He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

After the welcoming ceremony, Lu Wan approached Liu Bei and said, "My lord, I have something important to report."

When Liu Bei saw his own son Xiao He speaking, he naturally wouldn't stop him: "Wen Yuan, please speak."

"My lord, what do you think of today's events?"

"It was great, and everyone had a good time."

"To be honest, my lord, there are no irrelevant people here." Did Lu Wan not know Liu Bei's capabilities? Although he was not one to show his emotions and one could not discern Liu Bei's thoughts from his expressions, she could tell just by listening to those few words from him.

Liu Bei chuckled, a laugh born of rage: "I'm furious! I'm about to grab my sword and chop him down! Zhang Liao was once the Prefect of Beidi, and now he's brought several hundred Bingzhou cavalry with him. Making him a mere Lieutenant General is already a disservice, and these people still have the audacity to criticize. They say it's against the established order. When I promoted them, I said things like, 'Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures,' and 'Although I lack virtue and talent, I'm risking everything for the sake of the people.' They're utterly shameless!"

While Chen Deng and Mi Zhu were somewhat understandable, most of the others only started truly supporting Liu Bei after Zhang Fei defeated the generals of Danyang. Some even waited until Liu Bei had defeated Yuan Shu before beginning to support him. They were nowhere to be seen when it was time to cook, but showed up faster than anyone else when it was time to eat.

"My lord, what happened today is not an isolated case." Lu Wan then reported to Liu Bei the content of her conversation with Chen Qun, Chen Jiao, and Chen Zi.

Liu Bei realized what was going on; his group of Xuzhou men had begun to form small cliques.

The Liu Bei of today is no longer the unfortunate man in history who was defeated by Cao Cao and fled in terror. Instead, he is a legitimate warlord with a stable territory and a stable income.

Liu Bei's advantage lies in his strong internal cohesion, making it less likely for disobedient officials to emerge. However, his disadvantage is also obvious: he relies heavily on the power of local powerful families in Xuzhou. Although Liu Bei's talent pool is slightly better now thanks to Lu Wan and Zheng Xuan, it is still incomparable to that of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.

The reason Liu Bei didn't feel constrained before was because he had always been winning. Since becoming the governor of Xuzhou, he had defeated Ji Ling and subdued Zang Ba. His glory was built on the failures of others.

Liu Biao of Jingzhou was different; his actions were fierce, and his record was outstanding.

After all that fuss, all he did was consolidate his own power without giving the powerful families of Jingzhou any benefit. Seeing that there was no profit to be made, these families naturally started to slack off and stopped thinking about helping Liu Biao expand his territory.

Liu Bei did this very well. After each battle, he either acquired supplies or expanded his territory, and the powerful families of Xuzhou always benefited from his campaigns. The Xuzhou families were delighted; this Lord Xuande was truly too shrewd!

The primary requirement of all the aristocratic families in Xuzhou, or rather, the Han Dynasty, was a stable environment. Liu Bei not only met this requirement but also helped the Xuzhou aristocratic families to advance. As a result, the Xuzhou aristocratic families truly regarded Liu Bei as their lord.

In the eyes of the powerful families of Xuzhou, Liu Bei was like one of their own, except that he was not born in Xuzhou.

Liu Bei was from Xuzhou, so his regime was essentially a regime for the people of Xuzhou. Coincidentally, many of the officials appointed by Liu Bei were also from Xuzhou, so the powerful families of Xuzhou naturally regarded Liu Bei's regime as their own private domain.

This is also a situation that Lu Wan discovered: local powerful families have begun to spontaneously unite around Liu Bei and are extremely hostile to outsiders. This is not simply a case of locals rejecting outsiders, but rather a more troublesome situation where early investors are rejecting later investors.

The powerful families of Xuzhou did not exclude Liu Bei's original followers, such as Jian Yong, Chen Qun, and Guan Yu. These individuals had largely formed a stable political system with the people of Xuzhou, and once established, this circle would automatically close to protect the existing power structure. Newcomers meant the involvement of destabilizing factors, potentially disrupting the existing order—something the people of Xuzhou certainly did not want to see.

Thinking about this, Liu Bei also felt troubled, because he couldn't just kill them all. This was a very normal thing. As long as an organization develops, it is inevitable that small cliques will appear. This is determined by the social nature of human beings.

"These people don't even know what time it is. If the world were at peace, I could understand doing this, but now the world is in chaos. Aren't they just courting death?"

Lu Wan offered an explanation for Liu Bei: "Perhaps they believe Xuzhou is already safe. The northern part has natural defenses, and there are heavy troops stationed in the south and west. As long as Yuan Shao doesn't march south, Xuzhou is indeed quite safe right now."

Liu Bei was truly speechless. It turned out that the blame lay with him for defending Xuzhou too well, giving the people of Xuzhou the illusion that Xuzhou was actually quite easy to defend and that the previous governor of Xuzhou, Tao Qian, was simply too incompetent, which allowed Cao Cao to invade.

"My lord, there's no need to worry too much. It's a good thing that the problem has been exposed now. It's much better than having this happen on the battlefield later and causing our efforts to fail." Lu Wan was quite optimistic. Discovering a problem is much more difficult than solving it.

"Does Wen Yuan's statement mean there's a solution?"

Lu Wan wanted to take out a small fan to show off, and said to Liu Bei with a nod and a shake of his head, "Indeed, the reason why the people of Xuzhou have such xenophobic ideas is that they are afraid that their power will be divided, and our lord does rely on them to provide supplies."

"Then, as long as we expand our territory and gradually break free from this dependence, they will lose the right to be arrogant. Moreover, each new territory we conquer will generate a large number of new official positions and opportunities for personal gain, which can be used to settle new people without affecting the existing interests of the Xuzhou group. Internal conflicts will thus be transformed and resolved by the drive for external expansion. In that case, what need is there for our lord to worry?"

Lu Wan first explained the necessity of expanding outwards, and then continued, "But in terms of governance, we should not only not suppress them, but also give unshakeable high positions to people from Xuzhou like Mi Zhu and Chen Deng who first supported our lord, to satisfy their need for honor in exchange for their support of the talent introduction policy, or at least their tacit approval."

This is quite normal. Historically, after Cao Cao conquered Hebei, he began to replace the main factions of civil officials within his administration with people from Hebei. Later, he even moved the center of governance to Ye City, clearly severing ties with the Yingchuan faction. The Yingchuan faction was quite ruthless; if Cao Cao wouldn't play with them, they would find someone else, and eventually they found the emerging Sima family.

Need I say more about what happened next?

"There are actually more than one way to approach this problem. My lord, you don't need to think of these people as too terrible. Originally, these people were entangled together because of the distribution of benefits, so it is not surprising that they split up because of the distribution of benefits."

As she spoke, Lu Wan used her own fingers as an example to explain the Xuzhou aristocratic families to Liu Bei.

"Chen Yuanlong is the most special case, almost forming his own faction. He has lofty ambitions and is the most powerful member of the Xuzhou faction, yet also the most supportive of our lord. People like him should be given important positions to keep their minds at ease."

"People like Mi Zizhong are easier to deal with. Their family background was originally not prominent, and they only got their current position by supporting the lord. All they want is a political position. If we satisfy their needs, they will be easy to get along with."

"The most troublesome are those aristocratic families who have held high positions since Tao Yuanming's time. The cost of united front work is high, but the value is limited. It is advisable to suppress such families, but not to eliminate them all. Just severely punish one or two troublemakers."

Lu Wan's words were like peeling back layers of an onion, explaining one by one the points that Liu Bei needed to pay attention to internally.

"But the most crucial factor still lies with the lord himself."

Liu Bei hadn't expected that the most crucial role would be played by himself: "Oh? What do you mean?"

"The reason why our lord has been able to unite everyone is because he has always adhered to the ideal of 'restoring the Han Dynasty.' Therefore, those scholars who came from other places are not outsiders who came to steal the credit of the people of Xuzhou, but righteous people who came here to share in the great cause. For everyone, such a slogan is more conducive to unity."

Lu Wan spoke these words very seriously. Liu Bei was able to unite everyone by adhering to the highest principle of "restoring the Han Dynasty," which transcended any region or social class.

Only such a grand appeal can unite people from diverse backgrounds and with different ideologies. It's important to understand that in this world, the principle of "many against few" applies – it's the key to consistent victory.

"Therefore, my lord must not personally intervene, nor openly show any sign of favoring either side. My lord is now the ruler of Xuzhou, and any action will attract attention. Only in this way will people from all factions want your support, and your orders will not be easily rejected."

Lu Wan's words were a bit excessive; they were certainly not something a subject should say to his ruler. However, in the past few months, Lu Wan had developed a very good friendship with Liu Bei, so saying such things would not pose any danger to him.

"Furthermore, I urge my lord to immediately send men to thoroughly investigate the source of the rumors circulating in the city. Such rumors are intended to sow discord, and there must be malicious individuals behind them. They should be eradicated as soon as possible to prevent future troubles."

After a moment's thought, Liu Bei agreed to Lu Wan's suggestion: "This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. I'll leave this matter to Wen Yuan."

--------

The day after Zhang Liao's welcoming ceremony, this energetic northerner began his work. In order to leave a good impression on everyone, he specially changed into a new official robe and arrived early at the office where the registers and archives were stored.

Having earned the trust of his lord and been appointed as a military advisor, he resolved to quickly familiarize himself with the military affairs of Xuzhou and live up to his expectations. His first step was to consult two fundamental documents: "Summary of Soldier Recruitment and Losses" and "Brief Record of Land Distribution and Harvest."

The clerk outside the office glanced at him and said in a flat tone, "This general looks unfamiliar. May I ask what brings you here?" His tone lacked respect and was more of a routine matter.

"I am Zhang Liao, the newly appointed military advisor, Zhang Wenyuan." Zhang Liao announced his name and official rank, trying to make his tone sound calm. "I need to review the registers related to troop recruitment and land ownership."

Upon hearing the words "military advisor," a barely perceptible glint flashed in the clerk's eyes. He then lowered his eyelids, fiddled with a thick register beside him, and said slowly, "So it's Military Advisor Zhang. Do you have a warrant from the lord or the chief clerk? Accessing the registers requires proof."

Paper is now becoming popular in Xuzhou. Compared to using bamboo slips for registration, paper books produced under the guidance of Lu Wan are much more convenient.

Zhang Liao was slightly taken aback. Liu Bei had only given him a verbal appointment yesterday, without any written order. He had no choice but to patiently say, "I am new here and have not yet received any official order. However, as a military advisor assisting in military affairs, checking such registers should be within my duties, shouldn't it?"

"Please forgive me, Military Advisor." The clerk put on a perfunctory apology. "It's not that I'm making things difficult for you, but it's simply the rule of the prefecture. Without the author's or the seals of Prefect Mi or Chief Secretary Chen (Chen Qun), I really dare not touch the records in the treasury. If there are any losses or mistakes, I cannot bear the responsibility."

These words were perfectly worded and followed the proper procedure, yet they rudely shut Zhang Liao out.

Zhang Liao remained silent for a moment, knowing that arguing with this minor official was pointless, and nodded: "I will go and obtain the warrant."

About half an hour later, Zhang Liao obtained a written order stamped with the Chief Clerk's seal from Chen Qun. Upon learning of the situation, Chen Qun simply smiled helplessly, patted Zhang Liao on the shoulder, and said meaningfully, "Wen Yuan, the rules in Xuzhou... are sometimes a bit too many."

Back in the register room, the clerk examined the warrant and found nothing wrong with it, so he could only bow and say, "Military advisor, please follow me."

The storeroom was dimly lit and filled with the smell of old bamboo slips and dust. The tall shelves were piled high with scrolls, yet there seemed to be no clear order. The clerk led Zhang Liao around the shelves aimlessly for a couple of minutes, then scratched his head: "Oh dear, Military Advisor, please forgive me, but these troop registers… usually it's Chen Changshi's men who come to look at them, so I can't remember exactly where they're kept. Please wait a moment while I look for them."

This "search" took a long time. Zhang Liao stood there, watching the clerk slowly pace between the shelves, occasionally pulling out a scroll to look at the title, then shaking his head and putting it back, his efficiency was outrageously low.

After another half a day, another slightly older clerk came in. The junior official, as if seeing a savior, hurriedly called out in a thick Xuzhou accent, "Brother Wang! Come quickly! This Military Advisor Zhang wants to transfer troops and register land for military settlements. Do you know where the registers were put after they were sorted last time?"

Wang Shuzuo glanced at Zhang Liao with an indifferent look, and replied quickly in the same dialect, "Those important things, how could they be placed just anywhere? It seems to be on the top shelf of shelf number seven in the Jia section, but it doesn't seem to be... I remember that Chen Congshi (Chen Jiao) came to check the other day and took some that hasn't been returned yet? Or maybe it was mixed with last year's autumn harvest accounts and put in the Wu section warehouse? I can't remember clearly."

Zhang Liao's gaze swept across the faces of the two clerks; he had seen that perfunctory expression far too often in Bingzhou. He already knew in his heart that this "thorough search" would take an unknown amount of time.

Zhang Liao sighed inwardly; the waters here with Prefect Liu were far deeper than those with General Lü.