My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 404 Liu Fu Comes to Join Us
Unfortunately, Sun Quan arrived several months after Liu Fu's death, and the merits he brought were obtained by people like Jiang Ji.

"So it's Mr. Yuan Ying."

Liu Bei feigned delight and said, "I am truly pleased that you have come to join me, sir. May I ask what your expertise is? I will employ you according to your abilities."

Liu Bei's standards have risen, and the arrival of ordinary scholars is no longer enough to move him.

Liu Fu was considered a renowned scholar in Xiang County and had a good reputation in Pei State, but outside of Yu Province, very few people had actually heard of him.

The reason he held such a high position in the original timeline, surpassing Sima Lang, Jia Kui, and others, ultimately boils down to two reasons.

Firstly, he was likely a relative of Cao Cao, with a daughter from his family marrying Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, was born to a woman surnamed Liu, who was Cao Cao's concubine. Given the customs of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is highly likely that Cao Cao's concubine came from a powerful and influential family in the same prefecture.

Considering that Cao Ang was adopted by Lady Ding and made the eldest son of the legitimate wife, and that Lady Ding broke with Cao Cao after Cao Ang's death in battle.

This Liu woman is highly likely to be a member of the Liu Fu family, a noble clan, and her marriage to Cao Cao as a concubine was very likely to serve as a servant to Lady Ding.

This also explains why, despite being born to a concubine, Cao Ang held a much higher status than Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi, who were born to Lady Bian, who was favored by Cao Cao.

Because Bian was born a courtesan, who was considered a plaything at the time, her lineage was naturally far inferior to that of Cao Ang, who came from a noble family and was born to a concubine.

After Liu Fu joined Cao Cao, historical records actually state that Cao Cao was "pleased with him." Then, he indirectly had Zhao Wen recruit Liu Fu as an aide, which was a high-ranking official among the aides.

Not long after, Liu Fu was transferred to another post, directly appointed as the governor of Yangzhou.

This shows Cao Cao's favor, trust, and protection of him.

Another reason, of course, was that Liu Fu had a good son. His son was extremely popular in Cao Wei, repeatedly serving as a high-ranking official with a salary of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain), and twice serving as one of the Nine Ministers. He eventually rose to the rank of General Who Guards the North, granted the authority to act on behalf of the emperor, and served as the military governor of Hebei.

Liu Jing's second son, Liu Fu's grandson Liu Hong, was even more remarkable. He became close friends with Sima Yan in his youth and had a very close personal relationship with him. He rose to the positions of Attendant-in-Ordinary, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Grand Master of the Three Departments. After his death, he was posthumously awarded the title of Duke.

Both generations of his descendants maintained close ties with the imperial family and were deeply favored by the emperor. Although Chen Shou was a good historian,
While Liu Bei was pleased with Liu Feng's arrival, Liu Feng was quite wary.

This person has a strong connection to the Cao family, and now Cao Cao is serving as Grand General, in charge of all government affairs.

Liu Fu could have easily received generous treatment by continuing north to join Cao Cao, so why would he suddenly come to join his side? This made Liu Feng very wary, and he suspected that Liu Fu might be a high-level spy sent by Cao Cao.

Just as Liu Feng was looking Liu Fu up and down, Xun You smiled and replied to Liu Bei, "My lord, you may not know this, but Yuan Ying has brought a great gift with him."

This piqued not only Liu Bei's interest, but also Liu Feng's curiosity.

Xun You, being a kind-hearted man, suddenly smiled without saying a word and handed over the stage that had been set up to Liu Fu.

Liu Fu glanced gratefully at Xun You, then said to Liu Feng and his son, "I have come here to persuade Li Shu, a senior general under Yuan Shu and the prefect of Wan County, to surrender the city to General of the Cavalry."

"Is this serious?"

Liu Bei exclaimed in surprise.

It's no wonder Liu Bei was so delighted. Wan County was a very important place. It was located at the exit of the passage, and it was the second and last gate after Xunyang.

Moreover, Wan County is backed by Qianshan Mountain and borders the Yangtze River to the south, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

If Liu Bei's army can capture Wan County, they can immediately sever the connection between Jingzhou and Liu Xun, and Liu Xun will instantly become a sitting duck.

Besides its strategic value, Wan County itself is also quite attractive. It is not only a large city, but also has fertile land, well-developed water conservancy, and a prosperous commercial economy, making it very wealthy.

Liu Feng, however, was alarmed. He worried that rashly helping Li Shu and retaking Wan County might provoke Liu Biao into a complete breakdown in relations.

If Liu Biao were to break off relations too early, Liu Feng's main force would not have expanded its army yet, and Liu Bei would have only just arranged the direction for adjustment and expansion.

If a conflict were to break out, or even a full-scale war with Jingzhou, would it disrupt my entire plan?

Even if the plan isn't disrupted, could this unexpected event cause Zhang Xian's betrayal to change, or even disappear?

Moreover, even if Zhang Xian still betrays Liu Biao, it remains to be seen whether Liu Biao would dare to send a large army south to quell the rebellion, given his already strained relationship with Liu Feng and his son.

"Fu, please do not doubt me, General Liu. Li Shu is a general under Yuan Shu, responsible for guarding Wan County. He has more than two thousand households under his command. The gentry and powerful families of Wan County have heard that Li Shu is willing to defect and serve the court and the general. They have also contributed money, food and manpower and are ready to respond to the general at any time."

This can't be blamed on the local tyrants in Wan County being unhelpful; the landlords simply didn't have any surplus grain.

Even though Wanxian County is close to the Yangtze River, many of its water conservancy facilities are old and far less effective than before. Large areas of irrigation canals are even blocked by silt, resulting in a very poor harvest in Wanxian County this year.

Let alone feeding Li Shu and his troops, I'm afraid we won't even be able to save up next year's grain seeds.

Although Liu Biao provided some support, Liu Xun did not distribute it and kept it all as military rations.

Perhaps because the severe drought was too frightening, and because Liu Xun was worried that Liu Biao's aid would be cut off, he gave away nothing except some military rations to his trusted generals.

Li Shu and Liu Xun maintained a good relationship, but the problem lay in Li Shu's high status. He was sent by Yuan Shu to Lujiang to check Liu Xun, and he had two thousand households of direct troops under his command.

When Yuan Shu was alive, Li Shu and Liu Xun could still get along well.

Now that Yuan Shu is gone, Liu Xun naturally sees Li Shu as a thorn in his side, while the ambitious Li Shu also finds Liu Xun an eyesore. They truly loathe each other.

When Liu Xun announced his allegiance to Liu Biao, he did not consult with Li Shu, who was furious but dared not speak out.

After all, his resources were still better than Liu Xun's. If things really came to a head, Li Shu could still muster three or four thousand men to defend the city.

Liu Xun's own forces number only seven or eight thousand, so he might not be able to deal with him.

However, if Liu Biao is included, then Li Shu is doomed, not to mention that Li Shu's base is in Wan County, which is not far from Jingzhou and is adjacent to the Yangtze River.

If Liu Biao wanted to deal with him, it would be quite easy.

The main reason Li Shu was able to be persuaded by Liu Fu to turn against him was because Liu Xun was too inhumane; he didn't give Li Shu a single grain of food.

Even though Li Shu sent generous gifts, Liu Xun accepted them without providing any grain, which infuriated the former.

Besides Liu Xun, Li Shu also considered other methods, such as complaining to Liu Biao.

The problem is that Liu Xun was good friends with Liu Biao and good brothers with Cao Cao.

Although Li Shu also came from a noble family, and was from a prominent clan in Runan, he actually had no connection with Liu Biao or Cao Cao.

Moreover, Li Shu wasn't very bright. In the original timeline, he had first rebelled against Sun Quan, then sent troops to attack and kill the governor of Yangzhou appointed by Cao Cao, while also maintaining an adversarial relationship with Liu Biao. He truly mastered diplomacy.

Therefore, when Sun Quan attacked him, Liu Biao and Cao Cao both tacitly approved, dismissing Li Shu's pleas for help with a laugh. In the end, Li Shu himself died a miserable death, and all his troops were relocated to Jiangdong by Sun Quan. This is why Liu Fu was able to easily persuade the desperate Li Shu to agree to join Liu Bei's side.

However, Li Shu himself was quite ambitious, and in the original timeline, he only respected Sun Ce.

When Sun Ce was alive, he dutifully managed the Jiangbei region for Sun Ce. But as soon as Sun Ce died, he immediately rebelled and declared himself independent, showing no regard for Sun Quan whatsoever.

If it weren't for the current massive crop failure in Li Shu's territory, with almost no harvest from the rest of the land except for a few paddy fields near the Yangtze River, and the attitudes of Liu Biao and Liu Xun, Liu Fu might not have been able to persuade him to surrender.

Liu Fu bowed deeply to Liu Bei and said, "Now the people and the gentry of Wan County are united as one. Lieutenant Li and all the people of Wan County are looking forward to your virtue, General."

Liu Bei was moved at the time, but just as he was about to agree, Liu Feng suddenly tugged at his sleeve from the side.

Liu Bei was taken aback at first, but then he realized that his eldest son had a different opinion, and it was not convenient for him to say it in public.

So Liu Bei swallowed back the words he was about to say and changed his words, saying, "This matter is of great importance, please allow me to think it over."

Then he said to Xun You, "Gongda, arrange for Mr. Yuan Ying to go and rest first."

Xun You looked surprised, but being as clever as he was, he naturally couldn't say much. He not only quietly calmed Liu Fu, who still wanted to speak, but also subtly persuaded him to leave the hall.

After Liu Fu left, Liu Bei asked Liu Feng, puzzled.

"Why is this happening to my son?"

After bowing respectfully, Liu Feng advised, "Please wait a moment, Father, until Mr. Gongda returns."

Liu Bei glanced at Liu Feng, seemed to understand something, and nodded.

Lu Su and Liu Ye exchanged a glance, wondering to themselves what could be so important that Liu Feng was somewhat unwilling to support Li Shu.

Thinking of this, Lu Su and Liu Ye couldn't help but secretly gasp.

Wan County, under Li Shu's command, was a strategically vital location for military strategists in the Jiangbei region.

What kind of benefit would it take to make Liu Feng let this place go?

After a cup of tea, Xun You hurriedly returned and saw that everyone in the hall was just drinking tea, so he knew that they were waiting for him, and his heart warmed.

Liu Bei and his son could have discussed matters first and then informed me upon my arrival; perhaps that would have been the usual practice.

But Liu Bei and his son were different; their respect for people was deep-rooted and meticulous.

It was precisely this point that made Xun You, Lu Su, Liu Ye, and others particularly favor and grateful to him.

"Father, do you remember what I mentioned to you before?"

After Xun You rejoined his seat, Liu Feng immediately spoke: "It is about the Jingzhou matter that I mentioned to you before I went to Luoyang this time."

Liu Bei thought to himself, "As expected!" He had actually already sensed something and guessed a bit of what was going on.

Liu Bei knew about this, but Xun You and the others were unaware of it.

Liu Feng immediately told Liu Feng about the matter.

After hearing this, even Xun You, Lu Su, Liu Ye and others, who were all capable advisors to the king at the time, were shocked by Liu Feng's good appetite.

To swallow up Jingzhou?

Xun You, Lu Su, Liu Ye, and others' first reaction was disbelief.

But if you really want to say Liu Feng was bragging, he did take over the six counties of Yangzhou in just over half a year.

It should be noted that in the ranking of the warlords at that time, Yuan Shu was higher than Liu Biao, and even ranked second in the world, second only to Yuan Shao of Hebei.

If we really compare them, Liu Feng's desire to swallow Liu Biao up becomes quite reasonable.

After Liu Feng finished speaking, the hall remained silent. Xun You and the others were all deep in thought, while Liu Bei looked around, trying to make some inferences from Xun You and the others' expressions.

After Liu Feng finished speaking, he fell into deep thought.

He drafted the plan, but now that an unexpected event has occurred, he has to make a decision himself.

After a long while, Liu Ye was the first to raise his head.

Of the three, Xun You is second to none in terms of talent and ability.

Unfortunately, in his original timeline, he served Cao Cao, who was exceptionally talented. If Cao Cao hadn't been so reckless, he would have been a worthy advisor to a king.

Therefore, although Xun You was able to assist Cao Cao by offering twelve brilliant strategies and devising plans on the spot, in the end, it was Cao Cao who made the final decision.

Throughout his life, Xun You never served as a general, nor did he ever govern a region.

One important reason for this outcome was Cao Cao's fear of the Xun family, while another important reason was Xun You's own indifferent nature.

Therefore, even if Xun You and Liu Ye made a decision at the same time, he would humbly let Liu Ye speak first, and Liu Ye, who was eager for fame and merit, would certainly not give way.

"Young Master, in my opinion, this matter is not only not a disaster, but rather a wonderful thing that adds to our good fortune!"

Liu Ye's face lit up with joy, and he bowed to Liu Bei and Liu Feng one by one, saying, "Liu Xun occupies six counties southwest of Lujiang, disobeys the king's orders, and defies the court, which is truly courting death. However, Liu Biao does not understand the will of Heaven, presumptuously claims to be the supreme ruler, and actually makes such a move to support a traitor."

"The actions of Li Shu and Liu Fu were in accordance with the will of Heaven and the trend of the times."

As usual, Liu Ye first occupied the moral high ground. In the hearts of the people of the Celestial Empire, upholding justice and punishing the rebellious were essential, and launching an army without a just cause was a rebellious act that would be despised.

"From Ye's perspective, Li Shu is quite ambitious. His defection this time was not out of good intentions, but rather a desperate act."

Liu Ye only mentioned Li Shu, without mentioning Liu Fu.

Liu Fu was from Pei State. Many scholars from Runan and Pei State had recently come to serve Liu Bei, including the Huan family of Longkang. The two brothers had come together and were highly regarded by Liu Bei, who had already brought them into his staff. Moreover, their elder brother held a high-ranking position among the Nine Ministers in the imperial court.

Moreover, when Liu Fu surrendered, he sought out Xun You, a renowned scholar from Tongzhou, and Xun You handled the entire matter single-handedly.

Liu Ye was indeed very proud, but he was not someone who made enemies without thinking. He did not want to offend both the Huan family and Xun You at the same time.

(End of this chapter)