Chapter 257: The Xu family in Qiao County
“The boy has thirty thousand soldiers and is ready to attack on the front line of Guangling. Even if Sun Ce cannot cross the river, it will not affect the overall situation.”
What Liu Feng said He is very domineering. Sun Ce, who controls most of Wu County and has a salary of 20,000, is completely out of his sight. He is confident enough to defeat Sun Ce, which stems from his crushing strength.
In terms of strength, the strength comparison on the Jiangdong battlefield is obviously much more exaggerated than that on the Runan side.
Not to mention Liu Feng's 30,000 main force, the Niuzhu defense line still has Liu Yao's 15,600 troops, plus Xue Li's more than 10,000 people, Zuo Rong's more than 10,000 people, Wang Lang Nearly ten thousand men and horses, and thousands of remnants of Xu Gong.
This plus one is almost close to 100,000 people, and this does not include the Danyang Zhou family.
Liu Feng's arrangement is quite appropriate, and the next details only need to be filled in the skeleton.
At least in terms of grand strategy, Liu Bei felt that the success rate was quite high, and there was nothing he felt needed to be modified.
Liu Bei finally asked: "When will the launch be scheduled?"
Liu Feng laughed: "August to September."
Liu Bei nodded clearly. August to September is the harvest season, and crops everywhere are ripe. Starting at this time can be said to be the ultimate use of food to defeat the enemy.
Liu Bei reminded: "It is the end of February now, and there are only more than five months until August. All ministries must speed up their return."
Liu Feng nodded and added: " Father's side can start moving first. Half a year will be enough for the troops in Runan to expand and rest. Although the troops in Guangling will be in place later, they can start later than in the north. Moreover, the casualties of the troops will not be large, even if they are deployed early. There won't be much problem in combat."
Liu Bei suddenly felt that it was wonderful.
This kind of step-by-step strategy of later generations was still quite rare in the Eastern Han Dynasty. After all, in this era there are still a large number of warlords who do not know the importance of the reserve force.
The two discussed for more than half an hour, discussing some details.
Then, Liu Feng suddenly said: "Father, I plan to leave tomorrow and return to Xuzhou first."
Liu Bei was a little surprised: "You and I have just got together, why do you want to do this like this?" "Leave?"
Liu Feng smiled bitterly and said, "My son also wants to spend more time with his father, but there are too many things to do. He can only wait until his father returns to Tancheng before serving him."
Liu Bei felt the same way about Liu Feng's words. With the expansion of his territory, the government affairs he had to handle also increased sharply.
Even though there are two temporary directors in Tancheng, there are still many important things that need to be sent to Suiyang via teleportation, and Liu Bei can decide them personally.
"Hey, I am in a high position, but I am less and less free."
Liu Bei smiled bitterly and shook his head: "It is far less fun and comfortable than the past when I competed with your two uncles at the east gate of Zhuo County to compete with deer and dolphins. .”
As for his father’s pretentiousness, Liu Feng said that Hanfan’s level was too high.
On that day, Liu Bei kept Liu Feng by his side to advise him, and he was quite reluctant to give up.
But in the end, he agreed to Liu Feng leaving the next day.
Early the next morning, Liu Feng left the city directly and headed south.
Tancheng is east of Suiyang. The reason why Liu Feng went in such a circle obviously had a purpose.
Now that my father is in charge of Yuzhou affairs, it is time to recruit the Xu Chu brothers.
These two brothers are not alone. The combat effectiveness of the thousands of troops under their command is also quite good. In the past, they were able to resist the siege of tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans under the leadership of the Xu Chu brothers.
Dian Wei can't be recruited, so naturally he can't let go of the tiger idiot under his nose.
The reason why I have not recruited Xu Chu before is because the success rate is too low. If I fail, the relationship between the two parties will be ruined.
After all, Xu Chu had a big business in Qiao County. He was sitting in Wubao with a population of tens of thousands, and his tribe had thousands of people. He really looked down upon Liu Bei, who was suffering from internal and external troubles at that time.
Whether it is Yuan Shu of Huainan, Cao Cao of Yanzhou, or even Liu Chong, the king of Chen, no one is more prestigious and more attractive than Liu Bei.
Another important issue is that Qiao County at that time was isolated on the west side of Pei State, very far away from Tancheng.
Even if Xu Chu was really willing to serve Liu Bei at that time, it wouldn't be of much help. I'm afraid it would drag down the energy of Liu Bei and Xuzhou.
Therefore, Liu Feng finally gave up recruiting Xu Chu temporarily.
But it is different now. Now my father is the upright lord of Yuzhou. Now he has more than just influence. Liu Bei has been granted the title of Marquis of Qiao, and Qiao County is his father's fiefdom.
Xu Chu is actually considered a citizen of Liu Bei's fiefdom.
Therefore, Liu Feng planned to pack the Xu brothers away this time. Now that Pan Zhang's official position is getting higher and higher, it is difficult for him to be his bodyguard all the time. Liu Feng feels that Xu Chu is a suitable successor.
Suiyang is not far from Qiao County. It only takes two or three days on horseback. If you don't skimp on horse power, you can get there in one day and one night.
But the price is that the horses are likely to run away. Even if they don't die, they will most likely not be able to go to the battlefield again and can only be used as pack horses.
Liu Feng and others were not slow and arrived at Qiao County in the afternoon of the third day.
The Xu family is quite famous in Qiao County. It was originally a small tycoon in the countryside. It owned hundreds of acres of land and raised more than a dozen guests. It was considered the most typical grassroots tycoon in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
But after the troubled times came, the bravery of the Xu brothers played a big role.
Rangers and commoners from the countryside came to surrender one after another, and even some less brave heroes were willing to accept the Xu brothers as their leaders.
In just a few years, the Xu brothers' Wubao gathered tens of thousands of people, thousands of young and strong people.
This was quite a local snake in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Li family was only three or four times as powerful as the Xu family.
The Li family already had shares in the Cao Wei regime. It was not until before Red Cliff and after Cao Cao completely captured Hebei that Li Dian petitioned to move his family to Yecheng.
It can be seen that the Li family was quite independent in the Cao Wei regime before.
He has his own land and property workshop, and he and his family members are all at home.
To put it bluntly, in this situation, Li Dian chooses to betray or rebel, and there is no need to pay any price.
This is not what Cao Cao is willing to do to indulge the Li family. In fact, the Li family is very powerful, with tens of thousands of soldiers alone. The entire Cao Wei Dynasty only had a small number of troops at that time.
The gathering place of the Xu brothers is in Wubao, not in Qiao County.
In fact, in this era, many wealthy people live in country villas.
This may be because in this era, except for big cities like Luoyang, the living environment of ordinary small counties, even prefectures like Qiao County, is not as good as that of rural villas. Moreover, Qiao County has never appeared as a metropolis in Chinese history.
Cao Cao's family is in Qiao County, but their former residence is in the countryside. After Cao Cao was dismissed from office several times, he returned to his hometown to study, always in the countryside, not in Qiao County.
The Prime Minister Pei at this time was Chen Gui, the father of Chen Deng, who was played by his father.
It is a pity that Chen Gui was still stationed in Xiangxian County instead of Qiaoxian County at this time, otherwise Liu Feng would have to go to the city to visit the elders both emotionally and rationally.
The Xu brothers' Wubao is located in a valley, with high hills on two sides, backed by a river, and only one exit. It can be regarded as a beautiful place.
No wonder the Xu brothers were able to withstand the siege of tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans.
No wonder the history books say that Xu Chu could scare away the opponent by throwing stones.
This kind of terrain can be said to allow Xu Chu to exert his personal bravery to the extreme. After all, as long as he repels the enemy in front of him, the opponent's offensive will stop here.
After a long distance, the sound of conch sounds rang out from the direction of Xu's Wubao, apparently discovering Liu Feng's cavalry team.
When Liu Feng arrived in front of Wubao, there were already hundreds of young men in armor, ready to fight.
Liu Feng stopped far away to show that he was not hostile.
Later, when Liu Feng was about to let someone go to convey his identity, the gate of Wubao actually opened.
Liu Feng and others were all stunned, wondering what Wubao's reaction was.
If it was to guard against them, why did the door suddenly open again.
If they were welcomed, why were the walls of Wubao filled with archers and soldiers.
Just when Liu Feng and others were puzzled, a tall man walked out of the opened city gate. What opened the eyes of Liu Feng and others was that this big man actually pulled a cow upside down.
Liu Feng was riding on the horse, dumbfounded as he watched the strong man pull out a stocky and strong farm cow step by step. "Since the passing guests are here, they are guests."
The strong man then pushed the cattle to the ground and shouted to Liu Feng and others: "Xu Feng and others." Jiawu didn't have much good things, so he gave the guests a fat cow and five jars of fine wine so that the guests could eat and drink well and go on their way."
Liu Feng was immediately happy, and it turned out that he was being treated by Xu Jiawu. People are mistaken for horse thieves.
The strong man pulling the ox and delivering the gifts should be Xu Chu.
This is a soldier who wants to show his power and conquer others without fighting.
Xu Chuke has never been a reckless man, otherwise he would have been die-hardly loyal to Cao Cao all his life and would not show any pretense to others, but he was quickly accepted by Cao Pi after Cao Cao's death and even became his confidant. ?
You must know that Cao Pi is a typical psychopath, ten times more intelligent than him.
Because of his pettiness, Yu Jin was forced to vomit blood and die in shame. Cao Hong, the second-ranking member of the Cao family, was almost executed in his later years.
For such a person, Xu Chuneng did not give him any face when Cao Cao was alive, but after his death, he immediately became Cao Pi's.
Just this ability to jump off a ship is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
As for the allusion about Xu Chu fighting naked against Ziyuan, it was because the widow Cao took the blame.
But today Xu Chu really opened Liu Feng's horizons. He was actually able to pull down a farm cow with his own strength.
Liu Feng stopped the people behind him from following him, slowly rode forward, and unexpectedly came to Xu Chu alone.
Xu Chu was extremely tall, almost as tall as Guan Yu. He was at least two meters tall. Moreover, his physique is exactly the same as that of Guan Yu, with a huge frame and a relatively well-proportioned and strong physique.
Xu Chu raised his head and looked at Liu Feng on the horse in front of him, feeling a little confused.
This young man is dressed like the leading master of these knights, but when did the horse thief obey such a young man?
While Xu Chu was full of doubts, Liu Feng became happier and happier.
“Is the strong man Xu Zhongkang?”
Liu Feng suddenly spoke and revealed Xu Chu's identity with one sentence, which surprised Xu Chu slightly.
But then, Xu Chu regained his composure, nodded and said, "Yes, it's me. I wonder where the young master came from?"
Xu Chu could already tell Liu Feng at this time. It's not that he is a horse thief. The other party's identity is probably rich or noble, so he deliberately tested it.
Liu Feng laughed: "Brother Zhongkang, how could you see that?"
Seeing Liu Feng's reaction, Xu Chu felt more certain, although he was a little surprised that the other party directly revealed his identity. But judging from the friendly appearance of the other party, it doesn't look like he is here to seek revenge.
So, Xu Chu replied: "Chu is a rough man, but the young master's dress is completely different from ours. I thought he was from a noble family, so I took the liberty to match him."
Liu Feng jumped off the horse directly, it was him. He is no longer short, but standing in front of Xu Chu, he is really no different from a child.
Liu Feng bowed his hands with a smile, and then reported his name: "Liu Feng in Xia Zhuo County, who is currently the general of the Southern Campaign, has long heard that the Xu brothers in Qiao County are brave and resolute, especially Xu Zhongkang. His strength can subdue an ox, and he once threw a stone to defeat the enemy. When I saw him today, it turned out to be true. "
"You...you, are you Liu Feng and Liu Zisheng?"
You were acting very cool just now. It was the shrewd Xu Chu who was so shocked that he was speechless at this moment.
"I am Liu Feng. Brother Zhongkang has known me before?"
Liu Feng was a little surprised. Looking at Xu Chu's appearance, he seemed to have heard of his name, and it seemed very unusual.
Sure enough, the next moment, Xu Chu actually knelt down on one knee and said to Liu Feng: "I didn't know that Zhengnan was in front of him. Chu is ignorant and does not recognize heroes. Please forgive Zhengnan."
Liu Feng was shocked. He didn't expect Xu Chu to admire him so much, but the first priority was to help him up.
Liu Feng took two steps forward, held Xu Chu's arm, and then made an upward movement and said: "What's the point of a thin name? I don't expect Zhongkang also knows my name?"
Xu Chu straightened up following Liu Feng's movements and said generously: "The southern expedition started from Xuzhou, with tens of thousands of troops, marching two thousand miles, crossing the Central Plains, crossing the Yellow River, and going as far as the east of the river. King Qin escorted him, guarded the emperor, and returned east to Luozhong. This is the achievement of rebuilding the country. Chu wishes he could not follow Zhengnan to accomplish such a great thing!"
Xu Chu looked at Liu Feng with regret on his face, and his mouth was full of praise. These words were pure. Sincerity is what Xu Chu really thinks about.
Before Liu Feng came to Qiao County, there was also a big discussion among the Xu clan.
The main opinions at the meeting were divided into two groups. One group supported defecting to Cao Cao on the grounds that they and Cao Cao were from the same hometown.
For this reason alone, many fellow villagers support this faction.
Moreover, they have also inquired about it. If a big family like theirs joins the family and tribe, there is a high probability that they will be allowed to retain the tribe and population, and if they are lucky, they will be allocated fields.
The only drawback is that large-scale migration is required, leaving Pei State and heading to Yanzhou.
The second group of people's idea is to defect to Liu Bei. The reason is that Liu Bei's power is much greater than that of Cao Cao, and Pei Guo is also the prime minister of the country represented by the other party.
If they defect to Liu Bei, they can live and work in peace and contentment in Pei State without having to suffer the pain of migration.
As for the third faction, those who want to be independent, they are completely out of date now. They are very rare because most people can see clearly. Although it is a troubled time, it is time to make a bet. It's time.
If you don't place your bet, you will probably miss the opportunity and even attract pressure and persecution from the two overlords.
Liu Bei naturally cannot tolerate other military forces on his territory, and he also has military forces with logistical supplementary capabilities.
Cao Cao naturally does not want such a large force to defect to Liu Bei. He will definitely hinder and instigate Liu Bei in the future.
Although there are many people who support defecting to Cao Cao, after all, Cao Cao and many people in Xu's Wubao can be regarded as fellow townsmen, but the two Xu brothers in Xu's Wubao unanimously plan to defect to Liu Bei .
The reason is simple. The Xu family’s small arms and legs cannot afford to develop in a foreign land.
Moreover, Xu Chu always felt that the tribesmen who wanted to defect to Cao Cao were extremely stupid. They thought that defecting to Cao Cao could preserve their tribe, but they never expected that if you left Qiao County and went to Yanzhou, you would even have to rely on Cao Yanzhou to allocate land to you. When will that happen? How can you keep the next part?
The Cheng family’s Li family originally owned a large area of land and population in Yanzhou. This was the fundamental reason why the Li family was able to survive.
Those tribesmen are simply putting the cart before the horse.
Although Xu's Wubao now has a population of over 10,000, most of them are not from the Xu clan. They just admire the bravery of the Xu brothers and take refuge in Xu's Wubao.
Once they move out of here, why should these people still obey the orders of the Xu clan?
Moreover, Liu Feng led thousands of miles to welcome the emperor, returned east to Luozhong, and defeated the Yingchuan Yellow Turban within half a month. These things had already spread in the Central Plains.
The Xu brothers have naturally heard about it for a long time, not to mention that Liu Bei has been worshiped by the imperial court as a general of hussar, supervising the affairs of Xu, Yu and Yangzhou.
The Pei Prime Minister Chen Gui presented by Liu Bei before had no legal basis at all, and Xuzhou was weak and Liu Bei's reputation was not well-known. Only Chen Gui's personal reputation was able to occupy Pei State. foot.
But now the situation is different. A large number of counties in Pei Kingdom have begun to surrender to Chen Gui and Chen Chen and pay tribute and taxes.
At the end of the meeting, the Xu brothers made the final decision and decided to join Liu Bei.
The two brothers were thinking about how to find a way to go and serve. On this issue, the brothers had some differences.
The boss Xu Ding felt that he should first defect to Chen Gui, and then join Liu Bei through Chen Gui's recommendation.
Xu Chu felt that they had not defected to Chen Gui before, and it was too late to go now.
Besides, people from all walks of life in Pei Kingdom want to defect to Xuzhou through Chen Gui. Even if they do go, they may not be valued by Chen Gui.
In this case, why not go directly to Suiyang to join Liu Bei?
Qiao County is even closer to Suiyang than to Xiang County.
Just when the brothers failed to reach a conclusion through discussion, Liu Feng actually came to the door himself.
Originally, he thought it was a horse thief passing by somewhere. In order not to anger the other party, Xu Chu specially performed the skill of pulling down the bull with one hand.
In the past, this combination of soft and hard tactics usually allowed the passing horse thieves, Yellow Turban Army and other forces to stop when they saw the opportunity.
After learning Liu Feng's identity, Xu Chu naturally felt like he had found a treasure and invited Liu Feng to stay in the dock for a while.
Liu Feng happily followed it.
(End of this chapter)