The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Regardless of whether Liu Bei agrees to ascend the throne, given what happened today, he will inevitably become emperor in the future; otherwise, he will face certain death.

Since Liu Bei will eventually ascend to the throne, Xun Yan, who opened the gates of Xudu to welcome Liu Bei into the city, will be blameless even if he has no merit.

Fu Wan simply did not understand that in this chaotic world, it was not whoever controlled the emperor who controlled the world, but rather whoever controlled the world who could control the emperor.

Moreover, Xun Yan also looked down on Fu Wan, this clown, and was even less willing to submit to this fool.

As Liu Bei's army entered the city, the imperial palace was quickly besieged by them.

Seeing Xun You striding towards him, Liu Xie grasped at a lifeline and said, "Minister Xun, do you still remember the life I saved in the past?"

Xun You's eyes flickered, and he cupped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, the Grand Commandant has no intention of usurping the throne. His journey south was only to help Your Majesty drive out Sun Quan. I truly do not understand why Your Majesty would break your promise to me and refuse to let the Grand Commandant into the city?"

Liu Xie said urgently, "Minister Xun, I was confused. Please tell the Grand Commandant that I know I was wrong! The Grand Commandant and I are both descendants of Emperor Gaozu. How can we fight each other? As long as the Grand Commandant is willing to stop the war, the Grand Commandant will be the Grand General!"

Xun You sighed: "If Your Majesty had not prevented the Grand Commandant from entering the city, things would have been fine. Now, the civil and military officials are angry with Your Majesty for discarding the Grand Commandant after he has served his purpose, and they are supporting the Grand Commandant as emperor outside the city. Although this is not the Grand Commandant's original intention, he is now in a difficult position. Your Majesty should know very well that if the Grand Commandant does not want to die a violent death in the future, he has no choice but to become emperor!"

Liu Xie slumped to the ground, dejected, and said, "The Grand Commandant is an outstanding figure of the Han Dynasty, and is indeed more suitable to be emperor than I am. If the Grand Commandant wants to be emperor, I am willing to abdicate."

Fu Wan exclaimed in alarm, "Your Majesty, you mustn't! If you abdicate, Your Majesty will surely be harmed by Liu Bei!"

"Shut up!" Liu Xie was already in a bad mood, and seeing Fu Wan babbling on again, his anger flared up: "If it weren't for your slander against the Grand Commandant, would I have fallen to such a state?"

Xun You quietly watched Liu Xie and Fu Wan shift blame to each other, and only after they had calmed down did he slowly speak: "The Grand Commandant will absolutely not accept His Majesty's abdication. If he did, the history books would surely record that the Grand Commandant usurped the throne. Therefore..."

Seeing Xun You pause, Liu Xie was immediately alarmed: "Minister Xun, have you come here to kill me?"

Xun You shook his head and said, "Your Majesty is overthinking it. How could I dare to kill my sovereign? I have come here to ask Your Majesty to go to Xiangyang and persuade Cao Cao to surrender."

"Xiang, Xiangyang?" Liu Xie was stunned for a moment, then said in horror, "Grand Commandant, do you want to use someone else to kill me, to make me die at the hands of Cao Cao?"

Xun You shook his head again: "Your Majesty has no worries, and the Grand Commandant has no such intention either."

Liu Xie was stunned: "I don't understand! If I go to Xiangyang, Cao Cao can still use me to command disobedient subjects. Why does the Grand Commandant do this?"

Xun You smiled faintly: "The Grand Commandant is benevolent and righteous, and does not wish to slaughter his own clan. I hope Your Majesty can consider the well-being of the people. The Han Dynasty is already ravaged and cannot withstand further war. I will teach Your Majesty how to proceed on the way."

Liu Xie was even more astonished: "Minister Xun, you're going too?"

Xun You nodded: "If I do not go, His Majesty will not be able to reach Xiangyang."

Seeing Xun You's solemn words, Liu Xie couldn't help but shudder: there are many people who want Liu Bei to become emperor, and it's possible that Liu Xie might die in an accident on the way.

"As for Fu Wan," Xun You said, a cold glint in his eyes, "he flattered the emperor and framed the Grand Commandant. According to the law, he should be executed. The Grand Commandant is benevolent and does not wish to kill any more people. I request Your Majesty to demote Fu Wan to a commoner."

Xun You truly hated Fu Wan.

According to Xun You's original plan, Liu Bei would smoothly enter Xuchang and become the Grand General. Xun You could also unite the Yingchuan gentry to help Liu Bei, which would be beneficial to both the Han Dynasty and the Yingchuan gentry.

Unfortunately, Fu Wan was so eager to kill Liu Bei that this angered Liu Bei's civil and military officials, who then staged a coup outside Xuchang to enthrone Liu Bei as emperor.

After this incident, Liu Bei had no choice but to declare himself emperor, even if he had no intention of doing so. If Liu Bei hadn't declared himself emperor, he would have surely died!

When Liu Bei declared himself emperor, Xun You was unable to perfectly achieve his initial goals.

However, Liu Bei was unwilling to bear the stigma of usurping the throne, so at Guo Tu's suggestion, Liu Bei decided to send Liu Xie to Xiangyang first, while sending Xun You to Xiangyang to negotiate terms with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei needed Cao Cao to act as a scapegoat.

The complete scenario is as follows: Liu Bei, acting on a secret edict from Liu Xie, drove away Sun Quan. To stop the war, Liu Xie decided to personally go to Xiangyang to persuade Cao Cao to surrender. Subsequently, Liu Xie relinquished the throne and went into seclusion with Fu Shou. Cao Cao reported the news and led his troops to surrender. Liu Bei then enthroned himself as emperor amidst the ministers' belief that "a country cannot be without a ruler for a day." He appointed Cao Cao as General Who Conquers the West, returned Cao Cao and his generals' families to him, and allowed Cao Cao to lead his troops to conquer the Western Regions.

In this way, Cao Cao would not have to submit to Liu Bei, and he could expand the territory of the Han Dynasty and gain widespread fame. As for how far Cao Cao could go, that would depend on his ability. In return, Liu Bei would treat Cao Cao and the descendants of his civil and military officials well and select the best to employ them.

Of course, Cao Cao could choose not to accept this script.

If he does not accept this, Liu Xiehui will "accidentally" die in Xiangyang!
When it comes to using poisonous schemes, Guo Tu is equally adept.

Liu Xie had no room to resist this script arrangement.

To survive and exit the stage with dignity was already a testament to Liu Bei's benevolence.

Liu Bei also promised that after Liu Xie went into seclusion, he could go to Xuzhou to study medicine with Wu Pu. He would also provide Liu Xie with a quiet place to study medicine and satisfy any reasonable request Liu Xie had other than power.

With Liu Xie's southward march, the war in the Central Plains subsided.

While Liu Bei was in charge of state affairs as Grand Commandant, he was also building momentum for Liu Xie to go to Xiangyang to persuade Cao Cao to surrender.

Upon hearing the news in Fancheng, Zhuge Liang also cooperated with Xun You to escort Liu Xie to Xiangyang.

Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang was also organizing his troops in Fancheng, preparing for the river crossing operation.

When Liu Xie appeared outside Xiangyang City in an attempt to persuade Cao Cao to surrender, Cao Cao, who had been worrying about his future journey, was so surprised that his headaches improved.

Because Liu Bei surrendered almost every time he marched south, and even the gates of Xuchang were opened by Xun Yan, Cao Cao had no time to prepare or contact Sun Quan, who had just suffered a defeat.

Whether to surrender or not became a difficult choice for Cao Cao.

Especially after learning from Xun You that the gentry of Yingchuan had completely defected to Liu Bei, Cao Cao found himself in an even more difficult position.

If he surrendered, Cao Cao would not be willing to be subordinate to Liu Bei; if he did not surrender, he would only be able to eke out a living.

Seeing that Cao Cao had no intention of fighting to the death, Xun You then revealed Liu Bei's promise that after he became emperor, he would appoint Cao Cao as General Who Conquers the West to lead the troops to conquer the Western Regions, and that he would treat Cao Cao and the descendants of his civil and military officials well.

He even added at the end: "If Lord Cao is unwilling, His Majesty will soon die in Xiangyang."

"Who offered such a treacherous plan!" Cao Cao was furious upon hearing this. If Liu Xie died in Xiangyang, Liu Bei could not only immediately declare himself emperor, but also cause Cao Cao to be deserted by his followers. The last person to kill a king was Liang Ji, a relative of the emperor!

Xun You sighed, "It doesn't matter who offered the treacherous plan. What matters is that the tide has turned in the Grand Commandant's hands. Moreover, the families of almost all of Cao Cao's civil and military officials are in Xuchang. With the Grand Commandant's heroic spirit, turning Cao Cao's civil and military officials against him would be as easy as turning his hand. Cao Cao and the Grand Commandant are both heroes of our time; we shouldn't fight to the death. I urge Cao Cao to reconsider!" (End of Chapter)