When Liu Bei arrived thirty miles away from Zhuo County, Chen Deng, the governor of Youzhou, came to see him. At this time, Chen Deng was already fifty-three. When he led the crowd to greet him, he had to sit on the bullock cart and had to be supported before he could stand up and salute. Liu Bei was very moved when he saw it, and hurriedly ordered him to sit down, and then moved him He picked him up in his car and drove with him to Zhuoxian County.
But having said that, Chen Deng's health has been in extremely poor condition since the decisive battle in Pingcheng. Every year there are reports that Chen Yuanlong is critically ill and difficult to treat, but he has been able to hold on until now. But now, Chen Deng's health has deteriorated to an unprecedented level. He can no longer write in person, but has to sign documents and issue orders by dictation. But this also shows the extent to which Liu Bei relied on Chen Deng. Among the scholars in Xuzhou who defected to the West, this treatment was unique.
The unaware Eastern court thought that Chen Deng had great influence among the Xuzhou gentry and was self-reliant, so it sent a secret envoy to try to instigate Chen Deng's rebellion. Chen Deng drew a knife during the dinner and beheaded the emissary and buried him in the backyard, so no one knew about it.
Liu Bei stayed at Chen Deng's house that day, feasting and watching songs. He asked all relatives of the Chen family to come and pay homage, and each would receive a reward. At that time, Chen Deng specifically pointed at his son Chen Su and said to Liu Bei: "I have no other regrets in my life. It's just that my son has no talent. I'm afraid that my family will be ruined when I die." Liu Bei couldn't help but look at Chen Su. I saw that he had slender eyes, a long head, thin cheeks, and a long beard under his chin. Although he was not tall, he was very strong. He smiled and asked: "You look like a warrior. How many battles have you fought?" Chen Su replied: "The decisive battle in Pingcheng, the night attack on Kebineng, and some battles against northern barbarians and mountain bandits."
Liu Bei suddenly asked: "I heard that Ke Bi was a Shanyu of Xianbei and had countless treasures in his account. Did you get anything by participating in this matter?" Chen Su was startled and looked up at his father Chen Deng. He smiled and gestured to himself, which seemed to mean that it didn't matter. Only then did he boldly say: "I did get some raw materials, gold and silver, and brought them back to the house." Liu Bei did not ask further questions and laughed them off. Instead, he said to Chen Deng: "No one is a sage, and no one can do anything wrong, but he should keep it in mind." That’s enough.”
Liu Bei was so happy that night that he made an exception and drank some wine. After falling asleep at night, I felt severe pain in my abdomen. I vomited a mouthful of blood and soiled the mattress. I panted for half the night before finally calming down. He didn't want anyone to know about this, so he called Zhang Bao in, who was guarding the outer room, and exchanged mattresses with him. Zhang Bao worked carefully. He took out a short knife and cut his arm, smeared blood on it, and told others that he had accidentally injured himself while drawing the knife.
The next day, King Heng Tuoba Liwei came to see him. Tuoba Liwei was very familiar with Liu Bei, but he hadn't seen him again for a long time after establishing the Yunbei Changshi Mansion. When we met today, we saw him wearing a military uniform with a round collar and narrow sleeves. He had dark skin and a strong build. He was standing with a short sword hanging on his waist and he was still somewhat polite. Liu Bei had always admired him very much. He was very happy to see Li Wei still dressed in fine clothes. After all, in Liu Bei's view, even compared with the current Ji Ji Junyan in the imperial court, Li Wei's talents can be regarded as outstanding.
Tuoba Liwei reported that Hengguo has been a state for ten years. To this day, it has a total of 136,400 horses, 1,600 hectares of farmland, 30,000 knights under its command, and 20 slave contracts for tribal subjects. Ten thousand people can pay tribute to Changshi Mansion of 10,000 cattle and sheep every year. Liu Bei was surprised when he heard this, but felt that Liwei was honest, so he talked to Liwei for another moment or two and gave him a jade stick and a string of agate beads from the Western Regions.
He thought of his eldest son in Luoyang and couldn't help but secretly compare them. As his health worsened, he often thought about the prince. After seeing Tuoba Liwei this time, he had even more worries. However, in just ten years, Liwei has developed and grown to such a great power in Hengguo. It is still too fanciful to just use the 5,000 heavy cavalry of Yunbei Changshi Mansion to control the grassland. After his death, can his son control him? This issue became Liu Bei's concern. He considered whether to marry a weak woman in order to increase his influence on Hengguo. At the same time, he also wanted to reuse Tuoba Pigu so that he could be the governor of Yuyang to recruit people. The Xianbei people entered the DPRK.
Liu Bei thought of this and quickly made the appointment, but he was not in a hurry to issue the order. He planned to hand over this matter to Liu Xie for execution after returning to Luoyang. In this way, having the prince complete all personnel appointments and removals can also increase Tuoba Liwei and Tuoba Pigu's loyalty to their new master.
Liu Bei and his party rested in Zhuoxian County for about seven or eight days, and then headed north to Xiubuli, which was his real hometown. At this time, he returned here with a mighty team of thousands of people. Liu Bei couldn't help but remember When I was a child, I would weave mats and shoes with my mother, and then go to the market to sell grass. Who would have thought that a child who picked up frogs to satisfy his hunger in the countryside would one day become an emperor?
After Liu Bei arrived in Xiubuli, he visited his former residence and met with his fellow villagers and elders. It's just that most of the people who were familiar with him back then have died of illness. Only Liu Miao, whom he met when he returned home, is still there. After he and Liu Miao sat down at the table, they were filled with emotion. Because of the spirit of Liu Bei's mulberry tree, the villagers set up an ancestral hall in their former residence to worship the earth spirits. Liu Bei took his people to see it in person and found that the old tree was still green and the branches were covered with mulberries. He said to everyone: "Back then, I was sitting under the tree and told the villagers that I wanted to take this feather-covered carriage. Now it has become Really, what I’m thinking about is that I don’t have parents to comfort me. How can a person be embarrassed if a tree is like this?”
After saying that, Liu Bei couldn't help but shed tears under the tree, patted the tree trunk and said to everyone: "I often encourage myself with the words of Emperor Gaozu, but now that I think about it, I am just a mere shadow. It is not until today that I really understand the thoughts of Emperor Gaozu. The wanderer is sad for his hometown." ." So he ordered people to sing "Song of the Great Wind" at the banquet. After the song, he sent someone to take down a basket of mulberries from the old tree and share it with everyone. He also said: "Cao Cao will not cut down this tree, but I can treat it kindly. His descendants." At the same time, the name of the village was changed, Xiuburi was renamed Lousangli, and the folks here were ordered to be rent-free for a hundred years.
It was already early April, and Liu Bei sent another knight into Liaodong to persuade the remnants of the Eastern Dynasty to surrender. Liu Bei took control of Jicheng and waited for news in the city. During this period, the wound on Liu Bei's back worsened, and lumps began to bulge in his abdomen. He had blood in his stool for days and was in very bad spirits. His entourage advised him to return to Luoyang as soon as possible to recuperate, but he still insisted on waiting for news in Jicheng.
In late April, the knight brought back Cao Pi's reply. It is a pity that although Cao Pi was very polite in the letter and called Liu Bei his elder, he did not mean to surrender in his words. Instead, he claimed that Liaodong had 100,000 troops, enough to defend Liaoze, and at the same time he also sent Some wild ginseng unique to Liaodong advised Liu Bei to take good care of his health. Liu Bei couldn't help laughing when he saw the reply. He actually boiled wild ginseng into medicine and drank it, and said to his cronies: "It seems that Cao Pi is guessing that if I live for one day, I will recuperate and won't launch troops against Liaodong. Boy." I guessed it right!"
After drinking the medicine, Liu Bei's health improved slightly, and he continued to travel north. He walked out of Yanshan through Juyongguan, passed Gongsun Zan's cemetery, paid homage to his friend again, and buried two swords in front of the tomb to show that he would not forget his friend. meaning. But at this moment, Liu Bei felt more and more that death was getting closer to him. Then the convoy moved slower and slower, probably only able to move about twenty miles a day.
By the time he arrived in Pingcheng, it was already mid-May. The cavalry general Zhang Fei heard that Liu Bei was seriously ill, so he came to visit him without authorization. Unexpectedly, when Liu Bei learned about it, he was extremely angry and turned Zhang Fei away. Zhang Fei still refused to leave and stood in front of the mansion for another half day, so Liu Bei sent someone to send a message saying: "You are already an important minister of the country and a role model for all officials. Why are you still so high-spirited in your work? A general is not allowed to leave his territory without permission. This principle How many times have I told you? I often think of you as my brother, so I condone many things, but I also broke many rules and let you do such stupid things as killing prisoners in Linzi! You don’t have to come Look at me, I’d better go back to the army first and examine my sins of dereliction of duty to my subordinates!”
This was the first time Liu Bei mentioned killing prisoners in Linzi, and it was also the last time. After he waited for Zhang Fei to return to his station, he thought sadly that after his death, if Zhang Fei still had the same temperament, he would probably have conflicts with Chen Chong and Guan Yu, let alone the other officials. He hoped that his words , you can teach him some lessons and let him restrain his temper.
In addition to Zhang Fei, Liu Bei was also worried about the arrangements for Liangzhou. After all, although the three towns in Liangzhou surrendered, there were still a large number of private soldiers, which had to make Liu Bei fearful. In the plateaus and grasslands on the north and south sides of Liangzhou, there are still a large number of Qiang and Di tribes. Although they are currently at peace with the country, I am afraid it is not because the country has many means, but because the weather has been good in the past few years and all tribes have been free from disasters. Once there is a drought year, all kinds of chaos may soon occur. Every time Liu Bei thought about the chaos and waste of state capital during the reign of Emperor Ling, he would feel horrified.
Therefore, he endured the torture of illness and carefully considered and arranged the preparations for his trip to Long on the road, intending to solve these hidden dangers himself before his death. However, he also had worries about not being able to travel, so he made relevant appointments in advance: Ma Chao was appointed governor of the West Prefecture, stationed in Brazil; Han Yue was appointed prefect of Hanzhong; Song Ning was appointed general of Guanghan, stationed in Mianzhu, and Cheng Gongying was appointed general Pingdi, stationed in Yinping.
As a result, the old forces in the three towns of Longyou were basically transferred to Bashu, and at the same time they coordinated with the celebrities from Henan previously sent by the court. On the one hand, it speeds up the digestion of Shu, and on the other hand, it can check and balance each other. In the past, the situation where the warriors from Longshang gathered together on the plateau and heard about the Eastern language no longer existed. This is all Liu Bei's painstaking arrangement.
The only person who may be sorry is Duan Xuan, the current governor of Xifu. Duan Shen had been guarding the country's borders for about twenty years. Removing him casually would not be unjust. Therefore, after Liu Bei transferred him from a real position to a false position, he also awarded Duan Shen the position of Grand Tutor to show his respect for the hero. .
After Liu Bei made these adjustments, he couldn't help but said to his confidants: "The prince wants to be first in everything, but as a father, I have to consider it for him. This time should be regarded as the last time I will do it for him!"
After saying this, Liu Bei coughed repeatedly. When he set off from Linzi, the wild geese were returning north, but when he left Pingcheng by car, it was already late June, and the day for the wild geese to fly south was coming soon. The transcoding has been serious recently, which makes us more motivated and updates faster. Please use your little hands to exit the reading mode. Thanks
