Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 156 Liu Bei: What did you give me?
Zhuge Zongchang smiled happily, with wrinkles all over his face, and took Zhuge Jin to bow and leave.

Liu Bei bowed and saw him off.

Not long after, Mi Zhu led many famous people from Xuzhou to pay a visit. Among them, there was one person who was quite famous, and Liu Bei couldn't help but look at him a few more times.

"Zhang Zibu, a humble scholar from Xuzhou, pays a visit to Lord Xuande." Zhang Zhao, who wore a Confucian cap and a loose robe, with a thin yellow face and a long beard, bowed respectfully.

"Zi Bu, please stand up quickly." Seeing the other party's generous gift, Liu Bei had no choice but to help him up.

Then he couldn't help but ask in detail: "I heard that Zibu wanted to cross the Yangtze River to the south, and I didn't expect to meet him in Xuzhou."

Zhang Zhao was suddenly startled. He didn't know where Envoy Liu heard the news. He was excited that Lord Xuande paid attention to his Zi Bu, but he was also afraid of being misunderstood, so he left.

He bowed respectfully and said, "Zhao didn't know Lord Xuande was appointed governor of Xuzhou before. He guessed that Lord Tao had died and Xuzhou would be the site of four wars, so he had no choice but to cross the Yangtze River to the south to avoid disaster."

"Now we have Lord Xuande as governor of the state, and there is no hero in the world greater than you. How can Yuan Gonglu, Cao Mengde, Liu Zhengli and others resist him?"

"Zhao believes that you are a man of great vision, generous and kind, and have gathered the wisdom and strength of the heroes. There is no need to be afraid of those who are incompetent and incompetent."

After saying this, Zhang Zhao bowed again.

Liu Bei nodded and thought to himself, "Zhang Zibu is still very sensible as always."

After meeting many famous scholars, Liu Bei suddenly remembered why Tao Gongzu's second son did not come, so he asked Mi Zhu.

Mi Zhu explained, "Sir, these two are in Pei County mourning for Lord Tao and cannot come to see you."

Tao Ying and Tao Shang mourned for their grandfather in Xiao County, Pei State, Yuzhou for three years.

Previously, under the persuasion of Mi Zhu, Tao Qian finally did not take action against Cao Song, the father of Cao Mengde.

However, his hometown Danyang was still a place of chaos and war, and tomb robberies were frequent. If he was buried there, he might not be at peace after his death. Before his death, Tao Qian instructed everyone to bury him in Xiao County of Pei County in Yuzhou.

Liu Bei was slightly stunned. Xiao County was the fiefdom where Xiu'er was enfeoffed as King of Xiao. Tao Gongzu's actions seemed as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Mi Zhu carefully watched the envoy's face, and when he saw that he was not angry, he breathed a sigh of relief.

As the previous governor of Xuzhou, they had no way of changing the decision made by Tao Gong, so they could only let him go.

"Sir, the Grand Historian and Chief Guo have already guarded all the places in Tan County. Why don't we enter the city first?"

Mi Zhu asked tentatively.

Liu Bei readily agreed and ordered Liu He to pass on the order to beat drums and enter the city with flags waving. The soldiers of the Huben Cavalry and the Ruichong Camp quickly assembled and were ready to go. They spontaneously checked their weapons, bows and crossbows, arrows, and armor. When they were all correct, they mounted their horses, held their heads high and chests out, looked forward, and held their lances upright, waiting for the order to advance.

During the period, there was no whispering and no unnecessary noise. Apart from the sound of military equipment, it was extremely quiet. Even the horses stayed where they were and did not move.

The speed at which the Qingzhou soldiers gathered during their rest period made those Xuzhou scholars who knew a little about battlefield affairs turn pale.

Such autonomous behavior can only be achieved by qualified military officers, from privates to sergeants, squad leaders to team leaders and garrison commanders. They can be so calm and skilled after going through countless battles.

Some scholars could not help but exclaim: "If we can command the might of the army like the chest controlling the arm and the arm controlling the finger, then we can make everyone in the world obey us."

The cavalry moved slowly to the beat of drums. Liu Bei, Mi Zhu and the others mounted their horses, raised his whip and bowed, saying, "Gentlemen, we have been entrusted by the court to take charge of the affairs of Xuzhou. We have an important task and must deal with the accumulated official business in a timely manner. You may as well stay in the inn first. I will host a banquet in my mansion the day after tomorrow to entertain you!"

"Nothing, nothing, Lord Xuande, please go and do your work. We will go into the city to rest."

"That's right, Lord Xuande cares about the people, so it's more important to deal with government affairs. After all, Lord Tao was seriously ill and delayed a lot of matters. We must focus on the right things."

The noble families and many famous people waved their hands and told Liu Bei to go into the city first and not to worry about them, and to go back after everyone had cleaned up the place.

While waiting for Lord Xuande, they had set up a lot of tables, wine vessels and other miscellaneous items. They couldn't just leave them out in the suburbs. Besides, some people came by carriage, some rode skinny horses and donkeys, and more young scholars walked. Could they let Lord Xuande wait in front of them? How could they give him such a big face?

Liu Bei then smiled, bowed, and whipped the horse. The horse neighed loudly, raised its hooves and galloped towards Tan County, Xuzhou. Behind him, more than a thousand cavalrymen followed closely behind on horseback.

Zhuge Jin, who was in the crowd, looked at Lord Xuande and sighed, "This is how a wise ruler should behave."

Looking up at the clear autumn sky, he suddenly smiled and said, "My generation of scholars assists the wise master to repay our loyalty, and now is the time to make achievements and establish a career."

……

Liu Bei went straight into the city without stopping. Taishi Ci and Guo Jia were waiting for him in front of his mansion. The people on the street had been persuaded to return to their homes, so they could travel at a fast pace.

Stopping in front of the mansion, the soldiers of the Ruichong Camp took over part of the guarding duties of the Huben Cavalry, and most of the remaining troops were stationed in the west of the city, which had previously been used as a military camp.

"Envoy!" Guo Jia and Taishi Ci bowed and saluted.

Liu Bei waved his hand to tell them not to be so polite, then turned his gaze to the Xuzhou governor's mansion and chuckled, "The mansion built by Tao Gongzu is quite magnificent, much better than those in Qingzhou and Yanzhou."

"Not only that, Tao Gongzu also left many gold items as gifts for you." Guo Jia took a scroll of wood from the military officer and handed it to Liu Bei.

It records that a lot of Tao Qian's personal money was hidden in many courtyards inside the front hall of the mansion, and these items had nothing to do with the records in the Xuzhou treasury.

Tao Qian did not give much money to his two sons, but left most of it to Liu Xuande.

After hearing from Mi Zhu that the land tax in Qingzhou could not support the government's expenditure, Tao Qian, who was critically ill, hesitated again and again, and finally gritted his teeth and gave most of his accumulated money to Liu Bei.

Xuzhou has been given away, what else is there to lose? I just hope Liu Xuande will not lose to the Yuan family of Runan.

Tao Gongzu asked himself in his heart.

This decision made Tao Ying and Tao Shang dumbfounded. Life is fleeting, and without money, how can one enjoy the music of music and fine food?

Under Tao Qian's stern gaze and in front of many Xuzhou officials, it would be unfilial if they did not obey.

They could only nod silently with tears in their eyes, allowing those who didn't know the truth to praise them for their filial piety.

Liu Bei read the wooden slip carefully. It indeed contained a dazzling array of valuable gold articles. He said with a hint of enlightenment, "No wonder Tao Gongzu wanted to be buried in Xiao County. He was risking everything because he was afraid that I would forget about it in the future."

"Wait, what's going on with Pengcheng Huan's daughter?"

When Liu Bei saw the back, he found that he still remembered Mei Ji and couldn't help asking.

"Your Excellency, the nobles of Xuzhou heard that Lord Xuande had the style of Emperor Gaozu, and that Emperor Gaozu loved beautiful concubines. They searched everywhere and found a beautiful woman named Huan in Pengcheng, so they offered her to Your Excellency as a concubine."

Guo Jia bowed and explained.

"This girl is both talented and beautiful. She has now been placed in the institution, so I'm recording her in the register."

Everyone knows Emperor Gaozu's hobbies. Apart from Empress Lü, Concubine Qi, Concubine Bo, Concubine Zhao and Concubine Zhang were the most famous.

Now that Lord Xuande has come to Xuzhou, they naturally know how to do things. There is no need for the envoy to speak personally. Wouldn't that make them seem incompetent?

Liu Bei ignored Guo Fengxiao's smile. He looked at the name of Pengcheng Huan and thought, "This shouldn't be Madam Huan..."

He still remembered that in history, Cao Mengde's favorite concubine, Huan, was from Pengcheng, Xuzhou.

(End of this chapter)