My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 92 The Arrogant Cao Hong (Second Update, Seeking First Subscription! 26)

Liu Feng naturally didn't sleep well that night. Putting everything else aside, the smell of his feet and sweat alone was enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

However, he managed to pull through. It should be noted that Liu Feng also trained with the soldiers during the day, and his hard work was no less than that of the other soldiers.

By nightfall, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep in the middle of the night, completely oblivious to the stench that was still seeping into his nose.

After daybreak, he quickly got up again.

This time, Liu Feng didn't do anything like patrolling the camp in the middle of the night to cover the soldiers with clothes or blankets.

Because the image doesn't match.

Liu Feng himself is still a teenager, so going to do this kind of thing would only be counterproductive and the results would be far worse than if Big Ears Brother did it at his age.

Moreover, what he wants is for soldiers to obey orders and be united. He values ​​organization and taking care of the lower-ranking soldiers. Ideally, lower-ranking officers should take the initiative to do these things, which would also help to integrate officers and soldiers.

Originally, Liu Feng planned to spend this period of time in the military camp, spending every day with the soldiers to deepen their impression and goodwill, and to increase his authority.

But who would have thought that after only one day, something would come up to him.

The next day at noon, Liu Feng, who was training with him, was just about to have lunch when he discovered that Liu Fa had come looking for him.

The matter he reported was quite important; it was a follow-up to Han Xun's previous report.

More than ten days ago, Han Xun advised Liu Bei to send an envoy to Chang'an to meet the emperor.

Upon learning of this, Liu Feng suspected that the man's suggestion was malicious and urged Liu Bei to adopt a delaying tactic. He then sent someone to secretly monitor Han Xun in order to find out who was behind him.

Han Xun's previous performance was extremely mediocre, and he didn't have any special talents. It's really strange that he could suddenly come up with such a plan.

Therefore, Liu Bei readily agreed to Liu Feng's request and sent someone to monitor him.

For the past two weeks, Han Xun has only been on duty and at home, without even visiting relatives and friends. His behavior is rather strange.

Naturally, Liu Bei's side couldn't catch the enemy's tail either, so he set out a trap.

Finally, last night, after waiting for a long time, Han Xun received the news that Liu Bei had refused. He could no longer sit still. After dark, he quietly went out and went to the mastermind behind the scenes.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Bei summoned Liu Feng back to his residence to discuss the matter.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Feng naturally dared not delay and hurried to the prefectural capital.

When he arrived at the prefectural capital, he saw a burly man with a square face, a short beard, and a rather imposing appearance guarding the door.

Upon seeing Liu Feng, he immediately went to greet him.

"My name is Chen Dao. I have been ordered by the magistrate to wait here for you, young master."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing that the other party was Chen Dao, Liu Feng was taken aback. Although he remained outwardly composed, he couldn't help but glance at the other party a few more times.

In some ways, Chen Dao is very similar to Zhao Yun. Both are low-key and loyal, but Chen Dao is more low-key and more obedient to Liu Bei's orders, and he will not act on his own initiative.

When faced with a problem, Zhao Yun would speak frankly and even offer advice in advance for fear that Liu Bei would make a mistake, which is actually quite absurd.

Historically, Zhao Yun once advised Liu Bei not to kill prisoners of war. This is not to say that Zhao Yun's advice was wrong, but rather that the timing was very bad.

Because Liu Bei had no intention of killing prisoners at the time, and he had very few records of killing prisoners throughout his life.

In this situation, Zhao Yun's public persuasion was like putting Liu Bei on a hot stove, leaving Liu Bei completely bewildered.

When did I say I wanted to kill prisoners of war? What do you mean by trying to persuade me?
This statement almost sparked a riot among the prisoners.

They're about to kill prisoners, why don't you riot and wait to die?

In the end, Liu Bei simply explained kindly, "I didn't intend to kill the prisoners. Zilong, you're right, but don't say that again next time."

Throughout the entire ordeal, Liu Bei never blamed Zhao Yun; this magnanimity truly befits a ruler.

Judging from Zhao Yun's personality solely from this incident, it's clear that Zhao Yun should properly thank Liu Bei.

Many people feel that Liu Bei limited Zhao Yun's talents by only making him a security captain.

It's fortunate that Zhao Yun followed Liu Bei; otherwise, he would have died a violent death long ago, whether under Cao Cao or Sun Quan.

Given Cao Cao and Sun Quan's suspicious nature, are you trying to frame me without my knowledge?

What do you want to do?
Are you trying to use my reputation to make a name for yourself, or do you have some deeper ulterior motive?

No comparison, no harm.

Without comparison, there is no happiness.

In comparison, Chen Dao was much more low-key. He was more like a loyal and obedient person who followed Liu Bei's orders in everything. As long as Liu Bei did not issue any orders that would anger the people, he would not have any objections.

Chen Dao himself didn't have many personal thoughts; he was simply loyal to Liu Bei.

Liu Feng followed Chen Dao into the mansion.

Along the way, Chen Dao quietly explained the situation to Liu Feng. It turned out that Chief Clerk Cao Hong had come to the prefectural capital and was currently paying his respects to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was afraid that Liu Feng wouldn't know the specifics, so he asked him to wait at the door. In addition, Liu Bei left him some instructions, which were written on a silk scroll.

As Liu Feng walked, he looked at the silk scroll and memorized its contents.

My father isn't completely incapable of any schemes; this tactic of striking a chord to intimidate his father is quite skillful.

Liu Feng proceeded inwards and finally saw Cao Hong in the main hall.

Cao Hong was actually a very ordinary-looking person. He had neither the elegant demeanor of a famous scholar nor the sharp features of a treacherous official; he was just an ordinary person.

If Cao Hong had any strengths, it would be that his smile gave people a somewhat honest and trustworthy feeling, and he was also good at pleasing his lord, which could also be considered one of his talents.

After removing his shoes and entering the hall, Liu Feng walked up to Liu Bei and bowed deeply, saying, "Your son Liu Feng greets Father."

"Oh, it's Feng'er."

Liu Bei looked puzzled: "Why are you here? Why aren't you in the backyard serving your grandmother and mother?"

Liu Feng replied respectfully, "I have something to report to my father."

"Let us first pay our respects to the Chief Secretary."

Liu Bei pointed at Cao Hong and said, "This is Cao Hong, the Chief Administrator of Xuzhou. He was a trusted minister of the late Lord Tao, and was always by my side in the past, never leaving my side."

Upon hearing this, Liu Feng quickly greeted him.

Cao Hong straightened up as if to feign humility, his eyes revealing undisguised contempt.

After a brief greeting to Liu Feng, Cao Hong did not continue to ramble on with him. Instead, he turned to Liu Bei and said, "My lord, Han Xun is an old friend of yours. He followed Tao Gong for more than ten years and has been serving as an official in Xuzhou for several years now."

"Han Xun worked diligently and conscientiously during this period. Although he did not do anything particularly outstanding, he was certainly dedicated to his duties."

“But these days, he often feels powerless and unable to do what he wants. He has offered advice and suggestions to the magistrate, but they have been repeatedly rejected. He has been thinking about leaving.”

“We are from the same hometown, and I have long known of Han Jun’s talent. After some persuasion, I reassured him for the time being.”

At this point, Cao Hong coughed twice in an affected manner: "It is truly impolite of me to come to pay my respects to the governor today while I am ill. However, for the sake of the prefecture and the governor, I have no other choice but to resort to this measure."

“I dare to ask Your Excellency, Han Xun’s strategy, from a macro perspective, is an excellent one. I wonder what is wrong with it? Why is Your Excellency hesitant to make a decision? I am deeply afraid that it will hurt the respect of the people of Xuzhou for the imperial court.”

"I only ask that Your Excellency forgive my presumptuous act."

After saying that, Cao Hong coughed, clearly feigning illness.

Both Liu Bei and Liu Feng could see through his deception, but neither could expose him. He was truly shameless and invincible.

Liu Bei and his son were not angry; in their eyes, Cao Hong was no different from a dead man.

If Liu Bei had previously been wary of the Danyang faction and only wanted to dismiss and expel Cao Hong, he had now changed his mind and wanted to use Cao Hong's head to prove his authority in Xuzhou.

"Guangyi's actions were entirely selfless, how could I blame you? However, Guangyi may not yet know that I have already politely declined Han Xun's plan."

Cao Hong, courtesy name Guangyi, was addressed by his courtesy name instead of his official title, as a sign of closeness. At the same time, Liu Bei also instructed Liu Feng to appease Cao Hong.

Liu Feng obeyed the order, walked behind Cao Hong and gently patted his back, and urged the maid to serve tea again.

Cao Hong simply sat there, enjoying the service of the governor's son, without showing any fear or unease, which could be described as extremely arrogant.

Logically speaking, Cao Hong should keep a low profile at this time.

At this point, Tao Qian was dead, Cao Bao had already begun to lean towards Liu Bei, and Xu Dan had also kept a certain distance from him. By all accounts, this was a situation where the empire was on the verge of collapse.

However, Cao Hong couldn't see it clearly. He always felt that Cao Bao's actions were just a delaying tactic and that he could never really want to side with Liu Bei.

In Cao Hong's view, Liu Bei simply could not offer any conditions to win over Cao Bao, let alone establish political trust between them.

As for the distance Xu Dan maintained between him, it was completely invisible. In Cao Hong's view, it was because he was pretending to be sick that Xu Dan was unable to come to his door.

Cao Hong's biggest trump card was the civil officials of the Danyang faction, almost all of whom regarded Cao Hong as their leader.

Among the Danyang soldiers, Xu Dan still held some of Cao Bao's power, but among the Danyang civil officials, there was no second Cao Hong; everyone looked up to him as their leader.

Although Cao Hong was only a chief clerk, he felt that as long as he gave an order, he could paralyze the Xuzhou prefecture. Liu Bei would be too busy trying to win him over to dare to deal with him.

Aren't you afraid of unrest in the entire state capital and paralysis of state affairs?
Sometimes, even intelligent people can't see things clearly when they're in the thick of it. What's even more terrifying is a fool like Cao Hong, who, coupled with self-deception, doesn't even realize he's about to die.

"In a broader sense, you may not know this, but it's not that I don't want to pay homage to the Emperor; it's just that the roads are blocked and communication is impossible."

Liu Bei sighed deeply with a bitter face, saying, "Ever since Dong Zhuo wreaked havoc on the court and caused chaos throughout the land, the fighting between various regions has intensified day by day. Right now, Cao Cao and Lü Bu are vying for power in Yan Province, and Yuan Shu and Guo Gong are locked in fierce battle in Yu Province. There is simply no way to go west."

"Moreover, the journey is so dangerous. I privately asked Chen Gongcao and Mi Biejia, and even with Chen Yuanlong's boldness and Mi Zizhong's immense wealth, they had no confidence that they could make it to Chang'an."

"In a broader sense, are there any talented individuals you could recommend?"

Liu Bei looked at Cao Hong with a look of eagerness for talent: "If Guangyi is willing to recommend himself, or if Han Xun is willing to go to Chang'an, I will agree immediately."

"No!"

Just as the maidservant brought the tea, Cao Hong was about to take a sip when Liu Bei almost choked on it.

"My lord, an audience with the court is a momentous occasion. It should be led by the Prefectural Governor and assisted by the Chief Administrator to demonstrate the loyalty of this prefecture. If a mere official were to attend, it would not only be unreasonable but also appear disrespectful to the court, which would likely incur its wrath."

Cao Hong's reasoning was indeed correct, but Liu Bei also had a way to deal with it.

Liu Bei readily agreed: "This matter is easy to handle. There is still a vacancy for the position of Chief Administrator. I have sent people twice to recruit Zhang Zhao and Zhang Zibu, but they have not responded. In that case, I can transfer Han Xun to the position of Chief Administrator and have him lead a delegation to pay homage to Chang'an."

Cao Hong was speechless for a while, then finally managed to stammer, "Han Xun has no merits, how can he be promoted to the position of Chief Administrator without merit?"

Liu Bei immediately changed his mind and said, "In that case, how about we transfer Guangyi to be the Chief Administrator, Han Xun to be the Chief Clerk, and send Guangyi as the Envoy and Han Xun as the Deputy Envoy to Chang'an? Is that acceptable?"

Cao Hong was thoroughly stumped by Liu Bei, his face flushed red with anger. He suppressed his rage and said, "Since you, my lord, do not heed my words and follow my advice, I, Cao Hong, am at a loss. In that case, you might as well send Han Xun to a remote area, where he can govern a large county and put his mind at ease."

Cao Hong thought he had backed down, but he didn't expect Liu Bei to press on step by step: "What is the logic behind what you said, Chief Clerk? I have clearly followed the plan of you and Han Xun, appointing you and Han Xun as the chief and deputy envoys to go to Chang'an. How can this be considered as disobeying my words and plans?"

Cao Hong became enraged and stood up, shouting, "Is Your Excellency humiliating me?"

"In that case, Hong, please take your leave!"

After Cao Hong finished speaking loudly, he flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.

Liu Feng was speechless. Was Cao Hong really that arrogant?

No wonder Liu Bei couldn't stay in Tancheng in history and had to move his capital from Tancheng to Xiapi.

Thinking about it carefully, Liu Bei really did have some difficulties.

After taking over Xuzhou, the state treasury, prefectural treasury, and county treasury in Tancheng County were almost completely empty. Not only were there no money or food, but there were also 20,000 Danyang soldiers to feed, and the people of Danyang were united around Cao Hong, Cao Bao, and Xu Dan and were hostile to Liu Bei.

To the west was a blank field, and beyond that was Cao Cao's territory.

To the east lies the Mi family's territory, and beyond that lies the sea.

To the south lies the Chen family's territory, and beyond that is Yuan Shu's territory.

Less than thirty miles to the north lies Zang Ba's territory.

Starting from Jiqiu County, if elite troops were to launch a rapid raid, even infantry, they could reach outside Tancheng County in just one day and one night.

If it were cavalry, it would only take half a day.

Liu Bei was so busy in Tancheng that he had to sleep with one eye open. If it were Liu Feng, without a way to break the deadlock, he would rather let Chen Yuanlong control the affairs of the state than continue to stay in Tancheng.

Historically, after Liu Bei moved to Xiapi, Tancheng was handed over to Chang Xi, an ally of Zang Ba.

Later, he personally recommended Chang Xi to be the governor of Donghai Commandery, which was tantamount to handing over Donghai Commandery to Chang Xi in a legitimate and legal manner.

As a result, Chang Xi became quite close to Liu Bei later on. When Liu Bei returned to Xuzhou several times to cause trouble and harass Cao Cao, Chang Xi also contributed his efforts, showing great loyalty.

Now, Liu Feng realizes that his father had offended Zang Ba to the point of no return because of this incident.

Zang Ba is only a cavalry captain with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), and he hasn't even become the governor of Langya Commandery. You suddenly promoted his subordinate to a governor of a commandery with a salary of two thousand shi. What do you expect Zang Ba to think of you?

Even if you didn't really intend to sow discord among the Taishan bandits, Zang Ba would have to assume you did.

Seeing Cao Hong walk away, Liu Feng went to Liu Bei's side and whispered, "Father, this fellow is getting impatient."

Liu Bei smiled and nodded, seemingly not angry at all that Cao Hong had stormed off.

On the contrary, he felt a great sense of satisfaction today. Cao Hong used to rely on Tao Qian's favor to hold a high position in Xuzhou and was used to acting arrogantly. He never really respected Liu Bei.

When Liu Bei was staying in Xuzhou, he was appointed Governor of Yuzhou by Tao Qian and settled in Xiaopei County, Pei State, Yuzhou. Cao Hong then slandered him in various ways, which made Liu Bei very angry.

Since Liu Bei took over as governor, Cao Hong has claimed illness and refused to attend court.

In order to stabilize the situation, Liu Bei could not rashly dismiss the other party from his official position, and the two sides were able to live in peace.

Unexpectedly, Cao Hong was still up to his old tricks and wanted to cause trouble.

Then Liu Bei could just eliminate them completely and solve the problem once and for all.

Liu Bei slowly took a sip of tea: "What's your opinion, Feng'er?"

Liu Feng sat back down and replied, "I suspect Cao Hong has someone backing him."

"Then who do you think it is?"

Liu Bei also had his own guesses, but he still wanted to hear Liu Feng's opinion.

Liu Feng's attitude was very firm, and he said decisively, "It must be Cao Yanzhou!"

"Oh why?"

Liu Bei was also guessing that it was Cao Cao, so he wanted to hear Liu Feng's thoughts.

Liu Feng snorted coldly: "Cao Guangyi first instructed Han Xun to offer this plan, which Father politely declined. Today, he has come here again to bring it up again. In essence, he probably has other intentions. After all, if Father listens to their advice, he will inevitably have to send the Prefect west."

“The west is the territory of Cao Yanzhou. I don’t believe you can say that this matter has nothing to do with him.”

Liu Feng sneered: "Even if Cao Yanzhou didn't personally orchestrate this, he's still involved. In my opinion, Cao Yanzhou is probably having a hard time and his food supplies are running low, so he's trying to get some extra money from us."

Liu Bei nodded in agreement: "That's what I think too. If Zizhong falls into Mengde's hands, I will definitely be drained of his marrow. Even if there is no money or goods in the province, the Mi family is large and powerful. Do you think I can stop them from rescuing their patriarch? Besides, I arranged this matter myself, and Zizhong fell into enemy hands because of my mistake."

"It's just hateful that Cao Mengde, even with his own backyard on fire, didn't forget to stir up trouble in my province. He's truly not a son."

Liu Bei cursed bitterly. He and Cao Mengde had known each other for many years. They had become friends in Luoyang, the capital, and had even raced horses and chased falcons and hounds with Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and others. Back then, everyone was young and carefree, and now more than ten years had passed in the blink of an eye.

Liu Bei's friendship with Cao Cao was actually even deeper. When Cao Cao first raised an army to attack Dong Zhuo, Liu Bei even went with Cao Cao to his hometown to recruit soldiers.

If it weren't for these connections, what merit or ability would Liu Bei have had to write a letter to Cao Cao, whose father had died, to persuade him to make peace?
Even if Liu Bei shamelessly wrote a letter, would Cao Cao bother to read a letter written by some unknown bumpkin?

Dear readers, I'm back again! The next bonus chapter will be at 5 PM!

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(End of this chapter)