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

Chapter 267 Leaving Beiman

"Since you don't want to deal with this anymore, then let Dong Zhuo fight Yuan Shao."

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Xu Rong has arrived outside the Xia Gate... Tomorrow I will lead troops out of the Xia Gate to lure Yuan Shao. Wenhe, arrange for the underworld soldiers to spread false intelligence. Keep track of the time and have Dong Zhuo's men go to the court to report the enemy's situation after the court meeting ends."

"Does Your Majesty truly intend to take the Crown Prince out?"

Jia Xu was actually somewhat uneasy: "The coronation ceremony is the day after tomorrow. What if something unexpected happens..."

"The Crown Prince himself wanted to go to Beiman to see the ancestral graves; he had never seen them before."

Liu Bei said softly, "He is a child, but he has his own wishes, but no one is ever willing to listen to him... Forget about any enthronement ceremony, the day the crown prince himself wants to ascend the throne is the day of his ascension."

"That's true... I almost got bound by the regulations and procedures myself..."

Jia Xu nodded and sighed.

……

The next morning, Dong Zhuo's troops entered the North Palace and seized control of the palace and Deyang Hall.

Liu Bei withdrew his troops and stationed them directly at Xiamen.

Chenshi.

Empress Dowager Dong appeared in the court to preside over the court assembly.

Today's court assembly is for discussing the enthronement; tomorrow, the regents will assist Liu Xie in ascending the throne.

The Empress Dowager ordered someone to invite Liu Xie to the Deyang Palace to prepare for his enthronement ceremony.

But Liu Xie did not go.

Liu Bei said that Liu Xie was "overwhelmed with grief" while mourning Liu Hong in Chongde Hall and needed to rest, otherwise he would not be able to attend the enthronement ceremony the next day.

Liu Bei still took good care of his junior brother, and thus earned a reputation for filial piety.

Liu Xie did not attend, and the Empress Dowager did not cause any trouble at the court meeting. As soon as the court meeting began, she first promoted Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was promoted to Right General, given the authority to establish his own government, granted the title of Marquis of Xihe Pavilion, and given the honorary title of Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince.

This is the normal procedure for promotion, because it is impossible to actually appoint the Left General of the Central Army to assist in governing. When the emperor ascends the throne, the regent minister is to be granted the imperial seal and ribbon.

Liu Bei's eligibility to serve as regent and Liu Xie's eligibility to succeed to the throne were tied to the same will. As long as Liu Xie succeeded to the throne, Liu Bei had to be the regent minister, which left no room for any unforeseen problems.

However, in addition to the normal promotion, Liu Bei was required to punish the rebel Yuan Shao.

This is the normal procedure; the regent should certainly punish the rebels, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Yuan Shao had many crimes, including murdering the emperor, ordering assassins to kill Liu Xie, kidnapping Shi Hou, causing chaos in the palace, massacring palace servants, and looting palace property, among others.

Liu Bei waited in Luoyang for so long precisely to settle these matters.

The official positions of the others remained unchanged, as they would be promoted or transferred after the new emperor ascended the throne tomorrow.

Just as the court assembly had finalized Liu Bei's official rank and the title of Junior Tutor, someone immediately reported: "A large army is attacking from outside the city, and they have already reached twenty miles north of the city!"

The person who came to report was Niu Fu.

There was an uproar in the court.

No one expected Yuan Shao to attack Luoyang at this time... At that time, Luoyang had a considerable number of troops, and this was a move that defied the world.

"We should quickly send an envoy to inform them that the Yuan family members are forcing them to withdraw their troops!"

Cui Lie immediately stepped forward and said, "If they do not retreat, the entire Yuan family shall be executed..."

"Lord Cui, please detain his entire clan for now... I will send troops out of Xia Gate to intercept them. I request that all military commanders in Luoyang City quickly prepare their troops to provide backup for me."

Liu Bei looked at Dong Zhuo: "General Dong, what do you think of your strategy of holding the palace?"

Dong Zhuo was taken aback when he realized that Liu Bei was going to send troops away from Luoyang.

The generals of Luoyang mentioned by Liu Bei refer to the generals of the surrounding Luoyang who came to attend the funeral, as well as the city gate officers who had previously withdrawn from the gates.

These troops add up to a considerable number, but they certainly won't obey Liu Bei's command, and some might even defect on the battlefield.

However, Liu Bei, being quite sensible, didn't order them to attack immediately, but instead sent them to reinforce the enemy. The Empress Dowager was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately approved the order: "Then please, General of the Right, lead the troops to defeat the enemy! May all the soldiers return in triumph!"

Liu Bei glanced at the Empress Dowager again, a slight smile appearing on his face: "I will go now."

……

Liu Bei completely ignored the military officers in Luoyang and went out of the Xia Gate first.

Most of the generals who went to mourn had stationed their soldiers at the outposts outside the city and needed time to lead their troops, but Liu Bei did not wait for them.

Those willing to help will naturally go out of the city to fight; as for those unwilling... it doesn't matter.

After all, the army that "attacked" outside the city was not Yuan Shao's force...

Those were Guan Yu and Xu Rong's troops.

After He Jin's death, Yuan Shao left Luoyang and went to Xiaopingjin to incorporate He Jin and He Miao's troops.

Xu Rong then retreated to the Xia Gate.

After all, the person Xu Rong knew best in the capital was Liu Bei, and Liu Bei was the only one with whom he had a past relationship. Moreover, Liu Bei had a righteous cause, so Xu Rong had no psychological barriers to joining Liu Bei.

Niu Fu had incorporated many surrendered soldiers, and many of the underworld soldiers were mixed in with his army, so it wouldn't have been difficult for Jia Xu to spread false information.

Moreover, this false information can become true information in a very short time...

Once Liu Bei arrived outside the city, his various units raised their flags and headed northeast of Luoyang.

Moreover, Liu Bei's troops deliberately passed near Yuan Shao's camp and headed towards Beiman Mountain.

Yuan Shao's scouts were certainly able to discover that Liu Bei's entire army had gone to Beiman Mountain.

However, Yuan Shao did not send troops to attack Liu Bei, but instead mobilized his entire army to attack Luoyang.

This was actually an inevitable choice. Killing Liu Bei was not important to Yuan Shao. What Yuan Shao needed to do was to take the opportunity to quickly attack Luoyang. There was no need to get entangled with Liu Bei.

Luoyang has lost half of its troops. If Yuan Shao doesn't seize this opportunity, wouldn't he be a fool?
What's the point of chasing Liu Bei? The Emperor's remains are in Luoyang, the Empress Dowager and the officials are in Luoyang, and Liu Xie is there too...

Yuan Shao would never have imagined that Liu Bei would take Liu Xie out of the city at this time; he would only have assumed that Liu Bei had a conflict with Dong Zhuo and was forced to leave the city.

Because tomorrow is the coronation ceremony.

Not only Yuan Shao, but also Dong Zhuo, the Empress Dowager, and any other official would never have imagined that Liu Bei would take Liu Xie out of the city to climb the mountain at this time.

They would never have imagined that Liu Bei was actually taking the children out to broaden their horizons—this was truly Liu Xie's request.

This is a mental barrier, a mental barrier that children can think of but adults cannot.

Everyone is thinking about power and interests; everyone is thinking about how to control the government and vie for power...

Everyone subconsciously regarded the eight-year-old emperor as a puppet, which was a common practice in the Han Dynasty. Not only did everyone in the Han Dynasty think this way, but even most modern people have this ingrained way of thinking...

Few people would remember that Liu Xie was a person.

He was not an object, not a sculpture fixed in the palace, and he may not have wanted to be an emperor...

Tomorrow's coronation ceremony is important to everyone else, but not to Liu Xie.

As long as the right of succession remains unchanged, he can ascend the throne whenever he wants. Procedures are meant to constrain employees, not bosses.

Everything Liu Bei did in Luoyang was to secure Liu Xie's right to succession.

It is now impossible for Liu Bian to be made emperor; his lineage is questionable, and no one will recognize him.

When Yuan Shao attacked Luoyang, Yuan Kui could only desperately help Dong Zhuo fight against Yuan Shao. If Yuan Shao were allowed to get close to Luoyang, Cui Lie would definitely kill all members of the Yuan family.

Liu Bei would certainly not leave Luoyang, much less flee, but it would be fine for him to take Liu Xie to Beiman Mountain next to Luoyang to pay homage to their ancestors.

Come back after the brawl in Luoyang City is over, and help whoever lost.

Anyway, it's always the employees who wait for the boss... If the boss doesn't come back, whether you're an empress dowager or a general, whether you want to ascend the throne or not, you can only wait until the emperor wants to ascend the throne.

(End of this chapter)