Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu once said: "A husband who builds great things should not be afraid of small complaints."
At that time, Zhu Tuna participated in the murder of Liu Xiu's brother Liu Yan, and persuaded Emperor Gengshi not to let Liu Xiu go on patrol in Hebei. The two had a deep hatred. But later, in order to recruit Zhu Tuna, who was defending Luoyang, Liu Xiu swore on the river that he would not pursue any further investigation. When Zhu Kun came to Hebei, Liu Xiu was true to his words and worshiped him as General Pingdi, granted him the title of Marquis of Fugou, and promoted him to the Shaofu of Jiuqing.
He and Ou Xiong had only had some bad blood, but it was far from a fight to the death. Liu Xiulian was able to put aside his hatred of killing his brother, and Liu Jing was naturally able to sincerely accept Ou Xiong.
Seeing Liu Jing's promise to "let go of all the grudges in the past," Song Lin was overjoyed and paid homage again: "Mr. Liu is a man of great talent and magnanimity. From now on, we are willing to serve as Mr. Liu." Minions and claws, even if the liver and brains are destroyed, they will not hesitate."
Liu Jing smiled and nodded, then asked: "Previously, Kuai Yidu was supervising the battle in front of the formation and was shot by Han Gongfu. How is his injury now?"
Song Lin replied: "Since that day, Kuai Yidu has not appeared in public again. Now the person in charge of military camp affairs is Liu Jingzhou's nephew, Zhonglang General Liu Pan, and the military governor Deng Fang is his deputy. We have made secret inquiries in private. However, all the generals of the Northern Army who were friendly with us said that Kuai Yidu was seriously injured and found it difficult to manage, so Liu Pan was asked to take his place temporarily."
"Oh? That's good news." Liu Jing nodded lightly. It is unlikely that Kuai Yue deliberately pretended to be ill. Given the current situation of the Jingzhou Army, doing so would only make the whole army worried and uneasy. Therefore, Kuai Yue should be suffering from it. No doubt seriously injured.
The only person in the Jingzhou army who could make Liu Jing feel fearful was Kuai Yue. In his eyes, the rest were just chickens and dogs, not worth mentioning.
Then, without Liu Jing asking questions, Song Lin poured out all the information he had on the Northern Army like beans from a bamboo tube. In particular, he mentioned that the Northern Army was preparing to move its camp to a high-risk location in order to avoid flooding.
Liu Jing shook his head regretfully. At present, the commander of the Jingzhou Army had suffered a lot of losses, the morale of the army was unstable, and Ou Xiong secretly defected to him. If he could lead his troops to a surprise attack when he moved camp, even if he could not decide in a battle, he would still gain a lot. .Unfortunately, the water outside the city is now several feet deep, making it difficult to move.
However, with Ou Xiong's hidden chess piece and the confirmation of Kuai Yue's injury, most of Liu Jing's worries disappeared.
In the past, his plan was to rely on Ling County to push back the Jingzhou Army and secure the southern part of Changsha and Lingling and Guiyang counties. Now, he had a vague hope of victory.
From this we can see how much Ou Xiong's surrender helped him.
After Song Lin withdrew, Cai Sheng was the first to speak: "Liu Jun, we all know who Ou Xiong is. He is arrogant and domineering, forgets his mistakes and his good deeds, and will retaliate. Can he really let go of the grudges in his heart? Is there any deception in this?"
Ma Zhou also expressed the same doubts.
Chu Fang said: "Ou Xiong and others who have surrendered must have a low status in the Northern Army. They are regarded as slaves and cattle and horses, and they are used to excess. How can they not hate it in their hearts? Nowadays, the Jingzhou Army seems to be powerful, but in fact it is already a strong man on the outside. Ou Yuanbo was among them and he must have seen clearly, so I think Ou Yuanbo is sincerely attached to him." Chu Fang had no personal grudges against Ou Xiong, so he looked at the problem more objectively.
"What Zi Ping said is what I think." Liu Jing said with a smile: "Hong Chao, Zi Jin, we shouldn't look at Uncle Ou Yuan from the past. Judging from his behavior in recent years, he can be regarded as a man with integrity. .”
Cai Sheng and Ma Zhou looked at each other and admitted their mistakes: "Liu Jun is right, it was us who failed to abandon our old prejudices..."
Liu Jing waved his hand and said: "Your worries are not entirely unreasonable. "Zuo Zhuan" says: 'People's hearts are different, just like their faces.' We must also be wary of district heroes and not believe everything they say. "
When Cai Sheng and Ma Zhou heard this, their expressions relaxed and their depression disappeared.
…………
South of Linghu Lake, on the east bank of the Xiang River, is Liu Jingshui's military camp.
Looking at the heavy rain outside and the vast sky and earth, Wang Qiang looked thoughtful.
Although Liu Zong and Liu Zhu were worried about the continuous heavy rain, they did not realize the seriousness of the problem at all. There was nothing they could do about it. They were both monks halfway and had lived on land most of the time. Don't have much experience in this area.
But he was different. His family had been dealing with boats for generations. He himself had been at the helm of a boat for several years and had weathered many storms. Therefore, he judged that if the heavy rain continued for a few days, there would be flooding.
Wang Qiang did not go to Liu Zong directly. The latter had always been very prejudiced against him, and he was not sure whether he could convince him, so Wang Qiang first went to Liu Zhu.
Compared with Liu Zong, who had a bad relationship, Wang Qiang and Liu Zhu had an irreversible friendship. When Liu Jing purchased ships and built a fleet, it was the two of them who built a fleet for Liu Jing from scratch. During this period, people shared joys and sorrows and formed a deep friendship.
After Wang Qiang met Liu Zhu, he immediately told his speculation straight to the point. After hearing this, Liu Zhu made a prompt decision and accompanied him to see Liu Zong.
Liu Zong looked at Wang Qiang, then at Liu Zhu, and finally turned his eyes back to Wang Qiang and asked, "Are you sure?"
Wang Qiang said in a deep voice: "No, no one dares to judge such a thing. I just made a judgment based on my past experience."
Liu Zong sneered and said: "Just based on your guess, the entire army will have tens of thousands of soldiers and soldiers exhausted from running for their lives, making it difficult for them to live day and night?"
Liu Zhu hurriedly interjected: "Sima, Zijian must be somewhat confident in making this conjecture. What's more, this is a natural disaster. Once a flood breaks out, the consequences will be disastrous. We can't be too cautious."
Liu Zong fell into silence upon hearing this.
Wang Qiang said slowly: "Right now, the Jingzhou navy is divided into two. One is stationed on the north bank of the Lei River to ensure that the back roads and waterways are clear, and the other is stationed on the west bank of the Xiang River to protect the flanks of the infantry camp. Floods will last a lifetime. The Jingzhou infantry in the wild will bear the brunt of the attack, and the two naval forces will also be blocked by the flood and will have difficulty reuniting."
Liu Zong stood up involuntarily, with a serious look on his face that he had never seen before.
Wang Qiang continued: "If we make sufficient preparations in advance, we will enter by boat at that time, attack the unintentional with intention, and attack the unprepared with preparedness, we will be able to defeat the naval army on the west bank of the Xiang River in one battle. As long as we win this battle, we will not care about the rest. Whether it is to attack Cai Mao on the north bank of the Lei River to the north, or to capture the infantry that is full of fish and crabs to the west, everything will be successful."
Liu Zong's mouth went dry for a moment. If it was as Wang Qiang said, it would be an unparalleled achievement. Given his character, his heart would beat violently and it would be difficult to control himself.
"Sima, you can give it a try." Liu Zhu said urgently.
Liu Zong stared at Wang Qiang's ordinary and gloomy face and said, "Okay, I will do everything as you said."