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As soon as he returned to the Tao Trading Company, Liu Jing received news that Liu Biao sent someone to find Taoli in the morning.

In fact, Liu Biao looked down on the Tao family. On the one hand, he enjoyed the huge amount of money and grain provided by the Tao family every year. On the other hand, he ignored the Tao family's feelings and forced the Tao family to offer their daughter Tao Zhan to Liu Cong as a concubine. It was this incident that caused strong dissatisfaction from the Tao family, and thus interrupted the offering that had been incurred for more than ten years.

After only one interruption of the offering, Liu Biao felt huge pressure on money and food, which made him quite regretful and wanted to appease the Tao family and save the situation. Therefore, this time he celebrated his birthday, he specially invited the Tao family to attend as a VIP.

It should be said that Liu Biao's attitude towards the Tao family was as expected by Liu Jing. The money and grain provided by the Tao family were very important to Jingzhou. He felt it deeper after coming to Xiangyang. If Liu Biao continued to ignore the Tao family, this would be a strange thing.

Although expected, Liu Jing still felt a little uneasy, after all, the Tao family is equally important to him.

Without hesitation, Liu Jing immediately entered the inner hall and found Tao Li. Tao Li was Tao Lici, the second-person of the Tao family. He was mainly responsible for the business in Jingzhou, while Tao Lie was responsible for the business in Jiangdong.

This time, Tao Li was represented by Tao Li when the Tao family visited Liu Biao several times. It is also respected by Tao Sheng, but this time, Tao Lie decided to be the representative of the Tao family again, which was also his shrewdness.

This time, the Tao family was not just a vassal of Liu Jing. In this case, it is not advisable to let the head of the family come forward, but a secondary person appears to show the Tao family's low-keyness.

Tao Li had just finished lunch and was about to take a nap when Liu Jing's voice came from outside the door, "Do you want to rest?"

Taoli quickly got up and greeted him, bowed and smiled, "Why are you here?"

Although Liu Jing followed Tao Zhan's name and called him the second uncle, Tao Li had to be ungrateful, and he could not really regard himself as the second uncle.

"I want to talk to my second uncle for something."

Taoli nodded, "Please come in and say it."

Taoli invited Liu Jing into the cabin. The two of them sat down. Taoli poured him a cup of hot tea and said with a smile: "If you have anything to do, just say it."

Liu Jing smiled and said, "I want to talk about the Tao family's birthday celebration this time."

Although Liu Jing did not mention that Liu Biao sent someone to come, Tao Li knew that Liu Jing came to him at this time, which must be related to this matter.

Before Liu Jing could continue, he took out an exquisite invitation and put it on the table and pushed it to Liu Jing. "This is an invitation written by the provincial mu and invited me to meet at the provincial government tomorrow, but I won't go, I will refuse because of the disease."

Liu Jing looked at the invitation carefully, and the smile on his face disappeared, and he pondered for a moment: "Frankly speaking, this time the Tao family's birthday is actually a key condition for my negotiations with the provincial governor.

When I was in charge of Chaisang, the biggest opinion of the provincial governor to me was that the Tao family no longer paid tribute to him, which led to his military expenditure being tight. Today, he specially sent an invitation to invite his second uncle to meet at the provincial government office, which shows his importance to the Tao family."

Tao Li nodded, "The Tao family pays a huge amount of money and grain to Jingzhou every year. The provincial governor has said more than once that the Tao family is the pillar of Jingzhou. On the birthday of each year, the Tao family is the guest. We know the importance of the Tao family to the provincial governor."

After pausing, Tao Li said again: "My father also talked to me before leaving. The Tao family will fully cooperate with the Duke's trip to Xiangyang. This time, the Tao family will never act alone. They will follow the Duke to celebrate the birthday."

The so-called "focusing on birthdays" means signing Liu Jing's name in the book of a visit. This situation is often used for exchanges between disparity in status, such as writing congratulations from a certain subordinate on the book of a visit, etc., and using another person with a higher status to improve himself.

Although the Tao family itself is highly valued by Liu Biao, they must be low-key this time, so they will write the words under Liu Sima on the birthday greeting post to indicate the relationship between the Tao family and Liu Jing.

Tao Li said this to Liu Jing, and no matter how Liu Biao tempted him, the Tao family would never betray him.

Liu Jing nodded. Since the Tao family is so sensible, he doesn't need to say more. He stood up and smiled and said, "Since the second uncle is going to rest, I won't disturb you much."

.........

Liu Jing returned to his room and planned to take a nap. At this time, a soldier reported outside the door, "Report to Sima, the governor of Xiangyang County Wang Ji asked for a meeting."

Wang Ji was Liu Biao's son-in-law and a backbone of the Kuai Party in Jingzhou. He gave Liu Jing great help in handling the slave trafficking in Ganning the year before yesterday and became five false slave contracts. For this reason, he was heavily blamed by Liu Biao and demoted to the magistrate of Zhonglu County. He was not reinstated until the beginning of this year.

Liu Jing has always felt guilty towards him in this matter. When he heard him visiting him, Liu Jing quickly responded: "Please invite him to the guest hall."

After saying that, he felt it was inappropriate, so he came out in person. Outside the gate, Wang Ji stood with a smile and held his hands behind his back. Wang Ji came from a famous family and was an official in Jingzhou for many years and had a strong qualification. In addition, he was Liu Biao's son-in-law, so he had a good reputation in the officialdom of Jingzhou, but among the Jingzhou faction, he belonged to the Kuai Party and was Kuai Yue's number one ally.

"Let Wang Junzhu wait for a long time." Liu Jing walked out quickly and bowed with a smile.

Wang Ji replied with a smile and said, "Jing Gong is busy with business, and I'm still here to disturb me. I'm very sorry."

"You are welcome to be polite"

Liu Jing waved his hand with a smile, "Please come in"

"please"

Wang Ji followed Liu Jing into the guest hall. The two of them sat down with guests and hosts. A soldier served tea. The two exchanged a few greetings. Wang Ji praised Liu Jing for Jiangxia's great victory and became famous. As soon as the topic changed, he gradually entered today's topic.

"Did Gong Jing find that Zhou Mu's body is wrong?"

Liu Jing nodded, "I went to visit my uncle last night and found that he was very old, just like a person in his seventies or eighties. I was a little surprised, why did he suddenly become so old? Is there any inside story?"

"Why"

Wang Ji sighed, "The Palace Master once suspected that he was poisoned, but no matter how he was examined, there was no sign of poisoning. Later, Yizheng Zhang said that it may be that the Palace Master worked too much when he was young and accumulated the root of the disease. After the person was over 60, these roots of the disease were immediately exposed. With such an explanation, everyone believed it."

Liu Jing pondered for a moment and asked again: "How many years will my uncle have to do if he does this?"

Wang Ji stretched out his finger, "Yi Zheng Zhang said, it's for two years at most, but I'm just telling you privately. Only a few people know that even the Lord of Zhou himself dares to say it."

Liu Jing was silent, and at this time Wang Ji said again: "Now the top leaders of Jingzhou are in panic and are worried about the future of Jingzhou. Gong Jing, I might as well tell you the truth. Gong Qi is worried."

Liu Jing frowned, "You mean my uncle is very likely to make Duke Cong the heir."

Wang Ji nodded, "From the current situation, it may be Mr. Cong. Alas, this cannot be blamed for being biased by the people of the state. Mr. Qi is sometimes really disappointing."

Liu Jing thought of what Yiji said to him and asked: "So, is it true that Qi Gong is having sex with a prostitute?"

Wang Ji sneered, "That one is pretty light, the worst thing is that he dares to do anything when he is interested. He favors Li Qingmei, a famous prostitute in Jiangling, and once took her to the study to review books on his behalf, and made decisions, which led to the distribution of planting for the official fields in spring for two days this year, which made the public complaints.

This incident was later sued to the prefecture yamen, and Cai Mao secretly brought Li Qingmei to Xiangyang to confront the prefecture gamble, adding fuel to the fire. It was this incident that made the prefecture gamble and basically ruined the future of Duke Qi. This time, the prefecture gambled him and did not allow him to participate in the preparations, nor did he allow him to come to Xiangyang."

Liu Jing felt a headache. If this was the case, it would be difficult for Liu Qi to help him up.

At this time, Wang Ji looked at Liu Jing deeply and said slowly: "If Liu Cong becomes the lord of Jingzhou and the Cai family is in power, we will be done, so I discussed with Gong Kuai, and we consider giving up Gong Qi and supporting Gong Jing."

Liu Jing smiled and shook his head, "How could I be? The governor of the state will not consider making a nephew a successor. I suggest you find a way to reverse the decline of Mr. Qi. This is the way to win."

Wang Ji sighed, "We have invested so much money on Mr. Qi. We will strive for any front-line opportunity. But if there is no long-term plan, we must have immediate worries. We must make the worst plans. So I discussed with Mr. Kuai and I, while working hard for Mr. Qi, also support Mr. Jing ascend the throne."

Liu Jing bowed and bowed, "Thank you, the county magistrate, for thinking about it for me. However, Liu Jing is a little talented and has low abilities, and is not a heir. I am afraid he will let down your expectations..."

Before Liu Jing finished speaking, Wang Ji waved his hand and said, "Mr. Jing Gong has been underestimated. Duke Jing defeated the Jiangdong Army in Jiangxia. It has long been admired by everyone. Not only us, but many senior officials in Jingzhou hope that Duke Jing is the lord of Jingzhou. We want to use Duke Jing to use his current reputation to strike while the iron is hot, try to win over more senior officials in Jingzhou, and lay the foundation for Duke to inherit the lord of Jingzhou."

Speaking of this, Wang Ji said sincerely: "The key is that the public needs to express his attitude and give many senior officials who support the public a reassurance, including me."

It should be said that Wang Ji's suggestion was exactly what Liu Jing dreamed of. If Kuai Yue had not talked to him this morning, he might have agreed without hesitation, but since he and Kuai Yue had already had a deep conversation, he felt that he should not have too much interaction with others.

Moreover, this kind of thing is not something that can be discussed with others casually. Although he owes Wang Ji a favor, this favor is not enough to make him feel at ease with Wang Ji.

However, Liu Jing didn't want to refuse at once. After all, Wang Ji had a high status and deep connections. If he really supported him fully, it would be of great help to Liu Jing in the future. He also wanted to try his best to fight for this relationship.

After pondering for a moment, Liu Jing also responded sincerely: "Thank you first for the support of the county magistrate, but this matter is of great importance. Let me think carefully and I will definitely give the county magistrate a satisfactory answer."

Wang Ji smiled happily, "Of course, this matter must be discussed for a long time."

.........

At night, in Liu's study, Liu Biao listened to Wang Ji's report with a focused expression. After listening to Wang Ji's final statement, Liu Biao frowned and asked, "You mean, he did not express his clear intention to participate in the battle for the position of the state governor."

Although Wang Ji belonged to the Kuai Party, it was only for Cai Mao. In front of the prefectural governor Liu Biao, he did not have any disputes over the faction. More importantly, he was Liu Biao's son-in-law, and Liu Biao could entrust him with his confidant.

Just this morning, Liu Biao handed over an important task to him and asked him to test Liu Jing's ambition, that is, whether he had a plan to seize the governor of Jingzhou. So Wang Ji visited Liu Jing in the afternoon.

Wang Ji was very loyal to Liu Biao and did not hide it at all. He told him the meeting with Liu Jing in its entirety, but he did not mention that Liu Biao had two years of life left, which would make people sad.

"Reporting to my father-in-law, the son-in-law repeatedly tried, I felt that Liu Jing was very cautious. Although he did not make a clear statement, he did not refuse clearly. It was just that I was not familiar with him and he refused to show his sincerity in front of me. But I can see that he really thought that Jingzhou had an opportunity and had the ambition to annex Jingzhou."

Liu Biao's face turned pale, without Wang Ji's explanation, he already understood Liu Jing's ambition from Wang Ji's narrative, and his fists slowly clenched. This ungrateful and ungrateful bastard actually wanted to gain his own foundation.
Chapter completed!