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

West Garden, a temporary fruit and vegetable pavilion.

Liu Hong was lying on a soft couch, surrounded by several palace maids dressed in thin air.

Holding the script drawn by Li Changhua in his hand, he was enthusiastically directing the palace maids to rehearse the plot of "The Female General's Time Stop".

He was pale, with dark circles under his eyes, bloodless lips, and had lost a lot of weight. He was even a little breathless when he spoke.

But those eyes still shone with an excited light!

"No, no!" Liu Hong frowned, pointing at a beautiful woman.

"Your gaze is wrong. It should be completely indifferent, then shocked! Terrified! Grief-stricken! Do it again!"

Just as the beauty was about to start again, Zhang Rang stumbled in, his face full of panic:

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! An attack has occurred in Liangzhou!"

"What's the panic?" Liu Hong waved his hand impatiently. "What could be more important than my script?"

"Your Majesty! It's a rebellion by the Qiang and Hu tribes in Liangzhou!" Zhang Rang exclaimed anxiously, his forehead covered in sweat.

"Bei Gong Boyu and Li Wenhou, in alliance with the Qiang and Hu tribes, have kidnapped Bian Zhang and Han Sui, gathered tens of thousands of followers, and have already captured Jincheng County! They have killed Chen Yi, the governor of Jincheng, and are now marching towards the Three Auxiliary Regions!"

"What?!"

Liu Hong suddenly sat up straight, and the script in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

The Sanfu region! That's the gateway to Chang'an! Once it falls to the rebels, Chang'an will be in danger!

If Chang'an is in danger, Luoyang will also be in danger!

The excitement on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a hint of panic.

"How could this be? Didn't the imperial court already conscript them to fight the Yellow Turbans?"

"Your Majesty, it's because of the conscription," Zhang Rang said with a bitter face.

"Those Qiang and Hu people were already unwilling to submit to the king's rule, and the people below even withheld their grain and rewards, so they had long harbored resentment!"

Bian Zhang and Han Sui, who were highly respected in Liangzhou, simply joined the rebellion after being kidnapped. Now the rebel army is powerful, and all the counties of Liangzhou are sending urgent appeals for reinforcements from the imperial court!

Liu Hong frowned and paced back and forth in the hall.

The campaign against the Yellow Turbans had already depleted most of the national treasury's reserves, and now the Liangzhou rebellion had broken out. What should be done?

Inside the Guoyou Pavilion, looking at the palace maids dressed in the Emperor's New Clothes, he immediately thought of Li Chang, and then Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was a formidable warrior! He had three fierce generals under his command: Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, as well as Li Chang, a strategist of unparalleled wisdom who "understood me"!

Moreover, Liu Bei was a member of the Han imperial family and would never rebel.

Sending him to quell the rebellion is the most suitable thing to do!

"Issue my decree! Tomorrow morning court will be held to discuss the suppression of the rebellion!" Liu Hong said in a deep voice.

The next day, at Deyang Palace.

Liu Hong was forced to put on his court robes and sit in the Deyang Hall. His face was sallow and his eyes were dark-rimmed.

This isn't out of concern for the country or its people; it's just that I've been playing too recklessly this month!

The usually lifeless imperial court was unusually lively today.

The civil and military officials gathered together, discussing the matter animatedly, their faces filled with panic.

"Tens of thousands of rebels! What are we going to do?"

"We've just quelled the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and now another uprising has broken out!"

"The Qiang and Hu tribes of Liangzhou are brave and skilled in battle. It took General Duan Jiong more than ten years to pacify them back then. Who can stop them now?"

"I think we should just fortify our defenses and hold out for the Three Auxiliary Regions."

"Defend to the death? If the rebels breach Chang'an, where will the Han Dynasty's reputation be?"

"Perhaps we should continue to recommend General Lu... or General Huangfu Song for assistance?"

The people below were arguing amongst themselves.

The powerful clans all had their own agendas: to get their own people involved, use the court's resources, and seize their own military achievements!

Yuan Shao stood in the middle rear row, eyes downcast, not uttering a word. Yuan Shu glanced around, pretending not to hear the murmurs.

They haven't yet begun to gain control of the Yuan family; it's still the era of their elders.

"Your Majesty, the Qiang and Hu tribes in Liangzhou, along with Bian Zhang and Han Sui, have rebelled. The rebel force has grown to 100,000 men, and Liangzhou is in imminent danger!"

Situ Yuan Wei stepped forward and delivered his report.

Liu Hong yawned and waved his hand: "Then send troops to fight. My dear ministers, who is willing to lead the troops?"

The court fell silent instantly.

Huangfu Song was in Jizhou, Zhu Jun was in Nanyang, and Lu Zhi had been reinstated to his original position for less than a month.

The remaining capable fighters were either out in the field or dared not take up the mantle. Several ministers recommended a few names, but all declined due to reasons such as "few soldiers and generals" and "old age and frailty."

Liu Hong grew impatient and pretended to suddenly remember Liu Bei, casually saying:

"What about Liu Bei? Wasn't he quite a capable fighter?"

The moment the words were spoken, the court erupted in uproar.

Zhang Jun, a court official, was the first to step forward, and his words were quite vehement:

"Your Majesty! The rebellion in Liangzhou is different from the Yellow Turban Rebellion! The troops under Bian Zhang and Han Sui are Qiang and Hu cavalry, who come and go like the wind, and are not comparable to the Yellow Turban bandits!"

Liu Bei was only thirty years old and had little experience. How could he command a large army? Moreover, he only had a few thousand soldiers under his command. How could he resist tens of thousands of rebel troops?

Your subject believes that General Huangfu Song should be summoned to lead the army to Liangzhou as commander-in-chief.

Yuan Wei also had an opinion:

"What Zhang Yilang said, though harsh, is not without reason. Your Majesty, Liu Bei's forces number only a few thousand and are unfamiliar with the terrain of Liangzhou. If we rashly launch an expedition, we fear we will be unable to withstand the elite Qiang and Hu troops. It would be better to wait until General Huangfu has finished dealing with matters in Jizhou before ordering him to advance westward."

"Wait?" Liu Hong slapped the armrest of the dragon throne and said irritably, "Urgent reports from Liangzhou keep coming, they're almost at the Three Auxiliary Regions! You want me to wait?"

At this moment, Lu Zhi's voice suddenly rang out: "Your Majesty, I believe Liu Bei is capable."

He stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over Zhang Jun and Yuan Wei, and unhesitatingly supported his disciple:

"Zhang Yilang said that Xuande was lucky to suppress the Yellow Turbans, but I dare not agree. Xuande started in Youzhou with two thousand local militia and successively defeated the Yellow Turbans in several counties of Youzhou, including Zhuojun, Yuyang, Guangyang, and Changshan."

He beheaded Cheng Yuanzhi and Deng Mao, and then defeated the three Zhang brothers in Guangzong and Quyang!

During this period, the people were pacified and the territory was secure, and military discipline was strict. I, Lu, personally experienced the battles in Youji; may I ask, Zhang Yilang…?

If this is just luck, then what should we call those who lose a battle?

It's just that Dong Zhuo wasn't there, otherwise, he would have been angry for a moment and that would have been fine.

Zhang Jun's face stiffened, and he was speechless.

Lu Zhi continued:

"As for the unfamiliar terrain of Liangzhou, there is Li Chang under Liu Bei's command. This man is skilled in geography and mapmaking, and he was known for his military strategy during the Battle of Youzhou."

Furthermore, Liu Bei was adept at winning people's hearts, and the Qiang and Hu tribes within Bian Zhang and Han Sui's ranks might not be united with the Han generals; this was a perfect opportunity to divide and weaken them!

Cao Cao also wanted to step forward and second the motion, but his status was lower than Yuan Shao's, so he didn't have much right to speak.

Lu Zhi's friend agreed:

"What Lu Zhonglang said is absolutely right. I have observed that Liu Bei governs his army with discipline and has a well-organized command system, which is incomparable to ordinary recruits."

If Your Majesty were to allocate 10,000 elite troops from the Northern Army to Liu Bei, combining them with his main force, and also procure provisions along the way, a battle might not be impossible.

With both men supporting him, the balance of power in the court began to tip.

But the dissenting voices did not subside.

"Your Majesty!" The imperial servant Zhao Qi stepped forward.

"What Lu Zhonglang is talking about are all old stories of suppressing the Yellow Turbans, but Liangzhou is different. The Qiang and Hu tribes are in rebellion, and he is said to have 100,000 men under his command! Sending 10,000 men to quell a rebellion of 100,000 is just suicide!"

"Master Zhao is exaggerating," Lu Zhi replied.

"A hundred thousand men? How many troops does the Qiang leader Beigong Boyu actually have? Most are just rabble from various Qiang and Hu tribes who raided alongside his army. Their army is powerful, but it's all just a bluff. The Yellow Turbans claimed to have a million men, but weren't they scattered?"

"That's different! The Yellow Turbans were coerced peasants, while the Qiang and Hu were elite cavalry!"

"The starving people have their own way of fleeing, but how much better can the barbarians be than them?"

Even at the end of the dynasty, the Han Dynasty was still able to defeat the nomadic tribes from all directions!

The two men were exchanging barbs in the court, their arguments sharp and confrontational. Liu Hong, feeling a headache coming on, yawned and waved his hand to interrupt their debate:

"Alright, alright, let's stop here for today. We'll discuss it again tomorrow."

The first court assembly ended inconclusively.

When the news reached Liu Bei's residence in the south of the city, Zhang Fei was the first to be blown up.

"What? We still need to discuss this?" Zhang Fei slammed his fist on the table, making the teacup jump.

"People are dying in Liangzhou, and they still want to discuss it? What's there to discuss! It's not like they're the ones going to fight!"