My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 83 Liu Ye's Decision

Lu Su's situation was even worse than Liu Ye's. In the eyes of the warlords, the wealthy Lu family was like a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered.

Under these circumstances, how could Lu Su and Liu Ye not be filled with anger and hope for the collapse of the Han Dynasty, which bound them and prevented them from rising to prominence and displaying their talents?
This is also a key reason why, later, Lu Su went south to join Jiangdong, and Liu Ye went north to join Cao Cao, but neither of them chose Liu Bei.

But at this moment, the long river of history inadvertently influenced a tiny tributary.

Liu Bei actually sent someone to recruit Lu Su, and Lu Su accepted the offer.

After Lu Su went to Tancheng, he wrote three or four letters to Liu Ye.

In the letter, Lu Su lavishly praised Liu Bei's many valuable qualities, such as his respect for scholars, his ability to recognize and utilize talent, his meritocracy, and his unwavering trust in those he employed. It was as if Lu Su wanted to exaggerate Liu Bei's abilities to the level of Emperor Taizu Gaozu and Emperor Guangwu Xiuzu.

At the same time, he strongly advised Liu Ye to accept Liu Bei's offer of service, and if he was not at ease, he could move his entire family there.

Lu Su himself already had such plans, at least intending to bring his grandmother and mother to Tancheng.

In addition, Lu Su mentioned another person in the letter, namely Liu Feng, Liu Bei's eldest son.

This young master, as described by Lu Su, appeared to be someone born with innate knowledge.

If Liu Ye hadn't known Lu Su so well, having known him for five or six years, he would have suspected that Lu Su had been bribed by Liu Bei, praising him so shamelessly.

"Brother Zijing has really given me a big problem."

After reading the third letter, Liu Ye felt a headache coming on.

Lu Su had already pledged his life to Liu Bei in his heart, believing that the world was in chaos and a time of great strife. He thought that once Liu Xuande had secured Xuzhou, he would surely have the makings of a true dragon.

He also explained to Liu Ye that he had not been optimistic about Liu Bei taking over Xuzhou, and that after accepting the appointment, he was also trying to persuade Liu Bei to move to Guangling first.

Although Guangling was on Yuan Shu's side, it had not experienced much warfare. The people there were wealthy, and Lu Su believed that Liu Bei's most important enemy at the moment was Yuan Shu, not Yuan or Cao.

In that case, if the governor is stationed in Guangling, he can not only suppress Guangling County and block Yuan Shu's reach outside the borders of Xuzhou, but also gain support from Donghai and Xiapi. Wouldn't that be much better than being trapped in Donghai?
But when he arrived in Tancheng, he was surprised to find that Liu Bei was not a puppet of Chen Deng and Mi Zhu.

On the contrary, Chen Deng was extremely supportive of Liu Bei, and Mi Zhu contributed both money and effort. Their attitudes did not resemble those of important ministers who had contributed to the enthronement of Liu Bei; rather, they seemed to be vying for favors and flattering each other.

Even Cao Bao's thoughts were completely different from Lu Su's. He actually sided with Liu Bei and recently ceded four thousand of his troops to Liu Bei to serve as state soldiers.

In an instant, Liu Bei's precarious situation in Xuzhou was completely reversed, and he rushed towards a direction as stable as Mount Tai.

In this regard, Lu Su repeatedly praised Gongzi Feng's contributions.

This made Liu Ye curious about Liu Feng and want to find out more.

Lu Su's letters were very cleverly written. He first introduced the situation and told Liu Ye the objective facts, and then aroused his curiosity by describing the various incredible and unusual things happening around Liu Bei.

Intelligent people are very confident; that's human nature.

The more confident a person is, the stronger their curiosity becomes, because they are confident that they can see through the truth.

In this way, Liu Ye was gradually drawn into Lu Su's curiosity about Liu Bei and his son.

Finally, Lu Su appealed to Liu Ye's emotions again, inviting him, as a close friend, to accept the appointment and work together to assist the wise ruler, display their talents, and quell the chaos.

After reading the letter, Liu Ye realized he was tempted. Simply put, Lu Zijing's description was far too alluring.

Liu Ye did not truly want the Han dynasty to perish. He was a member of the Han imperial family. If he really wanted to destroy the Han dynasty, wouldn't he have strangled himself first?
What he hated was the Han Dynasty court that stifled his talents, preventing him from standing out and displaying his abilities.

Historically, he believed that Cao Cao would be his wise ruler.

However, Cao Cao was not like that. Although he praised him as a genius, he rarely actually accepted his strategies.

Liu Feng believed that this was actually Cao Cao's fear of Liu Ye's ability to always succeed in his plans and keep his word.

As can be seen from Liu Ye's resume, Cao Cao accepted him immediately after his first outstanding performance in Cao Cao's camp and followed his arrangements, which resulted in a great victory.

However, although Liu Ye was promoted several times afterward, Cao Cao began to ignore his suggestions.

Liu Ye's second moment of brilliance came during the Battle of Hanzhong, when Cao Cao was about to retreat, but Liu Ye stopped Xiahou Dun, thus turning defeat into victory.

From that point on, Cao Cao never listened to any of Liu Ye's plans again.

Because Liu Ye broke a taboo, he actually dared to interfere with Xiahou Dun's actions.

But from this, we can also see that Liu Ye is actually cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He may seem ruthless, but once he acknowledges a master, he will devote himself to him without regard for his own safety.

During the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Ye served as Cao Cao's chief clerk.

If Cao Cao personally orders the withdrawal of troops, Liu Ye will bear no responsibility whatsoever; in fact, he might even be promoted and ennobled upon his return.

However, for the sake of Cao Cao's foundation and his hope of unifying the world, Liu Ye actually took the risk of doing something so outrageous: directly giving orders to Xiahou Dun, bypassing his superiors. It was only because Xiahou Dun had a good temper and political acumen that he did this. If it had been Yu Jin, you can imagine what would have happened; he might have directly beheaded Liu Ye to curry favor with Cao Cao.

It was precisely because of this impression that Liu Feng took the initiative to ask Lu Su about Liu Ye and praised him highly.

That's why Lu Su went to such lengths to invite his younger brother to join him in assisting the wise ruler and pacifying the chaotic world.

Liu Ye was somewhat tempted. His problem was actually very similar to Lu Su's, and a large part of the reason he and Lu Su became close friends was because they shared the same plight.

Since the two are in similar circumstances and have similar talents, if Liu Ye were to join Liu Bei, would he be able to thrive alongside Lu Su as he does now?

The more Liu Ye thought about it, the more tempted he became. It felt like there was a worm... no, countless worms were burrowing in his heart, making it hard for him to sleep.

Then, considering that Yuan Shu had made no move, it seemed that he truly did not know that Liu Bei had sent someone to recruit him.

As dawn broke, Liu Ye, who hadn't slept all night, made a decision: he would go with Huang Li to see Liu Bei.

If Lu Su's words are true, then write back and ask your father and brothers to move away for refuge. If Lu Su's words are exaggerated, then resign from your post and return to protect yourself.

After making up his mind, Liu Ye got up early and found Liu Pu and Liu Huan to tell them what he was thinking.

Unlike Liu Ye, Liu Pu and Liu Huan were not as resolute and still had feelings for the Han imperial family. It's just that Liu Ye was usually more principled and had a stronger sense of reason, which they couldn't argue with.

Now that they see Liu Ye "turning over a new leaf," they are naturally overjoyed and all express their approval.

(End of this chapter)