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

Chapter 339 Shooting Through the Cage
Chen State, Chen County.

Prince Liu Chong of Chen is practicing martial arts in the training ground.

Liu Chong was in his thirties at the time, in the prime of his life, and looked quite heroic, unlike a typical vassal king.

At this moment, he was kneeling on the ground, holding a crossbow, aiming at a target fifty paces away.

"Dang..."

After the string hummed, the crossbow bolt was fired.

It hit the bullseye; most of the crossbow bolt had already pierced the target.

Several crossbow bolts were already firmly stuck to the red bullseye.

Liu Chong braced the crossbow handle against his waist, stepped on the foot ring of the crossbow bed, bent down and used the pulley hook strap tied to his body to hook the crossbow string, straightened up and used the strength of his waist and legs to wind the string again.

This is a six-stone waist-drawn crossbow (360 jin). It cannot be cocked by the pulling force of the arm; it requires the strength of the whole body to pull it, which is accomplished by the strength of the waist, legs, and back.

The pulley hook tied to the upper body is a set of hooks and ropes with movable pulleys. It is a winding device and also serves as a breastplate strap.

This type of waist-drawn crossbow was not the limit of Han crossbows (the large yellow crossbow could reach ten stones), but it could penetrate most armor within a hundred paces.

This is also the most expensive standard-issue individual equipment, even more expensive than standard-issue armor.

Because the bow arm and bowstring are made of composite materials, including sufficiently long buffalo horns, bamboo and mulberry wood cores that have been soaked for many years, high-quality cow and deer tendons, top-grade raw silk selected from thousands, high-quality swim bladder glue, etc., and the processing of the materials takes a very long time.

Behind Liu Chong, there were hundreds of "material officers" wielding the same six-stone crossbows.

Although they were called "weapon officers," Liu Chong's troops were actually elite crossbowmen, not only sharpshooters but also strong and robust.

There were thousands of crossbowmen lined up in the training ground.

However, the crossbowmen in the training ground carried either fully drawn crossbows or light crossbows.

This training ground is called 'Teaching Crossbow Platform', which is where Liu Chong trained his crossbowmen.

Feudal kings were not allowed to possess crossbows and armor, but Liu Chong had thousands of powerful crossbows, which was obviously beyond the permitted limits.

And this can't be done in a short time...

Why are there so many crossbows?
Of course, we were prepared in advance...

As early as the Xiping era, Liu Chong, who was only seventeen years old at the time, together with the prime minister Wei Yin, held a grand sacrificial ceremony for the gods Huang and Lao.

A prince's private worship of the gods was an overreach of the law and a serious act of treason, which was reported to the imperial court.

However, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had just unjustly killed Liu Kui, the Prince of Bohai, and was unwilling to take action against the vassal kings again, fearing that it would trigger a large-scale rebellion of the royal family. So he only killed Wei Yin, the former prime minister who was worshipping alongside Liu Chong, and replaced him with Xu Yang as the prime minister of Chen to investigate the matter.

Xu Yang was from Runan. The Xu family of Runan had served as three high-ranking officials for three generations. Xu Yang's grandfather Xu Jing, father Xu Xun, elder brother Xu Xiang, and another branch of his clan uncle Xu Xu all served as three high-ranking officials.

Xu Shao and Xu Jing, who were in charge of monthly reviews, were cousins ​​of Xu Yang, and Xu Gong, the prefect of Wu Commandery, was the nephew of Xu Xu.

The Xu family has two branches, with their clan residences in Pingyu, Runan and Yanxian, Yingchuan, respectively. They are adjacent to Ruyang and Chenxian. The Xu family has always had a close relationship with the Yuan family of Ruyang—Yuan Tang (Yuan Shu's grandfather) was married to a woman from the Xu family.

After Xu Yang became the Chancellor of Chen, he replaced everyone in the Chen state with members of the Xu family. He then reported to the court that King Liu Chong of Chen was only worshipping the gods to "seek longevity," so Emperor Ling did not pursue the matter further.

After that, Xu Yang served as the Chancellor of the State of Chen for eighteen years. During the reign of Emperor Ling, it was not something an ordinary person could do to stay in one place for eighteen years without being promoted, transferred, or dismissed.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the country was in chaos, and rebellions broke out in various counties and prefectures in Yan and Yu provinces. Countless refugees were displaced, and the roads were blocked with people fleeing from the disaster.

At that time, the State of Chen already possessed thousands of powerful crossbows and began to conscript soldiers in large numbers.

Liu Chong was renowned for his archery skills and had assembled a large crossbow army. The people of Chen were terrified, and no one dared to cause trouble. Instead, many powerful clans fled to Chen to avoid disaster.

When Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun quelled the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Yan and Yu, the main battlefields south of the Yellow River—Changshe in Yingchuan, Zhaoling in Runan, Changhuan in Chenliu, and Dunqiu in Dongjun—were all located around the Chen state, with a total number of hundreds of thousands…

Despite being surrounded by large Yellow Turban forces, the Yellow Turban army never attacked the State of Chen... nor did the State of Chen send troops to punish the Yellow Turbans.

The reason... I don't know.

Since no one's saying anything, let's just pretend we don't know.

Moreover, once the main Yellow Turban army was defeated, all the surviving soldiers would flee towards Chen County or Ruyang...

Not only the Yellow Turban Army, but also the physicians that Ma Yuanyi led were heading towards Chen County. However, they were chased and killed by Zhao Qian on the way, which resulted in the death of Yuan Mi and inadvertently created the reputation of the "Seven Gentlemen of Runan".

After the main force of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled, the population of various counties was greatly lost. However, the population of Chen State increased instead of decreasing, and the army also grew rapidly as if it had been scattering beans to form soldiers. The number of serfs in the Xu family of Pingyu also increased dramatically.

Similar to Chen County, there was also Ruyang, the hometown of the Yuan family—the Yellow Turbans never attacked Ruyang, and all the remaining Yellow Turban forces, including Liu Pi and Huang Shao, returned to Ruyang...

Yuan Shu was always able to quickly raise a large number of troops, and this was not just because he was a gangster boss.

When Zhao Qian, the governor of Runan, learned that Yuan Shu was supporting Liu Pi, he immediately abandoned his post and fled. This was certainly not to evade taxes.

"Dang..."

With another twang of the bowstring, the crossbow bolt once again pierced the bullseye, hollowing out the target—all the previous bolts had hit the same spot and pierced the target, but this last bolt completely shattered the center of the target into a bullet hole.

"Your Majesty is a master archer! Ten arrows from a hundred paces away hit the same spot—truly a divine skill!" Chen Guo's Prime Minister Xu Yang clasped his hands in praise from the side.

The target was actually about fifty paces away... but all ten shots hit the same spot, which is truly remarkable archery.

Liu Chong smiled smugly and handed the crossbow to the guard beside him: "Has Cao Cao's army attacked?"

"He has come... However, Cao Cao is only here to collect taxes. Your Majesty need not make things difficult for him. Just give him some money and provisions and send him away. Why hold a grudge against him?"

Xu Yang nodded, but then advised Liu Chong: "Liu Bei's perverse actions will surely incite rebellion throughout the land in due time. The time is not yet ripe; let's just observe his self-destruction..."

"Lord Xu, when Luoyang was in chaos, you said the time was not yet right..."

"When Liu Bei took the emperor to Qingzhou, you also said that the time was not right, and that Yuan Shao could stop Liu Bei, and that we could observe their two defeats..."

Liu Chong reached out and took the crossbow that the guard beside him had just reloaded. He aimed at the target in the distance and said, "Hmph... Not long ago, the Prince of Pengcheng fell into trouble, the Prince of Ganling was murdered, and the Prince of Qi committed suicide... But Yuan Shao disappeared without a word. What did he stop Liu Bei from doing? How can there be a lose-lose situation?!"

"Now Liu Bei is wreaking havoc on the world, harming vassal kings, and killing famous scholars. Cao Cao has even bullied me... You say the time is not yet right and that I should watch them defeat themselves?"

Liu Chong turned his head and shook his head as he spoke: "I wonder when you consider the time right? After I die and am buried?!"

"Your Majesty, Liu Bei is skilled in cunning..."

Xu Yang sighed, took out two booklets from his robes, and handed them to Liu Chong—these were Liu Bei's records of loyal ministers and treacherous ministers: "These were issued by Liu Bei and have now spread far and wide. We spend our entire lives seeking only a name of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness after our deaths, but with this document out, who in the world would be willing to take the risk? We must wait patiently and proceed slowly..."

"Are you afraid just because of the reputation you'll have after death? Why weren't you afraid when you instigated the Yellow Turbans?"

Liu Chong held Nu Ping in his arms, then turned to Xu Yang: "Lord Xu, I am no longer the naive youth I once was... You have controlled Chen for eighteen years, plundered countless riches and provisions from Chen, and committed so many rebellious acts with Chen, all just to use my name..."

"I am not afraid now, but you are... Haha... I don't know what you are afraid of? You are afraid of Liu Bei, but why are you not afraid of me?!"

The look between Liu Chong's brows suggested he had become somewhat deranged.

From seventeen to thirty-five... such a long period of endurance is indeed enough to drive one mad.

"Your Majesty, we are simply unwilling to take the risk... Liu Bei's perverse actions will surely incur the wrath of Heaven and the resentment of the people, but we must wait some time before all the prefectures can unite as one..."

Xu Yang patiently explained, "Besides, this grudge needs to be spread throughout the world. If we can't first ruin Liu Bei's reputation, it will be difficult to shake his foundations..."

"enough!"

Liu Chong interrupted Xu Yang: "You all only know how to play with reputation, but you dare not actually fight... By the time you make up your minds, Liu Bei will have already overthrown the world and changed dynasties!"

"...If Your Majesty intends to rebel, please forgive my Xu family for daring not to obey, lest we all perish..."

Xu Yang's face turned cold: "Why doesn't Your Majesty give it a try and see whether these officials obey Your Majesty's orders or my orders!"

"Then let's give it a try... Physician Luo, raise the crossbow, three quarters of an hour!"

Liu Chong scoffed and gave the order in a loud voice.

"Look up three times!"

The physician in charge of the procession raised his command flag.

"Shh..."

The thousands of soldiers arrayed below the platform simultaneously raised their crossbows and adjusted the viewing angle to the third mark.

Xu Yang's face showed horror: "What! Luo Jun! You actually..."

"Eighteen years... Xu Yang, did you think I've only been feasting and hunting for the past eighteen years? I haven't forgotten how you bullied me back then!"

Liu Chong also raised his crossbow, aimed it at Xu Yang, and pulled the trigger.

"……you……"

Xu Yang's chest was almost pierced through, with only the fletching of the crossbow bolt sticking out. He fell to the ground dead with only a short thud.

"Lord Luo, from this day forward you will be my prime minister."

Liu Chong looked at Xu Yang's corpse with satisfaction: "He used Xu Yang's wealth to recruit soldiers and buy horses... A coward, worthy of calling himself a scholar..."

"Your Majesty, Liu Gongshan has entered Dongjun, Zhang Miao has entered Chenliu, and Bao Xin has entered Jiyin. We await Your Majesty's call to arms, and Yanzhou will surely follow..."

Luo Jun stepped forward and stood in Xu Yang's original position, and began to report on the situation in various counties of Yanzhou.

"They alone are not enough... Yingchuan is the place we must take. First, send Xu Yang's body to Qiao County. Only after we defeat Cao Cao will those cowards dare to follow us... Liu Bei has the courage to serve the emperor with only a few thousand soldiers. If Liu Bei can be assisted, so can I..."

Liu Chong looked up at the sky and took a deep breath.

It was as if a prisoner who had served eighteen years had just walked out of jail.

At the same time, a large flag was erected, bearing the words "General Who Assists the Han Dynasty".

(End of this chapter)