Chapter 29 Yuanlong, I’m going to show you a treasure
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, this was the greatest political correctness, which added too many points to the Chen family.
Several sons of Chen Gui and Chen Qiu have all been promoted to positions of real power of two thousand stones, such as prefecture governor and prime minister. They must have enjoyed Chen Qiu's legacy.
On the other hand, Donghai County is indeed not as safe as Xiapi State at the moment.
There is already a white land to the west, and to the north there are Zang Ba and Chang Xi who are backed by separatist counties and have heavy troops. These are forces with unknown enemies and friends.
Compared with Xiapi State, it is indeed much safer.
Of course the most important thing is that Chen Deng realizes that times have changed.
Although the Han court was still there, Chen Deng was keenly aware that the times had entered troubled times.
In troubled times, only those with strong soldiers and horses can protect themselves.
If it was a time of peace, Chen Deng aside, the other local Xuzhou scholars would naturally hope that border warriors like Liu Bei would go as far away as possible, for fear that they would harass the countryside and loot the place.
But now, I have to change my attitude towards Wu Fu.
Chen Deng and the Xiapi clan did not have strong soldiers and horses, so they must recruit warriors to protect themselves.
This is also due to the fact that the nobles at this time did not know the huge energy they possessed. They had no idea that they could easily raise a huge army with their money, food, wealth and appeal.
Therefore, frontier warriors like Liu Bei, Lu Bu, and Sun Jian had the opportunity to participate in this gorgeous struggle for hegemony in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
Right now, Liu Bei is the partner chosen by Chen Deng, Chen family, Mi family and other Xuzhou scholars.
Because Liu Bei is not only better at fighting, but also has a reputation for kindness.
This is very important, because being kind means not knocking the marrow and sucking the bones out of places, and also because it means not doing things without a bottom line.
In this case, Chen Deng naturally hopes that Liu Bei can take his soldiers and horses to station directly at his home.
Compared with Liu Bei, Cao Cao's current reputation is terrible.
The reasons for Cao Cao's change in Yanzhou are very complicated. There are differences between Cao Cao himself and the local gentry in Yanzhou. There is also the fear of the gentry's precarious situation due to the successive battles in Yanzhou. In addition, Cao Cao promoted Yingchuan scholars and clans to suppress the local people in Yanzhou. The contradiction caused by the excessive power of the gentry.
But there is another reason that cannot be ignored, and that is Cao Cao's excessive exploitation of Yanzhou.
Cao Cao’s exploitation of Yanzhou was very heavy. This is not to say that Cao Cao plundered people’s wealth to enjoy a luxurious life for himself, but because he wanted to survive. He wanted to lead the people of Yanzhou in this troubled time. To survive, I want to strengthen myself.
If you look at historical data, you will find that since Cao Cao took over Yanzhou in the second half of 192, there have been wars for years, and the wars were fought by tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.
The opportunity for Cao Cao to take over Yanzhou was that Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, was defeated and died. In that battle, Liu Dai lost to the millions of Yellow Turbans who entered Yanzhou to plunder.
Therefore, after Cao Cao became the shepherd of Yanzhou, the first thing he had to bear was a battle with the million-level Yellow Turban Army in Yanzhou.
They finally won the battle, but before they could take a breath, they were attacked by Tao Qian's coalition forces again.
After fighting off Tao Qian, Liu Bei, and Shan Jing with difficulty, Yuan Shu came again without even getting hot.
When Cao Cao worked hard to defeat Yuan Shu and drive him away, but before he could pursue and expand his advantage, Tao Qian from Xuzhou next door felt that he could do it again, and once again organized a coalition of thieves and bandits, leading Que Xuan and Zang Ba. Want to seek revenge against Cao Cao.
In these short two years, Cao Cao fought four or five battles with more than 50,000 people, and the money and food supplies required were already astronomical. Fortunately, this was a local battle in Yanzhou and did not require a long supply line.
Otherwise, Cao Cao could not get enough money and food even if he plundered Yanzhou till the sky was high.
But even so, the amount of money and food needed is extremely terrifying, and the only source of this huge amount of money and food is Yanzhou tax.
Liu Feng personally believes that it is this heavy tax oppression that is the fundamental reason why Yanzhou scholars cannot stand Cao Cao.
After all, the political struggle in Yanzhou was just beginning. Xun Yu had not been in Yanzhou for more than two years, let alone other Yingchuan scholars.
Therefore, the political struggle in Yanzhou is far from the point where local people need to lift the table.
What really made the locals flip the table was that Cao Cao kept looting their money and food and cutting their flesh.
This is a painful experience. How could the nobles without long-term foresight endure it?
In fact, being able to endure more than two years before defecting when Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou for the second time was a Yanzhou native who had the overall situation in mind and was worthy of Cao Mengde.
Similarly, with ready-made examples like Cao Cao in Yanzhou, Xuzhou scholars valued benevolence when choosing cooperative warlords.
This also made Liu Bei stand out and make such a big mistake.
The scholars in Xuzhou were indeed right about Liu Bei. Although Liu Bei lost Xuzhou in the second year, during the year he was in power, he did little corvee and low taxes, did not cause trouble, and was not afraid of trouble. This made the scholars in Xuzhou feel very good. satisfy.
The nobles of this era were generally household dogs.
What kind of warlord satisfies the local nobles the most?
That is, don't cause trouble, be too mediocre, do light corvee and receive little tax, and try to use the least amount of money to maintain basic defense power.
Want them to help you fight out and expand your territory?
That's not impossible, but you have to give benefits to the scholars first. After giving benefits, they will invest in you.
Even so, once the attack fails, these nobles may immediately become intimidated, and it is not surprising that they turn their backs and withdraw their investment.
Therefore, Liu Bei, who was obedient, sensible and kind in the eyes of the Xuzhou nobles, still had a high reputation in Xuzhou after losing Xuzhou. He could easily gather tens of thousands of people, making Lu Bu unable to sleep well at night.
Now, Chen Deng has already convinced the Xiapi scholars.
They all agreed that the powerful gentry in Xiapi were willing to pay more money and food for Liu Bei's thousands of capable and kind-hearted soldiers.
But something was wrong with Liu Bei's reaction. He was silent for a moment, and then slowly shook his head.
In Chen Yuanlong's somewhat confused and disappointed eyes, Liu Bei explained: "Yuanlong, this matter is important, and Donghai County is also unstable. If the prefecture is moved to Xiapi at this time, the scholars of Donghai may be lost. Let me think about this carefully, and please give me more time."
Although Chen Yuanlong is a little disappointed, he also understands that going too far is not enough.
Besides, what Liu Bei said is very true. If the state government is moved at this time, the Donghai nobles will definitely scold their mothers. You must know that Chang Xi is watching eagerly from the north.
So Chen Deng decided to call it quits temporarily and planned to find another good opportunity to persuade Liu Bei to try again.
Although Liu Bei succeeded in passing the blame, he felt inexplicably wrong and quickly changed the subject.
"Yuanlong, I have prepared a good treasure for you."
(End of this chapter)