My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 70 The Mi Family Caravan [15 Chapters - Please Read On!]

Two burly men and a young boy were added to a caravan belonging to the Mi family that was heading north to Langya and then to Kaiyang County.

Indeed, after receiving Liu Bei's permission, Liu Feng infiltrated the Mi family's merchant caravan and went to Kaiyang to oversee the grain collection.

However, Liu Bei also insisted on including Xu Sheng and Pan Zhang.

Pan Zhang was a close bodyguard, and Xu Sheng was a local strongman in Langya. Both of them were also exceptionally brave and skilled, making them truly rare talents.

As for the nominal leader of the caravan, he was an old merchant from the Mi family, also surnamed Mi, with the given name Lu.

Speaking of which, Mi Lu was Mi Zhu's elder, of the same generation as Mi Zhu's father, Mi Zeng, but much older.

Like Mi Zeng, Mi Lu has also been retired for several years.

This mission was important, so the people needed had to be reliable, and time was very tight. Mi Zeng specially invited him out to lead the team and accompany Liu Feng on the mission.

Tancheng is not far from Kaiyang.

In just a few days, the caravan reached Jiqiu County in the middle.

Liu Feng and his group stayed there for two days to purchase grain.

This is Zang Ba's territory. He recommended Wu Dun as the magistrate of Jiqiu County, and ordered him to lead a thousand soldiers to garrison here.

The Mi family's network of connections was indeed impressive; in just two days, they had thoroughly investigated the grain reserves in Jiqiu County.

Just as Liu Feng had guessed, there was hardly any grain left in Jiqiu County, and the grain in the local people's granaries was almost gone, while most of the grain in the government granaries had been transported to Kaiyang.

It is evident that Zang Ba had made preparations long ago. If Liu Bei were to truly break ties with him, Wu Dun would definitely abandon Jiqiu County and lead his troops to Kaiyang to join forces with Zang Ba in defending Kaiyang.

Liu Feng once again confirmed the essence of his plan: the initial action must be swift, and Wu Dun must not be allowed to escape.

The others went with them, because they didn't have time to get into Kaiyang at all.

On the other hand, among all of Zang Ba's defenses in Langya, only Wu Dun was isolated outside. As Zang Ba's trusted general, capturing him should be a good bargaining chip.

An even more advantageous point is that there is no food stored in Jiqiu City, so Wu Dun cannot defend it even if he wants to. He will either have to surrender or break out of the city. The only option is to fight a quick battle and not delay the time for subsequent actions.

After leaving Jiqiu County, we traveled for another three days and finally saw Kaiyang County, located on the banks of the Yi River.

Kaiyang County has a tall city wall and uses the Yi River as a moat, making it a formidable and easily defensible city. It has historically been the capital of the Langya Kingdom.

After Langya was changed from a state to a prefecture, it has always been the seat of the prefecture.

However, the area was seized by Zang Ba, so the newly appointed prefect Xiao Jiancai had to go to Ju County to take up his post.

It is evident that the hatred between Xiao Jian and Zang Ba was considerable, and Zang Ba had gone too far in bullying Xiao Jian. Given their relationship, he still dared to send people to borrow money and grain from Xiao Jian, which was extremely arrogant.

Although Zang Ba was originally a bandit and did not have much ambition, he was very capable. He not only disciplined his troops strictly, turning a group of righteous soldiers who were originally bandits into a respectable force, but he also had the ability to govern local areas.

Kaiyang County is located on a major transportation route and has never experienced the ravages of war. Therefore, it is no less popular than the prefectural capital, Tancheng, and even surpasses it in popularity.

Many merchants travel here, and those traveling from the south to the north, as long as they take the official road along the coast of Xuzhou, will inevitably pass through Kaiyang.

There are still refugees everywhere in Tancheng County.

But this place is much more lively and vibrant, especially the commerce, which is thriving.

It was precisely because of the substantial commercial tax revenue that Zang Ba accumulated a considerable amount of wealth in just one or two years, and he even wanted to purchase warhorses and form a cavalry.

But this is for the best; Liu Feng and his grain-collecting team blended in and became completely inconspicuous.

After settling into a familiar inn, the Mi family's servants began to go out to gather intelligence. Liu Feng specifically instructed them to remember to collect information on the second-generation bandits of Mount Tai, such as Zang Ba's son Zang Ai and Sun Guan's son Sun Yu.

Soon, intelligence was being gathered at the inn in a steady stream.

Just as Liu Feng had guessed, Zang Ba's older son, Zang Ai, had already started working and was now the registrar of Kaiyang County.

Furthermore, the fact that Zang Ba wanted to raise money to buy horses was no secret in Kaiyang.

This is because Zang Ba not only went to Xiao Jian to borrow money and grain, but also went to the homes of the powerful families in Kaiyang City to borrow money.

Looking at the compiled intelligence, Liu Feng slowly sketched out a supplementary plan.

If this supplementary plan is a great success, it will greatly accelerate the annexation of Zangba and reduce our own casualties.

Even if the plan fails, at most it will just be a wasted trip to Kaiyang. If we take into account the intelligence we have gathered so far, it won't even be considered a wasted trip.

"Master Mi, could you please send a formal invitation to Clerk Zang, saying that our Mi family is inviting him to dinner tonight, and that we'd like to take this opportunity to discuss business?"

After finalizing the plan, Liu Feng began to take action.

His first step was to get in touch with Zang Ai.

Mi Lu was the only one in the entire caravan who knew Liu Feng's true identity. He chuckled and agreed, then declined, saying, "You're too kind. You can call me Old Mi or Old Lu, but Old Mi is too much for this old man."

"Mr. Mi, you are too kind."

Liu Feng explained with a smile, "Now I am a descendant of the Mi family, here to gain experience. You are in charge. You need to get used to it so that you don't accidentally say something that could cause a big problem."

After hearing this explanation, Mi Lu reluctantly agreed.

About half an hour later, the servant who had gone to deliver the invitation returned and said that Zang Ai had agreed and would come to the banquet in an hour.

Master Mi took his leave and went to prepare the dinner.

Liu Feng continued to scrutinize the details of the plan in the room, looking for any areas that needed to be added or modified.

Soon, an hour had passed.

Zang Ai had already arrived downstairs.

Through the window, Liu Feng could clearly see the scene downstairs.

Zang Ai was a young man of medium build with a scholarly air, probably in his early twenties.

The oxcart he was riding in traveled slowly along the way, and he did not behave arrogantly or ostentatiously. From his appearance, it was almost impossible to recognize that he was the son of the local tyrant of Kaiyang.

This is understandable, as Zang Ai was the eldest son of Zang Ba in history. After Zang Ba's death, he inherited the former's title and was granted the title of Marquis of Liangcheng.

According to the Book of Wei, he was known for his talent and reasoning from a young age. He first served as a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate, and later as a Prefect of a Commandery. He eventually rose to the position of Governor of Qingzhou and Minister of the Imperial Household.

It is conceivable that this person was quite good in terms of reputation, talent, ability, and character, and did not disgrace Zang Ba's reputation.

However, based on the historical pattern of the entire Three Kingdoms period, especially Cao Wei, most families that rose to prominence during this era had first-generation members who possessed ability, virtue, and talent.

By the time the second generation comes out, there will likely only be one or two features.

By the third generation, they may have nothing left, and even be in debt for moral character.

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(End of this chapter)