Ji Han Liu Zhang

Yecheng, the General’s Mansion.

Yuan Shao's face turned pale with anger because of Tian Feng's words. His expression became uncertain and his usual graceful and calm demeanor disappeared.

"It is not appropriate to summon Tian Feng today, and it is not appropriate to give Tian Feng this opportunity." Yuan Shao felt regretful. He brought Tian Feng out of prison today with the intention of giving Tian Feng a way out by taking advantage of the fact that Gao Gan and Yan Liang defeated the Shu army that invaded Taiyuan County. If Tian Feng could say a few pleasant words, he would have forgiven Tian Feng generously.

But Yuan Shao had not expected that Tian Feng was a stone in the toilet, smelly and hard. The victory of Gao Gan and Yan Liang in defeating the Shu army was actually said by Tian Feng that the Shu army withdrew on their own, and Gao Gan and Yan Liang lied in the battle report.

Not only that, Tian Feng took advantage of this incident to accuse Yuan Shao, the great general, in public of being a foolish ruler who could not distinguish right from wrong and was deceived by his subordinates. This made Yuan Shao furious, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

Ju Su was sitting close to Yuan Shao, and he clearly saw the change in Yuan Shao's expression and the murderous intent in his eyes. Knowing that the situation was not good, he immediately stood up and scolded Tian Feng.

"Tian Beijia, the Shu army invaded Taiyuan County, and General Gao and General Yan defended well and impeccably, and finally repelled the invading generals Gan Ning and Zhang Ren. These are all clear facts, how can you ignore them?"

"Moreover, General Gao is your nephew, and General Yan is your relative. They are both loyal to their master and have no second thoughts. How can you make random guesses and make random comments?"

After scolding Tian Feng for a few words, Ju Su bowed and said to Yuan Shao: "Mingsir, I think Tian Biejia is in prison and doesn't know much about the outside world. He listens to rumors and believes them, so he said such nonsense. I hope you will consider his old age and stupidity, and forgive Tian Biejia this time."

When Shen Pei heard this, he knew that Ju Su's intention of scolding Tian Feng and flattering Yuan Shao was to prevent Yuan Shao from arguing with Tian Feng, the old stubborn man.

When he thought of this, Shen Pei said, "Mingsir, what Ju Congshi said is absolutely right. Tian Biejia is old and confused, and cannot make clear judgments, so he said such absurd words. Mingsir, please consider his old age and his past achievements, and ignore his lies and crazy words."

Tian Feng was courting death and was rebellious. Ju Shou and Shen Pei, who were also from Hebei, took into consideration their fellow state's relationship and attended the meeting one after another to speak for Tian Feng and showed their willingness to protect him.

However, there were not only people from Hebei among the civil and military officials present. Feng Ji, who had slandered Tian Feng and put him in jail, stood up and said in a sarcastic tone, "What you said is not true. Although Tian Biejia's clothes are not good, his proud demeanor remains the same. His words are clear and coherent, and his voice is loud and clear. He does not look old or foolish at all. It can be seen that what he said just now came from his heart. Otherwise, how could he have such a strong voice?"

As a thorn in Yuan Shao's side, Guo Tu saw the color on Yuan Shao's face and knew that Yuan Shao was really angry this time. He immediately followed him and said, "Tian Biejia has made arrogant and disrespectful remarks in the past, but you are kind and have never pursued them. Today, Tian Biejia ignored the facts and made unwarranted guesses. He must act against everyone and show off his talent and insight. If you don't pursue this arrogant man, it will be difficult to convince everyone, and you will find it difficult to rule the four states of Hebei."

After their leaders spoke, many of the civil and military officials present at the scene offered their opinions. Some, like Ju Shou and Shen Pei, defended Tian Feng, while others, like Feng Ji and Guo Tu, demanded that Tian Feng be severely punished.

Of course, the majority of people kept silent, lowered their heads and watched the tit-for-tat confrontation between the Hebei and Ruying groups. These people were unwilling and dared not to get involved in the confrontation between the Hebei and Ruying groups. They just waited for Yuan Shao, the leader, to give his preference and then make a decision.

After all, whether you are like the Hebei people who are trying to speak up for Tian Feng, or like the Ruying people who want to kill Tian Feng, you may end up on the wrong side, and a single misstep will lead to eternal regret. Only by following Yuan Shao's wishes can you land safely.

As for Yuan Shao, he was first angered by Tian Feng's words, and then he listened to the different attitudes and opinions of the civil and military officials, which made his ears buzz and he felt extremely annoyed.

"Tian Yuanhao." Yuan Shao called Tian Feng by his given name, without calling him by his title or Tian Qing. As soon as these three words came out of his mouth, all the civil and military officials in the hall fell silent, returned to their seats, and waited for Yuan Shao's next words.

"I'm here." Tian Feng responded loudly. After he finished his straightforward words, he closed his eyes and waited for Yuan Shao's reply. He turned a deaf ear to the words of the civil and military officials, and only spoke when he heard Yuan Shao calling him at this time.

"Gao Gan and Yan Liang have thwarted the Shu army's intention to invade Taiyuan. After this defeat, the morale of the Shu army will surely be low. Do you think Guanzhong can be taken?" Putting aside the fact that Tian Feng accused Gao Gan and Yan Liang of falsifying the battle report, Yuan Shao asked Tian Feng about his opinion on managing Guanzhong. This was also the last chance he gave Tian Feng to suppress his anger.

"No." Tian Feng gave his opinion in a loud voice, and then he analyzed it aloud in Yuan Shao's gloomy face.

"First, as Feng just said, General Gao and General Yan were not better than the Shu army. It was actually the Shu army that saw that the weather was not favorable and retreated on their own. What you said about the Shu army's declining morale is not true."

"Second." Tian Feng stood in the hall. Facing Yuan Shao's unhappy expression, he did not change his expression and continued to speak frankly: "I heard that Grand Marshal Liu Zhang repaired the city of Hedong and built new cities in many important places for defense. It has been operating for more than a year since the beginning of this year."

"Even if Liu Zhang is well prepared, if you lead your troops to attack, you will most likely fail and return without success. It will be a waste of effort and a year's time."

"Besides, even if you are lucky enough to take Hedong, the strategic locations of Tongguan and Puban are beyond the reach of Hebei. If you station troops in a strong city, they will be exhausted after a long time and Liu Zhang will take advantage of them."

"Third." Tian Feng's words were firm and unwavering. Now his momentum became even stronger and his voice shook the court: "Liu Zhang in Guanzhong and Cao Cao in the Central Plains are external worries. However, now your Excellency is facing internal worries, which are greater than external worries."

"I rule Hebei, the scholars and people are pleased and obedient, the barbarians support me, what internal worries do I have?" Yuan Shao spoke word by word. These words seemed to pop out from between his teeth, carrying with them a chill that made people shudder.

Upon hearing this, the civil and military officials below held their breath and concentrated, making gestures like clay sculptures or wooden carvings, trying to reduce their presence as much as possible so as not to be caught up in the range of Yuan Shao's rage.

Tian Feng was unmoved by Yuan Shao's obvious anger, and only said solemnly: "Since you conquered Hebei, you have assigned your sons and nephews to serve as governors and governors. First, you have appointed people based on personal connections, which has lost the trust of wise men. Second, your sons and nephews each control a state, and they are not subordinate to each other, and there is no distinction between superiors and subordinates. When you are still here, they can still work together. If you die a hundred years later, I am afraid that disputes will arise and disasters will occur."

Yuan Shao laughed when Tian Feng accused him of employing people based on personal connections. If he didn't employ people based on personal connections, could he employ people based on strangers? The second point Tian Feng mentioned made Yuan Shao even angrier. Tian Feng even threatened that in the future his sons would not get along well with each other, and his brothers would not be friendly to each other and his younger brothers would not be respectful to each other.

"Three..." Tian Feng's voice became louder and louder: "The eldest son Yuan Tan was sent to Qingzhou as the governor, not to stay with you. This is the mistake of the first emperor Ying Zheng. You should learn from history and recall the eldest son to avoid major troubles in the future." "Tian Yuanhao." Guo Tu shouted sternly: "Your sons are brothers and sisters, and the upper and lower levels are in harmony. How dare you make random speculations and be so rebellious, and even dare to talk about the role of the heir and interfere in your family affairs."

Feng Ji followed and scolded, "Tian Yuanhao, are you getting old and confused? You have also met the sons of Ming Gong. They are all virtuous young men. How could they cause trouble for power? Besides, it is common sense for brothers to live in harmony. Few people are not harmonious."

"Where is Yuan Shu?" In response to Guo Tu and Feng Ji's rebuttal, Tian Feng only said one sentence, and Guo Tu and Feng Ji shut up. All the civil and military officials could not help but look at Yuan Shao's expression.

After all, Tian Feng's words were too damaging. Tian Feng brought up Yuan Shu as evidence of the disharmony between the brothers and the struggle for power. On the one hand, it was real, and on the other hand, it was a taboo to offend superiors.

All the civil and military officials looked ahead of them, but their eyes moved, trying to look at Yuan Shao's face at the top. Yuan Shao was no longer as angry as before. After Tian Feng's several offensive words, his anger had accumulated to a certain extent, but now his anger had subsided, his face was calm, and he had regained his usual graceful demeanor.

"Tian Yuanhao, what you said is so outrageous and rude. Do you really think I can't kill you?" Yuan Shao spoke each word with such icy coldness that it was like a gust of winter snow, sweeping towards Tian Feng.

Facing Yuan Shao's overwhelming anger and murderous intent, Tian Feng remained calm and his eyes were firm. He replied, "I am serving you, sir. I am receiving your salary. I have been trusted by you. I am the deputy governor of Jizhou. I should be loyal to you. If I see your mistakes, I should not keep silent because I think you will be angry. Otherwise, I will be receiving your salary but not thinking about your great cause. I cannot be unworthy of being a minister."

Tian Feng spoke sincerely, speaking from the bottom of his heart: "I believe I have done nothing wrong and do not deserve to be punished. However, if you want to kill me, I will just bow my head and accept the punishment. I dare not even feel a bit of resentment towards you."

"However, a dying man's words are kind, and a dying bird's cry is sad. I hope you will consider what Feng just said and make some changes to the political situation so that the king's ambitions will not end in vain. Feng will die with no regrets."

After saying this, Tian Feng closed his eyes, waiting for Yuan Shao to order the warriors to take him away and kill him.

No one in the hall spoke at this moment. Ju Shou and Shen Pei looked at each other, with sighs and sadness in their eyes. They lamented at Tian Feng's uprightness and were sad that Tian Feng was about to die, and that there would be one less virtuous person in the world.

While some are sad, others are happy. Feng Ji and Guo Tu looked at each other and saw the gloating in each other's eyes. At this moment, Feng Ji and Guo Tu wanted to raise their glasses and drink, happy to have eliminated a major political enemy.

However, what the civil and military officials had never expected was that Tian Feng actually escaped from this death trap. But Yuan Shao said, "Death is too easy for you, Tian Yuanhao."

"Come here," Yuan Shao shouted, calling the warriors in front of the hall, pointing at Tian Feng and saying, "Take Tian Feng back to prison and serve him well. Don't let him get hurt in the slightest, otherwise the jailer will hold him responsible."

After saying this, Yuan Shao raised his cup to signal to all the civil and military officials, "We cannot let a lunatic ruin today's banquet. Come on, everyone, let's continue the feast and enjoy ourselves."

With Yuan Shao's toast, the banquet that was disrupted by Tian Feng returned to its lively and joyful atmosphere. A group of civil and military officials from Hebei raised their glasses, recreating their previous attitude.

The banquet started in the afternoon and lasted until nightfall, and then all the civil and military officials dispersed.

Feng Ji and Guo Tu walked out of the banquet hall side by side and started whispering to each other.

"I can't believe that Tian Feng's words violated the taboo and were so rebellious, but you didn't execute Tian Feng on the spot. Instead, you threw Tian Feng back into prison and ordered people to treat him well. I don't understand." Feng Ji said in confusion.

After he finished speaking, Feng Ji sighed. He had thought that today he could use Tian Feng's rebellious behavior to instigate Yuan Shao to kill Tian Feng, but he never expected that Tian Feng was actually forgiven by Yuan Shao.

This is not in line with Yuan Shao's temperament. Feng Ji couldn't figure it out. Yuan Shao was tolerant on the surface, but in fact, he was not a particularly kind-hearted person. Why would he let Tian Feng go today? It was simply unbelievable.

Guo Tu was well aware of Yuan Shao's character. He explained, "The reason why you did not kill Tian Feng and asked the jailer to treat Tian Feng well was not because you wanted to forgive him, but because you wanted to save Tian Feng's life so that he would have the opportunity to see you conquer Guanzhong and clear the Central Plains in the future."

"Killing people is not satisfying enough." Guo Tu said with a faint smile: "Destroying the heart is more satisfying to Mingshang than killing people."

"So that's the case. You want to kill Tian Feng." Feng Ji suddenly realized what was going on. He praised Guo Tu: "When it comes to trying to figure out your intentions, Gongze, I'm far inferior to you."

"Ah." Guo Tu said modestly, "I am just making a guess. As for the specific reason why you did not kill Tian Feng, you did not tell me, so there is no evidence."

"Nine out of ten, it's not going to happen as you said." Feng Ji confirmed, and then he said worriedly, "If you are better than Liu Zhang, Cao Cao and others in the future, and Tian Feng is still alive, I'm afraid you will issue a general amnesty, and Tian Feng will be released from prison by then."

Feng Ji was the person primarily responsible for offering slanderous words that led to Tian Feng's imprisonment. His attitude towards Tian Feng was to kill him as soon as possible, and he had no intention of giving Tian Feng any chance of survival. After all, there were many cases where a tiger was not killed but injured instead. If Tian Feng made a comeback in the future, his life would be difficult.

"Don't worry, Yuan Tu. Even if Tian Feng managed to escape from prison, given Tian Feng's temper, if he were placed under your command, one day you would kill him." Guo Tu comforted Feng Ji. With Yuan Shao's magnanimity and Tian Feng's uprightness, Tian Feng was doomed to die.

"Gong Ze is right." Feng Ji's worry faded a little. (End of this chapter)