My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 254 Liu Bei's Doubts

Six days later, Liu Feng finally arrived outside Suiyang City.

Suiyang City, with its high walls and deep moats, was an important transportation hub in the Central Plains and is well-preserved.

In the original timeline, Liang was the first Yuzhou prefecture to fall under Cao Cao's control. Guo Gong was unable to put up any effective resistance and disappeared from the annals of history.

After Cao Cao acquired the Liang Kingdom, he swept through the Chen Kingdom, Pei County, and Yingchuan, demonstrating the importance of the Liang Kingdom in the geographical and transportation network of Yuzhou.

However, this place now belongs to the Liu family.

Although Suiyang was located in the rear and had no enemies on all sides for the time being, the soldiers outside the city gates still performed their duties faithfully. They checked Liu Feng's seal before opening the gate and letting them into the city.

"What's your name?"

Liu Feng did not rush into the city, but instead curiously inquired about the village head guarding the gate.

The garrison commander was startled and replied somewhat fearfully, "This humble officer is Huang Kuang, the military commander of the Liang State city gate."

"Ah."

Liu Feng nodded, but didn't say anything more. Instead, he rode back into the city.

The group went directly to the prefect's mansion. Before they even reached the gate, Liu Feng could see his father waiting for him outside.

"Father!"

Liu Feng dismounted from a distance and then bowed to Liu Bei in greeting.

Liu Bei hurriedly came forward and helped his precious son up.

"Zisheng, you've had a tough time these past few days."

After some time had passed, Liu Bei noticed that Liu Feng had grown taller and heavier, making him appear even more imposing.

"Your son is unfilial, causing you, Father, great worry."

Liu Feng held Liu Bei's hand, tears streaming down his face, and said, "I have often missed my father on this journey."

Liu Bei nodded in satisfaction, and then introduced the people behind him to Liu Feng.

Lu Su goes without saying. In Xuzhou, where the Yuan dynasty was small but talented people flocked to the government, he had already been a trusted and respected minister of Liu Bei and his son for two years.

Huang Jiu, the newly appointed prime minister of Liang and former governor of Yuzhou, a renowned local scholar and large landowner, became the focus of Liu Bei's introduction to Liu Feng.

Huang was a very typical scholar-official, upright and incorruptible, and he was known for his integrity as an official. He also did a lot of work in the local area, such as distributing grain to relieve disasters, repairing bridges and roads, and comforting the orphans and widows, which made him very popular among the people of Liang.

According to the Three Mutuals Law, Huang Jiu was actually not qualified to serve as the governor of Liang. However, Liu Bei temporarily invited him to serve as the prime minister of Liang under the pretext of appeasing the people.

It would take at least six months, or at most a year, until people's hearts settled down, after which Huang would definitely be transferred to another post.

In fact, the main reason why Liu Bei and his son insisted on having Huang Jiu serve as the prime minister of Liang was to appease Guo Gong.

Guo Gong himself was a famous scholar in Yuzhou. His appointment as the governor of Yuzhou violated the Three Mutuals Law, so Guo Gong did not value this law much.

On the contrary, Huang took it very seriously and initially declined twice. However, in order not to damage their friendly relationship, Liu Bei made an exception and persuaded Huang to make the difficult decision.

Huang Jiu's previous official career had ended at the county level. Now, being able to serve as a prefect and prime minister would greatly benefit his career. Even if he were transferred in the future, he would still be a high-ranking official with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain).

Huang was quite curious about Liu Feng, especially since the other party was now a general with a miscellaneous title appointed by the central government, and had also been granted the honor of being on par with the Three Dukes and having his own government. In terms of status, Huang was really no match for the other party.

Therefore, Huang adopted a very humble attitude; he was simply upright and incorruptible, not stupid.

After some polite exchanges, the relationship between the two sides improved slightly, and Liu Bei then pulled Liu Feng into the prefectural governor's residence.

Upon arriving at the hall, Liu Feng recounted to Liu Bei in detail everything that had happened along the way. The situation in Luozhong was particularly of concern to the three of them.

After all, for the Xuzhou army, pacifying the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan was a piece of cake, merely a matter of degree. However, the situation in Luozhong could not be resolved entirely by force.

Li Jue and Guo Si were both incredibly arrogant back then. One kidnapped the emperor to use as a human shield, and the other kidnapped the three dukes and nine ministers as hostages.

Their Xiliang army was the elite of the era, with not only extremely rich combat experience but also a large number of cavalry and extremely luxurious equipment. They inherited most of the iron armor and weaponry of the entire Eastern Han Dynasty.

But what about the end?

After all that trouble, the emperor still returned east, successfully escaping from their grasp.

At present, the emperor's position is still somewhat unstable. Once the emperor has established himself in Luozhong, the next step will definitely be to attack and destroy Li Jue and Guo Si. These two people seem powerful, but in fact, they are already on the verge of destruction.

Upon hearing that Liu Feng had won over Yang Feng, Han Xian, and Zhang Yang, and had them cultivate land in Luozhong while simultaneously honoring the emperor, Liu Bei smiled with satisfaction, stroked his beard, and sighed, "Now that the emperor has returned east to Luozhong and resides in the imperial city, this is a sign of the restoration of the dynasty."

Lu Su glanced at Liu Feng, smiled and nodded, saying, "What you say is very true, my lord. However, with the rise of warlords across the land, such as Yuan Shao in Hebei, Yuan Gonglu in Huainan, Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, Liu Jingsheng in Jingzhou, and Liu Jiyu in Yizhou, these are all powerful figures who occupy their respective prefectures and control their territories. I'm afraid the emperor's mandate will not be able to leave Luozhong."

Upon hearing Lu Su's words, Liu Bei sighed deeply, "What Zijing said is exactly what I've been worrying about."

Huang cupped his hands in greeting to Liu Bei and said, “The world is in such a state now, why should you blame yourself? On the contrary, it is rare to find a governor as loyal to the court and diligent in serving the people as you. Precisely because of this, governors should rouse their spirits and try to save the day. The court needs pillars of society, and the emperor needs loyalty. This is truly the time for you to put your talents to use.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's spirits lifted, and he nodded to Huang.

After a few words of casual conversation, Lu Su and Huang Jiu, who had official duties to attend to and also sensed that Liu Bei and his son had other private matters to discuss, got up to take their leave.

Before leaving, Lu Su glanced at Liu Feng, which puzzled Liu Feng.

After Lu Su and Huang Jiu left, the father and son were clearly much more relaxed.

"You went north to defend the emperor and achieved great success. Even I, your father, owe my promotion to General of the Cavalry to your name. Tell me, how should I thank you?"

Liu Bei looked at him with a half-smile, clearly implying something.

Liu Feng suddenly remembered that he had impersonated Liu Bei and written a letter to Yuan Shao, accusing Cao Cao of being malicious.

Previously, when Liu Feng went north to defend the emperor, Liu Bei was worried because they were far apart. Therefore, he specially stamped the seal of the governor of Xuzhou on several blank silk scrolls so that Liu Feng could act expediently in an emergency.

As it turned out, Liu Feng did indeed act expediently in a moment of crisis, but he used that expediency to write letters of denunciation.

When Liu Bei received Yuan Shao's letter, he was initially a little confused, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that he had found the culprit.
Seeing that his father was about to interrogate him, Liu Feng quickly explained, "Father, I didn't mean to..."

"OK OK."

Before Liu Feng could explain, Liu Bei waved his hand to interrupt him: "I'm not really blaming you. Are you trying to say that Cao Mengde also wrote a letter to Yuan Shao to frame us?"

Liu Feng stared at Liu Bei in surprise, not expecting that the other party could guess these things.

Liu Bei laughed: "I have known Mengde for more than ten years. How could I not know his character?"

"This person is inherently contradictory; he is magnanimous and generous, yet suspicious and jealous; he hates evil as if it were his enemy, yet he is also cunning and deceitful."

Liu Bei sighed and said, "In terms of talent, I am truly far inferior to him."

Then, Liu Bei saw his eldest son and suddenly laughed, saying with great pride, "However, Mengde's son is probably far inferior to my son, the Qilin."

Liu Feng felt a little embarrassed by his father's sudden praise.

However, after this casual chat, the awkwardness of not seeing each other for a while had completely vanished.

"Father, we should now turn our attention to Yangzhou."

Liu Feng took the initiative to bring up the important matter: "I originally wanted to recommend my second uncle as the governor of Xuzhou, so that he could take over the governorship of Xuzhou in place of my father, and allow my father to personally oversee the governorship of Yuzhou. But now it seems that my second uncle will have to stay in Yingchuan for a while longer."

Although both Yuzhou and Xuzhou are prefecture-level administrative units, Yuzhou surpasses Xuzhou in terms of territory, population, and economy.

At its peak, one Yuzhou was equivalent to three Xuzhou.

Moreover, Yuzhou was a hub of talent. The core members of the Henan faction, which would later become the mainstay of the Cao Wei regime, were all scholars from Yuzhou—the gentry of Ying and Ru. If it weren't for the involvement of gentry from Yanzhou like Cheng Yu, the Henan faction could even have been renamed the Yuzhou faction.

Even so, the scholars of Yanzhou were still inferior to those of Yuzhou. Whether in terms of reputation, ability, or number, they could not compare with the scholars of Yuzhou.

Such a strategically important location requires Liu Bei's personal presence to gradually consolidate its power; this is the only way forward.

As for his third uncle, Liu Feng wanted him to serve as the governor of a prefecture in Yuzhou.

"Heading south to Yangzhou."

Liu Bei hesitated for a moment: "The army has just finished sweeping through Yingchuan and hasn't even returned to the province yet. Zisheng, aren't you being too hasty?"

Liu Feng couldn't help but be anxious. It was already the first year of Jian'an, and in three more years, Yuan Shao would unify Hebei.

Liu Bei must consolidate and integrate the two provinces of Yu and Yang within these three years, or at least consolidate them to the current level of Xu Province.

Therefore, heading south to Yangzhou would naturally be the best option.

“Father, Yuan Shao is a powerful figure in Hebei. Uncle Gongsun brutally murdered the former Grand Marshal. Such cruelty and tyranny have long been abandoned by the people of Hebei. He is no match for Yuan Shao.”

Liu Feng advised, "Although this northward expedition to defend the emperor involved a large army and covered thousands of miles, the battles fought were not intense, and the casualties were minimal. With just a little reorganization, we can cross the river to the south."

“My father now holds the power of Governor of Yangzhou. If he crosses the river now, the people of Jiangdong will surely welcome the king’s army with food and drink. Sun Ce, a young general under Yuan Shu, has inherited the bravery of his father Sun Polu and is quite good at fighting. If we allow him to run rampant in Jiangdong, we may lose the support of the people of Jiangdong.”

Liu Feng's words were reasonable and well-founded, and Liu Bei was moved by them.

Most importantly, now is indeed the best time to head south to Jiangdong.

At this time, Liu Bei held the power of Governor of Yangzhou, which was backed by the central government. He could openly and legitimately make connections with powerful families in Jiangdong such as the Zhou, Lu, Gu, and Zhu clans, and they would definitely be happy to accept Liu Bei's recruitment.

Given Liu Bei's current advantages, even Zhou Yu would be tempted, let alone others.

"So how many troops do you plan to send across the river?"

Liu Bei, being a hero by nature, went straight to the point after making his decision: "Right now, I am in charge of three provinces, especially Yu Province, which is vast and densely populated, and is also infested with Yellow Turbans. It is not possible to defend it without a large army, and I am afraid I cannot allocate many troops to you."

"Not too many, 30,000 is enough!"

Liu Feng already had a plan in mind, and immediately presented it to Liu Feng, saying, "Master Taishi can be the deputy general. Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang, Gao Shun, Jia Kui, Xu Huang, He Luan's troops, plus six thousand naval troops, will be sufficient."

Taishi Ci, Xu Sheng, and Pan Zhang each commanded 4,000 men; Gao Shun commanded 2,000; Zhang Liao commanded 2,000; Xu Huang commanded 2,000; Jia Kui commanded 1,000; He Luan commanded 3,000; and the naval forces of Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Dong Xi, and Gan Ning each commanded 6,000 men. In addition, Zhao Yun's forces, who were stationed at Guangling, brought the total to 32,000 men.

"Thirty thousand people are enough?"

Liu Bei said irritably, "Xuzhou only has a total of over 80,000 people, and that includes the Liang Kingdom troops. You've almost completely drawn away the elite forces. How are the other places supposed to be defended?"

“Father, now all the borders are allies, only Runan to the south is threatened by Yuan Shu. But after I cross the river, Yuan Shu will inevitably be restrained by me.”

Liu Feng said with a smile, "Besides, I have brought 20,000 surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers with me this time. Father can select the elite from them to expand the army, and the rest can be scattered and used to cultivate land."

"Twenty thousand surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers?"

Liu Bei realized that in the Battle of Yingchuan, he had heard that 40,000 to 50,000 prisoners had been captured. Now, he was sending 20,000 of them, which would help stabilize Yingchuan and also solve the problem of the shortage of able-bodied men when the Xuzhou army continued to expand.

In this way, expanding the army in Xuzhou will not affect local agricultural production. Although 20,000 Yellow Turbans may seem like a lot, the elite can be selected and dispersed before being incorporated into the 80,000-strong Xuzhou army. These Yellow Turbans will inevitably lose contact and be absorbed by the Xuzhou army, instead of becoming as powerful and uncontrollable as Cao Cao's Qingzhou army.

"If we're expanding the army, how much should we expand it by?"

Liu Bei frowned and counted on his fingers, saying, "Where should the money and provisions come from?"

Liu Feng also had a comprehensive plan for this and immediately replied, "It can be divided into several steps. In Yingchuan, we can expand by two thousand men, most of whom will be recruited from the local civilians, and a small number will be selected from the remaining Yellow Turban surrendered soldiers. In this way, with my second uncle and his sons having eight thousand men in Yingchuan, plus He Yi's two thousand men, we can be assured of safety. The expansion of my second uncle's troops can be covered by the money and grain captured in Yingchuan this time."

Liu Feng captured a large amount of grain and wealth in Yingchuan this time. In less than a month, he consumed very little, leaving behind a large amount of spoils.

However, transporting these riches and grains to Xuzhou would be extremely inconvenient, and the costs incurred along the way would be staggering.

Since that's the case, it would be more cost-effective to simply recruit and raise soldiers locally in Yingchuan.

Liu Feng continued, "Furthermore, Father, Yingchuan is located above Runan, and is connected by the Ying River and the Ru River. When Father marches south from Pei, and Second Uncle marches east from Yingchuan, the two armies will meet in southern Runan. Not only can we take over the entire Runan region, but we can also work together to drive Yuan Shu's influence out of Yuzhou."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei hesitated for a moment, then took out a map of Yuzhou from the table, unfolded it, and began to examine it carefully.

hiss……

After reading it, Liu Bei couldn't help but gasp.

According to Liu Feng's plan, Liu Bei's speed and efficiency in taking Runan will increase several times over, while the logistical losses of grain will decrease several times over.

This was entirely because Liu Feng had established a forward base with logistical support capabilities for the Xuzhou army in the northeast of Runan.

Guan Yu's army currently has a strength of 10,000, and can draw another 10,000 from the Yellow Turbans and civilians of Yingchuan at any time.

An army of 20,000 men advanced from west to east into central Runan, without any logistical concerns from Xuzhou. Could there be anything better than this?
She looked up at her eldest son with surprise and doubt: "Did you plan this all along?"

Liu Feng was taken aback at first, but after a moment he reacted and immediately cried out in protest, "How could this be? How could I have foreseen this? This trip south to Yingchuan was merely to take over the Yellow Turbans of Yingchuan before General Cao Yan could."

"The General wanted to establish military settlements in Yingchuan, but the population of Yanzhou was already insufficient. The Yellow Turban Army and the remaining population in Yingchuan naturally became the best targets for the General to establish military settlements."

In order to explain clearly, Liu Feng did not hesitate to reveal all his plans: "I was thinking of taking the lead in sweeping Yingchuan, taking away all the people, and leaving only the land for the General. In this way, we can strengthen the power of Xuzhou and weaken the foundation of the General."

Liu Bei was dumbfounded. He didn't know why his eldest son had such a big grudge against his friend, targeting him at every turn and always on guard.

Recalling Liu Feng's previous words and actions, Liu Bei was initially unaware of his own actions. Later, when he realized something, he simply thought that Liu Feng was very disgusted by Cao Cao's two massacres of Xuzhou and was therefore specifically targeting him.

But now it seems my judgment was wrong; my eldest son actually regards Cao Mengde as a mortal enemy.

"You have feelings for the Great General..."

Liu Bei looked at his eldest son with a complicated expression, and then stopped halfway through his sentence.

After a moment, Liu Bei shook his head and said, "Never mind."

"You just got back and you must be tired. Go down and rest for a bit."

Looking at Liu Feng's face covered in dust, Liu Bei said with concern and heartache, "Clean yourself up first, then get some rest. We can talk about it tomorrow."

After a long and arduous journey, Liu Feng was indeed exhausted.

Moreover, he could tell that Liu Bei seemed a bit down and not very interested in talking.

Therefore, Liu Feng heeded Liu Bei's advice and decided to discuss it again the next day.

Tonight is a good time to organize my thoughts since leaving Chen State and turn them into a mature plan.

After taking his leave, Liu Bei personally escorted his son out of the hall, then looked up at the sky.

After a long while, he sighed.

At this moment, Liu Bei had no intention of usurping the Han dynasty's rule.

Although Liu Bei's Xuzhou group currently has influence extending into five provinces—Qing, Yu, Yang, Yan, and Sili—Liu Bei is still thinking about how to protect his territory and ensure the safety of his people.

Liu Feng's relentless expansion of power, with its unusually strong and proactive drive, surprised and unsettled Liu Bei.

Liu Feng was unaware of all this. He returned to the small courtyard that Liu Bei had arranged for him to wash and rest.

After washing up, Liu Feng changed into his pajamas and was about to take a nap when he suddenly heard a guard report that Lu Su was requesting an audience.

Liu Feng was somewhat surprised, but he immediately changed his clothes and had his guards invite Lu Su into the house for a detailed discussion.

(End of this chapter)