dognovel Chapter 167 Jia Xu Joins Zhang Xiu's Army? Liu Biao: I'll send Wancheng right away.
Chapter 167 Jia Xu Joins Zhang Xiu's Army? Liu Biao: I'll send Wancheng right away.
"Mr. Jia... what would you like me to do?"
Zhang Xiu was clearly the warlord, while Jia Xu, after leaving Li Jue, was at most a commoner.
At this moment, Zhang Xiu was like a servant, letting Jia Xu do as he pleased.
"General Zhang, you must not reveal what happened tonight."
"As for the strategies I gave you, just say that you came up with them yourself."
Zhang Xiu nodded repeatedly.
Zhang Xiu still held considerable influence with his uncle Zhang Ji.
After all, Uncle Zhang Ji never had a son in his entire life.
This army will definitely be passed on to my nephew Zhang Xiu in the future.
It is no exaggeration to say that Zhang Xiu was the young master of Zhang Ji's army.
Following Jia Xu's advice, Zhang Xiu suggested to Zhang Ji that they send someone to contact Liu Biao.
Zhang Ji quickly agreed to the proposal.
However, Zhang Xiu was left to decide who would be sent as envoy.
Liu Biao has also been having a lot of trouble these days.
Cai Mao and Liu Bei's 70,000 troops did not gain any advantage on the Nanyang battlefield.
The reason is simple: Liu Biao had no cavalry under his command.
Jingzhou didn't even have horse farms, so they had to buy warhorses from outside.
But warhorses are such an important resource that even the northern lords don't have enough to go around, so how many could possibly end up in Jingzhou on ordinary days?
This resulted in Liu Biao's Jingzhou army suffering considerable losses in open field battles.
The three brothers, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, were true northerners, and their horsemanship and fighting skills were quite good.
The problem is that when these three men joined Liu Biao, they only had Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao, and a little over a thousand mountain bandits under their command.
Not a single cavalryman!
Seeing that they could not gain the upper hand on the Nanyang battlefield.
Cai Mao, adept at shirking responsibility, insisted on shifting the blame onto Liu Bei.
Liu Bei was also unconvinced and exchanged insults with Cai Mao.
Now that's perfect, Yuan Shu seized the opportunity, as if he had suddenly gained supernatural insight.
Taking advantage of the infighting between Cai Mao and Liu Bei, Ji Ling was dispatched to launch a fierce attack on the front-line camp of the Jingzhou army, defeating Cai Mao and Liu Bei in one fell swoop.
joke!
Don't think Yuan Shu was really that bad.
Don't you even know who Yuan Shu's long-time rival has been?
Having been used to playing high-level games, he had never won.
However, his combat experience was unmatched by someone like Cai Mao, who had never fought a battle but had become a general in Jingzhou.
Now things are different. The troop strength in the battle is more than 200,000 against 70,000, and the advantage lies with Yuan Shu!
On the Jingzhou army's side, the only three brothers who were truly skilled in warfare, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, had a falling out with Cai Mao.
Wouldn't that just be indiscriminate killing?
As for people like Huang Zu, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Wen Pin, Gan Ning, and Huo Jun...
I'm sorry, but every single one of them is currently in central or southern Jingzhou, not in the capital city of Xiangyang.
(Just to clarify, to prevent trolls from launching mindless attacks, in northern Jingzhou, people listened to Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, and in central Jingzhou, they listened to Huang Zu. Liu Biao was the lord, but he still had to consult with others before making decisions.)
(The south was fragmented, with each faction acting independently, giving the impression of obeying orders but not decrees, and there were frequent rebellions. Liu Biao never truly conquered southern Jingzhou.)
Moreover, even if they did join the war, would someone as proud as Cai Mao listen to their opinions?
Therefore, the Jingzhou army appeared to be coming in with great force this time.
In reality, apart from the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, none of the people sent out by the Jingzhou army's decision-making team were capable of fighting.
……
Xiangyang
Liu Biao was quite surprised to learn that Zhang Ji had sent an envoy.
News of Cai Mao and Liu Bei's defeats on the Nanyang battlefield has already reached us.
The severe lack of combat strength in the Jingzhou army caused Liu Biao great concern.
He appears to be a formidable figure, commanding over 100,000 troops as the governor of Jingzhou.
But Liu Biao was truly uncertain about facing a behemoth like Yuan Shu.
Besides, we just lost another match.
Of course, the main reason lies with Cai Mao in the decision-making level.
However, Cai Mao was Liu Biao's brother-in-law and the head of the Cai family, one of the three great families in Jingzhou.
Liu Biao certainly couldn't punish Cai Mao arbitrarily.
Therefore, strengthening the Jingzhou army's combat capabilities became an urgent matter.
But training soldiers is something that can't be done in a day or two.
At present, the enraged Yuan Shu may invade Jingzhou at any time.
Liu Biao desperately needed a shield to help him block Yuan Shu!
When faced with the envoy sent by Zhang Ji, Liu Biao decided to receive him along with Kuai Yue, the Prefect of Jingzhou.
In the council chamber
A middle-aged scholar who looked to be in his early forties bowed to Liu Biao.
"My name is Zhen Xu, and I greet Governor Liu."
Zhen Xu, also known as Jia Xu, still had that harmless look on his face.
Liu Biao and Kuai Yue certainly did not know Jia Xu.
In reality, only a handful of people, including the Xiliang F4 and Zhang Xiu, knew Jia Xu.
This old guy always manages to stay completely unscathed in everything he does.
As for volunteering to be Zhang Xiu's envoy this time, it was mainly because he thought Zhang Xiu was a decent guy and wanted to help him get more leverage, which would also make his retirement life easier in the coming years.
"Mr. Zhen, you've come on behalf of General Zhang. What brings you here?"
Kuai Yue asked Jia Xu on behalf of Liu Biao.
Jia Xu smiled, a hint of honesty in his eyes.
"To be honest, I have come here on the orders of my lord to borrow grain from Governor Liu."
"I've heard that Jingzhou is a land of fish and rice, rich in produce."
"I wonder if Governor Liu could lend some grain to my lord?"
"After the autumn harvest, my lord will return all this grain to Liu Jingzhou."
Liu Biao's brows furrowed instantly.
Kuai Yue interrupted him even more directly:
"My envoy, if I'm not mistaken, your General Zhang's territory is only the small area around Hangu Pass, right?"
"He must be borrowing a lot of grain."
"With such meager land output, what will we do if we can't repay the debt next year?"
Jia Xu maintained his usual smile, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, pointed to the map beside him, and chuckled:
"Besides grain, my lord also wishes to borrow Wancheng from Governor Liu!"
"With the grain production from Wancheng, we will definitely be able to make up for the shortfall next year."
"Sigh..."
A deathly silence fell over the council chamber.
In the next instant, Kuai Yue slammed his fist on the table and stood up:
"This envoy, are you out of your mind?!"
“That Wancheng is part of my Jingzhou territory.”
"The grain is also the grain of Jingzhou!"
"Both of them belong to my Jingzhou, why should I lend them to your lord?"
Although Liu Biao did not utter a word, Kuai Yue had already spoken for him what he wanted to say.
Liu Biao wanted to walk away in anger at Jia Xu's "rogue" remarks.
Jia Xu simply smiled indifferently.
"Liu Jingzhou and Kuai Biejia, you are both intelligent men."
"Can having more food guarantee victory in a war?"
"If we can't, what's the use of keeping all this grain?"
"Anyway, they're all Yuan Shu's spoils of war!"
"Instead of that, why not lend it to my lord? Besides, we never said we wouldn't pay it back!"
"As for Wancheng, that is indeed your territory, Governor Liu."
"But Liu Jingzhou, take a good look at the map and see where Wancheng is!"
"On the front line!"
"Yuan Shu's army is pressing in. Wancheng is flat and has no natural defenses. You have no cavalry. Do you think you can hold it?"
"boom!"
The council chamber was once again deathly silent.
Liu Biao and Kuai Yue looked at each other in bewilderment.
This damn guy in front of me is so arrogant and domineering.
But no one can deny that he is right.
……