Kuai Yue offered Liu Qi a strategy to capture the thieves and capture the king.

To deal with the clan thieves, there is no need to go to war. All you need to do is to find ways to trap and kill the clan leaders who have turned to Yuan Shu, then recruit their private men, annex their property and land, and Nanjun will naturally be stable.

To put it bluntly, it’s just trying to organize a Hongmen Banquet.

This is basically the same as Liu Qi’s idea.

There is nothing that cannot be solved by one meal. If there is... then it cannot be solved by two meals. Win or lose must be determined by one meal.

Of course, the sect leader who is going to be killed at this banquet needs to be carefully screened.

At present, it is certain that those who are determined to be enemies with Liu Biao include the Bei family, Zhang family, and Su family among the five powerful families in Jingzhou. Among the other clans, those who are attached to these three families include the Sun family, the Li family, the Zhu family, and the Zhao family.

Dozens of tycoons such as the Pan family and the Pan family must be eliminated.

The Kuai family and the Cai family are undoubtedly Liu Qi's allies. The Xi family, the Yang family, the Ma family, the Xiang family, etc. who have a good relationship with the Cai family and the Kuai family are the targets that can be won over.

In addition, there are some gentry groups that do not belong to the category of wealthy families, but are Confucian classics families. As scholars, the Liu family and his son need to be friendly to them, such as the Xiangyang Pang family, Mianyang Huang family, Qi Guan family, etc.

After dividing the positions of each family, Kuai Yue left immediately.

He stated that after returning, he would inform Kuai Liang and Cai Mao about what they discussed today, and promised that he would persuade the two heads of the family to return to Liu Biao and assist Liu Qi.

After Kuai Yue left, Liu Pan asked Liu Qi impatiently: "Bo Yu, are you just going to hand over the truth to him? What if something goes wrong, what should you and me do?"

"If something goes wrong... you will die." Liu Qi answered affirmatively.

Liu Pan looked at Liu Qi in surprise.

He never expected that his brother could see life and death so clearly, and he was not afraid of death either inside or outside his words.

Why does it feel like I'm meeting him for the first time today?

As if sensing Liu Pan's surprised gaze, Liu Qi comforted him and said: "Don't worry, for Kuai and Cai, the interests of the clan are the most important. By supporting Yan Jun, they can legitimately get rid of the other three clans and dominate Nanjun. This is a great opportunity."

If it's a rare occasion, they will definitely not let it go...unless they are fools."

Speaking of this, Liu Qi Junyi's face showed a smile and said: "Do you think Kuai Yue... looks stupid?"

Liu Qi's words made Liu Pan feel relieved, and his confidence increased unconsciously.

"What happens next?"

Liu Qi thought for a moment and sighed: "When Kuai Yue goes back to convince Cai Mao and Kuai Liang, I estimate that they will agree, but in order to show our sincerity, I need to write a letter to Yan Jun, asking Yan Jun to promise their official positions.

Only then will this matter be stable.”

Liu Pan hesitated and said, "Will uncle agree?"

"I don't know. I'll write a letter and ask him. I hope he can agree."

…

Liu Qi wrote a letter from his family to Liu Biao. The letter detailed his investigation in Jingzhou - including that among the five major families, three were opposed to the Liu family, two were willing to join, etc... But he did not mention that he would join forces next.

The Cai and Kuai families held a Hongmen Banquet.

It wasn't that Liu Qi didn't want to tell Liu Biao, he was afraid that if he did, Liu Biao would travel thousands of miles from Luoyang to Jingzhou to whip him.

In the Han Dynasty, the country was governed by filial piety. If Liu Biao wanted to deal with Liu Qi, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure it.

People's fault these days is actually their parents.

After writing the letter, Liu Qi continued to travel to other counties, pretending to investigate local government affairs in detail, but in fact he was waiting for Liu Biao to reply to him.

After Liu Qi inspected the ten counties under Nanjun, Liu Biao's reply was finally delivered to him by the courier. During the 700-mile journey, the courier galloped all the way, and two of the horses he transferred were exhausted.

"Zizhi Tongjian·Fifty Years of Han Dynasty" says: In the fourth year of Emperor Guanghe's reign in the reign of Emperor Xiaoling, in the spring and first month, he first appointed the chief minister of Huanji Stables, and received the command of horses from the prefecture and the country. Hao You Gu Que, one to two horses

million.

In other words, ten years ago, the price for the government to purchase high-quality war horses from counties and counties was about two million yuan per horse.

In these ten years, there was also the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Dong Zhuo minted small coins, the Han Dynasty experienced scarcity of goods, currency depreciation, and soaring prices...

Although the horse that the messenger died from exhaustion was not a war horse, but an ordinary pack horse, its value was estimated to be between 20,000 to 30,000 yuan to more than 100,000 yuan per horse.

A letter between the Liu family and his son from north to south costs hundreds of thousands of dollars...

It was truly an era of poverty and high consumption.

The messenger brought back two letters of appointment, both of which were stamped with the governor's bronze seal and ink ribbon.

The first letter only appointed Cai Mao and Kuai as subordinate officials.

The second job was to appoint Cai Mao, the two Kuais, the Su brothers, the Zhang brothers, and Huarong Changbeiyu from the five major clans, a total of eight people.

When Liu Qi saw these two appointments, he was silent for a long time and was speechless.

Liu Pan looked back and forth between the two appointments in confusion and wondered: "Why did my uncle make two appointments? There are people from the Cai and Kuai clans on these two appointment letters. Isn't this a duplication?"

When I was young...

Finally, Liu Qi slowly spoke: "These two appointments, one of which is only for the Cai and Kuai families, are my father's true intentions, and are used to benefit the Cai and Kuai families;

Another appointment that was rewarded by all five clans was a ploy to deceive the Su, Bei, and Zhang clans and slow them down... It seems that my father has guessed what I want to do! He is helping me achieve something.

"

Liu Pan was shocked when he heard this: "You only stated in your family letter who are the enemies and who are the friends of the five clans in Nanjun... Could it be that my uncle guessed that you wanted to get rid of the thieves?"

Liu Qi chuckled.

Yes, Liu Biao guessed it.

It seemed that he looked down upon his cheap father.

Liu Biao, a big boss who has been in charge of Jingzhou for eighteen years, is the only person in this era who can make Liu Bei come to an end; even Cao Cao cannot take Jingzhou while Liu Biao is still alive.

Do you think you don't take your biological father seriously enough?

I just don’t know why Liu Biao didn’t persuade him to stop, but instead gave him a trick to make a big fuss in Nanjun?

What does the old man want to do?

He must have other plans.

Liu Qi didn't want to understand, so he didn't think about it first.

He told Liu Pan: "Send these two appointments to Xiangyang and hand them over to Kuai Yue secretly. He will naturally know what to do."

Liu Pan nodded solemnly and put away Liu Biao's two appointments.

"I'll make arrangements right away... Boyu, what's next?"

"Go back to Yicheng, prepare a banquet, and invite all the clan heads from Nanjun to Yicheng for a banquet!" Liu Qi answered in a tactful tone.

…

As expected by Liu Qi, Liu Biao's appointment letter indeed had the expected effect!

These two letters of appointment not only allowed the Cai family and the Kuai family to see the hope of their family to dominate Jingzhou, but also calmed the emotions of the Bei, Su, and Zhang clans with a weak attitude, allowing them to temporarily let down their guard.

Kuai Yue quickly sent people to bring tokens of the Cai and Kuai clans, saying that after the two clan masters Cai Mao and Kuai Liang were granted the title, they were willing to help Liu Qi eliminate the thieves.

However, the current situation is complicated and it is not convenient for the two clan leaders to come forward. All matters will be negotiated secretly by Kuai Yue and Liu Qi.

Next, there is the preparation work for this Hongmen Banquet.

The reason for the banquet was very simple. The five major families were all appointed by Liu Biao, so Liu Qi hosted a banquet on behalf of Liu Biao to congratulate them, and they would never refuse.

After all, in the eyes of the clan traitors in Xiangyang, it was a sign of weakness for Liu Biao to reward their clansmen before taking office.

The governor in charge of supervising the officials, Hao You, showed weakness in this way, and it would be unreasonable for the clan leaders to refuse to show him face.

The banquet was held in the garden of Yicheng Post House, and the people hosting the banquet were the heads of nearly a hundred clans in Jingzhou. Among the leaders of these hundreds of clans, Liu Qi was determined to kill fifty-five people. This number will not be reduced.

will increase.

When the leaders of the hundreds of clans come to the banquet, each of them will bring at least ten followers. A rough estimate is that there will be at least a thousand people accompanying them... And among these thousand people, at least more than 500 people need to be controlled.

…

In a quiet room of Yicheng Post House, Liu Qi, Liu Pan and Huang Xu, who planned to deal with more than a thousand people in this 'banquet', were plotting.

After Liu Qi calculated the number of enemies that needed to be dealt with with Liu Pan and Huang Xu, both of them fell silent.
Chapter completed!