Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 158: To conquer the enemy without fighting is the best of all virtues
Liu Bei handled all matters of the state and county in Tan County, Donghai, Xuzhou, and also took time to write letters to the three princes of Yangzhou and Liu Biao of Jingzhou.

In the letter to Liu Yao, he said that his brother Liu Gongshan had returned to his hometown of Donglai, Qingzhou, and spent his days leisurely discussing scriptures and philosophy with many famous scholars and Confucian scholars.

Now that Qing and Xu are connected, he can send a letter to Donglai to find out the truth. Whether Liu Gongshan has been insulted, and whether the expedition to Yanzhou is also in accordance with the will of the court. Even if Liu Dai attacks Pingyuan first, he, Liu Xuande, will put aside past grudges and treat him with sincerity.

When Liu Yao received the letter, he could not help but sigh. Liu Bei had been so kind to his brother, and if he repaid his brother with evil, he would be unworthy of the character of a famous scholar.

Cao Cao in Danyang also received a letter sent across the river by Lord Xuande, who affectionately called him Mengde and advised Cao Cao from a moral high ground: "The world is still in turmoil, and scholars are like the sea, uneasy everywhere. I heard that when Mengde was the Northern Lieutenant of Luoyang and the Prime Minister of Jinan in his early years, he vigorously rectified the administration of officials and punished lawless tyrants, which won praise from the world for a time."

"Now, Bao Yuncheng and Cao Zilian are both highly valued officials in Qingzhou. Meng De thinks that Yuan Benchu ​​can accomplish great things. To win the hearts of the people, he can only rely on the reputation of the Yuan family, who have been three ministers for four generations. However, the prosperity of the Han Dynasty is more than four generations. If Yuan Shao is defeated, the world will be completely renewed, and the powerful Han will surely be given the mandate again. At that time, what will happen to the Cao family in Qiao County? What should they do? I hope Meng De will give it more careful consideration."

Cao Cao was also annoyed after reading the letter carefully. He smiled bitterly at Chen Gong and Cheng Yu and said, "Liu Xuande's letter is threatening, but I can't just ignore it. If I really defeat Yuan Benchu ​​and occupy all the rich places in the world, I'm afraid I will become another Emperor Guangwu."

Chen Gongtai and Cheng Zhongde took the letter and looked at the words on the pale yellow bamboo slips, which hit the weak points of others, and they were speechless for a long time.

Chen Gong wanted to say something, but then stopped talking.

Cheng Yu frowned, feeling that he had been restricted since the battle with Liu Bei in Dongjun.

Especially since Liu Xuande's power was growing, they dared not offend him unless it was absolutely necessary, for fear that the three clans would be exterminated in the future.

As for Yuan Shu, Liu Bei also wrote a letter to talk to him about Yuan Benchu ​​of Jizhou.

He sent people across Yuzhou to Xiangyang, Jingzhou, to build closer relations with Liu Biao, praising Liu Biao's heroic feat of riding alone into Jingzhou, saying that he was worthy of being one of the eight most talented people in the world, and respectfully named him Duke Jingsheng. He also asked Liu Biao to show the bamboo slips to visiting guests, celebrities, and subordinates with a smile on his face.

Liu Biao stroked his beard and smiled, "Xuan De, you are too kind. Without the help of the talented people in Jing and Xiang, how could we have secured Jingzhou and repelled the greedy Yuan Gonglu?"

"You are wrong. Without Lord Jingsheng, Jingzhou would never have a peaceful life. Lord Xuande is right."

Many guests and celebrities bowed and praised Liu Biao, praising him as if he were free.

Liu Biao pretended to be displeased, but in fact the corners of his mouth moved slightly, he felt very comfortable.

He thought to himself, "Liu Xuande is worthy of being Lu Gong's disciple. It seems that he has figured out how famous people flatter each other, which makes it easier for each other to improve their reputations."

Liu Biao also decided to write a reply letter, praising Liu Xuande's achievements by using the name of the Eight Talents, and asking him to show it to the guests to enhance his reputation, as it would be impolite not to reciprocate.

Liu Bei used the strategy of dividing and disintegrating the princes and defeating them one by one, trying his best to prevent the southern princes from uniting together to fight against him.

After writing letters to several princes, Liu Bei focused his attention on the officials in various counties of Xuzhou. He sent official documents to inform Xiao Jian, the Prime Minister of Langya, Zhao Yu, the Prefect of Guangling, Xue Li, the Prime Minister of Pengcheng, and Zuo Rong, the Prime Minister of Xia Pi, requiring them to re-adjust the household registration, tax registers and other registers for cross-checking and ordering them to send the registers to Donghai as soon as possible.

When Liu Kui, the Prime Minister of Donghai, died of illness, Liu Bei promoted Mi Zhu to the position of Prime Minister of Donghai County with a salary of 2,000 stones, which made Mi Zhu bow down in gratitude. Although the position of Beijia Congshi seemed to be high and respected, it was actually only a 600-stone official, which was not comparable to the real power of the prefect and the prime minister.

Besides, he had donated money to Tao Gong for the position of assistant official.

After Liu Bei pacified Mi Zhu, he was busy with paperwork all day long until late at night. The subordinates he brought from Yanzhou were extremely efficient, which left many senior officials in Xuzhou dumbfounded.

Liu Bei thought about it and decided to write a letter to Zang Ba, who was stationed in Kaiyang County, Langya, in which he first expressed his determination to wipe out the bandits. After giving the military order, the generals set out from Beihai, Taishan and Donghai to march towards Langya, eliminate the bandits and get rid of the long-standing hatred for the people.

Then he changed the subject and pointed out the way for Zang Ba, saying that Guan Hai had been valued since he surrendered as the leader of the Yellow Turbans, and that if he surrendered now, his past would be forgiven.

At the same time when the letter reached Zang Ba, Liu Bei also ordered Beihai to mobilize troops to enter Langya County, leaving it to the other party to make their choice.

Relying on the food and grass of Xuzhou, Liu Bei dispatched troops from the military headquarters of Shanyang County and Jiyin County in Yanzhou to Donghai of Xuzhou, and dispatched Man Chong, Li Dian, Mao Jie, Gao Shun and Gao Rou to serve in Tan County of Xuzhou. Among them, Li Dian and Gao Shun, Liu Bei specially ordered them to select 300 people from their clan tribes to come to Xuzhou.

After Liu Dai was captured alive, the Juye Li family took the initiative to hand over 3,000 troops to Lord Xuande. However, Liu Bei did not want to disappoint the nobles who had surrendered to him in advance, so he allowed the Li family to keep 500 troops and the Wei family 350 troops, and confiscated the rest of the troops and incorporated them into the military office.

As for the troops of the nobles in Chenliu County, it is not the time to ask them to hand them over yet. We may have to wait until the battle against Yuan Shu, and then issue a military order to completely mobilize the 12,000 troops of the nobles and gentry in various counties of Chenliu.

Liu Bei knew very well that only by conquering the world could he best consume the strength of the gentry and wealthy families in various states of the world, tie their hands and feet in the countryside, sever their dependence on the people, and then measure the land step by step.

Nowadays, the whole country is in turmoil. How many common people have become refugees and vassals in foreign lands? We must forcibly take them out of the hands of the powerful, redistribute the land equally among the people, and prohibit the buying and selling of arable land.

At present, each county in Qingzhou has an official agricultural school, and students can become country officials after graduation. Lu Zhi has already resigned as the chief academician, and Liu Bei is now the teacher of the agricultural school boys in various counties and towns.

The Young Martial Arts Academy is a place where military officers and military officers are trained, and only Pingyuan County has an official school. Liu Bei dared not add such a national treasure to the counties of Qingzhou. Once it was far away from his sight, he would be playing with fire and getting burned.

If the wealthy and powerful families can get their hands on the military officials and military officers, the situation may collapse faster than Cao Wei.

However, official agricultural schools can now be set up in Yanzhou Dongjun, Jibei and Jiyin. The powerful people in these places have been weakened several times by him, and it is time for them to intervene in the countryside.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, took out a blank wooden tablet and wrote several official documents. He took off the seal of the governor of Yanzhou from his waist, sealed it with ink, and ordered his clerk to send it to Yanzhou.

Then he turned his gaze to the silk map of the counties and kingdoms of Xuzhou in the hall. It would be easy to subdue Zang Ba, but it would be a little tricky to take over the power of the other prefects and county ministers.

Especially Xia Pi Xiang Zuo Rong, if not handled properly, the three southern counties would be in chaos.

Suddenly Liu Bei's eyes lit up. On the map, the Yishui River flows southward, and there is only Liangcheng County between Tan County and Xia Pi County. If he could pacify the people while personally leading the cavalry with dry food and rushing along the river to Xia Pi at a rapid speed, he could capture Zuo Rong directly to prevent him from causing trouble in Xuzhou.

(End of this chapter)