Ji Han Liu Zhang

Tian Feng stepped forward to defend Liu Bei. His words contained two meanings. First, he was speaking for Liu Bei's failure to successfully kill Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu. He believed that Liu Bei did not deliberately leave the way open, which led to the failure of the operation to eliminate the Black Mountain bandits.

He gave a simple explanation, that is, Liu Bei's military ability was poor and he did not have the foundation of a famous general. He cited Liu Bei's past experience of repeated defeats as proof of this.

Secondly, Tian Feng emphasized the importance of Liu Bei. As a well-known figure in the world, Liu Bei did not seek refuge with others when he was at the end of his rope, but instead sought refuge in Hebei. This shows that Yuan Shao, the master of Hebei, was magnanimous and benevolent. This was a very good propaganda symbol.

But now, if Yuan Shao listened to the slander of the scoundrels and killed Liu Bei, the heroes from all over the country would definitely hesitate and dare not flee to Hebei, for fear of ending up like Liu Bei.

Speaking of these two points, Tian Feng focused on the second one. He didn't care whether Liu Bei really showed leniency to Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu in private when they successfully escaped to Hedong.

He only told Yuan Shao clearly that keeping Liu Bei would bring great benefits, and getting rid of Liu Bei would probably damage Yuan Shao's reputation, so that heroes from all over the world would not dare to go to Hebei to work for Yuan Shao.

This is the world of adults, which is also the logic of politics. It has nothing to do with love or hate. You just need to weigh the pros and cons. If it is profitable, you have to do it even if you don’t like it. If you don’t do it, you will suffer losses, so you have to do it even if you don’t want to do it.

Yuan Shao half-squinted his eyes and weighed the pros and cons. As the master of Hebei and the leader of a faction, he heard the deep meaning in Tian Feng's words. Now he needed to think about it.

Yuan Tan, who was present at the meeting, was the governor of Qingzhou. He should not be here at the moment, but should be managing affairs in Qingzhou. However, at the end of the year, as the eldest son, he naturally had to return to Yecheng to reunite with his family and show his filial piety.

Yuan Tan saw Yuan Shao's hesitation. He guessed that Yuan Shao was jealous of Liu Bei on the one hand and concerned about his own reputation on the other, so he was in a dilemma between killing Liu Bei and not killing Liu Bei.

Yuan Tan stood up slowly. He echoed Tian Feng, the deputy driver, saying, "Father, the rumor that Liu Xuande deliberately allowed Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu to enter Hedong is just hearsay and there is no evidence."

"If we blame or even imprison Liu Xuande because of a groundless rumor, as Tian Biejia said, how will the heroes from all over the world view this matter? I am afraid it will damage my father's reputation."

After saying this, Yuan Tan did not take the seat, but bowed his hands and waited for Yuan Shao to make a judgment on Liu Bei.

Yuan Shao was not surprised that Yuan Tan spoke on behalf of Liu Bei. Instead, he felt it was expected, because when Liu Bei was the governor of Yuzhou, he recommended Yuan Tan as a talented person.

If Yuan Tan had not stood up today to speak for his sponsor Liu Bei, Yuan Shao would have been surprised and would have suspected that his eldest son Yuan Tan had a despicable character for not even saying a few good words for his sponsor.

Therefore, with no evidence that Liu Bei had let Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu go, and with the guarantee of two heavyweights, Tian Feng and Yuan Tan, Yuan Shao came to a conclusion. He laughed loudly and said, "How could I blame a general for rumors, especially a virtuous man like Liu Xuande."

"Your Excellency is wise." Tian Feng praised. In the past, he would not have said such flattering words, but people will change after all. He learned to seek the answer in a roundabout way and no longer forced to take the direct approach.

Yuan Tan got the result he wanted, and sat back at the table with satisfaction. He said that he came to guarantee Liu Bei, in addition to the fact that Liu Bei was his sponsor, he also had one or two selfish motives. That was that as Yuan Shao's eldest son, his status as the heir was not very stable.

First, Yuan Shao did not clearly appoint him as the successor, and until now, the candidate for the successor in Hebei is still in a state of confusion; second, Yuan Tan was sent to Qingzhou to serve as the governor. This appointment seemed to make it clear to the world that Yuan Tan was excluded as a candidate for the successor.

And you know, ever since Fusu was in charge of troops in Shangjun to resist the Huns and was not around when the First Emperor died, he was forced to commit suicide by a forged imperial edict by Zhao Gao, Li Si and Hu Hai. Since then, the successors of future generations will no longer be far away from the monarch.

This is what we call a lesson from the past, and the lesson is not far away.

The third and most important point is that Yuan Shao, the master of Hebei, privately said that he would make Yuan Shang his successor because his youngest son Yuan Shang was handsome like himself, and his second wife Liu liked Yuan Shang's influence. However, he did not say it openly or make a formal statement.

Yuan Tan knew that the reason why his father Yuan Shao had not yet made a decision to make Yuan Shang the heir was because there was an order of seniority, which was the so-called moral code. Yuan Shao was worried about opposition from his civil and military officials and had some reservations. In addition, Yuan Shang was not old enough and did not have enough prestige among his ministers.

Therefore, the candidate for the successor to the throne of Hebei has not been revealed yet.

But Yuan Tan had a sense of urgency. He understood that the longer time dragged on, the further away the position of successor would be from him. Firstly, he was the governor of Qingzhou, far away from Yecheng, the political center of Hebei; secondly, Yuan Shang was growing up day by day. In time, as time went by, Yuan Shang's prestige among the ministers would overshadow that of his elder brother.

And if Yuan Shang succeeded to the throne, he, the eldest son who should have succeeded to the throne rightfully, would probably have a bad end. At best he would be imprisoned, at worst he would be killed.

As for why Yuan Tan was so pessimistic, it was because he could witness the struggles of the previous generation with his own eyes. Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, who were cousins ​​and both were descendants of the Yuan family, were brothers who were not in harmony and were fighting each other.

If his father Yuan Shao and his uncle Yuan Shu had lived in harmony and worked together, the world would have been conquered by the Yuan family long ago. What would have happened to Liu Zhang in Guanzhong and Cao Cao in the Central Plains!
For this reason, Yuan Tan was determined to take the position of the heir apparent, and this position was rightfully held by him, the eldest son, and only he could be said to have the right to do so.

Therefore, for the position of successor, Yuan Tan would naturally not allow his sponsor Liu Bei to be killed. By saving Liu Bei, his reputation was preserved and it also provided a great boost in his fight for the position of successor.

Liu Xuande was well-known and respected throughout the world. Having such an important person standing on his side could add a heavy weight to the balance of power between him and Yuan Shang in the fight for the throne.

However, Yuan Shang's forces were naturally unhappy about Yuan Tan's pride. Among Yuan Shao's civil and military officials, the general Feng Ji and the governor Shen Pei were both people who intended to support Yuan Shang as the successor. However, Yuan Tan disliked their pride and extravagance, and they could not walk the same path as Yuan Tan, so they stood on Yuan Shang's side.

Therefore, when Yuan Shao let Liu Bei go easily, Feng Ji stood up and said, "Mingsir, although there is no evidence that Liu Bei let Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu go, there is no evidence that Liu Bei did not have such an intention."

Feng Ji started to stir up trouble. (End of this chapter)