The night gradually became deeper and Jiangling City was silent. Although the war in Xiangyang was about to begin, for most ordinary people in Jiangling, it seemed that the war was still too far away from them, but there were also a few visionary people who were worried, knowing that the war was imminent.

Pang Ji is also a few visionary people. He is very clear about the situation in front of him. Cao Cao's 300,000 troops attacked the south. Once Cao Cao's army crossed the river, it would inevitably sweep away the fallen leaves like the autumn wind.

Liu Jing still withdrew his people from Xiangyang, which is a sign of giving up Xiangyang. Once Cao Cao seizes Xiangyang, he will be killed in Jiangling within two days, and it is inevitable that Jiangling will be lost.

Pang Ji was also very clear about Liu Bei's strategy. He would retreat south to Wuling County or Hengyang County. What about himself? Will he retreat to the sparsely populated Wuling County with Liu Bei?

The answer is no, he will never bet on a fallen lord who has no chance to turn the tables.

From the beginning, Pang Ji did not really surrender to Liu Bei. Now it is time for him to make a decision. Pang Ji sighed deeply. What should he do?

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At this time, a carriage stopped in front of Pang Ji's mansion. Two people walked out of the carriage. The leader came forward and knocked on the door. The door creaked and opened a crack, "Who are you looking for?" asked the doorman inside.

"We are looking for Mr. Pang. There is a reply letter here, please pass it to him." The leading man handed a reply letter to the doorman, put it in an envelope, and the letter was blocked.

"Please wait." The concierge closed the door and hurried away.

Two men were waiting on the steps outside the door. On the back, the man looked at the gray sky with his hands behind his back and said lightly: "It may rain in the middle of the night."

"Is it raining in Fancheng too?"

"No, there has not been a drop of rain in Fancheng since April. Today, Jingzhou may not have any good harvest."

"In fact, even if the weather is good, there will be no good harvest."

"This is right, so the Prime Minister doesn't want to fight, but Liu Jing is not tactful!"

As the two were talking, hurried footsteps came from the yard. The door opened. Pang Ji appeared at the door. Seeing the two people standing at the door, he hesitated and asked, "Who is Mr. Mao?"

The middle-aged man behind him smiled and said, "I am!"

"I'm rude!"

Pang Jigong bowed, "Please come in, please."

This middle-aged man, known as Mr. Mao, was naturally Mao Jie, a counselor under Cao Cao. He came to visit Pang Ji on the order of Cao Cao, hoping to open a breakthrough from Pang Ji.

In the study, Pang Ji asked Mao Jie to sit down and ran out to let the servants serve tea. However, he did these things that should not be worrying about by himself, which also reflected his inner tension from one angle.

Pang Ji was indeed very nervous at this time. He did not expect Cao Cao to send someone to see him, and he sent a heavyweight adviser like Mao Jie, which shows how much Cao Cao attaches importance to him.

But Pang Ji was excited and also felt inexplicably nervous. He knew very well that it would cost him a lot to get a feast from Cao Cao, especially at this extremely sensitive moment.

When Pang Ji walked into the study again, his heart had calmed down. He smiled awkwardly and explained, "The mansion is a little messy recently, which makes Mr. Mao laugh."

Mao Jie felt Pang Ji's nervousness, and he smiled and said, "I will first convey the greetings from the Prime Minister to Pang Gong. The Prime Minister said that he missed his friendship when he was a teenager. He hoped to share the old relationship with Pang Gong in Xuchang."

Of course, Pang Ji understood what Mao Jie meant, that was, that he hoped he would serve Xuchang, and that was what Cao Cao said personally. At this time, Pang Ji became even more calm. He wanted to know what he could get, the key was the benefits. He was willing to do things for Cao Cao, but what could Cao Cao give him?

"Does Prime Minister Cao believe me?" Pang Ji asked slowly.

He asked frankly, and he wanted to get Cao Cao's personal promise instead of Mao Jie's retelling. Mao Jie smiled, took out a letter from his arms, and handed it to Pang Ji, "This is a handwritten letter from the Prime Minister to Pang Gong, and everything he wants to say is in the letter."

Pang Ji got the letter and suppressed the tension in his heart. He opened the letter and read it. His heart suddenly jumped. The prefect of Nanyang County was exactly what he wanted. After Han Song surrendered, he was named the Great Honglu, but that was just a false position and had no meaning. It was far less important than the prefect of the local prefect.

And he was also the prefect of Nanyang County. Pang Ji knew the value of this promise and knew what price he needed to pay. He took a deep breath and asked slowly, "I wonder what Prime Minister Cao needs me to do?"

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After three days of negotiation and preparation, the first meeting between Liu Jing and Cao Cao was finally held in the Han River. For this reason, the Jiangxia naval warships must be twenty miles away, and the Cao army warships must be twenty miles away from the mouth of the Bishui River.

There were only three large ships on the entire river, one of which was used as a Qianshi ship for temporary meetings. It was provided by the Jiangxia Navy. The Cao army sent people to thoroughly inspect the ship twice to ensure that everything was foolproof.

The other two ships are ships of Cao Cao and Liu Jing, and can only be five hundred stones. The entourage of both sides must not exceed twenty people. There can only be one personal general. There must be one other official on the ship. This is also very clear. Both sides try to consider it carefully and meticulously.

It was three o'clock in the morning. Under the attention of tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides of the strait, two 500-stone ships slowly sailed towards the heart of the river. A large ship of thousands of stone was quietly moored in the heart of the river, and there were only a dozen civil servants on the boat.

Cao Cao and Liu Jing boarded the ship almost at the same time. Since their first contact in Rangshan, Runan seven years ago, Liu Jing left a deep impression on Cao Cao. He has been paying attention to Liu Jing, but he did not expect that in just seven years, Liu Jing became the new leader of Jingzhou in one fell swoop, and became the second only to Yuan Shao in his life.

If he had known that today would have happened, he would not have let Liu Jing go no matter what. Even if Rangshan was flattened, he would have killed Liu Jing in Runan.

Of course, Cao Cao is the prime minister now, and he must maintain his prime minister's style. In fact, he also wanted to see this young man he hated and admired from the bottom of his heart.

"Is it Mr. Jing opposite?"

Cao Cao finally saw Liu Jing, a tall and heroic young general who was tall and handsome. He narrowed his eyes when he smiled, "I wanted to see you seven years ago, but I didn't expect that this would last seven years. Yanqing, you really didn't disappoint me."

Liu Jing took two steps forward and bowed deeply to Cao Cao, "Liu Jing has made the Prime Minister trouble in the past seven years!"

Cao Cao smiled, stepped forward and grabbed Liu Jing's hand, and said with a smile: "I said that business is business, and personal relationships are private relationships. I hope we can make friends with each other today."

Liu Jing suddenly had an absurd feeling. The two of them sent troops to the Han River and both sides of the Taiwan Strait, hoping to tear each other apart, but now they talked and talked about each other's relationship. I wonder what kind of mood they would feel when the soldiers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait saw it.

"Liu Jing is a junior. It is a blessing in his life to be able to meet the Prime Minister. He dare not discuss friendship with the Prime Minister."

"Haha! Master Jing is too modest. My relationship with Cao Mengde is not about my friends and enemies, but about strength. Master Jing does have the ability to talk about friendship with me."

Both of them laughed in disbelief and walked into the conference cabin together.

The carpet was laid in the cabin, and there was nothing extra except a table. Cao Cao looked west and Liu Jing went east. The two sat down separately. Three steps behind Cao Cao, Xu Chu, who was half a black tower, stood with his hands in his chest and stared at Liu Jing coldly.

Liu Jing smiled and asked, "Is this general the famous Hu Hou?"

Cao Cao looked back at Xu Chu, his face sank and said, "Don't be so nervous, retreat!"

Xu Chu bowed, took a few steps back, and fought side by side with several civil servants. Liu Jing looked at several civil servants and said with some regret: "I heard that Cheng Zhongde and Xun Gong have reached the reputation of the world for a long time, but I was unable to see it at first, which is a pity!"

Cao Cao smiled, "Isn't this easy? Zhongde and Gongda are both on the boat. If Mr. Jing wants to see him, I will let them in."

Cao Cao immediately ordered Xu Chu, "Please come in!"

After a moment, Cheng Yu and Xun You walked into the cabin together. Liu Jing quickly got up to greet him. Cao Cao introduced the two of them to Liu Jing one by one. Cheng Yu sighed: "It's really awesome young man. When I saw Mr. Jing, I realized that I was old!"

"The two gentlemen are too humble, please sit down!"

Cheng Yu and Xun You knew in their hearts that this was a meeting between Liu Jing and Cao Cao, and they were not allowed to participate. The two sat down from afar and watched Cao and Liu meet with a smile.

Although both of them said that this meeting was just a private relationship, only talking about personal relationships and not about official affairs, in fact, they knew in their hearts that it was impossible not to talk about official affairs. The essence of this meeting was a negotiation.

He pondered for a while and asked, "I heard that Mr. Jing collected half of the fertile land from the Cai family. Xuchang was quite polite. Mr. Jing first collected the Huang family's land and then the Cai family's land. Many people think that Mr. Jing is not tolerant of the Jingzhou family's aristocratic families, but this is the case?"

Liu Jing smiled, "Three people become tigers, and most of the rumors are exaggerated and not trustworthy."

"Isn't that okay?"

"It's not entirely true. The matter is true. The Huang family has cut off their offspring and no one has inherited them. The government will naturally take them back. As for the Cai family, it is because the powerful family has been combined with the Tian Tailie, which is the root of the Yellow Turban disaster. Therefore, it is appropriate to make good for the people. This is also the guarantee of long-term stability. I think the Prime Minister should have a deeper understanding than me."

Cao Cao nodded silently. Of course, he knew that the root of the Yellow Turban disaster was land annexation, and hungry people had no way to feed, so he rose up. He sighed and said, "Young Master Jing has a sharp insight and sees the root of the chaotic times in today's dying world. I wonder what Mr. Jing thinks that so a hundred years later?"

Liu Jing pondered for a while and said, "In fact, from ancient times to the present, it has been a process of one round of powerful people replacing another round of powerful people. At the beginning of the dynasty, it often experienced chaos, with sharp decline in population and abundant resources. At that time, the new powerful people could nourish themselves by taking thousands of fields and not compete for profit with the people.

After a hundred years, the descendants of powerful people will grow and grow, and thousands of fields will not be enough to raise, and tens of thousands of fields will be needed. The population of the people is also increasing, and the demand for land will also increase.

At this time, resources are insufficient, the powerful and powerful began to compete with the people for profit, and they took advantage of everything. Conflicts began to accumulate. When the conflicts accumulate enough, they would break out and change the dynasty again. This vicious circle has been circulating for thousands of years."

"How to solve it?" Cao Cao asked again after pondering for a long time.

Liu Jing smiled, "In fact, there is a solution, that is, go out, with the vastness of the world, abundant resources, and no longer scarce land, and the people can survive, the dynasty can be extended. As for how long it can be extended, it is not something you and I can know."

Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh: "I heard from the Hu people that the road to the west is 100,000 miles away. Now Young Master Jing has made me regain ambitions. In my lifetime, I will definitely fight westward to see how broad the world is?"

"If the Prime Minister's expedition has not been completed, Liu Jing is willing to inherit the Prime Minister's ambition and lead the Han family to the west to fight, and complete the Prime Minister's great cause!"

The two looked at each other and laughed together.

The atmosphere in the room began to be active, and Cao Cao continued: "There is another saying that Cao Mengde values ​​law and suppresses Confucianism, and is the enemy of the gentry in the world. Prince Jing built academies in Jiangxia, raising the gentry, and advocating Confucianism to encourage learning, so that the gentry in the world returned to my heart. This southern expedition attracted criticism from the gentry in the court, saying that I cut off the last hope of Confucianism. I want to know, Prince Jing really values ​​Confucianism and neglects Law?"

Liu Jing smiled faintly, "It's enough for the Prime Minister to do things, so why bother with what others say?"

Cao Cao shook his head and stared at Liu Jing and said, "I just wanted to know, are you really the person they said to be a person who values ​​Confucianism?"

This question is difficult to answer. Liu Jing pondered for a long time before saying: "If the rule of law can last for a long time, why did the Qin Dynasty die in two lifetimes? If Confucianism can govern the country, why did the Han Dynasty fall to its current situation again? I think Confucianism should be used to govern the mind, law can govern power, and Tao can be used to govern the country. Confucianism, law can be used to both use their strengths, so that the long-term way is the way."

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Chapter completed!