My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 218 Heading North to Serve the King
Dong Fang was the younger brother of Dong Zhao, a famous minister of Cao Wei.

In the original timeline, Dong Zhao was Cao Cao's ultimate sycophant. Many people believed that Cao Cao's idea to welcome Emperor Xian and use the emperor to command the feudal lords was Mao Jie's, and that it was Xun Yu and Cheng Yu who strongly supported it. Cao Cao overruled the objections and the majority obeyed the minority, which allowed the plan to be implemented.

The first half is indeed correct, but the second half is very incomplete.

Although the decision was made by Cao Cao and his associates, it was Dong Zhao who actually handed Emperor Xian of Han over to Cao Cao.

That's right, it was Dong Zhao alone who, almost single-handedly, orchestrated the emperor's return to the east, forming alliances, sowing discord, fanning the flames, impersonating Cao Cao to write a letter to Yang Feng, and ultimately handing the emperor over to Cao Cao.

If Emperor Xian's return to the east was a battle royale game, then Li Jue, Guo Si, and others were the players.

In the end, two people emerged victorious: Dong Cheng and Cao Cao.

The former survived by virtue of his extraordinary survival skills and ability to handle crises, while Cao Cao simply sat at home and the emperor came to him from the east.

Cao Cao did nothing, because Dong Zhao impersonated Cao Cao and did everything for him in Hanoi.

Yang Feng, Dong Cheng, Han Xian, and Zhang Yang were all fooled by Dong Zhao, and actually opened the door for Cao Cao in the final round.

Liu Feng felt that Dong Zhao had met the wrong person; such a talented person had been deceived by Cao Cao.

My husband, Lao Liu, is much better than Cao Cao. He is honest and kind, and he is also a member of the Han imperial family.

Liu Feng planned to bring Dong Zhao's younger brother to have a good talk with Dong Zhao, and maybe even try to poach him. Perhaps Dong Zhao would find it more appealing to be Liu Bei's sycophant.

If you think Liu Bei is too kind, then you can be my lapdog, Liu Feng.

After finalizing the requirements, the father and son began to discuss the specific troops to be allocated.

Taishi Ci, Pan Zhang, and Jia Kui were naturally indispensable, and Liu Feng also suggested that Guan Yu lead the troops.

In any case, Guan Yu is currently the most capable trusted general by Liu Bei and his son's side.

Guan Yu's loyalty has stood the test of history.

While Guan Yu did have some flaws in his abilities, he did a very good job.

If Guan Yu could be paired with a strategist like Xu Shu who had a good rapport with him as his deputy, he would obviously be able to perform better.

Most importantly, this time, welcoming the emperor, even if it's just bringing him to Xu County, is destined to bring extremely rich rewards.

Guan Yu deserved this reward.

A governor wouldn't dare dream of that, but if you're lucky enough to become a prefect or even a governor, that would be like winning the lottery.

At the very least, he should get a general's rank.

Even if it's difficult to become a general with a miscellaneous title, the chances of becoming a lieutenant general, a partial general, or even a deputy general are still very high. These are appointments made by the central government, which are far more prestigious than a governor's self-appointment.

If we calculate it this way, the total strength of the Xuzhou loyalist army has reached 15,000.

This troop strength is theoretically sufficient, and Liu Feng also felt it was acceptable.

Liu Bei was still somewhat worried and asked, "Should we bring Wen Yuan and Xiao Fu along as well?"

Zhang Liao and Guan Yu were kindred spirits, and Gao Shun was a loyal and valiant general.

With the two of them going together, not only are they both quite capable fighters, but they are also loyal and reliable.

After a moment's thought, Liu Feng agreed.

In addition, with the addition of one or two thousand naval troops responsible for escorting the grain supplies, the total strength of the Xuzhou army alone will reach more than 20,000.

Guo Gong could send one to three thousand soldiers, and most importantly, he himself joined the loyalist army.

In addition to Cao Cao's forces of at least several thousand, and possibly tens of thousands, and Zhang Yang's seven or eight thousand men, the entire loyalist army must have a strength of at least forty-five thousand men.

This force was clearly beyond the capabilities of the White Wave Bandits of Hedong.

Then they discussed matters such as provisions in detail. Although Cao Cao had just received 20,000 shi of grain from Xuzhou, he would definitely want to continue to take advantage of Xuzhou, and this point had to be taken into account.

We can choose not to give it to him, but we can't fail to prepare.

Liu Bei will set off with Liu Feng in the early stages, but he will stay in Liang at most, with his personal guards and Xiahou Bo's troops, totaling 12,000 men, while Zhang Fei's troops will remain to guard Tancheng.

In addition, Liu Feng decided to bring along the four naval forces of Dong Xi, Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, and Jiang Qin. After all, there were many waterways along the way, and it would be best to replenish the army's food supplies by water. Crossing the Yellow River back and forth would also require the help of the navy.

Therefore, after much consideration, Liu Feng finally decided to bring the entire navy, since the navy's food consumption was much lower than that of the army, and he treated it as a long-distance exercise.

If Xu Sheng hadn't been stationed in Jiangcheng County and couldn't leave his post, he would have brought his troops with him.

After all, the gains from this campaign to defend the emperor were enormous; even becoming a mere Lieutenant General was a huge windfall. Therefore, Liu Bei and his son wrote letters to Zhao Yun and Xu Sheng to reassure them.

Finally, the choice of who would lead Liu Feng into battle was finalized.

With six land forces led by Guan Yu, Taishi Ci, Pan Zhang, Jia Kui, Zhang Liao, and Gao Shun, totaling 19,000 men, and four naval forces led by Dong Xi, Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, and Jiang Qin, totaling 6,000 men, the total force was 25,000 men.

With Liu Feng as the commander-in-chief, Guan Yu and Taishi Ci as his deputies, Zhang Liao as the vanguard, Zhou Tai as the naval commander, and Dong Xi, Gan Ning, and Jiang Qin as his deputy commanders.

In addition, Jia Xi, Du Ji, and Zhuge Jin were appointed as military advisors, and Liu Ye was appointed as a military strategist to accompany the army on the expedition. Even Zhuge Liang was given the position of clerk and was taken by Liu Feng.

As a result, nearly 40,000 people were mobilized in Xuzhou, and since it was a long and arduous expedition, food was undoubtedly the top priority.

Therefore, Liu Bei immediately appointed Lu Su to oversee logistics and supplies in Pengcheng, ensuring the delivery of provisions, weapons, and other war supplies to the frontline army.

At the same time, Liu Bei had already sent out imperial edicts to all directions, calling on the lords of Guandong to join him in serving the emperor.

The various warlords reacted differently upon receiving the news.

Yuan Shu naturally scoffed at this, initially thinking Liu Bei had lost his mind, traveling thousands of miles to Hedong to his death. Then, overjoyed, he quickly sent men to Guangling to investigate, hoping to launch a surprise attack.

Unfortunately, Liu Bei did not send troops from Guangling this time. With Zhao Yun and Xu Sheng's eight thousand men blocking the Yangtze River, even if Yuan Shu's army was willing to travel that far by land, Yuan Shu could not supply that much food.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Yao wanted to respond to the emperor, since he had been appointed governor by the emperor. However, he was currently short of soldiers and supplies, and if he sent too many troops, he worried that he would not be able to hold his territory. But if he sent too few troops, he feared that his territory would be annexed by Liu Bei.

After much deliberation, he decided to donate 200,000 coins and 3,000 bushels of grain to express his loyalty to the imperial court.

Leaving aside Liu Biao's situation, even if he wanted to serve the emperor, he would first have to deal with Zhang Ji, and he would also have to reclaim the northern part of Nanyang Commandery.

If this could have been done, it wouldn't have dragged on until now.

When Yuan Shao received the news, he was already upset because Liu Bei had taken in Zhang Miao and Lü Bu.

However, the advisors around him unanimously spoke well of Liu Bei. Moreover, Liu Bei had sent Lü Bu and Zhang Miao to Qingzhou, which to some extent made it easier for Yuan Shao to take action personally.

But Yuan Shao refused, suspecting that this was a scheme by Liu Bei to use someone else to kill him.

Because his advisors, regardless of whether they were from Henan or Hebei, did not support turning against Liu Bei.

Xin Ping, who should have been a proponent of war, suddenly changed his tune and became a proponent of peace. He even pointed out to Yuan Shao that the opportunity to attack Liu Bei had been missed. He said that Yuan Shao could have attacked Liu Bei before but didn't, and now that he couldn't attack Liu Bei, he wanted to.

Especially when Xuzhou was preparing to support the emperor and invited Yuan Shao to become the leader of the alliance and go to Hedong to welcome the emperor, the scholars of Henan and Hebei naturally spoke out in unison to dissuade Yuan Shao from turning against Liu Bei.

The scholars of Hebei had always supported the loyalist regime and persuaded Yuan Shao to bring the emperor to Hebei.

But Yuan Shao refused.

Now that Liu Bei is not only willing to serve the emperor, but also willing to serve Yuan Shao as his lord, this is undoubtedly a golden opportunity in the eyes of Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Shen Pei, and Cui Yan.

Therefore, these people went to see Yuan Shao one after another, persuading him to agree to join forces with Liu Bei to defend the emperor, so that they could take the opportunity to bring the emperor back to Hebei.

But these Hebei scholars did not understand that the more enthusiastic they were in welcoming the emperor, the more disheartened Yuan Shao became.

If you are so loyal to the Emperor, and now you want to bring him to Hebei, what would that make me?

When the Emperor arrives in Hebei, will you still need me, the Governor of Ji Province?
Guo Tu keenly sensed Yuan Shao's apprehension and anger, and thus decisively opposed welcoming the emperor, believing that Yuan Shao could support the emperor's loyalty but not send troops.

In this way, Yuan Shao gained the reputation of serving the emperor without actually having to bring the emperor back to Hebei.

These words directly moved Yuan Shao.

Therefore, Yuan Shao overruled the objections of others and decided to respond to Liu Bei's call to serve the emperor. He dispatched Guo Tu with 5,000 troops to march out of Dongjun and reach the border of Henei Commandery.

For Cao Cao, Liu Bei's northward march to defend the emperor was a bolt from the blue.

After being blocked by Dong Cheng outside Luoyang, Cao Hong returned home dejectedly.

Before Cao Cao could even organize a second wave of efforts to welcome the emperor, Liu Bei suddenly made his move, and with such a massive force at that. Forty thousand troops—a number that Cao Cao greatly envied.

He also had soldiers, but lacked food, making even attacking Yingchuan difficult.

There was nothing else he could do but call Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, and Man Chong over again. Xi Zhicai had gone to Xuzhou for medical treatment and had just arrived. Perhaps a letter would arrive, but he couldn't wait for him now.

Upon learning the news, Xun Yu decisively suggested, "My lord, you should personally lead your troops to join forces with Liu Feng and work together to defend the king."

Previously, Cao Cao sent Cao Hong to Hedong, but he was blocked by Dong Cheng as soon as he arrived in Luoyang.

Cao Hong had 5,000 soldiers, while Dong Cheng only had about 1,000. Even with factors like the terrain being more treacherous, in a real fight, how could Dong Cheng's defeated troops possibly be a match for Cao Hong's?

However, Dong Cheng possessed an imperial edict that granted him full authority over affairs in the Eastern Capital, in order to prepare for the emperor's arrival.

Therefore, when Dong Cheng refused to let Cao Hong pass, Cao Hong really couldn't pass.

If he dared to make a move, Cao Cao would immediately become a traitor as well.

Although rebels were doing quite well these days, how could Cao Cao be so short-sighted? Besides, his loyalty to the Han Dynasty was as clear as day.

"If I personally lead the expedition, then Yanzhou will have to rely on Wenruo and Zhongde again?"

At this time, Cao Cao only controlled the territory of Yan Province.

Although he had just experienced a rebellion, Cao Cao's rule actually increased rather than decreased during the suppression of the rebellion.

Especially after the various counties were pacified, a large number of people and lands were registered by Cao Cao's army, and Cao Cao began to collect taxes directly from them.

However, in order to avoid further provoking the people of Yanzhou and inciting rebellion, Cao Cao appointed Cheng Yu as the Chancellor of Dongping to handle the affairs of Yanzhou.

"Liu Xuande is really bold, actually sending his son to defend the emperor."

Looking at the intelligence report in his hand, Cao Cao felt a pang of sympathy.

He had the assistance of the Cao and Xiahou families, but he had to personally lead all battles, big and small, and rarely divided his troops.

Compared to Liu Bei and himself, he would only face greater difficulties without the help of relatives, which explains why he even used his teenage son.

Cao Cao didn't notice that when he was half-joking and half-reflecting on Liu Bei, the expressions on the faces of his three advisors, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, and Man Chong, were all a bit strange.

Cheng Yu suddenly coughed: "My lord, Liu Feng is not to be underestimated."

Man Chong immediately followed up with, "He should not be regarded as an ordinary child."

Xun Yu concluded, "I've heard that Xuande compares this son to Gan Luo, and now it seems that it's not unfounded."

Cao Cao was stunned upon hearing this. After a moment, he tentatively asked with some doubt, "How does he compare to Zixiu?"

Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, and Man Chong exchanged a glance and shook their heads in unison, saying, "Zixiu is no match for him."

This truly shocked Cao Cao. Cao Ang, who was in his twenties, was the successor he had been carefully grooming, and had always been Cao Cao's pride and the hope for the future of his family.

Cao Cao had never held the children of his old friends in high regard, believing them to be far inferior to his own son, Zixiu. He was especially fond of the children of Yuan Shao, Zhang Miao, and Liu Bei, who gave him a sense of superiority, as if they had a worthy successor.

Indeed, this is true. Compared to Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, who are only a few years old at the time, Cao Ang is undoubtedly a more outstanding, legally sound, and universally supported successor.

This legal principle may seem insignificant, but it can actually change many things.

If Cao Pi had not faced strong challenges from Cao Zhi, Cao Zhang, and others, the Cao family's power would not have been constantly suppressed by the imperial authority, and there would have even been a situation of hatred towards the imperial authority.

This scenario would never have happened if Cao Ang had succeeded to the throne. Imagine a Cao dynasty with Cao Pi and Cao Zhi assisting in civil affairs and Cao Zhang assisting in military affairs; it would have been far more terrifying than the short-lived Cao Wei under Cao Pi.

Although Cao Cao was unaware of these things at the moment, Cao Ang's importance to him far exceeded that of Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.

Cao Cao looked at his trusted advisors with a "Are you kidding me?" expression and asked, "Xuande's eldest son, Liu Feng, is only eleven years old this year, isn't he?"

"That's right, but according to news from Xuzhou, Liu Feng has a very high reputation and status in Xuzhou, and he also holds real power, even military power."

"How is this possible?"

Cao Cao's eyes widened, and he turned to look at Xun Yu: "When was this intelligence sent?"

Xun Yu explained, “When the rebellion broke out in Yanzhou, Zhicai focused his energy on the state. Apart from the tasks specifically assigned by you, sir, he rarely invested funds or manpower in areas outside the state. Later, news came back, but none of it was from a reliable source, so it was not believed. It wasn’t until this past month, when you ordered your spies to strengthen their reconnaissance in the Xuzhou direction, that many things were confirmed.”

"Among them are testimonies from Zhongde and Boning."

Xun Yu glanced at Cheng Yu and Man Chong.

Cheng Yu chimed in, "At first, I couldn't believe these things either. But this is not the first time Liu Feng has participated in military operations. He was in the southward army during the Battle of Guangling, and even before Liu Bei arrived, he had already captured Guangling City, paving the way for Liu Bei to recover Guangling County."

"hiss……"

Cao Cao suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

After a while, they finally stopped.

"Wenruo, after you have compiled all the intelligence you have collected about Liu Feng over the past few months, hand it over to me."

Then Cao Cao turned to Cheng Yu and Man Chong and said, "Zhongde, Boning, I am personally leading the western expedition to defend the emperor this time. The affairs of Yanzhou still need to be entrusted to you and Wenruo."

"Here!"

Xun Yu and the other two responded.

In late December, the weather had begun to turn cold, but Xuzhou officially dispatched troops to Hedong to defend the emperor.

This was Liu Feng's first time serving as a commander-in-chief, and he was leading an army of 25,000.

Fortunately, Liu Feng invited Jia Xi, an old man who was well-versed in military strategy and had a lot of practical experience. He also had the assistance of Du Ji, Liu Ye, Zhuge Jin and others, as well as Guan Yu and others who were all veteran generals.

Most importantly, Liu Feng already had enough prestige. The veteran generals in the army not only did not look down on him, but even had a very close relationship with him, and all believed that he was Liu Bei's inevitable successor.

Therefore, the army's departure went quite smoothly.

After the army completed its assembly in Pengcheng, Zhang Liao led the way, taking water all the way to Jishui, passing through the territory of Pei, and then turning into Yongshui within the territory of Liang.

The vanguard of the army arrived in Suiyang, the capital of Liang, in just seven days.

The reason for such a smooth process is twofold: firstly, Liang was an ally of Xuzhou, and the border was completely open.

Secondly, food, military equipment, and supplies can all be transported by water, so the army need not worry about them.

Thirdly, this route has always been a hub for land transportation, with not only flat and wide roads but also a large number of pedestrians.

The main force of the army was only two days behind Zhang Liao.

Interestingly, Liu Feng's army encountered Zhang Chao's troops on the way.

Zhang Chao, leading over four thousand clan soldiers and troops from Chenliu, escorted his family and valuables, heading towards Xuzhou.

Because of the lack of boats, they could only travel by land. In addition, the caravan was not only overloaded, but also contained a large number of female relatives, so the speed of the caravan could not be increased.

The loyalist army from Xuzhou was almost at Suiyang, and Zhang Chao's convoy had only left Suiyang two days prior.

Liu Feng made a special stop to visit Zhang Chao. Zhang Chao was very grateful to Liu Bei for his timely help. When he learned that Liu Feng was about to go north to defend the emperor, he even wanted to give Liu Feng money to reward the whole army.

Liu Feng naturally declined, as it would be foolish to stop the troops halfway through the journey just for a little money.

If you want to reward someone, you can wait until you get back.

After bidding farewell to Zhang Chao, the Xuzhou loyalist army continued northward.

On the evening of the ninth day, the central army personally overseen by Liu Feng also arrived in Suiyang.

At this time, Guo Gong from Yuzhou went out of the city to meet him ten miles away.

When Liu Feng met Guo Gong, he did not act arrogantly at all, but treated him with the utmost respect as a junior. This pleased Guo Gong greatly, and he was extremely satisfied with Liu Feng.

The invitation to come to the aid of the king had already been sent to Guo Gong, and both sides had reached an agreement on the action.

Guo Gong would leave his assistant Huang Ji in Suiyang to welcome Liu Bei's arrival, while he himself would lead three thousand men to join Liu Feng's army and continue northward.

After resting for a day in Suiyang, the loyalist army continued northward.

(End of this chapter)