Brother, stop curling up! You're curling up like the founder of the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 153 Liu Bei's Plan to Conquer Luoyang, Jia Xu's Strategy to Become Emperor (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
While Qian Zhao was on her way to Chang'an, Jia Xu also returned to Chang'an from Chencang.

Upon hearing that he was to go to Luoyang and return to Dong Zhuo's command, Jia Xu immediately exclaimed, "Uncle, who is trying to harm me?"

Liu Bei's face immediately darkened: "Wenhe, what makes you say that? Would I possibly harm you?"

Knowing that his proposed strategy would displease Jia Xu, Xu You volunteered to persuade Liu Xiang and his son Liu Ba to enter Guanzhong on behalf of Liu Bei, and did not return to Chang'an with Liu Bei.

After thinking for a while, Jia Xu chuckled and bowed to Liu Bei to apologize: "So it was the Imperial Uncle's intention. I misunderstood just now."

Despite saying that, Jia Xu had another guess.

Jia Xu knew very well that Liu Bei's strategic focus had always been on Yongzhou; otherwise, he wouldn't have returned to Chang'an after the matter of deposing and installing emperors was over.

If you want to stay in Luoyang, why go back to Chang'an?

result.

After returning from the pursuit of Yuan Shu, Liu Bei changed his strategic focus.

If no one offered a solution, Jia Xu would never have believed it.

With Jia Xu's wisdom, he could actually see the dilemma Liu Bei faced in choosing Yongzhou as his strategic center.

However, for Jia Xu, survival was the most important thing.

Jia Xu was certain that if Liu Bei made Yongzhou his strategic center, Yongzhou would remain stable for the next thirty years.

As for how the world would develop thirty years from now, Jia Xu didn't care, because he would most likely have already passed away by then.

Children and grandchildren have their own blessings; why worry about what happens after they die? Jia Xu is like toothpaste—you have to squeeze out a little bit to get any out.

Now that Liu Bei has shifted his strategic focus from Yongzhou to Luoyang, Jia Xu can guess Liu Bei's intentions.

However, Liu Bei's intention contradicted Jia Xu's philosophy of life, which was to seek advantage and avoid harm.

Why did they abandon Dong Zhuo and join Liu Bei in the past?

Isn't it just that they think it's too dangerous to go to Luoyang with Dong Zhuo?
Now Liu Bei is also going to Luoyang, a place of trouble, and he wants Jia Xu to temporarily return to Dong Zhuo's command. According to Jia Xu's survival philosophy, running away is the safest option.

"Wenhe." Liu Bei smiled gently, but this smile gave Jia Xu the strange feeling that his hair stood on end.

"Uncle, could you please suggest someone else?" Jia Xu wanted to try again.

Why bother going to Luoyang to fight when you can just lie down comfortably in Chencang?
What kind of people are those in Luoyang?

If one person has eight hundred schemes, then a group of people will have eighty million schemes.

Either use force to subdue the other party and make them lose their senses, or use intelligence to prevent them from having any wild thoughts.

Jia Xu had no martial prowess, only intelligence, but intelligence requires mental effort, and Jia Xu didn't want to expend that effort; he just wanted to lie low.

"Wenhe can make recommendations. As long as they are capable, I will listen to Wenhe." Liu Bei remained as gentle as ever.

Although Liu Bei had more and more fierce generals under his command, he only had a handful of strategists.

Xu You went to Jiangxia to avoid Jia Xu and has not returned. Jian Yong, Yan Zhong, Liang Yan, and Yang Kuo can only handle government affairs, while Xun You is still serving as the governor of Hedong.

Apart from Jia Xu, there is currently no one who can devise a plan for Liu Bei.

Jia Xu was also unwilling to give up, so he recommended more than a dozen outstanding talents from Yong and Liang to Liu Bei. Liu Bei wrote them all down and then asked Chen Dao to give the list to Jian Yong so that Jian Yong could recruit them.

However, the post he was given was not in Luoyang.

“Uncle,” Jia Xu suddenly straightened his back, “I think this plan is unwise. Dong Zhuo is a man of extreme suspicion, especially after drinking, he doesn’t even trust Niu Fu. If I return to Luoyang now, I will surely arouse Dong Zhuo’s suspicion.”

"It doesn't matter that my intentions have been exposed. What's important is that I can't affect my uncle's grand plan. Therefore, I have three strategies, superior, middle, and inferior, to help my uncle take control of Luoyang."

Liu Bei feigned surprise: "Wenhe, you've misunderstood. I didn't say I wanted to take control of Luoyang. I was just asking you to temporarily return to Dong Zhuo's side. This is me returning the jade intact to Zhao."

Jia Xu solemnly replied, "Why must you deceive me, Imperial Uncle? If you think the three strategies of superior, middle, and inferior are too few, I have more than ten more. Even if you were to ascend the throne and become emperor, I would still be able to succeed."

In his heart, Jia Xu had already made up his mind: first, he would devise a plan to provoke Dong Zhuo and His Majesty into a conflict, then Dong Zhuo would kill His Majesty and the Prince of Hongnong, and then the Imperial Uncle would take the opportunity to kill Dong Zhuo; then the ministers would ask the Imperial Uncle to ascend the throne and become emperor on the grounds that "the country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and the Imperial Uncle can succeed to the throne"; if the Imperial Uncle wanted to replace a group of ministers, he could also use Dong Zhuo to slaughter all the ministers.

"Ahem—" Liu Bei quickly told Jia Xu to stop.

Ascend the throne and become emperor?

Do you have to go this far?!

"Wenhe, this is not right," Liu Bei reassured Jia Xu. "How about this, Wenhe, you don't need to go back to Dong Zhuo's side. You can stay in Chang'an for now, and when the time is right, you can return to Luoyang with me. What do you say?"

Liu Bei decisively abandoned the idea of ​​sending Jia Xu to Luoyang.

If Jia Xu goes too far in an attempt to save his own life, Liu Bei will be in a difficult situation.

Jia Xu breathed a sigh of relief, inwardly cursing the person who had offered Liu Bei the advice: "Don't let me catch you, or even if the Imperial Uncle protects you, I'll still give you a scare."

"I am willing to serve you, Imperial Uncle!" Jia Xu bowed deeply, and seeing that Liu Bei did not ask any more questions, he left with light steps.

Because Jia Xu was unwilling to go to Luoyang, Liu Bei was unable to find an opportunity to enter Luoyang by having Jia Xu offer advice to Dong Zhuo.

Liu Bei would not force anyone to do something against their will.

If Jia Xu is willing, that would be best; if Jia Xu is unwilling, Liu Bei will devise another plan.

Moreover, what Jia Xu just said was not without reason.

Dong Zhuo is a suspicious man; if Jia Xu were to die in Luoyang, the loss would be enormous.

Looking through the calendar of reign titles and months, Liu Bei fell into deep thought again.

After supporting Liu Xie as emperor last year, Dong Zhuo changed Guangxi to Zhaoning, and then changed Zhaoning to Yonghan. In December, the court issued an edict to remove the three reign titles of Guangxi, Zhaoning, and Yonghan and restore the Zhongping reign title.

Then, in the first month of the following year, the name was changed from Zhongping to Chuping.

It is now the 28th day of the second month of the first year of Chuping.

Unable to find a good solution for the time being, Liu Bei took Huang Zhong, Chen Dao, and others out of the city to go hunting.

At present, all eight colonels of the Yongzhou army have official positions, and Liu Bei has no intention of expanding the army for the time being, so he did not let Huang Zhong command troops alone, but only let Huang Zhong serve as an attendant to obey orders.

Huang Zhong did not mind.

Having just arrived in Chang'an, spending more time with Liu Bei will also increase mutual understanding.

Liu Bei has been governing Yongzhou for almost a year now.

The changes in Yongzhou were also tremendous, especially after the introduction of Nanyang scholars and commoners into Guanzhong, which added 30,000 households to Guanzhong, and this number continues to increase as more Nanyang scholars and commoners continue to enter Guanzhong.

Liu Bei's great victory over Yuan Shu convinced the people of Nanyang of the stability of Guanzhong, and many Nanyang people flocked to the area.

Yuan Shu's massive plundering of wealth and able-bodied men in Nanyang after his defeat in battle further fueled the desire of the Nanyang people to flee to Guanzhong.

"Whoosh-"

Huang Zhong fired an arrow, and a wild deer fell to the ground.

Cheers erupted from all around. Wild deer are agile and extremely difficult to shoot, yet Huang Zhong struck a vital spot with a single arrow.

"Today, I will let you all have your first taste of meat."

Liu Bei was also pleased because he shot a wild deer with this arrow.

For several days in a row, Liu Bei went hunting.

Occasionally, when I pass by the fields, I will stop and inquire about this year's spring planting.

Since Liu Bei promulgated a law last year to protect the basic food supply for tenant farmers, the tenant farmers in Yongzhou have been more energetic than before.

Although a few slackers were unwilling to work hard and only wanted to harvest enough food to survive, most tenant farmers worked harder than ever before in order to have more food left over in the coming year.

Most of them are people who have been hungry for a long time. Who wouldn't want to store more food at home?
It remains to be seen whether the new governor of Yongzhou will still enforce this law should Liu Bei step down in the future.

Liu Bei would also require his officials to instruct tenant farmers to be aware of potential crises, such as that if a drought occurred and the state government had no surplus grain, they would have to rely on stored grain to survive.

So store as much food as you can, and don't wait until there's no food left and watch your relatives and neighbors starve to death.

At present, Liu Bei is unable to increase productivity or introduce high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes. He can only use the most practical methods to encourage tenant farmers and self-cultivating farmers in Yongzhou to cultivate as much as possible, and to cultivate intensively as much as possible.

Liu Bei would also do his best to repair the water conservancy facilities, and the monthly wage of a thousand coins was to speed up the repair process.

If laborers were forced to perform corvée labor for free, it would not only affect farming but also cause workers to slack off and delay the construction schedule, ultimately impacting the entire population of Yongzhou.

Money is meant to be used.

Dead money has no economic value.

In particular, the wealthier people are, the less they should treat their money as dead money. They must spend it to stimulate more consumption in order to turn their money into living money.

As long as there is enough food and clothing to match the money and a sufficient market demand, there is no need to worry about excessive money circulation causing inflation.

March 3rd.

Qian Zhao also traveled all the way to Chang'an.

However, Liu Bei did not stay in Chang'an, nor did he go hunting. Instead, he went to a farm in Lantian.

The owner of the farm was none other than Bi Lan, one of the former eunuchs, and the first eunuch to enter Guanzhong after the Beiman Mountain.

In order to survive in Guanzhong, Bi Lan brought Liu Bei a bunch of blueprints and models, including luxury crafts such as the Tianlu toad and the Fanche thirsty bird from Luoyang, as well as agricultural crafts such as the dragon bone waterwheel and the seed drill.

In addition, there are a large number of artisans.

In order to curry favor with Liu Hong, Bi Lan spent a lot of money to win over a large number of craftsmen. Now, some of these craftsmen have died or fled, and the rest have followed Bi Lan into the pass.

There are more than 300 skilled craftsmen and apprentices scattered around.

This is also why Liu Bei treated Bi Lan specially.

Liu Bei did not want to concern himself with the past. As long as Bi Lan could lead these three hundred men to design or modify tools that would benefit agriculture based on the specific conditions of Guanzhong, Liu Bei would not only forgive and forget the past, but also give Bi Lan and the others more rewards.

After carefully studying the structure of the seed drill and personally operating it, Liu Bei was very satisfied with Bi Lan's attitude.

A seed drill consists of three legs, hence the name three-legged seed drill.

The three-legged seed drill has three furrow openers. When sowing, an ox pulls the seed drill, and the seed drill feet open furrows on the leveled land to sow the seeds, while simultaneously covering and compacting the soil.

It achieves multiple benefits in one fell swoop, saving time and effort, so its efficiency can reach "planting one hectare per day".

The Guanzhong region has always been a major area for the use of seed drills.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Zhao Guo, the Commandant of Grain Supply, improved and promoted the three-legged seed drill, achieving standardized planting with "row spacing of one foot and grain spacing of three inches," which was highly compatible with the needs of millet planting in the Guanzhong Plain.

Due to the war and the sharp decrease in the population of Guanzhong, most of the existing seed drills in Guanzhong are defective products, crudely made and inefficient.

It was only after Bi Lan and others improved the seed drill that Liu Bei truly saw the possibility of standardized planting.

"From now on, you will be the Assistant Director of Agriculture in Yongzhou, in charge of the research, experimentation, and production of agricultural and water conservancy tools. All necessary funds can be allocated from the Quanzhou government office in Yongzhou." Liu Bei directly gave Bi Lan a new appointment.

Bi Lan was filled with trepidation: "I still have surplus wealth, so there is no need for Imperial Uncle to allocate funds from the Quanzhou Prefecture."

It was already lucky to survive, and it was even more fortunate to be entrusted with important responsibilities by Liu Bei. Bi Lan was good at flattery, so he naturally dared not go to Quanzhou, Yongzhou to transfer personnel again.

“Yongzhou has its own laws and regulations, and the government’s affairs should be handled with the government’s money.” Liu Bei rejected Bi Lan’s attempt to take shortcuts and said, “Keep your hands and those of your men in check. If you break the law, I will send you to the execution ground just the same.”

"As for your men, it is none of my business if you want to use your own money to reward them. But I must emphasize that there are neither slave farmers nor slave laborers in Yongzhou."

Bi Lan felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly replied, "This humble servant will obey the orders of the Imperial Uncle."

Upon returning to Lantian County, She Yuan immediately relayed the news of Qian Zhao's mission to Chang'an.

"Zijing has come to Chang'an?" Liu Bei was both surprised and delighted.

It had been almost two years since Liu Bei entered Luoyang. Although Jian Yong had joined his ranks, Qian Zhao had not yet arrived, which made Liu Bei feel very regretful.

However, Liu Bei could only express his regret over Yue Yin's death. During the turmoil in Luoyang, Liu Bei himself was in danger and could not take care of everyone.

Liu Bei respected Qian Zhao's choice and did not force Qian Zhao to join his ranks.

Friends must respect each other; otherwise, even the best friendship will disappear due to a lack of respect.

They sped back to Chang'an.

Upon seeing Qian Zhao chatting with Jian Yong, Liu Bei warmly stepped forward and said, "Zijing, how have you been?"

"I am Qian Zhao, a court official, and I pay my respects to the Imperial Uncle. I have come to deliver the imperial edict on the orders of Minister Dong." Qian Zhao bowed and explained his purpose.

Shangshulang?
edict?

Liu Bei frowned.

Normally, imperial edicts would not be read by a court official, much less by someone specifically chosen to read them.

"Since we have official business, we can catch up with Zijing later," Liu Bei said with a slightly stern tone.

Subsequently.

Qian Zhao read the contents of the imperial edict aloud.

After the process was over, Qian Zhao changed his tone: "Minister Zhou Bi told me that this was Dong Sikong's plan to promote him in name only but demote him in reality, so as to take advantage of Xuande's campaign against the rebels in Yuzhou to seize Yongzhou. Therefore, he recommended me as a Gentleman of the Palace, and asked me to remind Xuande not to enter Luoyang lightly after the imperial edict was announced."

"The waters of Luoyang are truly murky," Liu Bei sneered. "Zijing, you've been fooled. This is Zhou Bi's scheme to sow discord, trying to incite me to fight against Dong Zhuo."

Qian Zhao was shocked: "Who told you this, Xuande? Minister Zhou helped me escort my master's body back to his hometown and repeatedly advised me not to be discouraged by my master's matter. If it weren't for Minister Zhou, I wouldn't have been able to come to Chang'an to inform Xuande."

Liu Bei scoffed, "Zijing, don't focus on what Zhou Bi did, but on the consequences of his actions. Your words today have already become instigation."

"Although Zhou Bi and I supported the new emperor, we had no personal relationship. In order to gain Dong Zhuo's trust, he did not hesitate to arrest Yuan Wei's followers."

"Now they have deliberately sent Zijing into Chang'an, just to incite me against Dong Zhuo. Their intentions are despicable!"

(End of this chapter)