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

Chapter 454 Loyalty and Integrity
In fact, whether the emperor ruled personally or not made no difference to Liu Bei... because military and political affairs were still controlled by the prime minister, and the emperor was merely a figurehead.

However, if the emperor were to rule personally, there would be less resistance to Liu Bei's governance.

Many aristocratic families would agree with Liu Bei's approach, since it was the norm in the Han Dynasty and something they were familiar with.

However, the risks for Liu Bei himself would become even greater.

If the court system familiar to the aristocratic families were to revert to its former glory, even more people would attempt to usurp Liu Bei's position.

By letting the emperor decide on his own marriage, Liu Bei essentially opened a door for himself.

It has become a fixed pattern for powerful maternal relatives to hold power in the Han Dynasty... There will definitely be a huge number of aristocratic families sending their daughters to the palace.

……

That night, Liu Bei held a small meeting with Jia Xu and Zhao Yun.

There were only a few of them because they were planning how to bring the emperor back, and it wasn't appropriate for too many people to know about it.

At the same time, there are some minor issues that cannot be known by too many people, lest they affect morale.

For example, the army is about to run out of food...

The current situation seems to be in Liu Bei's favor, but this favorable situation is actually rather illusory; it was created by Jia Xu and Liu Bei together.

Liu Bei's strength was not yet at the level to dominate the world—in fact, he couldn't even dominate Guanzhong.

Because resources can't keep up.

Having just conquered the north, Youzhou and Jizhou are starving for supplies, and Xuzhou is threatened by Lü Bu. Relying solely on Qingzhou for supplies is simply not enough to keep up with the consumption.

Other supplies are fine, but the most urgent need is for food.

Liu Bei's army marched from Qingzhou to Chang'an, and the provisions he brought with him were almost exhausted. This was only because he had taken provisions from Yanzhou along the way; otherwise, he would not have been able to travel such a long distance in one campaign.

However, Henan was devastated, and there was nowhere to obtain grain after passing Hulao Pass.

At present, Liu Bei's army only has three days' worth of rations left.

Moreover, even if we enter Chang'an now, we may not be able to obtain food. For the past year, the area around Chang'an has been in constant turmoil. From Meiyang to Xinfeng in the east and west, and from Chiyang to Lantian in the north and south, almost no one is farming in the core area of ​​Jingzhao.

Furthermore, the surrounding counties of Sanfu had just been taxed by Dong Zhuo's remnants, and they were all far apart, so it was unrealistic to expect them to supply provisions.

In fact, Liu Bei cannot use his troops at will, which is why he has to equip his troops with the best gear to intimidate people.

If Yuan Shu and Lü Bu hadn't caused trouble, Zhang Fei might have been able to transport a batch of supplies to provide follow-up support.

But now Zhang Fei has to hold off Lü Bu, and Guan Yu has to stay behind to guard the rear, so they can't send supplies to help from afar.

This is the consequence of being blocked at Hulao Pass for seven days.

For a lone army, having ten days' worth of rations is completely different from having only three days' worth.

So the first issue was where to get food.

“Duan Zhongming previously cultivated land in Hongnong... perhaps he could be appointed to supply the emperor with money and grain.”

Jia Xu, who was most familiar with the situation of each household, said: "In addition, Minister Yang must have stored grain in his household, but... how will Minister Yang deal with it?"

"Wenhe knows more about the previous incidents than I do. What do you think should be done?"

Liu Bei returned the problem to Jia Xu.

"It would be best not to punish him... or we could follow the precedent set by the late emperor and have Yang Wenxian atone for his crime with money and grain."

Jia Xu said, "Feng Xun, Liu Ai and others are dead, and their entire clans were killed by Li Jue, Guo Si and others. It would be best for the Prime Minister to only say that Feng Xun, Liu Ai and others plotted to kill Dong Sikong, and not to mention the matter of establishing another emperor, nor to mention Yang Biao's crime of colluding with the rebels."

When Feng Xun and Liu Ai attempted to establish a new emperor, Yang Biao echoed their sentiments. Although the attempt to establish a new emperor failed, Yang Biao can still be regarded as a traitor.

Moreover, Yang Biao and Li Jue had a conflict, and Yang Ding and Duan Wei, members of the Yang family, were also at odds. If Yang Biao were eliminated, the conflict between Li Jue and Duan Wei could also be resolved. During the day, Zhao Yun and Guo Jia worked together to prosecute Yang Biao because, both for public and private reasons, Liu Bei should prosecute Yang Biao.

But Jia Xu said it would be best not to punish Yang Biao.

Liu Bei gave him a questioning look.

"Yang Wenxian saved hundreds of officials of various ranks in Luoyang, and half of them are still in his home. If we are to talk about collaborating with the rebels, these officials are all considered collaborators."

Jia Xu said, "The bandits in Liangzhou have not yet been quelled. If we regard Yang Wenxian as a wicked and rebellious traitor and leave him with no way out, it may force the Yang family of Hongnong and even many officials to collude with the bandits to rebel, becoming another Yuan Shao."

"Now that the various tribes in Kansai have witnessed the Prime Minister's prestige, they are already showing signs of submitting to the court. This is a very favorable situation, and we must not allow it to become chaotic."

"It would be better to have Yang Wenxian pay grain to atone for his sins and supply the military with provisions, so that everyone would believe that Yang Wenxian has pledged allegiance to the Prime Minister, and thus we can quickly stabilize the Three Auxiliary Regions."

"Once His Majesty has established the capital and changed the era name, and the Prime Minister has subdued the generals of Guanzhong, when there is an abundance of troops and provisions, it will not be too late to find a pretext to punish him."

Zhao Yun nodded in agreement: "It's indeed not the right time to create unnecessary trouble, especially with Lü Bu causing chaos in Guandong..."

When the situation appears favorable but there are actual risks, it is indeed not advisable to take drastic measures.

The most urgent task is to first eliminate the risks and turn the favorable situation into usable strength.

The point of doing things is to achieve the goal, not to assign responsibility.

Sometimes assigning blame can destabilize the situation, cause more deaths, and even wipe out an initial advantage.

Just like Liu Bei giving Cao Cao a way out, this is not actually "letting Cao Cao off the hook," but rather that he cannot be held accountable now.

This made it appear as if Cao Cao was obeying Liu Bei's command, giving the impression that Cao and Liu were united, thus keeping the Guanzhong army in check.

Only by subduing these military leaders could Liu Bei peacefully incorporate them into his army and maximize his benefits.

If he were to arrive with the imperial edict and go around proclaiming Liu Bei's crimes, it might frighten the various factions in Guanzhong into joining forces to try and kidnap the emperor in retaliation against Liu Bei.

These soldiers were capable of such a thing—you should know that before Dong Zhuo died, he had planned to lead his army to Qingzhou to 'welcome the emperor'.

In fact, Cao Cao was the only one who agreed with Liu Bei's policies. Although he had to become Liu Bei's opponent, he was able to restrain the gentry.

Without Cao Cao's restraint, powerful families would have treated Liu Bei in the same unethical way as Yuan Shao.

For example, Cao Cao did indeed spare Guan Yu when he was in Liyang.

Regardless of the methods Cao Cao used, Liu Bei and Guan Yu both understood that if Cao Cao wanted to kill Guan Yu, he could have done so.

Compared to Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Lü Bu, and others were pure rebels with absolutely no sense of governance.

That's why it's said that the only heroes in the world are Liu Bei and Cao Cao.

Currently, Xuzhou is facing threats from Yuan Shu and Lü Bu. Lü Bu has already occupied Xiaopei and will definitely harass Qingzhou and Xuzhou.

Yuan Shu hadn't caused any trouble recently because he needed to resolve the internal factional issues left by Sun Jian.

Yuan Shu's sudden rebellion is due to both his ally Lü Bu and his absorption of Sun Jian's legacy.

By giving Cao Cao a way out, his forces could join forces with Liu Bei to deal with Yuan Shu and Lü Bu.

If Liu Bei insisted on killing Cao Cao and escalated the conflict to the point of resorting to any means necessary, Cao Cao might die here, but all the gentry in Cao Cao's forces would definitely join forces with Yuan Shu and Lü Bu to attack Qing and Xu.

Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Man Chong, Sima Fang, Li Qian, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Yu Jin, Yue Jin...

Cao Cao's forces were in no way inferior to Liu Bei's, and these forces were currently concentrated in Hanoi and Yanzhou. If we add Lu Bu's fighting prowess and Yuan Shu's resources...

Liu Bei's strength was not yet at the level to dominate the world, and he could not withstand the combined attack of three factions.

With Liu Bei, all his strategists, and Zhao Yun absent from Qing and Xu, it's highly likely that Qing and Xu will fall. Once Qing and Xu are lost, Hebei will also fall. The previously favorable situation will once again become shattered.

Liu Bei had no choice but to continue his alliance with Cao Cao.

Liu Bei knew this situation, and so did Cao Cao. This is why Cao Cao asked Liu Bei as soon as he arrived whether he wanted to attack Yuan Shu—it was a reminder to Liu Bei not to perish together with Yuan Shu.

"Then let's not mention Yang Biao's crimes. Didn't Cao Cao say today that Yang Biao planned to arrange for His Majesty to stay at the palace..."

After thinking for a while, Liu Bei signaled Jia Xu to prepare to issue an order from the Ministry of Personnel: "His Majesty will establish the capital and change the era name on the winter solstice. Yang Biao is to repair Weiyang Palace before the winter solstice."

"Repair Weiyang Palace?"

Zhao Yun, standing to the side, was taken aback for a moment: "Wasn't our lord talking about provisions? Why did he issue an order to repair the palace? There's only a month left until the winter solstice. How can we possibly repair the palace?"

"It's precisely because the repairs couldn't be completed that Minister Yang rushed to provide provisions..."

Jia Xu turned back to Zhao Yun and smiled: "If we only ask him to supply provisions, he'll definitely push the blame onto Li Zhiran and Duan Zhongming, since he's already paid his taxes..."

Zhao Yun sighed: "Is this how court officials conduct business?"

"It's good enough that we can talk like this... Yang Wenxian will definitely transport wine, meat, and grain directly to Chang'an, and then say that he has no money to build Weiyang Palace, so he can only send some wine, meat, and food to Your Majesty and ask for your forgiveness..."

Liu Bei also nodded to Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun scratched his head: "It seems that being a court official is much harder than fighting a war..."

"That's not necessarily true. It's just that in war, it's easy to distinguish between friend and foe, but when you're an official in the court, it's hard to tell who is friend and who is foe."

Jia Xu said, "At present, it is difficult to distinguish whether Duan Zhongming is a friend or foe. Prime Minister, you must not be complacent just because he is the brother of Grand Commandant Duan."

"What did Duan Wei do?"

Liu Bei knew that Duan Wei and Duan Jiong did not get along: "Is Jiang Ye with Duan Wei?"

"Duan Zhongming said a few days ago that he had welcomed His Majesty back to Ziwu Ridge, but he did not recognize His Majesty. At that time, Yang Wenxian was not in Chang'an. Only Xu in Chang'an recognized His Majesty's true appearance. Xu was from the same hometown as him, so he informed Xu first."

Jia Xu nodded and said, "At the time, I told him that this was Jiang Ye, a disciple of the Prime Minister, and that the bandits had mistaken him for the Emperor and kidnapped him as a hostage. He probably believed it."

“I asked him to hand Jiang Ye over to me, but he refused…”

"So I had no choice but to send him to greet the Prime Minister and ask him to mediate the feud between him and Li Jue. But when he arrived, he neither met with the Prime Minister nor returned Jiang Ye to the Prime Minister."

Jia Xu shook his head as he spoke: "But Duan Zhongming and Li Zhiran... I'm afraid the Prime Minister can only choose one to help. Both of them are very suspicious, and they are both irritable, easily angered, and hard to listen to. If you try to persuade them, I'm afraid it will backfire."

What exactly is the grudge between Duan Wei and Li Jue?

Liu Bei was unaware of the past conflict between the two sides.

"Over a few words of argument, Duan Zhongming claimed that Li Jue had insulted his family, while Li Jue resented Duan Zhongming for framing him..."

"Moreover, Duan Zhongming also had a grudge against the Yang family. He led the Yang family's private army to attack Li Jue, causing many casualties among the Yang family. This led to a dispute with Yang Ding, who intended to kill him."

"Duan Zhongming is the only general in Guanzhong who does not plunder the people. He is quite benevolent and righteous in his work of settling and pacifying the people in Hongnong, but he always gets along with everyone he deals with..."

Jia Xu recounted the situation involving Li Jue and Duan Wei—in fact, the trigger for this whole affair was Jia Xu's order for Zhang Bai to abduct Yang Biao.

"That means if I side with Li Jue, Duan Wei will definitely oppose me, our army may have difficulty obtaining supplies, and Jiang Ye may be in danger... If I side with Duan Wei, Li Jue will definitely be dissatisfied, and even Guo Si, Fan Chou and other generals in Guanzhong will not trust me."

Liu Bei understood the current situation: "In that case, I will go and see Duan Wei first."

Jia Xu has found Liu Bei a very difficult task... Just from hearing Jia Xu describe Duan Wei's personality, Liu Bei knows that this person must be very difficult to deal with.

If Duan Wei were a little easier to get along with, Jia Xu would most likely have taken care of the matter directly without bringing it up for discussion.

"It was nearly 11 PM..."

Zhao Yun reminded him.

Meeting Duan Wei was easy; the people who were there to welcome the emperor's carriage were already encamped around Liu Bei's camp—welcoming the emperor required leaving Chang'an, it was the rule, and everyone would travel with the army for about three more days.

It's generally not a good time to visit others at night, especially late at night, unless you're out having fun with your friends.

"Now is the time to go... I need to bring my junior brother out; it's not appropriate to go during the day."

Liu Bei stood up and said, "Wenhe, come with me. Bring some wine and gifts. As your fellow disciple, you can thank Duan Wei for taking care of my junior brother."

"If I bring a gift, I'm afraid they'll refuse to let me in."

Jia Xu shook his head: "This man has a good moral character; he never accepts gifts and never robs the villagers. However, he is intolerant, upright, and unruly, and he doesn't care about manners. It's hard to say anything about him..."

It's no wonder Jia Xu said Duan Wei was difficult to get along with. Jia Xu was good at controlling people's hearts, but he couldn't control this stubborn guy at all.

Liu Bei seemed to understand: "Then take a decree with you..."

……

Duan Wei's campsite was easy to find because it was set up alone in one place.

Clearly, he didn't get along with anyone.

There are very few people who even Jia Xu finds difficult to communicate with; in Liu Bei's memory, Duan Wei seems to be the first.

When Liu Bei met Duan Wei, he knew why.

"When the emperor is in the army, he must abide by the night curfew. The prime minister is the example for all officials. How can he leave the camp in the middle of the night?"

When Duan Wei saw Liu Bei arrive at the camp carrying the Prime Minister's banner, he spoke curtly and did not even bow.

"I left the camp late at night to work for you! His Majesty heard that General Duan and Li Zhiran are at war, so he sent me to announce a ceasefire."

Liu Bei's tone was unusually harsh, as if he were arguing: "Unless His Majesty issues an edict, anyone who recklessly starts a war is a traitor and a rebel. If anyone makes a move again, I will punish them!"

The edict was just written by Jia Xu, and Liu Bei stamped it with his own seal; the ink wasn't even dry yet.

However, this wasn't just empty talk; Liu Bei's attitude was exactly like that.

As long as no violence is involved, everyone can have a proper talk, just like Cao Cao, who could have a good talk even though he had just had a conflict with Liu Bei.

Anyone who dares to lay a hand on you will get beaten up.

Liu Bei only brought 5,000 elite troops and had no food. If the forces in the Three Auxiliary Regions joined forces, Liu Bei would most likely be unable to handle them.

But if you're only attacking one family, that should be enough.

The dispute between Li and Duan... Liu Bei actually had no intention of intervening.

However, Liu Bei's warning instead of mediating the fight, while seemingly a bad attitude, actually seemed to suit Duan Wei's temperament.

"Duan obeyed the imperial edict."

Duan Wei bowed respectfully before the imperial edict: "I wonder what other orders Your Majesty has? Is it to order me to attack Liangzhou?"

"General Duan is indeed a loyal and upright minister, quite like Grand Commandant Duan. Is the general thinking of his hometown?"

Liu Bei nodded and handed the ceasefire edict to Duan Wei, continuing from Duan Wei's words: "Now that Liangzhou is in chaos, His Majesty, mindful of the meritorious service of the late Grand Commandant Ji Minggong, wishes to invite General Duan to accompany the emperor to discuss the pacification of Liangzhou. However, when asked, his attendants all said that General Duan is too straightforward and difficult to attend court, so His Majesty sent me to see for myself."

Dealing with straightforward people like Duan Wei requires someone like Liu Bei.

(End of this chapter)