Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 221: Carving a Stone to Commemorate the Merits of Lord Xuande
"Zilong, I'm leaving all the affairs of Shanyang County to you. Please take care of my comrades' affairs after their death and don't let the termites make the people feel disappointed again."

Liu Bei solemnly handed the seal back to Zhao Yun.

"Yun, I will definitely live up to your trust."

Zhao Yun bowed respectfully.

"With Zilong here, there is nothing to worry about."

Liu Bei smiled and said while looking at everyone.

After personally handing over the seal of the prefect to Zhao Yun in Xia Qiu County, Liu Bei led his army back home. A large number of auxiliary soldiers who had participated in the expedition in Yanzhou were sent back to their hometowns.

As more and more soldiers were dismissed and returned home, counties and prefectures opened their treasuries and distributed money, food, meat, cloth, and even various daily necessities and farming tools based on the military merit books.

Soldiers who unfortunately died on the battlefield were also given pensions and good farmland. Their descendants who were unable to support themselves were selected to enter the county agricultural schools to become agricultural students. During the five years of their studies, their food and clothing were all paid for by the military government to reduce the burden on the people.

When many common people learned that their sons had followed Liu Shijun in the battle for a whole year and finally returned victorious, their brows relaxed and their eyes were filled with smiles. The common people in the villages were overjoyed, and the lively atmosphere was almost as lively as the end of the year.

The people took the initiative to take out their surplus food to reward the soldiers who were about to return to Qingzhou.

Liu Bei smiled and declined the common people who came to offer him food, saying, "There are frequent natural disasters nowadays. Locust plagues and droughts often come back. The summer is getting hotter and the winter is getting colder. It is better to save some food for emergencies."

"In previous years, when famine hit, people would eat their own children and sell their wives and daughters as slaves in order to survive. The reason I am distributing land to you is that I hope you can survive when facing disasters, so that your parents won't be frozen and hungry, and your brothers and wives won't be separated and buried in the ground."

An old man shed tears and sighed: "You are willing to share the benefits with us. There has never been such a man as Xuande in ancient and modern times. I am too old and weak to follow the army to the battle. I would like to carve a stone inscription to commemorate your achievements so that our descendants will never forget it."

Liu Bei was silent for a moment when he saw the old man's pleading eyes. Then he smiled and said, "Old man, you are carving stones for Liu Xuande. You need to take good care of yourself. When I go south again in the future and pass by here and meet you at the entrance of the village, you can come to greet me, Liu Bei, with a cane."

After hearing this, the old man burst into tears and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Okay, okay, as long as Lord Xuande comes to my hometown again, I will go to greet him no matter what I do."

Liu Bei made a special point of giving these instructions because during the Eastern Han Dynasty it was a popular custom to erect monuments praising officials. Even a county magistrate enjoyed the honor of being famous during his lifetime and after his death, let alone Liu Xuande.

Especially in Qing and Yan states where the Equal Field System was implemented, many common people and craftsmen carved stones for him. Some people even froze to death at home in the winter. Instead of spending money to buy firewood, they would buy stones to carve steles for Liu Bei. In Pingyuan County alone, there were hundreds of stone steles.

The people worked the fields during the day and went secretly into the mountains in groups at night to chisel stones and carry them back home for carving. Some people even fell off the cliffs when it was dark.

In just a few years, there were tens of thousands of stone tablets in Qingzhou. Seeing that persuasion was useless, Liu Bei had to order a ban. The officials who received the ban from the state complained bitterly, because they had also carved steles for Lord Xuande and this time they would be fined their salaries.

Seeing that the trend that had prevailed for a hundred years could not be stopped despite repeated bans, Xun Yu suggested: "It is better to unblock it than to block it by force. Let your Excellency be kind and benevolent and contribute to the people. The Han Dynasty has been influenced by Confucianism for a long time, and all those who are loyal and filial will want to repay their kindness."

"If the favor is not repaid, won't it make the people feel disheartened?"

After Xun Yu's persuasion, Liu Bei allowed each county to carve stones, but each county could only erect one stele. If a citizen died as a result of engraving the stele, the official would be held accountable.

It was only after officials gave more persuasion that this trend was gradually reversed.

Liu Bei was relieved after persuading the people who came to reward the soldiers to go home. He went to Dongping County and met Qian Zhao. Documents from various places were sent to the state for Liu Bei to decide. The governor and county magistrate of Yanzhou were furious when they learned that Xuande was providing relief to the soldiers in Shanyang County. They dismissed many officials and some were even imprisoned.

He also had to rectify the administration of officials in Yanzhou. All officials bowed and held their breath, and even the allocation of money was extremely efficient. The list was checked all night long.

Apart from the Household Department, the busiest government office in the prefectures and counties was the Metal Department, which was responsible for making military equipment and agricultural tools and ironware. The craftsmen and officials were all extremely busy.

Because many auxiliary soldiers would rather choose iron farm tools for cultivating the fields than silk and meat, the chief official of the Jin Cao saw that the inventory was gradually depleted and asked whether more iron mines should be opened to forge iron tools.

The county magistrate was unable to make a decision and could only report the matter to the county, which then reported it to the state government, and finally it was delivered to the envoy's desk.

Liu Bei naturally agreed and ordered his assistants to write a document to all counties, stating that he would rather open more iron mines to make farm tools than stop casting military equipment, especially spears, swords, and arrows.

At this moment, the war with Yuan Shao of Jizhou is imminent, and troops will have to be mobilized from various states and counties. Of course, the more weapons that are consumed on the battlefield in daily life, the better.

The production of bows and crossbows in Qing and Yan was also expanding step by step. Yuan Shao was good at using powerful crossbows to fight the enemy, and Liu Bei was also trying to find ways to contain him.

I want what you have, and I also want what you don’t have.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei couldn't help feeling a little regretful. If he could have developed Kong Ming's repeating crossbow, Yuan Shao would have been in great trouble on the battlefield.

Even if Yuan Benchu ​​called all the Wuhuan and Xianbei cavalry in the north to help, he could still make the enemy cry for help.

Use Wugang chariots and crossbows to advance along the riverside. All food and supplies will be transported to the military camp via Caohe River. No matter how many cavalry there are, they cannot easily cut off the food supply.

If there is a naval battle with Yuan Shao for the control of the canal, Zhou Yu will also be transferred to Hebei to command the ships and train to meet the enemy. This will also help accumulate experience and train for future naval battles across the river.

Liu Bei pondered in his heart and thought.

"It has only been a year since I last saw Xuande, but he is already more majestic than ever, and is becoming more and more like a wise leader."

Qian Zhao sat on the side of the couch and looked at Liu Bei carefully, and couldn't help but sigh.

Looking back to the sixth year of Zhongping, he was idle at home when he suddenly received a letter from his childhood friend Liu Xuande, inviting him to make great achievements.

If it weren't for the sincerity of the letter, and the fact that Emperor Xiaoling had not yet passed away in Luoyang and the world had not yet been in complete chaos, he would have thought that there was no way out for him in his hometown, so he decided to come to Qingzhou to take a look.

As a result, when he came to Pingyuan, the emperor passed away, Dong Zhuo was deposed, and the princes rose up to fight against Dong. Then the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in Qingzhou. Xuande was furious and rose up to fight against the Yellow Turbans, pacify Qingzhou, destroy Yanzhou, and then swept across the Central Plains, with the momentum of Guangwu's prosperity.

The elders of the Qian clan who received a letter to persuade him to join the Yuan clan were dumbfounded. Their attitude suddenly changed. They wanted to be good Han ministers even if the sky fell. They persuaded Qian Zhao to pay less attention to the clan and just serve under Liu Shijun. Naturally, their childhood friend would lend a helping hand.

After seeing the clan members' servile and fawning faces, Qian Zhao was quite speechless.

However, he often felt deeply that coming to Pingyuan County was undoubtedly the wisest choice in his life. Thanks to Xuande for remembering the old times and remembering him...

(End of this chapter)