Chapter 123 Jiangdong is in despair, Jingxiang is doomed!
The news of Yuan Shu's defeat in Huainan spread throughout Jianghuai and Jingxiang, even suppressing the New Year's atmosphere.

Some people are happy and some are worried!
Sun Ce and other generals and aristocratic families in Jiangdong were naturally very worried!

Since the failure of the ambush on Hengsha Island off the Yangtze River, the Jiangdong Navy has experienced the power of the imperial navy fleet.

After a series of battles, from the Yangtze River estuary to the Yangtze River, and finally the battle that broke out in Pengze, the Jiangdong Navy understood that

They are no match for the imperial navy!
The mysterious weapon called "cannon" is unstoppable and can kill gods and Buddhas!

This caused the officers and soldiers of the Jiangdong navy to flee at the first sight of the imperial navy fleet. They were so frightened that they fled at the first sign of danger!

however!
They in Jiangdong openly confront the imperial court, rebel against the imperial court, and rebel against Your Majesty, and have reached the point of a fight to the death!

Now you either surrender, wait for death, and wait for the interrogation of the imperial court, or continue to resist stubbornly.

Sun Ce and the imperial court had a grudge against each other for killing his father, and Zhou Yu and other aristocratic families broke off relations with the imperial court because of the land tax...

For various reasons, Jiangdong had no choice but to fight back and continue to resist!
But at this time, the news of Yuan Shu's defeat in Huainan came, which was like adding insult to injury and adding fuel to the fire, causing the people of Jiangdong to despair!
If Yuan Shu in Huainan can still stop the imperial navy fleet, they can regroup in Jiangdong and make a comeback!
But now, Yuan Shu of Huainan was defeated, and all these territories of Huainan fell into the hands of the imperial court, including Jiujiang County, Lujiang County, and Guangling County of Xuzhou occupied by Yuan Shu.

this means--

The natural barrier of the Huai River has become an inland river of the imperial court!

The imperial court’s naval fleet can now march to the Yangtze River and confront Jiangdong!

however!
Compared with the natural barrier of the Huai River, the Yangtze River has many attack locations. Therefore, since ancient times, if you want to defend the Yangtze River, you must also defend the Huai River!
The Huaihe River and the Yangtze River are two lines of defense with complementary advantages!

Now that Yuan Shu in Huainan has been defeated, the natural barrier of the Huai River has been lost, and the imperial navy is unstoppable.

Then the natural barrier of the Yangtze River can no longer stop the imperial navy!

The defeat of Jiangdong is only a matter of time!
How could the people of Jiangdong not despair?!
They don't see any hope!

Not to mention the Yangtze River defense line, they in Jiangdong haven't even dealt with the rebel forces within their own borders!

The governor of Yangzhou Liu Yao, the prefect of Kuaiji Wang Lang, the prefect of Yuzhang Zhu Hao, and the former Jingzhou official Zhuge Xuan were harassing the interior of Jiangdong with Nanchang city as their center.

The six counties of Yangzhou, including Lujiang and Jiujiang counties north of the Yangtze River, were once under the control of Yuan Shu, but now fell under the control of the imperial court.

The counties south of the Yangtze River include Wu County, Danyang County, Kuaiji County, and Yuzhang County.

Sun Ce's forces actually controlled Danyang County and Wu County, while the remaining Kuaiji County and Yuzhang County were controlled by court forces such as Liu Yao, Wang Lang, and Zhu Hao.

This means that after the defeat of Yuan Shu in Huainan, Sun Ce's forces actually only controlled Wujun and Danyangjun in Yangzhou!
Using two counties to fight against the imperial court with the whole country's strength? !

wishful thinking!

The shadow of despair shrouded Jiangdong, causing many aristocratic families to secretly surrender to the court!

If you surrender to the imperial court at this time, at most you will be skinned alive!

If you continue to resist and fight to the death, you will die without a burial place and your entire family may be destroyed!

Everyone knows how to choose what is more important!

Of course, Sun Ce and others did not want to surrender, and even could not surrender, so they could only fight to the end.

But controlling the two counties would not allow them to continue to fight against the imperial court.

Generals such as Zhou Yu and Sun Ce turned their eyes towards Jingxiang!

...

Jingxiang and Jiangdong are now brothers in distress!
Because Liu Biao was seriously ill, his wife's family, the Cai family, controlled the power of Jingxiang, and the Jingzhou navy under his command was all under the control of Cai Mao.

Not long ago, the five counties in southern Jing responded to the imperial court and rebelled against the governor's office. Cai Mao directly led his troops south and suppressed the rebellion with force!
The strength of the Jingzhou navy is undoubtedly demonstrated!

At that time, the aristocratic families in Jingxiang, as well as the Cai family who were in charge, were in high spirits and full of ambition!
In their view--

Jingxiang is blocked by the Han River and the Yu River, and the moat of Xiangyang City is hundreds of meters wide!
The imperial court lacked a strong naval fleet and it was impossible to attack the city of Xiangyang, so they could rest easy.

At least you can rest assured for a few years!
In the direction of the Huai River, Yuan Shu of Huainan and Sun Ce of Jiangdong are entrenched. If the imperial court wants to send troops south, it will suffer a heavy blow!

Unless the imperial court develops a naval fleet, it will not be able to march south!
The development of a naval fleet, such as the construction of ships, the recruitment, training and cultivation of naval officers, takes at least ten to eight years, or at least three to five years.

During this period, you can have a peaceful life if you go south!
During these peaceful days, Jingxiang and Jiangdong can also grow and develop.

Even if the imperial court sends troops south in a few years, their power will be even stronger!
This has created a situation of "dividing the river and governing" and "dividing the world into two"!
This is not their wild imagination, but based on the normal development of forces, they can only proceed step by step!

Just like getting pregnant and giving birth, it takes ten months of pregnancy. If you get pregnant and want to give birth immediately, that is impossible!

Many things cannot be achieved overnight!

however!
Everyone in Jingxiang had made thousands of calculations, but they had never expected that such an auspicious sign from heaven would suddenly appear with thousands of warships from the imperial court!
It’s really unimaginable and unbelievable!

When they first learned that the imperial court had thousands of warships, the aristocratic families in Jingxiang, Cai Mao and others, their first thought was to disbelieve and sneer!
Do you really think they are mentally retarded?!
It would take at least eight or ten years to manufacture ships. It would be wishful thinking and a foolish dream to have thousands of warships!
They believed that this was a rumor deliberately spread by the imperial court in order to disrupt the morale of the Jingxiang army!

This is a public opinion offensive!

With this in mind, the aristocratic families in Jingxiang and resistance forces such as Cai Mao were full of courage and confidence!
But soon, news came about the Battle of Huaihe River. The Huainan Navy was defeated and fled, being hunted down by the imperial navy fleet, like a stray dog!
The news sounded so convincing that the aristocratic families in Jingxiang became unsure and suspicious.

Could it be true that the imperial court possessed thousands of warships? !

No wind, no wave?!

The aristocratic families of Jingxiang immediately sent their family spies out to inquire. They no longer trusted any source of intelligence, and only believed the results obtained by their own confidants!

When these trusted members of the Jingxiang families went down the river, they not only received accurate news of the Huainan Navy's defeat, but also happened to encounter the scene of the Jiangdong Navy being hunted down by the Imperial Navy!
seen it myself!
Especially the mysterious weapon "cannon", the scene of its indiscriminate bombardment and devastating destruction was so shocking that it made them completely despair!

By the time these troops returned to Jingxiang without stopping, the news of Yuan Shu's defeat in Huainan also came!

The whole of Jingxiang was shaken to its core!

It’s the New Year, but they don’t even have the mood to celebrate the New Year!
Panic and despair!
The aristocratic families in Jingxiang actually still had a way out - after discussion, the Cai family asked the Cai family to plead for mercy with Liu Biao!

Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, is a relative of the Han royal family!

As long as Liu Biao comes forward to plead for mercy to the court, Your Majesty will certainly show leniency and give him a lighter sentence.

Even if they cannot escape the punishment alive, as long as they can be spared the death penalty, they can accept it!

It has to be said that the Cai family and other Jingxiang aristocratic families have brought disaster upon themselves!
If they had submitted to the imperial court at the beginning, perhaps they would not have lost so much. At most, they would have been required to pay a tax on each acre of land and their family assets would have been cut in half!

Now, not only are their assets being destroyed, but they may also be confiscated and their entire family may be exterminated!
Faced with life and death, they just want to survive!
Penny wise and pound-foolish!

...

Cai came before Liu Biao and pleaded with tears and heartache, hoping that Liu Biao would ask the court for mercy for the sake of their marriage and give her a break!
Liu Biao is seriously ill and is in critical condition!

After hearing this, he felt very disappointed, but as husband and wife are bound by a hundred days of grace, he could not bear to watch his wife's family go to extinction.

"Let Liu Qi inherit the throne, and Liu Cong can just be a rich man." Liu Biao put forward his request.

His wife, Mrs. Cai, was immediately unwilling!

Liu Cong is her son. Just a rich man?

Doesn’t Liu Biao mean that—

Not to mention inheriting the throne of Jingzhou, they were not even willing to give Liu Cong any rights, and at most gave him a little money to let him live out the rest of his life in peace? !

But does the Cai family lack money? !
There is no shortage!
What they want is rights!
Seeing his wife Cai hesitating, Liu Biao sneered in his heart, she is about to die and still dreaming of the throne of Jingzhou? !
You will not live if you do your own evil!
"I promise."

Faced with a life-and-death situation, Cai finally made up his mind.

"I will personally submit a petition to the court, pleading with His Majesty, hoping that Your Majesty will show leniency. But I cannot guarantee whether Your Majesty will agree."

"I will! Jingsheng, you have devoted yourself to the court in Jingzhou. When His Majesty sent troops south, you responded immediately. It's just that we stopped and interfered with you!

You are a relative of the Han Dynasty, and even more so a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. Your Majesty should not look at the monk's face, but the Buddha's face." His wife Cai said hurriedly.

This overwhelming desire to survive actually made Liu Biao feel a little disgusted!

What were you doing earlier? !

Liu Biao waved his hand with some disgust, and his wife Cai reluctantly withdrew.

Liu Biao ordered his men to help him up, but just moving was half his life. He coughed for most of the day and even coughed up blood.

After sending his servants away, Liu Biao personally ground, wrote, and submitted the memorial. He had already seen his final day and his death was approaching!
Liu Biao did not recommend his eldest son Liu Qi to be the governor of Jingzhou, nor did he mention the Cai family at all, nor did he plead with the emperor, hoping that he would show leniency.

They can only accept these rights if Your Majesty gives them to them, instead of them asking Your Majesty for them!

As a subject, you must abide by your duties!

After Liu Biao rode alone into Jingzhou, he reported his experience, his thoughts on the governance of Jingzhou, his ideas on governing, his years of hard work, etc. to the court and performed his duties loyally.

After writing the memorial to the court, Liu Biao wrote another one.

The content of this document was to recommend that the eldest son Liu Qi be appointed as the governor of Jingzhou, and that the Jingxiang family agreed to assist the court in allocating the land tax, and hoped that Your Majesty would show leniency.

After finishing writing, Liu Biao summoned someone!

"You should be a secret agent of the Royal Guard, right?"

"A secret agent under the command of Jinyiwei Commander Xuanwu!"

The secret agent of the Imperial Guard, who was dressed as a servant, was not surprised at all that the secret was exposed. In fact, both parties knew it tacitly.

Liu Biao knew that the Jinyiwei had infiltrated Jingzhou, and the Jinyiwei spies also knew that Liu Biao knew them.

"Please present this first memorial to His Majesty on my behalf."

The Jinyiwei spy took it and immediately looked at Liu Biao. As expected, Liu Biao said:

"This second memorial was deliberately omitted from Cai's notice. If she does not make any changes and passes it on, it will be fine. But if she tampered with it, please have the envoy pass it on to Your Majesty. Don't show mercy to me for my hard work!"

"I see!"

The Jinyiwei spy retreated.

Liu Biao closed his eyes. His second memorial was deliberately intended to test Cai.

If you still refuse to change your mind and remain stubborn at this point, it will only lead to your death!

If the Cai family are capable people who know how to handle current affairs, Your Majesty will show leniency and give them some respect even without Liu Biao's intercession!
This is a reward for Liu Biao's loyalty to Jingzhou!
"stop!"

The Jinyiwei spy dressed up as Liu Biao's trusted servant and was stopped by Cai just after leaving Liu Biao's room.

"Does the master have any memorials to send to the court?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Show it to me."

"This……"

The Jinyiwei spy pretended to hesitate.

Mrs. Cai ordered her thugs to step forward, tie him up, and find a memorial.

This Jinyiwei secret agent was also put under custody.

Mrs. Cai immediately contacted Cai Mao, and they opened the memorial and checked the content, which was exactly the second memorial written by Liu Biao.

He recommended his eldest son Liu Qi to be the governor of Jingzhou, and the Jingxiang family agreed to assist the court in allocating the land tax, and hoped that Your Majesty would show leniency.

“Finally got the handwriting!”

Cai Mao smiled sinisterly and said:
"As long as Liu Qi is changed to Liu Cong, everything will be fine! A slight difference in one character will not arouse suspicion, and the forgery can be perfect!"

...

"But if the imperial edict is issued, Jing Sheng will definitely wake up if he knows about it. Then he will report the details to the emperor. We are interfering and deceiving the emperor, so we will definitely die!"

Mrs. Cai hesitated and said that she was willing to take risks for her son's future, but did not want to lose her life.

Cai Mao said, "Don't worry, I have already asked the doctor, Liu Biao will not live for more than a few days!"

"what?!"

Mrs. Cai was a little shocked, and then she felt sad and heartbroken, "Is Jingsheng's...time limit coming?!"

"Sister, birth, aging, sickness and death are part of human nature. You should express your condolences!" Cai Mao consoled her hypocritically.

Mrs. Cai was already somewhat dazed:

"No wonder Jingsheng didn't listen to my advice for so long. These few days, he suddenly agreed to petition the court for mercy. It turns out that he knows he is dying and wants to make arrangements for his funeral..."

A husband and wife are bound by a hundred days of grace. Even if there are family interests, they must have some feelings for each other after being together for so long.

Non-vegetation, ruthless Practice makes perfect!

But Cai Mao was not Mrs. Cai, so he immediately ordered someone to ask an expert to forge the name and change "Liu Qi" to "Liu Cong".

Cai Mao even wanted to tamper with a lot of the content, but in order to avoid arousing suspicion, he held back!
As long as Liu Cong becomes the lord of Jingzhou, his uncle will be able to "use his nephew to control Jingzhou"!

In the end, isn't Jingzhou still under the control of the Cai family and Cai Mao? !
After the forgery, Cai Mao asked Madam Cai to bribe the confidant of Liu Biao with money and persuade him with both emotion and reason.

The Jinyiwei spy accepted all the information and reported it directly. Anyway, the Jinyiwei were "taking money but not doing anything".

Liu Biao's two reports were forwarded to Liu Bian in Huainan.

At this time, the news that Liu Biao of Jingzhou died of illness and that Jingxiang was shaken also reached Liu Bian.

(End of this chapter)