Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 209: The vastness of the sky

"Sir, the Western Qin is nothing but a barbarian nation. If we cross the sea, we will surely engage in war and extravagance, which will easily deplete the people and exhaust them. I hope you will see clearly!"

Zhou Yu was suddenly shocked. It is good to learn from Emperor Xuande, but don't learn from Emperor Xiaowu. He had the solid foundation laid by the rule of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing. We don't have such foundation.

Liu Bei smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry, Gongjin. I know the situation of the people in the world very well. I will never go to war and conquer the four directions. I will only do what I can and let each generation do its own thing."

"The example of the Qin Emperor is still fresh in our minds. He built the Great Wall to resist the Xiongnu, repaired the Lingqu Canal to transport grain and grass to Lingnan, and built highways in various places. He really benefited future generations, but he moved too fast."

"Only those who are of humble origin, who know the suffering of the people and can empathize with them, will not allow the common people to die or be injured in corvée labor."

"Xunzi once said: The ruler is the boat, and the people are the water. The water can carry the boat, but it can also overturn it."

Liu Bei said earnestly.

How could he not understand the explosive power of the common people? He treated the people of the world as non-human beings, and was able to ignite a spark that would start a prairie fire with just the slightest spark.

However, the powerful people found ways to put ropes around other people's necks. It was obvious that their own fields had ditches where water flowed first and the land was the most fertile, but they still wanted to dig up the ditches, leaving the barren fields behind without even water. Otherwise, why would the Yellow Turban Rebellion have occurred?

When it comes to the rise and fall of the world, most of the time there is a group of people who are greedy. To put it bluntly, they deserve to be killed, and they will be obedient once the knife is put to their necks.

Liu Bei subconsciously glanced outside the military tent and pondered, "If I, Liu Xuande, were not here, you, the powerful men of Xuzhou, would have been slaughtered by Cao Cao and your families would have been destroyed. You refused to listen to my polite talk and asked me to open the window, and you insisted that I lift up the roof before you were satisfied."

"Don't say I won't give you a chance. If you have the guts, just poke a hole in the sky and I can still fill it with your heads."

Liu Bei had 15,000 armored soldiers stationed in Xuzhou, as well as so many good ministers and brave generals. It was hard to believe that he could be defeated when fighting against the 60,000 or 70,000 unarmored soldiers and servants of the powerful.

The enemy may look powerful, but in fact they are scattered across counties. Liu Bei would be even happier if they could gather tens of thousands of people together.

Lu Su could not help but say: "Your Excellency has a kind heart and will surely accomplish great things for generations to come."

Liu Bei retracted his gaze, smiled again, raised his hand and pointed outside and said: "The Han in my mind should have the heroic spirit of galloping freely thousands of miles away, and being free to do what he wants. The sky is vast and boundless. The world does not exist for the sake of Yao, nor does it perish for the sake of Jie. The rise and fall of a country is like the growth and decline of a person. It must go through adolescence, youth and old age, from growth to vigor, and then to exhaustion, to old age and old age. The Han Dynasty had the rise of Emperor Gaozu, and the decline of Emperor Aiping, the rise of Emperor Guangwu, and the decline of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling."

"If I hadn't drawn my sword, the Han Dynasty would have surely declined. Emperor Xiaowu once sighed: The Han Dynasty has faced six or seven disasters, and the law should be given another mandate, and the one who will replace the Han Dynasty should be a high-ranking official. Liu Xuande is just a mediocre man, how dare he establish a career that will last for thousands of years? I only hope that the Han Dynasty will not stop here, and even if it declines in the future, it can leave a monument for future generations, so that they can inherit the heroic spirit of the Han Dynasty and continue to move forward."

Liu Bei said this with a smile, and stretched out his hand as if he wanted to grasp the sky at the top of the sky in his hand.

It is still early, and we can still leave a benchmark for countless dynasties in the future.

Lu Su, Zhou Yu, Chen Qun, Dian Wei and Xu Chu were all shocked by Liu Bei's words.

As a member of the Liu clan, he dared to speak so frankly about the rise and fall of the Han Dynasty. Even Gaozu and Guangwu could not help but be cautious when talking about the rise and fall of the Liu Han dynasty.

Qin Shi Huangdi wanted his country to last forever, and once said to his ministers: "From now on, the posthumous title system will be abolished. I am the first emperor, and future generations will count by the second, third, and even ten thousand generations, and the throne will be passed on forever."

But the envoy could speak frankly when talking about the Han Dynasty, and dared to say that there is no foundation in the world that will not decline.

"Sir, the Han Dynasty will surely prosper forever." Lu Su bowed and said.

"Lord Xuande, the Han Dynasty will prosper forever and the world will be peaceful." Chen Qun also said quickly.

"Sir, the sky is magnificent and the fire virtue is great. Even at the end of the year, there should be descendants of the royal family who will receive the mandate again."

Zhou Yu pondered for a moment, then bowed and said.

Liu Bei smiled and did not respond. Instead, he said, "Gongjin, after the rebellion in Xuzhou is quelled, the shipbuilding matters will be entrusted to you. You will be in charge of Xuzhou's shipbuilding affairs and supervise all matters related to the county navy."

Zhou Yu could not help but frown and asked softly, "Sir, how many soldiers and warships does the Xuzhou navy have now? I am new here and I am afraid it will be difficult for me to command too many soldiers. It would be better to choose a military officer as the leader and I will assist him."

Unlike Sun Ce, who had obvious merits and captured Yuan Shu's general and then raised troops to surrender, it was only natural that he was reused.

All of Zhou Gongjinli's achievements were kept secret. If they were made public, the Zhou clan far away in Lujiang would be in danger of being destroyed. Otherwise, the officials would be dissatisfied if they were not told about their achievements.

By then we will have to fight against the Jianghuai navy, which may affect major events.

Under Lord Xuande's questioning, Zhou Yu expressed his concerns in detail.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei was quite unnatural and sighed, "Gongjin, to be honest, there are only grain ships and merchant ships in Xuzhou that transport food and weapons. There are almost no warships such as frigates, fighting ships, and tower ships. You need to find more talents who are good at water warfare in Huainan, Jiangdong, and even Jingzhou to fill the vacancies."

A good cook cannot cook without rice. It was not that he did not want to allocate naval officers, but Tao Qian had never thought of developing the navy before, and was only tinkering with his Danyang infantry.

There were really no people under his command who were good at naval warfare, and Yun Chang knew nothing about the navy at the moment. He could only rely on Zhou Gongjin to set up the framework and then find a way to fill it up later.

It is still necessary to capture Jiujiang County as soon as possible and connect the rivers near Hefei City to the Yangtze River to make Cao Mengde uneasy.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei couldn't help but laugh, and encouraged Zhou Yu: "Gongjin, Yangzhou Governor Cao Mengde is not good at naval battles. If we need to drive a boat to defeat Cao's navy in the future, we will have to rely on you."

Zhou Yu was having a headache because the navy couldn't even set up a defense, when he suddenly heard what Lord Xuande said, he was stunned.

Why does the envoy know Cao Cao so well and how does he know that he is not good at naval battles?

Moreover, as the lord of Jiangdong, how can he defend the natural barrier of the Yangtze River if he doesn't understand naval warfare?

Zhou Yu suddenly remembered that, logically speaking, Cao Mengde was a childhood friend of Yuan Benchu, and the post of governor was also conferred by Yuan Shao. The war between Liu and Yuan was imminent, and at this moment some powerful people in Xuzhou rebelled. However, Cao Cao, as a vassal of Yuan Shao, was able to maintain peace in Jiangdong and watch Lord Xuande integrate Xuzhou.

Zhou Yu couldn't help but think about it from another perspective. If he were in the other's shoes, even if he was attacking Yuzhang County, he would definitely send someone to lead the troops across the river to harass Xuzhou, and would never let the envoy easily wipe out the rebels.

He couldn't help wondering, "Could it be that Cao Mengde really doesn't understand naval warfare, as the envoy said, and is afraid that his soldiers won't be able to return after crossing the river?"

(End of this chapter)