A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Liu Zhang instinctively felt something was amiss; how could he allow other warlords to bring their troops to his territory?

If he were to use this as a pretext to attack Biao, wouldn't he be losing the legacy left by his father?!

"Your Majesty can rest assured. The world knows of Lord Xuande's benevolence and virtue. He and Your Majesty are brothers of the same clan, so how could he possibly harm you?"

"If this news gets out, how will the world view this matter?"

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for Lord Xuande to be detrimental to you.

Zhang Song advised Liu Zhang, and the other civil and military officials, having already been persuaded by Zhang Song, echoed his sentiments.

Only a few loyal ministers, such as Zhang Ren and Yan Yan, remained, vehemently refusing the proposal.

If it weren't for the burden of these powerful families, either of them could have wiped out Zhang Lu, who was just a nobody.

This group of people is now writing to invite Liu Bei to enter Shu; they definitely have ill intentions.

Liu Zhang was easily swayed. Seeing that so many people agreed to let Liu Bei enter Shu, and that many of them were old ministers left to him by his father, he was persuaded to submit to the majority.

Therefore, Liu Zhang sent Fa Zheng as an envoy to invite Liu Bei to lead his troops into Shu.

Invited by Liu Zhang, Liu Bei was able to enter Shu with a legitimate reason.

"Today is truly a day of triple joy."

Liu Bei led a young man with a feather fan and a turban and another young man with an equally ugly appearance to his residence. During this time, he had also heard of the three heroes of Jingzhou: the Crouching Dragon, the Young Phoenix, and the wandering knight Xu Shu.

Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, Xu Shu had already gone north to join Dong Zhuo, leaving only the two talents, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, in Jingzhou.

When he went to visit the wise men, he happened to encounter Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong debating important matters of the world.

He was immediately astonished; these two young men had a more profound understanding of the world's affairs than he had ever imagined.

Among his subordinates, only Wei Shu and Ju Shou were superior to them. This was only because Wei Shu and Ju Shou had more experience. Otherwise, perhaps only Wei Shu could surpass them.

Therefore, Liu Bei did not hesitate to give up his status as one of the six major warlords in the land. Perhaps it was because Liu Bei had just gone from being a prefect to a major warlord with a province, and he was still not used to it.

He directly humbled himself and offered a banquet to the two men in a bronze cauldron, respectfully asking them to plan his forces and inviting them to join his camp.

Moved by Liu Bei's sincerity, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong gladly accepted his invitation.

Upon returning home, they received a letter from Zhang Song: "You two are truly blessed."

Liu Bei left Wei Shu and Guan Yu in Jingzhou, and led Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others from Jingzhou into Shu.

With the martial prowess of Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and others, and with the powerful families of Hanzhong acting as internal allies, Zhang Lu was no match for Liu Bei, who easily captured Hanzhong.

Liu Zhang had tried for so many years but failed to conquer Hanzhong, yet Liu Bei couldn't hold it off even in a year. In an instant, Liu Bei's reputation spread throughout the entire Yi Province.

Under the leadership of numerous powerful families, many civil and military officials and common people simultaneously submitted a petition with tens of thousands of signatures, requesting Liu Zhang to abdicate in favor of Liu Bei.

Zhang Song wrote to Liu Zhang, "The world is in great chaos today. Your Majesty's service in guarding Yizhou is of paramount importance."

"However, in the east, Zhang Lu was causing trouble, in the north, Dong Zhuo was running rampant, and in the south, barbarian tribes were plundering. The powerful local figures each had their own agendas."

"Song Ye observed the celestial phenomena and foresaw that great chaos was about to break out in Yizhou, which only a strong ruler could quell."

"Lord Xuande is a man of imperial lineage, and his reputation is known throughout the world. If we can invite Lord Xuande to take charge of Yizhou, we can secure the ancestral temples of the Han Dynasty above and pacify the common people below. By exhausting the strength of Jing and Yi provinces, we can recover Jiangdong to the east, divide the country along the river, and split the world in two."

"Going north, we can attack Guanzhong and covet the Central Plains."

"If Lord Xuande were to unify the world, Your Majesty's achievement would be immeasurable, and your descendants would enjoy eternal blessings. Wouldn't that be far better than standing under a crumbling wall?"

Liu Zhang sat there dejectedly. Now, only a handful of people, such as Yan Yan and Zhang Ren, remained loyal to him in the entire Yi Province, and he controlled less than one-tenth of the army.

Now we're trying to persuade him; if he remains obstinate, I'd probably resort to assassination.

"I am willing to abdicate in favor of Liu Bei."

Liu Zhang said bitterly that he ultimately failed to protect the legacy left to him by his father.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Zhang Song bowed and said.

After Liu Zhang declined the offer three times, Liu Bei peacefully accepted the entire Yi Province.

At the same time, Liu Zhang retained his title of King of Shu and declared himself King of Hanzhong.

He originally wanted to claim the title of King of Han, but he felt that doing so would be too arrogant and he should be more low-key, so he changed it to King of Hanzhong.

After Heping took over Yizhou, he simultaneously mobilized troops to quell the southern barbarians and stationed troops from Yizhou in Jingzhou.

Since he entered Shu, Sun Jian has been attacking Jingzhou.

Wei Shu and Guan Yu resisted with all their might, but their forces were insufficient. They traded space for time, and now only a quarter of Jingzhou remained in their hands.

Five powerful warlords stood side by side, with Yuan Shao, the King of Ye, occupying many prefectures and counties in Hebei, including Ji, You, Yun, and Liao.

King Cao Cao of Qi occupied Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, most of Yuzhou, and Henan, becoming the hegemon of the Central Plains.

Dong Zhuo proclaimed himself King of Liang and occupied Liangzhou, Mengzhou, the most prosperous Guanzhong region, Luoyang, and a small part of Yuzhou. He remained the most powerful warlord in the land.

Sun Jian, the King of Chu, occupied Jiangdong and most of Jingzhou and Jiaozhou, while Liu Bei, the King of Hanzhong, occupied a small part of Jingzhou, a small part of Yuzhou, Nanyang, the entire Yizhou and Manzhou, sharing the south with Sun Jian, the King of Chu.

The various feudal lords checked and balanced each other, and were all digesting their own strength and preparing for war.

The upcoming war will surely determine the two strongest warlords in the north and south.

In the third year of the Five Kings' uprising, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao formed an alliance to jointly attack Dong Zhuo.

Yuan Shao led an army of one million, with Yan Liang and Wen Chou as his generals. He passed through Yunzhou and attacked Mengzhou, which was under the control of Dong Zhuo. He moved from north to south to intimidate Dong Zhuo.

Cao Cao led an army of one million, personally commanding generals such as Huang Zhong, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Yue Jin, and Gan Ning, to attack Luoyang, which was defended by Xu Rong.

Dong Zhuo was also preparing to go all out.

He has been suppressed by various powerful families for years and has never been able to develop.

Whenever he attempted to expand, the powerful families of the world would frantically try to stop him, sabotaging him from behind at any cost, leaving him overwhelmed and frustrated.

Otherwise, with his advantages, he would have swept across the entire world long ago.

Now that the situation in the world is clear, he is ready to go all out. If he can defeat Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, he can disregard everything and swallow up the entire north. He will then be able to use his power to control most of the world to forcefully suppress the major clans.

If he fails, he will lead his troops to the west, to continue to forge his own glorious legacy on the distant battlefields of the empire.

If we cannot unify the Han Dynasty, then let us build another equally powerful empire in the far west.

He was Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhongying, a hero from Xiliang, who lived for war and would never back down!