I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 226 Only shamelessness can defeat thick skin
Pang Ji wore a scholar's cap and a tight-fitting, narrow-sleeved robe, a typical attire of a Han Dynasty scholar.

Upon seeing Liu Miao, Pang Ji was exceptionally enthusiastic: "It is truly a fortunate event that General Liu has quelled the rebellion for the Han and pacified Jingzhou!"

"My meager contribution is not even a fraction of what Master Yuan deserves."

Liu Miao was very polite, which immediately gave Pang Ji confidence, making him think that he could control Liu Miao.

After chatting about some trivial matters, Pang Ji finally asked indirectly, "When the eldest young master went to Jiangdong to visit relatives, I wonder how he is doing now?"

"Visiting relatives?"

Liu Miao was a little confused, then realized what he meant: "Oh~~~"

"Are you referring to Yuan Tan, the governor of Qingzhou, who took advantage of my campaign to conquer Jingzhou for the Han Dynasty, and then instigated Lü Bu to attack Jiangdong together, trying to seize my territory, kill my family, plunder my people, and almost drive me to my death?"

"..."

Pang Ji stood frozen in place: "General Liu, is there some misunderstanding here?"

"What misunderstanding could there be?"

Liu Miao slowly and methodically questioned Pang Ji.

"At that time, I was leading the Jiangdong army in Jingzhou. If Yuan Tan had really attacked and entered Jiangdong, my soldiers would have mutinied! At that time, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun and others would have taken the opportunity to send troops. Do you think I wouldn't have been beheaded?"

Pang Ji retorted, "But that didn't happen."

"If that had really happened, you probably wouldn't have been sent to see me by Lord Yuan, would you?"

Liu Miao sighed and said, "I am the son-in-law of the Yuan family's direct line. I have always tried to get close to Lord Yuan, not to be his enemy."

"Knowing that Lord Yuan and Yuan Shu were at odds, I even risked family ties to uphold justice and was the first to issue a proclamation to denounce Yuan Shu. But I never expected that this would result in such estrangement?"

"You are a close advisor to Lord Yuan, so please tell me, why does Lord Yuan want to put me to death?"

Pang Ji said sullenly, "General Liu, you flatter me..."

"Whether it's said in a serious way or not, the deed has already been done."

Liu Miao sighed and said, "I treated Lord Yuan with the same sincerity as a brother, yet Lord Yuan treated me like an enemy and wanted to kill me. How can such a thing be in accordance with benevolence and morality?"

"I only hope that Yuan Tan will think this matter deeply in Jiangdong and explain it to Lord Yuan on my behalf."

Pang Ji's face immediately turned ugly!

"Does Liu Biaoqi intend to use the eldest son to tarnish Lord Yuan's reputation?"

"Loyalty and filial piety have always been difficult to reconcile, but I believe the eldest son will make the right decision."

"The eldest son would never do anything to criticize his own father and tarnish his reputation!"

"But the eldest young master is in Jiangdong, isn't he?"

"Liu Miao! You are shameless!!!"

Pang Ji has finally stopped pretending!
Liu Miao actually wanted Yuan Tan to issue a document rebuking Yuan Shao!

If a son were to criticize his father's loyalty to the Han Dynasty, then Yuan Shao would be a terrible person!

Pang Ji believed that Yuan Tan would not do such a thing.

But Liu Miao's attitude was also very clear—

Yuan Tan is in his hands!
If Cao Cao could use the emperor to command the feudal lords, why couldn't Liu Miao control Yuan Tan and scold Yuan Shao?

If Liu Miao were to issue a proclamation in Yuan Tan's name denouncing Yuan Shao, and then kill Yuan Tan so that there would be no way to verify the truth, Yuan Shao's reputation would be completely ruined!
For Yuan Shao at this moment, reputation is like two things hanging down his crotch.

But now, these two things are in Liu Miao's hands. If Liu Miao wants, he can crush them at any time and cripple Yuan Shao's life!
……

After seeing Pang Ji's exasperated state, Liu Miao was glad that he had visited Jia Xu before meeting Pang Ji.

When Jia Xu heard that Liu Miao wanted to exchange Yuan Tan for some benefits, he immediately offered this plan.

First of all, he was trying to kill Yuan Tan because he wanted to take his own life! He was trying to create an atmosphere of weakness so that Pang Ji wouldn't dare to act so confidently in front of him.

Secondly, by directly stating that he would use Yuan Tan to issue a proclamation criticizing his father, he would maximize Yuan Tan's value, directly impacting Yuan Shao's reputation, which he valued most.
At last……

Liu Miao sighed, "Previously, Lord Yuan adopted Yuan Tan to Yuan Ji. In this way, Yuan Tan and Yuan Yao are the true direct descendants of the Yuan family of Runan."

"What if the two brothers are both ashamed of Yuan Gong's actions and, in a fit of anger, want to remove Yuan Gong, a member of a collateral branch, from the family genealogy and prevent him from worshipping the ancestors of the Yuan clan of Runan?

"Liu Miao!!!! How dare you do this!!!"

Faced with Pang Ji's exasperation, Liu Miao smiled slightly: "Yuan Tu, don't forget, I was almost killed by Yuan Gong in Jingzhou and became the second Sun Jian."

"If Lord Yuan wants my life, why should I be afraid of him?"

Pang Ji finally got scared.

He understood Liu Miao's determination.

If Liu Miao is not given an explanation for this matter, he might actually do such a thing!
Unlike Yuan Shu, who was concerned about saving face and dared not do anything to ruin Yuan Shao's reputation... After all, if the Yuan family of Runan were destroyed, what would it have to do with Liu Miao, a member of the Han imperial family?
Moreover, when dealing with someone who has just proclaimed "land to the tiller, reward to the laborer, and care for the elderly," is it more serious to completely break ties with Yuan Shao than to break ties with the entire aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty?
The ruthless fear the stubborn, and the reckless fear the reckless.

Pang Ji finally dared not put on that air of being an "envoy of Yuan Shao," acting arrogantly as if an envoy from a great power were meeting the ruler of a small country. Instead, he calmly said, "Why is General Liu making such a fuss? It's just children playing around. How can you make such a big deal out of it?"

"Of course, the eldest son was in the wrong first. If General Liu wants some compensation... that's not out of the question!"

Liu Miao smiled slightly: "Okay."

Pang Ji also laughed.

If we can talk, then the problem can be solved!
"I want Lord Yuan to cede Ji Province to me."

"Liu Zhongshan!!!"

Pang Ji gritted his teeth, but considering his current situation, he could only swallow his anger and bear it.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Didn't Han Fu cede the entire Ji Province to Lord Yuan back then? Now I want Lord Yuan to give Ji Province to me, why is he unwilling? Does that mean Lord Yuan's magnanimity is inferior to Han Fu's?" Pang Ji said indignantly, "Han Fu gave Ji Province to Lord Yuan because he knew that Lord Yuan was capable of strategizing and maneuvering, controlling the world, employing the legalist methods of Shen Buhai and Shang Yang, and the ingenious strategies of Han Xin and Bai Qi, to quell the chaos in the world. That's why he felt his own abilities were insufficient and took the initiative to give up Ji Province!"

Damn!

Liu Miao thought he was thick-skinned enough, but he never expected there would be such a master!

Han Fu ceded Ji Province to Yuan Shao, yet Pang Ji portrayed it as a voluntary act.
I never imagined that there would be such shameless people in this world who could distort the truth like this!
Liu Miao sighed—

When it comes to being thick-skinned, I can't compare to Pang Ji.

Since that's the case, then I'll just have to throw all shame into it and fight Pang Ji for another three hundred rounds!
Liu Miao looked at Pang Ji seriously: "Actually, I have always felt that my talent is superior to that of Lord Yuan. Since Han Fu gave Ji Province to Lord Yuan back then because he was ashamed of his inferiority, why doesn't Lord Yuan follow Han Fu's example and give Ji Province to me now?"

Pooh!
Pang Ji barely suppressed the urge to spit in front of Liu Miao!

How shameless!

How dare he claim his talents surpass Yuan Shao's? Who gave Liu Miao such audacity!

Pang Ji snorted coldly: "Why does General Liu think he can surpass Lord Yuan?"

"It's very simple!"

Liu Miao's eyes were innocent: "I captured his son, but he didn't capture my son. Isn't that right?"

Pang Ji: ...

When Liu Miao said those words, Pang Ji knew that he could never defeat Liu Miao no matter what.

So shameless!
Such shamelessness is hard to find even if you search through all the history books.

"call……"

Pang Ji took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Considering that Liu Miao didn't pull off his hat to urinate, Pang Ji felt that there was still a possibility of communicating with Liu Miao.

However, it's different from the beginning.

When Pang Ji first met Liu Miao, he still had various schemes and wanted to secure enough benefits for Yuan Shao.

But now, all Pang Ji wants is to end this nightmare as soon as possible and get back to Hebei quickly.

"Liu Biaoqi, you'd better give us a fair price, otherwise we really can't continue this negotiation."

Seeing that Pang Ji seemed to have been tortured beyond recognition, Liu Miao smiled slightly.

"Ten thousand gold coins and ten thousand warhorses."

"At most 50,000 gold coins and 5,000 warhorses."

"Enough nonsense! Even Cao Cao could muster five thousand warhorses. Yuan Shu, who controls Hebei, can't even produce that many?"

"Sixty thousand gold coins and ten thousand warhorses."

"make a deal."

Things started to make progress.

"Did Yuan Gong previously prohibit the sale of livestock and grain in Hebei?"

"Yes."

"Rescind this decree and ensure that there is no obstruction to commerce."

"no problem."

Liu Miao was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Pang Ji to agree to this so readily.

However, Liu Miao quickly realized what was happening.

Nowadays, most scholars, even those with commercial masterpieces like "Guanzi" and "Discourses on Salt and Iron," probably only scratch the surface and are unwilling to study them in detail.

After all, this isn't a classic text; learning it won't get you promoted or make you rich, so why bother learning it?
This resulted in people like Pang Ji having a very low level of understanding of commerce and trade, completely unaware that it could potentially drain the wealth of the entire Hebei province.

Seeing that Pang Ji readily agreed, Liu Miao then stated his third request—

"I have always admired Sima Fang, a famous scholar from Hanoi, but I regret that I cannot meet him."

"I've heard that he has eight sons, known as the 'Eight Talented Sima,' all of whom are outstanding individuals. I wonder if Lord Yuan could request that he bring his eight sons to Jingzhou to discuss scholarship with me?"

Sima Fang?
Pang Ji thought for a long time before he remembered that there seemed to be such a person in Hanoi County.

I've never heard of Sima Fang having any extraordinary abilities that would make him so highly regarded by a feudal lord like Liu Miao.

As for discussing academic matters...

Ha, if Liu Miao could discuss academic matters with others, then Pang Ji would rather write his name backwards from now on!

Pang Ji asked uncertainly, "Is it really Sima Fang?"

Liu Miao emphasized: "and his eight sons."

“I am a kind-hearted person and I can’t bear to see the pain of fathers and sons being separated, so I must bring all eight of his sons with me.”

Can't bear to see the pain of separation from loved ones?
So, what are we doing right now?

Pang Ji asked, "With just these three conditions, will General Liu be able to release the eldest son?"

"What do you mean by 'release'?!"

Liu Miao said angrily, "Young Master just went to Jiangdong to arrange a marriage, and then got a little carried away and forgot to come home!"

"Yuan Tu, wait here. I'll write a letter right away and tell him to come quickly so you can return to Hebei and reunite with Lord Yuan!"

(End of this chapter)