My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 167 Return to Tancheng
Once Liu Bei steps down, any position he appoints will be meaningless. Moreover, Guangling is right next to Yuan Shu's army. If Yuan Shu invades, Guangling will be the first place he will use as a sacrifice.

In Zhuge Xuan's mind, Yuan Shu was Liu Biao's mortal enemy. If he were to become the governor of Guangling, Yuan Shu would skin him alive, settling both old and new scores.

Zhuge Xuan didn't say it, but he still felt a little regretful.

If I had known Liu Bei was such a formidable warrior, and had accepted the appointment back then, I would be a genuine prefect with a salary of two thousand bushels of grain by now.

Now that Liu Xian had given him this advice, Zhuge Xuan's mind started to wander.

Just then, Zhuge Liang took the initiative to speak up: "Uncle, Mother and the sisters have also been frightened, and it is indeed not advisable for them to travel for the time being. Moreover, Uncle's injuries also need to be properly treated by a renowned doctor."

Liu Feng was somewhat surprised and glanced at Zhuge Liang. The other man was calm and composed, with a faint worry on his face, clearly concerned about Zhuge Xuan's health.

But Liu Feng always felt that Zhuge Liang's words had a deeper meaning, and he didn't know if it was just his imagination.

Then, Zhuge Jin also agreed with his younger brother's words, hoping that Zhuge Xuan could return to Tancheng to recuperate.

Since the governor's son, his former colleagues from Jingzhou, and his own nephews had all persuaded him, Zhuge Xuan finally decided to heed everyone's advice and return to Tancheng to recuperate.

In this way, everyone is happy.

Subsequently, Zhuge Xuan instructed his brothers Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang to present gifts to Liu Feng and Liu Xian as they saw them off.

Liu Feng accepted the gift and returned to his car with Liu Xian.

The Zhuge family brought a lot of wealth with them on their southward journey.

The Zhuge family was naturally very grateful for Liu Feng's life-saving grace and prepared generous gifts, sending a total of 150,000 coins worth of goods.

Liu Feng divided the wealth into three parts, awarding 50,000 coins each to Dong Xi and Gan Ning, and the remaining 50,000 coins to the soldiers who participated in the battle yesterday, keeping nothing for himself.

Xu Shao, Xun You, Liu Xian, and Teng Zhou were the first to receive the news, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.

Xu Shao suddenly sighed, "Liu Xuande was born in the north and was known for his benevolence. I never expected his son to surpass him."

Teng Zhou was also shocked: "150,000 taels of silver were given away to the soldiers and officers without even being looked at. Isn't that too lenient with the soldiers? Although this may win their loyalty, it will be hard to sustain. Once the soldiers are tempted by money, their greed will be insatiable."

Xu Shao nodded in agreement: "Indeed. Observing Liu Feng's actions, his soldiers are rarely surprised, which shows that he usually rewards them. Although the Xuzhou army has considerable fighting strength, it also harbors this hidden worry."

Xun You was also surprised by Liu Feng's generosity, but compared with Xu Shao and Teng Zhou, he thought Liu Feng had done a very good job.

In Xun You's view, the Former Han Dynasty clearly rewarded its soldiers handsomely, and even in the present dynasty, the central and northern armies receive extremely generous treatment.

However, the central government was wary of local disloyalty, so it abolished the system of county and state soldiers. Now, county and state soldiers have been reinstated in various places, but their treatment has not been restored. Some aristocratic families even believe that giving soldiers a monthly salary would reduce the army's combat effectiveness.

They even have the audacity to say that soldiers fight for money, but how about fighting for righteousness?
This is utterly stupid.

On the way, I heard the scholars under Liu Yao's command talk about the Xuzhou army, and they highly praised its fighting strength.

This aroused Xun You's strong curiosity.

Liu Xian's view was more similar to Xu Shao's: taxes and grain in various places had fallen to a low point, while the number of soldiers was becoming larger and larger.

When Liu Biao first entered Jingzhou, he incorporated the troops of the bandits and, together with the troops of the Cai, Kuai, and Huang families, he only had about 20,000 to 30,000 men in total.

But now it has ballooned to 70,000.

Even if each soldier is paid 100 coins a month, the annual expenditure would still be 70 to 80 million coins. How could we possibly sustain that?

Taking Xuzhou as an example, at its peak, Xuzhou had a population of over 2.8 million, and the head tax was less than 400 million. Of this, only a little over 100 million could actually be delivered to the prefectural government, which was probably only enough to pay 200 coins to each of the 70,000 soldiers every month.

Two hundred coins could only buy about one shi (a unit of dry measure) of millet.

If you try to support your family with this, you'll starve to death.

This is also the fundamental reason for the sharp decline in the social status of warriors and soldiers.

After all, during the Western Han Dynasty, even soldiers from commanderies and kingdoms could only be recruited from respectable families.

Xun You was also curious about where Liu Feng got the money to support his troops, and whether all of Liu Bei's troops were supported in the same way.

During the rest of the journey, Liu Feng frequently visited Zhuge Xuan, and during his time on the ship, he also often visited Xu Shao, Xun You, and others.

He spent the rest of the time inspecting the soldiers with Gan Ning and Dong Xi.

Wherever he went, Liu Feng would chat with his soldiers without any airs, treating them all the same, whether they were soldiers from Xuzhou or troops brought by Gan Ning.

Sometimes, bold soldiers would make requests, and if these requests were reasonable, Liu Feng would immediately approve them and make formal adjustments to establish them as a regular practice.

Before long, Liu Feng had won the hearts of Dong Xi, Gan Ning, and all the soldiers. They were all captivated by Liu Feng and willing to serve him.

Traveling by water is far more convenient than by land. After leaving Sheyang Lake, go upstream along the Huai River, turn into the Si River, pass Xiapi, and then turn north into the Yi River to reach Tancheng.

At this time, Cao Bao had already arrived in Xiapi and assumed the post of Xiapi Chancellor.

Therefore, when Liu Feng passed through Xiapi, he made a special stop for a day and disembarked to visit Cao Bao.

Cao Bao was overjoyed and hosted a banquet for Liu Feng, even wanting him to stay a few more days.

When Cao Bao learned that Liu Feng had other matters to attend to and had deliberately delayed his visit by a day, he felt both delighted and regretful.

Afterwards, Cao Bao personally escorted Liu Feng onto the ship and presented him with a generous gift, then watched Liu Feng continue his journey north.

Liu Feng originally wanted to visit Chen Gui, but Chen Gui was not in Xiapi and had been invited to Tancheng by Liu Bei, so he gave up the idea.

Chen Yu and Chen Cong were both in Xiapi, but Liu Feng had no connection with them, so it was not appropriate for him to visit them rashly.

Moreover, Liu Feng had no authority to promise Chen Yu and Chen Cong what they wanted, and even if they met, it would be of no use. So he simply refused to meet them and instead asked Cao Bao to deliver a gift on their behalf as a token of his goodwill.

Soon, the city walls of Tancheng appeared in the distance.

Xu Shao and the others walked out of the cabin and came to the wooden platform to look out.

Liu Feng smiled and said to Xu Shao, "General Zijiang, is there an old friend of yours in Tancheng?"

Xu Shao was somewhat surprised. It wasn't that he didn't remember the old friend, but rather that he was surprised that Liu Feng even knew about this.

In the sixth year of the Zhongping era, Xu Qiu succeeded Yang Qi as the Prefect of Runan, a position he held for five years until the fourth year of the Chuping era, when he finally resigned and left Runan.

After Xu Qiu became the governor of Runan, he immediately appointed Xu Shao as his chief clerk, and Xu Shao listened to his every word. As a result, the atmosphere in the entire Runan Commandery became much more positive.

Therefore, when Xu Qiu stepped down from his post and returned to Xuzhou to seek refuge, Xu Shao chose to run away with Xu Qiu and went to Xuzhou together.

After arriving in Xuzhou, Xu Qiu lived in seclusion in Tancheng, while Xu Shao saw that Tao Qian harbored ill intentions towards the people of Runan, so he continued south to Jiangdong to seek refuge with Liu Yao.

Subsequent events proved Xu Shao's judgment correct; the Runan people who remained in Xuzhou were indeed severely persecuted by Tao Qian.

Xu Shao and Xu Qiu had a fairly good relationship; otherwise, Xu Shao wouldn't have abandoned his official position and followed Xu Qiu to Xuzhou.

Moreover, Xu Qiu was his former master, so Xu Shao had to show concern for him both out of courtesy and reason.

Xu Shao then asked, "It has been two years since we last met. Is Master Meng Yu well?"

Liu Feng replied, “When Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou, Liu Kui, the Chancellor of Donghai, died in battle. Tao Gong then recommended Meng Yu Gong to be the Chancellor of Donghai. Later, Tao Gong fell ill and, before passing away, entrusted Xuzhou to my father. My father was deeply grateful and, after succeeding to the position, followed the old ways without making any changes. Now, Meng Yu Gong is still the Chancellor of Donghai, and is also in Tancheng.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Shao was overjoyed: "Excellent! In that case, I can pay my respects to Lord Meng Yu."

Xu Shao was thinking that after entering the city, he would go and pay his respects to Xu Qiu.

Unexpectedly, Xu Qiu was with Liu Bei, waiting for everyone at the dock.

Upon disembarking, they saw Liu Bei leading Xu Qiu, Mi Zhu, Liu Ye, Jian Yong, Sun Qian, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Tian Yu, and others on the Tancheng dock.

After Liu Bei returned to Tancheng and received news that Liu Feng had captured Guangling, Jiangdu and other counties and completely recovered Guangling, he ordered Guan Yu to withdraw his troops from Dongcheng and Tian Yu from Gaoyou, leaving only 500 soldiers from Xiapi County stationed in Dongcheng.

Dongcheng was not large, and geographically and historically, it should have belonged to Jiujiang Commandery. However, due to the custom of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was assigned to Xuzhou, essentially leaving it isolated.

Therefore, although Dongcheng also has waterways, they are not connected to the Huai River. For small-scale military operations, food can be raised from Huailing County. However, once the number of troops increases, it is absolutely impossible to cope with the combined strength of Huailing County and Dongcheng County alone.

So when Liu Bei saw that the battle of Guangling was over, he quickly ordered Guan Yu to lead the main force back, leaving behind a thousand county soldiers. This was because Dongcheng was a key location and he did not want to give it away to Yuan Shu for nothing.

Guan Yu and Tian Yu received their orders a month earlier than Liu Feng, and with fewer troops, they quickly withdrew to Tancheng, which is why they are now at the dock.

As for Lu Su, he was also relieved of his post as magistrate of Dongcheng County and transferred back to Tancheng to continue to be in charge of land reclamation affairs.

Lu Su was currently inspecting Xiangben. The summer harvest had just been completed, and the grain needed to be dried and stored as quickly as possible. At the same time, he also needed to organize the upcoming autumn sowing. Crops like soybeans, if planted in July or August, could be harvested again in November.

Liu Bei, accompanied by Xu Qiu and others, stepped forward to greet him. As the governor of a province, he actually took the initiative to bow to Xu Shao first: "I have long admired your great name, General Zijiang. Today, I am finally able to meet you. This is a great honor for me."

Xu Shao, however, did not presume and quickly returned the courtesy, saying, "Your Excellency comes from the North, and is chivalrous and virtuous, righteous and benevolent. In the past, I once questioned whether Kong Wenju was overrated, but after meeting him today, I know that his words were not an exaggeration."

Liu Bei repeatedly expressed his humility, appearing ashamed and unworthy of the honor.

Then, Xu Shao went to Xu Qiu and bowed deeply, saying, "My lord, it has been many years since we last met. You look as healthy as ever, which puts my mind at ease."

Xu Qiu laughed heartily: "Governor Fang of Xuzhou has repelled foreign enemies, promoted benevolence and righteousness, developed the people's settlements, and valued virtuous scholars. Xuzhou has turned danger into safety, returned to unity, and is becoming more and more prosperous. How can I not be happy?"

Xu Qiu was quite satisfied with Liu Bei at this time. Tao Qian was aggressive and plundered the local area, while Liu Bei stopped fighting, squeezed out grain, gathered up the displaced people, and set up settlements for them.

Tao Qian persecuted scholars, alienated Zhao Yu, arrested Lü Fan, and bullied virtuous and capable people such as Shi Jianyuan and Xiang Zhonghua. Liu Bei, on the other hand, respected his teachers and valued virtue. When he failed to recruit virtuous people, he not only did not arrest and imprison people like Tao Qian did, but also reflected on his own lack of virtue, which made Xu Qiu very fond of him.

Now that Liu Bei has recovered the entire territory of Xuzhou and brought it under his rule, Xu Qiu, a native of Xuzhou, is naturally overjoyed.

Now that he had met Xu Shao, a former official, Xu Qiu couldn't help but feel a desire to show off.

While Xu Shao was talking to Xu Qiu, Liu Bei was exchanging pleasantries with Liu Xian and Xun You.

Upon learning Xun You's identity, Liu Bei was overjoyed. He grasped Xun You's hand and expressed his deep longing for such a worthy man.

He then realized what had happened and apologized to Mr. Liu.

Liu Bei's actions not only lacked any sense of hypocrisy, but also gave people a feeling of sincerity; his words and deeds were unpretentious.

Even Liu Xian did not feel neglected; on the contrary, he developed a great deal of goodwill towards Liu Bei, feeling that this Prefect Liu of Xuzhou was truly benevolent and valued the virtuous.

Unconsciously, Liu Xian secretly compared his lord Liu Biao with Liu Bei in his heart.

Liu Xian regretfully discovered that although both men were known for their respect for talent and virtue, his own lord was somewhat lacking in charisma and not as pure as Liu, the Prefect of Xuzhou.

Upon hearing that Zhuge Xuan was also on the fleet and had been wounded by an arrow, Liu Bei was greatly shocked. He immediately apologized to Zhuge Jin, who represented the Zhuge family, saying that the incident of bandits attacking a famous scholar in Xuzhou was due to his poor governance.

Zhuge Jin refused and quickly expressed his gratitude to Liu Bei.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Bei sent people to prepare accommodations and invited the Zhuge family to stay, and said that he would personally visit Zhuge Xuan's residence the next day.

Zhuge Jin quickly thanked Liu Bei.

After settling the Zhuge family in, Xu Shao, Liu Xian, Teng Zhou, and Xun You were invited by Liu Bei to ride in his carriage together.

Fortunately, Liu Bei's carriage was quite large, otherwise it really wouldn't have been able to seat five people.

Liu Feng stood outside, not joining in the fun.

While Liu Bei was making his move, he went to pay his respects to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and then greeted Mi Zhu, Jian Yong, Liu Ye, and others.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were now extremely satisfied with Liu Feng, feeling that their elder brother had a worthy successor.

Mi Zhu, Jian Yong, Liu Ye, and others also had high hopes for Liu Feng, seeing him as a guarantee for their future, and naturally responded with great favor.

Dong Xi and Gan Ning followed behind Liu Feng and were introduced to the officials in the central government of Xuzhou.

Dong Xi was eight feet tall, almost as tall as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Such a figure naturally aroused the curiosity of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Dong Xi was steady, humble, and courageous, displaying neither arrogance nor servility, which earned him considerable favor from Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Although Gan Ning had a violent and impatient personality, he was not arrogant. Moreover, under Liu Feng's command, he felt like a fish leaping over the dragon gate, as if all the shackles on his body had been broken and he had been reborn.

Therefore, they were able to treat Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, two important generals in Xuzhou, with courtesy.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had a good initial impression of Dong Xi and Gan Ning. After hearing about the events that had happened along the way, especially the battle of Sheyang Lake, and how Dong Xi commanded the warships to sweep away the bandits, Gan Ning was also delighted that the Xuzhou army had gained two more fierce generals.

That evening, Liu Bei hosted a banquet to entertain the envoys, and the host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely.

Liu Feng hurriedly went to pay his respects to his grandmother and mother, Madam Tian. This time, he left Tancheng for Guangling and was gone for nearly two months. This was the first time he had been away for so long.

Grandmother and Madam Tian didn't care about anything else and directly pulled Liu Feng to stay, so in the end Liu Feng had no choice but to stay and accompany his two close relatives.

Early the next morning, Liu Bei sent someone to summon him.

When Liu Feng arrived, he learned that Liu Bei had not yet gotten up and planned to meet him on his bed, clearly intending to have a private conversation with his father.

Sure enough, after entering the room, Liu Feng found that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not there either; they had already left for the army.

When Liu Bei saw Liu Feng, he was sitting on his bed.

"Feng'er, come here."

It was summer, and the room was rather stuffy. To keep their conversation private, Liu Bei specifically instructed his attendants not to open the windows, and the room was even illuminated by candlelight.

Upon hearing this, Liu Feng walked to the seat in front of Liu Bei and sat down, respectfully greeting Liu Bei.

Liu Bei looked Liu Feng up and down, his eyes filled with paternal affection. After a moment, he said earnestly, "It's been two months since I last saw you, and my son seems to have grown quite a bit taller."

A warm feeling rose in Liu Feng's heart. He really didn't expect that Liu Bei's first words would be about his height.

It was precisely this concern that deeply moved Liu Feng.

Moved, Liu Feng sweetly replied, "Father, you haven't changed at all; you're still so young."

"Hahaha."

Liu Bei laughed heartily. The feeling of being flattered by his son was indeed different, especially since his son was so outstanding. It was truly delightful.

Liu Bei was secretly pleased, but after laughing, he pretended to be serious and said, "I'm almost forty, I'm not young anymore. You can't even say flattering words properly, you're too hypocritical."

Liu Feng, however, got carried away with the conversation and chimed in, "Father, you should live to be a hundred years old. Even if you reach middle age in a few years, you'll only be halfway through your life. How can you not be young?"

You should know that in Liu Feng's later generations, sixty years old was still considered youth, while Liu Bei was only thirty-six, definitely a young man.

"Alright, enough joking. I've summoned you here because I have important matters to discuss."

Liu Bei actually quite enjoyed the father-son affection with Liu Feng, but there were more important things on his mind, so he had to get to the point.

Liu Feng waited respectfully for Liu Bei's next move.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment and then said, "When I went to Yuzhou before, you said that although Yuzhou was good, Xuzhou's military strength was insufficient. At that time, I didn't take it seriously, but now it seems that your vision was indeed more far-sighted."

Seeing that Liu Feng wanted to be modest, Liu Bei reached out to stop him and continued, "Now, Duke Chen of Lu is willing to form an alliance with me, and Xuan Gao has taken over as Chancellor of Rencheng. Governor Guo of Yuzhou has also resolved his differences with me and is willing to serve the court together."

Liu Bei's words sounded nice, but everyone knew the real story.

Chen Yi had already become Liu Bei's vassal, Zang Ba was Liu Bei's direct subordinate, and Guo Gong was willing to be an ally, but in essence, he was also a vassal with a higher status than Chen Yi.

As a result, Xuzhou's power naturally increased, but correspondingly, its responsibilities also became much greater.

(End of this chapter)