Brother, stop curling up! You're curling up like the founder of the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 137 The Making of the All-Powerful Guan Yu, Liu Bei Gets Even More Amazing (Please Subscribe and Vote)
Cai You exclaimed in shock, "Lord Zhang, not only are we not leaving Liu Bei, but we are also moving all our relatives to Guanzhong. Won't we be unable to control our own affairs in the future?"

"Your life is almost in danger, and you still expect to have control over everything?" Zhang Wen sneered and rebuked, "The matter of deposing and installing emperors may seem to be about deciding who will be the emperor, but in reality, it is about deciding who will be the head of the court."

"Although Dong Zhuo has become Minister of Works, how could the court officials tolerate a mere military man stepping on their heads? If the matter cannot be resolved within the court, it will inevitably escalate into a matter outside the court."

"Liu Bei is right. A great era of chaos is coming. Money that cannot be exchanged for valuable things will become lifeless."

Cai You asked doubtfully, "Even so, there's no need for us to sell our land and houses in Nanyang and move all our relatives to Guanzhong. Guanzhong is now governed by strict laws, and we can't hide our land, houses, or people. Corrupt officials have all been purged. How are we supposed to build up our family fortune?"

"Foolish! You've been with me for so long, how come you still have no sense of right from wrong!" Zhang Wen said with exasperation, "Before the world falls into chaos, as long as no evidence can be found, even if everyone knows we're embezzling and taking bribes, what can they do?"

"Why was Yang Biao able to produce evidence of Wang Fu's embezzlement of tens of millions? Because the Hongnong Yang family knew better than Wang Fu how to embezzle and accept bribes without leaving any evidence. Even if Yang Biao cherished his reputation and did not participate directly, the Hongnong Yang family, which relied on Yang Biao, would have figured out this method clearly."

"But if the world is in chaos, who will care about evidence? It's easy to find out who has money and who has grain. At that time, whoever has troops can directly levy money and grain."

Cai You was still unconvinced: "But why must it be Guanzhong? Why must it be Liu Bei?"

"Foolish!" Zhang Wen lashed Cai You with his whip in anger: "If the world falls into chaos, heroes will surely seize territory and become kings in every prefecture and county. Nanyang is a wealthy place, and countless eyes will be eyeing its wealth. If the wealth remains in Nanyang, it will surely be plundered."

"On the other hand, Guanzhong is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with natural defenses on all sides, and the land is fertile. It is a good place to establish a capital and dominate the country! In the past, Han Sheng advised Xiang Yu to stay in Guanzhong, but Xiang Yu said that it was like wearing brocade at night if he did not return home after being rich and honored. Han Sheng then thought that the people of Chu were like monkeys wearing hats and could not achieve anything. The result was as he predicted."

"Now, Liu Bei occupies the Guanzhong region, controls Longyou in the west, and plans to seize Hedong in the east. Once he gains power, he can enter Hanzhong to seize Yizhou, enter Nanyang to seize Jingzhou, and even go east out of Hangu Pass to seize the provinces east of Guandong."

"Most importantly, Liu Bei is a man who can reason with reasonable people and also use force with unreasonable people. In less than two years, he rose from a minor military officer in Anxi to the governor of Yongzhou and the imperial uncle, with fierce generals and elite troops as his henchmen."

"The one who will unify the world in the future will surely be Liu Bei. Now that Liu Bei has voluntarily relinquished the opportunity to plot this great undertaking together, if you don't hurry to show goodwill and join us, when will you?"

It must be said that, despite his greed, Zhang Wen, who once served as Grand Commandant and is now the Commandant of the Capital Region, is also quite astute.

Cai You and Huang Guang exchanged a glance, both filled with shock.

With their limited wisdom and knowledge, neither of them could see what Zhang Wen could see, and even after Zhang Wen explained, they were still completely confused.

Unable to figure it out, Cai You simply stopped thinking about it. Since Zhang Wen had decided to move all the clansmen to Guanzhong, Cai You would just have to comply.

Huang Guang silently weighed the pros and cons: should he serve as Liu Bei's henchman to punish corrupt officials, lawless thieves, or continue to curry favor with the powerful families of Hongnong County to make more money?

Zhang Wen clearly saw through Huang Guang's little scheme and reminded him, "Don't blame me for not warning you, if you don't want to be the Prefect of Hongnong, there are plenty of others who will. Xun You could be the Prefect of Hedong, and Huangfu Song could be the Prefect of Hongnong."

"But if Huangfu Song were to become the governor of Hongnong, in order to make an example of you, he would first convict you of corruption and illegality, and then execute you as a warning to others."

"You know perfectly well how many corrupt officials, lawless thieves, and villains have died in Guanzhong. Keep your petty thoughts to yourself; I don't want to collect your corpse."

Huang Guang shivered and subconsciously thought of the more than eighty heads of bandits hanging in Chang'an. He hurriedly said, "I will remember Lord Zhang's teachings."

Liu Bei ignored what Zhang Wen and the others would do.

The process is not important; the result is the most important.

As long as the outcome meets Liu Bei's expectations, how Zhang Wen and others will carry it out is not within Liu Bei's consideration.

If the outcome does not meet Liu Bei's expectations, he will swiftly and decisively dismiss Zhang Wen and others, and then support a new governor of Hongnong.

For example, Huangfu Song, who was bored out of his mind in Chang'an, could also become the governor of Hongnong. When Huangfu Song got ruthless, he was truly ruthless and didn't care about his own family.

September 30th.

After more than ten days of trekking, Liu Bei finally arrived in Chang'an.

More than two months have passed since I left Chang'an and returned.

With the successive elimination of corrupt officials, the rebel army of Han Sui, and lawless bandits, as well as the gradual implementation of the Five-Year Plan, the atmosphere among the officials and people of Yongzhou has been completely renewed.

Although there are still many shortcomings, the overall trend is towards improvement.

The future of Yongzhou is also worth looking forward to.

"Big brother!"

Guan Yu's tone was excited.

However, no matter how Liu Bei listened, he felt that Guan Yu's tone contained complex emotions, as if there was grievance, helplessness, relief, and excitement at finally being free.

"How do you feel about being the acting governor of Yongzhou?" Liu Bei asked with a smile.

Guan Yu changed the subject, saying, "I just heard from my fourth brother that Xun You has become the governor of Hedong. I haven't been back to Hedong for a long time. Now that my elder brother is back, I can take some time to go back and visit my fellow villagers. Perhaps I can also lend Xun You a hand."

Before he could finish speaking, Guan Yu added, "Gongming also intends to go with me."

"Second brother," Liu Bei said, his gaze intense, "I've only just returned to Chang'an, and the journey has been exhausting. How can you bear to let me suffer like this? Or is there some other reason?"

Guan Yu felt uneasy under Liu Bei's gaze and quickly said, "Brother, you misunderstand! Besides visiting my fellow villagers, I also wanted to go to Jie County to recruit soldiers. I was just being negligent. Brother, please rest for a few days. I'm not in a hurry."

Seeing Guan Yu turn to leave, Liu Bei called out to stop him again: "Second brother, we've been brothers for many years, do you think I can't guess what you're thinking? If you don't tell me, then I'll have to go to Ji County. I haven't seen my third brother for a long time, and I miss him very much. Second brother, you should continue to serve as the governor of Yongzhou for me."

Guan Yu's face fell instantly, and he said aggrievedly, "Brother, I am really not suited to manage politics. Just let me manage the army. As the old saying goes, military and political power cannot be held by one person, otherwise it will cause trouble."

"Would my second brother still try to harm me?" Liu Bei's lips curled slightly.

Guan Yu exclaimed in surprise, "How could I possibly harm my elder brother?"

"Since my second brother won't harm me, what's wrong with taking charge of military and political affairs?" Liu Bei's smile widened. "Did my second brother tell me that one should not have the heart to harm others, but one must have the heart to guard against others? But you are my second brother, why should I guard against my second brother?"

"Brother!" Guan Yu's expression became even more aggrieved.

Seeing Guan Yu so tormented by government affairs that he wanted to flee to Hedong, Liu Bei shook his head helplessly and called Guan Yu over to sit down, saying, "Tell me, what exactly is going on? Yongzhou only has a little over 100,000 households, so government affairs shouldn't be difficult at all."

Guan Yu sighed: "It's not difficult, but it's too tedious. Since you left, I've been reviewing all sorts of documents almost every day, from morning till night, without fail. Brother, you should let me focus on leading the troops."

Guan Yu became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he wanted to express all the grievances he had suffered over the past two months due to his official duties.

However, the more Liu Bei listened, the more uneasy he felt. Although Yongzhou was a province, it only had five counties and a little over 100,000 households.

Even though there was a five-year plan to be implemented, Liu Bei was the one who did the most crucial task of raising money, with the help of Jia Xu, Jian Yong and others. As a result, Guan Yu was exhausted from morning till night.
When Liu Bei heard Guan Yu say that a government office in Chang'an was leaking and needed repairs, costing 300 coins and requiring Guan Yu's approval, Liu Bei's face darkened.

Second brother, second brother, I appointed you to manage Yongzhou so that you could manage people, not so that you could be involved in every little detail.

Liu Bei covered his forehead, then called to Chen Dao, "Go and invite Wenhe here."

Just as Chen Dao was about to leave, Guan Yu said, "Wenhe set off for Ji County yesterday, saying he wanted to inspect whether the agricultural work in Hanyang County was being carried out in an orderly manner. I granted his request since he volunteered."

"What about Xianhe? Where did Xianhe go?" Liu Bei asked again.

Without hesitation, Guan Yu replied, "Xianhe went with Wenhe, saying that there are several virtuous men in Ji County whom Xianhe wants to visit in person."

Wow, you run pretty fast!
Wenhe and Xianhe, those two definitely did it on purpose!

Liu Bei finally understood.

Guan Yu, having no experience in governing Yongzhou, assumed that he, as the acting governor of Yongzhou, should make all the decisions. At the same time, he was also worried that not being involved in everything would lead to mistakes, so he asked about everything in great detail.

Jia Xu and Jian Yong pretended not to see it, Yan Zhongxin was unaware of the situation, Liang Yan and Yang Kuo knew Guan Yu was arrogant, and the four prefects Huangfu Li, Shi Sunrui, Ma Teng, and Zhang Ji were far away and had their own concerns, so they didn't remind him.

However, Guan Yu was also arrogant, and no matter how busy he was, he would not let Yan Zhong and others think that he, as the acting governor of Yongzhou, could not even handle this kind of political affairs, nor would he take the initiative to ask.

This caused Guan Yu, the acting governor of Yongzhou, to be busy from morning till night, feeling not only exhausted and aggrieved, but also misunderstood by others.

Yan Zhong and others probably complained privately that Guan Yu didn't trust people, even for something as small as three hundred coins, he had to personally approve it.

Looking at the aggrieved Guan Yu, Liu Bei sighed helplessly: "Second brother, I have left Wenhe, Xianhe, Yan Zhong, Liang Yan, and Yang Kuo in the prefecture to share the government affairs; Zhang Ji in Hanyang, Huangfu Li in Fufeng, Shi Sunrui in Jingzhao, and Ma Teng in Fengyi."

"As the acting governor of Yongzhou, your job is to arrange for these people to implement the government affairs of Yongzhou one by one, not to rush to do everything. Even the power of approval needs to be delegated. The extent of each person's power is determined by you."

"Didn't you ask Wenhe about it?"

Guan Yu's eyes widened: "I asked Wenhe, and he said that since this is my first time in power, it would be best to follow my ideas first, and then after three months he would tell me specifically what is wrong and what can be improved."

“I thought it made a lot of sense, so I didn’t ask Wenhe anymore. Once my elder brother said it, I understood. No wonder Wenhe told me to manage it according to my idea for three months. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have seen the problem.”

That makes perfect sense, my foot!

Wenhe is definitely slacking off again.

Three more months?

Since we agreed on three months, don't make excuses to run away to Hanyang County!

If Jia Xu hadn't had such a high level of skill and hadn't been left in Chang'an by Liu Bei as a safety net, Liu Bei would have really wanted to send someone to capture Jia Xu, tie him to a stool, and have him review documents day and night.

Seeing Guan Yu, who was almost sold out by Jia Xu but was still counting money for Jia Xu, Liu Bei felt even more troubled.

Fine, let my second brother learn from this experience.

Although Wenhe's original intention was to shirk his duties, it did expose many problems in his second brother's governance.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei also said, "Since you understand where the problem lies, Second Brother, don't rush to resign. Although Wenhe and Xianhe are not here, you should first summon Yan Zhong, Yang Kuo, and Liang Yan, and humbly ask them about your shortcomings over the past two months."

"Although there were some problems with your approach this time, the result was good, and there were no major problems in Yongzhou. Don't be discouraged. Just like reading, you will understand the meaning of a book after reading it a hundred times. The same applies to government affairs. Try it a few more times, and you will naturally become proficient."

Encouraged by Liu Bei, Guan Yu's negative emotions accumulated over the past two months vanished, and he excitedly said, "Brother, don't worry, I have already seen the problem. I will go find Yan Zhizhong and the others right away."

Watching Guan Yu stride away, Liu Bei couldn't help but think of sending someone to bring Jia Xu back.

Not only did he drag Xianhe into deceiving my second brother, but he also made me join in. Although it was all for my second brother's good, he should have at least informed me first.

Despite his thoughts, Liu Bei didn't really blame Jia Xu, since Jia Xu didn't know when Liu Bei would return to Chang'an.

When Jia Xu realized that Liu Bei was almost at Chang'an, he felt that his lie was no longer convincing, so he and Xian He found an excuse to run away to Hanyang County.

Liu Bei carefully recalled how he had raised Guan Yu. Although he had Guan Yu diligently study military administration, he had hardly touched upon political administration.

The main reason was that Liu Bei thought that it was enough to recruit government officials; there was no need for Guan Yu to also manage government affairs.

Looking back now, it seems there was a flaw in the direction of Guan Yu's training.

Guan Yu may not be involved in politics, but he must know how to manage it.

Just like Zhuge Liang in history, although he did not manage the army in the early stages, he was able to take command of the army directly after Liu Bei's death.

It wasn't that Zhuge Liang suddenly learned it; rather, he had always known it. It was just that Liu Bei had many talented people in charge of the army and didn't need Zhuge Liang, who was in charge of administration, to manage the army at the moment.

"In that case, let my second brother be even more versatile!"

Liu Bei was a very decisive person. Since he had decided to make Guan Yu a hexagonal warrior, he would not consider whether Guan Yu could learn the skills.

Diligence leads to mastery, while idleness leads to ruin.

Read the book a hundred times, and its meaning will become apparent.

If once isn't enough, try ten times; if ten times isn't enough, try a hundred times; if a hundred times isn't enough, try a thousand times.

Afterwards, Liu Bei picked up the bamboo slips and began to write a reading outline, requiring Guan Yu to repeatedly read and understand the required books according to the outline.

The day after Liu Bei arrived in Chang'an.

A fast horse galloped into the city, and then Xu You rushed to find Liu Bei and handed him Lu Zhi's letter.

"Imperial Uncle, a letter has arrived from Minister Lu of Luoyang, saying that Yuan Shao has raised an army to rebel."

(End of this chapter)