He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Chapter 68 Setting a Trap for Liu Biao

"Liu Qi? Liu Qi—" Chen Qun muttered the name repeatedly while considering whether this method would work. Liu Bei, on the other hand, was somewhat bewildered by Lu Wan's erratic train of thought.

"Why? Wen Yuan, I don't quite understand."

It's understandable if you can't figure it out, my lord. If you can figure it out, then all the smart people in the world have already seen through it!

Lu Wan thought for a moment and decided to explain to the two of them through various details: "My lord, please don't be in a hurry, let me explain slowly."

"My lord, doesn't Liu Qi look somewhat familiar? Despite being the eldest son, he hasn't managed to build his own power base. To outsiders, Liu Qi is respected only because his father is the Governor of Jingzhou. While we were catching up on the affairs of Jingzhou for the arrival of the envoy, we learned that Liu Biao actually had another son."

"Moreover, Liu Biao was able to secure his position in Jingzhou thanks to the powerful families of Jingzhou, led by the Cai and Kuai families. Therefore, these two families held a position second only to Liu Biao himself. Now, Cai Mao, the head of the Cai family, has married his niece to Liu Biao's youngest son, Liu Cong. My lord, do you think Cai Mao will support Liu Cong, who is related to him by marriage, or Liu Qi, who has absolutely no relation to him?"

"And do you remember the attitude of Liu Biao's envoy, Yi Ji? When you asked about Liu Biao's two sons, Yi Ji praised Liu Cong highly, saying he was intelligent and filial," but when he mentioned Liu Qi, he evaded the question, only saying that he was a "kind and generous" person, and he didn't say that he was entrusted with any tasks in the prefecture."

This is even worse than directly stating that Liu Qi is incompetent. If you directly say that Liu Qi is not fit to be the governor of Jingzhou, people will assume that Liu Qi's talents lie elsewhere. But with this kind of rhetoric, people will only perceive Liu Qi as a useless, nice-natured person, and will have no intention of investing in him.

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "No, Ji Bo isn't that kind of person. When I talked to him, even when I was praising Liu Cong, his expression wasn't very natural. Perhaps those words weren't from his heart."

Lu Wan answered almost without hesitation: "That's right. My lord, the envoy is an extension of your will. Although the envoy himself may have his own likes and dislikes, in the face of other forces, his attitude represents your lord's attitude. So even if he disagrees with Liu Biao's views in his heart, he must present the same story to Liu Biao in public. From this perspective, Liu Biao's view on his two sons is not much different from what Yi Ji said."

Liu Bei and Chen Qun gasped in astonishment upon hearing this. All the information was laid out clearly, yet Lu Wan was able to extract so much useful information from it, seeing the whole picture from a single glimpse—a feat that few could accomplish.

To reiterate, although Lu Wan didn't know Liu Qi, she was still capable of drawing a target based on an arrow. As long as the doubts were raised, these outstanding individuals would fill in the details themselves. Lu Wan was fortunate that although she had few helpers, none of them were stupid. With just a little information, they could immediately solve the problem by following the established line of thought. Except for Mi Zhu's younger brother, Mi Fang—and even Mi Fang himself.

Although Mi Zhu's younger brother, Mi Fang, was utterly incompetent in governance—a complete novice—he was indeed a master of trade. Otherwise, given his past offenses against Liu Bei, he would have been ordered to lead a five-pronged attack against Cao Cao long ago.

Getting back to the main point, after this introduction, even someone like Liu Bei, who wasn't particularly sensitive to governance, realized that Jingzhou might face a very serious succession crisis in the future.

Lu Suo made the two men establish the precondition that Jingzhou might be unstable in the future, and then began to explain the benefits of doing so: "If our lord launches an attack before replying to the envoy, Liu Biao's side will definitely be very dissatisfied, thinking that we want to seize more land before the alliance is reached."

"We recommend Liu Qi for the position of Governor of Yangzhou. Whether Liu Biao accepts it or not, this is a great favor and can also show the world that our army is indeed very sincere in its desire to unite with Liu Biao."

"Moreover, this problem has also been thrown into Cao Cao's hands. If he agrees, then the entire south will belong to the Liu family; if he disagrees, he will inevitably offend Liu Biao. Previously, Zhang Xiu of Nanyang wanted to surrender to Cao Cao, and one important factor was that Liu Biao only treated him as a gatekeeper, and was unwilling to provide support or supplies. If Cao Sikong hadn't suddenly lost control of himself—, Zhang Xiu would now be another great general under Cao Cao."

"Now that things have come to this, if Cao Cao does not agree, Liu Biao will definitely try his best to win over Zhang Xiu again. Wancheng's terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, making it even more difficult for Cao Cao to take Nanyang."

Lu Wan took a breath and continued, "Besides that, there is another important point, which is what I mentioned at the beginning: Liu Qi lacks supporters, unlike Liu Ji who has popular support. If our lord is willing to stand up for him at this time, then our lord will be his benefactor for life, and the relationship between Xu and Yang provinces will be as harmonious as the current relationship between Qing and Xu provinces."

Of course, Lu Wan had many reasons he didn't tell Liu Bei, so he changed his approach in his mind: "Most importantly, our Governor of Yangzhou is a reliable person, adaptable, mentally sound, and good at listening to others' opinions. I think our nephew should be quite similar. However, this is just my subjective opinion. We'll see when our lord meets Liu Qi."

Liu Bei nodded and leaned back: "Oh~, then it seems Liu Qi is indeed the best choice. When should we submit our memorial?"

"Send the memorial to Xudu first, and then inform Mr. Yi before the news reaches Xiangyang."

"Is there some deeper meaning behind this?" Liu Bei was starting to become suspicious after seeing so many different ways of governing. He had to consider whether there were any hidden tricks or if he hadn't seen them before.

"Of course, on the one hand, we openly informed Liu Biao of the news, demonstrating our upright and honest stance. We told him beforehand, we didn't do anything underhanded." Lu Wan smiled. This was an open strategy. I'm just stating it clearly, and you can only move within the scope I've set.

"On the other hand, the court had already approved or rejected the proposal before Liu Biao could react, thus creating a fait accompli. No matter what happens in the future, Liu Biao must remember that our lord previously recommended his son as the governor of Yangzhou. He will have to be more cautious if he tries to play any tricks on us again."

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