My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 207 Liu Bei is the emperor, and I am his minister! Xiao He: To be an emperor, you have to follow the process, starting from the Duke

The hall, which was originally filled with the clinking of glasses and the sound of laughter and conversation, suddenly became silent.

Everyone held their wine glasses to their lips and looked at Zhang Fei in surprise.

Some were surprised, while others were shocked.

Those who are surprised are naturally the majority.

After all, these heroes of civil and military affairs present here have risked their lives to follow you, Old Liu, to fight on the battlefield. Of course, they are impressed by your personal charm, but more importantly, they want to gain wealth and glory for themselves and to make their descendants nobles for generations.

If you, Liu Bei, become the emperor, everyone will be his loyal ministers, and only then can the original shares in your hands be cashed in.

Zhang Fei's voice seemed to be a blunt persuasion, but in fact it touched the hearts of most people.

So this group of people nodded repeatedly, and they all became excited.

The few people who were shocked were not against Liu Bei becoming emperor, but were surprised that Zhang Fei was too impatient and brought this matter to the surface too early.

Xiao He naturally belongs to the latter.

Huainan was pacified, Jiangnan was initially unified, the emperor had just been established, and Liu Bei hadn't even warmed up to the position of general. Which sane leader would be so anxious to become emperor at this time?

Moreover, on the surface, Liu Bei unified the south, and in terms of territory, he formed a situation of division between the north and the south and confrontation with Cao Cao.

In fact, the soft and hard power of the three southern states is completely disproportionate to the size of their territory.

For example, most of the population of Jingzhou is concentrated in Nanyang and Nanjun counties. The four counties in southern Jingzhou seem to be thousands of miles vast, but in fact the total population may not be as large as that of Nanjun.

The same is true for Yangzhou. Most of the population in the north of the Yangtze River and the south of the Huai River is concentrated in Jiujiang County where Shouchun is located, and distributed in various cities along the Huai River.

In the southern Jiangdong counties, the population is mostly concentrated in cities along the Yangtze River.

As for Jiaozhou, it goes without saying that most of the place is still a wild land, and the government can barely maintain control over Jiaozhou with the men and soldiers controlled by it.

In other words, although the three southern states seem to have a vast territory, in fact most of the place is undeveloped, and the population and arable land are limited.

The situation in the northern states was completely different.

Putting aside Bingyou, Qingxu, the three states of Ji, Yan and Yu in the two rivers alone are vast and fertile fields, supporting more than a million people and more than ten thousand hectares of arable land.

The states in the two rivers were equivalent to Cao Cao's blood-making machine, which could continuously replenish his troops and supply him with food and fodder.

This was also the reason why Cao Cao was able to quickly recover and revive his military strength after two failed southern expeditions.

Although the South has been unified, the reality of the North being strong and the South being weak has not been reversed. It is obviously not wise to rush to proclaim oneself emperor and to confer titles on meritorious officials at this time.

Moreover, based on Xiao He's understanding of Liu Bei, he was not the kind of person who would force his nephew to give up the throne.

"Yide, are you drunk? What treasonous nonsense are you talking about?"

"Even Han traitors like Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao didn't dare to rebel and usurp the throne, yet you're going to try to usurp the throne for your brother?"

"You are trying to make me, your brother, appear disloyal and unjust, and incur the wrath of the whole world!"

Just as Xiao He had expected, Liu Bei's face changed drastically. He put the wine glass on the table and started to scold Zhang Fei.

If it were under normal circumstances, Zhang Fei would have been scolded obediently.

Now, under the influence of alcohol, Zhang Fei was stimulated and jumped up, shouting excitedly:
"Where did I say nonsense?"

"Did the late emperor leave behind a legacy that if the emperor can assist, then he should assist. If not, then you, brother, should become the emperor yourself?"

"The late emperor also said that as long as the world belongs to the Liu family, anyone can be emperor!"

"The current emperor is just a child, how can he shoulder the heavy responsibility of supporting the Han Dynasty?"

"Brother, you are a man of great talent and strategy. You control three states and have defeated Cao Cao. Furthermore, your last name is Liu. You have declared yourself the Son of Heaven according to the late emperor's will. This is a legitimate act. How can you be considered disloyal and unrighteous?"

Xiao He's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but look at Zhang Fei with admiration.

Even though he was drunk, his arguments were indeed very reasonable and there was no loophole to be found in them.

People say Zhang Fei is a man of great talent, and it is indeed true...

Liu Bei was indeed left speechless.

Judging from the literal meaning, Zhang Fei is right.

The late emperor did leave a will, giving him the power to "become the Son of Heaven". This was testified by the great Confucian scholar Kong Rong, and it is a well-known fact.

Zhang Fei advised you to replace Liu Xi and become emperor, which was also in accordance with the will of the late emperor. It was legal and reasonable.

When Huang Zhong and other generals saw this, they nodded in agreement and expressed their support for Zhang Fei.

Liu Bei swallowed his saliva and said:
"It is true that the late emperor left a will, but although the emperor is still young, he may become a wise and capable ruler when he grows older!"

Zhang Fei pursed his lips and said disapprovingly:
"Who can predict the future with any certainty, except for a god like Military Advisor Bo Wen who can predict the future?"

"What if the Son of Heaven fails to become a wise ruler and instead becomes a tyrant like Emperors Huan and Ling? What then?"

Liu Bei was speechless again.

He couldn't help but widen his eyes, staring at his brother in annoyance but surprise, thinking to himself, third brother, when did you become so eloquent, with one big truth after another, leaving your brother speechless.

I also want to save face, okay...

The scene was awkward for a moment.

"General Yide, the general has just conquered Huainan. The south has just been unified. It is indeed a bit hasty to talk about the succession of the throne now."

"You can't have hot tofu if you are impatient. Some things can't be rushed~~"

At the critical moment, Xiao He stepped forward with a wine glass to smooth things over, secretly winking at Zhang Fei.

As a die-hard fan of Xiao He, I can refuse to give face to my brother, but I cannot refuse to give face to Xiao He. Zhang Fei rolled his eyes a few times, then scratched the back of his head and said with an embarrassed smile:

"This wine is really strong. I'm afraid I'm drunk. Did I say something stupid just now?"

Seeing that Zhang Fei understood his intention, Xiao He turned to Liu Bei and said with a smile:

"General, General Yide was drunk. He was just talking nonsense. Don't take it seriously."

Liu Bei naturally knew that Xiao He was trying to smooth things over and give him a way out, so he could naturally take advantage of the situation to get out of trouble.

So he just laughed, pretending he heard nothing, raised his glass and continued to drink happily with everyone.

Before we knew it, the night was late and the banquet was over.

Everyone had a great time and left, and Liu Bei also fell into a drunken sleep.

Zhang Fei, who was addicted to alcohol, was the only sober one. He took advantage of the fact that no one was around and pulled Xiao He over.

"I'm talking to you, Military Advisor Bowen, why didn't you speak up for me at the banquet just now? Why did you try to smooth things over?"

"Don't you want to help my elder brother become emperor? Don't you want to be a loyal minister and be granted a title of nobility and a position of prime minister?"

Zhang Fei pursed his lips and started questioning Xiao He.

Xiao He's expression immediately became solemn, and he said solemnly:

"General Yide, your question is superfluous. The general has been very kind to me. If I don't want to support the general to become the emperor, who else can I support?"

Zhang Fei was satisfied, but he was puzzled.

"Since you and I share the same idea, and we both want to help our brother become emperor, why didn't you join me in advocating for the throne?"

Xiao He sighed, and then analyzed the objective conditions one by one, such as the three states had just been settled, the south had just been unified, and Cao Cao was still strong, and told him that it was too early for Liu Bei to become emperor now.

Zhang Fei was not a completely reckless man. After listening to Xiao He's explanation, he gradually understood.

"Also, General Yide, as your sworn brother, you are not unaware of the general's temperament."

"The current emperor is the great-nephew of the general. Do you think he would be able to force his own great-nephew to give up the throne to him?"

Xiao He's question shocked Zhang Fei and he fell silent.

After a while, Zhang Fei sighed and said with a wry smile:
"You're right. My brother is not that kind of person. If he really did what I said, he wouldn't be called Liu Xuande anymore."

Seeing that he had convinced Zhang Fei, Xiao He changed the subject:
"So, this kind of thing can't be rushed. We can't take big steps. If we do, it's easy to cause... well, we have to proceed step by step, one step at a time, to elevate the general to the throne."

Hearing this, Zhang Fei's eyes lit up and he asked hurriedly:
"Military Advisor Bowen, from what you said, it seems like you already have an idea. Could you please tell me how to proceed step by step?"

Zhang Fei finally asked the right person.

No one knows better than him how to become emperor step by step.

"He actually has a set process for this kind of thing."

"Since ancient times, how could the emperor simply give up his throne to a county marquis?"

"The current title of the general is Marquis of Xiangyang. The next higher title is Duke, the next higher is King, and finally the Son of Heaven."

"So our first step is to have the Emperor promote the general to the rank of Duke. Only then can the general have his own fiefdom and legitimately appoint officials."

"With his own fiefdom, the general can appoint officials to his advisors and generals, and to the court officials, and legitimately establish a master-subject relationship with them."

"This fiefdom has been established, and the relationship between master and subject has been determined. The second step is to have the emperor promote the general to a higher rank, confer the title of king, and grant him the Nine Gifts and so on..."

"At this point, everything is ready. The general only needs to accomplish one more great feat, and then we can present a petition to the emperor, asking him to follow his will and abdicate his throne."

"After going through the formalities of three refusal and three requests, the general will be able to legitimately inherit the throne and ascend the throne as emperor!"

Xiao He talked incessantly and explained to Zhang Fei the entire process of how a minister could legally ascend to the throne.

Speaking of which, this process was first created by Cao Cao.

Back then, he was first called Duke of Wei and then promoted to King of Wei, paving the way for the Cao family to replace the Han Dynasty.

However, the deadline had already arrived when he was about to take action, and in the end, his son Cao Pi had to inherit the throne of King of Wei, eventually forcing Liu Xie to abdicate the throne.

The process pioneered by Cao Cao has become a model for later generations. The Western Jin Dynasty replacing the Wei Dynasty and the Liu Song Dynasty replacing the Jin Dynasty mostly followed this routine.

In the spirit of learning from the enemy, Xiao He felt that there should be nothing wrong in using Cao Cao's process for Lao Liu to use.

Even Lao Liu has more advantages.

After all, Old Liu's surname is Liu, and he has the endorsement of the previous emperor's will. After becoming the emperor, he doesn't even have to change the country's name. It can be said that there is nothing to find fault with him, whether it is the villains in the world or the history books of later generations.

Zhang Fei frowned, his eyes darting around, racking his brains to digest and absorb Xiao He's process.

After a while.

Zhang Fei finally sorted out his thoughts and couldn't help but exclaimed:

"Military Advisor Bowen, what you said makes perfect sense. How did you come up with such a tedious and exhausting system?"

Xiao He coughed lightly a few times and smiled faintly:
"Even to marry a wife requires three matchmakers and six betrothals, let alone to be an emperor?"

"Some things require the proper procedures to be followed, and the necessary tediousness to be done, otherwise it will be neither right nor smooth."

Zhang Fei seemed to be lost in thought.

After a moment, as if enlightened, he slapped his thigh:
"Let's do as you say. I'll take the lead. We'll immediately submit a petition to the young emperor, asking him to confer the title of Duke upon my brother!"

(End of this chapter)