Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 423 The army returns to the court
The princes were terrified and looked pale.

"Alliance leader, quickly order the troops to withdraw. We can't fight anymore. Liu He is too powerful."

"Yes, if we allow the troops on both sides to surround us, our army will be in danger of being annihilated."

"Yes, leader, we should withdraw our troops quickly and make long-term plans."

Yuan Shao felt extremely frustrated when he saw that all the surrounding princes were urging him to withdraw his troops.

At this alliance, he could have become famous and accomplished great success, but first he failed to capture Hulao Pass, then all the credit was taken away by Liu He, and then even his good friend Cao Cao betrayed him. Now he has completely lost face, and all of this is because of Liu He.

At this moment, Yuan Shao wished he could drink Liu He's blood, eat Liu He's flesh, and sleep on Liu He's skin.

However, the current battle situation was too unequal, and his side had no chance of winning at all. No matter how resentful he was, he could do nothing about it.

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth, his eyes red, and stared at Hulao Pass in front of him.

"Liu Hepifu...you...you just wait..."

He almost gnashed his teeth and said, "Sound the horn... withdraw the troops..."

As the horn sounded, the Kwantung Army, which had already lost its fighting spirit, quickly retreated.

Just as Guan Yu and others were preparing to pursue, the order to retreat came from behind them.

The generals did not dare to disobey and hurriedly turned their horses to retreat.

"Brother, why don't you let us chase them and capture Yuan Shao and his ilk?"

As soon as Cheng Liang saw Liu He, he started yelling.

Liu He laughed and said, "Yuan Shao and other princes are nothing to worry about. Although they are rebelling against us now, it is legitimate for us to fight back. But they have not made any real rebellious moves. If we chase them down and kill them all, it will be difficult to win the hearts of the people."

Cheng Liang, however, said with a look of disapproval: "Whoever dares to disobey will be killed. Big Brother has always been kind and righteous. There is no one in the world who is not loyal to him. Even if there are a few who disobey, they must have ulterior motives. There is no point in keeping them alive."

Liu He shook his head and said, "Third brother, you underestimate people's hearts. We have now established the world and occupied Luoyang. We have occupied the righteousness, and naturally most people in the world are on our side. But if we hunt down the princes of Guandong, many people will definitely regard us as Dong Zhuo and his ilk. To dispel the doubts and fears in people's hearts, the efforts required are much more difficult than fighting a war."

Cui Jun also helped to explain.

"Yes, General Three, as long as people's hearts are loyal to us, the common people will naturally move to our army's jurisdiction, and talented people will also come to join us. Yuan Shao and his ilk, let alone the heavy losses they suffered this time, even if they are unscathed, what is there to fear?"

Cheng Liang seemed to understand, but not quite, and started to ponder on his own.

Liu He looked at the rapidly retreating Guandong Army and thought to himself, "Success! I finally succeeded! Now the entire Sanfu area is under my control, plus Bingzhou. From now on, no matter whether you are Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, I can take whatever I want!"

He clenched his fists tightly, feeling extremely happy in his chest.

He thought that he had started from Huangshui Township with more than a hundred militiamen, suppressed the bandits, occupied the county town, fought against the Yellow Turbans, killed Zhang Jue, retreated from Heishan, captured Kui Tou, and then defeated the 170,000-strong Xianbei-Xiongnu coalition force, pacified hundreds of thousands of people in the six counties, won the hearts of the Hu people, and then compromised, pretended to surrender to Dong Zhuo, secretly laid out this chain of schemes, went through a lot of hardships, and now he finally got his reward.

Thinking back, Liu He couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

"I have finally come this far in obedience to the emperor's orders! But..."

Thinking of this, Liu He suddenly felt a little doubtful.

"These days, my third and fifth brothers have been drunk and have been suggesting that I become the emperor. Originally, Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao and others held the emperor hostage, which aroused opposition from the world. First, they were not from the Liu family, and second, they treated the emperor disrespectfully. I am a descendant of the Liu family and have made great contributions to the world, so it is not a problem for me to become the emperor..."

The throne of the emperor was within reach, and it would be a lie to say that Liu He was not tempted. Regardless of his bloodline and meritorious service, even though he was Emperor Xian of Han, he was established by the traitor Dong Zhuo, and he was not legitimate. However, this matter was very important, and Liu He had no idea how to choose.

"My lord, now that the situation has been decided, it's time to return to Luoyang."

Cui Jun's reminder brought Liu He back from his memories and sighs.

"Oh, I was traveling around and almost forgot about the main business. Leave 10,000 soldiers to guard Hulao Pass. In addition, accept and digest the surrendered troops and soldiers as soon as possible. Control the remaining counties in Bingzhou and all the cities in the entire Sili area within a month. As long as we control these two places, we can rest assured."

"Here!"

All the generals obeyed the order in unison.

"Okay, back to the city!"

Liu He gave an order and the army set out towards Luoyang City. When Liu He and his men had just walked a few hundred steps outside the south gate of Luoyang, they saw a large group of people gathered at the city gate from afar.

"Lord..."

Cui Jun gave a reminder, and Liu He looked ahead and became puzzled.

"Let's go over and have a look."

Liu He said hello and rode over quickly with Cui Jun, Guan Yu and others.

As soon as I got closer, I saw that Liu Bei and his three brothers were at the very end. Looking at their expressions, even Zhang Fei had his head down and did not dare to show off.

Suddenly, Cui Jun seemed to have seen something and was surprised. He quickly got off his horse and ran forward.

Before Liu He and others could understand what was going on, they saw him suddenly kneel down in front of a middle-aged Confucian scholar in civil servant's court robes.

"My child meets his father!"

Liu He and others were shocked.

"That's Cui Zhouping's father, Cui Lie, one of the Nine Ministers of the court? Even he is in the third row among this group of people. Then the people in the first two rows..."

Everyone quickly got off their horses and walked over.

"My name is Liu He, nice to meet you, the senior ministers and wise men."

Liu He bowed respectfully to the end. Guan Yu and others did not dare to act rashly and naturally followed his example.

Standing at the front was a middle-aged man with a ruddy complexion and a thin figure. He looked very kind, and when he saw Liu He and his group saluting, he stretched out his hand to give them a helping hand.

"You are the pillars of the country and have made great contributions to the world. There is no need for formalities. Please stand up quickly."

Liu He could see that most of these dozens of people were important officials of the court. Although some of them were not wearing court robes, they obviously had extraordinary status. And these people were obviously headed by the person who spoke, so his high status was naturally self-evident.

"I am a lowly official, so how dare I trouble you great men to personally come out of the city to greet me? I am truly humbled and terrified."

The man in the lead didn't say anything, but just smiled and kept looking at Liu He, seeming very satisfied.

At this time, Cui Lie and Cui Jun came over.

"Haha, to be honest with you, Governor Liu, when the thief Dong came to welcome the emperor back to Luoyang, we, the important officials, went out of the city for more than ten miles to welcome him. Although it was mostly to honor the emperor, the merits of the thief Dong at that time also deserved such courtesy. Governor Liu is a noble of the Han Dynasty, and this time he has made great contributions, even greater than the old thief, so it is only natural for us to go out of the city to welcome him."

His point was not bad, so Liu He did not try to be overly humble anymore.

"Thank you very much, Cui Tingwei, for your kindness. By the way, may I ask your names?"

"Haha, let me introduce Xianzhao to you."

Cui Lie first pointed at the leader, and his tone suddenly became serious.

"This is the current Sikong, Marquis of Linjin, Yang Biao, Yang Wenxian."

"What, Yang Biao!"

Liu He looked at this middle-aged scholar with an ordinary face and a dull temperament, and his heart was filled with turmoil.

The Hongnong Yang family's ancestor was Prime Minister Yang Chang during the reign of Emperor Zhao of the Western Han Dynasty. Later, Yang Zhen, Yang Bing, and Yang Biao's father Yang Ci, all served as Taiwei, one of the Three Dukes. In the original history, Yang Biao served as Sikong, Situ, and Taiwei. The Yang family also had three dukes for four generations. In the Confucian classics and the court, their status was almost as good as that of the Yuan family.

Yang Biao was extremely loyal to the Han Dynasty. Even when Cao Cao later used the emperor to control the princes, many people in the court were wary of him and repeatedly tried to get rid of him. They even slandered him and accused him of conspiring with Yuan Shu to rebel and try to exterminate the Yang family. Later, Kong Rong came to argue with Cao Cao about this, but Cao Cao could not find any evidence of Yang's guilt, so he had no choice but to let him go.

However, Yang Biao saw that the Han Dynasty was declining and the Cao family was growing stronger, and he was powerless, so he excused his leg disease and resigned from his post and lived in seclusion. More than ten years later, Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty and invited him to take up a post many times, but Yang Biao refused. Later, Cao Pi appointed him as Guanglu Dafu, gave him a staff and a Fengji, and allowed him to wear a deerskin crown, but Yang Biao ignored them all and continued to wear only a single cloth shirt and a leather hat, which was not respectful at all.

Liu He suddenly thought of something: "Yang Biao is about the same age as Cui Lie, and it seems that they have a close personal relationship. Yang Biao has a distinguished family background and was selected as a talented and honest official at an early age. However, he declined the imperial court's many invitations and only became a councilor in his thirties. This seems to be exactly the same as the person Cui Jun mentioned who wrote to me in the name of Cui Lie to dissuade me from going to Luoyang to compete with Dong Zhuo too early..."

He was almost completely sure of this. He looked at Yang Biao and suddenly bowed to him again.

"Thank you very much for Mr. Yang's advice that day."

(End of this chapter)