My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 57 Let’s settle all the old and new accounts together and kill these two big fat sheep, Cai and Kuai!

"Could the big fat sheep that Brother Bowen mentioned be referring to those wealthy families whose roots were in Xiangyang but who followed Liu Cong south?"

It was Xu Shu who was the first to guess the implication of Xiao He.

Hearing this, Liu Bei suddenly realized.

Xiangyang is not only the capital of Jingzhou, but also a gathering place for wealthy families. With Xiangyang as the center, including the surrounding satellite cities such as Zhonglu and Yicheng, nearly half of the wealthy families in Jingzhou are gathered.

Among them were some of the Ma and Feng families who did not retreat south, but defected to Liu Bei on the day of his surprise attack on Xiangyang.

However, there were also many powerful families who refused to submit to Liu Bei and followed Liu Cong to retreat to Jiangling.

Of course, it was impossible for all of these powerful families to flee to Jiangling, and many people chose to stay.

It was not to stay in Xiangyang, but to stay in their family business.

The land around Xiangyang is fertile, and these wealthy families are deeply rooted. They all own countless fertile fields and have mountains of grain stored in their homes.

If we can persuade these powerful families to give us food and fodder, wouldn't the food and fodder we get be used as military supplies to feed tens of thousands of troops?
"Yuanzhi is right, that's exactly what I meant. Among these fat sheep, especially..."

Xiao He nodded in agreement with Xu Shu's guess, and was about to point out the specific surnames, but swallowed the words back when they came to his lips.

The two clans he wanted to point out were naturally the Cai and Kuai clans.

Cai Kuai's status and strength were unrivaled in Jingzhou. During the reign of Liu Biao, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue divided up the military and political power, and their power was absolutely absolute.

The two clans originally had a deep foundation, and with Liu Biao's favor and indulgence, it would be strange if their family businesses did not become extremely prosperous over the past decade.

There is no need to move other powerful families. Just killing the Cai and Kuai clans is enough to feed the 40,000 soldiers.

The key point is that the Cai and Kuai clans were guilty of forcing Liu Cong to surrender to Cao and betraying Liu Biao's foundation, which was disloyalty and injustice.

Moreover, these two families monopolized the military and political power in Jingzhou. From the provincial capital to the county government, most of the important official positions were controlled by the two families. Not to mention sharing the meat with others, they were reluctant to even share a few sips of the soup.

Therefore, there were many people in Jingzhou who were dissatisfied with the Cai and Kuai families, and even hated them to the core.

Then targeting the Cai and Kuai families can be said to be both legitimate and win everyone's applause, which is killing two birds with one stone.

But the problem is that Zhuge Liang and Cai Kuai's clans are related.

For example, his father-in-law Huang Chengyan, his wife was the daughter of Cai.

In these troubled times, it is not uncommon for countries that are enemies to be secretly related to each other.

For example, Cao Cao's niece is Sun Quan's sister-in-law, and Zhang Fei's wife is Xiahou Yuan's niece...

No matter how related you are, the battlefield is still a fight to the death. How can you let the national affairs be affected because of one family's selfishness?
With Zhuge Liang's vision and magnanimity, Xiao He believed that Zhuge Liang would never intentionally protect Cai and Kuai just because they were related to him, thus hindering Liu Bei's cause in resisting Cao.

Of course Xiao He understood the truth.

However, considering that he had just joined the gang, it was not appropriate for him to point out the attack on the Cai and Kuai clans.

Xiao He naturally understood the ways of the world and the ways of the workplace.

Then Xiao He changed the subject and smiled:
"Among these powerful families in Xiangyang, who is determined to surrender to Cao, who has the richest fortune, and who is most deserving of being killed? I believe Brother Yuanzhi should know better than me."

Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang were good friends and they were from the same school, so it was natural for him to speak out about this matter.

After a moment of hesitation, Xu Shu bowed to Liu Bei:

"My lord, the families that hold the most land near Xiangyang are none other than the Cai and Kuai families." "Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, two thieves, received great favors from Liu Jingsheng, but they betrayed Liu Jingsheng's will to resist Cao Cao and coerced Liu Cong into surrendering Jingzhou without a fight. They are truly disloyal and unrighteous."

"Since our lord has recaptured Xiangyang, this thief has fled south to Jiangling with Liu Cong. Now, he's still obeying Cao Cao's orders, mobilizing his entire army to attack Yicheng, hoping to cooperate with Cao Cao and put our lord to death!"

"I believe that the Cai and Kuai families are extremely evil. The Lord should immediately declare their crimes, seize the land they have occupied, return it to the government and distribute it to the people, and confiscate the money and grain they have stored to pay for military supplies!"

As soon as Xu Shu made his suggestion, the civil and military officials from Jingzhou, especially those from Xiangyang, who were present, immediately responded.

There was no way around it. The Cai and Kuai clans monopolized power during the Liu Biao era and suppressed other clans too harshly, causing everyone to be filled with resentment.

Now that Xu Shu proposed to target the Cai and Kuai families, everyone was naturally eager for it, and they were quite restrained in not applauding.

"Brother, Bowen's plan is indeed a good solution to my food and grass problem."

"The Cai and Kuai surnames mentioned by Yuanzhi are indeed deserving of their punishment."

"Putting aside the disloyalty and unrighteousness of these two thieves, it is truly despicable that they sold Liu Jingsheng's legacy to Cao Cao for the sake of wealth and glory."

"Brother, have you forgotten that when you went to Xiangyang to attend Liu Jingsheng's banquet, these two thieves plotted and nearly murdered you?"

"Both publicly and privately, it's time to settle accounts with the Cai and Kuai families!"

Guan Yu also stood up and expressed his position.

When he mentioned the two men who had plotted to murder Liu Bei, he was filled with hatred and gnashed his teeth.

"I understand what you are saying. Cai and Kuai both deserve severe punishment!"

Liu Bei nodded slightly, but showed some hesitation:
"It's just that Military Advisor Kong Ming and the Cai and Kuai families have some kinship, which I cannot ignore. I need to consider this matter carefully."

As soon as these words were spoken, the tent suddenly became quiet.

Zhuge Liang was the military advisor and chief counselor. As the lord, Liu Bei had to consider Zhuge Liang's feelings when making decisions. This was Liu Bei's respect for Zhuge Liang, so naturally no one would object.

Xiao He smiled and said comfortingly:
"I think my lord is worrying too much."

"Military Advisor Kong Ming has always been clear about the distinction between public and private matters. Given his magnanimity, he will not object to this matter, but will strongly support it."

"Perhaps Military Advisor Kong Ming is currently writing a letter, intending to personally ask the Lord to take action against the Cai and Kuai clans."

Xiao He's evaluation of Zhuge Liang was naturally from the heart.

Looking at the past and present, how many powerful ministers like Zhuge Liang, who hold both military and political power, can remember their original intentions and see their work through to the end?
Which one of them was not a deposed emperor or a usurper of the throne?
Given Zhuge Liang's loyalty and selflessness, would he intentionally protect the Cai and Kuai families just because they were related to him and thus hinder Liu Bei's great cause of supporting the Han Dynasty?

Liu Bei was shocked and suddenly understood.

At this moment, the personal guards hurried in and said that a messenger had come from Yicheng and had just delivered Zhuge Liang's handwritten letter.

Upon hearing that it was a letter from Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei hurriedly took it and couldn't wait to unfold it and read it carefully.

After just one look, Liu Bei stood up suddenly with a look of surprise on his face.

As he read on, the surprise on his face turned into relief, and he sighed.

Everyone looked at the change in Liu Bei's expression, and they were all curious about what Zhuge Liang had written in the letter that made Liu Bei act like this.

Liu Bei took a deep breath, looked at Xiao He with admiration, and sighed:
"The one who knows Crouching Dragon is Xiao Bowen!"

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(End of this chapter)