Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 408: Heaven and Man
With the border bridge blocked, a quick victory is not easy to achieve.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate for a long time, neither able to find a weakness in the other's position, and neither daring to back down.

Liu Bei dispatched a large number of scouts to Guantao, Xindu, Nanpi and other places around Qinghe to investigate the situation, trying to find a breakthrough from other places.

People were sent to the north, south, and east. To the west was Qinghe, which had thawed. The enemy had deployed troops in the Guangzong area west of Qinghe, and they could not cross the river for the time being.

News has arrived that Zhang Fei is leading his main force from Xuzhou, but it will take him a long time to arrive.

The south was peaceful; at that time, Cao Cao, Zhang Liao, Zhang Yan, and others were joining forces to counterattack Hanoi.

News came back from Xindu in the north that the Cui clan of Anping was organizing manpower and deploying troops along the Qinghe River. The Cui clan of Anping deeply hated Liu Bei, so this was definitely not an allied force.

Cui Yan and Cui Lin, the only remaining members of the Cui clan in Qinghe, are quite obedient. The Cui family members cannot tolerate them, so they can only follow Liu Bei and are currently organizing logistics.

No enemy was found in the Bohai Sea region to the east, but refugees could be seen fleeing from the north to the south. Some people from Youzhou who fled south said that the Wuhuan army had already captured Quanzhou and Yongnu.

Many people from Youzhou must have fled south from Zhuojun, but most of them were intercepted.

There are enemies to the west and north.

"Quanzhou and Yongnu have both fallen, and Jixian is probably already besieged. We haven't heard from Zhang He and Bai Yao for a long time, and the northern routes may have been completely cut off..."

As Guo Jia drew a simple map, he said, "General Guan went to Jingxing to attack the Xiongnu. Judging from the direction of Yan Liang, Wen Chou and others' advance, they came from the Changshan direction after General Guan entered Taihang."

When Guan Yu pacified the eastern part of Ji Province, most of the Ji Province gentry moved to Zhongshan and Changshan to hide. Now it seems they were taking advantage of the chaos to cause trouble.

"It seems that the officials from various prefectures who were previously dismissed from their posts are causing trouble, but we don't know who they serve..."

Guo Jia said with some doubt, "Even if they win temporarily by opposing the imperial court, they will only be regarded as traitors and collaborators... Tian Yuanhao is extremely famous, how could he be so unwise?"

"The gentry of Hebei have always harbored rebellious intentions, and this cannot be viewed through the lens of common sense..."

Liu Bei said in a low voice: "First there was the Yellow Turban Rebellion, then Wang Fen and Tao Qiu Hong plotted to depose and install emperors, Feng Xun also usurped the right to open up famous mountains in Changshan and Zhongshan, and Yuan Shao installed the Prince of Ganling as emperor in Bohai... Hebei is different from Henan."

Guo Jia thought for a moment and suddenly guessed, "Yuan Shao disappeared in Hebei, so this matter must be related to him."

"It's definitely related to him, but he's no longer the master of these people in Hebei..."

Liu Bei sighed deeply: "He may have become someone else's strategist again. Gongsun Du was definitely someone he promoted... and it may be more than just Gongsun Du."

Just then, Zhao Yun entered the camp and reported: "My lord, the other side has sent an envoy across the bridge, saying that he is an old friend of yours."

"Old friend?"

Liu Bei frowned and left the camp with Guo Jia.

The envoy on the other side was Liu Deran, the son of Liu Yuanqi, a relative of Liu Bei.

During the years Liu Bei spent in Zhuojun, Liu Deran always followed Lu Zhi.

After Liu Bei left Zhuojun, Liu Deran went to serve as an official in another place, and the two never met again.

"My dear brother, it's been a long time since we last met. Would you like to share a drink and have a chat?"

Liu Deran looked at Liu Bei, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"We have no wine in our army, and now is not the time for reminiscing. Let's get straight to the point. What brings you here, Brother Deran?"

Liu Bei had absolutely no feelings for Liu Deran...

Liu Bei was neither the original owner of this body nor Lang Ge. He had no real feelings for Liu Deran and knew nothing about him.

However, the fact that Liu Deran could appear in the enemy camp means either that the Liu family of Zhuojun had defected to the enemy, or that the Liu family had been taken hostage.

Liu Deran hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I came here only to tell you one thing... The current emperor is not the late emperor's biological son. You are supporting a false emperor to usurp the mandate of heaven, which I fear will not be tolerated by the people of the world..."

Liu Bei was furious: "Liu Deran, who taught you to say that? Do you dare say such things to your father?!"

“It was my father who sent me here… I have served as the Imperial Attendant at the Palace Gate for the past few years, and I know that the late emperor had a hidden illness.”

Liu Deran looked at Liu Bei, a hint of determination in his eyes: "The Imperial Physician Zhang Feng has also confirmed that the late Emperor was ill... Marquis Shi was the late Emperor's biological son, while Marquis Dong was definitely not! General Wei, the ruler you serve is a usurper of the Mandate of Heaven! It was this usurper who presumptuously performed the ancestral sacrifice at Mount Tai, causing Youzhou to freeze over and bringing great disaster to the world..."

"Shut up!"

Liu Bei's face turned extremely ugly: "If you don't want to live anymore, don't drag your father down with you!"

Liu Deran shook his head: "Brother, Marquis Shi has a posthumous child, the bloodline of the late emperor is still alive, and the legitimate dynasty of the Han Dynasty still exists... Do not be so stubborn. All the calamities of this world are caused by your support of a false emperor!"

Liu Bei gritted his teeth: "Nonsense... Do you really believe this? Did you come here just to spout such treasonous words?!"

"General Wei, I have come here to persuade you to cease hostilities... and also to negotiate peace."

Liu Deran no longer addressed him as "brother," but spoke in a businesslike manner: "Youzhou has fallen into the hands of the Wuhuan. If you still wish to reclaim our ancestral land, please ask General Wei to withdraw his troops and discuss the matter again at the former residence of Emperor Xiaoren in Hejian, and establish another son of the Marquis of Shi... so as to avoid disaster within the clan and to prevent our patriarch's grave from suffering... By the way, the elders of Zhao Zilong's clan are also in Tian Biejia's army."

Before Liu Deran said this, Liu Bei thought that Liu Deran might have been coerced.

But I never expected that they were trying to coerce me... and they used too many pretexts.

The ancestral graves, the tombs of his grandfather and parents, the Liu family of Zhuojun, including Zhao Yun's clan members, are all in the hands of the other side—this really shows that the other side has no shame.

But if Liu Bei did not back down, he would be considered extremely unfilial in everyone's eyes.

Even though Liu Bei had separated into his own clan and household, he still had to acknowledge his parents and ancestors.

With Zhang Yao killed in battle, a gap appeared in the Youzhou defense line, and the Wuhuan cavalry quickly broke into Zhuojun. It was normal that the Liu family was now under someone else's control.

Liu Bei was able to deduce that Gongsun Du had received financial support from the fleeing Yuan Shao and the Bohai gentry, and he could also guess that the Wuhuan invasion was in alliance with Gongsun Du. The rebellion of the Xiongnu in Bingzhou was most likely due to collusion between the Taiyuan gentry and the Hu people, and the rebellion of Yan Liang, Wen Chou and others was also related to Yuan Shao.

These are all things that can be judged and resolved. As long as we can inspire the heroes of the Han Dynasty to kill the Hu people, it is impossible for the Hu people to overthrow the Han Dynasty.

Even if the Han Dynasty were to weaken, it would not fear the invasion of the barbarians.

For Liu Bei, killing the Hu was a normal war, and as the legitimate ruler of the court, he had to immediately direct his military force towards the external enemy.

But Liu Bei never expected that all of this was orchestrated by a group of conspirators in order to create a new "legitimate" dynasty.

Yes, Liu Bei has the emperor in his hands, which is an unavoidable legitimate title for scholars. As long as Liu Bei has this title, they cannot defeat him.

So they want to destroy it.

There is a deep-rooted "superstitious" attitude in the hearts of the Han Chinese literati.

—The interaction between Heaven and humanity.

Liu Deran seemed very determined; he genuinely believed that Liu Xie was not Liu Hong's son...

During the years when Lu Zhi served as Minister, Liu Deran did indeed work as a court attendant, which was a clerk who wrote daily records of Liu Hong's activities.

Liu Deran was from a branch of the imperial clan and came from a respectable family. This was a normal procedure for a member of a respectable family surnamed Liu to be selected as a man.

He did know that Liu Hong had been diagnosed with a deficiency of cold by the imperial physician, and he also knew that Liu Xie had been abandoned after birth and left in the torture chamber to be raised by the steward Zhu Zhi—on the surface, it seemed that Liu Xie did indeed have a problem…

However, the actual situation at the time was that Liu Xie's mother, Consort Wang, was killed by Empress He, but everyone in the palace begged Liu Hong not to pursue Empress He, and at that time the palace guards were under the control of He Jin.

Under these circumstances, Liu Hong dared not punish Empress He, nor did he dare allow anyone in the palace to contact Liu Xie.

First, he was placed in a private room and fed by a wet nurse, allowing Dong Zhong to control the military in Luoyang. A year later, Empress Dowager Dong was allowed to support Liu Xie. These were all compromises made out of desperation.

But it does seem that Liu Hong didn't like his two sons... Outsiders only know that Shi Hou Liu Bian was raised outside the palace, and that Liu Xie was abandoned in the torture chamber right after birth, making it seem as if he wasn't his biological son.

These days, if people believe that the emperor is not truly legitimate, they will attribute all disasters to the wrath of Heaven: the north is extremely cold and frigid, the sun and moon are like blood, rivers are frozen, downstream areas are dry, and the land cannot be cultivated... all because Heaven is angry because the emperor is not righteous.

Liu Bei certainly knew that this ice age was most likely caused by a massive volcanic eruption in the Western Regions a few years ago, with volcanic ash spreading and blocking sunlight, resulting in a drop in temperature. This was an irresistible natural phenomenon that would gradually subside in a few years or decades.

The same situation occurred during the reign of Emperor Wu, when the sun and moon were obscured, a blood-red sun rose into the sky, followed by a series of earthquakes, and then a general drop in temperature and extreme cold, experiencing the same ice age.

This widespread cold weather, caused by volcanic ash, can last for years, triggering a series of natural disasters.

Sunlight, temperature, and water—the three most essential natural factors for agriculture—have all been affected, leading to a sharp drop in agricultural output, widespread food shortages, and a chain reaction.

But the scholars of that time were ignorant of natural science, and even if they were, they would think it was due to the emperor's lack of virtue.

The concept of the interaction between Heaven and Man has been passed down for hundreds of years. For these hundreds of years, generations have learned this: if the emperor is without virtue, Heaven will send down its wrath; if officials are without virtue, the mountains and rivers will suffer disasters. Every time there is a disaster, the three highest officials will be dismissed from their posts.

In the event of a major disaster, the emperor would issue an edict of self-reproach.

Emperor Wu of Han once issued an edict of self-reproach due to the extreme cold and the sacrifice at Mount Tai.

Especially those pedantic scholars, like Liu Deran, genuinely believed in the interaction between Heaven and humanity.

As long as he believes that the emperor is not the true legitimate ruler, he will think that the emperor has usurped the Mandate of Heaven and worship the ancestors of the Han Dynasty, and even worship the ancestors at Mount Tai... Therefore, Heaven will be angered and disaster will occur.

As for the invasion of the Hu people—in the eyes of many gentry, war was also a calamity, all caused by the emperor's lack of virtue.

Of course, not all members of the aristocratic class believed in the interaction between Heaven and humanity, but this explanation was useful.

No wonder, no wonder, no wonder everyone is stirring up trouble at this time...

Liu Bei understood now...

This is a coercion that holds the world hostage.

Moreover, this was done by coercing Liu Bei's own clansmen—although Liu Bei had already separated from his clan, Liu Yuanqi was still Liu Bei's paternal uncle, and Liu Deran was still Liu Bei's cousin.

Everyone believes what Liu Deran says, even the people of Qingzhou.

It is said that Liu Bian's bloodline is still alive...

If Liu Bei remembered correctly, Liu Bian's wife, Tang Ji, was currently in Dong Zhuo's hands.

But now Liu Bei can no longer bring up the matter of "Liu Bian's parentage being questionable"—the more he brings it up, the more people will believe that Liu Hong really couldn't have children...

This was a trap deliberately set; it was a scheme within a scheme.

If Liu Bei falls for the trick and uses the fabricated story of Liu Bian's questionable parentage as an excuse, then he can use Liu Bian to prove that Liu Hong is infertile, and Liu Xie will also lose his legitimacy.

They wanted to change the emperor, to someone supposedly "Liu Bian's son" or someone else.

As long as Liu Xie is not the legitimate heir, they can support a new emperor who can gain more recognition. Whoever this new emperor is, they will have a pretext to oppose Liu Bei.

Then, the Wuhuan and Xianbei will all withdraw their troops, as will Gongsun Du and the scholars of Jizhou... The entire area north of the Yellow River will "return to peace" for the "legitimate emperor" to ascend the throne.

It's as if the new emperor is the legitimate ruler, and can make Heaven take back the disaster—at least that's how it seems.

Those pedantic scholars, and even more commoners and the common people, might believe it.

Regardless of whether this extortion attempt succeeds or not, it essentially gives the entire Hebei province a new status.

It might not just be Hebei...

Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, and even Liu Yan and Liu Biao would probably prefer to accept a change of emperor, or even the complete absence of an emperor... because Liu Bei's policies seemed to be detrimental to the gentry.

Apart from Liu Bei, every ambitious force would accept this outcome.

This is a grand scheme orchestrated only by Yuan Shao, who had been fooled before.

Yuan Shao had indeed been disgraced, but it was precisely this disgrace that freed him from all constraints.

Yuan Shao has lost the possibility of becoming a ruler, but Yuan Shao, who is unable to become a ruler and is manipulating things from behind the scenes, is even more terrifying.

As the saying goes, "whitewashing weakens you by three points, while turning evil strengthens you tenfold..."

It's not that becoming evil makes you stronger, but rather that since things are already like this, you don't need to care about saving face anymore. Even if the outcome is worse than it is now, you can disregard all concerns and do whatever you want—and there's no clue to follow.

If Yuan Shao could truly distort the truth and convince most scholars that Liu Xie was not Liu Hong's biological son, then Yuan Shao's reputation as a "treacherous minister" might actually be overturned, because the "Biography of a Treacherous Minister" would become a "forged book issued by a false emperor."

Liu Bei cannot kill Liu Deran, because Liu Yuanqi should also be on the other side.

If Liu Deran dies, Liu Yuanqi will surely have the entire Liu clan of Zhuojun help the other side spread rumors, and Liu Bei's 'crime' will be compounded.

This was both a psychological attack and a form of coercion, and also an attempt to disrupt Liu Bei's peace of mind—under normal circumstances, anyone would panic upon learning that their ancestral tombs had fallen into the hands of the barbarians.

After thinking it through, Liu Bei asked Liu Deran, "You want me to withdraw my troops and go to Hejian to discuss establishing a new regime... Who should I discuss this with? Yuan Shao?"

Before becoming emperor, Liu Hong lived in the residence of the Marquis of Jiedu in Hejian. After ascending the throne, Liu Hong posthumously honored his father Liu Chang as "Emperor Xiaoren". The residence of the Marquis of Jiedu in Hejian was also regarded as the emperor's former residence, and Liu Chang's tomb is also in Hejian.

Liu Deran shook his head: "Such an important matter should naturally be discussed with the Three Dukes: Minister Yang, Minister Dong, and Grand Marshal Bo'an."

Liu Yu was indeed appointed Grand Marshal, a title that Liu Bei requested when Gongsun Du sent Yang Yi to Linzi, but it was a nominal one.

Why would Dong Zhuo and Yang Biao come to Hejian?

Liu Bei patiently asked.

“As long as General Wei goes to Hejian, the Three Dukes will come of their own accord.”

After Liu Deran finished speaking, he asked Liu Bei, "Has General Wei given a reply?"

What Liu Deran said is probably true, because Qu Yi is on the other side.

Qu Yi was from Liangzhou, and the Qu family was a prominent clan in Xiping. He once accompanied Han Fu to Linzi to deliver the head of the Prince of Ganling—Han Fu and Yan Liang and other gentry from Jizhou were originally a group.

Han Fu was sent to Chang'an by Liu Bei, and Feng Xun was also sent to the newly established Yongzhou. Both of them were making a living under Dong Zhuo.

This matter may indeed be related to Dong Zhuo and Yang Biao...

At this time, Liu Bei was unaware that Empress Dowager Dong had died, but in any case, Dong Zhuo and Yang Biao had a reason to establish a new emperor.

The fact that the other side is now negotiating is probably because Dong Zhuo doesn't want a full-scale war.

"Whom do you expect me to reply to? Whom do you work for now?"

Liu Bei sighed: "You wouldn't be saying it's Liu Bo'an, would you?"

Liu Bei did not believe that Liu Yu would do such a thing.

But Liu Deran nodded: "Exactly."

"Hahaha... Then tell him that the Han people will not be coerced by foreign tribes! Nor will they be manipulated by traitors!"

Liu Bei was so angry he laughed: "Go back and tell your man behind you to bring it on! Any traitor you see, kill him without hesitation. There's no room for negotiation!!"

……

(End of this chapter)