The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 229 Volume Xu You
Xiangyang.

Ever since Liu Biao moved the county seat of Jingzhou from Wan County to here, it has become the most prosperous city in the Central Plains, without a doubt.

County Magistrate’s Mansion, Banquet Hall.

Xu You has become a guest of honor here, constantly praising the prosperity of Jingzhou.

"Liu Jingzhou looked south with care, and pacified Jing and Heng. Since the general came, the people are safe and prosperous. The rivers and lakes are connected, the law is clean and the country is prosperous. Bi Fu Gan Tang, Zhao Bo hears the case, they can be called heroes!"

Xu You was sitting in the guest seat on the right, and sitting in the main seat was Liu Biao with his white hair and white bangs.

On the upper left side of the other side, sat important officials of Jingzhou including Xia Liang, Xia Yue, Cai Mao, and Wen Pin.

When Liu Biao heard Xu You's words, his brows seemed to tremble, but he held back.

However, Yi Ji, the chief clerk who was sitting at the end, stood up and retorted to Xu You indignantly: "My lord Liu Biao is a relative of the Han Dynasty. He was personally appointed by the court as the General Zhennan and the Governor of Jingzhou! He was supposed to defend the territory for the court! How come it has become your territory now?"

After Yi Ji finished speaking, the whole room fell silent.

Although Xu You's smile was stiff, seeing that Liu Biao at the top did not move, he understood Liu Biao's intention.

"Ji Bo (Yi Ji's courtesy name), how could you be so rude to Zi Yuan?"

It was Kuai Liang who stood up and reprimanded Yi Ji.

"Ziyuan is originally from Jingzhou, and this is his hometown. What's wrong with him expressing his gratitude to Liu Jingzhou?"

Yi Ji: “What’s wrong?”

Yi Ji immediately stopped being polite and pointed at Xu You: "This man is one of the three ministers of the false dynasty! He is a traitor to the Han Dynasty!"

"Now that he has come to Jingzhou, shouldn't we just cut off his head and send it to the court? Why are we treating him as a guest of honor? If the court finds out, how will we explain it?"

After Yi Ji said this, Jian Yue and Cai Mao both subconsciously looked in the direction of Liu Biao.

The Iranian nationality is special.

He was from Shanyang, Yanzhou.

He was a fellow townsman of Liu Biao, and came to Jingzhou after Liu Biao entered Jingzhou alone.

In other words, Yi Ji's position was extremely clear, which represented Liu Biao's own intentions.

Now that Yi Ji suddenly stood up to attack, it would be hard to believe if he said that there was no instigation from Liu Biao behind the scenes.

Although Xu You did not know the relationship between Yi Ji and Liu Biao, when he saw Liu Biao remained silent when Yi Ji launched the attack, he roughly understood that there must be Liu Biao's instructions behind this.

Since that was the case, Xu You simply stopped pretending.

"The imperial court? Which imperial court?"

"The current imperial court is not in Guanzhong! Not in Chang'an! But in Hebei! In Yecheng!"

"I am one of the three highest officials in the imperial court! Yet you denounce me as a traitor to the Han Dynasty. Is this in line with the way of a minister?"

"Xu You!!!"

Yi Ji angrily shouted, "How dare you, Han traitors, confuse right and wrong? And mix up black and white?"

"Do you really think that you can conceal your disloyalty by just supporting a member of the Liu clan?"

"And you, Xu Ziyuan! You are already a notorious person! Now that you are wearing the clothes Yuan Shao gave you, you have become a beast in human clothing. How dare you come to Jingzhou and act wildly?"

Yi Ji's curses were extremely harsh, and Xu You's face turned pale.

"Ijibo!"

Cai Mao saw that the situation was getting out of control, so he quickly stood up and scolded the guards on both sides: "This man is already drunk! Why are you still watching him act wild in front of the guests!"

Immediately, guards rushed forward, held Yi Ji's shoulders and took him away.

At this moment in the banquet hall, although there was no more shouting and cursing from Yi Ji, the atmosphere was still extremely solemn.

Because everyone knows that Yi Ji's attitude is actually Liu Biao's attitude.

The purpose of Xu You's trip is actually self-evident.

Liu Biao has already made his position clear by using Yi Ji's words, which means that cooperation between the two sides will inevitably be difficult.

"After all, I'm getting old, and my stomach is a little uncomfortable... Ziyuan, now is the time when the fish sashimi in Jingzhou is at its most delicious, you must try it."

Liu Biao found an excuse to leave, and Wen Pin also found an excuse to leave, leaving the banquet hall to a few people.

"Oh!"

Xu You punched hard!

"Liu Biao, a worthless man!"

"Who does he think he is? He's just an old dog, but he's so arrogant? How abominable!"

Shan Liang, Shan Yue and Cai Mao all looked at Xu You with displeasure.

"Ziyuan, although Liu Jingzhou had some disputes with Lord Yuan, he was the greatest contributor to maintaining the peace and tranquility of Jingzhou. Your evaluation of him... is probably biased."

Xu You did not expect that Liu Biao's status in the eyes of several people was so high. He was afraid that he would anger the public, so he apologized repeatedly.

But after apologizing, Xu You showed his strong attitude again: "Mr. Yuan has issued an order! This time, Jingzhou must make its attitude clear!"

Qi Liang frowned: "Why is Lord Yuan so anxious?"

"It is because the imperial court has taken over Shu! It is like the Qin Dynasty conquering the six kingdoms in the past!"

Xu You used Yuan Shao's military might to intimidate everyone: "Mr. Yuan has decided to march westward soon to fight a decisive battle with Dong Zhuo! By that time, I'm afraid it won't be me, Xu Ziyuan, who will come to Jingzhou, but Cao Aman's soldiers!"

Several people were shocked!
"Mr. Yuan is planning to declare war on the imperial court?" "Of course!"

Xu You twirled his beard and said with great satisfaction: "Now Hebei is strong in soldiers and horses. Even if Gongsun Zan harasses Youzhou, it is not a big threat! Lord Yuan has already decided to attack Taiyuan soon, enter Guanzhong from Hedong, personally cut off the heads of Dong Zhuo and Liu Xie, and pacify the world!"

"When the time comes, Jingzhou will naturally send troops to march west with us! If... hehe!"

Several people looked at each other.

They obviously did not expect that Yuan Shao would decide to send troops at this time.

And judging from Xu You's posture, it seemed as if he was going to launch an all-out war against the imperial court and completely destroy it!
It is no wonder that Xu You did not hesitate to come in person to threaten Jingzhou and ask Jingzhou to throw itself into Yuan Shao's arms.

"Mr. Xu."

Jian Yue showed some respect to Xu You.

"Mr. Xu has also seen Liu Jingzhou's attitude. It is really difficult to ask him to send troops to help."

"Besides, Jingzhou is small, its people are weak, and its military is insufficient. I'm afraid we can't really help Lord Yuan... Therefore, Jingzhou can only remain neutral at best. I hope Lord Xu can explain our difficulties to Lord Yuan for the sake of our fellow townsmen."

……

Xu You saw it.

The situation in Jingzhou is indeed extremely complicated.

Liu Biao was loyal to the Han Dynasty, but was constrained by the aristocratic families in Jingzhou and was unable to provide more help to the court.

The aristocratic families in Jingzhou were more inclined towards Yuan Shao, or rather, they were more inclined towards the aristocratic system that could bring them greater benefits. However, they were afraid of Liu Biao's power, so they were timid and did not dare to be too tough.

The two maintain a perfect balance.

It was precisely because of this balance that the peace of Jingzhou was maintained, and Liu Biao and the Jingzhou nobles sought common ground while reserving differences and reached a consensus:

Never get easily involved in a full-scale war in the North.

Always obey the Holy Emperor.

Whoever is the emperor must be obeyed.

Anyway, Jingzhou has already given up Nanyang. If Yuan Shao is willing to attack Guanzhong from Nanyang via Wuguan, he can just go there himself, and Jingzhou will pretend not to see it.

If we let Jingzhou join Yuan Shao in attacking the imperial court... Sorry, we really can't do it!

Xu You scratched his head.

He was very distressed by the attitude of the Jingzhou gentry, which was like a rolling pin.

He even said such nonsense as "Jingzhou's land is small, the people are weak, and the weapons and armor are insufficient."

Xu You knew that if he brought the answer of "Jingzhou remains neutral" back to Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao would definitely not be satisfied!

By then, he didn’t know what others would do, but Xu You would definitely be in big trouble!

With this thought, Xu You retracted his previous arrogance and wanted to appeal to Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, and Cai Mao with emotion and reason.

"Everyone! The Han Dynasty has been controlled by Dong Zhuo! You are all Han officials. Are you going to sit back and watch the court fall into disaster?"

……

The three of them looked at each other silently.

Does Xu You think he and others are fools?
If Yuan Shao had not established the Hebei court and was still the leader of the Guandong coalition, there would be nothing wrong in saying this.

But if you say this now, doesn't it sound a bit like pointing at your own nose and scolding yourself?

Xu You remained unmoved.

Or perhaps he was so shameless that he really thought that only the Hebei court and Yuan Shao could truly represent the Han Dynasty.

Since you can't convince me with the greater good, then start talking about personal gain!

"On my way here, I also got some information about Guanzhong."

"Not to mention distributing land to soldiers for farming and establishing a military system. Just abolishing the recommendation system is like uprooting the clan's roots!"

"I also heard that even the son of Yang Biao, one of the Three Dukes and a descendant of the Hongnong Yang family, failed to win the first place in the imperial examination! Aren't you worried that your own clan and descendants will gradually decline in the future?"

……

Xu You's words actually touched upon what several people were most worried about.

It was scary enough that the court had a Dong Zhuo who was ruthless to the aristocratic families. Now they have even promulgated a special system to suppress the powerful and even abolished the recommendation system, so that the aristocratic families cannot control the path to promotion... What a horrible thing!
Every family has a few useless children.

Without the "Cao Ju" system to protect them, they would inevitably end up in poverty.

Who can tolerate such cruelty?

Who can bear such bad news?
Therefore, these scholars in Jingzhou were also unwilling to be under the rule of the imperial court.

However, Jingzhou was too close to Guanzhong and too far from Hebei. With Liu Biao, a relative of the Han Dynasty, under pressure, they did not dare to take the huge risk of helping Yuan Shao and going against the court.

Xu You saw that several people seemed to be interested in making a move, so he continued to tempt them.

"Everyone, do you think Dong Zhuo has a chance to defeat Lord Yuan?"

"Guanzhong suffered a natural disaster. Even with the money and food supplies from Hanzhong and Shu, it is still far from being comparable to Lord Yuan."

"Even if Guanzhong relies on the advantages of mountains and rivers, it is still difficult to stop Lord Yuan's army! If you send troops from Jingzhou, attack Wuguan from Nanyang, attack Hanzhong from Shangyong, and attack Shujun from Bajun, then victory will be within your grasp! We can return to the peace and harmony of the past!"

"Right now, the future of the clan's descendants is in your hands. You must think twice before you act!"

(End of this chapter)