Chapter 213: The veteran takes action, and Cai Mao is in a dilemma For Cai Mao, Liu Biao was a very special person. He was first his lord and then his brother-in-law. Therefore, he has always been of the same mind and heart with Liu Biao and obeyed his orders. I thought his father Cai Feng was very satisfied with what he did, but I didn't expect Cai Feng to have such a low opinion of Liu Biao. For a moment he knelt on the ground with a complicated expression, and whispered: "Father, be careful with your words. There are ears on the other side of the wall. You are harming our Cai family!" However, when Cai Feng heard this, he sneered, stood up with his crutches and said: "I have been managing the family for decades. Who in the house do I not know?" "If even a word of what I said today gets out, I will be dead!" "Besides, I am the elder and Liu Jingsheng is the younger generation. So what can he do after hearing what I said?" Compared with Cai Mao's cautiousness, Cai Feng showed the style of a veteran. He was certainly confident when he cursed like that. Cai Mao frowned as he listened to these words:

"I really don't know why father did that. Could it be that Kong Ming just slandered you?" "Why is my father so angry today that he even insulted the envoy?" If the problem did not lie with him, then it was most likely that Zhuge Liang had just said something misleading. Otherwise, the old man's attitude wouldn't have changed so obviously. But the more he did this, the angrier Cai Feng became: "At this point, are you still involving Kong Ming?" "From this perspective, you are far inferior to Huang Chengyan!" "Kong Ming is a gentleman, and he is also very intelligent. He is indeed a good son-in-law. He came here just now just to ask about my health. How could he have said anything disrespectful?" "It was Confucian, who got involved several times after returning home!" "I thought you were a smart person when you were young, but I didn't expect you to be so stupid now!" "Let me ask you, how can Liu Jingsheng compare with Liu Xuande?" "What kind of family background does Liu Xuande have? He is a mat weaver and shoe seller!" "He started out as a commoner, and rose through the ranks with his military achievements. Today, he has occupied a vast area south of the Huai River, with hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers and countless wise ministers and generals." "On the other hand, Liu Jingsheng was appointed as the Northern Army Lieutenant General in the seventh year of Guanghe, when Liu Xuande was still a commoner." "I have been here since the first year of Chuping, and I have gained the land of Jingzhou, but I have accomplished nothing!" "How can there be any similarity between the two? How can it be so difficult to make a judgment?" Cai Mao felt depressed when he heard this rebuttal, and said in a deep voice: "You have been in power for seven years. Jingzhou has been cleared up everywhere and all the people have submitted to you." "Although we are not as strong as the others, we should not belittle them like this!" He thought that if judging by performance, although Liu Bei was better, Liu Biao was not as bad as a pig! As soon as he finished speaking, Cai Feng sneered:

"If he is loyal to the emperor and loves his people, and protects his own land, I will still consider him to be quite capable!" "Then how does this person act? When he hears that the emperor is buried, he immediately offers sacrifices to heaven and earth." "He has soldiers but no intention of serving the king and governing the country. He only knows how to sit around and gather some poor and pedantic scholars to have empty talks every day." "What good will it do to the country? What good will it do to the family? Do you think that if the Han Dynasty declines, he can be crowned king?" "In the past, I was already his son-in-law, and I wanted to use the land of Jingzhou to help him accomplish the work of Duke Zhou, to conquer all directions, to wipe out all the barbarians, and to accomplish a great cause!" "If that is the case, then with the help of my Cai family, we can also ensure that our descendants will be rich and prosperous." "I didn't expect this man to be so unmotivated. He refused to serve the king and disobeyed the king's orders. Now that people have come here in response to the emperor's orders, he still ignores them." "Do you think Jingzhou can be independent for a hundred years? Is this place inside a tortoise shell? Can you hold on to it?" "If I had known this man was like this, how could I have accepted him as my son-in-law?" "Liu Xuande rose from poverty and hardship, and for more than ten years he remained loyal to the emperor and his determination to defeat the enemy." "Although my family is in decline, I have still received the Emperor's gift and have become the greatest hero in the world!" "Compared to him, isn't Liu Jingsheng worse than a pig or a dog?" Although the Cai family is a typical example of a family that relies on its daughters to gain status, this reliance on women is, in a sense, also an act of investment. The Cai family’s investment philosophy is that family background is not very important, and personal ability is paramount. Just like his brother-in-law Zhang Wen, he did not have a strong family background, but was willing to work hard, which was why Cai wanted to marry him. This business directly led to the rise of his Cai family. Although he did not hold an official position, his brother Cai Boqi was promoted to the position of prefect of Donglai. His two nephews, Cai Zan and Cai Yan, were respectively the Prime Minister of Mei and the Governor of Ba County. It can be said that this one step allowed the Cai family to join the ranks of the great aristocratic families. At this point, the Cai family had the political resources and it was time to seek fame, so Cai Feng betrothed his daughter to Huang Chengyan. After Liu Biao entered Jingzhou, he further consolidated his family's status and invested in Liu Biao. Originally, according to Cai Feng's idea, having two sons-in-law, Huang Chengyan and Liu Biao, would be enough to ensure that the Cai family would have enough energy to become one of the top aristocratic families. But he didn't expect that Huang Chengyan was okay and at least became a famous scholar, but Liu Biao was a hopeless case! If you want to respect the emperor when you own such a large province as Jingzhou, then you should serve the king and accomplish the work of Duke Zhou. If you don't want to respect the emperor, then you can fight for territory, recruit all kinds of talents for your own use, and use them to dominate the world. As a result, Liu Biao did not choose either of the two paths, but chose to neither respect the emperor nor fight for the world! Before Liu Bei rose to power, there was no comparison between them. But now, when compared with each other, Liu Biao really seems like a cowardly son-in-law. Therefore, when Cai Feng saw that Cai Mao was now helping Liu Biao to stop Liu Bei, he became extremely angry. I thought to myself, I don’t understand state affairs, but I understand investment. Isn’t it obvious at a glance who has greater potential between Liu Biao and Liu Bei? Even if Liu Biao is the son-in-law, so what? He is still an outsider after all! Is it necessary for the Cai family to follow Liu Biao to the end? You know, without Cai, Liu Biao would not be the Liu Biao he is today.

But the Cai family does not have Liu Biao. Even if they change their lord, the Cai family is still the Cai family! So as soon as Zhuge Liang came to visit, Cai Feng had already planned a way out. He was so angry when facing Cai Mao who couldn't figure out the relationship between primary and secondary! After he finished saying this, Cai Mao was already stunned on the spot, with a hint of hesitation in his eyes. He thought that his old man had a sudden serious illness, but he didn't expect that the old man actually disliked Liu Biao for not being ambitious enough! After thinking about it for a while, he asked again: "If that's the case, I understand, but I still don't understand what father just said!" "Why is it that you can't protect yourself now?" He thought to himself, it’s okay that you always look down on Liu Biao, but what about the fact that you can’t even protect yourself? Would Liu Bei's rise shake Liu Biao's foundation in Jingzhou? Seeing that he did not refute, Cai Feng stopped, knelt down again, and said in a deep voice: "How foolish! It's a good thing that Liu Jingsheng is willing to use you as his military advisor. You don't even know the general trend of the world!" "Do you think that the disarray of the imperial court will lead to a return to the Warring States period?" "Or do you think that the Han Dynasty will fall like the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, and the world will be in chaos?" "Neither of these is true. In the Spring and Autumn Period, rituals and music were in disarray, and there was no common ruler under heaven, so there was chaos." "The reason why the tyrannical Qin Dynasty fell was that the people were not loyal to it and all the scholars rebelled." "Although the Han Dynasty is in decline, it still has the support of the people. The rituals and music are still intact, and all scholars are loyal to the Han Dynasty!" "Therefore, a man like this who can revive the Han Dynasty will surely win the support of the people and the support of many scholars." "The reason why Cao Mengde rose to prominence in the Central Plains in the past originated from here. The reason why Liu Xuande rose to prominence in Huainan today also originated from here." "They respect the emperor, so they have great righteousness. Therefore, people like Lu Bu, Sun Ce, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others are all disloyal and can be attacked." "Liu Jingsheng had the opportunity to do so, but you were all unwise and openly offered sacrifice to the heavens!" "Such a rebellious act has already caused people to dislike him, so people like Qin Zhen and Kong Ming all want to join Liu Bei instead of serving in Jingzhou." "Liu Bei is still plotting to take over Jiangdong, so Jingzhou is safe." "But once Jiangdong is destroyed, Liu Bei will lead his troops westwards. How can the people of Jingzhou not join him?" "It's a pity that you all think you have a good plan, and you are still planning something else. Don't you know that the emperor has given the order? What you are planning now will all be the reason for Liu Bei to send troops in the future!" "Liu Biao is still hesitant, but you are openly provoking him. Do you really think Qin Zhen won't be able to kill you in the future?" "It is all thanks to this man who married Cai Bojie's daughter and now wants to be on good terms with our family." "Otherwise, wait until I am a hundred years old, and see if this man can forgive you!" He stopped there, his words already revealing his old age and weakness. Seeing that he only had a few more years to live, but Cai Mao was still so unwise, he felt helpless. If he were Cai Mao, when he saw Qin Zhen approaching to make friends with her, even if he didn't become sworn brothers with her, he would at least acknowledge Cai Yan as his sister. If you don't make friends with this powerful person now, what are you waiting for? Wait until someone puts a knife on your neck, and then see if they will pay any attention to you! When Cai Mao heard Cai Feng's rebuke, he felt a chill on his back and his neck was leaking air.

To be honest, after meeting Qin Zhen, he really disliked this person. Because in front of Qin Zhen, he felt very depressed and it was far less relaxed than when he was with other people. But after hearing Cai Feng's words, he suddenly remembered what Qin Zhen said yesterday. What does it mean that we must treat him well when he goes to Huainan next time? Should we invite him to be a guest, or escort him to Huainan to be beheaded? It turns out that Qin Zhen had developed murderous intentions towards him after just a meeting yesterday! Thinking of this, Cai Mao's heart was shaken. Looking at his old father sitting in front of him, he bowed down and said: "I am a foolish child who did not realize my father's painstaking efforts. I hope you will forgive me!" "But now that my Cai family is in Jingzhou, we have to rely on Liu Jingsheng for everything we do." "What should children do in this current situation?" He wanted to be more polite and ask the old man what to do, but as soon as he asked, Cai Feng turned his face and said: "Now the Cai family regards you as their leader. How can I know?" "Will you come to my grave to ask for advice after a hundred years?" "Now that I have made my words clear, you can think about what to do with it yourself!" "But I have one thing to say. If I hear you say anything bad about Kong Ming again, don't blame me for not giving you face!" After scolding him like this, he felt tired and forced himself to stand up with the help of his crutches. "Besides, your sister has not been betrothed yet, so find a good husband for her. Don't marry someone like Liu Jingsheng. I don't want to see him!" As he spoke, he walked towards the backyard with his crutches. Upon seeing this, Cai Mao hurriedly stood up and saw Cai Feng off all the way to the backyard before he stopped to think carefully. Although Cai Feng did not say it explicitly, he actually pointed him in two directions. One is Zhuge Liang. In terms of character and ability, Zhuge Liang is excellent. Now that she is his niece, Zhuge Liang can become a helper to his family, so he needs to be won over. The other one is his unmarried sister! It should be mentioned here that Cai Feng had a total of one son and three daughters. The eldest daughter married Huang Chengyan and gave birth to a daughter, who was betrothed to Zhuge Liang. The second daughter married Liu Biao and gave birth to Liu Cong, Liu Biao's second son. Only the younger sister has not yet married. Liu Biao had wanted to marry this sister to Huan Jie, but Huan Jie refused on the grounds that she was already married. Since then, the younger sister of the Cai family has never married until now. It’s not that no one proposed marriage, but the women of the Cai family never marry unknown men. Therefore, even though the younger sister was over the marriageable age, she was still waiting to get married at home. Cai Feng brought up this matter now, obviously hoping that he could once again ease the relationship with Liu Bei's army through the method of marriage. But in the current situation, who should this girl marry to that would be in the best interests of his Cai family?

Marry Qin Zhen? Qin Zhen is already related to Cai, so marrying a younger sister as a concubine would not be very helpful. If she doesn't marry Qin Zhen, then the best choice is Liu Bei. But since Liu Biao was already wary of Liu Bei, how could his Cai family marry Liu Bei? Thinking of this, Cai Mao fell into deep thought again. PS: The previous article was wrong, saying Huang Chengyan’s wife was his second sister. It has now been corrected. (End of this chapter)