I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 144 Yuan Shu Declares Himself Emperor!

Liu Miao was clear about the difference between public and private matters: "If Brother Han needs grain for personal reasons, I, Liu Miao, will not hesitate to do so. Even if it means selling everything I own and emptying my heart, I will still find a portion of grain to give to my brother."

“But now Brother Han wants me to save Huainan and General Hou… Brother Han, if this grain is truly meant to save the people, then I will save them. But tell me, no matter how rich Jiangdong is now, can it be richer than Nanyang was back then? I hope Brother Han will not make things difficult for me.”

Liu Miao took Han Yin back to his residence and served him dishes such as pickled delicacies, stewed delicacies, and liver, and cut the fattest parts onto Han Yin's plate.

Han Yin was angry, but he also knew that it wasn't all Liu Miao's fault, so he could only eat the food on his plate while he was still angry.

"Zhongshan, then tell me, how should we change this current predicament?"

Liu Miao replied, "Naturally, it is the General of the Rear who should take the initiative to make the change."

"What changes?"

"Follow the will of Heaven!"

Follow the way of Heaven, diligently cultivate virtue, cherish the people, and live a simple life.

Given Yuan Shu's background and the current chaotic world, as long as Yuan Shu is truly willing to change, there is still hope.

Unfortunately, Han Yin had clearly misunderstood the situation.

"Following the will of Heaven... I see."

"..."

Han Yin originally intended to take some food and supplies with him, insisting on bringing some grain back to Yuan Shu before leaving. However, Liu Miao pointed directly to his hand and said, "There is really no food! If the General is truly at the point of starvation, then cut off my hand and feed it to the General!"

"Zhongshan! Aren't you being a pervert? Sigh! You... sigh!"

Han Yin ultimately failed to take a single grain of food from Jiangdong and returned to Huainan empty-handed once again.

"No food?"

"No food."

When Han Yin heard Yuan Shu's question, he immediately looked embarrassed.

Yuan Shu was even thinner than before, and there were signs of swelling around his eyes.

Upon hearing that Liu Miao had not yet sent him grain from Jiangdong, he immediately flew into a rage!
"Liu Miao! I was the one who appointed him Governor of Yangzhou! Now that he has seized Jiangdong, has he forgotten his former master? Does he really want me to lead a large army to attack Jiangdong before he will supply us with provisions?"

"..."

Although Han Yin also had some reservations about Liu Miao's refusal to provide him with food, he still spoke up for Liu Miao at this moment: "General, the court has now officially issued an edict appointing Zhong Shan as the governor of Yangzhou. I'm afraid we cannot send troops to attack Jiangdong because of this."

Yuan Shu laughed angrily: "Exactly! That traitor Dong Zhuo installed as a false emperor even appointed him as General of the Vanguard! Now that he's got wings, no one can control him!"

"General Hou, that's not how it is."

Han Yin then took the initiative to analyze Liu Miao's thoughts for Yuan Shu.

“In the past, Zhongshan was the General Who Conquers the East, while you were the General of the Rear. Your rank was higher than his, so he naturally submitted to you. But now the Emperor has appointed him as the General of the Vanguard, to the same rank as you… Under such circumstances, how can he continue to be loyal to you?”

"Moreover, Zhongshan kept gesturing to me before I arrived, telling me to tell you that you must follow the will of Heaven..."

Heaven?

What is the Way of Heaven?

If you receive orders from Heaven, you will live a long and prosperous life!
Yuan Shu's initial anger gradually dissipated, and he instead focused his attention on the phrase "following the will of Heaven."

"Has it come to this point already?"

Yuan Shu's ambitions are now unbridled, and more importantly, as Han Yin said, as the court arbitrarily elevates the ranks and official positions of the princes, even bandits like Yang Feng and Han Xian can be appointed as Grand Marshal and General-in-Chief. Yuan Shu's current position of "General of the Rear" is clearly becoming increasingly insignificant.

Even the influence brought by the reputation of the "Yuan family of Runan" was half taken by Yuan Shao, and could not be fully returned to Yuan Shu.

In addition, the defeat at the Battle of Kuangting was so devastating that Cao Cao chased him all the way from Nanyang to Huainan, which greatly diminished Yuan Shu's prestige.

Yuan Shu's reputation, on which he relied for survival, has been crumbling one after another.

Liu Miao's refusal to supply Yuan Shu with grain became the final straw that broke Yuan Shu's back.

Yuan Shu's thirst for fame has now reached the point where he has no choice but to drink.

Even if it was like drinking poison to quench thirst, Yuan Shu had no choice but to drink it!
Moreover, Yuan Shu found the poison more palatable than honey water, so what was there to fear?

October of the first year of Jian'an.

Zhang Jiong, a native of Hanoi, showed Yuan Shu omens that foreshadowed the mandate of heaven for an emperor. He also advised Yuan Shu to declare himself emperor, arguing that Yuan's surname originated from Chen, which was descended from Shun, and that Chen was associated with earth and fire, and that Yuan should follow the mandate of heaven.

Yuan Shu readily accepted the good advice and declared himself emperor in Shouchun, establishing the Zhong dynasty. He appointed officials and ministers, built shrines in the northern and southern suburbs, appointed the governor of Jiujiang as the governor of Huainan, and extensively appointed officials and ministers. He built altars in the south and north of the city where the emperor used to worship the Heavenly Emperor, and worshipped Heaven and Earth. He replaced Liu with Yuan and Zhong with Han!

The news shocked the world!
Although as early as the fourth year of the Zhongping era, Zhang Ju, a man from Youzhou, proclaimed himself emperor and claimed that he would replace the Han dynasty, Zhang Ju was, after all, just a general guarding the border. Even though he had 100,000 troops, he did not cause much of a stir in the Central Plains.

Yuan Shu is different!
The Yuan family of Runan! Four generations of three dukes!
Even today, some scholars still praise the righteous act of the Yuan brothers' alliance of warlords against Dong Zhuo, believing they were upholding the Han Dynasty. But now… Yuan Shu, who has always been seen as a model of loyalty to the Han Dynasty and a leader of the scholar class, has actually declared himself emperor?
Centered on Shouchun, this event instantly shook the surrounding areas. Any news of Liu Miao's attack on Jingzhou was swallowed up by this wave before it even emerged, and was completely forgotten.

Liu Miao, who lived across the river from Huainan, naturally received the news immediately.

"Tsk tsk, I expected Yuan Shu to be fast, but I never expected him to be this fast!"

Liu Miao sat opposite Lu Kang, with a half-finished chess game between them.

"Did Zhongshan anticipate this?"

“From the moment I gave him the imperial seal, this moment was destined.”

Liu Miao picked up a chess piece and placed it on the chessboard.

"Five in a row! I won!"

"They weren't playing Go?"

"Who told Lu Zhongyi that they were playing Go?"

"..."

Lu Kang then threw the chess piece back into the chess box in frustration: "I almost forgot, Zhong Shan doesn't even know the rules of Go, how could he possibly play Go with me?"

Liu Miao laughed and picked up the chess pieces from the chessboard, throwing them back into their respective chess boxes.

"What should Zhongshan do?"

"What do you mean?"

Liu Miao felt uneasy under Lu Kang's gaze, so he could only beckon Lu Kang to come with him to the front hall: "Lu Zhongyi will find out soon."

Just as the two sat down, Gu Yong and Lu Su led another person in.

"The envoy from the Zhong family greets the Great General!"

Liu Miao asked with a smile, "What did you call me?"

"It's the general."

The other party presented Liu Miao with an imperial edict made of silk and a gold seal.

The golden seal had four large characters engraved on its front—

General Zhong!

Yuan Shu's envoy proclaimed loudly, "You have rendered outstanding service to His Majesty! His Majesty has specially appointed you as Grand General to serve as his left and right assistants!"

Liu Miao did not step forward to accept the golden seal, but instead asked the other party: "I have heard that Huainan is so poor that even great generals like Chen Lan and Lei Bo chose to become outlaws, and the people often go hungry. Why are you still so extravagant now, using silk to make silk books and gold to make seals?"

The envoy replied, "The Zhong Dynasty has just been established, so naturally we cannot be stingy!"

Liu Miao shook his head: "If you don't even know how to cherish the common people, how can you be qualified to establish a country?"

"Moreover, the Han Dynasty still exists, and the Emperor is still alive. How could the General of the Rear do such a thing?"

"I, Liu Miao, regret that I did not advise General Hou earlier, which led him astray. Now I only wish to use this messenger to express my determination to General Hou."

Yuan Shu's envoy's hair stood on end: "What do you want to borrow?"

"Your head is on your neck."

No sooner had Liu Miao finished speaking than Zhou Tai behind him pounced on him like a hungry tiger, beheading the envoy with a single stroke!

"Throw this imperial edict and the golden seal into the Yangtze River, and then have someone send this head to Yuan Shu."

Now that Yuan Shu has declared himself emperor, what Liu Miao needs to do is to sever ties with Yuan Shu as quickly and decisively as possible!

"Pass down the order to have Zhang Gong write a proclamation denouncing Yuan Shu, as soon as possible."

Liu Miao then sent documents to Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jingzhou respectively.

"Yuan Shu's declaration of himself as emperor has far-reaching implications! We must gather all those with aspirations from across the land to serve the emperor and punish this traitor!"

If Hebei weren't so far away, Liu Miao would have even wanted to write a letter to Yuan Shao as well, inviting him to join forces in attacking Yuan Shu!

Zhang Zhao acted extremely quickly; Liu Miao sent the order and then immediately sent the proclamation, clearly having prepared it in advance!

It is said that the Mandate of Heaven is not constant, but only virtue can guide it; loyalty and righteousness are principled, how can they be tolerated for usurpation? Yuan Shu, you little brat, originally from Runan, claiming to have been a high-ranking official for four generations, but in reality you harbor the nature of a wolf. In the past, when Dong Zhuo brought chaos to the court, the whole world was outraged, yet your father and brothers still knew to uphold integrity and righteousness, but you alone harbored the heart of a tyrant, stealing the imperial seal in Huainan, usurping the imperial title in Shouchun, falsely claiming the title of Zhong, and disgracing the Han Dynasty. This is the first of your crimes!
Your ancestor Yuan An, who remained steadfast in his loyalty through snow, was a pure minister of the Han Dynasty; your father Yuan Feng, a high-ranking official, also understood the importance of loyalty and righteousness. Yet you, having unjustly received the Han's bounty, have turned against your lord. You have levied exorbitant taxes on the Jianghuai region, exploiting the people to enrich your own treasury; you have been tyrannical and cruel, slaughtering the virtuous and good as if cutting weeds. You have left children to carry bones in the wilderness, and the corpses of the old and weak to be exposed in the streets; white bones fill the rivers, yet the music and singing continue—this is your second crime!
He forged imperial edicts and claimed authority, forged imperial seals, and performed sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, transgressing all rites and laws. He was a beast in human clothing, a monkey in a crown; his bones, like withered bones in a tomb, presumptuously stole sacred artifacts. He even built dragon palaces and phoenix gates, emulating the extravagance of Jie and Zhou; he forced the people to mint bronze coins, emulating the tyranny of Qin Shi Huang. As a result, for thousands of miles south of the Huai River, corpses filled the roads; in the fertile fields of the Yangtze and Huai River regions, people resorted to cannibalism—this is his third crime!
The Shogunate, acting on the Emperor's decree, has commanded the six armies to quell the rebellion. Now, leading an army of one hundred thousand, we will hunt down this traitor at Jiujiang. All righteous men should join in slaying this villain: whoever takes his head will be enfeoffed as a marquis of ten thousand households and rewarded with millions in cash; those who capture his henchmen will be rewarded according to their merits. Those who stubbornly follow the rebels will have their lair burned, their ancestral tombs dug up, and the Yuan family's century-old reputation utterly sullied!

In the past, Qin Shi Huang was tyrannical, and his dynasty perished after only two generations; Wang Mang usurped the Han throne and died at Jiantai. Now look at Yuan Shu, his evil deeds have reached their limit, and Heaven has taken his life. When this proclamation arrives, you should lay down your arms and surrender. If you stubbornly resist, I will surely make you all die a bloody death, and your entire clan will be exterminated! Strive! Strive!

From this moment on, the Liu Miao of Jiangdong of the past is dead!
Now here stands the vanguard against Yuan Shikai! A master of anti-tactics! A descendant of the Prince Xiao of Langya, who restored the Han Dynasty, Liu Miao, the Governor of Yangzhou, General of the Vanguard, and Marquis of Wu!
(End of this chapter)