My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 44 Han Xun Deserves to Die
“If you don’t acknowledge it, then you are a complete traitor, and all factions within Xuzhou will have a legitimate reason to oppose you.”

The surrounding lords could use this as an excuse to attack you. Under such internal and external troubles, how long can you hold out in Xuzhou?

How can it develop and grow based in Xuzhou?

But if you accept this, then the foundation of Xuzhou will have to be handed over to someone else immediately.

When that time comes, not only will you lose Xuzhou, but you will also be unable to return to Yuzhou. What place will you have left to stand on?

In this situation, will you accept the imperial appointment or not?

Liu Feng's words struck Liu Bei like a thunderbolt, resounding in his mind.

This wasn't because Liu Bei was truly foolish, but rather due to limitations in his vision, experience, and intelligence.

Liu Bei did not realize that his alliance with Yuan Shao was considered treason by Emperor Xian of Han.

Yuan Shao never recognized Emperor Xian of Han. From the very beginning, Yuan Shao was a staunch supporter of the young emperor. In order to prevent Dong Zhuo from deposing the young emperor, he even went so far as to fight Dong Zhuo.

Even after escaping Luoyang, and despite Dong Zhuo's successful usurpation of the throne, Yuan Shao still refused to recognize Emperor Xian of Han.

For this reason, he even considered supporting Liu Yu as emperor in Hebei.

To some extent, Emperor Xian of Han hated Yuan Shao even more than Li Jue, Guo Si, and other military figures from Liangzhou.

In this situation, what good could come of it for Liu Bei, an ally of the staunch rebel Yuan Shao, to go to the capital?
Indeed, Tao Qian had previously tried this tactic, sending Zhao Yu as an envoy to Chang'an on the advice of Zhao Yu and Wang Lang, which proved to be a great success.

He not only brought back the imperial edicts that promoted Tao Qian to Governor of Xuzhou and General of the East, but also bestowed upon Tao Qian the title of Marquis of Liyang. At the same time, he appointed Zhao Yu as Prefect of Guangling and Wang Lang as Prefect of Kuaiji.

But who is Tao Qian? Tao Qian is an ally of Yuan Shu and a warlord who outwardly supports the central court. Most importantly, Tao Qian and Yuan Shao are not on the same page and have a grudge against each other.

Whether in the eyes of Emperor Xian of Han or in the eyes of the military men of Liangzhou, Tao Qian was a good person worth winning over.

This is the fundamental reason why Tao Qian won the imperial court's reward so easily.

Even so, the imperial court still planted seeds of discord within Tao Qian's power base, appointing Zhao Yu as the governor of Guangling to divide Tao Qian's influence, and Wang Lang as the governor of Kuaiji to separate the talents under Tao Qian's command.

Now, the Guanzhong region is in complete chaos. Li Jue and Guo Si first fought against Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Liu Yan. After winning, they started fighting amongst themselves. First, they killed Fan Chou at the Hongmen Banquet, then they scared away Zhang Ji, and finally Li and Guo fought each other.

Under these circumstances, it remains to be seen whether the envoy will survive to reach Chang'an.

Another crucial reason is that Liu Feng was well aware that Cao Cao would be welcoming the emperor the following year. Once the emperor arrived in Xuchang, Cao Cao would immediately and proactively bestow official titles and ranks upon Liu Bei, without any risk whatsoever.

By waiting another year, you can gain more without any risk.

Now, they're risking losing Xuzhou by sending gifts all the way to Chang'an. If this isn't incredibly stupid, then someone is definitely trying to set a trap for Big Ears.

Not necessarily. It's also possible that they didn't intend to harm Liu Bei, but simply wanted to achieve their own goals and didn't care about Liu Bei's fate.

Regardless of the possibility, Han Xun is no longer a viable candidate, and we must thoroughly investigate whether anyone is behind him.

If it's just stupidity, it can be forgiven. But if it's malice, then are they really taking advantage of the Liu family because they can't use knives?
"Han Xun deserves to die!"

Liu Bei was furious, his hair standing on end, like a fierce tiger glaring at its prey, causing all beasts to submit.

Liu Feng, who was standing to the side, was startled by the sudden chilling aura.

After all, Liu Bei was a hero who had fought on the battlefield for half his life. He had personally killed more than a hundred enemies. However, Liu Bei usually hid his ruthlessness under the guise of seeking talent. In fact, he was a hot-tempered man who would turn on someone at the slightest provocation. He was not the submissive, tearful pushover portrayed in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Historically, it wasn't Zhang Fei who truly lashed out at the inspector, but rather Liu Feng's domineering father.

At that time, Liu Bei even wanted to beat the inspector to death, but Zhang Fei persuaded him to stay, and in the end, the inspector's life was saved.

Liu Feng felt sorry for his Uncle Zhang. He hadn't done it himself, and he had been the peacemaker, yet he had been blamed for it for thousands of years. No wonder his face was as black as the bottom of a pot; it must be the result of taking the blame for too long.

However, Luo Guanzhong did not fabricate the whole story. He simply used a grafting technique to exaggerate Liu Bei's attitude towards talented people, thus masking Liu Bei's volatile temper and making benevolence a facade for him.

Right now, Liu Bei is truly enraged.

He is indeed not good at political struggles. No matter how talented he is, this requires a long period of accumulated experience, a high level of insight into issues, as well as rich experience and intelligence information.

Liu Bei possessed none of these three qualities, making him easily lured into a trap.

Liu Bei looked at Liu Feng with lingering fear. Fortunately, he had his son. The thought of losing Xuzhou sent chills down his spine.

Don't be fooled by Liu Bei's repeated humility before taking over Xuzhou; it was because he genuinely lacked confidence, not because he didn't want it.

Before this, Liu Bei had only personally governed one county, and that was only through temporary promotion and acting as regent.

Later, the title of "Prefect of Pingyuan" was merely a nominal one, meaning that Pingyuan County was actually lost.

This sudden transfer of power to the vast Xu Province, with its millions of inhabitants, inevitably made Liu Bei feel uneasy.

But Liu Bei's desire was genuine.

Just look at how Liu Bei pretended to suggest Yuan Shu after his initial refusal; you can tell how much ulterior motive Liu Bei had.

Don't underestimate this recommendation. Many people can't see how insidious Liu Bei's recommendation of Yuan Shu is. Some kind-hearted people even think that Liu Bei is genuinely recommending Yuan Shu.

In reality, Liu Bei's recommendation of Yuan Shu was driven by a deeper purpose: to force people to choose sides, specifically the powerful Chen family of Xiapi.

Many people don't know that the Chen family of Xiapi and Yuan Shu were enemies, and deep-seated ones at that.

The most famous members of the Chen family in Xiapi were naturally Chen Gui and his son Chen Deng.

But that's from the perspective of later generations. During the time when the warlords were fighting against Dong Zhuo at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the truly famous ones were Chen Gui's cousin, Chen Deng's uncle, and Chen Qiu's own son, Chen Yu and Chen Cong.

These two were not like Chen Gui, who had long since become high-ranking officials with salaries of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), and they were brothers who served together.

One was the Prefect of Ruyin, and the other was the Governor of Yangzhou; both were ultimately destroyed by Yuan Shu.

But both of them managed to escape back to Xiapi. Would the Chen family really let Yuan Shu off the hook?
Not to mention bringing Yuan Shu to Xuzhou to serve as its governor.

However, Liu Bei was too optimistic at the time. Initially, he thought he was taking over the entire Xu Province.

Only after taking the stage did they realize what a mess it was.

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(End of this chapter)