In July of the ninth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei completed preparations in Xinye and marched south by land and water to Guiyang.

The old, weak, women, children, and the food, grass and baggage went by water, while Liu Bei took the young and strong soldiers by land. The two sides agreed to meet in Changsha.

Lantian originally wanted to follow him by land, but because Lu Lingqi was pregnant, he had to let Gao Shun lead the field troops, and he and Guan Yu took a boat to go south along the Han River.

Cai Mao mobilized hundreds of ships to help him this time. When passing by Xiangyang, Liu Biao personally went to the Han River to see him off.

Liu Biao looked at the ships going down the river and asked, "I see there are women and children on board. How many soldiers and horses did Xuande bring from the land?"

Cai Mao sneered: "There are less than 20,000 soldiers in total, and many of them are farmers carrying hoes. I don't know what these women and children are doing in the past..."

"After all, there are no more refugees to take in in Guiyang. He can take as many as he can." Kuai Yue stroked his beard and said with a smile.

Liu Biao said in his heart that when he came to invest, he should have arranged to go to Jingnan. It was in vain that he had accumulated a lot of fame in Nanyang. After Liu Biao left, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue were still watching by the river.

When they saw several deep-draft ships turning to Xiangyang, a happy smile finally appeared on their faces.

Although the water route taken by Lan Tian and others was labor-saving, it was much longer than the land route. They had to go up the Yangtze River from Xiakou and finally go south from the Xiang River and land in Changsha County.

Because Lu Lingqi was pregnant, she originally thought it would be easier to take a boat, but the wind and waves on the water were completely different from the bumps on the horse. The daughter of Marquis Wen vomited almost the whole time, and she vowed never to take a long-distance boat ride again.

The fleet turned westward at Xiakou. Huang Zu got the news from Liu Biao and sent people to try his best to cooperate.

When they reached the vicinity of Red Cliff, Zhou Cang suddenly walked onto the deck and reported: "General Guan, our fleet seems to have a few more boats."

Guan Yu looked back and saw that it was indeed the case, so he sent Zhou Cang to the rear in a small boat to inspect.

When Zhou Cang returned, he brought with him a familiar person, Gan Ning, who fought with Guan Yu in the north of Xiakou that day.

Guan Yu frowned and asked, "What do you mean by following us?"

Gan Ning clasped his fists and said, "I heard that Liu Shijun was looking for talented people, so why didn't I lead my troops to come here?"

"How many people have you brought here?" Guan Yu asked again.

"More than five hundred people." Gan Ning said.

There were mostly women, children and baggage on the waterway, and there were only five or six hundred people following Guan Yu, and they were not used to water battles. Faced with Gan Ning leading his troops to surrender, Guan Yu couldn't make up his mind for a while.

If someone is as malicious as last time, the thousands of people on board will be in danger.

Seeing Guan Yu's hesitation, Gan Ning asked, "Is Liu Shijun on the ship? Is Xu Yuanzhi, who called me last time, here?"

"My lord took the land route. Military Advisor Xu was not there that day. Zhou Cang, go and call Ziyu." Guan Yu ordered.

"only."

Gan Ning once sent people to Xinye to inquire about it. He had detailed information about Liu Bei and Xu Shu. He originally wanted to go to Jingzhou directly, but Huang Zu kept a tight guard after the defeat in the battle of Xiakou. That is to say, he could not follow the gangster until Guan Yu's fleet arrived.

Got out.

When Lantian heard that Gan Ning had come to vote, he was so happy that he didn't even bother to put on shoes and ran barefoot onto the deck.

"Ziyu..." Guan Yu was about to ask when Lan Tian clasped his fists and said, "Gan Xingba, on behalf of my lord, I welcome you to join."

Gan Ning recognized Lan Tian at a glance, but he was not military advisor Xu Shu, but he could make decisions for Liu Shijun. Who was he?

"General Guan, who is this..." Gan Ning asked in confusion.

"Lantian, named Ziyu, is now the captain of Diannong under the lord's account." Lantian excitedly recommended himself without waiting for Guan Yu to answer.

Lantian was not well-known in the whole land of Jingxiang. The people Gan Ning sent to Xinye were mainly to inquire about Liu Bei and Xu Shu, so they were not familiar with the person in front of him at all.

At this time, Guan Yu explained: "Ziyu is a person that my lord relies on. Since he agrees, you can stay. I will settle you down in Guiyang."

"Okay." Gan Ning replied.

After Gan Ning came to join him, Lan Tian invited him to the main ship and treated him very politely. This made Guan Yu very puzzled.

At night the fleet docked to rest, and Gan Ning returned to his troops.

"Ziyu seems to value Gan Xingba very much?" Guan Yu asked puzzledly.

Lan Tian said: "I once asked someone to find out that this man is not only brave, but also very good at water warfare. Jingzhou's waterways extend in all directions. From now on, whether we are attacking or defending, we will be inseparable from excellent naval generals. Gan Xingba is just the right one to join us."

You can make full use of your strengths.”

Guan Yu said proudly: "Guan also knows water warfare..."

After hearing this, Lan Tian laughed and said: "General Guan is naturally proficient in water and land battles, but we only have one pair of hands, how can we do everything by ourselves? Mount Tai does not reject fine soil, so it can grow as high as possible; rivers do not reject small streams, so they can grow as deep as possible...

.”

After hearing this, Guan Yu was deeply touched and no longer despised Gan Ning.

The fleet arrived at Changsha County and then landed on their way back. Liu Bei's land troops arrived two days earlier, and Changsha Governor Han Xuan and Liu Pan both came to help the troops.

After resting for a day in Linxiang, everyone continued to support the old and the young and headed south.

Looking at the team that looked like a miscellaneous army, Han Xuan sighed: "I've always heard of Liu Bei as a hero, but it's a pity that he was driven from Nanyang to Guiyang by the emperor. I don't know why these people came here."

Liu Pan remained silent, thinking that he might have been influenced by Liu Shijun's benevolence and righteousness, which would supplement Guiyang's small population.

To the east of Guiyang County is the Luxiao Mountain that runs from north to south, and to the south is the Nanling Mountains that runs from east to west. It was placed in the Western Han Dynasty to prevent Yue from attacking, and it was an important military town in the south in the early Han Dynasty.

Because it is located in the hinterland of Lingnan, there are many Baiyue ethnic groups here. Rebellions often break out due to poor communication, ethnic conflicts, poor governance and other reasons. The former Guiyang chief minister was shot dead by the Yue people in the Aishui River because of forceful suppression.

nearby.

At that time, things were done with integrity, and Liu Bei had no idea what his position was. When everyone was approaching Chen County, he asked Zhuge Liang, Lan Tian and others: "Guiyang has the prefect Zhao Fan now, and he has not given me any clear instructions.

How should I deal with it after arriving in Guiyang?"

Zhuge Liang gave an example to comfort him: "Cao Cao is not the emperor, but he can use the name of the emperor to do the emperor's things. Sun Quan is not the governor of Yangzhou, doesn't he also occupy Jiangdong?"

"Kong Ming's words are true. If Zhao Fan knows the current affairs, he can still be retained as the prefect. If this person has different intentions, he can be plotted to get rid of him." Xu Shu added.

Liu Bei was deeply convinced after hearing this.

The prefect Zhao Fan went out twenty miles from Chen County to greet them. Seeing this massive crowd of twenty to thirty thousand people, he felt quite pressured.

After all, Liu Biao only asked Liu Bei to come and quell the rebellion of the Yue people, but this guy even brought ordinary people with him, and seemed to intend to live in this place forever.

Liu Bei is now the shepherd of Yuzhou. He has a higher official position than Zhao Fan, the prefect, and he has more troops than the garrison of Chen County. How to arrange these people has become a problem.

When Zhao Fan came to meet Liu Bei, he asked: "I have brought troops to stabilize Guiyang, but these people are..."

"These are the people of Xinye. They support the old and take the young with them. I really can't bear to abandon them..." Liu Bei said.

"Then how should they arrange it?" Zhao Fan further clarified the problem.

Liu Bei suddenly said forcefully: "Prefect Zhao is in trouble? There are capable people under Bei's command who can certainly help you to relieve your worries."
Chapter completed!