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

Chapter 64 Wealth of the World
The next day, Zhuo County.

Prefect Liu Wei slowly awoke.

He looked around and found himself in a familiar building.

I looked at my hand; the wound on my arm had been treated and bandaged.

However, there were no servants with him.

Yes, there shouldn't be any, they all dispersed last night.

The money's all gone...

And those dozen or so concubines...

All the wealth I accumulated in Zhuojun over the years vanished overnight!
Upon thinking of this, Liu Wei felt heartbroken and wept bitterly, crying like an old ox.

"Your Excellency is so heartbroken, is it because you are saddened by your brother Bo Gui?"

Liu Bei appeared at the door.

Liu Wei sobbed a few times, then quickly turned away, wiping his tears: "Ah? What?... Bo Gui... Oh, where is Gongsun Bo Gui?"

"Brother Bogui has died in battle, presumably killed in pursuit by bandits... How could the Prefect not know?"

Liu Bei's expression was unusually sorrowful: "After I recaptured the county last night, I went north to light the beacon fire to signal for reinforcements, only to find that you and my brother Bo Gui had both fallen under the beacon tower... I thought you had also been killed, but I found that you were still breathing... You and my brother Bo Gui were traveling together, how could I not know of your death?"

"He's dead?...Dead..."

Liu Wei turned around, shaking his head in confusion: "I don't know, I thought I was dead back then... My... Ugh... Cough, Xuande, why am I in Zhuo County? Wasn't the county town invaded by bandits?"

Perhaps he was thinking of something sad again, because Liu Wei choked up as he spoke, but he didn't mention Gongsun Zan... It seemed that he didn't care too much about Gongsun Zan's death.

"The Prefect has recaptured the city last night, and the bandits fled at the mere sight of him. We are pleased to announce our congratulations to the Prefect."

Liu Bei bowed and flattered him.

"Ah...huh?"

Upon hearing "Your Excellency has recaptured the county seat," Liu Wei paused for a moment, then turned to Liu Bei and asked, "Xuande, this... shouldn't it be Zhuo County that you recaptured?"

"Bei has taken the command of the Protector of the Wuhuan and his troops without authorization to attack and capture Zhuo County. He is now using the banner of Commander Zou to intimidate the bandits... Bei cannot recapture the county city."

Liu Bei, ever the opportunist, said, “Therefore, this city could only have been recaptured by you, my lord, who mobilized your troops. I was merely entrusted by you to go to Commander Zou’s camp to request reinforcements… This is all thanks to you, my lord.”

"Ah...um..."

Liu Wei paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, yes, that's right, Xuande is very thoughtful... Where are the thieves now?"

This matter must be acknowledged. Liu Bei was quite sensible, which offered some comfort to Liu Wei's grief.

"The bandits in the county town retreated after seeing Governor Zou's banner... The army did not forcefully attack the city, but rather scared the bandits away by Governor Zou's banner."

Liu Bei replied, "As you know, Commander Zou's main force is not large. In order to defend the city, I only sent scouts to the vicinity of the county town and lit the beacon fire north of the city to request reinforcements. I did not dare to drive away the bandits in other places. I must wait until I have enough troops."

"It all comes down to Governor Zou's reputation..."

Liu Wei sighed, his face falling again, probably thinking of something painful: "My villa... Xuande, um... since the bandits fear Commander Zou's reputation, could you please lead Commander Zou's troops to... cough... to my villa to investigate..."

This request is somewhat unreasonable, as there must be a large number of bandits in the fortified village now.

This is not only pushing your luck but also shameless, Liu Wei himself hesitated as he said it.

Liu Bei remained silent for a while, until Liu Wei himself felt embarrassed, before finally speaking: "Since you have said so, then I will risk my life to investigate. However, I cannot privately lead General Zou's troops. Please give me a warrant to request reinforcements so that I can lead my troops out."

This means, you're a bit shameless, fine, I'll try to help you out, but you have to give me a leadership title.

"Oh...yes, yes...Xuande is right."

Liu Wei staggered to the table, picked up a bamboo slip, and wrote a military order: "The bandits in Zhuojun are in great danger and urgently need reinforcements. Therefore, Liu Xuande of this county requests the assistance of the Protectorate of the Wuhuan Commandery."

"My lord, please rest well and prepare to go and reorganize the army."

Having received the military order, Liu Bei bowed and prepared to leave. "Alas... Xuande..."

Liu Wei called out to Liu Bei again: "Where is Gongsun Bogui's body now?"

This guy finally remembered Gongsun Zan.

"Brother Bogui's remains have been taken to the mortuary in the city. However, the situation of the bandits is still unclear. If Your Excellency wishes to hold the funeral, it will have to wait a few more days."

Liu Bei did indeed bring back Gongsun Zan's body; he couldn't let Gongsun Zan die in such an unclear way, so he had to at least be considered to have died in battle.

Liu Bei planned to hold a memorial service for him to see who would come to mourn.

A funeral cannot be held; the body must be transported back to his hometown in western Liaoning. This is the custom of the time, even though he was an official.

“I am not here to hold a funeral... I am here to take his head and impeach him for his crime of colluding with thieves!”

Liu Wei's eyes flashed with resentment: "If he hadn't abandoned Beixin City, how could the Taihang bandits have entered Zhuojun?! If he hadn't been incompetent, how could I have ended up in such a predicament? This scoundrel is hateful!"

Liu Bei felt somewhat uncomfortable. This Liu Wei was too harsh; after all, Gongsun Zan had saved his life.

Although the incident was indeed caused by Gongsun Zan, now that he is dead, why bother to pursue his past crimes and desecrate his corpse?
Offending people for no reason brings no benefit.

Oh, no...

It would be beneficial for Liu Wei to frame Gongsun Zan.

Liu Wei is trying to shift the blame...

Liu Wei must have realized that Fanyang and Beixincheng must have also been occupied by the Taihang bandits. Someone has to take the blame for this, otherwise Liu Wei would also be guilty of losing territory.

"It is likely that all the soldiers under the Prefect's command have perished in battle... This matter is indeed hateful."

Liu Bei echoed this, as a reminder to Liu Wei: Gongsun Zan was appointed by you, Liu Wei, as a separate commander. If you were to impeach him, then you, Liu Wei, would also be guilty.

"...Yes...that's right, most of the soldiers from other units died in battle..."

Liu Wei looked at Liu Bei, thought for a moment, and sighed: "Alas, Xuande, would you be willing to lead this separate tribe?"

"Why does Your Excellency still maintain this other unit? It would be best to reduce its size... Your Excellency has increased the number of troops in this other unit, yet the city was still attacked by bandits. This matter is likely to attract the attention of the Court of Justice."

In fact, Liu Bei knew what Liu Wei wanted to do—to recover the lost territory, it had to be recovered by officials appointed by Liu Wei, so that Liu Wei could be exempted from all charges.

However, Liu Bei had no desire to serve under Liu Wei. This guy was greedy, stingy, mean, and ungrateful; he would cause trouble sooner or later.

The fact that the county soldiers were all paid without working, and that additional units were set up but did not work, instead led to a major upheaval by the bandits in Zhuojun, constitutes dereliction of duty and incompetence, and is therefore easily investigated.

Being appointed as the commander of a separate department is not only a bad deal, as Liu Wei will take advantage of you for free, but you'll also have to deal with the Minister of Justice.

"Oh, yes... sigh... this department should be cut."

Liu Wei sighed dejectedly, "But there's no one left in the prefecture... Zhuo County has fallen, and Fanyang and Beixin City have naturally also fallen into enemy hands. If we don't take them back..."

"My lord, we can think of a way to recapture the city, but you must raise funds and provisions to hire volunteers. Only then will your efforts be truly appreciated..."

Liu Bei's meaning was: I'll help you recapture the city in your name, Liu Wei, but I'm not your subordinate. You, Liu Wei, can pay me more to hire me. Zhuojun is completely out of troops, so you have to let me organize a "volunteer army"...

"Yes, yes, that makes sense, but... Xuande... this city was raided by bandits, and my family's money and grain were also looted by them... I have no money to use right now..."

Liu Wei knew that this was the only way, but he really had no money left.

"In that case, Your Excellency might as well draft a proposal to sell land. If there are any vacant government lands in this prefecture, Your Excellency can use the land as collateral. You are quite familiar with people in the prefecture, so you can sell the land and perhaps raise money and grain."

Liu Bei gave Liu Wei a suggestion—which was also the only option Liu Wei could use at the moment, as he had no one else to rely on and could only entrust everything to Liu Bei…

Liu Wei didn't feel the slightest bit heartache at selling public land. Hearing Liu Bei say this, he immediately nodded: "Good, good, good! Xuande is both brave and resourceful, truly a treasure of the world!"

Therefore, Liu Wei wrote two more prefectural orders. One was to invite Liu Xuande of Zhuo County to recruit volunteers and temporarily supervise the troops to carry out the military affairs of suppressing bandits and driving out rebels.

Another option was to entrust Liu Bei with the sale of public land within the prefecture; any unclaimed land or land occupied by bandits could be sold…

(End of this chapter)