My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 291 Post-War Arrangements (Bonus Chapter! Please vote, thank you!)
Liu Feng then led Xu Chu and Liu Ye to the main hall.

At this time, the generals in the main hall were arranged in two rows. On the left were Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Zhou Yu, Sun Xiang and other generals from Liu Bei's army.

On the right are Yuan Shu's generals who surrendered, including Lei Bo, Lei Xu, Chen Lan, Chen Kang, Mei Yu, Mei Qian, Shu Zheng, Shu Shao, Shi Mao, Zhang Xun, and Ji Ling.

In last night's battle, Liu Bei's army suffered a total of over 500 casualties, including over 100 killed in action and over 400 wounded, some seriously and some lightly.

In contrast, Yuan Shu's army suffered over 600 dead and over 1,000 wounded, four times the casualties of Liu Bei's army.

These were Yuan Shu's most elite troops, his most trusted and beloved personal guards.

This army was usually well-loved by Yuan Shu, and its equipment was the best, and its food, clothing and other necessities were also superior to those of other armies.

Even the mid- to high-ranking officers in this army were all Yuan Shu's trusted confidants.

Just like the Shu brothers and Shi Mao, they were won over by Yuan Shu through persistent persuasion and various means.

He arranged for all these people to join his personal guard, which shows how much hope he placed in his personal army.

The personal guard of two armies and four battalions, totaling eight thousand men, which was fully equipped before the battle, has been reduced to just over six thousand after a night of fierce fighting with Liu Bei's army. Nearly two thousand men have been killed in the process.

Aside from the surprise attack by Liu Bei's army, the terrain actually favored Yuan Shu's army.

However, the battle was still one-sided, which shows that the Xuzhou army's combat power had completely surpassed Yuan Shu's army, and the gap was not small.

There are still 16,000 Yuan Shu troops in the city. This number is not large, but it is not small either. Liu Bei's army that entered the city only numbered a little over 10,000.

Therefore, besides expecting rewards for their merits, the generals of Liu Bei's army also hoped that Liu Feng could make arrangements for these surrendered soldiers as soon as possible.

"Greetings, General Who Conquers the South."

As soon as Liu Feng entered the hall, all eyes turned to him.

The two rows of generals bowed and greeted Liu Feng.

"Please excuse the formalities and take your seats."

Liu Feng greeted them with a smile and gestured for the generals to take their seats.

Where are Gongjin and Wenyang?

As soon as Liu Feng sat down, he started talking about his reputation.

The first people they sought out were Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang.

The reason why they were able to infiltrate Shouchun so easily this time, and with an army of 10,000, was entirely due to Zhou Yu's prestige in the Jianghuai region and Sun Xiang's connections within Yuan Shu's forces.

These two complement each other perfectly, making up for each other's shortcomings; neither can be missing.

"I will submit a memorial to the court, recommending that you two be appointed as Generals of the Palace Guard."

The appointment of Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang as Generals of the Household was a decision made after careful consideration by Liu Feng, who was willing to spend a fortune to acquire their talents.

Although Sun Xiang had already held the military rank of Lieutenant General under Yuan Shu, almost reaching the level of a miscellaneous general.

However, when he came to Liu Feng's side, he couldn't be appointed as before; in fact, even the position of Lieutenant General was in danger.

Liu Feng's original intention was to give the other party a military rank of colonel and then observe his performance.

However, Liyang was still guarded by Sun Ben and five or six thousand Sun family soldiers, while Jiangdong had more than 20,000 Sun Ce soldiers who occupied most of Wu territory and were now expanding towards Kuaiji Commandery.

Therefore, Liu Feng ultimately gave the other party the military rank of Lieutenant General.

As for Zhou Yu, he had made outstanding contributions and deserved a generous reward. In addition, due to his relationship with Sun Xiang, Liu Feng simply promoted him to the rank of Lieutenant General as well.

"Thank you for the recommendation, Zheng Nan!"

Last night's battle not only defeated Yuan Shu's army, but also impressed Sun Xiang himself, who acknowledged the fighting prowess of the Xuzhou army. Furthermore, the two had anticipated they would likely only reach the rank of colonel, but unexpectedly, they were promoted another rank at the last minute.

Therefore, Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang's gratitude was genuine.

Subsequently, Liu Feng put forward an idea and discussed it with the generals.

Liu Feng wanted the Lei, Chen, and Mei families to each send a thousand men north to serve under Zang Ba, Tian Yu, and Qian Zhao. The remaining thousand men would stay in the Jianghuai region, where they could help organize laborers to dredge water conservancy projects.

Anyone with eyes to see can tell that this is part of a plan to break up the three companies.

The reason Liu Feng made such a request was that these three families, under Yuan Shu's command, had begun to control a large population.

They could do this under Yuan Shu's command because Yuan Shu didn't care much about such things and didn't mind them.

But that wouldn't work with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei strictly forbade the keeping of private retainers. One could join the army, but one could not keep a private retainer.

Liu Feng has already made concessions this time. After all, there is still the Sun family army that needs public relations, so he took a step back and split the operation up first, using it separately, and then resolving the issue slowly later.

As for Zhang Xun, Ji Ling, and Yuan Shu's personal troops, they did not receive such good treatment. Liu Feng planned to completely disband them, then select the elite among them to expand the Xuzhou army, while the rest would either be used for land reclamation or as laborers.

Lei Bo and the other two discussed it with their eyes for a while, and finally obeyed the order.

After all, circumstances are beyond human control, and given the formidable fighting strength of the Xuzhou army, the Lei, Bo, and their families not only harbored no resentment but were also grateful that Liu Bei's army had given them the opportunity to surrender and serve.

Otherwise, wouldn't we end up like Zhang Xun and Ji Ling, with our troops taken away and left to languish?

Seeing that the Lei, Bo, and San families nodded in agreement and expressed their willingness to follow Liu Feng's wishes, Liu Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Feng then offered a few words of praise and reassurance before moving on from the matter.

Of the remaining nearly 10,000 troops under Zhang Xun, Ji Ling, and Yuan Shu's personal guard, Liu Feng planned to select 5,000 to 6,000 as supplementary soldiers to be given to various units for expansion, while the rest would be given to Liu Bei.

These soldiers were recruited after Yuan Shu arrived in Jianghuai. Although their military discipline was lax, they did not commit many misdeeds and were generally good soldiers. However, it would take a lot of effort to reorganize them.

"Gentlemen, I intend to send someone to Shu County to persuade Liu Xun to surrender."

Liu Feng then mentioned an urgent matter: sending a proclamation to the Jianghuai region.

There were two key locations in the Jianghuai region where the proclamation was sent: one was to Sun Ben in Liyang, Jiujiang, and the other was to Liu Xun, the prefect of Lujiang.

Liu Xun was a former subordinate of Yuan Shu, having followed him since the end of the Zhongping era, and was considered one of Yuan Shu's most trusted confidants.

Otherwise, Yuan Shu would not have gone back on his word and handed over Lujiang Commandery to Liu Xun to govern.

"Zheng Nan, Liu Zitai has long been stationed in Lujiang and has long harbored ambitions."

Zhou Yu was the first to stand up and speak, but he revealed shocking news: "He plundered the local area and exploited the people in Lujiang. He sent half of what he got to Shouchun to offer to Yuan Shu, and the other half went into his own pocket."

"In the two years that Liu Zitai has been in Lujiang, he has secretly expanded his troops to six thousand men. With the addition of four thousand soldiers from Lujiang County, he now commands a force of ten thousand men. He has gradually become outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant towards Yuan Shu."

Zhou Yu had a very bad impression of Liu Xun. He was greedy for money and lustful, spoiled and arrogant, and had mediocre talent but was ambitious.

It can be described as having a beautiful exterior but a rotten interior.

Zhou Yu saw through Yuan Shu's incompetence in using people, especially Liu Xun, while neglecting Sun Ce, that Yuan Shu was fundamentally incapable of employing talent and had poor judgment of character.

Liu Bei gathered a large army in Runan and marched south to attack Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu desperately gathered his forces to fight against Liu Bei.

Under these circumstances, Liu Xun actually forced the powerful clans and gentry of Lujiang County to contribute their troops to make up the numbers, but refused to send his own troops and county soldiers to Shouchun, which is enough to prove that his heart was already disloyal.

Liu Feng already understood the meaning behind Zhou Yu's words, but he still asked, "What do you mean by that, Gongjin?"

As expected, Zhou Yu said decisively, "This traitor will definitely not surrender easily. In my opinion, we will probably have to raise troops to fight again in Lujiang."

Liu Feng nodded slowly: "I deeply agree with what Gongjin said."

"but……"

Liu Feng then changed the subject, saying, "The sage said that one should not raise an army without a just cause. Now that Yuan Shu has surrendered, Liu Xun should be given a choice. If he is willing to lay down his arms and welcome the royal army, that would be best. But if he dares to raise an army to oppose the royal army, then I will not be polite to him either."

Excitement flashed in Zhou Yu's eyes. Liu Xun was stationed in Shucheng, the capital of Lujiang Commandery, which was Zhou Yu's hometown.

The Zhou family's power here is astonishing. Even though they have been suppressed by Yuan Shu and Liu Xun, and even suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Lukang, the Zhou family is still the most powerful and influential clan in Lujiang.

Zhou Yu actually hoped that Liu Xun would rebel directly, so that the Zhou family would become the biggest winner.

Subsequently, the group decided to send Yang Hong, Yuan Shu's former chief secretary, to Shucheng to persuade Liu Xun to surrender.

Yang Hong and Liu Xun had a good relationship. Liu Xun had privately bribed Yang Hong heavily to get him to speak well of him to Yuan Shu, which helped Liu Xun secure his position.

Yang Hong naturally had no objection to this, as his wife, children, and elderly parents were all in Shouchun City, and Liu Feng was not afraid that he would run away.

However, one thing was still missing before the mission could begin.

That was Yuan Shu's handwritten letter.

Therefore, Liu Feng went to see Yuan Shu again.

At this time, Yuan Shu was placed in a side hall on the right side of the palace. Imprisoned with him were his son Yuan Yao, two daughters, and dozens of concubines.

Yuan Shu was truly greedy and lustful; it was almost ingrained in his very bones.

Previously, he had lavishly selected concubines in Nanyang, causing widespread suffering among the people of Nanyang.

As a result, after arriving in Jianghuai, they repeated their old ways, holding a large-scale beauty pageant to bring women into the palace. In just three or four years, they had taken in dozens more women.

Upon seeing Liu Feng, Yuan Shu immediately said, "The water here is without honey, and it is bitter and astringent, making it difficult to swallow. Please give me several pounds of honey to make the water more palatable."

After hearing this, Liu Feng remained silent.

Yuan Shu truly couldn't live without honey water.

But on second thought, this actually saves a lot of trouble.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Yuan Shu is now like a prisoner, stripped of his title and official position by the emperor, and even labeled an enemy of the court.

However, this does not mean that Liu Feng could arbitrarily execute Yuan Shu.

The resources of Yuan's disciples and former officials, spread throughout the country, are far from exhausted.

In particular, most of the Yuan family's resources were in Yuan Shu's hands, so why did he surrender after only two battles in the Jianghuai region?

Why did no one come to Lu Kang's rescue when he was besieged by Yuan Shu for more than a year?
Why did Yuan Shu dare to openly call himself the Earl of Xuzhou and recommend his general Sun Ben for the position of Commandant of Danyang without any backlash?

Why did Sun Quan still marry Yuan Shu's daughter?

Why did Sun Quan still arrange for his son to marry Yuan Shu's granddaughter even though Yuan Shu was already dead?

In fact, these are all returns brought about by Yuan's assets.

Consider how difficult it was for Yuan Shao to fight in Hebei, while Yuan Shu's victory in Henan was practically unstoppable.

However, Yuan Shu's incompetence ultimately led to both his rise and his fall.

They played a winning hand terribly, squandering the resources accumulated by the Yuan family.

Liu Feng had little interest in Yuan Shu's political legacy.

Historically, it's clear that Yuan Shu's political legacy wasn't particularly strong; he didn't even have a single person with leadership skills.

Later generations of Yuan family members were not very successful in Eastern Wu, which shows that their abilities were not very good.

However, in order to buy time, sending a proclamation to pacify the Jianghuai region is obviously the best solution, which can take advantage of Yuan Shu's prestige and political legacy.

So Liu Feng said, "Honey water is not a problem, but I will have to trouble Lord Yuan to write a few more letters."

Yuan Shu was a seasoned veteran; he understood the meaning of writing several more letters without Liu Feng needing to explain further.

"it is good."

Yuan Shu readily agreed, adding, "You should send the honey over as soon as possible, and don't forget."

Liu Feng was speechless at Yuan Shu's behavior, unsure whether to praise him for being optimistic and open-minded, or for being carefree.

Now that Yuan Shu has agreed to the letter, the rest will be much easier.

Liu Feng sent Li Ye, the Shu brothers, and Shi Mao, among others, as messengers to various counties and towns in Jiujiang, carrying letters personally written by Yuan Shu, to persuade him to surrender.

Meanwhile, Yang Hong carried a personal letter from Yuan Shu to Shucheng in Lujiang.

To show his importance, Liu Feng even spoke with Yang Hong, saying that if Yang Hong could persuade Liu Xun to surrender, Liu Feng would forgive Yang Hong's past transgressions and might even give him an important position.

Upon hearing this, Yang Hong immediately patted his chest and assured Liu Xun that he could persuade him.

On the surface, Liu Feng praised Yang Hong, but in his heart, he lowered his opinion of Yang Hong by one level.

It's laughable that Liu Xun, who clearly harbors rebellious intentions, remains so blindly optimistic, while Yuan Shu relies on him and Li Ye as his advisors.

Liu Feng's side launched a series of intensive efforts to persuade Qiao Rui to surrender, sending envoys to various places. In particular, Zhang Xun personally went to Ruyin to persuade Qiao Rui to surrender, while Ji Ling was responsible for going to Longkang.

Even after receiving Zhou Yu's reply, Liu Feng had already written to Runan, requesting Liu Bei and Zhang Fei to postpone the attack on the city.

There were two objectives. First, to see if Yuan Shu could be captured. If Yuan Shu could be captured, Ruyin and Longkang would surely fall without a fight, saving countless soldiers' lives.

At the same time, this also allows Liu Bei's army to continue to conceal its most powerful weapon—the counterweight catapult.

This could also be used to spread misinformation, making Liu Bei's army appear weak in attacking the city, and ultimately they were tricked into entering Shouchun City through cunning and deception.

Although it's unknown how long we can deceive Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, we should at least buy them some time.

********
Below the city of Ruyin, at Liu Bei's main camp.

Liu Bei is reading a letter sent by Liu Feng.

When Liu Bei saw in the letter that Liu Feng had already captured Shouchun City and taken Yuan Shu prisoner, and that he had also sent someone to Ruyin to persuade Qiao Rui to surrender, he felt as if he had fallen into a dream.

When Hao Da'er wrote to him earlier, saying that he wanted to launch a surprise attack on Shouchun and asking him not to attack the city for the time being, he did heed Hao Da'er's request and postponed the attack, but he still wrote back to advise the other party not to be careless.

At the same time, Liu Bei was secretly delighted, planning to teach his eldest son a good lesson after he embarrassed himself.

Yuan Gonglu has been famous throughout the country for decades and has traveled extensively in Jingzhou, Xiangyang and Jianghuai for eight years. How could he fall for a trap so easily?
I'm afraid my son is going to suffer a terrible setback this time.

I will then give him a good talking-to so that he will learn his lesson and never underestimate the heroes of the world again.

Liu Bei's idea was very good, and his plan was very comprehensive, but unfortunately, it ultimately failed to come in handy.

Because Yuan Shu has been captured and surrendered, and the envoy sent to persuade Ruyin to surrender is already on his way and is expected to arrive in Ruyin in a few days.

Of course, they would also mention the garrison in Shenxian County.

"My lord, have you summoned us here because you intend to attack the city?"

At this time, Liu Bei had a wealth of talented people under his command, including Tian Yu, Xiahou Bo, Chen Dao, Zhuo Ying, and newly arrived generals such as Liu Pi and He Man from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Runan.

The generals had been waiting impatiently below the city walls for some time. If it weren't for the fact that it was Liu Feng who sent the letter to dissuade them, the generals present would probably have already become agitated.

However, things are starting to stir up now. Yingyin is like a ripe fruit, just waiting for diners to peel off the thin outer skin to enjoy its sweet and fragrant flesh.

"My lord, this humble general is willing to be the vanguard!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Ying thought it was true and quickly volunteered himself.

Liu Bei quickly stopped everyone from volunteering, and then passed on Liu Feng's letter to them.

Now everything was quiet.

Alright, that's all for me now.

The young master actually bought them all.

Nobody's a fool. Breaking through the city would be a great achievement, but now, although the city hasn't fallen yet, the credit is already gone.

For a moment, the tent fell silent.

This scene also occurred with Zhang Fei.

However, Zhang Fei didn't care at all. After seeing Liu Feng's letter, he was overjoyed and praised his nephew repeatedly.

Finally, he even pulled Zhao Yun aside for a drink to celebrate.

At the end of the letter, Liu Feng specifically mentioned that Zhao Sishu's troops were to be expanded, with two thousand Yuan soldiers to be temporarily incorporated, raising Zhao Sishu's troops to three battalions of six thousand men. As a result, Zhao Sishu naturally accumulated merits and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.

Uncle Zhao Si had previously guarded Guangling for a year without making a single mistake. After that, he quelled the rebellion in Langya, and now he is following Zhang Fei to hold back Yuan Shu's elite troops. He can be described as having made outstanding contributions.

Of course, the most important thing is Zhao Sishu's background. He is a staunch follower of Liu Bei. If he doesn't expand the army, who will?
Merit is merely icing on the cake; the real foundation lies in the closeness or distance of relationships.

Liu Feng continued to garrison Shouchun, while simultaneously sending troops to take over the surrendered counties and towns of Jianghuai, then sealing up the warehouses and auditing the accounts.

In counties where the accounts are clear, the county magistrate may remain in office.

If the accounts are unclear, the magistrate will have to explain them carefully. If he cannot explain them clearly, he will have to use his family property to make up the shortfall until the gap is filled.

In just seven days, four counties—Xia Cai, Xi Qu Yang, Dang Tu, and Yi Cheng—had already surrendered. Other cities were not refusing to surrender, but they had not yet received envoys to persuade them to do so.

As a result, six of the nine counties in northern Jiujiang are now in Liu Feng's hands, leaving only Ping'a, Yinling, and Zhongli.

However, the very thing Liu Feng least wanted to avoid problems still ended up causing them.

That was Lujiang County, where Liu Xun lived.

(End of this chapter)