Chapter 92 Liu Bei: I also want to go out of the city thirty miles to meet Mr. Fengchu!
Chapter 092: Liu Bei: I also want to go out of the city thirty miles to meet Mr. Fengchu!
"Wedding?"

"Jiang Dong actually gave in?!"

Lu Xun was completely stunned. The Duke of Wu had always been a man who would not release his eagle until he saw the rabbit. Why would he be so easy to talk to this time?

Pang Tong also stopped drinking from the gourd of wine he was pouring into his mouth. Although he had just arrived in Xiling not long ago, he had already known most of the situation between Liu Wu and Jiangdong from Lu Xun.

Pang Tong's eyes flickered: "I'm afraid Jiangdong won't agree so readily?"

Wow! ~
Pang Tong took the bamboo slips and unfolded them, and Lu Xun also came over to take a look.

Just read a few lines,

Lu Xun's eyes suddenly widened. He looked up at Liu Wu, his eyes full of doubt and uncertainty: "Jiangdong is actually going to..."

"You're actually going to stab Liu Bei in the back?!"

"You also want the lord to cede Hefei City as a betrothal gift to marry the princess?!"

After saying this, Lu Xun still stood there in a daze.

Hasn’t Jiangdong always insisted on the Sun-Liu alliance to resist Cao Cao?
Now, he suddenly wanted to stab Liu Bei in the back and break the alliance. What exactly did the Marquis of Wu want to do...

Yes!

Now the situation has changed!

After a brief moment of confusion, Lu Xun reacted quickly. In the past, Jiangbei belonged to Cao Cao's territory. If Cao Cao wanted to unify the world, he had to conquer Jiangdong. There was no room for maneuver between Jiangdong and Cao Cao.

At that time, the only option for Jiangdong was to form an alliance with Liu Bei.

But now it’s different, the one occupying Jiangbei is our own lord.

When the lord was defending Xiling, he received assistance from 10,000 Shanyue people in Jiangdong, so there is some affection between them. In addition, he has a relationship with the princess. At least for now, the two families have not reached the point of life and death, so everything can be negotiated.

In this case, the alliance with Liu Bei does not seem to be so necessary.

The most important thing is...

Hefei!

The Duke of Wu wants Hefei!

If we take Hefei, Jiangdong will have the opportunity to go north and compete for the Central Plains!
For Jiangdong, as long as Hefei can be taken, what difference does it make who is Jiangdong's ally or who is Jiangdong's enemy, except Cao Cao?
"Although Jiangdong agreed to my marriage with the princess, they asked me to fight Liu Bei together..." Liu Wu's voice slowly sounded: "Afterwards, they are willing to give the four counties of Jingnan to Xiling as the princess's dowry."

"But they also asked me to give Hefei as a betrothal gift to Jiangdong."

Liu Wu's bright eyes closed slightly: "Bo Yan and teacher, what do you think of Jiangdong's invitation?"

"Absolutely not!" Lu Xun objected without hesitation, his face solemn: "The four counties in southern Jing, whether Jiangdong intervenes or not, my lord can take them! But Hefei must not be ceded to Jiangdong."

"The reason why Cao Mengde was willing to give Hefei to the lord was, of course, because he had a knife on his neck, but also because he wanted to use the lord as a shield and let the lord block the northward advance of Jiangbei for him in Hefei!"

"If you cede Hefei, you will certainly offend Cao Cao! I'm afraid that before we can even start a war with Liu Bei, Cao Cao will personally lead his army to attack Xiling again! My lord..."

Lu Xun couldn't help but take a step forward: "Although our land and population have increased greatly, these things have not yet been fully transformed into combat power. We have not recruited new soldiers, and we are short of food and weapons. Moreover, my lord, your injuries have not healed yet..."

"If Cao Cao marches south now, I'm afraid we won't be able to resist. My Lord, please think twice!"

Just as Lu Xun said, although Liu Wu's territory and population have greatly increased, these have not been digested in a short time and cannot form effective combat power. Even now, Liu Wu's only capable soldiers are still those thousands of people.

Even if he wanted to replicate Liu Wu's last achievement of capturing Cao Cao alive in front of the enemy's battlefield, Liu Wu's physical condition now made it impossible for him to do so.

Lu Xun was really afraid that Liu Wu would give up Hefei for Sun Shangxiang!

It is no exaggeration to say that once Hefei is ceded to Jiangdong, Liu Wu’s current great foundation will probably collapse in an instant!
Liu Wu did not answer Lu Xun's words.
He seemed to be recalling the night when he forced Cao Cao to cede land: "When we forced Cao Cao to cede land, we did promise Cao Mengde that as long as he ceded Hefei, we would definitely stop Jiangbei from going north..."

"If we cede Hefei to Jiangdong now, he will definitely send troops south without hesitation!"

"Once his army arrives, he may not be able to capture Jiangling, Xiling, and Hefei in a short period of time, but he can easily capture more than 30 other counties."

"He won't have to attack the city then. He can just gather his army and surround it, and he will trap us to death."

Seeing that his lord was still as calm as ever, Lu Xun breathed a sigh of relief. As long as his lord did not make any mistakes, his current foundation would be safe and sound.

Hiccup~
A burp sounded, and Pang Tong stood up slightly drunk: "I heard from Bo Yan before that the lord will attack Liu Bei within half a year and take all the four counties in southern Jing..."

"No matter whether the lord joins forces with Jiangdong or not, if we want to fight Liu Bei and take the four counties of southern Jing, we must stabilize Jiangdong and Cao Mengde at the same time!"

"Jiangdong wants Hefei City. If we want to stabilize Jiangdong, we can only cede Hefei to Jiangdong..."

"Cao Cao cannot tolerate Hefei falling into the hands of Jiangdong. If we want to stabilize Cao Cao, then Hefei cannot be ceded..."

Hefei must be cut off, but it cannot be cut off? !
Pang Tong seemed to have said something, but also seemed to have said nothing.

Liu Wu smiled...

My teacher really deserves the name of "Fengchu". He explained the key to the matter in just a few words.

Will Hefei be cut off or not?
As Lu Xun listened to Mr. Fengchu's profound remarks, his eyes were filled with confusion. There was only one Hefei City. How could it satisfy both Jiangdong and Cao Cao at the same time?

Isn't this a woman marrying two husbands?

Isn't it...

Suddenly, Lu Xun's eyes lit up and he understood!
Snapped! ~
Lu Xun slammed the table and exclaimed excitedly: "Excellent! Excellent! A good idea of ​​[Don't cut it first], Mr. Fengchu is indeed a wise idea! It's really a wise idea!"

Gollum~
Pang Tong took a sip of wine with satisfaction and said, "Tell me about Lu's [Qianliju], what's so wonderful about it?"

Lu Xun looked at Mr. Fengchu with admiration and said, "Since the Marquis of Wu wants Hefei, we will write back to Jiangdong and agree to cede Hefei to them!"

"However, Cao Cao does not want to see Jiangdong heading north, so we can only [look after] Hefei for Jiangdong first. In this way, from Cao Cao's point of view, Jiangdong is still in the hands of the lord, and the lord has not broken his promise..."

"In Jiangdong's opinion, we also gave them this Hefei pile [bride price]..."

"In this way, the lord can marry the princess openly, Cao Cao can stay in Xuchang safely, and we can join forces with Jiangdong to attack Liu Bei's four southern counties!"

"Like this, all three parties are satisfied and everyone is happy, isn't that wonderful?!"

It has to be said that Pang Tong's move was really taking getting something for nothing to the extreme.

Pang Tong pointed at Lu Xun and grinned: "This young man is teachable..."

immediately,

Feng Chu smiled coldly: "Hey, Jiang Dong has a good plan."

"You want to exchange the four counties of southern Jing, which are still in Liu Xuande's hands, for Hefei, which Zilie fought for with his life? You want to give us a cake to appease us? Then we will give him a cake in return!"

Lu Xun joined in the fun: "It's more than just returning the favor to Jiangdong. The Marquis of Wu will also happily give the Princess of Jiangdong to our lord!" For a moment, the tent was filled with a happy atmosphere.

Liu Wu's mouth curled up a little, "Teacher, then I will write back to Jiangdong and promise Hefei to Jiangdong, but not hand it over yet. After I marry the princess, I will tell Jiangdong clearly that I will hand over Hefei after annexing the four counties of Jingnan. How about that?"

Pang Tong cupped his hands in satisfaction and said, "My lord is wise."

Lu Xun put his worries aside and cheered up: "In this case, I can now prepare for the marriage of the lord and the princess."

Liu Wu nodded: "Lao Boyan will take care of this matter."

Liu Wu was about to turn around and leave...

"Hiccup~ My disciple, take care..." Pang Tong, slightly drunk, called out to Liu Wu, "You spent so much effort to invite me to Jiangbei. Now let's see what I am capable of."

Liu Wu smiled faintly: "Teacher is a genius, unparalleled in the world, and everyone ranks [Phoenix Child] and [Wolong] on the same level..."

"From my perspective, [Phoenix Young] is still one step ahead of [Crouching Dragon]!"

Liu Wu's words instantly touched Pang Tong's sore spot.

“Ha, ha ha ha ha!” Pang Tong laughed heartily, looking up to the sky. He did not care that the wine gourd in his hand fell to the ground and rolled around. “Good disciple! I will never let you down…”

"You have the help of a teacher, just like a tiger with wings, it is even more powerful!"

……

Public Security City,
The county magistrate’s residence, in the main hall of the back garden.

"Ah~" Kong Ming suddenly sighed, as if he remembered the past: "I still remember when I went down to Wolonggang, the lord once said that the lord had my assistance, just like a fish in water, like a fish in water."

Zhuge Liang's words made Liu Bei vaguely recall the time when he first arrived in Jingzhou.

At that time, he was trapped in the small county of Xinye. Cao Mengde's army was likely to attack him at any time, and Madam Cai's brothers and sisters wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. The internal and external troubles made him confused about the future of reviving the Han Dynasty.

It was not until he met Kong Ming in Longzhong that Liu Xuande suddenly saw the light and his eyes were opened!

Liu Bei also sighed: "Yes! Without your assistance, I would not be where I am today! You have worked hard to plan for my great cause and recommended talented people, but I..."

Speaking of which,

When Liu Huangshu remembered that he had actually sent the Phoenix that Kong Ming had worked so hard to attract to be a mere county magistrate, he immediately felt ashamed and said, "When Yide brings Mr. Pang Shiyuan back, I will definitely apologize to him with great courtesy and then appoint him to an important position!"

The lord finally woke up!
Zhuge Liang, who was sitting opposite him, nodded slightly with a hint of satisfaction on his face...

In fact, Kong Ming had already noticed that his lord had begun to feel complacent after occupying the four counties in southern Jing.

The reason for this was that Liu Bei had been chased and beaten by Cao Mengde for his entire life, and he was filled with pent-up anger. Finally, in the Battle of Chibi, he burned Cao Cao's 800,000 naval forces and forced Cao Cao to flee north in a panic.

Then he took advantage of the situation to take over the four counties in southern Jing. After half a lifetime of ups and downs, Emperor Liu finally had a considerable piece of territory. He finally vented the anger in his heart!
For a time, Uncle Liu was too proud of himself, he was so conceited and arrogant, he even started to get cocky, to the point of doing such a ridiculous thing as disrespecting the talented young man.

You know, before the Battle of Red Cliff, Emperor Liu would never have dared to think of such a thing as disrespecting talented people...

But fortunately, after Liu Wu's blow in the Fengchu incident, his lord finally regained his former clarity, which can be considered a blessing in disguise.

"Sir..." Liu Bei on the opposite side could not help but speak: "Many people put Pang Tong [Feng Chu] on the same level as you [Wo Long]. May I ask you, sir, what kind of person is this [Feng Chu]?"

Although Liu Bei did regret his disrespect for Pang Tong, he really did not understand the background of this young genius.

"Fengchu is a famous scholar in Jingxiang, the nephew of Pang Degong..." Kong Ming waved his feather fan, as if thinking of the past of this old friend: "Liang and Pang Shiyuan studied together under my teacher Sima Hui, the Water Mirror..."

"He is a man of great taste, fond of people, and good at studying classics. He is considered a great talent in the lands of Jing and Chu!"

"Discussing the remaining strategies of kings and hegemons, and observing the key points of reliance, are indeed his strengths."

"When Pang Shiyuan first met my teacher Sima Hui, my teacher was sitting on a mulberry tree picking mulberries, and Pang Shiyuan was sitting under the tree. The two talked from day to night. My teacher was very surprised by Pang Shiyuan and praised him, saying that no scholar in Jingxiang could compare with Pang Shiyuan!"

"Although my teacher and Pang Tong are nominally master and apprentice, my teacher really loves Pang Tong's talent and often treats him as his disciple in private..."

Pang Tong is actually the nephew of Pang Degong? !

Mr. Shuijing actually likes Pang Tong so much? !

Liu Bei stood there in a daze...

He had lived in Jingxiang for a long time, how could he not know the name of Pang Degong? He was the real leader of the famous people in Jingxiang, and all the aristocratic families in Jingxiang had to respect him.

Even when Liu Biao personally went to invite Pang Degong to serve as an official, he was sent back in disgrace!
Since Pang Tong and Pang Degong are uncle and nephew, regardless of his actual abilities, this relationship alone is enough to show his influence among the celebrities and aristocrats in Jingxiang.

If I could have used this phoenix child at that time, wouldn't it mean that the noble families and celebrities in Jingzhou could also be used by me? !

And the famous Mr. Shuijing was even able to talk with Pang Tong for a whole day and night, and even called Pang Tong "brother", which was enough to show Pang Tong's talent!

Gudong~
Liu Bei swallowed hard, and he finally realized what a stupid thing he had done.

"Mr. Pang De is the most famous scholar in Jingzhou, and all the noble families respect him! Mr. Shuijing is even more of a hermit and wise man in Jingxiang..." Liu Bei sighed, "Mr. Fengchu can have such close relationships with these two people, which is enough to show his talent and virtue."

"How despicable that he is so blind and disrespectful to the great sage!"

Liu Bei regretted it. He really regretted it. If he was given another chance to choose again, he would never let Pang Tong leave Gong'an City...

"Lord!"

At this moment, a messenger came hurriedly to report: "My lord, the three generals are back."

Yide is back?!

He must have invited Fengchu back! !
Wow! ~
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang stood up almost at the same time.

Uncle Liu's hands were shaking. He tried hard to suppress the excitement in his heart. Fortunately, this great sage was invited back after all!

Zhuge Liang let out a long sigh, and he felt completely relaxed. Fortunately, Pang Shiyuan was finally kept in Jingnan!
Liu Bei took a deep breath and looked at Zhuge Liang: "Sir, would you like to go with me to welcome the Phoenix?"

Kong Ming waved his feather fan lightly, smiling, and regained his usual calmness and composure: "That's what I wish for."

"Sir, please!" Liu Bei was about to walk out of the hall excitedly, but suddenly he seemed to remember something...

Snapped! ~
He slapped his thigh suddenly, his face full of regret: "I should have gone out of the city thirty miles to meet him, but now it's too late! It's a pity that Mr. Fengchu can't see my sincerity in seeking talents."

Although I did not go out of the city to welcome her in person, I sent my third brother to Leiyang to invite her. I think Mr. Fengchu must be very touched too, right?
Liu Bei thought confidently in his heart, and was busy tidying up his clothes.

Zhuge Kongming, who was standing by, looked at his master's flustered appearance in order to welcome Pang Tong in person, and just waved his feather fan lightly, laughing...

He sighed in his heart: "Pang Shiyuan, Pang Shiyuan, serving Uncle Liu must be the best choice in your life..."

(End of this chapter)