Chapter 183 Courtesy of Envoy Yuan
If the fight with Cao Cao’s envoy Cheng Yu was about confrontation, then Yuan Shao’s envoy Xin Ping felt like a spring breeze.
Liu Bei not only went ten miles out of the city to greet him, but also invited Xin Ping to board the Zhoubo's car and return with him in the same car. This was a courtesy to Xin Ping, which made Xin Ping feel good about Liu Bei.
Under this situation, Guo Jia did not have the status of deputy envoy, so he could only retreat to the second half of the motorcade.
Guo Jia was both surprised and a little envious of the courtesy Xin Ping received.
If Guo Jia was still hesitant at Xin Ping's house before, at this time Guo Jia was already planning to accept Liu Bei's invitation and try his hand at becoming an official in Xuzhou.
Xin Ping was very supportive of this. The Xin family, because Dong Zhuojun came too quickly, most families in Yingchuan were caught off guard. Not only did they lose a lot of property, but also the lives of their clan members. Couldn't save it.
In a hurry, these families could only rush to Hebei and defected to Yuan Shao, a fellow villager and regional leader.
Yuan Shao naturally welcomed this, but at the same time, because of the defection of the entire family, the Xin family was completely tied to Yuan Shao.
If there were no unexpected circumstances and opportunities, it would be difficult for the Xin family to get off Yuan Shao's boat, even if they just made separate bets.
A very important reason why the Xun family was able to place bets separately was Xun Yu.
Long before Dong Zhuo's army swept Yingchuan, Xun Yu had already seen this and mobilized his family to go to Hebei.
Marriages are common among the Yingchuan gentry, and Xun Yu would naturally not hide it from his in-laws. He not only informed the Xin family, but also the Chen, Han and other families.
Only a handful of people were willing to give up their land and properties and leave with him. Most families suffered heavy losses in this sweep.
Another important difference is that Xun Yu defected to Han Fu at the time, not Yuan Shao, so the debt he owed belonged to Han Fu, not Yuan Shao.
Other families hurriedly defected to Yuan Shao. Just because of their kindness, these families were tied to Yuan Shao's ship.
Being tied to death naturally has advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that Yuan Shao trusts them more. Firstly, they are fellow villagers, and secondly, the whole clan is naturally more trusted when they stand together.
The disadvantage is that you cannot change ships or diversify your investments.
Therefore, Xin Ping gradually became more enthusiastic than Guo Jia about going to Xuzhou.
Xin Ping didn't pay much attention to Liu Bei before, but with the continuous spread of intelligence to the north, Liu Bei's performance in the past six months has been extremely impressive. It is enough to unify Xuzhou, but he still has the energy to develop in Yuzhou and steal food from Cao Mengde. , captured the key position of Rencheng Kingdom, but Cao Cao still couldn't take him.
The better Liu Bei performed, the more Xin Ping paid attention to Guo Jia's choice.
Now that there is an opportunity, it would be a good thing to let Guo Jia, a young man who is not taken seriously in Hebei, go to Xuzhou to try his luck.
Even if the opponent fails to achieve anything in Xuzhou, he will still be a reliable mouthpiece for the future.
Therefore, Xin Ping changed his previous attitude and urged Guo Jia to accept Liu Bei's conquest.
Guo Jia still had a good impression of Xin Ping, and he was convinced by this very capable clan brother-in-law. Although he had his own opinions, Xin Ping's words were still very influential.
While Guo Jia was sitting in the car thinking about how to go to the state capital to see Liu Bei, a voice suddenly came from outside the car.
"Can Mr. Guo Jia be in the car?"
Guo Jia was startled, raised the curtain, and saw three people standing outside the car.
The leader among them is a young man with a friendly smile on his face, which makes people like him at first glance.
This young man is naturally Liu Feng, and behind him are Dong Xi and Gan Ning. They are tall and brave. Even in Hebei, which is full of talents, it is rare to see such strong men.
Guo Jia was shocked. To be surrounded by such tigers, this young man must be rich or noble, and he is far from ordinary nobles.
Guo Jia is just open-minded and informal, but he is not really stupid. They had already guessed that the other party's identity was extremely extraordinary, so how could he still sit high in the car, making people think that he was arrogant and arrogant.
So, Guo Jia hurriedly got out of the car, saluted Liu Feng and said, "I am Guo Jia, a native of Yangzhai, Yingchuan. I don't know what to call you."
Liu Feng hurriedly said. Returning the gift: "Young man Liu Feng, my father's surname is Liu, and he is temporarily appointed as the shepherd of Xuzhou."
Having said this, Guo Jia naturally understood the identity of the young man in front of him, Liu Bei's eldest son Liu Feng.
“It turns out to be the young master.”
Guo Jia saluted again, his attitude even more respectful: “Jia didn’t know that the young master was here, so he failed to get off the bus early. Please forgive me for my sin. "
Liu Feng laughed. Who said that Guo Jia was unruly, dissolute and rude? He was obviously a model of scribes who knew etiquette and etiquette.
Liu Feng took two steps forward, helped Guo Jia up, and then explained: "Just now when I was with my father, Ambassador Xin informed my father that my husband went south with him and came to Xuzhou. I When my father heard this, he was immediately overjoyed. He immediately sent me to pick him up from behind the motorcade. I would like to invite you to attend today’s banquet.”
Only then did Guo Jia understand the whole story, and Xin Ping's recommendation to him naturally did not surprise him.
Since Xin Ping urged Guo Jia to serve in Xuzhou, he would naturally try his best to give him a good reputation in front of Liu Bei.
But Liu Bei's eagerness for talents greatly exceeded Guo Jia's expectations.
Ignoring other things, this attitude is much better than Yuan Shao.
However, what Guo Jia did not tell Xin Ping was that although he agreed to join the Xuzhou Group, like Xun You, whether he would continue to stay after joining the official position would depend on Liu Bei's arrangements for him. , and the subsequent attitude towards his suggestions.
If you are like Yuan Shao, you only know how to recruit talents but cannot use them. Instead, your subordinates will form factions and fight with each other.
Then Xuzhou is just a smaller version of Hebei, so why is it worthy of Guo Jia's long stay?
Liu Feng naturally didn't know what Guo Jia was thinking, but he welcomed Guo Jia's arrival very much, and was even a little ecstatic.
The reason is very simple, because Guo Jia's character will definitely fall in love with Liu Bei at first sight, and they will regret meeting each other too late.
Essentially, Guo Jia and Fazheng are the same kind of people. They are both open-minded, bold-minded, and informal.
Historically, Fazheng and Liu Bei were so close that they almost wore a pair of trousers, and Liu Bei simply obeyed Fazheng's words.
For example, as we all know, Fazheng made great contributions in the Battle of Hanzhong.
But in fact, the entire plan for the Battle of Hanzhong, as well as bypassing Yangping Pass and surprise attack on Dingjun Mountain, all came from Huang Quan.
As early as two years before the Battle of Hanzhong, Huang Quan urged Liu Bei to expedition north to Hanzhong.
If Liu Bei had listened at that time, not only would the Shu Han have easily captured Hanzhong, but they would also have been able to preserve Hanzhong's 50,000 to 60,000 registered households and a population of hundreds of thousands, and even directly interfere with Cao Cao and Ma Chao the following year. The battle between Guanzhong.
But Liu Bei didn't listen at all, saying that Huang Quan, what you said was very good, but I want to rest now.
Fortunately, Huang Quan and Fa Zheng had a very good relationship. Two years later, Fa Zheng went to Liu Bei again with Huang Quan's plan. Liu Bei immediately changed his face and praised Fa Zheng. It was decided to launch the Northern Expedition to compete for Hanzhong with Cao Cao, who had occupied Hanzhong and Yongzhou for a year.
It can be seen that Liu Bei pays much attention to people's food.
Don't look at it now that Liu Bei loves Liu Feng very much and obeys Liu Feng's words.
But Liu Feng was actually worried about Chen Deng's influence on Liu Bei.
If his opinions conflict with Chen Deng's and both parties are very insistent, which side will Liu Bei take? Although Liu Feng is very confident, he still has worries deep in his heart.
Now that Guo Jia is here again, Liu Feng can undoubtedly use Guo Jia to check and balance Chen Deng, and Chen Deng to balance Guo Jia.
Then Liu Feng can hide behind his back and act as a mediator who sticks to his word at critical moments.
As for whether Liu Bei will fall in love with Guo Jia at first sight, Liu Feng is quite confident.
Firstly, there is law in front of us, and secondly, there is Cao Cao’s testimony.
In essence, Liu Bei and Cao Cao are actually very similar.
If it were not the case, Cao Cao would not have projected his feelings as a general of Han's expedition to the west onto Liu Bei, thus creating a compensatory mentality and wooing and rewarding him in various ways.
Cao Cao and Guo Jia, Liu Bei and Fazheng, these two pairs can switch almost seamlessly. Even Cao Cao and Liu Bei cherish each other. If it were not for the troubled times, the two would have been like-minded friends.
"Sir, please come with me to the car."
In order to welcome Guo Jia, Liu Feng brought all his drivers over, and also let Guo Jia enjoy the experience of getting in and out of the same car. treatment. In particular, Liu Feng took the initiative to show courtesy to Guo Jia, and this favor touched him deeply.
After Liu Feng finished the whole set of courtesy and corporal templates, Guo Jia's thoughts quietly changed a bit. Maybe you don’t have to obey what you say. As long as you take your own suggestions seriously, it’s okay for the lord to make reasonable choices.
Liu Feng and Guo Jia felt at home here, and Liu Bei and Xin Ping were chatting and laughing in front of them.
Liu Bei personally drove the car for Xin Ping, which flattered the latter.
Xin Ping is very aware of Liu Bei's current strength. Even if Yuan Shao comes in person, he is overestimating his ability if he wants Liu Bei to drive for him.
But Liu Bei did this for himself, which made Xin Ping feel like a wise master.
To be fair, Xin Ping was able to make friends with Guo Tu, and he actually attached great importance to his family status. According to Liu Bei's background, he was actually not in Xin Ping's eyes.
Although Xin Ping didn't dislike Liu Bei at first, he didn't have a favorable impression of him either.
Even though Liu Bei's market is now bullish, Xin Ping still believes that Yuan Shao is much better than Liu Bei.
But at this moment, Xin Ping was shaken.
He has known Yuan Shao for many years. He was a colleague in the general's palace in the past, so he naturally knows Yuan Shao's temper very well.
Xin Ping knew very well that Yuan Shao's politeness as a corporal was an act, and Yuan Shao's nature was actually quite suspicious and petty.
But Liu Bei gave him a completely different feeling. This was completely from the bottom of his heart, making Xin Ping feel like a spring breeze and caring in every possible way.
Comparing Yuan Shao's thirst for talents with Liu Bei's, it is really a judgment of superiority.
After driving into Tancheng, the car drove directly into the state capital.
Then Liu Bei led everyone to the hall with Xin Ping, including Liu Feng and Guo Jia who had caught up.
Above the hall, Liu Bei introduced everyone in the hall to Xin Ping one by one.
The more he introduced, the more surprised Xin Ping became.
Especially after seeing Xun You, he almost cried out in shock.
Of course he knows Xun You, and he is even more ashamed of Xun You's talents.
Xin Ping knew that Chen Qun was under Liu Bei, but he never expected that Liu Bei would recruit Xun You as well.
It seems that this move to urge Guo Jia to become an official in Xuzhou was the right move.
“I don’t want to say goodbye in the past, but I can see Changwen and Gongda again today.”
Xin Ping pointed at Chen Qun, and Xun You cupped his hand: “Ping was overjoyed to see his old friend safe and sound.”
Chen Qun and Xun You smiled and returned the favor: "Uncle Xin has come a long way and it has been a hard journey."
Although Xun You was old, he was very junior, so he and Chen Qun had to call Xin Ping uncle.
After Xin Ping, Chen Qun and Xun You talked about old times, he turned to salute Liu Bei, and then said: "Ping came to Xuzhou on the order of my lord. There are a few things I want to ask Liu Bei. Your opinion."
Liu Bei's expression was calm and he nodded slowly: "I wonder what brother Benchu needs to communicate about?"
Xin Ping said seriously: "Gongsun Zan openly killed Duke Bo'an. It can be said that people and gods are all angry, and the people of the north are all eager to avenge Liu Gong. This is why Liu Shijun is separated from Gongsun. "
Xin Ping briefly explained the matter of Liu Bei's departure to Xuzhou with one sentence, emphasizing "disloyalty". Said: "My Lord ordered me to come this time and also go to the Liu family in Tancheng to worship."
Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, which was a huge failure.
Liu Yu was from Tancheng, Donghai, Xuzhou, and a descendant of Liu Qiang, King of Donghai.
This Liu Qiang is no ordinary person. He is the eldest son of Guo Shengtong, the first queen of Emperor Guangwu, and the well-deserved first prince of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
But Liu Qiang was sensible and knew how to advance and retreat. After his mother was deposed, not only did he not complain or be dissatisfied, he also took the initiative to abdicate and gave up the throne to Yin Lihua's son, who was later Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, Liu Qiang. village.
Therefore, the Donghai King lineage was extremely favored in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which was completely different from Liu Bei's origin.
The Liu Yu family is a truly famous family, and both his father and ancestors were officials worth two thousand stone. In addition, Liu Yu himself was a famous scholar, and he had been deeply involved in Youzhou for many years, and was widely loved by the scholars and people of Youzhou.
Liu Yu's greatest political achievements are two points. First, he believed in Han and Hu.
In Youzhou, not to mention the Han people, even the Hu people were very grateful to Liu Yu. Regardless of the Huns or Xianbei, they all obeyed Liu Yu's orders.
At the same time, Liu Yu also made great achievements in the economy. In the past, Youzhou needed to rely on Jizhou, Bingzhou and Qingzhou in the south to support its finances.
But Liu Yu reversed the situation and allowed Youzhou's finances to have a surplus for the first time without external assistance.
For such a famous person with both political integrity and talent, Gongsun Zan killed him whenever he asked, and he killed him brutally. Liu Bei couldn't figure out what he was thinking.
There is no threat issue, because Liu Yu was already controlled by Gongsun Zan at that time. It was almost the Youzhou version of coercing the emperor to order the princes, and the effect would be even better.
Because immediately following Li Jue and Guo Si, they sent Gongsun Zan a former general, granted him the title of Marquis of Yi, and appointed him as governor of the four states of You, Bing, Qing, and Hebei. At the same time, Liu Yu was put in charge of the north. Government affairs of the six states.
This is like giving me a pillow just when I want to sleep.
With Liu Yu in Gongsun Zan's hand, it was equivalent to grabbing the military and political power of the six northern states.
But he just threw away this good card. If he doesn't die, who will die?
It is really your own fault and you will not survive.
"In addition, Tian Kai, the remnant of Gongsun Zan, is still resisting in Qingzhou. He also colluded with Kong Wenju and raised troops to plunder Qingxi several times. Our lord wanted to destroy him, but he was afraid of causing Liu Shijun to misunderstand. Therefore, I was specially sent to communicate.”
Xin Ping also knew that this job was difficult.
Yuan Shao naturally wanted Yuan Tan to completely wipe out Tian Kai and Kong Rong and unify Qingzhou.
But in this way, Yuan Shao's power would directly border Xuzhou, which was actually something neither party wanted to see.
Especially Yuan Shao, who took the initiative, was naturally worried that Liu Bei would have an overreaction. After all, the relationship between him and Gongsun Zan was extraordinary.
After listening to Xin Ping’s words, Liu Bei’s heart was in turmoil.
Liu Bei had deep feelings for Gongsun Zan.
This emotion includes gratitude and closeness, as well as confusion and resentment.
This also has a lot to do with Gongsun's conduct as a person.
You might say that Gongsun Zan valued Liu Bei, but in fact Gongsun Zan never kept Liu Bei by his side. Every time, he assigned Liu Bei to his subordinates and asked Liu Bei to be his subordinates.
You have to say that Gongsun Zan despises Liu Bei, but he did help Liu Bei when Liu Bei was in decline, and later gave Liu Bei a lot of resources when they broke up peacefully.
This is because Liu Bei has a stoic character, otherwise he would have been driven crazy by Gongsun Zan.
The biggest conflict between the two is still about Liu Yu.
It was not that no one under Gongsun Zan persuaded him not to kill Liu Yu, but all those who persuaded him were killed by Gongsun Zan.
This also made Liu Bei quite disappointed with Gongsun Zan. He saw clearly that his brother was not a successful person, and for the first time he thought about breaking away from Gongsun Zan.
But today, he has become the shepherd of a state, while his former brother has faded away. How can Liu Bei not be filled with emotion?
The whole hall, including Chen Deng, Lu Su, Liu Ye, Xun You, Guo Jia and other wise men, all felt that Gongsun Zan was about to be destroyed, but only Liu Feng knew in his heart that Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao had a bad fate. Just getting started.
The two sides had to fight back against each other several times. In the end, because Gongsun Zan himself was mentally disabled, Yuan Shao was finally able to successfully kill each other in the fourth year of Jian'an.
The funniest thing is that in the spring of the fourth year of Jian'an, Yuan Shao sent an envoy to seek peace with Gongsun Zan.
After being sternly rejected by Gongsun Zan and humiliated, he decided to fight.
It can be seen how helpless Yuan Shaona was with Gongsun Zan.
On the other hand, Yuan Tan is indeed unstoppable in Qingzhou, and Tian Kai, a loser, cannot stop him at all.
Liu Bei thought about it for a moment, and then came up with the words that had been discussed before.
"I want to commend Yuan Xiansi as a talented person, and then recommend him to be the governor of Qingzhou. What do you think?"
Yuan Shao is increasingly doting on his youngest son Yuan Shang, which makes Xin Ping, Guo Tu and others very uneasy.
Because they are all from the Yuan Tan faction, almost the entire Henan faction supports the eldest son Yuan Tan.
For this reason, he urgently hopes that Liu Bei can make some concessions in Qingzhou, because this is directly related to Yuan Tan's strength.
I just didn't expect that Liu Bei would directly throw out such a big gift package.
Not only is he willing to commend Yuan Tan as a talented person, but he is also willing to commend him as the governor of Qingzhou.
Although nominally the power of the Qingzhou Governor is far less than that of the Qingzhou Mu.
But these are already troubled times. As long as there are enough soldiers and horses, why can't the governor of Qingzhou take charge of the pastoral affairs of Qingzhou?
(End of this chapter)