Liu Xuande would never be a succubus of the Eastern Han Dynasty!

As long as we always hold the gun in our hands, no matter what the future holds, we can lead our troops into Beijing and restore peace to the world under the pretext of "clearing the court of evil officials."

What? Such behavior is considered treasonous?

Oh, benevolence and righteousness can never be achieved by just talking, nor is it the so-called womanly kindness. Before any new order is implemented, it will inevitably be stained with blood on the Yangtze River.

Before Liu Bei completely gained the right to speak, all he could do with all his strength was to reduce the bloodshed, nothing more.

"Okay, that's what a man should do!"

Zhang Fei was intrigued by Liu Bei's words and immediately said, "I have considerable wealth and can recruit local warriors to help you achieve great things and restore peace to the world!"

Liu Bei was waiting for this sentence, and quickly asked: "Are you serious?"

Zhang Fei gave a look that said, "Why don't you believe me?" and said firmly, "Although I may be a bit rough, I always stick to my word."

"it is good!"

Liu Bei first clinked bowls with Zhang Fei, took a sip, then looked down at the floor, his eyes glancing at the silent Guan Yu.

He suddenly sighed: "It's a pity that a single thread cannot make a line, and a single tree cannot make a branch. We are so weak..."

The tone was full of hints.

Guan Yu was arrogant, but not foolish. He understood the situation and was well-mannered. He immediately bowed and said, "I am deeply indignant to hear about Xuande's fate today. If you don't mind, I am willing to accompany you and be at your command."

"it is good!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was almost set, Liu Bei said at the right moment: "Meeting these two heroes today is like helping someone in need. Your generosity is so inspiring and makes me very happy."

"I have traveled from Zhuo County to the capital, then to Yangzhou, and now I am planning to go to Bingzhou. I have been wandering here, but I have never met anyone who shares my ideals. Until today, after washing away all the yellow sand, I have finally found gold. God has mercy on me."

"I wish to become sworn brothers and sisters with you two. What are your opinions?"

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei stood up and saluted at the same time. The latter was impatient and said quickly:

"I've had this intention for a long time. To be honest, when I saw Xuande outside just now, I felt strange feelings for him. Now I see that you actually want to become brother and sister with Xuande!"

"???"

After hearing this, Liu Bei and Guan Yu were both dumbfounded, and the latter even looked at Zhang Fei as if he was a fool.

Are you sure that the 'strange feeling' here is the simple 'want to be your sister' and not 'want to sleep with you...'?

No matter how excited you are, it is not a good idea to use the wrong words!

Guan Yu still didn't want to spoil the atmosphere, so he suppressed his urge to complain and continued:

"Although Guan is a warrior, he also understands the meaning of loyalty and righteousness. As the saying goes, a bird that chooses a tree will find a good tree to live in, and a minister who chooses a master will find a wise master. This is what Guan has always wished for."

"From now on, my fate is Brother Liu's fate, my feelings are Brother Liu's feelings, and my heart is only with Brother Liu. I will obey your orders and have no second thoughts."

"...?"

Zhang Fei felt that something was amiss with this, but after glancing at Guan Yu, he still followed suit and said, "Me too!"

"I wish to work with you on this great cause, have children together, and accompany you for life, through life and death."

Symbiosis of what???

Zhang Fei was so frightened that his face turned pale. He subconsciously touched his belly, which could not be inflated. Finally, he said firmly: "Me too!"

"But, at most three... no, five, no more!"

"Anyone who violates this will be killed by both heaven and man."

"Me too!"

What nonsense are you all talking about?

Liu Bei felt that the two guys must have drunk too much, and coupled with the atmosphere just now, they got excited and said everything they were thinking.

In short, talk nonsense.

I almost thought this was the otherworldly version of the Han people...

"Big brother!"

"Big brother!"

"Second sister, third sister..."

Liu Bei bowed, looked at the two loyal and righteous men with tears in their eyes, and finally said earnestly: "Read less things you shouldn't read, and read more Spring and Autumn Annals..."

-

Because the peach blossoms in the backyard had not yet bloomed, Liu Bei and the other two simply performed a formality of sworn brotherhood. During the ceremony, Liu Bei also stated in a firm tone that they must come back and sworn brotherhood again when the peach blossoms bloomed at the beginning of the new year.

I don't know what kind of unique feelings I have towards peach blossoms...

In short, after the three of them expressed their ambitions to each other, they started drinking can after can of wine. In the end, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei both turned red in the face and fell asleep on the table.

Zhang Fei was even whispering in his sleep: "Brother... Hehehe, brother, why are you so handsome... Come and catch me, if you catch me, I'll let you..."

"?"

Liu Bei drank a pot of wine alone with a calm expression, and then slowly stood up.

Due to the effect of the Chixiao fragments, no matter how much alcohol he drank, he would not feel drunk at all. At most, he would feel a little bloated in the stomach.

"Now, in Sili there is Cao Mengde, in the north there is Gongsun, in the south there is Sun Jian, their teacher is Master Lu, accompanied by Wenhe, and Guan and Zhang have already been obtained."

"The general trend of the world has already been determined."

"But for now, we still need to go and see how the base is doing..."

Liu Bei went out and called the maids of Zhang Fei's house, and asked them to carry Guan and Zhang to the bedroom, and then went out alone.

Night has quietly fallen.

When Liu Bei reached the middle of the road in Zhuo County, he suddenly stopped.

Countless black figures appeared around at some point.

No one knew where these people came from. Some of them first filled the eaves, and then many figures appeared on the streets. In the end, even Liu Bei's surroundings were filled with people.

They all knelt on one knee before Liu Bei, bowed their hands and said, "We respectfully welcome you back home!"

Introduction: New Year: Chapter 13: The Godfather of Zhuo County

"No, are you guys doing this so awkwardly..."

Liu Bei looked at the dark crowd of people, his tone somewhat helpless:

"Alright, alright. Those of you who have missions go on missions, those who are on standby go on standby, those who want to sleep go home and sleep. Just leave one or two of you here to talk to me about the details."

"We will obey Master Bei's orders!"

"I'm not saying it, you idiot... No, where did you learn all these plots and phrases from?"

"This incident is also recorded in the Records of Emperor Gaozu's Sayings."

“…Let’s disperse. Let’s disperse.”

The black shadows gradually retreated and shrank to five or six people.

Liu Bei's main business in Zhuo County was "selling favors". Specifically, during his dormant period, he deliberately let people who did business with him take advantage of him, and then if someone came to him for help, he would ask the person who owed him a favor to help solve the matter.

After years of fermentation, it finally became a rule that if any foreign merchants, craftsmen, etc. wanted to do business here, they had to visit Liu Bei first, explain clearly what industry they were in, how much profit they could bring, and promise not to harm innocent people.

Liu Bei would provide corresponding start-up capital and connections based on the other party's strengths, and support the other party to quickly establish a business in the local area so that they could support their family.

The most important thing is that he does not discriminate against Hu merchants and foreign merchants. As long as you are willing to come and pay a visit, you will definitely be able to drink soup.

It was precisely because Liu Bei invested money and effort, and the final reward was only a small commission, that the entire Zhuo County appeared to be thriving.

Originally, the status of merchants was relatively low. No matter how much money they made, they could not get fame or security. Local tyrants and even government officials could find any excuse to arrest you and make you lose gold coins as long as they disliked you.

In other words, your family has fallen on hard times and you're about to starve to death, so you turn to business and travel around to make a little money. After finally getting to middle age and standing up on your feet, someone gives you a piece of paper 'collaborating with the enemy' and captures and tortures you without a word. If you give them some money to avoid disaster, it's fine, but if you refuse to pay, they'll use a memory recovery technique on you and ransack your house.

Indeed, some vendors are very good at maneuvering, and they can win over high-ranking officials and government officials, creating a complete and perfect chain of interests so that everyone can make money.

But people with such talents are ultimately a minority. Moreover, as long as there is a famine or the local government is out of money, no matter how extensive your network of contacts is, you will still be the first to be robbed.

In such an environment, not to mention the Hu merchants and foreign merchants, they would probably be robbed by the "robbers" on the road before they even arrived.

What? You applied for protection from the government before you left? You even hired a private bodyguard?

Excuse me, I swore solemnly in front of the government during the day that I would never let you suffer the slightest loss, but at night I put on the mask and shouted, "Brothers, come and make a fortune with me!"

But the land in Zhuo County is completely different.

As long as you visit and talk to Liu Bei first, the government will take the initiative to send troops to protect your supplies and personal safety along the way, and then provide you with relative help depending on whether you are short of people, money or channels.

With such low risk and high profit, merchants and craftsmen all came here, injecting fresh blood into Zhuo County again and again, presenting a scene of flourishing development.

And that’s just the business side of things.

Under Liu Bei's manipulation, the government would even hire experienced elders at high salaries and let them go to various fertile fields to teach and learn. In addition, they would also take the initiative to accept abandoned babies and orphans and conduct unified martial arts training.

If there is a famine, relief supplies can be ensured. If there are no relief supplies, the government will open the granaries to help the people.

As for how to ensure the supply of food and grass without relying on local powerful families?

It's simple - through the vendors.

These people had received favors from Liu Bei. Regardless of their subjective willingness or not, they had to keep the price of grain stable in times of difficulty, and then provide the surplus.

If anyone disobeyed, Liu Bei would bring his own people to the door to "pick up the goods".

Under such governance, although there are still rich people, their wealth is controlled within a certain range. Although there are still poor people, they are not so poor that they are unable to afford clothes or have enough food to eat.

Because of this, those who know the inside story will call him "Master Bei" behind his back.

Even though Liu Bei had not yet been crowned.

It is also recorded in Emperor Gaozu's Sayings: Since ancient times, those who are capable should be the elders.

Liu Bei had been away from Zhuo for several months. Although he had arranged a backup plan before leaving, the greed in the human heart could never be stopped.

"Sir, these are the things that happened recently..."

A group of desperate criminals came to the mountains outside Zhuo County. They often robbed and killed merchants and supplies on the road, and even the officers and soldiers who accompanied them suffered heavy casualties.

Because Liu Bei had not appeared for a long time, and because such incidents were increasing, many foreign businessmen seemed to be escaping.

In addition, all products in Zhuo County have begun to show an upward trend, which seems to be a sign of "making a quick buck and running away."

The local officials also had bad intentions. The county magistrate began to visit the homes of some wealthy and powerful families, and it was suspected that he had been bribed by them with large sums of money.

As for the common people... their fields were destroyed by human beings for unknown reasons, causing them to go bankrupt and sell their land to the landlords at low prices.

"My goodness, so many things have happened in just a short time since I left." Liu Bei looked at the reports and shook his head slightly. "It's worse than I expected..."

He had already seen the turbulent waves beneath the scene of "everything flourishing" at that time, and knew that those who did not benefit, those who were greedy for more, and so on would inevitably stand on the opposite side.

Whether you call this group of people conservative or greedy, they will definitely exist no matter what.

If you don't uproot it completely as soon as possible, it will inevitably attract more wavering people, and when you come to your senses, you will find that there is no one around available.

Liu Bei understood this principle deeply, but he also knew that as long as he stayed in Zhuo County for one day, the other side would keep its fangs dormant and refuse to show them.

This was also the reason why he left Zhuo County, and he had already prepared a backup plan.

"According to Master Bei's instructions, our people have already infiltrated these people's homes and are ready to take action at any time."

"very good."

Liu Bei looked at these figures calmly.

They are either orphans with nothing or people who have nowhere else to go. In short, they are a group of people without any background or identity, and they are also Liu Bei's hidden "hidden households".

This group of people is extremely difficult to win over, especially those who are completely trustworthy.

"Prepare to start closing the net."

Chapter 14: But I am Xuande's sister! (60% off for a limited time only)

In the middle of the night, when Liu Bei walked to the door of his house, he raised his eyebrows and found a slightly lonely figure standing in the yard.

The wind hummed softly, a chill seeped into the air, and the branches and leaves of the mulberry trees rustled in the night, casting mottled and sharp shadows.

Jia Xu, wearing a fur coat, stood alone under an old mulberry tree. The hem of her skirt swayed in the wind, revealing her ankles as white as jade. The hem of her skirt was soaked by the snow and stuck to her skin.

The night outlines that peerless face, with picturesque eyebrows and eyes, slightly upturned auspicious phoenix eyes, and a faint charm flowing in the eyes. The lips are painted with rouge, as red as a ripe cherry, and are slightly pursed, revealing an indescribable charm.