Outside Xiangyang City, Liu Bei, who was passing by on his way to Jiangling, could not help but stop here at Zhuge Liang's suggestion. He tried to persuade Cai Mao to defect to him so that he could regroup and fight Cao Cao again.
Although he knew that such a good thing was almost impossible, Liu Bei still stood at the gates of Xiangyang City with the mentality of just in case.
Liu Bei's influence in Jingzhou was not small. In the past, even Liu Biao was afraid of him and only dared to give him the old and weak soldiers to garrison Xinye.
Now that they had come to Xiangyang City again, the guards above did not dare to chase them away.
Cai Mao had no choice but to meet him personally at the city wall.
"Cai Mao! Call my nephew Liu Cong over! Cao Cao's army is coming, I have something to discuss with him!”
Cai Mao knew what Liu Bei wanted to do and had no intention of letting him enter the city.
"Liu Xuande, my nephew is young. With me here as his uncle, don't even think about bewitching him!”
Liu Bei then raised Liu Biao's will and rebuked,""Liu Jingsheng entrusted the eldest son Liu Qi to me and asked me to help him fight against Cao Cao. How dare you steal Xiangyang? Could it be that Liu Jingsheng just died and you want to turn the tables and manipulate Liu Cong?”
Cai Mao became anxious and started to argue with Liu Bei.
At this moment, Great General Wen Pin was guarding the city. He looked coldly at Liu Bei, clearly looking down on him.
However, when Wei Yan saw Liu Bei's will, his eyes lit up and he immediately began a secret discussion with his hundreds of trusted aides.
"Cai Mao forged the will and used the Second Young Master as a puppet. He is unkind, unjust, unfaithful, and unfilial! We have been under Cai Mao for a long time and have not been put in an important position. If we welcome Uncle Liu and kill Cai Mao, we will definitely be put in an important position!”
The hundreds of trusted aides immediately nodded, expressing that they were willing to follow Wei Yan's orders and work together with him.
Thus, Wei Yan suddenly stood up and pointed at Cai Mao from the top of the city wall, scolding him sternly,""Cai Mao, you traitor! Forging a will and using his own nephew as a puppet. Such an immoral person is not worthy of governing Xiangyang! Those who are willing to honor the First Lord's will, follow me to open the door and welcome Imperial Uncle Liu into the city. Please come back and take charge of the situation!”
As he spoke, Wei Yan slashed down with his saber and hacked the guard to death. He opened the city gate and shouted,""Imperial Uncle Liu, please enter the city and kill Cai Mao with me!”
Liu Bei was overjoyed and was about to enter when Zhuge Liang pulled him back!
"My lord, please look around. There are less than a hundred of us. Including this boorish man opposite us, there are less than a thousand of us! Xiangyang City is heavily guarded. Yun Changyi De is not here. How can he kill Cai Mao? Please reconsider, my lord!"
Liu Bei looked around and saw that he only had less than a hundred people. He immediately felt a little disheartened.
Cai Mao's expression remained unchanged on the city wall, but a mocking look appeared on his face. He clearly knew that Liu Bei's influence was not enough to shake him.
"They're just clowns. General Wen, chase these people out of Xiangyang!”
Wen Pin immediately led his troops out of the city. Wei Yanzhi fought for dozens of rounds, but there was no winner. However, all his men died.
Liu Bei saw that he could not gain any advantage here, so he could only retreat. Although Zhuge Liang's plan failed again, Liu Bei was still happy that he had gained Wei Yan.
……
Hearing that Liu Bei had come, Liu Ye also came out.
"Since General Cai is not willing to accept Liu Bei, could it be that you want to fight against the Prime Minister's 300,000 soldiers alone?”
Cai Mao sighed." It's not that I don't want to surrender. You've seen it yourself. If I surrender, I'm afraid there will be people in the city who won't accept it." After all, the people of Xiangyang had a grudge against the Prime Minister and did not know how sincere he was.”
Liu Ye didn't know if Cai Mao was telling the truth, but he couldn't prove Cao Cao's sincerity, so he could only be anxious.
Cai Mao, Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, and the others had discussed it many times, but they were all clueless.
"Huang Chengyan went to Xu City to look for his daughter, but I don't know where he is now. With his friendship with Guo Yu, if he can help us go to Guo Yu and ask for information, we will know how sincere the Imperial Court is. What a pity!"
Kuai Yue was also an old official who had welcomed Liu Biao into Jingzhou. The Kuai family had made great progress in recent years, and had many marriages with the Huang and Cai families. Now, they also wanted to build up this relationship and climb up the ladder.
Cai Mao pondered for a long time before gritting his teeth.""If this stalemate continues, when the Imperial Court has finished building the boats and is ready to go south, we will completely lose the right to negotiate. At that time, we might not even be able to save our lives! If there's no turning back, I think it's better to ask my nephew to make a trip to Fan City and personally gather information.”
Everyone's expression changed slightly, and they were all a little embarrassed. They were all gentle people on the surface, but putting Liu Biao's son in danger like this made them feel uneasy.
However, no one was willing to put themselves in danger.
Fortunately, Huang Chengyan arrived late!
"You're finally here! I thought you were nostalgic for Xudu and didn't want to be involved in the war!”
Cai Mao became excited.
Kuai Liang also came up to hold Huang Chengyan back." I heard that you have quite a good relationship with Guo Yu. All the major families in Jingzhou have been married for generations. It's only right that they take care of each other." Now that the imperial court is attacking, since you have this relationship, you have to help us find out what Prime Minister Cao means! If he sincerely wants us to surrender, we should surrender as soon as possible so that we don't get into trouble!”
"I came from Xudu for this!" Huang Chengyan smiled. I originally thought of a few words to persuade you. Since everyone is willing to submit, this matter can't be easier!”
"Tell me, how should we deal with this matter?" Cai Mao was overjoyed.”
"I won't hide it from you. I passed by the ferry crossing on my way here and have already met Guo Yu.”
Cai Mao was overjoyed." Since you've seen him, do you know what he means? Do you know what Prime Minister Cao means?"”
"He means that the Prime Minister is sincerely recruiting you. As long as we submit, you can continue to control the navy and be called the Navy Commander. The others can also keep their positions and the status of the various families will be the same as before! Therefore, I think that now the army and people of Xiangyang will submit to us, so that we can protect our family's power and avoid the disaster of killing the people. This is the best policy.”
Everyone was overjoyed.
"It sounds like what Liu Ye said! Guo Yu is friendly with you, and he is also a hero of the current era. His words are naturally credible!”
"With you pulling the strings, why don't we cross the river as soon as possible to see the Prime Minister and negotiate as soon as possible? The soldiers and civilians of Xiangyang can also be at ease!”
Huang Chengyan laughed." There's no time like the present. Since we know what the Prime Minister is thinking, why don't we all go today? After we meet the Prime Minister, we can each claim our status and come back to sleep soundly?”
Therefore, Huang Chengyan immediately brought the main officials of Xiangyang and the rich and famous people of famous families to cross the river and go north. Guo Yu introduced them to Fancheng and Cao Cao.
"Prime Minister! Prime Minister! Cai Mao surrendered! Sir is leading the celebrities of Xiangyang outside to ask for an audience!”
Cheng Yu hurriedly came to report the good news. Cao Cao jumped up excitedly and came out barefooted to welcome him!
When he went outside, he saw Guo Yu waiting for him with a smile. Behind him, a group of well-dressed dignitaries had flattering expressions on their faces as they bowed and waited!
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