Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 66: We must take Meng De seriously
The 18th day of July, the fourth year of Chuping.

The soldiers who had been on the expedition against Gongsun Du for half a year finally returned to Pingyuan.

Xun Yu and Guan Yu came with people to greet them. They hadn't seen each other for a long time and talked for a while. They arranged the three battalions, cavalry and auxiliary soldiers. The names of those who had made contributions in the battle had already been recorded.

The military officers were later given land according to their merits, and Liu Bei personally distributed fine silk and money and food before the war ended. Soldiers who died in battle were also given pensions, and he would take time to send money, food and cloth to the soldiers' homes.

Of course, only combat soldiers enjoy such treatment, and this alone makes the auxiliary soldiers jealous.

The soldiers lined up in an orderly manner and walked towards the center of the military camp. Envoy Liu distributed rewards to them one by one, and even patted them on the shoulders. He was able to call them by their nicknames skillfully and asked them in a friendly manner about their family conditions. If their families were short of money and food, they could come to him.

The soldiers couldn't help but cheer spontaneously.

For some reason, Liu Bei had an exceptionally good memory. He could remember everyone's appearance and could talk to anyone.

The soldiers were delighted and excited, and the soldiers who were asked were beaming with joy and proud of it.

After distributing fine silk and money and food, a few people were left behind to guard the camp, while the rest of the soldiers were allowed to return home and rest for a month.

Frequent fighting on the battlefield is a torture to the soldiers both physically and mentally. Liu Bei does not mind giving too much reward, after all, the soldiers are risking their lives for him.

As a commander, one cannot always act according to military law, but must also emphasize friendship and loyalty in the army. In life-and-death situations, military orders may not necessarily make others obey, but friendship and loyalty can make people willing to risk their lives to save others.

Taishi Ci did not expect that General Liu would be so surrounded by the soldiers. He could not help but exclaimed: "To make the soldiers fight to the death is something that ordinary people cannot do. General Liu is truly a hero."

Liu Bei and the others reminisced about the past while rushing back to the county prime minister's residence.

On the way, he introduced Taishi Ci to them. After they caught up with the main army and surrendered that day, Liu Bei immediately appointed Taishi Ci to lead 60 cavalry personal guards. Although the number of soldiers and generals was small, he entrusted his own safety to him.

As soon as he joined Liu Bei's army, he was regarded as Liu Bei's confidant. Taishi Ci felt even more grateful and felt that he had not chosen the wrong person in this life.

Liu Bei also comforted him: "Ziyi, don't worry that you won't be able to achieve success if you lead the personal guards. Taking on this important task may allow you to achieve success faster than others."

Although Taishi Ci was puzzled, he nodded and smiled, "I am honored that the envoy has placed his trust in me and entrusted my safety to me. I will fight in battles and make contributions to the country. What if I put it aside for the time being?"

"As long as I follow you, you will have plenty of opportunities to achieve success and fame in the future. Why should I worry about not having great achievements?"

Zhao Yun patted his shoulder and reminded him, "Hey, Ziyi, you will know from now on that being with the envoy is no different from being in the infantry or cavalry. You have to make achievements..."

When Liu Bei passed by Jinan, he brought Zhang Fei back to Pingyuan. The two were very excited to see each other. Zhang Fei's eyes were filled with tears and he called him brother several times.

Liu Bei straightened his sleeves, looked at him carefully and said with a smile: "Yide has been training soldiers every day to defend Jinan for his brother. It's really hard work."

Zhang Fei said indifferently: "Brother, you are right. I have been fighting in Zhuo County for many years. I am grateful for your respect and have sworn brotherhood with my second brother. Isn't it natural for me to do things for you?"

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, nodded with a smile, took Zhang Fei's arm, and asked him to go back to Pingyuan with him so that the brothers could reunite.

Zhang Fei could not help but be overjoyed. Ever since his elder brother went to fight against the Yellow Turbans, his territory and official position had become increasingly larger, but the three brothers had been separated from each other more often than not, either staying in Jinan or in Le'an.

Of course it would be great if we had the opportunity to get together right now.

……

Liu Bei led everyone straight to the study to discuss matters.

Taishi Ci was led by military officials to familiarize himself with the environment of the plain. Sun Qian and Wang Xiu, who had been arranged earlier, were able to handle the state affairs smoothly. Xun Yu even wrote a letter to praise the two of them, and also praised Liu Bei for his keen eyes for recognizing pearls, and said that both of them were talented.

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Xun Yu, Zhao Yun, Jian Yong and other talented people came to the study and sat down one by one. Xun Yu said first: "Your Excellency has returned at the right time. Recently, after Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, reorganized his troops, he sent someone to write a letter to attack your Excellency, calling on the whole country to attack Qingzhou together."

Zhao Yun frowned when he heard this, and Zhang Fei cursed even louder, but Guan Yu shut his mouth with a look and told him to stop talking nonsense while we were still discussing matters.

Liu Bei was stunned. Yanzhou and Qingzhou had already fought a battle, but they were still writing a manifesto to attack. Could it be that they wanted to make up for the previous sneak attack and have a legitimate reason?

Liu Dai, although a member of the royal family, was willing to flatter the Yuan family, which made Liu Bei at a loss as to what to say.

I asked casually, "What does the manifesto say?"

Xun Yu was speechless. He asked his subordinates to bring a scroll of documents and handed it to Liu Bei, saying, "Please have a look at it, sir."

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei laughed out loud after reading half of it. He didn't know whether Liu Dai was insulting him or helping him spread his reputation.

The manifesto clearly stated: Liu Xuande of Zhuo County was young and poor, a peddler and mat weaver, good at associating with knights and advocating fame, sharing profits with the common people and soldiers to secretly support the dead soldiers...

He listed ten points, cursing everything from his background to what he had done in recent years.

Liu Bei asked with a smile: "Which famous scholar did Liu Dai ask to write this? It's really as sharp as an arrow!"

Openly criticizing him but secretly praising him was actually helping to spread his reputation in various states and counties. Currently Yuan Shao was preoccupied with himself, Tao Qian was guarding his own little piece of land, and only Liu Dai in Yanzhou was jumping around.

Xun Yu also shook his head, not knowing who did it.

"Can the military rations in the warehouse still support the army's expedition this year?" Liu Bei placed the documents on the desk and asked.

"There is still surplus food, enough to mobilize an army of 10,000 to march to the East County of Yanzhou." Xun Yu thought for a moment and replied.

Yanzhou Dongjun is adjacent to the plain, and the two families are almost neighbors, and the river transportation of grain makes it more convenient.

It can more than sustain for a year or two, and the consumption is much less than the expedition to Donglai.

Liu Bei clapped his hands and said, "That's good. Five days later, we will start to mobilize the army's soldiers. Except for the three battalions that have just returned from the expedition, all of them will be sent to Pingyuan.

"At the same time, order the counties to open their arsenals and prepare all the weapons and arrows. Once the arsenal is complete, choose a day to march to Dongjun."

Liu Bei did not take Liu Dai of Yanzhou seriously. Cao Cao of Dongjun was his biggest threat. Having him as a neighbor would be more dangerous than Yuan Shao.

Instead of beating him while he is weak and making him homeless, are we going to allow him to become powerful?

In Liu Bei's mind, anyone can be the governor of Yanzhou except Cao Cao, as he cannot raise a tiger to cause trouble.

"Xuan De, isn't it too fast? Why don't you rest for a while? You just came back and now you are going to fight again. Can your body handle it?" Jian Yong asked worriedly.

Liu Bei came back to his senses and saw everyone's concerned looks. He felt warm in his heart and smiled and waved his hands, saying, "It's just a little trouble. I can still hold on."

"Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Delay can easily lead to changes. If we can capture Dongjun, Yuan Shao will be attacked from both sides, which will make it easier to conquer Yuan Shao in the future."

"Besides, we cannot allow Cao Mengde to gain a foothold. Whenever he finds a place to stay, we will attack him quickly, making him waste time and effort in vain."

Everyone knew that Liu Bei attached great importance to Cao Cao, so when they heard what he said, they stopped trying to dissuade him.

Liu Bei smiled secretly and said, "Meng De, you are the only one in the world who deserves my full efforts. I will not stop even after defeating Gongsun, but will go straight to your Dongjun."

(End of this chapter)