My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 217 Xuande Bows His Head
The four scholars, each offering their own opinion, quickly sketched out a draft action plan for Liu Bei.

Liu Bei not only wanted to serve the king, but he also wanted to do so in a grand and ostentatious manner.

Liu Bei could have personally led the army, but instead, he sent a capable person to lead the troops to Hedong to welcome him.

At the same time, Liu Bei should also send out invitations to all the warlords in Guandong, asking Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Liu Yao, Guo Gong and others to join him. He should even send letters to Yuan Shu and Lü Bu to invite them.

Based on Guo Jia's assessment, Lü Bu was a man who would forget righteousness for small gains and cherish his life when it came to great things. He would definitely decline Liu Bei's invitation by citing insufficient supplies.

Liu Yao would most likely be unable to spare the time, and even if Liu Biao were willing, he wouldn't be a traveler, so he could travel north from Nanyang.

Therefore, whether Liu Biao comes or not makes little difference.

Guo Gong was an ally of Liu Bei, and Liang was an important territory, serving as Liu Bei's crucial rear line. Therefore, it was necessary to bring him into the fold.

Yuan Shao's reach was too far, and according to Guo Jia's speculation, Yuan Shao was always indecisive and would only send envoys to Hedong first before making a decision.

Therefore, the only one who would most likely respond to Liu Bei's call to arms is Cao Cao.

At this time, Xuzhou was unaware that Cao Cao had actually sent troops to defend the emperor. However, Cao Cao's journey to defend the emperor was not smooth and was blocked by the outside of Luoyang early on.

Xun You and Guo Jia strongly supported Zhang Zhao's opinion, believing that it was extremely appropriate to settle the emperor in Yingchuan.

Xun You and Guo Jia's proposal was neither about using public office for private gain nor about being completely selfless, but rather about integrating public and private interests.

The emperor's presence in Yingchuan and his temporary stay there would greatly enhance Yingchuan's prestige and provide the city, which was in dire need of rebuilding, with a wealth of essential resources.

This will not only help the people of Yingchuan recover, but also help more people from Yingchuan.

How could Xun You and Guo Jia, both natives of Yingchuan, not wholeheartedly support Zhang Zhao?

At the same time, Yingchuan's location is also quite good. It is a hundred miles away from the Yellow River and borders Chen State and Runan in Yuzhou. Although it is somewhat far from Xuzhou, it is by no means as far away as Luoyang.

With their wisdom and ability, how could Xun You and Guo Jia not see such a wonderful thing that would benefit both the prefecture and their hometown?

As for Zhang Hong, he wouldn't insist on his own opinion. The mere fact that Xuzhou was beyond his reach was enough to make him abandon his original suggestion.

Next, the group discussed the details of sending troops. All four agreed that Liu Bei should personally lead a large army to aid the king, but before the situation became clear, it was not advisable to go as far as north of Liang, let alone cross the river in person.

In other words, Liu Bei may nominally lead the cause, but the people who actually serve the emperor can be assigned to the most trustworthy individuals.

The seven people present all thought of one person as the most trustworthy person.

That was Liu Bei's eldest son.

Liu Bei led the charge, with Liu Feng taking the lead.

Liu Bei could advance to Pei State or even Liang State to meet him, while Liu Feng would personally lead a large army across the river to welcome him.

Even Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had no objections.

Throughout history, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have been Liu Bei's best brothers and most capable henchmen.

However, neither of them actually had the experience or qualifications to lead troops independently. Moreover, their official positions were only those of colonels until the end of last year, after Liu Bei took control of Xuzhou.

Liu Feng, however, was different. He was Liu Bei's eldest son, and this identity naturally gave him the influence of a deputy commander.

With Liu Feng as the main general, he could gain the unanimous approval of all factions and martial artists in Xuzhou.

What's even more perfect is that although Liu Feng is very young, he is already a veteran of the battlefield, having experienced battles involving thousands of people several times, and has even personally commanded them.

Seeing that his civil and military officials unanimously recommended the best candidate, Liu Bei was starting to have a headache.

Because this candidate was just driven away by his scolding.

At this moment, Liu Feng was looking at something in his room.

Liu Bei was quite angry just now, but Liu Feng didn't seem to have been upset at all.

Liu Bei valued his eldest son quite a bit, and even when he was furious, he couldn't bring himself to curse him.

This shows how highly Liu Feng regarded Liu Bei.

Moreover, Liu Bei's reaction was much better than Liu Feng had imagined. Loyalty to the Han Dynasty is not a mistake; loyalty and righteousness are excellent qualities at all times.

Liu Feng was naturally very pleased that his father was so loyal and righteous.

Anyway, there's plenty of time and opportunity to persuade Liu Bei gradually and change his mind.

Liu Feng is currently inspecting the soybean harvest.

The first batch of soybeans has now been stored, and winter soybeans have been planted.

Soybeans were not popular during the Eastern Han Dynasty, mainly because they were not tasty and could easily cause bloating, excessive flatulence, and many other side effects.

Even though tofu existed during the Eastern Han Dynasty, its production was not simple and was quite complicated, so soybeans were still not very popular.

However, this situation is about to change dramatically.

Because Liu Feng developed the technology for pressing soybean oil.

Actually, it's not that Liu Feng has a particularly good memory, remembering every single step clearly, or that he's truly that knowledgeable.

Take this soybean oil pressing technology as an example. Liu Feng had only seen the process on TV and had a general idea of ​​what it was like.

He didn't know the specifics of how to do it, but he could tell the craftsmen of the Eastern Han Dynasty the general process and model of the craft so that they could restore it for him.

Even if it's only 70-80% restored, the efficiency would far surpass that of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

There are two methods for making soybean oil: solvent extraction and pressing. I didn't see the previous one, so I don't understand it. He chose the classical pressing method, which uses raw soybeans for physical pressing.

The pressing method yields a relatively low oil output, and a considerable amount of oil remains in the pressing residue. However, these soybean meal residues are not wasted; they are excellent feed for both warhorses and cattle.

The reported oil yield was 6.5%, which pleased Liu Feng greatly. He vaguely remembered that even in the Ming Dynasty, the oil yield of soybeans was only 7.5%, indicating that the method Liu Feng was using was already quite close to that of the Ming Dynasty, and there was still room for improvement.

Soybean oil is a very good thing. You should know that although vegetable oil already existed in the Han Dynasty, this kind of vegetable oil could not be eaten. It was only used for lighting lamps, coating silk fabrics for making clothes, and so on.

Han Chinese people mainly consume animal fat.

It wasn't until the Song Dynasty that people truly began to consume various vegetable oils, including but not limited to soybean oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, and so on.

Liu Feng decided for the time being that the soybean oil pressing technology should not be promoted. Instead, he could appropriately absorb some funds from the families of Lu Su, Chen Ji, Chen Qun, and Chen Deng, and then build an oil mill district in Tancheng to try it out first.

The reasons for choosing Tancheng were threefold: firstly, Tancheng had a large population; secondly, it had convenient water and land transportation; and thirdly, it had a large garrison and a large number of horses.

Just as Liu Feng continued to review the report, Liu Bei arrived outside his courtyard.

Liu Bei coughed lightly, then turned to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and instructed them, "Second brother, third brother, you two wait for me outside the courtyard."

Guan Yu nodded in agreement, but Zhang Fei looked surprised: "Brother, why? Does brother intend to harm my nephew?"

Liu Bei was immediately enraged and glared fiercely at Zhang Fei: "I was disciplining my son! What do you know!"

After saying that, Liu Bei ignored Zhang Fei and angrily pushed open the door to go find Liu Feng alone.

Zhang Fei wanted to follow, but Guan Yu held him back.

"Third brother, stop fooling around."

Guan Yu shook his head at Zhang Fei: "Brother is here to apologize to Feng'er."

However, Guan Yu's voice was a bit loud, and his words reached Liu Bei's ears, who had only taken a few steps, causing Liu Bei's face to turn red with embarrassment.

The next moment, Liu Feng saw Liu Bei, who looked like a fighting rooster, his face flushed red, staring at him fiercely.

isn't it?
Liu Feng was completely bewildered, thinking that Liu Bei had come after him.

Is it really impossible to avoid this beating today?
Fortunately, Liu Bei did not actually make a move. Instead, he sat down opposite Liu Feng, just stared at him, and did not say anything.

Liu Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After a moment, he tentatively asked, "Did Father want to see me about something?"

Unexpectedly, Liu Feng's ordinary words seemed to have struck a nerve with Liu Bei.

"Hmph, now that you're so capable, what could your father possibly do? Why don't you take charge of Xuzhou?"

Liu Feng fell silent. Although he looked only about ten years old, he was not really that young.

He keenly sensed that Liu Bei's condition was not normal, so he chose to remain silent.

Liu Feng's silence made Liu Bei realize something.

From the start of today's meeting, his mood had been off; he felt that those around him had suddenly become distant. This was understandable, as none of the scholars he greatly respected and admired—Zhang Zhang, Xun You, and Guo Jia—supported his plan to support the emperor. He even suspected that Chen Deng, Chen Qun, Lu Su, Liu Ye, and others shared the same opinion as Zhang Zhang, Xun You, and Guo Jia.

Even sworn brothers like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei disapproved of Liu Bei's unprincipled appeasement of the emperor.

These people made their stance clear: they were loyal to the emperor, but even more so to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was moved and pleased by this, but at the same time he felt somewhat hesitant and guilty.

Yes, it's because I feel guilty.

Liu Bei had never shouldered such a heavy responsibility before.

Furthermore, his decision to take the initiative to find his son is tantamount to a disguised act of submission.

All of this led to Liu Bei's emotional outburst.

Fortunately, Liu Bei was also a master at controlling his emotions. Liu Feng's silence was enough to calm him down again.

After a moment of silence, Liu Bei broke the silence: "I acted impulsively just now, please don't take it to heart."

Liu Feng raised his head and smiled, saying, "Father, I have my own ideas, but that doesn't stop you from disciplining me. After all, you are the father, and I am the son."

"You brat, you still remember I'm your father."

Liu Bei laughed too, and suddenly felt the lump in his chest disappear.

He waved his hand and sighed, "All of you gentlemen have just come by, and your opinions are the same as yours. Is it really true that I, your father, am wrong about this?"

"Father was not wrong."

Liu Feng knew that Liu Bei was somewhat vulnerable at this moment and could not be attacked any further, so he quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Father is loyal and righteous, devoted to the emperor, and benevolent to the people. The fault lies not with Father, but with this world, with those treacherous officials who deceive the emperor and oppress the people."

"Father, if you have no power, how can you deal with these treacherous officials? Are you going to let them seize power and continue to oppress the emperor and cruelly oppress the people?"

Liu Bei glanced at Liu Feng and began to accept his son's explanation.

He recalled the ugly faces of his superiors when he served as the county magistrate of Anxi and the magistrate of Gaotang.

Corruption is rampant and corruption is rampant.

The tax collectors, completely disregarding the fact that the people had no food left for the next day, continued to exploit them to the bone.

Feng'er's words may be rough, but they make sense. Just as Feng'er said, it is indeed better for me to take power than for these people to be in charge.

Liu Bei let out a heavy sigh and laughed: "You still say you have no resentment? All these reasons are just implying that your father was wrong."

Seeing that Liu Feng wanted to explain, Liu Bei waved his hand and said, "Since I am wrong, why can't I say anything? I haven't read many books, but I know the principle that a family with a loyal son will not ruin it. Tell me, if it is as you wish, how should Xuzhou welcome the emperor?"

Liu Feng was overjoyed. Although he didn't know why, it was clear that Liu Bei's attitude had changed significantly, and it was a change that was beneficial to him.

Therefore, Liu Feng did not hide his abilities and quickly revealed his plan.

Liu Feng's plan was simply to learn from history, seize the advantages, and then shift the blame to Prime Minister Cao.

The emperor should not be welcomed to Xuzhou, otherwise Liu Feng would really have no idea who would be in charge of Xuzhou.

After all, he was the emperor, and those who rallied around Liu Bei were mostly loyal and righteous.

Liu Feng was truly confident in the abilities of Lu Su, Liu Ye, Zhou Tai, Gan Ning, Pan Zhang, and others.

Even Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, Chen Deng, and Chen Qun were not guaranteed to side with Liu Bei, and the reason was somewhat ridiculous: precisely because these people were all loyal and righteous.

Therefore, the emperor absolutely cannot come to Xuzhou. Liu Feng felt that the original historical Xu County was extremely suitable.

Xu County was located in the southeast corner of Yingchuan Commandery, less than fifty li from Chen State, roughly the distance from Tancheng to Jiqiu. If Liu Bei could control Chen State, then Xu County would only be a day's journey away.

Besides, if the emperor were placed in Xuchang, Cao Cao wouldn't gain much advantage.

At least Liu Bei was more likely to exert influence, and Cao Cao had to be wary of Liu Bei's reaction when he wanted to raise his sword.

In addition, Liu Feng also planned to set a trap for Cao Cao during this wave of welcoming the emperor, to see if there was an opportunity to sow discord between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

Liu Feng spoke with great excitement, but Liu Bei listened with a sense of utter dejection.

Yes, Liu Bei was indeed somewhat depressed.

Because Hao Da'er's ideas and plans were exactly the same as those of Biejia, Zhizhong, Xun You, Guo Jia, and others.

Thinking back to the advice these people had given him, Liu Bei suddenly felt that Liu Feng was more like a wise ruler than he was.

However, the thought only flashed through his mind and Liu Bei didn't take it to heart.

After all, if something were to happen to him, wouldn't his unfinished business and the foundation of Xuzhou still belong to Liu Feng?

"Feng'er, your plan aligns with the plans of all the gentlemen."

Liu Bei nodded, acknowledging Liu Feng and the others' unanimous plan: "So, how do you intend to welcome the Emperor?"

"The father must not do it himself."

Liu Feng's expression turned serious; he was quite worried that Liu Bei would personally go to Hedong to welcome the emperor.

Despite Liu Feng's skillful maneuvering and outstanding abilities, Liu Bei is currently the core of Xuzhou, and Liu Bei absolutely cannot be lost.

“Father, I am willing to volunteer myself. Father, you may go to the Liang Kingdom to take charge of the overall situation.”

Liu Bei nodded noncommittally: "Then how do you plan to advance?"

Liu Feng thought Liu Bei was testing him, so after careful consideration, he said, "I plan to start from Pengcheng, pass through Pei, go to Liang, and then, by imperial decree, pass through Chen and enter Yingchuan. Therefore, Liang is of utmost importance, and I earnestly request that Father personally go to Liang to oversee the situation. At the same time, I would also like to ask Governor Guo of Yuzhou to accompany me north."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei understood Liu Feng's little scheme.

Taking Guo Gong away would not only strengthen his own military power, but also leave the Liang Kingdom leaderless, making it easier for him to control. Moreover, he could act on the emperor's orders, which could be described as subduing the enemy without fighting.

When Jian Yong returned, he brought with him an imperial edict ordering Liu Bei to raise an army to defend the emperor. This edict had a considerable deterrent effect on the counties and prefectures along the way that were loyal to the Han dynasty.

For example, in the State of Chen, as long as this edict is issued, Luo Jun will not only not obstruct the Xuzhou army from passing through, but will even take the initiative to provide provisions.

Seeing that Liu Bei had no objection, Liu Feng continued, "I will ask Father for several letters and another person."

"Oh? What letter? And to whom?"

"I have heard that Marquis Wen, Lü Bu, and Zhang Yang are close friends and have a very intimate relationship. Therefore, I hope that Marquis Wen can write a letter to Zhang Yang, asking him to support our army in defending the emperor. In addition, I have also heard that Han Xin's father, Han Rong, is serving as the Grand Herald in the emperor's court, and Zhong Hao's grandson, Zhong Yao, is also serving as the Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate in the emperor's court. Therefore, I would like to ask Mr. Han Xin, Mr. Chen Ji, and others to write a letter."

Liu Bei nodded. In fact, it would be best if people like Han Xin and Chen Ji could go north with the army. However, these people had just fled from Yingchuan to Xuzhou. Sending them north immediately would be a loss of their value.

Although letters are not as effective as personal visits, they are better than nothing.

"good."

Liu Bei nodded and said something that was tantamount to affirming Liu Feng: "I will ask you gentlemen to write it down. I believe that going north to serve the king is also your wish."

Then Liu Bei asked, "Who else do you want?"

Liu Feng blinked and replied, "The person I wish to invite is not from Xuzhou, but Mr. Dong Fang, who is under Prefect Zhang's command."

"Dong Fang?"

Liu Bei was somewhat bewildered. Who was this person? Why had he never heard of him before?

But if this person were truly capable, his eldest son would have recommended him to him long ago.

Just like Zhang Wenyuan and Gao Xiaofu, their eldest sons were ruthless when they started to fight.

But when it came to Dong Fang, it was as if he had suddenly appeared out of the ground.

Liu Bei couldn't help but ask curiously, "Who is this person? Why have I never heard you mention him before?"

Liu Feng shook his head innocently: "Father, I don't know who this person is or what his abilities are."

"Then why do you insist on having him?"

Liu Bei asked with suspicion, "Could this person also have a relative by marriage who holds a high position in the court?"

"No!"

Liu Feng shook his head and explained, "This man's elder brother was a high-ranking official under Yuan Shao in the past. It was precisely because of Dong Fang that he was framed and had no choice but to flee to Zhang Yang for survival."

(End of this chapter)