Chapter 98 Differences
As Liu Qi issued a notice to reassure the people, order inside and outside Xiangyang was quickly restored.

So much so that those who reacted quickly had already brought their goods to the temporary camp to do business.

Take the risk to do business and sell at two or three times the market price.

Unfortunately, before the fruit and wine vendors could make a few sales, Black Bear sent people to drive them away.

After waiting for a long time, Zhuge Liang finally arrived.

After reading the two letters from Mrs. Cai, Hei Xiong immediately felt that this woman was more decisive than Liu Qi.

Especially the letters to the Cai family members. Whoever plunders the Cai family’s assets now is robbing Black Bear’s wealth.

After carefully examining Mrs. Cai's letter, Black Bear said with emotion: "What a pity to be born a girl."

Zhuge Liang did not respond, but asked, "Captain Hei, I have left this matter to you. Will you bother me again tomorrow?"

Hearing the distant tone in Zhuge Liang's words, Black Bear didn't know what to give to express his gratitude.

After thinking for a while, he said, "After I withdraw my troops to Nanxiang, if Mr. Kongming is free, you can come to Nanxiang for a chat. The Cai family will give me a lot of money and food, and you can go with me by boat."

"Okay, after Liang visits his friends, we'll go to Nanxiang."

Zhuge Liang bowed and was about to leave. Black Bear turned his head to look at a personal soldier and said, "Bring the carriage and send Mr. Kong Ming off."

"Thank you, Captain Hei. Liang wants to go to Lumen Mountain."

Black Bear agreed and gave detailed instructions to his personal soldiers, asking them to select a few people to escort Zhuge Liang and his servants to Tanxikou Water Fort.

The water fort is also a ferry. When Zhuge Liang arrives here and takes a boat across the Han River, he can get in touch with Sima Hui and Pang Degong and naturally get help from them.

After watching the carriage speed away, Black Bear turned around to meet the Cai clan members.

Sixty-seven people sat together, nearly half of them were injured, and they had better armor to protect them.

Most of the injuries were minor and have been bandaged.

At this moment, they were eating dry food and were all exhausted. More than a dozen people were lying on the ground, covering their heads with flags and falling asleep.

Seeing the black bear coming, they woke up the sleeping people.

Before the black bear arrived, the Qingzhou soldiers guarding them approached first, holding spears and halberds and shouting and giving orders.

These Cai clan members sat in four rows on the ground, looking somewhat trained.

Black Bear came closer, holding up the letter from Madam Cai and said, "This is the letter from Madam Liu Zhennan. She agreed to my request. This is the letter she gave you. If you have no objection, you will cooperate in commanding the prisoners, and we will transport the wounded, equipment, and fallen soldiers back to Wanshan."

As he said this, he handed the letter to the guard beside him, and the guard passed the letter to an elder from the Cai family.

The man was in his forties, with a square face and thick beard, making it difficult to see the contours of his chin and cheeks. His only facial features were a pair of long and narrow eyes.

The letter was circulated among the Cai clan members. Black Bear continued, "As the saying goes, when the sun is at its highest point, the water will overflow. Cai Mao saw the predicament of the Cai family and intervened in Liu Zhennan's family affairs."

Seeing the Cai clan members looking up at him, Black Bear did not feel guilty: "It's a pity that he is not Liu Cong's uncle, and he also underestimated the reputation of Master Liu Qi. Now that Cai Mao has surrendered, the Cai clan has handed over many servants and grains, and can get out of Xiangyang. This may not be a bad thing."

Cai Wan, a cousin of Cai Mao, heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this: "What Lord Hei said makes sense. Even if we withdraw from Xiangyang, our family will still be rich and noble, and we will be happy and at ease from now on."

Whether they can be relieved or not, only they themselves know.

Seeing that he cooperated, Black Bear just smiled and said, "Then cooperate with our army to retreat to Wanshan."

There was a standing military camp of the Jingzhou Army at the foot of the east side of Wanshan Mountain. It was responsible for guarding the wharf and was also a stronghold in the northwest corner of Xiangyang City.

With the natural barrier of Han River as a defense, Jingzhou had no intention of strengthening the Wanshan stronghold.

The invading troops from the north lacked boats and ships, making it difficult for them to directly threaten the city of Xiangyang.

The series of cities on the north bank of the Han River, including Fancheng, Dengcheng, Dengsai, Pinglucheng, etc., were enough to keep the northern troops occupied for a long time.

These cities are close to the Han River and can obtain personnel and material supplies from the south bank at any time.

Therefore, there is no need for Xiangyang to build and reinforce the Wanshan stronghold, it only needs to build a defense zone on the north bank.

The two cities of Xiangfan are natural fortresses, so it is normal that they look down on Wanshan.

But Black Bear likes Wanshan very much, and always thinks that building a mountain city based on Wanshan... However, from the traditional perspective, it really doesn't make sense.

Wanshan controlled the dock area. Once it was besieged, it meant that the Han River would be cut off and it would be difficult for the defenders to obtain supplies.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to strengthen the defense belt on the north bank; with the Han River there, supplies can be replenished at any time.

As he was thinking about the various changes to strengthen Wanshan, Gan Ning walked over quickly and asked, "Captain Qu?"

"I have reached an agreement with the Cai family. I hope you can bring 500 people to settle in Caizhou."

Black Bear pointed to the northern dock and said, "The Cai family's ship is right there. You guys go to Caizhou and garrison there for ten days."

Gan Ning frowned: "What about Wuguan Road?"

"The Wuguan Road is always available. With the Cai family's assistance, we can get more help."

Black Bear emphasized, "Your five hundred men are going to Caizhou to enjoy themselves. I hope Xingba can take this opportunity to recruit more warriors."

Gan Ning was so down and out before, and now he led his men to settle in the empty Caizhou. How dare the Cai family let Gan Ning starve?
Going to Caizhou made it easier for Gan Ning to contact Jiangxia, and also allowed him to recruit a group of sailors through the Han River waterway transportation.

During this period, Gan Ning wanted to borrow money to recruit people. Did the Cai family dare to refuse?

The redemption money is the redemption money, the hiring money is the hiring money, and the extra money Gan Ning asked for is just a small sum.

Jingzhou has not yet carried out a large-scale military mobilization, so there is a surplus of labor in various civilian industries.

The cost of recruiting personnel is low and the efficiency is high now. Such a big move as settling in Caizhou is enough to make most people yearn for it.

In this way, people who are selected and recruited can be used after a little training.

Gan Ning also realized that this was indeed a good opportunity to recruit strong men from the surrounding areas of Jianghan.

Before, I had no reputation, could not offer a sufficiently generous salary, and lacked appeal for external recruitment. Now it is different.

For Gan Ning, he now has the confidence to invite his companions who fled with him to Yizhou.

In an instant, the idea of ​​taking charge of the department again appeared in Gan Ning's mind.

Qu Shuai leads the main troops, and he leads other troops either as vanguards or as auxiliary, which will truly establish his transcendent position.

Gan Ning immediately cupped his hands and said, "Yes, I will select the officers and soldiers right away."

Take 500 people out, even if you can't bring back 3,000, at least bring back 2,000!

Gan Ning, who was about to leave, turned back and asked, "General Qu, if my five hundred men leave, your entourage will be either soldiers from Qingzhou or the Cai clan. If something unexpected happens, how will you respond?"

"It's fine for now. I will invite Yi Ji and Wang Wei to come with me. They will be able to suppress the situation."

Black Bear couldn't help but smile as he spoke. Now that they were under pressure from all sides, no one dared to act rashly.

He felt more and more that he had touched upon the subtlety of command. The right combination could save him a lot of effort.

As for the army led by Liu Qi, forget it. It’s better to follow Liu Qi into the city.

As long as more than 10,000 of them retreated to Wanshan and garrisoned, it would be enough to ensure Liu Qi's safety.

Gan Ning also felt that there was a high probability that there would be no problems with the army. After all, Black Bear could drive the Qingzhou soldiers to join in the fight, and now was the stage when the Qingzhou soldiers were most obedient.

So he no longer had any doubts, quickly selected the officials, and headed towards the northern pier.

Black Bear also went to find Liu Qi and Yi Ji. Liu Qi looked at Yi Ji reluctantly and said, "If I go into the city alone, I might not know how to respond. If you have your guidance, then nothing will go wrong."

Black Bear went to see Yi Ji, who thought deeply and shook his head: "My Lord, you have eliminated the traitors and the great harm to Jingzhou. Even if you made some mistakes, who can blame you?"

Yi Ji let out a long sigh and said, "From now on, I will not enter Xiangyang City unless it is necessary. Captain Hei and I will retreat to Wanshan and then gradually retreat to Nanxiang. Please do not hesitate after entering the city, and quickly recruit officials and move the government to Jiangling."

Seeing Liu Qi's embarrassment, Black Bear added his own opinion: "Young Master, move to Jiangling within five days. Recruiting more than ten people will be enough for you to plan for now. After you enter Jiangling, I will lead the rear guard troops back to Nanxiang. Therefore, within ten days, you must enter Jiangling!"

Black Bear spoke urgently, and Liu Qi frowned: "I see that my father has no objection, can he still harm me?"

Seeing no answer from Black Bear, Liu Qi went to see Yi Ji, who patiently replied, "Captain Black is not worried about the Lord, but other variables. The sooner you can occupy Jiangling, the sooner Jingxiang will be stable."

The father and son will guard Xiangyang and Jiangling respectively, so the situation will be very stable.

Even if an extreme event with a low probability occurs, it can ensure that the situation in Jingzhou will not collapse instantly.

Seeing that Hei Xiong and Yi Ji were about to retreat to the distant Wanshan Mountains, and that he had to face Liu Biao and so many people from the Zhennan Shogunate alone, Liu Qi instinctively panicked.

Especially Liu Biao, he really didn't dare to meet him.

It was as if he was instigated by outsiders to kill the loyal old yellow dog that guarded the house.

Seeing Liu Qi like this, Black Bear really didn't want to say anything more. The more he said, the more trouble he would cause.

Just push Liu Qi over there; this guy does have some potential after all.

Given the current situation, who in Xiangyang City dares to set up a trap to plot against Liu Qi?

Liu Qi ended this dull farewell, stopped his horse to the side, and watched Hei Xiong, Yi Ji, Wang Wei and others drive the captives and load the various tools swept from the battlefield onto the carts.

As the captives carried their armor first, they were followed by carts full of wounded soldiers and fallen soldiers.

Even the broken limbs on the battlefield were cleaned up. Apart from the bloodstains, basically everything that could be seen by the eyes had been cleaned and tidied up.

Immediately afterwards, the soldiers around Liu Qi left the river and took the initiative to clean up the battlefield for the second time.

Even picking up an arrowhead would be a small gain.

If you can pick up swords, other metal pieces, even bronze, lacquerware, or even gems and ivory products in the grass, that would be a considerable income.

Anything can happen during a battle. For the grassroots officers and soldiers, there are always various little surprises when cleaning the battlefield.

The vendors who arrived one after another could only stay where they were and watch helplessly; they did not dare to rashly get involved.

From time to time, soldiers picked up some odds and ends, and Liu Qi just took a few more glances at them.

At this time, it was getting dark, and Liu Qi said to Gao Qian beside him: "Gather the officers and soldiers and enter the city."

"Yes!"

Gao Qian immediately instructed the drummer not far away, who was holding a waist drum and beating it softly.

When drummers from other places heard this, they also beat the same rhythm.

Amid the sound of drums, the officers and soldiers scattered around moved closer to Liu Qi and began to assemble in formation.

After each team of hundreds had completed its mission, Liu Qi mounted his horse, held the reins in his left hand, and looked towards the west gate of Xiangyang with his head held high.

Seeing that there were only a few soldiers on the gate tower and no one else watching, he lightly kicked the horse's belly and said, "Gee!"

He rode lightly on his horse, followed by dozens of knights.

One by one, the centuries-long teams set out and began to trot, keeping a distance from the galloping knights.

Only many vendors were left there. Some of them were unwilling to give up and picked up their shoulder poles or carried baskets on their backs and walked towards Wanshan.

Everyone looked unhappy.

The Wanshan stronghold is very close to the wharf market, and has always been crowded with vendors, so it is difficult to get a good price.

As the vendors left, only bloodstains were left on the road from Longzhong to this section.

Night fell, the mountain wind blew, and even the smell of blood dissipated.

(End of this chapter)