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

Chapter 206 Liu Xie's Petty Moves, Liu Bei Seizes the Opportunity (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
Liu Bei was merely promoting social development, not ensuring the eternal consolidation of imperial power.

This is also why Liu Bei promoted the simplified Chinese character "Thousand Character Classic," repeatedly emphasized in the Lingyan Army that "it's better to freeze to death than dismantle a house, better to starve to death than plunder," established the positions of Deputy Military Advisor, Deputy Military Advisor, and Deputy Military Advisor to unite the soldiers' faith, and suppressed powerful clans from abolishing slavery.

Although it is not something that one generation can accomplish in promoting social development, as long as Liu Bei can take the lead, there will be geniuses in later generations to promote and implement it. Even if this vision is more ideal than reality, Liu Bei will still strive in this direction.

If it were simply a matter of declaring himself emperor, Liu Bei wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble. He could have simply wiped out Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao in one fell swoop and then issued a proclamation to pacify the world. Who could have stopped Liu Bei's military might?

A thirty-year-old general and a member of the Liu clan who rose from county magistrate to general in just three years—if they were willing to compromise with powerful families, they would have already ascended the throne and become emperors.

Yuan Shao didn't understand, and neither did Wu Qiong.

Thinking of Yuan Shao's secret order, Wu Qiong secretly prepared his words and took the memorial to the palace to find Liu Xie.

As usual, Liu Xie only glanced at the contents of the document before preparing to sign and stamp it.

Whether it was appointing a prefect or governor, or reappointing court officials, Liu Xie usually did not interfere.

However, today, Wu Qiong did not want Liu Xie to remain silent as usual. Instead, he spoke up as Liu Xie picked up his pen: "Your Majesty, the governor is someone the late emperor trusted. If it were replaced by Sun Jian, there would be no one Your Majesty could use as governor or prefect.

Liu Xie was stunned and looked at Wu Qiong with a puzzled expression: "Minister Wu, Governor Gai is unwell. Shouldn't I summon him back to Luoyang to recuperate?"

Wu Qiong had never said these words to Liu Xie before, and Liu Xie hadn't thought much of it, failing to understand Wu Qiong's implication.

Seeing this, Wu Qiong lowered his voice and said, "Your Majesty, Governor Gai has always been in good health, so it is not necessarily true that he is ill. I think there may be other reasons."

"Now the governor of Yu Province has been replaced by Guan Yu, the sworn brother of the Imperial Uncle, and the governor of Yan Province is Cao Cao, the father of Cao Ang, a disciple of the Imperial Uncle. When I came here, I heard that Sun Ce, the son of Sun Jian, had also become a disciple of the Imperial Uncle."

"The governor of Yongzhou was Jian Yong, an old friend of the emperor from Zhuojun. The governor of Hedong was Zhang Fei, the emperor's sworn brother. The governor of Henan, Ma Teng, and the governor of Henan, Liu Xiang, both had sons who were also students of the emperor."

"The Imperial Uncle already wields immense power in the court, and now many of the prefectures and counties are filled with his confidants. If even the governor of Xuzhou is replaced by Sun Jian, will Your Majesty have any more trusted people to rely on?"

After making his words so clear, Liu Xie finally understood Wu Qiong's implication.

However, this hint horrified Liu Xie.

What is Wu Qiong planning to do?
Who instructed them?

Liu Xie was not a naive and clueless person. He had no prior interaction with Wu Qiong and knew nothing about her character.

He never imagined that even the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat would slander Liu Bei.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Liu Xie's face darkened, and he rebuked, "Minister Wu, how dare you sow discord between me and my uncle? What are your intentions?"

Liu Xie's reaction was exactly what Wu Qiong had expected.

Seeing that Liu Xie only scolded and questioned him without reacting strongly, Wu Qiong remained calm and continued, "Your Majesty, I am merely stating a fact. I have no intention of slandering the Imperial Uncle for having disloyal intentions, nor do I intend to sow discord between Your Majesty and the Imperial Uncle."

"Your Highness, by the secret edict, helped Your Majesty ascend the throne and assisted Your Majesty in suppressing the rebellion. Your merits are immense, and I greatly admire you. But even if Your Highness is selfless, how could all the civil and military officials who follow you be without selfish motives?"

“In the past, the Yuan family held high office for four generations, and Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji were loyal to the late emperor. But now, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu have one supporting Liu Yu as emperor and the other has declared himself emperor. Their treacherous act is regrettable.”

"I do not believe that you, my uncle, have any disloyal intentions, but I am worried that you are becoming too powerful and that your wives, concubines, children and nephews will tarnish your reputation. Huo Guang was loyal in the past, but he was criticized because of the disloyal acts of his wife, children and nephews."

"Your Majesty is a ruler ordained by Heaven. You cannot only look at the present; you should consider the future. If you wait until your uncle's power becomes too great, will Your Majesty then follow the example of Emperor Huan and the late Emperor by cultivating eunuchs to check your uncle?"

"If that happens, the people of the world will surely criticize Your Majesty, thinking that Your Majesty has stirred up trouble. My intention is not to frame or slander anyone, but simply to worry about what will happen in the future. As the ancient saying goes, 'One is born in hardship and dies in comfort.' Your Majesty must be mindful of this."

Wu Qiong's words, especially his example of Huo Guang, made Liu Xie ponder deeply.

Huo Guang was loyal throughout his life, but his reputation was ruined by his wife, sons, and nephews, so that later generations have always had polarized opinions about him.

Compared to Zhou Bi, Wu Qiong was indeed more cautious.

His aim was to sow discord between Liu Bei and Liu Xie, yet he spoke with an air of righteous indignation.

Wu Qiong affirmed Liu Bei's achievements, only emphasizing that Liu Bei's wife, sons, and nephews might tarnish Liu Bei's reputation like Huo Guang's wife, sons, and nephews. Even outsiders could not believe that Wu Qiong harbored malicious intentions.

This is also Wu Qiong's way of protecting himself. As long as he puts national affairs at the core of everything and mixes in some personal interests, he will not commit a capital crime.

Wu Qiong had considered everything thoroughly, but Liu Xie was in a state of turmoil.

To say that he wasn't worried at all would be self-deception on Liu Xie's part.

If there were other options, Liu Xie wouldn't have used Liu Bei.

As life became more stable, Liu Xie's desire to take control of the government grew stronger.

If no one speaks up, Liu Xie dares not take the initiative to express his thoughts on governing.

After all, Liu Bei's achievements are too great now. Even if he takes the initiative to express his idea of ​​ruling, it will not be recognized by the ministers, and may even backfire.

As Liu Xie stared intently at Wu Qiong, another idea came to mind.

Although Wu Qiong spoke with great righteousness, Liu Xie was still able to conclude that Wu Qiong was instigating him.

But Liu Xie would not refuse such instigation.

If successful, Liu Xie will reap enormous benefits; if unsuccessful, Liu Xie will not suffer any loss.

Liu Xie would not sacrifice his own interests for Wu Qiong; if Wu Qiong were to be captured by chance, he would simply abandon him.

Although he lacked exceptional political acumen, Liu Xie knew how to maximize his advantages and minimize his disadvantages.

Liu Xie asked quietly, "Does Minister Wu think I should return the appointment to the Secretariat?"

Seeing that Liu Xie was interested, Wu Qiong was secretly pleased and said, "Sending it back directly may cause misunderstandings. It would be better to put it aside for now and ask the imperial physician to send a medical officer to Xiapi to diagnose Governor Gai's illness. If Governor Gai is indeed unwell, it will not be too late to appoint Sun Jian as Governor of Xuzhou."

With patient guidance and a step-by-step approach, Liu Xie listened to Wu Qiong's strategy and, after thinking for a while, said, "In that case, please have Minister Wu report my intentions to the Secretariat. The governor is stationed in Xuzhou, which is a great responsibility. If he is truly ill and unable to recover, it is not too late to transfer him back."

Deliberately accepting Wu Qiong's instigation, Liu Xie decided to suppress the document appointing Sun Jian as the governor of Xuzhou and issued an edict to the Ministry of Personnel to send an imperial physician to Xuzhou to treat Gai Xun.

"Your Majesty, Minister Wu has a provocative intent; we must be wary," Empress Fu whispered a reminder after Wu Qiong left.

Liu Xie lowered his head and pondered, "Although there was an intention to instigate, what Minister Wu said was not without reason. I can trust my uncle, but others may not be worthy of my trust. Empress, you need not say more about this matter; I know what I'm doing."

Having persuaded Liu Xie, Wu Qiong quietly returned to the Imperial Secretariat and relayed to Jia Xu Liu Xie's concern for Gai Xun and his wish to wait until the Imperial Physician had gone to Xuzhou before deciding whether to appoint Sun Jian as the governor of Xuzhou. Wu Qiong expected Jia Xu to be furious, but to his astonishment, Jia Xu simply replied with a "yes," signing the document almost without hesitation.

This left Wu Qiong with no way to use her strength: How can I proceed to the next step if you don't take the bait?

If Wu Qiong knew that Liu Xie had no intention of protecting him, he would probably be glad that Jia Xu didn't take the bait. Otherwise, if Liu Xie had said, "Minister Wu taught me this," Wu Qiong would have been punished even if he didn't die.

Subsequently.

Wu Qiong then saw that Jia Xu had drafted a new memorial, which recommended Hua Tuo of Qiao County as the Imperial Physician and ordered Hua Tuo to go to Xiapi to diagnose Gai Xun's illness.

"Hua Tuo? Who is this person?" Wu Qiong was somewhat taken aback.

The imperial physicians were mostly from families with a tradition of medical expertise; it wasn't a matter of just recruiting anyone to become an imperial physician, let alone the position of Imperial Physician.

Wu Qiong had never heard of Hua Tuo from Qiao County, so how could he be directly recommended as the Imperial Physician? Even if he were just a physician serving as the Imperial Physician, Wu Qiong wouldn't be so puzzled.

"Hua Tuo was recommended by the Imperial Uncle. He is a highly skilled physician. Last year, the Imperial Uncle intended to recommend Hua Tuo, but Hua Tuo declined because he did not want to serve as an official." Jia Xu said calmly and slowly, "When the Imperial Uncle went to Yuzhou this year, he invited Hua Tuo again. Hua Tuo was grateful for the Imperial Uncle's kindness and decided to enter the court as an official."

There is nothing wrong with Jia Xu's words.

The story of Liu Bei wanting to recommend Hua Tuo is true. This year, when Liu Bei was suppressing powerful clans in Yuzhou, he did indeed invite Hua Tuo, and Hua Tuo did indeed agree to serve as an official in the court.

However, Jia Xu kept the letter of recommendation.

It wasn't that Jia Xu was deliberately delaying, but rather that Liu Bei needed to reorganize the Imperial Physician's Office, and there were many things to prepare. It wasn't necessary for Hua Tuo to enter Luoyang immediately.

Just then, Liu Xie suppressed the memorial appointing Sun Jian as the governor of Xuzhou, so Jia Xu took the opportunity to advance the process of recommending Hua Tuo as the chief physician. This also allowed Gai Xun to test Hua Tuo's diagnostic skills, and with Gai Xun's guarantee, Hua Tuo could successfully establish his reputation as the chief physician.

Jia Xu refused to respond, leaving Wu Qiong feeling frustrated, yet she had no choice but to bring another memorial to Liu Xie.

This time, Wu Qiong had no new rhetoric to use to deceive Liu Xie, and could only hope that Liu Xie would develop suspicion towards Liu Bei in the future.

Liu Xie didn't think too much about it.

As far as Liu Xie was concerned, let anyone who wanted to cause trouble go ahead and cause trouble, since they weren't his confidants anyway.

As for who instructed Wu Qiong, Liu Xie had a guess: it was impossible for anyone in the court to dare to compete with Liu Bei for power, so the one who instructed Wu Qiong was either Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu.

Not only are they enemies, but they are also not plotting anything at hand, so Liu Xie doesn't need to interfere.

This is also a good opportunity to test Liu Bei's reaction.

As for who Hua Tuo was, Liu Xie didn't care.

Those who could be chosen by Liu Bei and recommended as the Imperial Physician must have excellent medical skills.

However, all of Wu Qiong's actions were completely transparent to Jia Xu, and even Liu Bei, who knew about it, didn't care at all.

"Yuan Shao is so impatient to let Wu Qiong cause trouble. It seems he's not having a very good time in Ye City. I thought Wu Qiong could have remained hidden for longer."

"As Wenhe suggests, we should first ask Hua Tuo to go to Xiapi to diagnose Governor Gai's illness. We should not tell Governor Gai about this matter. Governor Gai is already ill from working hard for the Han Dynasty. It would not be good for him to get involved in the dispute between the emperor and his ministers."

Liu Bei didn't care about Wu Qiong causing trouble, just as he didn't need Hua Tuo to immediately enter Luoyang, Liu Bei didn't need Gai Xun to immediately hand over the governorship to Sun Jian.

A delay of one or two months will not affect the overall deployment.

At present, the various provinces are relatively stable. Yuan Shao in Hebei and Yuan Shu in Jing and Yang are also dealing with internal conflicts and accumulating strength to compete with Liu Bei.

Yuan Shao would stir up trouble for Liu Bei, and Liu Bei would do the same for Yuan Shao.

Compared to Yuan Shu in Jing and Yang, Liu Bei focused more on dealing with Yuan Shao first.

Appointing Sun Jian as the governor of Xuzhou was merely to provide Yuan Shu with an opponent, while prioritizing dealing with Yuan Shao.

"After the autumn chill sets in, Yuan Shao will surely launch another campaign against the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans, both to establish his authority and to eliminate internal troubles, so that he can later march south and contend with me. I intend to strike first and give the Black Mountain leaders their seals of office, so that they can send troops to seize various counties. What do you think, Wenhe?"

Liu Bei slowly revealed his plan against Yuan Shao.

The powerful clans and gentry of Hebei wielded considerable influence, making it difficult for Liu Bei to eliminate them directly. Supporting the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans to contend with these powerful clans and gentry was a better option.

If it weren't for the excessive land grabbing by powerful families in Hebei, Ji Province wouldn't have become a major disaster area for the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The two sides already had hatred between them, making them natural allies.

On one side were the Yellow Turbans, a group of commoners struggling to survive, and on the other side were powerful clans that were seizing land and property. Liu Bei's first choice for cooperation was inevitably the Yellow Turbans.

Jia Xu agreed, saying, "This plan is feasible. However, the Black Mountain chieftains alone cannot deal with Yuan Shao. If Yuan Shao seizes an opportunity, he may be able to wipe out all the Black Mountain chieftains in one fell swoop."

"When Yuan Shao previously attacked the Yellow Turbans of Black Mountain, many people responded to Yuan Shao. They may not accept the imperial seal, so we need to send more troops to support them."

"The mother of the Imperial Uncle and Gongsun Zan's wife and children have been in Heishan for quite some time. We must find a way to bring them back to Luoyang, otherwise, if they stay there for too long, something might happen."

After a moment's thought, Liu Bei said, "Then let's first implement the new policies in Hanoi, and secretly collude with Yuan Shao by the powerful families and clans in Hanoi, so that Yuan Shao will not be able to pay attention to the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans. I will also personally go to Hanoi to lure Yuan Shao out of his troops. After I leave Luoyang, it will be easier for Yuan Shao's spies in Luoyang to cause trouble. We must give them a chance to succeed."

In fact, given Liu Bei's current status and position, he doesn't need to be so proactive in going to the front lines.

However, Liu Bei always believed that those who want to accomplish great things must be proactive and take the lead in everything they do, so that their opponents will be exhausted from dealing with them.

It's better to lead the enemy by the nose than to be led by the nose by the enemy.

Liu Bei did not bring many people with him when he went to Hanoi.

Apart from the White Feather Army and Zhao Yun's battalion, Liu Bei only brought Xu You and Zhuge Liang with him.

Although there was an element of favoritism towards Zhuge Liang, what could be done when this student was Zhuge Liang?

Humans are prone to bias; Liu Bei was human, not a saint, and he too had likes and dislikes.

Liu Bei did not conceal the fact that he had entered Henan.

Not only that, they also made a big show of crossing the river at Mengjin and entering the river.

Before entering Hanoi, he even replaced the governor of Hanoi with Zhang Fei and changed Ma Teng to the governor of Hedong.

(End of this chapter)