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

Chapter 276: Happy to miss Shu
On the third day of the third month of the fifth year of Zhangwu, it was the Shangsi Festival.

Liu Bei's carriage traveled from the southern suburbs of Chang'an to the Jianzhang Palace military camp in the western suburbs.

The day before, the Wei troops in the camp had received what was said to be Cao Zhen's dying order to retreat north.

At this time, the camp had been repaired by the Han army's auxiliary troops, leaving only a few tents and warehouses.

The rest of the space is all empty.

However, defensive fortifications such as wooden palisades, watchtowers, and chevaux-de-frise were still preserved.

There was just one more door opened in the direction facing Chang'an.

It is located precisely where two towering "Phoenix Gates" stand.

The palaces here have long been destroyed since the chaos of the Xin Dynasty more than two hundred years ago.

These two phoenix gate towers on the east side are among the few remaining structures.

According to the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, the two gate towers were originally over twenty zhang high and decorated with bronze phoenixes, hence the name "Phoenix Gate Towers".

The term "Phoenix Palace" was used by later scholars to refer to the imperial court, and this is where it originated.

Even from a later perspective, it is magnificent.

However, at this point, only a seven- or eight-zhang-long (approximately 33-40 meters) wreckage remained.

Besides the two towers, there are two other places worth visiting.

One of them is Taiye Pond, located in the central area.

Because the pool's water is drawn from the Kunming Canal around Chang'an, it has never dried up.

One of the customs of the Shangsi Festival is to bathe by the water to ward off evil spirits.

Therefore, this large pool became the main venue for today's banquet for all people.

Mi Wei and his men escorted Liu Bei directly to the lakeside pavilion.

The second is the huge rammed earth platform located in the northwest corner, which is called the Divine Platform.

It is said that at its peak it was fifty zhang tall, more than twice as tall as the two "Phoenix Gates" to the east.

Emperor Wu of Han once ordered the placement of a bronze immortal figure on top of him to collect rain and dew, in order to realize his dream of immortality.

The Bronze Immortal has long since disappeared.

The remaining earthen platform is still quite high.

It was previously used by Cao Zhen as a command platform and observation post.

The jade coffin, which is said to be from Ye County, is now placed in a prominent position.

Today, the spring sunshine is bright and beautiful.

However, Liu Bei's spirits were truly not good.

I fell into a deep sleep three times during that period.

Miwei and the others had to abandon their original plan to go up on stage and only let the shaman go up to perform sacrifices and pray for blessings.

As people from both inside and outside the city arrived for the banquet, they gradually made their way to the banquet.

The banquet then moved on to its first item: bestowing rewards.

The first to receive the rewards were soldiers and laborers who had distinguished themselves in the campaign.

The rewards were mainly in the form of money and silk.
Prime Minister Zhuge Liang personally supervised the distribution of rewards to various departments, verifying every detail to ensure fairness.

As for the rewards for high-ranking generals, those rewards would be determined after the war was completely over.

The second group to receive the rewards were the officials and local worthies from Guanzhong who had come to join them along the way.

The rewards for these people are mostly hereditary official positions.

Just then, Liu Bei regained consciousness, and Mi Wei helped him to toast with everyone, and then announced the rewards in front of everyone.

The third batch of rewards was somewhat special.

It's not directed at any specific person.

Instead, it was Chang'an, which was just a stone's throw away.

There were two imperial edicts in total:
Firstly, all those who leave the city to attend the banquet will be given wine and food. Regardless of whether they are officials or commoners, they may go or go as they please before sunset.

Secondly, all those who revert to the Han dynasty will be considered citizens of the Han. Their houses in the capital and the gardens and mulberry fields outside the city will be preserved and returned to them, just like the story of Chengdu in the past.

This "reward" had already been delivered to the city yesterday through Wang Zhao's channels.

He repeated it in public again today, which once again caused an uproar among the crowd.

If the first provision of indiscriminately providing food and wine was merely a formality demonstrating Liu Bei's magnanimity, then this was not the case.

This second point reassured most of the people in the city.

This is not only because Liu Bei explicitly established this system in the form of an imperial edict, as the saying goes, "a ruler's word is law."

Furthermore, Liu Bei had made a similar decision as early as the Battle of Yizhou.

After capturing Chengdu that year, someone suggested distributing the city's fields and houses to the generals.

At that time, Zhao Yun, as one of the main generals, took the initiative to refute this argument.

They believed that the people of Yizhou should be allowed to live and work in peace and prosperity to win their favor before any labor service or relocation was implemented, which would be a long-term solution.

Following Zhao Yun's suggestion, Liu Bei returned the people's fields and houses, which led to the great order and prosperity of Shu.

From the subsequent struggles for Hanzhong and Guanzhong to the present Northern Expedition into Guanzhong, the logistical supply of the Yizhou army has always been guaranteed.

This is not unrelated to the strategy of treating the people of Chengdu well back then.

With this precedent as a reference.

Today's actions are done according to precedent, so their credibility is naturally high.

In fact, upon learning of this edict yesterday, Wang Zhao immediately praised it, comparing it to the "Three Laws" between Emperor Gaozu of Han and the Qin people. Although this might be considered flattery.

But it is enough to reflect the will of the people.

In short, with the issuance of the two edicts, the atmosphere of today's festival banquet instantly became lively.

Ordinary people might wash their feet by the pond, laughing and chatting, enjoying a rare day of peace amidst the looming threat of war.

Or they could sit on the ground, enjoying the warm sunshine and the food and wine distributed by the Han army.

Soldiers from Sichuan became the most popular people.

He was surrounded by the elders of Guanzhong, who were all asking him about the details of the old story of "returning fields and houses" in Chengdu.

Even merchants, artisans, and entertainers who made a living in the city came to offer their treasures and perform their arts in exchange for rewards.

This added a lot of color to the otherwise somewhat monotonous festival feast.

It is unclear who started it, but after the people had bathed and washed, they flocked to the pavilion to offer a toast to Liu Bei.

Faced with the enthusiastic soldiers and civilians, Liu Bei, despite his illness, struggled to maintain a sitting posture with the help of Mi Wei.

He forced a warm smile onto his pale face.

They received waves of people who came forward to kowtow and offer toasts.

Each nod, each gesture, drained his already dwindling strength.

Zhuge Liang and Mi Wei were both worried and unwilling to disturb him.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd raised a loud question:

"Your Majesty has now arrived in Chang'an. Will you return to Shu in the future?"

Upon hearing this question, many perceptive people changed color, or even glared angrily at the person who had asked the abrupt question.

Of course, it's important to show anger promptly.

Who doesn't know that Liu Bei's return to the former capital of the Han Dynasty as the Emperor of Han was a highly symbolic political and military action?
Asking this question at this time, is it questioning the Han army's ability to capture Chang'an, or questioning their confidence in holding Chang'an afterward?
But that's not the case.

This issue also concerns the vital interests of many of those present who had surrendered.

After all, no matter how beautifully Liu Bei's edict was worded, it ultimately had to be based on the premise that the Shu Han rulers and ministers could defend Chang'an and Guanzhong.

Otherwise, if they surrender to Han today, and Wei troops return tomorrow, wouldn't they be caught in the middle, pleasing neither side?

This problem can be big or small.

Liu Bei was extremely exhausted, so Prime Minister Zhuge Liang answered on his behalf.

However, it was pointing diagonally to the jade coffin on the high platform to the northwest, which had attracted much attention:
"His Majesty made a grand vow when he entered the pass: to live in the pass and be buried in Chang'an when he dies."

"This coffin was brought to Ye County by His Majesty when he was campaigning against the traitor Cao. It has now manifested itself... truly fulfilling its destiny!"

This is an explanation from the perspective of apocryphal and metaphysical texts.

He then pointed to himself and said:

"Our 200,000 soldiers from Yi, Jing and Liang prefectures, obeyed the imperial edict to suppress the rebels, and were victorious in every battle, even the false emperor dared not enter Tong Pass... This is in accordance with the will of Heaven!"

This is a guarantee provided by military strength.

After speaking, he ordered the three prisoners, who were held in cages, to be brought forward and displayed to the public as if they were on a tour of a park.

It was Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou under Cao Wei.

And Xiahou Mao's two younger brothers, the governor of Guanzhong.

Earlier, some people speculated that the three had become Liu Bei's prisoners.

Seeing is believing at this moment, and there is no more doubt.

With prisoners of this caliber as evidence, those who had doubts about the strength of the Han army naturally dared not speak out any longer.

Liu Bei, on the other hand, seemed distracted, unsure whether he had misheard the question or was thinking of something else entirely.

Suddenly he muttered to himself:
"The feast for all people here was wonderful, but it ultimately failed to enter the capital. What a pity!"

These words immediately chilled the atmosphere that was just beginning to warm up.

As soon as Liu Bei finished speaking, he realized his mistake and regretted his sudden lapse in judgment.

"Your Majesty, I disagree!"

Miwei suddenly stepped forward.

Liu Bei: "What do you mean?"

Mi Wei: "I believe Your Majesty is in the capital at this moment!"

"His Majesty once said: 'To accomplish great things, one must prioritize the people.'"

"Today, here stands the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and the people of the Han capital. This place is the capital of the Han Dynasty, this place is Chang'an!"

"If Chang'an has neither an emperor nor people, even if it has thousands of palaces, it will be cold and desolate. What kind of 'Chang'an' would it be?"

Upon hearing this, everyone glanced at the Han emperor, who was revered by the people, standing by the pond.

Then, he subconsciously glanced at the desolate city wall behind him.

They all nodded in approval.

Some clever individuals even pointed out on the spot that the character "章" in Jianzhang Palace corresponds to the reign title "章武".

It is also the will of Heaven in the dark.

It was proposed that Jianzhang Palace be the main palace of the Shu Han emperor from now on.

Liu Bei laughed heartily upon hearing this.

He smiled at Mi Wei:
"I'm so happy here, I don't miss home at all!"

(End of this chapter)