My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 708

At Youzhou, the three Yuan brothers were arguing about something unhappily.

“Milord. Milord.” A messenger stepped forward and adressed them but he was ignored. This made the messenger feel very embarassed. He only managed to gain their attention after shouting out a few times.

“What is it? Can't you see we are having an important discussion?” Yuan Xi, the most good natured one have also finally begun to get angry. “Military law will be applied if it is not an important matter!”

“Milord…” The threat of military law frightened the messenger. In the past, military discipline was not that strict. But under the leadership of Yuan Xi, military law was changed and reinforced. Yuan Xi even set up a supervisory team. Anybody caught violating military law would be dragged away by them.

“Milord. An envoy came from Yangzhou.” The messenger quickly said.

“Oh. Men, take this…” Yuan Xi was about to have the messenger arrested when he suddenly stopped. “What did you say? Say it again.”

“Milord. An envoy from Yangzhou wants to see you.” The messenger repeated himself.

“Is this true?” Yuan Shang immediately stepped forward and grabbed the messenger's shoulders.

“How can I dare to lie?” The messenger was shocked. One cannot joke for military matters.

“Why didn't you say so earlier?” The Yuan brothers complained when they learned that the messenger was telling the truth. The messenger was wrongly accused. He had been telling them this since the start but no one paid him any attention.

“Where is the envoy now?” Yuan Xi asked.

“He just entered the city and is at Honglu Pavillion.”

“Alright. Bring the envoy to us.” Yuan Tan was about to ask his men to escort the envoy.

“Wait.” Yuan Xi stopped Yuan Tan.

“Second Brother? This is Yangzhou's envoy. Are you not going to see him?” Yuan Tan asked. The equipment and the food all came from Yangzhou. Now that Yangzhou sent an envoy here, it must be an important matter.

Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang smiled. They had been complaining that they were poor so it was possible that Liu Mang was going to be merciful and lower the price. If this was true, the two brothers would be very happy so they wanted to quickly invite the envoy over but they were stopped by Yuan Xi.

“Brother. Third Brother. Yangzhou's envoy just entered Fanyang and must be tired from his long journey. It would be impolite to invite him over just to meet him.”

“Yes, yes. Second Brother is thoughtful. We should let him rest first before summoning him.” Yuan Shang nodded.

Yuan Xi sighed at Yuan Shang's words. Yangzhou's envoy did not come all the way here to sightsee. He came here for important matters. Why are you waiting for him to rest up? Besides that, the Yuan Family was the one making the requests here. How can they summon others? They should be the one paying visits.

“Brother. Third Brother. Let's go. Follow me to see Yangzhou's envoy!” Yuan Xi said directly.

The three of them then went towards Honglu Pavillion.

“This is Youzhou.” One familiar voice said.

“Your Excellency. Have you never been to Youzhou?” Asked an accompanying Youzhou official.

“Yes. I've always been in the Central Plains since i was born and have never ventured North.” The young man replied.

“Then you should look at it carefully. The North is where you find imposingness befitting of a man. It is where there are mountains and rivers.” The Youzhou official said. ṛÅΝОʙЁṡ

"Is that so?" The young man asked rhetorically. The North was cold and the land was not as fertile as the South. Because of this, the people from the North needed to be robust to survive the cold.

On the other hand, the South was more fertile and had forest. So the people from the South grew up to be more nimble and agile.

If the southerners went to the North, they would not be able to survive from the cold. Likewise, if the northerners went South, they would find trouble swimming. Each place have their own characteristic and there is no absolute advantage.

"Your Excellency. Honglu Temple is right in front of you." Youzhou's official pointed and said. In fact, it was not the real thing. Honglu Temple was unused for many years and fell into ruins. The current one was just the home of a rich person and it was renamed Honglu Pavillion. However, they should not frighten off Yangzhou's envoy.

"Eh? There is someone in front." The young man looked over to see two rows of people with three men wearing general outfit at the front. They were standing there as though they were waiting for someone. These three men also looked similar.

"Milord, Young Master, Commander!" The official greeted, revealing that these three men were the Yuan brothers.

"Let's go." The young man moved forward without any fear. He then got off his horse and clasped his fists. "The chief envoy of Yangzhou greets the Grand General, the Chariot General and Youzhou's Governor."

"You are the King of Shu's envoy?" The Yuan brothers did not expect Yangzhou's envoy to immediately know their respective positions. Also, Yangzhou's envoy was a little young.

"Yes. I am Yang Chen." Lu Su who had returned to Yangzhou with Yang Chen went back to his post as the Minister of Appointments. Zhuge Jin was also there to help Lu Su handle matters and things progressed smoothly. Initially, Liu Mang was about to have Yang Chen continue working for Lu Su but Lu Su rejected this. Yang Chen was too active a person for a quiet position at the Ministry of Appointments.

It was not that Lu Su did not want Yang Chen to be promoted but he was doing it for Yang Chen's own good. If Yang Chen was allowed to join the Ministry of Appointments, all future military exploits will no longer have anything to do with Yang Chen. Lu Su and Zhuge Jin were scholars who learned governance but Yang Chen was someone who learned how to form alliances. Why should Yang Chen go to the Ministry of Appointments? This was a place that does not require human relationships the most. What the Ministry of Appointments need was justice. Because of this, it was better to let Yang Chen go free.

Liu Mang then suggested Yang Chen follow his father and go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, Yang Chen did not want to. He did not want to be under his father's wings. The last place was the Ministry of Commerce which also required dealing with people.

Liu Mang asked Mi Zhu to send an envoy to negotiate with the Yuan brothers. Since this was both diplomacy and a business, Yang Chen was chosen to go.

"Worthy little brother Yang Chen. You are both young and promising." Yuan Xi did not have any prejudice at Yang Chen because of his young age. Instead, he smiled and addressed Yang Chen intimately.

"You are too kind, Governor." Yang Chen replied modestly.

"Come. Brother Yang Chen must be tired. Let us enter Honglu Pavillion first before discussing other matters." Yuan Shang added. In the military, Yuan Xi's words were prioritized but elsewhere, Yuan Shang's words were prioritized. After all, Yuan Shang had the biggest title amongst the three of them.

The four of them entered the pavillion. Yang Chen washed up and changed his clothes. He was then led to participate in a banquet together with the Yuan brothers.

After dining to their heart's content, clapped his hands to dismiss all the dancers.

Yuang Shang then began the actual discussion. "Brother Yang Chen. Why did His Highness the King of Shu send you here?" Yuan Shang asked.

Yang Chen put down his wine cup and smiled. "His Highness send me to Youzhou to talk about matters regarding the equipment."

Yang Chen's words made the three brothers excited.

Unable to restrain himself, Yuan Shang was the first to speak. "Brother Yang Chen. Did His Highness agree to sell us his equipment at a lower price?" Yuan Tan also looked at Yang Chen attentively hoping for Yang Chen to affirm this statement.

Unfortunately, Yang Chen shook his head. "Grand General, Chariot General and Governor. It is not that my Lord refuses to lower the price. However, manufacturing those equipment is not cheap. Each item needs to go through thousands of processes such as using fine iron and using the spring water from the Tianshan Mountain to forge it. Everything else aside, the fine iron and the spring water is hard to obtain.

As the three brothers weren't familiar with the forging process, Yang Chen was able to lie about how difficult it is to obtain such a weapon. In actual fact, it was as easy as forging the weapon using molten iron.

"That's right." The three brothers nodded with disappointment. They knew for a fact that these weapons were powerful. However, they were also a bit absentminded. After all, if Yangzhou was not willing to lower the price, then for what reason did Yang Chen come all the way here? They could just buy it off Gongsun Du.

Yang Chen laughed when he saw their expressions. "But…"

"Hm?" The three brothers began to pay attention again.

"My Lord understands your plight. As we are all subjects of the Han, my Lord agrees to barter in the event that you do not have money." Yang Chen said to the others.

"Barter?"

"Brother Yang Chen. Is there anything in Youzhou that catches His Highness' fancy? If he wants it, he can simply say." Yuan Xi spoke in a very straightforward manner but Yang Chen simply sneered. Can one really take things away without paying the price?

"Money? You all are lacking it. As for food and weapons, you are buying from us." Yang Chen said to the three, causing them to feel embarassed. They only just realized how poor they were. They had nothing besides the specialty of Youzhou.

"Women? Our Yangzhou is also not lacking in women. And if I dared to even take one back, my Lord's wife won't forgive me." Yang Chen said humorously, making the three brothers laugh. The whole world already knew that Liu Mang was afraid of his wives.

The three brothers laughed causing their moods to ease up a bit.

"Then what does His Highness want?" Yuan Xi asked. Yang Chen was saying this to lower the price. He was saying that everything is not feasible so that when he actually says what he really wants, you would be thankful to sell it cheap. This was a skill in doing business.

Yang Chen looked at Yuan Xi. There were really those who understand. Had Yuan Xi continued to allow Yang Chen to speak, they could be fooled into even selling their pants away. Yuan Xi simply stopped all this by getting to the point immediately.

"My Lord only wants one thing. People." Yang Chen knew that Yuan Xi was a wise man and it was not possible to fool him. So he simply said what he wanted.

"People?" Yuan Xi frowned. What kind of people?

"To be honest, my Lord is also related to the three of you." Yang Chen played the emotional card and tried to use their relation as relatives to lower the price.

"Yes. His Highness is our brother-in-law. Now that the Yuan Family is in trouble, I believe he would not ignore it!" Yuan Xi replied. He could also use the same trick. Both sides were evenly matched.

"My Lord has a close friend Pang Shanmin. He is the son of Pang Degong." Yang Chen said to the three brothers. They may not know Pang Shanming but they know Pang Degong. The Lumen Academy taught many across the land. Even the Yuan Family have officials that graduated from the Lumen Academy.

"Young Master Pang Shanmin came to my Lord to find someone here."

"Who is it?"

"Tian Feng Tian Yuanhao." Yang Chen said.

"Tian Feng?" Yuan Tan's pupils shrank.

"Yes. Tian Feng. I wonder who has Tian Feng right now?" Yang Chen asked the three.

Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi did not say anything as they did not have Tian Feng with them. Yuan Shang even asked. "Isn't Tian Feng already dead?"

Tian Feng was originally one of Yuan Shao's important officials. He helped Yuan Shao unify Hebei. However, he later offended Yuan Shao. Before the Battle of Guandu, Liu Bei killed the Governor of Xuzhou and betrayed Cao Cao. When Cao Cao led the army to attack Liu Bei, Tian Feng advised Yuan Shao to attack Cao Cao from the rear. Yuan Shao declined saying that his son was sick and Tian Feng's strategy was not implemented. Tian Feng knocked the ground with his walking stick and sighed. "The good opportunity is lost because of a child's illness. What a pity!" Yuan Shao was very angry when he heard it and began to alienate Tian Feng.

Cao Cao was afraid Yuan Shao would cross Huanghe and intensified his attack on Liu Bei. Liu Bei was defeated and seeked asylum under Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao then thought of attacking Xu County.

Tian Feng believed that the opportunity was already lost advised that the capital of Xu was no longer empty and that Cao Cao should not be underestimated. He advised Yuan Shao to gather troops and other heroes while focusing on farming for about three years. After that, Yuan Shao can form several elite armies. These elites can take turns harrassing the enemy to exhaust them. If the enemies rescue their right side, attack the left. If the enemy rescues the left, attack the right. When the enemy is exhausted, they would not be able to fight well and they can be defeated in less than thee years. It was an assured victory and that Yuan Shao would regret if he does not agree to this.

Yuan Shao did not listen. He accused Tian Feng of lowering morale and threw Tian Feng in prison.

After that, Yuan Shao was defeated at Guandu and Tian Feng went missing. Yuan Shang believed Tian Feng to be dead.

"Haha. Grand General. If Tian Feng is dead, I would not be here." Yang Chen smiled. Though he did not like to work under his father, he still recognized his father's ability. His father's information is always accurate. If his father said Tian Feng is alive, then Tian Feng would definitely be alive.

"Why would His Highness want Tian Feng?" Yuan Tan asked.

"Didn't I already say? Master Tian Feng is close with Pang Shanmin…" Yang Chen was replying when he was interruptted. "Brother Yang Chen. Wise men would not speak so secretively. Even if His Highness is simply giving face to Pang Degong, he would not send someone thousands of miles to Youzhou just for this." Yuan Tan was not a fool. What kind of favor was so big?

"Haha. Since the Chariot General say so, I will confess." Yang Chen stood up with a smile. "My Lord is impressed by Tian Feng's talent and wants Tian Feng to go to Yangzhou to assist him."

"Tian Feng's talent!" Yuan Tan immediately became alert because Tian Feng was indeed a capable person. Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi may not know but Yuan Tan definitely know of it. At first, Jizhou was not yet one of Yuan Shao's territory. It was Tian Feng who helped Yuan Shao take over Jizhou and defeat Gongsun Zan. It can be said that Tian Feng was Yuan Tan's idol in the past as Tian Feng felt like an omnipotent person who knew everything.

This was why Yuan Tan had someone take Tian Feng away after Cao Cao defeated his father. Yuan Tan originally wanted Tian Feng to assist him but Tian Feng was unwilling since Yuan Tan already has Guo Tu by his side. Tian Feng advised Yuan Tan to heed all of Guo Tu's advice but even then, Guo Tu was unable to prevent Yuan Tan from joining forces with Cao Cao to fight Yuan Shang. This eventually led to them losing Jizhou and Qingzhou.

Yuan Tan continued to keep Tian Feng without killing him as he hoped Tian Feng would change his mind. He did not expect that news of Tian Feng's survival would reach Liu Mang who was all the way in Yangzhou.

"There is no need to worry. Master Tian Feng would be better with Milord than with the three of you." Yang Chen said to them. "My Lord is based in the Central Plains. He has no conflict with the three of you. We also have a common enemy in Cao Cao. Even if we were to become enemies, it would be after Cao Cao is defeated. How many years later would that be?" Yang Chen dispelled their concerns. Once a person becomes a ruler, they become selfish in regards to human resources. They would not allow talented individuals to work for the enemy. It is just like how Cao Cao decided to kill Chen Gong after knowing that he could not obtain him.

Even in the original history, Liu Bei knew he could not obtain Lu Bu and so he instigated Cao Cao to kill Lu Bu instead.

Yang Chen was afraid that the Yuan brothers would choose to kill Tian Feng instead of handing Tian Feng over.

"How much is His Highness willing to give us for Tian Feng?" Yuan Tan asked.

"In other words, Master Tian Feng must be with you!" Yang Chen smiled back at Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan nodded back at this to admit it.

"Master Tian Feng is talented, of course he would be worth a lot." Yang Chen replied.

"Ten thousand gold? A hundred sets of armor?" Yuan Tan's eyes glinted. The armor from Yangzhou was a hundred gold each.

"No." Yang Chen shook his head.

"Ninety sets?" This would be nine thousand gold.

Yang Chen shook his head again. This continued for a while until Yuan Tan could no longer take it anymore. "If it is lower than fifty sets of armor, I will not let go of Tian Feng."

"Haha. Chariot General. You are too anxious. My Lord is willing to give this much." Yang Chen raised a finger.

"A hundred sets of armor?" Yuan Tan was excited. This was not much but it was enough for Yuan Tan to establish another troop of guards.

"Not a hundred. A thousand!" Yang Chen corrected.

"What!" Yuan Tan's eyes grew wide and almost fell down from shock. He knew he was forgetting himself but he did not care. "Say it again!"

"What's wrong. Did I say it too quickly? I said it was a thousand sets of armor." Yang Chen repeated himself.

A thousand sets of armor. If they had to buy it from Gongsun Du, it would be one hundred and ten thousand gold. Remember that Sun Quan himself was ransomed for only ten thousand gold. Yet, Tian Feng was worth a hundred and ten thousand gold.

"Are you serious?"

"If I wasn't serious, I would not be here." Yang Chen laughed on the surface but deep down, he felt like vomitting blood. He wanted to curse his Lord for being such a spendthrift. It was clear that Tian Feng could be bought for about fifty sets of armor but Liu Mang insist on buying Tian Feng for a thousand. Even at cost price, those armor was worth at least ten thousand gold.

However, Yang Chen was not the boss so he cannot make the decisions.

"As long as you let me see Master Tian Feng now, I will provide you with a hundred sets of armor immediately as a deposit. I will then send the remaining nine hundred sets of armor when I take Master Tian Feng away." Yang Chen said to reassure Yuan Tan.

"Good! Men, go to my residence and bring Master Tian Feng here!" Yuan Tan immediately ordered. Only an idiot would not trade away one person for one thousand sets of armor. Either way, Yuan Tan could not make use of Tian Feng so he might as well get the money to get through the current situation.

"Understood!" Yuan Tan's men accepted the order and left. Yuan Tan then laughed and started treating Yang Chen very well

Yuan Shang was very upset. "Brother Yang Chen. You cannot be so partial. Tell me who else do you want and I will bring them over!" Yuan Shang could not help but feel jealous. He might not care in the past but now that he was running out of money, he could not look down on it.

"Oh? Grand General. Do you have the talents who worked for your father?" Yang Chen said directly that he was here to poach Yuan Shao's subordinates. If Yuan Shang has them, then Yang Chen will trade equipment for them. Otherwise, there was no need for further discussion.

"I actually have someone." Yuan Shang suddenly remembered. "This man is not inferior to Tian Feng Tian Yuanhao."

"Hm?" Yang Chen was interested. His mission was to take all of Yuan Shao's former subordinates. Either way, these talents either look down on Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan or were useless. This is because people like Guo Tu and Xin Ping exist. They will harm those more talented then themselves in order to stay on top. Because of this, they were of no use to Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang.

"Who is this?"

"This person is Xun Chen. His courtesy name is Youruo!" Yuan Shang replied.

"Xun Chen?" Yang Chen was not familiar with this person.

"This man is Xun Yu's brother." Yuan Shang's words made Yang Chen's eyes widen. Xun Chen was one of the five heroes of the Xun Family.

These five people were all talented enough to be kingmakers.

"That's right. It is that person." Yuan Shang nodded.

In the past, Gongsun Zan was advancing South while Yuan Shao was advancing East. Han Fu was afraid of getting attacked so he asked for advice. Xun Chen advised Han Fu to surrender to Yuan Shao stating that Han Fu was not comparable to Yuan Shao in every way. On top of that, Yuan Shao was an old friend of Gongsun Zan and had allied himself with Gongsun Zan before to deal with Dong Zhuo. They could easily go after Han Fu together. The solution was to surrender to Yuan Shao. That way, Yuan Shao would be thankful to Han Fu and Gongsun Zan would not be able to compete with him. Han Fu was timid so he agreed.

If Yuan Shao was the base of the building and Tian Feng was the bricks, then Xun Chen would be the pillars.

"Isn't he from the Xun Family? Lord Yuan is defeated so why hasn't he gone back to the Xun Family and stayed with you?" Yang Chen asked skeptically. This was already being tactful since the Xun Family was not an ordinary one. Normally, Xun Chen should have gone to serve Cao Cao after Yuan Shao's defeat. This is because there were two outstanding Xun Family figures amongst Cao Cao's subordinates. Cao Cao will have to give face to them and spare Xun Chen's life.

Yang Chen was hoping for an explanation. If Yuan Shang cannot explain it, then Yang Chen will believe that Yuan Shang was lying.

Yang Chen could not help but laugh after hearing Yuan Shang's explanation. The two working for Cao Cao was Xun Chen's little brother and nephew. In the past, Xun Chen was the one who volunteered to serve Yuan Shao. He even imposingly persuaded the other two to serve Yuan Shao as well and said that he could take care of them. But now, he lost to both his little brother and nephew. He was too ashamed to go to them. Because of this, he continued to stay by Yuan Shang's side. He also did not go and cause trouble for Cao Cao. If Cao Cao finds out about him and caught him again, it would be useless to plead for mercy.