My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 12 How to break the situation
Liu Bei was now completely convinced of his son's "divine encounter."

This was not only because of Liu Feng's precociousness; many other examples also convinced him, and he gradually began to take pride in it.

“Father, once Lü Bu is defeated, he will inevitably flee, and you and Xuzhou are his only way to survive.”

Liu Bei nodded. This was easy to understand. The Yuan brothers, living in the north and south respectively, both harbored a deep hatred for Lü Bu and wanted him dead. The warlords of Liangzhou in the west weren't much better off with Lü Bu either.

Doesn't that leave only Xuzhou in the east as the only option?

To be honest, Liu Bei was actually quite excited when Lü Bu came to join him.

At this time, Lü Bu was not the traitorous general of later generations; he was a legitimate General of Valiant Might, with rank comparable to the Three Excellencies, enfeoffed as Marquis of Wen, and possessing the extraordinary merit of restoring the Han Dynasty. Whether in terms of official position, title, or merit, he far surpassed Liu Bei. Not to mention, in the eyes of Emperor Xian of Han, Lü Bu was a loyal and trusted general, while Liu Bei was nothing.
This feeling is very similar to when Kong Rong sought help from Liu Bei, and Big Ears jumped up excitedly and shouted, "Does Kong Beihai also know Liu Bei of Pingyuan?"

Liu Bei overestimated his own charm. Why couldn't someone who betrayed Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shao betray him, Liu Bei?
Just because Liu Bei has big ears?
Liu Feng could see that Liu Bei's expression was a mixture of surprise, joy, and worry, and he could roughly guess what the other man was thinking.

This clearly shows that they wanted to recruit Lü Bu, but were also worried about not being able to control him.

Liu Feng quickly added, "Father, Lü Bu is extremely arrogant, both brave and cunning, and cannot be trusted at all. The Danyang Army never supported your succession as Governor of Xu Province. They only bowed down now because of the circumstances and had no choice but to submit. But once Lü Bu comes to join us, the Danyang Army will have an external ally to befriend. If we don't divide and control them in advance, they will surely make trouble later, making it impossible for you to guard against them."

After careful consideration, Liu Bei found the argument reasonable and was moved by Liu Feng's words.

Liu Feng continued to advise, "The best course of action now is to divide and eliminate the Danyang army in advance, and turn them into Father's loyal followers. This would kill two birds with one stone, eliminating the possibility of rebellion and increasing Father's strength."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei sighed deeply, "Of course I wish to do the same, but I have the will but no way to do it. What can I do?"

Liu Bei had tried to win them over before. Before he became the governor of Xu Province, the Danyang army scoffed at his attempts to win them over and were completely uninterested. After all, at that time, Liu Bei himself was merely a vassal state supported by Tao Qian, used to guard against Cao Cao. His strength was not even one-tenth of Cao Bao's. Why would they be willing to be won over by him?

After Liu Bei took over as governor of Xu Province, the people of Danyang became more wary of him and harbored more resentment.

After all, the people of Danyang originally wanted to support Tao Qian's eldest son to succeed to the throne, but they did not have a reliable plan or strategy, and instead, Chen Deng and Mi Zhu supported Liu Bei to take the throne first.

Seeing Liu Bei's worried expression and deep sighs, Liu Feng knew that now was the best opportunity.

"Father, do not worry. I have persuaded General Jianwei to serve you. He is willing to give me four thousand soldiers to command."

"what?"

Liu Bei was stunned upon hearing this, looking at Liu Feng in disbelief.

Liu Feng had no choice but to repeat it again.

After calming down, Liu Bei asked the crucial question: "What conditions did you promise him?"

Liu Feng's heart raced. He knew that success or failure hinged on this moment, and he couldn't hide it from Liu Bei. He could only grit his teeth and say, "I will grant the General of the Household two-tenths of the profits from the snow salt, and in addition..."

Liu Bei stared intently at Liu Feng. Liu Feng had told him about the snow salt long ago, which was one of the important pieces of evidence that Liu Feng had been given a dream by an immortal.

Liu Bei was no fool, and he knew even better that Cao Bao was no fool either; they would never abandon their army simply for money.

"Furthermore... I have promised General Jianwei that I will marry his daughter as my concubine."

After speaking, Liu Feng lowered his head, secretly watching Liu Bei's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Upon hearing this answer, Liu Bei's first instinct was to fly into a rage. He was furious that Liu Feng was so audacious as to dare to bypass him and discuss the important matter of a marriage alliance with Cao Bao.

Even if they were only talking about the position of a concubine, the marriage alliance could not be faked.

This has seriously provoked Liu Bei, as a father and lord, to his extreme anger.

Liu Feng was aware of this, but he still took the risk and did it anyway.

The biggest reason was the fear of Liu Bei's obstruction, because Big Ear Brother and Chen Yuanlong were really too compatible.

How close are these two?

He was a staunch supporter of Liu Bei from beginning to end. Even after Lü Bu occupied Xuzhou, he and his father staged a double agent operation against Lü Bu, deceiving him and causing his family to be destroyed.

Big Ears was kidnapped by Boss Cao and taken to Xuchang, but Chen Yuanlong remained a staunch Liu supporter.

Big Ear Brother successfully tricked Cao Cao's angel investment, returned to Xuzhou, and was promoted by Cao Cao to General Fubo. Chen Deng, the governor of Guangling, immediately began to secretly communicate with him, sending him troops and supplies.

Even in the end, when Big Ears was defeated by Cao Cao at lightning speed and had to run away and fight as a guerrilla, Chen Yuanlong still wholeheartedly praised the heroes of the world, and among those with the strategies of kings and hegemons, he respected Liu Xuande the most.

Liu Bei also greatly admired Chen Yuanlong. Even when Chen Yuanlong was reduced to working as a security guard at his cousin's house in Jingzhou, he still angrily confronted Xu Si, a famous scholar from Yanzhou, in front of Liu Biao. This was because Xu Si had some dissatisfaction with Chen Deng.

This outburst even gave rise to a famous idiom – "seeking land and asking about houses".

This shows just how much these two people truly love each other.

Liu Feng was genuinely worried that Liu Bei would take Chen Deng's position and attitude into account and resolutely reject Liu Feng's plan.

If things really develop this way, Liu Feng will be in an even more difficult predicament. Knowingly committing a crime is more serious than acting first and reporting later.

Liu Bei fell silent. He was furious when he heard that Liu Feng had dared to arrange a marriage between himself and Cao Bao without permission.

But then he recalled Liu Feng's analysis and judgment, which resonated with him. Cao Bao and Danyang Group were indeed his biggest worry at the moment.

Thinking about it this way, Liu Feng's current plan really is the best way to break the deadlock.

Otherwise, Cao Bao would not have trusted Liu Bei, and Liu Bei would not have trusted Cao Bao either.

What Liu Feng is giving up now is merely the position of a concubine. If we disregard Chen Deng's attitude, Liu Bei no longer finds it unacceptable.

Thinking about this, Liu Bei vaguely understood the unfulfilled intentions of Liu Feng.

Liu Feng was deliberately leaving himself room to maneuver, turning these matters into his own arbitrary decisions, while Liu Bei had more room to maneuver in dealing with Chen Deng.

This kid actually thought of that?

Liu Bei found it hard to believe, but it was the only reasonable way to think about it.

To be honest, Liu Bei had already been persuaded by Liu Feng.

(End of this chapter)