Chapter 24: Help Lao Liu to make up for his shortcomings! We can’t waste natural resources!

In Xiao Fang's opinion, Lao Liu's kindness and generosity is actually a double-edged sword.

This sword enabled Liu Bei, a grassroots person, to attract many heroes who would stick with him even in the face of death.

However, not everyone is like Guan Erye, who is loyal and righteous. He would rather give up all his wealth and glory and be awarded the golden seal to pursue Lao Liu across thousands of miles.

Most people are actually just ordinary people, and their beliefs are far from being worthy of the word "firm as iron".

This will result in them easily giving up resistance and choosing to surrender to the enemy when faced with the slightest crisis.

There are many examples of this kind.

Mi Fang is the most typical example.

Huang Quan, who surrendered to Wei in the Battle of Yiling, was one of them.

Why?

It is simply because these people know Lao Liu's character very well and are aware of Lao Liu Bei's magnanimity. Even if they betray him, Lao Liu will never touch their families.

One day in the future, if I find an opportunity to return to Lao Liu's arms, I will still receive Lao Liu's trust and courtesy, and I will not lose any official title or treatment.

Therefore, when Sun Quan attacked Jingzhou for the first time, the two counties of Xiangdong easily opened their cities and surrendered.

During the second surprise attack on Jingzhou, the cities in Nanjun, including Jiangling City, offered almost no resistance and surrendered one after another.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of his subordinates, Lao Liu is too kind and kind but lacks authority.

If their lord was Cao Cao, would they dare to open the city and surrender easily?
Why were the generals of Cao Wei always able to defend Fancheng or Hefei to the death?

There is no other reason, it’s just that Cao Cao is cruel enough.

Your entire family is held hostage in Xudu. If you dare to open the city and surrender, I will kill your entire family!
Of course, Xiao Fang’s goal was not to make Lao Liu as ruthless and iron-fisted as Cao Cao.

If that were the case, Liu Bei would not be Liu Bei.

Xiao Fang’s small goal is just to make Lao Liu make up for his shortcoming of abusing leniency.

We need both benevolence and righteousness and an iron fist.

Only by practicing the kingly way while taking into account the hegemonic way and making up for the shortcomings can one have the opportunity to become the second Emperor Guangwu.

And to make up for this shortcoming, we must start with killing Cao Bao.

Liu Bei was not a pedantic person. Xiao Fang's words shocked him and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"Brother, what Military Advisor Xiao said makes sense."

"If a brother does not distinguish between right and wrong and is always lenient, then he has no dignity at all, right?"

"If this continues, I will only respect you but not fear you. How can I be loyal to you?"

"Will everyone then follow Cao Bao's example and rebel against their brother if they are not satisfied with him at all?"

"Anyway, with Cao Bao as a precedent, these people are sure that Brother will not pursue them. Even if they fall into Brother's hands in the future, they only need to cry and beg, and Brother will let bygones be bygones."

"If this is the case, no one will be willing to fight to the death. If all your subordinates are so fickle and easily change their ways, how can you wipe out the Han thieves and revive the Han Dynasty?"

Xiao Fang's words touched Guan Yu's heart, and he immediately stood up and gave him some stern advice.

"Brother, I think so too."

"The military advisor is right. Cao Bao is a bastard and he doesn't deserve your mercy."

"If you really want to spare him, I'll be the first one to stop doing it. You might as well just chop Yan off!"

Zhang Fei also started shouting excitedly, fearing that Liu Bei would be soft-hearted, and he was about to throw a tantrum.

Every word Xiao Fang said was like thunder, booming in my ears.

The hesitation in his eyes gradually turned into enlightenment.

After pondering for a long time.

Liu Bei let out a long breath and bowed to Xiao Fang:
"Thank you, General, for your enlightenment. I now realize that I was indeed ignorant of right and wrong and abused my benevolence and righteousness before!"

Say it.

Liu Bei slowly turned around and when he looked at Cao Bao again, his eyes were as cold as a blade.

Cao Bao, however, looked panic-stricken and at a loss as to what to do.

Originally, he thought that he had figured out Liu Bei's character, and that if he shamelessly admitted his mistakes and begged for mercy, Liu Bei, due to his reputation for benevolence, would certainly show mercy.

Even if Liu Bei did not value him, there was no doubt that he would keep his life.

In the future, he will find an opportunity to escape, then flee back to Xuzhou and rejoin his good son-in-law Lu Bu.

Who would have thought that a military advisor would appear halfway through, brainwash Liu Bei, and actually convince Liu Bei to change his attitude.

"Boy, who are you? I have no grudge against you, why are you trying to provoke Lord Xuande with your words and want to kill me?"

Cao Bao became angry and questioned Xiao Fang.

Zhang Fei looked at Xiao Fang with respect and sneered proudly:
"You bastard, you would never have thought that God would bless my elder brother and let him meet this amazing man."

"This Xiao Jinglue is my brother's new military advisor. You and Li Feng were defeated by his ambush plan!" Cao Bao was stunned and his angry eyes turned into astonishment and confusion.

Xiao Jinglue?
Liu Bei’s new military advisor?
I have never heard of such a person in the world!

How could such an unknown boy come up with such a trick and help Liu Bei easily destroy their 6,000-strong army?
Liu Bei was not in the mood to waste time arguing with him, so he waved his hand and shouted:

"This thief Cao Bao deserves death. Drag him away and behead him!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the confusion in Cao Bao's eyes immediately turned into endless fear.

"Xuan De, please give me a chance to make amends!"

"I will change my past and repay Lord Xuande for not killing me with my own death!"

"Lord Xuande, you are a righteous ruler known to the world. I have already admitted my guilt, how can you bear to kill me~~"

Cao Bao knelt on the ground, begging with tears streaming down his face.

Liu Bei remained unmoved and ordered his personal guards to drag Cao Bao away.

"Don't move, I'll kill this guy myself!"

Zhang Fei pushed his guards aside, grabbed Cao Bao and dragged him away roughly.

"Liu Bei, if you kill me, my son-in-law will never let you go!"

"Fengxian will kill you sooner or later to avenge me!"

"Liu Bei, the big-eared thief——"

Seeing that begging was futile, Cao Bao completely dropped his disguise and started cursing in anger and grief.

Zhang Fei stepped on him, raised his sword high, and snorted coldly:

"Cao Bao, I'll take you on first."

"Don't worry, my brother will come back to Xuzhou sooner or later and kill your son-in-law, so that you can be reunited in the underworld!"

The ring-handled sword slashed down vigorously.

The curses stopped abruptly, and Cao Bao's head fell to the ground.

Sun Qian and the others all applauded when they saw Cao Bao surrender.

"Wei Wenchang, you have captured Cao Bao alive in this battle, which is a great achievement!"

Liu Bei praised Wei Yan highly and looked at Xiao Fang with a smile:
"Jinglue, although your guard is young, he is truly a tiger general!"

Liu Bei seemed to be praising him on the surface, but Xiao Fang could also hear the underlying meaning in his words.

Old Liu admired Wei Yan's military talent, so naturally he wanted to reward him handsomely, promote him, and cultivate him well.

However, Wei Yan's identity at that time was nominally the commander of the personal guards of his military advisor. If he were to be promoted and reused without mentioning him, it would be seen as poaching.

Therefore, what Old Liu meant was that he wanted to take Wei Yan away from him and give him an important position.

"Wen Chang, the lord thinks highly of you."

"From now on, you will be directly under the command of the lord and help him achieve his great cause!"

Xiao Fang took advantage of the situation and readily recommended Wei Yan to Lao Liu.

After all, when he had tricked Wei Yan into going to Xuzhou with him, he had promised Wei Yan that he would help him become a marquis, a general, and become famous throughout the world.

Since you have agreed, you can't go back on your word and ruin someone's bright future.

What's more, it is really a waste of talent for a general like Wei Yan to only be a personal bodyguard.

Wei Yan's face suddenly showed gratitude and joy.

So he straightened his clothes and bowed to Xiao Fang:
"Yan will definitely live up to the high expectations of the military advisor and will go through fire and water for the great cause of the lord without hesitation!"

Seeing Xiao Fang being so magnanimous, Liu Bei felt a little guilty, so he said:
"A military advisor must also be protected by brave and loyal men."

"I will personally select a few loyal and brave men to ensure the safety of the military advisor."

Xiao Fang smiled, with a hint of mystery in his eyes:

"My Lord, please do not worry about selecting the guards."

"The land of Runan is full of loyal and brave men, most suitable to serve as personal guards."

"I have already found suitable candidates in my mind, and I am just waiting for you to recruit them under my command."

Hearing this, a strange look appeared in Liu Bei's eyes.

So his thoughts raced, searching for the heroes of Runan.

"I wonder who this loyal and brave man is that the military advisor is talking about?"

Liu Bei racked his brain for a while, but still couldn't guess who Xiao Fang was referring to, and his eyes became more and more curious.

(End of this chapter)