Chapter 358: Jingzhou is settled, the world is shocked On the third day of May in the sixth year of Jian'an, after more than three months of fighting, Liu Biao finally opened the city and surrendered. On that day, Liu Qi personally brought the seal and documents, ordered the city gates to be opened, and led all the ministers of Jingzhou to surrender. Upon hearing this, Liu Bei went out of the camp to greet him personally. When he saw Liu Qi, he asked about Liu Biao's condition. Liu Qi said that Liu Biao was bedridden. Liu Bei was shocked and did not even have time to hand over the seal. He led his men towards the palace. After meeting Liu Biao, he saw that Liu Biao was already terminally ill, and he could not bear it, so he held his hand and sighed: "Although I have made mistakes, it shouldn't be this serious. Now that you are bedridden, it is really my fault!" When Liu Biao heard him calling him his younger brother, he felt sad, but he still forced a smile and said: "Life and death are determined by fate. I have done something immoral, and it is my own fault. It is not Xuande's fault!" "I am worried that I can't manage the affairs now. Jingzhou cannot be without a master. Now that I am here, I will be the master of Jingzhou!" Liu Bei was rejected twice in his life. The first time was by Tao Qian, and the second time was by the current Liu Biao.

However, Tao Qian may not have had good intentions in the past, and now Liu Biao was forced by the situation and had no choice. Although Liu Bei was a great hero, he felt a little embarrassed when faced with this situation. He quickly shook his head and declined: "Brother, why do you say that? Although I came here to fight, I have no intention of attacking Jingzhou. Now that you are unable to manage the affairs, I have my nephew who is still here." "I will submit a petition to the emperor, recommending that my nephew be appointed as the governor of Jingzhou, and take charge of all affairs of Jingzhou on behalf of my brother!" But when Liu Biao heard it, he immediately denied it and bluntly stated that Liu Qi was not talented in defense, so he asked Liu Qi to quickly bring the seal and ribbon to present to him. Seeing this, Liu Bei declined directly. When Liu Biao asked again, Liu Qi knelt down and offered it. All the ministers came forward to persuade him. With "helplessness", Liu Bei finally agreed to the deal and accepted the seal, ribbon and official certificate of Jingzhou Mu. At this point Liu Bei's campaign to attack Jingzhou ended. When Qin Zhen heard the news, he took a group of captives north to join Liu Bei's army. It had been almost two years since they last met, so Liu Bei grabbed Qin Zhen and said, "In the past, I was appointed as the governor of Jiangdong as a military advisor, and I just wanted to pacify Jiangdong!" "Unexpectedly, two years passed so quickly, and not only Jiangdong was pacified, but Jiaozhou and Jingnan were also settled!" "Zixuan's contribution is not enough to be recognized even if he is granted a title of nobility. How can I thank him?" If any other king or minister heard this, they would probably have to think about many things, but Qin Zhen knew Lao Liu's temper. Saying that it is difficult to express a great achievement is actually just a joke to express one's joy. In response, Qin Zhen directly told Liu Bei that he did not want anything else but to reunite his family. In his original words: "Since I was appointed to Jiangdong, my wife and children have been separated and I haven't seen them for two years!" "Now that I have achieved such a great feat, I should not be stationed abroad. My Lord, you must help me reunite with my family!" His words were both a response to Liu Bei's joke and contained some sincerity. Because now with the pacification of Jingzhou, their territory has expanded by nearly double. Since Jingzhou is located on the front line and borders Yizhou, Guanzhong and other places, someone must be stationed there! If Liu Bei did not take charge in person, Jingzhou would most likely still fall into his hands. And just like Liu Bei was playing a joke on him now, his achievements were almost reaching the peak! If he conquers Jingzhou again, how should Liu Bei reward him after taking Yizhou and Guanzhong?

Therefore, being stationed abroad is an opportunity for others, but it is useless for him. Instead of waiting for Liu Bei to appoint him, he might as well block Liu Bei's way. You can't find a reward, right? Then give me a sinecure so I can go home and spend time with my wife and children. In this regard, Liu Bei could naturally understand Qin Zhen's attitude, and in fact he also knew Qin Zhen's situation. When he was far away in Jiangxia, he heard rumors in Jingzhou about Qin Zhen's self-determination. When Liu Bei heard this, he thought it was a plot by the enemy to sow discord, so he simply didn't want to pay any more attention to it. Unexpectedly, halfway through the journey, Zhang Hong came to the tent and asked Liu Bei if he knew about the rumors in Jingzhou. Upon hearing this, Liu Bei said, "Of course I know the rumors, but Qin Zixuan is definitely not that kind of person." Although he and Qin Zhen had not known each other for as long as Guan and Zhang, he knew Qin Zhen's character. Not to mention it was just a rumor, even if someone really came with evidence of a crime, he would not doubt Qin Zhen at all. However, after Liu Bei made this statement, Zhang Hong quickly persuaded Liu Bei: "My lord, even if you know that the governor has no intention of rebelling, you cannot ignore these rumors." "As the saying goes, 'gossip can melt gold, and constant criticism can destroy a person.' Even though what I said today is false, if everyone in the world talks about it, some people will believe it in the future." "Although the governor is loyal and has no second thoughts, how can he not be afraid after hearing these words?" "Today's rumors only spread that the governor intends to rebel, tomorrow they may spread that the lord intends to murder the governor!" "The lord and the governor know each other well, and neither of them has any doubts, but how can the generals under the governor not have any doubts?" "You must know that the governor is not an ordinary person, he has countless students and former officials, sooner or later people will be uneasy!" "If someone were to provoke them at that time, they would easily change and be difficult to control!" Zhang Hong said this only because he was old. If it were Liu Ye and others, they would definitely not dare to say this to Liu Bei. Because this clearly shows that Qin Zhen's power is too great and needs to be restricted by Lao Liu. Otherwise, it would not be a good thing for Qin Zhen or their overall situation. Liu Ye and others sounded like they were trying to seize power when they said these words, but Zhang Hong, who held an idle position, had no such concerns. After all, Qin Zhen's contributions were so great, and he had a team under his command. People like Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang, Gu Yong, etc. were all close to Qin Zhen. In addition, Wei Yan, Gan Ning, Xu Sheng, Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao, and Gao Shun were either persuaded to surrender by Qin Zhen or promoted by Qin Zhen. There are also people like Pei Qian, Wang Can, Lu Dai, Zhuge Jin, Meng Jian and Shi Tao who have relationships with Qin Zhen. Qin Zhen and you, Old Liu, do have a very close relationship, but this is limited to the two of you. Who knows what the people below you think? What if one or two people were really incited to disloyalty? How should they deal with the situation? Therefore, Zhang Hong felt that now was the best time to tell Liu Bei about this hidden danger. Liu Bei heard these words and naturally understood the truth behind them, but he still frowned and said; "When Zi Xuan came to me, I told him that I should treat him as a teacher, and I have never changed my mind." "I expected that when Cao Mengde lost his son Xuan, he would end up in the current situation. I will never make the same mistake again." "So although Mr. Zhang's words are good, I don't want to hear them. I hope Mr. Zhang will not talk about this matter again."

Zhang Hong had expected Liu Bei to reply in this way, and he continued to persuade Liu Bei: "Since my lord does not want to hear it, I will not say anything more. However, the governor is a talent for governing the country and cannot stay outside for long!" "Now that Jingzhou is about to be taken, it would be better to transfer the governor back to manage government affairs so as not to waste the governor's talents!" Since you are unwilling to reduce Qin Zhen's power, it would be better to transfer him back to his side to take charge of government affairs. This will prevent future rumors that Qin Zhen is preparing to establish independence and solve the fundamental problem. When Liu Bei heard this, his attitude softened. He thought that Qin Zhen had been stationed abroad for two years and it was indeed time for him to return. After all, the reason why Qin Zhen was sent to station outside was because Jiangdong was his rear base, and only Qin Zhen could stabilize the overall situation in Jiangdong. But as their territory continued to expand, Jiangdong became more stable, and Jiaozhou was added. Under such circumstances, it would obviously be a waste of Qin Zhen's talent to let him continue to govern a region. Only by transferring Qin Zhen to his side can Qin Zhen's talent in governing the country be fully brought into play. Therefore, Liu Bei first said that he would discuss it later, and then he began to think about how to transfer Qin Zhen back. Unexpectedly, before he even opened his mouth, Qin Zhen took the initiative to express that he did not want to be stationed abroad and applied to be transferred back. Obviously, not only Zhang Hong was aware of this problem, but Qin Zhen also keenly sensed that something was wrong. But upon hearing his lame excuse, Liu Bei was so shocked that he said: "If you follow what Zixuan said, you can't reunite with your family, but you blame Bei, right?" "Well, since Zixuan doesn't want to continue to stay abroad, I will find someone else!" "But you have made great contributions, so I must commend you. I will write them down first and discuss them later!" After a conversation between the two, the impact of the rumor was thrown out of the window. That night, Qin Zhen and Liu Bei had a candlelight chat again after a long absence. It contains a lot of content, including analysis of the world situation, how Jingzhou should be governed, and what actions should be taken in the future. These issues are rather complicated, and only Qin Zhen can discuss them freely with Liu Bei. After talking like this all night, Liu Bei sat down in the hall the next day and discussed rewards with everyone. Because Nanyang had not yet been captured, Liu Bei, at the suggestion of Qin Zhen, decided to divide the eight counties of Jingzhou again. The area north of Yicheng and south of Xinye was carved out into Xiangyang County, with Liu Ye as its prefect. Among the remaining Jingzhou nobles, Liu Xian continued to serve as Beijia, Kuai Yue was appointed as the prefect of Zhangling, Huang She was appointed as the prefect of Jiangxia, and Han Song was appointed as the prefect of Nanjun. Liu Rui was ordered to go north, Pang Ji was appointed as the governor of Wuling, and Huan Jie was appointed as the governor of Changsha. As for the prefects of Lingling and Guiyang, Liu Du, Zhao Fan and others continued to serve as such. In addition to the above transfers, Pang Tong, who made meritorious service in this battle, was promoted to General of the Central Army, and Yi Ji was appointed Chief Clerk of the General Who Conquers the East. Liu Ba, Jiang Wan and Liao Li respectively entered the General's Mansion of the Expedition to the East and all held important positions.

Others like Zhang Yun, Liu Hu, Yuan Long, Han Xi, Wu Ju, Kuai Qi, Fu Xun, Fu Qun, Cheng Qi, Han Ji, Liu Wangzhi, Lai Gong, etc., totaling more than a hundred people, were all promoted. It has to be said that the talent pool of Jingzhou is far beyond that of Jiangdong. In addition to the above, there are also civil officials and military generals who have never served in officialdom. Under Qin Zhen's intentional guidance, Liu Bei met with Wen Pin, Huang Zhong, Pan Jun, Cai Mao and others, and persuaded them to surrender one by one. He also selected talents from the prefectures and counties, and got Liao Chun, Zhao Lei, Deng Zhi, Xiang Lang, Li Yan and others to join him. The Liao Chun here is also Liao Hua, who was born a bandit in the novel, but in fact he was a descendant of the Liao family in Jingzhou. As for Deng Zhi, Zhao Lei and Xiang Lang, they were all from famous families and had extraordinary backgrounds and abilities. As this group of talents were settled, Liu Bei announced his personnel arrangements again: Qin Zhen resigned from the post of Governor of Jiangdong and was promoted to General of the Army and concurrently served as General of the Five Officials. Guan Yu resigned from the post of Governor of Runan and was promoted to General Suppressing Bandits, concurrently serving as Grand Commander of Huainan. Chen Dao was promoted to General Yangwu, and Gan Ning was promoted to General Hengjiang, concurrently serving as the Grand Admiral of the Navy. Zhang Fei was promoted to General Zhenglu, Zhao Yun was promoted to General Zhenyuan, and Taishi Ci was promoted to General Pingnan. Lu Su took over as the governor of Jiangdong, Gu Yong took over as the prefect of Wujun, and Zhuge Liang took over as the prefect of Kuaiji. Shi Xie served concurrently as the Governor of Jiaozhou and the Prefect of Jiaozhi, Zhou Yu served as the Governor-General of Nanyang, and Xue Zong served as the Deputy Governor of Jiaozhou. In addition to the above officials, people such as Jian Yong, Mi Zhu, Mi Fang, Xu Shu, Yuan Huan, Liu Fu, Zheng Hun, Sun Qian, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Chen Qun, Chen Deng, and a series of old ministers in Jiangdong were all promoted and rewarded. This was the first time that Liu Bei promoted and rewarded his ministers on a large scale, and all of his veteran ministers were excited. When people like Kuai Yue, Liu Xian, Pang Ji and others from Jingzhou saw it, they were all convinced. After finishing all this, Liu Bei slaughtered pigs and sheep to reward the three armies, opened the treasury and provided relief to the people. The army and civilians were very happy! At this point, Jingzhou was initially settled, and Liu Bei had collected over 100,000 soldiers and horses from the north and south of Jingzhou, with both civil and military forces under his command. It spanned six major states, namely Jing, Yang, Jiao, Yu, Xu and Qing, with a population of over 10 million, becoming the largest feudal lord in the world. After the news came out, the whole world was shocked, and Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Liu Zhang were all terrified. (End of this chapter)