My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 110 Shocking All Sides
Guo Tu believed that he came from a prestigious family and was a renowned scholar from Yingchuan. Despite such a noble status, he could only serve as an ordinary official under Yuan Shao, while Liu Bei, a border ruffian whom he looked down upon, had become the governor of a province.

If it were anyone else, it wouldn't matter; even if they were jealous, they wouldn't show it openly, after all, Liu Bei was the governor of a province.

However, Guo Tu was a man of short-sightedness, arrogant and jealous of talent, and lacked any long-term vision, only interested in immediate gratification.

Driven by jealousy and contempt, he actually belittled Liu Bei in front of Yuan Shao, which was quite outrageous, considering that Liu Bei was still Yuan Shao's ally at the time.

Yuan Shao looked at Guo Tu with some surprise. Although he didn't show it on his face, he knew exactly what was going on.

Guo Gongze was consumed by jealousy again.

Regardless, Liu Bei is currently an ally, while Zang Ba is merely a bandit from Mount Tai, so Guo Tu's words are clearly incorrect.

Yuan Shao wanted to speak up and ease the tension, but unexpectedly, another person suddenly stood up and denounced Guo Tu.

"Guo Gongze's words are utterly absurd and laughable."

Everyone looked up and saw that the speaker was Tian Feng, the number two figure in the Hebei faction.

He rose and walked to the center of the hall, glaring at Guo Tu: "You say Liu Bei is a scoundrel of the border army, but according to my knowledge, Liu Bei is a member of the Han imperial family, a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan. You also say that his succession as governor was a private appointment by Tao Qian, but you, sir, were able to take over as governor of Ji Province after Han Gong abdicated and submitted a memorial. In your opinion, could it be that you, sir, also secretly took over the position?"

Tian Feng had a neutral opinion of Liu Bei; he neither admired nor disliked him.

The reason he stood up to defend Liu Bei and denounce Guo Tu was simply because Guo Tu's words were too arrogant and disgusted him.

Who do you think you are, to judge a governor like that?
Not to mention that Guo Tu's words contained a major bombshell, which he naturally didn't mind detonating to see Guo Tu suffer a setback.

Sure enough, as soon as Tian Feng finished speaking, the expressions of everyone in the hall changed.

Indeed, as Tian Feng said, when Guo Tu angrily confronted Liu Bei, he did offend Yuan Shao.

Everyone in the hall looked at Yuan Shao at the same time, only to see that Yuan Shao seemed not to mind at all, with a gentle expression.

Guo Tu hated Tian Feng to the core, but he had no choice but to get up and leave his seat, kneeling before Yuan Shao to beg for forgiveness: "I spoke nonsense for a moment, please punish me, my lord."

"Why should the public interest go to such lengths?"

Yuan Shao, however, remained unperturbed, seemingly not angry at all. He even raised his hand to help Guo Tu up, saying, "It was just a slip of the tongue. In the state hall, one can freely express one's opinions. I am happy to hear criticism, how can I punish someone for words? Please rise quickly."

Guo Tu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly offered some flattery before getting up from the ground.

In truth, no one could see that Yuan Shao was actually quite angry.

However, the object of his anger was not Guo Tu, nor Liu Bei, but Tian Feng.

In his view, although Guo Tu had indeed misspoke, it was unintentional, and none of the other officials in the hall had noticed. Only Tian Feng was the culprit who exposed the problem; with his outburst, wouldn't everyone know, and wouldn't he become a laughingstock?
These Hebei people are so arrogant and disrespectful to their superiors.

But the thought of Gongsun Zan still holding sway in Ji Province with great power, and Qu Yi being so unruly, was truly a headache.

Fortunately, Gongsun Zan was incompetent and tyrannical, and he brutally murdered Liu Yu, thus winning over the hearts of the Hu people and the people of Youzhou.

Heaven knows how worried it was when it received news of Liu Yu's disastrous defeat in his campaign against Gongsun Zan, and how Liu Yu himself was captured by Gongsun.

Once Gongsun Zan installs Liu Yu on the throne and gains control of the north, Gongsun Zan will be at a disadvantage again.

But that fool actually killed Liu Yu; what a waste!

He had repeatedly pleaded with Liu Yu to come south to Ji Province, but to no avail.

Yuan Shao became even more convinced that Heaven was on his side; otherwise, how could Gongsun Zan be so ruthless and foolish?
However, for now, we still need these Hebei people to contribute money, food, and manpower. Once Hebei is stable, we will deal with them sooner or later and let these Hebei people know who the real master is.

"My lord, there is something we must be wary of."

Just as Yuan Shao was inwardly complaining, another renowned scholar from Yingchuan stepped forward.

This man was Xun Chen, a renowned scholar of the Xun family, a prominent figure in the Henan faction, the elder brother of Xun Yu, the uncle of Xun You, and the most important strategist by Yuan Shao's side.

Although Xun Chen makes very few appearances in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he is a very important figure and extremely intelligent.

His stepping forward at this moment is to boost the Henan faction's image and salvage the points Guo Tu had just lost on the surface.

"The eldest son has repeatedly defeated Tian Kai in Qingzhou, sweeping across the three Qi regions, and is poised to annex Qingzhou."

Xun Chen began by praising Yuan Tan's achievements and then pointed out the current situation: "Although Tian Kai still has more than 10,000 remaining soldiers, they have already retreated into the state of Qi and are supporting each other with Kong Rong, forming a mutually supportive alliance."

"Of the six prefectures of Qingzhou, the eldest son has already acquired two. Even within the state of Qi, there are cities that belong to us. Although Tian Kai and Kong Rong seem to be joining forces, they are no match for our army."

At this point, the clever ones had already realized what Xun Chen wanted to say.

As expected, Xun Chen continued, "The only worry is Liu Xuzhou. Although Liu Xuzhou has already befriended you, my lord, and made an alliance with me, Gongsun and Tian Kai are his former benefactors, and Kong Rong has also become his friend, helping him in times of need."

“If it were before, even if the eldest son wanted to continue eastward, there would have been no difficulty. Even if Liang Tiankai and Kong Rong joined forces, it would have been like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.”

"But now that Langya has returned to Xuzhou's control, the road from Xuzhou north to Qingzhou is unobstructed, and with the Yi River and Shu River to rely on, if Xuzhou is willing, the army can reach the Beihai Kingdom within ten days."

At this point, Xun Chen earnestly pleaded with Yuan Shao, "My lord, Liu Xuzhou, Kong Beihai, and Tian Kai have already formed a pincer movement; this must be carefully considered."

Yuan Shao's usually calm face finally showed a change; his two silkworm-shaped eyebrows furrowed slightly inward. Xun Chen's words were indeed reasonable.

After a moment's thought, Yuan Shao asked, "Then, in your opinion, what should we do?"

Xun Chen had already thought about it and immediately replied, "We can send an envoy to Xuzhou with congratulatory gifts. In any case, Langya belongs to Xuzhou, and Liu Xuzhou's actions are to punish the rebels, which is reasonable and justified. My lord should not say too much. However, we need to find out Liu Xuzhou's attitude towards Kong Beihai so that my lord can make preparations in advance."

Yuan Shao nodded in approval and pressed further, "Then, sir, who should be appointed as envoy?"

Xun Chen felt several gazes fall on him for a moment, but he did not turn his head to look. Instead, he said to himself, "Xin Ping and Xin Zhongzhi are acceptable."

Yuan Shao pondered for a moment, then turned to another tall scholar and smiled, "Very well, then I'll have to trouble Zhongzhi with this task."

Xin Ping rose and returned the greeting: "If my lord commands, I will gladly comply."

On the other hand, Cao Cao, who was besieging Dingtao, was greatly alarmed after receiving the intelligence.

"Langya has been recovered in just ten days?"

Cao Cao was filled with surprise and disbelief, unable to believe it for a moment.

Attacking cities in this era was extremely difficult, and Kaiyang was a well-known fortified city. Furthermore, the Yi River and the Wu River converged and surrounded the city, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

From Cao Cao's perspective, if he were to lead the army, he would need to raise 50,000 troops, with at least 10,000 casualties, and it would take a year and a half to capture Kaiyang.

According to the intelligence reports, Liu Bei captured the city in just ten days.

Cao Cao turned to look at Cheng Yu: "Zhongde, who is this Chen Yuanlong? Is he really such a skilled warrior?"

Cao Cao and Liu Bei were friends for many years. How could he not know Liu Bei's true capabilities?
Liu Bei's ability to lead troops is not as good as mine. What I, Cao Cao, cannot do, he cannot do either.

"Chen Yuanlong is a member of the Chen family of Xiapi, the nephew of Chen Yu and the son of Chen Gui. He used to be the Agricultural Commandant under Tao Qian and was known for his exceptional wisdom and resourcefulness. However, I have never heard of him being skilled in commanding troops."

Cheng Yu was also puzzled. Judging from the existing intelligence, Chen Deng was probably only commanding troops for the first time. It was already quite amazing that an army of tens of thousands of people could march smoothly and set up battle formations, let alone capture Kaiyang in ten days.

However, seeing the anxiety on his lord's face, Cheng Yu had to comfort him, saying, "But if Zang Ba holds firm and doesn't come out, Chen Deng might not be able to succeed so easily."

Cao Cao scoffed, "Zhongde, what nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I'm such a fool who deceives himself?"

"Zang Ba didn't surrender earlier or later, but waited until Chen Deng's army was at the city gates before surrendering. Isn't this a merit of Chen Yuanlong?"

Cao Cao looked at the distant city wall of Dingtao and thought that he had been here for half a month but had not even been able to break through the outer wall. He was so anxious that he wanted to explode: "Even if it is just pure luck, it is Chen Yuanlong's luck, which no one else can ask for."

Cao Cao had besieged Dingtao for two whole weeks, leaving behind thousands of corpses.

But Dingtao remained as steadfast as Mount Tai, showing no intention of surrendering whatsoever.

Lu Bu has also completed his mobilization and is heading towards Jiyin, where he is expected to arrive in a few days.

Cao Cao was filled with anxiety and regret. He didn't regret not continuing the attack on Xuzhou, but rather regretted not heeding the advice of Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, and Xi Zhicai to attack Juye first. However, Cao Cao was now not only anxious, but also fearful.

Previously, Zang Ba was a constant threat to Liu Bei. Kaiyang and Tancheng were too close. As long as Zang Ba did not submit to Liu Bei, Liu Bei would be unable to move around in Tancheng and would even have to sleep with one eye open.

But after taking Langya, Liu Bei was in a completely different situation. He no longer had any worries about his rear and could mobilize the troops of Xuzhou at any time to stab Cao Cao in the back, and it would be a ruthless and swift fatal blow.

Judging from Liu Bei's mobilization capacity when attacking Langya, the enemy now has the ability to organize an army of at least 30,000 to march out of Pengcheng and head straight for Juancheng.

If this really happened, then Cao Cao would truly only have one path left: to head north and seek refuge with his sworn brother Yuan Shao.

“Zhongde, we must send someone to Tancheng to have a talk with my good brother. In any case, we cannot allow him to have any intention of heading west before I have pacified Yanzhou.”

Cheng Yu also wholeheartedly agreed, and volunteered, "My lord, why don't I go myself?"

"No!"

Cao Cao shook his head directly: "I can't do without you here, Zhongde. Let Man Boning go! Boning is resolute and measured, brave and resourceful. He will surely live up to his mission."

Cheng Yu thought about it and felt that Man Chong was indeed suitable, so he got up to make arrangements for the matter.

Only after Cheng Yu left did Cao Cao reveal his true feelings, his face filled with sorrow.

He couldn't help but sigh. His elder brother Yuan Shao was already giving him a lot of headaches. The other party was about to pacify Hebei, but he was about to lose even his foothold in Yanzhou.

As a result, even Liu Bei, who was originally a junior, has now risen to prominence.

Xuzhou has five commanderies and kingdoms. Donghai and Xiapi already supported Liu Bei, and now Langya has also submitted. Guangling will definitely be unable to stand alone, and it is very likely that it will surrender within the next few months.

As for Pengcheng, it was already a barren wasteland and of no importance.

Without making a sound, Liu Bei actually took over Xuzhou, and his foundation was no less than that of Tao Qian, who had been building it up for six or seven years.

He has only been in charge of Xuzhou for less than half a year.

If he continues to develop like this, I'm afraid I won't even be able to continue expanding, let alone maintain my foothold in Yanzhou.

Cao Cao pondered to himself that he needed to devise a plan, preferably one that would allow Liu Bei to head south and fight Yuan Shu to the death.

**************
"Damn big-eared thief, despicable big-eared thief!"

In the Shouchun Prefecture government office, Yuan Shu, who had been arrogant and ignorant of Liu Bei's identity, was now enraged, his eyes bloodshot, and he hysterically slashed wildly with his sword.

He had just received a message from Qiao Rui that Liu Bei had launched a surprise attack on Zang Ba in the north. Zang Ba was no match for him and was besieged in Kaiyang for ten days before surrendering.

If others didn't know, how could Yuan Shu not know?
In the entire Xuzhou region, only Zang Ba could be considered his ally, supporting his decision to take control of Xuzhou.

It's all gone now.

The remaining Chen, Xu, Mi, Wang, Tian, ​​and Liao families all regarded Yuan Shu as an enemy. The Chen, Xu, and Mi families, in particular, were mortal foe.

When Yuan Shu received Zang Ba's letter, he was overjoyed and immediately agreed that as long as Zang Ba was willing to welcome him to Xu, he could appoint Zang Ba as the governor of Langya. If he made further contributions in the future, he could even be appointed as the governor of Xuzhou. The other generals could also be appointed to govern counties.

The terms offered were quite generous, consistent with Yuan Shu's usual style of prioritizing appearances over substance.

He was the only one in the entire country who would offer such conditions. Therefore, bandits, pirates, remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and powerful warlords were all quite willing to serve Yuan Shu when the world was just beginning to descend into chaos.

After gaining Zang Ba's allegiance, Yuan Shu felt that the opportunity to take control of Xuzhou was just around the corner.

As long as I can send troops from the south to Guangling, lure Liu Bei out of Tancheng and south, and then Zang Ba strikes him from behind, this country bumpkin will be completely under my control.

We must capture that big-eared guy alive and thoroughly humiliate him.

If he were more sensible, I might be able to accept him; after all, this big-eared guy is quite a fighter.

If you don't know what's good for you, then don't blame me for not showing any consideration for our past friendship.

Yuan Shu, who was still dreaming of taking control of Xuzhou and how to win over Liu Bei and others, was shocked to hear the bad news today. How could he, who was already hot-tempered, possibly tolerate it?

Now everything has fallen apart, and Yuan Shu can even imagine the scene of Big Ears mocking him.

"Somebody come!"

Yuan Shu roared, shouting at his attendants who rushed in and knelt on the ground: "Go and invite the chief clerk, the chief secretary, and all the generals here. I want to attack Xuzhou, grab Da Er in front of the horse, whip his back, and ask him to confess his crimes."

After shouting, he called out to the beautiful maid beside him, "Bring me honey water, my master is thirsty."

On an official road, a procession of carriages and horses moved slowly, escorted by two squads of soldiers in front and behind.

Suddenly, the coachman in front of the carriage saw wisps of smoke rising in the distance and immediately turned around and shouted into the carriage, "My lord, there is smoke rising ahead!"

"Smoke?"

The carriage curtain was pulled back, revealing a thin face with bright, piercing eyes that exuded an air of authority.

"It was indeed smoke from cooking fires; judging by the appearance, it must have been from dozens of households."

The old man was slightly surprised, then a hint of delight appeared on his face, and he nodded: "Let's go, let's go take a look!"

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

The group of onlookers responded in unison, and the way they addressed the old man revealed his identity.

This person is none other than Xu Qiu, the current prime minister of the Donghai Kingdom.

Xu Qiu was a native of Haixi, Guangling, Xuzhou. His courtesy name was Mengyu. He was the son of Xu Shu, a general of Liao during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was also from a prominent family and a member of a gentry clan.

He gained fame at a young age, was known for his extensive learning, was appointed to the offices of three high-ranking officials, passed the imperial examinations with top honors, and enjoyed an extremely smooth official career.

After he came of age, he became an official and had a very good reputation. He liked to praise younger people and mentor the younger generation.

Later, when he served as the governor of Jingzhou, he disregarded his own safety and impeached Zhang Zhong, Emperor Ling's cousin, for extorting money from the local area, embezzling and accepting bribes, and amassing hundreds of millions of coins.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he made many achievements and made considerable military contributions. However, because he had previously exposed Zhang Zhong's corruption and bribery during his tenure as the governor of Nanyang, which forced Emperor Ling to recall him to the capital, and because he sternly refused to let Zhang Zhong go, he offended Emperor Ling's mother, Empress Dowager Dong, Zhang Zhong's aunt. As a result, he was punished and his merits and demerits canceled each other out. He was dismissed from office and sent home.

Not long after, he was recalled to important positions such as Chancellor of Rencheng and Prefect of Runan.

Especially during his tenure as the governor of Runan, he suppressed Runan to the point that it did not obey Yuan Shu's orders, thus preventing Yuan Shu from ever controlling Runan.

Eventually, Yuan Shu used every means at his disposal, even colluding with Li Jue and Guo Si, to dismiss Xu Qiu on the orders of the imperial court.

On his way home, Xu Qiu was persuaded to stay by Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou at the time, and was appointed as the prime minister of Donghai Kingdom. During his tenure, he was honest and upright, and governed effectively, which transformed the administration and customs of Donghai County.

During Liu Bei's succession as governor of Xu Province, Xu Qiu neither supported nor opposed him, but simply stood by and did nothing.

After Liu Bei took over and entered Tancheng, Xu Qiu went out to travel to other counties, and just now he arrived in Xiangben.

The term "roving county" refers to the activity of state and prefectural officials inspecting their subordinate counties, with the tasks of encouraging agriculture and providing relief. The practice of roving counties originated in the pre-Qin period and evolved into a fixed system during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Every year, from the regional governor to the prefect, they would go on tours to encourage scholars, commoners, farmers, and mulberry growers, while also providing relief to the elderly and orphans, and bestowing wine and meat upon those over seventy years old.

Xu Qiu has already inspected the areas east and south of Tancheng, leaving only the western region.

The war disasters of the past two years have been concentrated in the western region, and most of the western counties have been turned into wastelands.

Therefore, many of his subordinates advised Xu Qiu not to go any further and to return to Tancheng.

I don’t know if it was because of Liu Bei, but this year’s journey to the county was unusually early. In the past, it would have been after the beginning of spring, but this year it was set off in the freezing cold.

At least in the east there are many county towns where people can stay and rest, but the west is truly desolate and uninhabited.

However, Xu Qiu insisted on continuing his tour of the counties.

(End of this chapter)