Chapter 302 Liu Yao’s Dilemma (Additional update, additional update!)
For a moment, Liu Bei couldn’t help but admire his eldest son, and felt that he had almost seen through Cao Cao.
Given the current situation in the North, Cao Cao is weak and Yuan Shao is strong.
In order to buy time, Liu Bei naturally had to support Cao Cao and jointly resist Yuan Shao.
This is a strategy of combining two weak forces to resist the strong.
But Cao Cao was very ambitious and suspicious by nature.
Therefore, Liu Bei also had to be selective and occasionally oppose him. The best way was to side with the emperor.
This will not only gain the favor of the emperor, but also prevent Cao Cao from doubting Liu Bei's intentions, and also resolve Cao Cao's suspicion of his side.
Literally kill three birds with one stone.
How did the big boy grow his brain?
After calming down, Liu Bei asked about the second thing.
Liu Feng perked up and said, "Father, some of the children raised in the state have grown up and have been studying for several years. I intend to let them participate in this water conservancy project and save money. With experience, qualifications and merit, you can then be assigned to serve as grassroots officials in various places, or even as chief clerks, and gradually gain promotion through merit."
"Father, these children are the foundation of my family and they belong to my family alone. "
Liu Feng looked at Liu Bei's face and persuaded: "Their loyalty to my family is far beyond that of ordinary nobles. In the future, I will use them as the foundation to rectify the chaos in the village. It's easy to say, but it is very possible to increase taxes and reduce the burden on the people."
Liu Bei was surprised: "Have the children you gathered in the past been put to use?"
Liu Bei had already heard about that group of children.
Although Liu Bei has not returned home for many years, he has sent goods home many times.
Liu Feng persuaded his eldest mother Wu and his mother Tian to take out these treasures, collect the orphans from the Liu clan and Zhuoxian County, and personally taught them how to read. Dharma drill them.
When Liu Bei first learned about it, he was very surprised and praised Liu Feng for being like his father.
Later Liu Feng spent a lot of money and food all the way to bring these orphans from Zhuoxian to Xuzhou.
I heard that after arriving in Xuzhou, some orphans from Xuzhou were recruited, and the number continued to increase, and there should be nearly a thousand people by now.
After listening to Liu Feng's introduction, Liu Bei realized how much preparation his great eldest son had already made.
If these orphans can enter the officialdom, even at the grassroots level, they will bring great help to the Liu family. If there are talents worth cultivating among these orphans and promoted to counties, the help will undoubtedly become even greater.
"Okay, my father knows."
Liu Bei immediately expressed his position: "Don't worry, your people are under my father's care, and they will never be bullied."< br>
Liu Feng was overjoyed and said gratefully: "In this way, I can help my father to take care of me."
Liu Bei now found some dignity of his father, he was quite happy, and he was also concerned about the situation of Liu'er camp.
Liu Feng naturally told the truth, and Liu Bei secretly decided that he must take good care of these children, and promote a few good seedlings as appropriate when he has the opportunity.
"Father, I will lead the army to set off tomorrow."
Finally, Liu Feng stood up and saluted Liu Bei: "Father, please eat more and take care of yourself."
Liu Bei was very moved for a moment and helped his eldest son up: "As my father knows, you should also eat more and take care of yourself."
"Here!"
The next day Early in the morning, Governor Liu Feng's army marched south. The pioneer Jia Kui took the lead in leaving the city and marched along the passage between Feishui and Shaopi at a very fast speed.
In just six days, they had arrived in Hefei, much faster than when Zhou Yu and others went north to Shouchun.
This is also because the hinterland controlled by Liu Bei's army is along the route at this time. There is no need to worry about the enemy while marching, and logistical supplies can be obtained in Chengde County along the way, so there is no pressure at all.
Liu Feng let the army rest for a day in Hefei, replenished supplies, and prepared to continue southward.
At this moment, good news came from Li Yang.
Under Sun Xiang's urging, Sun Ben surrendered.
This is quite good news.
So, Liu Feng immediately divided the army into two. Zhou Yu, Gan Ning, and Dong Xi had a total of 7,000 people walking by water, passing through Chaohu Lake, out of the Yangtze River, and then down the river to Liyang.
Liu Feng led the remaining three troops of Pan Zhang, Xu Sheng and Jia Kui, with a total of 18,000 people, and headed straight for Li Yang.
There are several advantages to dividing your forces this way.
First, the naval forces of Gan Ning and Dong Xi could successfully sail into the river in preparation for subsequent crossing.
Second, Gan Ning, Dong Xi, and Zhou Yu can just cover the flanks of Liu Feng's main force.
Thirdly, after thinning the troops, the burden on the roads will also be reduced, thus increasing the marching speed.
From Liu Feng's point of view, the Navy naturally wanted Zhou Yu to be their commander.
But in reality, we cannot be so casual. In the end, Dong Xi was the main general, Gan Ning, and Zhou Yu were the deputy generals.
The army of Governor Liu Feng marched towards Li Yang at a speed of sixty miles a day.
Four days later, Liu Feng met the envoys sent by Sun Xiang and Sun Ben to greet Liu Feng's army.
“The villain was sent by General Zhenglu, and he came specially to greet General Zhengnan.”
Later, the messenger also sent a silk book written by Sun Xiang.
After Liu Feng took it, he opened it and read it. The content on the silk book was naturally Sun Ben's request to surrender. At the same time, there was a small mark at the end, which was agreed with Sun Xiang in advance to prevent any accidents. .
After confirming that the mark was correct, Liu Feng breathed a sigh of relief and signaled: "Lead the way!"
Sun Xiang had already explained Li Yang's situation very clearly. There were four to five thousand steps left, and Sun Ben really had no reason to go against Liu Bei when Yuan Shu had been captured.
However, despite this, when passing through the mountainous section, he still slowed down and did the necessary detection to prevent Sun Ben from really going crazy.
The men he brought this time were all elite men. Pan Zhang, Xu Sheng, and Jia Kui were all brought together by him with one hand and one foot. The equipment of Xuzhou Army was also the best. He would feel distressed if any one of them died, let alone in the army. There was an ambush in the mountains.
That kind of casualties is even much higher than in a frontal battle.
Fortunately, nothing happened along the way. Sun Ben did not go crazy, and Sun Xiang did not betray.
Liu Feng arrived at Liyang City seven days later after a safe journey.
Sun Bi and Sun Xiang in Liyang City have already traveled ten miles out of the city to meet him, and have also prepared food, grass and baggage for Liu Feng's army to supplement it.
Liyang is the front line against Liu Yao and Niuzhu, and its supplies are quite sufficient. It is second only to Shouchun among the important towns in Jiangbei, and even Hefei cannot compare.
After all, Hefei is now in the safe hinterland of Jiangbei, and there are no enemies that can threaten it.
Only Li Yang was fighting Liu Yaojun at this time.
Liu Feng was indeed as Sun Xiang said. Although he was young, he had no sense of vigour. Instead, he gave Sun Bi a sense of shrewdness and determination.
After seeing Sun Bi, Liu Feng immediately dismounted and stopped the opponent who wanted to kneel down to greet him.
"Brother Boyang, since we have surrendered today, you and I are brothers. Since we are brothers, how can we humiliate our brothers with this?"
Liu Feng took Sun Ben's hand and talked and laughed: "Brother Wenyang, is it possible that we are brothers?" I have never told Brother Xian that under my leadership, the rule is based on merit and virtue, and no importance is given to family background."
Cao Cao calls for meritocracy.
Liu Bei can't shout like that.
The reason why Cao Cao shouted that was because he had broken the pot and could no longer get the full support of the Yanzhou scholars.
The word meritocracy has been beautified in later generations.
But in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the essence of this word was no different from nepotism.
You no longer pay attention to virtue when employing people. You even employ villains who have no virtue. To a certain extent, this is even more excessive than nepotism.
But Cao Cao had no choice. He urgently needed the support of political power to fight against the traditional scholars.
I am also a eunuch, so shouldn’t I have to be meritocratic?
Liu Bei is different now. Liu Bei wears shoes, so how can he be as knowledgeable as a barefoot man?
Therefore, the slogan of Liu Bei and his son is to only rely on talent and virtue, to appoint people without nepotism, to only rely on talent and virtue. In addition to Xuzhou and Yuzhou, most scholars support Liu Bei, and Liu Bei's current reputation is quite good.
Sun Ben confessed quite honestly: "Ben is blind and acts as an accomplice. He once invaded Guangling County under the rule of the general, and he still feels guilty about it. This surrender is an act of abandoning darkness and surrendering to the light. He is willing to be punished by the Southern Expedition. For later effect."
Liu Feng laughed loudly: "What a joke Boyang said. In the past, when the two armies were fighting, each had its own master. Although Yuan Shu harmed one side, it was not Boyang's fault. "
Liu Feng held Sun Ben in one hand and Sun Xiang in the other, and the three of them walked into Liyang City side by side. Liyang City is not close to the river, but it uses the water of the Yangtze River as a moat.
There is a water fortress near the Yangtze River. There are still a thousand sailors in the water fortress, but these sailors only have small boats, but no big ships. There were only a few small ships, not to mention large ships, so they couldn't defeat Liu Yao's navy on the other side.
Liu Feng entered the city and at the same time sent people to take over the water stronghold. He also sent a message to Niuzhu on the other side to inform Liu Yao.
Liu Feng's goal this time is to defeat Jiangdong, and taking Liyang is just an appetizer, not even a cold dish.
The next thing is to cross the river, so naturally we need to greet Liu Yao in advance so as to prepare for what is to come.
After entering the city, Liu Feng asked about the situation of Dong Xi and others. After receiving Sun Bi's answer, he couldn't help but be surprised: "They haven't arrived yet in the Yuan Dynasty?"
"Indeed "Not yet."
Sun Ben replied: "However, the march to the south is much faster than the ordinary march. Although Dong Xiaowei and others have the advantage of convenient water routes, they have to make a big detour on the journey, which will cause a slight delay. , it’s not surprising that he lags behind.”
Sun Ben’s explanation is indeed reasonable.
Liu Feng came quite quickly, which actually shocked Sun Bi.
It also made him secretly afraid.
The marching speed of an army is actually very representative of its combat effectiveness.
After all, if you are marching fast, you must first have a high degree of organization. Otherwise, rapid marching will inevitably lead to a large number of people falling behind and becoming separated.
Secondly, you must have extremely strong physical fitness. Marching long distances quickly is quite tiring.
Finally, you must have high obedience and fighting will.
With these three points, is it still difficult to fight?
Needless to mention distant cases, just say that when Cao Jun crossed to the south, the tiger and leopard cavalry marched three hundred miles day and night, directly defeating Liu Bei's army and collapsing on Changban slope.
This explains the problem very much.
In this era, it is impossible for a non-elite army to conduct long-distance attacks.
That night, Sun Ben hosted a banquet in honor of Liu Feng. Liu Feng naturally obeyed the request happily, but he was always followed by Hu Chi, who did not drink alcohol.
At the same time, although each department receives rewards, it is always loose on the outside and tight on the inside.
Liu Feng wanted to make things more beautiful so as to win the favor of Sun Bi and Sun Xiang, so he did not take over Li Yang's defense as soon as he entered the city.
Although Sun Ben had handed over Liyang City Defense and voluntarily disarmed his weapons, they were all returned by Liu Feng.
But you still have to be prepared, otherwise it will be a fool's errand.
After that night, Sun Ben said with emotion to Sun Xiang: "Wenyang, today I know that what you said is true."
At noon the next day, the fleet led by Dong Xi also appeared on the Yangtze River. After the notification, they entered Liyang Water Village one after another.
Dong Xi and others quickly rushed to Liyang City and told Liu Feng what happened.
Sure enough, as Liu Feng guessed, Dong Xi and the others did encounter an accident.
This accident is actually good news.
It turned out that Zhou Yu met a fellow villager on the way to their march.
This fellow is the powerful Zheng family in Xiang'an County, named Zheng Yue.
Now the people in Xiang'an County are heading north and want to surrender to Liu Bei, but because it is not far from Shucheng and still south of Shucheng, they have not made up their mind yet.
As a result, Zheng Yue suddenly ran into Zhou Yu's troops in Chaohu Lake. He thought they were going to copy Shucheng from the south. He was overjoyed and approached Zhou Yu with the intention of being the leader.
The location of Xiang'an County is quite special. It is located in the southeast of Shucheng, close to the Yangtze River and Ruxushui, but not close to it.
It is about forty miles away from the Yangtze River and more than fifty miles away from the Ruxu Waterway, which is just enough to shield the Ruxu Waterway.
If we can occupy this place, we can threaten Liu Xun's flanks, and more importantly, it can also provide a solid fulcrum for the navy to land on the west bank of Ruxushui.
So after Zhou Yu discussed with Dong Xi and Gan Ning, they unanimously decided to take Xiang'an County first.
After all, the opportunity is rare, and Liu Feng did not set a date for them to arrive in Liyang, which shows that they are allowed to have certain rights to make changes.
The people of Xiang'an County are already prepared, and there are no troops stationed here, only two to three hundred county soldiers.
Zhou Yu only marched once and did not even need internal support. As soon as Zhou Yu came to the city, Xiang'an County directly tied up the county magistrate and surrendered to Kaicheng.
County Magistrate Yu Zhaonai is from Wudi and has served as Magistrate of Xiang'an County for two terms.
Although this Yu Zhao did not scrape three feet from the ground, he could still be regarded as fishing from the lake.
Everyone in Xiang'an County and Township, from the powerful nobles to the common people, hated him extremely.
Zhou Yu was not polite and chopped him off directly, and then hung his head on the top of Xiang'an City. He immediately won the warm support of the people of Xiang'an County.
Subsequently, Zhou Yu left his brother Zhou Dao behind and led two thousand members of the Zhou family to guard Xiang'an, while the others continued to return to the ship and headed for Liyang.
At the same time, Zhou Yu did not forget to send a message to Fufei and Shouchun, notifying the troops stationed in the two places to take care of Xiang'an in case Liu Xun wanted to regain Xiang'an.
Now that Dong Xi, Gan Ning, and Zhou Yu have arrived in Liyang, Liu Feng plans to cross the river.
It’s just that the envoys sent earlier have not returned yet, and I don’t know what Liu Yao is planning.
Liu Feng also understood that Liu Yao must be extremely afraid of crossing the river this time.
After all, Liu Bei was appointed governor of the three southeastern states, including Yangzhou where he was located.
As a Yangzhou shepherd, he also had to obey Liu Bei's orders. Liu Bei even had the power to override Liu Yao and dismiss and replace Yangzhou officials and generals.
Who wouldn’t be numb?
If Liu Yao were smarter, he should think about how to retire after his success.
In fact, Liu Yao’s head was indeed as big as a bucket at the moment.
At this time, Liu Yao was in the Niuzhu camp, and he did see the envoy sent by Liu Feng.
Later, Liu Yao summoned his close advisers.
Brothers Sun Shao, Teng Dan, and Teng Zhou were all present, and even Zhang Ying, Fan Neng, and Yu Mi were called.
Brothers Sun Shao, Teng Dan and Teng Zhou are all from Qingzhou and can be regarded as Liu Yao's township party.
Zhang Ying, Fan Neng, and Yu Mi are local powerful people and can be regarded as local factions.
Liu Yao can be regarded as learning from the strengths of others.
As for Xu Shao, who Liu Yao regarded as his confidant and coward, he was still in Xuzhou for medical treatment. Although Liu Yao wanted to bring him back, he was worried about his health and even more worried about his own reputation, so he could only hope that Xu Shao would come back. I can recover soon and return to myself.
After everyone arrived, Liu Yao told Liu Bei's instructions, as well as the news that Liu Feng had arrived in Liyang and surrendered to Sun Ben without a fight.
There was no need to keep it secret at this time, and besides, he couldn't keep it secret either.
Niuzhu has always been the territory of the local sect, and there are local sect subordinates everywhere. Liu Feng sent people to Niuzhu, and they came in in a big way during the day. Liu Yao couldn't hide it even if he wanted to.
"Gentlemen, now that the matter has come to this, what do you think?"
After finishing speaking, Liu Yao's eyes swept across the tent, mainly wanting to see the reactions of Zhang Ying and the three local factions.
Sun Shao and the others are attached to Liu Yao and are township party members, so their loyalty is naturally guaranteed. Moreover, they are all counselors and do not hold military power, so they cannot play a decisive role.
If the local faction represented by Zhang Ying and the others can still support him, then even if Liu Feng crosses the river, he, the Yangzhou Shepherd, will still have some say.
But if the three of them want to change ships, then all their efforts will be in vain and there will be no chance.
Unfortunately, the faces of Zhang Ying and the other three people were full of hesitation. They looked at each other, but no one was willing to speak.
Liu Yao's heart was cold. Zhang Ying and the others were promoted by himself, and they are still like this now. You can only imagine what other people will be like.
Actually, there is nothing we can do about it.
It has been more than two years since Liu Yao took charge of Yangzhou, even earlier than Liu Bei took charge of Xuzhou.
But up to now, Liu Yao, in addition to taking advantage of Sun Ben and Wu Jing's carelessness, took advantage of each other's loopholes and relied on the powerful men in northern Danyang and northern Wu to drive Sun Ben and Wu Jing away. The Yangtze River and other areas can really be regarded as accomplishing nothing.
Xu Gong of Wu, Wang Lang of Kuaiji, Zhou Shu, Hua Xin and Zhu Haoke of Yuzhang never obeyed his orders.
Even Zhou Shang, the governor of Danyang whom he appointed and dismissed, always stood on the wall and did not put all the treasures on him.
(End of this chapter)