The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

After several days and several rounds of confrontation, the emperor and the powerful families were actually vying for the position of governor!

In the end, Liu Yan succeeded in becoming the governor of Yi Province, and Liu Yu also became the governor of You Province.

The powerful families and scholars united to make Huang Wan the governor of Yuzhou!

But Liu Hong's next decree shocked them even more, making them jump up in surprise:

"Liu Bei, the General Who Crosses the Liao River and Governor of Bing Province, is hereby appointed as the Governor of Bing Province! He shall establish his own government and hold the imperial insignia, overseeing all military and political power in the nine commanderies of Bing Province!"

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

Situ Cuilie was the first to jump out and object:

"Although Liu Bei has military achievements, he is still young and inexperienced! He is in charge of the military and political affairs of a province at just over thirty years old, and I am afraid he will not be able to win the support of the people!"

Moreover, according to tradition, high-ranking officials in charge of a region must leave their hostages in Luoyang. Liu Bei has not yet sent a hostage to the capital; therefore, he absolutely cannot appoint him as the governor of Bingzhou!

"We second that proposal!"

Another chorus of voices rang out.

Liu Hong coughed so hard that he saw stars, and it took him a while to recover before he looked at the people below:

"Inexperienced? Liu Bei decisively defeated the Xianbei army of 100,000, recovered three counties, and protected the million people of Bingzhou."

This achievement is far greater than that of you people who only know how to argue in court!

As for protons?

Bingzhou is bitterly cold and constantly embroiled in war. Liu Bei doesn't even have any children now!

"My mind is made up; there is no need for further discussion!"

He just wanted to disgust these aristocratic families.

Don't you all look down on Liu Bei, a member of the imperial family who weaves mats and sells shoes?

I insist on appointing him as the Governor of Bingzhou, so that he can command a large army and keep an eye on you from the north!

Moreover, Bingzhou is far from Luoyang, so even if Liu Bei really had ambitions, he wouldn't be able to reach Luoyang in a short time.

It's better than handing Bingzhou over to powerful families!

Thinking of this, Liu Hong coughed a few more times. Sometimes he felt that he should have been able to live a few more years, but it seemed that a portion of his lifespan had disappeared out of thin air!

Seeing Liu Hong's resolute expression, Yuan Wei and the others knew that further opposition was futile.

They exchanged a glance and both saw malice in each other's eyes.

Since Liu Hong insisted on supporting Liu Bei, they had no choice but to find their own way.

……

After the court session, at Yuan Wei's residence.

A group of key figures from prominent families gathered together.

"His Majesty is truly senile! He actually appointed Liu Bei as the Governor of Bing Province!"

"A mere mat weaver and sandal seller dares to govern a state? What a joke!"

"It's useless to talk about this now; we need to find a way to weaken their power. Aside from Xun Yu, Liu Bei doesn't have a single scion of a powerful family under his command! Once Liu Bei establishes a firm foothold in Bingzhou, the consequences will be dire!"

Yuan Wei said confidently:

"What's the rush? If His Majesty can appoint a governor, so can we."

I suspect that Liu Yan of Yizhou harbors treacherous intentions!

Liu Yu of Youzhou was benevolent but lacked the iron fist.

These two men are practically isolated individuals. Unlike His Majesty in Luoyang, we can send our family members or friends to serve under them and govern Yizhou and Youzhou for them!

As for Liangzhou, we can recommend Dong Zhuo as its governor.

Dong Zhuo had been fighting in Liangzhou for a long time and held considerable military power, though he could barely be considered a commoner. The idea was to have him and Liu Bei check and balance each other.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Grand Tutor, your insight is brilliant! But what about Bingzhou? We can't just watch Liu Bei dominate the region, can we?"

At this moment, Wang Rou, who had been lying low in Luoyang for a long time, spoke up.

"Isn't there also Ding Yuan in Bingzhou?"

Ding Yuan was over fifty years old, but he was still only a county commandant, and he had long been dissatisfied with this.

Perhaps Liu Bei trusted him a lot, but before Liu Bei, he was just the governor of Bingzhou and the general who crossed the Liao River, and he couldn't give him the official position he wanted!

We can win over Ding Yuan before Liu Bei officially takes over as governor of Bingzhou!

We can promise him the position of Governor of Hedong.

Hedong County was located in the heart of the Central Plains, a prosperous place, a hundred times better than Bingzhou, that harsh and cold land.

"If you offer him the title of General Who Guards the North, I don't believe he won't be tempted."

"A brilliant plan! With Ding Yuan gone, Bingzhou has lost a vital force! And he's also holding Bingzhou back!"

……

Jinyang, Ding Yuan's residence.

After staying up all night to deal with the opposition from the powerful families, Ding Yuan saw another secret letter.

"Prefect of Hedong... General Who Guards the North..."

He muttered to himself, a longing light shining in his cloudy eyes!

progress!

He's so eager to improve!

No matter how many merits he made or how many barbarians he killed, the imperial court would never see him.

In just two years, Xuande had already become his superior!

But Liu Bei was only in his 30s, while I was already over 50!

Although I am very grateful to Liu Bei for his kindness in allowing me to temporarily manage the affairs of a prefecture!

However, Liu Bei himself was still the General Who Crossed the Liao River and the Governor of Bingzhou, so he could not actually appoint himself as the Prefect!

"Godfather, you were looking for me?"

Lu Bu strode in, his black armor still covered in dust from the training ground.

He had just finished a duel with Zhang Fei overnight, a fight that was thoroughly enjoyable, and he still had a smile on his face.

Ding Yuan handed him the secret letter: "Fengxian, take a look."

Lü Bu took the letter, glanced at it, and frowned: "The people of Luoyang want you to be the governor of Hedong?"

"Yes." Ding Yuan nodded, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Hedong is a major prefecture in the land, with a population of over 500,000, almost half of Bingzhou! It is incredibly wealthy. The General Who Guards the North is a hundred times stronger than that nominal Prefectural Commandant!"

At his age, he understands all too well how difficult it is to make progress!

"But..." Lu Bu hesitated. Although he sometimes felt a little down when he saw other people's official positions, he was really enjoying himself here!

"I just went north with Yide and Wenyuan to gather supplies. And... we made a pact that in the future, when we fight the Hu people, we'll see who kills more!"

In Bingzhou, no one looked down on him just because he was Ding Yuan's adopted son.

Although Zhang Fei was impulsive, he was also a man of true character. If he lost a fight, he would admit it and treat the opponent to drinks! In particular, no matter how many times he lost, he would always come back to fight again a few days later, full of confidence, and then he would continue to treat the opponent to drinks!

Yun Chang, Zilong, and Hansheng would also come to spar from time to time, and he could feel his strength improving by leaps and bounds, as if he had reached the next level.

"Foolish!" Ding Yuan slammed his fist on the table. "A true man born in chaotic times seeks fame, fortune, and the privilege of having his wife and children honored! How can one live under the tutelage of others for long?"

"We, father and son, are both highly skilled. Are we destined to spend our lives subordinate to Xuande? In what way are we inferior to them? Which of Yunchang, Yide, Zilong, and Hansheng is stronger than you?!"

Lu Bu shook his head. "None of them are a match for me! Apart from Brother Hansheng, I'm confident I can take on two of them!"

At this moment, however, Lü Bu seemed to be wavering. Had he been subservient to others for too long? It was as if Ding Yuan had opened the door to a new world for him!

"Hedong is close to Luoyang. As long as we enter the sights of powerful families, it's not impossible for us to become officials in the court and rise to the rank of one of the Three Dukes! It's much better than starving in this bitterly cold land!"

Lu Bu fell silent.

His martial arts skills are unparalleled, so why should he only be a minor official? Why should he be subordinate to Liu Bei?

Or go out and prove your strength, let them see that you are capable of being stronger and holding a higher position than them!

"Alright." Lü Bu raised his head, his eyes hardening. "Wherever my godfather goes, I will go!"

He wasn't a resolute person to begin with, and was easily influenced by others. The Lü Bu who was still a pure warrior gradually disappeared.

Ding Yuan was overjoyed and patted his shoulder: "Good! This is my good son! Once we get to Hedong and establish ourselves, we'll definitely do better than Liu Bei!"

……

The next day, at Zhang Fei's house.

Jars of strong liquor were brought to the table, and a pile of roasted lamb legs, glistening with oil, covered the entire table.

Lu Bu grabbed the wine jar from Zhang Fei's hand and, without saying a word, began to gulp down the wine.

Zhang Fei didn't ask why, picked up another wine jar, clinked it against his, and gulped down more than half of it before wiping his mouth.

"Fengxian, what's the occasion today? You actually offered to treat me to drinks!"

"It's nothing," Lu Bu said jokingly, just like before. "It's just that I've seen you lose so many times, Yide, and you've treated me to drinks so many times, so I wanted to treat you to a drink too."

"Hmph!" Zhang Fei stood up, feigning anger. "Fengxian, are you looking down on me? Do you think I'll never be able to beat you in art?"

As he spoke, he took another big gulp!

Lu Bu nodded matter-of-factly, "I didn't expect you to see through me!"

The two drank several jars of wine and chatted for a long time, but neither of them mentioned the secret letter to Lü Bu.

Zhang Fei also sensed that Lü Bu was in a bad mood, and came up with a plan to cheer him up:

"Come on! Finish this jar! Tomorrow we'll go back to the POW camp and whip those Xianbei prisoners. They're all tough and thick-skinned, perfect for us to practice on!"

"Okay! Let's do it!"

The two of them drank jar after jar, until they were completely drunk.

After a few rounds of drinks, the two staggered to the prisoner-of-war camp.

Looking at the trembling barbarian prisoners, a murderous glint flashed in Lü Bu's eyes. He grabbed his whip and lashed it out fiercely.

"what!"

Screams echoed throughout the room.

Zhang Fei was not to be outdone, wielding his whip with fierce power.

"These ************** barbarians! How many of my fellow villagers did they kill back then! Today they'll pay for it all!"

Lu Bu didn't speak, he just kept waving his whip.

He was very confused.

He couldn't bear to leave the joy of this place, nor could he bear to leave the days he spent fighting the Hu people with Zhang Fei.

Fame and fortune are within reach.

That night, they broke more than a dozen whips, and didn't go home until dawn.

Lu Bu watched Zhang Fei's unsteady departing figure, his lips moved, but in the end he said nothing.

That very night, Zhang Fei found Liu Bei and Li Chang, saying, "Brother, Fourth Brother, something's wrong with Fengxian!"