My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 93 The Mastermind (Third Update, Seeking First Subscription! 36)

It was precisely because of their good relationship that Liu Bei was so angry at this moment. It should be noted that Liu Bei at this time was far less anti-Cao Cao than he would later be, and still valued his friendship with Cao Cao quite a bit.

At this moment, Liu Bei had just jumped off Gongsun Zan's ship, then had a brief encounter with Tao Qian's ship, and finally successfully jumped into Yuan Shao's camp.

It must be said that Liu Bei's job-hopping skills were truly remarkable. His job-hopping was essentially no different from Lü Bu's, as both had the experience of betraying their lords.

However, Liu Bei and Lü Bu's switching allegiances seem to have a fundamental difference, because apart from Cao Cao, none of Liu Bei's other bosses ever spoke ill of him, and they even maintained good relations with him.

Even Cao Cao placed Liu Bei first in his heart.

After all, talk is talk, and evaluation is evaluation.

They might verbally condemn Liu Bei as a weaver of mats and a seller of shoes, an ungrateful wretch, but in their hearts they always regarded him as a dragon among men.

When Liu Bei first switched allegiance to Tao Qian, Gongsun Zan even gathered a hundred Hu cavalry and two thousand refugees as his assets, showing that even though they had a falling out, their relationship was still very good.

Tao Qian originally wanted to recruit Liu Bei as his security captain, but after falling seriously ill, he reconsidered and simply handed over Xuzhou to him.

Later, when he arrived at Yuan Shao's place, he was no less impressive. Yuan Shao had his son Yuan Tan serve Liu Bei with the respect due to a teacher, and before parting, he gave him a large sum of start-up capital to go south and harass Xuchang.

By the time of Liu Biao, if Cao Cao hadn't known Liu Bei so well, he would have rushed south to Jingzhou as soon as he pacified Hebei.

If Cao Cao had enjoyed six months of peace in Hebei, do you believe that the story of him thrice refusing Xuzhou could have been repeated in Jingzhou?

In official history, it wasn't like in the fictional accounts, where the entire Jingzhou was a surrendered group.

In official history, Jingzhou was almost divided, with those who surrendered supporting Liu Cong and those who resisted siding with Liu Qi.

It was precisely because the resistance faction was also very powerful that when Liu Bei fled south and passed through Xiangyang, Zhuge Liang strongly advised Liu Bei to take Xiangyang as a stronghold against Cao Cao. He was confident that he could pacify the internal situation in Xiangyang for Liu Bei within a few days.

Zhuge Liang wasn't just bragging; he genuinely had confidence. Where did this confidence come from?

Of course, it originated from the resistance faction within Xiangyang.

In fact, even Liu Cong himself did not want to surrender; he was purely coerced.

He even felt sorry for Liu Bei, so he secretly sent someone to tell Liu Bei that Cao Cao had gone south.

Otherwise, there would have been no Changban Slope, and Liu Bei might have been trapped and killed by Cao Cao in Xinye City.

Liu Bei was furious. In his view, he was now in the same camp as Cao Cao, both allies and vassals of Yuan Shao, his beloved elder brother.

This is no joke; Yuan Shao was a truly good older brother at that time.

Despite the later life-or-death struggle between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, at this crucial juncture, Yuan Shao truly embodies the image of a good elder brother.

Ignoring the treacherous Gongsun Zan, he still managed to gather 5,000 elite soldiers and send them to Cao Cao. Not only did he bring his own rations, but he also sent an extra 5,000 shi of grain to Cao Cao, worried that his Mengde brother would have no food.

What else could this be but a good older brother?
The same goes for Liu Bei. He expressed that they had served different masters in the past and would not hold a grudge against each other. He did not mind that Liu Bei had fought against him for three or four years while standing in Gongsun Zan's camp. He also strongly supported Liu Bei in taking over Xuzhou and warmly welcomed Liu Bei and his brother to join Yuan Shao's family.

At this time, Yuan Shao was the Yuan Shao who most had the demeanor of a leader.

Liu Bei was relieved, but he didn't expect Cao Cao to be so uneasy.

You must understand that Mi Zhu is his only two lifelines. If either Chen Deng or Mi Zhu is harmed, the other one will be left to fend for himself.

This time, Liu Bei truly hated Cao Cao.

"Feng'er, in your opinion, what should we do next?"

Although Liu Bei hated Cao Cao, he knew that he couldn't do anything about him at the moment.

They couldn't even complain to Yuan Shao.

Even if you did find evidence, so what?
Yuan Shao still occupies Dongjun in Yanzhou. What can Cao Cao do about it?
Liu Feng was unaware of his father's thoughts, assuming that the other person was asking how to deal with Cao Hong.

"This is easy to handle."

Liu Feng had already planned it out: "Father only needs to imprison Han Xun first, and then sit back and watch Cao Hong make a mistake."

"With Cao Hong's intelligence, it's impossible for him to come up with such a profound and intricate scheme."

Liu Feng looked confident: "It's obvious that someone is giving Cao Hong advice behind the scenes. In my opinion, this person must be one of Xun Wenruo, Xi Zhicai, or Cheng Li."

"Judging from this technique, I think it must be Cheng Li's doing."

"Xun Yu is a man of great talent, capable of assisting a king. His strategies are upright and honest, and he uses his power to intimidate others. He may have ingenious plans, but he would never resort to such despicable means."

"Xi Zhicai came from a poor family. He was intelligent and cunning, but although he liked to use risky and treacherous schemes, he rarely used poisonous ones."

At this point, Liu Feng couldn't help but recall a joke from later generations.

The reason why Cao Cao valued Cheng Yu and Jia Xu so much was because he found the bottom line of being a human being in these two people.

Cao Cao felt that even though he slaughtered cities everywhere, even though he buried prisoners alive and robbed civilians, compared to the strategies devised by these two men, he was definitely a perfect benevolent ruler.

"In my opinion, the one hiding behind Cao Hong should be Cheng Li!"

This smell is so familiar. Isn't Cheng Li the best at kidnapping, especially kidnapping hostages?

"Cheng Li?"

Liu Bei blinked. He had never heard of him. Could he be Mengde's newly recruited strategist?
"Indeed, this man is from Dong'e County. He is extremely cunning, but he despises the common people and treats them like animals."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's face showed disgust, and he said angrily, "Such people are talented but lack virtue. Even if they have unparalleled talent, they should not be used. How did Mengde become so disrespectful to the people?"

Liu Feng also seemed to be deep in thought; this incident served as a wake-up call for him.

This is the real world, not a game world.

Just because you're focused on developing your business doesn't mean you can develop with peace of mind.

The surrounding forces will inevitably infiltrate and influence your power.

Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Kong Rong, Yuan Shu, Sun Ce, and Liu Yao are not NPCs; they all have their own opinions and plans.

Just like this time, Liu Feng only wanted to help Liu Bei to settle down and cultivate the land in Xuzhou, digest the Danyang faction, first recover Langya, then take back Guangling, and finally rebuild Pengcheng and unify the territory of Xuzhou.

These are all internal matters of Xuzhou, and there is absolutely no intention to expand outwards.

But as soon as it started, they saw Cao Cao making underhanded moves.

How many more unseen forces are at play?
This sent chills down Liu Feng's spine.

However, Liu Feng did not continue to let his thoughts wander. Instead, he brought his thoughts back and suggested, "Father, Cao Guangyi is nothing but a good-for-nothing. If anything happens, he will definitely have to rely on the people behind him for help."

"Father, you should quickly detain Han Xun and imprison him to await punishment. This is a tactic to intimidate others."

"Cao Guangyi must be in a state of turmoil after this sudden misfortune. As long as he contacts the people behind him, we can follow the clues and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

Liu Bei nodded in satisfaction. His son's thoughts were exactly the same as his own. The reason he had been so tolerant of Cao Hong was simply to encourage his arrogance and hopefully make him completely lose his head.

"Alright, now that you're back, go and pay your respects to your grandmother and mother."

Liu Bei waved his hand: "They now know that you are going to spend the night in the military camp. You should think about how to explain it to them first."

Upon hearing this, Liu Feng was immediately dumbfounded: "Father, I was merely following your orders..."

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei immediately became displeased: "Fine, I'll order you to return to your residence right now..."

"Father, I was wrong!"

Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Liu Feng immediately admitted defeat.

Liu Bei was displeased. Thinking that he had almost taken the blame for this brat again, he couldn't help but scold, "You unfilial son, get out of here!"

Liu Feng fled the main hall in a disheveled state and then went to the backyard.

Just as he expected, Liu's mother and Tian were very dissatisfied with him, complaining that he was so young and yet he had to spend the night in the military camp. Liu Feng could only endure it and secretly shift some of the blame onto Liu Bei, and finally managed to get away with it.

After leaving, Liu Feng returned to the military camp, training, eating, resting, and lodging with the Danyang army. As mentioned before, Danyang produces strong and elite troops, and Tao Qian's Danyang soldiers were genuine Danyang soldiers, so why was their combat effectiveness so poor?

There are three main reasons. The first reason is naturally that the generals and commanders were incompetent.

Whether it was Tao Qian, or the military leaders Cao Bao and Xu Dan, none of them were qualified in terms of ability or courage. Letting them lead the army would only lead to a decline in the army's combat effectiveness.

Secondly, these Danyang soldiers have been in the wealthy Xuzhou for a long time. People are inherently lazy. When poor, they may be reckless, but when they become rich, they become cautious and afraid of death. The Danyang soldiers originally had very poor discipline and relied entirely on their daring to fight. Now that they can no longer even be daring to fight, they naturally cannot become strong.

Thirdly, there is the issue of organization. These Danyang soldiers have been defeated by Cao Cao three or four times in two years, and their morale, discipline, and organization have been almost completely wiped out.

The most important thing for an army is not fierce generals or wise men, but its organization, followed by the cohesion of its soldiers.

The first thing Liu Feng did after entering the military camp was to restore organization.

Whether it's setting up a tree and hanging gold on it, or the winner taking all the spoils, or sharing joys and sorrows, the purpose is the same: to build trust between Liu Feng and the soldiers of Danyang.

With trust established, his words can be believed by the public, and the organization can gradually recover.

Liu Feng was confident that if he were given two or three months, the Danyang troops would at least show significant improvement, if not a complete transformation.

If they can regain their confidence in the battle against Chang Xi, the time to change their ways will be greatly shortened.

For the next period of time, Liu Feng lived a very simple life, going back to the prefecture twice a day, morning and evening, to pay his respects to his mother, Liu Bei, and Lady Tian, ​​and then returning to the military camp to relax.

The training programs have gradually expanded from simple military postures and marching to team drills and unit combat exercises.

Liu Feng tentatively formed a spearmen unit, using bamboo spears that were five meters long.

Fortunately, Xuzhou still had large bamboo forests at that time, making it very convenient to obtain bamboo materials.

Moreover, the simple bamboo spear is very easy to make; you only need to wrap it around one end to hold it and then sharpen the other end.

Of course, you can't do this during training, as it can easily cause accidental injury.

However, real bamboo spears are more complex than this. They require a composite handle, with a core of hardwood such as oak, wrapped with bamboo strips, and the handle is painted to be waterproof before being joined to the main body of the bamboo spear.

Such spears are waterproof and sturdy, making them a standard-issue weapon.

In an era lacking armor, spearmen like these were incredibly powerful.

If one can don leather armor, use a shield to defend against ranged attacks, and then combine it with archers to counterattack, it can be described as a perfect combination of offense and defense.

Adding a number of swordsmen and axemen to deal with the enemy's key armored soldiers would eliminate any major weaknesses.

Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang, Xiahou Bo, and Fu Shiren were all surprised by Liu Feng's new combat style and couldn't tell whether it was good or bad for a moment.

But just looking at the dense forest of spears in front, one can't help but feel that this array of spears is somewhat frightening.

However, the spear formation is not without its flaws; its biggest drawback is its cumbersome nature.

Besides its extremely poor mobility, it requires a high degree of team organization; while not to say that everyone is of one mind, they must at least be highly obedient.

There can be no cowards or reckless men who disregard military orders, and when subjected to long-range fire, the formation must not be disrupted.

Currently, Liu Feng's forces are still in their early stages and have a long way to go.

Liu Feng was extremely busy in the military camp, while things were also going on outside.

A week later, news came from the prefectural government that Liu Feng needed to return.

***********
"What a Cao Hong! What a way to recuperate."

Liu Bei stood in the hall, hands behind his back, pacing around with a cold expression, exuding an imposing aura without anger, completely unlike his usual gentle and amiable demeanor.

Just now, he told the core officials of the state present about Cao Hong's plot to frame him and Mi Zhu, his collusion with other states, and his ulterior motives.

"Since entering Xuzhou, Liu Bei has always been respectful to scholars and honored Confucianism. He has followed the policies left by Tao Yuanming without exception."

Besides Liu Bei, other notable figures present in the hall at this time included Chen Deng, Mi Zhu, Jian Yong, Sun Qian, and Chen Qun.

Lu Su's status was too low; if it were a secret discussion, then of course he could be invited to participate.

But for now, he can't attend these state government meetings.

These people sat upright, watching Liu Bei walk around in the hall, their expressions varied.

Chen Deng wore a cold smile and icy eyes. In his eyes, Cao Hong was nothing more than a fish in a pot or a turtle in a jar.

If he were honest and straightforward, and returned all the wealth he had plundered from the people to the people of Xuzhou, we might even spare his life and let him return home, thus demonstrating the benevolence of the people of Xuzhou.

I never expected this official to be so foolish and depraved.

This scheme was designed to frame the governor and the prefect, so that they could restore the power and influence of the Danyang people in Xuzhou. It was utterly malicious and shameless.

If Fang Bo is soft-hearted today, Deng will surely urge him to be executed!
Mi Zhu remained as gentle as water, silent and unresponsive. He neither paid attention to the expressions of others nor spoke to anyone. He sat upright, his gaze following Liu Bei closely, making it impossible for others to discern what he was thinking.

Even though Liu Bei was a party involved in the conspiracy, he remained calm and composed, displaying a deep and calculating nature.

Jian Yong was a trusted follower of Liu Bei, but he was unrestrained, carefree, and straightforward. He was good as an envoy, but weak in politics.

The reason Liu Bei summoned him was because of his status and position.

At this moment, everyone else was sitting upright, but Jian Yong was slouching and only concerned with sitting comfortably, showing no sign of being engaged in any work.

Sun Qian was a newly recruited talent by Liu Bei. He was a disciple of the master Zheng Xuan, recommended by Zheng Xuan, and then recruited by Liu Bei as an aide.

In the novel, this man was Tao Qian's trusted confidant. He shared some of the credit with Chen Deng and Mi Zhu, became one of the meritorious officials who welcomed Liu Bei into Xuzhou, and was even recommended by Tao Qian to be entrusted to Liu Bei on his deathbed.

However, in official history, this person had no relation to Tao Qian at all. He was recommended to Liu Bei's forces by Zheng Xuan and Kong Rong.

Sun Qian is kind, articulate, capable, and has excellent abilities in all aspects, but he is not at the top level, making him a much lower caliber than Chen Qun.

Sun Qian was somewhat sensitive at this moment. He was new to the area, and this matter involved the political struggle between the governor and the Danyang faction. For a newcomer like him with no background, this was definitely not a good thing.

He didn't want to gain merit in this matter; protecting himself was the wisest course of action.

Chen Qun, in the end, had the most complicated thoughts.

He strongly advised Liu Bei against coming to Xuzhou, feeling that Liu Bei couldn't handle the mess in Xuzhou.

But now it seems I was too young.

Liu Bei not only grasped the situation, but practically wiped out this mess.

Chen Deng and Mi Zhu had become Liu Bei's staunchest supporters, and as his subordinates, not allies.

Cao Bao, the strongest and highest-ranking member of the Danyang faction, suddenly betrayed them. He not only distanced himself from his former distant relative, Chief Secretary Cao Hong, but also directly switched sides to Liu Bei's side at the cost of four thousand troops.

Now, Cao Hong, the third leader of the Danyang faction and the only powerful chief clerk in the prefecture, has actually handed over his weakness to Liu Bei, allowing Liu Bei not only to dismiss him legitimately, but also to use him as a warning to others.

Although Chen Qun couldn't quite see how things had so smoothly turned in Liu Bei's favor, he had already keenly sensed that Liu Bei was about to become the true ruler of Xuzhou, the governor of Xuzhou who held both military and political power.

This is undoubtedly good news for Chen Qun.

Chen Qun followed Liu Bei to Xuzhou under such difficult circumstances, and Liu Bei could never forget this kindness.

It now seems that the stronger Liu Bei's power is in Xuzhou, the more qualified and capable he will be in protecting Yuzhou in the future.

As for whether Liu Bei would be willing to go to Yuzhou, Chen Qun believed he would.

With Xuzhou being a strategically important location surrounded by enemies, if we do not expand outwards, what difference is there between us and sitting and waiting for death?

"Gentlemen, what crime should Chief Clerk Cao Hong be punished for his treacherous and secretive actions, which are aimed at harming our lord, his colleagues, and betraying the state and its people?"

Finally, Liu Bei stopped pacing and looked at the officials in the hall: "Gentlemen, please speak freely."

Dear readers, brothers and sisters, there will be an extra chapter at 7 o'clock!

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(End of this chapter)