In Jingnan, Wuling Commandery, as Liu Bei advanced eastward, Qin Tian's main force finally arrived in Wuling.
The reason they had gathered their forces here was that Liu Pan had not gone north after his defeat.
His troops remained stationed at Chanling, preventing Qin Tian in the south from continuing his northward advance.
Yet upon arriving, Qin Tian did not hurry onward. He merely ordered Taishi Ci to garrison Zuotang.
He himself remained in Linyuan, appointing Zhang Ji to inspect every region and prevent the plague from returning.
At the same time, he ordered officials across the region to save the dying and heal the wounded, winning over the hearts of Jingnan's people.
After more than twenty days, the situation in Wuling Commandery was finally stabilized.
Once Wuling had achieved preliminary stability, Qin Tian recruited Jingnan's scholars into office.
Thus, talented men such as Jiang Wan, Liao Li, and Liu Ba successively emerged to aid him, helping soothe and support the people in every region.
It was worth mentioning that, in the original history, Liu Ba had once refused Liu Bei's summons to serve.
After the Battle of Red Cliffs, most Jing Province scholars had sought refuge with Liu Bei. Only Liu Ba had fled directly to Jiaozhou.
Later, Liu Ba entered Liu Zhang's service. Only after Liu Zhang was defeated by Old Liu did Liu Ba willingly submit to him.
But in this timeline, Liu Ba did not refuse Qin Tian's summons. The moment he heard Qin Tian wanted him to take office, he hurried over to lend his aid.
Naturally, Qin Tian was curious what this old fellow was thinking, so he privately asked:
"I have heard that Liu Jingsheng summoned Zichu to serve many times, yet you never accepted his orders."
"Why was it that the moment