Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 360: Xuande is a messenger, and cannot be saved

"Mingsir, Liu Bei is outside the palace asking to see you!"

In the mansion of Duke Chu, Yuan Shu was wearing a crown and chatting with the flatterers around him. Suddenly, an attendant walked in and reported to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu restrained his smile and asked, "Master, why did you come to visit me, Mr. Vegetable Farmer?"

"Ha ha!"

Everyone around burst into laughter, and Kuai Yue secretly sighed that Yuan Shu did not have the demeanor of a king.

The attendant covered his mouth and laughed, saying, "Liu Bei said he had something important to discuss, and he requested to see you outside. If you are not interested in meeting me, I will tell you that you are not at home."

"No need!"

Yuan Shu stroked his beard and said, "Liu Xuande has been in seclusion for more than a month. He must have important business to come here now. Let him enter the hall first."

"As ordered!"

After a while, Liu Bei came in dressed in fine clothes. Seeing Yuan Shu sitting on the couch, he bowed and said, "Your servant Liu Bei, Liu Xuande greets the Duke of Chu!"

"How polite!"

Seeing that Liu Bei behaved properly, Yuan Shu smiled with satisfaction and asked, "Why are you here to visit me instead of growing vegetables in the backyard? I wonder why?"

"hehe!"

The people on both sides covered their faces with their sleeves and laughed again.

Seeing this, Liu Bei was not ashamed, and asked in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Report to the Lord of Chu, I heard that Zuo Rong invaded Wu County and killed the county governor Zhu Hao. Zhu Hao is Zhu Fu's brother. Now Zhu Fu wants to avenge his brother and will lead an army to attack Zuo Rong. He has specially sent an envoy to ask for a passage across the county. I wonder if this is true?"

Zuo Rong was from Xuancheng, Danyang. He was a general under Tao Qian and controlled the transportation of grain along the Si and Huai rivers. When Cao Cao invaded Xuzhou, Zuo Rong led 10,000 men and women and 3,000 horses to flee south to Guangling County. He killed the county governor Zhao Yu and plundered counties. After that, he crossed the Yangtze River to the south and occupied several counties in Danyang County, including Moling, Shicheng, and Danyang, and called himself the governor of Danyang.

At the same time, Xue Li, the prime minister of Pengcheng, was not tolerated by Tao Qian, so he led his troops south and occupied Jiangcheng, Hushu and other cities. He proclaimed himself the prefect of Wujun and was a relative of Zuo Rong.

Liu Yao was appointed as the governor of Yangzhou. In order to gain control of Jiangzuo and fight against Yuan Shu, he sent people to contact Zuo Rong and Xue Li and recognized their positions. The two then respected Liu Yao as their leader and joined forces with the other leaders of Jiangzuo to fight against Yuan Shu.

As Yuan Shu welcomed the emperor, Liu Yao was dismissed as the governor of Yangzhou, so Zuo Rong turned around and drove Liu Yao away. Liu Yao then fled north to Shouchun, took control of Jiujiang County, and formed an alliance with Guangling and Lujiang counties for mutual protection.

After Liu Yao crossed the river to the north, the power of the coalition army was greatly reduced, and many powerful people defected to Yuan Shu. As a result, Zuo Rong lost his city and fled east to Xue Li. He then killed Xue Li and seized his troops, and then invaded Wu County in the south and killed the county governor Zhu Hao. Therefore, there is the story of Zhu Fu avenging his brother, borrowing a passage from Yuan Shu, and crossing counties to attack Zuo Rong.

"That's true!"

Yuan Shu didn't know what Liu Bei meant, so he asked, "I am still hesitating and can't make a decision!"

Liu Bei said: "I think you cannot agree with this!"

"Why?"

"In the past, Jin wanted to attack Yu and Guo, so it borrowed the road from Yu. When Jin defeated Guo and returned, it attacked Yu and annexed the two countries." Liu Bei said, "Although the territory under your rule is vast, stretching from the coast in the east to Bashu in the west, the two are far from Wancheng, so it is inconvenient for you to mobilize troops to attack them."

"So if Zhu Fu attacks Zuo Rong, he may take advantage of the situation to invade Jiangzuo, and then ally with Cao Cao in the north, which will be disadvantageous to you! In order to prevent despicable views, you must reject Zhu Fu's request. And send an envoy to say that Wujun belongs to the court, you should attack it, and if you kill Zuo Rong, you will send his head to Zhu Fu as revenge for killing his brother."

Yuan Shu could not help but nod his head and said, "Xuan De's opinion is in line with my opinion. It is not appropriate to ask Zhu Fu for help now."

As he spoke, Yuan Shu became suspicious and asked, "Does Xuande want to lead the troops to attack Zuo Rong?"

Liu Bei remained calm and said, "You have so many officers under your command, many of whom are more talented than me. How dare I ask for the order to lead the troops? I am here to be the envoy of the Duke of Chu and the imperial court, to go to Jiaoling to contact Zhu Fu. When I was in Luoyang, I was fortunate to have an old acquaintance with Gong Weigong, and I also have a correspondence with Zhu Fu. I should be able to persuade Zhu Fu for the Duke of Chu."

Compared to the diplomatic mission to Lingnan, Liu Bei actually preferred to lead his troops to attack Zuo Rong. However, Liu Bei knew very well that he was suspected by Yuan Shu. In order to have a chance to leave Wancheng, Liu Bei had to choose to go on a diplomatic mission to Jiaozhou.

Yuan Shu stroked his beard and said nothing, thinking about the rationality of sending Liu Bei to Jiaozhou.

After a long pause, Yuan Shu smiled and asked, "Xuan De, aren't you happy growing vegetables? Why do you want to go on a mission to a place with miasma and endure the hardship of riding a horse?"

Liu Bei had already prepared something in his mind, and said humbly: "Growing vegetables is for fun. I have two legs of raw meat. If I don't find work to do, I will become a drunkard. Besides, Lingnan is remote and has been unregulated since Dong Zhuo entered the capital. Now that I am an envoy, if I can persuade Jiaoling to surrender, I will have made a great contribution!"

"good!"

Seeing Liu Bei's fluent answer, Yuan Shu no longer had any doubts and said, "If that's the case, then Xuande will be my envoy to Jiaozhou. If you can convince Jiaozhou to surrender, I will ask His Majesty to increase your fiefdom."

"Thank you Ming Gong!"

Liu Bei seemed to have something to ask for. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Before leaving Wan, I have something to ask for. I wonder if you can grant it?"

"But it doesn't matter!"

"The house I live in is very small. I beg you to replace it with a bigger one for me," said Liu Bei.

"This is not difficult!"

Hearing this, Yuan Shu's smile became even brighter, and he said, "Since Xuande has something to ask for, how can I refuse?"

"Come here, replace the mansion for Mr. Liu's family, and give them five servants to serve them." "Thank you, my lord!" Liu Bei said happily.

After chatting for a few more words, Liu Bei left on the pretext of packing his luggage.

After Liu Bei left, Yan Xiang straightened his back and said worriedly, "Liu Bei is the emperor's uncle, and Guan and Zhang are his generals. You are kind enough not to kill Liu Bei, so why are you letting him go to Lingnan as an envoy?"

Yuan Shu stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "Liu Bei has no ambition and is timid. Although he is the uncle of the Han emperor, he is not a threat compared to Dong Cheng and Yang Biao. Liu Bei's family is in the southern capital. He came south to make merit and seek wealth. If he can persuade Jiaozhou to surrender, it will be beneficial to me. Didn't you see Liu Bei asking for a replacement house?"

"Zhu Fu is the son of Zhu Jun. I am afraid that Liu Bei is using the excuse of going on a diplomatic mission to Jiaoling to contact foreign aid for the emperor." Yan Xiang said.

"Lord Yan, how worried you are!"

Cai Mao bowed to Yuan Shu and said with a smile: "Your Excellency governs four states, drinks from the Yellow River, and commands the princes with the emperor. This is what we call awe-inspiring power in the Central Plains. In the past, if we didn't conquer Jiaoling, Jiaozhou would be remote and infested with malaria. Now, if you can make Zhu Fu surrender, your Excellency can slowly conquer Jiaoling and unify the southern border, and establish an unprecedented career!"

"No need to say more about this!"

Yuan Shu waved his hand and said, "Send someone to urge Sun Jian to capture Chengdu as soon as possible. When I open my business, I will appoint him as the general to lead the troops in the south to the north."

Yuan Shu was eager to become emperor. If it weren't for the need to go through the ceremony, he would have let Liu Xie abdicate this year.

"My lord, who did Zuo Rong send to fight?" Yan Xiang reminded.

"Order the Yangzhou governor Yuan Si as the chief general and the Yuzhang prefect Zhuge Xuan as the deputy general, and the two of them will lead the troops to attack Zuo Rong!" Yuan Shu said.

"promise!"

Deng Cha found an opportunity to report, saying: "My Lord, Kong Rong and Ni Heng are unwilling to go as envoys to Zhang Yu, both claiming to be ill."

"Haha~"

Yuan Shu sneered and said, "Kong Rong and Ni Heng are good at talking, but they lack courage. They rely on their reputation to act recklessly."

"Come here, break into the house, take two riders to hold one person hostage, and send them to Zhang Yu as an envoy. And have someone secretly tell Zhang Yu to do whatever he wants with the two men."

"As ordered!"

Not to mention that Yuan Shu was speeding up his efforts to usurp the throne, and Liu Bei was afraid that Yuan Shu would go back on his word, so he returned home with Guan and Zhang, intending to go on a diplomatic mission to Jiaozhou the next day.

"Brother, we are on a diplomatic mission to Jiaoling today. What should we do with our family?" Zhang Fei asked, looking back at the courtyard.

"Now the important things are more important, why worry about not having a wife!" Liu Bei was reluctant to leave, so he held Guan and Zhang's hands and said, "Besides, I have already made a plan. If I stay in Jiaozhou and it is safe, I can sneak my family out of the city."

During the more than one year he lived in Wancheng, Liu Bei gradually woke up. Although he was reluctant to leave his wife and newborn daughter, he had to give up something for the sake of his life and future.

Of course, Liu Bei was not without a plan. He had already instructed his subordinates that once his letter arrived, he would have those who stayed behind and their families disguise themselves as merchants, sneak out of the city, go south to Changsha for refuge, and then go to Jiaozhou.

"Xuande!"

When Liu Bei was about to leave, he saw Dong Cheng driving up, shouting Liu Bei's name.

"Mr. Dong!"

Liu Bei dismounted again, stepped forward to greet Dong Cheng, and said, "This happened suddenly, I'm sorry I can't come to say goodbye in person."

Dong Cheng strode out of the carriage, looked at Liu Bei's team that had prepared their luggage, and sighed, "Xuan De was ordered to go south to Jiaoling, Wen Ju and Zheng Ping were ordered to go north to Hedong. Now I am more and more lonely. I don't know if I can help Your Majesty eliminate the traitors!"

When it comes to clearing out the traitors for Liu Xie, Liu Bei feels reluctant. He swore to kill Yuan for Liu Xie, but now he has to leave to escape the cage, which is really a violation of his promise. However, with Dong Cheng's actions, it is possible that Yuan Shu has already noticed what Dong Cheng did. If he does not leave now, he will most likely be defeated.

Liu Bei held Dong Cheng's hand and said, "You must be careful in what you say and do in Wancheng, and act in secret. Once I persuade Zhu Fu to come as an external aid, I will return to Wancheng and kill the traitor with you!"

Returning to Wancheng was also one of Liu Bei's plans. If Dong Cheng planned well, Liu Bei would not mind coming back and fulfilling his promise to kill Yuan with Zhu Fu, Zhang Yu and Liu Yao as external aid. If successful, through political manipulation, the Han Dynasty still had hope of survival.

Dong Cheng looked serious and said, "Please rest assured, Xuande. I have a plan. You can go to Jiaozhou without any worries. If Wancheng is in trouble, I will lead the people of Jiaoling to the north."

"Act prudently!"

Liu Bei wanted to say more, but seeing that Dong Cheng would not listen to him, he could only say this much.

"Xuan De, be careful of the miasma!"

Dong Cheng took the wine from the attendant, presented it to Liu Bei, and said with concern: "Jiaoling is thousands of miles away. I hope Xuande will take good care of himself."

Liu Bei was filled with emotion and drank the wine in one gulp. Finally, he could not help but say, "As long as Yuan Shu does not claim to be the emperor, everything can be tolerated. If you want to plot against Yuan Shu, you should not take advantage of his laziness."

"Zi Fu and I have already made a plan, Xuande, you can travel south with peace of mind!" Dong Cheng replied.

"good!"

Fearing that Yuan Shu would send people to intercept him, Liu Bei said no more, mounted his horse, and set off with his trusted men.

(End of this chapter)