I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 173 The Feast at Hongmen, but Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei...
Liu Miao emerged from the palace, and Zhou Yu and the others, having finished cleaning up the various areas, gradually joined him, bringing some other people with them.

"My lord, these are Yuan Shu's cousin Yuan Yin and eldest son Yuan Yao."

Liu Miao looked at the two men, who were trembling, and stepped forward to help them up: "You and I are related by blood and marriage. If you are willing, come back to Jiangdong with me. If you are not willing..."

"Reporting to General Liu, we are willing!"

When Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, the world was vast, yet there was nowhere left for them to go.

Now that Liu Miao is willing to take them in, how could they possibly refuse?
At this moment, Zhou Tai also came from the inner palace and approached Liu Miao mysteriously: "My lord! Should we send Yuan Shu's more than three hundred concubines to Jinling?"

Liu Miao's eyes widened: "How much? Three hundred???"

Zhou Tai was taken aback, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Actually, there are more than three hundred and forty..."

"..."

Liu Miao rolled his eyes at Zhou Tai.

Send them all back?
Wouldn't the Yuan family risk their lives for him?

"Keep them; they can be distributed as rewards to the soldiers after the war."

Chen Wu also returned from another direction; he went to Yuan Shu's treasury.

When Zhou Tai saw Chen Wu return empty-handed, he immediately cursed, "Zilie! How can you be so unethical? I only embezzled a few dozen women, but how could you embezzle all of Yuan Shu's property?!"

Chen Wu handed over the accounts of Yuan Shu's treasury: "My lord, there is indeed no surplus left in Yuan Shu's treasury."

Upon closer inspection, Liu Miao discovered that Yuan Shu had just given away the last of his treasury's contents to the soldiers guarding the city a few days earlier.

Liu Miao also shook his head: "General Hou, you only learn the generosity of wandering knights, but not their benevolence."

"At the very least, you could learn some Robin Hood-like philanthropy or how to uphold justice, right? What's the point of only learning the basics?"

Liu Miao tossed the accounts back to Chen Wu: "Guard the city gates and don't let them take the money out."

“In the future, the development of Huainan will require a lot of money. They will all have to pay back this money.”

Liu Miao then summoned Lu Su, and this time the generals' eyes clearly lit up.

The war is over, and next comes the much-anticipated rewards!
With the gradual improvement of the Fubing system, this reward will undoubtedly solidify the order in Jiangdong!

As expected, Liu Miao immediately instructed Lu Su: "Quickly tally the merits of this battle and reward the entire army."

"While Cao Cao is right across the street, let's resolve everyone's organizational issues so that he won't deny it later!"

Liu Miao knew that Cao Cao was definitely on guard against him!
If we don't take advantage of the current opportunity of having just pacified Yuan Shu to control Cao Cao and try to meet our needs, who knows if Cao Cao will keep causing trouble and blackmailing us in the future?
It's foolish not to take advantage of a good deal. If Liu Miao doesn't use up all of Cao Cao's seal ink this time, he's not a Liu!
Fortunately, a plan had been prepared before the rewards and honors were conferred, and in accordance with the military system, a list was quickly compiled:
Zhou Yu was appointed General Fubo.

Zhang Zhao was appointed General Who Assists the Han Dynasty.

Taishi Ci was appointed General of the Garrison.

Together with Lu Kang as the Loyal and Righteous General and Sun Ce as the General Who Subdues the Barbarians who succeeded Sun Jian, these were the five generals who would be given the title of General under the Fubing system.

After that, there were ten Lieutenant Generals: Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Zhu Zhi, Jiang Qin, Huang Zhong, Xu Huang, Wu Jing, Zhu Huan, and Yan Baihu.

Although the generals commanded the lieutenant generals, they checked and balanced each other.

For example, the two generals under Sun Ce's command were Jiang Qin and Huang Zhong, who were not originally subordinates of Sun Jian.

Furthermore, since Zhang Zhao and Lu Kang were different from the other three in that they did not often lead troops into battle, the four generals assigned to them were Cheng Pu, Zhu Zhi, Zhu Huan, and Yan Baihu. This made the four generals stand out and also helped to appease these four generals with their special status.

Under the command of the ten lieutenant generals, there were also dozens of captains.

Among them are special cases such as Zhou Tai and Chen Wu. The rest of the captains will be in charge of the local militia in various prefectures, and will thoroughly improve the entire militia system.

Thus, the military system of the Fubing (府兵) was completely established through this conferment of titles and rewards, with five generals as the core, ten lieutenant generals as the backbone, dozens of colonels as the main body, and dozens of military prefectures as the foundation.

From then on, the term "Sun Jian's old subordinates" no longer existed in Jiangdong to distinguish soldiers. The entire Jiangdong army would operate quietly under a completely new system, and there would be no longer any need to worry about old subordinates being summoned to rebel like Sun Ben and Sun Fu did.

Lu Su excitedly took the long letter of reward and crossed the river to find Cao Cao, but soon returned looking dejected.

"What? Cao Cao refuses to give it to us?"

"That's not it."

Lu Su said with some concern, "Cao Cao wants to invite our lord to a banquet on the north bank under the pretext of celebrating victory."

Going to a banquet?

Perhaps it was the Liu family bloodline acting up, for Liu Miao immediately frowned: "A trap?"

Now that the entire area south of the Huai River has completely fallen into Liu Miao's hands, Cao Cao can't help but be envious.

Cao Cao probably wouldn't have the guts to kill him.

It cannot be ruled out that Cao Cao might have directly kidnapped him and taken him to Xuchang, so that he could watch Yangzhou descend into chaos and ensure the safety of his own rear.

"Don't go!"

Liu Miao ignored Cao Cao.

"I'd rather die than go! Zijing told him to get the imperial edict stamped right away and then get the hell out of here! Don't linger north of the Huai River!"

Lu Su hesitated for a long time before making his move.

"My lord, today when I went to Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao told me something else." "What is it?"

Lu Su remained silent.

Seeing this, Liu Miao knew that Cao Cao and Lu Su must have been talking about something important, so he dismissed his men and asked, "Zijing, what exactly did Cao Cao say to you today?"

"My lord should know that Cao Cao intends to attack Zhang Xiu in Nanyang."

"I know! Zhang Xiu is in Nanyang, and he could cause trouble for Cao Cao at any time. How could Cao Cao not be worried?"

Lu Su then asked, "Does my lord remember the strategy we discussed on the couch in Shu County?"

"I will never forget Zijing's strategy."

Lu Su's eyes were unfathomable: "Now that our lord has pacified Yangzhou, what should we do next?"

"What to do, of course it's..."

Liu Miao immediately realized what was going on!

"That old bastard Cao Cao wants me to attack Jingzhou?"

"Indeed! This is what Cao Cao spoke to me about in the camp today."

Lu Su analyzed Cao Cao's motives: "Cao Cao is about to attack Zhang Xiu in Nanyang, and behind Zhang Xiu is actually Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou."

"His desire to ask the lord to attack Liu Biao was actually to relieve the pressure on himself in his campaign against Zhang Xiu, which would be beneficial to him."

Liu Miao smiled and said, "Mengde, do you want to use me as a pawn?"

"They are used as pawns, but they are actually beneficial to our lord."

Lu Su shared his thoughts with Liu Miao.

"Jingzhou is far too important to Jiangdong. It can be said that whoever controls Jingzhou controls the lifeline of Jiangdong."

"Therefore, no matter what, our lord must seize Jingzhou and gain complete control of the Yangtze River!"

"But Liu Biao is, after all, a relative of our lord, and has always been highly respected. We cannot rashly send troops and invite the scholars of the world to condemn our lord."

Lu Su cupped his hands and said, "Now that Cao Cao has invited you to attack Liu Biao, it may seem like he wants you to hold Liu Biao back, but it might not be a bad thing for you!"

"Now that Cao Cao controls the court, he has the right to act righteously! If we can take this opportunity to get the court to issue a proclamation to punish Liu Biao, then our lord will no longer be burdened by reputation!"

Liu Miao and Liu Biao had absolutely no enmity with each other.

At the same time, Liu Miao could not, like Cao Cao, directly sacrifice an old man to gain a reason to attack Xuzhou.

If Liu Miao were to attack Jingzhou directly, he would inevitably be despised by the world, and people would spontaneously resist him.

Now that Cao Cao has invited Liu Miao to attack Liu Biao, he will certainly lend Liu Miao the pretext of the emperor's authority, giving Liu Miao a basis for attacking Jingzhou.

That's why Lu Su said that this might not be a bad thing for Liu Miao.

After all, everyone witnessed firsthand the difference between wars without a sense of righteousness during the pacification of Wu County, and the disparity between the two was simply outrageous!
At the same time, Lu Su pointed out incisively: "This time, in fact, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"Cao Cao relied on his lord, but he also feared his lord."

"If Cao Cao's current situation weren't so dire, he would never have given our lord an excuse to annex Jingzhou!"

"Once Cao Cao pacifies Zhang Xiu, such an opportunity will probably never come again!"

Liu Miao pinched the bridge of his nose: "So, it seems I have no choice but to attend this banquet?"

Now Liu Miao was also unsure of Cao Cao's intentions.

Was Cao Cao planning to use this opportunity to tie me up and take me to Xuchang, or did he really want to discuss a joint attack on Liu Biao with me?
Or perhaps... both? Was Cao Cao planning to play it by ear?

Even though Liu Miao and Cao Cao are currently getting along relatively well, Liu Miao dares not underestimate this cunning and treacherous hero of the chaotic era for a moment.

This old fellow is far more cunning than Xiang Yu! Without Xiang Bo's help in Cao Cao's camp, if Cao Cao were to harbor malicious intentions, he might truly be doomed!

But Lu Su's words also make some sense.

This may be the only legitimate and reasonable opportunity to attack Jingzhou.

If we miss this opportunity, we may never have another chance to take Jingzhou into our own hands.

Liu Miao hesitated for a long time, while constantly sizing up Zhou Tai and Chen Wu, seemingly trying to determine if the two of them could defeat Dian Wei and Xu Chu...

"correct!"

Liu Miao's eyes suddenly lit up!
If Xiang Bo isn't available, why not just bring a few more Fan Kuais?

Liu Miao immediately summoned Guan Yu, who was somewhat frightened upon seeing Liu Miao: "General Liu, there's really no need to reward us with any more gold and silver!"

After Guan Yu killed Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui in the Battle of Dongyang, Liu Miao not only appointed Guan Yu as General Who Pacifies Bandits and Marquis of Hanshou, but also gave Guan Yu a lot of wealth, so much so that Guan Yu was somewhat afraid, as if he suspected that this was Liu Miao's "buying money" for him, wanting him to stay in Jiangdong permanently.

Fortunately, this time Liu Miao did not give Guan Yu any more rewards, but instead asked Guan Yu—

"I wonder if Xuande and General Zhang Yide would be willing to come to Huainan to celebrate this achievement with me and Cao Mengde?"

　Thank you to reader Hellius for the donation!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)