Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 380 I have paid too much for the Han family

On May 25th of the third year of Jian'an, a dense drizzle was falling over dozens of miles of Chang'an City.

Chang'an is somewhat different from Luoyang. The majestic city walls can still be seen, but when Liu Bei recaptured Luoyang, it had already become a desolate ruin with broken walls everywhere.

Although Chang'an was successively occupied by Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si, fortunately, the damage caused by the Liangzhou bandits to the city was far less severe than that to Luoyang. Only the Weiyang Palace and the Changle Palace were burned down.

After Liu Bei entered the city, he immediately sent people to rectify Chang'an City and the nearby villages, and strictly prohibit theft and killing.

He used many clerks who had followed the army to quickly take over administrative affairs, and at the same time audited the household registration, land, tax, water conservancy, map and other registers and lists in the Chang'an treasury that the Liangzhou bandits had not had time to burn.

Many officials were instantly busy. In order to prevent the Han army from quickly reorganizing Guanzhong, the Liangzhou bandits destroyed many documents, and they would undoubtedly have to be counted again.

The clerks and officials were made to work twice as hard, toil hard all day long, with no time to eat and no time to rest.

Sima Yi was also very busy. If he had not been young and strong, he would have probably collapsed from exhaustion. The degree of desolation in Guanzhong was not much better than that in Hanoi and Henan.

In some places, due to the long-term looting by the Liangzhou bandits, no one dared to stay in the countryside to farm, which directly led to famine in various counties. The Han army had to divert millet and wheat to provide disaster relief.

Sima Yi's job in this army was to count the number of disaster victims. He rode on a horse all day long, carrying a list on his back, carefully checking each county, which made his inner thighs red from being rubbed. He also had no time to find a military doctor.

He could only grit his teeth and continue to work, except for sometimes when he had free time on horseback when he would curse the Liangzhou bandits with hatred, saying that they did not care about the lives of the common people, and that their evil deeds were so severe that they deserved to be put to death.

Just as the Han army was attacking and killing bandits and rebels everywhere, and officials were busy with paperwork, the nobles inside the pass heard that the Han army had arrived, and they all came to Chang'an in carriages to pay homage to the King of Han.

There were clans such as the Yan family of Fengyi, the You family of Pinyang, the Huan family of Wannian County, the Ji family of Chiyang, the Guo family of Chiyang, the Jing family of Liyang, the Su family of Wugong, the Ma family of Chenghuanli in Maoling, the Jiao family, the Geng family, the Dou family, the Lu family, the Wei family, the Song family, the Ban family of Anling, the Fa family of Meixian, and the Pang family of Fufeng. All of them were families with a salary of two thousand stones.

Faced with so many nobles and wealthy families coming together, Liu Bei had to take time out to hold a banquet to entertain these more than a hundred people.

Just as the wine was flowing, stringed instruments played, and the ears were drunk, and some scholars were holding cups in their sleeves, expressing their gratitude for the banquet and composing poems, the head of the Dou clan in Pingling stood up and sighed: "The Han Dynasty has lasted for more than 400 years, and has suffered many disasters in the middle. Fortunately, the king has restored order, rebuilt the ancestral temple, worshipped Changling, recovered the two capitals, and preserved the cause of the ancestors. He revived the great cause of Emperor Gaozu and raised the Han flag. The king's contribution far surpasses that of other princes!"

"The emperor is plotting to kill the emperor for the traitor Dong, and his whereabouts are unknown. The country is leaderless, the government is in danger, and the people don't know where to go. The worries of the ancestral temples lie with the king. You cannot refuse the mandate of heaven. Why don't you follow the public opinion, for the sake of the country and the people, and not go against the will of the world? We are willing to discuss with the generals to take the title of emperor to ensure the safety of the Han family Liu."

After saying this, the Dou clan leader bowed his head in worship despite his advanced age.

The Pingling Dou clan was different from the other aristocratic families present. Although they had shown signs of decline in recent decades, before that, they were a clan that had produced two thousand stones. Their traceability could be traced back to Empress Dou of Emperor Xiaowen, who later became Empress Dowager Dou, the mother of Emperor Xiaojing and grandmother of Emperor Xiaowu.

Since the rise of the Han Dynasty, the Pingling Dou family has produced two dukes, three generals, five ministers, three queens, three princesses, thirteen county marquises, and one township marquis.

Among Liu's many in-laws, Dou's family far surpassed many of them, and was incomparable among relatives and meritorious officials.

It was most appropriate for him to step forward at this moment and be the first to express the attitude on behalf of the Guanzhong nobles.

"Now that the cause of success has been achieved, Heaven and men have responded. I hope Your Majesty will consider the world for his own good and not retreat any longer. You should follow the great tradition as soon as possible, serve as the master of the suburban temples, carry on the endless great deeds of your ancestors, comply with the will of Heaven and obey the wishes of the people." The remaining clan leaders and patriarchs of the aristocratic and powerful families, as well as the generals, lieutenants and accompanying officials no longer cared about listening to music or composing poems or drinking wine. They all stood up solemnly and bowed.

Especially the many clan leaders, they came to Chang'an to do serious business, to show their faces in front of the King of Han, and to take out some food, cloth, and money to reward the army and make plans for their future.

Unexpectedly, Dou from Pingling was the first to stand up and persuade him to ascend the throne. This woke everyone up on the spot and they had no time to drink and eat meat.

Of course, you must follow up immediately and not let others occupy the king's heart alone.

When Emperor Guangwu inherited the ancestral temple and took the throne, it was generals such as Feng Yi who advised Guangwu three times, but Emperor Guangwu declined three times. When it was the fourth time, the ministers reiterated because of the red talisman that there was no emperor now and the country was in chaos, so it was necessary to respond to the gods to satisfy the people's expectations.

At this point, Guangwu stopped refusing and ordered the officials to set up an altar in Hao County, Jizhou. On June 25th, he ascended the throne as emperor.

I heard that the officials and generals in Luoyang have already urged him to ascend the throne once, and the officials from various prefectures and counties in Guandong have also urged him to ascend the throne once, so this should be the third time.

If it happens again, Your Majesty should follow the will of heaven and follow the example of Emperor Guangwu, and ascend the throne directly in Guanzhong.

Many people thought of this quietly, their hearts immediately pounding, and some couldn't help but want to wave their flags and shout, rush to the front and kneel in front of the King of Han to persuade him again.

I would like to make a contribution to the throne today and win decades of wealth for my family. Unfortunately, this impulse can only be thought of in my mind. If I really do this, I will end up with something worse than what I expected.

Not only did he offend the king, but he also offended many officials across the country who had tried to persuade him to ascend the throne.

"Please stand up, everyone. If this is the case, I will think about it..."

Liu Bei, who was sitting at the host seat at the banquet, saw someone urging him to ascend the throne again, and also saw the nobles, generals, captains, and officials in the army stand up almost at the same time and bow deeply.

He had to express his attitude seriously so as not to disappoint the people below him.

In his heart, he felt that the Dou family of Pingling would indeed seize the opportunity. When they learned that he had visited Changling and Emperor Liu Xie was missing, they immediately rode fast to Chang'an and urged him to flatter the emperor.

Little did they know that the Dou clan leader was also helpless. He wanted to meet the King of Han alone, but he found out that the King of Han was busy dealing with Guanzhong affairs and had no time to spare.

Even though he requested to see her again and again, he was only allowed to meet her for a short while and show his face.

In such a short period of time, there was no excuse to let the King of Han inherit the throne.

Later, after racking his brains and thinking hard all night, the head of the Dou family simply decided to persuade the King of Han to inherit the throne in public.

The patriarch of the Dou clan, who was over 70 years old, could not help but smile bitterly and thought to himself: "My Dou clan has worked hard for the Han Dynasty for a long time!"

(End of this chapter)