My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 164: General Wuchang and Marquis Zongzheng Leads Yangzhou Governor Liu Bei

From Cao Cao's point of view, seeing that Yuan Shu's downfall was a foregone conclusion, he certainly hoped that Liu Bei would not take advantage of this to become more powerful, and it would be best if Liu Bei's external environment was as bad as possible.

It has been almost a month since Liu Bei conquered Shouchun. During this month, Cao's army has made considerable progress in the direction of Runan County.

All the counties of Runan located north of the Huai River have been cleared out by Cao's army. All the counties south of the Huai River and the lower reaches of Liao County have also been cleared out. Only a few counties in the upper reaches and the county towns along the many tributaries on the south bank of the Huai River that extend deep into the Dabie Mountains remain. Due to the rugged terrain, it is difficult to suppress them for the time being.

In addition, it was already early winter in October, and the roads in and out of the Dabie Mountains would soon be blocked by heavy snow. It was impossible to deploy troops in the mountainous areas during the cold winter, so the final blow to Yuan Shu was destined to be delayed until the snow melted in the spring of next year.

But no matter what, in this month, Cao Cao has accumulated enough military merits to cover up his shame, and the number of people captured and forced to surrender is indeed large. It is enough to prove that he is the first hero in the fight against the rebellion and the destruction of Yuan, rather than Liu Bei who broke through Shouchun.

Originally, Cao Cao had the idea of promoting himself to General of Cavalry and letting Liu Bei be rewarded with the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry, and at the same time suppressing the local position given to Liu Bei, so that Liu Bei would have empty fame but no real benefits. Now that the conditions are ripe, this step can be implemented.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to promote Liu Bei, he could make more demands on Liu Bei. If Liu Bei did not accept the order, it would be Liu Bei's fault, and he would not be promoted.

Cao Cao then decided to leave Cao Ren to garrison in Runan, block the road to the north of the Dabie Mountains, and be responsible for monitoring Yuan Shu in winter. He himself would temporarily return to the court to discuss important matters with Xun Yu and others.

Runan was too devastated, and Yuan Shu had completed the autumn harvest before retreating. Cao's army could not seize enough food from the people to maintain the army and had to rely on the enemy for food, so they could only maintain a relatively small-scale surveillance force.

As for Cao Ren's base, Cao Cao temporarily chose Anfeng, which happened to be located in the middle reaches of the Huai River, blocking Liu Bei and Yuan Shu. From this place, he could monitor Shouchun where Zhao Yun, a subordinate of Liu Bei, was stationed, and at the same time monitor Yuan Shu to prevent Zhao Yun from crossing the line and taking advantage of Yuan Shu.

……

Runan County and Yingchuan County are adjacent to each other, and Cao Cao does not need to retreat slowly with the main force, so he can go ahead with light cavalry.

In just five or six days, he rushed back to Xudu, exhausted.

After only a night's rest, Cao Cao diligently summoned Xun Yu and others the next day to discuss the issue of promoting Liu Bei, the issue of Liu Bei impeaching Sun Ce for his rude style, and the handling of the Huang Zu case.

These three matters are all related to Liu Bei, so they can be discussed and bargained together. If Liu Bei suffers a loss in one case, you can make up for it slightly in another case to ensure that Liu Bei is willing to accept the order.

Cao Cao didn't waste any words and asked Xun Yu directly: "After the fall of Yuan Shu, the biggest threat to Liu Bei is Sun Ce. After all, Sun Ce is ambitious, and the three counties he occupies are completely surrounded by Liu Bei. He will definitely fight with Liu Bei in the future.

Liu Bei must have known this, so he submitted a memorial criticizing Sun Ce's brutality, eager to find an excuse to get rid of him and avoid being attacked from all sides in the future. Wen Ruo thought, could we use the imperial decree to let Liu Bei first take action against Huang Zu and make Liu Biao an enemy, so as to contain him?"

Xun Yu thought carefully for a long time before answering: "If Liu Bei is really willing to obey the order and attack Huang Zu first, he will surely be able to tie him down for a long time, allowing Sun Ce to completely integrate the three counties. However, it will be difficult to make Liu Bei and Liu Biao enemies.

After all, the order to Liu Bei to attack Huang Zu was issued directly by the court. Liu Biao might hate you even more, thinking that you are trying to sow discord. I think it would be better to issue an order to Liu Biao first, and let him clean up the mess on his own. If Liu Biao is unable to do so, then let Liu Bei do it. In this way, Liu Biao will be blamed and will not resent the court. "

Cao Cao stroked his beard and said, "What I am worried about is that the negotiations with Liu Biao may take several months to see the result. If I delay and do not reply to Liu Bei, will Liu Bei take the risk and find an excuse to attack Sun Ce first?"

In the four years before Jian'an, if the princes submitted a petition requesting something and the court responded with a clear rejection, if you still insisted on doing it, you would definitely have a bad reputation.

However, if the court was slow to respond and the princes waited for a long time without any response, if they took action at this time, it could be said that "the road was in turmoil" and the court's intentions could not be conveyed.

Cao Cao was unwilling to give Liu Bei such an opportunity. He knew that it was rare for a vassal like Liu Bei to obey his orders, and he would try to solve problems that could be solved with official positions.

Moreover, Cao Cao knew very well that Liu Bei was one of the very few princes in the world who would never actively invade others without the imperial court's order. This was something worth taking advantage of, and he must continue to maintain stability.

Without talking about the distant past, in fact, if we review history, we will know that if Liu Bei had been a little more ruthless, he would even have had a chance to kill Cao Cao - without talking about the distant past, just say the end of 194, when Tao Qian had just died and Liu Bei took over Xuzhou.

At that time, Cao Cao returned to fight with Lu Bu, and they almost beat him to death. At the worst time, Cao Cao only had three counties left and had no source of military rations. It was at that time that Cheng Yu prepared special jerky as military rations for Cao Cao.

Although Liu Bei had just taken control of Xuzhou at that time, if Liu Bei had been a little more ruthless and took the initiative to invade other princes, and attacked Cao Cao together with Lu Bu when Cao Cao was at his weakest, Cao Cao might have been doomed.

But Liu Bei always insisted that "rituals, music, conquests and wars all come from the emperor."

If it is a later viewer, it is easier to conclude that in history, until Liu Bei invited Zhuge Liang and heard the Longzhong Plan, Liu Bei, as a local lord, had never spontaneously invaded other Han officials to seize territory.
When Liu Bei went to war, he was either suppressing rebellions or bandits, or following an imperial edict, or obeying a secret decree, or defending himself when others attacked him, or he was a general carrying out orders (for example, during the years under Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei could only be considered a general, not a vassal lord).

Although Liu Bei in this life has become more flexible and adaptable under Zhuge Jin's guidance in the past two years, he still has not been able to defeat the Han ministers on his own.

He fought Yuan Shu because he was ordered to suppress rebellion. He even tolerated Lu Bu stealing his house and did not fight back. He fought Zuo Rong because Zuo Rong was not a Han official, but a "Danyang thief". He also fought Zu Lang because they were Shanyue barbarians and Danyang thieves.

This resume is simply a model for the world and a beacon in troubled times. Cao Cao also very much hopes that Liu Bei will continue to maintain his moral integrity so that he can make better use of Liu Bei.

……

After listening to Cao Cao's concerns, Xun Yu realized that Cao Cao was worried about "unstable roads" and would not respond in time, so he bullied Liu Bei, an honest man, too harshly, and caused him to get into trouble.

Xun Yu put himself in the other person's shoes and thought about the solution, then suggested:
"Liu Bei did not attack other Han officials unless he was ordered to do so. This is indeed rare in modern times. If you are worried that he can't wait, you can reply to him first and tell him that the court is already negotiating with Liu Biao and ask him to be patient.

If Liu Biao is willing to clean up the mess himself, then he won't need to do anything. If Liu Biao doesn't do anything, then he can do it. Therefore, in the next two or three months, this war may not start, but he must suspend his troops and prepare for war at all times. Once the court gives him the order, he can take action against Huang Zu."

But when Cao Cao heard this, he put himself in Liu Bei's position and thought about it, and felt that such an order seemed a little too much.

If I were in Liu Bei's position, I would never accept the order so easily.

This is equivalent to saying, "I know Sun Ce may have some problems, but you can't do anything now, because the court wants you to be ready to take action against Huang Zu at any time. If you create another mess, you won't have the energy to take action immediately when the court asks you to take action against Huang Zu. But I can't guarantee that the court will ask you to take action. If it's not needed in the end, you can do whatever you want."

It is just like people in the future asking a bank for a loan, and asking the bank to reserve a large sum of money for him first, and not to lend it out. But I will not pay you interest first, nor will I guarantee that I will lend you money in the future, so that you are wasting my funds.

How could such a good thing happen in the world? Who would accept such conditions? It's too much!

With Cao Cao's moral integrity, he couldn't help but whispered: "This method makes sense, but will Liu Bei accept such harsh conditions?" Xun Yu: "It depends on how high an official position you give Liu Bei. Liu Bei has not yet been rewarded for his merits in conquering Shouchun. You can reward him for several merits and also discuss the reward in advance for his merits in conquering Huang Zu.

Regardless of whether Liu Bei sent out troops or not, and whether he defeated Huang Zu or not, it would all be counted in this promotion. In this way, if Liu Bei wanted to be promoted, he would have no reason to disobey the order. "

Cao Cao then suddenly realized that this was tantamount to giving Liu Bei an advance payment for the credit for the next time he defeated Huang Zu, so Liu Bei would definitely accept it.

Anyway, even if you are not allowed to attack Huang Zu in the end, you will not suffer any loss, because you have already been promoted. Just consider the credit as yours, but the actual benefit may belong to Liu Biao.

"Forget it, anyway, to deal with Liu Bei, we just give him an empty title. I originally intended to appoint myself as General of Cavalry and promote Liu Bei to General of Chariots and Cavalry. As for the title, Liu Bei should be a county marquis. If he wants to be promoted further, he can only be transferred. Are there any other official positions that can be added?"

Cao Cao thought about it and felt that if he defeated Wei Du, he would be promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry. Then, if he destroyed Huang Zu in the future, there would be no other minor official positions to give him.

In the end, Xun Yu was more meticulous and had a better understanding of the court officials. After careful consideration, he helped Cao Cao set a reward:
"Mingsir, why not keep the rank of General of Chariots and Cavalry and promote him to Marquis of County as before, and reward him only for his merits in conquering Shouchun.

As for dealing with Huang Zu, making enemies with Liu Biao, and preventing him from taking action against Sun Ce, these three things can be combined into one reward. Liu Bei can be given an additional title of Zongzheng, and his title can be moved from Yichenghou to Xiakou, where Huang Zu ruled. And the current Zongzheng Liu Ai can be transferred to another position. "

Cao Cao frowned, "Zongzheng is one of the nine ministers of the imperial court. Shouldn't he be given a higher position by the capital officials? It is normal to send the princes to other places and give them the title of general and governor of Bingzhou. Is there any precedent for such a title?"

Moreover, although Xiakou was the seat of Huang Zu’s administration, this place name is too petty, and it would damage the dignity of the court as a title.”

Xun Yu: "Although the Zongzheng is one of the Nine Ministers, he can hold the position concurrently with the generals and governors. Nine years ago, when the Zongzheng Liu Yu was sent to Youzhou as governor, he did not immediately return the position of Zongzheng. At that time, Your Majesty specially allowed him to continue to hold the position concurrently.

Six years ago, when Wang Yun killed Dong Zhuo and Liu Yu was at the peak of his fame, His Majesty even issued an order for Liu Yu to concurrently govern the six states of Qing, Ji, You, Bing, Yan, and Xu. However, when this order had just reached Youzhou, the battle between Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu occurred, and Liu Yu was killed by Gongsun Zan. Later, the court replaced him with the current Zongzheng Liu Ai.

Therefore, the Zongzheng was different from the other eight of the Nine Ministers. The Liu family governors in the outer towns were allowed to serve as Zongzheng, which was convenient for checking whether other clan governors were disloyal or overstepping their authority. Now, you want to stir up the feud between Liu Bei and Liu Biao, and make him the Zongzheng. Liu Biao would certainly be hostile and wary of him.

As for Xiakou, which has a vulgar name, it can be renamed Wuchang, which will complement your title of Marquis Wuping. Then Liu Bei will surely be grateful for your kindness. "

Hearing this, Cao Cao's eyes finally lit up: Yes, why didn't I think of it? Isn't the Zongzheng responsible for investigating the transgressions and illegal acts of other clan members?
Besides, aren’t there enough cases of people fighting with each other among the royal family members of the Han Dynasty?

Four years ago, Liu Biao had submitted a memorial to the court, accusing Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou, of illegal activities, including building a six-chariot with golden wheels and using the emperor's ceremonial guards in Chengdu. He also requested the court to authorize him to investigate Liu Yan's treasonous behavior.

If the three governors of the southern states who are relatives of the Han royal family were hostile to each other, Liu Bei would not be able to deal with Sun Ce!
Of course, with Cao Cao's intelligence, he quickly thought of a risk.

That is, if Liu Bei was too powerful and found something to hold against Liu Biao and Liu Zhang, and really integrated the three southern states, how terrible it would be...

Fortunately, Cao Cao soon realized that this was a bit too far-fetched. Liu Bei's current strength was only four or five counties, how could he reach this level. He could give Liu Bei the position of Zongzheng, and he could also find an excuse to demote him in the future.

For example, if they really found that something was wrong, they would give Liu Bei an honorary position that was higher than Zong Zheng but without real power, remove Zong Zheng, and use Liu Ai again.

Moreover, he could completely win over Liu Biao in the name of the imperial court. Once Liu Biao really showed signs of collapse many years later, he could force Liu Biao to surrender and provide him with protection.

After going through all these twists and turns and finally figuring it out, Cao Cao felt relieved and was no longer afraid.

……

A few days later, Cao Cao went through some necessary procedures in the court.

First, he formally sent an imperial decree to Liu Biao, asking Liu Biao to clean up the house and kill Huang Zu.

Then, at another court meeting, he asked his subordinates to report: The Chief of the Imperial Clan, Liu Ai, was incompetent in handling the illegal affairs of the imperial clan and failed to prevent Liu Biao, the Governor of Jingzhou, from being lax in governing his subordinates. At this time of national crisis, a stronger member of the imperial clan who can carry out the court's will should be appointed as the Chief of the Imperial Clan.

However, considering that Liu Ai was also a loyal minister who had followed His Majesty for many years, but his ability was not suitable for the current position, Cao Cao personally suggested re-establishing the position of "Grand Censor" and letting Liu Ai take the position, which actually promoted Liu Ai.

Historically, Cao Cao actually abolished the three officials and re-established the positions of prime minister and imperial censor only after he had completely wiped out Yuan Shao's clan and felt that the world was under his control. The prime minister held all the power, while the imperial censor was just a fig leaf to cover up the prime minister's dictatorship and had no real power.

Moreover, in history, after Cao Cao re-established the position of Imperial Censor, he appointed Liu Ai as the mascot. Finally, in the 21st year of Jian'an, when Cao Cao was conferred the title of King of Wei, it was Liu Ai who presided over the enthronement.

Because the Han Dynasty stipulated that only the surname Liu could be crowned king, the affairs of crowning kings for four hundred years were all presided over by the Zongzheng, who was responsible for all the affairs of crowning kings. Cao Cao, the King of Wei, was the only king of a different surname in hundreds of years. He could not find any other set of rituals to apply in a hurry, so he had to apply all the procedures for crowning kings with the same surname.

This is all later on, and a bit off topic.

In short, because of the butterfly effect of Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin, Cao Cao set up the post of Grand Censor in advance and appointed Liu Ai to the position.

A few days later, the court finally discussed the achievements of everyone in the battle to defeat Yuan Shu.

Liu Xie issued an edict to promote Cao Cao to the rank of General of Cavalry, a position second only to General Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei was promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry, a military rank second only to Cao Cao.

Liu Bei was also given the title of Zongzheng, promoted to county marquis, and moved to Wuchang Marquis. He was given Xiakou County of Jiangxia Commandery controlled by Huang Zu as his fief, and the name of Xiakou was changed to Wuchang. He selected 5,000 households from it as his fief.

Anyway, Yicheng County, where Liu Bei was originally the "Marquis of Yicheng Township", was also in Nanjun and Liu Biao's territory. It had nothing to do with Liu Bei's resume or hometown, so there was no problem in moving his title to the neighboring Jiangxia County.

In addition, Cao Cao's title was "Marquis of Wuping". Although Wuping County is also a place name, as a local lord, using such a title is somewhat auspicious, indicating that Cao Cao's military ability can help the Han Dynasty pacify the four directions.

Liu Bei's "Marquis of Wuchang" and Cao Cao's "Marquis of Wuping" can be said to complement each other, implying "relying on Liu Bei's military exploits to revive the Han Dynasty."

Therefore, Liu Bei's latest and most complete official titles became:
Liu Bei was the General of Chariots and Cavalry, Marquis of Wuchang, Chief of the Imperial Clan, and Governor of Yangzhou of the Han Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)