"Accepting this order, I will live a long and prosperous life. Since Liu Bei took over the country of Pei, he has loyally protected the country and ensured the safety of the people. I am now specially appointed as the shepherd of Yuzhou to supervise the two counties of Yuzhou and the four countries, and he has been granted the title of General Zuo. , pay homage to the Marquis of Wuyi."
In the inner courtyard of Xiaopei City's prefecture, a eunuch wearing a chamberlain uniform held an imperial edict and read it loudly.
Liu Bei knelt on the ground in fear and lowered his head to the ground.
The imperial edict is like seeing a knight, looking up at the king, assassinating the king and killing the king. Naturally, one cannot look directly at him. As a self-proclaimed descendant of the orthodox royal family, of course he must pay more attention to etiquette in this general trend of the collapse of rituals and music.
"Your Majesty, Liu Bei, accepted the order and expressed my gratitude!" Liu Bei puffed out his chest and bowed respectfully with both hands.
After receiving the order, Liu Bei looked at Mi Zhu beside him and said, "Zizhong, take the angel down to rest and entertain him."
"Here."
After the chamberlain left, Liu Bei walked to the corridor with a solemn expression, holding the imperial edict tightly in his hand without saying a word.
"Brother, why do you seem unhappy when the imperial court promoted your official position?" Zhang Fei muttered and looked at Guan Yu.
Isn't this something that should be celebrated with dozens of bottles of wine? It's like losing one's soul.
"Third brother, I will be granted the title of Marquis and State Shepherd. Brother Yili is going to the court to meet the emperor to express his gratitude." Guan Yu said coldly with his red phoenix eyes half-squinted.
"What?"
Zhang Fei was shocked, waved his hand and said: "If you don't go, it must be Cao Cao's fault. He asked his eldest brother to fight Yuan Shu before, but he left as ordered. As a result, Lu Bu attacked Xuzhou secretly, and the court also sat idly by.
I see, these eight achievements are because Cao Cao wants to detain his eldest brother! "
Liu Bei remained silent, not saying a word, but quietly looking at the imperial edict in his hand.
During this period, Cao Cao had not yet killed the imperial concubines, nor had he conducted any spring hunting in the paddocks. Apart from the stain of the Xuzhou massacre, he was surrounded by the aura of assassinating the emperor, being the king of Qin, and being the rescuer.
Liu Bei didn't want to go, but he couldn't find any reason to refuse.
"Brother, why don't you excuse yourself?" After thinking for a long time, Guan Yu could only hold back this idea.
"It's useless..." A wry smile appeared on Liu Bei's face.
"Why, brother?" Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked at each other.
Isn't this a common method used by princes? If an imperial edict was so effective, Cao Cao would have unified the world long ago.
Liu Bei sighed, shook his head and said, "If I refuse to go to court despite being ill like other princes, then Cao Cao will accuse me of not abiding by court etiquette as a descendant of the empress of the Han Dynasty."
He does not have the background of the Fourth Generation and the Three Dukes, nor does he have powerful fathers like Liu Biao and Liu Zhang. Over the years, his foundation has been nothing more than the same, benevolence and righteousness and the Queen of Zhongshan Prince Jing.
Many people actually defected to him because of the reputation of Prince Jing of Zhongshan, and Liu Bei knew it well.
Not to mention the distance, when they were in Zhuoxian, didn't Guan Yu and Zhang Fei immediately think of their elder brother after hearing this story?
Therefore, he really had to go.
Liu Bei understood that this was Cao Cao's power, and he hid the shining sword in the imperial edict.
"But what if after you go, Cao Cao will treat you..."
Before Guan Yu finished speaking, Liu Bei waved his hand, "No, Cao Cao tied the Emperor to his side just to regard himself as the orthodoxy of the world. If you kill me, it will chill the hearts of the world. He will settle the account."
If you don't go, you will destroy your foundation.
It is dangerous to go, but as long as the performance is done well, the chance of leaving alive is still very high.
Liu Bei squinted his eyes and finally loosened his grip on the imperial edict. Go, you must go, because he really needs to go to Xuchang.
Over the years, too many people have questioned his identity as a descendant of the royal family. This trip has confirmed this matter by the way. In the future, he can compete with those princes with profound background.
"Brother, if you want to go to Xuchang, I will accompany you."
"Me too."
Liu Bei glanced at the two of them and smiled gently: "You two followed me to Xuchang, who will stay in Peicheng to take care of you?"
"It's enough for the Mi brothers to stay here."
Regarding Guan Yu's proposal, Liu Bei remained silent.
Even though he married Mi Zhen, and even though the Mi family devoted all their financial support, the only people he trusted from the bottom of his heart were Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
Others, not.
Even in the later stages, Zhao Yun, the Five Tiger Generals, and the four brothers Liu, Guan, Zhang and Zhao, who kept talking about it, could not have such treatment.
After a long time, Liu Bei exhaled a breath, as if he had made an important decision in his heart.
"We three brothers, let's go to Xuchang together!"
"good!"
"Haha, brother, that's so cool."
Going to Longtan and Tiger's Den, there are many dangers. Liu Bei remembered the peach garden oath he made back then, even if he died, he would die together.
...
The Pengcheng Prefect's Mansion seems to be getting more and more crowded now.
In the civil service order, Chen Gong, Chen Deng and Lu Su;
In the general sequence, after acquiring Zang Ba, Sun Guan and Yi Li, the lineup becomes stronger. If it weren't for Hao Meng and Song Xian in Xiapi, and Wei Xu and Hou Cheng in Xiaoguan, this team would probably have to stand at the door.
Looking at the increasingly powerful camp, Lu Bu, who was wearing a military uniform and sitting on the throne, laughed from his heart. Xuzhou said that it was exaggerated to say that the government was well-connected with people, but it was indeed gradually becoming more stable.
He looked at Chen Gong's position and thought that if that boy came, the public stage would have to be moved back.
Lu Bu did not deny that Xuzhou's achievements in the past few months were inseparable from Chen Gong's hard work, but he knew in his heart that the root of all this still lies with that boy Lin Yunwen.
"Marquis Wen, there has been a rumor in the Huainan area recently." It was not a formal military memorial, and military salutes were usually not performed. When Chen Gong said this, it looked like chatting.
"What's the matter?" Lu Bu turned to look at him.
"There are rumors that the ancient prophecy of the Han Dynasty was that the Tu Gaoye in Tu agreed with the road.
At the same time, rumors also spread that Shun was the virtue of earth and Han was the virtue of fire. According to the Five Virtues of Zou Yan of the Yin Yang family, earth can replace fire. "
Although most of the people in the hall are military generals, many people have heard that Yuan Shu has always claimed that the Yuan family is the descendant of Shun. Coupled with these two rumors, there is no need to explain what he is thinking.
"In addition, the famous Hanoi teacher Zhang Kui divined for Yuan Shu and concluded that the nine and five flying dragons are in the sky in the Qian hexagram." After Chen Gong added, the hall was like a ladle of cold water poured into boiling oil and exploded, and the whole hall was in an uproar.
"Yuan Shu wants to become emperor!"
"It must be true that Huainan is his territory. How could such a rumor spread without his instruction."
"He is building momentum."
"I didn't expect that he would dare to openly usurp the Han Dynasty."
The melon was so big that everyone was shocked when they ate it, and the discussion was like a bustling market.
Chen Deng opened his mouth wide enough to put an egg in. He turned around and looked at Lu Su behind him, who was also horrified.
The fact that Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor was certainly shocking, but it was Lin Mo who really shocked them.
Months ago, he once said that Cao Cao would definitely attack Xuzhou, but something earth-shattering would happen in Huainan, causing him to have to shelve this plan.
The two speculated afterward, but in the end neither came to a reasonable conclusion.
Cao Cao has long coveted Xuzhou, and he has been taking action since the Xingping period. Now that he is sure of victory, no matter what happens in Huainan, it is impossible to stop him.
Later, the two of them felt that either Lin Mo was playing tricks, or he was just testing Chen Deng.
It wasn't until just now that they heard Chen Gong's words and guessed Yuan Shu's idea of proclaiming himself emperor. The two finally understood the earth-shattering event Lin Mo said.
Once Yuan Shu became emperor, if Cao Cao left it alone and continued to attack Xuzhou, then Liu Xie in his hands would depreciate or even lose value.
"Do you think he is making a grounded guess, or is he really predicting the future?" Chen Deng swallowed, still unable to accept the dimensionality reduction blow brought by the prophetic skill.
Lu Su shook his head, "Only Yunwen himself knows whether this is one or the other. But this also proves one thing, he is indeed a rare genius in the world.
Don’t forget, he said he knew Cao Jun’s military strategy, which means..."
Chen Deng squinted his eyes and took over the words in a deep voice, "Even if Cao Cao issued an imperial edict to punish thieves and summoned all the princes in the world to destroy Yuan Shu, he would not be able to capture Xuzhou."
Lin Mo, Lin Yunwen...
The young man living in an inconspicuous second-entry courtyard on Pingfu Street will soon become a world-famous young hero.
