Chapter 184 Satisfied
Xin Ping suppressed the excitement in his heart and tried to remain calm as he asked: "Do you really mean what you said!?"
Liu Bei smiled generously and nodded. : "How dare Bei tease the honorable envoy, showing off his thinking ability, Bei has personally learned from him. If he is appointed as the governor of Qingzhou, I believe he can also pacify the place and let the people of Qingzhou enjoy peace again."
"Envoy Jun This is a very good thing.” He has the capacity to accommodate others, and always pushes his power downwards, so he can gain the power of others. ”
"The eldest son also told the comment that in the past, he and Shi Jun were almost defeated by him in the battlefield battles. If Shi Jun had not been dragged down by Tian Kai many times, the eldest son might not have been able to defeat him."
Liu Bei gave such a large gift package to the sedan chair, so Xin Ping naturally wanted to reciprocate the favor.
More importantly, does Liu Bei's move imply his attitude of being close to Yuan Tan?
If this attitude is true, then Xin Ping can just sit back and enjoy the success, and he has gained a great success in vain.
Having the support of a powerful vassal like Liu Bei is extremely beneficial to the stability of Yuan Tan's position.
Even Yuan Shao had to consider the attitudes of his allies when choosing his successor.
What's more, Xuzhou's governorship is flourishing. Once Yuan Tan takes control of Qingzhou, he will be bordering Xuzhou. If both parties are close to each other, not only will they have less worries, but they will also be able to communicate with each other and share what they need, so why not do it.
"The ability to show thinking, Bei has learned personally."
Liu Bei's attitude was quite kind, and he didn't care about his past defeat at all, which made Xin Ping quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
“However, I have one thing to say, I don’t know whether I should say it or not.”
Xin Ping immediately woke up from his ecstasy and knew that this sentence was probably the key to the whole thing.
Liu Bei is making a request.
If Yuan Shao can agree, then this big gift package will be a benefit for him and Yuan Tan.
If Yuan Shao cannot agree, then this big gift package will definitely be gone, but it is very likely that Yuan Tan and Xin Ping will have to pay the price.
Xin Ping cheered up and replied: "Why did you say this? But if you have something on your mind, just give me the order."
"Tian Kai pretended to be the governor and repeatedly crossed the border to plunder. This was an act of rebellion. He wanted to attack because he wanted to suppress the rebellion for the country, so he should be fully supported. However, Kong Wenju was the Prime Minister of Beihai worshiped by the imperial court, and he He is a well-known celebrity in the world. He is also committed to protecting the environment and the people, and he is not in the same league as Tian Kai. "Bei has a long history of contacts with Kong Wenju and has a deep relationship. I should write a letter to persuade Wenju." He stayed away from the likes of Tian Kai."
Liu Bei looked at Xin Ping and asked, "I wonder if Xiansi can tolerate Kong Wenju in Beihai?"
Xin Ping understood, Liu Bei opened. The only conditions are Kong Rong and Beihai Kingdom, and perhaps Donglai County. If Yuan Tan cannot control Beihai, he can only occupy Donglai across the sea if he wants to control it. This is not only laborious, but also gets twice the result with half the effort. The most important thing is that compared with Pingyuan and other four counties, Donglai does not have a particularly outstanding advantage at this time. .
The main essence of the six counties in Qingzhou is actually on both sides of the river, especially the Pingyuan Kingdom. Not only is it the leader in Qingzhou, it can also be ranked in the top ten among the entire Eastern Han Dynasty. Not only is it located in a large plain, it is also blessed with the power of salt and iron. It is backed by a large river and has a population of millions. It can be said to be a blessed land.
Although Beihai Kingdom has a large population, it has many mountains and few minerals. Its economy is actually similar to that of Le'an Kingdom, Qijun, and Jinan County, and is far inferior to that of Pingyuan Kingdom.
Qingzhou has the power of salt and iron, but most of the iron ore resources and iron official camps are located in Pingyuan, Qijun, Jinan County and Le'an Kingdom. There are only a few in Beihai Kingdom and Donglai County. Two or three iron deposits.
Xin Ping quickly made a judgment. If divided in this way, Yuan Tan might not suffer.
Because Yuan Tan, Xin Ping and others were very hesitant about whether to touch Kong Rong.
In the original time and space, Yuan Tan also sent troops to destroy Kong Rong in the first year of Jian'an (196). Kong Rong and his family were also captured by Yuan Tan.
It was at this time that Zheng Xuan, the world-recognized leader in Confucian classics, lost his only son.
His son Zheng Yien was recommended as Xiaolian by Kong Rong, so he had the friendship of being the master.
When Kong Rong was attacked and destroyed by Yuan Tan, Zheng Yi'en was sent by Zheng Xuan to rescue Kong Rong, but he was defeated and killed.
But in this time and space, Liu Bei's Xuzhou Group is getting stronger and stronger, and Liu Bei and Kong Rong have a very good relationship, which makes Yuan Tan very afraid.
If it continues like this, it is definitely not an option.
Xin Ping came here this time with the intention of discussing the issue of Qingzhou with Liu Bei. This was not only Yuan Shao's order, but also his and Yuan Tan's needs.
Unexpectedly, Liu Bei spoke first, and the conditions he gave were quite good.
"My envoy's words are very reasonable and even reasonable."
Xin Ping thought carefully and said: "After the foreign minister returns, he will definitely report your goodwill to my lord truthfully. And tried his best to promote this matter."
Liu Bei was immediately overjoyed and thanked Xin Ping: "In this way, I have the honorable envoy to mediate."
Xin Ping hurriedly left the table to get out of the way, and returned to pay homage: "The envoy is a magistrate of a state. He can't judge a scribe. How dare he be treated like an envoy?"
Liu Bei, however, stepped forward and pulled him back to the table: "Mr. Why be so humble? Bei had heard of Mr. Liu's name in the past in Luozhong. He only regretted that at that time, he was so humble that he was not allowed to pay a visit to Mr. Otherwise, why would he be able to see him now? "
I am really ashamed of myself for being so kind to you."
After the two parties returned to their seats, Xin Ping spoke again: "My lord heard that your envoy had some misunderstandings with the envoy Cao of Yanzhou. , I have been specially ordered to mediate and eliminate the misunderstanding between the two, so as to avoid causing a greater tragedy."
Yuan Shao's attitude towards Cao Liu is very clear, that is, Cao Cao is his biological brother, and Liu Bei is at best a cadre. younger brother.
It's just that Cao Cao's younger brother is not very obedient, so Yuan Shao doesn't mind using Liu Bei to check and balance Cao Cao.
But the distance of the relationship has not changed yet, especially when Liu Bei's Xuzhou unexpectedly expanded to overtake Cao Cao, which will naturally attract Yuan Shao's attention.
But when it comes to suppression and fear, it is far from time.
After all, Yuan Shao's thinking still cannot escape the pattern of the times. In his opinion, Liu Bei's reputation is far inferior to that of Cao Cao, let alone compared to him.
Now that the scholars in Xuzhou can support Liu Bei, it is because I, Yuan Shao, did not go there.
Whenever I, Yuan Shao, pass by, the Xuzhou scholars will vote with their feet and they will only choose me.
In fact, this is really what happened, otherwise Yuan Shaona would have received so many letters from Litong during the Battle of Guandu.
The authors of these letters, one after another, are all Boss Cao’s dearest relatives and friends.
In addition, another very important reason is that Yuan Shao needs Liu Bei to help him suppress his good brother.
Originally, this mission belonged to Cao Cao, but now that Cao Cao's home has been stolen by Lu Bu, there is no time left to suppress Yuan Shu.
From Yuan Shao's perspective, if Liu Bei hadn't been there, Yuan Shu would have caused trouble in the southeast.
It is for this reason that Yuan Shao maintains goodwill towards Liu Bei's expansion, especially when Liu Bei chose to go south to capture Guangling instead of setting foot in Qingzhou, which made Yuan Shao very happy.
Otherwise, Liu Bei would have to face pressure from Yuan Shao at this time instead of adjustment.
“It’s easy.”
Liu Bei burst out laughing: “To be honest, Brother Meng De’s envoy has already arrived in Tancheng, a few days ago. After the discussion, we have settled our differences.”
"Ah, is this happening?"
Xin Ping was shocked. He didn't expect Cao Mengde to send someone to Xuzhou first.
"That's right."
Liu Bei nodded and said: "Brother Mengde and I have put aside all our previous differences. Brother Mengde's envoy Cheng Zhongde is still in Tancheng. The envoy will be at the Guest House later. "
Xin Ping laughed from the bottom of his heart and complimented: "The magnanimity of the king is admirable."
Xin Ping's words are correct. Now that Xuzhou has strong soldiers and horses, Liu Bei is obviously very generous when he is willing to settle the past feud with Cao Cao, who has a deep hatred for him.
In fact, the voice of revenge within Xuzhou was very small. It is not known whether it was because Cao Cao was afraid of being killed, or because of the massacre of the city, which meant that none of the victims' relatives could escape.
In short, the forces within Xuzhou do not have a strong desire for revenge, and Liu Bei does not even need to suppress them.
This also surprised Liu Bei and his son. It is no wonder that in the original time and space, except for the rebellion led by Liu Bei, many counties and counties in Xuzhou supported it. The rest of the time, the greatest resistance to Cao Cao was non-violent disobedience.
Even Xuzhou scholars like Chen Deng, who had more than ten thousand troops in Guangling, did not stab Cao Cao in the waist at a time like the Battle of Guandu. Not to mention taking the initiative to poke the waist, if Chen Deng gave way to Guangling and allowed Sun Ce to go north, Cao Cao would probably kneel down directly.
But to a certain extent, this is also a good thing, as it allows Liu Bei to have almost no political burden and pressure.
Xin Ping was also very happy at this time. He never expected that this mission to Xuzhou would go so smoothly, and he solved both tasks easily.
This made Xin Ping a little excited.
In fact, in addition to the two tasks of Qingzhou and Yanzhou, Yuan Shao also arranged a task for Xin Ping.
It's just that this task is different from the previous two tasks. It is not mandatory, but allows Xin Ping to judge whether there is an opportunity.
This mission is Runan County.
As the second largest county in the world, Runan County is not only the second largest in terms of population and economic scale, but more importantly, it also has a large number of talents.
Although after Dong Zhuo's chaos, Runan County was also raided and raided several times by the Xiliang army, which suffered a lot.
Compared to Nanyang County, which Yuan Shu had harmed, the situation was much better, not to mention that Runan County was originally the second largest county in the world.
The most important thing is, who was the original local snake in Runan County?
Isn’t it their Yuan family?
The entire Runan County can be said to be led by the Runan family, so the only people who can compete for Runan County at the moment are Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. Otherwise, Liu Feng would not have urged Liu Bei not to set foot in Runan.
In the original time and space, why did Cao Cao have an army of hundreds of thousands, but he could only lead 30,000 to 40,000 when he attacked Guandu?
It’s not that Cao Cao only had tens of thousands of soldiers. Think about it when Cao Cao fought against Zhang Xiu, Liu Bei, and Lu Bu. When did he lack soldiers? His first pot of gold in Yanzhou was to defeat the Qingzhou Million Yellow Turban Army, from which he selected 300,000 elites to form the Qingzhou Army.
Whether the Qingzhou Army is strong in combat effectiveness or not is not something to say, but at least in terms of loyalty, it is difficult for other warlords to instigate rebellion.
Why?
Because the Qingzhou Army believed in the Yellow Turbans, it was naturally hostile to other warlords.
But during the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao only brought tens of thousands of Qingzhou troops. Where did the rest go?
On the one hand, there was not enough food, and on the other hand, Runan rebelled again.
This forced Cao Cao to send Li Tong to bring more than 10,000 elite soldiers south to quell the rebellion and take up residence in Runan. During the Battle of Guandu, Runan not only failed to provide Cao Cao with any soldiers, money or food, but instead helped Yuan Shao to be restrained. Cao Cao captured tens of thousands of elite soldiers.
In the battle for Runan County, Yuan Shao is currently far inferior to Yuan Shu. After all, the distance is too far.
Yuan Shao is separated by two whole states, but Yuan Shu is right next to him.
Even if Yuan Shao wants to send someone to serve as the prefect of Runan, he is worried about the soldiers in Yuan Shu's hands.
Even if someone is not afraid of death and dares to come to Runan County to take office, he will not be able to lead many troops and Yuan Shu can destroy him with a snap of his finger.
But if Liu Bei's support can be obtained, the situation will be completely different.
Yuan Shao is confident that he can easily gain the support of the entire Runan County.
However, he also knew that this request was a bit excessive, at least Yuan Shao could not get the benefits of the consideration now.
Therefore, he gave Xin Ping the leadership of this task and allowed him to make his own decision.
Seeing that Liu Bei was so easy to talk to, Xin Ping couldn't help but get ready to make a move.
What if Liu Bei
can even do this, then he will have made a great contribution after he returns, and Yuan Shao will definitely be able to ask for a job to reward his merits.
So, Xin Ping probed: "I wonder what your envoy thinks of Runan?"
Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Xin Ping meant.
Xin Ping had to continue: "Runan has outstanding people, rich products, and a large population. It is also the hometown of Yuan Jizhou. To be honest with you, the people of Runan all hope that Yuan Jizhou can return to his hometown. If not, I can recommend an excellent county governor for my hometown.”
At this point, Xin Ping sighed: "I can only hate Yuan Gongzhu for obstructing him. He relied on his powerful troops to repeatedly drive away and force the governor of Runan recommended by my lord."
Liu Bei then sighed: "Yuan The highway is really hateful, and the envoy didn't know it. Previously, he had invaded the territory and wanted to seize Guangling. Fortunately, the capable ministers and fierce generals in the state fought in a bloody battle and were able to repel them. "
Liu Bei was able to defeat him at this time. He also figured out what Xin Ping meant, but he was indifferent to it.
Now that nearly half of the country of Pei is still in Yuan Shu's hands, where can I find the spare energy to intervene in Runan, let alone make wedding clothes for others.
So, Liu Bei complained about it and talked to Xin Ping about Yuan Shu's powerful power. Not only did he encroach on Pei Kingdom in the north and plot Guangling, but he also sent Sun Jian's son Sun Ce to the south to attack Dantu and succeeded, and he was now sweeping the country. Wujun.
Xin Ping knew some of these news and some didn't, and even if he knew it, it was not as detailed and accurate as what Liu Bei said now.
Yuan Shao is well aware of Yuan Shu's resurgence and growing strength, not to mention that Huainan is almost close to Runan. Yuan Shu's influence on Runan has long surpassed Yuan Shao's.
Yuan Shao also saw this and was anxious in his heart. He frequently put pressure on the front line so that they could completely attack Gongsun Zan as soon as possible.
At the beginning of this year, Ju Yi defeated Gongsun Zan in the Battle of Baoqiu. Together with the Youzhou coalition forces, they attacked Gongsun Zan's hometown Yixian County with great momentum.
What Yuan Shao didn't expect was that for more than half a year after that, Ju Yi actually sent troops to Yi County. There was no progress, but a lot of food was consumed.
In contrast, Yuan Shu, who was beaten by his younger brother, not only succeeded in establishing a foothold in Huainan, but also began to expand. This made Yuan Shao still sit still.
At the same time, Cao Cao was trapped in the civil strife in Yanzhou, and Liu Biao was aloof from Yuan Shao. This was the fundamental reason why Yuan Shao tolerated Liu Bei's expansion in good faith, because now he could only rely on Liu Bei to suppress Yuan Shu.
Xin Ping's mind turned and he suggested tentatively: "Your Majesty, Runan County is located in the heart of the Central Plains, connecting Huaisi to the south, Luojing to the north, Peng and Pei to the east, and Nanyang to the west. This place If Yuan Shu is allowed to go, I am afraid it will be detrimental to the envoy and Xuzhou. I dare to ask the envoy to pay attention to this matter as soon as possible and not to be careless."
Liu Bei sighed: "Hey, Bei. How could one not know how important Runan is, but the Yuan family is deeply rooted in Runan and the people are convinced. Unless Brother Benchu can go south to Yuzhou, who can stop Yuan Shu from taking control of Runan?"
Xin Ping nodded in agreement. But I had some ideas in my mind.
It seems that Liu Bei also understands the importance of Runan County, and even wants Runan County, but he is not confident, so he avoids it.
If this is the case, then Xin Ping has some ideas.
But it’s useless to get Liu Bei’s consent. Yuan Shao still needs to nod.
Therefore, Xin Ping also changed his tone and no longer deliberately directed the topic to Runan County.
Subsequently, Liu Bei hosted a banquet in honor of Xin Ping and Guo Jia, which lasted until late at night.
Liu Bei personally sent Xin Ping and Guo Jia outside the state capital and watched the motorcade leave before turning back to the capital.
"Father, it seems that Yuan Benchu still wants to compete with Yuan Shu for Runan."
Xin Ping's performance was too obvious. Among the people present, except for the generals, most of the people Everybody can see it.
Liu Bei's face was rosy and he had obviously drank a lot of wine.
With the support of Liu Feng, he said as he walked: "Feng'er is so concerned about this matter. Is it because he is worried that his father will be trapped in Runan?"
Liu Feng laughed and shook his head: "Today is different from the past. If Yuan Shao can really give us support in terms of status, Runan can really compete. But my child feels that greed for more is the most important thing for me in Xuzhou right now. It is to lay a solid foundation and spend one or two years to complete the farming. Once the farming is completed, we in Xuzhou will have enough food to increase our troops."
"In this way, the initiative lies in our hands, rather than relying on Yuan Shao. Endorse us."
Hearing this, Liu Bei nodded slowly. He could understand what Liu Feng meant.
If we fight for Runan in the name of Yuan Shao, the short-term effect will indeed be very good, but this Runan will always be the Runan of the Yuan family, and there will be too many troubles in the future, and it will only benefit Yuan Shao. More importantly, if Yuan Shao suddenly withdraws his endorsement, Liu Bei will not only have no countermeasures, but also all previous efforts will be wasted.
Sometimes what is fought for is the window period of one or two years.
If Cao Cao and Lu Bu hadn't fought to the death in Yanzhou, how could Xuzhou have captured Rencheng, Lu and Pei so easily?
I am afraid that just touching Feiguo County and Hua County in the two mountain valleys will attract Cao Cao's army.
How is it like now, when Cheng Yu comes to the door in person, and even tries to persuade him and pays an extra price, just to appease Xuzhou not to do stupid things.
Such a good thing would not have happened a year or two later, not even a month or two later, after Cao Cao drove Lu Bu out of Yanzhou.
(End of this chapter)