Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 28 Farewell
Xuzhou, Pengcheng.
Bai Tu and Kong Rong went to see Liu Bei, the governor of Xuzhou.
Recently, the weather has turned cold, the food supply has been blocked, and marching has become inconvenient, so Xia Pi County finally stopped fighting and Liu Bei was able to return to Pengcheng.
Before this, Liu Bei and Yuan Shu had won and lost each other in Xia Pi, and Xuyi and Huaiyin counties were lost repeatedly. However, Xiangcheng, as the seat of Xia Pi, had always held strong. After attacking for several months, Yuan Shu had to return in defeat, and Huaiyin was also recovered.
Bai Tu came to bid farewell to Liu Bei because he was about to leave. Liu Bei should have known about this. After all, Da Han Ji was in Xudu releasing information about Bai Tu to other states and counties. Pengcheng was not far away, so he should have arrived there. The information released by Da Han Ji could ignore the military confrontation between the princes. As long as the places passed still nominally belonged to the Han territory, the only criterion would be the smoothness of the road itself.
After living in Xiaopei for several months, Bai Tu is about to leave. It is reasonable for him to come and see Liu Bei.
Kong Rong and Liu Bei were also old acquaintances. When Kong Rong was the prefect of Beihai County, he was besieged by Guan Hai of the Yellow Turban Army and was only able to break the siege after seeking help from Liu Bei.
Later, Liu Bei learned that Cao Cao was attacking Xuzhou, and then he rushed to Xuzhou...
At that time, Liu Bei was a typical "army man" who had almost no control over the local area and ran around everywhere.
After Liu Bei left, Kong Rong was attacked by Yuan Shao's son Yuan Tan in Beihai, and he fled back to his hometown until he was recruited by Cao Cao to serve in the court not long ago.
Now that Bai Tu came to see Liu Bei, Kong Rong naturally followed as well.
Liu Bei was waiting at the city gate early again. This time, only Zhang Fei accompanied him. Guan Yu was stationed in Xia Pi to guard against Yuan Shu.
"I am so ashamed to have come from afar to meet you ." Bai Tu has now learned to be polite to others.
"Mr. Bai has made great contributions to the country. If you don't come to greet us from afar, others will poke my spine." Liu Bei said hurriedly.
"Yes! If it were only me, the envoy would not have to come out, but Mr. Bai is here, and if you don't come out, I will be the first to poke you, hahaha..." Kong Rong and Liu Bei were familiar with each other and even joked.
"Mr. Kong is laughing at me! I have known Mr. Bai much earlier than you." Liu Bei also became less polite and greeted Bai Tu and Kong Rong normally.
When Zhang Fei saw that Lu Bu didn't come, he curled his lips with some regret, looking like a "hero has no place to use his mouth".
But Bai Tu was quite familiar with him, so he was not too bored.
"Hard Drive, I heard from my elder brother that with your papermaking and printing technology, it will be easy to print books in the future. How about you publish a collection of quotations for me one day?" Zhang Fei said curiously.
"My technology has been made public, Yide can print it himself!" Bai Tu thought to himself: If I help you print the quotations, I'm afraid your adoptive father will sacrifice himself for the sake of justice.
"Third brother! Stop messing around." Liu Bei shook his head helplessly.
This time, on the way to Pengcheng, Bai Tu once again enjoyed a welcoming reception along the way.
Last time, the people of Xuzhou welcomed Lu Bu, who forced Cao Cao to retreat, but this time they actually welcomed Bai Tu himself!
The common people of the Han Dynasty were still very simple and honest. Although they had never been to school, they still instinctively admired Bai Tu after hearing about his heroic deeds.
Especially in terms of the promotion of books, the people who benefited the most were actually the poor and the local tyrants - that is, the small and medium-sized landlords. They had some wealth themselves but were firmly blocked from the "aristocratic families".
Even in the Song Dynasty when the imperial examination system was popularized, only wealthy families could read. If one wanted to popularize education among the common people, it was far from being achieved by simply promoting books.
Many of the people living in cities, especially provincial capitals, are from "poor families" with some wealth. They have clearly understood that they must gain benefits, so naturally Bai Tu is very popular here!
At the governor's office, Liu Bei prepared a banquet. He first toasted Bai Tu with great flattery, praising Bai Tu's "three great artifacts" - papermaking, printing, and elementary education, and his contributions to the country and the people.
Bai Tu said a little embarrassedly: "Speaking of which, I came here to say goodbye to Envoy Liu this time. The court appointed me as the governor of Yangzhou. I plan to go to Jiangdong to take up the post on a certain date, and my adoptive father will go with me... However, most of the troops in Xiaopei will stay, and Wenyuan and the others will not leave for the time being."
Xiaopei and Pengcheng are not far away. Liu Bei already knew that Bai Tu had chosen Lu Bu as his adoptive father, so he was not surprised to hear it.
"Mr. Bai, in my opinion, it's better not to go to Yangzhou! I would like to recommend you to move to the post of governor of Xuzhou. From now on, General Lu will be in Xiaopei, and my three brothers will be in Xiapi. We will watch over each other and support the Han Dynasty together!" Liu Bei said.
Liu Bei began to give up Xuzhou again. This time, as the target being given up, Bai Tu could feel his sincerity even more.
If this is an act, then... it's probably no different from the real thing.
Zhang Fei, who was standing by, said quickly, "Brother...please don't do that. The hard drive won't agree."
Compared to his fierce opposition when he gave up Lu Bu, Zhang Fei was relatively considerate when Liu Bei gave up Bai Tu. Although he opposed it, he did not get directly angry .
"General Liu is in Xuzhou, and the people are praising him highly. On the contrary, Yan Baihu and Yuan Shu's minions are causing trouble in Yangzhou. How can I give up Yangzhou and be attached to Xuzhou?" Bai Tu quickly refused.
After Liu Bei and Kong Rong heard this, they felt that Bai Tu's figure was even taller, while Zhang Fei on the side was a little confused - why did he always feel that what Hard Drive said was a bit hypocritical, as if Xuzhou was a mess?
But in a flash, Zhang Fei threw this idea behind him... listen to your elder brother and you will have food to eat!
That's right, in the minds of Liu Bei and others, Yangzhou is not as developed as Xuzhou in the heart of the Central Plains either in terms of its current situation or its current level. But in Bai Tu's mind, Yangzhou, which has the strategic location of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, is actually much stronger than Xuzhou.
Historically, although Eastern Wu failed to get involved in Huainan, it still made some achievements in Jiangdong. In the troubled times, Jiangdong, a secluded place, showed its potential for development.
However, before the Eastern Wu Dynasty, the northerners underestimated Jiangdong, and even until the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, this kind of thinking still existed...
As for the current situation, Bai Tu is not worried about Jiangdong.
If we refer to history, we will know that after the Little Overlord crossed the river, he completely started to play at the level of a novice, chopping melons and vegetables and sweeping across the country!
Everyone is worried about Yuan Shu now. Although he has the potential to be the number one prince in the world, Bai Tu understands that Yuan Shu is capable of destroying himself.
By then, Yangzhou will be much more superior than Xuzhou, which is surrounded by enemies and has no strategic location to defend.
Bai Tu's words made Liu Bei admire him but unable to persuade him any further.
When Bai Tu came to say goodbye this time, Liu Bei did not invite too many people to the banquet. As the host, besides Zhang Fei, only Jian Yong and Mi Zhu attended the banquet.
Jian Yong was a counselor under Liu Bei who was introduced to Bai Tu the last time he came, and Mi Zhu was the head of the Mi family. When Bai Tu came to Pengcheng last time, Mi Zhu was still sitting with other nobles, but now he is attending this more private banquet with Liu Bei...
It seems that Mi family has really placed their bets on Liu Bei!
Whether intentional or through natural development, Liu Bei's group began to break through the limitations of "important official" to "warlord" and began to develop their own team.
The common feature of the two is that they are both very good-looking!
Jian Yong has a free and easy temperament and is good at speaking, which makes the atmosphere at a table lively. His behavior, which sometimes seems impolite, is not annoying, but can bring people closer together.
Mi Zhu, on the other hand, has two auras—nobility and righteousness!
While he looks elegant and noble, one can also sense his integrity and uprightness; his demeanor and manner make one feel that he is a gentleman of the world.
After the banquet, both the host and the guests were very happy. That night, Bai Tu rested in the governor's mansion. When he was about to leave the next day, he was stopped by an unexpected person...
