Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 13. The Talent of the Grand Commander

"Kong Ming, I intend to recall Feng'er and Meng Da to question them."

Liu Bei suddenly mentioned this to Kong Ming in his study.

"My lord, you can't do that. Cao and Sun are eyeing us covetously. Our every move is under their surveillance. If we easily punish Liu Feng and Meng Da, they will inevitably become desperate and do something treacherous. The three counties of Shangyong are located on the key roads. We have already lost Jingzhou, and we cannot lose Shangyong again.

It would be better to pretend ignorance for the time being, and wait until the two thieves Sun and Cao are in internal strife and have no time to look west before taking action."

Kong Ming shook his fan and put forward his own opinion.

"Civil unrest?"

Liu Bei was a little confused. Cao Cao himself was so powerful that he dominated the whole country. Even if there were occasional minor conflicts, they were just minor issues and were far from being called civil strife.

"The Lord of Wu is short-sighted. We will hide for a few months. He will think that we will not pursue him any more. As for Cao thief...

My Lord, I observed the sky this morning. Although the great star in the north is shining brightly and surrounded by other stars, its light has been fading. I am afraid that Cao the thief will not live long.

Liu Bei's hands unconsciously stopped flipping through the bamboo slips. As someone who had bullied him all his life, Liu Bei had extremely complicated feelings towards Cao Cao. Although both sides wanted to kill each other, they also acknowledged that the other was their strong enemy.

Liu Bei felt a little sad when he heard that his mortal enemy seemed unable to resist the passage of time. However, that was all in the future and he would talk about it later. Now Cao Cao was eager to take over the land in Sichuan that he had managed.

"What about us now?"

"Gather strength, lie low, and wait for the chaos."

Zhuge Liang shook his fan and gave the current strategy, which was to be patient. Liu Bei had been patient many times in his life, so it was not impossible to be patient and avoid the sharp edge for the time being.

"Liang has already implemented many policies to help us strengthen our national strength in Sichuan... By the way, my king, do you remember the former generals Feng Xi and Feng Xiuyuan?"

Zhuge Liang originally wanted to start explaining his domestic policy, but suddenly he remembered the farming techniques that the general of the front army had brought him some days ago, and he couldn't help but ask Liu Bei what he thought of this man.

"Xiu Yuan? Why did Kong Ming suddenly ask about him?"

Liu Bei was stunned. In his opinion, although Feng Xi was already a general at this time, he should not have many opportunities to come into contact with Zhuge Liang. Could it be that Feng Xi had offended Kong Ming unintentionally?

"A few days ago, General Feng sent several farming strategies and a blueprint for an improved plow to my residence. His ingenious ideas impressed even my wife, so I asked my lord what he thought of him."

When Zhuge Liang saw Liu Bei's hesitation, he quickly explained it clearly, fearing that Liu Bei would misunderstand.

"I didn't expect Xiu Yuan to have such ability."

Liu Bei smiled and shook his head, then began to recall.

"Feng Xiuyuan and Zhang Wenjin followed me into Sichuan and have been fighting for ten years. They were just young men at the time, but now they are both veterans in their twenties."

Liu Bei did not answer Zhuge Liang's question directly, but started from the beginning. Zhuge Liang did not interrupt, but just listened quietly.

"Kong Ming, what do you think of my generals in Sichuan?"

Liu Bei did not continue to recall, but asked Zhuge Liang instead.

Zhuge Liang thought for a moment, then answered while fanning himself with a feather fan.

"My lord, although the three generals are old, Wenchang, Zhonghua and other brave generals are still in their prime." "Well, then what? If we old men pass away one day, can such a great Han Dynasty be pacified by just Wenchang and Zhonghua?"

Liu Bei smiled and shook his head again.

"Kong Ming, let me ask you, if Yide and Zilong are not here, who can lead the three armies?"

Zhuge Liang was choked. He went over the generals currently under the command of the King of Hanzhong in his mind and found that almost no one was capable of taking on this important task.

"Wenchang and Zhonghua have the talent to command a county. However, Wenchang is a risky soldier after all. He can be a general but not a commander. Zhonghua also has no talent for commanding. He can only be a general of a region, leading more than 10,000 troops."

When Liu Bei said this, he sighed with regret. Wei Yan and Ma Dai could be good generals, but unfortunately they both had their own shortcomings.

Wei Yan is a man who likes to take risky moves. It's okay for him to do this if he leads one army alone, but it would be dangerous if he leads three armies.

Ma Dai's talent limit is here. At most, he has the ability of a general. He probably will never be able to command the three armies in this lifetime.

"I am willing to do my best. If there is no one who can lead the army, I am willing to lead the army myself."

Zhuge Liang stood up and bowed, expressing his willingness to devote his life to the Han Dynasty.

"I know Kong Ming's talent, but you must know that it is difficult to make a difference alone. When Yun Chang was here, he could still share my worries. Kong Ming, you also need someone to share your worries. Otherwise, the important domestic affairs and the heavy burden of commanding the three armies will all fall on you alone, and I am afraid that your health will not be able to sustain it."

Liu Bei was certainly not worried about Zhuge Liang's loyalty, but Zhuge Liang was not an iron man and his body would certainly not be able to withstand such high-intensity work.

"Then what the lord meant..."

"From what I have seen, Feng Xi has a good method in marching and fighting, and his officers are all quite convinced by him. He has some talent as a commander.

You also saw the Battle of Hanzhong with your own eyes, Kong Ming. His troops penetrated into the belly of Cao's army and fought with the Tiger Guards for a long time, which bought time and position for Wen Chang to shoot Cao. I love such talents very much. This person may be the future Grand Commander or General of our Han Dynasty."

When Liu Bei said this, he couldn't help but touch his long beard which was almost completely white.

"What about Zhang Nan...?"

Zhuge Liang naturally would not forget Zhang Nan, whom Liu Bei mentioned when he mentioned Feng Xi just now.

"Zhang Nan is a detached and somewhat rough person, and is not good enough at leading an army, but he is quite capable of naval warfare. I originally wanted to train him for a while and then send him to Jingzhou to take over the Jingxiang navy. But unfortunately, I don't know if he will have the opportunity to lead the navy in the future."

Liu Bei sighed again when he mentioned Jingzhou.

Zhuge Liang finally understood that Liu Bei was training the second generation of talents for the Later Han Dynasty. People like him, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Wei Yan were all "old men" of the Later Han Dynasty.

Among them, himself, Wei Yan, and Ma Dai were much younger than Guan Yu and Zhao Yun, and could barely protect Ji Han from wind and rain after their death.

As for his future situation… Zhuge Liang couldn’t predict it either. Just like who could have thought that Guan Yu, who had flooded seven armies and shocked China a few months ago, would fall from power and die in just a few months?

However, it can be seen from Liu Bei's words that he had already thought about this in advance and was prepared to train a second generation of generals for Ji Han who were capable of confronting Eastern Wu and Cao Wei.

"And currently, among the second generation of generals, no one may be able to surpass Feng Xiuyuan. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be the leader of the second generation of generals in the future."

Liu Bei went through all the young generals in his mind and found that the abilities of others were either insufficient or had not yet been demonstrated. For example, his good nephews Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, although they were extremely brave, did not look like they could lead a side on their own.

(End of this chapter)