Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 275: Lu Bu: Your Majesty only needs to issue an imperial decree, but I have a lot to consider

At this moment, Ma Teng was really scared.

Tian Feng was Yuan Shao's trusted adviser. If Ma Chao were to collude with Tian Feng, it would definitely be a capital crime of treason!
When he thought of the scene of the Yuan family members being killed that day, Ma Teng felt a chill in his heart. He knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice: "My Ma family is loyal to the Han Dynasty! My son Mengqi is also loyal to Your Majesty, and there is no way he would betray Your Majesty!"

"I am willing to swear to my ancestors!"

"If my son Mengqi betrays His Majesty, my Ma family will be extinct and everyone in the family will die without a burial place!"

Ma Teng also took the risk and swore on the spot.

However, all the ministers present responded coldly and sneered in their hearts - the Ma family was loyal to the Han Dynasty, so who were the people who rebelled before?

Liu Xie said calmly: "Marquis Huaili, don't panic. It is still unknown whether your son is rebelling or not."

"But according to the letter, your son not only secretly met with Tian Feng, but also let him stay in the military camp. Such behavior really puzzles me."

"Although I do not doubt the loyalty of Marquis Huaili and your son to the Han Dynasty, this matter is of great importance after all, and I cannot make a decision lightly."

"So until I get a reasonable explanation, it is better for Marquis Huaili to stay in the mansion... Where is the Weiwei?"

Zhang He stepped out and said, "I am here!"

Liu Xie raised his eyes and said, "Send the Marquis of Huaili back home and assign someone to guard him. He is not allowed to leave the palace without my permission."

"promise!"

Zhang He clasped his fists heavily.

Ma Teng wanted to explain himself after hearing this, but he didn't know how, because Ma Chao's behavior really looked too much like treason.

It makes sense to meet Tian Feng.

But what’s the point of leaving Tian Feng in the military camp?
The most outrageous thing is that after doing all these things, he didn’t even write a memorial to report to the emperor!
He and his two sons had originally gone to Yecheng as hostages. Now that Ma Chao had done this, he would inevitably be implicated.

House arrest is still considered a light punishment. If Ma Chao really colludes with Tian Feng to rebel in the future, then the three of them, father and son, will surely die!
"Your Majesty, take the order."

Although Ma Teng was extremely unwilling and unbelieving, he had no choice but to accept the emperor's decision at this time because this was the fate of a hostage.

As his ministers watched, Ma Teng was escorted by the Imperial Guards and left Tai'an Palace in a daze, eventually disappearing.

After Ma Teng left, Cui Yan shook his head and said, "Liangzhou thieves are Liangzhou thieves. The Ma family has a long history of bad deeds. They are really bringing shame to General Fubo!"

"Ma Chao is even more erratic. Even his biological father and brothers are now held hostage in Yecheng, yet he still dares to collude with the rebels. He is truly disloyal and unfilial."

Because the Ma family had a criminal record, after hearing the contents of the secret letter, all the officials in the palace conceded that Ma Chao might have colluded with Tian Feng and even planned to rebel.

Otherwise, why did he meet with Tian Feng in private? Why didn't he explain everything to the emperor after the meeting?
Don’t you know that Tian Feng is a traitor?
Liu Xie said: "It is meaningless to discuss this now. I cannot pin my hopes on Ma Chao's loyalty to the Han Dynasty. Before the beginning of spring, no matter how great the cost, Bingzhou must be taken!"

"This vital point cannot be lost!"

It is always right to prepare for the worst. This is why he insisted on sending troops to attack Bingzhou in winter. The sooner he captures it, the better.

We can't hope that Ma Chao is a loyal and capable general, right?
"But Your Majesty," Sima Yi said with a worried look on his face, "The weather has been getting colder recently. Even if we prepare warm clothes for the soldiers, I'm afraid they will not be able to withstand the severe cold."

"What's more, hundreds of thousands of people have now poured into Wei County, and they also need warm clothes. Otherwise, who knows how many people will freeze to death in the winter."

It is most difficult to provide relief to the people in winter.

Because we have to face two major enemies at the same time, hunger and severe cold, food, clothing, shelter, firewood, etc. are all necessities.

Not to mention how much warm clothing the army needs to prepare to be enough to resist the cold, if the army is fully supplied with it, many refugees and civilians will freeze to death.

Liu Xie's answer was unusually cold, and he looked at Sima Yi with sharp eyes, "If Ma Chao rebels and Bingzhou cannot be taken, then the entire Hebei Province will be exposed to the iron hoof of the Xiliang Army!"

"The lives of those people are certainly important, but I cannot ignore the people of Hebei and even the whole world because of this group of people!"

"You can't have your cake and eat it too. Do you still need me to teach you?"

The voice was not loud, but full of majesty.

It weighed heavily on Sima Yi's heart.

Sima Yi shuddered all over, and felt his scalp tingling and as if a thorn was on his back. He knelt down quickly and said, "I just made a mistake in my words. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Liu Xie snorted coldly and looked away.

He knew very well that giving priority to supplying the army with warm clothing would cause many civilians to freeze to death, but so what?
He couldn't let the hard-fought Hebei be lost.

He couldn't let those soldiers die in vain.

He couldn't let the opportunity to end the chaos, unify the world, and save the people of the world from war slip away because of his soft-heartedness!

As an emperor, you can be merciful.

But you have to be cold-blooded!

Because some choices are destined to be full of sacrifices, he must make a choice between losing the small for the big or losing the big for the small.

When Yang Biao, Cui Yan and others heard this, a trace of deep fear flashed in their eyes, and their awe of Liu Xie deepened.

They all used to think that Liu Xie was too lenient to the people, but now it seems that this emperor is the truly cold-blooded one who will do anything for the overall situation.

A true cold-blooded emperor.

Guo Jia and Jia Xu looked at each other and remained silent.

They knew Liu Xie best. He was not cruel or cold-blooded enough.

As an emperor, such a character does more harm than good.

But the decision Liu Xie made today made them realize that the emperor had undergone a huge change quietly.

Feeling the silence and oppressive atmosphere in the hall, Liu Xie continued, "You don't have to worry too much. I have prepared some warm clothing."

"Bring the stuff up here."

Following Liu Xie's order, two Yulin guards carried a box into the hall, put it on the ground, and then opened it.

All the ministers in the hall looked at the box, which contained some clothes.

But these clothes were not any of the ones they were familiar with. The style was strange. They were not open like other clothes, but one-piece.

"Why does this dress look so weird?"

Fu Wan looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what it was. He couldn't help but reach out to touch it, then he pulled back as if he had been electrocuted, with a look of surprise.

"What kind of fabric is this? Why does it feel so prickly? It's not smooth at all. It's not even as good as the most ordinary fabric."

Other ministers also came over to watch.

Look at and touch the clothes.

Liu Xie smiled and said, "This is a sweater, made of wool and woven, it has an excellent warmth-keeping effect. You can try it on, my dear ministers."

When it comes to keeping warm, the only things besides cotton coats and down jackets are sweaters. Cotton was not yet popular in that era, let alone luxury items like down jackets.

Sweaters are undoubtedly the most cost-effective choice.

Because the raw material of sweaters is wool, and wool is not valuable, you can buy a large batch from foreigners by spending a little money.

The Zhen family had hoarded a lot of wool early on.

These sweaters in front of him were the finished products that he asked Zhen to weave using a textile machine. He intended to use them as warm clothing for the soldiers in the army.

"How do I wear this?" Yang Xiu asked puzzledly, holding a sweater.

He had never worn anything like this before.

"Look at me."

So the elder of the Zhen clan took it over and demonstrated it to the ministers. While putting it on, he said, "Just wear it like this. It's quite simple and very warm."

"Although the sweater is a bit prickly, it's fine as long as you wear a lining underneath it."

"In addition to sweaters, there are also wool gloves, wool pants, head covers, and wool socks. Many people in my Zhen family have already started wearing them. They are indeed very warm."

The Zhen clan elder was like a salesman. He took out sweaters, gloves, socks, and head covers from the box and distributed them to the ministers, and demonstrated them to them one by one.

All the ministers tried to put them on, and soon there was a group of strange people wearing sweaters, gloves and hoods in the hall.

"This... is too ugly."

Cui Yan was very particular about his appearance. When he saw the strange look of the man wearing a sweater and gloves, he couldn't help but show a look of disgust.

Liu Xie glanced at Cui Yan and ignored him. He just looked at Zhang Liao who was very excited and asked with a smile: "Wenyuan, how do you like these clothes?"

"Your Majesty, this is a good thing!"

Zhang Liao praised it highly and said excitedly: "This sweater, gloves and headgear are really warm. If every soldier in the army could have one, we wouldn't be afraid of marching in winter!"

He doesn't care what looks good or not.

As long as it’s practical!
These sweaters, gloves, and socks are extremely useful for soldiers in the army. Not only can they keep the body warm, they can also take care of the hands and feet!

Liu Xie nodded and said, "I originally planned to provide these clothes to the refugees after they were woven, but now I have to give priority to the army."

"But with the sweaters, we don't have to waste a lot of fabric to make warm clothes for the soldiers. The extra fabric can be distributed to the refugees."

If sweaters had not been invented, a lot of money would have to be spent on purchasing cloth and making warm clothes to ensure that the soldiers could keep warm.

But where does the money come from? Where does the fabric come from?
We can only use the money and materials donated by major families, which will inevitably lead to many refugees starving to death or freezing to death!

However, since we already have sweaters and can use cheap wool as raw material, there is no need to use the money and materials used to relieve the people.

Although many refugees would freeze to death without sweaters to keep warm, Liu Xie had already tried his best.

"I see."

Jia Xu touched the sweater, his eyes sparkling, and said to Liu Xie with admiration: "Your Majesty established a textile workshop to allow refugees to work and make sweaters."

"This will not only provide the refugees with opportunities to work, but also make warm clothes for the soldiers in the army. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone!"

He had to admire Liu Xie's thoughtful consideration.

Zhang Liao was also full of confidence and said: "Your Majesty, with these clothes, winter combat will not be a problem, and attacking Bingzhou is also completely feasible!"

"That's good."

Liu Xie said to the elder of the Zhen clan who was still wearing a sweater and trousers: "Build a textile workshop as soon as possible and let all the refugees participate in production."

"I will start a war against Bingzhou around the end of the year. Before that, every soldier must be given a set of warm clothes."

"Can you do that?"

Hearing Liu Xie's words, the Zhen clan elder suddenly felt a sense of pressure in his heart. Fortunately, there was enough labor force now. After thinking for a moment, he said in a deep voice: "I will do my best!"

The attack on Bingzhou was finalized.

This time no one raised any objections.

The appearance of the sweater dispelled the concerns of the ministers who were originally worried about attacking Bingzhou.

As long as the problem of keeping warm is solved, fighting in winter will not be a problem - after all, their enemies don't have sweaters to wear!
I have what the enemy doesn’t, and that’s a huge advantage.

After discussing this matter, the remaining issue is the 30,000 Black Mountain troops, and the affiliation of these 30,000 troops also needs to be arranged.

However, Liu Xie already had a candidate in mind.

He turned his gaze towards Lu Bu and said, "The Marquis of Zhending has already handed over the military power of the Black Mountain Army. These 30,000 Black Mountain Army will be handed over to Duke Wen to lead."

"Duke Wen, please don't let me down."

Although he had many brave generals under his command, only Lu Bu and Zhang Liao were capable of commanding tens of thousands of troops.

Qu Yi is only suitable for charging into battle, and the most suitable position for him is to be the first to enter the camp.

Zhang He was a growing general who had not experienced much war. Liu Xie was really worried about rashly handing over 30,000 troops to him.

What's more, he has to command the Yulin Guard.

However, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong lacked experience and were unable to convince the public.

But after much deliberation, Liu Xie decided to hand over these 30,000 men to Lu Bu. After all, he was his father-in-law, and he also needed to further enhance Lu Bu's deterrent power.

Upon hearing this, all the ministers looked at Lu Bu.

There was shock in their eyes.

Lu Bu already had 30,000 troops under his command. Although 10,000 of them were handed over to Commander Zhang Liao, he could still be considered to be holding a large force!

Now Liu Xie has handed over all 30,000 Black Mountain troops to him, so the army he has under his command has reached nearly 50,000!

In other words, Lu Bu alone commanded 80% of Liu Xie's troops!
What kind of trust is this?
Feeling the expectation in Liu Xie's eyes, Lu Bu's body trembled, and he immediately knelt on one knee and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, please rest assured!"

Liu Xie nodded in satisfaction, then smiled and said to Yang Biao, Fu Wan, Cui Yan and others: "Tomorrow I will erect a stone tablet outside the South Gate and engrave the names of the ten people who donated the most money, grain and supplies this time, for the people to see and pay tribute to."

"My dear ministers, please don't be late tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Yang Biao and the others' faces suddenly turned bitter. Although their hearts were bleeding with pain, they could only smile and respond on the surface.

……

After the court meeting, Lu Bu returned to the military camp.

As soon as he returned to the tent, he began to pace back and forth, sighing and looking very upset.

Chen Gong was handling military affairs in the tent. Seeing this, he could not help but feel puzzled and asked, "General, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?"

Lu Bu has always been heartless. What could make him so worried?
"Ugh."

Lu Bu sighed deeply and said with a sad face: "Didn't the Black Mountain Army surrender? Your Majesty asked me to lead the Black Mountain Army, which has 30,000 soldiers."

"Thirty thousand people?"

Chen Gong was shocked by this number, and then said excitedly: "This is a good thing! Your Majesty lets the general lead so many troops, isn't it a sign of trust in the general?"

"General, you should be happy, why are you still worried?"

He wondered if Lu Bu was showing off on purpose.

Other generals were overjoyed to have the emperor's trust, but Lu Bu began to feel worried.

"Gongtai, you don't understand." Lu Bu shook his head and said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, you only need to give me 30,000 troops, but I have a lot to consider."

"Training 30,000 Black Mountain troops is a small matter. The key is equipment. Where can I find equipment for them?"

(End of this chapter)