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

Xiao He was stunned.

What's going on? Old Liu wants him to be a teacher for his sons?

He can choose whomever he wants as a student?

Xiao He's eyes darted around, and he instantly understood Old Liu's "wishful thinking".

Old Liu was trying to subtly elicit his thoughts by seeing that he wouldn't openly state who he would choose as his heir.

What normal person wouldn't want their student to become the heir apparent?
If my student succeeds to the throne, I will be the emperor's tutor.

Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher—to be the Emperor's tutor is the highest honor for a subject!

"Old Liu, you've become slippery too, trying to trick me into revealing information..."

Xiao He smiled bitterly to himself, and then made up a bunch of excuses to try to get rid of the job.

This time, Liu Bei did not back down and insisted repeatedly that Liu Bei must let Liu Bei choose one of his sons as his student.

In the end, Liu Bei even stood up and solemnly bowed to him.

Liu Bei had gone to such lengths to offer his gifts that Xiao He had no way to refuse.

If the king has already bowed and begged you, and you still refuse, then you don't understand the way of a subject.

"It is my honor to be the teacher of these young masters. I thank Your Majesty for giving me this opportunity."

Xiao He had no choice but to respectfully comply, and then bowed with his hands clasped in greeting:

"These young masters are of noble status; how can I, as their subject, choose one? I would prefer Your Majesty to select one of them for me to teach."

Xiao He decided to settle for second best.

I can be the teacher of the Wang family, but who will be my student is up to you, Lao Liu.

In this way, I can still avoid taking a stance and not make any statements or hints regarding the selection of the crown prince.

Liu Bei was initially delighted, but when he heard the second half of Xiao He's words, he frowned.

After a moment's thought, Liu Bei said solemnly:
"Bowen, you are mistaken. Although those boys are my sons, they have not contributed anything to my great cause of pacifying the world. They have only been reaping the benefits without contributing anything."

"You, Xiao Bowen, are the greatest contributor to my restoration of the Han Dynasty. In terms of status, how can they compare to yours?"

"Given your status and achievements, it is an honor for them to be your students. Naturally, you should be the one to choose them, not the other way around."

"Bowen, you should choose for yourself who will be your student."

Xiao He was speechless.

Liu Bei had figured out his little scheme perfectly.

We won't allow him to compromise; we'll find all sorts of ways to force him to make a choice.

It seems I can't fool them this time...

Xiao He's thoughts raced, and suddenly a glint of light flashed in his eyes; he already had a plan in mind.

After feigning a moment's thought, Xiao He bowed respectfully:

"In that case, I will choose the Fourth Prince to be my student."

"Yu'er?"

Liu Bei was stunned.

Besides Liu Shan, he had four other sons, but only Liu Yong and Liu Li were old enough to be the heir apparent.

Liu Bei originally thought that Xiao He would choose one of his second or third sons to be his student.

He had made up his mind: whoever Xiao He chose as his student, he would make him his heir.

Unexpectedly, Xiao He chose the fourth son, Liu Yu.

Although the fourth son, Liu Yu, was exceptionally gifted, he was only five years old after all.

At this critical juncture, how could he possibly appoint a five-year-old child as crown prince?

If he were to suddenly pass away one day, how could a child of only a few years old bear the weight of the nation's fate?
A young ruler and a suspicious state are the very path to chaos!

"Bowen, you... sigh..."

Liu Bei understood Xiao He's intention and couldn't help but shake his head and give a bitter smile.

Xiao He knew that Liu Yu was too young to be made heir, so he deliberately chose Liu Yu as his student.

In this way, he would neither fail to live up to his trust nor have to express his opinion on the matter of choosing an heir, thus remaining aloof.

"It is truly a great blessing for Bowen to choose Yu'er as his disciple. I would like to express my gratitude to Bowen on behalf of Yu'er."

Liu Bei stood up and performed a formal apprenticeship ceremony for Xiao He on his behalf.

Xiao He hurriedly stood up to return the greeting.

Seeing that Xiao He was so determined to stay out of it, Liu Bei decided not to press him for answers.

As for the matter of choosing an heir, Lao Liu himself was indeed undecided.

Liu Yong and Liu Li's two sons are about the same age, and their character and qualities seem to be similar as well, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

In fact, according to Xiao He's idea, since the two young masters are about the same age, you should either establish Liu Yong, who is slightly older, as the eldest son, which would also be in line with the tradition of primogeniture.

Or you could just toss a coin and decide whoever lands on it as the heir apparent.

If all conditions are roughly the same, then it's all about luck.

For a successful monarch, luck is also an indispensable factor.

For example, Liu Bei suffered repeated defeats and near-death experiences in the first half of his life, yet he was stubbornly resilient and never died. Similarly, although Yuan Shao was defeated at the Battle of Guandu, the situation of Yuan Shao being stronger than Cao Cao remained unchanged, yet Yuan Shao himself died of illness.

Luck sometimes plays a bigger role than ability.

However, Xiao He ultimately held back and did not say these words to Lao Liu.

The matter of establishing an heir, which concerns the very foundation of the nation, is obviously not something that Liu Bei would decide using a method as seemingly "childish" as tossing coins.

With too many precedents to learn from, Liu Bang was terrified of choosing the wrong heir, which would destroy the foundation he had built through countless battles and hand over the Han Dynasty, which was on the verge of revival, to his unworthy descendants.

It was this worry and fear that made Lao Liu extremely cautious and hesitant to make a decision on whether to choose Liu Yong or Liu Li.

"Let's put aside the matter of establishing an heir for now, Bowen. Let's talk about the current war situation."

"Now Cao Cao has abandoned Ji Province and led his remaining troops to Yi Jing. He clearly intends to emulate Gongsun Bogui, relying on Yi Jing and the Yi River to secure You Province."

"In Bowen's opinion, how should I deploy my troops?"

Liu Bei had no choice but to put aside the matter of establishing an heir and turn his attention back to the immediate war to destroy Wei.

Old Liu no longer inquired about the matter of choosing an heir, and Xiao He naturally breathed a sigh of relief, then said:
"Since we have already taken over Ji Province, we certainly cannot allow Cao Cao to continue to hold You Province."

"However, it is already past midsummer and the autumn harvest is approaching. If we march north immediately, it will inevitably delay the farming season."

"Furthermore, our army first besieged Liyang and then Yecheng, which lasted for more than a year. The soldiers' strength and morale are almost exhausted. Now, after only half a month of rest, it is indeed not advisable to launch another northward campaign."

"My idea is to let the soldiers rest for another two months, and after the autumn harvest, we can march north and recover Youzhou in one fell swoop."

Liu Bei agreed with this.

Humans are not plants or trees; they are all made of flesh and blood. No one can endure a long war, and rest is essential.

Moreover, the daily consumption of food and supplies for hundreds of thousands of troops is astronomical, requiring the support of a strong national power.

Agriculture and sericulture are the foundation of a nation's strength.

With hundreds of thousands of troops marching north, not only would these hundreds of thousands of soldiers have to be relieved of their duties, but hundreds of thousands of civilian laborers would also need to be conscripted.

With so many people taking time off work, the autumn harvest will inevitably be delayed, resulting in a significant reduction in autumn grain production.

A significant reduction in autumn grain production would weaken the nation's strength, which in turn would make it impossible to support an army of hundreds of thousands to conquer Youzhou.

King Liu was well aware of the connections and implications involved.

“Bowen is right. The Yijing fortress is not just a name. Back then, Gongsun Bogui relied on this fortress to withstand Yuan Shao’s fierce attacks for two years.”

"Cao Cao's abilities are even greater than Gongsun Bogui's. If he is determined to defend Yijing to the death, I'm afraid this battle will be another fierce one."

"In that case, we really need to let the soldiers rest and recuperate properly, and we must not delay this year's autumn harvest."

Liu Bei nodded repeatedly.

"The defenses of Yijing are indeed strong, but I believe that Cao Cao's attempt to emulate Gongsun Zan may not be as successful as he desires."

Xiao He changed the subject, giving a meaningful smile:
"Your Majesty, please don't forget that besides our strength far surpassing Yuan Shao's, we also possess a navy that Yuan Shao lacks..."

Liu Bei was taken aback at first, but then his eyes lit up with surprise.

He remembered.

As early as when Qingzhou was recovered, Xiao He presented a batch of ship plans and requested that he gather shipwrights to build a large number of ships along the coast of Qingzhou.

Xiao He also said that the ships he presented were different from the flat-bottomed riverboats that the navy usually used. They had a pointed bottom, a larger tonnage, and a deeper draft.

This type of seagoing vessel does not need to sail close to the coastline, but can sail far out to sea without fear of wind and waves.

Previously, Xiao He had offered several strategies to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's port cities from the sea, which yielded considerable results.

Back then, most of the warships that went to sea were flat-bottomed riverboats, and they only dared to stay close to the coastline, not daring to go too far from the shore.

Even so, each time they would lose at least 30% of their warships.

There was no other reason than that the riverboats couldn't withstand the waves.

Therefore, after years of hard work, relying on his existing knowledge and memory, and through numerous trials, Xiao He finally built a stable and reliable seagoing vessel.

So after capturing Qingzhou and having a good port where ships could dock, they petitioned Liu Bei to start building it in large quantities.

To distinguish himself from ordinary naval forces, Xiao He ordered him to become a navy.

"Bowen, do you mean that I should use this navy to sail north from Qingzhou to the Bohai Sea, land north of Yijing in Youzhou, and penetrate deep into the heart of Youzhou, rendering Cao Cao's Yijing defenses useless?"

Liu Bei was overjoyed and immediately deduced Xiao He's intentions.

Xiao smiled and nodded slightly in agreement.

"Landing on Youzhou by sea renders Yijing's defenses useless. Brilliant! This plan is truly a stroke of genius!"

Liu Bei, suddenly realizing the truth, couldn't help but praise him, saying with admiration:

"Bowen, could it be that long before I crossed the Yellow River, you had already conceived of preparing for a sea landing on Youzhou, and instructed me to build this navy several years in advance?"

Xiao He coughed a few times and smiled:
"I haven't thought that far ahead yet; I can only say that I've considered it in that direction."

"In fact, the reason I asked Your Majesty to build this navy was not for landing at sea in Youzhou."

Liu Bei was taken aback and asked in surprise:

"If it's not for landing in Youzhou by sea, then what is it for?"

Xiao He stood up and pointed eastward:
“My master once said that when we went east from Qing and Xu in the Han Dynasty and crossed the vast ocean, there was a whole new world.”

"There are several magical crops there. If they were cultivated in our Great Han, they could feed ten times more people than when our Great Han was at its peak."

"Your Majesty, I request that you build a navy so that one day you may send troops across the ocean to bring back the seeds of those crops to our Great Han, to benefit our people and help Your Majesty create an unprecedented golden age!" (End of Chapter)