Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 441 Lu Bu: I also want to become sworn brothers
As the messengers delivered their reports every day, the officials of Bingzhou learned that Your Majesty was getting closer and closer to Jinyang.

The officials all became so busy that they had no time to rest.

They not only had to choose a place in Jinyang as the emperor's temporary palace for His Majesty and the Crown Prince to stay.

The roads in Jinyang City also needed to be repaired and the dust on the main roads had to be swept away. Especially in the past few days, there had been frequent drizzles and the roads had become slippery and muddy. Some roads were even wet and had to be compacted and filled with soil.

If, when the emperor arrives, any of his followers ride past on horseback and the horse's hooves slip, scaring His Majesty and the prince, then Mao Jie, the governor of Bingzhou, and all the officials in Jinyang will be held accountable.

In addition, there are also concerns about whether food and fodder have been dispatched from various parts of Bingzhou, and whether tribute to the emperor has been placed in the temporary palace.

The Jinyang garrison must also clear out the bandits and robbers in the mountains, and prevent any daring enough to attack the emperor's central army.

Any welcoming ceremony at this moment is much more complicated than when Liu Bei was the King of Han, and it is also inevitable.

Officials and local nobles and gentry needed to wear crowns and kowtow to welcome the emperor at the outskirts of Jinyang. Everyone rehearsed the welcoming ceremony in advance to ensure that the etiquette was correct and to avoid being punished for misbehavior.

What's more, the current emperor is similar to Emperor Guangwu and likes to personally inquire about official affairs. If an official is unable to answer for a long time and can only explain stutteringly when faced with inquiries about household registration, taxes, prisons, farming, water conservancy, etc., he will probably be dismissed on the spot.

The emperor is very cautious in employing officials and will not show any leniency to anyone. Anyone who tries to be treacherous and cheat others and occupy a position without doing anything will be dismissed as soon as he is discovered.

……

On October 28th, at daybreak, outside the city of Jinyang, the sound of gongs and drums and music could be heard.

Three hundred beautiful dancers and musicians stood on both sides of the road playing music, and the Wude dance was placed in the front to welcome the emperor.

Bingzhou Governor Mao Jie led a group of officials and stood tall at the front, basking in the sun without saying a word. Behind the officials were the heads of local gentry and wealthy families, as well as the outstanding children of their families.

Further behind were some military officers and legal officials from the military office, as well as some Xiongnu nobles from Xihe County who had come after hearing the news. Then there were the tens of thousands of ordinary people who were watching, standing at the end, looking forward with curiosity in their hearts.

Many of these people were the former Black Mountain soldiers and civilians. After Zhang Yan led them to surrender successfully, the court ordered them to be relocated to Taiyuan County for settlement and distributed wasteland for reclamation. Although a small number of them starved to death due to lack of food, most people survived with the help of the court's disaster relief grain.

The people of Montenegro all heard that it was the Han emperor who took the lead in saving food and fodder during that period, reducing three meals a day to two meals a day. Officials from all over the country also rushed to follow suit, and only then were they able to save more food, so that the people of Montenegro would not starve to death during the migration.

Even when there was some unrest among the million-strong Black Mountain Army due to food shortages, it was quickly suppressed by their internal leaders, who punished those who took the lead in causing the unrest by executing their entire families in order to curb rumors.

Zhang Yan, who was the prefect of Changshan County, heard a rumor that the Han Dynasty was going to trick and kill a million Black Mountain soldiers, and he was immediately frightened and broke out in a cold sweat.

Once some ignorant people believe the rumor, more and more people will be involved, and the Jizhou tyrants who have just been suppressed may rise up again. By then, Bingzhou, Jizhou, and Youzhou are likely to be in chaos at the same time.

At that time, in order to control the situation, the imperial court had no choice but to massacre the Black Mountain Army.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yan immediately wrote letters to dozens of Black Mountain leaders, advising them earnestly not to make mistakes at the critical moment.

Then he told everyone in detail about the emperor's efforts to save food and fodder. Many generals were skeptical, after all, it was too difficult to accommodate a million people.

They hid in the Taihang Mountains and had to go down the mountains almost every month to rob food and corn in order to barely make a living. Even so, nearly 10,000 people starved to death every year.

Where can the imperial court find enough food to sustain them for several months, and how could these officials be so kind?
You should know that the predecessor of the Black Mountain Army was the Yellow Turban Army, and everyone knows why the Yellow Turbans emerged.

Some leaders still did not believe that the Han officials would become kind-hearted. Perhaps, as the rumors said, they would trick them out of the mountains and then lead their troops to kill them.

Even if the governor of a rank of 2,000 stone official was well-versed in Confucian classics, he could still do such a thing and could even refute it with Confucius' words: If you want to make an alliance, the gods will not listen!

Even the gods in heaven would not take the oaths they were forced to take seriously. These officials could break their promises with a clear conscience.

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, they have been deceived countless times and their credibility in the Han Dynasty has been greatly reduced.

Heishan Qushuai never dreamed that the Han family really intended to resettle the common people this time. A steady supply of food was transported to Bingzhou, and the people who had come down the mountain earlier and had been allocated land also went up the mountain and shouted happily.

If they met people who refused to come down the mountain, the agricultural students would take the common people and place some forged iron farm tools at the foot of the mountain, allowing the Black Mountain Army to take them back to the mountains so that they could better cultivate the mountain land and avoid starving to death in the mountains due to poor harvests.

This practice undoubtedly made the people of Montenegro look at each other in confusion, not knowing what the officials outside the mountain were trying to do. Even if they hid in the mountains and reclaimed wasteland, it would be difficult for the court to collect taxes and bring them back to the mountains.

Giving them iron farm tools was a completely thankless task. Not only was it ineffective, but it was also a waste of time.

Unexpectedly, as more and more generals saw the food and the emaciated soldiers and civilians in the mountains, they thought that instead of living in the mountains, it would be better to trust Zhang Yan and the Han emperor again.

So he gritted his teeth and led the people down the mountain. Only when he found out that they were really distributing grain did he put his worries aside.

Therefore, there were at least hundreds of thousands of people in Bingzhou who were extremely grateful to the emperor. When they heard that the emperor was about to arrive, they came to welcome him.

Among the many officials in Bingzhou, there was one who was tall and strong, standing out from the crowd. This man was Lu Bu who came from Yinguan in Yanmen County.

"Xiaoxian, you look good today. Did you get a good rest last night?"

Lu Bu stood there for a long time, looking into the distance impatiently, but he did not see any messenger riding towards him, and he wondered when the emperor would arrive.

He was a bit bored, so he turned his gaze to Mao Jie, who was standing beside him with a serious expression and looking straight ahead, and asked with a smile.

Hearing that Lü Bu was suddenly concerned about his condition, Mao Jie was puzzled, but he still politely bowed and said, "Thank you, Lord Lü, for your concern. I was very busy last night preparing to welcome Your Majesty today, and I didn't sleep well."

Mao Jie's explanation immediately made Lu Bu feel embarrassed, and he realized that he had said the wrong thing again.

The emperor is about to arrive, but the governor of Bingzhou can still sleep soundly. It can only be said that he does not take the emperor seriously, which is a crime of neglect.

If it were anyone else, he would probably have been embarrassed, but fortunately Mao Jie had a gentle nature and did not argue with Lu Bu.

"I hope Xiaoxian will forgive me. Bu... I am not good at expressing myself, but I am grateful to Xiaoxian for helping me out."

Lu Bu pointed at his chest and said sincerely.

When the Yanmen nobles had offended him, it was the governor Mao Jie who personally helped him to comfort everyone and even showed concern for whether he had been ostracized in Bingzhou.

There were only a few colleagues in the entire court who treated him so well.

The subsequent correspondence made Lu Bu feel that the two men had very compatible personalities. With Mao Jie transporting food and grass behind him, he could garrison in Yanmen with peace of mind to resist the nearby Xiongnu and Xianbei.

Moreover, it is recorded in the Book of Documents: Be filial to the first and be respectful to the next.

Fengxian and Xiaoxian do have a rare fate. Coincidentally, he is older than Mao Jie. It would be great if they could follow Your Majesty's example and become sworn brothers, with him as the elder brother and Mao Jie as the younger brother.

Lu Bu glanced forward, feeling emotional in his heart.

(End of this chapter)