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

Chapter 192 Yuan Shu Actually Won, Liu Bei Plots for Yangzhou (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
In Yuzhou and Xuzhou, there were also special personnel who delivered the complete simplified characters to the governors and prime ministers of the various prefectures and kingdoms.

Liu Bei's requirements were simple: officials should learn the simplified characters first, then popularize and promote them, and in the future, simplified characters would gradually become the norm in military and political exchanges.

As for whether the common people of Yuzhou and Xuzhou wanted to learn it, Liu Bei did not force them.

However, as long as officials are required to use it, the common people will naturally take the initiative to learn it.

There are fewer obstacles to implementing laws in times of chaos than in times of peace.

After all, in chaotic times, if reasoning doesn't work, force can. If you don't become an official, there are plenty of others who will.

Not only that.

Liu Bei also sent a gift to Zheng Xuan of Beihai Kingdom, and Cao Cao, who had already occupied Taishan Commandery, also sent a gift.

Qingzhou is in decline and has very few talented people.

If Cao Cao wanted to quickly establish himself in Beihai and Donglai based in Taishan Commandery, he also had to rely on his own efforts and actively cultivate people who could read and write.

This was no longer a question of whether Cao Cao was willing or not, but rather that the pressure of reality forced Cao Cao to cultivate the talent himself.

Cao Cao's ability to annotate Sun Tzu's Art of War was partly due to this reason: most of his trusted confidants in the army were not from military families; they were all skilled warriors who joined the army later in life and honed their skills through battlefield experience and learning on the job.

However, what frustrated Cao Cao was that getting a group of rough men who liked to wield swords and sticks to study and then teach their close confidants to read was even more difficult than making them stand in the sun all day as punishment.

The biggest problem is that the characters are too difficult to remember and obscure, making it difficult to promote effectively.

The appearance of Liu Bei's cartload of simplified Chinese characters in the Thousand Character Classic caught Cao Cao's eye.

"Xuande always manages to surprise people!"

"Fengxiao, I'm leaving this matter to you."

Cao Cao directly entrusted the task of promoting simplified characters to Guo Jia, with whom he had a very pleasant relationship.

Guo Jia was also overjoyed.

Guo Jia, who came from a poor family, endured unspeakable hardships in his pursuit of education.

Wealthy families have secret methods for their scions to quickly learn to read, which they generally don't pass on to outsiders. Even if poor families manage to learn these methods by chance, they use extremely clumsy ones.
The simplified Chinese Thousand Character Classic allowed Guo Jia to see a bright future for scholars from humble backgrounds!
This catchy four-character text, along with simplified characters that are both concise and aesthetically pleasing, can be memorized by even a young child who has never read before, through repeated reading and recitation.

Whether you understand the meaning or not is not important. First, teach the characters, then teach the meaning. After reading for a few years, you will naturally understand.

"The Imperial Uncle is a man of great talent, surpassing all wise men of the past and present."

Guo Jia praised him sincerely, and his respect for Liu Bei grew even stronger.

Although this praise is somewhat exaggerated, Guo Jia, who came from a humble background, understood all too well the epoch-making innovation of the simplified Thousand Character Classic.

This is practically tailor-made for scholars from poor families!
"No wonder Xuande required every soldier in the Western Garden Army to study. This was all planned out in advance. The soldiers of the Western Garden Army started with the difficult parts and then moved on to the easier ones. Now they are learning the simplified Thousand Character Classic, which will make their efforts twice as effective." Cao Cao couldn't help but recall his time in the Western Garden Army.

Liu Bei was ruthless back then; he even required ordinary soldiers to study.

By comparing this with the simplified Chinese characters in the Thousand Character Classic, Cao Cao had already guessed Liu Bei's intentions.

When Cao Cao first decided to join Liu Bei in opposing Yuan Shao, he made a great decision because he knew how powerful Yuan Shao's influence was, with his followers and former officials spread throughout the land.

In contrast, Liu Bei completely disregarded the Yuan family's background.

Looking back now, Cao Cao finally understood the reason: as long as Liu Bei had power, he could quickly cultivate disciples, and after he pacified the world, the disciples Liu Bei had cultivated would be enough to be distributed to various prefectures and counties.

By then, the idea that Yuan's disciples and former officials were all over the world will be a thing of the past; only Liu Bei's disciples and former officials will be everywhere.

These protégés and former officials, personally trained by Liu Bei, would mostly defend Liu Bei's power for their own interests.

The longer time goes on, the more literate people there will be, and the advantages of powerful and aristocratic families will gradually fade away.

Although new interest groups may emerge, there will never be a situation like the Yuan family, whose four generations of high-ranking officials had disciples and former subordinates all over the country.

However, if Liu Bei knew that Cao Cao was thinking this way, he would just laugh and say: I didn't think that much. I just wanted to quickly promote simplified characters. If there are too few literate people, I won't be able to use all my big moves later.

Although Liu Bei even sent Yuan Shao a simplified version of the Thousand Character Classic, he completely ignored Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Liu Dai of Yangzhou.

It wasn't that Liu Bei didn't want Jingyang to promote simplified characters, but rather that he was waiting for an opportunity.

Given Liu Biao and Liu Dai's current influence in Jingyang, it is not yet time to promote simplified characters.

After all, Ye City had an emperor. If the emperor wanted to promote it, the general also wanted to promote it, and those who were unwilling would be beaten.

Jingzhou and Yangzhou are different.

Liu Biao relied on the Kuai and Cai families. If these two families were unwilling to promote him, it would be useless for Liu Biao to have ambitions for hegemony. Instead, people would think that Liu Biao wanted to take the opportunity to weaken the Kuai and Cai families.

As for Liu Dai, he was utterly defeated by Yuan Shu.

Because Liu Biao chose to let Huang Zu watch the show in Jiangxia, Lu Kang's plan for the Jiangxia army to assist in the defense of Lujiang did not materialize. While Sun Jian and Liu Dai were attacking Shouchun, Zhou Xin from the neighboring Danyang took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Lujiang.

Upon learning of the loss of Lujiang, Liu Dai urgently ordered Sun Jian to cover the rear, and then rushed back to rescue Lujiang.

While Zhou Xin launched a rapid attack on Lujiang, he also ordered Zhou Ang to ambush Liu Dai on his inevitable route.

Caught off guard, Liu Dai was ambushed by Zhou Ang, who had been waiting in ambush. Not only did his troops suffer a crushing defeat, but Liu Dai was also captured alive by Zhou Ang.

When Sun Jian learned that Liu Dai had been captured, he was terrified. He dared not return to Lujiang, nor was he willing to surrender to Yuan Shu. So he led his troops to Xuzhou to join Gai Xun.

Zhou Ang, who had captured Liu Dai, returned to Wancheng to assist Zhou Xin. Although Lu Kang was skilled in military affairs, almost all the troops in the city had been taken away by Liu Dai and Sun Jian.

Now that Liu Dai has been captured alive, morale has plummeted. After being attacked by Zhou Ang and Zhou Xin, Wan City was also breached, and Liu Dai's wife and children, as well as more than a hundred members of Lu Kang's clan, were all captured.

However, Zhou Xin did not kill Lu Kang.

Liu Dai was not mistaken; Zhou Xin and Yuan Shu were indeed at odds, and the three brothers Zhou Xin, Zhou Ang, and Zhou Yu had always supported Yuan Shao.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei's great victory over the rebels in three provinces led to the division of Yuan's forces in Yu and Xu provinces, making it difficult for Zhou Xin to respond to Yuan Shao in Jing and Yang provinces.

Therefore, they allied with Zang Hong, who was holding the city of Guangling, and feigned support for Yuan Shu. Zhou Xin still needed Lu Kang's reputation in Yangzhou for the time being.

Therefore, after capturing Liu Dai and Lu Kang, Zhou Xin recommended Zang Hong to Yuan Shu as General Who Conquers the North and Governor of Yangzhou to replace Lu Kang.

Yuan Shu was naturally pleased that Zang Hong, who had a blood feud with Liu Bei, was willing to become the governor of Yangzhou, and he also ordered Zhou Xin to escort Liu Dai to Shouchun.

Although Liu Dai was not very capable, his position as the governor of Yangzhou appointed by the Luoyang court was enough to make the Yuan family proud.

Yuan Shu immediately ordered Liu Dai to be beheaded and his head displayed in Shouchun.

He also sent a proclamation to Xuzhou and Yanzhou, saying that he had killed Liu Dai to avenge Tao Qian and Yuan Yi, and that they would entrust them with important responsibilities as long as they submitted.

With Liu Dai gone from Yangzhou, and the three brothers Zang Hong and Zhou Xin feigning support for Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu nominally controlled the entire territory of Yangzhou and half of Guangling County.

The troops under his command were no longer a hastily assembled motley crew of 100,000, but also included the troops of Zang Hong and the three Zhou brothers.

Originally, Yuan Shu intended to head directly north to Xuzhou and Yuzhou, but after learning that Sun Jian had gone to Xuzhou and that Yuzhou had a large army, he became hesitant and changed his target to Jingzhou.

They launched a surprise attack on Jiangxia.

The sudden outbreak of war caught Huang Zu off guard, and he was defeated by Zhou Ang in one battle, leaving him no choice but to repeatedly call for help from Liu Biao.

Liu Biao was also shocked: I only stopped Huang Zu from sending troops to help defend, Liu Dai, how did you lose Lujiang?

Although Liu Biao knew that Liu Dai was incompetent, he did not expect that Liu Dai would be so incompetent that he would take the initiative to attack Shouchun, resulting in his death and the loss of his home.

Even though Liu Biao did not want to go to war with Yuan Shu, he had no choice but to organize his troops to fight Yuan Shu in Jiangxia now that Yuan Shu was attacking him so closely.

While Liu Biao was fighting Yuan Shu in Jiangxia, Zhou Yu, who had been appointed governor of Jingzhou by Liu Yu, returned to Jingzhou and instigated a rebellion by Yuan Shu's former protégés and officials in Changsha and Guiyang.

Suddenly, Liu Biao was beset by internal and external troubles and had no choice but to urgently send his servant Yi Ji to Luoyang for help.

"This isn't right."

Although he had already discovered the situation in Jingyang, Liu Bei remained calm and unhurried in the face of Liu Biao's request for help.

"Although Liu Yangzhou is not capable enough, with the help of Lu Kang and Sun Jian, and with Liu Jingzhou watching over and supporting him, how could he possibly be unable to defeat Yuan Shu?"

"Yi Congshi, don't lie to me. How could someone who defeated Yuan Shu so badly that I made him cut off his beard and abandon his robe suddenly defeat Sun Jian, capture Lu Kang, kill Liu Dai, and rout Huang Zu, and even make Liu Jingzhou ask me for help?"

Yi Ji was filled with shame and could only tell him the truth about how Lu Kang had asked for help but only had Huang Zu pretend to agree.

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Bei's expression changed drastically, and he sternly rebuked, "Either agree or don't agree. Pretending to agree but not sending troops resulted in Lu Kang being captured, Sun Jian's defeat, and even the execution of Liu Dai, the governor of Yangzhou, by Yuan Shu."

"Does Liu Biao no longer want to be the governor of Jingzhou? If he doesn't want it, there are plenty of other people who can take it!"

Liu Bei's imposing presence was so great that Yi Ji dared not even raise his head after those few words of rebuke. He could only bow his head and plead again, "This time, Liu Jingzhou was in the wrong. I beg the General to send troops to help us, otherwise Jingzhou will be in grave danger!"

"Send troops? Do you think sending troops is so easy?" Liu Bei sneered. "Right now is the dead of winter, the weather is freezing. Do you think Luoyang can hide troops and ships to withstand the cold wind like Jing and Yang?"

“In the past, I swore an oath of blood with Liu Biao, Liu Dai, Gai Xun, and Cao Cao. After Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, I ordered Liu Biao and Liu Dai to punish the traitor, but Liu Biao found an excuse to refuse to send troops. Now he even dares to disregard the blood oath.”

"You want me to send troops? How can you guarantee that Liu Biao won't deliberately abandon me after I send them? Why would I send troops to help someone so dishonest?"

"Go back and tell Liu Biao immediately that if he cannot defend Jingzhou, I will send someone else to defend it!"

Yi Ji lowered his head even further and wept, saying, "If the General refuses to send troops, I'm afraid Jingzhou will fall into the hands of the Yuan family rebels."

"I'll say it again, if Liu Biao can't defend Jingzhou, I'll send someone else to defend it!" Liu Bei waved his long sleeves, signaling Chen Dao to see the guest out.

Seeing this, Yi Ji could only sigh and leave.

"If the General doesn't help Liu Biao, aren't you afraid that Liu Biao will side with Yuan Shu?" Xu You looked at Yi Ji's departing figure, his words filled with worry but with a smile on his lips.

Liu Bei chuckled lightly: "Ziyuan is joking. Liu Biao would side with Liu Yu, but he would never side with Yuan Shu. If he side with Liu Yu, he can live a peaceful life in Jingzhou. If he side with Yuan Shu, he will only be devoured by Yuan Shu."

"I never expected that the situation in Jingzhou and Yangzhou would turn out so much to my liking. Yuan Shu dared not attack Xuzhou or Yuzhou, so he went to seize Yangzhou. If Liu Biao had helped Liu Dai, Yuan Shu would have been trapped in Shouchun. Now that Liu Dai has been killed, Liu Biao can forget about being able to stay in Jingzhou."

Xu You also laughed and said, "Then we can only blame Liu Biao and Liu Dai for refusing to obey the General's orders. If they had both obeyed and worked together to deal with Yuan Shu, how could Yuan Shu have defeated them one by one?"

"Compared to Liu Biao and Liu Dai, Sun Jian is more trustworthy. Under those circumstances, Sun Jian did not defect to Yuan Shu. He is a man who can be given important responsibilities."

"It would be better to promote Sun Jian to General Who Pacifies the South and Prefect of Guangling, and first let Sun Jian help Gai Xun defeat Zang Hong, who was entrenched in Guangling County, and then seize Wu County when the opportunity arises."

Liu Bei paced back and forth for a moment, then said, "With Sun Jian's abilities, he is more than capable of dealing with Zang Hong. However, Liu Dai is dead, so we need to send someone else to serve as the governor of Yangzhou. Do you have anyone suitable, Ziyuan?"

Xu You thought for a moment and suggested, "Liu Dai's elder brother, Liu Yao, is currently a Gentleman of the Three Offices. We can appoint Liu Yao as the Governor of Yangzhou and have him join Sun Jian in attacking Zang Hong. Liu Dai was killed by Yuan Shu, and Liu Biao did not come to Liu Dai's aid. Liu Yao will surely deeply resent these two men."

"If Liu Yao takes control of Jiangdong, since he will attack Yuan Shu, he will also attack Liu Biao. If Liu Yao continues to disobey the court's orders like Liu Dai, Sun Jian in Jiangdong can also restrain him."

Liu Bei did not immediately agree, mainly because Liu Yao's abilities were inferior to Liu Dai's.

If Liu Yao were to become the governor of Yangzhou, Liu Bei was worried that he would hinder Sun Jian and prevent Sun Jian from even defeating Zang Hong.

After careful consideration, Liu Bei decided against appointing Liu Yao as the governor of Yangzhou, saying, "Right now, we need someone who can work together with Sun Jian to defeat Zang Hong, and we also need to help Sun Jian take control of Yangzhou as soon as possible."

"Although Liu Yao has grudges against both Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, he is also prone to causing trouble. One incident with Liu Dai is enough; there can't be a second. If Liu Yao mishandles and causes Sun Jian's death, then I will have no one left to use in Yangzhou."

"Some time ago, Zhuge Xuan came to Luoyang. I thought it would be good to appoint Zhuge Xuan as the governor of Yangzhou, so that he could help Sun Jian first conquer Guangling and then plan to conquer Yangzhou."

Xu You exclaimed in surprise, "Zhuge Xuan? Could it be related to Zhuge Liang, the disciple of the Great General?"

Liu Bei nodded: "Zhuge Xuan is Zhuge Liang's uncle. He traveled and studied in the Jing and Yang areas for many years. When he heard that Zhuge Gui had passed away, he rushed back to Langya. After meeting Zhuge Jin in Langya, he came to Luoyang."

"Judging from his talent and character, although he is not good at military affairs, he is very good at getting along with people. If he cooperates with Sun Jian, he should be able to help me take charge of Yangzhou."

Although Zhuge Xuan and Liu Biao had a past relationship, that old friendship was far less significant than the bond between Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang.

After all, Zhuge Liang had become Liu Bei's disciple, and Liu Bei had safely brought Zhuge Gui's wives, concubines, and children to Luoyang.

Now that Yuan Shu has declared himself emperor, Liu Dai is dead, and Liu Biao is disobeying orders, Liu Bei needs someone he can trust to seize Yangzhou.

(End of this chapter)