Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 157 Yuan Shu: You Must Obey My Commands

On September 27th of the second year of Xingping, heavy rain fell for several days in Jiujiang County, Yangzhou.

As the rumor that Liu Bei was leading his army to take over Xuzhou spread in the six counties of Yangzhou, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and Liu Yao successively put an end to the disputes in various places.

They all had considerable grudges against Liu Bei, and Yuan Shu resented Tao Gongzu for giving Xuzhou to Liu Xuande.

Previously, I thought Liu Bei, who beat Yuan Shao in Jizhou, was not bad, but now I think he is hateful. Xuzhou had long been regarded as Yuan Gonglu's territory, but he did not expect that when he attacked Cao Mengde, Xuzhou would be occupied by others.

Cao Cao had old grudges with Liu Bei in Yanzhou. If Dongjun had not been taken away, he would not have traveled all the way to Yangzhou.

But Cao Mengde did not dare to completely break off with Liu Bei. After all, he still had concubines and children in Chenliu County, Yanzhou. If he offended Liu Xuande too much, Chenliu Prefect Zhang Miao might not be able to protect his concubines.

Because his brother Liu Dai had his Yanzhou land taken away from him, Liu Yao was not killed, but was imprisoned in Pingyuan and was full of resentment towards Liu Bei.

Therefore, the three people who had grudges against Liu Bei stopped tacitly and thought about how to deal with Liu Xuande.

Lujiang and Yuzhang under Liu Yao's rule are far away from Xuzhou. Cao Cao's Wujun, Danyangjun and Yuan Shu's Jiujiangjun all border Xuzhou. Now they are facing a powerful enemy in the north, so they dare not be careless.

In particular, Yuan Shu felt that oppression was imminent, while Cao Mengde had the natural barrier of the Yangtze River as his support, while he faced Liu Xuande's sharp military force.

"Liu Bei has occupied Xuzhou, and Jiujiang is in danger. How should I respond?"

Yuan Shu was worried and thought hard for a long time, and asked his trusted aides for advice.

The chief clerk Yan Xiang thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Yuan, we have no enmity with Liu Xuande. On the contrary, we used to be on good terms with him. Why don't we send a famous scholar to persuade him to let him know that Yuan Benchu ​​in Hebei is the real enemy. We should fight for Hebei with him, focus on the north and slow down the south, only then can we restore the Han Dynasty."

"Then we can take advantage of the opportunity to take Yuzhou in the north, Yangzhou in the east, and Jingzhou in the west."

Yuan Shu pondered over his words, shook his head in dissatisfaction and said, "This is not the best strategy I have in mind. Liu Bei recaptured Luoyang and offered sacrifices to the ancestral temple, which attracted the attention of women and children all over the world. If he pacifies Yuan Benchu, the Yuan family of Runan will never have a chance to compete for supremacy again."

Yuan Shu was not stupid. If Liu Bei took over Hebei, many scholars who were loyal to the Han Dynasty would surely come to him upon hearing the news. With the deeds of Emperor Guangwu and Liu Xiu in the past, and the prophecy of the golden sword, he would lead a large army south to capture cities and territories. Not to mention that he had three states, even if he got Jiaozhou, a total of four states, what would it matter?

The sword is at its neck, it can't last long...

Stuck in this predicament, the only solution now is that prophecy can defeat prophecy.

Seeing that other clerks were still racking their brains to offer suggestions, Yuan Shu glanced at his other trusted aide, Yang Hong.

When Chief Clerk Yang Hong saw Lord Yuan nod to him, he immediately understood what he should do, so he coughed to attract the attention of the officials, and then said in a loud voice: "Recently, I have been traveling in various counties in Yangzhou, and I happened to meet a sorcerer who ate Fuling and drank cold water, and was good at Taoism. I asked him where he came from and he said he came to Yangzhou from the island Yingzhou. I talked with him for a few days, and he said something unusual. He said that it was more than a hundred miles away, and the one who replaced the Han Dynasty was Dangtu Gao. Later, he disappeared at night. When I asked the servants, no one noticed him. I found it very strange. Can you help me solve this puzzle?"

Everyone was surprised to hear this. Since Emperor Xiaowu, the belief in ghosts and gods had become more and more prevalent, and it was difficult to tell whether many things were true or false.

Yang Hong is a loyal and reliable person and would not speak nonsense. Besides, it has been a long-standing rumor that he replaced the Han Dynasty.

As early as when Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling launched the Factional Persecution Campaign, some scholars dared to privately discuss that Wang Mang would overthrow the Han Dynasty in no time. This was because he was not Tu Gao, a character that few people fit.

On the other hand, Liu Xuande's strong rise made people wonder whether the prophecy of the golden sword had come true, and the prophecy of Tu Gao who would replace the Han Dynasty gradually disappeared. When the clerks were discussing the saying that Tu Gao would replace the Han Dynasty, Yan Xiang saw from the corner of his eye that Yuan Gong, who was sitting in the hall, was not angry at all, but looked at his clerks with interest.

Yan Xiang stroked his beard and vaguely guessed something in his heart.

A clerk with clear features raised his head and said proudly, "Everyone, I have guessed what "This is more than a hundred miles away, and the one who replaced the Han Dynasty must be high" means."

All the officials followed the direction of his voice and waited for him to continue speaking.

But the man kept it a secret, calmly straightened his clothes, bowed respectfully to Yuan Gong, then turned around and said confidently: "Tu means the common road. Shu and Lu both mean road. However, the ancestor of the Yuan family was surnamed Chen, and the Chen family was a descendant of Emperor Shun and belonged to the yellow earth in the Five Elements. Han is the virtue of fire, and the color is red. Earth can replace fire. God gave the credit to Chen and Yuan, and will give the foundation of Han and Liu. Therefore, it is said that there is a person who will replace Han in this area of ​​more than a hundred miles. It should be Tu Gao. It should refer to the Yuan family's highway."

Everyone was shocked and stunned. They didn't expect that the prophecy could be interpreted in this way, and they started discussing it with their colleagues again.

Yuan Shu looked at his subordinates who all stood up to discuss and saw many people speaking for him, and he was very happy.

He is not talking nonsense when he deliberately did this, he really has evidence in his hands.

One is a prophecy, the other is the imperial seal.

Every night, after comforting the beautiful lady Feng, he would stroke the imperial seal alone, especially the eight seal characters "Received the Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosper" which made his face and neck turn red involuntarily.

Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and others are enjoying false fame. I, Yuan Shu, should be known to the world. Yuan Gonglu is the one who is truly appointed by Heaven. I should live long and prosper and become the emperor of the Zhong family.

Yuan Shu firmly believed that he was the one who received the mandate of heaven. Seeing that he had held the imperial seal for a long time but was unable to use it, he could not help but feel angry.

Nowadays, scholars all value people with reputation. Only with reputation can one have everything. This is why the titles of Eight Talents, Eight Gu, Eight Ji, and Eight Chefs were all competed for in the past.

The scholars formed cliques and called each other famous scholars, which attracted praise from the people in their hometowns. Officials who were filial and honest began to be recommended from them.

Even the Yuan family of Runan did not dare to offend the scholars of the world and force the other party to be an official to serve him. However, the prefect of Lujiang, Lu Kang, dared not obey the orders of Yuan Shu.

Therefore, only by having a greater reputation can one command Huainan and stand on equal footing with Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, and then people will rush to rely on him.

Yuan Gonglu thought a lot and felt that he should not waste the prophecy and the imperial seal in his hands. He should boldly use them to bring him a reputation far beyond Yuan Benchu ​​and Liu Xuande, so that scholars would travel thousands of miles to follow him and fly around the world to climb the swan.

He made up his mind to find his confidant Yang Hong to devise a plan on how to make the prophecy prevail in Huainan. He also quietly told Yang Hong that he was in line with the will of heaven and let the chief secretary Yang Hong witness the imperial seal.

When the two things were placed in front of Yang Hong, he was shocked.

I didn't expect that the Han Dynasty's imperial seal would be in Yuan Gong's hands. Shouldn't it be in Chang'an?

Yang Hong wanted to refuse, but when he thought about the fact that his entire family was under the rule of Yuan Gong and he couldn't escape even if he wanted to, he had to grit his teeth and agree.

(End of this chapter)