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

Chapter 251 Liu Bei Returns to Luoyang, Yuan Shu Attacks and Destroys Liu Yan (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
The next morning.

Liu Bei rubbed his slightly sore forehead, recalling the scene of composing poetry while holding a spear at the banquet last night.

"Even with my enormous capacity for alcohol, I still got drunk?"

The alcohol content is already low, so to get drunk, one would have to drink a lot.

Liu Bei didn't know how much he had drunk the night before; he only knew that he was in high spirits and needed to drink to his heart's content.

As soon as he turned around, Liu Bei was startled.

what's the situation?
Who is this person?
Looking at the woman lying beside him, Liu Bei was filled with questions.

Carefully getting up and dressing, Liu Bei went outside the palace and called out to Chen Dao, "Shuzhi, who sent this person?"

Without hesitation, Chen Dao replied, "It was sent by the governor of Hanoi. He said she is the younger sister of an old friend of His Majesty, named Zhang Ning."

"Third brother? Sister of an old friend." Liu Bei was taken aback: "Do I have any old friends surnamed Zhang in Ye City?"

Chen Dao shook his head: "The governor of Hanoi didn't go into details."

Liu Bei's face darkened: "Go and summon him immediately."

Zhang Fei had also gotten very drunk the night before. He was woken up from his drunken stupor, and just as he was about to get angry, he saw that it was the White Feather Soldiers who had come, and he immediately calmed down.

He rushed to the palace and saw Liu Bei standing outside. Zhang Fei called out loudly, "Brother, I'm here!"

"Whose sister is Zhang Ning?" Liu Bei asked coldly, "My status is different now. Not just any woman can enter my inner palace. How dare you act so recklessly?"

Zhang Fei chuckled sheepishly: "Brother, it's not that I'm being presumptuous, it's a promise you made back then."

Liu Bei glared at him and shouted, "Nonsense! When did I make such a promise?"

Zhang Fei pulled Liu Bei aside to a secluded spot and whispered, "Brother, have you really forgotten? Back in Anxi County, when Zhang Shiping visited, he saw that you were not yet married and suggested that you take his younger sister as a concubine. You said, 'I have not yet achieved fame and fortune, so I have no family to support,' and you also said, 'Your sister is still young and needs to grow up.'"

Liu Bei immediately realized what was happening and exclaimed in surprise, "How come Zhang Shiping is in Ye City?"

Zhang Fei said, "Zhang Shiping came from Zhongshan. Hearing that Yuan Shao had been defeated and was about to withdraw from Wei Commandery, he brought his younger sister Zhang Ning to Ye City. They arrived three days ago."

He then chuckled and said, "My elder brother once said that a person cannot stand without integrity, and I have not done anything reckless."

Liu Bei's face darkened further: "Since you arrived three days ago, why didn't you inform me in advance?"

Zhang Fei grinned and said confidently, "If I had informed him in advance, Zhang Shiping would have been suspected of taking advantage of my kindness. By sending it last night, you were simply fulfilling a promise you made long ago."

Liu Bei was speechless: "Do you even believe what you're saying?"

Zhang Fei shrugged: "Anyway, Big Brother has done everything he could. If you don't want it, I'll send it back to you."

"That's enough! Let's let this matter rest, and don't let it happen again." Liu Bei suppressed the urge to beat Zhang Fei and said, "Go and invite Zhang Shiping here. Should Su Shuang come along as well?"

Zhang Fei nodded: "They're all here."

Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping were horse traders from Zhongshan. They met Liu Bei while trading horses in Zhuojun and were convinced that Liu Bei was extraordinary and capable of great things, so they often provided Liu Bei with gold and silver.

When Liu Bei served as the county magistrate of Anxi County, he also frequently traveled around.

Zhang Shiping had always wanted to give his younger sister to Liu Bei, but Liu Bei did not want to travel around with his wives and concubines at the time, so he politely declined, saying, "I have not yet achieved fame and fortune, so I have no means to support my family," and also, "Your younger sister is still young and needs to grow up."

What Liu Bei said was true.

After all, Zhang Shiping's younger sister had just turned fifteen at the time. Although she was of marriageable age, Liu Bei did not like young girls. In Liu Bei's eyes, Zhang Shiping's younger sister was indeed "still growing up".

In four years, Liu Bei rose from a minor official in Anxi County to become the Emperor of Han, and Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping both had the intention of currying favor with him.

Because they were in Zhongshan and Jizhou was under the jurisdiction of Yuan Shao, the two could not directly abandon their family business and go to Luoyang, so they could only wait for the right opportunity.

This time, Liu Bei defeated Yuan Shao and forced Yuan Shao to withdraw from Wei Commandery. The two were overjoyed and took advantage of the turmoil in Ji Province to bring their family and wealth to Ye City.

While Zhang Fei went to invite Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping, Zhang Ning, who had spent the night with Liu Bei, also woke up.

Seeing that no one was on the bed, Zhang Ning couldn't help but feel uneasy.

After all, when she came last night, Liu Bei was so drunk that he couldn't tell who was in front of him. Even if he denied it and left, Zhang Ning would have to accept it.

If Zhang Ning hadn't been Zhang Shiping's sister and had been directly sent to the palace, Liu Bei might very well have reneged on the agreement.

After all, Liu Bei's status is different now. He can no longer just sleep with any woman who is sent to his bedchamber.

If a powerful family were to secretly send a woman into the palace who then gave birth to a prince, it would have a serious impact on Liu Bei.

Since she was Zhang Shiping's sister, Liu Bei was relieved.

After all, Zhang Shiping had helped Liu Bei a lot in the past, and as the sister of a horse merchant, she did not have the background, heritage, and deep-rooted ideology of a noble family.

With proper training, Liu Bei could easily mold Zhang Ning into his own image.

Seeing Zhang Ning's unease, Liu Bei changed his tone to gentle and soothing, saying softly, "Don't be nervous. I have a history with your brother. We made an appointment back in Anxi County. You should rest here. I will tell you the details after I see your brother."

Hearing Liu Bei's gentle words, Zhang Ning's expression calmed down, and he fell into a deep sleep again.

I was so tired last night!

After a while.

Zhang Fei led Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping to the outside of the palace.

Upon seeing Liu Bei, the two men hurriedly bowed and paid their respects: "This humble commoner, Su Shuang (Zhang Shiping), greets Your Majesty."

Liu Bei laughed and stepped forward, helping the two men up: "Meeting old friends in a foreign land is truly a blessing in life. Without your great help in the past, I would not have achieved what I have today."

The two hurriedly said they dared not.

The donation is one thing, but it's enough that we both remember it. If we actually talk about it, it would be seen as taking advantage of someone's kindness.

Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping were able to make a living by trading horses, and they were shrewd and knew how to advance and retreat. Even if they wanted to curry favor, they could not rely on past favors.

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhang Shiping stated his purpose directly: "From now on, we two are willing to serve Your Majesty."

Liu Bei had always wanted to recruit businessmen with both business acumen and emotional intelligence. He had previously wanted to promote the Mi brothers when he was in Xuzhou, but the Mi brothers failed to see their own position and status and actually followed the Chen family of Xiapi in opposing the new policies, so Liu Bei had no choice but to give up.

Liu Bei had no past relationship with the Mi brothers; it was simply a matter of historical perspective that made Liu Bei favor them. Since the two brothers were not clear-headed, Liu Bei would not necessarily promote them.

Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping are different.

The two began supporting Liu Bei when he was still studying and practicing martial arts in Zhuo County. When Zhang Shiping became the magistrate of Anxi County, he even wanted to give his sister as a concubine.

If it were someone else, they would never think of sending their sister as a concubine, but rather as a wife.

The status of a wife and a concubine is incomparable.

Zhang Shiping was a shrewd man. He knew that Liu Bei's future achievements would not stop at the position of county magistrate of Anxi. He also knew that Liu Bei valued loyalty and would not easily abandon even a concubine. Therefore, he chose to send his sister as a concubine to befriend Liu Bei.

Even though Liu Bei politely declined, Zhang Shiping still regarded Liu Bei's promise that "he has not yet established his fame and fortune and has no means to support his family" and "his younger sister is still young and needs to grow up" as a commitment. In the past few years, he has spent a lot of money to hire people to teach Zhang Ning the talents and etiquette that a lady from a prominent family should possess, such as poetry, books, and music.

They place particular emphasis on moral character.

Although they came from a merchant family, Zhang Shiping did not want Zhang Ning to develop a narrow-minded and petty attitude.

Zhang Shiping was well aware that someone as ambitious as Liu Bei detested narrow-minded people, regardless of gender. It must be said that Zhang Shiping's ability to navigate the northern horse trade to this day demonstrates his exceptional investment acumen and interpersonal skills.

Liu Bei was moved when he learned that the two had brought their families and wealth to Ye City.

Without knowing whether Liu Bei would neglect his old friends after becoming emperor, the fact that he dared to bring his family and wealth to Ye City shows that he had enough trust in Liu Bei to make such a decision.

"I intend to establish a Trade Market Supervisory Office to oversee trade with foreign countries, under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Department. There will be one Registrar, two Supervisors, four Clerks, four Price Keepers, and eight Security Keepers. I will select a Registrar from among those familiar with the Imperial Household Department's system, and you two will serve as Supervisors. You two can recommend candidates for the Clerks, Price Keepers, and Security Keepers."

Liu Bei's words not only granted official positions to Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping, but also provided them with sixteen positions for their relatives and friends.

The decision of whom to recommend rests entirely with Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping.

Moreover, since this is a newly established entity, the specific operation of the mutual market supervision only requires two people to provide a plan to the recorder and complete the process.

Such treatment came as a great surprise to the two of them.

The two men had hoped to gain some benefits by attaching themselves to Liu Bei, such as changing the horse trade from smuggling to official business. However, they did not expect that Liu Bei would directly establish a trade supervision bureau, with the two men in charge of its specific organization.

"I am willing to die for Your Majesty!"

Overwhelmed with emotion, the two bowed deeply once more.

"Ji Province is in turmoil, so you two should not stay there for the time being."

"After returning to Luoyang, we can go to Hedong to trade with the various tribes of the Northern Di in Bingzhou."

"I have only one requirement for the trade: if the Northern Di tribes refuse to listen to my reasoning, then I will use force to make them reason. The rules of the trade can only be followed according to my rules!"

"If they refuse, I would not mind letting them return to the desert."

The term "Northern Di" is a general term for northern tribes, including the Xiongnu, Tu Ge, Wuhuan, and Xianbei.

Bingzhou was home to a large number of Northern Di tribes.

From the 24th year of Jianwu onwards, the Xiongnu nobles killed each other. The Rizhu King led his people to submit to the Han Dynasty, and the various Xiongnu tribes were settled in the counties of Xihe, Taiyuan, and Yanmen in Bingzhou. Over a period of more than a hundred years, a large-scale period of aggregation was formed.

The Xianbei tribes were active on the northern border of Bingzhou, often living among the Han people, while some Wuhuan tribes also infiltrated eastern Bingzhou from Youzhou.

At first, the Northern Di tribes in Bingzhou were quite well-behaved.

Later, with the emergence of a series of "kindergarten emperors" and the successive interference of relatives of the emperor and eunuchs in politics, the internal political situation became unstable, making it difficult to control the Northern Di and Southern Xiongnu in Bingzhou. They repeatedly rebelled and joined forces with the Xianbei to raid the border and kill officials.

The reasons are complex, including the harsh treatment of the relocated Northern Di tribes by Han officials and the desire of the Northern Di nobles to restore their kingdom.

Liu Bei always held the view that "those who are not of our race must have different hearts." However, this view did not mean that the other party was considered a foreign race simply because they were of Northern Di blood. Rather, it meant that if the other party was unwilling to identify as a Han Chinese or to recognize Han culture, then they were not of our race.

There were actually people of Northern Di blood in Liu Bei's Lingyan Army. Although they were of different bloodlines, after the Northern Di tribes were relocated to Bingzhou, these people were also citizens of the Han Dynasty.

After all, a considerable portion of the Lingyan Army consisted of soldiers from Yongzhou who were sent to quell bandits and soldiers from Liangzhou under Dong Zhuo, so it was not surprising that some of them were of Northern Di origin.

People like Ma Teng and Ma Chao also had Qiang blood.

Bloodline rejection cannot last, but cultural identity can.

If he did not accept Han Chinese culture, Liu Bei would not regard him as a Han Chinese either.

In fact, Liu Bei strongly disapproved of this kind of ethnic group living.

A group of aggressive and violent men gathered together are extremely likely to cause trouble.

However, this was unavoidable before. The Northern Di nobles were essentially the same as the powerful Han people. Most of the Northern Di people were cattle and horses, and there was no essential difference between them and domesticated cattle and horses.

The only apparent difference is that one walks on two legs, while the other walks on four legs.

Just as Liu Bei wanted to seize land from the local tyrants in the Central Plains and distribute it to them, he also wanted to seize cattle and horses from the nobles in the Northern Di tribes.

Only by completely eliminating the practice of keeping slaves and private armies can we prevent the killing among nobles from terrorizing ordinary people.

However, before that, Liu Bei still needed to instill new ideas in Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping.

Whether Han or Northern Di, only the nobles on both sides wanted to fight; ordinary people only wanted to live in peace and prosperity.

What Liu Bei wanted was to fundamentally change the situation and make the common people and slaves kept by the Northern Di nobles truly realize the difference between humans and cattle.

Only in this way can the border troubles of Bingzhou be truly eliminated.

Only then can trade be conducted in a more friendly, harmonious and healthy manner.

You sell cattle, sheep, mules, and horses; I sell wheat, millet, and brocade. Each gets what they need, and both are well.

May 10th.

Liu Bei led his men back to Luoyang.

The news of their great victory had already spread throughout Luoyang.

Officials and commoners alike in Luoyang spread the news.

Although a considerable number of these people had once been Liu Bei's enemies, as Liu Bei's prestige grew stronger, he rectified officialdom, and balanced the distribution of resources among the gentry and commoners. Apart from the officials and gentry not being as carefree and unrestrained as before, the cohesion of the common people became stronger and stronger.

These officials and soldiers, whose power had been restricted, submitted to Liu Bei because of his prestige.

If you submit to Liu Bei, you can enjoy some power; if you don't submit to Liu Bei, you will have nothing.

Furthermore, following Liu Bei offers the highest level of safety. In chaotic times, survival is paramount, so why not do it?

Chancery desk.

Jia Xu delivered the military intelligence from Hedong and Wudu.

In Hedong, Ma Teng and Zhong Yao led the Yongzhou Central Army to attack Bingzhou. Although they clashed with Gao Gan, Yuan Shao's nephew, they failed to capture Shangdang.

In Wudu, however, the battle was progressing quite smoothly.

Fa Zheng, along with Jian Yong, the governor of Yongzhou, and Huangfu Song, the Left General, first attacked and killed the Xinghe Di King who refused to submit in Hechi, and annexed his people. Then, taking advantage of the Di people's ability to climb, they took a surprise attack on the rear of Yangping Pass via narrow and dangerous paths, and captured Zhang Lu's brother Zhang Wei alive. When Zhang Lu heard that Yangping Pass had fallen, he rushed to Ba County overnight.

Subsequently, Huangfu Song marched into Nanzheng and seized all the treasures from Zhang Lu's treasury.

In March, Zhang Lu, persuaded by Zhang Wei, chose to surrender. The Ba Yi and Cong people flocked to him, and Huangfu Song then pacified Hanzhong and the northern part of Ba Commandery.

However, Liu Yan did not respond to Liu Bei. Instead, he promised the powerful families and clans of Yizhou that he would never implement new policies, hoping to continue to be the local tyrant of Shu County.

However, Liu Yan was not lucky.

Because Liu Bei wasn't the only one eyeing Yizhou; Yuan Shu was too!

While Liu Bei was fighting Yuan Shao in the north, Yuan Shu instigated Ren Qi, the governor of Jianwei, and Jia Long, an official of Yizhou, who were dissatisfied with Liu Yan's killing of powerful clans in the Central Plains. Yuan Shu's army marched straight from Jingzhou to Chengdu.

Jia Long rebelled directly within the city and captured Liu Yan, handing him over to Yuan Shu.

After successively eliminating three governors from the Liu clan—Liu Dai, Liu Biao, and Liu Yan—Yuan Shu's prestige soared.

For a time, it became a beacon of hope in the eyes of powerful families and clans in various states who were dissatisfied with Liu Bei's new policies.

(End of this chapter)