♂?，，

  "It seems that this appointment ten days ago has not been forgotten. Wei Wen Chang is indeed a trustworthy person."

  Liu Feng's spirit was shaken, he jumped up and said to the crowd: "My father is far away in Jiangling, he may not fully understand the situation in Changsha. As for this letter, I will explain it to my father myself. Don't worry about it, everyone, let's just enjoy ourselves and drink freely. I'll be right back."

  Liu Feng hastily went to welcome Wei Yan, comforted him with a few kind words and then left the banquet in large strides.

  Looking at the majestic figure disappearing into the distance, Huang Zhong's eyes flashed with a hint of guilt and he silently sighed: "If it weren't for my request that day, the young master wouldn't have been scolded by his father. However, at such a young age, he already has this kind of composure in the face of honor and humiliation, which is truly remarkable... If given time, he will surely achieve great things..."

  Liu Feng strode away, and as soon as he left the banquet hall, he mounted his horse and galloped straight to the north gate of Linxiang. Just like last time, he was still without any guard, ordering his men to open the city gate, and he rode out alone.

  "Wen Chang, it's been a long time! I've been waiting for you." Liu Feng smiled at the approaching Wei Yan.

  Wei Yan reined in his horse ahead, dismounted and bowed with his hands clasped together: "Wei Yan pays respects to the Young Master."

  This bow means what, Liu Feng couldn't be clearer. Within a day, he could win the hearts of two tiger generals. If it weren't in front of many people, Liu Feng was afraid that he would laugh so hard that his mouth wouldn't close.

  "Why bother with so much courtesy? Let's go into town and have a drink."

  Wei Yan was older than him and also a self-conceited person with great talent, so it was not easy for him to put aside his pride and show respect to Liu Feng. Therefore, Liu Feng did not show any superior concern or courtesy in front of Wei Yan's troops, but instead took Wei Yan's hand and led him into the city.

  "Wait a moment, young master." Wei Yan didn't move, looking at that expression, as if there was something else.

  Liu Feng said: "It seems that Wen Chang still has something on his mind, but it's all right if he doesn't want to say."

  Wei Yan said with a serious expression: "General, you can capture Linxiang within ten days without shedding a single drop of blood. I am truly impressed and willing to surrender to you, General, and also to Liu Xuande. However, I still have one more gift to present to you, which is also an apology for my slow response to your arrival today."

  What a great gift? Wei Yan himself is the greatest gift, do you still want to send money and grain? This would not be in line with Wei Yan's style.

  Liu Feng couldn't guess what trick Wei Yan was up to, so he asked curiously: "Where is this great gift? I'm really interested."

  "It's right there." Wei Yan raised his hand and pointed southward.

  Liu Feng was stunned for a moment, his thoughts racing, and suddenly guessed Wei Yan's intention. He couldn't help but laugh: "Wenchang, that big gift of yours, wouldn't happen to be the Guiyang County?"

  Wei Yan's mouth curled up with a hint of pride: "The young master has guessed correctly, I request the young master to allow me to lead my 400 men and horses south, within ten days, I will definitely present Guilin County to the young master with both hands."

  It's indeed the case that Wei Yan is eager to prove his own talent. Previously, he and I had agreed to take down Linxiang within ten days, so this time he also boasted that he would take down Guilin within ten days.

  "Wen Chang is willing to go and take Guilin, it's naturally good, but this time going to Guilin still needs several days of work, will ten days be a bit short?" Liu Feng was somewhat worried about Wei Yan's bold words. "Let's do this, I'll add 300 more soldiers and horses for Wen Chang, just go south to take Guilin, as for when it will be taken down, there's no rush."

  "Take down a mere Guiyang, with my own 400 troops, it will be enough in ten days. Is the young master not trusting me?" Wei Yan had an expression of determination to win, and he didn't put the enemy in Guiyang in his eyes at all.

  Liu Feng naturally knew how capable Wei Yan was, but he worried that historically, Wei Yan's rise to fame was still in the future, so it was hard to determine just how capable he was at this point, and therefore feared that with Wei Yan's arrogance, if something went wrong, it would be difficult to save face.

  Now seeing Wei Yan so determined and confident, if Liu Feng didn't agree it would be equivalent to looking down on him. So he smiled generously: "Wen Chang is out, I am of course a hundred percent at ease. Alright, I will quietly wait here for Wen Chang's good news."

  "Time waits for no man, I'll set off immediately then, farewell."

  Wei Yan was clearly not a man to drag his feet, and once the plan was set, he immediately bid farewell to Liu Feng, without even entering the city to rest with his 400 men, and directly went around to the west side of Xiangshui Wharf.

  Wei Yan's unexpected initiative in asking for battle actually helped Liu Feng resolve a troublesome matter.

  In fact, for the four counties of Jingnan, Wuling and Changsha are the most important. Wuling has the smallest population, but various ethnic minorities live together, and the situation is quite complex. Moreover, it borders Nanjun, the core area of Jingzhou, and its importance goes without saying.

  As for Changsha, it is said that during the time of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, the population of Changsha had already exceeded one million. After more than a decade of warlord battles, despite Changsha's location in the south being less affected by the war, and with a large number of refugees from the north pouring in to supplement it, the population still could not avoid massive unnatural deaths. Furthermore, local tyrants and powerful clans took advantage of the situation to annex land, causing many farmers who had lost their land to be forced into becoming private servants of the powerful families. By this time, the registered population of Changsha did not exceed 300,000.

  Despite this, it is still a considerable number. Of course, due to Changsha's economic backwardness, many of these 300,000 people are still producing in the primitive way of knife cultivation and fire breeding, and their unit grain output can barely support themselves, let alone provide surplus grain taxes.

  However, with such a population base, and Changsha County controlling the Xiang River, an important water system connecting Jiao Province, Liu Feng can be said to have attached great importance to this county. In the future, after breaking up with Liu Bei, he will mainly rely on operating Changsha County to cope with Liu Bei.

  As for the Guilin County in the south, it is located in a remote area with an even smaller population, and there are many mountains within its borders. The strategic location is also far inferior to Changsha, and in Liu Feng's eyes, it is only used as a gateway to Jiaozhou.

  Liu Feng's original intention was to grasp every minute and second to manage Changsha, before turning against Liu Bei, he must bring this county under his control. Wei Yan's request for battle is just right, so that Liu Feng doesn't have to lead the troops south, wasting several precious months of time, which is naturally what he wants to see.

  After seeing off Wei Yan, Liu Feng returned to the grand hall of the governor's mansion. The atmosphere that had become awkward due to Liu Bei's letter of rebuke earlier became lively again after Liu Feng's return. The officials and soldiers were moved by Liu Feng's actions in protecting the interests of the people of Changsha, despite being scolded by his father, and they all felt grateful in their hearts. When Liu Feng returned, they took turns offering him wine to express their gratitude.

  This was exactly what Liu Feng wanted, so he came and went without fear, drinking until late at night when he was drunk.

  The next day, he didn't know what time it was when he woke up to the sound of knocking on the door. Liu Feng, who had woken up, only felt dizzy and stumbled out of bed, and when he opened the door, it was Ma Chao who was knocking.

  "What's going on? Is something urgent?" Liu Feng squinted his eyes and raised his arm to block the dazzling sunlight.

  Ma Chao's expression seemed a bit mysterious: "Young Master, just now the soldier guarding the gate stopped someone who wanted to leave the city from the south. I think Young Master must be very interested in this person, so I had no choice but to disturb Young Master's peaceful sleep."

  "What kind of person is he?" Liu Feng's mind cleared up a lot, and Ma Chao's expression and words aroused his curiosity.

  "This man is none other than Liu Ba, also known as Liu Zichu."

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