In the silence, Guan Yu clasped his fists and said, "I have not made any achievements, so I dare not take this high position. I am afraid that I will fail your majesty's expectations. Please choose another virtuous person."
The messenger immediately looked unhappy and said in a deep voice: "Guan Yu, do you dare to disobey my order?"
Guan Yu looked indifferent: "I'm sorry, I can't obey your order!"
"Guan Yu, you are so brave!" The envoy said angrily, "Disobeying the emperor's order is a crime of deceiving the emperor. You will be beheaded and your entire family will be exterminated. How dare you..."
"Shut up!" Liu Qi stood up suddenly, pointed at the messenger and shouted, "You dog slave, everyone in the world knows that Cao the thief abuses his power, oppresses the emperor, and forges imperial edicts to harm people. How dare you bark here? Get out!"
The envoy was instructed by Cao Cao and thought that he could suppress the crowd with the ceremonial guard. However, he did not expect that it was Liu Qi who started the trouble first. He hurriedly put away the imperial edict and left in embarrassment.
Guan Yu and others were also shocked. Although what Liu Qi said was true, scolding an angel in person was tantamount to scolding the emperor, wasn't it
Liu Qi didn't care about all this. Sometimes he had to break free from the constraints of the feudal system and be as willful and free-spirited as Cao Cao in order to survive in this chaotic world.
In times of war and chaos, the brave will die of overeating and the timid will die of starvation. Only those who break the rules will stand out.
After driving away the messenger, Liu Qi clasped his fists and said to everyone: "The emperor has suffered and been oppressed by the traitors. Fortunately, Yun Chang saw through it. The road to serving the emperor is long and arduous, and we still need to work hard."
Guan Yu clasped his fists and said, "Although I am not talented, I can distinguish between loyalty and treachery, good and evil. Since my brother left me this will, I will do my best. Cao Cao's mere plot to sow discord between us cannot move me. I will not stop until I get rid of the traitor."
Zhang Fei also clasped his fists and said, "Same here!"
Seeing everyone bowing, Liu Qi felt more at ease. As long as everyone was of the same mind, time would eliminate all barriers.
Xu Shu said: "Cao Cao's plan has failed, and he will definitely order Cao Ren to send troops to put pressure on us. From now on, I will have to trouble you generals to fight."
Guan Yu clasped his fists and said, "I am willing to be the vanguard!"
Zhang Fei shouted, "Cao sent his troops. I will kill them all without leaving a single piece of armor."
Liu Qi was overjoyed to see that this imperial edict had aroused Guan and Zhang's ambitions. This was truly a blessing in disguise.
He stepped forward and grabbed the two men's sturdy arms, and said solemnly: "Compared to my uncle, I am like a firefly compared to the bright moon, but a single spark can start a prairie fire. From now on, I am willing to advance and retreat with you, share hardships, and accomplish great things."
"I will follow the general's orders!"
Everyone saluted together. At this moment, they shared the same hatred for the enemy, and the distance between them was shortened a lot.
As Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also joined the training, the atmosphere in the camp gradually became warmer, and the soldiers also broke away from the depression of Liu Bei's death and their morale was high.
Liu Qi discussed with Xu Shu and said, "Cao Ren has mobilized all his troops in Fancheng, totaling 30,000. We need to find a way to defeat him."
Xu Shu smiled and said, "Don't worry, General. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zilong and others are all capable of fighting against 10,000 enemies. Cao Ren has no great generals under his command, so 30,000 soldiers are nothing to worry about. If Cao Ren comes in person, I will definitely take Fancheng!"
Liu Qi nodded and said, "It is not difficult to defeat the enemy. This time I want to not only take Fancheng, but also take back Wancheng and take over Nanyang. What do you think, military advisor?"
Xu Shu was surprised that Liu Qi had such a big appetite. He hesitated for a moment and replied, "There are only 8,000 troops in Xinye, which is not enough to take over Nanyang. We need to transfer troops from Xiangyang, but this will surely attract Cao Cao to attack in large numbers, which may shake the foundation of Jingzhou."
Liu Qi sighed and said with a bitter smile, "I have been in charge of Jingzhou for more than half a month. I have issued a notice to recruit talents, but no one has taken the initiative to surrender. I know that it is because of my previous illness and I am too cowardly and not a wise leader. As the saying goes, a wise bird chooses a tree to roost in. Everyone in the world thinks that we are rotten wood, so how can we surrender to you?"
Xu Shu hurriedly said: "General, don't underestimate yourself. This time, we will surely make a great success in the battle against Cao Ren."
Liu Qi smiled and said, "That's exactly what I meant! If we don't fight this battle, then it's fine. Once we do, we must become famous and let the world know that I, Liu Qi, have the power to support the Han Dynasty. Only then can we gather talents and work together for the great cause."
Xu Shu deeply agreed with this. With Liu Qi's current reputation, he was indeed not able to recruit talented people.
He also knew that Zhuge Liang was tilling the land in the mountains because he was actually waiting for a wise leader. Now that Liu Bei was dead, Liu Qi could only be asked to come out of retirement if he could prove himself.
After the agreement, Liu Qi sent Liu Pan to deliver a letter, allocating 30,000 elite troops to Wen Pin, ready to cross the river and march north at any time. This was also the main reason why he kept Wen Pin in Xiangyang.
Before setting off, Liu Qi decided to do something big!
The Three Kingdoms structure and talents are about to take shape. If you don't make a big splash, who will be willing to follow you
He secretly deployed troops and generals, and sure enough, a few days later, scouts came to report that Cao Ren had sent 5,000 troops to take Xinye, with Lü Xiang and Lü Kuang as the vanguard.
Guan Yu first asked for orders: "I regard the two Lu as grass, and I am willing to defeat Cao's army."
Zhang Fei, Wei Yan and others were not willing to lag behind. Some of them wanted to kill the enemy to vent their anger, while others were eager to make merit and were eager to fight.
Liu Qi said, "Please be patient, everyone. The best way to fight this time is to capture the enemy. Jingzhou has limited manpower, so it is best to capture as many enemy soldiers as possible for our use."
Xu Shu said, "You can order Yunchang and Yide to lead the troops to ambush on the left and right, and Zilong to lead the light cavalry to go around the rear to cut off the enemy's approach. The general will personally go out of the city to meet the enemy and annihilate them in one fell swoop."
Liu Qi acted according to the plan. Generals Guan, Zhang and Zhao left the city first, while Liu Qi kept his troops in place, waiting for Cao's army to arrive.
Half an hour later, dust rose on the western road, and soon flags were seen fluttering. Cao's army was galloping over, and a thousand cavalrymen arrived at the city first.
Liu Qi's eyes lit up immediately and he said with a smile: "The army is most in need of cavalry right now. We must not let these 1,000 war horses escape."
As he was speaking, a general rode forward and shouted, "Liu Qi, open the city gates and surrender immediately, and you will be spared. Otherwise, we will capture the city and kill you without a single piece of armor left."
The general who came was Lu Xiang. Seeing that Liu Qi was defending the city, he did not dare to fight and looked extremely arrogant.
Liu Qi called on Huang Zhong to lead troops to meet the enemy, and left Wei Yan and Xu Shu to guard the city and watch the battle.
The infantry went out first to form a battle formation, and the archers trained by Huang Zhong guarded the city gate. Liu Qi rode forward and said in a deep voice: "How dare you, an unknown person, shout here?"
Seeing Liu Qi leaving the city with a white-haired old general beside him, Lu Xiang became even more proud. He looked up to the sky and laughed, "Liu Qi is a sick man, yet he dares to disobey the order. What's the point of leading this old soldier out of the city? Quickly call Guan Yu to apologize."
Liu Qi smiled coldly and said to Huang Zhongyan: "Han Sheng, teach him a lesson!"
Huang Zhong hated it most when people talked about his age, so he spurred his horse and rushed out with his sword in hand, heading straight for Lu Xiang.
Lu Xiang had a look of contempt on his face and was still laughing on his horse with his spear in hand. He waited for Huang Zhong to rush up to him and then stabbed him to death with one spear.
Huang Zhong arrived on horseback, and a brilliant sword light flashed across the air like a streak of silk.
"Hahaha... burp~"
Lu Xiang's laughter stopped abruptly, and half of his body from the neck to the left shoulder was chopped off, and blood spurted out, dazzlingly brilliant.
"Brother—" Lu Kuang widened his eyes and shouted hoarsely.
The Cao army was in an uproar. They were shocked to find that Lu Xiang could block the old general's sword.
Boom boom boom—
At the same time, drums sounded on the city wall, Huang Zhong led his troops forward, and the ambush troops of Guan and Zhang on the left and right also rushed out. The sound of killing outside Xinye City was deafening.