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The head of the Zhu family is still Zhu Liang, the father of Zhu Xun. Zhu Liang donated half of the family's land under his persuasion, which was praised by Liu Jing. His son Zhu Xun was promoted to the magistrate of Chaisang County. In recent years, Zhu Xun has also worked hard to manage Chaisang in an orderly manner, with a prosperous business, a stable life, and a large amount of money, grain and taxes every year.

There are also rumors within Jiangxia that Zhu Xun will be promoted to Changsha County Magistrate this year, which made Zhu Liang very happy. He was looking forward to April every day. Unexpectedly, there were unexpected situations in the sky, and the sneak attack of the Jiangdong Army shattered Zhu Liang's dream.

The fall of Chaisang made it difficult for Zhu Liang to fall asleep for several days. It was not because of the fall of Chaisang itself, it had nothing to do with him. The key was that he accepted Xu Sheng's order and continued to serve as the magistrate of Chaisang County.

This is because Zhu Liang fell into a sense of uneasiness and fear. This is considered the county magistrate of Jingzhou, or the county magistrate of Jiangdong. If it were the county magistrate of Jiangdong, wouldn’t it betray Jingzhou?

Zhu Liang was in the study and felt a sense of pins and needles. At this time, the housekeeper came to report that Manager Li of the manor had something to ask for a meeting. Zhu Liang thought something was wrong in the manor, and his heart was thrust again and immediately said: "Let him come in."

After a moment, Manor Li walked into the room, knelt down and bowed, took out a letter: "Last night, someone from Wuchang found me and asked me to give this letter to the master."

Zhu Liang was stunned. He slowly took the letter. Suddenly, he stood up in shock. The letter turned out to be a handwritten letter from Zhou Mu. He was trembling all over. After a while, he opened the letter and started to look at it tremble.

Liu Jing's tone in the letter was very gentle. He first praised Zhu Xun's efforts to make Chaisang prosperous over the years. He could understand that Zhu Xun did not abandon the city and fled, but did not hesitate to damage his reputation and stayed to protect Chaisang's people.

Zhu Liang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He was grateful for Liu Jing's tolerance. He continued to read. In the second half of the letter, Liu Jing asked the Zhu family to adhere to their principled position and contribute to the Jiangxia army's recovery of Chaisang.

Zhu Liang sighed, Chaisang fell and the Tao family was closely monitored, so Liu Jing found himself. Of course, he understood the danger, but he had no choice. After thinking for a while, Zhu Liang asked the manager again, "Is there anything else to tell you about Wuchang?"

Manager Li hesitated for a moment and whispered: "The ten men I brought this time are actually all Jiangxia soldiers, and they ask to hide in our mansion."

Zhu Liang was so scared that his legs were trembling. It was almost here, but now that things have come, he could not report and confess. Their family land is in Chaisang, unless they don’t want to live anymore. He lowered his head and thought, “I remember there are rules to enter the city. There are so many people who come in, and they must not spend the night in the city, right?”

Manager Li nodded, "This is the rule."

Zhu Liang sighed and said, "Then I will find ten people from the mansion and let you take them out. In addition, please bring them over. I want to talk to him."

Manager Li went out, and for a moment he brought a thin man. Zhu Liang was surprised, "It turned out to be General Liu."

The person who came was Liu Zheng, not only him, but also all the ten people he brought were elite Eagle Strike Army. Although Liu Jing did not attack Chaisang for the time being, it does not mean that he would hand over Chaisang.

Liu Zheng grinned, "So the master knows me."

Zhu Liang smiled bitterly, "There are probably not many people in Jiang Xia who don't know General Liu."

Liu Zheng touched his face and smiled and said, "It seems that I really can't go out to the streets, otherwise it will cause a sensation all over the city."

Zhu Liangwuxin joked with him and hurriedly said, "This is exactly what I want to say to General Liu. Please stay in the mansion with peace of mind, I will make arrangements."

Liu Zheng's smile disappeared, and he shook his head and said, "Thank you Mr. Zhu for his kindness, but I have a task, so I will arrange what I should do. In addition, I want to meet the magistrate of Zhu County and ask Mr. Zhu to help arrange it."

Zhu Liang had no choice but to nod, "I'll send someone to find him now."

...........

Just as the situation in Jiangxia was about to break out, Liu Bei's special envoy finally arrived late, and Zhuge Liang came to Jiangxia unexpectedly with his wife and daughter.

Liu Bei originally planned to send Jian Yong to Jiangxia to envoy Jiangxia, but just as Jian Yongzheng was about to set off, Liu Bei unexpectedly received news that the Jiangxia army occupied Xiling County.

This made Liu Bei feel suspicious and anxious. He suspected that Liu Jing would also seize Bashu. However, for the sake of Zhao Yun, Liu Jing promised him not to take Bashu.

After thinking about it, Liu Bei decided to send Zhuge Liang to Jiangxia to test Liu Jing's attitude.

Of course, temptation can only be indirect, but Zhuge Liang's excuse was to fight Jiang Dongzhao, and he came to express his opinion on behalf of Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was grateful to Liu Jing for changing back to Liu Chan. The Jingnan army would never cooperate with Jiangdong to attack Nanjun. As for whether the Jingnan army has the ability to cross the river, that doesn't matter.

At the same time, Zhuge Liang also brought his wife Huang Yueying and daughter Aguo together with Jiangxia. Huang Yueying and Tao Zhan have not seen each other for many years.

Jiangxia Horse Raising Farm is located about 60 miles northeast of Wuchang County, close to Wuchang Lake, and is a wilderness meadow full of alfalfa.

The original horse farm was only 2,000 acres, but after several years of development, it has expanded to 5,000 acres, with a piece of wood covering an area of ​​acres and a lake of the same size in the middle.

This is a vast southern pasture with warmth and humidity that is not found in the north. The lake is beautiful and the forest is beautiful, making people linger.

There are thousands of war horses in the pasture, mostly pony and stallions. Once the war horses become adults, they will be equipped with troops, either for cavalry or for army scouts. Over the years, the horse farm has provided nearly five thousand war horses to the Jiangxia army.

On a gentle slope with green grass, Tao Zhan and Huang Yueying walked slowly on a white horse, following several female guards next to them, carefully riding horses to protect them.

Huang Yueying just knew how to ride horses. She heard that these were real war horses and ran like flying on the battlefield. She seemed very nervous. But after walking two miles with Tao Zhan, she found that the war horse was not fierce. On the contrary, she was very gentle. She seemed to know that she could not ride horses, so she walked slowly.

Huang Yueying couldn't help but smile and asked Tao Zhan: "Jiu Niang, is this really a war horse so docile?"

Tao Zhan wore a light green long dress, looking as beautiful as peach blossoms. Although she and Huang Yueying had not seen each other for several years, their relationship was not alienated. They kept communicating with each other. Huang Yueying's visit to Wuchang this time made Tao Zhan extremely happy and was very attentive to entertain, as if she wanted to compensate for all the shortcomings of several years.

She pursed her lips and smiled, "This is a horse specially chosen for you. How can a real war horse be so docile?"

At this moment, nearby war horses rushed towards the wilderness, and their hooves hit the ground, like thunder, whizzing by not far away.

Huang Yueying had never seen such a powerful and galloping horse. She was shocked and could not control the horse. A female guard quickly took the reins and stabilized the horse.

Tao Zhan had seen the training of Jiangxia cavalry, but she was not surprised and smiled and said, "See or not, that is the real war horse. Running like thunder, only real warriors can tame them."

However, women were born not interested in fighting horses, and their attention quickly turned to the lake in the distance. It was a lake bay with steep mountains and lush trees on both sides. There was a small island in the middle of the bend of the lake. The lakes and mountains complemented each other, very quiet, with picturesque waves, like a fairyland on earth.

Huang Yueying couldn't help but praise: "The lake water is as blue as a gem, but I didn't expect there to be such a beautiful scenery here."

Tao Zhan was also intoxicated by the scenery of the lake and mountains in the distance. Her eyes were blurred and she turned to look at Liu Jing in the distance. She wanted to talk to her husband and buy the island in the lake, but when she saw him and Zhuge Liang were walking slowly alongside each other, the two were talking about something, which was inconvenient to disturb her.

Tao Zhan saw a piece of grass by the lake again, and Xiao Bao's mother was playing with her two children, so she smiled and said, "Let's go and see the children."

Huang Yueying nodded happily, the two of them got off their horses and walked quickly towards the lake.

Liu Jingzheng and Zhuge Liang walked slowly on horseback. Zhuge Liang looked around and smiled and said, "This area has a wide view and beautiful scenery, which makes people feel refreshed. It's still a horse farm. I really can't believe that this place is actually the south."

Zhuge Liang used the view of the scenery to hide his shock. He finally understood why the Jiangxia army had cavalry and also saw the price that the Jiangxia army paid for many years in raising horses, which was something that the Jingnan army could not bear in any way.

He felt sad. From a horse farm, he saw the huge difference between the Jingnan Army and the Jiangxia Army. There is no need to talk about the navy, turbulent oil and the heavy armored infantry unique to the Jiangxia Army.

Liu Jing quickly glanced at Zhuge Liang and asked with a smile: "Is there no such a flat place in Wuling?"

Zhuge Liang sighed and said, "The mountains in Wuling are undulating. There are few such vast fields. Even if there are, they are used to farm. It is impossible to raise horses. More importantly, there is no good horse as a breeding, nor the national strength to raise horses."

Liu Jing nodded, "That's right"

Zhuge Liang arrived in Wuchang yesterday, and today was the second time he had met with Liu Jing. Although Liu Bei's promise to go north by not cooperating with Jiangdong Army, he won the polite thanks from Liu Jing and Jiangxia senior officials, that was not the real purpose of Zhuge Liang's mission to Jiangxia.

Zhuge Liang pondered for a moment and asked slowly: "I don't know what plans will be after the provincial governor fights this battle?"

Liu Jing smiled bitterly and said, "I have never had any long-term plans. In fact, I have never stopped since the previous year. The wars have dragged me down to exhaustion, and I have no time to think about it for a long time."

Zhuge Liang certainly knew that Liu Jingyan was not sincere. He smiled and said, "How could the provincial governor not have lofty ambitions? I feel that the Jiangxia army is full of morale. How can an army that can defeat Cao Cao be willing to be in a corner of Jiangxia?"

"Mr. Kong Ming didn't know that Jiangxia is narrow in territory and has a small population, so it is really hard to withstand several consecutive battles. After the Battle of Chibi, Jiangxia's national strength was on the verge of collapse. We had to watch Cao Cao retreat calmly, and we had to advance to Nanjun and Xiangyang after several months. This time, Chaisang was attacked by a sneak attack, so I could only swallow my anger and use limited resources to deal with the Jiangdong army. If I win by chance, Jiangxia will rest for four years, and the Jiangxia army will also be able to accumulate strength. At least I will not be able to expand outside this year."

This time it was Zhuge Liang's turn to smile bitterly. No matter how he indirectly he made a move, Liu Jing was indifferent, but this just showed that Liu Jing's plan could not be known to him.

When he contacted Liu Jing and led his army to Xiling County, Zhuge Liang keenly concluded that even if Liu Jing did not say it, his strategic goals were self-evident.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang asked lightly again: "When I came, the emperor wanted to know about the situation of the dragon, but I don't know how he is doing recently."

Zhuge Liang reminded Liu Jing that you had promised Uncle Liu not to take Bashu first and use Zhao Yun as a exchange condition.

Unexpectedly, Liu Jing shook his head, "The emperor promised to let Long be loyal to me, but in fact, the emperor did not fulfill his promise. I had planned to be a dragon official title this time, but he refused. Frankly speaking, I was very disappointed with Uncle Liu's promise."

Zhuge Liang was stunned and asked quickly: "I don't know where General Long is now."

"I don't know either. I heard that he went back to his hometown to visit his parents' graves. Mr. Kong Ming went back and asked Uncle Liu to tell him that I hope he could fulfill his promise as soon as possible."
Chapter completed!