Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 244 Brothers in Suffering
Luoyang.

The capital of the Han Dynasty remained as prosperous as ever. The cries of vendors at the East Gate Market still echoed, and crowds continued to throng the streets, with carriages and horses still moving back and forth in a constant stream.

It was as if it were still a golden age.

But Jia Xu traveled all the way from Qingzhou, covering thousands of miles, and all he saw were floods, plagues, refugees, and hearses carrying corpses.

All I heard were sobs, cries, complaints, and silent despair.

Moreover, Jia Xu's journey was quite difficult.

Originally, we started from the plains and took the Hebei Road, but when we reached Cangting, we had to cross the river and change our route to Henan.

Because of severe flooding on the north bank of the Yellow River, the river overflowed its banks, cutting off almost all existing roads. The floodplains stretched as far as the eye could see, making it impossible to find any roads at all.

However, after crossing the river, they found that the floods in Henan were no different from those in Hebei—the Yellow River had changed its course in the Yanzhou area, and the river water had flowed through the northern part of Chenliu from the ancient river channel, invading Dongjun and Jiyin, and connecting all the way to Dayeze.

Puyang and Baimadu were both flooded, and Dongjun was also impassable.

Jia Xu had no choice but to detour again, heading south to Rencheng, taking the official road through Yan and Yu provinces to bypass the flood-prone area.

This route first leads to Pei State, then south through Chenliu to Xingyang. This was actually a route Cao Cao often took.

In other words, Jia Xu took an S-shaped route, forcing the officials of Qingzhou to detour through Yuzhou to reach Luoyang.

In addition, roads were blocked in various places, making travel frequently difficult.

The reasons for blocking roads varied from county to county. Some said it was to prevent refugees, some said it was for epidemic prevention, some didn't give a reason, and some even let people pass if they paid money.

Jia Xu carried Liu Bei's letter recommending Zheng Xuan and others, and no one dared to detain him, but it took a considerable amount of time. Traveling day and night, it took more than a month to reach Luoyang.

From Xingyang to Goushi, the road was filled with refugees selling their children, but there were none outside Luoyang City—He Jin's troops had driven out the refugees from the city, and the area within thirty li of Luoyang County was extremely peaceful.

The canal transport was disrupted again, and the price of rice skyrocketed to tens of thousands of coins once more—this time the canal transport was truly cut off.

Human factors also played a role; the Grand Canal had not been repaired since Cao Song ceased to serve as Grand Minister of Agriculture.

The Yellow River changed its course, and the river water flooded the Grand Canal. After the water level rose sharply, the Grand Canal also broke its banks in various places.

Cao Song was indeed very good at making money, but he did put in a lot of effort to maintain the Grand Canal.

Moreover, changes have occurred in the Kansai region.

After Geng Bi took office as the governor of Liangzhou, he appointed Cheng Qiu as the chief administrator. However, Cheng Qiu was a bit greedy and was quite prejudiced against the border warriors and Qiang and Di people.

The Qiang rebellion was only intimidated by Duan Jiong; the Qiang people's strength was not damaged. Previously, Han Sui, Yan Zhong, and others had a good relationship with the Qiang people, which is why things were peaceful.

But as soon as Cheng Qiu arrived, he forced the Qiang people to perform hard labor, searched everywhere for beautiful women, and even used the emperor's name to order each prefecture to pay tribute with famous horses, stones, wood, and treasures.

This incident led to another rebellion by the Qiang and Di peoples.

The Qiang people were initially very cautious, fearing that Duan Jiong would reappear, but after a few months they found that no one was suppressing the rebellion, and the scale of the rebellion became uncontrollable.

Subsequently, Han Sui raised an army in Jincheng in response to the Qiang people, and elected the scholar Wang Guo as his leader. Relying on his good relationship with the Qiang people, he once again managed to bring the Qiang people under the control of the Han people.

If Geng Bi, the governor of Liangzhou, had been smarter and had quickly offered amnesty, Han Sui wouldn't have carried the rebellion to the end—Han Sui actually preferred peace and stability in his hometown.

However, Geng Bi had no intention of appeasement and labeled Wang Guo and Han Sui as major rebels behind the scenes. In order to quell the rebellion, Geng Bi mobilized troops from six commanderies to suppress it and appointed Ma Teng as the military supervisor of the Liangzhou governor's office.

But... should we let Ma Teng fight Han Sui?
This is definitely a case of not understanding the situation...

Fu Xie, the governor of Hanyang, intended to stop Geng Bi, but Geng Bi saw him as a coward and forced Fu Xie to lead his troops into battle.

As a result, Ma Teng defected to the enemy before the battle and joined forces with Han Sui to defeat Geng Bi's troops.

Li Xiangru, the governor of Longxi, also defected with Ma Teng, leading his troops to first kill Cheng Qiu, the chief administrator, and then Geng Bi. The troops of the six prefectures scattered in an uproar.

Fu Xie also unfortunately died in the chaos of battle.

In fact, Han Sui was also unlucky. He only wanted to kill Cheng Qiu to quell the anger of the Qiang people. He did not intend to kill Geng Bi, let alone kill Fu Xie.

But Li Xiangru acted too ruthlessly... The Liangzhou rebels had no way to turn back and could only go down a dark path.

Currently, the Liangzhou rebels have once again stormed into Youfufeng. ...

Disaster struck the east, rebellion broke out in the west, the Grand Canal was disrupted, and refugees rose up everywhere.

Only Luoyang appears 'stable and prosperous'.

Jia Xu knew these things, and the emperor knew them too.

The letter of recommendation brought by Jia Xu, recommending Zheng Xuan and others for the position of prefect, was successfully delivered to the court, and the court immediately accepted the recommendation.

However, after the documents for recruiting Zheng Xuan and others were issued, another matter immediately began to be debated in the court.

—Should Liu Bei be transferred to Liangzhou to quell the rebellion?

Cao Song, who had been Grand Commandant for less than a year, had already resigned due to the rebellion in Liangzhou—if he hadn't left his post soon, he would have been the one to lead the army to quell the rebellion.

The emperor has recalled Yuan Kui to Luoyang, appointing him as General of the Rear and replacing Liu Yu in the position of Grand Master of Ceremonies.

Yuan Shao was appointed by the emperor as General of the Tiger Guard and concurrently served as Colonel of the Central Army in the Western Garden, second only to Jian Shuo.

The appointment of the Yuan family was, of course, for the sake of Luoyang's grain supply.

There is no hope for grain transport in Guandong. Rebels are entrenched in Guanxi. Of all the grain-producing areas, only Yuzhou is least affected. Currently, only the Yuan family can supply grain to Luoyang.

Moreover, most of the grain stores in Luoyang were originally controlled by the Yuan family.

Liu Hong remained calm in the face of danger, bowing his head when necessary, just like before.

At the same time, the emperor proclaimed himself "Supreme General," personally led the Western Garden Army, and brought all the generals who had established their own offices under his command. He also appointed Jian Shuo, the Colonel of the Upper Army, to control all the armies.

This was actually to allow Jian Shuo to control He Jin and Yuan Wei.

Yuan Wei proposed in court to reinstate Huangfu Song to quell the rebellion in Liangzhou...

Yuan Shao strongly recommended Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo as deputy generals to attack Liangzhou, saying that Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo had previously quelled a rebellion in Liangzhou and should be able to do it again this time—this was indeed very convincing.

He Jin even suggested that the court reappoint Liu Bei as the governor of Liang Province, as a way of honoring him with a higher rank and title—which was indeed a promotion, and becoming a governor was the highest one could hope for, but who the hell would want such an honor…

The emperor did not make a decision immediately, but instead followed Yuan Wei's suggestion to reinstate Huangfu Song and appoint him as Left General to quell the rebellion in Fufeng.

If the court continues to discuss this matter, Liu Bei might actually be transferred to Liangzhou.

Although Jia Xu also hoped that Liu Bei could serve as the governor of his hometown, it could not be now.

After all, Huangfu Song had already been appointed as the main general to quell the rebellion. If the rebellion was quelled under Huangfu Song's command, even Jia Xu himself would have to become cannon fodder...

Jia Xu was a nobody in the court, and no one would consult him. He could not be allowed to scold people in court like Liu Yu and Liu Yan did.

After the court session, Jia Xu immediately sought out Dong Zhuo's younger brother, Dong Min: "The court seems to intend to transfer General Dong to quell the rebellion in Liangzhou. Shu Ying, do you know what your brother's plans are?"

Dong Min is actually a hostage, currently serving as the Imperial Carriage Commandant, which is the emperor's driver. He is similar in nature to Yue Yin, the Imperial Advisor, and is also a lone official without any subordinates.

At present, Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo are in the same boat, since if Liu Bei is transferred there, Dong Zhuo will definitely be transferred there as well, since the two of them previously pacified Liangzhou together.

Dong Min pulled Jia Xu into a tavern: "Brother, I was just about to ask Lord Liu what his plans are..."

"Hmm? Wasn't this matter only to be discussed today?"

Jia Xu sensed something was wrong.

"I'm not asking about that... Some time ago, the Emperor called himself the 'Supreme General' and reviewed the troops in the West Garden, ordering me to drive his chariot... I noticed that the Emperor's neck already had a golden and iridescent sheen, and at noon he even ate golden pills to boost his spirits..."

Dong Min whispered to Jia Xu, "This is erysipelas that has penetrated the internal organs; there is no cure! My brother wants to know, if the Emperor… what does Lord Liu intend to do?"

Jia Xu recalled Liu Bei's words before he left—"If the Emperor falls ill..."

Where is your brother now?

Jia Xu suddenly stared at Dong Min and asked about Dong Zhuo's whereabouts: "Is General Dong currently in Luoyang?"

(End of this chapter)