My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 366 The Primitive Court
"good!"

After praising him, Liu Feng immediately ordered, "In that case, Wen Gui, prepare to take over the defense immediately. The defense of Shanyin is now entirely in your hands."

Pan Zhang responded and immediately got up to leave.

After Pan Zhang left, Liu Feng turned to Fan Neng and Yu Mi and said, "Generals, there are many prisoners in Shanyin City now, more than 30,000 of whom are able-bodied men, and the remaining 10,000 or so are all men. If they continue to be detained in Shanyin City, the food supply will be under great pressure. I intend to entrust these prisoners to you two generals to send them to Shouchun City, where my father is located in Jiangbei. I wonder if you two generals can share my burden?"

Fan Neng and Yu Mi were overjoyed; this was the safest and most reliable way to achieve their goal.

Now that Sun Ce has been pacified and Kuaiji has been secured, the journey back through Wu Commandery and the north of Danyang Commandery is virtually safe. With just a little effort, the mission can be completed flawlessly.

Compared to the low difficulty of the mission, the achievement was real: more than 50,000 prisoners were escorted from Kuaiji to Jiujiang. This achievement was tangible and visible.

Neither of them expected that such an easy yet significant achievement would fall to them, after all, neither Fan Neng nor Yu Mi were Liu Feng's trusted generals.

"The two generals have served the army on this campaign. Even if they have not achieved any merit, they have certainly worked hard. I have seen and remembered all of this."

Seemingly sensing the doubts in Fan Neng and Yu Mi's hearts, Liu Feng spoke up at this moment to reassure them: "This merit can be considered as a token of my gratitude. However, the two generals must not be careless. The powerful figures of Kuaiji are traitors, criminals of the court, and their crimes are unforgivable. The mountain Yue barbarian chieftains are known for their frivolity and bravery. Although there are no external threats along the way, there are internal troubles."

Fan Neng and Yu Mi exchanged a glance and quickly bowed together, saying, "Zheng Nan has treated us with sincerity, and we are deeply grateful. We will certainly do our best and never let Zheng Nan down."

Liu Feng nodded in satisfaction: "The two generals may go and make preparations, and set off on a chosen day. I have already written a letter to inform my father that you have been staying at Niuzhutun for quite some time, so there should be no worries about your journey north this time."

"We thank the General of the South!"

Fan Neng and Yu Mi were moved to tears and took their leave to prepare.

Watching Fan Neng and Yu Mi's departing figures, Liu Feng also revealed a satisfied smile.

Now that the situation in Jiangdong has been settled, Fan Neng, Yu Mi, and Zhang Ying, as former subordinates of Liu Yao and powerful figures from Danyang and Wu Commandery, are naturally not allowed to remain in Jiangdong in Liu Feng's mind.

Zhang Ying has just taken office as the Prefect of Danyang, so we cannot touch him for the time being. Moreover, the southern part of Danyang County is mostly mountainous and needs an experienced local general to be stationed in Wanling. Although Zhang Ying is not the best choice, he is definitely a good choice.

Since Zhang Ying cannot be moved, Fan Neng and Yu Mi absolutely cannot remain in Jiangdong.

Simply transferring them directly to Jiangbei would seem rather deliberate, and could also cause panic and dissatisfaction among Fan Neng and Yu Mi.

Putting yourself in Liu Feng's shoes, you would definitely wonder if you were being used and then discarded.

Therefore, Liu Feng specially reserved this lucrative position for Fan Neng and Yu Mi, so that they could perform meritorious deeds. In this way, Fan Neng and Yu Mi would not only not be suspicious, but would also be extremely grateful to Liu Bei and his son.

Once they arrived at Liu Bei's place in Shouchun, north of the Yangtze River, Liu Bei, with his skill and ability, would naturally be able to keep Fan Neng and Yu Mi there, and even make them stay happily.

********
In the Mingguang Hall of the prefectural government office in Yecheng, Hebei.

Yuan Shao, seated in the main seat, looked delighted: "Gentlemen, Lord Xuande has fathered a fine son!"

Yuan Shao's words drew everyone's attention to him.

Yuan Shao remained calm in the face of this situation, but was secretly delighted.

Because of his childhood experiences, Yuan Shao had an intense desire for attention, especially to become the center of attention.

It was the same in my childhood, it was the same in my youth, and now, even after achieving great success and fame, it remains the same as before, as I hold a high-ranking official position as Grand Marshal in Hebei.

"Liu Bei's son?"

Guo Tu blinked: "Could it be Liu Zisheng?"

Yuan Shao smiled and nodded: "That's right, it is indeed Liu Zisheng. Sun Wentai is a tiger general, and his son Sun Bofu inherited his father's valor. In half a year, he swept through Wu Commandery, forcing Liu Yao to cower in the north of Dan, living in constant fear. Xu Gong fled south to Youquan, barely surviving."

At this point, a hint of contempt flashed in Yuan Shao's eyes: "My brother is an ignorant fool, utterly unlearned and incompetent. Although Sun Wentai possesses the courage of a tiger and wolf, he does not know the right path and aids the wicked in their evil deeds; his son is no different."

"Although neither the Sun family father nor his son met a good end, they did enhance my brother's prestige."

When the word "prestige" was mentioned, Yuan Shao's lips curled up slightly, revealing a clear sense of contempt and sarcasm.

"But unexpectedly, he was defeated by Xuande in the battle and captured by Liu Zisheng in a night raid. He is truly utterly incompetent."

As Yuan Shao spoke, his gloating reached its peak, and he burst into laughter.

After laughing, perhaps worried about his image, he quickly added, "Liu Zisheng is a young hero. I am happy for Lord Xuande that he has such a son."

Among the people in the hall, the clever ones, such as Ju Shou, Cui Yan, Xun Chen, Xin Pi, and Guo Tu, had long seen through Yuan Shao's desire to show off, but they pretended not to know and went along with it.

Only Tian Feng stood up, cupped his hands in greeting to Yuan Shao, and said, "Grand Marshal, although General Zuo has repeatedly committed rebellious acts and lost the hearts of the people, he is still the eldest son of the Yuan family and your own brother. Now that General Zuo has been arrested for his crimes, it is certainly right for Grand Marshal to be just and impartial, and not to show favoritism, but you must not joke about it, otherwise you may lose the people's support."

Although Tian Feng's words were correct, they completely dampened Yuan Shao's good mood. In particular, the words "Yuan family's eldest son" cast a shadow over Yuan Shao's face.

If Tian Feng hadn't been extremely famous in Hebei and was also his trusted advisor, Yuan Shao would have loved to grab him by the collar and give him a good scolding.

I am the legitimate son of the Yuan family!
I am the true pillar of the Yuan family!
Xun Chen and Xin Pi looked at Tian Feng as if he were a dead man. How could Tian Yuanhao, a wise man, be so foolish in matters of human relationships?
They initially thought Tian Feng was a persona he was creating, deliberately using a false identity.

Although people in the Eastern Han Dynasty didn't know the word "persona," they were utterly insane and inhumane when it came to creating one.

It's just a simple name, nothing to really worry about.

But the more they interacted with Tian Feng, the more they couldn't help but begin to doubt themselves.

This was not because they were kind, but because Tian Feng's behavior in front of Yuan Shao was truly puzzling.

Tian Feng would strike wherever Yuan Shao was weak.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao was still clear-headed. Before Gongsun Zan's demise, he knew very well that he could not do without the support of powerful and virtuous men from Hebei, such as Tian Feng and Ju Shou.

They can support themselves today, and they can support Gongsun Zan tomorrow.

What's even more frightening is that this wasn't just Yuan Shao's conjecture, but an undeniable fact that had actually happened.

When Yuan Shao first entered Ji Province, the number of powerful clans and gentry in Ji Province who supported Gongsun Zan far exceeded those who supported him.

“Yuan Hao is absolutely right. I was out of line.”

Yuan Shao was immediately pleased instead of angry, his gloomy expression vanished, and he straightened up to bow and apologize to Tian Feng.

Tian Feng then stepped aside, humbly saying, "How dare I accept the courtesy due to the Grand Marshal?"

While inwardly gritting his teeth, Yuan Shao, with a look of delight on his face, immediately changed the subject. "Gentlemen, Liu Zisheng captured Shouchun in one battle, captured Gonglu alive, and pacified Jiangbei with a proclamation. All the counties have surrendered."

Yuan Shao's face showed a serious expression: "Now the Jianghuai region has fallen entirely into Liu Bei's hands, yet he has not suffered the slightest loss."

Yuan Shao only said half of what he meant, but everyone present naturally understood the unspoken meaning.

Clearly, the Grand Marshal felt that Liu Bei was expanding his territory too quickly and acquiring the Jianghuai region too easily.

In fact, it wasn't just Yuan Shao who thought this way; everyone present thought the same.

When Yuan Shao sent them the intelligence earlier, everyone remembered their first reaction.

That is, I can't believe it.

Liu Bei was incredibly lucky to have such a son.

At this point, no one doubted Liu Feng's abilities anymore. Even if they still suspected that Liu Feng was just a figurehead, they believed that he was quite talented.

After all, many people are beyond help, let alone the fact that they still haven't been able to find out who's behind Liu Feng.

People are starting to have doubts about whether the person behind this actually exists.

If it truly doesn't exist, then Liu Feng...

hiss……

Upon realizing this, Xun Chen and Cui Yan gasped.

Xin Pi, standing beside Xun Chen, glanced at him with a smile. The Xin family was a first-rate family in Yingchuan, although their reputation had not been as high in recent years, and they had been overshadowed by the four major families.

However, in terms of background and resources, the Xin family is extremely powerful, far surpassing the rising star Chen family.

Compared to the Xun family, however, they paled in comparison. Not only was their family firmly suppressed by the other side, but the brothers Xin Pi and Xin Ping were also constantly suppressed by Xun Chen and Xun Yue, not to mention the uncle and nephew Xun Yu and Xun You, who had the talent of a king's advisor.

Seeing Xun Chen lose his composure, Xin Pi immediately felt a sense of triumph, as if he had finally won against Liu Feng.

This perfectly proves that his vision far surpasses that of Xun Chen.

"Grand Marshal, Lord Xuande now commands a strong army and possesses three fertile provinces. If we do not act soon, we fear future troubles may arise."

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the speaker, who was none other than Shen Pei, a powerful local gentry.

Shen Pei's face was serious, his stern expression full of solemnity: "Lord Xuande has been helping the General many times, and there is more cooperation between the two sides. We must be on guard."

After Shen Pei finished speaking, the hall fell silent.

It's not that Shen Pei's words were entirely correct, and that everyone else had no objections. Nowadays, the factional strife in Hebei is becoming increasingly fierce, and when people oppose something, they don't care whether what you say is right or wrong.

The reason for the silence was that Shen Pei had said something that no one else was willing to say.

Therefore, everyone was waiting for Yuan Shao's reaction, and no one wanted to speak out of turn and contradict him.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao remained silent for a moment, then glanced at everyone before asking in a deep voice, "What do you gentlemen think of Zheng Nan's words?"

Everyone wanted to see Yuan Shao's reaction, but they didn't expect that Yuan Shao also wanted to see their reaction.

For a moment, the hall fell silent again. People glanced at each other and observed each other's reactions silently.

The global situation is becoming increasingly clear.

Yuan Shao's dominance over Hebei was already established, but Gongsun Zan was not without the power to fight back. In the latter half of last year, he once again defeated Yuan Shao, causing Yuan Shao a great headache.

At the beginning of the year, Yuan Shao sent someone to Yi County to meet Gongsun Zan, hoping to make peace. He even offered to give Gongsun Zan the land of Yi County, but Gongsun Zan refused outright.

Yuan Shao hated Gongsun Zan to the core at this moment. You see, Gongsun Zan had already given up on fighting for the world and only wanted to retire in Yi County, but Gongsun Zan still refused to give up making trouble for Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao also tried to let go of Gongsun Zan, didn't you say you were going to take care of him in his old age?

Okay, I won't hit you anymore. You can enjoy your retirement.

As a result, just as Yuan Shao dispatched troops to attack Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army, Gongsun Zan immediately led 20,000 infantry and cavalry to cause trouble for Yuan Shao, causing Yuan Shao to fail again.

Yuan Shao is being driven crazy by Gongsun Zan.

Cao Cao's situation has now become fixed. Although he holds the emperor's power, he may not be much more comfortable than Yuan Shao.

Yanzhou has a long and narrow terrain, located along the Yellow River, with very shallow depth. Moreover, Yuan Shao is just across the river to the north, while Liu Bei controls the south. It can be said that it is attacked from both sides and has no heart.

Although the newly acquired Sanhe region was somewhat better, and it finally had some strategic advantages, it was repeatedly ravaged by war, leaving the people displaced and almost without any usable population. Cao Cao spent two years relocating people and establishing military farms before it was able to regain some human habitation.

Liu Bei was located in the southeast, and Xuzhou was devastated and impoverished, so he originally had no hope of conquering the country.

But now they occupy major prefectures such as Runan and Pei in Yuzhou, and have now successfully taken two prefectures north of the Yangtze River, so their strength has more than doubled.

If Liu Bei and Cao Cao had truly joined forces, even if Yuan Shao had unified Hebei, he might not have been able to easily cross into Henan.

Xinpi suddenly coughed lightly, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

"Grand Marshal, I have two strategies, one for the near term and one for the long term, which complement each other and benefit each other."

Yuan Shao raised an eyebrow and said with delight, "Zuozhi is truly a genius! You have already come up with two usable strategies in such a short time. Please tell me quickly!"

Xin Pi immediately said, "Given the current situation, if Cao Cao and Liu Bei join forces, the Grand Marshal may be rejected if he wants to go south to the capital to assist the emperor. Therefore, in my opinion, the Grand Marshal should show goodwill to Liu Bei in order to divide the power between Cao Cao and Liu Bei and increase their mutual suspicion."

No sooner had Xin Pi finished speaking than Cui Yan suddenly spoke up: "Mr. Zuo Zhi's plan is brilliant!"

Xin Pi's gaze sharpened as he looked at Cui Yan. Although Cui Yan was praising him, Xin Pi was certain that the assassin was right behind them.

As expected, Cui Yan then feigned confusion and asked, "There is something I don't understand, and I hope Mr. George can enlighten me."

Xin Pixin summoned him, but with a calm expression, he asked in return, "I wonder what puzzles Ji Gui?"

(End of this chapter)