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

Chapter 440 Proposal
Jia Xu appointed Zhang Ji and Du Ji as Gentlemen-in-Waiting, with Zhang Ji temporarily serving as Magistrate of Chang'an and Du Ji temporarily serving as Assistant Magistrate of Jingzhao.

The title of Shangshu Lang is equivalent to that of Shilang, which is the substantive position that Jia Xu could give within his authority. The temporary position was because he did not receive the emperor's authorization at the moment, and Jia Xu did not overstep his authority.

The more proper and reliable you are at times like these, the more trustworthy and trustworthy you appear.

The generals Li Jue, Guo Si, and Zhang Ji were officially granted their positions through a document issued by Jia Xu from the Imperial Secretariat after they entered Chang'an.

This was a memorial submitted by Situ Yang Biao, which Jia Xu approved through the Ministry of Personnel. These generals were indeed now officially recognized as holding military positions in the imperial court.

Dong Bai also entered Chang'an. Zhang Ji and others led various families of Chang'an out of the city to welcome him. Dong Bai was the Lord of Meiyang, and his status was very high, so he should have been welcomed as well.

Jia Xu arranged for Dong Bai to move into the former residence of Dong Zhuo in the northern mansion, and instructed Du Ji to organize Dong Zhuo's estate and belongings, handing them all over to Dong Bai.

The inheritance is actually quite small; the inventory of the North Residence has long been spent by Feng Xun, Liu Ai, and others.

However, no major battles were fought in Chang'an, and Dong Zhuo's belongings remained intact, including his clothing, official seals, and even the decorations and layout of his official residence.

This was a great comfort to Dong Bai and all of Dong Zhuo's followers.

Dong Zhuo's remaining forces did not wreak havoc on Chang'an. Li Jue and Guo Si respectively took over the city's defenses on the east and west sides, effectively acting as part-time city guards.

Zhang Ji and Fan Chou then led troops to various counties in Jingzhao to clear out the remaining forces of Feng Xun, Liu Ai, Huangfu Song, and others, and took the opportunity to gather provisions during the autumn harvest season.

With Dong Zhuo's direct enemies all beheaded and Chang'an showing a cooperative attitude, everyone's mindset, including Dong Bai's, has stabilized.

At this time, Li Ru also resigned from his position as Minister of Works and took over as head of the Meiyang family.

Li Ru was only loyal to Dong Zhuo, who regarded him as a confidant. After Dong Zhuo's death, he felt responsible and served as a retainer to assist Dong Zhuo's only descendant. This was also a kind of loyalty.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and Jingzhao seemed to have settled down. Although Dong Zhuo's remnants were not very civilized when collecting grain in various counties of Jingzhao and robbed a few uncooperative wealthy households, these were minor issues.

However, not long after, a major problem arose.

At the end of July, just as Liu Bei began his westward campaign, a group of envoys arrived in Chang'an.

The leader was Zhong Yao, a renowned scholar from Yingchuan, who carried a letter of recommendation from Yang Biao, the Minister of Works. Among the messengers were Zhang Chang, the son of Zhang Huan, and Zhang Meng, the Prefect of Hongnong.

Zhang Chang was from Dunhuang. During the reign of Emperor Huan, he served as a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate. He was an extremely famous calligrapher and was known as the "Second Sage".

At this time, the "Sage of Calligraphy" was Zhang Zhi, Zhang Chang's elder brother and Zhang Huan's eldest son. Zhang Zhi did not hold an official position, but he was extremely famous and was the ancestor of cursive script. He died two years ago due to the turmoil in Liangzhou.

Zhang Huan, one of the Three Luminaries of Liangzhou, was Dong Zhuo's former master. After being dismissed from office due to the Party Prohibitions, he taught in his hometown.

After being implicated by Zhang Huan, Dong Zhuo was helped by Yuan Wei and quickly recovered. He even sent people to send silk and other valuables to Zhang Huan.

Zhang Huan refused to accept the money, saying, "We, the upright scholars, do not accept wealth and are not of the same ilk as you, Dong Zhongying." In fact, this was not because Zhang Huan disliked Dong Zhuo, but because he did not want to affect Dong Zhuo's career by accepting his financial support.

At that time, the Party Prohibitions were still very strict, so Zhang Huan publicly stated that he was not in the same party as Dong Zhuo.

The Dong family knew about this, and therefore secretly helped the Zhang family.

After Zhang Huan died in the fourth year of the Guanghe era, Dong Zhuo even built a shrine for him.

In recent years, Liangzhou has been unstable. When Dong Zhuo heard that Zhang Zhi had died in the war, he sent people to send the entire Zhang family to live in the relatively safer Huayin County in Hongnong, so as to prevent the Zhang family from suffering again if Liangzhou were to fall into chaos again.

At the same time, Zhang Meng was also appointed by Dong Zhuo as the governor of Hongnong. During the reign of Emperor Huan, Zhang Meng was already the Grand Master of Ceremonies, but he lost his position due to being implicated by Zhang Huan.

For the Dong family, the Zhang family members were considered one of their own.

"We have come to propose marriage to Lady Meiyang on the orders of the late Empress Dowager. This is the marriage contract written by Zhang Wenshu at the behest of Lord Dong two years ago, which is the Emperor's betrothal agreement..."

Upon their arrival, Zhong Yao presented Li Ru, who was receiving them, with a marriage contract.

Zhong Yao brought Zhang Chang and Zhang Meng to Chang'an, apparently to propose marriage.

—With Zhong Yao as envoy and Zhang Chang as matchmaker, on the grounds of Empress Dowager Dong's last wish, Emperor Liu Xie came to propose marriage to Dong Bai.

This is not a lie; Empress Dowager Dong did indeed want Liu Xie to marry Dong Bai.

Dong Zhuo had previously attempted to make Dong Bai his empress, but Taishi Ci's crime prevented Dong Bai from doing so, and the attempt failed.

Regardless, the marriage agreement did exist. At the time, Dong Zhuo did ask Zhang Chang to write the marriage contract, which was a formal process involving an elder as the matchmaker.

Now that Zhong Yao has brought out the marriage contract again and is still asking Zhang Chang and Zhang Meng to act as matchmakers, it is difficult for the Dong family to refuse.

Now that Dong Zhuo's brothers and Dong Huang have all passed away, and Dong Bai's parents have also died, Dong Bai has no direct blood relatives.

The Dong clan members do not dare to make decisions for Meiyang Jun, which means that no one can act as Dong Bai's guardian at present—as long as Dong Bai is willing, no one can stop her.

and……

Everyone in the entire capital city approved of this marriage.

The Dong Zhuo family and his remaining forces were even more eager for Dong Bai to marry Liu Xie on the spot...

Even Dong Bai himself wouldn't refuse—this was indeed Dong Zhuo's intention, and Dong Bai had already seen Liu Xie's portrait before.

Only Jia Xu's mind was buzzing.

Jia Xu knew very well that Liu Bei would never allow Liu Xie to marry Dong Bai.

Moreover, Zhong Yao was sent as an envoy—this must have been Cao Cao's intention.

During this time, Jia Xu still hadn't received any news from Qingzhou, but news from Youzhou kept pouring in from Shanxian County.

News of the Han dynasty's great victory in its campaign against the Hu barbarians, the establishment of Yizhou on the Korean Peninsula, and the restoration of the four Han commanderies were all received.

But there is no news from south of the Yellow River... Only Cao Cao can accomplish this task at present.

Recalling Zhuge Liang on the throne, and then thinking of Cao Cao's recent funeral for Empress Dowager Dong... Jia Xu realized that this was troublesome. Either Liu Xie had fallen into Cao Cao's hands, or Cao Cao was using this as a pretext to plot against Dong Zhuo's remaining forces.

But now Jia Xu is completely powerless to stop this marriage that everyone agrees on.

Most importantly, apart from Jia Xu, everyone currently believes that Cao Cao and Liu Bei are in cahoots.

Cao Cao had been acting according to Liu Bei's instructions.

At present, Cao Cao has not openly shown any intention to rebel. In the eyes of the people, Liu Bei and Cao Cao are even considered to be of the same faction. Cao Cao's policies are all similar to those in Qingzhou. He is copying the homework, only using a simplified version due to the different political environment.

However, Jia Xu could not conclude that Cao Cao had rebelled based on this—no one rebelled. Even if Liu Xie fell into Cao Cao's hands, Cao Cao was still working for the Han Dynasty.

Jia Xu could only approach Li Ru privately and ask, "Wenyou, are you also planning to arrange a marriage for Meiyang Jun? According to the law, Meiyang Jun should be observing mourning for his parents right now."

"...What do you mean by this, Lord Wenhe? General Wei also said that our lord could be made empress. Does Lord Wenhe have any other objection?"

Li Ru asked thoughtfully in return.

For Dong Zhuo's retainers and his remaining forces, marrying Dong Bai to Liu Xie was the way that best served their interests.

Mourning is very important to scholars, but not so important to Dong Bai, who has no intention of becoming an official.

"Jia dared not object, but Jia did not receive an order from the imperial envoy. This matter concerns the emperor's marriage, and at least an official matchmaker from the imperial court must be present."

Jia Xu couldn't stop it; he just wanted to delay the matter as much as possible: "Besides, Lord Meiyang has no parents' consent and no teachers to witness it. If the marriage is rushed, it will be detrimental to him."

"...Could this not be Lord Xuande's intention?"

Li Ru frowned. His reactions were always excellent, and he understood Jia Xu's implication: "But Zhong Yuanchang and Zhang Wenshu certainly wouldn't dare to impersonate the emperor... Could it be that Cao Mengde and Xuande Gong have a falling out?"

"If a conflict arises... what will you do?"

Jia Xu asked again.

“…Ru is the head of Meiyang’s household. This matter depends on Meiyang’s decision. Ru is following the orders of the head of the household…” Li Ru looked at Jia Xu calmly: “Lord Wenhe, Meiyang knows that he cannot lead the army, so he can only protect the Dong family relatives in this way… Meiyang is also ambitious.”

Indeed, although Dong Bai is willful, capricious, and has a bad temper, she is truly responsible, as Jia Xu knows.

“Wenyou, do you know that Cao Mengde also has a daughter, who is about the same age as the emperor?”

Jia Xu sighed. He could understand Li Ru, Dong Bai, and the remaining generals of Dong Zhuo's army, so he only spoke about the situation on Cao Cao's side.

This was definitely Cao Cao's idea, but Cao Cao himself had a daughter. Since he wanted to arrange a marriage for the emperor, why didn't Cao Cao just marry his daughter off directly?
Besides... if Liu Xie fell into Cao Cao's hands, who could become empress?
"...Lord Wenhe, the emperor cannot have only one concubine."

Li Ru understood Jia Xu's meaning again, but he shook his head.

Clearly, even if Dong Bai is not made empress, but merely a concubine, it is still the best option at present.

"Very well... Wenyou, send this letter to Meiyang-kun and let Meiyang-kun decide his own wishes."

Jia Xu had no other choice but to have Li Ru deliver a message to Dong Bai: "You can read this."

Li Ru shook his head, didn't read the letter, and sent it directly to Dong Bai.

The letter stated that Liu Xie's birth mother, Consort Wang, had been poisoned by Empress He, and nothing else.

……

……

Meanwhile, Liu Bei led his troops to Dongjun and arrived in Puyang.

Forward Zhang Fei has arrived at Baima.

Contrary to Liu Bei's expectations, along the way, apart from the previous proclamation, he heard no other comments and encountered no obstacles.

Cao Cao did not send troops, nor did he continue to wage a propaganda war.

Li Qian's troops, originally stationed in places like Lihu, have also disappeared, clearly indicating that they intentionally avoided Liu Bei's main force.

Liu Bei and Zhao Yun were guarding the central imperial carriage. Inside the carriage, Zhuge Liang hesitated before asking Liu Bei, "Master, is His Majesty in Yingchuan?"

Now that the troops have already been dispatched and Cao Cao's proclamation has been sent to Qingzhou, it's impossible to keep it from Zhuge Liang.

"How can one have such wild thoughts while serving in the military?"

Liu Bei shook his head at Zhuge Liang: "You are His Majesty, and His Majesty is you."

Zhuge Liang appeared uneasy, but he remained silent.

He also knew that if others heard these words, it would definitely damage morale.

In fact, Liu Bei was becoming increasingly uneasy.

But this unease wasn't because Liu Xie had fallen into Cao Cao's hands, but because Cao Cao hadn't shown any reaction.

The proclamation had already been issued, so Cao Cao should have prevented Liu Bei from "sending the emperor back to the old capital".

The lack of obstacles along the way actually made people uneasy.

"Prime Minister, General Zhang has sent a military report. There are Hu bandits blocking the way in the Baima area. They are all Xiongnu. General Zhang said that he has defeated the enemy in one battle and the Hu bandits are fleeing."

Zhao Yun arrived with military intelligence: "Scouts from various units have also reported that there is no trace of Han troops within a radius of fifty li."

At least they encountered an obstacle: Liu Bei knew that Cao Cao had incorporated the Xiongnu people into his army.

But... having the Xiongnu obstruct him is actually disadvantageous for Cao Cao...

Liu Bei had just destroyed the Wuhuan and restored the four Han commanderies in Yizhou. This news spread far and wide. Even though Cao Cao blocked the routes through Henan, at least the two provinces of Yan and Yu were able to receive the news.

Guan Yu destroyed the Xiongnu royal court, so the Xiongnu people must have deeply hated Guan Yu, and they would also hate Liu Bei as a result. Using the Xiongnu people to block Liu Bei is a normal military strategy.

But right now, Cao Cao and Liu Bei are facing a struggle for legitimacy—a struggle over 'who represents the true emperor'.

Cao Cao accused Liu Bei of having someone impersonate the emperor to deceive the world, which he considered a heinous crime of deceiving the emperor and committing treason.

Liu Bei then said that Cao Cao was spreading rumors and harboring rebellious intentions, and warned him to be careful of being beaten...

This is an internal conflict, or even a factional struggle.

Regardless of who is telling the truth and who is lying, this is an internal matter of the Han Dynasty. It's like brothers fighting over inheritance. If they both claim that the will in the other's possession is fake, it's normal for them to fight each other.

But in any case, this has nothing to do with outsiders. Anyone who instigates outsiders to beat up their own brother is making a big mistake.

If Cao Cao used the Xiongnu to obstruct Liu Bei, which would be tantamount to obstructing the emperor's carriage, the scholars would harbor resentment.

How can factional strife involve people from other ethnic groups?
Just like when Liu Bei was killing the Hu people in the north, Cao Cao did not stab him in the back, and even Yuan Shu did not cause trouble in Xuzhou, because stabbing someone in the back at that time would have greatly lost the hearts of the people, and all the subordinates would have felt that it was not a fair thing to do.

The vast majority of Cao Cao's troops were still Han soldiers; did he no longer care about the morale of the Han army?
Moreover, were the Xiongnu people really that weak?

Or rather... how could Cao Cao's military strategy be so weak that he could be defeated by Zhang Fei in one fell swoop?

Liu Bei felt even more uneasy and turned to enter the central command tent.

Xu Shu, Guo Jia, and Xun You were all in the main tent.

They were all from Yingchuan and familiar with the area, so of course they had to accompany the military as counselors.

This time, however, no one could guess what Cao Cao was doing, because Cao Cao seemed to have done nothing at all...

Is this a plan to attack the rear?

There's no need for that. Besides, with Zhang He staying in Qingzhou and Tian Yu in charge of logistics, the people of Qingzhou are stable, and it's already difficult for outsiders to cause trouble. It's not that easy for anything to go wrong.

Chen Deng, Guo Yuan, Zhuge Xuan and others were coordinating grain supplies to support the famine in the north. The garrison troops and able-bodied men were organized, and these men were actually capable of fighting.

Meanwhile, the Xuzhou direction is taking an offensive stance. Zang Ba and Sun Guan have already entered Xiaopei, but there is no military intelligence report yet.

Xu Shu suggested, "Something unusual must be going on. Prime Minister, perhaps we should station troops to investigate and wait for news from all the departments before continuing our westward advance."

"Jia thinks we should move forward quickly... Perhaps Cao Cao is deliberately creating a diversion to make the Prime Minister hesitate?"

Guo Jia disagreed, saying, "The scouts have not found any troops within a fifty-mile radius. If we do not advance, we will only waste our supplies. It would be better to send an army directly south from Yanzhou to startle the enemy and force them to act."

Before the group could finish their discussion, a fast horse galloped into the camp: "Urgent report!!"

That was Zhao Lei, a subordinate of Guan Yu.

Zhao Lei looked extremely exhausted. He leaped off his horse and rushed into the tent, urgently saying, "General Guan has encountered Cao Cao's army at Baima! Cao Cao's 50,000 troops have captured Liyang and are besieging General Guan at Baima Ferry on the north bank of the Yellow River! General Guan claims that Ji Province is undefended and is unwilling to retreat... The situation is critical!"

Across from Baima Ferry is Liyang, where Cao Cao previously stationed his troops to deal with the Southern Xiongnu. Cao Cao has already occupied the counties of Hanoi, and prominent gentry such as Sima Fang and Zhao Zi have also defected to Cao Cao.

Now, everyone in the tent realized Cao Cao's intentions...

Cao Cao did not engage in direct military confrontation; he was not even south of the Yellow River.

Guan Yu could cross the river at Baimadu, but if he withdrew, no one in the entire Ji Province could stop Cao Cao. Therefore, Guan Yu held firm and refused to withdraw his troops.

"Zhang Yan...didn't the Black Mountain Army send reinforcements to Guan Yu?"

Liu Bei's face darkened.

The Hanoi region, along with the Southern Xiongnu, had been incorporated into Cao Cao's forces, so it's normal that no one on Liu Bei's side discovered the movement of Cao Cao's army.

However, Heishan is near Liyang, and Chaoge has been occupied by Zhang Yan, who is likely cooperating with Cao Cao... Only if the Heishan army cooperates with Cao Cao can they deceive Guan Yu's scouts!
(End of this chapter)