My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 502 Diplomatic Deployment
The people in the hall remained silent. It wasn't that they didn't want to offer advice to Liu Feng, but rather that they were all extremely cautious, hoping to make a name for themselves in front of Liu Feng and gain his greater attention and favor.

A moment later, Liu Ba was the first to speak, which greatly surprised Liu Feng.

Liu Ba was a proud and aloof man, but deep down he was quite sensible. In the original timeline, even after joining Liu Bei's forces, he always spoke only about official business and never discussed personal matters. He considered himself a junior member of the group, worked diligently, and never formed cliques or engaged in favoritism.

Therefore, Liu Feng never expected Liu Ba to be so proactive.

"My lord, the Shi family currently boasts four governors, especially Shi Weiyan, who, though lacking the title of governor, is in fact a regional governor. The Shi family of Cangwu is now flourishing, like a blazing fire."

Liu Feng slowly nodded, his gaze falling on Liu Ba. The latter sensed his approval and became even more excited, continuing his speech.

"However, everything has its limits and then reverses. As the saying goes, the moon wanes after it is full, and prosperity declines after it reaches its peak. The literati family may seem to be at its most prosperous now, but in reality, it is fraught with crises."

Liu Ba sneered, “The Shi family’s roots are in Cangwu, but over the past ten years, clan members have been constantly transferred to Jiaozhi. Last year, Jiaozhou was in chaos, Zhu Fu died, and our lord was preoccupied with Jingzhou and Xiangyang, leaving him no time to attend to Jiaozhou. That’s why Shi Weiyan was able to promote three brothers in a single day and gain control of four counties in Jiaonan overnight. But how could three counties be so easily obtained? It took the Shi family over ten years to consolidate their control over Jiaozhi County, which is why they now hold such a dominant position.”

Before Liu Ba could finish speaking, many people present, such as Liu Feng, Yu Fan, Bu Zhi, and Jiang Wan, had already realized what was happening.

Shi Xie and his brothers had already entered officialdom and served as governors in the four commanderies and kingdoms of Jiaozhou, so they naturally needed a large number of henchmen.

Among the gentry, not to mention the capable sons, even the incompetent fools and pampered rich kids were mostly taken to various prefectures to take up important positions. Otherwise, the title of prefect alone would not be of much use in this chaotic world.

As a result, the clan lands of the Shi family in Guangxin County, Cangwu, are now empty.

Moreover, the governor here has never been a member of the Shi family, and the Shi family specifically declined Shi Huang's invitation to recruit a member of their clan to serve as a clerk. The reason was both to avoid suspicion and because the rise of the Shi family aroused jealousy, dissatisfaction, and fear from other families in Cangwu.

In this light, Liu Fengzhen's decision to target Cangwu County first might have an additional advantage: he could seize control of someone's vitals.

Once Cangwu County is successfully captured, even if Shi Xie's wives, concubines, and children stay with him, most of the elderly, weak, women, and children of the Shi family, as well as the Shi family's ancestral lands, will fall into Liu Feng's hands.

At that time, this will inevitably become a good card that can be used to restrain or even persuade Shi Xie to surrender.

“Zichu’s words are reasonable and wonderful.”

Pan Ren cupped his hands in greeting to Liu Ba. In terms of seniority, his father was of the same generation as Liu Xiang, so he naturally considered Liu Ba to be of the same generation. Pan Jun, Jiang Wan, and Liu Min all had to respectfully address Liu Ba as "Uncle."

When facing his fellow villagers, Liu Ba was not as indifferent as he was to outsiders; he merely showed a slight smile and there was no sign of mutual flattery.

Liu Feng saw all this and chuckled inwardly. No wonder Liu Ba couldn't get along anywhere. His personality was something that most lords couldn't handle. More importantly, the lord had to protect him, otherwise, with Liu Ba's sharp tongue, he would inevitably attract villains to plot against him.

After everyone had reacted, Liu Ba continued, "Lingling and Cangwu are neighbors, and scholars from both places often interact, and their families also intermarry frequently. I am a man of few words, fond of pure discussions, and have a good relationship with Mou Rong, a famous scholar in Cangwu. Mou Rong has been well-read since childhood, is erudite and talented, and is proficient in the various schools of thought. Moreover, he is devoted to the Han Dynasty and would certainly not collude with the scholar families. My lord can rely on him, and I am willing to introduce him to you."

Liu Ba's words seemed to have triggered a chain reaction, as leaders of the Lingling aristocratic families, including Pan Ren, Jiang Xin, and Liu Min, began to speak, recommending powerful figures from the Cangwu aristocratic families they knew.

Among them was Deng Sheng, a member of the powerful Deng clan of Cangwu, whose strength was originally comparable to that of the Shi family. He now served as the Prefect of Cangwu and enjoyed the deep trust of Shi Huang. Currently, Shi Huang was seriously ill and bedridden, and had entrusted all affairs of the prefecture to Deng Sheng.

There is also Chen Mao, a member of the Chen family. His ancestors were Chen Qin and Chen Yuan, a father and son, who fled to Cangwu during the reign of Wang Mang. Their family in Cangwu was established around the same time as the Shi family.

The Mu, Deng, and Chen families were originally ranked among the Four Pure Ones of Cangwu along with the Shi family, but now their momentum has been far surpassed by the latter. Even if the descendants of the three families were combined, they could not compare to the strength of the Shi family.

Besides the four prominent families of Cangwu, there were also secondary aristocratic families such as the Wu, Huang, Li, and Zhao families, all of whom had their members recommended by scholars from Lingling.

Liu Feng smiled and thanked them, saying, "With the help of the wise men of Lingling, there is no need to worry about the success of this great undertaking."

The group then discussed the matter further and listened to the opinions of the generals who had been summoned later.

Taishi Ci, Sun Ce, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Xu Sheng, Zhou Dao, Lü Fan, Yu Zi, and others were all present.

After discussion, Liu Feng made a decision to remove Shi Huang from his post as Prefect of Cangwu and Zhang Xian from his post as Prefect of Changsha. He also provided them with medicine and medical care, and promised that they would return to the court to serve as officials after they recovered.

Subsequently, he recommended Kuai Yue to be appointed as the governor of Jiaozhou, in charge of all affairs in Jiaozhou, and stationed his troops at Guangxin in Cangwu.

The emperor recommended Yu Fan to be appointed Prefect of Cangwu, succeeding Shi Huang. He also recommended Sun Ce to be appointed Commandant of Cangwu, and ordered the selection of 6,000 elite troops from Sun Jian's former troops in Changsha, who were divided into three schools to serve as the Cangwu Commandery's soldiers.

The memorial recommends Bu Zhi as the Prefect of Nanhai, succeeding Shi Wu, and recommends Shi Wu as the Prefect of Changsha, to take office immediately. It also recommends Wen Ping as the Commandant of Nanhai, and recommends that 6,000 carefully selected soldiers from Jingzhou be divided into three schools to serve as the troops of Nanhai Commandery.

The emperor recommended Lü Dai to be the governor of Hepu, succeeding Shi Yi, and recommended Shi Yi to be the governor of Wuling, to take up his post immediately. He also recommended Fu Kuang to be the commandant of Hepu, and recommended that 6,000 soldiers from Jingzhou be selected, divided into three schools, to serve as the troops of Hepu Commandery.

The emperor recommended Lai Gong to be the Prefect of Yulin and Liu Min to be the Commandant of Yulin. He also recommended 6,000 soldiers from Jingzhou to be selected, divided into three schools, and used as soldiers in Yulin County.

Kuai Yue was appointed Governor of Jiaozhou, overseeing the prefects and commandants of all counties in Jiaozhou. He was in charge of all military affairs in the region. Wei Yan was appointed Protector of the Army in Jiaozhou to protect Kuai Yue and command four thousand personal guards.

As a result, a total of 28,000 troops, both land and naval, were mobilized in Jiaozhou, amounting to nearly 30,000 soldiers.

At the same time, Liu Feng would also issue orders to the south of Kuaiji Commandery and the four commanderies of Jingnan, especially the southernmost Lingling and Guiyang commanderies, to serve as reinforcements for the Jiaozhou army.

Among them, He Qi, the governor of the former Kuaiji Commandery and now Nanping Commandery, not only had a number of elite troops under his command, which had increased to four thousand, selected from surrendered Yue soldiers, but also 20,000 troops under Gao Shun, as well as more than 10,000 naval troops under Xuezhou and Zheng Bao.

This army of over 30,000 men was nearby and in a state of combat readiness, ready to reinforce Jiaozhou at any time.

In this way, on the surface, Liu Feng only mobilized more than 20,000 troops and divided them into four counties, but in reality, he prepared a full army of 100,000.

If Shi Xie doesn't rebel, that's fine. But if he dares to rebel, then Liu Feng's capable ministers and generals will be very happy. After all, given the current power and influence of the Shi family, this would be a considerable military achievement.

Although it was far less important than Jingzhou, it was enough to feed everyone to their hearts' content.

It is currently late summer, the weather is hot, and the waterways are plentiful, making it an ideal time to transport and allocate troops and supplies.

Liu Feng ordered the deployment of ships from various regions to organize the army and to select and send troops south.

Kuai Yue's troops were not actually disrupted; they were simply diverted to replenish the losses of the Yangzhou army.

At this point, all that is needed is to draw troops from Changsha to replenish the army, and it will immediately become a fighting force, which will be assigned to the generals such as Kuai Yue, Huang Zhong, and Wen Pin.

After some discussion, Liu Feng finally decided that the military campaign would be scheduled for October, with the army advancing in three routes.

The route started from Lingling, followed the Li River into Cangwu. This was the easiest route, with waterways for supplies, making it ideal for a preemptive strike to capture Cangwu and the Shi family's territory. This force was led by Kuai Yue as the main general, with Yu Fan and Sun Ce as his deputies, and consisted mainly of troops from Jiaozhou and Cangwu.

The second route starts from Lingling County, travels south along the Tan River, follows the official road through Tanzhong and Guilin, and finally arrives at Bushan County, where the seat of Yulin County is located. Bushan County and Guangxin County are only two or three hundred li apart and are connected by the Yu River. If they can be occupied at the same time, they can support each other and form a mutually supportive defensive position, so they cannot be abandoned.

This route was led by Lai Gong as the main general and Liu Min as the deputy general, with the Yulin County troops as the main force.

Another route involved sending troops from Guiyang, Gan, and Nanping counties to relieve logistical pressure. The two large forces joined forces with the Xuezhou and Zhengbao naval forces by sea in Panyu County, the seat of Nanhai County. Then, Lü Dai's troops boarded ships and sailed to Hepu Bay to land and occupy Hepu.

After completing their transport mission, Xue Zhou and Zheng Bao temporarily stationed themselves in Panyu, awaiting Kuai Yue's orders.

Each department has its own battle plan, and if the Shi family were to raise an army to resist, they would naturally be suppressed with all their might.

However, Liu Feng reminded Lü Dai of Hepu County that Hepu was not located by the sea. Although there was Hepu Bay, the city of Hepu was built 20 miles away from the bay and was located closer to Jiaozhi County, which was too prominent.

If we can easily take Hepu County, then we will naturally have a city to rely on.

But if an army were to besiege the city, that would be quite dangerous.

Therefore, Xuezhou and Zhengbao must wait until there is concrete news from Hepu before making any further moves.

Fortunately, the overall danger was not great. Leaving aside Shi Xie's stronghold of Jiaozhi County, the total military strength of the four eastern counties was about 20,000 men.

Zhang Jin launched several northern expeditions against Jingzhou, but the total number of troops he managed to muster was only a little over 10,000. Even if the troops defending the city were included, the total number would be around 20,000, not much more.

This was the result of Zhang Jin's massive expansion of the army after taking office, in order to launch a northern expedition against Jingzhou.

Zhu Fu has only been dead for a year, and Shi Xie has only just promoted his brothers to the position of prefect. They should not have much spare capacity to expand their military strength.

After assigning these tasks, adhering to the principle of trusting those he employs and not employing those he doesn't trust, and having made many hidden preparations, Liu Feng entrusted all affairs of Jiaozhou to Kuai Yue.

Kuai Yue was immediately moved to tears. Even though this personnel appointment was enough to demonstrate Liu Feng's influence, Kuai Yue did not feel at all that Liu Feng did not trust him.

On the contrary, Kuai Yue spoke highly of Liu Feng and frequently used Liu Feng as an example to teach his nephew Kuai Qi.

Especially when comparing Liu Biao and Liu Feng, the difference between the two is simply too great.

Liu Biao had a reputation for magnanimity, but his actions were fraught with suspicion and nepotism. If it weren't for the deep-rooted influence of the four families in Jingzhou, Liu Biao might not have been willing to make so many concessions to gain their cooperation.

Isn't the matter of the Yicheng traitors quite obvious?
Kuai Yue, burdened with infamy, pleaded with Liu Biao to only punish the ringleaders, but Liu Biao refused to listen and insisted on killing them all.

Was Liu Biao truly only worried about the resurgence of the rebel clans?

Even a local tyrant like Kuai Yue has guaranteed that he will only punish the ringleaders. Doesn't Kuai Yue himself worry about being retaliated against by these traitors later?

Essentially, Liu Biao believed that killing them all would be profitable, both by eliminating potential threats and seizing the wealth, followers, people, and land of the rebel clans, while also suppressing Kuai Yue.

That's right, it was all to suppress Kuai Yue, because this plan was devised by Kuai Yue.

Liu Biao sought refuge with Kuai Yue, pleading for his help, only to betray him in the end. In contrast, Liu Feng treated Kuai Yue with utmost sincerity, always showing him the respect due to a junior, and recommended Kuai Yue for the position of Governor of Jiaozhou, entrusting him with all affairs of Jiaozhou.

The conquest of Jiaozhou was not just a matter for Jiaozhou; the surrounding four prefectures of Jingnan, as well as the prefectures of Gan, Yuzhang, Nanping, and Kuaiji in Yangxi, would also have to obey Kuai Yue's orders.

All 100,000 troops and more than a dozen counties and kingdoms were handed over to Kuai Yue. How could Liu Biao possibly match such trust?

Of course, if Liu Feng heard this, he would probably laugh out loud.

Liu Biao feared Kuai Yue because Kuai Yue truly had the ability and strength to overthrow him and become the leader himself.

Liu Biao had painstakingly managed Jingzhou for nearly ten years, but his core troops numbered only a little over 50,000, less than half of Jingzhou's total military strength. He even had to join forces with his in-law Cai Mao to maintain his position.

But what about Liu Feng?

The entire Yangzhou, the Yangzhou army, and even some of the prefecture and county armies under Liu Bei's command were all established by him.

He personally promoted all the county and prefectural officials in various places, and the elite sons of the powerful clans and gentry in each state served him.

Under these circumstances, would Kuai Yue want to rebel?

He probably won't even be able to get past his own Central Guard Army.

Not to mention that the Kuai family is still in Xiangyang City.

Since that's the case, Liu Feng was naturally happy to adopt a magnanimous attitude, which would both win people's hearts and make him famous throughout the world. Why not do it?

It's even possible that Kuai Yue's statement was partly out of emotion and partly a way of returning the favor, deliberately trying to make Liu Feng famous.

Liu Feng entrusted all matters concerning Jiaozhou to Kuai Yue, and then made a special trip to visit Zhang Xian.

Thanks to the combined efforts of Fan A, Zhang Ji, and others in treating the patients, and with Liu Biao's defeat and escape, Linxiang was saved from danger.

Zhang Xian's pent-up frustration had completely dissipated, and with Liu Feng's guarantee of his son's incorruptibility, his health began to improve day by day.

After visiting Zhang Xian, Liu Feng reaffirmed with him that he would recommend Zhang Yi for the position of county magistrate within the year.

Zhang Xian was overjoyed and wept with gratitude.

Although his health had improved, Zhang Xian still dared not hope to be appointed as one of the Nine Ministers, so all his hopes were placed on his son, Zhang Yi.

Before leaving, Liu Feng made a special trip to Zhang Xian's home to vouch for him again, which made Zhang Xian both happy and gratified.

(End of this chapter)