Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 209 Yuan Hao, if I establish an emperor, I mean if...

Yecheng Imperial Palace, the emperor's bedroom.

As soon as Liu Xie got up, he sat at the desk and carefully looked through the memorial sent by Liu Bei from Yizhou. A look of surprise gradually appeared on his face.

In the memorial presented by Liu Bei, he first congratulated him on breaking free from Yuan Shao's control and no longer being trapped in shallow water, and then reported the situation in Yizhou.

Gao Gan and Zhang Lu have already started fighting.

Although Gao Gan led 10,000 elite troops to quell the rebellion, the terrain in Yizhou was complex and Zhang Lu would hide in the mountains whenever he was unable to defeat the enemy.

As long as it is not possible to annihilate all the rebels, they will gather their strength again after a short while, and this is exactly the difficulty of dealing with religious rebels.

There are too many believers, and it is too easy to recruit soldiers.

Therefore, Gao Gan is now entangled with Zhang Lu. Now it is not a question of whether he wants to nurture the rebels and slowly erode Yizhou, but that he has no way to completely eliminate this rebel force in a short period of time.

Liu Bei's approach was completely different from Gao Gan's. After Liu Bei found Liu Zhang with the emperor's secret decree, he gave him advice, assisted him in handling state affairs and improving people's livelihood, and gradually reduced the influence of Tianshi Dao, thus gaining Liu Zhang's trust.

At present, his reputation in Yizhou is gradually rising.

He secretly won over many people's hearts.

"Liu Bei is Liu Bei after all. He really can't be underestimated. It hasn't been long since he developed so smoothly in Yizhou."

"Give him another year or two, and Yizhou will probably change hands again like in history."

After reading the memorial, Liu Xie couldn't help but feel emotional.

Ever since he sent Liu Bei to Yizhou to develop and contain senior officials at the beginning of the year, he has no longer paid attention to the situation on Liu Bei's side.

Unexpectedly, only seven months later, Liu Bei brought such good news in the memorial presented to him.

Currently, Gao Gan is being held back in Yizhou by Zhang Lu. If he leads his troops back to provide support, all previous efforts will be in vain. Therefore, there is no need to worry about Gao Gan's ability to return to support Yuan Shao at this time.

Liu Bei gained the trust of Liu Zhang, and was able to recuperate and develop slowly in Yizhou. He had great potential and a bright future.

Liu Zhang is no match for Liu Bei.

"Lü Bu is fighting Zhou Yu in Yangzhou, and Liu Bei has also established a firm foothold in Yizhou. I can't slack off."

"Once we have the three counties in our hands, we can reorganize our forces and start looking for ways to take over the entire Ji Province, and then completely erode Yuan Shao's foundation."

Liu Xie's eyes were bright and his heart was filled with heroic spirit.

After taking Jizhou and annexing Qingzhou and Bingzhou, he no longer needed the help of the princes. As long as he was given time, he would be able to sweep across the world.

"After receiving my secret letter revealing my identity, Yuan Benchu ​​showed no signs of surrender. I guess he is still unwilling to give in."

"I just wonder if the shitty letter I sent yesterday can influence his decision."

At this time, Zhen Mi led a group of palace maids into the bedroom and said, "Your Majesty, it is almost time to go to court. I am here to help you change your clothes."

Liu Xie nodded, put down the memorial in his hand, and then put on the imperial crown with the help of Zhen Mi and the palace maids.

Two years passed, and Zhen Mi became more and more beautiful. Compared with before, she had a more mature charm. If I had to describe her, she would be a girl with the charm of a young woman, and a young woman with the charm of a young girl. Her charm has reached a new level.

Of course, Liu Xie contributed the most to her great change. After all, he made great efforts.

Looking at Zhen Mi tidying up his clothes, Liu Xie couldn't help but ask with a smile: "Why did my beloved concubine come to change my clothes for me today? Could it be that she wanted to see if I had stayed overnight in the palace of other concubines?"

Things like changing clothes were usually done by palace maids, unless he stayed overnight in a concubine's bedroom, in which case he would be served by that concubine.

But recently he had been busy and basically rested alone in the palace. Now Zhen Mi came over to change his clothes, so he naturally thought that Zhen Mi was jealous again.

"Am I such a petty-minded woman in your Majesty's mind?"

Zhen Mi felt a little embarrassed and annoyed when she heard this, and said unconvincedly: "Your Majesty, I won't mind which concubine's palace you stay in for the night."

Liu Xie said regretfully, "Well, I was planning to go to my beloved concubine's palace tonight. Since my beloved concubine has said so, I will go to see Concubine Lu tonight."

"no!"

Zhen Mi suddenly became anxious, hugged Liu Xie and said, "Since Your Majesty has decided to come and accompany me, how can you change your mind so easily?"

"If Your Majesty misses Concubine Lu, then just ask her to come and sleep with you... Your Majesty hasn't come to my palace for ten days and seven hours, and the last time you went was to Concubine Lu's palace."

I heard Zhen Mi's counting down to the exact hour.

Liu Xie was also at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Zhen Mi’s thoughts are so easy to guess. She even remembers exactly which palace he stayed overnight last time. And she says she doesn’t care?
"I understand. I will go to see my beloved concubine tonight."

Liu Xie rubbed Zhen Mi's face and comforted her.

Although Zhen Mi was a little jealous, she was not a bad person. On the surface, she got along well with the concubines and acted like the master of the harem.

Zhen Mi was relieved, raised her head from Liu Xie's arms and said, "Your Majesty, I came here today because I have something else to report."

Liu Xie raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhen Mi hesitated for a moment before saying, "My mother sent me a letter from home, saying that the cost of manufacturing weapons and equipment to supply the army is too high, and the family's financial resources are no longer able to support it."

"Your Majesty has been busy with government affairs these days, so he has not come to my palace. I have not found a chance to tell Your Majesty."

Ever since Zhen decided to assist Liu Xie, especially after Liu Xie escaped from Yuan Shao's hostage-taking, she began to invest regardless of cost.

Not only did they provide Lu Bu with logistics to enable him to fight in Yangzhou, but they also had to build a large number of weapons and armor to arm the army.

In addition, war horses had to be purchased from Youzhou.

Although Liu Xie provided new iron smelting technology and fine salt refining technology, the former was used to make weapons and equipment and could not be sold to the outside world at will.

Although the latter makes money, it is difficult to support such a large expense solely by selling salt.

The manufacture of weapons and equipment is really too expensive, even though the Zhen family is financially strong, they can't afford it.

Hearing this, Liu Xie frowned.

It was the first time he heard the news from Zhen Mi. Zhen Mi supported him wholeheartedly and would never have told him this if she had no other choice.

"Selling refined salt alone is not enough. The main reason is that we are in a turbulent time now. The refined salt sales industry has not been fully developed, and the manufacture of glass has not been successful."

"It seems that we have to find a way to make money."

Seeing Liu Xie frowning and silent, Zhen Mi thought he was unhappy and said quickly: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. Mother said that the clan can still hold on for some time."

Liu Xie collected his thoughts and smiled gently at Zhen Mi, "Don't worry, my beloved concubine. I have no intention of blaming your mother's family."

"I have seen all the efforts made by the Zhen family over such a long period of time. I also know whether they have done their best. The expenses of supporting the army are indeed too high."

"I will find a way to resolve this matter."

Zhen Mi then breathed a sigh of relief and put aside her worries. She was afraid that she would lose Liu Xie's favor if she could not provide any help to him.

After comforting Zhen Mi with a few words, Liu Xie left the bedroom and went to Tai'an Palace to attend court while thinking about this matter.

In Tai'an Hall, all officials had already gathered in the hall in advance.

Liu Xie walked to the dragon throne and sat down, starting his daily court meeting, listening to the ministers' reports on various affairs in recent days.

Sima Yi was the first to step forward and said, "Your Majesty, after the imperial edict was issued, most of the cities in Wei County have surrendered, but Anyang and Puyang are still controlled by Yuan Shao's remnants and are unwilling to welcome the royal army."

Under normal circumstances, it is enough to send the emperor's edict.

Those who do not surrender will be treated as traitors.

However, in the eyes of most outsiders, the emperor was still being held hostage, except that the person holding him hostage had changed from Yuan Shao to Yuan Xi.

Those who refused to surrender were basically the ministers loyal to Yuan Shao. They refused to obey Yuan Xi's "false" imperial edict and put up a stubborn resistance.

Those cities that surrendered were all fence-sitters, surrendering directly in accordance with the emperor's decree without offending anyone. Anyway, they would listen to whoever controlled the emperor.

This situation was completely within Liu Xie's expectations.

It was inevitable that such side effects would occur when Yuan Xi was used as a shield before.

But after listening to Sima Yi's report, he was still furious and said coldly: "Not respecting the imperial edict and not welcoming the royal teacher is the same as treason."

"Where is Taishi Ci?"

Taishi Ci stood up and stepped out of the line, clasping his hands together and saying, "I am here!"

Liu Xie said, "I order you to lead an army of 5,000 to attack the rebels! When the city is captured, the three clans of the rebel leader will be exterminated, and the head will be sent to all thirteen cities in Wei County!"

Taishi Ci was overjoyed and promised respectfully: "Within ten days, I will conquer Pingyang and Puyang!"

After Taishi Ci left, Liu Xie looked at Guo Jia and Zhang Liao and asked, "How is the reorganization of Wenyuan's army? Are the food and fodder for Fengxiao's army in place?"

Guo Jia stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, all the military supplies and fodder have been prepared."

Zhang Liao also stood up and said, "I have organized the troops and horses, and I am waiting for your Majesty's order. I can send troops to Guangping County and Yangping County at any time."

Liu Xie nodded with satisfaction. Although Guo Jia was best at strategy rather than logistics, he was able to manage the logistics in an orderly manner.

"In this battle, Wenyuan will be the main general, Junyi will be the deputy general, and Hansheng will be the vanguard, leading 10,000 Xuzhou troops and 2,000 Yulin Guards. Tomorrow, we will send troops and advance in two directions to recapture the entire territory of Guangping County and Yangping County!"

Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and Huang Zhong all accepted the order.

The three people's faces were full of excitement and excitement.

The time to accomplish great deeds and serve the emperor is now.

After the three men left, Yang Xiu stepped forward and reported: "Your Majesty, the 6,000 remnant soldiers captured a few days ago have been incorporated. But there are currently no extra weapons and equipment in the warehouse to distribute." When Liu Xie mentioned this, he felt a headache.

The military strength has indeed increased a lot, but the manufacturing speed of weapons and equipment is difficult to keep up. The reason why the Xuzhou Army and Yulin Cavalry are strong is largely due to their weapons and equipment.

Now that there are 6,000 more people, they have to be armed, which is another huge expense. The Zhen family is almost unable to support it.

“If you’re not a family member, you don’t know how expensive firewood and rice are.”

Liu Xie couldn't help feeling a little anxious. After his army grew in size, he realized that the war was not fought based on who had the most powerful general, who had the better strategist, or who had the more elite soldiers.

The fight is all about logistics, money, and food!

Without money and food, no matter how brave Lu Bu or as wise as Chen Gong, it would be of no avail.

He increasingly felt that he had to put the issue of making money on the agenda; he couldn't rely entirely on the Zhen family.

Fortunately, after Yang Xiu stepped down, Cui Yan brought good news.

"Your Majesty, I have recruited 700 warriors from the people to serve in the Tiger Guard Camp."

"By the end of the year at the latest, the 3,000 Tiger Guard Battalion will be established."

Liu Xie was overjoyed when he heard this. The recruitment requirements for the Huben Camp were different from those for other types of troops.

The soldiers who can join the Huben Camp are the best of the best and the best of the best.

Cui Yan is worthy of his status as a member of a prominent Qinghe family, and he is very efficient in his work.

"Thank you for your attention to this matter. I will always keep your contributions and the contributions of the Qinghe Cui family in my heart."

Cui Yan didn't dare to take credit for it, and quickly said, "Since I am the Lieutenant General of the Tiger Guards, it is my duty to set up the Tiger Guards Camp. How dare I take credit for it?"

After Cui Yan left, the affairs in the court had not yet ended.

All matters, big and small, were discussed for a full two hours before they were finally concluded.

After leaving court, Liu Xie felt dizzy and unfocused.

"With just such a small territory, there are so many tedious matters to deal with. After the world is unified, won't I be exhausted to death?"

After attending court for nearly a month, Liu Xie had already begun to admire the diligent emperors such as Ying Zheng, Li Shimin, and Zhu Yuanzhang from the bottom of his heart.

Being an emperor is not something that ordinary people can do!
……

Jizhou front.

Although more than 13,000 soldiers were killed in Yecheng, Yuan Tan led his troops to come to the rescue and make up for the shortage of manpower.

So after the victory in the last Battle of Jie Bridge, Yuan Shao won another victory.

Now that they had taken the initiative, they turned defense into offense and launched a fierce attack against Gongsun Zan.

Over the past few days, Yuan Shao's army had been advancing at a rapid pace, while Gongsun Zan suffered successive defeats. Finally, he was driven out of Jizhou and retreated to Yicheng.

However, even though Gongsun Zan retreated to Youzhou, the war between the two sides did not stop.

Yuan Shao listened to Tian Feng's advice that he had to keep the enemy at bay while keeping the enemy outside. He was determined to completely defeat Gongsun Zan.

Late at night, candles were still lit in the Yuan army's central camp ten miles away from Yicheng.

Yuan Shao held two letters with completely different handwritings in his hands, and looked at and compared them repeatedly.

Both letters were written by Liu Xie.

One was sent together with Ju Su's suicide letter, revealing his identity and asking Yuan Shao to surrender;
One was a letter I just received today, and it was the same shitty letter as usual.

The handwriting on the two letters is completely different.

The former is vigorous and majestic; the latter is crooked, like a dog's crawl, and is not even as good as the words written by a child.

Completely two extremes.

"He doesn't look like a scheming person, otherwise how could I not notice anything after two and a half years of getting along with him?"

"If he is really the emperor, why would he be so respectful to a subject like me?"

Yuan Shao murmured to himself.

The last letter Liu Xie sent him said that he was the real emperor, which really scared him and made him break out in a cold sweat.

But after the initial shock.

He felt that there was something fishy going on.

This letter reveals too many problems. Not to mention the huge difference in the handwriting, just take the content of the letter as an example. If he committed suicide, the Yuan family would not be implicated and would still reuse Yuan Xi.

But why...it was Yuan Xi?

Yuan Xi and he were irreconcilable, and he wished he could kill this evil son; if he were the real emperor, he would have said that he would reuse Yuan Tan in order to persuade him to surrender.

This had to make him doubt.

Moreover, this change was too sudden. How could a refugee with vulgar words and deeds, greedy for money and lustful, groveling and submissive before him, and without any regard for dignity and face, be the emperor of the Han Dynasty?

"Could it be that the last letter was forged by Yuan Xi's rebellious son? Just like the so-called suicide letter, they are all fake!"

"Yes! That's absolutely true! That rebellious son Yuan Xi already knows the true identity of the false emperor. Since he can forge Gong Yu's letter to persuade me to surrender, why can't he forge the emperor's letter?"

"He must be trying to use this letter to trick me into committing suicide, and then take away all my power without any effort!"

Yuan Shao's eyes were gloomy and his mind was full of thoughts.

On the one hand, he didn't believe that the fake emperor in Yecheng was the real emperor, and on the other hand, he couldn't help but think about the past.

Kong Rong couldn't tell the difference between the real and the fake, strange phenomena appeared in the sky, Yang Biao committed suicide by hitting his head against the wall, Yang Xiu surrendered, and the shocking majesty of the emperor...

"No, Kong Rong couldn't tell because the fake emperor acted too well. The fake emperor also mentioned the strange phenomenon in his previous letter. It was Yuan Xi and Zhang Liao who did it!"

"I can't be fooled. That rebellious man just wants me to fall into his trap!"

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth and tried hard to convince himself.

The flame of the candle on the table flickered, and the light shone on his face, making his features look bright and dark, changing constantly.

Without Ju Shou around to discuss things with, he didn't even have anyone to talk to, let alone anyone to analyze things for him or give him advice. This feeling was really uncomfortable.

"Lord."

At this moment, Tian Feng walked into the account.

Yuan Shao quickly hid the two letters in his hands in his sleeves and asked calmly, "Yuan Hao, it's so late, what else do you want to discuss?"

Tian Feng said: "I have already dealt with the logistics matters, as well as the pensions for the fallen soldiers, the transfer and replenishment of troops, etc. Please review them, my lord."

As he spoke, he placed the book in his hand on the table.

Yuan Shao nodded and said, "I understand. I'll see later. You can leave first."

"Yes, my lord."

Tian Feng cupped his hands, looked at Yuan Shao, who looked a little pale and had dark circles under his eyes, and said after a moment's hesitation: "I know that Gong Yu's murder is a great blow to the lord, but I hope the lord will take good care of himself."

"The war with Gongsun Zan is still going on. If something happens to the lord, the army will lose its backbone and will surely suffer a great defeat."

If Tian Feng's words had been heard by Yuan Shao in the past, he would have found them irritating, but now he felt that they were full of concern and rare loyal words.

Looking at his back as he turned and left, Yuan Shao suddenly said, "Yuan Hao, please stay. I have something to ask you."

"My lord, what do you want to ask?"

Tian Feng stopped and looked at Yuan Shao with confusion.

"I……"

Yuan Shao didn't know what to say for a moment.

He just suddenly wanted to tell Tian Feng everything about the emperor of Yecheng, including the fact that he and Ju Shou had pretended to be the emperor.

But he regretted it after he called out to Tian Feng.

Because this matter was so shocking, even though Tian Feng was his most trusted and respected confidant and adviser, he did not dare to say it out loud.

Yuan Shao swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth, and after thinking for a while, he said: "I had a very strange dream yesterday, and I want you, Yuan Hao, to interpret it for me."

Tian Feng said seriously: "I would like to hear the details."

Although he was not good at interpreting dreams, since his master asked so, he would try his best to answer.

"Is such that……"

After hesitating for a moment, Yuan Shao said, "I dreamed last night that the fake emperor on Cao Cao's side suddenly became real. If Yuan Hao were Cao Cao, what would you do?"

Tian Feng was stunned when he heard this, and said naturally: "My lord, you are joking. How can a fake emperor become a real emperor? If the emperor is really in Cao's camp, he will naturally summon all the princes in the world to attack my lord."

After hearing Tian Feng's answer, Yuan Shao realized that his analogy was a bit inappropriate. His situation was completely different from Cao Cao's.

So he changed his angle and continued, "I had another dream later. I dreamed that the person who pretended to be the emperor became me. But later I suddenly found out that this pretend emperor was real. Yuan Hao thought, what should I do?"

(End of this chapter)