Chapter 260

"My Lord, General Xuangao, this battle has completely brought out the reputation of our Donghai Ling."

"In this battle of Pengcheng, Xuangao faced two hundred thousand troops with twenty thousand, and in just one day, he beat them into a rout. Now in Pengcheng Commandery, those families are terrified of the Lord's army."

Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia both controlled the Dark Owls, and for the news passed by the Dark Owls, the two of them were also the first to know.

"Haha! It seems Xuangao has beaten those people until it hurts to the bone."

Su Fan smiled upon hearing this; he was naturally happy too. Not only were the families of Pengcheng Commandery terrified of Su Fan, but now in the entire Xuzhou, those families had also re-recognized Su Fan.

In Xiapi, the voices opposing Su Fan's entry had also become much smaller.

All of this was strength, powerful strength, which made these families not dare to provoke him easily.

"My Lord, news from Xiapi, Chen Gui went to the Inspector's Office and resigned from the position of Xuzhou Chief Clerk."

"Oh! It seems the Chen clan also understands that the general trend is irreversible, so they are very smart and took a step back first."

Su Fan naturally understood Chen Gui's plan. Chen Gui had previously opposed Tao Qian letting Su Fan succeed him and become the master of Xiapi.

After Su Fan showed his strength, no one in Xuzhou could resist. Tao Qian, who had the strongest strength himself, insisted on entrusting Xuzhou to Su Fan. If Su Fan's strength was not good before, these families could join forces and still be able to resist.

But the battle of Pengcheng, the strength Su Fan showed, made the Chen clan understand that even without Tao Qian's help, Su Fan had enough powerful strength to sweep across the entire Xuzhou.

Several major families in Pengcheng joined forces and pulled up an army of more than four hundred thousand, but they did not hold on for two months and were defeated.

These few major families, although they were not exterminated in the end, some key figures were beheaded, and most of the interests were annexed; it could be said that the family power fell sharply.

Wanting to recover, I don't know how long it would take. Even if their master behind the scenes was Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu defeated Su Fan in the end, so what? Could it be that Yuan Shu would return all the power and interests that originally belonged to the several major families to them?

Of course impossible.

The competition between families was also quite cruel. Since you have fallen, don't think about standing up again.

Even if Yuan Shu was willing, those families under Yuan Shu would definitely not be willing to see it; adding one more family was equivalent to adding one more person to share the meat.

Chen Gui understood that in the current Xuzhou, there was no one who could compete with Su Fan anymore. Even if they fought to the death, it would be of no avail.

Even if they joined Yuan Shu to come, let alone whether Yuan Shu could defeat the Donghai Ling's army after coming, were they not afraid that Yuan Shu would lead the wolf into the house?

The Chen family retreated, and now the only ones resisting on the surface were the Cao clan.

But how long could the Cao clan resist? Many small families under him were already unwilling; after all, no matter who became the master of Xiapi, it would not have much impact on them.

Su Fan's arrival would not snatch all their interests either.

Since that was the case, why go against such a formidable warlord?

The opposing power in Xiapi weakened, and Tao Qian also sent people again to invite Su Fan to Xiapi.

Su Fan naturally did not refuse.

He was determined to get Xiapi.

Tao Qian was very smart; during the campaign against Dong, he felt Su Fan's powerful strength.

If he were ten or twenty years younger, then he might still have the ambition to contend with Su Fan, but now at his age, he no longer had much ambition.

The only thing he could not let go of was his family, especially his two sons.

Neither of his two sons was a smart person, and they could not even be considered masters of keeping the status quo, so he did not dare to push them to the front.

In this troubled world, without ability, and still wanting to occupy a high position of power, that was really no different from looking for death.

Having mixed in the officialdom for so many years, Tao Qian understood this truth deeply, so after communicating with Su Fan and investigating Su Fan's character in depth, he chose to entrust Xuzhou to Su Fan.

He believed that the latter also understood his meaning.

"Zhicai, Feng Xiao, for the trip to Xiapi, you two will go with me, and by the way, take a look at the Chen clan. I heard that Chen Deng, Chen Yuanlong of the Chen clan, is quite extraordinary and is the Qilin son of the Chen clan."

"It seems the Lord appreciates him quite a bit?"

Xi Zhicai smiled upon hearing this.

Su Fan shook his head: "This child might have some talent, but as far as I know, his selfishness is too heavy, or rather, he values his family too much. He can be used, but not heavily used."

This world is also a world of family and country, with the family first and the country second.

However, not everyone is like this. For example, people like Xun Yu are also from top-tier families. Although they also value their families quite a bit, after defecting to Su Fan, they take Su Fan's side as the overall situation.

Of course, taking care of the family is also a matter of convenience.

Selfishness will not be too heavy; this is also the reason why Su Fan values Xun Yu and the others the most. As for Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai, they have no family. Xi Zhicai is completely a commoner. Although Guo Jia is from the Yingchuan Guo clan, he is a concubine-born.

So they are loyal to Su Fan and the Donghai Ling, treating the Donghai Ling as their own home.

As for the military generals, there is no need to say more; most of the military generals do not have a very high background.

They think very simply, which is to fight for more territory for Su Fan, be enfeoffed as a marquis and worshiped as a general, and then revitalize the family.

Looking at history, Chen Deng definitely has ability; it can be said that internal affairs and military affairs are not bad. Even if he cannot compare to people like Xun Yu, he can be considered top-tier.

However, he could never walk into Cao Cao's core, just because his selfishness was too heavy.

Cao Cao's ability to recognize people is not bad.

It's just that he is a bit dissolute.

Su Fan's words made Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai suddenly understand. Regarding the Chen clan, they also had a way to deal with it in the future.

They also understood that the Chen clan could not enter the core of the Donghai Ling.

The Chen family of Xiapi.

Chen Gui went to the Inspector's Office, took the initiative to resign from the position of Chief Clerk, returned home, and summoned several sons.

Then he looked at the four sons expressionlessly and said: "Father has resigned from the position of Chief Clerk!"

"What? Father, you..."

Eldest son Chen Hua was shocked upon hearing this. Xuzhou Chief Clerk, this is the person closest to Tao Qian, and also the one who manages the army for Tao Qian, with power second only to Tao Qian.

This position is very heavy.

"Yuanlong, what do you think?"

Chen Gui glanced at his eldest son, shook his head secretly in his heart, and then looked at his second son, Chen Deng, who was also his legitimate son.

He had great expectations for Chen Deng.

And Chen Deng did not disappoint him. After a moment of silence, he slowly said: "Father resigned from the Chief Clerk, is it to put Tao Shijun at ease, and also to put Governor Su at ease?"

"Not bad! We all underestimated this Governor Su. I didn't expect him to be holed up in East Sea. Originally, I thought he didn't have much ambition, but I didn't expect him to be a hidden dragon lurking in the abyss."

Chen Gui sighed. The battle of Pengcheng naturally attracted the attention of the major families in Xuzhou.