I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 220 Xu Shu: I'm willing!

Chen Yu and Liu Miao discussed this matter.

Wang Lang and Liu Miao had spoken.

Even on his deathbed, Liu Biao spoke with Liu Miao—

"What exactly do you want to do?"

To restore the Han Dynasty?

If we only consider restoring the Han Dynasty, no one was more sincere than Liu Bei; even Liu Miao himself admitted he couldn't compare. However, Liu Bei ultimately cannot be considered a winner.

Completely eliminate the powerful and wealthy? Wipe out the aristocratic families?
In this matter, no one was more determined than Zhang Jiao, the Great Teacher who was revered by thousands and had millions of followers exerting their influence in eight provinces at the same time.

But Zhang Jiao undoubtedly failed.

There are only two remaining options.

Or, like Yuan Shao, they might ally themselves with powerful families, becoming one with them.

Alternatively, one could follow Cao Cao's example and suppress them slightly, using clans and commoners as a check and balance.

The former couldn't even get past the Battle of Guandu.

The latter, despite having a foundation built over several decades, ultimately fell to the Jin dynasty after the fall of the Three Kingdoms and the subsequent chaos of the Five Barbarian Tribes.

Several roads were blocked, and none of them led to a safe distance.

Therefore, Liu Miao should follow the example of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang and Emperor Shizu Liu Xiu, and find a path that can satisfy most people and unite most people.

Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang made a three-point agreement with the elders of Guanzhong, promising that the Chinese people, who had endured hundreds of years of war, would enter a period of peace.

Emperor Liu Xiu, taking the Luo River as his oath and benevolence and righteousness as his foundation, re-established moral principles in the chaotic world of Wang Mang's rebellion, which had led to the collapse of morality, and stabilized the faith and mindset of the scholar-officials who were on the verge of bankruptcy.

Now, Liu Miao has come to the conclusion that "those who till the land should have their land, those who labor should have their wages, and the elderly should have their care."

Ordinary people whose land has been seized are unable to recover and rebuild their lives.

Scholars from humble backgrounds who were unable to enter officialdom due to the monopolization of upward mobility channels.

Over the past two hundred years since the Later Han Dynasty, these two groups of people have probably been the most mistreated, and at the same time, they are the main force now most eager to change the world.

The final "elderly care" is, on the one hand, to continue the Han Dynasty's moral policy of governing the country with loyalty and filial piety, to prevent a sudden and precipitous decline in moral integrity as seen in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and to maintain order as much as possible; on the other hand, it is to win the support of the original "three elders".

The replacement of the three elders with the three chiefs is inevitable.

But we can't let these elderly people fall from grace overnight and become victims of bullying.

Therefore, appropriate compensation and support from the government is actually quite necessary.

Moreover, regardless of the circumstances, the government has an obligation to promote and uphold the most basic moral standard of "respecting the elderly and caring for the young."

By uniting these three types of people around him, Liu Miao had hope of victory and the determination to defeat the enemy!
……

Liu Miao's voice was extremely loud.

Below the platform, people soon heard about the three things Liu Miao had agreed upon with the elders of Jingzhou.

These three things were passed down by word of mouth and soon reached the ears of all the scholars and common people in the area.

Born into poverty and forced to flee to Jingzhou, Shi Tao murmured, "The tiller owns the land..."

Xu Shu, who had once broken the law and was still not accepted by the scholars of Jingzhou after changing his name, murmured, "Those who labor should be rewarded..."

Born into a prominent family, whose father was Cui Jun, the Grand Commandant Cui Lie who was killed by the rebel army of Li Jue and Guo Si, bowed his head and said, "The old man has been cared for..."

Upon hearing these three sentences, Meng Jian sighed deeply: "General Liu, what a General Liu!"

"From this day forward, the world of the Han Dynasty is truly about to change!"

After uttering those three sentences, Liu Miao was destined to never compromise with those powerful and influential families again.

Just like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's cry in Dazexiang, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?", as long as the Later Han dynasty, which had been dominated by powerful families for two hundred years, is not completely destroyed, there will be no peace in the world!
Because what Liu Miao shouted was just too captivating!

At least Meng Jian realized that his three close friends were definitely interested!
Of the four people in total, three were included in Liu Miao's promise...

Such appeal is truly terrifying!
They were merely scholars.

At this moment, the people of Jingzhou in the surrounding area were even more restless!

The restless atmosphere could ignite at any moment!

Everyone knows what Emperor Gaozu's Three Laws were.

As everyone knows, what was Emperor Shizu's oath at the Luo River?

Everyone knows better what it means for farmers to own their land, for laborers to reap their rewards, and for the elderly to be cared for!
"Long live Lord Liu!!!"

"Long live General Liu Biao!!"

"Long live our lord!!!"

"His Majesty……"

Um!?????

Xu Shu and the others looked around in alarm, but found that Liu Miao's previous arrangements were still in place, with a large number of soldiers maintaining order, so the situation had not completely collapsed.

However, the group quickly left the area, fearing that they might be drawn into the already frenzied crowd and something unexpected might happen.

Xu Shu had been a wandering knight-errant in his youth and was quite strong, so he managed to carve out a path for himself.

"Whoo~~~"

Xu Shu, disheveled, straightened his clothes: "It's only right that Kongming should see this scene too!"

"Yes, it would be a lifelong regret to miss such a momentous event!"

"..."

After some sighs and complaints about the commotion caused by Liu Miao, the group gradually fell silent.

Now that things had come to this, everyone knew it was time to make things clear. Xu Shu was the most straightforward: "I want to go and join Liu Biaoji."

“I have committed crimes, and few lords in the world can tolerate me. But Liu Biaoqi may be the one who can accept me.”

Shi Tao: "I came to Jingzhou from Yingchuan, just like those other refugees, out of necessity. Now that General Liu wants to redistribute the land, why should I leave?"

Cui Jun remained silent the longest, and only slowly spoke after a long while:
“My father, Cui Lie, was a man of great reputation.”

"But back then, because of Emperor Ling's 'selling official positions and titles,' he spent five million coins to buy the position of Minister of Works, which damaged his reputation and made him a laughing stock."

When Cui Jun mentioned Cui Lie, he felt a pang of sadness.

"In fact, with his father's reputation and wealth, he could have lived out his days in dignity. However, the position of one of the Three Dukes was a threshold. If he could not cross it, not only would he regret it for the rest of his life, but his reputation would also be far inferior to that of famous scholars like Chen Qiu and Chen Fan."

"I never imagined that becoming one of the Three Dukes would backfire so badly... If there hadn't been the selling of official positions and the competition for fame back then, Father probably wouldn't have ended up like this, right?"

Cui Jun thought for a moment and said, "I am quite interested in what General Liu said."

"Previously, it was because powerful families like Kuai and Cai in Jingzhou controlled access to government and political affairs that I was unable to enter officialdom... But now that the opportunity has arrived, why should I let it slip by?"

Seeing the three of them looking at him, Meng Jian said helplessly, "Since the three of you have all served under Liu Biaoji, how could I be left out?"

The other three cheered when they heard that Meng Jian was also willing to join Liu Miao!
However, Xu Shu suddenly thought, "What about Kongming?"

"Then of course you'll come with us!"

"not necessarily."

Cui Jun readily admitted, "Among us, Kongming is the youngest, but his talent is the most outstanding. Sometimes, Kongming can always see the answer to things that we can't even imagine."

Whether he is willing to pledge allegiance to Liu Biaoji depends on his own intentions.

"What's the big deal? Why don't you just go ask? What are you doing standing here?"

"Yuanzhi is right! We shouldn't delay! Let's go ask Kongming right away!"

------

On the high platform.

Even Jia Xu, who had always stayed by Liu Miao's side with an expression that had hardly changed, changed his expression when Liu Miao announced the three rules.

Looking at Liu Miao again, Jia Xu's eyes held a hint of something indescribable.

The other elderly men stood there, bewildered and confused.

Some even voiced their confusion: "Isn't General Liu Biaoji here to kill us today?"

"what?"

Liu Miao pretended to be stupid.

"Who said they wanted to kill you? I've never heard of such a thing."

These elderly men were all filled with the joy of surviving a catastrophe: "Deaf and blind, deaf and blind~"

They claimed to be deaf and blind, but when the maids on the high platform used carved bronze bowls with white jade handles to add honey-soaked rock candy and mix lotus root slices for these old men, their eyes were fixed on the maids' backsides...

Jia Xu then guessed why Liu Miao had kept it a secret.

If these elders are appeased too early, they might take advantage of their age and act arrogantly, thinking that Liu Miao is afraid of their status as elders.

Let the rumors spread for a few days, terrify them, and then appease them; the effect will undoubtedly be much better than the former.

"General Liu, you have a good eye for people's hearts. No wonder you were able to find those people and establish a three-point agreement with the common people."

When Jia Xu looked at Liu Miao again, he found that Liu Miao had already walked into the crowd and was drinking with a group of elderly people.

"May I ask your age, sir?"

Eighty-one!

"Then he must have been born during the early Yuan Dynasty."

"Exactly!"

An elderly man said mysteriously, "I've even met Zhang Daoling!"

"Oh?"

Liu Miao's eyes widened: "What does he look like? Is he ethereal and otherworldly? Does he possess a golden core? And can he unleash palm lightning?"

"What nonsense! He's just a rough old man!"

"He really can't fly?"

"Well... it's hard to say!"

"..."

Jia Xu looked at Liu Miao with a puzzled expression, clearly not understanding why Liu Miao could chat so much nonsense with these people.

However, as Jia Xu watched, he noticed that Liu Miao could chat idly with everyone, and the confusion in Jia Xu's eyes gradually disappeared.

Especially when Jia Xu saw that Liu Miao was actually arguing with one of the old men about whether an old man should marry a young wife, his initial confusion completely turned into admiration.

"To be able to spout nonsense like this about Liu Biaoqi is probably a rare talent in the world..."

At this moment, someone offered Liu Miao a toast, and Liu Miao first frowned: "I said before that I would quit drinking."

However, seeing that the other party was somewhat embarrassed, Liu Miao directly raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp: "Please, elder, I dare not refuse!"

The crowd cheered again, and Liu Miao laughed loudly: "Today, I'll make an exception and drink with my fellow villagers until we're drunk!"

"Haha! Great!!! Let's drink until we drop!"

------

Thank you to "Pei Yuanqing Thirteen Years Old" for the generous donation! Thank you! I'll add an extra chapter for you tomorrow!!!

(End of this chapter)