Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 304 This is what a man should do

"Mr. Yuan, those who rule the world must understand the general trend of the world, and then they can decide the world. The King of Han occupied Luoyang, followed the maps and books, and revived the Han Dynasty. No one in the world dared not listen. This is the king's work."

"In my opinion, it is better to surrender to the Liu family. With the magnanimity of the King of Han, he will surely pardon the faults of the Yuan family. Lord Yuan can think about it carefully."

An official stroked his long beard, bowed and smiled in a flattering manner.

The others also echoed him. It was not that they did not have the ambition to fight for the world, but that Liu Xuande's momentum was too strong.

He had already dominated the areas of Qing, Yan, Xu, Yu and Heluo, and once Yuan Benchu ​​died, who could stop him from annexing the prefectures and counties in Hebei?

When the King of Han leads his army south, what will Lord Yuan use to resist? Will he rely on the ruined Jiujiang and Lujiang counties?

Rather than waiting to be beaten to pieces by the Qingzhou army, it is better to surrender as soon as possible.

When Yuan Shu heard the voices echoing in the hall, his face instantly turned purple, and he said with a fierce light in his eyes: "You are all employed by me, so you should be loyal to the Yuan family. What favor has Liu Xuande given you that you actually want to persuade him to surrender to me, Yuan Shu?"

"The Yuan family would rather be crushed like orchids than live as rubble! Liu Bei does not respect the emperor and is a traitor to the Han Dynasty. You should join me in fighting him. How can you be intimidated by him and surrender without a fight?"

Yuan Shu's forehead veins bulged and he angrily scolded everyone.

Liu Bei offended the whole world by proclaiming himself king in Luoyang and taking over the power of Grand Marshal and various states. It was obvious that he was just like Dong Zhuo, or even more rampant than him.

Yuan Gonglu was a wealthy and powerful family, the descendant of three officials in Runan for four generations. When the Dong rebels occupied Luoyang, he raised an army to fight against them and asked Sun Wentai to recapture Luoyang.

When Yuan Shao wanted to establish Liu Yu as the emperor, he spoke out against it and proposed to respect the emperor of Guanzhong. He also stood up and spoke fair words when Yuan Shao secretly killed Han Fu in his attempt to seize Jizhou.

No matter how you look at it, he was more of a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty than any other princes in the world. Why were Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and others famous and renowned, while he lost his army and discipline, and was defeated immediately? The traitor Liu Biao and Cao Cao, the son of a maid and a servant, successively invaded Huainan, and occupied territories and cities year after year, so that he became the weakest among the southern princes.

Even Cao Mengde, who was defeated by Liu Bei and had no place to stand, still had four counties under his rule. How could I, Yuan Shu, be in this situation? I am even worse than Cao Cao.

When Yuan Shu thought of this, he couldn't help but feel sad and angry. With his reputation, Liu Jingsheng and Cao Mengde's families should put aside their past grudges, obey him as their leader, and then join forces to attack Liu Bei, who did not respect the emperor.

Even though Yuan Gonglu secretly kept the imperial seal and spread prophecies, at least he did not openly usurp the throne in Luoyang like Liu Bei and dared to claim that the world had no master.

It is reasonable and logical to send an envoy to visit at this moment so that the three families can form a three-way balance of power and jointly fight against the villains of the royal family.

How could they watch Huainan's army being defeated? Did they forget that the lips and teeth are interdependent and that fortune and misfortune are closely related to each other?

Yuan Shu could not help but curse: "Cao Mengde and Liu Jingsheng are as stupid as deer and pigs. They did not come to help Huainan. They are short-sighted and do not know that disaster is right in front of them. If I hadn't stood in front of them, the two families would have been destroyed by Liu Bei!"

……

Not only was Yuan Shu overwhelmed by the bad news coming from everywhere, but he was also overwhelmed by the bad news coming from all over.

Liu Biao, who was called a fool by him, felt even more disheartened at this moment.

When the news of Liu Bei's promotion to King of Han came, before he could even catch his breath, the nobles and wealthy families in Nanyang County had already surrendered the county and led the Qingzhou army to attack Wancheng.

Nanyang had a total of thirty-seven counties, and almost everywhere there were rebels led by powerful families and their followers, and the whole place was instantly in chaos.

Wen Pin, who was stationed in Wan County, was also frightened by the momentum from various places and did not dare to lead his troops to quell the rebellion. He was afraid that Wan County would be lost before he had marched a few miles out of the city gate.

They could only rely on the solid walls of Wancheng to hold out and wait for help until they saw Zhang Yide's flag flying under the city. Duke Jingsheng's troops had not been seen for a long time, which undoubtedly made Wen Pin frown and a hint of anxiety appeared in his eyes.

In fact, when Wen Pin was defending Wancheng, Liu Biao had thought about sending reinforcements to Nanyang County to quell the rebellion in order to prevent Liu Xuande from taking advantage of the situation to kill him.

The chief clerk Kuai Liang was the first to stand up and object. He bowed and explained, "Lord Jingsheng, Liu Xuande has been promoted to the King of Han. He has brought with him the power of the whole country, and he is as bright as the sun and the moon. This momentum is unmatched."

"Nanyang was the hometown of Emperor Guangwu's restoration, and many people joined the Han Dynasty. However, the water has been spilled and it is impossible to recover. The trees have become the boats, and it is really difficult to save them."

“You must know that there are six counties in Jingzhou, namely Nanjun, Jiangxia, Wuling, Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang. If any powerful family takes the opportunity to cause trouble, it will be difficult for Lord Jingsheng to continue to rule Jingxiang…” Kuai Liang stopped talking when the words came to his lips.

He looked at Liu Biao meaningfully and bowed.

Jingzhou is not a place where Lord Jingsheng's words are law. There are still people in southern Jing who are dissatisfied and are ready to make moves. This is a serious concern.

If the troops of Jingzhou were led to Nanyang, once they were defeated, the situation would be irreversible.

Assuming that Jingzhou is about to fall completely into the hands of others, instead of giving it to the nobles in southern Jing, it is better to give it to the King of Han to make long-term plans for future generations.

After hearing this, Liu Biao was silent for a long time, then he took a deep breath and asked Kuai Liang for advice: "Zi Rou, according to your opinion, what should I do?"

He still had great faith in Kuai Liang. Without the help of the Kuai and Cai families, it would have been difficult for him to maintain his control over Jingxiang.

"Order the Nanyang defenders not to fight in battle, abandon Xinye immediately and go to Xiangyang... Follow the example of Dou Rong and write to the King of Han, expressing your willingness to guard the land of Jingnan for the Han family to avoid the sharp edge of the Han army."

"So Chu has abundant rivers, lakes, mountains and forests. It can move the state capital to Jiangling, settle the four counties in southern Jing, occupy Jiangling in the south, and guard Xiangyang in the north. If it advances, it can become the master of Jingzhou, and if it retreats, it can also be a vassal of the Han Dynasty. This is a strategy to avoid harm and seek benefits, to protect the cause and to maintain the status quo. Duke Jingsheng has never thought that it would be impossible to implement it."

Kuai Liang bowed again and said.

If he could make the upper and lower classes get along well with each other, and the country prosper peacefully and prosperously, and keep the people of Jingzhou safe, I believe that with the broad mind of the King of Han who embraces the world, he will not blame Duke Jingsheng severely.

As long as Duke Jingsheng did not follow Wei Xiang's short-sighted view, gave up submitting to Guangwu, chose to use his troops to resist, endangered the people in order to start a rebellion, violated righteousness in order to gain merit, and put himself in a desperate situation.

Then there is still a chance to save everything.

Liu Biao looked at the Cai family and the many officials. He knew that Liu Bei was powerful and these people were unwilling to join him in fighting against Liu Xuande. However, unlike the clans of Nanyang County, many noble families in Nan County were close to him.

As long as he had not yet fought with Liu Bei, many people would not betray their master and join Liu Xuande, for fear of being despised by the world.

If we can persuade him to surrender, it will be a great achievement.

Now it would be best to persuade him to give up Nanyang and turn his attention to Jingnan. This would neither cause him to become enemies with Liu Bei nor allow him to remain loyal to Liu Biao. This would be the best of both worlds.

"Well, since the situation is unstoppable, let's first surrender to the north and befriend Liu Xuande to stop him from attacking Jingzhou."

"Zirou, please go to Luoyang to pay respect to the King of Han and tell him that Liu Biao of Jingzhou has no intention of competing for supremacy and only wishes to keep the people safe, follow the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and preserve the region."

Liu Biao sighed deeply.

The people of Nanyang had never been attached to it, so their loss was not unacceptable, but it was a pity that Xiangyang had become a strategic location.

Although Jiangling is good, it is far inferior to Xiangyang. It seems that we must seize the power of the four counties in southern Jing as soon as possible. Otherwise, although he is called a governor, he is actually a prefect.

Faced with Qingzhou's powerful army, Liu Biao could only sigh helplessly.

It was because he was not good at military strategy and could not lead the army to war personally like Emperor Gaozu did, so as to make the people above and below work together.

If this were true, there would be no such thing as Liu Xuande in the world.

When Liu Biao thought of Liu Bei, he could not hide his envy. The King of Han, which royal family member would not want to become the King of Han when he was young, and carry on the work of Emperor Gaozu and revive the Han Dynasty.

"Liu Bei, Liu Bei, how can you be so lucky!"

There are countless relatives of the Liu clan, but only you became the King of Han. This is what a real man should be like.

(End of this chapter)