lu Jie was also from Nanjun and was close to the Cai family. He did feel something strange when he saw the order, but... when Huo Jun had already led his men to surround them, Lu Jie had to pretend that he didn't notice the problem and ordered the city gate to be opened.
As for the so-called welcoming of the "returning troops", everyone knows...it can't be the returning troops from the previous Northern Expedition outside the city.
As soon as the west gate was opened, the army that was about to come in looked very deliberate. They had obviously been lying in ambush before. At this moment, except for the fact that what they were wearing was almost the same color as the Jingzhou Army, both the shape of their armor and their weapons were obviously completely different from those of the Jingzhou Army!
Lu Jie swallowed his saliva, rolled his eyes slightly, and found that Huo Jun was staring at him, but he chose to continue pretending not to see it.
This "returning army" of more than a thousand people was not polite at all. After being welcomed in, they immediately began to take over the defense of the city gate...
It was also at this time that Xian Shiwen heard the "live broadcast" that Liu Xie conferred the title of "Marquis of Cai" on Liu Cong and bestowed the Nine Gifts!
Most of the Xiangyang citizens, who had no idea what was happening at the city gate, cheered, but some also looked uneasy. Some were worried about the war, while others were wondering if this little kid could do it...
Liu Cong, who was awarded the Nine Gifts, also had a "close-up shot" at this time. Normally, he should have expressed his gratitude and returned the greeting, but Liu Cong was still young, and when the "camera" turned to him, he should have had his assistants supporting him on both sides. However, at this time, there were only Cai Shuang and Huang Chengyan.
The people who recognized Huang Chengyan had guessed that something had changed after being stunned, but this change had obviously come too suddenly...
Just as Liu Xie was waiting for the Nanjun nobles to express their gratitude, he saw Liu Cong, who was only seven years old, recite under Huang Chengyan's encouraging gaze: "Cong is incompetent and ignorant. It is difficult for him to protect the country and the people with his military skills, and it is difficult for him to win the hearts of the people with his virtue. I dare not accept the position of Marquis of Cai..."
Liu Xie was dumbfounded when he saw this scene - this is the envoy to Xian, this is not the time for you to refuse three times! You should follow the script!
"King Tu of Chu sits in the south of the country, and he shows his wisdom through education and benefits the people through agriculture and sericulture. The ways of witchcraft, medicine and crafts are all flourishing, and his virtue benefits the people, and the whole world is convinced. Cong follows the will of heaven and welcomes the King of Chu into the city to take charge of the land of Jingzhou. Your Majesty... Your Majesty, rest assured?" Liu Cong frowned, unable to remember what came next.
But this is enough. Liu Xie is just young, otherwise he might have been angered to death during the New Year's Day court meeting, and it would have been broadcast live to the whole world!
When Liu Cong said this, not only the soldiers and civilians of Jingzhou were dumbfounded, but also the ordinary people of Jiangling, Shouchun, and Jinling were stunned...
They were still angry at first. This tyrant didn't even commend our General Bai... Forgot who gave you the imperial seal? What are the seven marquises who assisted the Han Dynasty? What merits did they have? Didn't they just fight around and mess up the world? We are not like Yangzhou. The per-acre yield is 50% higher than theirs, the tax is one-third of theirs, the average life expectancy is nearly twice theirs, and the per capita meat intake is dozens of times theirs - this is all written in the court newspaper!
However... I didn't expect that among the seven marquises who assisted the Han Dynasty, there was still someone who understood what was right.
No, now there are only the Six Marquises of Assisting Han, right?
The temporary general's residence in Jiangling was still as quiet as before, because... Bai Tu was already outside Jingzhou City. After occupying the city gate without any hindrance, the army marched forward!
The climate at this time is not suitable for fighting, but... it is not difficult to enter the city gate.
