Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 11 Emperor Gaozu Returns Home
It is now the twelfth year of the Han Dynasty, and another three full years have passed.

Many major events happened in the world during these three years. In the tenth year of the Han Dynasty, Chen Xi, with the secret support of the Donghu, rose up in rebellion against the Han Dynasty, proclaimed himself King of Dai, and plundered Dai, Zhao and other places.

Liu Bang was furious and personally led his army to quell the rebellion, during which he asked Peng Yue to lead his troops to help.

Peng Yue fell ill and was unable to go, so he had to send a trusted general to replace him. However, this caused Liu Bang's dissatisfaction, and the escaped Liang Taifu took advantage of the situation to frame him for rebellion.

At the beginning of the 11th year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang personally led the army to fight. In the autumn of the 11th year, he put down the rebellion of the State of Dai. At the same time, he took advantage of the unpreparedness of King Liang and attacked and destroyed the State of Liang.

Han Xin, who was imprisoned in Chang'an, also plotted a rebellion, but was lured into the palace and killed by Xu Zhen. From then on, the only male princes left were Wu Chen, King of Changsha, Ying Bu, King of Huainan, and Lu Wan, King of Yan.

Soon, Huainan King Ying Bu felt that he was in danger and chose to start a rebellion. He successively conquered the territories of Chu King Liu Jiao and Jing King Liu Jia with great momentum.

On the one hand, Liu Bang sent Xu Zhen to lead an army of 100,000 to attack the Donghu, and on the other hand, he personally led an army to attack Ying Bu, King of Huainan.

In the winter of the eleventh year of the Han Dynasty, both armies won. Liu Bang made his youngest son Liu Chang the King of Huainan, while he stayed here to encircle and suppress the remaining forces of Ying Bu. Xu Zhen also rushed to Huainan to join Liu Bang.

At this time, any discerning person could see that Liu Bang did not have much time left, and leading troops outside would likely be aroused suspicion, so Xu Zhen rushed to Huainan without stopping.

"Your Majesty, this is your hometown, Pei County."

Xu Zhen, dressed in military uniform, pointed to the county town passing by in front and said.

Seeing the familiar scene, Liu Bang's slightly old face also revealed a trace of reminiscence. People tend to be nostalgic when they get old, let alone when there is not much time left.

"Huh, it's been more than ten years, let's go and take a look"

Having already achieved success, he felt very sad when he returned to the familiar place again.

"Your Majesty has arrived, kneel!"

The magistrate of Pei County and the elders of the city had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Liu Bang approaching slowly, they all knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.

Liu Bang walked up to the crowd and glanced at them one by one, with a smile on his face. He then said, "You are all my elders and juniors. We are as close as a family. Please stand up quickly."

"You don't need to kneel when you see me in the future."

The magistrate of Pei County said respectfully: "On behalf of all the people of Pei County, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your grace."

The people who were kneeling on the ground stood up one by one.

"You are... Uncle Zhang?" Liu Bang said in surprise, looking at a white-haired old man.

"I didn't expect that Your Majesty still remembered me." The old man was obviously flattered. He and Liu Taigong were old acquaintances and he had watched Liu Bang grow up since he was a child.

"Hahaha... Of course I remember. Every tree and blade of grass in my hometown is still fresh in my memory."

Liu Bang was very happy to see his acquaintance and immediately walked into the city to have a good look around.

He hasn't been back for a long time since he started the rebellion, and today may be the last time.

"Pei County Magistrate, come here."

Hearing Liu Bang's call, the magistrate of Pei County walked over tremblingly.

"What's your majesty's order?"

"Why don't these villagers go home? Why is the county town closed?" Liu Bang's tone was a little angry.

"I hope to give Your Majesty a good experience." The magistrate of Pei County cursed himself in his heart. If he made His Majesty unhappy, he would lose ten heads.

"You are embarrassing me, understand?"

"I will give the order immediately!"

"That's good enough." Liu Bang nodded in satisfaction after hearing this answer.

He continued to walk forward, and the guards followed closely behind him under the leadership of Xu Zhen. Even in Pei County, the guard work still had to be done well. Liu Bang slowly walked to a dilapidated house, opened the door and saw that it was covered with dust. It seemed that no one had lived there for a long time.

"Alas...you don't even want to see me? At least go and see Fei'er before you leave." He looked up at the sky, tears sliding down his face quietly.

"Where is the owner of this house?" Liu Bang looked at the magistrate of Pei County again.

"It must be Cao. She sold her land and property and left two years ago."

"Leaving..." Liu Bang's expression became more and more complicated.

After a long time, thousands of words turned into a sigh. This woman was Liu Bang's concubine and also his first woman in the true sense.

"Go on."

Liu Bang continued his tour until dark, then he stopped reluctantly. He then ordered people to invite all the villagers from the former Sishui Pavilion and his former friends and elders to the Pei Palace.

A grand banquet was held here, everyone was drinking and singing, having a great time. Xu Zhen also had a few drinks with them.

This is not his hometown, but he should at least give face to his boss.

"Your Majesty, I remember that you often bought on credit at my tavern. I never thought that you would be able to ascend to the throne."

Because Liu Bang had always been very friendly to his fellow townsmen, Wang Ao did not care at all and directly exposed the other party's shortcomings.

"Hahaha... A real man should wield a three-foot-long sword to conquer the world. The fact that I can reign on the throne is actually just destiny."

Liu Bang was not angry. He continued to talk and laugh while drinking. He had indeed drunk the other party's wine for free many times before.

"Old Lady Wang, Aunt Wu, didn't I buy dozens of jars of wine from you two on credit? How about returning a thousand jars today?"

"In addition to this, I will exempt Fengpei from all taxes!"

"No, no, everything else is fine. Forget about the wine. I am willing to serve wine to Your Majesty." The two of them refused in unison. Who would dare to ask the emperor for money?
What's more, Liu Bang came here to drink and brought a lot of customers to them, so they made money in the end.

"It's okay. I always keep my word." Liu Bang didn't let the two of them refuse.

"By the way, do you know where Cao went?" Liu Bang still did not forget to ask about Cao's whereabouts.

"I don't know." Wang Ai and Wu Fu shook their heads, indicating that they didn't know.

"That's it." Seeing that he couldn't get any answers, Liu Bang had no choice but to give up. This was destined to become a regret in his life.

"Come on, Zi Fu, have a few drinks with me." Liu Bang clinked glasses with Xu Zhen next to him and drank a lot.

"Your Majesty has a good alcohol tolerance." Xu Zhen's face also flushed. Although the alcohol content of this wine is low, one will still get drunk if he drinks too much.

"Of course. When it comes to drinking capacity in Pei County, I'm second to none!" Liu Bang also laughed, and the wine jar next to him was empty.

"I will drink with Your Majesty today!" Xu Zhen also filled his glass again and drank it all in one gulp.

"Zi Fu, I don't have much time left. The one who can protect Liu must be Zhen. If possible, can you please help save Ruyi's life? You know that he is the one I care about the most." Liu Bang suddenly stopped smiling, approached Xu Zhen and said seriously.

"Your Majesty, long live..."

"Don't flatter me. I know my own body. You just need to answer yes or no."

"I will do my best." Xu Zhen said without any hesitation.

"Hahaha... come, have a drink!" After getting the reply, Liu Bang once again became his previous heroic self.

Everyone was very happy and the banquet reached its climax. Everyone sang and danced together. At this time there was no emperor or prime minister, only friends!
Liu Bang was so moved that he played the zither himself. The pride of returning home victoriously and the sorrow about the uncertain future were intertwined in his singing of the "Dafeng Song" which will be passed down through the ages.

"The strong wind is blowing, the clouds are flying, the Weijia sea is returning home, and the warriors are here to guard the four directions!"

(End of this chapter)