Liu Bei never dreamed that he would become the emperor's uncle.
Just when Zhang Xiu was pacifying Guanzhong, Yuan Shao finally recovered his strength after more than ten days of rest, and immediately began to recruit horses and troops, preparing to take action after the autumn harvest.
However, the target of the operation has not yet been determined. It may be Liu Bei on the south bank of the Yellow River, or Gongsun Zan in Youzhou in the north, or it may be a two-pronged attack.
Liu Bei speculated that he was defending him and attacking Zan.
He only has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, only 10,000 cavalry, and 40,000 infantry. Such strength cannot threaten Yuan Shao's safety. In other words, Yuan Shao does not take Liu Bei seriously at all. When he takes care of Gongsun Zan, he will lift a finger. It can kill him.
Gongsun Zan had 100,000 cavalry and was brave and good at fighting. He was a very difficult thorn to tame, so Liu Bei expected that Yuan Shao would attack Gongsun Zan.
But he did not dare to be careless just because of his inference. He ordered Guan Yu and Zhao Yun to lead 5,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry to rely on the natural dangers of the Yellow River to defend. Let Zhang Fei lead an army of 10,000 to guard Cao Cao in the east, Xu Sheng lead an army of 5,000 to guard Lu Bu in the south, and mediate between them.
At the same time, he set his sights on Zang Ba in Kaiyang City.
During the Yellow Turban Uprising, Zang Ba was subordinate to Tao Qian. After defeating the thieves, he became the Cavalry Commander. Later, Zang Ba withdrew his troops in Xuzhou and gathered his troops with Sun Guan, Wu Dun, Yin Li and others. Zang Ba became the commander-in-chief and annexed the Kaiyang area, becoming his own overlord.
Some time ago, Zang Ba went to Ju County to attack Langya Prime Minister Xiao Jian, captured Ju County, and obtained Xiao Jian's supplies. He had promised to give half to Lu Bu, but he did not give it. Lu Bu led his army to fight, but failed and returned, which attracted Liu Bei's attention.
If you can recruit Zang Ba into your camp, you will not only get the Kaiyang area, but also gain a general, and open the door to Xuzhou in the future.
But his current situation may not attract Zang Ba's interest.
Just when he was worried about this matter, an imperial edict came from Xudu. This old countryman Liu Bei, who had never seen an imperial edict, was overjoyed. He quickly bathed and burned incense and went out to receive the edict.
A eunuch read out the imperial edict in a high-pitched voice, saying that his Majesty had obtained the family genealogy for verification and found that Liu Bei was the great-great-grandson of Emperor Xiaojing after Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan. Qingzhou Mu.
This imperial edict is known to all the world.
In an instant, Liu Bei's name was put on the hot search list among the Han nobles.
Liu Bei and Liu Huangshu became famous overnight, and everyone in the Han Dynasty knew about him.
Liu Bei himself was so excited that he almost screamed. He even wanted to roar: "What is a surprise? What is a surprise! What is a surprise!"
This is the surprise.
It was a pie-in-the-sky surprise. The surprise was that he was confirmed to be an orthodox Han clan member of the Han Dynasty, the uncle of the current emperor of the Han Dynasty, General Zuo, Tinghou of Yicheng, and Mu of Qingzhou.
From now on, others can call him: Liu Shijun, Liu Huangshu, Liu General, Liu Tinghou, Liu Qingzhou.
His current status and strength are not inferior to Zhang Xiu of Nanyang.
However, he heard that Zhang Xiu had captured the Guanzhong Plain, but this was not important. What was important was that he got what he wanted: an orthodox name from the Han Dynasty, Liu Huangshu.
From now on, you can use this name to deceive and defraud in a serious way.
Liu Bei was overjoyed and warmly received the eunuch who came to deliver the order. He even felt that the eunuch's sharp voice was cute and could be forgiven.
Finally, it was learned from the eunuch that this imperial edict was issued behind Cao Cao's back. There were two imperial edicts issued at the same time, one for Liu Bei and the other for Zhang Xiu.
There are also secret edicts, asking them to be ready to take over the throne at all times.
Liu Bei secretly accepted the Qing emperor's secret decree. It's not that he doesn't want to betray the emperor, but that his strength does not allow him to do so. If he joins forces with Zhang Xiu, Lu Bu, and Yuan Shao, then there will be no problem.
But Yuan Shao almost didn't recognize Liu Xie, the Han emperor, and almost made Liu Yu emperor, but fortunately Liu Yu refused.
Liu Xie had no secret message for Lu Bu, so the one who could unite was Zhang Xiu who was far away in Guanzhong digesting food.
After sending away the eunuch who delivered the decree, Liu Bei hid the secret decree. Then he immediately used Uncle Liu's name to order Sun Qian to go to Kaiyang to persuade Zang Ba.
Liu Xie's imperial edict was issued behind Cao Cao's back. Here's what happened: After receiving the imperial edict, Dong Cheng immediately met with Liu Xie, told Liu Xie about the two foreign players he was optimistic about, and asked Liu Xie to The edict was still taken out of the palace with the imperial edict. After leaving Xudu, he announced it to the world with great fanfare. By then, Cao Cao would be unable to catch up.
Sure enough, after telling the world, Cao Cao couldn't catch up.
Cao Cao was enjoying a meal when suddenly his subordinates came to report: The emperor has issued an edict, and he has left Xudu and quickly announced it to the world.
Cao Cao was furious when he heard this. He flipped his wrist and slammed his rice bowl upside down on the long table: "Ah! Who dares to be so bold and smuggle His Majesty's imperial edict out of the city?"
At this time, Guo Jia and Xun Yu hurried over after receiving the news.
Cao Cao was so angry that he couldn't sit still. He paced back and forth, cursing as he walked: "How dare the thief be so bold? He is so bold. The crime is unpardonable! The crime cannot be punished!"
"Ming Gong! Ming Gong!" Guo Jia was afraid that Cao Cao would be so angry that he would have a headache.
Cao Cao shouted and asked: "Has the person who secretly brought the imperial edict out of the palace been found out?!"
Xun Yu said: "Before the imperial edict left the city, only my uncle Dong Cheng had entered the palace, and the horses that left the city were all raised by the Dong family."
Cao Cao shouted angrily: "Ah... Dong Cheng is so brave!"
Guo Jia said: "We can arrest the entire Dong family in the name of falsely conveying the imperial edict, but there is a daughter in the palace who is a Dong noble."
"Capture!" Cao Cao yelled angrily, "If you don't leave me to capture and imprison anyone, I will see how brave Dong Cheng is."
After venting his anger for a while, Cao Cao asked Guo Jia: "Now that the imperial edict has been issued, it may be detrimental to us. What should we do?"
Guo Jia crouched and said, "Don't worry, Ming Ming. This matter will be easy."
"Speak quickly."
"Ming Gong, first kill the person who passed the imperial edict, and then tell the world that Dong Cheng falsely conveyed the imperial edict and intended to rebel, and he has been executed."
Cao Cao nodded: "According to Feng Xiao's words, go and prepare quickly."
Guo Jia quit.
Cao Cao took two deep breaths, glanced at the rice that was upside down on the long table, stood up, grabbed the rice bowl, put the rice into the bowl with chopsticks, and started eating.
…
After hearing this imperial edict, not only Cao Cao was angry, but also Yuan Shao of Jizhou.
He was so angry that he named Liu Bei, a boy weaving mats, the shepherd of Qingzhou.
Qingzhou was originally his, but Liu Bei, a shameless and shameless man, took advantage of him to attack Gongsun Zan in the north. Now it's good, Liu Bei has become the shepherd of Qingzhou.
"Hmph! Cao Ah'an is really useless. He can't even protect his own home. It's abominable that such an imperial edict can be issued." Yuan Shao was quite dissatisfied.
Tian Feng immediately said: "It is better to take this opportunity to make friends with Liu Bei. After defeating Gongsun Zan with all our strength, we can go to Qingzhou in one battle."
The judge said with a cold breath in his nose: "Liu Bei's teacher is Lu Zhi, not Lu Dan. How can he not know that his lips are dead and his teeth are cold?"
Tian Feng's face turned red and his neck became thick.
Jushou said calmly: "Defend Liu Bei in the south and attack Gongsun Zan in the north."
Yuan Shao nodded: "You can order 150,000 horses and infantry to send troops to Youzhou; order Yuan Tan to lead the army, with Chunyu Qiong as general, to defend the plains."
Later, Yuan Shao led his troops to Youzhou.
Uncle Liu Huang also breathed a sigh of relief.
