My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 578: Re-establishing the Three Dukes and Criticizing Cao the Traitor

Liu Bei approved the feedback from Zhuge Jin and Lu Su, and asked Zhuge Liang to make the final integration and adjustment. Then he sent people to contact Liu Zhang, Yuan Tan and others, suggesting that they submit their applications according to this latest list and official positions.

However, considering the long journey and complicated procedures, the memorial can only be sent out after the Lantern Festival in the first month of the following year.

Moreover, the envoys who submitted the memorial were all highly respected civil servants who could not withstand the bumpy ride and could not even travel a hundred miles a day. It would probably take another month or two to reach Xu Du.

Following all this turmoil, the wheel of history quietly turned to the twelfth year of Jian'an.

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang stayed in Jiangzhou to celebrate the New Year, while Zhuge Jin, Lu Su and Guan Yu went to Wuchang to celebrate the New Year.

From the first day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the city of Jiangzhou and the city of Wuchang were filled with the same peaceful atmosphere of "continuous music and dancing". There is nothing much to elaborate on.

Liu Bei's camp fought hard for most of last year and finally achieved significant results and breakthroughs. It is natural for them to relax and celebrate during the New Year.

Three days after the Lantern Festival, Liu Bei ordered Li Yan to lead 20,000 troops along the Yangtze River out of Sichuan and return to Changsha County to station and obtain food in order to alleviate the food pressure in Jiangzhou. This was also the first time that Liu Bei's army withdrew its troops in accordance with the agreement after reaching a tacit understanding with Liu Zhang.

According to Liu Bei's plan, after the Lantern Festival, he would withdraw 20,000 troops to show his sincerity, and then Liu Zhang would submit a memorial according to the agreement. After another two months, when Liu Zhang's memorial was successfully delivered and the matter was settled, he would withdraw another 20,000 troops.

As for whether to continue to withdraw after the 40,000 troops have withdrawn, and how many troops should be withdrawn to fulfill the promise of "withdrawing half of the troops", this depends on the subsequent development of the world situation and the degree of cooperation of Liu Zhang. As mentioned above, these initiatives are in Liu Bei's hands.

……

Liu Zhang finally heard from Fa Zheng that Liu Bei had already withdrawn the first batch of 20,000 troops as promised. Liu Zhang naturally had no choice but to fulfill his promise and submitted a petition to the emperor to urge him to make Liu Bei a king and to promote the core civil and military officials in Liu Bei's camp.

However, when the time came and he received the final version of the memorial requested by Liu Bei, Liu Zhang couldn't help but gasp.

Because the final version involved criticism of Cao Cao's abolition of the Three Dukes and the establishment of a new prime minister, believing that all this "was intended to destroy the pillars of the country, weaken the Han Dynasty, eliminate the loyal and upright, and only serve the heroes." Then, Liu Bei would take the opportunity to recommend the candidates for the Three Dukes and others and suggest that the emperor restore the old system.

Liu Zhang didn't care which people Liu Bei wanted to recommend as ministers, but the memorial characterized Cao Cao's behavior and criticized him so harshly that Liu Zhang had to think twice.

He still hopes to leave himself some room to sit on the fence and not offend others too much, so that no matter who wins or loses in the end, he can still give himself a way out.

It has to be said that Liu Zhang's final concerns were caused by the suggestions that Lu Su gave to Liu Bei.

From this, we can also see that Lu Su's political vision and mediation skills are definitely first-class in the world, and even his expertise in some details is no less than that of Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang. It was Lu Su's adjusted trading strategy that forced other princes to be more difficult to sit on the fence when it comes to standing in the right team.

In the end, Liu Zhang asked Huang Quan, Wang Lei and Fa Zheng separately to see if there was any room for maneuver.

Faced with his lord's fantasy, even Huang Quan was scared this time and urged him to stop making trouble to avoid getting into trouble.

Liu Zhang was indecisive and unwilling to give up, so he asked Fa Zheng again: "Of course I don't want to cause trouble, but I wonder if Xiaozhi has any way to avoid offending Cao Cao too much without causing trouble?"

Liu Zhang asked this question, so Fa Zheng was ready to give Liu Zhang a pillow. He immediately said, "If you really want to leave a way out for us, there is a way. You can let Wu Yi and Fei Guan write this petition, and then you can sign it.

If there is an unexpected dispute between Lord Cao and Lord Xuande in the future, and the lord has to curry favor with Lord Cao again, he can push Wu Yi and Fei Guan out and say that they have been controlled by Liu Bei, but are still the lord's subordinates in name only, so offending Lord Cao was not the lord's intention, and the lord was forced to do so.

Of course, this matter must be kept strictly confidential, otherwise it is inevitable to offend people in advance. My lord, just keep some thoughts in your heart, and don't explain them unless it is absolutely necessary. Moreover, for now, you should continue to give rewards and food to Wu Yi, Fei Guan and their troops, and comfort and win them over properly. "

The trick Fa Zheng suggested was actually very weak. If Liu Zhang really offended Cao Cao, and Cao Cao wanted to settle accounts with him in the future, even if Liu Zhang pushed the blame on Wu Yi and Fei Guan, Cao Cao would be surprised if he believed it. The effect of reducing Liu Zhang's guilt at that time would only be one-tenth or one-twentieth at most, which was better than nothing.

Fortunately, Liu Zhang felt that this method was not risky and did not require any price to be paid. At least for now, he did not need to make any explicit statements to offend or distrust anyone. Wu Yi and Fei Guan would not know that they had been completely sold out by Liu Zhang, so they did not need to worry about disappointing their own people, let alone offending Liu Bei.

Thinking about it this way, Liu Zhang felt that this method was feasible. Fa Zheng was indeed the most loyal and righteous counselor under his command and was more capable than Huang Quan.

When faced with such a tough job that offends people, Fa Zheng really comes into play!
"In this case, let's do as Xiaozhi said." Liu Zhang finally made the decision.

A few days later, the memorial was ready and was sent to Xudu.

……

At the same time as Liu Zhang submitted the memorial, there was another draft with exactly the same content. Liu Bei sent it all the way from Jiangzhou to Yuan Tan in Linzi, who copied it and sent it to Xudu.

To go from Jiangzhou to Linzi in Qingzhou, one must pass through Wuchang, which is the thoroughfare of the five states. During the New Year, Zhuge Jin, Lu Su, and Guan Yu were all in Wuchang, so Zhuge Jin thought that his lord would definitely let him review it before sending it to Yuan Tan. But this time, Zhuge Jin miscalculated.

Liu Bei's messenger actually passed Wuchang quietly without stopping at the shore, and sailed directly downstream. When he arrived in Huaiyang, he went north to find Yuan Tan.

It was not until February, when spring ploughing and farming had begun, that Zhuge Jin realized something was wrong. He calculated that the reply should have arrived long ago, so he sent someone to check.

Lu Su also found it very strange, so he started to investigate.

As a result, just two days after the investigation, no results were found, and Liu Bei sent another letter, this time it was specially addressed to Zhuge Jin personally.

Zhuge Jin then pulled Lu Su and Guan Yu to open the letter together. It turned out that Liu Bei wrote, "I am afraid that you will decline, so I will not ask you to review the draft of this last memorial. Your brother Kong Ming has already reviewed it and there will be no mistakes."

Guan Yu was unable to react for a while, but Zhuge Jin and Lu Su were extremely politically astute and immediately figured out the truth.

"Hiss... This time, the lord must have offered very high official positions to both me and Yunchang. He was afraid that we would decline the offer, so he didn't give us a chance to stop him!" Zhuge Jin almost gasped.

This matter seems to be a bit difficult to back down.

Lu Su could not help but frown and sigh: "A gentleman should take away more and take less. I have been promoted too much suddenly, and I don't know how much room there is for promotion in the future... But my lord has always trusted his people and treated them with sincerity, even more than Emperor Guangwu. Perhaps in the future, we can create a story of unprecedented harmony between the monarch and his subjects."

The second half of Lu Su's words was meant to comfort Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu, telling them not to think too much.

Zhuge Jin thought for a while and gradually calmed down, putting aside any bad thoughts such as "being too successful to be a threat to the master".

After Liu Bei gained control of the world, he must have been very confident in his legitimacy, so he could be more tolerant towards his meritorious officials than Liu Xiu.

Historically, he entrusted the entire country to Zhuge Liang without any second thoughts, and was evaluated as "the most impartial between a monarch and his subjects, and a great example of ancient and modern times."

In this life, although the position of prime minister cannot be established in the future due to the butterfly effect, what would be wrong if some other grand events could be held to restore the confidence in the trust between the monarch and his subjects for thousands of years to come?

Anyway, Zhuge Jin really had no ambition, and Liu Bei knew that. It would be fine if he was given a high position in advance.

This was not what Zhuge Jin wanted, but Cao Cao happened to be in power on the first day of the month and abolished the three highest officials. Liu Bei was forced to be in power on the fifteenth day and restore the three highest officials. Everything happened in time.

Even if he is temporarily promoted to a very high position, the worst that can happen is that when peace is restored in the future, the official system can be reformed and the position can be moved back.

Although the title of "Prime Minister" cannot be used anymore, as it was used badly by Cao Cao, there were many official systems in the Sui, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties that could be used in history, and Zhuge Jin could have made reforms and selectively and critically absorbed the good parts of later generations. In this way, there would still be room for advancement in the future.

After thinking all these things through, Zhuge Jin sighed, "In that case, Yunchang, you and I shouldn't think too much about it. We will accept whatever the lord has us do. Although we don't know what official position he has given us, it will definitely not be too small."

Guan Yu also agreed with this, but he was not worried at all. Instead, he felt a little bit of anticipation.

Perhaps it was because Guan Yu's trust in Liu Bei was more unconditional, and he never worried that his elder brother would worry about his own status being too high.

Zhuge Jin was actually somewhat envious of Guan Yu's good attitude.

……

Neither Zhuge Jin nor Lu Su intervened in the details of the final submission. Ten days later, Liu Bei's letter and draft were successfully delivered to Yuan Tan.

Now, Yuan Tan would of course obey Uncle Liu's requests without any compromise. He would bite whoever Uncle Liu told him to bite.

Besides, Cao Cao and Yuan Tan had a feud over the murder of his father and the extermination of his family. Yuan Tan was more than happy to have him write a memorial to denounce Cao Cao's various acts of rebellion since last year, such as abolishing the Three Dukes and weakening the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Yuan Tan asked Chen Lin to write this memorial. Regarding matters such as the memorial to the emperor to persuade him to ascend the throne, it was copied word for word from the draft given by Liu Bei.

Only the other sentences condemning Cao Cao's crime of deposing the three officials, as well as the interpretation of the crime and how to exaggerate the issue, were allowed to be polished and added with some literary touches by Chen Lin.

Of course, Chen Lin accepted the task without hesitation, and once again criticized Cao Cao thoroughly after several years.

(End of this chapter)