Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 122 I will raise your son myself

The weather in the first month of the year is getting colder.

Although the rain and snow have stopped recently, the air is still a bit dry and cold.

Man Chong followed the official step by step to the front hall of the provincial government, but found that Lord Xuande was not sitting at the desk. Instead, he stood up and put on a cloak and stood at the bottom of the hall. He was awakened from his deep thoughts by the footsteps and greeted him with joy.

"When I led my army to Changyi County and recovered the two counties of Yanzhou, I heard that Shanyang County had a good official who enforced the law impartially and put the law first without fear of power. So I asked around and finally found Bo Ning."

Liu Bei took the initiative to greet him, and after Man Chong paid his respects, he looked at him carefully and explained with a smile.

He nodded slightly to the official who was leading the way, and the latter immediately understood and took his leave.

"Thank you for your high regard, Lord. I am but a commoner, so how dare I trouble Lord Xuande to come and greet me in person? I would be ashamed to receive you."

Man Chong looked ashamed. He and Liu Shijun were not old friends, nor were they old officials or celebrities. He was overwhelmed but also grateful that Liu Shijun had specially sent people to look for him when he had already lost his fame.

In history, Cao Mengde sent someone to recruit him in the third year of Chuping, when he was still somewhat famous. Now it is already the second year of Xingping.

He no longer had a place among the famous scholars in Shanyang County.

Liu Shijun had to have a very detailed understanding to know his name, Man Boning.

"Bo Ning, now that Yanzhou has just been settled, how can we better govern the people, nobles, and aristocrats in each county and state?"

Liu Bei invited the other party to sit down and then went straight to the point.

Man Chong knew that this was a question from the envoy, and it was related to his future, so he said after some thought: "Please forgive me for speaking frankly, but the reason why the counties in Yanzhou are in such a mess is that the laws and regulations are not implemented and the officials are incompetent and immoral."

"In addition, Liu Dai appointed clerks who were fawning and flattering, which resulted in unclear rewards and punishments and rampant corrupt officials."

"Your Excellency Xuande should do the opposite of Liu Gongshan. First, strictly enforce the laws and regulations in Dongjun and Jibei to restrain officials. Do not intentionally bias the laws. Punish ministers without sparing them, and reward the good without sparing ordinary people. As Han Zi said, the law should not favor the rich, and the strong should not bend. In a few years, Yanzhou will be completely renewed. If you sit in the two states, it will be easy to defeat the bandits and destroy the Yuan family."

After Man Chong finished speaking, he stood up and bowed.

Liu Bei raised his hand to support him and said with a smile: "Bo Ning is well versed in the essentials of the Legalists. I originally wanted to appoint you as the Supervisor of Shanyang County, but suddenly I found a place in Qingzhou that is more suitable."

"There are many people who rely on their reputation to commit crimes. The governor often gives them lenient sentences out of consideration for their personal relationships. We need you, Bo Ning, to go and purge the corrupt officials and the unscrupulous tyrants."

"I wonder where the envoy wants to send his concubine?" Man Chong asked doubtfully.

Liu Bei smiled meaningfully and said, "Go to Beihai and Donglai and serve as the Supervisor of Posts."

He had been using knives on the battlefield for a long time and had accumulated a lot of experience.

Good iron should be used on the blade. There are still many fish that have escaped the net in those two counties. Let Man Chong drive them away and perhaps we can catch some big fish.

Now that Yuan Shao has withdrawn his troops and returned to Yecheng, Liu Bei has plenty of patience to rectify internal problems.

Under Man Chong's grateful gaze, he was sent out of the mansion and his back was watched gradually disappearing into the distance.

Liu Bei pondered in his mind, thinking: "Dian Wei and Mao Jie, whom Zhang Mengzhuo found for me, should be on their way to Shanyang Changyi by now, right?"

It would be a waste of God's gifts to let Meng De use these talented people. Now that he is the governor of Yanzhou, all the talented people in various places should be employed by him.

Thinking about the news he got from Zhang Miao, Cao Cao had already gone to Yangzhou to serve as the governor, bringing Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, and Cao Chun with him, and also recruited a thousand troops in Chenliu to go to Yangzhou.

The eldest son Cao Ang and his wife Ding also went with him. Cao Mengde only entrusted his concubines and young children to Zhang Miao for care.

Liu Bei pretended to be indifferent and asked which sons Meng De left behind. Zhang Miao thought that the envoy was an old friend of Meng De, so he answered without hesitation: there were three sons, Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi. Liu Bei was itching to take Meng De's entire family to Pingyuan.

Especially when he heard that Cao Zhi was only two years old, he wanted to find a playmate for his boy.

Unfortunately, Zhang Miao was entrusted with the task of offering his son to his wife, so he could not take action for the time being.

However, there is still a long time to come, and as long as Meng De has not established himself in Yangzhou, he will not bring the rest of his family over, besides, the journey is thousands of miles away.

Even adults can't stand it, let alone children.

As he thought about it, Liu Bei couldn't help but look to the south, grinning and saying, "Meng De, you and I have known each other for many years. I will raise your concubine's child myself. You don't have to worry about it in Jiangnan."

……

Cao Cao, who was far away in Yangzhou, had no idea that his "old" friend was going to cut off his retreat.

Since he led his troops south with Yuan Shao's seal half a year ago, he found that Jiujiang had been captured by Yuan Shu when he arrived in Yangzhou, so he had to establish a foothold in Danyang County first.

The reputation of the four clans and three dukes of the Yuan family could not be ignored, especially the world-renowned Yuan Shao, who was even more awe-inspiring. It was said that Cao Cao was Yuan Shao's good friend and had also been known to fight against Dong Zhuo. Sun Ben of the Sun family personally led people to welcome him.

After several months, Cao Cao gradually gained a firm foothold with his skill, but the Chang'an court had no choice but to send Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, to Yangzhou to take up the post.

Liu Yao heard that Jiujiang in Yangzhou was occupied by Yuan Shu, and Danyang County and Wu County were also occupied.

With nowhere to go, they had to temporarily live in Lujiang County. It happened that Yuan Shu sent Sun Ce to attack Lujiang. Liu Yao and Lu Kang led their troops to fight but were defeated repeatedly. At the critical moment of life and death, they had no choice but to write a letter to Cao Mengde for help.

When Cao Cao received the letter, he held a banquet to invite officials of all ranks and showed them the letter on the spot.

He shook his head and sighed, "Liu Yao is no match for Yuan Gonglu, and I have known Yuan Shu for a long time. He is greedy and likes to plunder the savings of several generations of wealthy families to satisfy his selfish desires. He is far from a wise leader."

All the officials nodded in unison. They had long seen all of Yuan Shu's cruel behaviors, otherwise they would not have been so resistant.

Cao Cao saw that everyone agreed with him, and laughed loudly, "I am the governor of Yangzhou, but I can't eat or sleep well. Do you know why?"

Some people thought about it and guessed the intention.

Cao Cao sighed, "Thinking back then, Sun Wentai was such a hero, but he worked for Yuan Shu and died tragically. His son still works for Yuan Shu today, but little did he know that Yuan Gonglu is now just a pile of bones in a grave."

“Those who do not understand the truth are prone to encounter great disasters.”

The officials looked at each other and said to Cao Cao, "We hope that Lord Cao will give us a signal."

Cao Cao saw the real purpose and said with a smile: "Liu Yao and Yuan Shu are not wise leaders. I have always had the ambition to serve my country, but I only regret that I don't have enough money, food, and weapons to make great efforts to govern the country and make contributions to the country."

This……

If everyone still doesn't understand what Cao Cao meant, then they are really fools.

Cao Cao did not wait for them to reply, raised his wine jar and said with a smile: "How about this, everyone lend me the military supplies to quell the turmoil in Yangzhou, and you must return them later."

He saw Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun leading their soldiers and standing dozens of steps behind him, not saying a word, like wooden sculptures.

It was as if he was waiting for someone to drink a penalty drink.

Many officials could only smile bitterly and said, "Why do you have to say that, Lord Cao? As the governor of Yangzhou, the soldiers should belong to you."

(End of this chapter)