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

Chapter 318: Green Plum Wine
"General Cao Mengde, who quelled the rebellion, devised a plan to deceive the enemy and fought valiantly to defeat their main force, achieving the greatest victory and making a great contribution. I should recommend that General Cao be promoted to General Who Conquers the East and appointed Governor of Yan Province, and request that he be granted the title of Marquis of Zan to oversee military affairs in Yan and Yu provinces to quell the great rebellion in Henan." (Zan County is Cao Teng's hometown.)
"The separate commander Lü Qian, fearless of death, entered the enemy camp and returned with Chang Xi's head. He should be reported to the Prefect of Taishan and recommended to the Marquis of Fanting."

"Cadre Commandant Zang Ba penetrated deep into the enemy camp, uncovered the bandits' conspiracy, rescued the Prince of Pengcheng, and pacified the rebels of Mount Tai. He should be recommended to the Chancellor of Pengcheng and recommended to the Marquis of Huating."

"Cheng Yujian was resourceful and shrewd, Sun Guansheng captured Yin Li, Guan Yu captured Wu Dun in battle, and Xu Rongzuo was meritorious in battle. All of them were recommended as marquises and appointed to oversee various prefectures."

"Mi Zhu and Mi Fang have rendered meritorious service in the war and should be commended as the Agricultural Commandant of Xuzhou."

"Gentlemen, you have all served the country and driven out the traitor Chang Xi. Each of you has made meritorious contributions and should be rewarded with official titles to demonstrate your loyalty and righteousness... Gentlemen, is my reward fair?"

Liu Bei presented his merits one by one at the merit-sharing platform.

There were no objections from the audience to Liu Bei's distribution of rewards based on merit, because it was indeed very fair.

Cao Cao's troops achieved the most victories, and Lü Qian and Cheng Yu, who made great contributions, were both Cao Cao's subordinates. Cao Cao was also the first to take the initiative to attack Chang Xi. As agreed in the bidding order, the one with the greatest merit would be awarded the title of General Who Conquers the East, which was a matter of trust.

Moreover, Cao Cao had the task of suppressing the Guandong coalition, so the promotion to General Who Conquers the East was just right—since it was a campaign against the East, it naturally involved conquering Guandong.

The dozens of groups of people all had their own merits, and Liu Bei rewarded them according to their merits, mostly by appointing them to military positions such as commanders of other units.

However, Liu Bei was still somewhat sensible. He only assigned military positions to all the gangsters and outlaws, and did not make them county or prefectural officials.

However, after the rewards were distributed, apart from Guan Yu who would be awarded the title of Marquis of Ting, no one else in Liu Bei's main force received any recognition, not even Liu Bei himself, the leader of the army.

This is a bit unreasonable.

When defeating Que Xuan, Liu Bei did not claim any credit for his own troops, but distributed it all among them.

Whether to defeat Changxi now or to send them all away, the crowd below the stage felt that this was not the right thing to do.

"General Right has led the battle skillfully and made great contributions. We should commend General Right for his merits!"

"Yes, we should jointly commend the Right General for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion..."

Apart from Cao Cao, everyone else planned to praise Liu Bei for his achievements so that they would feel at ease. Otherwise, if the credit came too easily, they would all feel a little guilty.

Those heroes who were originally thieves, such as Liu Pi and Chen Lan, shouted the loudest...

"As a minister assisting the government, it is my duty to quell the rebellion. Only after all the rebellions have been quelled can I be considered to have achieved my goal. There is still a major rebellion in Ji Province that has not been eliminated. After this major rebellion is eliminated, it will not be too late for you gentlemen to praise my achievements."

Liu Bei raised his hand to suppress the shouts of the crowd, then cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the north: "Today I only want to acknowledge your merits. I request that you all come with me to Linzi in Qingzhou to meet the Emperor, so that he may personally bestow upon you all a pardon and titles!"

A commotion arose in the audience, with everyone excitedly whispering among themselves.

It was only right for meritorious officials to meet the emperor and receive his rewards, something that the dozens of gangsters had never expected.

He just came and stood guard, and followed Liu Bei to block the road at Mount Tai for a while, and somehow he was able to transform from a bandit who had entrenched himself in a certain area into an official who could be personally appointed by the emperor...

Is this some kind of supernatural occurrence?

Is following Brother Xuande such a promising path?
Xiahou Dun also sighed softly, "The Right General is impartial and selfless, rewarding everyone without benefiting himself in the slightest. He is truly a model of an incorruptible official..."

Cao Cao looked at Liu Bei from below the stage, but sighed and lowered his head.

Cao Hong, who was standing beside Cao Cao, whispered in his ear, "Brother, you have now been appointed General Who Conquers the East, which is a great honor. Why are you sighing?"

Cao Cao shook his head and did not answer.

Behind him, Cheng Yu whispered, "General Right is indeed selfless, but what General Right truly wanted has already been obtained... From now on, who is a traitor and who is a loyal subject will be decided by General Right's word, and the world will be at peace..." Cao Cao waved his hand, signaling Cheng Yu to stop talking.

……

After ascending the altar and appointing Cao Cao as General Who Conquers the East, Liu Bei led his newly minted "loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty" to Mount Tai.

It looks like the boss is taking his key sales team on a team-building trip after closing a big deal...

These days, climbing Mount Tai is extremely difficult because there are no stairs, only narrow paths, and only at the mountain pass are the steps built by emperors of past dynasties when they performed the Fengshan ceremony.

Once you reach the mountainside, the path becomes steep, requiring everyone to work together and help each other. You have to be tied together with ropes to climb up, and sometimes you have to hold hands to lend a helping hand.

Liu Bei and Cao Cao walked in the middle, supporting each other.

Leading the way were local strongmen like Zang Ba and Sun Guan, who, along with their guards familiar with Mount Tai, cleared the path with short spears.

Because there were many people and they were climbing very slowly, the danger was not great.

Near the summit, there is a small platform village with pavilions and stone tables. It is likely that many Taoist priests once lived in seclusion here, but in recent years it has become a hiding place for bandits of Mount Tai.

Of course, there's no one here right now; the Taishan bandits have all gone down the mountain.

As they neared the summit, dusk fell. Liu Bei decided to spend the night on the platform, watch the sunrise from the top the next morning, and then descend the mountain—it was practically a team-building activity…

That night, Liu Bei, the CEO of the Great Han Group, was drinking with Cao Cao, the newly appointed head of the Yanyu branch.

"I've heard that Brother Mengde is quite talented in poetry. The summit of Mount Tai is the most beautiful sight in the world. Brother Mengde, could you compose a poem about it?"

As for team building, Liu Bei did hope that Cao Cao could leave behind some timeless masterpieces.

"His thoughts are scattered, making it difficult to compose poetry..."

Cao Cao wasn't being modest; after observing Liu Bei's approach, he genuinely had no interest in literary creation at the moment.

Why is your mind so elsewhere?

Liu Bei smiled and looked at Cao Cao: "Mengde's wish to establish merit and achieve great things has been fulfilled. His clan is at peace and his family is harmonious. What worries do you have? Is it because of the affairs of the famous families in Yan and Yu? I have no worries, so why should Mengde have any worries?"

Cao Cao chuckled awkwardly: "I admire Xuande Gong's talent... Xuande Gong commands the heroes of the world, which I deeply admire, but I have not yet grasped the essence of it, and I have been thinking about it for a long time."

At this moment, Zhao Yun came over with some wet fruit: "My lord, we came across some green plums on the way up the mountain. I have washed them and they are perfect for making wine."

Liu Bei was taken aback. He watched as Zhao Yun lifted the wine pot off the stone table, put a few green plums into the pot, and then blew on the small stove to warm the wine.

It's early April (lunar calendar), the transition from spring to summer, which is the season when plums ripen. Wild plums can indeed be found on Mount Tai, making them perfect for brewing wine.

Zhao Yun was in charge of Liu Bei's personal guard duties, and when Liu Bei was away on military expeditions, Zhao Yun was indeed in charge of arranging his meals.

Liu Bei's expression was somewhat unusual, clearly indicating that he had thought of something interesting.

Plum wine... isn't that a bit too early?
Moreover, Liu Bei is now the boss, and Cao Cao is just a guest general...

Since we're already here... Liu Bei simply smiled and asked Cao Cao, "Brother Mengde, you just said that I command the heroes of the world... I wonder, in your eyes, who in the world can be called a hero?"

(End of this chapter)