Chapter 247 Strengthening the Allies
“Thank you for your hard work, my dear.”
The emperor’s voice changed slightly and became obviously softer. Obviously Liu Feng’s gift was sent to the emperor’s heart. Even the title quietly changed from Liu Qing to Ai Qing.
As an emperor and the co-owner of the world, Liu Xie couldn't even provide Shu brocade to the queen. If Zhang Yang hadn't sent a batch of cloth, they would even be wearing old clothes.
This was something that the emperor, who was determined to revive the Han Dynasty, could not tolerate.
"Ai Qing, please come to the table."
The emperor cordially invited Liu Feng to the table, and then asked with concern about the process of the Southern Expedition.
Liu Feng naturally told some stories about the Southern Expedition with half truths and half lies. He did not brag about himself, but praised his generals.
When he heard that Pan Zhang had blocked the way back to the city for the Yingyang Yellow Turban and Yingyin Yellow Turban reinforcements, the emperor couldn't help but admired: "This is a fierce warrior."
Then I heard that Tai Shici and his three men rode on yellow scarves and drove people into the river, and their faces turned red with excitement.
At the end, the emperor said with emotion mixed with envy: "There are so many fierce generals under your command."
Liu Feng bowed his head and said humbly: "I am your majesty's minister, and I am your subordinate. Your Majesty's ministers. To receive such praise from your Majesty, I will do my best to serve the court and live up to your Majesty's expectations."
"Okay! Okay!"
Emperor Liu Xie is very pleased. Excited, he shouted "Hello" three times in a row. Compared with Cao Cao, Yang Feng and the others, Liu Feng was simply too loyal and obedient.
After the excited praise, the emperor fell into a brief silence.
At this time, there were only the emperor, Zhong Yao, Liu Feng and two close eunuchs in the entire main hall.
Liu Feng felt a little enlightened. It seemed that the emperor wanted to talk to him about something "from his heart".
Sure enough, after a moment of silence, the emperor suddenly asked: "Ai Qing has been here for a long time, and this time King Qin Qin came to Luozhong. I wonder what Ai Qing thinks of the situation in the DPRK?"
Liu Feng narrowed his eyes. The emperor's temper must have been too anxious.
You want to pull yourself into the team, want to push yourself out to compete with Cao Cao?
This is a bit whimsical.
"There is a general in the court who oversees the affairs of the state, and the three princes and nine ministers are all present. How dare I dare to comment on the affairs of the state."
Liu Feng replied respectfully, with a clear meaning behind his words. It is very clear that I am just a General of Jianzhong, and I have not recorded any official affairs. In terms of emotions and reasons, the affairs of the government are beyond the control of a general like me.
A trace of disappointment flashed across the face of Emperor Liu Xie. It was indeed what Liu Feng thought. He really wanted to push Liu Feng out to fight Cao Cao in order to gain more real power. He even wanted to gain more power from Xuzhou gets more support.
Liu Feng felt a little disgusted. It is human nature to bully the weak and fear the strong.
He acted more loyal and obedient just for his own benefit, and the emperor immediately made plans for Xuzhou.
Yuan Shao is located on the north side of the Yellow River, separated from Cao Cao by a river. It is less than 800 miles from Hanoi to Luoyang. You have the ability to find him.
Oh, by the way.
The emperor still refused to give Yuan Shao's reward.
Liu Feng secretly felt that although he had framed this matter on Cao Cao, it would still easily lead to complications if it was delayed for a long time.
Although Yuan Shao delayed going south until Gongsun Zan died in history, he endured it even if he was ridiculed by the inflated widow Cao Feilong, humiliated and insulted by the book editor.
Widow Cao is really a complex person.
Generally speaking, it is difficult for poets and politicians to overlap, especially in the feudal era.
In the feudal era, politicians needed to be cold-blooded and rational, good at fighting within the rules and formulating new rules. But poets need to be romantic and free and easy, to transcend rules.
But Cao Cao is not the person. After he just took over as the general, he went so far as to issue an edict to Yuan Shao in the name of the emperor Liu Xie, humiliating the other party: "The territory is vast and there are many soldiers, and a private party is specially established; the king of Qin is not seen." , but see sending troops to attack each other.”
In Liu Feng's opinion, this was simply crazy.
It’s not that you can’t stimulate Yuan Shao, but you must at least have your purpose, or profit, right?
But Cao Cao did it unscrupulously just to feel good and vent his bad anger.
Yuan Shao was so angry at that time that he felt that he had raised a white-eyed wolf out of his heart and soul.
Yuan Shao directly reported to Emperor Xian, saying that he was willing to die to clarify his ambition, just hoping that Emperor Xian would not be deceived by villains and force such a loyal minister like himself to die.
At the same time, he yelled at his cronies: "Cao Cao almost died several times. I saved him from trouble many times, but now he is ungrateful and holds the emperor hostage to order me!"
Cao Cao's wave of arrogance and almost brain-deadness The only advantage of provocation was that he had humiliated Yuan Shao so much. Yuan Shao still held back and chose to deal with Gongsun Zan first before going south.
But Cao Cao's losses were ridiculously large.
First of all, the general he had just served for less than a few months was directly given to Yuan Shao. He could only be transferred to Sikong and lost his legitimate title of auxiliary government. It was not until twelve years later that he resigned from the position. Therefore, the prime minister was dug out from the pile of paper.
Secondly, Yuan Shao hated Cao Cao from then on, and the two sides were completely at odds.
In the end, Yuan Shao began to have crooked ideas about Emperor Xian and wanted to intervene in the government affairs.
Judging from this result, Cao Cao was really stupid.
Therefore, Liu Feng is not only worried that the changes in Xuzhou will cause a change in Yuan Shao's attitude, but he is also very worried about the mental state of the widow Cao.
Cao Cao's romantic temperament made him a little more unpredictable in politics.
Liu Feng's bottom line is to support Yang Feng, Zhang Yang, and Guo Gong as vests to contain Cao Cao and prevent Cao Cao from monopolizing power, but it is absolutely impossible for him to stand up and compete with Cao Cao for the leadership of the government.
To put it simply, Cao Cao can be the Prime Minister, but he cannot be the Prime Minister.
Seeing Liu Feng being so low-key, Emperor Liu Xie couldn't say anything to him.
After comforting Liu Feng for a while, he asked Zhong Yao to send him away.
After Zhong Yao saw off Liu Feng, he returned to the hall.
“Zhong Qing, I’m afraid Liu Qing’s attitude is different from what you said.”
As soon as Zhong Yao came back, Emperor Liu Xie couldn't wait to speak.
After Zhong Yao saluted calmly, he replied under the urging eyes of Emperor Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, the burden you have given Liu Jianzhong is too heavy. It has exceeded the weight he can bear."
The Emperor Liu Xie was stunned for a moment, then understood, and sighed: "But Yuan Shao has been disobedient for a long time, and a minister has repeatedly tried to intervene to abolish Li Li, with an army of 100,000. But he only knows how to intrigue and expand his power, but he ignores me who is close at hand."
Right now, Cao Cao is not stupid enough to issue an edict to humiliate Yuan Shao. In the eyes of Emperor Liu Xie, Zhong Yao and others, Cao Cao was also Yuan Shao's ally, younger brother, and outer vassal.
They instinctively believe that Cao Cao's control of the court situation will inevitably be greatly influenced by Yuan Shao.
Once Liu Feng comes out to confront Cao Cao, Liu Feng will not only face Cao Cao, but also Yuan Shao behind him.
How can Liu Feng shoulder this burden?
Besides, with Cao Cao's romantic character, he might turn his back to the Yuan Shao brothers again. Then Liu Bei would have to face a huge alliance of five states.
Why did Liu Feng keep fighting with Cao Cao without breaking through, and even gave Cao Cao opportunities in some places to tolerate the opponent's development? Isn't this the reason why Liu Feng was worried?
When the emperor Liu Xie said the last part, he burst into tears: "If Liu Qing is also afraid of Yuan Shao, who else in the world can rely on him?"
Liu Xie's character is very smart, which completely inherited the genes of his father, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
At the same time, Liu Xie inherited his father's kindness, selfishness and weakness.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was actually quite smart. He looked dim, but he was actually very smart. Unfortunately, he never used his political skills on the right path and only cared about himself. Make money and enjoy it.
Liu Xie has no chance in this regard, but kindness, selfishness, and weakness have indeed withstood the test of history.
What he hopes most is that his men will seize power for him and then return it to him.
How is this different from daydreaming?
But Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was stunned and had a lifelong dream.
In the final analysis, it comes from kindness, selfishness and weak character.
"Your Majesty, Xunzi said: Accumulate steps to reach a thousand miles, accumulate small streams to become rivers and seas." Zhong Yao admonished seriously: "Now that your Majesty wants to revive the royal family and revive the great Han Dynasty, you should use this to encourage yourself. Although Liu Jianzhong was unable to ward off evil and evil for His Majesty, his loyalty and obedience were not false. As long as His Majesty kept close contact with loyal and obedient ministers and promoted good ministers, the court would naturally punish evil and promote good, and over time, everyone would be upright. Yingchao, are you still afraid that you will not be able to regain your authority?"
The emperor Liu Xie suddenly realized this and actually stood up and stepped forward to hold Zhong Yao's hand: "Zhong Qing's words are like morning bells and evening drums, which are thought-provoking. I also ask Zhong Qing not to think that I am weak in virtue and continue to assist me."
Zhong Yao was moved to tears, and he immediately paid homage and said: "How dare I fail to do my best and die."
Liu Xie held Zhong Yao's hand and was so moved that he burst into tears.
For a while, the king and his ministers got along well with each other.
After Liu Feng left the palace, he returned directly to the mansion given by the emperor.
During this period, the repairs in Luoyang were still in progress. Although the speed was not fast, some usable houses and buildings were actually repaired.
The houses and courtyards among them were rewarded by the emperor to the ministers.
The ones with the best treatment are naturally Cao Cao, the general, Liu Bei, the hussar general, Yang Feng, the chariot general, and Zhang Yang, the guard general.
The three princes and nine ministers also have their own rewards, and the officials below can still only live in tents in the open space.
As Liu Bei's son, it is only reasonable for Liu Feng to live in his father's house.
After returning to the house, Yang Feng and Zhang Yang unexpectedly visited together.
The two brought news that gave Liu Feng a headache before, but now he was a surprise.
In just over a month, more than two thousand Sanhe knights from Hedong, Hanoi and the remaining counties of Henan Yin came to defect.
This news surprised Liu Feng, but after hearing Yang Feng’s introduction, he felt it was natural.
“The situation on the east side of Hedong is very bad. The drought is getting more and more serious. The big rivers in Hedong are almost bottoming out, and almost all the small rivers have dried up.”
As Yang Feng spoke, he cursed the thief.
The predecessor of the Baibo Thieves was the Yellow Turban Army. Together with the Gepi Yellow Turban Army and the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, they are called the post-Yellow Turban era, which is the three main branches of the Second Yellow Turban Uprising.
It is a pity that these three majors are not very good. On the contrary, the Montenegrin Yellow Turbans led by Zhang Yan, a remnant of the first Yellow Turban Uprising, survived to the end and even made a fortune.
However, because of this, Yang Feng cursed God with great vigor. After all, he believed in Huang Tian, and he and Heaven could be regarded as irreconcilable.
“This thief is increasingly giving people no way to survive.”
Yang Feng cursed angrily, which made Liu Feng a little curious.
He even wanted to ask Yang Feng, isn't your slogan of the Yellow Turbans: Heaven is dead, Huang Tian shall stand?
The one who is denying people a way to live now is the dead Cangtian or the established Huangtian?
However, considering that they had a good relationship with each other, the words were swallowed back.
Zhang Yang added with a smile on the side: "It's not all Hedong. The good men in Hanoi also admire the Xuzhou Army and come to join the army one after another. I can't stop them even if I want to. By the way, even Henan More than 400 people appeared on the white ground in Yin and wanted to join the army.”
Most places in Henan Province are deserted, but there are a few exceptions.
For example, the two forward strongholds from which the East and West Route Army set out this time, Xinzheng by Guan Yu's army and Liangxian by Taishi Ci, both survived because they were not the passage through which the Xiliang army set out.
The Xiliang army marched south to Yingchuan and Runan, and their favorite route was Sheyuan Pass. They left Yangcheng, went down to Yangzhai, and then swept across Yingchuan. Almost all military operations in Liangzhou took this route.
Liangxian and Xinzheng each had 10,000 or 20,000 people remaining. After hearing about the reputation of the Xuzhou Army, 300 or 400 people came to defect.
Most of these people have horses and are from good families. They have always been a regular source of troops for the Eastern Han Dynasty to recruit Sanhe knights.
Now they all come to Liu Feng.
If it had been changed before, Liu Feng might have hesitated, but after going south to sweep away the Yellow Turban Battle of Yingchuan, he deeply saw the excellent personal abilities of the Three Rivers Knights and their skillful and tacit understanding of the battle formation. He couldn't bear to turn away these high-quality soldiers.
Besides, Liu Feng was also a little worried about leaving this village and losing this store.
If it hadn't been for the severe drought in Hedong, I'm afraid even if Liu Feng specially came to recruit people and offered twice as much salary as now, there wouldn't be as many Sanhe knights willing to leave their homes as now.
Calculating carefully, King Qin of Hedong recruited six or seven thousand knights in one breath this time. This man eats horse chews, which at least increases the food consumption of 20,000 infantrymen, and at the same time costs at least 10,000 additional infantrymen's money.
If it hadn't been for the seizure of so much food, Liu Feng would not have had the courage to say what I wanted to say.
In addition, when Yang Feng and Zhang Yang were in Luozhong during this period, not only did they not turn against Cao Cao, but they resolutely sided with Liu Feng, which surprised and moved Liu Feng.
At the same time, the two of them provided food and tents to settle the knights who came to Xuzhou Army, which was considered a big favor to Liu Feng.
Since the younger brother is so docile and obedient, the older brother cannot be stingy either.
Liu Feng said thoughtfully: "I have troubled my two uncles to take care of the matter in Luozhong. This time I went south, and I also gained a little. A new batch of supplies was also sent from Xuzhou. I I have specially prepared a small gift for my two uncles, but please don’t refuse.”
Liu Feng prepared for Yang Feng 15,000 shi of grain, 1,000 shi of salt, two bolts of Shu brocade, 300 bolts of various colored silks, five kilograms of frosted sugar, thirty kilograms of snow salt, and other various materials. a little.
These fifteen thousand shi of grain and one thousand shi of salt alone are enough for Yang Feng to support his troops for two years. Even if he brings Han Siam's soldiers, he can support them for more than a year.
The gift given to Zhang Yang did not include grain, only two thousand shi of salt, the same two pieces of Shu brocade, silk and frosting sugar were the same as Yang Feng's, only snow salt was given to him for five shi.
Yang Feng and Zhang Yang were both overjoyed after receiving the gifts. They had their own reasons for moving closer to Xuzhou. For example, Yang Feng had a serious disagreement with Dong Cheng, and Cao Cao, who was in cahoots with Dong Cheng, was naturally his enemy. .
The relationship between Zhang Yang and Lu Bu and Zhang Miao is quite good. Cao Cao, who had just fought an extremely brutal battle for Yanzhou with Lu Bu and Zhang Miao, naturally couldn't get close to them.
As a result, Liu Feng gave so many benefits. Yang Feng only felt that Xu Huang's advice was too right, and Zhang Yang also felt that it was no wonder that his confidants Yang Chou and Sui Gu had such a good impression of Liu Feng.
What younger brother wouldn’t love a big brother who is generous and generous and can help his younger brothers fight against trouble?
"This... this gift is too heavy, and Yang deserves it."
The one who can say this is naturally Zhang Yang, Yang Feng is already laughing so hard that he can't close his mouth from ear to ear. .
Hearing Zhang Yang's politeness, Yang Feng quickly suppressed the raised corners of his mouth, nodded and said: "General Wei and I both admire General Hussar's loyalty to the emperor and love the people, not for these gifts. .”
"The two uncles are too worried."
Liu Feng said sincerely: "These gifts are just a token of Xuzhou's feelings for me, and they are also a testimony of our friendship."
Zhang Yang and Yang Feng looked at each other and could see joy in each other's eyes.
Who doesn’t want good things?
Zhang Yang and Yang Feng have both been soldiers for half their lives. Can't they still enjoy themselves at this age?
This frosting sugar, snow salt, and Shu brocade are all good things that even the rich can't buy.
Zhang Yang and Yang Feng were secretly happy in their hearts and replied gratefully: "In this case, we would be disrespectful."
In fact, Liu Feng returned the money to Guo Gong and Yang Chou, Sui Gu, Yang Wei, Zhong Yao, Zhong Ji, Han Rong and others all prepared gifts. Among them, Guo Gong, Yang Chou, Sui Gu and Yang Wei all received heavy gifts.
Guo Gong has most of the wealth. After all, he no longer raises troops and does not need a lot of food, so Liu Feng gave him frost sugar, snow salt and money and silk.
Yang Chou and Sui Gu gave snow salt, Yang Wei gave grain and salt, Zhong Yao, Zhong Ji, Han Rong and other Yuzhou scholars who were close to Liu Feng all gave money and silk.
These gifts have been prepared for a long time and will be distributed to everyone today.
Originally Liu Feng wanted to visit the widow Cao, but now it seems that he can only postpone it to tomorrow.
That night, Liu Feng hosted a banquet for Zhang Yang and Yang Feng in the palace of the Hussar General. This not only consolidated the friendship and alliance between the two parties, but also obtained a lot of the latest information about Luozhong from them.
After Liu Feng left Luozhong, within a few days, Dong Cheng took action first and reported to the emperor, asking the court to kill Hou Qi, Feng Shuo, and Tai Chong.
These three people are all important officials in the central government, and they are all on good terms with Yang Feng and Han Xian.
Han Xian couldn't bear his violent temper anymore, and he immediately wanted to merge with Dong Chenghuo.
(End of this chapter)