Chapter 124: 124. Talking With Tao Qian

Chapter 124: 124. Talking With Tao Qian

Tao Qian's face is a bit scrunched and green, this is the first time that someone shouted at him like this. He could only swallow the bitter pill and give a smile saying that Lie Fan doesn't need to blame himself as he was busy eliminating the Yelow Tuebans. He doesn't want to break face with Lie Fan so fast, he wants to slowly accumulate influence.

Tao Qian doesn't realize that his maneuver will not work, all major cities are under Lie Fan's influence and grasp. The small townships and villages all need the major cities to survive, his chance to raise his influence is almost none.

Jia Xu has built solid networks across Xu Province, Oriole members will definitely keep an eye on Tao Qian for 24 hours. If Lie Fan's secrets were compromised, then they could only either make him disappear or conjure evidence that he broke a heavy law.

Lie Fan: "Master Tao Qian must be tired after a long ride from Luoyang, Sun Qian told Chen Gui to prepare a residence for Master Tao Qian befitting his position and escort him there so that he can take a rest."

Sun Qian: "Yes My Lord."

Lie Fan: " Master Tao Qian while waiting we can enjoy some tea together, maybe you can talk about how the Liang Province Rebellion subjugation force failed?"

Tao Qian: "Of Course Governor Lie Fan, I hope that you be more understanding to us who serve in the subjugation and that the enemy we are fighting against is different than the Yellow Turbans."

Lie Fan and Wang Yun trade barbed words against each other, for Lie Fan no matter how kind Tao Qian actually is in his eyes he is now a thief looking to steal his position. Tao Qian now can be considered a puppet with the puppeteer pulling his strings from Luoyang, as for who is it it can be He Jin or Zhang Rang or Wang Yun, or the three of them altogether.

Sun Qian left the main hall to meet with Chen Gui, to discuss the residence perfect for Tao Qian so that they could keep an eye on him and also not near important establishments.

Jia Xu and Xun You both accompany Lie Fan in talking with Tao Qian listening to his part of the narrative about how the Liang Province subjugation force failed to put down the rebellion.

Huangfu Song was assigned as the leader of the subjugation who oversaw the force sent to quell the rebellion, he was sent to be in charge of the defense of Chang'an however he didn't have immediate success and was impeached by the Eunuchs after just four months.

A high minister named Zhang Wen was appointed to replace Huangfu Song, under Zhang When were himself, Dong Zhuo, and Sun Jian. Leading 100,000 soldiers they began to launch some attacks against the multi-ethnic group that launched the rebellion.

Zhang Wen doesn't have the experience and skills to handle such a large army, so Dong Zhuo treats him with disdain while He and Sun Jian can only advise Zhang Wen.

Because of Dong Zhuo, they achieved great victory, but soon after Zhang When caused them to have a setback and can't continue to follow up the victory Dong Zhuo achieved before which will be known as the Battle Of Meiyang which broke their chances.

Next the newly assigned Inspector of Liang Province, Geng Bi decided to launch a major offensive attack against the rebels but Fu Xie Grand Administrator of Hanyang tried to dissuade him as they didn't have enough military support.

Fu Xie failed, and Geng Bi led his army to attack the Longxi commandery which was captured by Han Sui one of the rebel leaders. Geng Bi appointed a corrupt official Chen Qiu to supervise causing many people to be dissatisfied with him.

When Geng Bi's army reached the city of Didao capital of Longxi, his army mutiny killed both Geng Bi and Cheng Qiu. All of the mutineers joined Wang Guo a rebel leader based in Didao under Ma Teng, a major general under Geng Bi's lead.

After that they attacked Hanyang, killing Fu Xie and Both Ma Teng and Han Sui making Wang Guo their leader, together they raided the areas around Chang'an and extended their sway all over Liang Province. Zhang Wen was then dismissed from his post because of this.

Right now, Huangfu Song is Guarding Chang'an alongside Dong Zhuo numbering 40,000 men. There are rumors that Wang Guo will attack Chenchang, a gateway to Chang'an so they were assigned there now.

Lie Fan: "So it's the incompetence of the Zhang When and the Eunuchs that caused us to fail to subjugate the rebels. Now we can only be on the defensive, I believe that with General Huangfu Song the rebels will not succeed in taking down Chenchang."

Tao Qian: "In truth, Governor Lie Fan was one of the candidates to replace General Huangfu Song when he was impeached, but at the time you left Luoyang bringing your troops to quell the Yellow Turbans remnant in Xu Province that rose again."

Lie Fan: "Humoh if only those damned eunuchs don't impeach General Huangfu Song, the situation will be much better than the current one we have."

Tao Qian: "There are rumors that the reason Generla Huangfu Sing was impeached was because of you Governor Lie."

Lie Fan: "Nonsense! Master Tao Qian, please say your words clearly, while it's true that I have a very close relationship with General Huangfu Song, this is not a reason to impeach General Huangfu!"

Tao Qian snickered silently, thinking that at the end of the day, Lie Fan was still a young man who didn't truly understand political intrigue. Tao Qian didn't know that Lie Fan was acting, he knew that Huangfu Song was being impeached he was one of the reasons.

But even without him, Huangfu Song will still be impeached so those rumors must be spread by the eunuchs. Tao Qian was happy thinking that he managed to enter Lie Fan's head but it was the opposite when Tao Qian was the one who entered Lie Fan's trap.

Sun Qian arrived with Chen Gui at this time, they reported that Tao Qian's residence was ready for Tao Qian to stay in. Tao Qian hearing this stood up and said goodbye to Lie Fan and everyone there, then he was escorted by Sun Qian and Chen Gui to the residence that was prepared for him.

After Tao Qian left the main hall, Lie Fan suddenly threw his teacup shocking everyone there especially the maids who wanted to clean up the tea sets. Tao Qian the wily old fox, at the end of the day no matter how kind someone is at the end they are a politician who cares about their interest.

Jia Xu: "My Lord please calm your anger, Tao Qian is trying to make you angry and be controlled by your emotions. We all know that your relationship with General Huangfu Song is not a big chip to make him be impeached."

Lie Fan: "I know, I just want to vent my anger. Nobody like him dared to play with us, let's teach him a lesson slowly. I want all of his servants to be oriole members, keep an eye on him."

Jia Xu: "Yes My Lord rest easy, now we also need to make sure that Tao Qian doesn't know about our secret project."

Xun You: "Don't worry, I already made sure that the city guards patrol around the southern Xiapi City Gate and the forest to be a danger zone as there are tigers and packs of wolves roaming there."

Lie Fan: "Good at least the old man will not go there himself, by the way, Jia Xu how is the progress on the sea project?"

Jia Xu stayed silent, the maids and servants in the main hall were all Oriole members. Seeing Jia Xu looking at them, they knew that couldn't listen to this conversation and left the main hall.

He explained the progress of their sea projects, the craftsman and shipwrights were working together on building the ships according to the design. Some of the parts are new things they have never seen before, fortunately, there is a diagram on how to make it.

Lie Fan nods his head, he understands that building ships is not a trivial matter. Just the size itself was already a headache, it was okay for the slow progress as they still had time before naval dominance was needed.

Lie Fan hoped that the secretness of the project would be kept tight, and Oriole members at Huai'An would concentrate on the secret harbor they make. Huai'An is under the Lie Clan's control, so it's okay to just leave several members to guard against external spies.

After this Lie Fan leaves the main hall accompanied by his bodyguards, Jia Xu and Xun You resume their duties as normal. Lie Fan's destination is the Army Camp outside of Xiapi where all of his generals and soldiers are staying.

Lie Fan wants to see the stats of his generals except for Huang Zhong and Dian Wei who he has just seen before. Ze Rong's strength has already maxed, while Chao Bai, Chao Bo, and Zang Ba haven't reached their full potential yet.

Arriving at the army camp, Lie Fan saw the three of Chao Bai, Chao Bo, and Zang Ba training under Huang Zhong and Dian Wei teaching. He was satisfied that the three of them still focused on training their strength.

The three of them are called Lie Fan's Three-Head of Terror by the soldiers, each of their battalions works together perfectly inflicting terror on the enemies. Lie Fan uses the Eye of Erlang Shen to see each of their stats.

•Chao Bo

STR: 212 -> 480 VIT: 75 -> 83 AGI: 88 -> 94 INT: 90 -> 108

•Chao Bai

STR: 227 - 510 VIT: 90 -> 103 AGI: 65 -> 69 INT: 68 -> 70

•Zang Ba

STR: 235 -> 518 VIT: 90 -> 101 AGI: 77 -> 90 INT: 78 -> 82

Seeing their stats, he was assured that they had more potential than his bodyguards so their strength would be higher which could keep them safe on the battlefield.

Lie Fan greeted all of them, stopping them from their training. Seeing Lie Fan, all of them saluted him immediately and Huang Zhong asked Lie Fan if there was something urgent for them to do seeing that he come here himself.

Lie Fan waves his hand, it can be considered an urgent thing but it's not a mission. Or task for them. He just wanted to inform them personally about Tao Qian's situation and see them training while enjoying some fresh air and not the stuffy ones in the office.

____________________________________

Name: Lie Fan

Title: Yellow Heaven Subjugator

Age: 20 Years Old (187 AD)

Level: 14

Next Level: 412.000

Renown: 215

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 4)

SP: 706.700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 753

VIT: 331

AGI: 328

INT: 349

CHR: 93

WIS: 289

WILL: 207

ATR Points: 0