The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 133: The war is over, and the search for love is like a wave of sand
Zhao Yun was the prefect of Jiujiang, and Xiahou Dun was the prefect of Lujiang!

When Liu Xie's words came from the palace, not only were the two generals themselves shocked, but even the ministers couldn't help but have some thoughts.

Both of these territories belong to Yuan Shu.

Was Liu Xie trying to lure Cao and Liu to attack Yuan Shu?
Or do you want to split the power of Cao and Liu?

No one knows what Liu Xie is thinking.

It is worth mentioning that,
There are only four ways to evaluate an emperor: wise, foolish, mediocre, or violent.

But Liu Xie is difficult to define.

Because he was never really in power.

Liu Xie had resisted under the high-pressure control of the two powerful ministers, Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao.

As for Cao Cao, Liu Xie planned the Yidaizhao incident.

This is already the limit of what Liu Xie can do in his position.

However, when facing Dong Zhuo, Liu Xie actually resisted.

He secretly sent Liu Yu's son Liu He to sneak out of Wuguan in an attempt to gather a second coalition force to fight against Dong.

At that time, he was only thirteen years old.

When locust plagues broke out and people were starving to death, Liu Xie was willing to fight Li Jue and Guo Si, forcing them to give out grain to help the people.

When facing the pursuit of Li Jue and Guo Si, when others advised Liu Xie to leave first, Liu Xie could also shout:

——"No! Abandoning all the officials and leaving, what crime is this?"

Willing to be with all officials.

Liu Xie was a puppet all his life. He struggled and tried, but failed in the end.

Perhaps only after he abdicated will he truly be free.

It is widely believed among the people that Liu Xie started practicing medicine after he abdicated.

He practiced medicine to save people and went to the countryside, often giving acupuncture and medicine for free.

Although there is no clear record in history books that Liu Xie practiced medicine after he abdicated.

But in today's Jiaozuo, Henan, there are a large number of folk stories about Liu Xie's medical practice.

A picture of Liu Xie practicing medicine is also engraved on the stone tablet in the Baijiayan Scenic Area.

Although these are just folk tales.

But for Liu Xie, perhaps this is the freedom he really wants.

Afterwards, Liu Xie called Chen Wang Liu Chong and Prime Minister Luo Jun to come down the steps.

"Lord Luo, I appoint you as Si Tu and concurrently in charge of the Shangshutai."

In addition to conferring the title of Three Dukes on Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, two foreign princes, Liu Xie also conferred the title of Three Dukes on Luo Jun, the prime minister of the State of Chen.

The Si Tu was in charge of civil affairs, and the Shang Shu Tai was an extremely important power organ in the central government.

Previously, when Luo Jun was in the State of Chen, he was responsible for governing the State of Chen.

Luo Jun was indeed capable and he governed the State of Chen in an orderly manner, with a prosperous people and a rich country with abundant grain reserves.

Now that the imperial court had been brought to Chen, Liu Xie knew very well who to respect.

Appointing Luo Jun as the Third Duke seems unexpected, but it is actually reasonable.

Luo Jun bowed his head to express his gratitude.

Liu Xie then turned his gaze to Chen Wang Liu Chong and said:

"Uncle Huang has served the king and protected him this time, fighting against the two thieves, Kuai and Si. He has made great contributions to the royal family and should be rewarded handsomely."

"After I arrived in Chen, I also saw that the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous. It can be seen that the emperor's uncle governed our Han land in an orderly manner."

After a long conversation, everyone was secretly guessing what kind of official position the emperor would give to Liu Chong.

Liu Xie's words came from the palace:
"I appoint you as the Grand General, in charge of the government and commanding the troops of the whole country!"

Well! !

When they heard Liu Chong's reward, all the ministers, including Cao Cao and Liu Bei, were shocked.

In the State of Chen, Liu Chong and Luo Jun basically had the final say.

But if it were the State of Chen, then the State of Chen’s financial resources would not be enough.

"I kneel down to thank your majesty for your grace!"

Liu Chong was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

Although Liu Chong was crowned a king, he preferred to ride his horse across the plains and be a general fighting on the battlefield.

As early as when the Yellow Turban Rebellion was suppressed, Liu Chong took the title of General Assisting Han.

Most of the troops of the State of Chen were in his hands, so there was nothing wrong with Liu Xie appointing him as the general and commanding the troops of the entire country.

At the same time, this was also a signal Liu Xie sent to Liu Chong.

Giving you the position of general and overseeing the government is equivalent to giving you the power to assist in the administration.

But the problem is that the position of general is above the three highest officials.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Liu Bei, who were previously conferred the titles of Grand Marshal, Minister of Works and Left General, were all suppressed.

Did Liu Xie do this in order to strengthen central power and emphasize the central position of the imperial court in the world?
Everyone was trying to figure out the emperor's intention.

Although this feeling is very twisted.

But no one, including Cao Cao and Liu Bei, could say anything.

Because their rewards were not small, they were also granted titles.

Especially as princes from other states, they could not hold office in the court.

Perhaps Liu Xie's move was directed at the court officials.

After all, there were many powerful ministers in the court. Before this, some people wanted to offer rice to Liu Xie, but were stopped by the minister.

Did Liu Xie hand over power in the court to Liu Chong and Luo Jun in order to build up his own political power?

Everyone was guessing.

Afterwards, Liu Xie rewarded Zhang Yang who had come with him to protect the emperor.

Zhang Yang was promoted to General Wei, and was appointed as Recorder of the Secretariat and Vice-President of the Imperial Court.

Liu Xie's move seemed to be an attempt to keep Zhang Yang in the court.

After all, Hanoi itself was not peaceful, and Zhang Yang himself also wanted to find a way out.

Liu Xie gave Zhang Yang a high position, naturally with the intention of winning him over.

At the same time, in addition to the original civil and military officials in the court, the power of the two ministers, such as Liu Chong and Luo Jun, were still not balanced enough.

Liu Xie hoped to bring in another prince who held military power to prevent Dong Cheng, Liu Chong and other people who held large numbers of troops and held high positions of power from dominating the country.

Whether Liu Chong was loyal to the Han Dynasty and the emperor was difficult for Liu Xie to confirm as the time of contact was too short.

But he knew that although Dong Cheng was the emperor's uncle, he had the ambition of a powerful official. Liu Xie had to take this opportunity to use Liu Chong to check and balance him.

However, he did not dare to allow the local faction officials of Chen State to become too powerful. If they were to sideline him, he would be powerless.

And if the two families quarreled again, Liu Xie would be unable to stop it.

Therefore, a third party is needed, preferably one with military power.

Zhang Yang gladly accepted Liu Xie's reward.

But on the other hand, I feel uneasy.

A strong guest cannot suppress the host; the State of Chen was Liu Chong's territory.

If he stayed in the State of Chen with his soldiers and generals, how could Liu Chong accept him?
So he came down and found Dong Zhao to discuss:

"The emperor should share the world with the emperor. Now I have the ministers to assist me. I should defend myself from foreign dangers. Why should I bother with the capital?"

"It's better to withdraw the troops and return to Yewang."

Zhang Yang told Dong Zhao truthfully about his intention to mobilize troops to leave Chen.

Dong Zhao tried to dissuade him:
"Today, Yuan Shao is dominating Hebei, with the gait of a dragon and the steps of a tiger, and he sits back and watches the success or failure of the world."

“Hanoi is not a place to stay forever after all.”

"Now that the emperor has issued an edict to invite you, why not stay in Kyoto? It would be better than being trapped in the war in the future."

Zhang Yang sighed helplessly:

"It's not that Yang doesn't want to seek a future and doesn't want to serve the court, but a strong guest cannot suppress the host. I am here with my troops."

"I'm afraid Liu Chong won't tolerate it."

Dong Zhao said:

"I see that the King of Chen is loyal to the Han Dynasty, and now he has been promoted to the position of general."

"As the general of the guards, the general is also under his control."

"As long as you don't oppose him, since it is the emperor's decree, why can't the King of Chen tolerate it?"

"Besides, the emperor has left the general in the court, so I think he needs someone to control Dong Cheng, Liu Chong and others."

"The general has a lot of soldiers and horses. If you stay in Chendi, the emperor will not treat you badly."

After listening to Dong Zhao's analysis, Zhang Yang suddenly became enlightened.

He held Dong Zhao's hand and thanked him:

"Gongren's words really opened my eyes, like the clouds have been cleared and the sun has been shining!"

"In this case, I will stay in the imperial court. As for the money and food stored by Yewang, I will send people to get it."

Although Dong Zhao was forced to stay by Zhang Yang's side, Zhang Yang was actually quite nice to him and listened to his orders.

Considering that they had worked together before, Dong Zhao also made serious plans for Zhang Yang and persuaded him to stay in the court.

Because he knew very well that it would be impossible to accomplish anything by staying in Hanoi. Both the north and the south were controlled by Yuan and Cao, and there was no place for development.

Besides, Zhang Yang lacks the ambition and courage to make progress.

Staying in the court was actually a good thing for him.

As for Dong Zhao himself, he also had to consider his own future.

Before this, he wanted to wait and see for a while, but now that the emperor had visited the State of Chen, he was more determined to continue waiting and seeing.

The world was in turmoil and the situation was unpredictable. Even Dong Zhao did not dare to take sides easily.

I might as well stay with Zhang Yang in the court for a while, and then see how the situation in the world changes.

Here

After receiving their rewards, Cao Cao and Liu Bei each planned to withdraw their troops and return home.

After Liu Bei left Chen County, he gathered his troops and planned to return to Xia Pi.

Li Yi rode forward and congratulated Liu Bei:

"Congratulations, my lord, on your advancement to the position of Left General."

Liu Bei was not very happy. After all, everyone had received a reward, and if everyone was given a reward, it was the same as having no reward at all.

In particular, Liu Xie's series of rewards contained hidden intentions to instigate conflicts among the princes.

This made Liu Bei feel a little uneasy, and he always felt that something big was about to happen.

"My lord, where are you going next?"

"Let's go back to Xia Pi." Liu Bei said without thinking.

Li Yi smiled and said:

"It's a rare trip for the Lord to Yuzhou, don't you plan to stay a little longer?"

Liu Bei was a little surprised and asked:

"Military advisor has never indulged in fun, why do you suddenly want to stay for a long time today?"

"If it were any other time, I would be very happy to travel with the military advisor."

"But now I am leading a large army outside, so I cannot stay for long."

When the cannon is fired, there is a thousand taels of gold.

The most expensive part of a war is actually the supply line. Even a seven-day journey will consume nearly half of the food.

And this loss increases exponentially with the number of troops.

Liu Bei came out this time just to meet the emperor, so naturally he didn't need a supply line.

After the visit, I will go back. It won’t take long.

Therefore, his food and grass could not last long outside, so he politely declined Li Yi's request to stay in Yuzhou.

"If the military rations are insufficient, has the lord ever thought of raising some in Yuzhou?"

Li Yi asked with his lips pursed.

"Oh? What do you mean, military advisor?"

The corners of Liu Bei's mouth curled up slightly. His military advisor's ideas were always wild and imaginative, always giving him surprises from time to time.

Li Yi expressed his inner thoughts:

"The reason why Yuzhou is not as unified as other provinces and counties, but is divided into pieces, is because there are many Yellow Turban bandits here."

"It is especially prevalent in Yingchuan and Runan."

"Cao Cao's troops entered Yingchuan not long ago and wiped out all the Yellow Turban bandits there."

"There are still many in Runan. Has the lord ever thought about conquering them?"

The Yellow Turban bandits robbed a large amount of food, but they had no channels to sell it, so they could only pile up and store it in warehouses.

After defeating the Yellow Turban bandits in Yingchuan, Cao Cao not only obtained a large amount of food, but also farm tools and oxen.

As for war horses, leather armor, feather arrows, bows and crossbows, mules and other livestock, many Yellow Turban bandits had them in stock.

Therefore, the Yellow Turban Bandits are often ridiculed as experience babies. For novices, fighting them is equivalent to leveling up and killing monsters, and the rewards are very rich.

Don't be too cool.

More importantly, most of the Yellow Turban bandits came from poor families and provided abundant labor force.

This population was a source of soldiers and food in ancient times.

Historically, Cao Cao only swept Yingchuan.

He simply mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to cultivate land and support his army.

One million hu of grain were harvested in one year.

Therefore, the claim that fighting the Yellow Turbans can make you rich is reliable.

"Chen County is not far to the south, and it is the border of Runan. It won't take too long."

Chen itself was adjacent to Runan, and Chen County, the seat of the Chen State, was almost next to the border of Runan.

It's not difficult to encounter the Yellow Turban bandits running around in Runan.

If we could destroy a few Yellow Turban bandits, we would be able to take the food and property they looted for our own use.

They can also be moved to the eastern part of Pei State, to the territory of Chen Gui.

After all, this is all war potential.

When Cao Cao was in Yingchuan, he moved a lot of people from Runan there.

Then we can naturally move the population from the north of Runan to Pei State.

Anyway, the only ones injured were Skeleton King and his family.

Guan Yu also expressed his views:

"Brother, the emperor is in Chendi. If bandits invade nearby, the emperor may be harmed."

"If we can wipe out the Yellow Turban bandits, it will also be a contribution to the country."

"That is why I think what the military advisor said makes a lot of sense."

Liu Bei nodded and said:

"In that case, we will go south to Runan first. If we encounter the Yellow Turban bandits, we will send troops to suppress them."

"If you don't meet him, go around to Pei State and then return to Xia Pi."

After the discussion, the army prepared to march south to Runan to suppress the Yellow Turbans.

There was no place where an arrow could be shot when a scout came with a report.

A group of people are approaching Chen County!

Liu Bei was surprised:

"Most of the princes who came to support the king have already left. The king has just arrived at Chen State, which is not yet stable."

"Who is coming at this time?"

He immediately ordered people to go and investigate.

After a while, the scouts reported that they seemed to be troops of the Baibo Army.

Baibo commanders Yang Feng and Han Xian both had meritorious services in protecting the emperor, and the emperor also promised to give them high positions and generous salaries as long as they returned to the capital.

However, Yang Feng and others saw that there were too many princes coming to support the king and were afraid that they would not be able to get along, so they did not escort the king to Chen.

Unexpectedly, when the princes were leaving, these two men led their troops over.

Could it be that he wanted to hijack the emperor and take him back to Mianchi?
Liu Bei said seriously:
"The emperor has just made his decision today. These two men are leading their troops here. They must have bad intentions."

"Don't let it disturb the emperor."

He then ordered to temporarily stop the march southward and turn back to intercept the Baibo Army.

Maintaining the safety of the emperor is also in line with the position of Liu Bei's group.

After all, it was Liu Bei's group that single-handedly led the emperor's return to the east and his visit to the State of Chen.

Now that the State of Chen is in trouble, Liu Bei must of course not stand idly by as he had promised.

After walking for a few steps, we suddenly heard loud shouting.

Yang Feng and Han Xian arrived with their troops, only to run into Liu Bei blocking their way.

Liu Bei rode his horse forward and shouted:
"What are you doing here?"

Yang Feng came out and replied:

"I heard that the emperor is visiting Chendi, so I came to protect him."

Liu Bei scolded coldly:

"The emperor has already arrived, and you haven't been summoned yet. How dare you lead troops to invade Chen land without permission?"

"Retreat immediately, or you will be held accountable as well."

Yang Feng was furious:
"How can you, a little mat weaver, speak so arrogantly?"

After saying this, he turned around and shouted behind him:
"Where is Gongming?"

With these words, Xu Huang jumped on his horse and rushed out.

Liu Bei stopped his horse to watch, and was secretly amazed by Xu Huang's majestic appearance.

He turned around and said to Li Yi:
"Among the Baibo bandits, is there such a good general?"

Li Yi heard it clearly on the spot and knew that the name Yang Feng called out was clearly Xu Huang, Xu Gongming.

This person was indeed under Yang Feng's command at this time.

What we met today is truly God’s will.

"My lord, please call back the troops for now. I have my own plan to defeat the bandits."

Li Yi spoke out.

Liu Bei followed his advice and ordered the troops to retreat.

When Yang Feng saw Liu Bei withdrawing his troops, he immediately led his troops to attack them.

Liu Bei's army fought and retreated. Yang Feng chased them for a long time but gained no advantage, so he temporarily withdrew his troops.

That night, we returned to the camp.

Liu Bei was still obsessed with Xu Huang whom he had seen during the day, so he called Li Yi and others.

Said to Li Yi:
"The military advisor said during the day that he had a plan to defeat the enemy. I would like to hear it."

Li Yi smiled and said:

"Today, Yang Feng is a general in the army. He is very majestic and I think the lord loves him very much."

"So I couldn't bear to add more troops to hurt him."

Liu Bei put his hands behind his back and nodded:

"Yes, I saw Xu Huang's appearance and he was quite good-looking, but it's a pity that he lost his virginity to a thief."

Li Yi hurriedly said:

"If you want to collect it, it's not difficult."

"There is someone in our army who is familiar with Xu Huang."

Liu Bei hurriedly asked who it was.

Guan Yu glanced at Li Yi, and Li Yi met Guan Yu's gaze.

Guan Yu understood that it seemed that Li Yi was indeed talking about him, but he didn't expect that Li Yi even knew this.

Then he stepped out of the line and bowed to Liu Bei, saying:
"Brother, Xu Huang is an old friend of mine."

"He has had great ambitions since he was young. In his early years, he was an official in Hedong County, but now he has become a traitor."

"That is definitely not his original intention. Guan is willing to go and talk to him, and teach him to turn from evil to good and surrender wholeheartedly."

Guan Yu was from Xieliang in Hedong, and Xu Huang was from Yangxian in Hedong.

In his early years, Guan Yu became a fugitive and was familiar with Xu Huang, whom he called brother.

Guan Yu was very clear that Xu Huang had no choice but to serve under Yang Feng.

He was a Han civil servant in his early years, and was forced to serve Yang Feng as a thief.

Even though Yang Feng is now the General of Chariots and Cavalry, Xu Huang has also been made the Commandant of Cavalry.

But when Yang Feng led his troops to invade Hedong, he was still the Baibo bandit.

At that time, Dong Zhuo was in power and the imperial court was completely unable to save Hedong.

Hedong was invaded by both the Baibo bandits and the Xiongnu.

Faced with a choice between the two, Xu Huang had no choice but to join Yang Feng.

But he must be aware that people like Yang Feng and Han Xian were born bandits and would never accomplish anything, so they would definitely find a way to escape.

Liu Bei said happily:
"If you can get Gongming to surrender, it will be a great achievement for you, my dear brother."

That night,

Xu Huang was sitting in the camp with a candle and wearing armor, when suddenly someone came to report that an old friend wanted to see him.

Xu Huang was surprised and immediately ordered someone to ask for a meeting.

Guan Yu suddenly came forward, bowed and said:
"Brother, are you all right?"

Xu Huang stood up in surprise, looked carefully for a long time in the light of the fire, and said:

"Aren't you the one who can understand the longevity of life?"

Guan Yu stroked his beard and smiled:

"Now I have changed my name to Yunchang."

When Xu Huang saw his old friend again, he was surprised and happy, yet also a little embarrassed and helpless.

"Why is Yunchang here?"

Guan Yu replied seriously:
"Guan has now joined General Liu."

"I saw an old friend on the battlefield today, and I really missed you, brother."

"So I risked my life to come here."

Xu Huang had an idea and immediately invited Guan Yu to take a seat.

……

(End of this chapter)