Chapter 649 Liu Lang's Talent
The mighty river passes through Pingyuan County in the north of Qingzhou, and then rushes into the Bohai Sea.
After Liu Bei's army quickly defeated several remnants of the army on the north bank of the river, they crossed the river directly to the south. To the south of the river were two extremely important counties and kingdoms in Qingzhou.
Le'an Kingdom and Jinan Kingdom.
Under the general trend of reducing kingdoms during the Later Han Dynasty, Qingzhou was an exception. The kingdoms, duchies and marquisates in Qingzhou occupied most of the land.
In addition to the two kingdoms on the south bank of the river, there are also kingdoms such as Jiaodong Kingdom, Beihai Kingdom, Jibei Kingdom, and Jidong Kingdom, as well as dukedoms such as Qi Duchy and Lu Hou Kingdom.
Although the Yinghou State was mainly active in Yanzhou, its administrative area was also in Qingzhou, and it was also a key throat point for the tributaries of the Sishui River.
Although Liu Bei's army was a typical wandering army, its strength was quite extraordinary.
When he was in Zhuo County, local wealthy merchants Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang provided him with financial support out of admiration for him.
After he and Gongsun Zan parted ways and Liu Bei left Zhuo County, these two big businessmen again funded him with a large sum of gold, silver and horses.
When he entered the capital of the Kingdom of Jinan, the number of soldiers under his command had reached more than 3,000. Most of these people were warriors skilled in riding and shooting who were recruited all the way from Youzhou.
In terms of military generals, there are Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun. Liu Bei himself is also very strong. Moreover, in battles with less than 10,000 people, Liu Bei has an extremely keen sense of smell and can always make the most appropriate response.
Among the civil officials, there is Jian Yong, who is quite talented and is now Liu Bei's only adviser.
When passing through Zhuo County, Liu Bei also rescued his fellow clan member Liu Yan, who was a famous scholar.
Although he is neither good at literature nor martial arts, the role of a celebrity is not just this.
Liu Yan was able to bring a lot of invisible value to Liu Bei through his social circle and bragging ability. Liu Bei attached great importance to this fellow clansman of his.
Compared with his wealth of military generals, Liu Bei himself knew that his civil officials were too poor. But there was nothing he could do. He came from a poor family, was a military man from a frontier county, and had no base of his own. These three reasons meant that he had no one to use.
The reason why he was trying so hard to take control of Qingxu was to gain the support of the gentry in these two places. It was not just as simple as finding a strategist, but mainly to get a large number of middle and low-level officials so that his power could be completely stabilized.
Nowadays, 70% of the literate people in the world are from noble families, and 30% are from humble families. As for the common people, there are naturally literate people, such as Li Ru, but in terms of probability, the probability is zero!
After entering the Kingdom of Jinan, Liu Bei began to recruit soldiers again.
This was not really to recruit soldiers, but a gesture to tell the nobles and powerful people in Jinan that I, Liu Bei, am here.
Do you want to cooperate or confront?
He is no longer the unknown minion he used to be. Even though he does not have the prestige of the entire Qingxu, it will be no problem for him to be a county governor or a prime minister.
After all, after the great battle with Zhang Jue, Liu Xuande's reputation had spread throughout the Central Plains, not to mention those well-informed aristocratic families.
If Liu Bei was not even given this face, it would be a naked humiliation.
The Qingzhou gentry was not as prosperous as those in Hebei, Ruyang, Sanhe and other places, but Qi had attached great importance to commerce since Guan Zhong, and it was the key point for communication between the north and the south. It had a lot of industries going from south to north, and there were many wealthy merchants.
These wealthy merchants were very sensible. As soon as Liu Bei entered Jinan Middle School, local merchants invited him to a banquet.
In Liu Bei's army.
Several people sat in the tent with invitations in front of them, their eyes full of enthusiasm. Liu Bei sighed and said, "After so many years, I finally have this kind of treatment.
It is so difficult to achieve this after surviving a life-threatening situation!"
Everyone had a proud look on their faces. What kind of treatment was this?
There is no need to say much about the treatment that Luo Zi received as he was able to travel the world with his reputation. Those who understand will understand. If Luo Zi came to visit Liu Bei now, Liu Bei would immediately welcome him with open arms.
For example, Yuan Shao, the defeated general in front of Zhang Jiao and the stray dog in Dong Zhuo's mouth, was welcomed to Jizhou by the Hebei gentry when he had nothing. This was due to his family reputation of three officials for four generations and the personal reputation of Yuan Benchu, a handsome man in the world.
Liu Yan smiled and said, “Lord Xuande is a hero in the world. The Second General, the Third General, and General Zhao are all rare and brave generals in history, but they are all under your command.
You are a rising dragon, and you will turn into a real dragon when you encounter wind and cloud.
If they look down on you, don't they themselves lack long-term vision?"
There are some things that Guan Yu and others are not suitable to say, but when Liu Yan said them, they seemed very appropriate and sincere. Liu Bei smiled and waved his hand but didn't say anything else.
He just pointed at the invitation on the table and said, "Yun Chang will take charge of the army in my place. This is the foundation of our survival.
Yide and Zilong are here to guard us, so we should be on guard. With the two of you here to guard us, I'm sure no one can stop us."
Guan Yu's heart was burning with excitement. Liu Bei could entrust him with the army he had saved. This was the highest trust. He clasped his fists tightly and said in a strong voice: "Brother, rest assured. I will guard the barracks carefully and will not give anyone a chance to take advantage of me."
When Zhang Fei heard that Liu Bei asked him to be a personal guard, his hair stood on end and he was very excited. The same was true for Zhao Yun. He knew that he had completely entered Liu Bei's inner circle and could even be compared with his two sworn brothers.
Even if other people join Liu Bei's forces in the future, they will never be able to be compared with his own status.
Liu Bei turned his gaze to Jian Yong and Liu Yan, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Weishuo, you are a famous scholar in the Central Plains, so you will go with me to the banquet, and Xianhe will stay in the army with Yunchang."
“Yes!”
The two men bowed in unison and after making their separation, Guan Yu and Jian Yong stayed in the barracks, while Liu Bei took Zhang Fei and the other two to the banquet.
There are no large aristocratic families in Jinan State, which means that there are no aristocratic families that are famous throughout the world.
For example, the Xun family, Chen family, Zhong family, etc. in Yingchuan, and the Yuan family in Runan. These families have produced more than one three dukes and nine ministers, and even the top aristocratic family like the Yuan family with three dukes in four generations.
There were no such gentry in the State of Jinan. Since the establishment of the Later Han Dynasty, for a hundred years, the gentry of the State of Jinan had always been wandering around in the prefectures and counties. Many of them were not even recognized by the gentry circles and were still called powerful merchants.
It sounds very low-level, but it would be ridiculous to ignore the power these people possess.
Zhang Fei was only a butcher in charge of some insignificant businesses in Zhuo County. Even though he was not considered a powerful person, he was able to recruit hundreds of local warriors for Liu Bei.
Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang were just horse dealers, but they were able to repeatedly support Liu Bei with food and war horses enough to support thousands of people. They were also able to recruit local militia for him and revive his army. This shows how powerful these merchants were.
The host family who hosted Liu Bei for the banquet was surnamed Huang, and their families had lived in the Kingdom of Jinan for generations.
Liu Bei brought a few people and some soldiers to the manor mentioned in the invitation and was immediately shocked by its luxury.
Liu Bei whispered to them, "He is just a local tycoon in a county, but he has such assets. It seems that he is good at managing his family and doing business. If he can help our army, it will definitely be a huge help."
At the gate of the manor, an old man who looked like a housekeeper came up to them and said with a humble smile, "But Lord Xuande is here in person?"
Liu Bei knew at a glance that the steward of the Huang Mansion was usually the true confidant of the owner of the house. He clasped his fists and said, "It is Liu Bei. What is your name, sir?"
The housekeeper bowed and said, "Mr. Xuande, I am so sorry to have been treated so kindly by the master. I am honored to be given the surname Huang. I am waiting for you to come into the mansion. The banquet is ready. Please follow me."
So the group followed the butler and walked into the mansion. They saw pavilions, towers, carved beams and painted buildings. When they entered the main courtyard, they saw a rather wealthy middle-aged man waiting for them.
When they saw the butler leading Liu Bei and his entourage, the man in front had ears that hung down to his shoulders, hands that went past his knees, a face as handsome as jade, and lips as red as if painted with rouge. At first glance, he had a generous face and looked like a hero.
However, Liu Bei felt that the person in front of him seemed to have a hint of cunningness, which made him feel a little unhappy.
Liu Bei was a person who attached great importance to appearance, but he did not show it and tried his best not to miss out on talented people because of these reasons.
After the two men exchanged warm greetings, the head of the Huang family welcomed Liu Bei into the house. It was obvious that this was a place where guests were often welcomed and seen off. It was very spacious, with seats on both sides and behind the seats, there were rows of musicians. It was quite a grand scene.
When Liu Bei walked in, he frowned slightly, because there were not many people in the hall. In other words, there were many people from Jinan who did not come.
The head of the Huang family was a shrewd man. He caught Liu Bei's fleeting emotions and pretended to sigh and said, "Although the country is small, there are many bandits.
We originally wanted to invite many families to the banquet today, but most of them declined due to the need to suppress the bandits."
Suppress bandits?
Liu Bei sneered. Why did the heads of these powerful aristocratic families have to take action themselves to suppress the bandits?
These noble families and powerful people all had their own exclusive armed groups. Liu Bei was the person in charge of the security of Zhuo County in Zhuojun. He did not believe that there were no such people in Jinan State.
But an intuition told Liu Bei that things were not as simple as the head of the Huang family said.
After a brief interlude, Liu Bei took a seat at the table. As maids, musicians and dancers took turns to perform, the atmosphere at the table suddenly became lively.
Liu Bei already loved fine wine, fine clothes, dogs and horses, and he did not have any particular pursuit for beautiful women, but now the head of the Huang family had spent a huge amount of money.
Amid the bustling life, Liu Bei, who had been working very hard in recent years, suddenly became addicted to the scene and drank cup after cup of wine.
After three rounds of drinking, the head of the Huang family raised his glass and said with a smile: "Lord Xuande, there are some things in Jinan State that need your help..."
…
Liu Bei was drunk and was supported by Zhang Fei on his horse. Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun watched him from left to right to prevent him from falling. They went straight into the military camp. Guan Yu did not expect that Liu Bei would come back overnight, and Liu Bei was drunk. He hurriedly asked, "Brother, why did you come back drunk?"
Zhang Fei was about to explain, he felt that his elder brother didn't drink much and didn't know how he got drunk.
Then they saw Liu Bei suddenly sit up, his eyes were clear, and there was no sign of drunkenness at all. Everyone around was shocked, and when they came to their senses, they felt nervous. They were not fools. If Liu Bei pretended to be drunk, something must have happened.
Liu Bei didn't waste any words. He jumped off his horse and walked into the tent, saying as he walked, "There's something wrong with Huang."
After Liu Bei's narration, Guan Yu and Jian Yong realized that at the banquet, the head of the Huang family and Liu Bei did not reach any cooperation agreement, but instead reached an agreement to suppress bandits.
Huang provided the money and Liu Bei sent troops to work together to eliminate the bandits in Jinan and its surrounding areas. Huang directly gave Liu Bei a list.
Guan Yu asked curiously, "Brother, isn't this what we should do after cooperating?"
Ensuring the safety of the gentry is a fixed task for the warlords who cooperate with them. After all, these gentry provide money and manpower, and it would be a joke if they can't even protect their own homes.
Guan Yu was born in a poor family and did not understand this, but Jian Yong was born in a powerful family and understood this very well. He immediately said: "It is impossible that there are no bandit fighters in Jinan State.
If this were true, then the city would have been breached long ago and all these powerful families would have been dead.
How could it be possible that the Lord still needs to suppress the bandits?"
The main bandits in Qingzhou are all in the direction of Linzi, which is the richest area in Qingzhou. There are not many bandits in the northern part of Qingzhou.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei understood now. Zhang Fei's temper immediately flared up. He raised his Zhangba Snake Spear and was about to stab the Huang family head to death. "Is this bastard trying to trick us?"
Liu Bei shook his head and said, “Not necessarily, but there must be something wrong.
Since we are new here, we should act carefully and get to know the situation here, otherwise it would be easy to fall into a trap.
After tomorrow morning, Weishuo, I wonder if you have any friends in Jinan Junior High School. If you can find out some information, that would be great."
Liu Yan twirled his beard and said, "Don't worry, Lord Xuande. I'll leave this matter to Yan."
Liu Yan may not have any other advantages, but he is famous and has many friends. Wherever he goes, people will invite him to dinner.
The next day.
Liu Bei's army continued to station and repair in an orderly manner, while Liu Yan began to exude his celebrity charm.
Within a few days, Liu Yan had become familiar with the circle of celebrities in Jinan State. These celebrities were absolutely well-informed, if not the only thing to know.
"What? This Huang family is robbing people by trickery? As a result, he has too many enemies, and those rebels want to kill him by name?"
Liu Bei asked with a look of surprise on his face. The people around him also had the same look as if they had seen a ghost. They never expected it to be like this.
If the noble families in this world want to develop, they have to be more or less conscience-free.
But as long as they stay within a reasonable range and don't do anything unscrupulous, they will generally just get by. Even the Luo family doesn't hold these people to too high a standard.
Besides, ordinary nobles did not dare to rob for no reason.
Who knows when he will be killed by someone seeking revenge, or nailed to death by a crossbow by some passionate young man.
According to the current social trends, death is in vain, so many people are more restrained and usually take advantage of the famine to reclaim land under the guise of trading.
Although this is not a fair deal, it is a transaction between us after all.
"The Huang family was actually regarded as plundering by the nobles of this county. How could this be..."
What kind of beast is this?
This is what everyone wanted to say in their hearts. Even the nobles couldn't stand it and didn't want to be associated with it.
Liu Yan told him everything he knew about the head of the Huang family. The more Liu Bei listened, the more shocked he became. Zhang Fei was dumbfounded and asked, "How did this bastard survive until now?"
This was not only Zhang Fei's question, but also the question of everyone else. According to his behavior, he should have been dead long ago. The last person who was full of evil but still lived a safe and sound life was one of the Ten Eunuchs, and that was because he had always stayed in the palace.
No matter how brave those righteous men from the public were, it was impossible for them to enter the palace and kill the Ten Attendants. However, too many of the Ten Attendants' relatives who had committed crimes were killed in revenge.
Liu Yan smiled bitterly and said, "The Huang family master knows that it is unsafe, so he has been staying in the manor and has never gone out. Moreover, he is willing to spend money, and there are still many people who will protect him for money, and eliminate those bandits who have grudges against him."
Suppress the bandits!
Liu Bei and the others' faces turned black, and Guan Yu said angrily: "Does this bastard think that you are one of those desperate people who run for profit?"
Not only Guan Yu, but also Zhao Yun, who had a better temper, became angry. Zhang Fei even shouted loudly, "Brother, let me stab him to death with my spear!"
Liu Bei was a man of strong character, so he could not stand this kind of provocation. He said angrily, "This is really too much. You who oppress the people are worthy of drinking with me, Liu Bei?
And you use those false words to deceive me. Isn't this ruining my reputation and destroying my morality?
This is intolerable and what is not?
Such evil villains are actually listed in the counties and states in broad daylight!
Wasn't it these people who ruined the Han Dynasty?
If it weren't for these evil bandits, how could the people live in hardship, and how could those millions of Taiping Army rise up in rebellion?
If it weren't for these evil bandits and the Taiping Army, how could the Han Dynasty have lost its destiny?
If I fail to kill this evil villain, I, Liu Bei, would be unworthy of being a descendant of the Liu family, and I would be unworthy of being called Lord Xuande by the people of the world!"
Liu Bei was determined to fight the Huang family, which was actually a very risky move.
If it comes to a comparison of military strength, then Liu Bei would naturally be stronger than the Huang family. After all, the Huang family is not a large and powerful family like the Lu family that can even gather over ten thousand soldiers. He is just a powerful family in a county.
Liu Bei had three to four thousand elite infantry and cavalry, and his army was undoubtedly the strongest in Jinan State. Even in the entire Qingzhou, as long as he recruited some auxiliary troops, he would still have the strongest strength.
The reason for taking the risk was that the Huang family was a powerful aristocratic family after all, and it was very likely that the entire Jinan State and even the Qingzhou aristocratic families would resent Liu Bei.
Although Huang had a bad reputation and many noble families disliked him, this was, after all, an internal matter among the noble families.
It is a very bad behavior for warlords from outside to attack local nobles and powerful people. Those conservative nobles and powerful leaders will regard this as a provocation.
Once the gentry in the prefectures and counties excluded Liu Bei, his plan to occupy Qingzhou would completely fail.
It is no exaggeration to say that in this era, without the support of the gentry, nothing could be accomplished. Even Dong Zhuo had the support of the gentry in Liangzhou, and Gongsun Zan had the support of the gentry in Youzhou.
But even with such a dangerous choice, Liu Bei heard three voices without hesitation and decisively: "Okay!"
He looked at Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, and heard them all shouting in unison: "We are willing to follow our elder brother (lord) to get rid of this evil villain!"
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Guan, Zhang and Zhao, the three of them, who had been together with Liu Bei since he was an obscure official because of their similar interests, were naturally people of the same type.
They were not surprised by Liu Bei's choice and supported it from the bottom of their hearts.
Jian Yong and Liu Yan both knew Liu Bei well and knew that the man before them was a true practitioner of benevolence and righteousness.
Knowing these things, Liu Bei would definitely take action. Even if it meant losing all his current foundation, he would not hesitate at all.
No matter what they thought in their hearts, after expressing their opinions, the two of them followed suit and expressed their support.
Seeing that everyone supported his risky move without hesitation, Liu Bei was very moved and even choked up a little as he said, "Everyone, it is a blessing for me to have you accompany me.
In this case, let’s eliminate this harm for the people of Jinan!”
Now that the plan has been made to eliminate the Huang family and other powerful people who are in cahoots with the Huang family, we must plan it carefully.
When it comes to war, we cannot take it lightly. Even if it is a lion fighting a rabbit, we should use all our strength.
————
After the emperor said goodbye to Zan, he led his troops out of Youzhou and into Qingzhou. He fought three battles in one day. The Qingzhou bandits were defeated and scattered like birds and beasts. The emperor led more than 3,000 elite cavalry across the river to the south and entered the State of Jinan.
There was a wealthy and powerful Huang family in Jinan State. They had heard of the emperor's reputation and held a banquet to entertain him. They used music and dancing girls to seduce him. When the emperor first saw Huang, he noticed that Huang was strange and pretended to be very happy at the banquet. He said repeatedly: "The singing and dancing will never stop."
Huang thought he had it, so the emperor pretended to be drunk and left the table, letting Yan know. He found out Huang's evil deeds were too numerous to list. The emperor and his close associates were all furious. The emperor threw the book to the ground and said angrily: "If we don't kill this thief, we won't be able to appease the people's anger, and if we don't kill him, we won't be able to expose his evil deeds!"
A scholar came forward and said, "My lord, please calm down. We have led an army here from outside and killed the nobles in the county without authorization. I am afraid that we will have no place to stand in the future. Please think twice."
The emperor said angrily: "When I was young, I made up my mind to pacify the injustices in the world and save the suffering people in the world.
Is this empty talk?
I have seen with my own eyes how the people have suffered. If I do not draw my sword and eliminate the evil thieves, how can I dare to stand in the world with benevolence and righteousness? "
The emperor spoke with great emotion, and all the generals and ministers were excited. He also told the soldiers to hold weapons and lead Huang out of the house. He said he had a strong bow and could kill her with one arrow. He then broke into the family's house, captured all the women and children, and killed all the guilty. The operation was completed after three days.
The Huang clan was annihilated, and six of their followers were also annihilated. All of them committed great crimes, and the bloody massacre shocked the country.
After a while, the elders and common people of the country came to comfort them with food and drink. A brave man crossed three counties and arrived overnight. He knelt in front of the army with tears and said that he would repay the kindness with his life.
There were also bandits in Jinan State who led their people to surrender to the emperor. Scholars in the state fled to the emperor and said, "Your Excellency is kind and righteous. We respect you and are willing to serve as your officials."
The army was in turmoil until famous scholars from the counties and states came to pay their respects to the emperor. The emperor recruited young men from the counties and states, as well as fugitives and bandits, to train them, and gathered an army of 20,000 people, which was named "Qingzhou".
In March, the emperor moved his army south.
Finally finished writing.
(End of this chapter)
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