Chapter 424: Turning against guests
In Nanxiang County, Yi Ji wore mourning clothes and walked fifty miles out of the city to greet Liu Qi's fleet, which was slowly heading north, on the shore.

The fleet's flags were covered with white mourning clothes, and Liu Qi also disembarked and came ashore to meet Yi Ji.

Contrary to Yi Ji's expectations, Liu Qi did not feel much loss or resentment at this moment. Instead, he felt grateful for having survived the disaster.

Behind the curtain, Yi Ji took a sip of tea and said, "Although Zhou Gongjin anticipated the enemy's advance, he was too ruthless. In my opinion, the general can stay in Nanxiang, and the old lord can be buried in Taihe Mountain."

Wudang Mountain is the name given by the locals, while those from other places who come here to practice Taoism call it Taihe Mountain.

Taihe is the interaction between the dragon and the tiger.

Longshan refers to the southern mountains of the Qinling Mountains running east-west, and Hushan refers to the Bashan Mountains and Jingshan Mountains running north-south.

Of course, this place can also be called Longhu Mountain.

Liu Qi also held the tea bowl in both hands to warm his hands, with no extra emotion on his face: "I'm afraid this is not a good idea. With more than 5,000 men and women accompanying us, it will only increase the burden on Nanxiang, and will also make you hostile to Zhou Gongjin."

"Why should I be afraid of him? I am the governor of Nanxiang County appointed by my old master, the Grand Marshal. Do you think he dares to raise an army to attack me?"

Yi Ji stared as he spoke. At this moment, his eyes met with Liu Qi's. Liu Qi was confused: "Sir, could Zhou Yu be a dead spy in Huainan? His former master Sun Quan is also in Nanyang. I am really confused by the way the Grand Marshal has placed him."

"The Grand Marshal sent Sun Quan to Nanyang because he probably thought that this man had a mortal feud with Huang Zu and Huainan, and was familiar with the officers of Jiangdong, so he might be able to instigate a rebellion or recruit them to surrender."

Yi Ji said with a sigh: "I am afraid that this person will take advantage of the situation and revive the situation."

Liu Qi stood up slowly, even more incredulous: "Sir, what are you saying?"

"Just doubt."

Yi Ji also stood up while talking, and followed Liu Qi to the campfire. "If the war situation changes strangely, the officers and soldiers of Jiangdong can abandon the Sun family and welcome the King of Huainan, and naturally they can abandon the King of Huainan and join the Grand Marshal. If at this moment, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu follow the orders of the Grand Marshal, gather the soldiers of the officers and soldiers of Jiangdong, forge the orders, gather the treacherous and evil people, and persecute the loyal and righteous people, then Jingyang and Yangzhou will change overnight."

Liu Qi felt that what Yi Ji said made sense, but he was not very sure.

Because Liu Qi did not think that his strategy and vision were very high, nor did he think that Yi Ji had any profound strategies.

After thinking for a while, Liu Qi asked: "Should we warn the Grand Marshal?"

"Don't make it public."

Yi Ji's brows were solemn. "I, Nanxiang, will secretly prepare for war and guard the residence and armory for the Grand Marshal. If there is any change in Jingzhou, the Grand Marshal's troops will suddenly descend and the mob will be defeated overnight. But if the Grand Marshal is prepared, they will pretend to be loyal, which will cause greater harm in the future."

While warming themselves by the fire, Yi Ji lowered his voice and said, "This matter has far-reaching consequences. It is not appropriate for you to get involved."

Seeing Liu Qi nod, Yi Ji continued in a normal voice, "The old lord has made great contributions to protecting the country and the people, and the people of Jingxiang are grateful for his kindness. I think we should move the burial to Taihe Mountain and choose a place with good feng shui for burial, so that there will be no shortage of people to clean up in the future. Moreover, with the great Sima's worship of Taoism, Taihe Mountain will surely be a popular place in the future."

Liu Qi nodded and responded in a low voice. As it involved the funeral, he didn't want to say much.

Naturally, he was unhappy about being expelled, as this was a clear violation of the promise between him and the Grand Marshal.

According to the tacit understanding at the time, he should have been the last prince to surrender, and as long as he obeyed orders, he would not have to abide by so many restrictions.

But in the end, no written agreement was signed. Zhou Yu obviously took advantage of the fact that the Grand Marshal was far away in Yizhou and the military orders were not smooth, and launched the action on his own.

It is not an exaggeration to call this behavior a coup or a military coup.

But no one would hold him accountable. After all, Zhou Yu's reasons were very legitimate. After all, Liu Qi and his son did not become kings. As Han ministers, they should resign and observe mourning.

The news that Liu Qi was taken in by Yi Ji and temporarily settled in Nanxiang, and that he was looking for a burial place for Liu Biao in Taihe Mountain soon reached Zhou Yu's ears.

At this moment Zhou Yu came to Xiangyang City again. When Liu Qi left, he closed the treasury and handed over the account books to Fu Xun instead.

As a result, the power to mobilize materials in Nanjun fell into Fu Xun's hands at this moment. Even the county soldiers of Nanjun, various recruits, and Liu's troops all recognized Fu Xun's seals of Zhennan General, Fubo General, and Nanjun Guard. These three seals were too important, so Liu Qi reluctantly trusted Fu Xun, the old man in the Zhennan Shogunate, and handed them over to Fu Xun.

After all, Fu Xun is from Guanzhong.

Zhou Yu plays the bad guy, and Fu Xun takes the good guy.

With the three seals in hand, Fu Xun, who was a veteran of the Zhennan Shogunate and had deep connections in Jingxiang and Nanjun, quickly reorganized the Nanjun government and acted as the county magistrate himself.

Before Liu Qi resigned, he tried his best to be a good person. He made a memorial to the Shangshu Xingtai of Guanzhong and recommended Fu Xun to take over the post of county governor.

But in Yi Ji's eyes, Fu Xun could not stop Zhou Yu.

Whether it is Zhou Yu, Sun Jian, Sun Ce or other Jiangdong generals and officers, in Yi Ji's eyes, they are all bandits with strong bandit spirit and it is difficult for them to abide by the rules.

It seems that the existence of this group of people is just to break all kinds of rules.

The original residence of Cai Mao was converted into a temporary county governor's mansion by Fu Xun. The Zhennan Shogunate in the city and the county governor's mansion used by Liu Qi have both been sealed.

Fu Xun also knew that taking Nanjun without authorization would arouse the anger of the higher-ups. Zhou Yu was not aware of the inside story. As an old man in the Zhennan Shogunate, couldn't he see the connection between the Grand Marshal and Liu Qi?

But the benefits are really too great. Nanjun has a population of more than 400,000, not counting the county soldiers. Currently, the Zhennan Shogunate and the Fubo Shogunate control 40,000 troops on land and sea!

Including the county soldiers, that’s an army of 50,000!

Nanyang was well governed and restored by Liu Bei. After Zhou Yu took over, it still has more than 10,000 county soldiers.

In the following wars with the Jiangdong Army and Jingnan, the 40,000-strong naval and land forces of Nanjun will be the main force.

The combined forces of more than 20,000 soldiers from Nanjun and Nanyang could only do logistics, transport food, and guard the grain routes.

As for Yi Ji's Nanxiang County, the eight counties only had two thousand county soldiers, and Fu Xun did not take them seriously at all.

The situation in Jingxiang changed drastically, and Zhou Yu did not expect to be tricked by Fu Xun.

But Liu Qi resigned legally, and before leaving, he publicly entrusted the three seals to Fu Xun. It was impossible for Zhou Yu to snatch them away.

Unless the matter is too difficult and Fu Xun has no confidence in solving it, and voluntarily gives up the three seals, Zhou Yu can take over the military power relatively legally.

But is Fu Xun the kind of person who can see the overall situation?
The northern scholars, especially those with a sense of the overall situation and a spirit of sacrifice... basically most of them died.

How could Fu Xun, who fled to Jingzhou early to avoid the chaos, have such a precious mind?

I guess he would rather beat it to pieces than let Zhou Yu take control easily.

With a self-deprecating mood, Zhou Yu was led into the temporary county governor's office in the south of the city.

Fu Xun did not dare to anger Zhou Yu, so he took the initiative to go out to greet Zhou Yu, and he did not dare to sit in the main seat at the head.

Instead, he sat opposite Zhou Yu on an equal footing, one on his left and one on his right.

After the servants left, Fu Xun took out a few transcribed letters and handed them to Zhou Yu: "This is a secret report from Jiangdong. The original has been submitted to Guanzhong. If nothing unexpected happens, Huainan will make Lu Yi the general. I wonder if the governor knows this person?"

Zhou Yu nodded, flipped through the transcripts, and immediately analyzed the owner behind them through their wording habits.

The corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily: "Lu Yi, Lu Boyan, it seems that the Jiangdong big family and Liu Huainan have finally come together."

(End of this chapter)