Cai Mao, through Zhuge Jin, agreed to join forces with the pottery merchants.
Zhuge Jin quickly returned to the potter's camp with the news.
The Jinling Army is currently gathering the counties around Xiangyang City step by step.
The pottery merchant was very happy after receiving the news from Zhuge Jin.
"Ziyu looked at Cai Mao. Is his intention to surrender to me true or false?" Tao Shang asked Zhuge Jin.
In fact, he knew in his heart that if nothing unexpected happened, Cai Mao's intention to surrender must be true, but he still wanted to hear Zhuge Jin's opinion. After all, it was Zhuge Jin who communicated with Cai Mao through Huang Chengyan.
Moreover, Zhuge Jin is quite reliable in what he says and does, and he is not the kind of person who talks nonsense.
Zhuge Jin thought about it carefully and then replied: "From what I can see below, Cai Mao's intention to surrender must be true."
"Why?"
"Cai Mao is now in Zhangling County. He is called the governor of Yifang County, but he is actually an abandoned son. Since the Liu Biao period, the Liu family in Jingzhou has been suppressing him. Now the Pang family in Xiangyang is relying on his alliance with Liu Bei.
The machine is located on top of it. I am afraid that Cai Mao has a hundred dissatisfactions in his heart. Besides, the situation in Jingzhou is not very good. If I were Cai Mao, I would not continue to hang myself on this tree and would find another owner.
...And today, when it comes to heroes, who can compare with the Prime Minister?"
After hearing this, Tao Shang couldn't help but laugh: "Ziyu, you are complimenting me with this. When did you, an honest person, learn the art of flattery?"
Zhuge Jin cupped his hands and said, "How do you say this, Prime Minister? This is not flattery. Jin is just telling the truth."
When Zhuge Jin said this, his face was very serious and upright. If his left finger hadn't unconsciously touched his right finger, the pottery merchant might have been fooled by him.
"Tzuyu, if there is nothing going on in Jinling City, you can stay in the army. Now that Kong Ming is not with me, you can stay here to help me make suggestions."
Zhuge Jin seemed a little hesitant when he heard this: "Prime Minister, I have never led an army or commanded a general..."
"You don't need to be able to lead troops. I will take care of these things naturally. You just need to stay with me and help me with ideas."
"No." Zhuge Jin no longer refused.
Tao Shang narrowed his eyes and said: "Since Cai Mao has agreed to surrender, what should we do next to close Xiangyang?"
Zhuge Jin advised Tao Shang: "I feel that if we want to capture Xiangyang, we can only get Cai Mao to cooperate with us internally and externally. However, he is currently in Zhangling County. If he comes back directly, it will be unreasonable and it will easily reveal flaws."
, What we have to do now is to give General Cai a reasonable reason to return to Xiangfan."
The pottery merchant thought about it seriously and said with a smile: "Isn't this simple? If we defeat Zhangling County, he will have nowhere to go and can only return to Xiangfan."
Seeing that the pottery merchant got to the point right away, Zhuge Jin immediately said, "The Prime Minister is really wise."
Tao Shang told him: "Ziyu, you should write a letter to Cai Mao now, telling him that I will send troops to attack Zhangling County in the next day, and let him be careful. I will really order a strong attack, so that he can attack Zhangling County as soon as possible."
It would not be a good look to make a way out so as not to accidentally injure our generals."
Zhuge Jin wondered: "Why do we have to seriously attack? Isn't it just a show?"
The pottery merchant raised his finger and pointed to the direction and said: "Pang Tong from Xiangyang City is not an ordinary person. His talent is similar to that of your brother Kong Ming. If I had made a show with Cai Mao in advance, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hide it from him."
Zhuge Jin suddenly realized, stood up and said, "I'm going to prepare now."
After saying that, I saw him bowing to the pottery merchant and then walking out of the handsome tent.
…
Three days later, the pottery merchant sent five generals, Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, Tai Shi Ci, Gao Shun, and A Fei, each leading their own troops to encircle Zhangling County.
The soldiers and horses of Jinling City came with great force and showed no mercy. They captured Zhangling County with lightning speed and defeated Cai Mao's army.
Cai Mao was extremely helpless when he lost power and could only lead his army back to Xiangyang immediately.
However, he did not lead his troops back to Xiangyang, but stationed himself in Yi County near Xiangyang. He sent people to Jiangling to report and to Xiangyang to request support.
Cai Mao's letter was sent to Xiangyang City. After reading it, Pang Tong did not immediately express his position. He just called the generals and asked them for their opinions.
Many Xiangyang generals said at that time that Cai Mao should be rescued. After all, he was a Jingzhou general and had to help.
Others said that Cai Mao should be invited back to Xiangyang to help defend the city.
After hearing this, Pang Tong remained silent, and Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others were also dumbfounded.
Even though Cai Mao has lost power, he has been in charge of Xiangyang for many years and has been in charge of the army. He has a high prestige in the army. Even though the military power of Xiangyang is no longer in his hands, the prosperity of the Cai family is still in the hearts of the generals.
Especially now that Guan Yu and Pang Tong are not getting along, many Xiangyang generals are dissatisfied with the behavior of these two generals and feel that they cannot defend Xiangyang. Instead, they might as well invite Cai Mao back to take charge of the overall situation.
Of course Pang Tong would not agree, and neither would Guan Yu.
However, facing the earnest expressions of the Xiangyang generals, Pang Tong was not willing to deny their enthusiasm in public. Instead, he felt that at this moment, some words were more appropriate for Guan Yu to say.
He turned to look at Guan Yu and said, "What does General Guan think about this?"
Guan Yu wished he could go up and kick Pang Tong to death.
If you ask me at this time, it is clear that you want to draw the resentment of the Xiangyang generals onto me!
As Liu Bei's general, Guan Yu would naturally not agree to let Cai Mao come back, but when he said the question now, it was pure hatred.
But the problem is, he still won't refuse to answer.
If it were anyone else, he might have hesitated and dealt with it in front of Pang Tong, but what kind of person was Guan Yu? His personality was so strong, how could he be subdued in the face of Pang Tong?
"General Cai Mao has just been defeated. It would be difficult for him to come to Xiangyang City. We might as well let him station in Yicheng and echo Xiangyang." Guan Yu said his opinion lightly.
As Guan Yu finished speaking, many people cast dissatisfied looks at him.
Of course, this is also the effect Pang Tong wants.
He happily stroked his beard and said: "In that case, then we will follow General Guan's words."
…
After Cai Mao arrived in Yicheng, he stationed himself on the spot. He immediately contacted Kuai Yue, a former colleague of the Jingzhou clan.
After Liu Bei came to power, Kuai Yue resigned from his post due to illness and stayed at home in order to protect himself.
And his old house is not far from Yicheng.
After hearing Cai Mao's summons, Kuai Yue secretly went to Yicheng overnight to meet Cai Mao.
Cai Mao had nothing to say about Kuai Yue. He told everything in full without hiding anything.
After saying everything, Cai Mao immediately said to Kuai Yue: "Yidu, for the current matter, Cai must be stationed in Yicheng. It is inconvenient to return to Xiangyang. Could you please secretly contact the old troops for Cai to dedicate the city?"
A big deal, if this can be accomplished, it will no longer be difficult for you and me to revive the Kuai and Cai families in Jingzhou in the future!"