Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 11 Awkward
Bai Tu was very embarrassed. He was very embarrassed by Chen Gong's praise!
However, no one noticed his embarrassment yet. Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and several other officials and celebrities from Xuzhou at the banquet were all looking at him with curiosity and surprise. Bai Tu even felt that Lord Guan had opened his eyes and looked at him.
That sharpness made Bai Tu feel a chill on the back of his neck...
Fortunately, a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar walked in at this time and interrupted Bai Tu's embarrassment.
"Envoy, the angel has arrived. It seems... the situation in Chang'an has changed." After the middle-aged scholar came in, he walked straight to the front without waiting for Liu Bei to greet him, bowed to Liu Bei and reported.
For a moment, Zhang Fei was glaring at him, and Guan Yu also looked at this man with a gleam . The civil and military officials of Xuzhou who were present all looked around, and a few showed expressions of dissatisfaction or sneer, but they were all very restrained.
Now, it's Liu Bei's turn to be embarrassed!
This "awkwardness" is something that even Bai Tu, who is not very used to this kind of situation, can feel, and it comes over him in waves.
The middle-aged scholar who came in was obviously an official from Xuzhou. Bai Tu didn't know what official position he held, but judging from what he reported, his position should be quite high.
However……
It was such an official from Xuzhou who actually addressed Liu Bei as "Envoy Liu" instead of "Lord", and even reported this matter, which sounded quite important, to Liu Bei in front of Lu Bu and his party!
Bai Tu seemed to see that this middle-aged scholar with a refined look was hitting Liu Bei in the face with his bows left and right.
Even those who were not Liu Bei's confidants were "looking around" at this time, unwilling to see Liu Bei's joke. Only Lu Bu was watching this scene with a silly smile, as if he was still looking forward to the second episode...
Fortunately, Chen Gong was right next to him and pulled his sleeve subtly, and Lu Bu was able to stop moving.
"Mr. Cao, thank you for your hard work in welcoming the envoy! Let me introduce you, this is the famous Wenhou Lu Bu..." Liu Bei, who was in the center of the embarrassment, did not show any strange expression. Instead, he seemed to be enthusiastic and pulled Cao Bao to introduce Lu Bu.
With Bai Tu's keen eyesight, he couldn't tell that Liu Bei's emotions were fake in the slightest.
All he could see was that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were both very angry, especially the latter, who was already gnashing his teeth, and he didn't even know why... Bai Tu always felt that he could hear the vague roar of a tiger faintly beside Zhang Fei.
It can also be seen that although most of the Xuzhou officials present looked sideways and did not laugh at Liu Bei, they were still gloating. In these people's minds, there was a feeling that Cao Bao had higher prestige than Liu Bei - that's right, now Bai Tu, after listening to Liu Bei's introduction, also knew that this person was Cao Bao, the famous scholar in Xuzhou and the prefect of Xia Pi!
The three most important military towns in Xuzhou are: Pengcheng, the provincial capital, which is Xuzhou City; Xiaopei, which was transferred from Yuzhou; and Tancheng, the county capital of Xia Pi County, which can also be called Xia Pi City.
In history, whether it was Tao Qian or Liu Bei, their first reaction after the fall of Pengcheng was to retreat to Xia Pi, an isolated city in Xiaopei that was not suitable for garrison without the city of Xuzhou.
Not to mention Lu Bu, Baimenlou refers to the south gate of Xia Pi.
The fact that a person who was so alienated from Liu Bei could become the prefect of Xia Pi already shows his status and popularity in Xuzhou!
Cao Bao, sounds like a rough name, but actually he is a scholar who has great prestige in the officialdom and Confucian scholars of Xuzhou. During the period of Tao Qian, he was the second most important person in Xuzhou, and now he is the representative of the local aristocratic families in Xuzhou.
Every family has its own problems. How did Cao Cao get defeated by Lu Bu?
Although in this world, Chen Gong had never been the governor of Dongjun, he was indeed a local official in Yanzhou, and most of the time he just watched the result of Lu Bu's entry into Yanzhou .
The reason for this incident was that Cao Cao had earlier executed several famous scholars who had mocked him as the descendants of eunuchs, causing the officials in Yanzhou to become alienated.
This is also the problem faced by warlords in various places nowadays - how many years have they been in power? In terms of local governance, they all rely on the old bureaucrats who come from local families.
Cao Cao tried it out of disbelief, and ended up being defeated by Lu Bu!
This was even more true for Liu Bei in Xuzhou. After all, Cao Cao had built his family business on his own and was just cooperating with aristocratic families. However, Liu Bei... took over Xuzhou directly from Tao Qian, but the old subordinates in Xuzhou had very sharp conflicts of opinion on this matter.
Cao Bao not only has the support of most of the local families in Xuzhou, but even most of the "Danyang soldiers" that Tao Qian used to start his career are now under Cao Bao's control.
Danyang County is a county in Yangzhou. Danyang is a place with dangerous mountains, strong people, good martial arts and warfare, noble spirit and strength, and elite soldiers!
According to the theory of this world, only Danyang Ji can "train" a special type of soldiers by using local military manpower. Bai Tu doesn't know the specific effect, but it is very useful anyway.
Such a famous person who enjoys great prestige among the military, civilians and civil servants. If Liu Bei really did something to him, he would probably be exposed even more miserably than Cao Cao - after all, Cao Cao has his own direct troops!
Moreover, from his attitude, Bai Tu couldn't tell whether Liu Bei was truly magnanimous or was secretly planning something...
Judging from the history that Bai Tu is familiar with, Cao Bao's conflict with Zhang Fei will intensify in the future. When Liu Bei led his troops outside, Cao Bao directly led the Danyang soldiers to repel Zhang Fei, occupy Xia Pi, and welcome Lu Bu to live in Xuzhou.
But it was too early to talk about such a distant future. Liu Bei's sincere counseling diluted the awkward atmosphere, and then he directly asked Cao Bao: "Mr. Cao, where is the angel you just mentioned now?"
Anyway, he had already said it in front of Lu Bu, so Liu Bei didn't mind bringing it up again.
"I saw that the angel was very tired from the long journey, so I asked people to arrange for him to eat and rest," said Cao Bao.
The so-called "angel" is naturally not the one with wings behind its back, but refers to the emperor's messenger.
"According to Mr. Cao, why did this angel come? Is it a real angel, or... sent by the remnants of the thief Dong?" Liu Bei asked.
Upon hearing this, Cao Bao looked at Liu Bei deeply - it seemed that he had not expected that Liu Bei would be so free of resentment... at least he seemed to be asking for his opinion without any resentment.
"This man is in a very sorry state, and he also said that something has happened in Chang'an. I think this must be someone your Majesty has entrusted him with." Cao Bao said.
Bai Tu was thinking secretly in his mind, could this be the prelude to the legendary "using the emperor to command the princes"?
"Something has happened in Chang'an... Alas! I regret that Xuzhou is far away from Guanzhong and there is also Cao Cao in between. I just hope that Benchu can successfully rescue Your Majesty..." Liu Bei said with some annoyance.
He had not been surprised by Cao Bao's rudeness before, but now he did not hide his anger towards Cao Cao and Li Jue and Guo Si. Liu Bei's sincerity was overflowing.
Even Lu Bu seemed a little moved, wondering if he would have a chance to save the emperor again...
By then, I, as the great hero who twice “saved the empire from collapse and saved the people from distress,” will undoubtedly be the pillar of the Han Dynasty, right?
"Cao Cao will send troops, but Yuan Shao may not." Bai Tu felt that he should hint to Lu Bu to give up his unrealistic idea.
"Huh? Can Cao do such a good thing?" Zhang Fei looked at Bai Tu in confusion.
Liu Bei was also stunned when he heard this. Zhang Fei had hated Cao Cao for a long time and it was instinctive that they were incompatible. Liu Bei had also fought against Dong Zhuo together with Cao Cao, and his dissatisfaction with him was triggered by the previous Xuzhou incident.
Humans are like this. When we hate someone, we think he will never do good things!
"It may not be a good thing." Bai Tu said.
"What? Does he dare to disrespect the emperor?" Zhang Fei glared.
"I'm definitely more respectful than Li Jue and Guo Si. Can you say that 'serving the emperor to command the disobedient' is disrespectful?"
Ever since he scared Chen Gong that time, Bai Tu also learned to choose words and sentences carefully, and deliberately didn't say it so bluntly...
