Three Kingdoms: The ghost plotter taught Liu Bei to seize Jingzhou first

Keep one and kill one?

Liu Bei failed to hear the mystery behind the words, so he had to ask again:

"Ziyu, what do you mean by leaving one to kill? Please tell Ziyu clearly."

A cold light surged in Deng Mu's eyes.

"To kill one, naturally one must be selected from Cai Zhongcai and the two brothers and killed!"

"Well, there are two reasons"

"First, the Cai brothers, headed by Cai Mao, must be one of the initiators who encouraged Liu Biao to use troops against his lord."

"The Cai brothers want to kill their lord. If the lord repays them with kindness, why should he retaliate with hatred?"

"Therefore, the lord must kill one of them in retaliation for Cai's hostility to the lord, and also to frighten those who insist on following Liu Biao and fight against the lord to the end!"

"To put it bluntly, the Lord wants to use Cai's blood to establish his authority and kill chickens to scare monkeys!"

Liu Bei remained silent, understanding Deng Mu's teachings.

Since he worshiped Deng Mu as his military advisor, he privately respected Deng Mu as his teacher. In his spare time, he would humbly ask for advice on how to govern a country and the art of an emperor.

And in Deng Mu's case , Under the influence of his influence, his royal ways gradually began to be mixed with a bit of domineering.

Today, he is no longer the one who abuses benevolence and can be merciful to anyone.

Even his mortal enemy who wants to kill him

"Secondly, the purpose of killing Cai's people was also to win over Jingzhou's people."

"Liu Biao favored the Cai and Kuai tribes, and all key positions in the prefectures and counties were controlled by these two tribes."

"Even the two surnames of Pang and Huang, who originally had the same name as these two clans, could not get much of the pie. The one who was most important was Huang Zu, who guarded Jiangxia."

"The rest of the big and small aristocratic families, let alone a share of the pie, barely managed to share a few scraps of bones."

"Therefore, there are many heroes in Jingzhou who are dissatisfied with the Cai and Kuai clans and dare to be angry but dare not speak out."

"The lord's killing of the Cai family's children is a clear signal to these people. If the lord takes charge of Jingzhou in the future, it will definitely change the Cai family's dominance."

"In this way, we can naturally win over those heroes who are dissatisfied with the Cai and Kuai clans."

"My lord is attacking Liu Biao from the outside, and with these heroes of Jingzhou responding from the inside, are you still afraid that I won't be able to capture Jingzhou?"

Liu Biao suddenly understood.

So he nodded repeatedly and said in admiration:

"It turns out that Ziyu's killing of one person actually hid such foresight, and Bei Dang was really taught a lesson."

With these words, Lao Liu seemed to agree with Deng Mu's analysis of the interests and risks, and decided to kill Cai Zhongcai and one of them.

At this time,

Zhang Fei slapped his head fiercely and finally understood what Deng Mu meant, but there was confusion in his eyes.

"Military advisor, since killing the Cai family has such great benefits, why should one be left alive?"

"Let's just kill Cai Zhongcai and those two turtle grandsons with two knives! Liu

Bei was also puzzled by this and looked at Deng Mu.

Deng Mu smiled secretly and said:

"Didn't I say it just now? If the lord wants to recruit Wen Zhongye, he must kill one and keep the other."

"The man named Cai who stayed behind was just to make Wenpin return to his lord."

Liu Bei was startled.

Zhang Fei was also confused.

The two brothers looked at each other and couldn't understand the meaning of Deng Mu's words.

Deng Mu didn't point it out and smiled faintly:

"Mu first gave up, and when he arrived in Xinye, Liu Biao would persuade Wenpin to surrender to his lord."

As soon as these words came out,

Liu Bei and the generals were shocked.

Zhang Fei even picked his ears in an exaggerated manner, thinking that he heard wrongly.

Wenpin was Liu Biao's subordinate!

How could Liu Biao persuade Wenpin to switch sides and surrender to him? Liu Biao, this enemy?

Only Liu Biao would do such ridiculous things if his brain was caught in the door!

"Ziyu, you said Liu Biao would persuade Wenpin to surrender to me, this, this..."

Liu Bei was full of surprise and didn't know what to say.

Deng Mu didn't explain, and just pointed south:

"When the lord arrives in Xinye, we will naturally find out."

"Let's send troops south quickly and occupy the new territory as soon as possible, lest Liu Biao recovers and changes his mind and decides to hold on to the new territory."

Liu Bei was confused in his heart, but he couldn't ask any more questions.

So he had to suppress his doubts and immediately ordered the whole army to continue the pursuit south and go straight to Xinye.

Two days later,

Liu Jun's troops on foot and cavalry arrived at the gate of Xinye City.

Everything was as Deng Mu had said. Liu Biao was like a frightened bird. He passed through Xinye and did not dare to enter. He went straight around the city and fled south to Fancheng on the north bank of the Han River.

The defenders of Xinye City were no more than a thousand people and were no longer in existence. As soon as Liu Bei's army arrived, the defenders only acted symbolically. After resistance, he opened the city and surrendered.

In February of that year,

Liu Bei captured the important town of Xinye without a single blow.

The front line was only one step away from the Han River.

Liu Biao was defeated miserably, and the news of the fall of Xinye spread, and the people of Jingzhou were greatly alarmed. shock

…

Fancheng.

Groups of defeated soldiers were gathering towards Fancheng one after another with their heads down.

People in the city were in panic, and rumors were spreading everywhere that Liu Bei's troops were approaching Fancheng and crossing the Han River.

In order to stabilize people's hearts, Liu Biao had to urgently mobilize tens of thousands of troops from Xiangyang and cross the river to strengthen the defense of Fancheng to stabilize the situation.

In the mansion.

Liu Biao frowned, held his forehead with his hand, closed his eyes tightly, and listened to the report of battle losses from his subordinates.

"In this battle, our army lost more than half of its troops and countless ordnance."

"Nearly 60,000 husks of grain and grass were not burned in time, so they all fell into Liu Bei's hands."

"So far, less than 20,000 troops have been defeated and have fled back to Fancheng..."

Listening to these heavy losses, Liu Biao's heart felt like a knife, and his body ached...

His heartache was not only the loss of 20,000 troops.

After all, Jingzhou's household registration was 100,000. Wan, his family is rich, and the loss of 20,000 soldiers and horses is not a serious injury.

What really hurts him is the damage to his prestige.

The dignified Hongmiao Zhenghan clan, backed by one state, But he was defeated by a descendant of a grassroots royal family who only held a county and came from a humble background.

Where is the face?

Where is the prestige?

What will the gentry people in Jingzhou think?

Will they have such an idea:

Liu Biao is incompetent, most of them We can no longer defend Jingzhou.

Then Liu Biao is like a god with his soldiers, and he is the real Jingzhou Shepherd who has been personally appointed by the emperor. Should we change to a new master?

People's support is against them, which is what Liu Biao is really worried about.

"I shouldn't be impulsive, provoked by Liu Bei, pursue him in anger, and fall into his trap!"

"This must be Deng Mu's cunning plan. This little thief from a poor family who cheated on others will be killed sooner or later.~~"

Liu Biao regretted and blamed himself, and poured all his anger on Deng Mu.

Cai Mao rolled his eyes, cupped his hands and said:

"Victory or defeat is a common matter for a military strategist. The Lord does not need to blame himself too much."

"This battle only resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. With the support of my lord, Cai, no one can shake my lord's status as the Lord of Jingzhou!"

He could see that Liu Biao was worried that his prestige would plummet and the people of Jingzhou would give up their support for him.

Cai Mao's words took the initiative to show Cai's support and make Liu Biao relax.

After receiving Cai Mao's guarantee, Liu Biao was secretly relieved. He took a breath and glanced at Kuai Yue.

Kuai Yue understood it and took the initiative to speak out, also expressing his support for Liu Biao.

Liu Biao was relieved after receiving clear statements from the two major families.

"Yidu, Degui, I am so lucky to have you two loyal people assisting me!"

Liu Biao's face was full of joy, and he did not forget to praise the two of them.

Seeing this, Cai Mao took advantage of the situation and knelt on the ground, and said with a sincere face:

"I, Mrs. Cai, have been favored by your lord to meet me, so I should be loyal to your lord."

"Mao heard that my two younger brothers have unfortunately fallen into the hands of Liu Bei.Hands, I beg your lord to send an envoy to Xinye to ask Liu Bei for my two brothers!"

Liu Biao's expression changed immediately.