My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 230 The Situation in Hedong
"Your Majesty, my troops' provisions are all transported over a thousand miles, and the army's reserves are only enough for about ten days. The number of animals and laborers in the Hedong army is enormous, and the consumption far exceeds expectations. I was already pushing myself to meet the demand, and now I am rashly adding more pressure. I am deeply afraid that there will be unexpected losses. My father previously raised an army, and the Right General also provided great assistance. At this time, his troops have already set out for Hanoi. If we can obtain the Right General's assistance, the court may have more resources."

Liu Feng's words only made the emperor's face turn pale.

The Right General mentioned by Liu Feng was none other than Yuan Shao, the elder brother of Liu Bei and Cao Cao, from Hebei.

The complicated relationship between the head of the Yuan family and Emperor Liu Xie was well-known not only among scholars throughout the country but also among scholars in the Central Plains.

Liu Xie both hated and feared Yuan Shao, and coincidentally, Yuan Shao felt the same way about Liu Xie.

Do you think that if Yuan Shao really came, he would be more interested in welcoming you or in taking advantage of the chaos to kill you?

Yang Biao stepped forward, his expression also solemn, and said, "Commander Liu, you must not speak recklessly."

Liu Feng bowed to Yang Biao to show respect, and then replied, "Guo Tu, the Lieutenant General under the Right General, has stationed his troops in the territory of the prefecture and can enter the Hanoi Prefecture at any time. He previously wrote a letter to me inquiring about the current situation of the court and said in the letter that he could provide assistance at any time."

Liu Feng wasn't lying; Guo Tu really did write him a letter.

However, Guo Tu's intention in writing the letter was not to support the emperor. Although Guo Tu's original intention was indeed to support the emperor in order to command the disobedient, Yuan Shao's thoughts were more important than his original intention.

Guo Tu wrote to Liu Feng, actually wanting to inquire about the experience of welcoming the emperor, as well as the situation of the emperor and the important officials in the central government; he was really trying to gather information.

Going further, there is also the suspicion that they are trying to take credit for themselves.

Although he didn't come, his concern and proximity are just like that of the Buddha.

Liu Bei was the leader who welcomed the emperor, but nominally Liu Bei respected Yuan Shao as his elder brother, and Yuan Shao was invited to the entire welcoming ceremony, and the latter publicly agreed.

Once the emperor is successfully welcomed to Luoyang, the mission will be accomplished. When the time comes to reward those who have made contributions, Guo Tu's Buddha statue will be of great importance.

A wise person plans for others, while a petty person plans for themselves.

Guo Gongze's talent in self-preservation far surpasses his talent in strategizing with others.

The emperor's face was pale. After a moment of stunned silence, he came to his senses and quickly looked at Zhong Yao.

It is evident that Zhong Yao held a very high position in the emperor's heart at crucial moments.

Zhong Yao bowed slightly to the emperor in response, then stepped forward and asked, "Commander Liu, when did the Right General's troops depart? Has any information from Hanoi been reported to Prefect Zhang?"

Zhong Yao asked two very precise questions. Guo Tu had actually set off more than a month earlier, but he had simply been stationed on the Hanoi border without moving.

Since Guo Tu was still on the border and hadn't moved, how could Hanoi have informed Zhang Yang?
However, these things cannot be said truthfully. If they were all told the truth, how would Liu Feng intimidate... no, how would he remind the court of Yuan Shao's threat?
"Reporting to the Imperial Attendant, Lord Guo set out from Ye City at the beginning of the month and is now stationed east of Hanoi, gathering provisions and supplies. He is ready to support the forces east of Hanoi at any time."

Liu Feng replied in a seemingly honest manner, "As for Prefect Zhang, I do not know either. If Your Majesty wishes to inquire, you may order him to answer."

Zhang Yang is currently in the city, so Liu Feng isn't worried that he'll say he hasn't received any news from the prefecture.

Even if Zhang Yang didn't receive news from Hanoi, would Liu Xie dare to ignore Yuan Shao?

As long as Liu Feng made this threat, Liu Xie dared not ignore it.

Liu Feng's tactics are quite clear: if you cause me trouble, I'll cause you trouble too; let's all get busy together.

Sure enough, the emperor hurriedly ordered someone to invite Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang entered the palace in the time it takes to eat a meal.

After he finished bowing, Zhao Wen asked, "Has the Prefect received any news from the prefecture recently?"

Zhang Yang looked surprised: "I just received a message from the prefectural official saying that the Right General has sent a message requesting passage to aid the emperor, and that my prefecture should prepare to receive the army."

Upon hearing Zhang Yang's words, Liu Xie's face immediately turned deathly pale.

This shows how much Yuan Shao intimidated him.

Come to think of it, when Liu Xie was in chaos in Liangzhou, he begged and pleaded with the warlords of Guandong to come to his aid. He even went to each of them one by one to plead with them. He even went to Lü Bu, who had just been driven out of Yanzhou, but he never went to Yuan Shao.

It is clear that in Liu Xie's mind, Yuan Shao was even more reactionary than the Liangzhou warriors.

Even more coincidentally, Yuan Shao did indeed think just as Liu Xie did, deeply resenting him as emperor and repeatedly trying to replace him, only to ultimately fail.

This can be considered another extreme example of mutual understanding between ruler and subject.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The high-ranking officials either fell into deep thought or exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

The emperor seemed even more frightened by Yuan Shao.

Liu Feng could understand; Hanoi was a crucial transportation hub and an essential passage.

No matter which way you go, if you want to get back to Luoyang, you have to pass through Hanoi.

If Yuan Shao were to remain in Hanoi, then Liu Xie, who was eager to return east, would truly be delivering himself to Liu Xie's doorstep.

However, Liu Feng was also very surprised. This was not something he had arranged on purpose; it could only be that Yuan Shao had actually sent someone to Hanoi Commandery.

However, this was just a coincidence, and it doesn't prove that Yuan Shao would actually send troops westward. Perhaps Yuan Shao's tactics were similar to Guo Tu's—like the Buddha.

Seeing that even the emperor was terrified, it was Grand Commandant Yang Biao who finally stepped forward and announced the end of the court session.

After Liu Feng came out, he squatted down outside with Zhong Yao.

As soon as Zhong Yao came out, he went to greet him.

The other party was not surprised to see Liu Feng, and even nodded to him. The two then left the palace together.

"Yuan Chang, you've really ruined my life!"

After walking a distance, Liu Feng grabbed Zhong Yao's sleeve without any politeness and said fiercely, "I regard you as my brother, yet you have betrayed me like this. What else do you have to say?"

Zhong Yao looked at Liu Feng, who was more than twenty years younger than him but almost as tall, and wondered to himself what this kid ate to grow up like that.

He was not afraid of Liu Feng's threats in the slightest.

The main problem is that Liu's packaging was too fake.

If Liu Feng were truly angry, he wouldn't have waited outside the palace to intercept Zhong Yao.

"Zisheng, although this matter will cause Xuzhou to suffer losses, it may not necessarily be a bad thing."

Zhong Yao calmly explained, "Today, the emperor is surrounded by only a few hundred officials, concubines, and palace servants. How much food can they possibly eat? Yet you have the power to manage the itinerary. Even the Three Dukes have to follow your arrangements. You don't appreciate this, but instead accuse me of harm. Where is your conscience?"

Liu Feng's youthful face flushed slightly; he knew, of course, that what Zhong Yao said was true.

Having the authority to oversee the eastward journey made things much easier for Liu Feng.

Even without this authority, could Liu Feng be exempted from the duty of escorting along the way?

Zhong Yao actually brought Liu Feng a powerful sword instead.

"Brother Yuanchang, I was just joking."

Liu Feng smiled and apologized, "But what exactly are Yang Feng and the others doing? With the Emperor's journey to the east imminent, they've created this trouble. What are their true intentions?"

What Liu Feng was really concerned about was the movements of Yang Feng and others. These people held real military power, and their 15,000 to 16,000 troops were a formidable army capable of fighting the Xiliang warriors.

Although Liu Feng was confident that he could defeat the enemy head-on, the casualties would inevitably be high. Not to mention anything else, the loss of the more than 3,000 cavalrymen of the White Wave Army alone would definitely make him feel the pinch.

Therefore, Liu Feng's attitude towards the White Wave Army was outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense.

But just then, the White Wave Army made a new move, which made Liu Feng nervous.

Upon hearing Liu Feng's question, Zhong Yao actually laughed, looking at him with a rather malicious intent, and said, "Have you been exchanging grain for warhorses in various parts of Hedong these past few days?"

Liu Feng paused for a moment, then nodded.

It would be a shame not to take advantage of the rare opportunity to come to Hedong, with tens of thousands of troops escorting him, and seize a batch of warhorses.

Moreover, a large amount of grain was transported over, with a surplus. After all, with a large army on the field, grain is the foundation of a strong military. Without grain, the army would instantly disintegrate.

The supplies sent from the rear will not be delivered according to the normal consumption of the army; there will always be an extra portion as a redundancy.

These surpluses were sent to the east bank of the river, and by the time the troops left, there certainly wouldn't be enough transport capacity to move them.

Even if it were possible, it would be extremely uneconomical, still the same old problem, because the cost of transporting food is too high.

Since that's the case, it would be more convenient and cost-effective to simply exchange the grain for warhorses and take them away directly, not to mention that this time there are tens of thousands of troops as bodyguards escorting them along the way.

"General Xingyi and the others must have seen your actions. They probably thought you had a lot of food, so they wanted to leave some people in Hedong and came to report to the Emperor."

Zhong Yao glanced at Liu Feng and continued, "The Emperor also hoped to receive the support of local forces after returning to the capital, so he agreed. At the same time, the Emperor was worried that you would not agree, so he came up with a way to replace the old with the new. You know what happened after that."

Liu Feng suddenly realized what was going on.

The root of the problem actually lies with me.

The emperor was frightened by Liu Feng's instigation of Yuan Shao's influence. Instead of supporting the White Wave Army in leaving some of its forces in Hedong, he hoped that they would escort him eastward to increase the "reliable" strength.

Liu's thinking is actually quite reasonable.

Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Zhang Yang were all subordinates of Yuan Shao, but Guo Gong was not.

But now Guo Gong has become Liu Bei's underling, and Yuan Shao's underling's underling. Doesn't that make him just another of Yuan Shao's peripheral vassals?

The entire Guandong loyalist army turned out to be Yuan Shao's allies. It seemed more reliable to protect the White Wave Army, which had escaped from the bloody battle of Hongnong.

However, Bai Bojun's ideas were clearly different from the emperor's.

The emperor's change of heart made Yang Feng and his three companions very unhappy.

Even though the emperor specially sent Zhong Yao to comfort him and explained the reasons in detail, Yang Feng and other low-ranking military men had no idea about "forbearance for the sake of the country," and were naturally full of complaints.

Zhong Yao went to great lengths to appease the crowd and almost explicitly stated that after escorting the emperor back east, the emperor would surely bestow honors and titles upon him.

After Zhong Yao left, Yang Feng and the others returned to the main tent and sat down separately.

"The Emperor's words are truly useless. He agreed so readily this morning, but now he's gone back on his word. Isn't this just child's play?"

Han Xian, who had the most volatile temper, spoke first, and surprisingly, he openly complained about the emperor in front of everyone.

Such a shocking complaint, however, did not cause any ripples; instead, it drew Hu Cai's agreement.

"That's right, the young emperor is truly utterly useless."

Hu Cai and his colleagues complained, “We are also doing this for the Emperor’s cause, but he doesn’t dare to fight for us. That brat Liu Feng has plenty of grain. In just a few days, he has received no less than two hundred warhorses in Anyi City alone. I saw it with my own eyes.”

The drought in Hedong has led to a severe reduction in grain production.

Everyone knows this year has been tough, and many horse breeders are even considering slaughtering their horses for meat.

There was nothing that could be done about it; the drought was simply too severe. It wasn't just grain that was being reduced; even alfalfa and other forage grasses were experiencing large-scale production cuts.

Warhorses are different from ordinary horses. Ordinary horses can go without fine feed as long as they are not working. But warhorses cannot. If they do not eat fine feed for a long time, they will degenerate and eventually be reduced to pack horses.

Therefore, with even packhorses being considered for slaughter and consumption, the plight of warhorses is even worse.

At this time, the news that the Kwantung Loyalist Army was willing to exchange grain for warhorses caused a stir among horse traders throughout the Hedong region. As soon as the news reached a city in Hedong, horse traders there immediately drove their warhorses to the trading cities designated by the Kwantung Loyalist Army.

Anyi was the first to be affected, and the situation was extremely chaotic. The powerful families outside the city were leading their warhorses into the city, hoping to catch the eye of the Guandong loyalist army and exchange them for grain.

The situation in other places in Hedong, such as Jie County, Pingyang, Fenying, and Puban, was certainly not much different, with people from the Guandong loyalist army also going there to trade grain.

"Now what?"

Li Le's face was gloomy. After all, he was the one who most wanted to stay. If the emperor's will was followed, he would definitely not be able to stay.

Yang Feng was also in a real bind. The investment he had made in escorting the emperor all this way was too great, too great for him to give up. Moreover, the emperor had indeed brought him enormous rewards. The title of General of Xingyi was just the beginning; more importantly, he had been given the power to establish his own government and oversee the administration of the court.

Right now, they've only reached Hedong. Yang Feng doesn't even dare to imagine what heights he could reach if he truly escorted the emperor back to Luoyang.

At this moment, Xu Huang, who was behind Yang Feng, spoke up: "General, I have an idea, but I don't know if it is appropriate."

"Oh?"

Yang Feng turned to look at Xu Huang, and a thought suddenly struck him: "Gongming, what brilliant idea do you have? Please speak freely."

"The Xuzhou army is short of horses, and we are short of food. In that case, why don't we just sell our horses to the Xuzhou army?"

Xu Huang, however, was completely unaffected by the previous topic of persuading Yang Feng to surrender, and had no intention of avoiding the issue: "Now all our troops are running out of food, and we really can't afford to feed so many warhorses."

The proportion of White Wave Army cavalry was indeed too high, much higher than Liu Feng had estimated.

The White Wave Army did not possess more than three thousand warhorses, but a full five thousand, almost more than half the number of warhorses. No wonder the White Wave Army was in such a hurry.

After listening, Yang Feng pondered for a moment, neither agreeing nor refusing, but instead asked Han Xian and the others for their opinions.

Li Le was somewhat tempted. He was determined to stay in Hedong. Even if he sold all his warhorses now, he could buy more warhorses whenever the drought was over.

There are many horse farms in Hedong, and they can also purchase horses from Bingzhou to the north and Liangzhou to the west.

Therefore, Li Le was not worried at all about how to rebuild the cavalry after selling all the warhorses, so he was somewhat tempted by Xu Huang's suggestion.

So Li Le surprisingly bypassed Yang Feng and was the first to stand up and support Xu Huang's opinion: "I think Gongming's method is good, we can give it a try."

Hu Cai also intended to stay, but he wasn't as determined as Li Le.

After hearing Xu Huang's opinion, he was also somewhat tempted. Now that he saw Li Le being the first to stand up and support him, he also expressed his opinion: "Since Brother Dexi supports it, I think it's worth a try."

Seeing that Li Le and Hu Cai both supported Xu Huang, Yang Feng still didn't rush to speak, but instead carefully calculated the pros and cons in his mind.

According to information they had gathered earlier, Liu Feng was buying horses in Hedong at a price of three shi of millet for a second-class horse and five shi of millet for a first-class horse.

At this time, grain prices in Hedong were skyrocketing. Millet, which used to cost 1,200 or 1,300 coins per shi, had soared to 8,000 coins per shi, and the price showed signs of continuing to rise. Meanwhile, the price of horses plummeted due to grain shortages and a wave of dumping.

Ordinary packhorses have almost no market anymore, and most buyers are local butchers who buy them to use as meat horses.

Only the warhorses still have value, but their value has shrunk considerably.

For Liu Feng, three shi of grain from Hedong could buy a second-class horse, plus four or five shi of expenses on the way, which would only amount to seven or eight shi. At the price of just over three hundred coins per shi in Xuzhou, the total cost would only be two thousand four hundred coins.

This is so much cheaper than Liaodong, it practically dazzled Liu Feng.

The quality of warhorses in Liaodong is actually somewhat inferior to that of the Hetao horses. Hedong is located right next to the Hetao region, and at least three or four out of every ten warhorses in Hedong are Hedong horses.

But now, the price of a horse in Hedong is less than half that of a warhorse in Liaodong. Even a first-class warhorse only costs five shi of millet, which is equivalent to 40,000 coins in the market. A second-class horse is only worth 24,000 coins.

If we take the grain price in Xuzhou as the cost, it would be so low that it would be unbelievable.

If it weren't for the scarcity of first-class horses, Liu Feng would have even entertained the arrogant idea of ​​only accepting first-class horses.

The price difference is mainly due to two factors. First, the drought in Hedong caused a surge in grain prices and a sharp drop in horse prices. Second, the huge profit margin brought about by trade.

The biggest profits come from trade, but this is not the normal situation.

This is the added value brought about by an army of 30,000 to 40,000 sweeping across thousands of miles.

Without the backing of 30,000 to 40,000 troops, and with the emperor's edict to come to the aid of the king as a stepping stone, how could the grain from Xuzhou have been successfully transported over a thousand miles to Hedong?

Therefore, Liu Feng knew that such an opportunity was rare and hard to come by, so he wanted to make a killing.

Yang Feng was unaware of Liu Feng's thoughts, but he could roughly deduce that Liu Feng had profited handsomely, even making him envious.

“Alright, since the brothers all agree, I will go and talk to Liu Feng myself.”

(End of this chapter)