Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 743 Liu Yan's Madness
In the wilderness west of Gudao City, tens of thousands of soldiers are running wildly, wishing they could grow two more legs so that they can run faster.

Lei Tong kept looking back, with a look of worry and resentment on his face.

"No, I have to go back to save Ling Bao."

He suddenly stopped his horse, turned around and ran back.

"Stop!" Zhang Ren shouted sternly, "I order you to lead the army to retreat without any mistakes."

Lei Tong looked at him angrily, "Zhang Ren, don't yell at me. During normal battles, I, Lei Tong, respected your ability and obeyed your orders respectfully. Now you use Ling Bao as bait, sacrifice his life, and let yourself escape. I, Lei Tong, just don't accept this. If you don't go to rescue me, I will go myself."

Zhang Ren was scolded by him, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he looked gloomy and kept his head down.

Seeing this, Lei Tong thought he was just ashamed.

"Humph!"

He snorted coldly, led his troops and left alone.

"Lei Tong, don't do anything stupid!" Yan Yan stepped forward quickly and pulled him off the horse without any courtesy.

"Do you think General Zhang was not heartbroken when he agreed to let Ling Bao go out of the city to provoke a war? Our Sichuan and Shu regions are poor and have few people. Our national strength is far from comparable to that of the Luoyang court. These tens of thousands of soldiers went to Liangzhou and now have suffered losses of over ten thousand. This is already very heavy. Now that the food and grass have been lost, if we cannot withdraw to Hanzhong in time, the entire army will be annihilated. How can the remaining soldiers in Shu resist the fierce army of Luoyang?"

Lei Tong seemed to have calmed down a little, but he still felt very sad when he thought of Ling Bao fighting alone.

"But……"

"Stop talking." Yan Yan interrupted him.

"General Ling Bao volunteered to go and lead away the Luoyang troops so that we could have a chance to withdraw. If you continue to act like this and delay the withdrawal, and the enemy army catches up with us, wouldn't that be a waste of Ling Bao's efforts?"

Yan Yan's words were righteous and powerful. Although Lei Tong was unwilling, he found it difficult to refute him.

Zhang Ren sighed: "I, Zhang Ren, swear to heaven that one day, I will avenge General Ling Bao!"

After saying this, he continued marching without looking back.

A few days later, Liu He was very happy when he received the report from Zhang Yong.

"Third brother, fourth brother, fifth brother, the three of you went out together and were invincible. You beheaded more than 13,000 people, killed the Shu army general Ling Bao, and drove all the troops of the fake emperor Liu Yan back to Yizhou."

Xun Yu asked, "General Zhang Yong said that he failed to completely annihilate the Shu army, and did not capture its leader, Zhang Ren. I apologize for this. I wonder how Your Majesty intends to deal with him?"

"Haha, Fourth Brother has always been so strict with himself. I have never asked him to capture Zhang Ren alive or retrieve Zhang Ren's head. As long as he recaptures Wudu County and guards the northern border of Yizhou, there will be a chance to deal with them in the future. Now that the military order has been completed, he should be rewarded."

Er Xun naturally had no objection to this.

"How is the battle situation in Chenliu?" Liu He asked.

Xun Yu took a memorial and said, "I have a military report that arrived this morning. General Gao and Cao Cao have been facing off in Chenliu for many days. The two sides have only had occasional frictions and have never fought fiercely. Now General Gao occupies two-thirds of the cities in Chenliu, and Cao's army occupies the remaining one. General Gao came to report to Your Majesty that he thinks we should hold on to Chenliu for a long time and not advance rashly. I wonder if Your Majesty approves it?"

Liu He said without hesitation: "Well, it is within expectations. Yanzhou is Cao Cao's base, and the hidden troops there are probably no less than 200,000. However, it will take more than that to defeat Bo Ping. Now both sides are waiting for the opportunity, and they will not really start fighting until they find the other side's flaws. Tell Bo Ping that the war in Yanzhou is all his own business, and he does not need to ask for my instructions. I have granted him the power of temporary authority, so he can be in charge of the military and political power on the front line like my fourth brother."

"According to the order."

At this time, Xun You laughed: "Although General Gao and General Zhang are both top-notch generals in the court, with calm personalities and broad minds, General Gao's way of doing things is different. He has always been respectful to Your Majesty. Even though he holds the power of the imperial seal, he still reports everything in non-emergency situations. When he is summoned to the palace on weekdays, he always sits upright and never communicates privately with any civil or military officials. I am afraid that Your Majesty has given him this decree, and in the future when there is no war, he will continue to come back every day to report and ask for instructions."

Hearing this, Liu He also smiled bitterly: "Yes, Bo Ping is good in every way, but he is a little too straightforward. Most of the good fields, houses, and jewels that I have rewarded him with have been distributed to the fallen soldiers by him, and they were all sent in the name of the court. He is a dignified General of the Southern Expedition and Marquis of Anzheng Pavilion, but his life is no different from that of an ordinary county magistrate. I am a little too harsh on myself."

When Liu He got to this point, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, his eldest son Gao Yi, when I first conquered Jizhou, he followed Xu Huang and Qian Zhao in the army under an assumed name. It has been quite a while now, but I have been neglecting him and never asked about him. Do you two know what he is doing now?"

Xun Yu said, "I have heard a little bit about it. Soon after Gao Yi joined Xu Huang's army, he followed General Xu to station at Yanmen. In the past two years, although there have been few battles in Yanmen, Kebineng has occasionally invaded. Gongsun Zan's power in Youzhou has grown day by day, and his ambitions have also grown. He often uses various excuses to test Zhongshan and Yanmen. Gao Yi is always able to charge in the front, is very brave, and is smart and intelligent. He is also a bit more tactful than his father, so he is highly valued by General Xu and is now a squadron leader in the army."

"Oh? It's true that a tiger father has no dog son. Zheng'er often mentioned him when he was practicing martial arts. This New Year, I ordered Xu Gongming and Qian Zijing to escort Qiangyin Hou to Luoyang to celebrate the New Year. By the way, I asked them to bring the young generals with potential under their command, so that Bo Ping can meet his son." Qiangyin Hou was the former Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie. After he abdicated the throne to Liu He, he went to Qiangyin County and lived a pastoral life. He lived with cattle, sheep, horses, and some jugglers all day long. It was much happier than when he was the emperor.

"It is almost September now, and there are still four months until the New Year. In this case, I will draft an edict later and send it to Yanmen and Zhongshan respectively, so that they can prepare early."

Liu He nodded slightly and said, "Wen Ruo can go and do it himself."

After he finished speaking, he buried his head in reviewing memorials, but he saw that Xun Yu did not leave, but looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Why? Wen Ruo has something else to say?"

Xun Yu thought about it, and finally spoke: "Your Majesty, do you still remember the reaction of the officials after Guo Qiao was executed a few days ago?"

Liu He didn't know why he suddenly brought up this matter.

"The reaction of the officials? Apart from Guo Qiao and the other five elders who were killed and went to the palace to cry and appeal for justice, I didn't notice any other reaction from the officials. Since they were reprimanded by me that day and ordered to go back and discipline their family members strictly, many days have passed and everything has gone smoothly. Even their parents and relatives have no objections, let alone the officials? Did Wen Ruo hear some rumors?"

Xun Yu said, "It's not that I heard any news, but I think it's too strange. Although the execution of the five people is in line with national law and military discipline, the law and discipline in the court has been corrupted for a long time. Many families have long been accustomed to running rampant, just like the Wang family children that Your Majesty and the Queen met in the South City Zongzi Shop. How could they take the law and discipline into consideration? Now that the five people have suffered such a disaster, many families can actually swallow their anger. I think it is very unusual."

"I also agree with what the Minister of the Chancellery said." Xun You also stood up.

Liu He burst into laughter.

"Haha... you two are worrying too much. Now that I have established my rule in the Central Plains, I control all the military and political power in the court, which is different from the days of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling. These five people violated the national law and military discipline, and it is reasonable for them to have such an end. Of course, I know that many families will not be so easily convinced, but even if they are resentful, what can they do? Even if some of them are so bold as to collude with foreign enemies and work together to overthrow the government, would I still be afraid?"

When the two heard this, although they did not agree, they could not find any reason to continue persuading Liu He, so they stopped talking.

In the blink of an eye, the Mid-Autumn Festival is here.

In this era, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not a particularly grand festival. Some people celebrated it, while others did not. However, Liu He was a man from the 21st century. Naturally, he always kept in mind this festival that allowed him to have a long holiday. On this day, he asked Zhang Yu to prepare cakes and tea in the harem as usual. After finishing his government affairs early in the day, he went to the harem to reunite with his family and enjoy the joy of family.

However, just after this night of celebration, an explosive news reached the palace early the next morning.

"What's going on?" Liu He looked very unhappy. He walked quickly towards the study and asked Xun Yu and Xun You who were following him.

Xun Yu followed closely and bowed in reply, "The false emperor Liu Yan suddenly conferred titles of nobility on a large scale. In addition to Liu Biao, Liu Yao, and Liu Bei, who were members of the Liu clan and were respectively conferred the titles of King of Chu, King of Wu, and King of Qi, even people with other surnames, such as Sun Jian, Cao Cao, Gongsun Zan, and Jiao He, were conferred the titles of Prince of a County."

"Sun Jian was named King of Lujiang, Cao Cao King of Chenliu, Gongsun Zan King of Beiping, Jiao He King of Jinan, Kong Rong King of Beihai, Tao Qian King of Pengcheng, and Zhu Fu, son of General Zhu Jun and the governor of Jiaozhou, was also named King of Nanyue. Even their descendants were given the high title of county marquis."

"Is this old fox crazy?" Liu He cursed.

"Our ancestors clearly taught that only descendants of the Liu family can be crowned kings. Does this old villain want to cut himself off from our Liu clan?"

Xun You said hurriedly, "Liu Yan must have seen Zhang Ren's defeat in Liang Province and the road to the northern expedition in Yi Province was blocked, so he was desperate. He knew that if he continued like this, he would be destroyed by the imperial court in two or three years. At this time, how could he care about his ancestors' teachings? Rather than being exterminated by his entire clan, he might as well give it a try and use the throne to win over the princes to help him and compete with Your Majesty."

As they were talking, the three of them had already arrived at the imperial study.

"What is the reaction of the princes?" Liu He's eyes were cold.

Xun Yu said: "Qingzhou Governor Jiao He, Beihai Governor Kong Rong, Xuzhou Governor Tao Qian, and Yangzhou Governor Liu Yao killed the Yizhou envoy at that time and announced to the world that they were loyal to Your Majesty and irreconcilable with Yizhou Liu Yan. Although Liu Biao and Liu Bei did not accept the title, they did not kill the Yizhou envoy, nor did they scold Liu Yan. The rest of them have not expressed their views so far, and they can be said to be fence-sitters. And Cao Cao of Yanzhou even issued a letter to attack Your Majesty, saying that you..."

"I forgive you for your innocence, speak quickly!" Liu He was already very impatient.

"As ordered. Cao Cao's edict said that Your Majesty is a country bumpkin who dared to bully the young master, steal the sacred artifact, and kill loyal officials. He is indeed the first... the first traitor in the Han Dynasty. The people of the world should punish him together..."

"How hateful!" Liu He was so angry that he slapped out with his palm and actually broke the imperial desk in front of him.

"That's not all. Nearly 20 Qiang tribes, including the Baima Qiang and Zhong Qiang, as well as the Xianbei Kebineng and the Wuhuan King of Liaodong, all responded to the traitor Liu Yan, accusing Your Majesty of being cruel and killing countless people from their tribes, and they all rose up in rebellion. Zhu Fu sternly rejected the envoy from Yizhou on the spot, but was plotted against and killed by the local indigenous nobles. Shi Xie, the current head of the Shi clan, a major family in Jiaozhou, announced that he would lead Jiaozhou and accept the title. He then raised an army of 100,000 and stationed them in the northern border."

(End of this chapter)