Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 72: The ruthless Chen Deng, the son hides for his father

Sheyang was originally a small county in the northern part of Guangling County, located at the border between Guangling County and Xia Pi State, but now it has become the seat of Chen Deng.

The reason for this has to start from before Liu Bei and Lu Bu became enemies.

However, it is said that on that day, Chen Deng was afraid that Liu Bei and Lu Bu would fight, so he prepared to go out to persuade Zhang Fei to retreat.

Unexpectedly, before the food and grass were ready, Chen Gong led his troops to arrive.

If it were someone else, they would probably be shocked on the spot.

But Chen Deng was different. He was bold and careful, and he directly asked Chen Gong if he wanted to rebel!

After all, he came here on Lu Bu's orders, and Chen Gong's behavior was tantamount to treason.

Chen Gong knew that he couldn't control him, so he simply stopped talking to him and took him back home to keep him under guard.

When Chen Deng saw this, he knew that Chen Gong was going to do something bad, but he knew that the counselors under Liu Bei were no simple men, so he did not resist and just stayed in the mansion.

As a result, not long after, news came that Lu Bu's army had been defeated.

When Chen Deng heard this, he clapped his hands in joy. Later, when Lu Bu was about to send troops, Chen Gong was afraid that he would do something bad in the city, so he found an excuse to drive him out of Xia Pi.

Chen Gong thought he had come up with a good plan in this matter, but he didn't know that it was exactly what Chen Deng wanted.

Because he had been to the imperial court before, Cao Cao instructed him to be an insider to help capture Xuzhou.

To be an insider, you need soldiers and horses!
He was thinking about how to escape from Lu Bu's control.

It just so happened that Chen Gong was planning to expel him, so he naturally would not refuse and headed towards Guangling with a few followers.

If we say that strong people never complain about their fate, Chen Deng is such a strong person.

Even though Guangling was Yuan Shu's territory, he was not panicked at all.

He came to Sheyang alone, and as soon as he entered the city, he announced that he was the new governor of Guangling.

Holding the seal, he dismissed the county magistrate on the spot.

After dealing with the county magistrate, he did two things.

First, deal with unjust, false and wrong cases in the county and punish lawbreakers.

Second, recruit talented people and appease the people.

After these two tasks were accomplished, Sheyang's administration was boosted.

After stabilizing the situation in Sheyang, Chen Deng invited two famous scholars from Guangling, Xu Xuan and Chen Jiao, to serve in the government, and the two gladly agreed.

With the talents in hand, he heard that there were powerful people in Xuezhou and other places defending their cities, so he went there in person, and using both kindness and force, he successfully resolved the Xuezhou armed forces and turned them to his own use.

In just over two months, he stabilized the situation around Sheyang, had more than a thousand soldiers, and had a piece of territory that belonged to him alone.

But at this moment, a letter made him frown.

This letter was written by Liu Bei himself, and it reads:
"I am writing to you personally, and I have prepared this greeting. Since we parted at Xia Pi, I have not had a chance to talk to you, and it has been three months."

The first part is filled with polite words, and the main text is not introduced until the middle.

The general meaning is: Because traitors are in power now, the emperor has issued an edict ordering us to fight against them. I am worried about state affairs, so I summoned the military advisor to discuss matters and ask whether we can succeed in fighting against them this time.

The military advisor said that whether the campaign against the rebels could be successful depended on the cooperation of all parties. Chen Gongwei of Haixi had coveted Wu County for a long time and might take this opportunity to attack Wu County.

When I heard this, of course I didn't believe it, because Gong Wei is your cousin, Chen Yuanlong, how could he turn against you?

Besides, you, Yuanlong, and I are of the same generation, so I cannot make irresponsible remarks about my elders.

But I think this is a national event and cannot be neglected.

Yuanlong and I have a close relationship and I cannot hide anything, so I am writing to inform you.

I hope you can take this matter seriously and go and ask whether it is true or not. If it is true, you should dissuade it and not ruin the reputation of the Chen family.

Liu Bei's writing skills are not as good as Cao's, but his writing is also straightforward, concise and clear.

After Chen Deng read the letter, he said to his attendants:

"Call Chen Jibi and Xu Baojian to discuss this matter!"

Chen Jibi is Chen Jiao, and Xu Baojian is Xu Xuan.

Both of them were from Guangling County. They had previously fled to Jiangdong to avoid disaster, but when they saw Sun Ce raising an army, they returned to their hometown to live.

Now one of them is appointed Gongcao and the other is appointed Zhubu, both of whom are valued by Chen Deng.

After a while, the two came to the hall and asked:
"I wonder why the governor has summoned us?"

"I have something to discuss with you two!"

Chen Deng stood up, handed the letter to the two of them and said:
"Please read this letter first!"

Upon hearing this, the two hurried forward to read the letter. After reading it once, they both frowned. Chen Jiao said in a deep voice without thinking:

"Liu Xuande claims to be benevolent and righteous, but he actually made irresponsible remarks about the elders and hurt them with such bad words. You must not trust him, Governor!"

In contrast, Xu Xuan, who was straightforward, elegant and unique, immediately retorted:
"Liu Xuande is not a fool. If he says this, it must be true!"

As he spoke, he looked at Chen Deng and asked:
"I wonder what the governor thinks?"

Seeing him like this, Chen Deng sighed slightly:

"That is why I summoned you two here."

"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by the two of you. My great-grandfather has always been like this. Envoy Liu's worries are not without reason!"

The reason why he summoned the two was because he knew that what was said in the letter would most likely happen!

He knew his uncle too well. What others would not do, his uncle might actually do.

After all, his uncle had a criminal record under Yuan Shu.

In the second year of Chuping, Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, died. Yuan Shu let Yuan Yi lead Yangzhou. Later, Yuan Yi was defeated and killed, and the post of Yangzhou Mu fell to his uncle Chen Yu.

This was originally a good thing, after all, it was a high position and generous salary given by heaven.

Logically speaking, most people would cherish it, and even if they have ulterior motives, they should keep a low profile and wait for the opportunity.

As a result, Chen Yu became ambitious after he suddenly became the governor of Yangzhou.

He wanted to rebel against Yuan Shu, but he did not dare to do so openly, so he could only recruit troops secretly.

Later, Yuan Shu was defeated by Qin Zhen in Yanzhou and retreated to Yangzhou. Chen Yu saw an opportunity and closed the city gates to prevent Yuan Shu from entering.

Yuan Shu was unable to enter the city, so he had to stay in a small county nearby and try to persuade Chen Yu with kind words.

At this point, Chen Yu had two choices: either to open the city gates quickly or to attack Yuan Shu directly. But Chen Yu chose the third option, which was not to attack Yuan Shu, nor to open the gates, but to lie in the city and pretend not to hear anything.

This made Yuan Shu very angry. After he took a breath, he led his troops and marched straight towards Shouchun.

If it were someone else, they might not have the courage to resist.

But Chen Yu was afraid, and actually sent his brother Chen Cong to ask for peace and show weakness.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Shu was not willing to agree. He captured Chen Cong and marched forward again, determined to capture Chen Yu.

Chen Yu was scared, so he fled Shouchun directly, wandered around, and finally ended up in Haixi!

Looking at his various behaviors, in simple terms, he is just a bad person with a strong addiction to

Therefore, Chen Deng knew very well that his uncle was ambitious and wanted to dominate, but he did not have the ability and courage.

Now that Liu Bei had reminded him of this, he thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed the case.
Now that Sun Ce has been ordered to head north, and Chen Yu is nominally the governor of Wujun, given Chen Yu's personality, he will most likely take the opportunity to seize Wujun.

The key point is that Chen Yu does not have the courage to go to Wujun to cause trouble. At most, he can send some people south to incite rebellion in those cities.

In Chen Deng's opinion, this kind of behavior will cause serious consequences!

Because Sun Ce was a ruthless man who started from scratch and dominated Jiangdong.

If you provoke Sun Ce at this time, you will be seeking death!

If it were someone else, he wouldn't bother to care, but the problem was that Chen Yu was his cousin.

If Chen Gui knew that he didn't care about Chen Yu's affairs, he would have a hard time explaining himself when he returned.

But how should he manage it? As a nephew, it is really difficult for him to interfere.

Therefore, even though Chen Deng was resourceful, he was a little entangled at this time:

"You two are both knowledgeable people, can you help me solve my doubts?"

"If my father really did this, he would be considered a traitor to the court. However, as his son, I should not blame him. What should I do?"

Chen Jiao and Xu Xuan listened and fell into deep thought.

The current situation is a question of choice between morality and family affection. Chen Deng can ask them, which can be regarded as a heart-to-heart talk with them.

Seeing this, Chen Jiao tried to persuade him:
"As the ancient sage said: A son hides his father's secrets, and a father hides his secrets for his son. The truth is there!"

"Whether the elder has this intention or not, you should conceal it first, and then make a decision after finding out the truth."

Here we have to talk about the fact that Confucianism has a very unique culture.

That is, between father and son, if you find out that the other is guilty, you have to conceal it for the other. Even if you find out that your father or son is planning to rebel, you have to hide it. This is true filial piety.

This was also the reason why Cao Ang helped Qin Zhen conceal his departure.

When Chen Deng heard this, he nodded secretly. In fact, he had the same idea.

The matter has not yet come to light, and even if Chen Yu really wants to disobey the court, he has to cover for Chen Yu first.

It's just that he couldn't tell them directly, so they had to bring it up on their own initiative.

Seeing Chen Jiao bring it up, Chen Deng's eyes showed a hint of determination, and he said to the two of them:

"In this case, I will go to Haixi in person, and leave all matters in the county to you two to decide!"

Seeing this, Chen Jiao naturally agreed, but Xu Xuan said:

"Since it is difficult for you to act, why don't you inform your father first? It would be more appropriate for your father to go first!"

In his opinion, since you are a junior and it is not convenient for you to come forward, just let Chen Gui come forward. Why bother going there in person?

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Deng sighed and said:
"My father is still in Xia Pi, so I'll send a letter home. It will take half a month to go back and forth."

"Now the four families are attacking Yuan. If my cousin moves, he must have planned it. If I don't go now, it will be difficult to stop it!"

He didn't know how embarrassed he was, but the problem was that Liu Bei's letter arrived a little late, and it would be too late to find his father now.

The only way is for him to go there in person!

Otherwise, Chen Yu might have already taken action before Sun Ce left Jiangdong.

If discovered by Sun Ce, this little tyrant would probably not even fight Yuan Shu and would lead his troops directly north.

By that time, he would not have enough soldiers and Chen Yu’s few thousand men would probably suffer a great loss!
After explaining this, Chen Deng summoned his followers and asked them to inform Chen Gui of the matter, while he himself headed north with his guards.

After walking for several days, we finally arrived at Haixi City.

At this time, Chen Yu was making plans in the mansion. He was over fifty years old, dressed in black, with an elegant appearance, and not at all cunning.

Just as the original process went, although Qin Zhen disturbed the Central Plains, it did not affect Chen Yu's thoughts.

When Chen Yu heard that the court wanted him and Sun Ce to jointly attack Yuan Shu, he began to think that once Sun Ce left, Wu County would be empty. As long as he planned carefully, he could take over Wu County, which would be better than staying in Haixi.

While discussing with General Chen Mu, I heard a report from someone outside the palace:
"My lord, there is someone outside the mansion claiming to be your nephew and wants to come in to see you!"

After hearing this, Chen Yu was stunned. The Chen family is so big, and he has many nephews. Which nephew came?
"What's his name? What do you want from me?"

Upon hearing this, the servant hurriedly reported:

"His name is Chen Deng, his courtesy name is Yuanlong, and he said he has something important to ask you!"

Upon hearing the name Chen Deng, Chen Yu was immediately delighted and quickly stood up and said:
"If it is Yuanlong who comes, you can let him enter the mansion!"

Having said this, he turned back to Chen Mu and said:
"Shouzhi probably doesn't know me, but Chen Yuanlong is the son of my elder brother. He has the talent to save the world. He must have come to me to seek refuge!"

"Now that Yuanlong has come to join us, our great cause will be accomplished!"

Although Chen Mu's surname was Chen, he was not a member of the Chen family, but a native of Huainan. He smiled when he heard this.
"I have also heard of Yuanlong's talent. If he really comes to surrender, it will be a great pleasure for the lord."

Chen Yu listened with a pleased look on his face and couldn't stop smiling.

After a while, a scholar in brown clothes walked into the mansion. When Chen Yu saw him, he approached him warmly and said:

"I have few relatives here, but I didn't expect Yuanlong to come. I am very happy!"

But when Chen Deng heard this, he said coldly:

"I heard that my uncle wanted to plot against Sun Ce. Is this true?"

Hearing this, Chen Yu's smile froze and he stood there in a daze.

He was indeed planning, but he was doing it in secret. How did Chen Deng know about it?

(End of this chapter)