Zhang Song was ordered by Liu Zhang to go to Jiangzhou to hand over the city. He was very slow on the way. He got seriously ill every three days and a minor illness every two days. He had back pain and corns. He arrived in Jiangzhou after stopping and starting many times. It was already autumn.
Pang Tong received the envoys and hosted a banquet, but did not discuss official business. All of their entourage became drunk, so they were sent back to the inn to rest.
Zhang Song grabbed Pang Tong and asked impatiently, "Where is General Yide?"
Pang Tong sighed, "General Zhang has been drinking for days and is too drunk to handle affairs."
Zhang Song stared at Pang Tong: "Could it be that he knew I was coming to hand over the city and did this on purpose?"
Pang Tong said with a smile: "I know that you are not here to ask for Jiangzhou, so why bother? Yide has a hot temper and has long wanted to fight, but he is sitting in Jiangzhou and can only drink to drown his sorrows."
Zhang Song stamped his feet and said, "Since you are so frustrated about this, why don't you send troops as soon as possible? General Liu has already taken Hanzhong. If we attack from both the north and south, we can capture Chengdu in a month. Why are you so hesitant?"
He dawdled on the road for a month, waiting for Zhang Fei to send out his troops so that he could turn back. Now that he had arrived in Jiangzhou, he saw that they were not taking any action, and he felt a little disappointed.
Pang Tong said: "How can we use the army without a legitimate reason? Be patient, my dear. Just stay here and wait for the right time."
Zhang Song said anxiously: "Liu Yizhou is waiting for me to report back. If I delay for a while, I'm afraid he will become suspicious."
Pang Tong smiled and said, "We can send one person to Chengdu to report the matter and tell them that we have to report the matter to the General of Chariots and Cavalry. Without the general's order, we dare not withdraw without authorization."
Zhang Song was helpless and blamed Pang Tong for being slow. Now that the situation had come to this, even a blind man could see that Liu Qi wanted to take Yizhou.
Nowadays, a saying is circulating in Yizhou: Everyone knows what Liu Bowen is thinking.
The laws and regulations in Yizhou are lax, and there is no virtuous governance. From officials to the common people, people have long been dissatisfied and are all looking forward to a wise leader. Only if the leader is changed as soon as possible, everyone can work with peace of mind. It is better to suffer a short pain than a long one.
Zhang Song sat in the inn for two days without seeing Zhang Fei. He went to the military camp to see what was happening, but found it was very lively here. He could hear shouts and cheers from afar.
Just as they arrived at the camp gate, they saw a general covered in dust, limping out. Zhang Fei chased after him and said, "Junyi, I'm not satisfied yet. Fight with me for a few more moves."
"No more fighting. We agreed to stop at a certain point. Why are you so determined to kill me? Go find Gan Xingba!" Zhang He pushed Zhang Fei away and walked away with a grin on his face.
In order to avoid fighting with Cao's army, Liu Qi sent Zhang He and Yu Jin to Jiangzhou, and together with Zhang Fei, he took Yizhou. He thought they could capture cities and strongholds, but they were still training troops all day long.
Training troops would have been fine, Zhang Fei would often look for people to compete with him in martial arts competitions. Except for him and Gan Ning, no one else was his match. Gan Ning was often in the water fort, so Zhang He became the focus of attention.
He would be happy to spar with Zhang He, after all, competing with a master like Zhang Fei would be of greater help to him. However, he always said he would stop when he had reached a certain point, as he was addicted to killing and never showed mercy, and today he was knocked off his horse again.
"It's just a missed spear strike, why don't you hit me back?" Zhang Fei was still not satisfied and muttered, "I treat you as a relative, we are one family and we should not be strangers..."
He turned around and saw Zhang Song, who was as tall as the camp gate, and asked in surprise, "When did the deputy driver arrive in Jiangzhou?"
"The general is busy with military affairs. How dare I disturb him?" Zhang Song was furious. The envoy had been here for two days, but the general was totally unaware of it
Zhang Fei wiped his sweat and smiled: "It's nothing serious. All we do is drink, sleep and fight all day long!"
Zhang Song was so angry that his nose pointed up to the sky: "Taking Yizhou is such a big deal, and the general doesn't care at all?"
"The military advisor has planned this matter, why should I worry about it?" Zhang Fei counted on his fingers, "Look... Fengchu is in charge of military affairs, Li Yan is in charge of government, Yu Jin is in charge of training soldiers, and Gan Ning is in charge of the navy. They are all better than me. Why should I pretend to know everything and make decisions?"
Zhang Song laughed and shook his head, saying, "Others, as commanders, would like to know everything, but you, the general, don't ask anything."
Zhang Fei laughed proudly and said, "My eldest master said that we should make the best use of everyone's talents. I'm asking them to show their abilities. What's wrong with that?"
Zhang Song stroked his beard and asked, "I wonder what the general can do?"
"The only thing you can do is charge into battle!" Zhang Fei patted his head, and seeing that no one was practicing martial arts with him, he pulled Zhang Song to go drink.
As soon as the two men sat down in the camp, they saw a personal soldier coming to report: "The envoy from Chengdu has arrived again. Please go and discuss matters with the general."
Zhang Fei glared and said, "You are blind, isn't the envoy here?"
"General, this is the envoy who just arrived today!"
"Could it be that Liu Jiyu has sent someone to urge us again?" Zhang Song was surprised and asked, "Do you know who is coming?"
The guard replied, "The man's name is Fa Zheng, and he has brought three thousand men with him."
"Xiaozhi is here?" Zhang Song was increasingly puzzled, stroking his beard and saying, "He brought troops with him, but what's the use of just three thousand soldiers?"
Zhang Fei was furious and slammed the table and stood up: "If Liu Zhang dares to take Jiangzhou by force and angers me, I will kill him in Chengdu first."
Zhang Song had already secretly discussed with Fa Zheng to prepare to welcome Liu Qi into Shu. Knowing that he brought troops with him not to take Jiangzhou, the two of them did not even have time to drink and rushed to the government office.
In the hall, Pang Tong, Sun Qian, Fa Zheng were all there, along with Meng Da, the commander of Yizhou, who were chatting and laughing cheerfully, without any sign of worry.
Zhang Fei shouted loudly while still in the courtyard: "Let's see who dares to take Jiangzhou?"
Sun Qian stood up and came out to greet them, saying with a smile: "General Zhang, please be patient, they are reinforcements from Chengdu."
"Reinforcements?" Zhang Fei was stunned and glared at Fa Zheng and Meng Da, wondering, does Liu Zhang want to fight against himself
Zhang Song had already heard something, so he stepped forward and asked Fa Zheng, "Are you going to fight Sanba?"
"That's right!" Fa Zheng nodded and said with a smile, "Mr. Sun went to Chengdu to ask for help to destroy Zhang Wei and reduce the threat from the Ba people. None of the generals in Yizhou were willing to lead the troops, so I had no choice but to recommend Meng Da and rush him to Jiangzhou so that Ziqiao could rush back to report."
Zhang Song laughed and said, "Xiaozhi has come at the right time. We will surely be very successful in this trip to Badi."
At this time, Liu Zhang also helped Liu Qi to pacify Ba County. It was not only welcoming a tiger at the gate, but also cutting flesh for the tiger. No wonder the generals were unwilling to lead the troops. I am afraid that even Bashu would be lost if they went there.
Sun Qian said: "Liu Yizhou has been worried about the Ba people for a long time. This time, the brothers will work together to suppress the usurpation and pacify Ba County."
Everyone understood what was going on. Fa Zheng first explained Liu Zhang's order, ordering the governor of Baxi, Pang Yi, to send troops to help Liu Qi attack Zhang Wei and take advantage of the situation to pacify Bazhong.
Because Pang Yi had previously intended to establish his own regime, Liu Zhang had always restricted his military strength. He was worried about this expedition and ordered Fa Zheng to go to Baxi to help in the battle, but in fact he was monitoring Pang Yi.
Pang Tong held a banquet to welcome Fa Zheng and his entourage. Zhang Fei also ordered rewards for the three armies. He ate and drank with Meng Da's troops, preparing for the expedition the next day!
At night, Zhang Song gathered Fa Zheng and Pang Tong together. The three of them discussed secretly and decided that Zhang Wei was not a concern. The key was how to take advantage of the opportunity to capture Baxi and advance into Shu.