Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 17 Women are not inferior to men
The news of Jizhou has not yet reached Qingzhou.

Even after entertaining Wang Xiu for several days, Liu Bei saw him say goodbye and travel back and forth to Beihai alone, which made Liu Bei a little worried.

He also asked Zhao Yun to select a few elite knights and bring enough dry food to escort him back.

Before leaving, Liu Bei put aside his official duties and saw him off in person.

Wang Xiu bowed and said, "Your Majesty is of noble status, there is no need to send me off."

Liu Bei did not listen and walked another mile. When he said goodbye, he said, "I am not here to serve as the governor of Kong County, but I really respect you, Lord Wang."

Wang Xiu couldn't help but burst into tears, and he bowed for a long time without getting up.

After seeing Wang Xiu off, Liu Bei went to see the Yellow Turban soldiers who had surrendered earlier.

At that time, they were settled separately. Although they were doing corvée labor such as clearing forests and repairing canals, they behaved obediently. They had two meals a day during the corvée labor, which was unprecedented for the surrendered soldiers.

In the past, as obedient subjects doing corvée labor, we had never seen or even heard of the county government distributing food. We had to bring our own rations.

Not only is it voluntary work, but sometimes the work is so exhausting that it affects one's own farm work.

When I got home, I saw that the rice had rotted in the fields and the sunflowers I had planted had been harvested.

The grandfather and mother who were disabled due to military service in their early years were left unattended and eventually starved to death in bed. Many surrendered soldiers had tears in their eyes when they thought of this.

Those old men and misers are a scourge to the village. It would be too easy for them to be killed with just one blow. They should be killed in pain by cutting off their flesh and letting them bleed.

Some surrendered soldiers even heard that the common people not only ate better than them when serving, but were even paid.

Those who were curious asked the supervising military officers and passers-by why Pingyuan County was so different.

We are all from Qingzhou, why do you live well while we live poorly?

Then I learned that Pingyuan County had not always been like this, but it had undergone earth-shaking changes since Liu Fujun took office as the county prime minister.

All kinds of gossip about Liu Fujun spread wildly in the villages where the surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers were settled, leaving those who heard them stunned.

It was in this situation that many surrendered soldiers stopped what they were doing when they saw the Lord coming and bowed to Liu Bei in the distance.

"Lord Liu!"

"Mr. Xuande!"

Liu Bei chuckled and nodded.

The follower Liu He behind him hurriedly followed.

After walking another two miles through the fields, Liu Bei stopped in front of a group of surrendered soldiers, his eyes fixed on a tall and sturdy woman.

After the bearded military officer finished scolding the lazy man, he was caught off guard and saw the Lord behind him, and hurriedly saluted.

Liu Bei smiled and waved his hand to indicate that everything was fine.

The woman was bending over to cut grass and was slightly aware of it. When she looked up, she saw Liu Fujun.

Liu Bei didn't say much and just called her over. The woman hesitated, put down her sickle, walked forward and greeted her.

Liu Bei said with emotion: "General Ranqu, I haven't seen you for half a year. How are you?"

Ran lowered her head and said, "I have relied on Lord Liu's grace to save my life. I have no other requests. I just want to end my life as soon as possible."

Liu Bei sighed slightly.

The person in front of him was none other than Qu Shuai Ran, who had captured Liangzou and surrendered with her army last year. It was because she stopped the Yellow Turban Army from raping women in the barracks that a gunfight broke out, and in the end Liu Bei benefited.

Since she surrendered, some county officials and nobles have urged her to be killed for revenge.

Liu Bei explained: "Ran clan came from Le'an, and they did not kill indiscriminately wherever they went. If they killed the nobles according to the law, they would not be guilty."

"Besides, deceiving people to surrender and then killing them is an ominous sign, so Liu Xuande does not want to do that."

The mouths of the nobles were shut up, and they could do nothing as they looked at the unmoved Liu Bei. After all, Liu Bei had wiped out the Yellow Turbans in Jinan, and the military and civilians had won their support. There were also many nobles who were attached to him and the knights who worked for him to make a name for themselves.

Who dares to stand up and say no to Liu Bei?

The nobles looked at each other and retreated. The imperial court did not pass on the transfer order, and the Qingzhou governor was gone. Liu Bei held the power of the county and had the final say on dismissals and promotions. Whether he wanted to be an official or not, Liu Xuande could no longer afford to offend him.

Liu Bei really admired Ran. After her husband's young son was brutally murdered by a petty official in the county, she was able to hold back her grief and keep silent until the Yellow Turbans rose up and she dared to lead the way and make merit, thus avenging their hatred.

She was able to repeatedly be promoted in the Yellow Turban Army because she could distinguish between gratitude and resentment, was not afraid of life and death, and was both brave and resourceful. For a woman to achieve this, she was comparable to Lu Mu, one of the leaders of the uprising in the late Xinmang Dynasty. She can be said to be as brave as a man.

Liu Bei consoled him, "Life is like a fleeting moment. It would be nice to spend the rest of your life in the fields, but how can you bear to see the people suffer?"

Ran looked a little surprised.

Liu Bei smiled, there was still a long time to come and he was not in a hurry.

Cao Cao was able to select people based on their talents, and he also dared to select people without any restrictions.

Liu Bei agreed with two sentences said by Han Fei: "Prime ministers must come from the prefectures and counties, and brave generals must come from the ranks."

Were there really so many brave generals and talented statemen in Pei County hundreds of years ago?
It was just Liu Bang who led them to the end.

After visiting Ran, Liu Bei rode his horse to the Youth Hall. After a few months, the houses in the suburbs had been built one after another.

The 1,431 people are divided into six areas.

The county officials were too busy to spare time, so Liu Bei arranged for more than 300 retired soldiers who were wounded on the battlefield to be looked after here.

The older boys were divided into groups of ten and groups of fifty according to the military system and were doing simple drills.

Children under ten years old looked at the teenagers with curiosity, playing and fighting in the background.

Seeing Liu Bei coming to inspect, the retired soldiers knew that Liu Bei was strict in military discipline and did not dare to disband without permission before the training was over. They had to train even louder and more solemnly.

The children no longer dared to play and lined up.

Children from poor families know the ways of the world early on. When they come here, they have three meals a day. The county supports them on behalf of their poor families. Although the daily training is hard, everyone wants to stay.

Even if they had to go to the battlefield, at least they could have enough to eat. Although the children were young, they had seen a lot of deaths. Death was not scary to them, but they were afraid of not living well.

By the end of the training, Liu Bei had been circled several times inside and outside.

Everyone was curious about this approachable Mr. Liu.

Liu Bei pointed at the child in front of him and asked, "What's your name? Where are you from?"

The child replied, "My Lord, I am Li from the west village of this county."

Liu Bei nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Last year, I sent troops to suppress the Yellow Turbans in the county. Were your family hiding in the city?"

At that time, the villages had already been emptied, and the people living near the county either hid in the city or fled to other places.

The child was not afraid of strangers and said crisply, "That's right. Thanks to the Lord, my grandfather and I were able to survive."

"What about your mother?" Liu Bei asked.

The child remained silent.

Liu Bei then reached out and touched his head to comfort him.

After a while, he pointed at the timid child hiding in the crowd.

Seeing Liu Bei looking at him, the thin child shrank timidly behind him.

Liu Bei was immediately amused, and pointed at himself and said, "Seeing me hiding, do I, Liu Xuande, look scary?"

The child didn't dare to answer, and someone wanted to push him out, but Liu Bei waved his hand solemnly to stop them.

Then he smiled and looked at the child, thinking that being shy and timid was not always a bad thing. Seeing that his palms were dirty, Liu Bei took out a piece of silk from his pocket and handed it to him.

"Take this and wipe your hands. Remember to get some water to wash your hands after playing. Otherwise, you'll get sick easily if you eat."

Liu Bei warned softly.

(End of this chapter)