My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 358 The troops are divided into two groups
With Liu Feng's 50,000 troops and the willingness of Zhu Zhi and others to surrender, that's a real force of 70,000 soldiers. How could the people of Kuaiji possibly stop them?

You're not some mountain tribe or southern barbarian, you can't just wander into the mountains.

Which of these things—farmland, shops, workshops, ports, shipyards, grand mansions—can be given up?

Yu Fan and He Qi exchanged a glance and hurriedly stepped forward to advise, "General, you absolutely mustn't!"

Liu Feng's face turned cold, and he said unhappily, "Zhongxiang, Gongmiao, what do you two mean by this?"

Yu Fan and He Qi felt a chill run down their spines. Although these two were very bold in their original timeline, one dared to kill officials over minor disputes and regarded the rebellion of powerful clans as an achievement, while the other even boasted to Sun Ce that he was Sun Jiabao and persuaded Yuzhang County to surrender on his own.

But in front of Liu, the two of them simply couldn't muster any backbone.

"General, you are known for your benevolence. Why are you so harsh on the officials and people of my county?"

Yu Fan gritted his teeth and bowed his head, saying, "In the past, the traitor Sun was very powerful. During the Shanyin Incident, he killed seven prominent families in one day. Everyone in Kuaiji was terrified and fearful. It was out of fear that they joined the traitor. It was not something they did willingly."

He Qi quickly added, "Many prominent families in various regions have the desire to serve the court and have been secretly sending intelligence. We hope the general will allow them to atone for their crimes through meritorious service."

After hearing Yu Fan and He Qi's explanation, Wang Lang also became restless and spoke up to persuade them: "Zheng Nan may not know this, but when I defended against Sun Ce and Qiantang, many powerful families in the north contributed money, grain, and troops. Otherwise, how could I have accomplished such a great feat?"

With Wang Lang's help, both Yu Fan and He Qi were overjoyed.

Both men knew that Wang Lang was not only the governor of Kuaiji appointed by the imperial court, but also a renowned scholar from Xuzhou. Wang Lang's relatives and friends all served under Liu Feng's father, and among them were many trusted ministers whom Liu Bei relied on as his right-hand men.

They naturally hoped that Liu Feng would spare the powerful clans of Kuaiji out of consideration for these matters.

To their surprise, Liu Feng sighed deeply after hearing Wang Lang's words.

“Zhongxiang and Gongmiao, I consider you two friends, but I never expected you to utter such foolish words.”

Then, Liu Feng said to Wang Lang, "I cannot agree with what you have said, Your Excellency. Only by clearly distinguishing between rewards and punishments can we win people's hearts."

Liu Feng's words made Yu Fan and He Qi's hearts jump to their throats, and the others present also looked at them with displeasure, clearly unhappy that Yu Fan and He Qi had repeatedly defended themselves to Liu Feng.

Liu Feng turned to He Qi and asked, "Gongmiao, I've heard that you've served as the magistrate of several counties in Kuaiji, and that you had to quell any rebellions in each place you arrived at. Is that true?"

He Qi's face was very ugly. This matter was indeed true. He had quelled local rebellions, and even took the initiative to take over the rebellion in Taimo County, which others could not quell, and pacified it within a month.

This was one of the proudest achievements of his life, and also an important source of his fame, so he naturally talked about it often. Whether it was to boast about himself or to others, it spread widely in Kuaiji.

Therefore, He Qi can't just change his mind and say that nothing of the sort happened.

Isn't this blatant deception of Liu Feng?

Moreover, He Qi himself is the type of person who disdains lying, so it's even less likely that he would deceive Liu Feng at this time.

He Qi remained silent for a moment, then replied helplessly, "I dare not deceive General Zheng Nan. What you have heard is all true."

Liu Feng nodded in satisfaction, then asked Yu Fan, "I have heard that when Wen Su Gong first served as an official in Kuaiji Commandery, he was appointed as the county magistrate. He was highly regarded by the court for his military achievements in suppressing the rebellion and was promoted to governor. He was repeatedly appointed to a position with a salary of two thousand shi. I wonder if what I have heard is true?"

Yu Fan was taken aback, then his expression changed slightly, but he could only nod.

Wen Su was the courtesy name of Yu Fan's father, Yu Xin. He held various high-ranking positions and served as governor in many different regions, most notably as governor of Rinan and governor of Dongjun. Even after his death, he was not allowed to return to his hometown but was buried in Dong'e.

If it weren't for the fact that the Yu family had no powerful backing in the central government, Yu Xin's abilities, experience, and achievements would have made him one of the Nine Ministers long ago.

Another interesting thing is that Yu Fan was very dissatisfied with Hua Xin and quite contemptuous of him, but he admired Wang Lang very much; Wang Lang, on the other hand, was a big fan of Hua Xin and took Hua Xin as his idol in everything and imitated him; while Hua Xin admired Yu Fan very much, and was even persuaded by him to surrender Yuzhang to Sun Ce after he entered Nanchang alone.

To be fair, while Hua Xin was far inferior to Zhuge Liang, he was also far from being as despicable as depicted in the novel.

When Cao Pi usurped the Han throne, among the high-ranking officials of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, only Chen Qun and Hua Xin did not support him, which was completely opposite to the portrayal of him forcing Emperor Xian in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Cao Pi even suspected Hua Xin of disloyalty to him because of this. After usurping the Han throne, he not only did not reward Hua Xin, but also demoted him.

Even so, Cao Pi was still not satisfied and summoned Chen Qun to ask why the other party and Hua Xin were unhappy.

This was also because Cao Pi and Chen Qun had an excellent relationship, and Chen Qun's answer was quite clever. He said that Hua Gong and I were Han officials, and since the Han Dynasty was over, how could we be happy for you? But we admired Cao Pi's benevolence and ability, so we were secretly very happy for you.

Cao Pi was moved by Chen Qun's words and spared Hua Xin; otherwise, it's hard to say what would have happened to Hua Xin.

Seeing Yu Fan nod, Liu Feng's face was full of anger. He said indignantly, "When I first met Zhong Xiang and Gong Miao, I regarded you two as heroes of the South and really wanted to recruit talents in Kuaiji so that no Southern Pearls would be lost. But I did not expect that the tribes of Kuaiji would be so weak, kneeling and serving their grandsons, without the slightest bit of loyalty."

At this point, Yu Fan and He Qi were already blushing with shame, and even Wang Lang lowered his head, after all, he was still the governor of Kuaiji, and the education of the prefecture was also an important responsibility of his.

“Zhongxiang, Gongmiao, even according to the laws of the Han Dynasty, these people who surrendered the city to the rebels should be executed according to the law.”

Seeing this, Liu Feng paused for a moment and said, "I merely ordered them to be imprisoned for trial, how is that considered harsh?"

Yu Fan's face flushed crimson. Listening to Liu Feng's earnest and reasonable words, which even included his father as a witness, how could he, as the son, refute them?

Yu Fan was an upright man; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to remonstrate with the emperor so many times. After being demoted to Jiaozhi, he opened a school there, teaching tirelessly and attracting hundreds of students, demonstrating that he still had some compassion for the people.

Wang Lang sighed deeply and said, "In Kuaiji, there are indeed arrogant and lawless people. These people are tough on the outside but weak on the inside, and they prey on the people. If the Southern Expedition wants to sweep away the filth, it is for the peace and tranquility of the people of Kuaiji."

Liu Feng glanced at Wang Lang and thought, "He's definitely a smart man. That assist was brilliant."

As expected, after hearing Wang Lang's words, Yu Fan and He Qi remained silent for a moment, then bowed down in unison and said to Liu Feng, "We are fully aware of the intention to conquer the south. We are willing to obey the general's orders and cleanse Kuaiji of its filth."

Liu Feng smiled with satisfaction and stepped forward to help Yu Fan and He Qi up.

Having witnessed this scene firsthand, Zhou Yu, Jia Kui, and the others present were all intelligent men, and they could easily see through Liu Feng's intentions.

In their view, Liu Feng even wanted to deliberately incite a group of powerful clans in Kuaiji to rebel in order to establish his authority, while also seizing a batch of spoils of war to reward the entire army that was conquering the south.

Zhou Yu and others' guesses were indeed correct.

Liu Feng really wanted to deliberately incite the powerful clans in various parts of Kuaiji to rebel.

His army is now positioned on both banks of the Qiantang River, and these powerful clans have donated vast amounts of grain and entrusted their elite troops to Wang Lang. They are currently at their weakest. If these people were to rebel, Liu Feng is confident he could pacify the entire Northern Hui region within a month.

Liu Feng really hoped these people would become arrogant.

********
After the meeting, everyone dispersed, except for Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu, who were kept behind by Liu Feng.

The reason Liu Feng kept the two of them was because he had a special use for them.

"uncle."

With Zhao Yun present, Liu Feng's first target for conversation was naturally him.

Upon hearing Liu Feng call him, Zhao Yun straightened his body to show his respect.

Liu Feng said, "Kuaiji Prefecture is vast and has a huge territory. It may not be able to pacify Jiangdong."

Although Kuaiji was not well-developed in terms of transportation, it was indeed connected to Jiaozhi in the south, Wujun in the north, and Danyang and Yuzhang in the west. Kuaiji was not peaceful, and the whole of Jiangdong was quite turbulent.

Otherwise, the Great Emperor wouldn't have taken such drastic measures to rectify Kuaiji, where a major rebellion occurred every three days and a minor one every day. Left with no other choice, the Great Emperor simply granted control of most of Kuaiji to his generals to raise troops, suppress rebellions, and quell the Yue tribes.

Zhao Yun suddenly realized something, but still didn't get to the point, mistakenly thinking that Liu Feng was worried about a riot breaking out in Kuaiji.

So Zhao Yun said, half comforting and half taking responsibility, "Zheng Nan need not worry. If the powerful clans of Kuaiji are ignorant of the times and dare to defy the court, I will surely bring their heads before the emperor on Zheng Nan's behalf."

Zhao Yun was very steady in character, but also extremely quick-witted.

The "empty city strategy" in official history was actually the "empty camp strategy," and its prototype was Zhao Yun's performance in the Battle of Hanzhong.

It is evident that Zhao Yun was a man of great wisdom and resourcefulness, but he often spoke without thinking and without considering the context. Perhaps he should be considered a prime example of someone with high IQ but low EQ.

Zhou Yu glanced at Zhao Yun discreetly, clearly having discerned Liu Feng's thoughts.

After only a moment's hesitation, Zhou Yu decided not to worry about Zhao Yun's feelings and clasped his hands in a fist and asked, "Is the place where the Southern Assembly is being worried about?"

Liu Feng feigned surprise as he looked at Zhou Yu, his face showing confusion and astonishment.

Zhou Yu was secretly pleased and continued, "In my humble opinion, if Zheng Nan intends to take Nan Hui, he must take the sea route to succeed."

It must be said that Zhou Yu had a very sharp eye for problems, and his insights were truly incisive.

After discerning Liu Feng's intentions, Zhou Yu astutely realized that the key to the Nanhui region lay in the sea route.

However, Liu Feng also deserves a lot of credit for this. After all, it wasn't just Yu Fan and He Qi who were broadened by the Battle of Qiantang River; Zhou Yu was also among those who were impressed.

However, Zhou Yu was still wrong about one thing. He thought Liu Feng wanted to send Zhao Yun with him to recapture Nan Hui, but in fact Liu Feng had other plans for him.

"Gongjin truly saw the big picture from small details."

Liu Feng first praised Zhou Yu, which elicited humility from the latter. Then, he changed the subject and said to Zhao Yun, "Uncle, just as Gongjin (Zhou Yu) thought, I want to send you south to suppress the Southern Alliance. Uncle will be the commander-in-chief, leading your troops, with Dong Xi and Gan Ning as your deputies, and sail south to the south."

Zhao Yun's main force numbered 6,000, while Dong Xi and Gan Ning each had 4,000, making a total of 10,000 men. Not only were they all elite troops, but they had also suffered minimal losses, requiring only a few hundred more from the surrendered soldiers to reach full strength.

As if remembering something, Liu Feng added, "In addition, Uncle can also select five thousand men from Sun Jun's surrendered soldiers as auxiliary troops, and if necessary, they can be driven to attack cities and capture strongholds."

Five thousand is a more appropriate number, and we can't just leave the nearly twenty thousand prisoners of Sun Quan's army to eat.

It wouldn't be bad to select 5,000 people to do some serious work first.

Zhao Yun then realized the problem completely. After thinking about it carefully, he found that it wasn't a big deal.

If they've already conducted large-scale amphibious landings, then landing on islands and ports is naturally a piece of cake.

Zhao Yun was loyal and capable. Although he did not achieve great success in leading troops independently in history, this was mainly because he had not received similar training.

In addition, Zhao Yun had a bad habit when leading troops: he was prone to splitting up his forces, resulting in his own troops being too small.

The root cause of the empty camp strategy was that he rashly assigned troops to Huang Zhong to attack Cao Cao's supplies.

While Zhao Yun was employing the Empty City Stratagem, Huang Zhong, who had received Zhao Yun's troops, also faced extremely difficult battles and was even considered to have suffered a total defeat.

It is clear that if Zhao Yun had not divided his troops, Huang Zhong would have been in grave danger.

It was precisely Huang Zhong's successful surprise attack that burned a large amount of Cao Cao's army's provisions, which was one of the reasons why Cao Cao retreated.

When Zhao Yun first marched out of Qishan, he was defeated by Cao Zhen. This was because his troops were too scattered, which allowed Cao Zhen to take advantage of a vacuum. Cao Zhen used speed to attack slowly, directly breaking Zhao Yun's army. Zhao Yun was so embarrassed that he was worried that Cao Zhen would follow the defeated troops into Hanzhong and had to burn the plank roads.

This greatly worsened Zhuge Liang's later strategic situation. The loss of the easy-to-traverse Xiegu Plank Road left Zhuge Liang with virtually no strategic options.

Therefore, Liu Feng specially opened a simple hand-drawn map of Dongye and instructed, "Uncle, this time when we go south, we only have Dongye County. Do not disperse your forces. We should use speed to defeat slowness and numbers to defeat fewer. If Dongye surrenders, that's fine. But if Dongye has ulterior motives, we must cut off its connection with the mountains and make sure that the Yue people and the southern barbarians cannot provide support."

Zhao Yun nodded thoughtfully.

Liu Feng was still worried and continued to instruct, "There are countless Yue and Nanman tribes in the mountains. If they get involved with the powerful families in Dongye City, the war will surely drag on for a long time. I will send He Qi with you later. He is from Kuaiji and has a lot of prestige in Kuaiji County. Even people in Dongye have heard of his reputation. He will definitely be of help to you."

Dongye County was the only county in Nanhui and an important port connecting Jiaozhi, so its population was naturally large. However, due to the scarcity of plains in its territory, the number of households did not exceed 10,000. A magistrate was appointed for Dongye County, also known as Houguanzhang.

Liu Feng's meaning was very clear: the population of the county of over 30,000 was absolutely insufficient to resist Zhao Yun's detachment.

At the same time, bringing He Qi along was also to provide support for Zhao Yun. In the original history, Sun Ce sent his loyal subordinate Han Yan to attack, but he suffered a great defeat. He had no choice but to send He Qi instead, and he swept through Houguan in one fell swoop, not only annihilating many forces in Houguan, but also taking down Wang Lang.

This time, Zhao Yun nodded heavily.

With Zhao Yun's arrangements complete, it's time to make arrangements for Zhou Yu.

(End of this chapter)