The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 166 The alternation of old and new
General Zhaohan!

His rank is above that of military advisor and general!
Wouldn't that mean he would be ranked second only to the Four Expeditionary Generals and the Four Garrison Generals, becoming the number one general among all the major generals?

Moreover, the name "Zhao Han" was highly symbolic within the Shu Han regime.

This is similar to the "Anhan General" of Mi Zhu back then.

Although Li Shao had anticipated this, he was still filled with envy and sighed:
“One is Mi Anhan, and the other is Mi Zhaohan. This Mi family has two Hans, which is much more distinguished than my Li family with three dragons!”

Yang Xi had long been amazed.

Upon hearing Li Shao's statement, he found it amusing and picked up his pen again to write it down on the bamboo slip.

Li Shao was used to this.

Suddenly, I remembered something my brother had mentioned yesterday, and said:
"I have heard that an envoy will be sent from Luoyang to Shu."

Yang Xi had never heard of this before, and couldn't help but wonder:

"As the saying goes, the Han and the traitors cannot coexist."

"The rulers and ministers of Cao Wei surely know that Your Majesty will never make peace with them before establishing your rule over the Central Plains. What use would sending envoys be?"

Li Shao: "I share this view."

"However, my brother said that although the Wei envoy's arrival in Shu may not be useful, we can't stop those cowards in Jiangdong from thinking too much!"

“In the past, during the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao, Qin was worried that Zhao would form an alliance against Qin, so it deliberately negotiated peace with Zhao.”

"King Xiaocheng of Zhao was eager to end the war, so he sent Zheng Zhu, who was renowned among the states, to Qin."

"When Wei and Chu saw that Zheng Zhu was treated with great courtesy by Qin, they concluded that Zhao was not determined to form an alliance and stopped sending reinforcements."

"The State of Zhao was thus isolated and was ultimately defeated by the Qin army at Changping!"

"So it was a scheme to sow discord!" Yang Xi immediately understood.

He was filled with indignation.

This was partly because the Cao Wei rulers and their ministers harbored malicious intentions.

Partly because of a certain King Wu of Wei who was indecisive.

This shallow tactic of sowing discord might actually trick Mr. Sun.

He then said, “Cao Pi clearly has ill intentions. Why don’t we write to the court and dismiss the envoy before the imperial carriage returns south, so as not to damage the Liu-Sun alliance!”

However, Li Shao shook his head and said:
"If it were someone else as an envoy, it would be fine, but since it's that old friend who's come, it wouldn't be good to turn him away on the spot."

Yang Xi was taken aback upon hearing this:
"Old friend?"

……

"I dislike the indiscriminate use of punishments."

"After conquering Shu, he ordered scholars to formulate strict laws, intending to use severe punishments in a chaotic world to reverse the decadent atmosphere in Shu during Liu Zhang's time."

“Since you are county officials employed by me, and you know the law yet break it, how can I gain the trust of the people if you are not severely punished according to the law?”

"Kill them all!"

At Liu Bei's command, several county officials had their hats and belts removed, and their heads fell to the ground amidst a flash of swords.

The officials and civilians who witnessed the execution were all filled with solemn fear.

Yet few people expressed dissatisfaction.

Because the people Liu Bei killed today were all those who had just been found to have stolen government grain, and the evidence against them was conclusive.

However, others only thought that Liu Bei was strictly enforcing the law.

Mi Wei followed Liu Bei south.

Of course, it is known that Liu Bei strictly inspected grain reserves on his return journey, which was undoubtedly related to what he had seen and heard in Liangzhou and Longyou over the past six months.

The Guanzhong region was short of food, and the Wei army in Guanzhong could not provide supplies, which allowed the Han army to take advantage of the situation and swallow it up in one fell swoop.

If Ji Han were to take over Kansai in the future, and he were equally unable to provide support, it is possible that he might lose it again in the future.

A lesson from the past, a teacher of the future.

It would be ridiculous for the victors of this battle not to learn from the lessons of the losers.

At this point, Liu Bei offered some words of encouragement to the remaining officials, then turned back to the emperor's carriage and addressed Mi Wei, who had been granted special permission to ride alongside him:
"When I first ordered Kongming, Xiaozhi, Zichu and others to formulate the Shu Code, it was originally a temporary measure."

"Now that the territory has expanded, and people in different places have different customs, we cannot simply resort to executions."

"It needs to be further improved in the future to make it a national legal system."

"Please remember this matter and write a policy essay about it later, and submit it to the Imperial Secretariat for public discussion."

Mi Wei immediately wrote it down.

It's impossible to shirk responsibility.

I can only go back and write this short essay carefully.

As the only attendant in the imperial entourage, this was simply his duty.

Fortunately, Liu was a pragmatic ruler who preferred to address issues directly. If it were a great literary figure like Cao Cao or his son from the Jian'an period, he would probably have had to worry about how to polish his writing.

Otherwise, if the writing is too dry, it will be collectively despised by that group of "cultured people".

While pondering, Liu Bei suddenly patted the tiger-patterned carriage armrest in front of him and sighed:
"Wenxiu and your father are ill, are you aware of that?"

Mi Wei: "I have heard that he fell ill at the beginning of summer."

"Among them, Situ Gong was more seriously ill and almost did not survive several times."

"My father's condition was milder, and he recovered before autumn."

Mi Wei heard about Xu Jing and Mi Zhu's illness on his way home.

However, their conditions were different.

Xu Jingchun was simply old and physically weak.

After all, he was born during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han, and is already over seventy years old this year.

It is a living fossil that witnessed the entire history of the decline and fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty at the end of the dynasty.

Although his father, Mi Zhu, was also old, he was mostly frightened by the six months he had "died" in battle.

I heard that during this time, Mi Fang even made a special trip back to Jiangling to invite the divine doctor Zhang to Sichuan.

Later, as news of his survival spread southwards, his father's condition improved.

So Doctor Zhang was invited to the Situ residence to treat Xu Jing again.

However, Mi Zhu had an additional side effect.

They would write letters every few days from afar to urge the birth of a child.

That makes sense, though.

It just so happened that Mi Wei had been separated from his wife for more than half a year and missed her very much, so he accompanied the emperor back south.

However, Liu Bei did not finish his sentence here:
"My old friends are either old or sick. I wonder how many years I have left to live, and whether I will live long enough to achieve my great ambitions?"

There is only one answer to this kind of question:
"Your Majesty is in the prime of life and should have no such worries!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei chuckled and said:
"If I were in my prime, wouldn't you be a helpless infant crying for food?"

He then waved his hand to interrupt Mi Wei, who was about to admit it directly, and said:
"Old people will always leave, and new people will always come; this is the will of Heaven, and cannot be changed by human effort."

"Just yesterday, I received a memorial from Liu Zichu, who requested to retire."

Miwei was startled upon hearing this:
"Liu Lingjun is also ill?"

"Begging for one's remains" literally means that an official requests that his remains be returned to his hometown for burial.

In reality, the officials requested to resign due to old age or illness.

Mi Wei recalled history and vaguely remembered that Liu Ba seemed to have died of illness in the last two years.

As for the reason, it was different from that of Xu Jing and his father.

The key to governing the world lies in the Book of Documents.

Liu Ba was nominally the top leader of the Ministry of Personnel, but in reality, he was the second-in-command.

In terms of workload and work pressure, he was second only to Zhuge Liang.

With heavy work pressure combined with age, it's no wonder she got sick.

If Dr. Zhang were to come and see him, he would probably only advise him to retire immediately.

After all, not everyone can maintain their high energy level until their fifties, like the prime minister.

He then said, "If Lord Liu retires, the position of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat will need to be filled by another virtuous and capable person. I wonder if Your Majesty has someone in mind?"

Liu Bei smiled and asked, "Would you be willing to succeed Liu Zichu?"

No, man!
Mi Wei knew, of course, that Liu Bei was joking.

After all, I'm not old enough or experienced enough.

But what can you do when Lao Liu is someone who likes to promote newcomers despite the odds?
He seriously doubted that if he agreed, Liu Bei would actually push him into that important and prominent position.

Then I would live the kind of arduous and fulfilling life that Prime Minister Zhuge Liang led, working tirelessly until his dying breath.

Then we won't be able to lie flat anymore!
It's not that you have to lie down.

But doesn't that mean I still have to go home and have children with my wife?

With overtime work every day, who has time to create humans!
Then, a thought struck him, and he said with a generous expression:

"Your Majesty, I am willing to share your burdens!"

"But I have heard that Ma Jichang has achieved considerable success in governing Wuling, and it is generally agreed that he may be suitable to succeed as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat."

"I ask myself, am I not as talented or virtuous as Ma Jichang? I fear I will not be able to win the hearts of the people!"

(End of this chapter)