Three Kingdoms: I, Liu Feng, do not want to die

Chapter 21: Breaking the whole into pieces, Liu Feng's clever plan to appease the troops
Facing his nephew Deng Xian's judgment, Meng Da shook his head and said, "I promoted Li Fu myself. I paid for the concubines he chose in Zigui. How could he betray me and join Liu Feng?"

"Don't be suspicious of each other, or you will fall into Liu Feng's scheme to sow discord among us."

Deng Xian was dissatisfied: "As the saying goes, you can know a person's face but not his heart. Li Fu always said nice things to you in front of the general. He is too scheming and cannot be trusted."

"If Li Fu had not betrayed the general, why would he have accepted Liu Feng's money and actively urged the troops to build fortifications?"

"General, you must be careful!"

Because Deng Xian focused his energy on finding out the morale of the soldiers at various fortifications for Meng Da, the fortifications that Deng Xian was responsible for were built in a mess.

Liu Feng did not care at all that Deng Xian was Meng Da's nephew, and punished Deng Xian with twenty lashes in public as a warning to others.

Deng Xian felt quite unbalanced when he thought that Li Fu received Liu Feng's reward while he was punished with twenty lashes.

The one who shouted "Deputy General Liu is going too far" was you, Li Fu, and the one who accepted the "reward money" from Liu Feng was also you, Li Fu. Who are you, Li Fu, following?
If there is too much imbalance in your heart, resentment will breed.

Therefore, when he came to report to Meng Da today, Deng Xian did not hesitate to "expose" to Meng Da that Li Fu had accepted money from Liu Feng.

Seeing Deng Xian's face full of dissatisfaction, Meng Da couldn't help but frown.

Although he had just denied Deng Xian's judgment that Li Fu secretly defected to Liu Feng, it was impossible for Meng Da to say that he had no doubts at all.

Meng Da's original plan was to allow the soldiers in various fortifications to complain about Liu Feng's harshness and cruelty. Once the morale of the army became unstable and out of control, Liu Feng would have no choice but to ask Meng Da to come forward to appease the army.

What I didn’t expect was:
Liu Feng divided Meng Da's 4,000 soldiers into more than a dozen fortifications, and personally inspected the fortifications to reward or punish the military school soldiers, making Meng Da's plan fail.

Although four thousand soldiers seemed like a lot, there were only about two hundred soldiers assigned to each fortification.

It was indeed impossible for Liu Feng to appease the 4,000 soldiers who were complaining at the same time; but it was too easy for him to appease more than 200 soldiers at a time.

Thinking of the troops becoming proactive, Meng Da couldn't help feeling scared.

If I don't do the job of appeasing the soldiers, how can I establish my prestige and loyalty in front of the soldiers in the future?
What Meng Da was even more afraid of was that as time went on, the soldiers would only know Liu Feng but not Meng Da.

after all.

The adopted son of King Hanzhong and deputy general of the army can definitely bring more benefits than a lieutenant general.

Thinking of this, Meng Da could no longer sit still: "Send someone to find Li Fu and ask him carefully."

Deng Xian was delighted to see that Meng Da had finally become suspicious of Li Fu. He said, "I will go find Li Fu myself and ask him for the truth!"

Meng Da didn't want Deng Xian to go.

On second thought, among the people around him, only Deng Xian was qualified to question Li Fu in detail.

finally.

Meng Da agreed to let Deng Xian go to find Li Fu. Fearing that Deng Xian might bring his personal feelings, he reminded him: "Don't be suspicious of Li Fu when you meet him. I always believe that Li Fu will not betray me and join Liu Feng."

"Don't worry, General. I know what I'm doing." Deng Xian agreed verbally, but he disagreed in his heart.

The next day.

Deng Xian quietly came to the fortification where Li Fu was.

Li Fuzheng was actively directing the soldiers to build fortifications, and even personally demonstrated how to dig trenches and build earthen ramparts.

Seeing this, Deng Xian was even more upset. We agreed to pretend to obey but secretly disobey, but you are still working hard here?
Thinking of the twenty lashes that Liu Feng punished him with in public, Deng Xian felt even more resentful.

Upon learning of Deng Xian's arrival, Li Fu immediately put down his work and went to see Deng Xian, greeting him warmly: "Captain Deng, why are you here?"

Deng Xian did not return the greeting, and his tone became sarcastic: "Captain Li is so active in repairing the fortifications, it seems that you have climbed up the ladder and have forgotten who appreciated and promoted you in the first place."

When Li Fu heard Deng Xian's tone, he immediately understood Deng Xian's intention.

Automatically ignoring Deng Xian's sarcasm, Li Fu put on a smile on his face: "Captain Deng has misunderstood. I, Li Fu, am definitely not an ungrateful person."

Deng Xian sneered: "I also hope that I misunderstood. The general asked me to ask you, what's going on with your military morale?"

Li Fu smiled and pretended to be stupid: "Captain Deng, the soldiers have complaints about Deputy General Liu. I have been following the general's instructions and have been indulging them."

Seeing Li Fu pretending to be stupid, Deng Xian was furious and said, "Captain Li, don't think I don't know. Not only did you accept money from Deputy General Liu, but you also actively urged the troops to build fortifications. What do you want to do?"

Li Fu's face changed: "You sent someone to monitor me?"

Deng Xian sneered: "Do I need to monitor you? If you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself."

Li Fu took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Captain Deng, please stop trying to sow discord here. The general has to repair the fortifications, let alone us. If we keep complaining, we will be putting the general in an unjust position."

Deng Xian was furious when he saw Li Fu using Meng Da's words to evade the question, "Li Fu, are you really going to betray the general?"

Li Fu couldn't help but clench his fists.

Although Li Fu did have the idea of climbing up the social ladder of Liu Feng, he did not really want to openly betray Meng Da. At most, he wanted to avoid offending both sides and gain some benefits from it.

This is the way of survival for small people with no background.

After all, being a fence-sitter is not very glorious in public, so Li Fu has been trying to fool Deng Xian, hoping to get away with it.

I didn’t expect Deng Xian to point it out directly!
Facing Deng Xian's aggressive pressure, Li Fu's temper also got the better of him: "Captain Deng, you are a captain and I am also a captain. In terms of military rank, you and I are of the same rank. Don't shout and call me by my name."

"I still say the same thing. The general has been very kind to me. I, Li Fu, am definitely not an ungrateful person."

"If you still want to drive a wedge between me and the general, then I have nothing to say."

Deng Xian was so angry that his beard began to tremble.

it is good!it is good!it is good!
You don't admit it, right?
Deng Xian said coldly, "Li Fu, don't forget. Deputy General Liu is only the adopted son of the king, not the crown prince. Although the general is only a lieutenant general, his good friend is now the Minister of the Chancellery."

"If you vote for Deputy General Liu, your future path will only become narrower and narrower."

Hearing the threat in Deng Xian's words, Li Fu's temper flared up even more: "Captain Deng, stop calling me by my name!"

"I can be a lieutenant because I have the talent to be a lieutenant, and you can be a lieutenant only because you are the general's nephew."

Deng Xian hated it most because someone questioned that he relied on connections rather than ability to be a lieutenant. When Li Fu exposed this, he jumped up and down: "Li Fu, how dare you insult me!"

Seeing that Deng Xian was getting more and more irritable, Li Fu no longer had the mood to argue with Deng Xian:
"Captain Deng, I don't know if the general really has this intention, but if you target me with this attitude, it will only make the general and I suspicious of each other. You are putting the general in an unjust position."

"I don't want to argue with you today. Please leave immediately. I will explain to the general after the repairs are completed."

(End of this chapter)