Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 100: The stars are shining

On April 10th, Liu Bei led his army back to Wei County, Dongjun.

Guan Yu was transferred to be the governor of Dongjun, commanding Liangdu Camp and Hengqiang Camp to garrison Puyang City. The soldiers were sent back to Qingzhou for rest and recuperation. Cui Yan and Sun Qian were also transferred as assistants.

At the same time, the three cities of Neihuang, Fanyang and Yin'an were placed under the jurisdiction of Dongjun.

Qian Zhaohui was appointed as the Prime Minister of Jibei, Jian Yong was appointed as the prefect of Donglai, Zhang Fei was appointed as the Prime Minister of Jinan, Xun Yu was concurrently appointed as the Prime Minister of Le'an, and his teacher Lu Zhi was appointed as the Prime Minister of Qi, but due to poor health he was recuperating in Pingyuan.

Liu Bei reported to the court that Liu Dai, a relative of the Han family in Donglai, had attached himself to the traitorous Yuan family who had secretly deposed the emperor. His evil deeds were unbearable to hear and his crimes were unforgivable to be punished.

Now there are no loyal ministers in this court, and there are treacherous relatives doing evil. I want to raise an army to wipe out the evil, save the country and restore order.

Li, Guo, and Fan, who were actually in charge of the government in Chang'an, were delighted when they saw the memorial. Fan Chou clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Well, it would be best if Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou, and the son of the Yuan family fought each other. It would be a good opportunity for the hunter to watch the two tigers fighting in Guanzhong."

Li Jue frowned slightly, turned to Guo Si and asked, "What does the rear general think of Liu Xuande's memorial?"

Guo Si knew that although three people controlled the court at present, the real power was still in the hands of Li Jue, and he knew that Li Jue hated Yuan Shao.

So he bowed and said: "General of Chariots and Cavalry, when Lord Dong was here, he used Youzhou Gongsun Zan to hinder Yuan Shao. Now Gongsun Zan has been defeated and is no longer useful. It is better to support Liu Bei and let him attack Jizhou and Yanzhou, so that Yuan Shao cannot interfere in the affairs of Sili..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Jue said bitterly, "Yuan Benchu ​​appointed himself General of Chariots and Cavalry and appointed the traitor Lu Bu as the Inspector of the Imperial Guards. He clearly treats me like dirt. It's a pity that I have no chance to take revenge on him. Now I can use Liu Bei to take revenge on him."

Two years ago, he was promoted by the emperor to the rank of General of Chariots and Cavalry, Commander of the Imperial Guards, and Marquis of Chiyang.

Yuan Shao even dared to use his official position to crown himself, and wanted to secretly depose the emperor and establish a new one, which clearly meant to cut off his path.

Li Jue glanced at Fan Chou again and thought to himself, "Is this man pretending or is he malicious? I wonder if Yuan Shao has disgusted me?"

"I want the emperor to agree to Liu Bei's proposal, and to take charge of the affairs of Qing and Yan provinces, and to promote him to the rank of Left General to fight against the traitor Yuan and his followers on behalf of the court."

Li Jue said resolutely.

It seemed that he was discussing with Fan Chou and Guo Si, but in fact he was acting arbitrarily. However, the two men didn't say anything when they heard it, because it was not their territory to be enthroned anyway.

It is rare to find a governor willing to report everything to the court, so even if it is just superficial respect, it will make them feel better.

If all the princes in Guandong were like Yuan Shao, who engraved seals and appointed themselves as officials, then the emperor, ministers and their official titles would be useless and they would only be able to play with seals in their mansions.

Whether in public or in private, if one wants to maintain the orthodoxy and majesty of the court, one must strike a heavy blow to Yuan Shao.

After writing the document and submitting it, Liu Bei no longer cared about how the court would respond, since the emperor did not hold much power anyway.

Even if some ministers close to the Yuan family rejected his proposal, he would still attack Liu Dai and conquer Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei led his troops back to Qingzhou and temporarily stopped at Liaocheng, where the city walls were in ruins.

The attack and defense of Liaocheng was extremely brutal; if the people had not taken the initiative to join in and help defend the city, the city would have been in chaos.

Otherwise, they would definitely not be able to stop Qu Yi's 30,000-strong army from attacking day and night.

The top of the city wall was badly damaged, and although the ground had been swept, it was still stained with blood, which showed how fierce the battle was.

Qian Zhao said in a later letter: The city changed hands several times, and he personally led his men to repel the enemy each time. Most of the auxiliary soldiers defending the city were killed in the battle, and almost everyone was wounded and swore to fight to the death, shouting that they would defend the retreat for the general. Even he was hit by an arrow in the chest, but fortunately the wound was not serious.

Qu Yi forced the civilians and soldiers to fight desperately to attack the city. After throwing logs and stones, they also tore down the beams and pillars of the houses, and even the county government office was completely demolished. Liu Bei stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the broken red flag that still stood on the watchtower of the city wall, and was speechless for a long time.

He said to Qian Zhao: "Zijing, in this campaign against the Yuan clan, you and your comrades and the people who defended Liaocheng should be credited with the greatest merit."

When the nobles from all over Yanzhou heard that Liu Shijun had returned with a great victory over Yuan Shao, they rushed to pay homage to him.

Liu Bei ordered people to set up an altar outside Liaocheng, and also sent people to invite the nobles who did not understand his meaning to go outside the city.

Flags outside the desolate city blocked out the sky. The Armored Camp, the Vanguard Camp, the Sound and Shooting Camp, and the auxiliary soldiers were all wearing armor and holding weapons, standing solemnly on the high platform and looking out.

The wasteland was filled with sacrificial vessels of all sizes, and the strong wind blew up the white flags stuck in the ground.

After the military officer finished reading the memorial, Liu Bei stood on the high platform and looked at the nobles who came from all over to take advantage of the situation. He said solemnly: "When I was fighting with Yuan Benchu, if it were not for the people and soldiers of Liaocheng who defended this city to the death for me, I would not have been able to defeat Yuan Shao and march to Yecheng."

"This battle was won because of the dedication of the soldiers and civilians, not because of me, Liu Bei."

"If we don't set up this altar, how can we call the warrior's soul back to the earth and let him sleep in the green mountains at night?"

"The stars shine brightly, and every man has a duty to pacify the world. How can we not worship them?"

Liu Bei's words not only made the officials who tried to dissuade him feel ashamed, but also made the powerful people who were watching blush.

These nobles who came from Chenliu, Jiyin and Shanyang counties did so because Liu Bei had defeated Yuan Shao and believed that no one could stop him from seizing Yanzhou, so they came to curry favor with him in advance.

I didn't expect to be taught a lesson as soon as I arrived.

Not all the nobles felt embarrassed. Li Dian, a noble from Shanyang County, clapped his hands and praised in the crowd below the stage: "Envoy Liu has the spirit to shake the world, he is truly a hero!"

Li Dian enjoyed a good reputation among the villagers and was also very wise. He had heard that Envoy Liu had the spirit of a hero, and today he saw that it was indeed true.

He had previously thought that Yanzhou would belong to Cao Cao of Dongjun, and was prepared to lead his troops to surrender. Fortunately, it was just a superficial idea and no action was taken, otherwise he would have to take his people and follow Cao Mengde and leave his homeland.

The Tian family, who had helped Cao Cao defend the city of Puyang, has now become extremely impoverished. Not only have their land and money been taken away, but almost all of their members have also died in the process of defending the city.

Only one or two hundred people escaped from Dongjun and no one knew where they went. There has been no news of them since then.

Li Dian was deeply moved.

Liu Bei, who was standing on the high platform, didn't care much about whether his words would make the nobles who came to curry favor with him feel ashamed.

The world is bustling with people all for the sake of profit. Some things need to be bet on in advance. Only after you win do you realize it and come to pay your respects, and then you feel that Yanzhou is going to change.

In fact, it's too late unless you place a big bet.

Otherwise, in the future, the wealthy families of Dongjun and Jibei will definitely dominate other counties and kingdoms in Yanzhou.

After Liu Bei came down and saw the expressions of the crowd, he felt a little amused. As long as Yuan Shao did not remove the blade against his waist, he had no power to interfere in the affairs of Yanzhou. Tao Qian of Xuzhou was unable to take care of himself, and at this moment, the counties of Yanzhou had become meat on the chopping board.

"Why do these powerful families only care about adding icing on the cake and don't know how to help others in times of need?" Liu Bei thought to himself.

(End of this chapter)