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"Zhao wants me to find Xu Huang." Liu Jing asked coldly on the horse.

Zhu Huan lowered his head and said respectfully: "This is what the general means. He is willing to retreat north, but he is just a deputy general. Without General Xu's consent, he dared not evacuate from Xiangyang City."

After pausing, Zhu Huan said again: "The key is that the other generals want to retreat north, and it can be seen that the general can't bear the pressure anymore."

Liu Jing pondered for a moment and said, "Since that's the case, you go to Fancheng again and send me a letter to Xu Huang. By the way, tell him that if he wants to protect the five thousand troops in Xiangyang City in Showa, he will only have this chance. If there is no movement in Xiangyang before dawn tomorrow, I think he has refused the peace talks."

He immediately wrote a letter and handed it to Zhu Huan to take it away. At this time, Pin slowly stepped forward and asked, "Does Zhou Mu think Xu Huang agree?"

Liu Jing was confident and smiled and said, "If Cao Ren had not been wiped out, he might not agree, or would ask Cao Cao for instructions, but Cao Ren had been wiped out. I think he should understand which one is more important."

.........

At the same time when the Jiangxia army showed its military appearance to Xiangyang City, Xu Huang was anxiously paying attention to the situation on the other side of the Han River on the top of Fancheng City. He could vaguely see the flags on the other side of the river storm, but he did not see any signs of siege.

Xu Huang had already received a letter from Zhao's Feige, and Liu Jing actually proposed the conditions to exchange Zhao's five thousand troops for Xiangyang City. But what surprised Xu Huang even more was that Cao Ren's army was wiped out in the county, and Cao Ren himself was also unclear about his life and death.

At this time, Xu Huang felt a lot of pressure. If Cao Ren had a big flaw, how could he explain to the prime minister? And Cao Ren wanted him to come and respond, but he was worried about being ambushed by the Jiangxia army, so he did not move. If Cao Ren had nothing to do, he would not have the responsibility, but now that Cao Ren's entire army was wiped out, he would invisibly bear the responsibility of ineffective rescue.

If Xiangyang is given up, the Prime Minister will definitely blame him for making decisions without authorization, but if Showa's five thousand troops are wiped out again, the consequences will be even more serious. For a moment, Xu Huang was in a dilemma. He did not sleep all night last night and was working hard to consider countermeasures.

At this time, a soldier shouted: "General, there is a small boat coming on the river."

Xu Huang also saw it, and he immediately ordered: "Bring to see me." He had a premonition that this must be the messenger sent by Liu Jing.

Soon after, the boat was docked, and the soldiers took Zhu Huan to Fancheng. Xu Huang also knew him and immediately asked: "Where is General Zhennan now?"

"Reporting to General Xu, Bei Yi really doesn't know, but he definitely didn't get caught. In addition, Bei Yi heard that he escaped with blood, and he didn't know whether it was true or false."

Xu Huang could only think about the better place. Cao Ren escaped, and he asked again: "What about Chen Changshi?"

"Chen Changshi Chen was captured, and I saw it with my own eyes."

Zhu Huan said this and took out Liu Jing's letter and submitted it, "This is a handwritten letter from Liu Jing to General Xu, please read it."

Xu Huang took the letter and read it. The content of the letter was as expected. He handed over the contents of the letter to Xiangyang City in exchange for Cao's army to cross the river. Xu Huang did not doubt that Liu Jing was untrustworthy. With Liu Jing's identity, he would not damage his reputation for this little thing.

Xu Huang actually agreed to do this. After all, Xiangyang will not be able to be safely protected. It is also a great reward to allow Zhao's army to withdraw safely. The key is how he explained to the prime minister. Without the Prime Minister's consent, can he make a decision without authorization?

Xu Huang looked at the letter carefully again, but the letter had no deadline. At this time, Zhu Huan said again: "Liu Jing also asked Bei Zhi to bring a verbal message. His deadline is before dawn tomorrow morning. If there is no movement in Xiangyang before dawn tomorrow, it will be considered that the general has rejected his settlement plan."

Before dawn tomorrow, Xu Huang felt a sharp pain on his forehead. How could he do it?

"Let me think about it." Xu Huang sighed and turned to go downstairs.

In the evening, Zhu Huan was taken to Xu Huang's military yamen by two soldiers and waited in the yard for a while. Xu Huang walked out of the room. He had not slept all night and thought hard for another day, looking a little tired. He slowly said to Zhu Huan: "Go back and tell Liu Jing that I will add another condition. As long as he promises to put Chen Jiao back together, I can give up Xiangyang."

Xu Huang's difficulty is that he cannot explain to Cao Cao. So as long as there is another Chen Jiao, he will be at least half of the guilt of giving up Xiangyang without authorization. He said again: "If Liu Jing refuses, then I have no choice."

............

In the big tent, Liu Jing stood in front of the sand table with his hands behind his back, listening quietly to Zhu Huan's statement. He finally nodded, "You go down first."

Zhu Huan retreated, and at this time, Pin carefully advised: "Why is the governor of the state so anxious to seize Xiangyang, in fact, as long as another 10,000 troops are coming, then you will be sure to conquer Xiangyang. Could it be that the governor of the state is worried that Cao's army will destroy Xiangyang?"

Liu Jing shook his head, "I'm not worried about destroying Xiangyang, I'm worried about Jiangdong, I'm afraid that there will be too late. I must solve the Cao army in Xiangyang before the Jiangdong army marched west, force them to retreat north of the Han River, and block the river surface, and not give them a chance to go south, so that I can relieve my worries."

Pin was stunned, "Zhou Mu said that Jiangdong will turn against us."

"Sun Tai's son is not a man from Jiangdong."

Liu Jing sighed slightly and said, "This is obviously a plan for Cao Cao to alienate, but it has been successful. It is clear that God will do so. Once Cao Cao knows that Cheng Pu is expelled in Jiangxia, he will definitely order to defend Xiangyang to death to cause a siege with Jiangdong. I must seize the time difference in the message transmission and take Xiangyang as quickly as possible."

Only then did Pin understand why Liu Jing was eager to take Xiangyang. He nodded, "I understand, and I firmly support the provincial governor to seize Xiangyang as soon as possible."

Liu Jing smiled again and said, "For me, a Chen Jiao is nothing. Although he is talented, I don't lack talented people now. What I need to lack now is time. To recover Jiangling and Xiangyang and stabilize Liu Zhang, I will have no worries. I can go to war with Jiangdong with all my might. I must beat Jiangdong on one leg so that I can calmly implement my strategy of moving west. There is a link between them, and no accident can happen."

That night, Liu Jing formally agreed to Xu Huang's request and took the releasing of Chen Jiao as an additional condition. The two sides reached a consensus. Liu Jing transferred out fifty ferries and began to transport Cao's army across the river. It was not until the fourth hour that all the five thousand Cao troops crossed the Han River.

It was dawn, and some people who stayed in Xiangyang got up early and went out as usual, but they unexpectedly found that the defenders in the city had changed, no longer Cao's army, but Jingzhou army, and some people heard the soldiers say that it was Duke Jing who was back.

The news of Duke Jing's return to Xiangyang went away without hesitation. The city suddenly became full of joy. Nearly 10,000 people who stayed in Xiangyang rushed to the streets, beating drums and cheering in a row.

Before dawn, Liu Jing led 10,000 troops to line up into the city and held a city entry ceremony to return to Xiangyang. On both sides of the street, tens of thousands of people warmly welcomed the return of the Jingzhou army. The cheers were rising and falling, and many old people cried happily, knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the sky.

"Long live the army of Jingzhou, Long live the Duke of Jingzhou"

People were extremely excited and shouted, at this moment, the whole city of Xiangyang was in full bloom.

............

News that Cheng Pu was blocked and threatened in Jiangxia had reached Jingkou. Sun Quan was furious and summoned senior military and political officials overnight to discuss countermeasures.

In the inner hall, dozens of officials and generals were sitting on both sides. Zhang Zhaoli asked to take this opportunity to unify Jingzhou. His passionate voice echoed in the lobby.

"Everyone, since the second year of Chuping, the defeat of the generals of the general crossing the river to attack Liu Biao, the westward attack of Jingzhou has been the established national policy in Jiangdong. It has been around for 25 years. Jiangdong Erlang has been there for hundreds of thousands of people who sacrificed their lives for the country. Although Liu Biao died today, his nephew Liu Jing still occupied Jingzhou. Although the two countries have a brief alliance to resist Cao's army, this is not enough to change the national policy in Jiangdong. Now Cao Cao is weak, Guanzhong, Hebei is unstable, and he is powerless and hard to take care of. This is our opportunity to unify the south. If we do not seize this opportunity, we will have no face to fight our children and grandchildren."

After Zhang Zhao finished speaking, Zhang Wen, the councillor, also stood up and bowed to Sun Quan and said, "Report to the Marquis of Wu, I believe that what the military advisor said is that although we signed an alliance with Jiangxia, the Jiangxia army destroyed the ship first. Since that is the case, we don't have to pay attention to any contract. We should seize this opportunity and attack Jiangxia with all our might. Please make a decision."

The officials here all expressed their agreement. At this time, Sun Quan looked at Zhou Yu again. Although Sun Quan had decided, as the lord, he still needed to balance the interests of various factions, especially those like Zhou Yu who control the military and value power.

"Gongjin, you seem to be very silent tonight," Sun Quan asked lightly.

Zhou Yu was indeed very silent. He knew Wu Hou’s thoughts very well. After the Battle of Red Cliff, Cao Cao’s forces retreated northward, and Wu Hou’s long-hidden ambition began to expand rapidly. The Jiangling Shou incident only opened the key to Wu Hou’s ambition.

However, this key was actually handed over by Cao Cao to Wu Hou, which made Zhou Yu feel uncomfortable. It should be said that Cao Cao successfully provoked the conflict between Jiangdong and Jiangxia. Jiangdong's biggest weakness had been captured by Cao Cao, that was Wu Hou's ambition.

Zhou Yu sighed and said, "I have nothing to say. If Mr. Wu must have wanted to hear it, I just want to say that we were defeated by the Jiangxia army many years ago, and this time it will be the same."

"What did you say"

Sun Quan was furious and slapped the table hard, "You dare to disrupt our morale."

Zhou Yu also stood up and bowed: "I am not damaging the morale of the army. What I am talking about is the fact that the strength of the Jiangxia army can compete with us. A battle between Chibi has made him stronger. If we must attack him, we will only bring shame to ourselves..."

"Enough" Sun Quan shouted angrily and interrupted Zhou Yu's words.
Chapter completed!