The guards who came from Liu Biao came directly to Cai Mao and handed him his letter.
Cai Mao was also happy after receiving Liu Biao's letter. He gathered all his troops and went to Jingzhou to fight Yuan Shu. This was a good idea. As long as he turned against Yuan Shu during the battle, he could definitely defeat the rebels in Jingzhou in one fell swoop.
"Cai Shu, what do you think?"
Now Xu Fu's pseudonym is Cai Shu, and he is Cai Mao's absolute think tank and confidant. Although such a thing is a good thing, you must also consult the other party's opinion.
"Captain, this battle is related to the safety of our new Han Dynasty. Naturally, we need full support. I suggest that we send troops north now to Xiangyang to meet with His Majesty."
Xu Fu glanced at Cai Mao. This is a good thing. Yuan Shu sent troops to kill him, which means that the turmoil that has lasted for several months is about to end. China has suffered enough wars.
"Immediately order the navy to prepare to follow me north to Xiangyang."
Since Xu Fu agreed, there is nothing more to say. Let's fight. If the war starts early, he will be able to resume his status as a minister of China early, and there will be no need to be so worried.
"promise."
"Cai Shu, please wait a moment."
Seeing everyone leaving, Cai Mao directly called Xu Fu to stop him.
"Get ready immediately and arrange for someone to report the situation to Lord Zhang Hong, telling him that we are about to go north to Xiangyang to meet Liu Biao, so that he can be prepared to attack at any time."
Since they decided to go north to Xiangyang, they must send a message to Zhang Hong to let them prepare for action.
"There is no need to send anyone. I think Master Zhang Hong must have received the news of His Majesty's southward journey by now, and as long as we leave Jiangxia, he will immediately understand our movements.
Sending people to report the news now will only increase our risk of exposure. Have you forgotten what happened to Cai Chen last time?
The more critical the moment, the more cautious you must be. I believe you, sir, he will never let the fighter plane slip away."
When he heard that Cai Mao wanted to send someone to report the news to Zhang Hong, Xu Fu shook his head and rejected his proposal.
"Really don't need it?"
Cai Hao glanced at Xu Fu and couldn't help but hesitate for a while. He was really afraid that Zhang Hong wouldn't be able to seize the opportunity.
"Don't worry, Mr. Zigang is much smarter than us, and he also has General Zang Ba by his side. There will be no problem with the two of them."
Xu Fu smiled slightly. In his opinion, the worry about Cai Mao was just a blind worry. With Zhang Hong and Zang Ba's ability, they could only be stronger than themselves, not weaker than themselves. What they could see, they would definitely be able to
Seize the opportunity.
"In that case, let's forget it and go straight north to Xiangyang via Nanjun."
"promise."
Sure enough, as soon as Cai Mao's army was raised, Zhang Hong got the news over there.
"Cai Hao broke camp and left. This is because he got the news of His Majesty's march south. The puppets must have wanted to fight His Majesty, so they summoned Cai Hao and led his troops to leave Jiangxia."
Zhang Hong glanced at Zang Ba and directly expressed his guess.
"Then Cai Mao should send someone to leave a message for us. If we don't detect the news and delay the fighter plane, it will be too late."
Although Zhang Hong said this, Zang Ba still frowned.
"Now it's time for the final battle. Cai Mao was right not to send someone to send us a message. After all, there is no airtight wall in the world.
If the situation of being ambushed last time happens again and his identity is exposed, everything will be over.
This is why they trust us. If they can't even detect this, we will be useless."
Zhang Hong shook his head slightly, precisely because now is the most critical time, so he cannot contact easily, otherwise one mistake will lead to losing everything.
"Well, what should we do now?
Are we going to dispatch immediately or something?"
Zang Ba is just complaining. He naturally understands these things and can definitely detect them.
"Now is not the time. If we attack immediately, the puppets will definitely notice it. If they don't fight your Majesty by then, we will still have to work hard to sweep the four directions, send out scouts to detect the news, and wait for the opportunity to send troops."
Zhang Hong shook his head. Now is not the time to attack. We cannot scare the enemy away, otherwise it will harm Yuan Shu's plan.
"I understand, I'll make arrangements right away."
Zang Ba clasped his fists at Zhang Hong and went directly to the waiting room to investigate the news from various ministries.
Nanyang County, Wancheng
"Prefect, have you really decided?"
Zhou Bi glanced at Zhang Fang, his eyes full of bitterness.
"Well, I have decided that committing myself to the hypocrites was just a temporary measure to protect the millions of people in Nanyang. Now that His Majesty has led a large army to kill, I should naturally change my banner and let Nanyang return to the Chinese Empire."
Zhang Fang's eyes were filled with relief, and he gave a very positive answer to Zhou Bi's words.
"But if this is the case, you are destined to be executed by His Majesty. Why not use Nanyang County as a bargaining chip to talk to His Majesty?"
Zhou Bi really didn't want Zhang Fang to die in vain, so he thought about it and proposed negotiating with Yuan Shu on the condition of Nanyang County.
"No, I am an official of China by birth, and a ghost of China by death. If you ask me to bargain with His Majesty as a minister, what is the difference between me and the traitor Liu Biao? Besides, ever since I made the decision, I have put life and death aside.
It’s just a death, I’ll be fine.”
Zhang Fang's eyes flashed with anger when he heard Zhou Bi's words. Zhang Fang was a minister of China, so naturally he couldn't blackmail Yuan Shu for his own life.
"But."
Although Zhang Fang had put life and death aside, Zhou Bi didn't think so. After all, who would want to die if he could live? At least he didn't want Zhang Fang to die like this.
"No but, you immediately arrange for someone to look for His Majesty, inform us of our willingness to surrender, and let His Majesty seize the time to go south."
Zhang Fang shook his head and asked Zhou Bi to arrange for people to go east to look for Yuan Shu.
"I'd better go there in person. After all, I want to see His Majesty, so it would be inappropriate to send an envoy."
Since Zhang Fang thought so, Zhou Bi had nothing to say and directly suggested that he go east to look for Yuan Shu in person.
"Well, then you pack up and set off immediately. Remember not to talk nonsense or embarrass His Majesty. Do you understand?"
Zhang Fang glanced at Zhou Bi. It would be great if he could go, but with his mouth, he would probably ask Yuan Shu to plead for him, which would definitely make it difficult for Yuan Shu.
"Sir, I understand that I may say these things in front of you, but how dare I say nonsense in front of His Majesty? I don't want to lose my head yet, so don't worry."
Zhou Bi glanced at Zhang Fang and smiled directly, indicating that he would not do anything wrong.
"Well, that's good. You must remember that as a minister, you should relieve His Majesty's worries, not create trouble for His Majesty."
"promise."
Zhou Bi left Nanyang directly, escorted by more than a hundred cavalry, and headed east to look for Yuan Shu.
Dian Wei led five thousand guardsmen and directly found Yuan Shu's army with rumbling horse hooves.
Dian Wei dismounted and rushed directly to Yuan Shu's tent.
"Dian Wei is back."
Seeing Dian Wei's majestic figure, Yuan Shu couldn't help but feel happy. To be honest, he was really not used to not having Dian Wei around during this period of time.
"Your Majesty, I will come."
Dian Wei knelt down on one knee and saluted Yuan Shu.
"No, aren't you at Zhang Hong's place?
Who asked you to come back?"
At this time, Yuan Shu suddenly remembered, wasn't he in Yangzhou?
How did you get here?
"Your Majesty, the rebels in Yangzhou have been wiped out, and I am of no use there. When I heard that you were heading south, I rushed over directly."
After hearing Yuan Shu's words, Dian Wei directly expressed his thoughts.
"Nonsense, do you know what this is?
This is called having no military discipline and acting recklessly, do you understand?"
Now Yuan Shu understood that Zhang Hong and Zang Ba couldn't suppress Dian Wei's bad temper. When he heard that he was going south, he would definitely jump over immediately.
"Your Majesty, you can punish me. As long as I can protect you, I will do anything, haha."
Dian Wei glanced at Yuan Shu and showed a trademark silly smile. He knew what he did was wrong, but he didn't care. The worst thing he could do was to be punished. He didn't care about that. It was enough to be with Yuan Shu and protect him.
"Forget it, it's just this once. If you do it again next time, you will be punished by military law and return to your post."
Yuan Shu was also stunned by Dian Wei's appearance. There was nothing he could do about Dian Wei's stubbornness.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Dian Wei scratched his head and stood directly behind Yuan Shu, assuming the responsibility of his own bodyguard.
Two days later, Yuan Shu's 110,000 army was getting closer and closer to Nanyang, and Zhou Bi finally arrived outside Yuan Shu's army.
"who?"
Zhou Bi was directly discovered by the scouts who were wandering outside. One hundred scouts surrounded the same number of Zhou Bi Fang like hungry wolves.
"Who are you?"
The people escorting Zhou Bi were also elites from Nanyang. When they saw the scouts outside, they drew their steel swords and the two sides faced off.
"We are Zhou Bi, the chief secretary of Nanyang, and we are here to report the military situation to His Majesty."
Zhou Bi got out of the carriage directly, looked at the wolf-like scouts around him, and directly announced his identity.
"It turns out that he is under the command of the false king Zhang Fang and wants to see your majesty?
Cut them off first."
When they heard that the other party was one of Zhang Fang's subordinates or a chief clerk, the scout team leader also sneered in response, and then directly ordered someone to kill them.
"What's your next try?"
Hearing that the other party was about to use his weapons, the commander of the village guarding Zhou Bi became angry.
"Why don't you accept it?
If you don’t accept it, just practice?”
When the team leader saw the opponent like this, he directly pointed the knife at the opponent. His eyes were full of bloodthirsty, as if if the opponent dared to say a word, he would end the opponent's life.
