Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 397: Ganquan Palace

In late July of the third year of Jian'an, Liu Bei took more than a hundred officials and 4,000 soldiers from the Ruichong Camp to Ganquan Mountain, 200 miles away from Chang'an, to inspect the progress of the renovation of Yunyang Palace.

This place will soon serve as the center of the Han Dynasty for several years. Liu Bei would feel a little uneasy if he didn't come to see it in person.

Unexpectedly, just a few days after arriving in Yunyang County, he heard someone report that Yizhou Governor Liu Jiyu had come to seek refuge with the King of Han, bringing seals, maps and other books, and even came with a bundle of thorns on his back to ask for forgiveness. Liu Bei could not help but be surprised when he heard the news.

He planned to deal with Yong and Liang first, and then order his generals to lead the army to attack Yizhou. He would not force Liu Zhang to surrender whether he was willing or not.

Therefore, no envoys were sent to persuade them to surrender, but unexpectedly there were unexpected gains.

"Where is Liu Jiyu now?"

Liu Bei climbed up Ganquan Mountain and, standing on the high ground, looked at the rivers, farmland, and mountains to the south, and then looked to the mountains to the north, as well as the military supply road built since the Qin and Han dynasties.

When he heard an official coming to report, he continued to look at the mountains in front of him and asked.

"Based on the itinerary, Liu Jiyu may have just left Hanzhong Baoxiadao. However, Liu Jiyu not only brought his relatives, but also selected two hundred Shu girls who were over thirteen years old, beautiful and good at dancing and music, and wanted to give them to the king."

The clerk handed the document to the King of Han, lowered his head to analyze it for a moment, and then came to a conclusion and replied.

Even if Liu Zhang took a horse-drawn carriage and then changed to a water route in order to get to Chang'an as quickly as possible to apologize to the King of Han, he had too many people with him to match the speed of the horses at the post station to deliver the message.

The roads in Hanzhong are rugged and there is a long section of mountain roads. If you insist on taking a horse-drawn carriage to travel quickly, I am afraid your brain will be confused.

After hearing the clerk's words, Liu Bei couldn't help but frown. Liu Jiyu was once a local lord, so how could he become so flattering?

Several princes came to surrender, bringing with them dancers and musicians?
Liu Bei then said in a deep voice, "Tell Liu Jiyu that if he wants to come to Chang'an to surrender, he can bring his family with him. Don't do anything that goes against the principles of the Dao and is just to attract public attention."

"All the musicians and dancers were immediately dismissed and sent back to their homes."

If you want to surrender, do it quickly and avoid making sensational moves. This will not only fail to flatter him, but will also disgust people. Don't think of treating Liu Xuande as Emperor Xiaoling Liu Hong and curry favor with him.

After saying this, he ordered the soldiers to ride their horses to the post office with the document, and then pass it to Liu Zhang by express horse.

After giving the order, Liu Bei, along with Guo Jia, Fa Zheng and other officials, stood on the top of Ganquan Mountain and looked at the Yunyang Palace, which was no smaller in size than the Weiyang and Changle Palaces.

The east-west wall surrounding the palace is about four miles long, and the same is true for the north and south. There are gates on the west, south, and north sides of the wall, and corner towers on the southwest and northwest, from which one can observe movements from afar.

There is a Tongtian Terrace which is more than 30 zhang high in the palace. Next to it are the towering Yanshou Temple and Yingfeng Palace, as well as the slightly smaller Changding Palace, Zhu Palace, Tangli Palace, Shou Palace, Bei Palace and other palaces and observation decks, totaling twelve palaces and eleven observation decks.

These affiliated palaces, pavilions, platforms and altars are scattered all over the place.

When the craftsmen and laborers were repairing the site, they accidentally found two golden men captured during the expedition against the Huns during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu.

An official identified that this was the second year of Yuanshou, when General Huo Qubing led 10,000 cavalrymen out of Longxi, crossed the Yanqi Mountains for more than a thousand miles, beheaded more than 8,000 Hu captives, and obtained the golden statues of King Xiu Tu for offering sacrifices to the heaven. Emperor Xiaowu placed them here to show the merits of the Han Dynasty and to offer sacrifices to the heaven. Unexpectedly, the two golden statues were not destroyed during the Xinmang Rebellion, but were buried with mud, and were fortunately seen again.

Liu Bei couldn't help but marvel at what he heard.

In order to prevent the King of Han from mistakenly thinking that they were talking nonsense, the officials in Chang'an dug out the records in the clan bamboo slips and explained the whole story.

"This palace was built during the Qin Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, it was expanded to be no less than the palace in Chang'an. Unfortunately, the government became unstable and the place was gradually abandoned."

"Emperor Xiaowu held court in the palace, and all the princes and chieftains who came to pay homage were given titles here."

"Marquis Bowang was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions for the second time, and he set out from this palace in compliance with the Emperor's order."

"In the first year of Emperor Xiaoxuan's reign, Huhanye Chanyu of the Xiongnu also paid homage to the Emperor of the Han Dynasty here in the first month of the year..."

In order to prove that Guanzhong was a better choice than Luoyang as the capital, and with many scenes of the Han Dynasty's prosperity as evidence, the head of the Pingling Dou family brought baskets of evidence, and read aloud with a slight Guanzhong dialect accent, holding his back high, flipping through the books in an attempt to attract the attention of the King of Han.

Liu Bei looked at the palace with towering floors reaching into the sky, and his mind was no longer on the palace.

Although the terrain here is dangerous, it is closer to Beidi County of Liangzhou and Shangjun of Bingzhou than Chang'an. Both places have Qiang, Hu and Xiongnu tribes grazing or farming.

In order to weaken the power of the Qiang people in the Hehuang area, Xiu'er moved a large number of Qiang and Hu people to the vicinity of Beidi County. He thought that by dispersing the Qiang and Hu tribes, the Qiang, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Dingling and other tribes would attack each other for their own interests, and the Han Dynasty would reap the benefits.

The method of using barbarians to attack barbarians and using barbarians to rule barbarians can also reduce the military expenditure of the Han Dynasty, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Unexpectedly, the more chaotic the border became, the more unwilling the common people were to stay in the border counties. Gradually, there were more Hu people and fewer Han people. In addition, the land was fertile and suitable for farming and grazing, which reduced the mortality rate of Hu children. They reproduced for decades, but because the weather continued to be cold, they began to actively migrate southward to compete with the Han people for land for survival.

The Qiang people, who had repeatedly caused rebellions in the four counties of Longxi, Jincheng, Hanyang and Anding, were also relocated to Longxi by the Han dynasty. However, due to oppression by officials, conflicts arose between them and the Han and Hu people. After the court dispatched troops to quell the rebellion, many tribes were dispersed and relocated inland again.

For the court officials, as long as they could temporarily suppress the rebellion and make the Hu people unable to raise an army to resist, it would be much easier to disperse them to various places so that the Qiang and Hu tribes could not unite.

But whether the situation in Liangzhou and Guanzhong will deteriorate to an unmanageable level many years later is no longer anyone’s business.

Anyway, the capital is far away in Luoyang. Even if the Qiang people's momentum shakes the three prefectures, they can't put their sword to the neck of Guandong. At most, the court can choose another person to be the Protector of the Qiang and go to suppress them.

Now seeing that Liu Xuande is determined to stay in Chang'an and is planning to make Guanzhong his capital, I'm afraid many scion of the Guandong aristocratic families will be excited, right?

If the capital was set in Chang'an, and there were rumors that all the famous nobles and powerful families in various states and counties were to be moved to Sili, it would be enough to make people tremble with fear.

In the past, when the court officials discussed the issue of relocating the Hu people, they readily agreed, thinking that since the disaster would not reach Guandong, they did not mind even if the people of Liangzhou suffered. However, they did not expect that within just a few decades, the retribution would come to their descendants, and the clan was relocated to Sanfu to increase the population.

Liu Bei couldn't help laughing as he was thinking about the ins and outs of this.

Many people in Guandong discriminate against Liangzhou. If anyone continues to do so, why not just split up and settle in Liangzhou? This way, they won't discriminate against themselves, right?
(End of this chapter)