Liu Bei still stayed in Chang'an, preparing for the ancestor worship ceremony to be held after the autumn harvest in September.
At this time, Liu Bei and the central government affairs were handed over to Zhuge Liang. The main work of the military affairs in Chang'an was handled by Zhang Xi, Wei Yan and others. The strategic planning and formulation of the Northern Expedition was planned by Pang Tong, Huang Quan and others. He's actually not too busy.
Therefore, it is not too difficult for Zhang Xi to meet Liu Bei.
However, Liu Bei's recent life has not been too easy.
The reason is simple, Liu Bei is ill.
At present, it seems that it is not a serious illness, just some minor illnesses such as typhoid fever, and the symptoms are not obvious. After Wei Chen's treatment, the condition can be controlled.
But the problem is, Liu Bei is already sixty-five this year.
According to Wei Shen, Liu Bei was fighting all year round. He was overworked due to physical weakness and qi damage, and he was not accustomed to the climate and soil of Guanzhong, so he suffered from minor illnesses. If possible, Wei Shen suggested that Liu Bei return to Chengdu as soon as possible to take advantage of Chengdu's climate. Conditions and good cultivation are the best policy.
Wei Chen had no selfish intentions and gave solid advice, but Liu Bei couldn't listen.
Liu Bei stayed in Chang'an not only to satisfy his own vanity, but also for a certain political purpose. If he can't take this opportunity to win over the aristocratic families in Chengdu, then when he has a hundred years, he will It will be more troublesome for that boy Adou to succeed to the throne.
Who knows who the son is, Adou, that boy, is not an incompetent king, but he is not a master of great talent and strategy either. If he cannot conquer those aristocratic families in Shu at this time, God knows what will happen in the future. situation.
Maybe even if we choose to move the capital to Chang'an, the southwest will be unstable.
Another one, Liu Bei, is indeed somewhat similar to Emperor Gao, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty. His attitude towards life and death is really "free and easy".
During the Chu-Han War, in order to survive, Liu Bang could kick his wife and children out of the car mercilessly. However, when the world was finally settled, Liu Bang was seriously injured when he put down the Yingbu Rebellion. What's the use of Bian Que!" He refused to receive treatment for his injuries, and finally died as a result.
Now, Liu Bei also feels that he has lived for sixty-five years, which is already a long life in this era. The remaining time will be left to fate. If fate allows him to live, he can continue to live. Destiny wants him to die tomorrow, and he can't hide.
In this way, Liu Bei ignored Wei Chen's advice and insisted on staying in Chang'an. Because of this, Qin Mi was forced to change the time for ancestor worship from the first month of next year to September this year.
Originally, Qin Mi felt that since he wanted to worship his ancestors, the first month was naturally more appropriate and in line with Zhou etiquette.
The first month of the first lunar month is supposed to be the day when the emperor worships heaven and worships his ancestors. But in the first month of this year, Liu Bei was busy fighting for Guanzhong with Cao Wei. Now that he has captured Guanzhong, wouldn't it be the most appropriate day to worship heaven and worship his ancestors in the first month of next year? !
But now, based on Liu Bei's attitude towards his illness and Liu Bei's current physical condition, Qin Mi is really afraid that something will go wrong.
In this era, for the elderly, winter is a difficult life-and-death test. If you survive it, you may not be able to survive for another year. If you cannot survive it, you will really die.
Even though Liu Bei is now the emperor, God will not care about you so much when he accepts someone.
Therefore, Qin Mi must advance the time of ancestor worship and let Liu Bei complete the ancestor worship ceremony before winter comes, and then spend the winter with peace of mind. If he worships his ancestors in the first month and freezes Liu Bei, then he Qin Mi is the heinous one.
Fortunately, worshiping ancestors after the autumn harvest can be regarded as a sacrificial time in line with Zhou rites. The etiquette is acceptable, the weather is not too cold, and the time is just right.
Therefore, when Zhang Xi met Liu Bei, Qin Mi had just finished reporting the ancestor worship process to Liu Bei, and with Liu Bei's consent, he confirmed all the etiquette regulations for ancestor worship.
When the two of them were going in and out, no one could see anything that could be done to the other. No one could tolerate the conflict between the two of them some time ago.
After Qin Mi left, Zhang Xi went inside to see Liu Bei.
Although Liu Bei has been on the throne for four years, he still lives the same lifestyle as before, and there are not so many taboos. When Zhang Xi came, they sat down and talked as before.
Kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times is not a great dynasty meeting, and Liu Bei was not the emperor of the Ming and Qing dynasties, so there was no such rule.
Zhang Xi still bowed his hands in salute, and Liu Bei also waved his hand to indicate that Zhang Xi did not need to be polite. If his body was not a little weak and did not allow it, Liu Bei could still hold Zhang Xi's hand and sit down at the table as before.
After the two sat down, Liu Bei first asked with a smile, "Yuan Chang has always been casual and unwilling to stick to documents, but he has been working hard recently and came to my place to relax?!"
Just kidding.
After getting along with him for so many years, with Liu Bei's level of understanding of people, he still doesn't know Zhang Xi's character.
Zhang Xi is actually good at everything. He leads troops cautiously but never misses opportunities. He thinks a lot about government affairs. Although he is not thorough, he often has fantastic ideas. He is also good at using people. He is a rare talent.
It's just that sometimes he is too careless and lazy. If he doesn't force him, he won't be able to achieve great results.
This is Liu Bei's evaluation of Zhang Xi, so when we met today, he first made fun of Zhang Xi. By the way, he was also forcing Zhang Xi in disguise.
No matter how thick-skinned you are, you can't admit it in front of the emperor. You just came here to hide, right? At least you can take out some government affairs and report it to Liu Bei, right? !
But Liu Bei didn't expect that Zhang Xi really didn't come to him to be lazy this time, but really had something to say.
Zhang Xi did not say much in defense, but first presented the plan and his memorial to Liu Bei for viewing, and then said, "I am not here to distract myself, but if I start the memorial, I hope that your Majesty will Decide.”
After saying this, Zhang Xi stopped talking and sat aside, waiting for Liu Bei to ask questions after reading the memorial and plan.
When Liu Bei saw Zhang Xi's plan, his face became more and more solemn. As he read it, he thought about it. It was not until a quarter of an hour later that Liu Bei put down the plan.
"This matter has wide implications, and" Liu Bei hesitated for a moment, and finally called the Huangmen Minister and asked him to pass on the edict to Pang Tong, and Huang Quan and Huang Quan came to see him.
Before the two of them arrived, Liu Beicai looked at Zhang Xi with a wry smile and said, "Yuan Zhang really thinks that although this plan is clever, it may not be as smooth as Yuan Zhang said when it is implemented."
Zhang Xi nodded and said, "I also know about this. It's just that Dingkou in Guanzhong is missing. If both wings are not real, it is better to use one of the wings as a guard."
"However, Zuo Fengyi cannot afford to lose anything!" Liu Bei shook his head slightly and said, "I am not opposed to the idea of military garrison, but Zuo Fengyi's land is very vast. If all the military garrison is established, where will the troops and horses be mobilized?!"
Zhang Xi lowered his head slightly and remained silent.
Although the mobilization of troops and horses was under the control of him, the Minister of War, military power was definitely not in his hands.
Liu Bei smiled and said, "I can also guess what Yuan Chang meant. However, the entire Northern Expedition army is less than 100,000 people, and the Liangzhou Army's 20,000 people need to return to Liangzhou, and the Yizhou County soldiers also need to take turns. Returning to Yizhou, the elite of the Northern Army must not leave the capital without authorization. Even if I allow you to recruit Yongzhou governor troops and garrison soldiers, how can you close such a big gap in a short while?!"
What Liu Bei said made Zhang Xi stunned for a moment.
This is basically equivalent to Liu Bei giving Zhang Xi the right to recruit county soldiers and garrison soldiers in the Yongzhou Governor's Department. It is equivalent to decentralizing military power.
Liu Bei had said so, and Zhang Xi did not dare to hide it anymore and reveal everything he and Wei Yan had discussed.
And Liu Bei, listen, listen. Really, if it weren't for the two people who came up with this idea, one is Zhang Xi and the other is Wei Yan, Liu Bei would have suspected what these two were planning to do.
These two people suggested that Liu Bei divide some of the soldiers from Yizhou, Jingzhou, and Liangzhou and transfer them to Zuofeng Yi's military camp in the name of guarding the border.
It doesn't take much. If a state sends 20,000 county soldiers, there will be 60,000 soldiers.
This is not something extraordinary. In fact, during the Han Dynasty, it was common for county soldiers to guard the border. A border guarding lasted for two years, so this was not an exception.
But the problem is that during the Han Dynasty, the county soldiers guarding the border were divided among the states in turn. That is to say, the county soldiers in a state basically only had the task of guarding the border once every five to ten years. But the requirements of these two things, It is within one year that Liu Bei's three states will be tasked with border guarding at the same time. It is even possible that in the next three to five years, there will be border guarding tasks every year.
What do you think the state officials and county soldiers would think about this? !
Guarding the border is never a good thing. Even if it is just to build a military camp, not many county soldiers will be happy about it.
Of course, if it's just like this, forget it. Liu Bei thinks that although these two ideas are a bit too beautiful, it is still a way to solve the problem. But they also asked Liu Bei to leave 30,000 elite troops of the Northern Army in Chang'an to carry out Zuo Feng's plan. Yituntian, this is a bit too much.
The elite of the Northern Army do have the responsibility to go out and fight, but guarding the border is not the scope of the Northern Army's responsibilities.
Another thing is that the Northern Army is directly affiliated with the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. It is the sharpest sword in the hand of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. Let them obey your command and stay in Guanzhong to build a military camp. If Cao Cao had been replaced, what would your heads be like now? But I don’t know where it is.
That's why Liu Bei feels that this matter is of great importance and has many implications. To be honest, this is to play with Liu Bei's temperament and be kinder. Otherwise, if it were Cao Cao, even Sun Shiwan would not tolerate this. The two of them were messing around.
(End of chapter)
