My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 315 Don’t be afraid of being late for a good meal
After Xiang Lang reported to the Zhuge brothers on Xin Pi's inspection results, words and deeds over the past few days, the Zhuge brothers discussed it behind closed doors again, formed an idea for making an offer, and reported it to Liu Bei that night.

Liu Bei basically accepted Zhuge Liang's report in its entirety, but made some details regarding personnel appointments - this was also because Zhuge Liang left a blank when he made the proposal.

For example, according to Zhuge Liang's plan, Yuan Tan might be asked to cede or trustee certain territories. However, Zhuge Liang did not make clear who should be appointed as an official in each county.

Firstly, he is still young, and is indeed not as experienced as Liu Bei, who is over 40 years old, in employing and identifying people.

Secondly, Zhuge Liang had a lot of things to worry about, so Zhuge Jin advised him to let his lord show his strengths and fill in the last gap.

This also shows that Liu Bei was personally involved in the formulation of the plan, and he would be more supportive of the plan.

This was basically a well-known upward management technique in the 20th century, and Zhuge Jin certainly understood it before he traveled through time. Before Kissinger took the draft treaty to the Oval Office, he knew to leave one or two points for Nixon to play with.

……

The next morning, Xin Pi, who was about to leave, was received by Liu Bei for the last time.

Liu Bei's attitude was very kind, and he even held a farewell banquet. At the banquet, he first asked whether Xin Pi had a good time these days, and then asked a few similar questions to Zhou Yu asking Jiang Gan, "Do you think the troops under my command are strong?"

Xin Pi's mentality was not relaxed at all. He knew that Liu Bei would definitely put forward new additional conditions and want him to agree to something he did not dare to agree to before the inspection.

Fortunately, Xin Pi had become soft-hearted and decided to say whatever he wanted to say. If he really did not have the authority, he would honestly say that he did not have the authority and would go back to discuss it with Yuan Tan.

Liu Bei laid the groundwork for a while, and after three rounds of wine, he raised a little concern: "Mr. George, you should have seen the strict military preparations in Yangzhou these days. The weapons and aid promised to Xiansi will naturally not be less.

But I heard that Xiansi lacks generals now, and only has a few generals such as Qingzhou Lieutenant Guan Tong to lead the troops. I am really worried about whether these aids can be used well. Don't go to the battlefield, the strong armor and sharp weapons that my Jingyang craftsmen have worked so hard to build will be easily defeated and captured by Cao thieves. "

Liu Bei was not comfortable saying these words at first, after all, they contained the intention of belittling Guan Tong.

After three rounds of drinking, everyone was a little tipsy, and since they were talking to Xin Pi privately, there wasn't much of a problem.

Xin Pi was also a man of manners. No one else in the delegation was qualified to attend such an event, and they were all drinking with other generals in the outer courtyard. If Xin Pi had listened more and talked less, and not gossiped, Guan Tong would not have known that Liu Bei had looked down on him.

And to be honest, Xin Pi also knew what kind of person Guan Tong was.

Among Liu Bei's generals, Guan, Zhang and Zhao, even Gan Ning, Taishi Ci and Zhang Liao had to be relegated to the back, so Liu Bei was indeed qualified to look down on Guan Tong.

So he tried to figure out Liu Bei's subtext, wondering if he wanted to place some generals there to monitor how Yuan Tan would use the aid? Or even to directly participate in the future battle with Cao Cao under the banner of Yuan's army?

Of course, Xin Pi knew very well that even if this situation occurred, the generals sent by Liu Bei would definitely have independent military command authority and would not allow Yuan Tan to command blindly. At that time, they could only be regarded as friendly forces.

So Xin Pi took the initiative to respond tentatively: "I have been in Qingzhou for a long time, and I know that Captain Guan is quite knowledgeable about military affairs. However, there are indeed too few talented generals under my lord, and Captain Guan can't do it alone..."

After Xin Pi said this, Pang Tong, who was accompanying Liu Bei to attend the banquet today, opened his mouth and suggested:

"My lord, since both sides have thought of this, why don't we send a general to serve as the governor of Donglai and lead a troop to cooperate with Yuan Qingzhou's troops to defend the coast of Bohai Sea? If Yuan Qingzhou's troops are not used to the weapons we provide, our army can also assist them in training and running-in."

Liu Bei then showed an expression that he had just thought of this after being reminded by Pang Tong, and turned to Xin Pi with an embarrassed look: "This suggestion is pertinent...but it won't exceed Mr. George's authorization, right?"

Xin Pi felt his scalp tingling slightly, but he could only choose to tell the truth: "To be honest, this matter is beyond the scope of what I can agree to. I must go back and consult my master. But I have fully witnessed the sincerity of the general's good intentions and his willingness to help the Yuan family. I will definitely do my best to convey this to my master."

Pang Tong didn't care about these. Seeing Xin Pi's loosening attitude, he also knew that the other party really had no power, so he continued to play double-act with Liu Bei: "Since this is the case, why don't you think about who our army should send as the governor of Donglai if Yuan Qingzhou agrees."

Liu Bei pretended to think for a while before he said casually: "Our army has previously sent Ziyi to be in charge of the Liaodong trade route, and also to manage the seaport and fight against pirates in Huangxian County of Donglai County. Ziyi is also a native of Donglai, so why not let Ziyi serve as the governor of Donglai concurrently.

Although Donglai is far from the Qing and Ji anti-Cao fronts, Ziyi is good at naval warfare and has sufficient warships to transport. If any place along the Bohai coast is threatened by Cao's army, he can rush to help. "

Xin Pi obediently wrote down the name and said that he would persuade Yuan Tan to accept it after returning and would also fully explain Taishi Ci's talents to Yuan Tan.

However, after agreeing, Xin Pi also thought of a difficulty and asked Liu Bei for advice: "Since the General of Chariots and Cavalry is willing to send General Taishi to help, our army is naturally grateful. But everyone in the world knows that General Taishi is under the command of the General of Chariots and Cavalry..."

Logically, Xin Pi should not worry about this issue. Xin Pi should stand on Yuan Tan's side and try to drag Liu Bei into the water. But he was willing to ask this question, which was also a show of loyalty to a certain extent. He was eager to hint to Liu Bei that "after these days of investigation, I have fully considered the interests of the general of chariots and cavalry."

After hearing Xin Pi's reminder, Liu Bei was also confident that he had completely subjugated this traitor.

Pang Tong, who was in charge of playing the villain, also responded to the situation and took over part of the lines that Liu Bei was supposed to say: "My lord, Mr. George reminded me that I have to consider it. How about this? In addition to sending Ziyi, the other generals under Ziyi's command in the future, or the reinforcements to be sent later, can be selected from the surrendered generals in Jiangdong.

As we all know, some Jiangdong surrendered generals were not given official positions after they surrendered to our army, but were only temporarily retained and never made any contributions to our army. Cao thieves also don't know how many of the old Jiangdong generals surrendered to our army, and how many chose to die rather than surrender.

Since Cheng Pu and Han Dang had previously protected Sun Quan and fled north at the risk of their lives, and were captured by Yuan Qingzhou, and Han Dang surrendered to Yuan, how could Cao know that others would not do the same? We can also ask Yuan Qingzhou to send Han Dang to our army first, and let him live with other Jiangdong surrendered generals day and night, showing the lord's benevolence and righteousness, and influencing his heart. In this way, Yuan Qingzhou will feel more at ease when he wants to use Han Dang in the future -

Han Dang is now in Qingzhou, and his situation must be very awkward. Yuan Qingzhou knows that he is a talented general, but because Cheng Pu and Sun Quan have joined Cao, he dare not use him rashly. In this case, it is better to hand him over to our army for a year or so, so that he can be influenced by his colleagues and old friends.

Moreover, the old generals of Jiangdong are good at naval warfare, and Ziyi is going to reinforce Yuan Qingzhou along the Bohai Sea. It is a good opportunity for the generals of Jiangdong to give full play to their strengths and talents, giving them the opportunity to make achievements. "

Liu Bei nodded immediately, saying that Pang Tong's idea was a good one. Then he selected generals on the spot and thought of several candidates, such as sending Zhou Yu as Taishi Ci's deputy general, and other generals who were better reformed and relatively reliable.

Although Sun Quan is with Cao Cao, most of Jiangdong's old generals do not have much loyalty or goodwill towards Sun Quan, so Liu Bei does not have to worry too much about their loyalty.

In this life, Sun Quan never had the opportunity to rule Jiangdong for a single day. Basically, Sun Ce was still in power until the demise of the Sun family. Zhou Yu took Sun Quan to escape to Zhoushan Islands before Sun Ce died.

Moreover, many Jiangdong generals and officers were captured by Liu Bei's army more than half a year before Sun Ce's death. For example, in the Battle of Guangling and the Battle of Jiangyin last spring, Liu Bei's army successively wiped out 20,000 to 30,000 main forces of the Jiangdong army and captured at least half of them.

These people have been reformed by Liu Bei for a full year and a half, and many of them have completely returned to his loyalty. Previously, he was just hesitant to use them directly to fight against his former master Sun Ce, but now they have no psychological barriers to fighting Cao Cao.

At most, you only need to spend extra time and effort to win over one or two senior generals such as Zhou Yu, and you can catch the big ones and let the small ones go.

When Liu Bei and Pang Tong discussed internal personnel issues, Xin Pi naturally had no say. He could only listen to the whole process, knowing that something was going on, and would find a chance to talk to Yuan Tan slowly after returning, so as not to make it too sudden and Yuan Tan could not accept it.

His uncle Liu had already made clear arrangements on how to help Yuan Tan resist Cao Cao's bandits, leaving Yuan Tan with little room for autonomy.

……

After discussing all these issues clearly and laying the groundwork sufficiently, Xin Pi finally formally bid farewell to Liu Bei the next day and embarked on the journey back to Qingzhou to report.

The military aid Liu Bei sent was also loaded onto the ship and escorted by Taishi Ci. It would first land in the counties of Langya County and be transported to the warehouse. Then, depending on Yuan Tan's cooperation, it would be distributed to Yuan Tan in batches.

For example, if Yuan Tan was straightforward enough and directly agreed to let Taishi Ci be the governor of Donglai, then there would be no doubt that all the armor, horse-cutting swords and long halberds given by Liu Bei would be issued. But if Yuan Tan did not agree to this key point, maybe half of the first batch would be withheld.

Then the funds will be allocated according to the situation. For example, if Yuan Tan agrees to grant more counties or relaxes the authority of the "observers", he will be given more equipment.

In addition, Liu Bei also selected two additional candidates to accompany Taishi Ci to the north.

First, he asked Lu Su to hand over the internal affairs of Danyang County this year, and then go north early next year to take over the post of Langya Prefect - there was no doubt that Yuan Tan would cede all the counties and Ju County to Liu Bei.

Therefore, even if Liu Bei's army only controlled two counties in Langya County, it was qualified to establish a Langya prefect.

Cao Cao occupied more than a dozen other counties in Langya County west of Yishui, and appointed Zang Ba as the governor of Langya. It would be no problem for Lu Su to coexist with him. If Lu Su could get more counties in Langya County from Zang Ba, they would of course be under his jurisdiction.

Lu Su was previously the magistrate of Danyang County. Although Langya County was much poorer than Danyang County and had a smaller population, he was promoted directly from the deputy county level to the county level. This also gave Lu Su an opportunity to perform.

In addition to Lu Su, Liu Bei also appointed Zhuge Jun, who had just taken office for three months and had only made some insignificant contributions through his diplomatic mission to Yuan Tan, as the magistrate of various counties.

This would allow Zhuge Jun to manage his elder brother's fiefdoms and counties, and was also a gesture of goodwill to Zhuge Jin.

It's just a county anyway. Even if Zhuge Jun has no merit, no one would object to him becoming a county magistrate at the age of seventeen just because he is Zhuge Jin's third brother.

That's it.

(End of this chapter)