Quanling is governed by Lingling County. Historical records record: "Lingling is wet, and the city is made of weaved wood. It cannot be defended." As one of the only ten large counties in the Han Dynasty that once had a population of one million, Quanling was the city of Lingling County.
Undoubtedly the shabbiest of them all.
However, this is not because Lingling cannot build a strong city of rammed earth. It is simply because of the rainy and humid weather that the later maintenance costs are too high.
After the Civil War broke out in Jingzhou, the prefect of Lingling did not want to get involved, so he hung a seal and ribbon on the lintel of the main hall and took his family away. From then on, the main hall where the prefect held county meetings became vacant, and the main register room next to the main hall became
The new center of Lingling County.
The chief administrator of Lingling County is none other than the famous Lingling scholar Liu Ba and Liu Zichu.
Liu Ba's reputation was not limited to Lingling. His name was heard throughout Jingzhou. The most well-known deeds were that Liu Biao conquered the country many times and even praised him as a "maocai". He never responded to Liu Biao's remarks.
Recruitment is dismissive, showing the arrogance of celebrities.
Although Liu Ba is famous, he is not very old. He is only over 20 years old this year and has not yet reached his thirties. He is of medium height, with a thin face, refined temperament and outstanding demeanor.
He was currently sitting in the chief register's office, talking to Secretary Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan was a few years younger than Liu Ba. He was more than seven feet long, had big ears, sparse eyebrows and bright eyes, and was well-groomed. He sat under Liu Ba and behaved dignified and polite.
Jiang Wan, whose courtesy name was Gongyan, was a descendant of the Jiang family in Xiangxiang, Lingling. When he was still young, he was as well-known as his younger brother Liu Min in Quanling. He was the most outstanding figure among the younger generation in Lingling County.
The topic the two talked about was naturally Liu Jing, who had shocked the whole of Jingnan recently.
In the past few months, Liu Ba and Liu Jing had corresponded frequently. He felt that they had equal talents and similar interests, and they had become good friends.
Although Jiang Wan has never met Liu Jing, he is Pan Jun's aunt. The two have completely different personalities, but they have been very close since childhood. In the past few years, Pan Jun mentioned Liu Jing many times in letters to him.
Jing, Jiang Wan gradually realized that he and Liu Jing had a special relationship.
Liu Ba and Jiang Wan lamented: "I only thought that Liu Zhongda was extremely talented and resourceful. Unexpectedly, he was talented in civil and military affairs and was good at using troops. He was a figure like Deng Yu and Ma Yuan."
Jiang Wan nodded slightly and said: "Liu Zhongda combined the new soldiers of the army with the area of only one county, defeated the strong with the weak, defeated the Jingzhou navy, and killed thousands of generals Cai Zhong and Wu Ju. He is indeed worthy of Gang Ji's praise.
"
Liu Badao said: "Last year, I strongly advocated the delivery of 50,000 dendrobium of rice to Lingxian County. For this reason, the officials and people in the county accused me a lot, thinking that I was abusing the public affairs for private purposes and should not use the grain in Linglingcang as a favor."
." He had been holding this breath in his heart for half a year, and it was really hard not to let it out.
Huang Wan said calmly: "Now everyone knows Gang Ji's intentions."
Liu Ba stroked his black beard and said: "Without Liu Zhongda, the Jingzhou navy would have already arrived at the city. And with Quanling using a tree fence as a wall, we would be hard-pressed to resist. No matter how much rice there was in the warehouse, what would it matter?"
Use? In the end, it’s not like Jiang Beibing’s advantage was in vain.”
Jiang Wan said: "Liu Zhongda took advantage of his great victory this time and asked for food again..."
"Give it." Liu Ba said: "Liu Zhongda is our barrier in the north. As long as he is still here, we will have no worries. It is nothing to pay a little rice for this."
Jiang Wan secretly smiled bitterly, this is not a big deal. In just half a year since the autumn harvest last year, Lingling County has exported more than 100,000 dendrobium grains to Zhang Xian and Liu Jing. Now there is not much surplus grain in the county warehouse.
Liu Ba added: "By the way, Gongyan, Liu Zhongda said many times in his letter that he has heard of your reputation for a long time and wants to meet you. Why don't you personally escort the grain this time?"
"Okay..." Jiang Wan also wanted to meet Liu Jing, so he nodded and agreed.
…………
When the Jingzhou navy went south, it took more than ten days to reach Hengshan Township because it went upstream. On the return journey, it traveled along the river, and it only took six or seven days to successfully return to Linxiang. In terms of time,
shortened by nearly half.
However, compared to the grand scene when the boats and boats on the river were aligned with each other on the river, and the flags were in the clouds, with no beginning or end in sight, which was a grand scene, the return of the Jingzhou navy seemed much more desolate.
There was no other way. After all, they had just experienced a major defeat a few days ago. Nearly half of the ships were lost. The sailors and soldiers were killed and captured. Eight or nine thousand people fell into the water and were missing. It can be said that the Jingzhou navy was destroyed by this.
He was completely disabled in the first battle and needed at least a year's rest before he could recover slightly.
Cai Mao was proud and arrogant. He did not want to come back like a lost dog, so he ordered the fleet to plant more flags to show its power. However, no matter how many superficial efforts he made, it was useless. The news of their defeat had already been sent back.
The people who spread the news were none other than Liu Zhu's spies. The people of Linxiang heard that Liu Jing led a large army to defeat the Jingzhou navy and killed Wu Ju... They refused to believe it at first, until they witnessed the Jingzhou navy returning in disgrace. The people of Linxiang
It suddenly dawned on me that the previous rumors were actually true.
After receiving the news of the defeat of the navy, Kuai Yue was so angry that he stayed up all night and cursed Cai Mao in his heart. He was a waste! The reason why he agreed to Cai Mao's march south was because the navy was strong enough. Even if Cai Mao encountered setbacks, he could retreat unscathed.
.Facts proved that he overestimated Cai Mao.
As soon as the navy returned, Kuai Yue immediately abandoned everything, rode out of the camp, and went straight to Beijin Ferry. Seeing that the navy's ships had been reduced by nearly half, the losses were extremely heavy, and Kuai Yue couldn't help but buzzing in his head, and his eyes were filled with bloodshot eyes.
He glared at Cai Mao angrily and said, "Degui, you..."
Liu Pan was also very angry, but as a junior, he could not show it openly. But in his heart he was very dissatisfied with Cai Mao. The Jingzhou Navy was invincible on the Xiang River and had no rivals at all, even if it was handed over to an idiot commander.
, and would not be defeated so completely.
Facing Kuai Yue's angry and reproachful eyes, Cai Mao looked ashamed, but he felt equally uncomfortable in his heart. In this battle, including Cai Zhong, five of his Kun brothers died. If Xi Zhen hadn't taken the initiative to leave Duan Hou,
, whether Cai He can come back is still unknown.
Cai Mao sighed: "Yidu, this great defeat has made me feel ashamed. I don't know how I will see the general in the future."
At this point, even if Cai Mao was scolded to death, it would be of no avail. Moreover, as the commander-in-chief, Kuai Yue also had a responsibility. He suppressed the anger in his heart and asked: "Degui, you are also a man who knows soldiers, why are you so defeated?"
Cai Mao's face was full of regret, and he gritted his teeth and said: "We have all underestimated Liu Jing's son! He seems to only have one county, but he has more than ten thousand water infantry under his command. He also has Jingman to help him, so his military strength is not weak.
More or less, I fell into his trap and was attacked from both sides. It was difficult for me to look at the beginning and the end, leading to a huge defeat."
Kuai Yue frowned when he heard this. The information revealed in Cai Mao's words was very shocking. If it was true, he might be in big trouble.
Liu Pan didn't believe Cai Mao's words in his heart, thinking that he was excusing his defeat and deliberately exaggerating his opponent's strength, and asked: "Where did Liu Jing get so many troops?"
Cai Mao replied: "According to my guess, he must have recruited several defeated Changsha troops." In fact, he had known about this for a long time. Liu Zong and Cai Sheng, whom Wu Ju mentioned many times, were both former Changsha troops, and later went south to fight with them.
Liu Jing joined forces. Unfortunately, he relied on the strength of the navy and was arrogant at that time, and did not pay attention to Wu Ju's intelligence.
Liu Pan couldn't help but sneered: "A group of defeated generals who were defeated by us before became an elite army after being recruited by him? Could it be that he is Huaiyin alive?"
Cai Mao glanced at Liu Pan with a sinister look and did not answer.
Kuai Yue asked: "Degui, you said Liu Zhongda has Jingman to help him?"
Cai Mao nodded and said: "Yes, at least two to three thousand Jingman participated in the battle."
Kuai Yue couldn't help but fell silent. Changsha Man's fighting power was not as good as that of Wuling Man, but he should not be underestimated. This time Liu Jing recruited two to three thousand Jing Man to help him fight. What about next time? Who can guarantee that there will not be tens of thousands of people under his command?
The Jingman?
Cai Mao added: "I think Liu Jing's child poses no less of a threat to us than Zhang Xian. In the past, we always thought that capturing Linxiang and killing Zhang Xian, Lingling and Guiyang counties would depend on us. But now we see
Come on, this idea is a bit too taken for granted."
Kuai Yue couldn't help but rub his eyebrows. One Zhang Xian was enough to give them a headache. The army had been trapped under Linxiang City for more than half a year, and so far there had been no progress. Now Liu Jing has appeared. Judging from his troops,
He is even more difficult to deal with than Zhang Xian.
Regarding the future, for the first time, pessimism appeared in Kuai Yue's heart.
…………
Compared with the gloomy Jingzhou Army outside the city, Linxiang City was full of joy.
The people of Changsha, who have been besieged by the enemy for half a year, are like being trapped in a cage. Now they need a victory to boost their morale.
Just at this time, Liu Jing's victory news came back, and it was a great victory. Wu Ju, a traitor whose flesh and blood the Changsha people wanted to eat, was killed by Liu Jing and his men.
Zhang Xian is sitting in the main hall with a smile on his face. He has not smiled so happily for a long time. In the past six months, he has been under double mental and physical pressure every day, and his appearance is aging at a speed visible to the naked eye.
, the originally gray temples are now completely white, and the energy is not as good as before.
Zhang Yi sat next to Zhang Xian with a melancholy look on his face, and it was Liu Jing again... At this moment, his heart was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred...
Under the hall stood the county officials headed by Gong Cao Huan Jie and Wu Guan Yu Liu Pan. However, the generals headed by Chu Fang, the captain of the northern part of Changsha, still clung to the city wall and did not dare to leave their posts without permission.
Facing the congratulations from all the officials, Liu Pan couldn't help stroking his long beard and smiling from ear to ear.
Since the war between the two sides began, the Changsha Army was bound to lose regardless of water or foot. They could only rely on the fortified city of Linxiang to deal with the Jingzhou Army. Liu Jing defeated the Jingzhou Army in his first attack. This was the Changsha people's response to the Jingzhou Army.
First victory.
Huan Jie and Liu Pan exchanged glances with each other and said: "Master Fu, Liu Zhongda defeated the Jingzhou army and killed Wu Ju, which avenged the national humiliation. Such a great achievement must be rewarded."
Zhang Xian had already planned this in his mind and nodded: "What Boxu said is true. Liu Zhongda killed the traitor Wu Ju, which not only eliminated a serious problem for me, but also comforted the soldiers who died in vain because of him. Such a great achievement, naturally,
We need heavy rewards. I want to take over the nine counties of Lingxian, Xiangnan, Liandao, Zhaoling, Liling, Ancheng, Chaling, Youxian and Rongling."
Zhang Xian was planning to hand over all nine counties south of Linxiang, the county seat, to Liu Jing's officials. Since he was surrounded by Jingzhou troops in Linxiang and couldn't get out, it would be better to let Liu Jing consolidate the counties south of Changsha and gather more people.
A tremendous strength.
Everyone in the hall, including Zhang Yi, was stunned. They didn't expect Zhang Xian to have such courage. When Zhang Xian was trapped in Linxiang and the four northern counties fell, this was almost equivalent to asking Liu Jing to act as his agent.
The governor of Changsha. From this we can also see the status of Liu Jing's great victory in Zhang Xian's heart.
Although this kind of example of a county magistrate also taking charge of neighboring counties is relatively rare, it is not uncommon. For example, in the late Western Han Dynasty, Gongsun Shu, who single-handedly fought against the entire Eastern Han Dynasty in Shu, was the magistrate of Qingshui County when he was young. The prefect thought that he
With his extraordinary talent, he was allowed to take charge of the five counties in the county. From then on, the political affairs of the five counties were repaired, gangsters and thieves did not occur, and the county was said to have ghosts and gods.