My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 225 Audience with the Emperor
However, as Zhong Ji implied, the main force supporting the emperor was the Xuzhou army. Giving the vanguard to Cao Cao would obviously be detrimental to the unity of the Guandong army supporting the emperor. It would probably be considered a provocation even if it wasn't one.

Especially if this leads to the defeat of the Guandong loyalist army, affecting the plan to return to Luoyang, then in the end, it would be our group who would suffer.

So the emperor turned to look at Zhong Yao, who then stepped forward and said, “The Guandong army has traveled thousands of miles to Hedong to welcome the emperor and support him. They are a loyal army and should be rewarded handsomely. However, the generals of Hedong have also worked hard and made great contributions. Your Majesty must not be biased and discourage the loyalty of the generals of Hedong.”

Zhong Yao's words were quite clever; he was implying that the emperor could let the warriors fight it out, and whoever won would have to remember the emperor's favor.

At the same time, it reminded the emperor that he was still surrounded by the generals of Hedong. The Guandong loyalist army had only reached Wenxi and had not yet reached Anyi. If he listened to Ding Chong and got involved, what if the generals of Hedong came to him before Cao Cao arrived?
Many people present had actually thought of this point, but it was not appropriate for bigwigs like Yang Biao, Zhao Wen, and Liu Ai to say it.

If it weren't for Zhong Yao, they would have had no choice but to step forward and speak up.

Now that Zhong Yao is doing the work, they can finally relax.

Consequently, powerful figures such as Grand Commandant Yang Biao, Minister of Works Zhao Wen, and Minister of the Imperial Clan Liu Ai all stepped forward to agree with Zhong Yao's opinion.

The emperor readily agreed and ordered Dong Zhao to return to Wenxi, whereupon Liu Feng was summoned to Anyi to meet the emperor.

Before Dong Zhao left, Yang Feng and his group arrived.

These White Wave bandits, accompanied by their personal guards, stormed into the "Imperial Palace," clad in iron armor and with long swords at their waists.

Fortunately, the emperor had been trained by the warriors of Liangzhou, otherwise he would have been frightened to the point of illness by the generals of Hedong.

"Your Majesty, I have heard that the envoys from the Guandong loyalist army have arrived in the city. May I ask how much grain they brought?"

The speaker was Hu Cai, who had the most impatient temper. He only bowed to the emperor from afar before asking about grain.

The emperor looked somewhat embarrassed, but Grand Commandant Yang Biao, who was not one to tolerate these military men, immediately rebuked them, saying, "General Who Conquers the North, this is before the emperor."

After being rebuked by Yang Biao, Hu Cai wanted to lash out, but after recognizing who the other person was, he backed down.

It wasn't that he was afraid of Yang Biao, but he had seen Yang Biao before, who was unyielding and fearless in the face of the Xiliang warriors.

Hu Cai felt he couldn't do anything about the other party, so he decided to avoid them if he couldn't afford to offend them.

Yang Feng spoke up at the opportune moment: "Grand Commandant, there is a severe shortage of grain in Anyi County. Grain from Dayang and Wenxi has also been transferred here. If there is no grain supply, the rations of the officials will probably have to be stopped."

The emperor, Yang Biao, and the others all changed their expressions, never expecting that Yang Feng would so brazenly threaten the emperor.

However, the other party's threat struck at their weak point.

If Yang Feng were to stop feeding the officials, people would starve to death in just three to five days.

Taking advantage of the situation, Li Le advised, "Your Majesty, the only solution now is to immediately order the Guandong Army in Wenxi to rush to Anyi to deliver grain to save us from this crisis."

The emperor's face was grim; it was clear that he and his officials were being used as hostages to extort the loyalist army from Guandong.

The fat, dark-skinned Dong Zhao lowered his head and pretended to be dead. It was too risky to speak now, and it wasn't a critical moment, so there was no need to be the first to stick his neck out.

Finally, Zhong Yao stepped forward and petitioned the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, I request permission to go to Wenxi and allocate provisions to the officials to feed them."

The emperor was about to agree, but then glanced at Yang Feng.

After the latter agreed, the emperor nodded and said, "Very well, then appoint Zhong Qing as the envoy to comfort the troops in Wenxi and appease the armies in Guandong."

After receiving their orders, Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao quickly set off from Anyi.

Before leaving, Yang Biao called Zhong Yao over and carefully instructed him to make sure he understood the attitudes of the feudal lords in Guandong so that the emperor and officials could make preparations in advance.

Zhong Yao sighed inwardly, wondering what he could possibly prepare now.
In fact, he personally thought highly of the armies of Guandong. At the very least, Xuzhou should be loyal to the emperor. Otherwise, why would they travel thousands of miles to Hedong to serve the emperor?

Moreover, without Xuzhou taking the lead, this coalition would not have been able to form.

There was a little mishap before we set off.

The soldiers from Hedong actually tried to steal the horses that were pulling Dong Zhao's carriage, and the soldiers from Xuzhou who were escorting him naturally could not agree to it.

A small-scale brawl broke out between the two sides.

The soldiers of Xuzhou completely overwhelmed the enemy soldiers who tried to steal the horses, and even attracted a large contingent of troops from Hedong.

When Xu Huang found out, he rushed over to handle the matter.

After teaching the Hedong soldiers who had stolen the horse a lesson, he even apologized to Dong Zhao when letting them go, which made Dong Zhao think more highly of him.

After leaving Anyi, Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao headed north.

The two chatted along the way, and when they talked about Xu Huang, Zhong Yao praised him highly, saying that he was completely different from ordinary White Wave bandits, and that he was very loyal to the court and a rare loyal minister and general.

Dong Zhao secretly noted this down, thinking that perhaps this was a force that could be won over and divided among the White Wave bandits, and he could recommend it to Liu Feng later.

That night, Dong Zhao and Zhong Yao spent the night in a village pavilion, and arrived in Wenxi County the following afternoon.

By this time, Wenxi County had undergone a dramatic transformation.

Outside the county town, numerous military camps have already sprung up.

Although Wenxi County is not small, it can still house tens of thousands of troops, most of whom are stationed in military camps outside the city.

Wenxi suddenly had tens of thousands more people, creating a feeling of a sea of ​​people.

Although Zhong Yao had never commanded an army, he had read military books.

Zhong Yao also had impressive military achievements in history, and because of his considerable prestige in Guanzhong, he was transferred back to Xuchang by Cao Cao.

It is evident that Zhong Yao possessed considerable military talent.

Upon arriving outside Wenxi County, Zhong Yao did not rush into the city. Instead, he stood outside the city observing the various military camps and occasionally asked Dong Zhao a few questions.

Dong Zhao was very frank, answering all questions and showing that he knew quite a lot.

This led Zhong Yao to discover a problem.

The morale and discipline of the Xuzhou army far surpassed those of other warlord armies. In particular, the Xuzhou army possessed a vibrant spirit that other prefecture and county troops lacked.

This is understandable, as the Xuzhou Army is now considered to have the best treatment among all standing armies, even surpassing the elite troops of some minor warlords.

For example, the elite troops under Zhang Yang were treated worse than ordinary soldiers in Xuzhou, for no other reason than lack of money.

Soon, Zhong Yao and his group's spying attracted the attention of investigators. A troop of knights galloped out from a military camp and headed straight for Zhong Yao and his group.

Upon approaching, the officer in charge recognized the Xuzhou soldiers accompanying Dong Zhao and relaxed.

So the knights joined the retinue and escorted Dong Zhao and Zhong Yao into Wenxi County.

With an angel arriving, Liu Feng naturally couldn't afford to be negligent.

I didn't come all this way just to show off.

Liu Feng greeted Zhong Yao with utmost respect and invited Cao Cao, Guo Gong, Zhang Yang, and Guan Yu to join him.

Subsequently, Zhong Yao relayed the news of the food shortage in Anyi and the emperor's urgent summons of Liu Feng to Anyi, even hinting at the emperor's predicament as a hostage.

This is actually Zhong Yao's cleverness; he did Dong Zhao a favor by doing him a favor. Even if he didn't say anything, would Dong Zhao be mute?

But he said that Liu Feng would at least not blame him.

Afterwards, Zhong Yao was arranged by Liu Feng to rest.

Only Liu Feng and six others remained in the hall.

Cao Cao suddenly praised him with admiration, "Nephew, do you perhaps possess the ability to foresee the future?"

Liu Feng, however, refused to take credit, saying, "Lord Cao is too kind. Judging from the current situation, Lord Cao has probably already planned this all along."

Guo Gong and Zhang Yang were also amazed, while the Second Master squinted and remained silent.

The reason everyone reacted this way was because Liu Feng accurately judged the White Wave bandits' decision and made a pre-arranged plan.

That would mean sending a large army directly to the city, then entering under the pretext of transporting grain, and seizing control of the emperor.

Cao Cao was full of praise for Liu Feng at this time, but Liu Feng was not very moved.

This fat, dark-skinned man is wicked, no less so than the other fat, dark-skinned man. Liu Feng doesn't believe he can't deal with the White Wave bandits.

Liu Feng asked, "In that case, shall we proceed according to the plan I previously devised?"

“Good, I think it’s acceptable.”

Guo Gong was the first to speak out in support of Liu Feng, and he and Cao Cao were not on good terms.

The pressure from Cao Cao after regaining control of Yanzhou was immense; had it not been for Liu Bei's backing, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold on. At this point in history, Cao Cao had already successfully taken control of the Liang Kingdom, and Guo Gong disappeared from the annals of history.

Zhang Yang also thought it was feasible, since he wasn't the one taking the risk, so he agreed, saying, "I agree too, we can proceed according to my nephew's plan."

Now the pressure is on Cao Cao's side.

Cao Cao was somewhat speechless. The reason he was having such a headache was because Liu Feng had dragged him into this risky situation.

In Liu Feng's plan, the main army would be under the unified command of Guan Yu and head to Anyi. He and Cao Cao would then escort the grain to Anyi to pay homage to the emperor.

Hidden within the grain convoy were elite troops to control the city gates and rescue the emperor.

Liu Feng's side was naturally led by Pan Zhang and Gao Shun, while Cao Cao's side was led by his personal general Dian Wei and the vanguard Yue Jin. The command of Cao's army was delegated to Cao Ren, with Cao Hong and Yu Jin as his deputies.

To be honest, this plan wasn't actually that dangerous; it was practically an open conspiracy.

Because the White Wave rebels' main army was stationed outside the city, there weren't many troops inside. As long as they controlled one city gate, the Guandong loyalist army could control the entire situation.

The exact time it would take for the Kwantung Army to reach the outskirts of Anyi County could be calculated, and there was absolutely no risk involved.

Whether in Hebei or Yanzhou, Cao Cao faced far greater dangers in battle than this.

But Cao Cao always felt uneasy, as if he had been outmaneuvered by Liu Feng, but he couldn't figure out what loss he had suffered, which made it very difficult for a smart man.

From Liu Feng's perspective, things are quite simple.

As the commander-in-chief of the Guandong loyalist army, it was inevitable that he would go to Anyi County to pay homage to the emperor; otherwise, he would be suspected of being arrogant and disrespectful to the emperor.

However, if we rush in, there is a risk of being taken hostage by the White Wave bandits. In that case, it would be better to take Cao Cao with us.

If nothing goes wrong, all the credit will go to Liu Feng, since he was the commander-in-chief.

He traveled a thousand miles to rescue the emperor, saving the officials and achieving remarkable feats. All the credit and honors went to Liu Feng. But if something truly went wrong, no matter how minor, at least Cao Cao would suffer along with him – it seemed like a huge win for him.

This is indeed Liu Feng buying insurance for himself.

But Cao Cao couldn't disagree, because he was indeed the most qualified to have an audience with the emperor.

Liu Feng, a twelve-year-old child, dared to go to Anyi County to meet the emperor, but he, a governor in his forties, did not dare to. How could he be worthy of being a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty?

The consequences of him not going would be far worse than if he went and something unexpected happened.

However, Cao Cao was a shrewd and ambitious man who could take things in stride.

Since there's no way to escape, the only option is to make the plan even more perfect and, incidentally, highlight one's own achievements.

After discussion, everyone decided to proceed according to plan.

Guan Yu surveyed the entire army and followed Liu Feng and his grain transport troops for ten miles.

All cavalry were assembled in one place, under the command of Taishi Ci, with Zhang Liao as his deputy, ready to rush to the aid of the vanguard at any time.

The entire grain transport caravan was extremely long, with each large cart carrying ten to twelve shi (a unit of dry measure) of millet, and the packhorses pulling it were approximately five to six meters long.
Nearly 10,000 shi of millet would require a full 800 large carts and 800 packhorses.

Fortunately, this was in the north; in Xuzhou, they really couldn't muster so many packhorses.

Meanwhile, the eight hundred large trucks stretched for nearly twenty miles.

This was a very favorable situation for the Kwantung Loyalist Army, which wanted to control the city gates.

Two days later, a long convoy arrived outside Anyi County, loaded with grain. Each wagon was crammed full, a sight that stirred the heart and made one wish they could just rob the grain and the wagons and horses together.

The problem was that there were a large number of armored soldiers on both sides of the vehicle, a total of four thousand men escorting the convoy, which prevented any ill-intentioned glances along the way.

Upon seeing the grain convoy, the checkpoint outside Anyi City attempted to stop it.

At this moment, Zhong Yao dismounted and stepped forward, displaying the imperial edict in his hand, and had his soldiers inspect the carriages in front of him.

Seeing that the wagons were full of grain, and that Zhong Yao claimed that some of this grain would be allocated to them as military rations, the White Wave bandits at the checkpoint were completely bewildered.

Therefore, under Zhong Yao's order, the checkpoint immediately opened its passage, allowing the transport convoy to drive into the city.

Fortunately, the captain in charge of the checkpoint remembered to report to his superiors and immediately sent someone to the city to report.

Liu Feng and Cao Cao rode alongside the grain convoy, observing the White Wave bandits' camp at the same time.

This military camp was far inferior to the armies of Xuzhou and Yanzhou, and even to those of Guo Gong and Zhang Yang. It was a complete mess, with all sorts of garbage piled up inside, untouched and blocking many passageways.

If this had happened to be the Xuzhou army, they would probably have been flogged long ago.

But the White Wave Thieves didn't care at all, and didn't even mind the stench of the garbage.

Fortunately, it was winter; in summer, such an environment would have been rife with disease long ago.

Of course, it's also possible that these people have become accustomed to this environment and have developed antibodies.

Within the entire White Wave Bandit camp, there were still distinctions. Overall, the group with the most soldiers was of relatively higher quality than the other three groups, which was clearly the unit under General Yang Feng of Xingyi.

Another point that reveals this is Yang Feng's territory is that within this large camp area, there is a small camp area that is completely different from the surrounding area.

This camp was somewhat detached from the larger environment, existing independently on the periphery of Yang Feng's forces.

In this small camp, there is no sign of sewage flowing everywhere or mountains of garbage.

Not only that, but several passageways were also constructed within the camp, allowing for the mobilization of troops to counterattack the camp gates at any time. Furthermore, wooden palisades and chevaux-de-frise were placed along these passageways to impede enemy advances into the camp.

Clearly, the commander of this unit is a master of military strategy and a steady and reliable person.

Liu Feng immediately recognized that this must be the area where Xu Huang's troops were stationed.

Cao Cao clicked his tongue in amazement: "Zisheng, I never expected that there would be such a talented general among the White Wave bandits."

"Lord Cao is too kind."

Liu Feng looked embarrassed and then said, "This man is Xu Gongming, a valiant general under Yang Feng. I am well aware of his reputation and have long since sent someone to contact him. I have already brought him under my command and he is one of my hidden agents. Please keep this a secret, Lord Cao."

Cao Cao looked surprised, then nodded. However, his gaze lingered on the camp area, as if he had some other thoughts.

Seeing that the grain carts ahead had entered Anyi County, Liu Feng and Cao Cao accelerated simultaneously, heading towards the gate with their entourages.

The task of seizing the city gates was assigned to Gao Shun, the task of guarding the grain was assigned to Cao Hong, and Pan Zhang and Dian Wei were assigned to serve as guards for Liu Feng and Cao Cao, and also to protect the emperor.

When Liu Feng and Cao Cao went to see the emperor, the emperor's house was already crowded with ministers.

The news that the Guandong loyalist army had arrived in Wenxi had spread throughout Anyi County in the past two days.

Most importantly, the loyalist army from the Kwantung region brought food, which greatly excited all the hungry civil and military officials.

When they finally saw the grain carts of the Guandong loyalist army continuously entering Anyi County today, their excitement reached its peak, and the entire Anyi County shouted "Long live the emperor!" The sound was deafening.

This also led Liu Feng and Cao Cao to notice that when the sixteen-year-old boy met the emperor, his cheeks were flushed and his hands were trembling with excitement, clearly indicating that he was overjoyed.

"Your subject, son of Liu Bei, Governor of Xu Province, and appointed Cavalry Commandant of Donghai State, pays his respects to Your Majesty."

After Liu Feng knelt down, he placed both hands on the ground, bowed his head to the ground, and remained motionless for a period of time.

Cao Cao, standing to the side, did the same thing, but he called out "Your subject, Governor of Yan Province, Cao Cao".

When the emperor at the head of the table called out, "My two beloved ministers, please rise,"...

Liu Feng and Cao Cao then slowly stood up.

Although they had stood up, both Liu Feng and Cao Cao bowed their heads and held their hands to their chests, appearing extremely respectful.

This made the emperor and his important ministers very happy.

In recent years, they had seen too many arrogant and domineering military men. This was the first time they had seen Liu Feng and Cao Cao so law-abiding, and they were both a little unaccustomed to it.

"You two ministers have come from afar, which truly pleases me."

Emperor Liu Xie said, "My two ministers, please raise your heads and speak. There is no need to be so formal."

Liu Feng then slowly raised his head and saw the young emperor's excited face.

"Your Majesty, I have brought a total of 10,000 shi of millet, 500 bolts of silk, 20 jin of sugar, and 2 shi of salt."

Liu Feng bowed again and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I risk my life to speak this petition, earnestly requesting that Your Majesty choose a day to return east to the capital, so as to put the minds of all the people at ease."

(End of this chapter)