Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 196 My loyalty is as essential as a fish's need for water; I beg you all to refrain from speaking of it again!

Returning to the main topic, Liu Biao, the Imperial Advisor, stepped forward from his seat, bowed to the Crown Prince, and said, "Your Highness, although Kong Wenju has made words that could bring disaster to the country, closing the passes and conscripting good men from good families to guard the passes and cities may be feasible."

"Even if General Zuo has no intention of rebelling, these soldiers can still serve as reserve forces in case General Zuo's forces are insufficient?"

As a member of the Han imperial family, although he had not yet been given important positions, Liu Biao was still able to speak his mind, unlike other court officials who dared not utter a word.

Liu Bian sat on his seat, his hands resting on the armrests, leaning slightly forward, looking directly at Liu Biao, and said, "The Yong Camp has 5,000 soldiers, the Chang'an Camp has 5,000 soldiers, the Three Auxiliary Commanderies and Kingdoms have 9,000 soldiers, the Auxiliary Army has 20,000 soldiers, plus the troops under Huangfu Song's command and the commandery and kingdom soldiers and auxiliary soldiers who have come to the expedition, that's almost 100,000 troops, and it's still not enough?"

Of course, it wasn't that the imperial court couldn't afford the money and military pay; it was simply that there was absolutely no need for it.

Huangfu Song will not rebel, much less can he.

Putting aside Liu Bian's belief in Huangfu Song's loyalty, even if Huangfu Song truly harbored rebellious intentions, with his political acumen, who could he possibly defeat?

Yan Zhong advised him to rebel, but it turned out that Cao Cao had to kill him.

It was only Liu Bian who could tolerate it. If it were any other ruler, even the weak Emperor Hui would have found it difficult to tolerate.

If Huangfu Song truly intended to raise an army in rebellion, wouldn't demanding military equipment from Zhang Shi, the Prefect of Jingzhao, in this way be like stirring up trouble and alerting the enemy?
Huangfu Song lacked political acumen but was skilled in military tactics; how could we not have noticed this?
Of course, most importantly, Huangfu Song could not rebel.

The army was full of princelings and their cronies, and the families of 40,000 good men from Sanhe were also in Sanhe. Even if the food supply were cut off, the conditions for Zhong Hui's rebellion would be much more favorable than those for Huangfu Song.

Therefore, Liu Bian did not rush to take any action, but still sent a messenger to Huangfu Song to inquire about the specific situation.

Less than half a day after the messenger left, Huangfu Song's memorial impeaching Zhang Shi, the Prefect of Jingzhao, for treason also arrived in Luoyang.

The objective descriptions of this event in Huangfu Song's and Zhang Shi's memorials are not different. However, in terms of subjective judgment, Zhang Shi believes that Huangfu Song should not have needed so many siege weapons when he went to Liangzhou to quell the Qiang rebellion, since the Qiang and Hu people are good at field battles and cavalry warfare.

However, Huangfu Song believed that the Prefect of Jingzhao had no need to know the reason why he demanded these weapons, so he did not explain the reason to Zhang Shi.

Chief Clerk Liang Yan, Chief Clerk Xun Yu, and Military Advisor Xun You all believed that Huangfu Song must have communicated with Zhang Shi in letters.

As a result, Huangfu Song, who was outside the city, watched helplessly as all the city gates of Chang'an closed, completely bewildered.

Seeing the city walls poised to draw their bows and arrows, ready to engage in battle, they immediately assumed that Zhang Shi had colluded with the Liangzhou rebels to rebel against the court, and that their own chief clerk and several officials had been arrested.

If it weren't for the earnest persuasion of Xun Yu, Xun You, and Fu Xie, Huangfu Song would have been prepared to directly attack the city and quell the rebellion.

Finally, Huangfu Song, who was granted the authority to act as an imperial envoy, submitted a memorial to the court, impeaching Zhang Shi, the Prefect of Jingzhao, for treason, and requesting the Crown Prince to allow him to lead troops to attack the city, quell the rebellion, and rescue his detained subordinates.

In his memorial, Huangfu Song also explained to the Crown Prince the reason for requesting so many siege weapons. He believed that since people from Liangzhou were involved in the Qiang and Hu rebellion, they would certainly not only fight the imperial army in open battle, but also engage in many siege battles.

Furthermore, Huangfu Song asked, "Your Highness, is the value of the soldiers' lives and their compensation higher, or is the value of these dead objects and equipment higher?"

If it is a regular county or state soldier or an auxiliary soldier, then generally speaking, the latter will be superior.

But since there were 60,000 men from good families in the army that quelled the rebellion, and Liu Bian had set a high standard for compensation, the former was naturally higher.

Subsequently, memorials from Xun Yu, Xun You, Liu Bei, Sun Jian, Fu Xie, Cao Ren, and others under Huangfu Song, as well as from Du Ji, the Chief Clerk of the Capital Prefecture, arrived in Luoyang City.

Fu Xie disregarded the fact that he had returned to Luoyang from the front lines without authorization, and led ten riders to rush back overnight to explain to the Crown Prince.

According to Fu Xie's account, and after sorting out and analyzing the situations described in these memorials, Luoyang basically understood the ins and outs of the matter.

This was a complete misunderstanding.

Huangfu Song was somewhat arrogant, feeling that he, as the Left General with the authority of a fake general, had an obligation to explain the principles of warfare to Huangfu Song, the Prefect of the Capital.

The imperial regalia bestowed by the Crown Prince is right here; you just need to cooperate.

Zhang Shi, the Prefect of Jingzhao, and Du Ji, the Prefect's Chief Clerk, were somewhat sensitive, but they could understand. After all, Huangfu Song's demands were astonishing; he practically wanted to empty the siege equipment from Chang'an's armory. They believed him when he said he was going to Liangzhou to be a demolition captain and completely level all the cities there.

If it were his father, Liu Hong, who was in charge of the court, he would probably have immediately sent people to arrest Huangfu Song and imprison him.

Having ascertained the whole story, Liu Bian immediately replied to Zhang Shi and Huangfu Song.

Liu Bian approved Huangfu Song's request, allowing him to freely access all the military equipment in the Chang'an armory. However, he did not reprimand Zhang Shi and Du Ji. Instead, he praised their vigilance and resourcefulness in a letter and rewarded each of them with 100 gold pieces and 100 bolts of high-quality Xiangyi brocade.

In his letters to Zhang Shi and Huangfu Song, the Crown Prince also expressed his trust in them and hoped that they could put aside their past grievances and work together to quell the Qiang rebellion in Liangzhou in the face of national crisis.

Afterwards, Liu Bian summoned all the officials and gathered them in the open space in front of Jiade Hall.

"Recently, many people in the court have submitted memorials impeaching the Left General, and despite my repeated orders to reprimand them, they have not stopped."

Liu Bian stood on the stone steps, his gaze sweeping over the officials below with a sharp, piercing look.

Many of them dared not meet the Crown Prince's gaze, hanging their heads in fear. These were people who had submitted memorials impeaching Huangfu Song.

The Crown Prince summoned his ministers today, presumably to appease Huangfu Song, and the method, naturally, is to target those who impeached Huangfu Song.

He could be demoted, dismissed from office, or even imprisoned—it's all uncertain.

"Where is the Minister of Justice?" Liu Bian's voice suddenly rose.
Cui Lie slowly stepped forward and bowed to the Crown Prince, saying, "Your subject is here."

Liu Bian pointed at Cui Lie and said in an icy voice, "According to Han law, what crime is committed by making a false accusation?"

Cui Lie paused for a moment, then replied, "Those who make false accusations will be punished!"

Liu Bian nodded slightly and walked down the steps. His shoes landed on each step as if stepping on the hearts of the court officials who had impeached Huangfu Song. Some were so frightened that their legs went weak and they fell to the ground.

"Fake accusation" means that if someone falsely accuses another of a crime, the person making the false accusation will be punished for that crime.

Anyone who falsely accuses another of treason shall be punished by having their entire family exterminated!

"this is the last time."

Liu Bian wouldn't actually drag so many court officials out and exterminate their entire families; he would probably have wiped out the entire court. A warning would have sufficed.

Afterwards, Liu Bian had five wooden boxes brought in, each containing scrolls of bamboo slips. Many people guessed what was inside the boxes.

Two eunuchs, each holding a ceramic jar, lifted the lids, and the pungent smell of tung oil suddenly filled the air.

Then, two eunuchs poured the viscous tung oil onto the wooden box. The dark brown oil meandered down the box, seeped into the gaps of the bamboo slips, and spread large oil stains on the blue bricks. When the sunlight shone on it, it even shimmered.

"My loyalty is as essential as a fish's need for water; I urge you all not to speak of it again."

"If anyone again makes baseless accusations against General Zuo, I will pour tung oil all over you!"

After speaking, Liu Bian took a torch soaked in oil from Gao Wang and threw it at the five wooden boxes piled together. The flame traced a golden arc and fell right into the center of the pile.

The moment the flame touched the tung oil, there was a muffled boom.

Flames suddenly shot up, the oil ignited upon contact with the fire, instantly turning into a golden wave. The flames climbed up the boxes, swirling upwards, and the bamboo slips crackled and exploded in the fire, instantly engulfing the wooden boxes.

Thick smoke billowed up and formed a gray cloud in front of the palace.

The bamboo slips curled into charcoal, the ink turned into wisps of smoke, and the five wooden boxes gradually turned into charcoal before the eyes of the officials. Until the last flame was extinguished, the embers on the ground still emitted white smoke, and the smell of burnt food lingered in front of the palace for a long time.

(End of this chapter)