My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 531 Delay strategy
However, this does not mean that Liu Feng and Pang Tong really bullied the Shen family.

Because of the importance of Shangyong, Liu Feng was relatively lenient towards the Shen family, allowing them to temporarily stay in Shangyong, but they had to relinquish most of their real power.

Nowadays, in Shangyong, from the registrar to the merit officer to the inspector, and the officials of all ranks in the counties below, six or seven out of ten are members of the Shen family, or are powerful clansmen who are attached to the Shen family.

If some real power is not relinquished, even if the banner of the new king is changed in Shangyong, the people in the city will still belong to the Shen family, not the Liu family.

Of course, Liu Feng was generally considered to have a good temper and never minded eating alone.

Liu Feng offered the Shen family very generous economic conditions, promising that they could manage all the businesses in Shangyong, including snow salt, sugar, sesame oil, paper, and farm tools. This was tantamount to promising the Shen family a monopoly on Shangyong County.

These are all highly profitable businesses. Even though Shangyong County isn't a large county, it can still generate substantial profits. Moreover, these are all high-quality goods. Whether you sell them or keep them for your own use, you won't lose out.

In addition to economic privileges, Liu Feng also made promises regarding reputation. As long as the Shen family was willing to hand over most of their real power, he would at least promise them a general's title. If the Shen family performed exceptionally well, he would even request them to be granted the title of Marquis within the Pass, or even a marquis.

Logically speaking, these conditions are quite generous, and any shrewd fence-sitter should have agreed to them.

But the Shen family seemed to be bewitched, refusing to back down, always thinking that Shangyong's terrain was treacherous and had little economic value, so it wasn't worth the other side making a big fuss about.

After his younger brother finished complaining, Shen Dan slowly said, "So, according to you, there's nothing to talk about?"

"This……"

When Shen Yi heard his brother's question, he hesitated and a hint of fear flashed across his face.

Ultimately, despite Shen Yi's arrogant words, he was still quite wary of Liu Feng.

They couldn't handle Liu Biao's army of over 100,000, so they had to cede part of Fangling to the Kuai family.

Now they are facing Liu Feng, a general with hundreds of thousands of elite troops who has never been defeated.

If a war were to break out with Liu Feng, even if Shen Yi had the guts of a bear and the gall of a leopard, his heart would tremble uncontrollably.

Seeing his younger brother's useless appearance, Shen Dan glared at him fiercely, then turned to Li Xian and asked, "Defang, how long can the city's military rations last?"

Li Xian lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then looked up and replied, "If we only consider the troops in the city, it's enough for more than three years. If we withdraw all the troops from the surrounding areas, it will only be enough for one year."

The Shen family controlled the entire Shangyong, so their troops naturally had to be stationed in different areas. Not to mention Xicheng and Xicheng, there were also Shen family troops stationed in Fangling.

The Shen family had a total of over 12,000 soldiers, of which 4,000 were stationed in their stronghold of Shangyong, 2,000 in Xicheng, 3,000 in Xicheng, 2,000 in Zhuxi, and 1,000 in Fangling.

This dispersed troop deployment not only effectively supported the Shen family's power throughout Shangyong County, but also saved on military food expenses. A large army gathering would inevitably drive up grain prices, and transporting grain to Shangyong would incur costs, making it clearly more cost-effective to source food from various locations.

The distance between Xicheng, Xicheng, and Shangyong is not far, and they are all connected by waterways. They can be described as echoing each other and forming a defensive triangle, which is in line with the strategy of military deployment.

Li Xian glanced at Shen Dan. Shangyong City was not small. Normally, four thousand men would be enough for defense, but in the face of a large-scale attack, four thousand men would be insufficient. Moreover, Shangyong's danger lay in its terrain. If the defenders had sufficient troops, they would inevitably have to go outside the city and utilize the terrain to deploy defenses, creating layers of resistance, in order to maximize their strength.

With only 4,000 men defending Shangyong, it was already a tight situation. If they didn't want to give up the key locations outside the city, then they had no choice but to send some troops ahead of time to reinforce Shangyong.

As Li Xian had expected, Shen Dan pondered for a moment before issuing the order: "Draw two thousand men from Xicheng, one thousand from Xicheng, and all of Fangling will be transferred back to Shangyong as soon as possible."

"Brother, isn't this making too much noise?"

The person who dissuaded Shen Dan from withdrawing troops was not Li Xian, but Shen Yi, who was very dissatisfied with Liu Feng.

There are two main reasons for this outcome. Despite his tough words, Shen Yi is actually quite afraid of Liu Feng. Therefore, his toughness is only verbal. Even his brother's troop deployment is seen by him as a reckless act that might provoke Liu Feng.

The second reason was that he felt that Pang Tong was still trying his best to persuade them, and the peace talks had not broken down at all, so it would not be worthwhile to mobilize troops now.

While the Shen family is indeed the dominant force in Shangyong, it doesn't mean that other families are willing to be their lackeys.

The Shen family's influence in Shangyong was entirely due to their subordinate troops; the soldiers stationed in various regions were the Shen family's most effective mouthpiece. Moreover, withdrawing them was easy, but getting them back would be troublesome.

Other powerful clans won't just sit idly by and watch the Shen family's power shrink. They will definitely try to fill the gap. It's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away. Even if the Shen family regains these powers, they will have to pay a heavy price.

Shen Yi was even more worried that she would never be able to get these powers back.

Shen Dan glanced at his younger brother sideways and asked calmly, "So what do you mean?"

Shen Yi glanced at Shen Dan and, seeing that his brother did not seem displeased, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He then mustered his courage and said, "I already hinted to Pang Shiyuan yesterday that as long as my family's position can be guaranteed, everything else is negotiable, and we can also pledge our allegiance to General Zuo."

"is that useful?"

Shen Dan rolled her eyes at her younger brother, annoyed. Wasn't this the same condition before? Pang Shiyuan's reply was a firm rejection.

A hint of smugness flashed across Shen Yi's face as he said with a touch of pride, "Pang Shiyuan has backed down this time."

"You've backed down?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Dan was not pleased but alarmed, and hurriedly said to his younger brother, "What happened? Tell me in detail."

Seeing Shen Dan's demeanor, Shen Yi felt a chill run down his spine, swallowed hard, and whispered, "Pang Shiyuan has set a price; he wants Xicheng and Fangling. If we agree to his terms, he will vouch for us before the Left General."

"Do you want Xicheng and Fangling?"

Shen Dan's voice suddenly rose, and even Li Xian looked surprised.

Pang Shiyuan has quite the appetite.

Shangyong County originally consisted of only four counties: Shangyong, Xicheng, Fangling, and Xicheng, with the first three cities being the main cities, plus three outposts: Zhuxi, Wuling, and Beiwu.

Now Pang Tong is asking for Fangling and Xicheng, which is equivalent to taking a third of Shangyong. His appetite is quite large.

However, if Liu Feng could be satisfied and agree to acknowledge the Shen family's special privileges in Shangyong, Shen Dan, though short-sighted, still possessed this much courage.

"Would General Zuo agree to that?"

Shen Dan looked at his younger brother suspiciously: "Can mere Xicheng and Fangling satisfy General Zuo?" A strange look flashed across Shen Yi's face, and he corrected him in a low voice: "Elder brother, Xicheng and Fangling are what Pang Shiyuan wants."

“I know…”

Shen Dan was about to say something pointless, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly realized something and his eyes widened: "Is it the Pang family that wants Xicheng and Fangling?"

Shen Yi quickly nodded and then explained, "Pang Shiyuan's appetite is truly enormous. He also demanded that the benefits General Zuo gave us, such as snow salt, frost sugar, sesame oil, paper, and farm tools, should also be shared with the Pang family, in quantities equal to those given to Xicheng and Fangling."

Shen Dan was both angry and amused: "The Pang family is indeed a famous family in Jingzhou, and we common folk in the mountains can't compare to them. But does Pang Shiyuan think that the Pang family's name is useful in our poor and remote place?"

Shen Yi cautiously replied, "Yes, my brother also said these things, but Pang Shiyuan also said that as long as we agree to his conditions, he is 70% confident that he can persuade the Left General to give the position of Prefect of Shangyong to my elder brother."

The Prefect of Shangyong!?
Shen Dan was initially overjoyed, almost jumping to his feet in excitement. But then, a surge of anger suddenly welled up inside him, causing him to glare fiercely at his younger brother: "Why didn't you tell me about something so important sooner?"

Shen Yi was inwardly groaning. Actually, the matter was discussed last night, and after that, he slept soundly until just now because he was drunk. It was Shen Dan's people who woke him up. He had no time to bring up this matter.

In addition, Pang Tong's side wasn't actually as good as Shen Yi described. He only hinted that the governor of Shangyong could talk to him, without making any promises or explicitly stating anything.

Shen Yi lied to his elder brother because he was frightened by his brother's expression earlier, thinking that he had done something wrong and wanted to atone for it, so he exaggerated Pang Tong's promise.

Shen Yi had no choice but to make an excuse, saying, "It was something we were talking about last night. My brother went to bed early and was so angry just now that he didn't remember."

Shen Dan nodded slowly, neither confirming nor denying, and after a moment suddenly asked, "Then do you think this matter is true?"

Shen Dan's suspicious gaze fell on Shen Yi, but he saw his younger brother nodding repeatedly.

“I find Pang Shiyuan to be greedy and despicable, with insatiable desires. The matter is probably true. Moreover, I have heard that General Zuo greatly admires Pang Shiyuan and previously kept him by his side to advise on important matters. His guarantee does have some credibility. If you do not believe me, you can ask Pang Shiyuan to come and see me.”

Hearing his brother's words, Shen Dan believed him somewhat. However, he had been deliberately avoiding Pang Tong all along in order to leave himself some room for maneuver, so it was naturally inappropriate for him to see him now.

When Shen Yi mentioned that Pang Tong had made concessions, Shen Dan instinctively began to doubt Pang Tong's intentions, worrying that Pang Tong was trying to delay the inevitable.

However, after hearing Shen Yi's explanation, Shen Dan felt it didn't seem right. Instead, he began to suspect that Pang Tong really wanted to embezzle funds and line his own pockets.

"Defang, what do you think?"

Shen Dan then asked Li Xian for his opinion.

Li Xian was observing from the sidelines when Shen Dan called him out, catching him quite off guard.

He was just astonished by Pang Tong's good appetite, and even felt a slight contempt for Liu Feng because of it. Just as Shen Yi said, it was not only no secret in Jingzhou that Pang Tong was valued and appreciated by Liu Feng, but it was also common knowledge.

As for whether the Pang or Huang families are behind it, that's hard to say.

It's just that Liu Feng admired Pang Tong so much, yet Pang Tong betrayed Liu Feng in the blink of an eye. Everyone says that the Left General is so wise and brave, yet he favored such a treacherous villain. This shows that people's words are not necessarily reliable.

The thought that Liu Feng might be just a name only embodied not only emboldened the brothers Shen Dan and Shen Yi, but also made the dove Li Xian more confident.

"My lord, since Pang Shiyuan has made such a boast, let's give him a try."

Li Xian considered for a moment and said, "Shangyong is a mountainous region with rugged roads, and it will not be easy for the army to pass through. Moreover, General Zuo has only been in Xiangyang for a little over a month. Even if Pang Tong is incompetent, it will not be too late to mobilize troops once the negotiations have completely broken down."

After listening to Li Xian's words, Shen Dan nodded repeatedly, feeling that what the other party said was correct. Moreover, his younger brother shared the same attitude, so he was even more relieved.

"Alright, then let's postpone the troop deployment."

Shen Dan knew that withdrawing troops from the surrounding areas at this time would result in significant losses, and he didn't want to do so in the first place. However, he had previously worried that a falling out with Liu Feng would invite an attack from Liu Feng's army, forcing him to withdraw troops for self-defense. Now that peace talks had been successful, he naturally didn't want to waste any more of his own interests.

"However, we cannot let Pang Shiyuan speak for himself."

Shen Dan was still somewhat wary and instructed Shen Yi, "You should urge them more and test them more, lest you fall into the Pang family's trap."

Shen Yi quickly and respectfully agreed.

The brothers Shen Dan and Shen Yi were unaware that Pang Tong's words were merely a delaying tactic.

He was also worried about arousing the suspicion of the Shen brothers, so he deliberately put on a show of feigned reluctance in front of Shen Yi.

Pang Tong never expected that Shen Yi would fail to report to Shen Dan, almost ruining his plans.

In fact, Pang Tong's report had already been delivered to Liu Feng by this time, and it was quite clear in the report that the Shen family could not be allowed to live.

The brothers Shen Dan and Shen Yi were not only insatiably greedy, but also short-sighted. Furthermore, the entire Shen family held onto the power in Shangyong and refused to relinquish it.

Even with such a generous offer from Liu Feng, the other party remained unyielding, still hoping to gain benefits from Liu Feng through superficial gestures—a pipe dream indeed.

Therefore, in his report, Pang Tong directly advised Liu Feng to mobilize troops and reported all the information he had gathered about the situation in Shangyong to Liu Feng.

Upon learning that there were only four or five thousand troops stationed in Shangyong City, Liu Feng was greatly surprised.

Recalling that when Meng Huo was defeated by Sima Yi in the original timeline, he also had tens of thousands of troops, but his base was empty.

It is evident that the troop deployment was limited by the terrain of Shangyong. A single city like Shangyong could not support too many soldiers, so they had to be distributed to various places for food, and then conscripted and gathered again during wartime.

Now that the enemy's situation is known, how could Liu Feng, with his courage and resourcefulness, not dare to cosplay the Oath of the Gods of Luoshui?
Liu Feng immediately wrote a letter in the name of the Left General and sent it to the brothers Shen Dan and Shen Yi.

In the letter, Liu Feng praised the Shen brothers for their achievements in stabilizing Shangyong and pacifying the people. He also expressed his willingness to accept Pang Tong's suggestion that as long as Shen Dan and Shen Yi were willing to hand over Xicheng and Fangling to the Pang family, Liu Feng could recommend Shen Dan to be the governor of Shangyong.

The Shen brothers were overjoyed when they received the letter, and their last remaining vigilance immediately dissipated.

Little did they know that along with the letter praising the Shen brothers, Liu Feng's elite troops had also set off, and were now in the Wuyi Mountains, only two days' journey from Fang Ling.

(End of this chapter)