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At the mouth of summer, the cold wind blew across the Yangtze River, rolling up waves. It was mid-November and the nine coldest seasons of the year have entered. There are not many boats on the river, and most of the fishing boats have stopped. A long merchant ship appears on the river surface by chance.

At this time, a five-stone ship appeared on the river outside Xiakou Town. On the bow, Liu Xian was staring at Xiakou Town in the distance with his hands behind his back.

He was suddenly surprised to find that Xiakou seemed to be building a city, with tens of thousands of people carrying soil and stones by the river. He was particularly busy, and the outline of a city had already appeared.

Liu Xian suddenly became interested and turned around and ordered: "Dangling and mooring."

The big ship slowly landed, and the dock at Xiakou was full of ships, most of which were filled with the Tao family's double carp flags. The boat was loaded with food. Liu went to the shore first and went up Huanghu Mountain along Xiao.

Huanghu Mountain is later the Snake Mountain in Wuhan. At this time, the top of the mountain was covered with a thin layer of snow. There was no Yellow Crane Tower on the top of the mountain, and there was only a bluestone whistle tower, which allowed you to look out at the river from afar.

Standing on the top of the mountain, Liu Xian saw more clearly. The outline of the new city was presented in front of him. It was about twenty miles in circumference, surrounding the entire Xiakou Town. The ground of the wall has been compacted, and the cornerstone of the city wall to the west has been paved. Nearly 10,000 civilians and soldiers are busy. Judging from this situation, it is estimated that the new city will be built by next spring.

"Excuse me....."

Liu Xian found two civilians hiding on the mountain to rest, stepped forward and bowed and asked with a smile: "How long has the construction of Xiakou City started?"

Two civilians were sitting behind a big rock and chatting when they suddenly heard someone asking them behind them. They were so scared that they jumped up. Seeing the person wearing official uniforms, they were even more scared to kneel down and kowtow, "We dare not be lazy, go to work immediately."

Liu Xian smiled and waved his hand, "Don't be afraid, I came from Xiangyang and just got off the boat. I'll ask you a few words."

When the two civilians heard that he had just got off the boat, they were shocked and an elderly man replied, "Report to the envoy, it's been twenty days since the city was built."

"Oh, you are all locals," Liu Xian asked with a smile.

"We are from Wuchang County. We came here to work after the autumn harvest. We can't do it if we don't come."

"Why is this?"

The two civil servants looked at each other and sighed, "We are the tenant farmers of the Huang family. We make a living by renting the Huang family land. Later, the army came to our house and ordered us to serve labor in winter. Otherwise, the land would be taken back and distributed to the military households. There was no way, so we had to come. Fortunately, we didn't have to bring our own dry food. We were in charge of food and fullness here, which was not bad."

Liu Xian nodded. Jingzhou's people are scattered and it is not necessary to implement benevolent governments blindly. Leniency and strictness are the way to govern. Huang Zu did this before. Liu Jing did not oppose the tune because of his hatred of Huang Zu, and also inherited Huang Zu's Jiangxia policy strategy. This is not bad.

At this time, a soldier came down from the mail tower and ran directly to Liu Xian, bowed and smiled, "This envoy is here to find my Sima."

Liu Xian heard something from the soldiers' words and quickly responded: "That's right, is Liu Sima here?"

The soldier pointed to the busiest group of people at the foot of the mountain, "Did you see that the one with the highest figure is my Sima?"

Liu Xian had bad eyesight, and with the distance, he saw only a group of people in a vague way, but the soldiers would not lie to him. Liu Xian was overjoyed. It turned out that Liu Jing was in Xiakou. Fortunately, he went to the dock to take a look, otherwise he would have gone to Wuchang in vain.

He hurriedly took a few followers down the mountain.

...........

It was the tenth day that Liu Jing returned to Jiangxia from Xiangyang. As early as when he took over Wuchang, he ordered Liao Hua and Yiji to come to Xiakou to build a city, which blocked the Yangtze River and Han River, and was strategically important.

Since the previous year, Huang Zu has gradually transferred Jiangxia's army and materials to Xiakou, making Xiakou's strategic position even more prominent.

More importantly, after the Battle of Chaisang, Jiangdong was unable to fight westward for four years. The biggest threat to Jiangxia was no longer Jiangdong, but from the West. Whether it was Xiangyang or Nanyang Cao's army, it would become Jiangxia's biggest threat.

In terms of deeper strategic considerations, moving Jiangxia's military and political center to Xiakou will help the Jiangxia army control the Han River and seek Xiangyang.

Liu Jing came to Xiakou to inspect the city. He was quite satisfied with the advancement of building the city. This time, he not only mobilized nearly ten thousand civilians, but also sent more than 4,000 Jingzhou soldiers prisoners who were exchanged from Pengze to build the city together. According to the plan, the city was completed by February next year.

Liu Jing was discussing Gao of the city gate with several craftsmen. At this time, Liao Hua called him from a distance, "Sima, someone is coming to Xiangyang."

Liu Jing turned around and saw Liu Xian coming towards him. He was immediately overjoyed. Liu Biao really sent Liu Xian to negotiate.

At that time, Liu Jing sent soldiers to deliver letters to Liu Xian, which was largely because Liu Xian was neutral. He neither favored Liu Qi nor Liu Cong. In fact, from another perspective, he was not interested in these two men, which would be beneficial to Jiangxia's negotiations. At least he would face Jiangxia's rise rationally.

Liu Jing quickly greeted him, clasped his fists and smiled, "Liu Biejia, don't be fine."

Liu Xian also smiled and replied, "I thought the Jing Gong was in Chaisang and was preparing to build a defense against the Jiangdong Army, but I didn't expect to build a city in Xiakou."

Liu Jing laughed, "Isn't building a city in Xiakou also a kind of defense?"

Liu Xian smiled bitterly, it would be better not to say such things. Thinking of his own task, he carefully suggested: "Mr. Jing, let's talk."

Liu Jing nodded, "Let's go to Wuchang to talk."

...........

Dozens of large ships slowly left Xiakou and headed towards Wuchang City. Liu Xian stood in front of the ship window with his hands behind his back and watched Xiakou build a city in the distance for a long time. He had a vision and knew very well the profound meaning of Liu Jing's building in Xiakou. This obviously moved the center of gravity of Jiangxia's strategy westward. After all, Liu Jing's eyes were still staring at Xiangyang.

"Mr. Jinggong, the soldiers who built the city were exchanged for Jingzhou prisoners of war." Liu Xian turned around and sat down and asked.

“It’s them.”

Liu Jing smiled and said, "Anyway, they are idle in the military camp. Letting them participate in building a city is just right to give full play to their advantages."

"The provincial governor hopes that these prisoners of war can return to Xiangyang as soon as possible, and I hope the Duke will release them back to Xiangyang as soon as possible."

"release"

Liu Jing shook his head, "There is no problem of release. No one monitored them when they were building the city. They could leave Jiangxia and return to Xiangyang at any time. I would not stop them. Don't use the word "release"

Liu Xian didn't understand, and he frowned slightly, "You mean they don't want to leave Jiangxia."

"Not that, after all, my wife and children are in Xiangyang County. Who doesn't want to go home? I guess it's because they haven't received their wages, so they don't want to leave. Once the wages are released, most of them will rush home to celebrate the New Year."

"So that's the case"

Liu Xian suddenly realized that these prisoners of war were rewarded for participating in the construction of the city. Liu Jing had quite a means to detain the prisoners of war in Jiangxia in this way.

However, Liu Jing had at least expressed his willingness to repatriate these prisoners of war, which made Liu Xian feel heartbroken.

He pondered for a while and changed the topic, "There is also the matter of Jiangxia Shou. The provincial governor proposed a plan, and Gong Jing could propose five candidates, and then the provincial governor appointed one of the five candidates. I don't know if the public agreed."

Liu Jing laughed, "Now the military and civilians of Jiangxia County only recognize one guard, that is me. Except for me, Jiangxia County will not accept anyone as guard. Please don't tell the provincial governor this."

Liu Jing was unambiguous on the issue of guarding. Although he could let Liu Hu be the guard and Kuai Liang be the guarding, and he was the actual person in charge, the generals and county officials in the army unanimously opposed it. This involved a question of name. If the name was not correct, the words would be dissatisfied.

If Liu Jing cannot guard Jiang Xia, many things will not be handled, and many decisions he makes will not be legal, which is of great importance, so he must take the position of guarding. This is the first line of negotiation and he will never give in.

Before Liu Xian spoke, Liu Jing continued: "Four thousand prisoners of war are to be replaced. If Xiangyang refuses, there is no way to talk about it. These more than 4,000 troops will be directly taken to Jiangxia, and their families will also move east to Jiangxia. Don't think about it first."

"This..." Liu Xian was a little embarrassed. Although Liu Biao allowed him to be the plenipotentiary representative and negotiated with Liu Jing, Liu Biao did not fully agree with Liu Jing as the guard. If he agreed rashly, it would be difficult to explain when he went back.

He thought for a while and said, "Let's do this based on the position of the Duke as the Jiangxia Shou, let's continue to talk."

.........

It took about a day and a half to voyage from Xiakou to Wuchang County. At noon the next day, the fleet arrived in Wuchang. Liu Jing asked Liu Xianxian to go and rest and ordered people to serve him well. After arranging Liu Xian, he immediately led dozens of soldiers to rush westward. After running along the official road in the wilderness for an hour, Liu Jing arrived at Jiangxia Academy.

Jiangxia Academy is the former Huang Family Villa, the mansion of the Huang Family. Since the Huang Family was destroyed by Jiangdong, Huang Family Villa has become an empty house.

Despite this, it is still the most gorgeous giant house in Jiangxia. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers and has beautiful scenery. Not far away is the vast lake with a vast wave. The building complex is magnificent, covering an area of ​​nearly a thousand acres, and can live in four families.

Many people suggested that Liu Jing accept this mansion, but Liu Jing did not agree. One reason was that the villa was a little far away from Wuchang City and was dozens of miles away, so it was inconvenient to travel. On the other hand, he was alone, even if he got married, there were only two people. Living in such a large mansion was a little deserted.

So Liu Jing decided to rename Huang's Villa Jiangxia Academy, which was lived with Yu Ming outstanding talents and their families. The Jiangxia Academy's examination selection was carried out in an orderly manner in Lumen Academy. There is no result yet, but a person has been moved into Jiangxia Academy, who is the new leader of the academy, Kuai Liang.

Liu Jing agreed to Kuai Yue's proposal and appointed Kuai Liang as the head of the academy.

The group rushed to the academy. The plaque of Huang's Villa had been taken off. A pavilion was built in front of the academy gate. A white jade stele was erected in the pavilion with four big characters from Jiangxia Academy engraved on it.

There were special officials in the academy. When they heard that Sima had arrived, the officials immediately came out and bowed to show their respects, "See Sima in a humble manner."

"The Lord of the Courtyard Kuai is here," Liu General turned over and dismounted and asked with a smile.
Chapter completed!