Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 452: Liu Bei: The sun and the moon have passed, and the years are not with me

In late February, the Han army attacked the Xiongnu kings from four directions: one from west to east, one from southwest to northeast, another from due south to north, and finally from east to west to sweep the royal court. The Xiongnu in Bingzhou were terrified when they heard this!
On February 27, Liu Bei led 6,000 cavalrymen to Yinguan County, Yanmen Commandery, and personally experienced the terrain of Bingzhou, which had many mountains and was easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Liu Bei led Yanmen prefect Qian Zhao to climb the watchtower on the city wall. As they looked out into the distance, they could not help but sigh, "Bingzhou can be called the backbone of the world. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the princes fought for supremacy in the north and then unified the world. They all had to open up the situation in Shangdang, Taiyuan, and Yanmen. The same was true when Qin Emperor Ying Zheng and Emperor Gaozu annexed the princes of the world."

"Guangwu and I rose to prominence in Hebei. Bingzhou did not pose much of a hindrance, but the terrain here is dangerous and will surely become a place of repeated contention among military strategists in the future."

"At that time, no matter who occupied Guanzhong or Hebei, they could control the three counties of Bingzhou. If they were good at attacking, they could sweep across the Central Plains. If they were good at defending, they could protect their flanks. If they had Bingzhou, the terrain would be high and commanding. If I had held this place, I could have occupied Hedong to the west and looked at Guanzhong, and taken Luoyang to the south, and used my troops to dominate Nanyang and Runan."

"To the east, we will march from Shangdang with lightning speed into Yecheng. Then we will march east first, then west, north to south, and destroy all the princes..."

"Now the Xiongnu and Xianbei have infiltrated Bingzhou for a long time, like poison in the bone marrow. If it is not eradicated, the consequences will be disastrous. Zi Jing, encourage me. We still need you here!"

After Liu Bei finished speaking, he patted Qian Zhao on the shoulder and chuckled.

He planned to hand over Bingzhou to Qian Zhao for supervision. Qian Zhao was his childhood friend and they had shared joys and sorrows in Qingzhou for more than ten years. Qian Zhao knew what he wanted to do.

Qian Zhao had a lot of experience in governing various places for many years, but he was still a little immature in the use of troops. However, he placed Wenhou Lu Bu in Yanmen, so he could learn from his strengths and make up for his weaknesses, and asked Lu Bu for advice on cavalry.

As a "cruel official", Mao Xiaoxian certainly could not stay in Bingzhou for long. There are many prefectures and counties in the world, and many places have not yet been measured for land. He has to be patient and take things slowly. If he takes too big a step, he will easily fall.

"Bingzhou, Youzhou, and Liangzhou are all provinces with strong mountain and river resources, and they all have a commanding position. Your Majesty should select governors who are good at increasing the number of troops and governing the people's livelihood, so as to prevent any disasters."

"I am not talented enough to shoulder this important responsibility."

How could Qian Zhao not hear it? Xuande wanted to pass the important task to him, so he threw Jian Yong to Liangzhou to be the governor, where he dealt with Qiang, Di, Dingling and Hexi Xianbei all day long.

Jian Yong originally thought that he was conferred the title of Marquis of Linzi, and that he had three other counties as his fiefdom, with a total of 15,000 households, which was only second to Guan and Zhang, and that he could rest easy just by relying on his salary.

He simply submitted a letter of resignation and planned to use the five thousand gold coins given to him to buy more houses and land in Luoyang, Chang'an, and Zhuo County. If there was any left, he would recruit knights and organize a caravan to go to the Western Regions, earn some money while helping Xuande find the seeds of the Hu people he needed.

At that time, Liu Bei thought that Xianhe had worked hard over the years, so he approved his request and asked him to rest for a while.

He accidentally learned that Jian Yong was buying land and houses everywhere, so he asked him to come to Yunyang Palace, and the two of them could also reminisce about the past. If he needed land and houses, he could just find Liu Xuande.

Although many forests and gardens in Chang'an and Luoyang have been converted into farmland, there are still many mountains and forests in the hands of the emperor. If Jian Yong wants a hundred hectares, it will be difficult to get it, but as long as he sets aside a few hundred acres of land and uses it as farmland and houses, Liu Bei can still give it to him, and they can even go hunting together then.

As a result, Jian Yong hesitated and evaded the question when Liu Bei asked him casually, so Liu Bei asked him again with a stern face the reason. Jian Yong then carefully explained that because the Majesty's reward was too generous, he was afraid that taking an important position in the court would cause discussion among officials.

Liu Bei immediately shook his head and laughed, then turned around and asked the Zhongshutai clerk where else there was a vacancy for a governor. He learned that there was a vacancy in Liangzhou, so he asked Jian Yong to rest for half a month before taking up the post. However, under the pressure of the emperor's increasing majesty, Jian Yong walked out of the Bamboo Palace in a daze. It was not until he walked out of the palace and was blown by the cold wind outside that he realized that Xuande's request for him to come to Guanzhong to reminisce about the past and restore the land and house he had granted was a lie, and his real intention was to ask him to go to Liangzhou to clean up the mess.

So he returned to his residence and immediately wrote a letter to Qian Zijing, in which he complained bitterly. If he had known this would happen, he would have claimed illness and not gone to Guanzhong. Even though Liangzhou was right next to the court, it was not an easy job to be a governor. What's more, he just wanted to lie down and didn't want to be busy with paperwork. His childhood playmate had become the emperor. What else was there for him, Jian Xianhe, to pursue?
His portrait was hung in the Nan Palace and he was given the honor of Huangchangtichou after his death. Would Xuande still treat him unfairly?
Besides, there are so many heroes in the world, and it doesn't seem to be a big deal if one of them is missing and works hard for the Han Dynasty. Why does Xuande want to hold on to him?

Although Liu Bei knew about the correspondence between Jian Yong and Qian Zhao, he was not sure what they said. Seeing that Qian Zhao was trying to decline, he turned around and looked at him carefully, then asked with a smile: "Zijing, why are you so modest? I told you back then that I wanted to use Zijing as a general to sweep away the Xiongnu, drive out the Xianbei, and then take back the Hetao area. Now there are so many Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes in Bingzhou that they have become a major concern for the Han Dynasty."

"So I asked Yunchang to station troops in Youzhou and to raise several thousand cavalrymen to do the same as the barbarians, learn what they like, and learn their strengths in order to defeat them."

"Appoint Ren Xianhe as the governor of Liangzhou to appease the Qiang and Hu people, register the people and gradually guide them to become Han people. At present, Bingzhou also needs a governor who is both talented and virtuous and familiar with military strategies to rule the Xiongnu and the Xianbei in the north."

"Besides you, I can't find anyone else I can trust with the key points. It will take a hundred years to govern the Hu people, and the first twenty to thirty years are the most important."

"You, me, Yunchang, Yide, Zilong, Xianhe, are the ones who truly support each other in times of crisis. We have risen from the plains to the present day and reshaped the world. It is not only me, Liu Bei, who has contributed, but you have also risked your lives with me."

"Thinking back to the time when we slept on the same bed, determined to help the world, no matter who was injured or died, the rest of us would wipe away the tears and completely pacify this chaotic and turbulent time."

"Zijing, if you say I don't trust you, who else can I trust?"

"I was no more than twenty-seven then, and now I am over forty, and my energy is gradually declining. I'm sure in a few years, the pain from my youthful battles will dull."

"The days and months have passed, the years have not been on my side, the wars have gradually decreased, and the states have turned from chaos to order. Zijing, are you willing to accompany me from beginning to end and govern the world?"

Liu Bei raised his whip, pointed at the mountains and rivers outside the city, and asked with a smile.

It was only then that Qian Zhao noticed that Liu Bei had a streak of white hair on his temples while he was wearing the Liu's crown.

He never thought that Xuande would have a day with gray hair, and perhaps he didn't want to think about it, because heroes in the world will also pass away one day.

Looking at the water flowing eastward outside the city and connecting with the vast sky and earth, there is a sense of sadness.

The mountains and rivers here are still there after many years, and the mountains will be green again, but the man who led his army across the river in order to defend the land despite the opposition of his ministers will never cross here again.

A hundred years of life is so short, like a moment.

(End of this chapter)