However, this person was not so indifferent. Liu Bei's public opinion attack could deceive the common people but it was not so effective against Song Qian. After all, Song Qian was an educated person and would not be brainwashed like the common people. Therefore, in order to survive, Liu Mang's Army immediately surrendered the moment they captured the warehouse. Not only did he surrender, but he also took Liu Mang's Army to check the account books in order to obtain glory, splendor, wealth or to gain Liu Mang's attention.
"Your Highness the King Of Shu, Your Highness the King Of Shu!" The first thing Song Qian did when he entered the storehouse was to shout a few times. His tone was filled with joy because he found a few hidden storehouses, which were the provisions and horse materials that were half buried underground. There was even a lot of gold and silver. The more things he found, the happier Liu Mang would be. When Liu Mang was happy, he would definitely be rewarded by Song Qian.
"Reporting, Your Highness, I have not disgraced the Lord's mission. I have found four hidden storehouses in the storehouse. There are a total of four thousand dan of grain, three thousand gold, and countless jewels!"
"Oh? There are hidden storehouses! " Liu Mang was really happy. After capturing Yingshang, he obtained so much provisions and even subdued Mi Fang. Now, this Song Qian actually found another four thousand dan of grain, gold, silver, and jewels. No one would dislike having too much money in their hands.
"Zi Fang, Yingshang has tens of thousands of dan of provisions and so much gold. It seems that this Big Eared Liu has a lot of resources. When Zi Fang finishes washing up, he will definitely have a chat with this King!" If Yingshang had so much provisions and gold, then as the capital of Yuzhou, Runan should have even more. This was because Runan was Liu Bei's nest. If it was captured, then the food crisis in Yangzhou would probably be solved. Liu Mang needed Mi Fang to inform Liu Mang of the general number and the arrangement of Liu Bei's Army in Runan.
"Zi Fang?!" Song Qian was so focused on reporting the good news that he naturally forgot about the person beside him. At first, Liu Mang was still praising him, making Song Qian overjoyed. However, now that he mentioned another person, Song Qian subconsciously felt a trace of dissatisfaction. He turned his head to see who was snatching Song Qian's imperial favor in front of Liu Mang. When he raised his head, he habitually shouted, "General Mi! Mistress! "
Mi Fang's expression greatly changed when he heard the two names.
If Mi Fang did not change his expression, Liu Mang would not have noticed. However, when he saw Song Qian, Liu, he felt a trace of doubt.
"Mistress?!" Liu Mang pondered over this title. In fact, this title was nothing special. During the Han Dynasty, the title 'Lord' was used by retainers to address the family head. It was equivalent to the family head. Mistress was the wife of the lord. If Song Qian was a retainer of the Mi Fang Family, it would be understandable for him to call this woman mistress. However, he did not call Mi Fang 'Lord' and instead called him 'General Mi'. This was a title used by officials. This meant that Song Qian was not a retainer of Mi Fang.
Hearing Liu Mang pondering over these two words, Mi Fang's face turned ashen. Liu Mang's heart skipped a beat.
"Song Qian, is your mistress the mistress of the Which Family?!" Liu Mang looked at the woman and asked Song Qian.
"Yes!" Song Qian also reacted and shook his head. He was no longer a subordinate of Liu Bei's Army.
"Song Qian, don't you dare!" Just as Song Qian was about to speak, Mi Fang stepped forward and choked Song Qian so that he could not speak. Although Mi Fang was only a second-rate general, it was very easy for him to choke a scholar to death. After Mi Fang said that he wanted to surrender, Liu Mang got someone to untie the ropes on Mi Fang's body. A person's throat was very fragile. If he used too much force, he would die on the spot!
Mi Fang was fast, but someone was faster. This person was Huang Zhong, who was standing at the side. Huang Zhong grabbed Mi Fang's hand when he was about to approach Song Qian. Since his hand was grabbed, he naturally could not choke Song Qian. However, Mi Fang still headbutted Song Qian. This resistance made Huang Zhong angry. He lifted Mi Fang with both arms and threw him away.
"Zi Fang!" When the beautiful figure saw Mi Fang being thrown away by Huang Zhong, she quickly went forward to help Mi Fang up. Although Huang Zhong threw Mi Fang away, Mi Fang's head still touched Song Qian. Song Qian's face was smashed by Mi Fang's head. His nose and lips were smashed open.
Fresh blood flowed down from her nose. Her beautiful face was ruined by Mi Fang. This made Song Qian cry out in pain. It was very miserable.
"Your Highness, there is (this) eye-catching (mistress) matter (left)" Before Song Qian could say anything, Mi Fang started to threaten him again. "Song Qian, you bastard, speak. Be careful of your head. I will definitely make your family die without a burial ground!"
This threat made Song Qian tremble. Although Mi Fang was captured, Song Qian was still afraid. After all, there was still a big boss behind Mi Fang.
"Mo Ran!" Liu Mang knew that there must be something going on. Liu Mang walked forward and patted Song Qian's shoulder.
When a subordinate patted the shoulder of a superior, it was disrespectful and rebellious. Patting each other's shoulders was a form of friendship between friends. However, when a superior patted the subordinate's shoulder, it was a hobby. Liu Mang's shoulder patting technique was slowly becoming more skillful. The pat on the shoulder calmed Song Qian down a little. Moreover, Liu Mang didn't directly call Song Qian's name. Instead, he called him by his courtesy name. This meant that they were close. Song Qian's heart calmed down a little. Then, Liu Mang's following words completely calmed Song Qian down.
"Mo Ran, look at Mi Fang. Although I released him, he is just a prisoner. However, you have already abandoned the darkness and joined the light. You can be said to be one of Liu Mang's subordinates. Do you need to be afraid of him? Moreover, even if Mi Fang really surrendered to me, he would only be a garrison general with a salary of 500 shi. As for you, you are new to my army. I originally planned to let you train more. Now, it seems that the storehouse, provisions, and jewels you sent over are all great contributions and should be heavily rewarded. This King has decided to let you be a quartermaster in my City Guard first. You will be in charge of the transfer of provisions between the City Guard and the Black Flag Army. Your rank will be 600 shi. What do you think? " To be honest, Liu Mang was very displeased with Song Qian's quick betrayal of Liu Bei. After all, no one would like a traitor. Even if he joined Liu Mang's army, Liu Mang planned to let him be a small county deputy at most. It was basically the same as freezing him. However, he didn't expect Song Qian to send thousands of shi of provisions and so much gold, silver, and jewels to Liu Mang.
Liu Mang couldn't help but think for a while. Now, his intuition told him that Song Qian's words were revealing a big secret. Therefore, Liu Mang simply gave Song Qian a good official position. After all, the City Guard and Black Flag Army were elites under Liu Mang's command. Their loyalty was very high. Liu Mang wasn't afraid that Song Qian would cause any trouble.
"Yes, yes. Subordinate Song Qian greets Lord!" Song Qian was very excited. It wasn't like Song Qian hadn't heard of the reputation of the Black Flag Army and the City Guard Army. Just like Liu Bei's White Eared Heavy Armor, as long as he joined the White Eared Heavy Armor, he would be Liu Bei's trusted aide. Liu Mang gave Song Qian such a big opportunity. How could Song Qian not be excited? The County Governor of Yingshang was only worth six hundred shi. Song Qian went from an ordinary Grain Officer to a high official with six hundred shi. Song Qian was really overjoyed. He bet on the right treasure.
"Lord, Lord, this Mistress, no, bah bah" If Song Qian became Liu Mang's subordinate and recognized Liu Mang as his lord, he couldn't call her Mistress anymore. "This person is Mi Fang's younger sister, Liu Bei's wife."
"What!" Liu Mang was really stunned. The first sentence didn't matter, but the second sentence, this woman was Liu Bei's wife?
"Song Qian, you will die a horrible death!" Mi Fang was roaring at Song Qian. He was already under Huang Zhong's control and couldn't move at all.
Mi Fang's younger sister! Liu Bei's wife, wasn't that Lady Mi in history? There was a reason why Lady Mi was so famous. One of the reasons was that when she married Liu Bei, her dowry could be said to be second only to Sun Shangxiang. Sun Shangxiang's dowry was several counties in Jing Province. Although it was grand, it was Zhou Yu's scheme. He wanted to use a woman to exchange for Liu Bei's army. However, he was schemed against by Zhuge Liang and suffered a double loss. It could be said that it wasn't a dowry but was taken by force. Lady Mi was different. Her brothers had prepared a very grand dowry for her. There were thousands of servants and countless carriages of gold and silver. It was because of this dowry that Liu Bei was able to repeatedly lose and climb back up like an undying cockroach. It could be said that the Mi Family had helped him a lot.
The second reason was that this woman was righteous. In the original story, Liu Bei's army was defeated at Changban and fled in all directions. At that time, Lady Mi brought along Liu Shan. Zhao Yun went in and out of Changban seven times to rescue the two, but he only had one warhorse. Zhao Yun had Lady Mi ride the warhorse and charge out with Zhao Yun. However, Lady Mi knew that if she rode the warhorse, she wouldn't be able to charge out. Even if she could, General Zhao Yun might die on the spot. Therefore, for the sake of Liu Bei's youngest son, Liu Shan, Lady Mi was willing to commit suicide. She entrusted Liu Shan to Zhao Yun and threw herself into the dry well. Zhao Yun didn't want Lady Mi's corpse to be humiliated, so he covered it with a huge rock. Such a sentimental and righteous woman was truly rare in this world. Even Liu Mang couldn't help but admire her.
They had caught a big fish. Although Liu Bei and his ancestor Liu Bei treated their wives like dirt and didn't care much about them, Lady Mi might not be as important to Liu Bei, but to the Mi brothers, she was the most important. If Liu Mang only had a 30% chance of persuading Mi Zhu to surrender after capturing Mi Fang, then with Lady Mi in his hands, Liu Mang had an 80% chance of success.
"Good plan, good plan!" Liu Mang had truly underestimated Mi Fang. He originally thought that a second-rate character in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms would only be able to gain a foothold in Sichuan with the help of his sister and brother. After Liu Bei obtained Sichuan and became the Emperor of Jing Province, he was only a governor. Such a second-rate character almost managed to fool Liu Mang.
If it wasn't for Song Qian exposing Mi Fang, Liu Mang might have missed the opportunity to get Lady Mi. Even Mi Fang's claim of wanting to surrender to him was a lie. He would definitely escape if he had the chance. Thinking about this, Liu Mang couldn't help but shake his head. This was all his fault. He thought that she was Mi Fang's wife. Who knew that she was actually his sister?
"This concubine, Lady Mi, greets Your Highness, the King Of Shu!" Lady Mi was rather straightforward. She knew that she couldn't hide it any longer and directly bowed to Liu Mang.
"Madam, please rise. Quickly rise!" Liu Mang saw that Lady Mi was bowing to him and had her stand up first. As he spoke, Liu Mang intentionally went forward to help her up. During this period of time, the skin on their arms touched, and it wasn't good for words.
"General Mi Fang, this is your fault. Lady Mi is here. Why didn't you say so earlier? With my relationship with Lord Xuande, I will definitely take good care of Lady Mi." Liu Mang's expression was one of reproach, but he was actually laughing in his heart. Liu Mang and Liu Bei had feelings for each other? Hehe, there really was! If you don't kill me, I'll kill you.
"Hmph, stop pretending! If you want to kill me, then do as you please! " Mi Fang coldly snorted. He knew that his sister's identity couldn't be hidden anymore, and his expression turned ugly. He and his brother had always been ridiculed in Liu Bei's army because of their status as merchants. It was only because of his sister's status as the Matriarch that Liu Bei held them in high regard. If Lady Mi fell into Liu Mang's hands, then it would be troublesome. Now that Liu Mang was at war with Liu Bei, how could he return her? Moreover, Liu Mang's actions towards Lady Mi made Mi Fang's heart sink. This was not a lecherous person like Cao Cao. According to the official records, Liu Bei's wife had been thrown into Cao Jun, but at that time, she had Guan Yu's protection. In order to subdue Guan Yu, Cao Cao treated Liu Bei's two beautiful wives with respect. If it wasn't for Guan Yu, then Lady Mi and Lady Gan would have already become Cao Cao's two great beauties in the Copper Sparrow Pavilion. Lady Mi had already introduced the two wives before, and this Lady Gan was also known as the Jade Beauty. What was the meaning of the Jade Beauty? When the light of the night fell, her skin would emit waves of jade light. Of course, this was an exaggeration. If a person could emit light, then wouldn't they be a bug? However, Madam Gan's skin was indeed as smooth as jade.
"Hehe, General Mi Fang, don't worry. I won't touch Madam Mi at all!" Liu Mang looked at Mi Fang angrily. Mi Fang was afraid that he would use Liu Bei's wife to warm his bed at night. That was the truth! Liu Bei and Sun Ce played such a dirty trick. If things went wrong, Yangzhou would be lost. The Lvbu's Army might even disappear from the stage of history. Now that Liu Bei's wife was in Liu Mang's hands, Liu Mang could not help but take revenge on Liu Bei. He would start with Liu Bei's wife. Moreover, Liu Bei's wife was not an old woman, but a beautiful young woman!
"Are you serious?" Mi Fang looked at Liu Mang nervously, like a drowning person who had found a life-saving straw. He was afraid that Liu Mang's next sentence would be 'I'm joking with you'.
"Of course I'm serious! Although this prince is not the Son of Heaven and does not joke, this prince is still a man of his word. I will definitely treat Madam Mi as my sister-in-law and treat her with respect! If the Left General stops fighting with my army, this prince can even send Madam Mi back! "Liu Mang said righteously to Mi Fang.
"Sister-in-law!" Mi Fang seemed to have eaten a calming pill. In the eyes of the ancient people, the term 'sister-in-law' was an elder. Uncle and sister-in-law naturally had to treat each other with respect. However, Mi Fang did not know that Liu Mang was not an ancient person. There was a saying in his world, 'Dumplings are more delicious, but dumplings are more fun'.
"Then what do you want?" If Liu Mang were to send Madam Mi back, then wouldn't Liu Mang get nothing? A person would not help another person for no reason, nor would they hurt another person for no reason.
"Ransom! General Mi Fang, your lord, Liu Bei, and this prince are currently at war. You are this prince's captives. If the Left General wants you to return, then you should naturally exchange for ransom according to the price of a captive! "Liu Mang said as if it was a matter of fact.
"Ransom? Are you trying to raise the price and ask for whatever you want? If that's the case, then I advise you to give up! Even if we, the Mi siblings, commit suicide here, we will not let you blackmail the lord! " If Liu Mang asked for a few hundred thousand dan of rations or a few hundred thousand gold, then there was no need to ask. Not to mention whether Liu Bei could take out that much, even if he could, he would not contribute so much for a woman.
"Do you think this prince is that kind of person?" Liu Mang smiled disdainfully. "Madam Mi, as the wife of the Left General, thirty thousand dan of rations, no, fifty thousand dan of rations should be enough for the Left General!" Fifty thousand dan of rations might seem like a lot, but it was really not much for someone as rich as Liu Bei. It was only a year's worth of military expenses for Liu Bei.
"Alright, it's a deal!" Mi Fang was relieved. If it was just a ransom, as long as it was not excessive, it was still possible to take it out. Just like when Lu Su was captured by Liu Mang, the Lu Family was willing to use all of their wealth to ransom Lu Su.
"Alright, bring General Mi Fang and Madam Mi down!" Liu Mang waved his hand and ordered his subordinates. The four guards split into two groups and sent Mi Fang and Madam Mi down.
Seeing Mi Fang and Madam Mi's disappearing figures, Huang Zhong asked, "My lord, do you really only want a few hundred thousand dan of rations?" Huang Zhong did not understand. With a wife like Liu Bei in his hands, he could definitely use her to threaten Liu Bei in Yangzhou. He could even use her to humiliate Liu Bei.
"A mere ten thousand dan?" Liu Mang shook his head. "Hansheng, what we lack now is rations!" Liu Mang knew that Yangzhou was short on rations. If there was no more supply, it might collapse on its own. If a woman could be exchanged for so much rations, why would Liu Mang not do it?
Most importantly, if Liu Bei could not take down Yangzhou because of this woman, who would Liu Bei blame? Naturally, it would be the Mi Brothers. Even if Liu Bei did not blame them, what about his generals? Would they not complain about the Mi Brothers? They were already looked down on because of their merchant status. If they were ostracized, Liu Mang could take advantage of the situation to gain the loyalty of the Mi Brothers.
"Oh right, Hansheng, announce to the public that Mi Fang died in battle!" Liu Mang suddenly thought of something and told Huang Zhong.
"Died in battle?"
"Yes, he died in battle!" Liu Mang wanted to gain the loyalty of the Mi Brothers, but he could not release all of them. He had to have at least one of them in his hands. Otherwise, even if the Mi Brothers were ostracized, they would still seek refuge with other warlords.
Just as Huang Zhong was about to carry out the order and Liu Mang was about to rest, a soldier suddenly rushed in. "Reporting to Milord, General Huang, something bad has happened. A large number of enemy troops have been discovered outside the city!"
"Enemy troops?" Liu Mang and Huang Zhong were both stunned. Yingshang had just been taken down, so where did the enemy troops come from? Could it be that Liu Bei's troops in Yuzhou had taken the initiative to attack them? Liu Mang's troops had just taken down Yingshang, and the soldiers were a little tired. They had not yet gained a foothold in Yingshang. This was a good strategy. They would wait for the enemy to be exhausted. The enemy would definitely catch them off guard.
"If you want to court death, then don't blame me!" Liu Mang's voice was very cold. If not for the ballistae, Liu Mang would have been in trouble today. After taking down Yingshang, the soldiers were exhausted. Now that Yingshang had been taken down, there was no way to defend it. However, with the ballistae, everything became simple. The 2,500 City Guard soldiers were very tired, but there were still 2,500 Black Flag soldiers waiting in formation.
On the other hand, how many troops could Liu Bei have in Yuzhou? 35,000 or 10,000? His main force was in Yangzhou, and even the most elite White Eared Heavy Armored Soldiers were there. In Yuzhou, there were only a few light infantry soldiers. They could defend the city, but fighting in the field was simply courting death.
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