Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 354 Hanzhong County is willing to surrender to the King of Han!
"Yan Pu, the military officer of Hanzhong, pays respect to the king!"

"May the king live forever and enjoy eternal happiness."

Yan Pu placed the several baskets of bamboo slips and wooden tablets he had brought on the ground, and immediately bowed deeply, breathing slightly and speaking.

Liu Bei was originally sitting on a Hu chair. Seeing this, he couldn't help but smile. He raised his hand and pointed at Yan Pu and said, "Could the bamboo slips brought by Yan Gongcao be the declaration of war by the thief Zhang Lu against the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty? Otherwise, why would there be so many documents?"

"Besides, our Han China did not appoint Lord Yan as Gongcao, so where did the Hanzhong Gongcao Yan Pu come from?"

Liu Bei seemed to be joking, but Yan Pu did not find it funny. Not only was it not funny, but it made his forehead sweat. He immediately lowered his voice and explained, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report. Zhang Lu, the governor of Hanzhong, is a descendant of Liu Hou and a loyal official of the Han Dynasty. Because Liu Yan and his son attempted to rebel, Zhang took control of Hanzhong to protect the people."

"I wanted to submit a petition to the court, but the emperor fell into the hands of the Liangzhou thieves, and the three dukes and nine ministers played him around. Zhang Taishou wanted to serve the country, but he had no choice but to defend a county for the Han family. In order not to be disturbed by the thieves, he changed his name to Hanning."

"But Governor Zhang has always been determined to support the Han Dynasty. He has ordered me to bring the roster of Hanzhong County's population, cultivated land, taxes, thefts, murders, and military events to present to the king."

"Within half a month, Governor Zhang led Hanzhong officials and relatives to Luoyang to pay homage to the king."

Yan Pu finished speaking seriously, then bowed his head again.

Liu Bei nodded and signaled the clerks to go and take a look at the baskets of bamboo slips brought by Yan Pu to see whether he had brought all the lists and books from Hanzhong as he said.

Dozens of clerks immediately surrounded it, opened the clay seal and flipped through the bamboo slips. After comparing them with each other, they couldn't help but nodded.

Then he handed the books to Xun You, Guo Jia, Lu Su, Man Chong, Mao Jie and others. Finally, Xun You presented them to Liu Bei with both hands. Liu Bei said in a very serious tone, "Your Majesty, the books brought by Yan Gongcao do not seem to be fraudulent. They should be the books of Hanzhong. I just don't know if there are any omissions in the official audit."

"Many of these counties are not clearly listed, and the list can only be used as a reference, not as a basis."

Xun You's attitude was very clear. The books might be real, but there were a lot of frauds in them. Either Zhang Lu did not manage the counties properly, causing the officials to neglect their duties, or he concealed the prosperity of the people and wealth in Hanzhong County.

When Yan Pu heard what Xun You said, he bowed anxiously and said, "Your Majesty, these are indeed the roster of Hanzhong County. However, Governor Zhang is the tenth-generation grandson of Marquis Liu and a descendant of the Heavenly Master Dao. He leads his people as the 'Jiujiu' and governs the 100,000 households in Hanzhong, but he does not have any chief officials."

"It is normal for the books to be confused."

Yan Pu was almost dying of anxiety. The Lord had already made up his mind to surrender, so how could he have the courage to tamper with the registers and books to deceive the King of Han.

Isn't this because Zhang didn't die quickly enough?

When the King of Han was fighting the Yellow Turbans, didn't he know that the Yellow Turban leader used talismanic water to save people? If you believed in it, you would be healed, but if you didn't, you wouldn't be healed.

The Tianshi Dao of Zhang Taishou is similar to this. The main idea of ​​the chief priest is that if one is sincere, the disease can be cured, but if one is not sincere, the disease cannot be cured.

Therefore, the people and officials of Hanzhong all put honesty first and do not commit fraud. Why would they come to deceive the King of Han at this moment?

Yan Pu defended himself anxiously.

"Don't worry, Lord Yan..." Liu Bei also laughed at this time, took a look at the bamboo slips, and said, "I also know a lot about the Five Pecks of Rice Sect in Hanzhong. Zhang Lu set up a charity house in Hanzhong and placed rice and meat for the people to take. He does have a heart to help the world and love the people. At least he is much better than Yuan Shu, who was a minister for four generations."

"Yuan Shu has been levying heavy taxes and oppressing the people in Huainan. Even if he dies, I will order the execution of his wife and children to avenge the tragic deaths of the people."

"Go back and tell Zhang Gongqi that if the bandits who rule a certain area do not harm the people and destroy their families, they can still surrender."

"Otherwise, the Han army will not accept surrender. Even if they flee far away, we will fight them to death. I never consider whether the army is losing money or not, but only whether they deserve to be punished or not."

Liu Bei gave Yan Pu a warning that was both reassuring and frightening, with an air of smile on his face.

Fortunately, Zhang Lu did not do what Yuan Shu did, doing things that angered God and people and made the people of Hanzhong County live in misery, otherwise it would have been tragic.

Yan Pu stood up and thought about the words of the King of Han, and felt a slight relief on his back. As long as the King of Han was willing to accept the surrender, it would be much easier, and he could give an explanation to Zhang when he returned.

So Yan Pu wiped his forehead with his sleeve and prepared to bow and leave. After all, getting along with the King of Han was too stressful.

Although he was thousands of miles away, he was fully aware of the conflict between Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang, and was also familiar with the Tianshi Dao.

As he moved his hands and feet, he asked with a smile whether there had been frequent rebellions by officials in recent years under Liu Zhang's rule.

He also asked whether there were any scholars passing through Hanzhong and entering Shu to join Liu Zhang?
Just a few simple words frightened Yan Pu so much that sweat poured down his forehead and he kept lowering his head to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

While I was shocked, my mind was full of thoughts.

The King of Han was probably sure that he had already placed spies from Qingzhou in Hanzhong and Yizhou, and that they were in high positions. Otherwise, how could they know all about the dirty deeds between Liu Yan and his son and the Zhang family?

As expected, I urged the Lord to surrender, and it was the right thing to do.

Otherwise, when the Han army attacked, someone would definitely open the city gates and surrender. Although Hanzhong was easy to defend and difficult to attack, the first few city gates were important. Once lost, the Han army could immediately march straight in.

"Fortunately, fortunately!"

After Yan Pu left the study, he looked back, his eyes still twitching and his heart still frightened, and he ran away immediately.

It didn't matter that he ran away, but Dian Wei, who was seeing the guests off, was completely confused. He scratched his head, wondering what this scholar with a two-foot beard was up to.

After kneeling in there for so long, you walked out of the door as fast as you could. Aren’t you afraid of falling?

Liu Bei, who was in the study, saw Yan Pu leave and go to rest in the newly built residence. He smiled and clapped his hands at Xun You, Guo Jia and others and said, "It seems that there are so many loyal ministers to the Han Dynasty in this world!"

As long as they were defeated by the Han army, they all said that they were still loyal to the Han Dynasty. Even Liu Jingsheng and Cao Mengde used this excuse. When they were asked to hand over real power, they said that the local people were blocking them and refused to let them go.

Speaking of these places, Liu Bei thought of something, so he asked: "Gongda, how are the new Hundred County Mansions outside the city being built? The counties that have not yet been recovered can be delayed for the time being."

Xun You immediately bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, the county residences in Qingzhou and Yanzhou have been completed, while those in Xuzhou and Yuzhou are still under construction, and those in Jizhou and Youzhou have not yet started."

“The main reason is that there are too few people in Henan and Hanoi, so the speed is slow.”

After hearing Xun You's report, Liu Bei said to appease him, "It's okay. We have taken in many powerful troops in Jizhou and settled them in Henei. They can be recruited as laborers after the spring plowing. There is no need to rush. Just do everything according to your ability."

"As for the county residences ruled by Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, Cao Cao and others, let's put them last. If they are not built after the recovery, let the officials who come to Kyoto rent the houses and give them financial relief."

Liu Bei frowned, thought about it, and came up with a feasible method.

However, even so, county residences still had to be built in various places, because they were used to accommodate officials who came from various states to Luoyang to report on their work and report on their work at the end of each year. The previous hundred county residences had been burned to ashes by Dong Zhuo.

Now that the centers of various states have moved to Luoyang, the capital will have to bear the responsibility of providing temporary accommodation for officials from You, Ji, Qing, Xu, Yan, Yu, Jing, and Yang states, and it will not be possible without expansion and reconstruction.

Liu Bei instructed Xun You about this matter and asked him to build hundreds of houses and some streets near the county residence to prevent more and more officials from entering the capital and having no place to live.

The streets where merchants and common people do their business are no longer surrounded by walls, allowing people to buy things conveniently and giving Luoyang city a more lively feel.

Luoyang is still too small at present. The city is nine li and seventy steps from north to south and six li and ten steps from east to west, and the ruined palace occupies most of it.

Liu Bei planned to use the current Luoyang City as the inner city, and all the other houses, official residences, county residences and civilian households would be rebuilt outwards, in order to build a huge city that would be able to accommodate a million people in a few decades, making it the largest city in the world along with Chang'an.

(End of this chapter)