"My son is not talented, and all the generals are scattered. After my death, Xuande took control of Jingzhou and unified the internal and external military to defend against the powerful enemy."
Although Liu Biao's words were weak and weak, they were like thunder in everyone's ears. All civil and military officials in Jingzhou, including Liu Cong and Liu Bei, were all stunned on the spot, and the room fell into a dead silence.
Liu Biao left Liu Bei alone, which was expected by everyone. After all, Liu Jing's army was pressing down on the border and Xiangyang was in danger. Only by relying on Liu Bei could there be a glimmer of hope to survive the crisis.
What surprised everyone was that Liu Biao actually wanted Liu Bei to "take over Jingzhou and unify the internal and external military". Liu Biao's name was Tuogu, but in fact it was the same as "letting Jingzhou". How could everyone not be surprised?
Not to mention Liu Xian, who was originally a wall-rider, and Han Song, who was in charge of the Zhonglang, even the die-hard Zhizhong Pang Ji and Chief Secretary Kuai Liang showed hesitation.
At that time, Zhang Xian was deeply favored by Jiang and Hunan. Even though he later died of illness, the officials and people of Changsha refused to open the city and surrender. Instead, they appointed Zhang Xian's son Zhang Yi as the governor of Changsha and continued to resist.
Liu Biao has been in charge of Jingzhou for more than ten years. His policies are lenient and peaceful, and he is more popular than Zhang Xian. Therefore, whether he is a die-hard or a fence-sitter, although he has his own ideas in his heart, he is willing to continue to assist Liu Cong after Liu Biao's death. .
Loyalty to Liu Biao, Liu Cong and his son is the duty of a minister, but now that Liu Biao intends to abdicate to Liu Bei, this is worthy of discussion. No matter how stupid and loyal the civil and military officials in Jingzhou are, they cannot switch their allegiance to Liu Bei just because of Liu Biao's words. Liu Bei is a world-renowned hero.
Zhang Yun had an anxious look on his face, winking frequently at Liu Cong beside him, and opened his mouth to speak several times, but held it back.
Seeing that all the civil and military officials in Jingzhou were silent and the atmosphere in the room became very depressing, Liu Bei knew that he could not convince the people and could not repeat the story of Xuzhou, so he hurriedly said to Liu Biao: "Why did you say this? I'm sorry that you don't dare to follow me. Please take it back." Success." Then, before Liu Biao could speak, Liu Bei said again: "You have a virtuous son, so why should you sacrifice the near and seek the distant? Zhongyu is young and generous, enough to inherit the foundation of Jingzhou."
Liu Biao looked at Liu Bei, and then at the ministers with different expressions. He knew that it would be difficult to achieve his wish, so he had to give up the idea. He held Liu Bei's hand tightly and sighed: "Zhongyu is quite talented. I How could this father not know? He is definitely no match for Liu Jing..."
Liu Bei said sternly: "You have the kindness to take me in and the meaning of support. As long as I have one breath left, I will sacrifice my life to protect you. You can rest assured."
Liu Biao felt a little relieved after hearing this, and turned to Liu Cong and said: "Liu Yuzhou is my heart (clan) and your elder. After my death, you should serve me as your father. Don't neglect it."
It was only then that Liu Cong finally came to his senses. Liu Cong did not dare to disobey his father's last words, so he immediately paid homage to Liu Bei as his nephew and officially decided on his title.
"Zhong Yu doesn't need to be polite." Liu Bei didn't ask for help and immediately helped Liu Cong up.
Liu Biao then said to the ministers: "You and others are all lonely ministers. Now I am the second son Cong. I hope that you and others will help you wholeheartedly."
"Nuo." This time, all the civil and military officials in Jingzhou were no longer silent. Under the leadership of Pang Ji and Kuai Liang, they all bowed down and obeyed the order.
Liu Biao then called Pang Ji, Kuai Liang and other confidants to come closer and gave instructions one by one. After explaining the funeral arrangements, Liu Biao's complexion declined rapidly. Feeling that his end was approaching, he dismissed everyone, leaving only Liu Cong by his side. .
"Zhongyu, have you sent your mother and brother away?" On his deathbed, Liu Biao asked about his wife and son. This was the last concern in his heart.
Liu Cong suppressed his grief and replied: "Don't worry, father, I sent a warship to send my mother, siblings to Xinye yesterday."
Knowing that his wife and son were safely out of danger, Liu Biao breathed a sigh of relief, no longer worried in his heart, and slowly closed his eyes.
Watching his father take his last breath, Liu Cong fell in front of the bed, feeling sad and helpless.
He has always been dissatisfied with his brother Liu Qi, but it is undeniable that Liu Qi is the nominal heir of Jingzhou. He relied on the help of his stepmother Cai Shi, his wife's uncle Cai Mao, his maternal brother Zhang Yun and others to compete with Liu Qi.
As the heir, Liu Qi began to participate in Jingzhou's government affairs very early. In contrast, Liu Cong mostly hid under Liu Biao's wings. Now that his father, who protected him from wind and rain, has passed away, Liu Cong's heart is full of hesitation.
When the Jingzhou army captured Linxiang, Zhang Yi, the puppet governor of Changsha, deserved death for his crime. Liu Biao was generous and spared his life, but he did not let him go and instead imprisoned him in the Xiangyang dungeon.
Zhang Yi's tragic experience suddenly became a topic of conversation among Xiangyang people after dinner. Liu Cong naturally participated in it, and even went to the dungeon to visit Zhang Yi out of curiosity.
That was the first time he set foot in the dungeon. The environment inside was so harsh that it was so unimaginable that even after many years, he still remembered it deeply.
How similar is Liu Cong's current situation to Zhang Yi's situation when he was in Changsha? He never wants to end up in a dungeon like Zhang Yi, and of course, he doesn't want to die.
But wanting to repel Liu Jing and keep Jingzhou was even harder than climbing to the sky. In the past two days, Xiangyang was in turmoil, people were distracted, and soldiers and civilians were rushing to flee. This made Liu Cong clearly realize that there would never be any resistance from the city.
Good results.
At this moment, Liu Cong suddenly envied the brothers he had sent away...
"Liu Jingzhou wanted to entrust Jingzhou to the general, why did the general refuse?" Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had been waiting outside. When they learned that Liu Biao intended to give up his throne, but Liu Bei refused, they couldn't help but feel puzzled. The two held it in for a while.
, didn’t ask until he returned to his place of residence.
As the saying goes, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Although the situation in Jingzhou is critical, all the counties in Nanjun, the core area, have fallen, leaving only Xiangyang as an isolated city. However, the three counties of Zhangling, Nanyang, and Jiangxia are still under control, which is enough to establish a foundation.
.
As long as Liu Jing is defeated, the three counties will definitely return home. By then, they will occupy the land in the north of Jing, collect the Han and Mian people, attack Liu Jing in the south, and attack Cao Cao in the north. Why worry about failure? The two of them really can't figure out why Liu Bei refuses.
Liu Bei shook his head. If he said he was not interested in Jingzhou, he would be deceiving himself. He was not willing to do so, but he really couldn't.
The situation in Jingzhou is completely different from that of Xuzhou. Back then, Xuzhou faced the covetousness of powerful external princes such as Cao Cao and Yuan Shu. Xuzhou was in danger. Tao Qian and the people of Xuzhou had no choice but to elect Liu Bei to the throne to defend the state and county and resist the enemy.
foreign enemy.
To put it bluntly, Jingzhou is an internal struggle. As Liu Jing is the crown of Jingzhou and the hope of the Chu Kingdom, most of the people in northern Jing do not reject him, but are happy to see his success. Nowadays, there are countless people in Xiangyang who secretly communicate with Liu Jing.
If Liu Bei didn't know what he was doing and took over Jingzhou rashly, he might have surrendered Xiangyang on the day Liu Jing arrived.
Soon someone came to report that Liu Biao had passed away.