My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 363 Harm others and yourself
"Oh?"

Liu Feng was also shocked. Although most landlords in ancient times exploited the local people, they would more or less embellish themselves and pretend to be good people.

Those who actually resorted to cannibalism were a very small minority, and they were easily killed and their flesh divided up by other powerful clans and the government.

However, Liu Feng is not a teenager. He has lived two lives, and combined, he is over several decades old, not to mention that his previous life was during the information explosion era.

After a moment's thought, it dawned on me.

These beasts really think too highly of themselves.

It's obvious that these beasts in Kuaiji are plotting to seize food from the enemy. They've robbed the local people of their stored grain, so we have to deal with it. If we don't, then we should be prepared for Kuaiji to be engulfed in flames.

Given the fierce and warlike nature of the people of Kuaiji and the martial tradition of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the local people would not be content to starve to death at home; they would definitely rise up in rebellion.

In this way, no matter which path Liu Feng chooses, he will consume a large amount of food, ultimately leaving him helpless against the powerful clans and gentry in Shanyin.

It must be said that although this plan was ruthless, it was actually very effective.

However, for this treacherous plan to succeed, all three conditions must be met.

The first reason is naturally that they ruthlessly plundered the grain stored by their own fellow villagers.

The second reason, of course, is that Liu Feng's supplies were insufficient.

The third condition is that Shanyin City will never fall.

Especially the third point, which means that Shanyin will definitely fall, and Liu Feng's decision will have nothing to do with their fate.

Unfortunately, Liu Feng now has a considerable amount of grain in his hands. More importantly, with the Sun family, including Sun Ce and Sun Quan, acting as internal allies, the Shanyin City, which the local gentry and powerful families of Kuaiji rely on as their stronghold, is likely to fall soon.

At this moment, Wu Fan's face showed a hesitant expression, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Upon noticing this, Liu Feng immediately asked, "Mr. Wu, please speak freely, there's no need to hold back."

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan quickly cupped his hands in humility before saying, "I have heard them say that it is to deplete the general's military provisions. If the general does not take Zhucheng..."

Liu Feng frowned: "What if we don't take Zhucheng?"

Wu Fan panicked and lowered his voice, saying, "It's good that some people starve to death, freeing up some land for those mountain tribes..."

Liu Feng roared, "You scoundrel, how dare you!"

Liu Feng was genuinely angry; he never imagined these beasts could be so vicious.

Behind their backs, these people are probably secretly pleased with their plan, which has killed four birds with one stone.

However, this turned out to be an unexpected surprise for Liu Feng.

Liu Feng wanted to purge the local gentry and powerful clans of Kuaiji. In addition to facing the backlash from the gentry and the assistance of the Yue tribes, there was another opposing force: the common people of Kuaiji.

This is no joke. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, powerful clans and gentry in any region both oppressed local commoners and acted as their protectors, helping them resist external oppression.

One important reason for this situation is taxation.

The system of rotating officials meant that officials would only look at the data related to their own promotion, and they would not care about other data no matter how bad it was.

In this way, the interests of the local gentry and powerful families aligned with those of the local common people: to oppose taxes and pay as little as possible.

Over time, commoners will develop a sense of dependence on the local powerful clans, since not all powerful clans are extremely greedy; many of them are quite kind and leave room for maneuver.

These powerful figures, whether out of kindness, a desire for fame, or vanity and hypocrisy, generally did not treat the common people too harshly, and the common people blindly followed them.

It's no joke that once these powerful figures raise their voices, the local people will immediately flock to them.

Faced with this situation, Liu Feng will be caught in a dilemma. He can't bring himself to kill them, but if he lets it go, at best all his previous efforts will be wasted, and at worst he will suffer a humiliating defeat.

Now things are much better. The local powerful families have directly solved this problem for him, and in turn, they have given Liu Feng a great opportunity to win over the hearts of the people.

If handled properly, Liu Feng could not only cleanse the local gentry and powerful families of Huiji, leaving only those who could be used by him, but also use the situation created by these beasts to distribute grain and provide disaster relief, thus turning Huiji into his own solid foundation.

Liu Feng chuckled inwardly, almost wanting to thank those brilliant minds in Shanyin City.

"This matter is quite important, and I am aware of it."

Liu Feng's expression softened, and his gaze fell on Wu Fan.

Wu Fan was trembling with fear. He had been genuinely frightened when Liu Feng suddenly flew into a rage.

The boy before him still had a touch of childishness in his appearance, but when he got angry, he was so captivating, like the roar of a tiger and the cry of a dragon, that he trembled in fear.

Seeing that Liu Feng's attitude had softened, Wu Fan felt as if he owed the other party something and tried his best to make it up to him.

Thinking of the kingly aura emanating from the other party, Wu Fan gritted his teeth and said, "Reporting to the General of the Southern Expedition, the Fan family still has seven thousand shi of grain hidden away, which we are willing to donate to help the General relieve the disaster victims."

Wu Fan's tactful, almost obsequious, behavior puzzled Liu Feng, who couldn't understand why the other party had such confidence in him.

In any case, he had no connection with Wu Fan, so why would Wu Fan offer him such full support?

However, whether it was luck or foresight, the fact that the other party did this still deserves Liu Feng's encouragement and reassurance.

"I thought that the local noble families in Kuaiji had all lost their conscience and were completely inhuman."

Liu Feng's words startled Wu Fan, but fortunately, he changed his tone: "Fortunately, there are also loyal and upright gentlemen like Zhong Xiang, Gong Miao, and Wen Ze'er who are devoted to the court."

"The great success of the pacification of Kuaiji is largely due to you gentlemen."

Liu Feng praised him and fed Wu Fan several bowls of chicken soup before making his request: "Shangyu is a place that cannot be taken lightly. I will immediately dispatch elite troops to accompany you to Shangyu overnight. At the same time, Wen Zeru, after you return home, do not be stingy with money. You should mobilize people of insight to purchase stored grain. Although the city is empty, there must still be surplus grain in the countryside outside the city."

It has only been a little over half a month since Liu Feng forced Kuaiji to rebel. Even if the local gentry and powerful families in Kuaiji are familiar with the area, they do not have enough manpower and transportation resources to sweep up all the grain in the local countryside.

Therefore, Liu Feng suggested that Wu Fan mobilize the powerful families who were on his side to purchase grain and use his name to provide relief to the disaster victims.

Liu Feng will cover all expenses at that time.

After seeing Wu Fan off, Liu Feng couldn't sleep either, so he immediately summoned Gu Yong, Lu Xun, and others.

To be fair, although Gu Yong was spineless, he was indeed very capable, especially in paperwork and numbers, which he was quite proficient in. According to Gu Yong's report, more than 500,000 shi of grain could be delivered to Shanyin City within half a month, most of which came from Yuhang and Qiantang, while the remaining 200,000 shi came from the grain reserves in Gaoqiantun, Guling, and Yuji City.

The time required to deliver supplies to Quan and Wucheng will be longer, adding seven to ten days.

As for the grain from Wu County, it actually reached the front line faster than the grain from Wucheng because of the waterway.

These two batches of grain together amount to about 400,000 to 500,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).

If Liu Feng felt it wasn't enough, he could also transfer grain from Danyang County, Guangling County, Liyang, and Niuzhu, but the transportation of this grain would take as long as a month.

Liu Feng now commands over 50,000 men, who consume 100,000 shi of grain per month. If we add the rations for 20,000 laborers and the losses from shipping, the minimum monthly supply of grain is 130,000 shi.

Currently, Yuji County has more than 200,000 shi of grain in storage, which can be transported by water to Shanyin at any time, enough to support Liu Feng for two months.

If Sun Quan truly surrenders, then Shanyin can be captured in one fell swoop, and the war will naturally end more quickly.

However, the news that Wu Fan brought with him was also very valuable.

Food is still very important to Liu Feng, but it is no longer as scarce as it was when he first entered Xuzhou.

Moreover, the issue of grain would directly determine the future situation of Kuaiji. Liu Feng ultimately decided to be prepared, even at the cost of huge losses in transportation, to stockpile as much grain as possible in case of emergency.

"Yuan Tan, order the rear to transport grain at maximum capacity, which can be stored in Qiantang, Yuji, and the Shanyin camp."

Thinking of this, Liu Feng felt that Yu Ji only had one thousand garrison troops, which was not safe enough, so he ordered two thousand men to be transferred from Xu Sheng's troops to reinforce Yu Ji.

With this, Yuji County had 3,000 garrison troops, 2,000 of whom were former troops from the Southern Expedition, so they were not afraid of any unexpected events.

********
After this minor incident, the next morning, Liu Feng, who had only taken a nap, still led the army to continue eastward.

Three days later, the army finally arrived at the city of Shanyin.

Meanwhile, the Jiangdong navy, led by Lu Xun as the main general and Zhang Yun as the deputy general, also arrived at the front line and began to build a water fortress on the shady side of the mountain.

This naval force was formed from local gentry, powerful families, and bandits in Jiangdong, with a total strength of less than three thousand men and more than one hundred warships of various sizes.

Strictly speaking, this naval force might not be a match for the naval forces of Lin and Jiao.

However, the enemy dares not leave the city for naval battles now and will only stay inside the city, thus giving the initiative to Lu Xun and his men.

After Liu Feng's army arrived at the walls of Shanyin City, they began the usual large-scale construction, building fortifications. Meanwhile, Jia Kui led three thousand men on a rapid eastward advance, their target clearly Shangyu County.

After a series of troop splits, Liu Feng's army was reduced to less than 50,000, while the forces in Shanyin City numbered nearly 60,000.

The strategy has always been to surround them with ten units of force, attack them with five units of force, and divide them up with twice the force.

Now, the number of troops inside the city far exceeds that outside, yet they have retreated directly into the city walls. This general can no longer be described as someone who doesn't know how to command troops; he's practically a war criminal.

Liu Feng was somewhat curious: Didn't the local gentry and powerful families of Kuaiji have any objections to Sun Ce's reckless actions?
It should be noted that when he captured Wuxi and Wuxian, the defenders also had field fortifications and launched repeated attacks to destroy the siege equipment, but they were unable to succeed.

There's never been anything like this, where the wilderness has been completely left clean.

Liu Feng was inwardly criticizing Sun Ce for acting too fake and worried that Sun Ce would be seen through, but Sun Ce was completely innocent at the moment.

From the very beginning, Sun Ce suggested that the army should divide 10,000 elite troops to garrison Shangyu, and then divide another 4,000 elite troops to build a camp outside the city's east gate (facing the city gate of Shangyu). This would not only protect the city gate, but also allow them to form a pincer movement with the Shangyu defenders.

As a result, the powerful figures led by Lin Sheng and Jiao Lang said, "What you said is very good, but we won't listen."

It's laughable, really. The reason these people are unwilling to go to Shangyu and insist on sticking together in Shanyin is precisely because of Liu Feng's current formidable reputation.

They worried that if they stationed a detachment in Shangyu, they would likely be the first target of Liu Feng, who would then quickly eliminate them.

Shangyu City is located at a transportation hub, serving as a port where waterways converge and the Kuaiji official road is situated. Such an important county town was naturally heavily guarded, with high walls and deep moats.

However, it is still slightly inferior to Wuxi and Wuxian.

Liu Feng's fame for conquering cities and capturing strongholds has spread to Kuaiji. How dare such a cowardly man divide his troops to garrison Shangyu and respond to Shanyin?

As for the Yue people, they were willing to send troops to Shangyu, but the local powerful clans and gentry were not happy about it.

The city of Shanyin was in ruins, and the people were living in misery. Every day, new cases of robbery, rape, and armed fights were reported to Sun Ce. How could the powerful clans of Shangyu agree to let the Yue people wreak havoc in their homes?

After much arguing, they finally settled on a strategy of strict prevention and control.

To put it bluntly, they completely retreated and allowed Liu Feng to beat them up.

Even with Sun Ce's abilities and ambitions, he was filled with lingering fear at this moment.

I was truly blinded by hunger and indiscriminate greed when I chose to cooperate with these insects in their rebellion.

However, the stupidity of these people was not without its advantages, as it greatly reduced the difficulty for Sun Quan to enter and leave Shanyin.

Liu Feng's troops had only been stationed outside the city for three days when Sun Quan had already entered and exited twice.

This also shows Sun's eagerness to serve himself.

The city's defenses are now in complete disarray. Given Sun Ce's military prowess, deceiving these bumpkins in Kuaiji would be a piece of cake.

Without making a sound, he easily took control of a city gate simply by stirring up the relationship between the local bumpkins and the Yue barbarians.

Although Liu Feng had only just arrived at the city of Shanyin, the victory was already assured.

Now there is still a small problem: what to do with all the naval forces of Lin Sheng and Jiao Tan in Kuaiji?

If Liu Feng's southern expeditionary navy were still intact, there would be no pressure whatsoever. However, Liu Feng had already dispatched them all previously. Currently, the navy assembled by Lu Xun, Zhang Yun, and the soon-to-arrive Zhu Huan, numbering approximately three thousand, is not guaranteed to be victorious.

After all, in naval warfare, the most important thing is the ships, followed by strategy, and lastly, the brave generals.

The ability to defeat large ships with small boats, as seen in later PLA battles, is completely contrary to common sense.

In fact, it is quite rare for someone like Sun Ce to sail upstream against the current, defeat a much larger force like Liu Biao and Huang Zu's large naval fleet. And someone like Gan Ning, who single-handedly held off the enemy, shot and killed Ling Tong, and frightened away the Jiangdong navy, is even rarer.

(End of this chapter)