Chapter 352 An old friend visits, Cai Mao is desperate Nanjun is a large county in present-day Jingzhou, and its prefect is Cai Mao, the military advisor to General Zhennan. This Nanjun was also the "Jingzhou" borrowed by Liu Bei in history. It had a large area and a large population. Originally, Nanyang was the largest county in Jingzhou, with a population of over two million and numerous cities. But after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Nanyang suffered from Yuan Shu's scourge, and a large number of people migrated south. This made Nanjun the largest county in Jingzhou, with a registered population of nearly one million. Among them, the population hidden by the aristocratic families amounted to hundreds of thousands, especially in areas like Jiangling. Jiangling City was originally the capital of the State of Chu. It was adjacent to the Yangtze River and had high walls, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Since Cai Mao was ordered to go south, he had his men guard the city strictly to prevent attacks from the south. But what he didn't expect was that before Qin Zhen could head north, Wen Pin in the east collapsed and was defeated. As time passed to April, news of the defeat spread into the palace like snowflakes!

Xiling is lost! Wen Pin is captured! Huang family rebels! Jiangxia falls! Su Fei surrenders! In the past, each piece of news would have been enough to cause an earthquake in Jingzhou, but now they come one after another. This made Cai Mao wonder how long his brother-in-law Liu Biao could remain in power! After all, although Jingzhou had encountered chaos many times, it was eventually pacified by Liu Biao. But now, as Liu Bei and Qin Zhen continued to win victories, the methods Liu Biao insisted on no longer worked. Under such circumstances, does Liu Biao really have a chance to counterattack Liu Bei and win? Obviously, the answer to this question is indisputable: they have no chance. This answer made Cai Mao feel a fear, a fear he had never felt before! Because before that, the Cai family had a relationship with Liu Biao, so they could expand without any order. This has caused him to do too many things that bully men and women in Jingzhou, and he is likely to be held accountable. Even though he and Qin Zhen were on good terms before, when Liu Bei was about to take control of Jingzhou, he felt extremely nervous. After all, Qin Zhen and he had had some unpleasantness in the past. Who knows if Qin Zhen will find an excuse to make trouble? What’s even more terrifying is that his Cai family is Liu Biao’s relative. Will he be implicated because of Liu Biao? This series of questions lingered in his mind, making him restless and fearful. Therefore, in order to calm his fear, he sent a letter to Cai Feng who was living in Caizhou to ask for his advice. Unexpectedly, before Cai Feng could express his opinion, the steward of his farm outside the city came to report that an old friend wanted to see him. The word "old friend" made Cai Mao feel a little strange. What kind of old friend would call himself an old friend instead of his name? "Since he is my old friend, why didn't he just go straight into the city, but instead asked you to report it?" "That's because this person didn't want to reveal his name. He just said that if I give this brocade bag to my lord, my lord will come out of the city to meet him!" The butler felt helpless when he heard this, and took out a brocade bag from his sleeve and handed it to Cai Mao. Upon seeing this, Cai Mao took the brocade bag and opened it, only to see a piece of paper with the three words "Spring Rice" on it. Looking at these three words, Cai Mao was stunned at first, then his eyes widened and he asked hurriedly: "What does this person look like? How many followers does he have? Where is he now? Does he have any other words?"

The butler was confused by his series of questions. After a moment's reaction, he bowed and responded: "My Lord, this man is tall and has a noble demeanor, and he only has two followers." "Now he will wait in the other courtyard, and he will leave if the master does not meet him before tonight." After hearing this, Cai Mao could not help but pace back and forth anxiously, thinking for a moment, and then said: "Go and prepare the horses. I want to go out of the city to meet him. Let Huo Jun lead 3,000 soldiers and horses to follow me!" Ever since he destroyed the Jiangdong navy last time, he transferred the outstanding Huo Jun to his side as his personal attendant. He originally wanted to go alone, but then he thought about the person he was going to meet who was known for not playing by the rules. If he went without bringing troops and was captured by the other side directly, he would have no bargaining chips. As soon as he finished speaking, the steward hurried out to prepare, and soon Cai Mao rode his horse to the villa outside the city. Before entering, he asked Huo Jun to lead the soldiers to surround the villa, and then he entered his own manor. As he followed the manor, he saw Qin Zhen sitting in the main seat in the main hall, drinking tea leisurely and elegantly. Seeing Qin Zhen like this, Cai Mao felt strange in his heart, and could not help but step into the main hall, squinting his eyes and said: "The two armies are fighting each other right now. Are you coming here to throw yourself into a trap and serve as a hostage?" He wanted to test Qin Zhen's intentions, but when Qin Zhen saw him coming, he stood up, gave him a bear hug and said: "Brother Degui, I haven't seen you for a long time. When I saw it was getting dark, I thought Brother Degui didn't want to come here!" "Could it be that things in the mansion are too busy and you can't spare time to come here? Why are you so late?" Compared with Cai Mao's caution, Qin Zhen seemed to really miss Cai Mao, which made Cai Mao frown. But no matter how he looked at the other person, Qin Zhen looked the same. After looking at him for a while, Cai Mao couldn't help but sigh. It has to be said that he really had no way to deal with Qin Zhen. Every time he tried to do something, Qin Zhen would try to get involved with him. The same is true now. The two armies are fighting. He asked Qin Zhen what he was doing here, and Qin Zhen asked him if he didn't want to meet him. It seems that they have nothing to do with each other, but he can't continue to be indifferent, because he may have to rely on Qin Zhen's relationship in the future. Now he was speaking coldly, and he might even fight with him later, so he could only pretend to be embarrassed: "Why are you here, my dear brother? My son is still in Xiangyang and will never surrender!" "You are now the commander-in-chief of the three armies, how can you come here alone? Aren't you afraid that I will take credit for you?" Every time Qin Zhen interacted with Cai Mao, he felt extremely fresh because this guy was a villain. Cai Mao would almost always calculate the benefits first and then make corresponding responses. It is still the same now. He believes that Cai Mao must be very conflicted, but he still pretends to be a good person. If you didn't know, looking at his expression, you would really think that Cai Mao was worried about his safety! But he didn't come here to chat with Cai Mao this time, so he just shook his head and smiled: "Brother and I are close friends, and we are also relatives. You will definitely not do such an unrighteous act."

"But since Brother Degui wants to talk about serious matters first, I don't want to talk about other things with you here." "I am here for no other reason than to ask you to lend me a helping hand and help me capture Jiangling!" Qin Zhen's directness naturally made Cai Mao stunned again, but after reacting, he frowned and said: "Brother, didn't I just tell you that all the members of the Cai family are in Xiangyang? I will never surrender to them!" But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Qin Zhen looking at him with a smile, with an expression that left no room for doubt. This made Cai Mao feel scared. He wondered if Qin Zhen was really going to force him to abandon his wife and children? But he changed his mind and thought that although Qin Zhen acted a little overbearingly, he would not force others to do things against their will. Knowing that he would not surrender, his purpose should not be to persuade him to surrender the city directly. And if Qin Zhen didn't ask him to surrender, then there was only one possibility, Qin Zhen wanted him to play a fake game! Through military means, the city of Jiangling will be "handed over" to Qin Zhen's hands. In other words, he will be made to lose the city! After all, if he surrendered directly, Liu Biao would not show mercy to him even if they were relatives. But if he had accidentally "lost" the city, Liu Biao would at most have just scolded him for being incompetent! After figuring out the key point, he also understood the meaning of Qin Zhen's smile. This was not a smile at him, but telling him that he had no choice but to cooperate with him! Qin Zhen didn't say a word, which meant that he would not accept any conditions except agreeing to it. After thinking this through, Cai Mao felt angry and could not help but frown and said in a deep voice: "Zixuan keeps saying that he is related to me, but now he is saying this, is this the etiquette for treating a relative?" But as soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhen turned around and sat back in the main seat: "It seems that Brother Degui is also well versed in saying one thing and doing another! How shameless!" "Since you think that I am a relative of Qin Zhen, you heard that I was coming, but did not think of coming to meet me, but brought your troops here instead." "I wonder if these soldiers outside the manor want to capture me or kill me here?" "Brother, you were unjust first, but now you are scolding me for being rude. I really don't know what your intention is!" "When I was sent to Jingzhou as an envoy, I knew that you had no good feelings towards me, so I paid a visit to Lord Cai first." "This move is to complete the mission of the envoy and also to win over the Cai family to serve our army." "Because although the Cai family is rich because of their daughter, it cannot last long. They need to find another way to prosper in the long run." "So from my perspective, if we work together, we both benefit, but if we separate, we both suffer. Brother Cai is extremely smart, so he must know this." "When we worked together to defeat the Jiangdong navy in the past, you contributed a lot, so I came here specially to ask for your help." "Why is it that when I saw you today, Brother Cai has become the same as before? Did I offend him in some way?" Having said this, he looked at Cai Mao, wanting to see how Cai Mao would react. Facing his gaze, Cai Mao could not help but lower his head, not daring to meet his gaze. He couldn't say that he wanted to have it both ways, right? To be honest, when he first joined Liu Bei's army, he was full of hope for the future of the Cai family. After all, in his opinion, it would be impossible for Liu Bei and Liu Biao to go to war in the short term, and he had plenty of time to build a good relationship with Liu Bei. With this relationship between the two families, no matter which family is destroyed, the Cai family can continue to prosper. But he didn't expect that before he could establish a good relationship, Liu Bei would go directly to war with Liu Biao.

This could not help but catch him off guard, and there was no way for the Cai family to establish good relations with Liu Bei first. In this situation, the only thing he could do was to continue to maintain the Cai family's position in Jingzhou. And now Qin Zhen's words are forcing him to make a choice, either Liu Bei or Liu Biao! "There are many noble families in Jingzhou. In addition to the Cai family and the Huang family, there are other major noble families. Why do you have to force the Cai family like this?" Cai Mao now feels a little desperate. He doesn't understand why Qin Zhen won't let him go. Can't he arrest Kuai Shi instead? "There is a saying in my hometown that goes, 'A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind.' This is true of the Cai family!" Qin Zhen didn't care how desperate Cai Mao was now, he just quietly picked up the teacup and took a sip. "If Cai is unwilling to help, I will not force you. After drinking this cup of tea, I will leave!" Having said this, he drank the tea in one gulp, put the cup on the table, stood up and walked out. When he passed by Cai Mao, he didn't even look at him, but Cai Mao suddenly grabbed his hand and said: "Wait a minute, dear brother. I don't know how you want me to help you. Just tell me!" Cai Mao is really at his wits' end now. He will die if he sticks his head out or hides his head. What else can he do? Qin Zhen smiled when he heard his reply, patted Cai Mao's hand and said soothingly: "If you had done this earlier, how could I have acted like this? Don't be anxious, brother." "As for how you can help me, I have only one thing to tell you. Tonight, our army will launch a surprise attack on Jiangling!" "It's up to you, brother, to decide how to proceed. I hope you can make good arrangements and not let me down!" As soon as he said that, Cai Mao was shocked. Is this kid Qin Zhen going to take action tonight? Acting so hastily, it's obvious that they don't intend to give him any time to think! (End of this chapter)