Liu Bei saw that Yuan Xi had returned the land of a county with just a few words. He was in a state of joy when he heard that Yuan Xi wanted to hire someone for himself. Without thinking about it, he agreed casually: "Since the young master has spoken, there is nothing you can do if you are not prepared."
Yuan Xi said aloud: "I would like to ask Mr. Yuan Long to serve as the prefect of Guangling."
As soon as these words came out, everyone's praises slowly became sparse, and they all looked at Chen Deng, who had shown no abnormal behavior until just now.
They all came up with the idea at the same time, Chen Deng, I didn't expect you to have colluded with Yuan Xi and climbed to the top!
No wonder you volunteered to write to Yuan Shao, asking Yuan Shao to support Liu Bei in taking over Xuzhou!
Chen Deng's face froze and he was a little unresponsive. Because of the matter of taking over the post of Guangling Prefect, Yuan Xi had never been angry with him before!
He was actually having a very difficult time during this period.
Chen Deng and Mi Zhu were the two main promoters of Liu Bei's leadership in Xuzhou, but later facts proved that they were too optimistic.
Although Liu Bei had nothing to do with Mi Zhu and Chen Deng about losing Tancheng, the bad thing was that when Liu Bei got Xuzhou, in order to avoid leaks, he discussed it privately with Chen Deng and Mi Zhu and did not inform other subordinates.
This led to a bad relationship between Liu Bei and Tao Qian, the old general headed by Cao Bao, which indirectly led to Zhang Fei and Cao Bao later attacking each other and losing Xiapi.
This caused Liu Bei's officials to criticize Chen Deng and Mi Zhu. In addition, Chen Qun, who had different opinions, ran to Cao Cao, and everyone's private criticism became even greater.
Feeling uneasy, Chen Deng ran to Yecheng to ask for help from the Yuan family, but he came back disappointed. He wanted to ask Liu Bei to borrow troops to fight Sun Ce, but he was ridiculed by others, and finally gave up.
At that time, Yuan Xi was preparing to send troops to help, but the operation needed to be kept secret, so Chen Deng was not informed. It was not until Yuan Xi captured Guangling that Chen Deng understood the cause and effect of the incident.
For the fall of Xuzhou, someone has to be blamed in the end. Everyone knows that Tancheng was lost to Zhang Fei, but who dares to say that it was Zhang Fei's fault?
On Mi Zhu's side, on the one hand, she helped Liu Bei with money, food, troops and horses, and on the other hand, she was preparing to marry her sister to Liu Bei. Although the marriage did not happen in the end, who knows what will happen in the future?
Therefore, others would not criticize Mi Zhu without their eyesight, so they all pointed their finger at Chen Deng.
This is the same as Yuan Shao's eight advisers fighting against each other in Jizhou. If the foreign nobles want to develop locally, they must suppress the local nobles. After all, there are only so many cakes.
In this situation where two factions are fighting, the local gentry are often at a disadvantage.
Because for the lord, if the local nobles are too powerful, they will be too powerful to lose, so he will intentionally or unintentionally allow foreign nobles to target the local nobles, and even personally suppress them.
Just like Jushou who was sent to Youzhou, Chen Deng, who belonged to the Chen family of a prominent family in Xuzhou, was also in an extremely embarrassing situation.
Even though Yuan Xi saw this opportunity, he directly poached Chen Deng without discussing it with him, because he knew that although Chen Deng didn't have many choices, Chen Deng might not be able to save face if he raised the issue in private.
But now in public, just saying this directly blocked Chen Deng's last escape route!
Because what Yuan Xi said has successfully aroused everyone in Xuzhou's suspicion of Chen Deng. Now Chen Deng can't get rid of it even if he jumps into the Yellow River!
If Chen Deng was a smart man, he should know what he would choose next.
Yuan Xi couldn't help but turn his face, glanced at the innocent-looking Guo Jia, and thought to himself that this idea was really cruel.
Liu Bei laughed dryly, "Master Xian Yi is really powerful. He wants to take away my captain Diannong as soon as he opens his mouth."
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "That's natural. In my eyes, it is still a good deal to exchange the following Pi for Mr. Yuanlong."
After everyone heard this, they secretly scolded this boy for being shameless. Just now, he said that he let Xiapi go out by himself, and now he tied Chen Deng to Xiapi in exchange for it!
However, everyone in Xuzhou, including Liu Bei, had a big question in their hearts: why did Yuan Xi attach so much importance to Chen Deng?
You must know that no matter how powerful Chen Deng is, there are dozens of officials like him in Xuzhou, but apart from farming, there is nothing outstanding about him?
Some people are worried, did Chen Deng feel suppressed, so he exchanged some conditions with Yuan Xi privately?
If this is the case, then he is indeed not suitable to be under the lord!
Thinking of this, everyone looked at Liu Bei one after another, their eyes full of expectation.
They were naturally very happy. If Chen Deng went to Guangling to join Yuan Xi, it would be difficult for the Chen family to gain a foothold in Xiapi. In all likelihood, they would be forced to move to Guangling, leaving behind a lot of assets for everyone to divide!
There was no joy on Liu Bei's face. He stood up, bowed to Chen Deng, his eyes were a little red, and said, "This matter is still decided by Mr. Yuan Long."
"On the first day that I came to Xuzhou, I received help from my husband and benefited a lot."
"It can be said that without my husband, I would not be where I am today. I will never forget my kindness."
Chen Deng was very touched after hearing this. He quickly stood up and returned the greeting: "Deng is frightened and will never forget the kindness of Xuande Gong."
When Liu Bei spoke, Yuan Xi secretly lamented that no matter how sincere he was, Liu Bei really had nothing to say to people in any aspect.
He was secretly worried, but when he heard Chen Deng's answer, he suddenly felt happy.
Chen Deng addressed Liu Bei as Duke Xuande, not Lord!
Of course Liu Bei understood the meaning of Chen Deng's words, and immediately sighed, knowing that it would not help.
During this period, Chen Deng was indeed targeted by some thoughtful officials. Although Liu Bei was aware of it, it was a critical time to recapture Xiapi, and he could not be distracted from dealing with these trivial matters.
Liu Bei originally planned to have a good talk with Chen Deng after calming down the situation in the city in the past few days, but he never expected that as soon as Yuan Xi arrived, he directly asked for someone, which caught Liu Bei off guard.
Liu Bei was secretly alert. This ferocious tiger of the Yuan family had mastered the art of war in terms of military speed and surprise. Whether it was fighting or negotiating, he had mastered the art of war!
Is it his own ability, or is he a wise counselor?
Thinking of this, Liu Bei couldn't help but glance at Guo Jia, who had never spoken a word.
This seems to be from Yingchuan?
Chen Qun is also from Yingchuan, right?
Chen Deng slowly turned to Yuan Xi, bowed deeply, and said solemnly: "Thanks to the master for not giving up, I will do my best when I go."
He must now make a decisive statement. His hesitation and hesitation will make people look down upon him, and will also make Liu Bei and Yuan Xi doubt his loyalty.
Given the choice between the two, he chose Yuan Xi's side.
Yuan Xi smiled and saw that Chen Deng was indeed clean and neat in his work, without any sloppiness. He bowed deeply and returned the courtesy, "Xiding will live up to you, sir."
All Xuzhou officials couldn't help showing expressions of relief and congratulated each other.
Some people have already begun to think about how to go to the Chen family and take the opportunity to purchase the land at a low price.
Yuan Xi lowered his head and couldn't help but smile proudly.
Done!
Even though Chen Deng was slightly reluctant at this time, he would never return to Liu Bei's camp in the future!
Winning over Chen Deng is of great significance, not only because Chen Deng is proficient in agriculture and military arts, but also because his father, Chen Gui, is also a very powerful counselor.
The father and son conspired to trick Lu Bu and Sun Ce one after another, which can be said to have greatly affected the history of the late Han Dynasty.
Chen Pu, a Neo-Confucian and poet of the Song Dynasty, commented, "Yuan Long and his son, Yuan Long, are wiser than Cao Gong's 100,000 troops. Lu Bu was captured and died on the road while trying to persuade his bride to return."
Li Zhi, a litterateur in the Ming Dynasty, said, "Chen Gui and his son treat Lu Bu like a baby, and it's pitiful that Lu Bu doesn't know anything about it."
Moreover, many members of the Chen family served as officials in the Wei State in later generations, which shows that there are many talented people in the family.
This is really buy one and get more. Liu Bei will not understand what he has lost at this time.
After the matter on Yuan Xi's side was settled, everyone in Xuzhou suddenly relaxed a lot, and everyone turned their attention to Yuan Tan.
When Yuan Tan saw this, he smiled and said, "Since Duke Xuande is my lord, wouldn't it be unkind and unjust if I annexed the two counties?"
"I want to take charge of Langya County on my behalf, so that I can block the Taishan bandit's route out of the mountain. This is also a good thing for Xuzhou as a whole."
Langya County is located in the northernmost part of Xuzhou, on the border with Qingzhou. The state boundary is separated by the Taishan mountainous area that stretches for hundreds of miles. Hundreds of thousands of Taishan bandits are hiding in it, and they are still a serious problem in Xuzhou.
When everyone in Xuzhou heard this, they were even more delighted.
Originally, after Langya County was slaughtered by Cao Cao, the people's livelihood was in decline. Taishan bandits took the opportunity to harass southward from time to time, making Langya an extremely difficult place to manage, and even affected other counties in Xuzhou.
Now that Yuan Tan is willing to eliminate this serious problem for Xuzhou, the officials in Xuzhou are naturally very happy.
Liu Bei opened his mouth and looked at his subordinates. He found that Chen Qun and Chen Deng, who had been the backbone before, had already taken refuge with Cao Cao and Yuan Xi, and they were unable to give him any advice.
Liu Bei understood what Yuan Tan was thinking. The other party wanted to annex all the Taishan bandits and strengthen his own power!
What Liu Bei originally thought was that if Yuan Tan attacked from Qingzhou, the Taishan bandits would be unable to support him and would flee south to various places in Xuzhou, so that Liu Bei could take the opportunity to gather refugees and serve as sergeants.
However, this plan now seems to be unworkable.
Of course, Yuan Tan may not be able to take it alone. If Liu Bei wants to get a piece of the pie, he must make long-term plans.
Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh, these two people from the Yuan family are not easy people. The other party knew that he needed the help of the Yuan family to deal with Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, so he accurately made an offer that Liu Bei could not refuse, but it was not too much. Wire.
Liu Bei now looked away. Since Xuzhou couldn't eat it himself, he couldn't blame others.
The current situation is much better than what he originally expected. At least he still occupies four counties and has two helpers, Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi. Given time, he will definitely be able to make a comeback.
Thinking of this, he said: "According to the words of the two young masters, from now on the three parties will jointly govern Xuzhou and defend against foreign enemies!"
Mi Zhu returned home dejectedly, sat in her room and sighed.
Mi Zhen came over just in time. Seeing that Mi Zhu was in a bad mood, she asked curiously: "Brother, what happened?"
Mi Zhu let out a long sigh: "Yuanlong, my good friend, is leaving Xiapi now. From now on, our Mi family will be left alone."
"Even though the Mi family is blooming with flowers now, the high altitude is too cold and it has already aroused people's jealousy. If there is no one to help them, sooner or later they will be isolated and isolated. The future is worrying."
Mi Zhen knew that she was the best friend of Mi Zhu and Chen Deng, so she asked in surprise: "Where are Mr. Yuan Long going?"
"Are we going to leave Ambassador Liu too?"
Mi Zhu shook his head and seemed to remember something, "Master Xian Yi arrived in the city today to discuss the joint governance of Xuzhou. After that, I came back a little late because I had something to do. Mi Fang hasn't come back yet?"
Mi Zhen shook her head and said: "Second brother didn't come back home, he..." She suddenly realized, Mr. Xian Yi?