Transmigrating to the Three Kingdoms as Lu Bu: I Have a Pseudo-Apocalypse System

North of Chengdu, at Lü Bu's army camp, Lü Bu was naturally overjoyed to receive Liu Zhang's envoy, clearly granting him the position of Governor of Yi Province, guaranteeing the safety and property of Liu Zhang's family, and allowing the continued use of Yi Province's officials.

It wasn't that they couldn't take Chengdu, but rather that they wanted Liu Zhang to persuade the local counties to surrender, thus preventing Lü Bu from spending his main energy on Yizhou.

He was somewhat worried that Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, and others might take advantage of his absence from court to launch a rebellion.

April 15th, morning.

The north gate of Chengdu slowly opened, and the drawbridge was lowered.

Liu Zhang removed his official robes, wearing only a plain dark robe, and led dozens of civil and military officials from Yizhou, including Zhang Song, Fa Zheng, Pang Xi, Wang Lei, and Huang Quan, out of the city on foot.

Outside the city, Lü Bu's army was arrayed in battle formation.

Banners fluttered, swords and spears stood like a forest, and the military bearing was solemn and imposing.

Lu Bu rode Red Hare, wearing a duke's crown robe embroidered with nine symbols in black gold, a seven-beam crown with golden earrings and red tassels, and held a halberd with a gilded shaft that gleamed with a cold light.

Liu Zhang approached Lü Bu's horse at a distance of twenty paces, knelt down, and prostrated himself: "This sinful subject, Liu Zhang, has failed to recognize the Mandate of Heaven and resisted the royal army. My crime deserves ten thousand deaths. Now I wish to surrender the entire province to the royal army and submit to the Duke of Jin's judgment!"

Dozens of Yizhou officials knelt behind him, shouting, "Welcome the imperial army!"

Lü Bu dismounted, helped Liu Zhang up, and took off his own cloak to drape it over him: "Ji Yu is a man of great righteousness, who averted war and prevented the people of Yizhou from suffering. This is a great achievement. I will certainly formally recommend you to the Emperor as the Governor of Yizhou, in charge of all civil administration in Yizhou."

Liu Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes brimming with tears: "Thank you for your magnanimity, Duke Jin!"

Lü Bu then addressed the officials, saying, "You have all wisely followed the will of Heaven and submitted to the court. Officials at all levels in Yizhou will remain in their original positions for the time being, each performing their duties. A final decision will be made after the court sends officials to assess them."

All the officials bowed in gratitude.

On that day, Lü Bu led his army into Chengdu.

The people in the city lined the streets to watch, and seeing that the imperial army led by Lü Bu was disciplined, did not disturb the people, and did not plunder, they felt somewhat relieved.

Lü Bu moved into the governor's mansion of Yuanzhou and ordered the people to be appeased and the surrendered troops to be reorganized.

April 16th, the main hall of the governor's mansion.

Lü Bu summoned civil and military officials from Yizhou, as well as generals from the imperial court, for a meeting.

Liu Zhang sat at the lower end, his expression respectful.

"Ji Yu," Lü Bu said gently, "what is the current situation in the various counties of Yi Province?"

Liu Zhang hurriedly replied, "Reporting to Duke Jin, Yizhou originally had twelve commanderies. Now, Zhang Lu of Hanzhong has already submitted to the court. Of the remaining commanderies, Ba Commandery, Shu Commandery, Shu Commandery's Dependent State, Guanghan Commandery, Guanghan's Dependent State, Jianwei Commandery, and Jianwei's Dependent State are all under the control of the governor's office. Only Yuexi Commandery, Yizhou (commandery name, capital at Dianchi Lake), Zangke Commandery, and Yongchang Commandery are located in the south, where Han and non-Han peoples live together. Local military and political power is controlled by local powerful clans or non-Han leaders, and the governor's office has relatively weak control." (Note: A dependent state is not subordinate to a commandery, but is a region of equal status with a predominantly minority population.)

Lü Bu nodded: "In your capacity as Governor of Yi Province, issue a proclamation to all the prefectures, ordering their officials to submit to the court. Those who surrender will retain their original official positions and enjoy the official salary of the Han Dynasty; those who resist will be beheaded when the army arrives."

"Zhang obeys."

Lü Bu then looked at Cao Xing: "Cao Xing, I appoint you as the commander of the Yizhou Army Group, in charge of all military affairs in Yizhou. The 1st Army will serve as the backbone, and the Shu army will be reorganized into the 12th, 13th, and 14th Armies. The Yizhou Army Group will have approximately 30,000 men. After reorganization, the 1st, 12th, and 13th Armies will be stationed in Yizhou, while the 14th Army will go to Guanzhong and be under the command of the Guanzhong Army Group. Former Yizhou soldiers who wish to join the army will be selected and incorporated into the new imperial army; those who do not wish to join will be paid and sent back. Officers will be required to rotate through the Chang'an Military Academy for training, and only those who pass the examinations will be promoted."

Cao Xing clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This humble general obeys!"

Lü Bu continued, "Furthermore, Hao Meng has rendered meritorious service in reorganizing the army in Guanzhong and has been promoted to Commander of the Guanzhong Army Group, succeeding Cao Xing. Send a messenger to Chang'an to arrange his transfer immediately."

"promise!"

After making the arrangements, Lü Bu addressed his officials: "Yizhou has just been annexed, and everything is in need of rebuilding. I intend to implement the nine-rank official system, the imperial examination system, military reform, and land reform in Yizhou, while reducing taxes and corvée labor to allow the people to rest and recuperate. You should all do your utmost to assist me and work together to bring peace and prosperity to the people."

Zhang Song, Fa Zheng, and other officials from Yizhou bowed deeply, saying, "We will do our utmost!"

A few days later, Lü Bu and Liu Zhang jointly issued a proclamation to various prefectures.

The seven commanderies of Shu Commandery, Shu Commandery State, Guanghan Commandery, Guanghan State, Jianwei Commandery, Jianwei State, and Ba Commandery, which had always obeyed the orders of the governor's office, readily submitted to the governor Liu Zhang after he surrendered, continuing to serve as officials of the court openly and legitimately, and receiving the new official salaries of the court.

The four commanderies of Yuexi, Yizhou, Yongchang, and Zangke were located in the south, in a mountainous and remote region with many barbarian tribes. The governors of the four commanderies hesitated upon receiving the proclamation.

But Lü Bu was prepared.

He ordered Yang Ang to lead 1,000 Hanzhong soldiers as the vanguard, Cao Xing to lead 5,000 elite troops of the Imperial Army as the main force, and 20,000 Shu soldiers to follow behind as support, to march south and intimidate.

At the same time, he and Liu Zhang jointly wrote a letter to the governors of the four commanderies, explaining the advantages and disadvantages.

In mid-May, Gao Cheng, the governor of Yuexi, who lived nearby, received news that Lü Bu possessed the divine ability to conquer Jianmen Pass and Mianzhu in a single day. After much deliberation, he was the first to surrender.

In June, the governors of Yizhou, Cuan Yan, Yongchang, and Zangke, seeing the imperial army pressing on their borders and receiving a joint letter from Lü Bu and Liu Zhang, knowing that Lü Bu could capture Jianmen Pass and Mianzhu in a single day, realized that if they led their troops to resist, they would invite Lü Bu to personally lead an expedition and surely die without a burial place. So they successively submitted memorials to surrender.

At this point, all twelve prefectures of Yizhou were submitted to the imperial court.

Only some of the southern barbarian tribes deep in the mountains have not yet submitted. However, those tribes and villages are scattered and sparsely populated, posing no immediate threat.

As long as the local powerful clans or barbarian leaders represented by the governors of these four prefectures are willing to submit, and they suppress the scattered barbarian tribes, the southern region will not descend into chaos.

Although there are historical precedents of rebellion against Shu Han in the south, Lü Bu's current power is much stronger than that of Shu Han in history. The powerful clans and barbarian leaders in the south will naturally consider the gains and losses.

Knowing they couldn't win and that rebellion would mean certain death, coupled with Lü Bu's benevolent treatment of his subordinates, they naturally wouldn't act recklessly.

Lü Bu wasn't in a hurry. He planned to wait until the world was stable before slowly dealing with the local powerful clans and unruly barbarians. By then, he would have conquered not only the southern regions but also the entire Indochina Peninsula.

The twelve prefectures of Yizhou had a registered population of over 400,000 households and over 2.8 million people. With the addition of refugees who fled from the Central Plains and Guanzhong in previous years, the actual population exceeded 3 million.

By this time, Lü Bu, representing the imperial court, effectively controlled five provinces: Sili, Bingzhou, Liangzhou, Yanzhou, and Yizhou, with a population of nearly six million and an army of 150,000.

We are only four million people away from reaching a population of ten million and being upgraded to a Level 6 security zone.

Of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, Lü Bu had already controlled five.

Of the territories that had not yet submitted, only eight provinces remained: Ji, You, Qing, Xu, Yu, Jing, Yang, and Jiao.

Among them, Ji Province had the largest population, about three million; Jing Province was second, about three million; Yu Province and Yang Province each had more than two million; Xu Province and Qing Province each had one and a half million; You Province and Jiao Province were sparsely populated, each with about one million. (Based on the total population of the thirteen provinces in 194 AD being slightly over 2000 million.)

Next, if Lü Bu can take Ji Province and Jing Province, a population of ten million and a level-six safe zone will be within his grasp.