After seeing the ceremony, Zhou Xing said directly to Yuan Tan: "Kong Wenju kept his promise and left, leaving the state to the general. General Liu also kept his promise and retreated twenty miles. However, the general once promised to give us 10,000 shi of food, but now it is not a promise."

No, it’s quite heartbreaking!”

Yuan Tan argued: "It's not that I didn't keep my promise. I will definitely give you food. It's just that there is no food in the state treasury. After the summer food is collected, I will immediately have General Liu send it to Donglai."

"General, as far as I know, there were 50,000 shi of food in the state treasury. Kong Wenju took away 10,000 shi, leaving 40,000 shi left. And we only need 10,000 shi, so how can we have no food?"

Yuan Tan looked slightly embarrassed and defended: "Wen Sheng, you also know that I have 20,000 soldiers and horses. Now Qingzhou is in chaos and the people are short of food. I want to raise soldiers and help the people. These 40,000 stones of food are

It’s just a drop in the bucket, and I really can’t give you 10,000 shi of food. How about this, I’ll give you 1,000 shi of food and you go back immediately.”

Yuan Tan actually offered 10,000 shi of grain at a discount, and only wanted to give 1,000 shi to send Liu Bei away.

Zhou Xing is not here to beg for food, so of course he won’t agree.

"General, as a king, you must first establish your trust to be able to achieve good deeds. If you break your trust to others, you will lose your trust to your soldiers. If you lose your trust, your soldiers will be unfaithful. If we want these ten thousand stones of food, in addition to helping the people of Donglai

, but also for the sake of the general, and I don’t want the general to be known as dishonest.”

"The general should know that the reason why we urged Kong Wenju to let the state leave is because we hope that the general will be in charge of Qingzhou. With the general's power, the thieves can be eliminated, with the general's virtue, the people can be cared for, and with the general's trust, the whole state can be taken over.

The hearts of the officials and the people. If the general's reputation for dishonesty spreads abroad, except for the people in the state who refuse to obey orders and do not believe in the general, I am afraid that in Yecheng..."

Zhou Xing paused for a moment, while Yuan Tan looked at him, wanting to hear him continue.

"I'm afraid that in Yecheng," Zhou Xing continued, "the people in Yuan Jizhou's mansion will not believe in the general. If this is the case, then although the general has gained food and thousands of stones, what he has lost is the hearts and hopes of the people, and even the hope of Yuan Jizhou.

!And the general’s brother is in Yecheng..."

Zhou Xing stopped here and said no more.

The following words can be understood even without mentioning Yuan Tan.

It turned out that the third brother Yuan Gu had already won his father's heart, so he stayed in Yecheng and often met his father and everyone under his father's tent.

Although I have won Qingzhou now, if the reputation of being dishonest spreads back, those who assisted my father may really want to treat Yuan Shang lightly and treat me lightly.

Zhou Xing and Sun Qian waited quietly, letting Yuan Tan think for himself. The more he thought about it, the more he understood that in comparison, these ten thousand stones of food were nothing.

After thinking for a long time, Yuan Tan secretly decided in his heart that when he gave food, he must give food, and he must not be a dishonest person.

"What you said is true. You must first establish your trust before you can achieve good deeds. Although food is in short supply, the food promised to General Liu must be given no matter what. Three days later, I will have 10,000 shi of food sent to your camp."

Yuan Tan originally did not want to default on the debt, but did so after being persuaded by the general Yan Jing. Now Zhou Xing said these words to him, making him understand that those who achieve great things should not be greedy for small profits and do what the general and the king want. things are different.

A general only sees immediate benefits, but a king must take a longer-term view.

Sometimes reputation is much more important than food.

"Thank you, General. Then we will wait for another three days. I hope the General will not break his promise!"

Zhou Xing thanked Yuan Tan.

"Haha, I never break my promise." Yuan Tan seemed to be in a better mood after deciding to give him food. He looked at Sun Qian who was standing next to Zhou Xing and asked, "Did you go to Yecheng?"

"Yes." Sun Qian replied, "I heard about the general's reputation in Yecheng. I saw him today. He is indeed powerful and benevolent."

"Hahaha, how can I have any reputation..."

In the past, Yuan Tan might not have felt that he was famous, but now that he had conquered Qingzhou without spending any troops, he naturally felt that his reputation had spread far and wide.

Sun Qian followed Zhou Xing's wishes and praised Yuan Tan so much that he didn't know who he was.

When Zhou Xing and Sun Qian left, Yuan Tan even sent them to the door of the house in person and watched them go away.

As soon as I returned to the hall, someone sent me a letter, saying it was from Yecheng.

Yuan Tan quickly took the letter and looked at it. It turned out to be a letter written by Guo Tu to himself.

When they were in Yecheng, Guo Tu and Xin Ping were close to Yuan Tan, and they often had contact with each other and were relatively close.

Guo Tu's letter said that Liu Bei lost Xuzhou and came to Donglai. This man was not an ordinary governor. He took the initiative to befriend Yuan Jizhou. Now Yuan Jizhou accepted his overtures and agreed to let him serve as the governor of Donglai.

And when you are in charge of Qingzhou, it is time to recruit talents. Liu Bei is a popular and talented person, and he has brave generals under his command. You should treat him well and recruit him for your own use.

But at the same time, we must be careful not to let him become too powerful, otherwise it will be difficult to control him in the future.

You can manage Qingzhou well now, and then you can go south to capture Xuzhou. In the future...

Guo Tu didn't say it explicitly, but Yuan Tan could understand the implication.

Yuan Tan has four brothers. In addition to him, he also has the second brother Yuan Xi, the third brother Yuan Shang, and a younger brother Yuan Mai.

Although he is the eldest son, he has been adopted by Yuan Shao to his elder brother Yuan Ji.

Now Yuan Shao prefers Yuan Shang, and Yuan Shang stays in Yecheng and stays with Yuan Shao, which makes Yuan Tan feel very uneasy.

Therefore, he must let Yuan Shao and the counselors and generals in Yecheng Mansion know his abilities. Only in this way can he gain Yuan Shao's attention. No matter what in the future, he will be Yuan Shao's first heir.

"Liu Bei, Liu Bei!" Yuan Tan thought to himself after reading the letter, "I must meet this man to see if he can be used by me."

Immediately, Yuan Tan sent people out of the city to invite Liu Bei to meet him in the city tomorrow.

Zhou Xing and Sun Qian returned to the camp and told Liu Bei about their meeting with Yuan Tan.

"If we have to wait three more days, will he really give us 10,000 shi of food?"

Liu Bei still had doubts about this.

Zhou Xing said slowly: "Since he has set a date, I believe he will definitely give it. Besides, it's only three days. We might as well wait a little longer."

Jian Yong then said: "It seems difficult to me. If he really wants to give it, why doesn't he give it today or tomorrow? Why does he have to wait for three days? It's obviously delaying. Then he can find any excuse to delay it for another three days to make us wait. After three days and three days, we will naturally leave if we can’t wait any longer.”

"Perhaps he wants to show his authority by giving it to him whenever he wants, instead of giving it as soon as we ask him to." Sun Qian continued.

Liu Bei listened to what everyone said and said: "Then we will wait for three more days. After three days, if he still does not give it, we will go back immediately."

He doesn't want to wait any longer. If he waits any longer, he will run out of the food he brought.

Everyone was speechless and agreed with Liu Bei's meaning.

Zhou Xing had nothing to do. He was not sure whether Yuan Tan would give him food, but he thought in his heart that Yuan Tan had listened to his words and should give food as scheduled in three days.

At this moment, the camp guards came to report that Yuan Tan had sent someone.

As soon as Zhou Xing and Sun Qian left, Yuan Tan sent someone behind. This made Liu Bei, Zhou Xing and others unable to guess what was going on.

Everyone met the visitor with doubts, only to find out that it was Yuan Tan who wanted to invite Liu Bei to the city to meet him tomorrow.

Jian Yong said: "My lord, you can't go. This must be the Hongmen Banquet, and Yuan Tan must have a conspiracy."
Chapter completed!