At dusk on the tenth day of December of the seventh year of Jian'an, a fast horse galloped into Shangyong.

Shangyong, a burst of loud laughter sounded in the meeting hall of the county magistrate's office.

"Hahaha..." Shangyong Prefect Ma Chao held a silk book in his hand and said with a long smile to the sky, "The opportunity that has been waiting for a year has finally come!"

Fa Zheng's eyes flashed slightly in his eyes, as if he had expected something, but his expression on his face did not change much.

"Brother, what chance?" Ma Chao's youngest brother Ma Tie said anxiously.

"That guy Cai Mao's 'reign' I sent troops to attack the rebel Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue!" Ma Chao threw the silk book to Fa Zheng, and then replied in a playful tone, especially saying the word "fate" very seriously.

"Ah~!" After hearing this, Ma Dai, Ma Xiu, Ma Tie, Pang De and others were immediately excited and looked ecstatic.

Fa Zheng quickly finished reading the contents of the silk book, handed it to Ma Dai next to him, and closed his eyes slightly to ponder.

"As long as you can seize Jingzhou and use Jingxiang's million-strong manpower to slaughter Han Laogou, Cao's thief will be about to avenge his father!" Ma Chao said with a hint of cold light in his eyes.

"Yes, brother!" After Ma Dai handed the silk book to Ma Xiu, he nodded and responded in a deep voice, "The blood debts of more than a hundred people from the Ma family cannot be settled with Han Laogou, our brothers will be in vain to be the Ma family man!" After Ma Chao and others defeated Tongguan and fled to Shangyong, the Ma family members who were far away in Xiliang were almost killed by Han Sui, and only a few people were able to escape from the sky.

These several people went through twists and turns before they arrived at Shangyong to join Ma Chao. After hearing the tragedy among the clan, Ma Chao was extremely sad and angry, and his lips were bitten to death. After coming back to his senses, Ma Chao immediately led his brothers to kneel down and expressed his desire to avenge bloody hatred with the most vicious oath.

"...Huh~!" Ma Chao tightened his fists. He let out a long sigh, tried hard to suppress his anger, and said to Fa Zheng with a smile, "I have to thank Xiaozhi for his plan to get such a good opportunity.

If you get Jingzhou in the future, you will definitely not treat Mr. unfairly!”

"As the military leader, Fa Zheng should plan plans for the military leader, and this is all his duty. I really don't dare to be the military leader!" Fa Zheng replied in a hurry.

After getting along for more than a year, Fa Zheng knew that Ma Chao was arrogant and it would be better to be humble in front of him.

"Mr. Fa's plan is really wonderful!" Ma Dai nodded and said excitedly, "With the help of those Sun family's remaining ministers, we only need to provide plans and information, and do not need to do it ourselves, so we easily assassinated Liu Biao. Liu Biao died.

Jingzhou is indeed in chaos!”

"General Ma, it's better to talk about this matter as little as possible to avoid being observed by outsiders!" Fa Zheng waved his hand and said seriously.

In fact, the mastermind behind the assassination of Liu Biao was Ma Chao's side: more than a month ago.

Ma Chao, who was trapped in the upper ethics, became increasingly frustrated because he was unable to avenge his father. He often used alcohol to relieve his sorrows. After being drunk, he would whip and scold the soldiers. Sometimes even officials and generals could not escape the disaster. Ma Dai, Ma Xiu, Pang De and others, who were worried about this situation, turned to Fa Zheng for help.

I hope he can find a good solution to cheer up Ma Chao up.

At this time, Fa Zheng was also worried that Ma Chao's increasingly bad temper would sooner or later affect him. After careful consideration, based on the latest information from Jingzhou and Jiangdong, he planned a series of strategies to "kill people with a knife", "transfer disasters from Jiangdong" and "flooding waters" - first secretly sent a detailed plan to sneak into Jiangdong, contact some Sun's remaining ministers who were planning to avenge Liu Biao, provide them with information and plans, and then take advantage of these Sun's remaining ministers who are advantageous to the local people.

Completed the shocking act of assassinating Liu Biao. Since Ma Chao has always maintained a close connection with Cai Mao with money and property, he can obtain more accurately the whereabouts of Liu Biao traveling south to Chaisang.

At the same time, in order to create greater chaos and give Ma Chao a chance to scramble to seize Jingzhou, Fa Zheng also designed the assassins to forge the false image of the assassination ground led by Liu Bei.

The development of things was basically as expected! Although the war with Liu Bei failed to happen, due to the inheritance rights issue, a great split occurred within Jingzhou. The civil war in Jingzhou gave Ma Chao the best chance to seize Jingzhou.

"Xiaozhi, will you send troops immediately?" Ma Chao asked Fa Zheng very anxiously. Fa Zheng's plan was successful, giving Ma Chao unlimited confidence.

"Military leader. The soldiers naturally have to come out, but they cannot be as full as Cai Mao looked at..." Fa Zheng smiled slightly. He said calmly, "Now, the two prominent tribes in Jingzhou, the Cai tribe and the Kuai tribe each have Liu Biao and have a son, and they are fighting each other.

For the military leader, he must occupy Jingzhou as the foundation and then plan to attack Cao Cao, Han Sui, Cai and Kuai in the northern expedition. If the Cai and Kuai tribes cannot be eliminated, Jingzhou will be difficult to settle!"

"Xiaozhi means..." Ma Chaoying raised his sword eyebrows slightly and asked in confusion.

"The two tribes of Cai and Kuai need to be eliminated, but it is impossible to eradicate them at the same time. There must be some order... The two heroes of the Kuai tribe - Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue are both famous wise men in Jingxiang. Under normal circumstances, it will be extremely difficult to deal with them. Fortunately, Cai Mao has expelled the two of them from Xiangyang.

"Fa Zheng walked to Ma Chao's table, pointed to the map and analyzed, "Now they are entrenched in Nanjun to resist Cai Mao's army.

Nanjun is located in the hinterland of Jingzhou, so there must be not many troops stationed. Moreover, Cai Mao ordered the Jingzhou navy to cut off the connection between Nanjun and the four counties of Jingnan and Jiangxia. Therefore, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue were actually fighting against Nanjun.

If the army leader attacks Nanjun with cavalry, he does not need real guns and knives to fight against the enemy. He just needs to cooperate with Cai Mao's army to exert pressure. I am afraid that the officials above and below the Nanjun will plot to rebel against the Kuai family.

Once the Kuai family is destroyed, the military leader can find another opportunity to kill Cai Mao and his confidants, and then attack Xiangyang and support Liu Biao's youngest son Liu Cong as the master of the puppet. In this way, Jingzhou will be the master of the army leader. "

"Although Mr. Fa's plan is wonderful, Pang De is worried that even if Cai Mao, Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue and others are all destroyed, the rest of Jingzhou's subordinates may not believe in the military commander..." After hearing Fa Zheng's plan, Pang De nodded in agreement and raised his own objections.

"This is okay!" Fa Zheng smiled and said disrespectfully, "As long as you can control Liu Cong, you can eliminate those who have different intentions with the military leader in the future!"

Ma Chao stood up, his tall and strong body scattered with a captivating momentum, and he pressed his hands on the table and said, "Mr. Xiaozhi's words are very suitable for me. I am sure to take this Jingzhou!"

"The military leader can reply to Cai Mao. He is willing to send troops to Nanjun immediately to help him fight against the rebellion, but please provide him with food, grass and stones!" Fa Zheng said without any smugness and continued.

"Although there is food reserve in Shangyong City, it still needs to be used as a reserve, just in case! In addition, while the army leader personally led the elite cavalry to advance east, he could also order his generals to lead infantry to take the opportunity to guide Xincheng, Nanxiang and other places! Xincheng, Nanxiang and Shangyong are in a triangular situation. If these two places are obtained, even if the plot against Jingzhou is not completed, Shangyong can be safe in the future!"

"There are only ten thousand infantrymen in the city. Most of them are newly recruited soldiers. Without the battle formation, they may not be able to send a siege to the city and land!" Pang De objected.

"It's okay!" Fa Zheng smiled confidently, "Xincheng and Nanxiang guards are all Cai Mao's confidants. The military leader can help Cai Mao to suppress the rebellion and defraud the city.

Even if Cai Mao asked about it in the future, the military leader could also go to Xincheng, and Nanxiang would send troops to help him fight the rebellion!”

Ma Chao nodded, and a hint of fierceness appeared on his extremely handsome face.

He said in a deep voice, "That's it! Before looking for Han Laogou and Cao Thief to take revenge, let's try the sword with Kuai Liang and Cai Mao! The sword has been hidden in the sheath for too long, so it's time to drink blood!"

"Pang De, Ma Dai quickly go and rectify the Iron Cavalry. Be prepared to follow me to enter Nanjun! Ma Liao (Brother of Ma Chao), Ma Xiu, you two lead 3,000 infantry each. As Xiaozhi said, you will capture Xincheng and Nanxiang!" Ma Chao slapped the table in front of him.

He quickly issued an order, "It depends on this time to take revenge and revival of the Ma family!"

"No!" The few people who were named said in unison.

"Brother, what am I doing?" Ma Tie asked anxiously.

"Shangyong is our foundation, so my brother will hand over the important task of staying behind to you!"

"Brother, I don't want to stay behind. I will follow you to seize Jingzhou!" Ma Tie argued unwillingly.

"Don't mess around!" Ma Chao pounded the table and made a loud noise, looking straight at Ma Tie with irrefutable eyes.

"No!" Ma Tielui was afraid of his elder brother. When he saw Ma Chao getting angry, he immediately became honest.

"Xiaozhi, please follow me to Nanjun?" Ma Chao turned his head and said to Fa Zheng in a rare polite tone.

"The military commander has his own destiny, how dare Zheng not obey his orders!" Fa Zheng replied respectfully.

"Okay!" Ma Chao responded, then waved to Ma Dai and others. "Everyone goes down and prepare!"

After everyone left, Ma Chao sat down slowly, his eyes were thoughtful. He murmured in a low voice: "...Dad, mother...you must bless me to capture Jingzhou!"

………………………………………………….

In Nanjun, the atmosphere in Jiangling City is extremely tense, and it feels like "black clouds are pressing against the city and want to destroy it".

As Fa Zheng expected, there were not many troops in the Nanjun County located in the hinterland of Jingzhou. There were only about 10,000 soldiers including county and state soldiers and military farming soldiers. Most of the soldiers were not trained enough, so let alone combat experience.

It is really difficult to use these troops to resist tens of thousands of troops in Cai Mao!

Given that the scattered garrisons were easily defeated by the enemy, Kuai Liang ordered the soldiers and horses of the counties to be concentrated in Jiangling City. However, because Cai Xun, Cai He and others came too fast, many soldiers and horses in the county had been captured by the Cai army before they could be transferred out.

In the end, the actual number of soldiers and horses that were truly concentrated in Jiangling was less than 8,000.

At this time, the navy led by Huang Zu had blocked the Yangtze River and blocked the contacts between Jingnan and Jingbei, which also meant that the most reliable Liu Pan's troops would not be able to come to support him.

Now Liu Qi, Kuai Liang and others can only defend Jiangling, and become trapped beasts!

.

Gangling, conference hall

"The Zhijiang Order (Zhijiang, a county in Nanjun, northwest of Jiangling) has surrendered to the enemy. Cai Xun and Cai He's army have more than 40,000 people rushed to Ji Nan, less than 70 miles away from Jiangling!" Kuai Yue reported the latest military information a little sadly.

"Is there any news about reinforcements?" Liu Qi asked in a panic look.

"I'm afraid I can't count on reinforcements for the time being!" Kuai Yue shook his head and said helplessly, "Xiangyang, Zhangling, and Jiangxia counties have already surrendered to the traitor Cai Mao.

Although General Liu Lang was determined to rescue him, he was blocked by the river. In addition, Huang Zu's thief led the navy to stop him, so the troops in Jingnan could not cross the river at all. Jiujiang, Yuzhang, and Luling have no reply yet.

According to the officials of the Xiaguan, Wang Wei and other generals knew that they should not be affiliated with the thief, but crossing the river to rescue will inevitably be blocked by Huang Zu."

"In this way, there are no reinforcements?" Seeing Kuai Yue nodding sadly, Liu Qi suddenly sat in his seat with a gray face.

"If I had known this, I would have followed Kong Ming's advice!" Kuai Yue sighed. When he first arrived in Jiangling that day, Zhuge Liang suggested that Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue abandoned Nanjun and crossed the river and entered Jingnan directly.

Zhuge Liang believed that there was no danger to defend except for the Yangtze River in the south and the Xiang River in the north. And even more terrible, the Jingzhou naval army was in the hands of Huang Zu, and Huang Zu could completely rely on the naval army to separate the connection between Nan County and Jiangnan.

The situation in Jingnan is different. The four counties in Jingnan controlled by Liu Pan can completely become the most stable foundation for suppressing the rebellion. After entering Jingnan and then seizing Jiangxia, you can connect with the newly occupied three counties such as Yuzhang and Luling.

With the human and material resources of these eight counties, they can form an overwhelming advantage on Cai Maofang.

But unfortunately, due to the opposition of Liu Xian, the prefect of Nanjun, and Kuai Liang, and still had a glimmer of hope for whether Jiang Xia would be rebellious, Zhuge Liang's suggestion was not accepted. When the situation deteriorated, it would be too late to repent.

"Tait..." Huo Jun walked into the conference hall in a hurry, bowed to Liu Qi, and reported loudly: "Report to the lord, the lord has just sent back a silk notice from the robber. When he saw that the content above was important, he would take it to the lord!"

"Notice?" Liu Qi said in confusion with a strange look on his face, "Take it to me!"

"Yes!" Huo Jun took out a yellow silk from his arms and presented it to Liu Qi with both hands.

"...Ah!" Before he finished reading, Liu Qi could not stop the horror on his face, exclaimed in surprise, and his hands trembled slightly.

"Lord, why are you so panicked?" Seeing Liu Qi performing this way, Kuai Liang felt a little uncomfortable in his heart and asked anxiously.

Liu Qi looked dull and mechanically handed the silk book in his hand to Kuai Liang.

Kuai Liang looked at it briefly and couldn't help but say in surprise, "The emperor gave the second prince the general of Zhennan and the governor of Jingzhou!"

"What?" Kuai Yue couldn't help but feel shocked, exclaimed, and then rushed to Kuai Liang to look at each other.

After a while, the Kuai brothers looked at each other and realized that the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable. If this news was true, the blow to the newly established Liu Qi regime would be fatal.

Liu Cong succeeded to the throne as a young man, and it was impossible to convince people at all. What the people's will do should be beneficial to Liu Qi's side.

Although Liu Qi's military is not good at present, it will not reach a fatal level. With Jiangling's strong city and nearly 8,000 defenders, it will not be a problem to defend for a period of time.

At that time, maybe Liu Pan and Wenpin and others have found a way to cross the river and the crisis will be resolved. But if the emperor really worships Liu Cong as the new governor of Jingzhou, the legitimacy of the Liu Qi regime will be gone, and the rebellious identities of Liu Qi, Kuai Liang and others will be irrefutable.

In this way, not only will it not be able to obtain support from other counties, but even the military and civilians in Nanjun and even the inner areas of Jiangling may have a counterattack.
Chapter completed!