Chapter 39
It was early spring of the second year of Jian'an.
Liu Biao raised an army of 40,000 and marched northward, crossing the Han River and marching into Xinye.
The news that the Jingzhou army was out in full force was quickly sent to Wancheng.
Wancheng, the county government.
Liu Bei stared at the confession letter from Liu Biao in his hand, his brows condensing into a single line of width.
The generals below were secretly excited, and all of them looked excited, which was in sharp contrast to Liu Bei.
Zhang Fei even raised the corners of his mouth and hinted proudly at Deng Mu and Guan Yu.
As if to say:
Look, you have to rely on me, otherwise how could you piss off that old thief Liu Biao.
Deng Mu secretly gave a thumbs up to Zhang Fei.
After receiving Deng Mu's approval, Zhang Fei became even more proud and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yide! Liu
Bei looked at Zhang Fei helplessly:
"You are so good, why did you want to rob the Cai family and Kuai family's farm, causing Liu Biao to use this as an excuse to attack us?"
As he said that, he threw the confession letter on the table.
This was Liu Biao's personal letter. It was both a confession letter and a letter of defence.
In the letter, Liu Biao accused Liu Bei of allowing Zhang Fei to plunder the people of Nanyang and provoked The people of Nanyang were angry and resentful.
So the people of Nanyang jointly submitted a letter, asking Liu Biao to send troops to eradicate Liu Bei and save Nanyang from the fire.
Liu Biao then declared that at the request of the people, he would personally lead the rebels to attack Liu Bei.
"The Cai family and Kuai Yue accounted for more than 40% of the fields around Wancheng."
"So many fields have been occupied by them, and we can't collect any grain. How can we feed the soldiers?"
"I robbed them just to share your worries with my brother."
Facing Liu Bei's accusation, Zhang Fei followed Deng Mu's instructions and gave a reasonable explanation.
Liu Bei was speechless.
After all, what Zhang Fei said was indeed the truth. Although the method was ill-considered, it was a last resort.
"The fields near Wancheng originally belonged to homesteaders and were the source of government grain and tax."
"In recent years, due to frequent wars in Nanyang, many people have abandoned their fields and fled, resulting in a large amount of ownerless wasteland."
"According to the legal system, these wastelands should also be owned by the government."
"The Cai family and the Kuai family, relying on Liu Biao's protection, took the opportunity to annex all the unowned land owned by the government into their own private land."
"Now the lord is in charge of Nanyang, recruiting refugees to return to their hometowns to rebuild their homes. Many people hiding in the mountains and forests have returned to their hometowns because they are convinced by the lord's name of benevolence and righteousness."
"However, the Cai and Kuai tribes relied on their power and refused to return the fields of these people."
"By doing this, he was clearly openly opposing his lord and ignoring his laws!"
"If the lord turns a blind eye and allows them to seize the people's land intermittently, and the people have no land to cultivate, then the lord will have no food and tax to collect."
"The lord has no food to collect, so how can he feed tens of thousands of soldiers?"
"Therefore, Mu Si thought that although General Yide's actions were suspected of making arrogant opinions, he did nothing wrong!"
Deng Mu took advantage of the situation and stood up, exposed the evil deeds of the Cai and Kuai clan, and defended Zhang Fei.
Liu Bei was thoughtful and couldn't help but fell silent.
"Furthermore, Liu Biao was wary of his lord and had long been determined to recapture Nanyang."
"Now Cao Cao issued an edict, appointing his lord as the shepherd of Jingzhou, which obviously contributed to the situation and made Liu Biao very afraid of his lord."
"In Mu's opinion, Liu Biao would definitely have sent troops to attack even if there had not been this food robbery incident."
"It was just an excuse to use General Yide to seize grain to raise troops and hold him accountable. Without this excuse, he would have other excuses."
Deng Mu struck while the iron was hot and took off Liu Biao's underwear.
At the same time, he secretly winked at Guan Yu, Mi Zhu and others, asking them to add fuel to the fire.
"Brother, what the military commander said is absolutely true."
"Brother, considering the friendship between the same clan, he could not resist attacking Liu Biao even though there was an edict from the emperor. This was considered the utmost kindness and righteousness"
"However, Liu Biao regarded his brother as a thorn in his side and wanted to use the topic to his advantage to put his brother to death!"
"If brother, at this point, still tolerates it, that would not be benevolent, but pedantic and stupid!"
Guan Yu was the first to understand Deng Mu's hint, and immediately stood up to persuade him with righteous words.
Mi Zhu, Zhang Liao and other civil servants and military generals also stood up one after another, all agreeing with Deng Mu.
Is Liu Bei really a pedantic person? Before Deng Mu and others With his analysis and persuasion, the worries in his heart finally disappeared.
A look of enlightenment appeared on his face, and he immediately handed over to Deng Mu:
"Fortunately, thanks to the teachings of the military advisor, Bei was awakened in time, making him feel like he was waking up from a dream."
After that, there was no hesitation or worry on his face anymore, and it turned into a look of determination and heroism.
"You are right, I have done my best to Liu Jingsheng. Since he attacked me first, I can only fight back!"
"As for Yide, since you are my brother, no matter what you do, I will bear it for you!"
"We are ready to send troops south to fight Liu Biao and seize Jingzhou!"
Finally.
Liu Bei finally let go of his hands and feet and decided to seize Jingzhou!
As soon as these bold words came out, the hall was boiling.
Deng Mu, Guan Yu and others secretly looked at each other, they were all relieved, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone I secretly sighed in my heart, it was really not easy. We finally persuaded Old Liu, and it was not in vain that we had done so many things in private.
It was decided to start a war with Liu Biao.
"Although Bei is determined to fight Liu Biao, he must not ignore the strength of the enemy and ourselves."
"According to intelligence, Liu Biao led an army of more than 40,000 to invade, several times larger than our army."
"This battle is destined to be very difficult!"
After Lao Liu's generosity, he immediately regained his composure and reminded everyone of the disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves.
The hall immediately became quiet. After everyone was excited, their faces were covered with shadows again.
Since the capture of Nanyang did not last long, although the surrender was He recruited many soldiers and new soldiers, bringing the total strength to nearly 20,000.
But 40% of them were new soldiers.
Moreover, many soldiers and horses were left to guard Wancheng and guard against Cao Cao in the north. Take advantage of the opportunity to attack
Liu Biao head-on. The total number that can be used for a head-on confrontation with Liu Biao is no more than 10,000.
Ten thousand versus 40,000 is indeed a huge disparity in strength.
So everyone started talking and offered suggestions.
Most people's opinion was to give up Nannan Rang. County, Bowang and other counties, reduced their troops to Wancheng.
Relying on the strength of Wancheng, they fought a defensive counterattack against Liu Biao.
"Military advisor, do you have any good ideas?"
Liu Bei couldn't make up his mind. In the end, he had to wait for Deng Mu to make a decision.
"Liu Biao was different from Zhang Xiu in that he had the whole of Jingzhou behind him and was supplemented by a steady stream of food, grass and soldiers."
"Our army has few soldiers and food. If we abandon the southern counties, there will be an even greater shortage of food and grass."
"If this battle becomes a protracted one, the longer it goes on, the more detrimental it will be to our army."
"so!"
Deng Mu slowly stood up, came to the map, and touched the map a little harder.
"Mu means to fight against Liu Biao here!"
"Fight quickly and defeat the Jingzhou Army in one fell swoop!"
Liu Bei and everyone were refreshed, and their eyes were focused on the inconspicuous place name on the map.