My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 400 Reporting to Liu Bei
"plan!?"

Liu Bei was surprised; this was indeed his weakness. The only one who could fall for his schemes was the hostage general. His only moment of glory was when he escaped from Xuchang, like a fish returning to the sea or a bird soaring into the sky.

Liu Feng nodded heavily, and under Liu Bei's expectant gaze, he slowly said, "This plan is a strategy of going with the flow. After his great defeat at the Battle of Longcou, Uncle Gongsun has lost all ambition. In addition, he governs the region cruelly and mercilessly, exploiting people and being harsh to both the soldiers and the common people. As a result, Uncle Gongsun's subordinates are disappointed with him, and the people's hearts are scattered, like a river flowing downhill."

During the Three Kingdoms period, you could be cruel, cunning, or ruthless, but you couldn't be without ambition.

Once you lose your ambition, your subordinates will most likely become disloyal and alienated.

Gongsun Zan not only lost his ambition to conquer the world in action, but also kept saying that he was waiting for a wise ruler to appear. As a result, he squandered the last bit of popularity he had left.

Yuan Shao was also a shrewd and ruthless man. When he saw Gongsun Zan jump into the water, he immediately threw stones at him.

"Under such circumstances, if Uncle Gongsun had softened his stance even slightly and agreed to Yuan Shao's request for peace."

Liu Feng said firmly, "In my humble opinion, the day the peace talks are successful will be the day Uncle Gongsun dies!"

Gongsun Zan was already at a disadvantage and was being suffocated by Yuan Shao. He only managed to defeat Yuan Shao repeatedly by being brave and capable in battle. Although he could not turn the tide, he was able to hold on to his last breath.

Once the peace negotiations are successful, this anger will completely dissipate. If Yuan Shao were to turn against him again at that point, Gongsun Zan would have no right to fight to the death.

In modern terms, it means that when people's hearts are scattered, the team cannot be led.

In the original timeline, Gongsun Zan vowed never to negotiate peace with Yuan Shao. Although it was most likely just because he had a bad temper and was deliberately trying to annoy Yuan Shao, he coincidentally avoided Yuan Shao's schemes. It can only be said that Heaven was not on Yuan Shao's side.

If Yuan Shao had quelled Gongsun Zan a year earlier, or even just six months earlier, the difficulty of Cao Cao's Battle of Guandu would have increased by several tens of percentage points.

Watching his eldest son speak so eloquently, Liu Bei, though not fully understanding, felt that what his eldest son said made a lot of sense.

He couldn't help but ask, "In your opinion, would Brother Bogui agree to peace talks?"

Absolutely not!

Liu Feng shook his head vigorously. This was the result in the original timeline. Moreover, although things were turbulent and unpredictable south of the Yellow River, the area north of the Yellow River was not affected much.

The biggest change is probably that Yuan Shao has changed from a general in the original timeline to a higher-ranking Grand Marshal.

Liu Feng was almost certain that nothing would change.

Liu Bei asked, puzzled, "Why are you so confident?"

Liu Feng sneered, “Uncle Gongsun is stubborn and fierce, rough and impulsive, narrow-minded, suspicious and jealous. In the past, he was so powerful that he conquered Hebei, sweeping through the three provinces of You, Ji and Qing. In the Battle of Dongguang, he led 20,000 infantry and cavalry to defeat 300,000 Yellow Turbans, winning two battles in a row, killing 50,000 and capturing 100,000, almost annihilating them. But then, he was deceived by Yuan Shao and lost Ji Province. After that, he suffered heavy defeats in the battles of Jieqiao and Longcou, and never regained his former prestige.”

"Given Uncle Gongsun's temperament, he probably already hates Yuan Shao to the core, and only regrets that he cannot drag Yuan Shao down with him. How could he be willing to negotiate peace with him?"

Liu Feng remarked with a sigh, "This can be considered a stroke of luck, as it just so happens to have avoided Yuan Shao's scheme."

"If it weren't for Gongsun's character, once the peace talks were successful, the Grand Marshal's strategy would have been much more flexible. He could have either taken advantage of the situation to annihilate Gongsun, or he could have pretended to be innocent and temporarily let Gongsun go while raising an army to march south."

Liu Feng pondered and said, "However, given the current state of regional separatism, Yuan Shao is unlikely to march south; he will only deal with Uncle Gongsun first."

In the original timeline, Yuan Shao would most likely have marched south to deal with Cao Cao first, because at that time Gongsun Zan was merely a trapped beast; although he was annoying, he was truly incapable of reviving. Conversely, Cao Cao, on the other hand, had a formidable force, and his land reclamation program was beginning to show results.

If Cao Cao continues to recuperate like this, Yuan Shao, who only has one province, cannot compare to Cao Cao, who controls the four provinces of Yan, Yu, Xu, and Si in the Central Plains. Even though Cao Cao hasn't conquered all four of these Henan provinces.

For example, Xuzhou was Zang Ba's private territory, where he obeyed orders but not imperial decrees, making him essentially a regional military governor.

For example, Yanzhou was desolate and ruined, with only one-third of its peak population, and large swathes of Hebei land were occupied by Yuan Shao.

For example, Sili was even more devastated than Yanzhou, and more than half of its commanderies and kingdoms did not obey Cao Cao's orders.

However, the two major provinces of Yan and Yu were far ahead of Hebei in terms of farming. After all, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Henan was far superior to Hebei in terms of total economic output, population, and cultural talent.

But the situation is different now. Without dealing with Liu Bei, Yuan Shao might not dare to cross the river. However, Hanoi is quite dangerous. It is a rich and populous place with no natural defenses. It is truly a piece of fat meat that one should not miss.

Following up on the topic of Gongsun Zan, Liu Feng recounted his subsequent cooperation with Cao Cao and their alliance against Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei's expression shifted between light and shadow, but he remained silent, listening quietly to Liu Feng's account.

After Liu Feng finished speaking, he asked, "Feng'er, do you think so highly of Mengde?"

The same alliance can be described differently depending on the partners.

When Liu Feng spoke to his father Liu Bei, he did not hide most of his thoughts.

For example, Cao Cao could lead the charge on the front lines, while Liu Bei's army would only provide support and help Cao Cao alleviate some of the pressure, allowing Cao Cao's main force to confront Yuan Shao's army head-on.

Historically, Cao Cao's army was far stronger than Yuan Shao's, and his territory was larger. Although the north had been plagued by war for a long time, it was also in turmoil.

The reason why Cao Cao's forces seemed to be so far behind Yuan Shao's was not only because Henan was too desolate and its resources had been greatly reduced, thus limiting the size of Cao Cao's army, but also because Cao Cao was located in the heart of the Central Plains, and he needed to send troops to all sides.

At the height of the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao still stationed nearly 20,000 troops in Yuzhou.

Moreover, these 20,000 men were no weak force; they were all battle-hardened elites, half of whom were retainers of the powerful Li family of Yanzhou, commanded by Li Tong, to guard Yang'an and stabilize the situation in Langling, Runan.

The other several thousand elite troops were Cao Ren's elite forces, sent to Runan as Cao Cao's strategic reserve to attack Liu Bei.

In addition to the troops defending Yingchuan against Liu Biao, there are at least 20,000 Cao troops in the Runan direction.

This is the fundamental reason why Cao Cao's army had over 100,000 soldiers before the Battle of Guandu, but when Yuan Shao's 100,000 elite Flying Dragons charged at them, Cao Cao's army only numbered 20,000 to 30,000.

It is clear that Cao Cao did not lack troops, but was simply unable to assemble them due to unforeseen circumstances.

In this dimension, Cao Cao's strength is actually no weaker than in the original timeline. Although Liu Bei and his son seized a lot of Cao Cao's territory, Cao Cao still retained most of his core territory in the original timeline.

Most of Yanzhou, Henan Yin, Hongnong, Henan, and Yingchuan were Cao Cao's main territories. Although Yuzhou was under Liu Bei's control, this indirectly helped Cao Cao share the danger from Liu Biao and saved him the 20,000 troops stationed in Runan.

Furthermore, with the alliance between Cao Cao and Liu Bei, Cao Cao no longer needed to divide his troops in the east to defend against Xu Province.

If another Battle of Guandu were to break out now, the disparity in strength between Cao Cao's forces would certainly not be as great as it was in the original timeline, not to mention the agreed-upon reinforcements from Liu Bei.

“Father, I have high hopes for the General, and I believe that we can only have high hopes for the General.”

Yuan Shao is still the most powerful man in the land, and he has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, which is something that the other warlords in Henan cannot match.

That's hundreds of thousands! Even Cao Cao before the Battle of Red Cliffs only had that many. Most of them were left over from Yuan Shao's legacy, which shows how powerful Yuan Shao was at that time.

Of course, Liu Feng was not afraid of Yuan Shao. Not to mention that he still had a chance to take Jingzhou, even with the existing three southeastern counties, once the army was expanded in the next three years, Liu Feng's army in the southeast would not be inferior to Yuan Shao's army in terms of scale or weaponry, and its combat power would be far superior to Yuan Shao's army.

Otherwise, wouldn't all of Liu Feng's efforts over the past few years have been in vain?
While it's impossible to say that Xuzhou has fully recovered to its former glory, it has at least returned to the level before Cao Cao's massacre of Xuzhou. The three northern commanderies of Donghai, Langya, and Xiapi have recovered somewhat through land reclamation, while Guangling has avoided the losses of Yuan Shu's rebellion. Overall, it may even be in better shape.

Yuzhou no longer suffered the fierce tug-of-war between Cao Cao and Yuan Shu for more than two years, and retained six or seven tenths of its strength.

Don't underestimate these six or seven points. Yuzhou is the second largest province in the world, with a solid foundation. These six or seven points of vitality alone have allowed Yuzhou to maintain its leading position in many data points such as economy and population under Liu Bei's rule, even surpassing Xu and Yang provinces.

Although Yangzhou was newly established, Liu Feng's painstaking efforts to eliminate rivals and devour powerful forces, despite wasting some time and taking some risks, greatly strengthened his control, mobilization capacity, and influence in Yangzhou.

Today, the groveling of the four major clans of Wu Commandery, the execution of powerful clans in Kuaiji, and the flood relief efforts in the two commanderies north of the Yangtze River have won over the hearts of the people.

Of the six counties in Yangzhou, Liu Feng has already acquired four. The remaining Danyang County will not require much effort. Only Yuzhang will be a bit more difficult, but Liu Feng already has a candidate in mind for the leadership of Yuzhang.

There are many reasons why Liu Feng was able to accumulate such a great advantage in just three years. But one of the main reasons is that Liu Feng understood how to be a qualified warlord.

During the Three Kingdoms period, everyone was a warlord for the first time since the Han Dynasty unified China four hundred years ago.

At the end of the Former Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu established his rule so quickly that powerful local warlords had no chance to gain experience.

Liu Feng knew the value of people from the very beginning, and he also knew that in just over ten years at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the land would transform from a place where no one could stand to a place where not a rooster could crow for miles.

Today, Liu Feng's family population is equivalent to the combined population of Cao and Yuan's families, which forms the foundation of their military equipment, finances, and manpower.

Liu Feng is keeping a low profile right now, but he is deliberately trying to take advantage of the ingrained thinking of Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and others, and their underestimation and misjudgment of him and Liu Bei, in order to find an opportunity to play dumb and take advantage of them.

Even if you have the strength to fight two against one, wouldn't it be better to incite Cao Cao and Yuan Shao to fight each other?

Liu Bei frowned and remained silent for a moment. He idolized Cao Cao. Despite his professed opposition to Cao Cao, this actually proved how highly he regarded Cao Cao.

Liu Bei's frequent rebellions against Cao Cao were less about looking down on Cao Cao and more about seeking a new path for differentiation.

Of course, this is also related to Liu Bei's background, reputation, and temperament.

Liu Bei's background and prestige were too low, so he was almost uncompetitive among the gentry and powerful clans. It would be better for him to win the support of commoners and ordinary people, at least that was something he could actually gain.

"Ok."

Liu Bei finally nodded in agreement. After all, if he disagreed, wouldn't he be putting his eldest son in a difficult position? Besides, Liu Feng had informed him in advance about this trip to Luozhong, and he hadn't objected then, so he couldn't object now.

"Then, in your opinion, how should Pei State be arranged?"

Liu Bei then turned his attention to military matters.

In Liu Feng's plan, the troops of Pei State were of paramount importance, serving as a strategic mobile force.

Although Liu Bei's military talent and abilities were inferior to Cao Cao's, he was not weak. Especially during the Battle of Hanzhong, with the help of Fa Zheng and Huang Quan, he really caused Cao Cao, who was in the twilight of his career, to suffer a great loss.

Later, with equal forces, he fought Lu Xun for over a year. Although he was ultimately defeated, Lu Xun had a great advantage in the terrain at the border of Yi and Jing.

It is evident that Liu Bei's military talent was by no means mediocre, and he naturally quickly grasped the key points of the overall situation.

“Father, in my opinion, this important task can only be undertaken by my second uncle.”

Liu Feng boldly recommended Guan Yu, and he was willing to risk his life to guarantee that Liu Bei's choice was either Guan Yu or Zhang Fei, and judging from Liu Bei's habits, Guan Yu was more likely.

By this time, the loss of Xuzhou was over, and Zhang Fei remained Liu Bei's most trusted confidant and brother. However, Liu Bei still preferred to use Zhang Fei to guard the base of operations while taking Guan Yu with him when going out to fight.

Originally, Liu Feng could have recommended either Guan Yu or Zhang Fei.

However, Uncle Zhang was indeed not as steady as Uncle Guan. Although both of them had personality flaws, Guan Yu was still more composed than Zhang Fei.

Judging from historical battle records, Guan Yu's potential is much higher than Zhang Fei's.

The strategic mobile force of Pei State was extremely important, and at necessary moments it might even have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of frontline decision-making. Although Taishi Ci, Zhao Yun, Zhou Yu, and even Sun Ce possessed such talent and ability, Liu Bei could not possibly abandon Guan Yu and rely on them.

If Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun might still have a sliver of a chance, then Zhou Yu and Sun Ce had absolutely no chance.

Sure enough, upon hearing Liu Feng recommend Guan Yu, Liu Bei's brows relaxed, and he no longer hesitated between choosing Guan Yu and Guan Yu.

"Alright, then let Yun Chang take on this important task."

Liu Bei considered the situation and said, "In addition to Yun Chang's own troops, we can also transfer troops from He Yi, Huang Shao, Liu Pi, Gong Du, and others to strengthen the force."

These units now comprise a large force of four thousand men each. Meanwhile, He Yi's nephew, He Luan, commands two thousand men, and Liu Pi's beloved generals Zhou Cang and Pei Yi each lead a separate force of two thousand. With the expansion, Guan Yu's main force now numbers eight thousand, and Guan Ping's two thousand, totaling a staggering thirty-two thousand men.

Liu Feng looked up and saw that Liu Bei's face was full of pride, clearly very satisfied with the arrangement.

(End of this chapter)