Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 185
Liu Bei is still attached to Liu Biao.

Although Liu Biao's Duke of Chu was self-proclaimed, his King of Chu was canonized by the court, so Liu Bei had no reason to oppose Liu Biao.

Even if he knew it was Cao Cao appeasing Liu Biao, in the name of Liu Xie, he could only say helpless.

In mid-May, an official document from Jingzhou was sent to Wancheng.

Liu Biao hoped that Liu Bei could help him attack Berkshire.

Liu Bei didn't really want to go, but after Xu Shu's persuasion, he finally agreed to the matter.

So he rectified his troops and prepared to go south to Xiangyang.

And Shen Chen had gone a few days ago.

On the seventh day of May, after bidding farewell to the disciples, the convoy entered Xiangyang City.

At the gate of the city, Deng Hong, Liu Xianzhou Buyi and others were already waiting for him.

Zhou Buyi also studied with Shen Chen, but he was too young in his early years, and Longzhong Township was too far away, and he had no place to live, so he could only go to school.

Someone would pick him up after class every day, and he had to walk for a long time on the way back from school.

The situation has changed slightly in the past two years, because Shen Chen would go to Daru to study the scriptures at the end of each month, and he would often take him with him, live in Zhuge Liang's or Pang De's house, and he could teach in private.

So Zhou Buyi simply studied at home when he was studying at school in the first ten days of each month, and then followed Shen Chen to live in Zhuge's house or on Yuliangzhou in the second ten days of each month.

At this moment, Liu Biao asked Deng Hong and Liu Xian to pick him up, and Zhou Buyi naturally followed.

"Brother!"

Zhou Buyi worshiped under Song Zhong's sect with Shen Chen in the early years, so he never called him Shijun, but elder brother.

Seeing Shen Chen coming over at this moment, the 12-year-old boy greeted him repeatedly.

The carriage slowly stopped at the gate of Xiangyang West City, Shen Chen got off the carriage, first bowed his hands to Deng Hong and Liu Xian, and said, "Grandfather, Duke Shizong."

Then he looked at Zhou Buyi with a smile and said, "No doubt."

"Achen."

Deng Hong nodded and said, "Your Majesty asked you to meet him."

"Well, I see."

Shen Chen then said: "I probably know why he wants to see me."

"Let's go then."

Deng Hong waved.

The crowd got back into the carriage and headed towards Chu Palace.

After arriving at Prince Chu's mansion, Liu Xian asked Zhou Buyi to go home first, and he and Deng Hong took Shen Chen into the palace.

At the moment Liu Biao, Jia Xu, Kuai Yue and others are waiting for him.

Entering the hall and looking around, Shen Chen noticed Jia Xu, and Jia Xu nodded to him with a faint smile on his face.

"Your Majesty!"

Shen Chen bowed his hands to Liu Biao who was sitting on the main seat.

Liu Biao smiled and said, "Ah Chen, come and sit down."

"Thank you, King."

Shen Chen sat on the side table.

Liu Biao looked around, and suddenly said, "Let's go out first."

"only."

Jia Xu, Kuai Yue, Deng Hong, Liu Xian, and more than a dozen other officials, long history, Sima, and chief bookkeepers in the palace of Chu withdrew.

Shen Chen was a little surprised, because Liu Biao seemed to have planned to discuss things with everyone at the beginning, but he changed the plan temporarily, fearing that he might have a problem with him in private.

After everyone went out, only Cheng Qi who was serving Liu Biao in the corner not far away was left in the hall. Cheng Qi had always been trusted by Liu Biao as a confidant. He is a regular servant.

There was no one else in the hall at the moment, so Liu Biao said, "Ah Chen, how do I treat you?"

"Your Majesty has treated me with such kindness as a mountain!"

Shen Chen cupped his hands and said.

Liu Biao sighed and said, "The only regret in my life is that I don't have a son like you. You have been in Xiangyang for ten years, and I have always treated you as a nephew. Today I called you here because of two things."

"Please, Your Majesty, tell me, when you are born in the morning, you will be killed, and when you die, you will be weeded!"

Shen Chen said again.

Liu Biao pondered, "The first thing is, of course, I hope you will lead the army to defeat Liu Zhang's army."

"In the morning, you must go through fire and water, and you will not hesitate."

Shen Chen fully agreed.

Liu Biao nodded, and said: "The second thing is to ask you, who should the widow take as heir?"

Shen Chen's complexion changed slightly, and Liu Biao seemed to be very conflicted in his heart, he was looking for an outsider like himself to make up his mind, probably because he felt that he was old and would die of old age at any time, and he was thinking about who would be the heir.

Although because of Mrs. Cai, he loves his second son Liu Cong and dislikes his eldest son Liu Qi, he still has to figure out who he is going to give his foundation to.

"It's inconvenient to talk about the king's family affairs in the morning."

Shen Chen shook his head and said.

Liu Biao waved his hand: "You just say it's okay, you and You Shuo are both my confidantes, I won't blame you."

Shen Chen said without hesitation: "You should be the young master Liu Cong."

"Oh?"

Liu Biao frowned and said, "I remember that you and Bo Rui have always been friendly, why did you recommend Zhong Lin?"

Both Qi and Cong are jade, with the word Borui and Zhonglin.

Shen Chen said: "Although Chen is friendly with the eldest son, the king's son should be virtuous. The eldest son has always been strong, not as gentle as the second son."

"Oh"

Liu Biao nodded slowly and said, "I want to use you to attack Liu Zhang, what do you think?"

At this time, Shen Chen said to Cheng Qi: "Please ask Mr. Cheng to help me get some pens and paper. I have been to Padang, and I want to draw a map for the king."

"it is good."

Cheng Qi turned around and went out.

After he left, Shen Chen immediately seized the opportunity and said: "I also ask the king to make the eldest son his heir."

Liu Biao asked in surprise, "Why does Ah Chen repeat?"

Shen Chen said: "The second son is weak, and he was bewitched by Cai Mao, Kuaiyue and others. If he gets an heir, Jingzhou will be ruled by Cai Mao, Kuaiyue and others. Today in Jingzhou, the eldest son is like Fusu, and the second son is Hu Hai and Cai Mao. Kuai Yue is Zhao Gao and Li Si. Don't you forget, the king, they once persuaded the king to join Cao Cao?

Liu Biao glanced at the door, puzzled and said, "In that case, just now"

"The madam's eyes and ears are all in the house, so there is no choice but to know a son like a father. Does the king not know the nature of the eldest son? Over the years, the king loves the second son and not the eldest son, and it is all because of the madam's slander."

Shen Chen stepped up to persuade.

Liu Biao suddenly came to his senses, and broke out in a cold sweat.

He naturally knows his son.

Liu Qi has a benevolent and chivalrous personality, and his appearance is similar, so he should be the most suitable heir.

But over the years, I actually liked the submissive second son more and more, and didn't like the bright and determined eldest son.

What caused this?

Naturally, it was because Mrs. Cai had subtly whispered bad things about Liu Qi in his ears all the year round.

Liu Cong married Mrs. Cai's niece, and had deep entanglements with Cai Kuai's family.

At the beginning, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue persuaded him to join Cao Cao.

It is not certain that if there is a change in the north in the future, Cao Cao will unify the north. After his death, the two of them will take their foundation and invest in Cao.

How can this work?
He had asked Jia Xu about this in private before, but Jia Xu just smiled and asked him to ask Shen Chen.

Now it seems that I am a fan of the authorities.

Thinking of this, Liu Biao eased his mood, let out a long breath and said, "Yes, I see."

At this moment, Cheng Qi came in and put the pen and paper on Shen Chen's desk.

Shen Chen changed the color of his face, sketched out the topography of Yiling with a pen and paper, and said, "Look, my lord, to attack Bashu from Jingzhou, the only way is to go straight to Bajun by taking the Dajiang waterway, or go northward to attack Hanzhong by the Mian River. Lu, so we can only fight Liu Zhang head-on in the Dajiang waterway."

"I know this, but breaking into it is even more difficult."

Liu Biao shook his head.

Shen Chen said: "It's not impossible, but it will take time."

"how long?"

"The shortest period is half a year, and the longest period is one or two years."

"How long does it take?"

Liu Biao frowned. He already wanted to be emperor, and it took longer than expected.

Shen Chen smiled wryly and said: "There is no other way. My strategy is to go north from Wuling County in Jingnan to Yishui, and then go up to Quren along Yishui to raid the rear of Liu Zhang's army, or go north from Shaqu to Yong'an." Yes. But no matter how you go, this is the path taken by the Wuling barbarians. If you want to pass through the army, you must open a road across the mountains and build a bridge when you meet the water."

The strategy he proposed was actually to go from Changde City, Hunan Province to Zhangjiajie, then go north to Enshi Autonomous Prefecture, then continue north to Jianshi County, then to Badong County, and attack behind Liu Zhang's army.

This route has been unimpeded in later generations, but in the Han Dynasty there were countless mountains and forests, all of which were endless primitive jungles.

The reason why he knew this road was because he had dealt with barbarians, and occasionally went to Jingnan for a study tour. If he had nothing to do, he would walk around Jingzhou, take a look, and draw topographic maps.

And there is also this route in history, that is, after Liu Bei arrived in Yiling, he opened a road from Yishan and sent Ma Liang south to this area to recruit Wuling Man Shamoke.

Therefore, it is possible to go around to the rear of Liu Zhang from Jingnan, but the road is too difficult to walk, and it is estimated that it will take a year and a half.

Liu Biao nodded slightly after hearing this, and asked, "How sure are you?"

Shen Chen said: "As long as the road is successfully opened, Chen is [-]% sure of reaching the rear of Liu Zhang's army."

"it is good."

Liu Biao immediately said: "Ah Chen, I order you to be General Zhonglang and send the army to Jingnan to open up this road!"

"only!"

Shen Chen clapped his hands and said yes.

Liu Biao said again: "You have been in Longzhong for a long time, and you don't often see Bo Rui. You just came here, so go and see him."

"only."

Shen Chen got up and left.

Watching his leaving back, Liu Biao glanced at Cheng Qi, who obediently bent over to serve him, and thought in his heart.

He is old, and in the past two years, he has been thinking about the issue of heirs.

So I asked Jia Xu for his opinion in private.

But Jia Xu shied away and asked him to ask Shen Chen.

Now it seems that Jia Xu may have discovered the problem, but he just didn't want to offend Cai Mao Kuaiyue and the others.

Now after being reminded by Shen Chen, Liu Biao finally woke up.

Cai Mao Kuaiyue and his group did not firmly support him, but only cared about the interests of the family.

Once the throne is passed to Liu Cong, Jingzhou will inevitably be controlled by these surrender factions.

If Cao Cao gains power in the future and holds the emperor in his hands, they will surrender.Wouldn't the thousands of miles of land and mountains that I built by myself be destroyed in one day?
So he had to think of a countermeasure.

There was light in Liu Biao's eyes.

And here, Shen Chen arrived at Liu Qi's yard, and when he entered, he saw Liu Qi sighing.

"Eldest son, why are you sad?"

Shen Chen said in surprise.

Seeing him coming, Liu Qi was overjoyed and said, "Ah Chen, you are finally here."

"Come and see you."

Shen Chen smiled.

Liu Qi's age is actually a few years younger than Liu Bei's. After all, his father is 62, and he is also [-].

However, Liu Qi's personality is somewhat similar to Liu Bei's, and he belongs to the kind of bold personality, so he was friendly with Shen Chen before, and occasionally invited him out of the city to hunt.

Seeing Shen Chen coming over at this moment, Liu Qi hurriedly pulled him into the room and said, "Ah Chen, come in and help me think about it."

"what happened?"

When the two entered the house, Shen Chen pretended to be surprised.

Liu Qi then said: "Since my father inherited the throne, Madam Wang has been plotting against me more and more. I want to ask Ah Chen to teach me the art of self-safety."

Liu Qi has always been in a state of anxiety throughout history. Madam Cai wanted to kill him all the time, so she was very terrified every day.

But now the situation is even more critical, because Liu Biao is the king, and the throne is much more powerful than the state shepherd.

Mrs. Cai did not want to lose the splendor and wealth of the Mrs. Wang, so she naturally hoped that her niece's husband, Liu Cong, would succeed to the throne, and Liu Cong would inevitably be at the mercy of them.

Therefore, the persecution against Liu Qi became more and more serious, which made him fearful all day long.

Now that she saw Shen Chen coming, she naturally wanted to ask him for help.

Shen Chen shook his head and said: "I can't help you with this matter, this is the son's family matter, and my sixth-grandmother"

Liu Qi begged, "Ah Chen, is he going to die instead of saving him?"

"I can't do it either."

Shen Chen smiled bitterly and said, "Even my grandfather supports the Second Young Master."

Liu Qi sighed endlessly: "Since Ah Chen doesn't want to help me, there's nothing I can do about it, but I want to drink, why don't you accompany me to the tall building over there for a drink?"

He pointed to a tall building not far from the mansion.

Good guy.

Go up the house and take the ladder?

Shen Chen scratched his head, looked left and right, there was no one around, then he gritted his teeth and said, "It will save you from taking out the ladder when you go up to the house, don't you see that Shen Sheng is in danger inside, and Chong Er is safe outside?"

Liu Qi thought for a while, and said happily, "Thank you, Chen."

(End of this chapter)