Originally, he had hoped to lend a hand to Huang Zu, after all, he was a rare and resolute anti-Cao faction. However, this guy was determined to seek death, which was exactly what Liu Qi wanted.
Huang She sent people to ask for help, and just in time he captured Jiangxia. Liu Qi immediately sent Guan Yu to lead elite troops to provide assistance.
With Guan Yu stationed in Jiangxia, the southeast was completely stable!
In the Battle of Nanyang, Li Dian saw that Cao's army was defeated and committed cruel and inhumane things, so he finally surrendered. Liu Qi ordered him to join Guan Yu in the army, and the two of them supplemented each other's military strategies.
People are fearless only in front of their closest people, because they know where the bottom line is and their relatives will try their best to tolerate them.
Although Liu Qi took over Liu Bei's position, their relationship was not one of brothers after all, but rather one of subordinates.
Now that Guan Yu no longer has Liu Bei as his big brother, his temper has become more restrained.
With the assistance of Li Dian, a military officer who is both a teacher and a friend, he should not make any more big mistakes.
Before they knew it, it was June and Zhuge Liang's wedding was approaching. Liu Qi asked him to return to Xiangyang first and attend the wedding after everything in Nanyang was arranged.
According to Zhuge Liang, although Huang Chengyan was a famous scholar in Xiangyang, he was not a disciple of Confucius, but a descendant of Mohism. Equipment such as the repeating crossbow were all in Huang Chengyan's home.
No wonder there are rumors that Huang Yueying was of great help to Zhuge Liang. It turns out that she is the technology giant hidden behind the scenes.
Liu Qi and the Cai family became enemies. Although Huang Chengyan did not express any reaction, there was still a gap between them, so he wanted to take this opportunity to resolve the grudge.
If we can adopt all of Mohism's methods and recruit some skilled craftsmen to specialize in the development of weapons, Jingzhou's combat power will be further improved.
This battle yielded considerable gains, as two great generals, Yu Jin and Li Dian, were subdued. Liu Qi was very happy, but he had not yet figured out how to deal with the two hot potatoes, Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun.
Killing the two men would surely invite revenge from Cao's army, which was not a wise move. But letting them go would undoubtedly create trouble for oneself. Even if one exchanged them for some money and food, it would be unfair to the soldiers who died in the battle when the two armies clashed in the future!
Although the possibility of persuading the two to surrender was very slim, Liu Qi still asked Zhang Fei and Yi Ji to try. He didn't know what the situation was now.
After being captured, Cao Ren went on a hunger strike for three days. Although he was persuaded to change his mind, he stayed indoors and refused to see anyone, and was captured twice.
Xiahou Dun was taken hostage to threaten Cao Cao in Baihe. After he came back, he was a little confused and bit anyone he saw like a wild beast. Zhang Fei simply took him to the military camp and challenged him to a duel.
The military camp is now extremely lively. Challenging Xiahou Dun has become one of the criteria for selecting officers. Liu Qi simply issued an order that for every ten rounds of fighting, one can be promoted one level and receive additional rewards.
The enthusiasm for training in the camp was unprecedentedly high. The soldiers practiced martial arts hard. Every day someone came to challenge him, and Xiahou Dun accepted everyone who came. It was as if he was venting his anger. He spared no effort and beat all the soldiers in the camp into a mess.
Xu Shu suspected that Xiahou Dun was pretending to be crazy and wanted to take the opportunity to escape, so he secretly sent people to monitor him. These two big fish could not be let go in vain.
After seeing that Cao Ren was rejected, Liu Qi came to the camp to visit Xiahou Dun. As soon as he arrived at the door, he heard cheers.
Then Xiahou Dun roared: "Who else—"
When you walk into the attic of the Dianjiangtai, you will see Xiahou Dun standing shirtless with a wooden stick in his hand, his muscles bulging and sweat dripping, shining in the scorching sun.
Zhang Fei sat under the awning with his legs crossed, poured a bowl of wine and laughed, "One-eyed dragon, you did a good job, come and have a drink!"
Xiahou Dun strode over, took the bowl and drank it in one gulp, staring at Zhang Fei with his one eye, and said in a deep voice: "Call me Second Uncle!"
This immediately caused a burst of laughter in the audience. Zhang Fei did not argue with him. He stroked his stubble and glared at the audience, shouting, "You are all useless people. You still have the nerve to laugh?"
The soldiers immediately covered their mouths in embarrassment, looking helpless. Although Xiahou Dun was a prisoner, he was also a general in Cao's camp. How could he be so easy to deal with
"Everyone, Xiahou Dun has won eight games in a row. How can this be tolerated?"
On the other side, Mi Fang, who was in charge of recording military merits, could not help but stand up and shouted, "We can't let the one-eyed dragon take all the limelight and bring down the prestige of our Jingzhou army. Hurry... ah? What do you want to do?"
Mi Fang was encouraging all the soldiers in the camp to go up on stage and challenge, when he suddenly saw Xiahou Dun walking towards him with a sullen face, and he immediately panicked.
Xiahou Dun ran over, grabbed Mi Fang by the collar, dragged him to the center of the stage, and punched him.
Mi Fang quickly dodged and shouted: "I didn't challenge..."
Xiahou Dun didn't care about that and continued to punch and kick Mi Fang, who had no choice but to parry and dodge. The soldiers cheered again, allowing Mi Fang to restore face for the Jingzhou army.
But Mi Fang could only hold out for four or five rounds before Xiahou Dun knocked him to the ground, still punching and kicking him, refusing to stop.
Zhang Fei realized something was wrong, and quickly stepped forward, grabbed Xiahou Dun's wrist, and shouted, "Stop!"
Mi Fang got up from the ground in a panic, his face bruised and swollen, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, and he cursed with a ferocious expression, "You're crazy, you mad dog."
Zhang Fei stared at Xiahou Dun and shouted, "He didn't challenge me, why did you hit him?"
Xiahou Dun threw Zhang Fei away and said coldly: "Whoever dares to mention the words 'one-eyed dragon', I will beat the shit out of him."
Zhang Fei glared and said, "I just called out, why didn't you do anything?"
Xiahou Dun crossed his arms and turned his head away: "I can't beat you!"
"That's good to know!" Zhang Fei tilted his head and looked at Xiahou Dun: "He's not too crazy."
Xiahou Dun ignored him, walked to the front of the stage, glanced at the soldiers on the field, and said coldly: "Who else is itching for a fight? Come up and get beaten!"
Liu Qi looked at Xiahou Dun who was looking down on the whole audience and sighed in his heart. Although he was nicknamed the general who was always defeated, his bravery and fortitude were unquestionable.
He fights every day, of course, to vent his anger, but also to show everyone his strength and that he will never give in easily.
Mi Fang was beaten for talking too much and retreated in disgrace. The soldiers did not dare to go on stage again. Liu Qi asked Liu Neng to invite the two to the barracks to talk.
Xiahou Dun did not salute either. He sat aside with his horse and golden sword, his face as gloomy as water.
Liu Qi said: "If Prime Minister Cao is unwilling to use the ransom to exchange for the general, I wonder what the general will do?"
Xiahou Dun said resolutely: "I have failed the Prime Minister's trust. If he is unwilling to forgive me and does not need me to work for him, I will repay him with my own death!"
The reason why he and Cao Ren endured humiliation and bore heavy burdens was to wait to return to Cao Cao and make meritorious contributions while serving their sentences. They also did not want Cao Cao to send troops out of anger because of them and ruin his great foundation.
Liu Qi sighed and said, "If I let the general go back, can you agree to one condition of mine?"
"Tell me about it first!" Xiahou Dun looked at Liu Qi warily, knowing that this man was cunning and that he would fall into his trap if he was not careful.
Liu Qi said, "General, if you return, you will be highly valued by the Prime Minister. If we fight again, how can I explain to the dead soldiers? I want you to not be my enemy again after you return. In the future, you must avoid the sharp edge of my army."
"Liu Qi, don't go too far!" Xiahou Dun was furious and stood up and said, "Kill me if you want to, why humiliate me!"