My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 307 Two Animals of Xuzhou
Liu Yao remained unmoved, but Liu Ji, who was listening nearby, was greatly shocked. He rushed to Liu Feng's side and bowed deeply, pleading, "My father coughs all night long, sometimes even coughing up blood. Please, General Zheng, consider this..."

"shut up!"

Liu Yao flew into a rage and shouted, "You ignorant child, how dare you spout nonsense!"

Liu Ji was stunned by his father's anger, but Liu Feng didn't tolerate it.

"Lord Liu, Brother Liu is just being overly concerned. What's wrong with that?"

Liu Feng took two steps and stood in front of Liu Ji.

Liu Feng had shown no fear in front of Lü Bu, so Liu Yao's anger was nothing compared to that. Moreover, after a year of training, Liu Feng was confident he could even hold his own against Lü Bu again.

Although I'm definitely no match for him, the thought of fighting against Xiao Hu is thrilling.

Clearly, Liu Feng still harbored resentment towards the other party for their previous meeting, having been intimidated by their murderous aura. Although he hadn't embarrassed himself, he was still holding a grudge.

Liu Feng's action of moving to shield Liu Ji was merely a habitual movement, stemming from his instinct to protect the child, and not directed at Liu Ji personally.

Of course, Liu Ji is more handsome and cute, so he is naturally more likely to be liked by others.

Liu Feng was unaware that his natural action caused Liu Yao's eyebrows to twitch.

Liu Feng continued, "Moreover, if Brother Liu is not lying, what Lord Liu should do now is to investigate the root cause and take good care of himself, rather than blaming others or avoiding treatment."

It's unclear whether Liu Feng's persuasion had an effect, or whether Liu Yao simply came to his senses on his own.

"In that case, send someone to escort me to Tancheng."

After saying this, Liu Yao turned and went into the inner room.

Although Liu Feng didn't know why the other party had softened their attitude, he was naturally happy with the outcome.

Regardless, Liu Yao was a member of the imperial clan, and a descendant of Liu Fei, the eldest of the princes.

The Liu family of Donglai was far more famous than the Liu family of Zhuoxian. They were a prominent family with a long history of producing officials with salaries of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain measure). Liu Yao himself was a renowned scholar in Qingzhou, and he and his brother Liu Dai were known as the "Two Dragons of Donglai." The two brothers were later appointed as governors and prefects, demonstrating their immense prestige.

Such a renowned scholar is best left unkilled if possible. If given the chance, it would be best to honor him, provide for him in his old age, and see him to his death. This would bring Liu Bei and his son many hidden benefits.

Since Liu Yao was so sensible, Liu Feng naturally wouldn't be stingy.

Two hundred soldiers were immediately dispatched to escort him along the way, and a large ship was prepared for him to travel by water directly to Tancheng.

Three days later, Liu Yao left Shicheng with Liu Ji and the rest of his family. They boarded a ship at Niuzhu and headed to Tancheng in Xuzhou.

Before leaving, Liu Yao had a deep conversation with Sun Shao and the Teng brothers.

Liu Yao gave the three men two choices: one was to go to Tancheng with him, and he would find an opportunity to recommend them directly to the court.

The second option is to recommend them to Liu Bei and his son. If they want to find Liu Bei, they can simply cross the river to the north bank, and he will write a letter as an introduction. If they want to find Liu Feng, it's even more convenient; before they leave, he can introduce them in person.

Liu Yao originally thought that the three of them might be more inclined to accept the imperial court's offer of service or to join Liu Bei.

Unexpectedly, Sun Shao and the other two all chose the last option.

After a moment of stunned silence, Liu Yao also came to his senses.

Sun Shao and his group clearly felt that Liu Feng had a bright future, and that following Liu Feng would not only allow them to stay in Jiangdong, but also enable them to make contributions and achieve success.

With the great battle between Sun Quan and Liu Bei imminent, there are opportunities to make contributions everywhere. How can going to Luozhong compare?
Not to mention that Luozhong is now in ruins, and even its food supplies have to be imported from other places.

Although Liu Yao was surprised, he did not go back on his word. That same day, he invited Liu Feng over again and introduced Sun Shao and the other two to him.

Liu Feng was very enthusiastic, which was just like a pillow coming to someone who was sleepy.

Sun Shao and the other two were quite talented. Although they weren't top-tier, they were all excellent individuals. Sun Shao was even fortunate enough to become the first prime minister of Eastern Wu, which shows he was quite capable.

Moreover, Sun Shao and the other two had been accompanying Liu Yao in Jiangdong for two or three years and had some understanding of the affairs in Jiangdong, making them excellent advisors.

Therefore, Liu Feng readily agreed and immediately appointed Sun Shao and two others as military advisors, with Sun Shao also serving as the rear army's military strategist.

With a major battle imminent, Liu Feng did not assign Sun Shao and the others to civilian positions in the provinces, but instead gave them military positions such as military advisor and military advisor. In the eyes of Sun Shao and the other two, wasn't this just giving them an opportunity to accumulate military merits?
Sun, Shao, and the other two were overjoyed and immediately bowed deeply to Liu Feng, thus establishing their master-servant relationship.

Liu Yao watched from the sidelines feeling a mix of sadness, loneliness, and a deep sense of pride.

In Liu Yao's view, Liu Feng was definitely giving him face.

Seeing that Liu Yao, Sun Shao, and the other two were all satisfied with this arrangement, Liu Feng was naturally quite pleased as well.

Finally, Liu Feng, along with Sun Shao and the other two, personally escorted Liu Yao to Niuzhu to board a ship heading north, demonstrating extremely courteous manners.

Next, Liu Feng's troops, who had rested in Shicheng for several days, resumed their eastward advance, while Zhou Yu, Zhang Ying, and Yu Mi's troops also completed their preparations and set off south.

Speaking of Liu Feng's route, he led Fan Neng, who was familiar with the terrain, as the vanguard, with Pan Zhang's troops on the left, Xu Sheng's troops who arrived on the right, Jia Kui's personal guard as the central army, and Zhao Fan's troops bringing up the rear, heading east.

Meanwhile, Dong Xi and Gan Ning took the waterway, splitting their forces into two routes with the land troops.

Jiangdong has many waterways, and the distance between the land and naval forces is not far, so they can support each other at any time.

In special circumstances, the two sides only need to march for one day to meet up.

At this time, among the cities north of Danyang, Jurong had been captured by Zuo Rong, Moling was garrisoned by Xue Li, Jiangcheng was under the control of Liu Bei's army, and Hushu was sandwiched between Jurong, Moling and Jiangcheng.

As a result, only Shicheng and Danyang counties would truly be at Liu Yao's disposal. If Moling could not be recovered, Hushu would at most be considered half-controlled, and over time, it might even become increasingly independent.

To the northeast of Shicheng lies Moling, the two cities being only seventy or eighty li apart.

Liu Feng neither sped up nor deliberately slowed down, and completed the journey in two days.

When Liu Feng's army approached the city, Xue Li of Moling immediately went out of the city to welcome them.

Xue Li was a very interesting person. He was a typical example of someone who was ambitious but cowardly. He was originally the prime minister of Pengcheng State. Relying on the wealth and strength of Pengcheng State, he repeatedly defied Tao Qian and disobeyed orders.

Later, Tao Qian established a foothold in the Donghai Kingdom, marched north to Langya, and repelled the Yellow Turbans of Xuzhou, greatly increasing his prestige.

Xue Li immediately chickened out again, fearing that Tao Qian would harm him. He actually gathered a group of men and money in Pengcheng and headed south to become a powerful figure in Jiangdong.

After Liu Yao took office as the governor of Yangzhou, Xue Li, Zuo Rong, and other wandering elements who stayed in northern Danyang recognized Liu Yao as their leader, and contributed some money and grain in exchange for Liu Yao's recognition and tolerance.

Liu Yao suffered a crushing defeat at Xiangcao River, losing a significant number of troops and, more importantly, his prestige.

After he fled, Zuo Rong and Xue Li each seized Jurong and Moling, and began to outwardly comply with Liu Yao's wishes while secretly opposing him.

By the time Liu Feng entered Jiangdong, these two men were no longer obedient to orders or summons.

Xue Li's good days lasted only a year before Liu Feng crossed the river and besieged Moling.

Xue Li was both shocked and frightened. He worried that Liu Feng would hold him accountable, since he had absconded with the money, grain, and people of Pengcheng. Xuzhou was Liu Bei's base of operations, and theoretically, Liu Feng, as Liu Bei's son, had the right to demand compensation from him.

Now that Liu Feng has arrived, how could he not panic?

Should we raise an army to resist?

That is naturally impossible.

If Xue Li had possessed such courage, he wouldn't have been so frightened by Tao Qian that he ran away. Furthermore, he wouldn't have died at the hands of Zuo Rong, and his followers wouldn't have been absorbed by Zuo Rong.

Therefore, after much hesitation, when the time came, Xue Li finally chose to go out of the city to welcome them.

When Liu Feng arrived in Moling, Xue Li opened the city gates wide and personally led people out to greet him.

At this time, strictly speaking, he was still a commoner. He had lost his position as the Chancellor of Pengcheng after leaving Xuzhou. Although he had occupied Moling, Liu Yao had not given him the position of Magistrate of Moling County.

From this perspective, calling him a commoner is an understatement; strictly speaking, he was a rebel who occupied a county.

Liu Feng had already devised a solution for Xue Li and Zuo Rong.

Historically, both of them were more trouble than they were worth, and their character was extremely bad. Calling them trash is an understatement.

More importantly, these two guys are like human gold pigs. Despite their nomadic lifestyle and the fact that they each managed to occupy a county, they actually have a considerable amount of money and grain in their hands.

When Xue Li left, he took all of Pengcheng's savings.

When Zuo Rong fled, he took all the wealth of the three kingdoms of Guangling, Pengcheng, and Xiapi, plus a year's worth of taxes, leaving Tao Qian with an empty Xuzhou. Liu Feng respected Tao Qian quite a bit, even though the old man was stupid, wicked, and warlike, with enormous ambitions, but his abilities were completely outmatched by his ambitions.

But there's one thing: the successor he chose is my father!
Based on this alone, Tao Qian's reputation in history will definitely not be bad, and will only be better than in the original timeline.

Liu Feng knew very well that these two were both like Pixiu (a mythical creature believed in wealth and prosperity). Zuo Rong, because of his Buddhist beliefs, would spend a lot on Buddhist rituals, but Xue Li was simply a piggy bank, only taking in and never giving out.

In the original timeline, Sun Ce had profited quite a bit from these two.

But now, all of these belong to Liu Feng.

Having made up his mind, Liu Feng politely stepped out of the army formation and received Xue Li.

Judging from his appearance, Xue Li was quite good-looking, with a vigorous spirit and a somewhat otherworldly air about him, typical of a scholar-official.

Judging by appearance alone, you would never guess that this person is both useless and greedy.

"This humble official pays his respects to the General Who Conquers the South."

When Xue Li approached Liu Feng, he immediately bowed deeply, displaying the demeanor of a renowned scholar.

Liu Feng, not being presumptuous, immediately stepped forward to help him up.

"Mr. Xue also served as an official in Xuzhou. Now Pengcheng is in dire need of reconstruction. My father often said that Pengcheng was so prosperous and thriving under Mr. Xue's governance in the past."

Liu Feng's words were also full of flowery language, and it was all mutual flattery. When he thought of Xue Li and Zuo Rong's hundreds of millions of wealth and millions of bushels of grain, Liu Feng didn't feel scared at all.

Xue Li never expected Liu Feng to be so easy to talk to and so friendly, which almost made him unable to finish his sentence.

"I dare not accept such high praise from the General of the South."

Fortunately, he remembered his purpose and immediately invited, "A banquet has been prepared in the city. I would like to invite you, Zheng Nan, to attend."

Liu Feng could not refuse, so he readily agreed.

Of course, while attending the banquet, he also brought five hundred armored soldiers with him, with Xu Chu and Zhao Fan on his left and right, which gave Xue Li quite a fright.

There's nothing we can do about it; that beast Zuo Rong loves to invite people to banquets and then make a move there.

In the original timeline, within just three years, he executed a prefect with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain) each year, with Xue Li being the second.

Although Xue Li had never done such a thing, he had been mingling with Zuo Rong for so long. Who knows if he hadn't had the opportunity to do it, or if he had done something similar but the person he was with was too low in status to be worthy of being recorded in history?

As the banquet drew to a close, Liu Feng offered a tempting offer: "Lord Xue, you and Lord Zuo are both from Xuzhou, so we should be considered family. Now I have come to Jiangdong on the orders of the Emperor and the General-in-Chief. I am determined to annihilate Sun Ce, and Yuzhang and Kuaiji will also be brought under the jurisdiction of the court... Lord Xue, you can do your part in the future."

Xue Li was now completely captivated by Liu Feng's bait.

From Xue Li's perspective, Liu Feng was absolutely right. He was originally the Chancellor of Pengcheng with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), and he had money, grain, men, and soldiers under his command. He also occupied Moling, so he was definitely a big shot in Jiangdong.

It's perfectly reasonable for Liu Feng to want to conquer Jiangdong and thus condescend to win me over.

When Xue Li heard Liu Feng ask him to lend a hand in the future, his eyes lit up.

What this implies is perfectly clear to Xue Li, a seasoned veteran of officialdom.

Liu Zhengnan was truly magnanimous.

Liu Yao is incredibly stingy. I've provided him with over ten million taels of silver and tens of thousands of shi of grain in the past two years.

But he wouldn't even give her the position of magistrate of Moling County; he was truly stingy.

If it weren't for the threats from Yuan Shu and Sun Ce, he wouldn't have had to put up with this.

Xue Li made up his mind and suddenly stood up, saying to Liu Feng, "Please wait a moment, General Zheng Nan, I'm going to change my clothes."

Liu Feng was startled, but when he looked outside and saw the bright sunshine and Xue Li's fawning smile, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lord Xue may do as he sees fit."

Xue Li nodded and turned to walk towards the back hall.

As soon as he stepped out of the hall, he beckoned his trusted follower Xue Yong over: "Immediately double the gift list... no, triple it!"

Xue Yong's expression changed. He knew how heavy the gift list was, and now it was going to be doubled again? Had his family head gone mad?

Xue Li noticed that Xue Yong's expression was off and scolded him, "Do as I say, I need it soon."

It turned out that Xue Li had already prepared a gift for Liu Feng, and it was quite heavy.

The goods alone amounted to tens of millions of coins, along with 30,000 shi of grain and various other military equipment and supplies, totaling tens of millions of coins in value.

This was not only a gift from Xue Li to show goodwill, but also a disguised form of life-saving money.

He and Liu Yao had done the same thing before; now it's just that someone else is collecting the money.

The thought of that number only made Xue Li feel more and more heartbroken.

But as soon as Xue Li recalled what Liu Feng had just said, his resolve hardened.

Liu Feng looked around in the hall. This banquet hosted by Xue Li and Zuo Rong was so unsettling. As long as he couldn't see the host, he was afraid that a row of axemen would suddenly appear from both sides.

Fortunately, not long after, Xue Li came out from the back hall and resumed the banquet with a smile.

After several rounds of drinks, Xue Li suddenly spoke up: "The campaign to pacify Jiangdong has been very costly. I am not very talented or virtuous, and I cannot help the campaign much. But since I am in Jiangdong, I should do my part for the campaign."

After saying that, Xue Li clapped his hands: "Someone come here."

At this moment, Xue Yong walked in carrying a plate with a red silk cloth on it. In the center of the red silk cloth was a silk book.

Xue Yong walked to Liu Feng's side, knelt down, and placed the red plate in front of Liu Feng.

Liu Feng was surprised and took out the silk book from the red silk, opened it and began to read it.

This red silk scroll records Xue Li's gift.

The total amount of gold was 600 catties, silver 600 catties, 9 million coins, 2,500 bolts of silk of various colors, 2,000 able-bodied laborers, and 100,000 shi of grain.

After reviewing the gift list, Liu Feng knew that Xue Li had really gone all out; he had probably used up all his savings.

This is a good thing, proving that the bait I just used to create a feeding area was successful.

"Lord Xue, this gift is far too generous."

Liu Feng looked flattered and surprised: "Such a generous gift, how can I possibly repay it?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Li was overjoyed.

Liu Feng sounds quite famous, but he's still just a young man with a shallow understanding of things. He's already at a loss with just this little bit of knowledge.

Xue Li had forgotten the pain he had felt when he cut his own flesh. Instead, he said magnanimously, "Zheng Nan is here on the orders of the Emperor and the General to conquer Jiangdong in order to stabilize the region and bring peace to the people. I am content that you, my uncle, can help in any way you can."

After giving the money, Xue Li clearly felt that his status had changed, and he even dared to call himself his uncle.

However, Xue Li was still a little uneasy, as Liu Feng's tens of thousands of troops were stationed outside Moling City.

Therefore, while he spoke, he also kept an eye on Liu Feng's expression, fearing that the other party might turn hostile.

Fortunately, Liu Feng's mind was focused on the gift list, and he was thinking to himself, "Wow!"

This gift list is worth over 100 million yuan. No wonder people say Xuzhou is incredibly wealthy, especially Pengcheng Kingdom, which is a land of great riches.

You can see that from Xue Li.

He hasn't even squandered all the money he made in Pengcheng yet, and he easily produced a gift list worth over 100 million yuan.

Xue Li invested so much money, naturally to help Liu Feng alleviate his worries.

Of the four prefectures in Jiangdong, Wu Prefecture and Danyang Prefecture are all top-tier prefectures. Wu Prefecture, in particular, although it has not yet reached its peak of development, is already the essence of the entire Yangzhou.

Xue Li asked for little; he was content to serve as the Prefect of Wu Commandery.

(End of this chapter)