At the top of Xiapi City, Liu Bei looked at the vast plains outside the city, feeling excited that he was finally back!
As soon as he turned his head, the densely packed Yuan Tan camp in the distance made his face freeze. He understood that this victory was actually due to the two brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi.
If Yuan Tan provokes an attack now, he is afraid that he will not be able to defend Tancheng.
Thinking of this, Liu Bei even felt a little disgusted with Xuzhou. This place looked rich and prosperous. When he took over it, he thought he had taken the first step to become famous in the world.
Unexpectedly, since then, the war in Xuzhou has not stopped, making Liu Bei extremely annoyed.
Especially since Zhang Fei lost Tancheng to now, Liu Bei has almost lost all his capital. If Mi Zhu hadn't persuaded Mi Fang to donate his servants and some of his belongings to recruit troops, I'm afraid Liu Bei would have few soldiers left by now.
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Regarding the Mi family's act of providing help in times of need, Liu Bei naturally wanted to repay him. Now that he has retaken Tancheng, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang have both been promoted.
Mi Fang directly became a meritorious official. In terms of official position, she even surpassed Chen Deng.
Although the final decisive factor was the Yuan brothers, none of Liu Bei's officials could say anything.
After all, Liu Bei was almost at the end of his rope at that time, and the Mi family spent all their wealth on a big gamble. Not everyone had the courage.
But the embarrassing thing is that Mrs. Liu Bei was sent back by Yuan Xi, and Liu Bei now had no excuse to marry Mi Zhen.
There was the sound of figures in the distance. Liu Bei took a closer look and saw that it was Yuan Tan riding into the city with several guards.
Liu Bei suddenly felt relieved. Yuan Tan entered the city in person, which was a sign of sincerity.
He secretly blamed himself for having suffered so many betrayals recently that he had lost trust in other people and began to worry about gains and losses.
After all, there are still many trustworthy people in this world.
Liu Bei hurried down to the city to greet Yuan Tan, and bowed deeply to Yuan Tan, "This recapture of Xuzhou is all thanks to the great kindness of the envoy. Bei is deeply grateful and can't express it in words."
Yuan Tan quickly helped Liu Bei up and said with a smile: "Mr. Xuande is so polite."
"It seems that Tan has not yet thanked Duke Xuande for his recommendation. From now on, Duke Xuande will be Tan's recommender. In the future, as long as he is not hostile to the Yuan family, if Duke Xuande is in trouble, Tan will do his best to help him."
After hearing this, Liu Bei felt happy and hurriedly gave in: "You can do countless things with just a little effort."
He observed Yuan Tan's words and expressions and saw that Yuan Tan's expression did not seem to be fake. He wondered whether this talented person was very important to Yuan Tan?
Liu Bei secretly thought that it should be easy for Jizhou to recommend Yuan Tan as a talented person, but he never did so. It seemed that he had some hidden agenda.
It seems that Chen Deng was able to persuade Yuan Tan to mobilize an army to help in Yecheng, and there must be some connections that he didn't know about!
Liu Bei felt a little unsure. Did he not fully understand Chen Deng's abilities and missed something?
Thinking of this, Liu Bei tentatively asked: "It is unlikely that Mr. Xiansi will be able to mobilize all the troops of a state to help a mere talented man, right?"
After hearing this, Yuan Tan smiled and said: "This is just one aspect. The key point is that I sincerely want to make friends with Mr. Xunxuan De."
Yuan Tan came here this time to win over Liu Bei through recruiting talented people.
In fact, he is now in the same extremely embarrassing situation as Yuan Xi.
Most of Qingzhou where he is located is blocked by Jizhou, and the other half is Xuzhou. It is blocked by the Taishan bandits, so how can it develop?
Moreover, Yuan Tan finally understood that although Yuan Xi helped him block the adoption, the fact that he was suppressed by Yuan Shang has not changed, and the gap in the comparison of forces between the two sides is getting wider and wider.
Not to mention anything else, Yuan Shang is sitting in Jizhou with a population of millions. He can expand to Bingzhou to the west, invade Sili to the southwest, and plot Xuzhou to the east. He has many more choices than Yuan Tan.
Therefore, Yuan Tan must deploy in Xuzhou in advance, otherwise he will have no way out if he is too late. Will he be able to expand overseas in the future?
Therefore, winning over Liu Bei has become Yuan Tan's most urgent choice at present. Although Liu Bei is his candidate, the relationship between the candidate and his disciples also depends on the strength.
Now that Yuan Tan is far stronger than Liu Bei, Yuan Tan can naturally lead the development of the alliance between the two sides.
Yuan Tan said to Liu Bei: "Mr. Xuande also knows that I am in a bad situation among the Yuan family now."
"Although Xian Yi and I each occupy one state, our combined power is not as strong as the third brother's in Jizhou, so the two of us need to join forces. This time we led troops to rescue Duke Xuande, and Xian Yi took the lead."
Liu Bei thought it was Yuan Xi again. It seemed that there was a shadow of this person behind everything?
For Yuan Xi, Liu Bei loved and hated him. Many of his affairs were facilitated by this person. It can be said that he helped him a lot, but how can anyone help others for no reason in the world?
But Liu Bei still can't figure out what Yuan Xi is going to do, but his plans are obviously not small. Liu Bei owes Yuan Xi too many favors, and he doesn't dare to think about how he will repay this debt in the future.
He was afraid that when the time comes, Yuan Xi puts forward conditions that he cannot fulfill. What will he do then?
But now Liu Bei has no choice. He is about to starve to death. It doesn't matter whether the thing in front of him is poison. Anyway, if he doesn't eat it, he will definitely die. If he eats it, there is still hope of survival.
Thinking of this, Liu Bei spoke up and said: "The two young masters have saved Bei's life. Bei doesn't want to lie. Bei has sent people to Guangling to invite Mr. Xian Yi to Tancheng to discuss the future affairs of Xuzhou."
"When Mr. Xian Yi arrives, how about we discuss it together among the three parties?"
Yuan Tan listened and immediately nodded in agreement. He had paid such a high price this time, and of course he would not be polite to Liu Bei.
While Liu Bei and Yuan Tan were waiting for Yuan Xi, Xuzhou officials in Haixi City also learned the news that Liu Bei had recaptured Xuzhou. Most of them were overjoyed and prepared to return to Tancheng.
For them, Liu Bei is closely related to their future. Now that Liu Bei is gaining power again, how can he possibly miss out on their benefits in the future?
Mi Zhen looked at the elated Mi Fang and couldn't help but said: "Brother's official position is high and powerful. If it exceeds my ability, it may not be a good thing."
Mi Fang had just received the news of her promotion. She was happy when she was poured cold water on Mi Zhen. She couldn't help but said: "My little sister is a little disappointed by what she said. My eldest brother has never seen anything better than me."
"I have been managing the Mi family's trade routes all these years. Several trade routes involve many things, and I can handle them with ease. Why can't I do this anymore?"
"How many of those elected filial, honest and talented people have actually done practical things?"
"I don't believe they can be better than me?"
Mi Zhen and Mi Fang were in high spirits and couldn't bear to spoil his mood, so they had to advise: "Brother, please be more like your elder brother, be careful in your work, be lenient to others, and never make enemies easily."
Mi Fang waved her hand and didn't take it to heart, "Forget about the eldest brother, he is too cautious in his actions!"
"Besides, I have been promoted and am now on an equal footing with Guan Yu. I want to see if he dares to look down on me in the future!"
After hearing this, Mi Zhen felt worried and said: "Brother, Guan Yunchang and Liu Yuzhou are brothers and have an extraordinary relationship. You..."
"Okay, okay," Mi Fang said impatiently: "Why is my little sister getting more and more verbose before she gets married..."
He suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly kept silent. When he saw tears flashing in Mi Zhen's eyes, he slapped himself in the face and said, "Brother, I made a mistake. I don't blame you for this.
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The Mi family's intention of marrying Mi Zhen to Liu Bei was well understood by the Xuzhou nobles. Originally, they could not say anything, but the matter was revealed because Liu Bei's wife was sent back, which put the Mi family into an extremely embarrassing situation.
situation.
Of course, most of the nobles were gloating over their misfortunes, and the gossip spread to Mi Zhen's ears, which made her very embarrassed.
Mi Zhen sighed in her heart. She naturally knew that Mi Zhu and Mi Fang were not to blame for this, but she felt quite relieved after hearing the news.
She suddenly realized that she didn't want to marry Liu Bei in her heart.
Who is your ideal husband?
A very familiar face slowly appeared in her mind.
She shook her head slowly, driving away this unexpected face, thinking how could this be possible, everyone was already married, and the bride was said to be a beauty, so who was she?
Seeing that Mi Zhen was not in high spirits, Mi Fang consoled her: "Speaking of which, my younger sister is not the only one who failed in this marriage. It is said that the marriage between Kong Beihai's daughter and the Taiyang clan also failed."
"This thing is inexplicable, I have to go find out."
Mi Zhen listened and sighed, "Brother, you really need to watch your mouth."
Some are happy and some are sad. Kong Rong has been in a very bad mood recently.
Liu Bei recaptured Xuzhou, and it stands to reason that he could finally find a way to rush to Sili to meet the emperor.
But something happened that made him lose face. Taiyangshi regretted his marriage!
On the day when Kong Rong's family returned to Haixi, the Taiyang family had already sent a clan elder to discuss the marriage between the two families. Logically speaking, both parties were of that age.
But when the Yang family was asking for hexagrams, they got some prophecies, saying that the two men and women might have conflicting fates, which would affect the life span of both parties.
So Taiyangshi found the famous doctor Hua Tuo and wanted to take Kong Rong's daughter's pulse to see if there was really a hidden disease.
When Kong Rong and his wife heard the news, Kong Rong was furious. Just as he was about to get angry, Kong Rong's wife had already smashed the tea bowl in front of the Taigoat clan elder.
Mrs. Kong Rong said in a cold voice: "If Mr. Yang wants to regret his marriage, he doesn't have to do this by tearing up both sides of the marriage contract."
"Isn't it because my daughter was trapped in the enemy's hands twice? I'm afraid that she won't be clean and it will affect the Yang family's reputation?"
"The Yang family also thinks too low of the Kong family. If such a thing really happens, I will not agree to the marriage between the two families!"
The old man smiled and said, "Madam, please calm down. I am also following the order of the master of the family. Besides, who knows about melon fields and plum trees?"
"If Madam really thinks the girl is innocent, why not let the miracle doctor take a look?"
Mrs. Kong Rong gritted her teeth. Unexpectedly, Kong Rong said: "Well, you can bring the miracle doctor here tomorrow."
After hearing this, the elder bowed immediately, said goodbye and left.
After the other party left, Mrs. Kong Rong said angrily: "If you let him bully you like this, how can you prove your innocence?"
Kong Rong's face was gloomy, "This innocence is not for the Yang family to see, but for everyone in the world to see."
"Because the Yang family bets that the Kong family must prove themselves before they can be worthy of the lintel of the Kong family."
"So no matter whether the marriage happens or not, this matter cannot be avoided. I can only agree."