The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Quliang City.

Both to relieve the starving people and to pray for the child in Lady Gan's womb, Liu Bei, along with Chen Dao and others, personally measured and distributed rice outside the city.

It was extremely rare for the Grand Commandant of the Han Dynasty to personally measure and distribute rice outside the city.

Liu Bei wasn't just putting on a show by distributing rice; he was genuinely taking action, measuring out the rice and comforting the starving people who came to collect it.

From morning till night, it continued for ten consecutive days without interruption.

Perhaps it was truly a blessing from heaven that Liu Bei received an urgent message ten days after the rice was distributed: Lady Gan was about to give birth!

Upon hearing the news, Liu Bei, urged on by his guards and the starving people, hurriedly rode back to his residence. After waiting for half an hour, Liu Bei finally saw his chubby son crying loudly in the arms of the midwife.

Liu Bei is forty-six years old this year. He had a son when he was nearly fifty, and he was so happy that he couldn't help but shed tears.

"Zen! From now on, you will be called Liu Chan."

Liu Bei picked up his chubby son, his tone full of concern and determination.

Unlike the political gimmicks added by later generations of the Fengshan ceremony, Liu Bei named his fat son Chan simply because he hoped that Liu Chan would live a peaceful and safe life in the future.

In his early years, Liu Bei was constantly on the move and lost his family members. Therefore, Liu Bei's greatest hope for Liu Shan was that he would live to adulthood and then live a long life.

Zen is a form of worshiping Heaven; this is Liu Bei praying to Heaven for blessings.

"Grand Commandant, you still need to give him a nickname." The midwife congratulated Liu Bei first, and then reminded him.

During the Han Dynasty, people often chose a formal name first and then a nickname. The formal name often carried a special meaning. For example, when Liu Bei chose "Chan" as his name, he hoped that Liu Chan would live a long life and not die young due to war.

Nicknames, on the other hand, are less particular. They don't strive for elegance and often use simple, everyday characters to make them easy to address and remember.

Just as Liu Bei was deep in thought, a crisp sound of something falling to the ground reached his ears; it was the rice measuring cup.

It turned out that Liu Bei had left in such a hurry that he forgot to leave the rice measure outside the city and instead brought it back to his residence.

This clear sound also opened Liu Bei's mind.

"Let's give him the nickname 'A Dou'," Liu Bei laughed heartily.

Although the nickname "A Dou" was later associated with the celestial phenomenon of Lady Gan dreaming of swallowing the Big Dipper and becoming pregnant, as well as the far-fetched meaning of "foolish" due to the phrase "enjoying life in Shu and forgetting about home," at this time, it was simply an affectionate term of endearment from an old father to his son.

The news of Liu Bei's son's birth spread rapidly to Qing, Ji, You, Bing, Xu, Yong, and Liang regions. For Liu Bei's civil and military officials, this was a joyous occasion to celebrate.

Those civil and military officials who followed Liu Bei in seeking their future were also worried that Liu Bei's legacy would have no successor.

If Liu Bei had no sons and then met with an accident, even if he had the most powerful force in the land, it would have disintegrated after his death.

But things were different when Liu Bei had a son. As long as Liu Bei's son was alive, Liu Bei's foundation would not crumble.

Therefore, after learning the news that Liu Bei had a son, the hearts of all the civil and military officials who had been hanging in suspense were finally put at ease.

Zhuge Liang, who was far away in Guanzhong, was so excited that he immediately wrote a "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops". After he finished writing it, he realized that Liu Shan was still an infant in swaddling clothes. Then, under the astonished gaze of his page Wang Ji, he carefully put away the "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops".

Regardless of how later generations evaluate Liu Shan, in Zhuge Liang's eyes, Liu Shan was a ruler in front of outsiders, but in private, he was like a son to him.

After entrusting his son to Zhuge Liang at Baidi City, Zhuge Liang devoted the rest of his life to Liu Shan, teaching him to read, govern, and employ people. Although Liu Shan was not as decisive and brave as Liu Bei, he truly regarded Zhuge Liang as his "Prime Minister and Father," and his character was impeccable.

Those who slander themselves will be executed after going through the proper procedures, while those who slander Zhuge Liang will be executed directly.

There's even a joke that if Cao Cao had served as prime minister under Liu Shan, he would have only tried to send his most virtuous daughter to Liu Shan, and then become a loyal minister whose name would be remembered in history.

"Now that our lord has an heir, the situation is ripe. If we can just endure for another two years, I can help our lord completely wipe out the Cao traitor." Zhuge Liang's eyes were piercing.

It was difficult to launch a northern expedition from Yizhou to Yongliang; however, Zhuge Liang knew the major and minor roads in great detail when entering Yizhou from Yongliang.

Zhuge Liang knew three narrow paths leading around Yangping Pass, while Cao Cao, despite having conquered Yizhou, was not necessarily more familiar with the routes than Zhuge Liang.

This is an absolute geographical advantage gained in hindsight.

Even the wise Jia Xu and Guo Jia could never have guessed that Zhuge Liang, a man from Xuzhou who had never been to Yizhou, could be so familiar with the geography of Yizhou.

However, as circumstances change, things don't always go smoothly.

After a year of reorganization in Yizhou, Cao Cao also considered leaving Yizhou.

However, Cao Cao did not intend to go through Hanzhong to launch a northern expedition against Yong and Liang, but instead set his sights on Liu Biao in Jingzhou.

Firstly, with Zhuge Liang leading Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, and tens of thousands of elite infantry and cavalry to defend Yongliang, Cao Cao was not confident of victory; secondly, Liu Biao had a blood feud with Sun Quan for killing his father, so if Cao Cao attacked Liu Biao, Sun Quan would certainly not stop him.

And the result was as Cao Cao had predicted.

The hatred for the murder of his father was irreconcilable, and the arrogance that came with his high position made Sun Quan confident that he could use Cao Cao's power to destroy Liu Biao and then counterbalance Cao Cao.

Therefore, when Sun Quan learned that Cao Cao had stationed troops in Baidi City to attack Jingzhou, he not only did not send anyone to stop the war, but also took the opportunity to coerce Liu Biao, asking him to bring himself to Xudu in exchange for his life.

Sun Quan's plan was: Cao Cao would attack Liu Biao, and Liu Biao would surrender to Sun Quan in order to save his life. In this way, not only could he avenge his father, but he could also easily obtain Jingzhou!
However, Sun Quan underestimated Liu Biao's pride as a scholar.

Liu Biao, who had ruled Jingzhou for nearly twenty years and was ranked among the Eight Worthies, was looked down upon even by Yuan Shu, let alone the son of one of Yuan Shu's generals.

Even though Sun Quan is now a general, in Liu Biao's eyes he is like a monkey wearing a crown, someone of low birth who cannot be brought to the table.

Liu Biao chose to die in battle rather than surrender to Sun Quan.

Liu Biao directly killed the envoy sent by Sun Quan, and then adopted Kuai Yue's plan, sending Wen Ping to send the families of Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Xu Shu and others to Chen Deng in Xuzhou in exchange for Liu Bei sending troops.

Kuai Yue's plan not only broadened Liu Biao's path but also broadened the path of the Kuai family.

The journey from Jingzhou to Hebei was long and fraught with danger, and Zhuge Liang and others were busy stabilizing the counties, so they were unable to spare the time to bring their families to Hebei.

Therefore, everyone's families remained in Jingzhou under Liu Biao's protection.

Dissatisfied with Sun Quan's attitude, Liu Biao specially dispatched General Wen Ping to escort everyone's families, and also asked Chen Yu and Chen Deng to send troops to meet them in advance, ensuring that everyone's families were safely delivered to Xuzhou. This was undoubtedly a great favor to Zhuge Liang and others.

Furthermore, Zhuge Liang and Liu Biao were related by blood, and Liu Bei was a relative of Liu Biao. If Liu Biao was in trouble, neither Zhuge Liang nor Liu Bei could sit idly by.

Upon receiving Chen Deng's urgent message, Liu Bei was immediately enraged: "That brat Sun Quan is trying to negotiate with a tiger! He actually dares to dream of using Cao Cao's power to destroy Liu Zhennan! How can I sit idly by and watch him do this!" (End of Chapter)