Liu Bei would have vomited blood if he knew that Zhang Gui was pouring oil into the fire. If Liu Bei were to occupy Fancheng and then give Liu Biao face and some space, it was possible for Liu Biao to agree to Liu Bei’s demands. However, Zhang Gui hated Liu Bei so much that he added spice to the story. Fancheng was the Zhang Family’s base. If Liu Bei and Liu Biao made peace, how was the Zhang Family supposed to make their comeback? It is only when Liu Biao and Liu Bei fought can the Zhang Family regain their power.
As nobody would know Fancheng as well as Zhang Gui, he would definitely be taken along. With his brother and the Cai Family’s support, he could once again regain his power. Once they retake Fancheng, Liu Biao would continue to send supplies to Fancheng. On the other hand, nothing can happen without Fancheng.
There were already too many nobles in Xiangyang, including the three big families. That is why the Zhang Family moved to Fancheng which was also quite prosperous.
Every other place also already have their own local nobles. As resources were limited, they would also not be willing to let the Zhang Family move there. The only way out was to regain Fancheng. That was why Zhang Gui desired war.
The other nobles also wanted Liu Biao to dispatch the troops. After Fancheng, the next to fall would be them. On top of that, if Liu Biao is forced to move the capital, they would also suffer losses. Having a war at the boundaries between Fancheng and Xiangyang would bring ruin to the fertile lands around there. Nobles who owned those lands will not agree to this. So they had to fight.
The problem now was where to find the soldiers. Jingzhou was large and had a huge population. However, this lead to the problem where each noble was weak and had little fighting power. The reason for this is that they were all satisfied with their easygoing lives. That was why Liu Biao did not conquer more territories and only defended. It was something they had to do or others would come and take their things.
Most of their soldiers were at Jiangxia fighting against Jiangdong. If they were moved, it would alert Sun Ce about their situation. He can then ally with Liu Bei to give Jingzhou more pressure. Huang Zu and his men were guarding the southwest. As the Cai Family only managed to place him there after much difficulty, it was unlikely for them to allow Huang Zu to return.
All that is left was the Cai Family’s navy. However powerful they were, they were navies, not land troops. They could not siege cities.
Fortunately, all of them were smart enough to know that they have an ally. They looked towards Liu Mang.
Rather than denying them outright, Liu Mang simply told Liu Biao that dispatching troops should be kept a secret. The one writing orders down need not be present.
“Liu Mang Liu Hanyang!” The officer glared angrily. If his glares could kill, Liu Mang would have already died. The Huang Family all knew that Liu Mang was purposefully opposing them.
“Milord. It would be better to be prudent.” Kuai Liang did not let go of this chance to oppose Huang She. Normally, Huang She’s father also needed to show Kuai Liang respect. Yet his son had called his name so rudely that day so this was payback.
“Milord. Time is of the essence. You must quickly make a decision!” Kuai Yue also voiced out his opinion. If his little brother had already spoken, he as the elder brother must not lag behind.
“Milord. We must quickly rescue the people at Fancheng!” The Cai and Zhang Family spoke.
The three families represented at least sixty percent of the influence in Jingzhou. Meanwhile, the Lumen Academy had learned their lesson after Pang Tong got expelled from the Pang Family. They no longer dared to oppose Liu Mang. That was why the civil servants and those from the Lumen Academy also spoke up, raising Liu Mang’s support to eighty percent.
The Huang Family’s supporters were in a difficult position. They wanted to speak up for Huang She but were powerless.
“Liu Mang Liu Hanyang! You are trying to sow discord! Milord is my uncle!” Huang She shouted. He knew could not defeat Liu Mang with schemes so he played the family card.
Speaking of which, Huang Zu and Liu Biao were once considered brothers. Sometimes, they all still addressed each other as family in private.
The moment he said this, all the other small time opportunists immediately shut up. They could not afford to offend the Huang Family without the influence of the Cai Family and the Kuai Family.
Huang She felt pleased with himself when everyone suddenly turned silent. As Liu Biao was his uncle, Liu Biao would not make life difficult for him.
“What an idiot.” Liu Mang said to himself as he smiled in disdain.
“What did you say?” The nearby Huang She shouted. He wanted to point and curse at Liiu Mang again.
“Men! Take Huang She to prison! He will be punished at a later date!” Liu Biao shouted angrily.
“Milord! Uncle!” Huang She panicked. He never believed his uncle would do this to him.
“Haha.” Liu Mang laughed to himself. The relative card can only be done in private. Even if Liu Biao wanted to help Huang She, he had to protect his own dignity as Lord. So Liu Biao would have no choice but to throw Huang She into prison. Lu Bu himself had almost killed Liu Mang when Liu Mang made a similar mistake last time. Fortunately, Liu Mang had admitted his mistake which spared his life.
Now Huang She was also punished for causing his Lord to lose dignity. Even if Liu Biao don’t intend to punish him, Huang She had already lost a lot of face. On top of that, prison life can’t be that good even if Jingzhou was prosperous.
Liu Mang felt better when he saw Huang She got dragged away.
“Your Highness. About dispatching the soldiers…” Liu Biao asked personally. The longer Liu Bei held onto Fancheng, the longer Liu Biao felt uneasy. He thought that Liu Mang would procrastinate as Fancheng was not his city. There was no guarantee even if he was an ally.
However, Liu Mang agreed readily. “Liu Jingzhou. We are allies and you are considered my uncle. Of course, I will send soldiers.” Liu Mang calling him uncle was far more valuable than Huang She.
Hearing Liu Mang’s reply, Liu Biao felt happy. “It is great to have such a virtuous younger generation!”
Liu Mang laughed at Liu Biao’s reply. If only Liu Biao had known that Liu Mang was the reason Liu Bei had been successful in his attack.
With Liu Bei occupying Fancheng, Liu Biao no longer held any wishful thinking. What Liu Mang had been afraid of was Liu Biao hindering him while he fought against Liu Bei. That was why he wanted Liu Bei to attack Jingzhou. This way, Liu Biao would no longer hold onto his wishful thinking.
“But…” Liu Mang suddenly added. This caused Liu Biao to become afraid again.
“Liu Jingzhou, we are allies but you yourself know our situation at Yangzhou right now. Our current provisions are…” Liu Mang purposefully did not finish the sentence.
Liu Biao quickly replied. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. We will provide the provisions used by your army!” He was confident that it can’t be any more than what was requested by Liu Bei.
“What about the money?”
“We will provide that as well! We will fund both provisions and money!” Liu Biao replied.
“That would be great!” Liu Mang was satisfied. Liu Bei was originally his main enemy but Liu Mang also needed to watch out for Liu Biao. Now, Liu Biao was funding his war effort.
“Your Highness, how many men will you dispatch?” Liu Biao asked.
“Over ten thousand.” Liu Mang replied.
“What?” Liu Biao felt like crying. Fancheng had thirty thousand men but lost.
“Your Highness. Isn’t that too little?” Kuai Liang, who was close to Liu Mang, asked in place of Liu Biao who could not.
“Five thousand from the Wolf Cavalry, five thousand Yiyang Troops, and three thousand White Horses.” Liu Mang’s words silenced the others, especially those who knew that the Wolf Cavalry were Yangzhou’s elites. There were nobody more powerful than them.
The White Horses were famous when they were under Gongsun Zan. Unfortunately, Gongsun Zan had lost his motivation so he only used the White Horses to defend. If he had attacked, victory could have been his. Now, the White Horses worked for Liu Mang. Although the people in Jingzhou did not know exactly how strong the White Horses were, they knew that the White Horses could not be too weak.
Meanwhile, the people from the Cai Family reacted towards Yiyang Troops. This is because the Yiyang Troops used to be Jingzhou’s elites. They were once the Deng Family’s soldiers. When the Deng Family fell from grace, the Yiyang Troops disbanded to prevent themselves from being controlled. They never expected the Yiyang Troops to return to help Jingzhou again.
Thinking this, Cai Mao looked towards Liu Biao. However, Liu Biao did not care. All he cared about was Fancheng. Although Liu Mang claimed that his soldiers were elites, Liu Biao was still uneasy. “Your Highness. How about I allocate a total of thirty thousand troops from the Xiangyang Guards and the defenders of Xiangyang and Jiangling to assist you?”
Liu Mang was stunned when he heard this. The Xiangyang Guards were basically just a crowd of spoiled noble children. Some of them even carry gold swords. Their combat prowess were basically worthless. Even ten of them would not be able to beat one actual soldier. On the other hand, the defenders were just city guards.
These three groups were burdens. Fortunately, Liu Mang also knew that attacking the city would require some hard work and was understanding. However, he made sure to remind Liu Biao of one matter. “Liu Jingzhou. Your three groups will have to be controlled by my army. Otherwise, I suggest you find someone else that is better qualified!”
“This…” Liu Biao felt embarrassed. Fortunately, Cai Mao was there to save him as he knew the strength of the Xiangyang Guards. If these people weren’t controlled by Liu Mang, they would think this as fun and games before doing something stupid.
“Milord. An army needs a commander-in-chief. Let that person be His Highness’ subordinates!” Cai Mao said. With that position given to Liu Mang, naturally, it would include the authority to order Liu Biao’s men.
Cai Mao already thought about asking those noble children to take sick leave until the war was over.
“The position of commander-in-chief will be chosen by Your Highness!” Liu Biao nodded. He had to relent he was the one hoping for Liu Mang to send his soldiers.
“We have three groups but we still need a general!” Liu Biao suddenly said. They needed a general so that they could integrate with Liu Mang’s Army.
“Milord! This general volunteers!” All the generals knelt. The generals in Jingzhou had no fights to participate in. Against Jiangxia, they usually lost. On the other hand, they could earn merits fighting against the barbarians at Changsha. However, after getting rid of the barbarians, there was nothing left.
Now that there were free merits in front of them. The Yangzhou Army would be the one doing most of the fighting. On top of that, they usually won against Liu Bei. All they needed to do was send out their soldiers as cannon fodder. The lives of these soldiers weren’t important to them.
All of them cupped their fists, stopping short from making a promise involving their lives. Even the Cai Family and Huang Family’s generals were not exempt from this.
The only ones that remained quiet were the Zhang Family. As the ones who lost Fancheng, they were the sinner. That was why they honestly kept quiet.
“Liu Jingzhou. I think we should let Zhang Gui command the soldiers.” Liu Mang suggested.
“How could Zhang Gui take command?” One person questioned.
“That’s right! He will just lose again! He can’t even persevere for one day!” Another one shouted. This one was from the Cai Family. Normally, he worked together with the Zhang Family to oppose the Huang Family but now he opposed the Zhang Family for merits.
“Liu Jingzhou. I believe that no one here is more familiar with Fancheng compared to Zhang Gui!” Liu Mang said.
This was the truth as the Zhang Family operated in Fancheng for many years. Zhang Gui knew everything about Fancheng.
“How could a defeated general succeed?”
“A defeated general?” Liu Mang laughed. “Victory and defeat is common in war! A there any general that had never been defeated?” Liu Mang questioned as he patted Zhang Gui’s shoulders.
“Your Highness!”
“Even my father-in-law, Lu Bu, was once defeated by that Big Eared Liu! He was soft hearted and did not finish off Liu Bei! This led to his defeat at Xuzhou!” Liu Mang used Lu Bu as an example. The fact was if Liu Bei was dead, the Mi Family and the other nobles of Xuzhou could not have supported Liu Bei. Half of the reason Lu Bu lost at Xuzhou was because of Liu Bei.
“Does that mean we cannot defeat Liu Bei now?” Liu Mang questioned.
“That was different!” Some people were still unconvinced.
“A person should not be afraid of losing! They should be afraid of not getting back up!” Liu Mang commented as he looked at those present.
“Liu Jingzhou. General Zhang Gui is a general and warrior from Jingzhou. His worth is hard to evaluate with one defeat. The rest is up to you. If Liu Jingzhou were to use him, then congratulations. You gain another talented individual. If you refuse to use him, then just discharge him as he is already worthless.
Liu Mang’s words were forceful in favor of picking Zhang Gui. He and Jia Xu had already discussed about this and decided that Zhang Gui was the best option.
First of all, it would be easier if they knew about Fancheng. Second, others won’t think of Liu Mang if they were to become the commander. On the other hand, saving Zhang Gui would make him feel gratitude.
“This…” Liu Biao hesitated. Zhang Gui definitely had the skill but it was also true that Fancheng was his mistake. Deep down, Liu Biao did not want Zhang Gui to lead the army but Liu Mang insisted as it was his army that was going to fight. Besides that, Liu Mang wasn’t wrong. If Liu Biao were to reject the Zhang Family here, he would lose their support.
While Liu Biao was thinking, Liu mang patted Zhang Gui’s shoulders. If Zhang Gui still remained stupefied, then he would really be an idiot. When he felt Liu Mang’s encouragement, he immediately said, “Milord! This Zhang Gui recommends himself to help Milord regain Fancheng and atone for his mistakes through meritorious acts! This Zhang Gui is willing to make a military order that he will return with either Fancheng or his head!”
“Hm?” Liu Biao stared blankly.
Zhang Yun also knelt down and said. “Milord. This Zhang Yun will accompany his little brother! If we cannot win, the whole Zhang Family can be executed!” As the Zhang Family would still be finished if they were to lose, he might as well gamble his life.
“Sigh.” Cai Mao sighed. As the Zhang Family’s leader, he also had to give his support. “Milord. I am willing to write down the military order!”
With Cai Mao agreeing to this, the other families also started showing their support. With so many people agreeing to this, Liu Biao could no longer refuse. “Fine! Zhang Gui! Your Lord will give you this one chance! If you fail, don’t come back!”
“Thank you Milord!” Zhang Gui was overjoyed and immediately kowtowed regardless of his wounds. He also did not forget to be grateful to Liu Mang. If Zhang Gui were to win, not only would be atone for his mistakes. He would also obtain merits.
Liu Mang laughed happily as it was his plan to make Zhang Gui grateful.
