The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 176 Volume Return to Han from Hanzhong
"His Majesty refuses."

When Zhang Lu learned of Liu Xie's reply, he was completely in despair.

"The Emperor of the Han Dynasty is truly merciless."

Isn't it rumored that the Han emperor is kind?
But why can't there be room for a Five Pecks of Rice Sect?
Zhang Lu hid in the city of Nanzheng and had completely lost the will to resist.

The three chief priests who stayed behind in the city came to look for Zhang Lu, wanting him to open an altar to offer sacrifices to heaven and ask for God's blessing.

When the three of them placed the nine-section staff and the crescent crown, which represented their master's divine authority, in front of Zhang Lu, Zhang Lu knocked them to the ground.

"Now that the army is approaching, what's the point of pretending to be mysterious?"

The three chief priests looked at Zhang Lu in disbelief.

"Master, why are you like this? Are you going to abandon the Taoist tradition passed down by the Heavenly Master and the followers who have converted to the Five Pecks of Rice Sect?"

Zhang Lu laughed like crazy when he heard this: "What Heavenly Master? What conversion? Those are just tricks passed down by my grandfather! What use are they now?"

"Even if the legendary Taoist Lao Dan really exists, what can it do? The one who is coming to attack us now is the emperor of the Han Dynasty! Emperor Gaozu of Han is the legendary son of the Red Emperor! How dare the Taoist Lao Dan fight with the Five Emperors!"

Even the founder Zhang Daoling did not dare to use the Taoist ancestor to challenge the Five Emperors, so how could Zhang Lu, the grandson, dare to confront the emperor?
Now that the royal army has come out from the east, doesn't it just prove that the Mandate of Heaven is still with the Han Dynasty?
The faces of the three chief priests were already livid.

Zhang Lu actually admitted in front of them that the Five Pecks of Rice Sect was just a fake scam?
The Taoist ancestor worshipped by everyone cannot be compared with the Five Emperors at all.

So what exactly have people been believing in all these years?
One of them was indignant and immediately picked up the nine-section staff and swung it towards Zhang Lu's head!

Zhang Lu was hit by the nine-section staff and blood immediately flowed out, blurring his vision.

"What are you doing?"

The two people nearby couldn't believe that someone dared to attack the high and mighty Master, and hurried to stop them.

"What are you going to do? Look at him! He is just a mortal! He can bleed too!"

The rest of the people looked and found that the blood on Zhang Lu's forehead was gushing out like a spring, flowing down, dyeing the supreme nine-section staff red, and blending with the scarlet Taoist robe on his body.

"He is nothing but a liar! Why do you still believe him?"

The chief priest who took action first pushed everyone aside, tied up Zhang Lu, and pushed him directly onto the altar where Zhang Lu usually worshipped the Taoist ancestor.

"The imperial army has already conquered Shangyong and occupied Chenggu! The emperor of the Han Dynasty has also arrived in Longyou and may invade Hanzhong at any time and execute us all as traitors!"

"The only way to convince the emperor that we are still the people of the Han Dynasty and not the followers of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect is to kill Zhang Lu!"

Zhang Lu was tied to the altar, and the chief priest ordered his priests and ghosts to pick up a stone and smash it towards Zhang Lu!
The remaining two chief priests wanted to step forward to stop them, but they just stood there at a loss.

……

"The Han army is coming to kill!"

At this moment, outside the city of Nanzheng, Pang De and Zhang Xiu had already learned of the civil unrest in the city and launched an immediate attack.

By the time the ants had clambered over the wall, seized the city gate, and rushed to the altar, Zhang Lu was no longer in human form.

There were still many people around who felt they were being fooled or were filled with fear and threw stones at Zhang Lu. It was not until Pang De sent people to stop them that they were suppressed.

At this moment, someone from the Han army suddenly came forward and came to Zhang Lu's remains.

It’s Yan Pu.

At this moment, Yan Pu knelt in front of Zhang Lu, kowtowed to him three times, and personally collected his body.

The chief priest who knew Yan Pu asked, "Zhang Lu had ordered you to be killed before, and now you have become a hero in the court's conquest of Hanzhong. Why are you still here to collect Zhang Lu's body?"

Yan Pu replied with red eyes: "Although Master has caused many disasters, he was the one who promoted me personally and showed me kindness. Moreover, the people of Hanzhong have indeed gained stability because of Master. For both public and private reasons, I should collect his remains!"

Yan Pu's words were spread by some people, some praised Yan Pu as a righteous man, and this was a benevolent and righteous act. But some people exaggerated Yan Pu's words and spread them, thinking that Yan Pu was still missing Zhang Lu and the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, and wanted the court to punish him.

When Liu Xie, who was still in Shanggui, learned about what had happened, he did not pursue Yan Pu's behavior. Instead, he promoted Yan Pu to the magistrate of Nanzheng County and ordered him to temporarily manage the government affairs of Hanzhong.

"Hanzhong has been pacified now, but Zhang Lu's generals Zhang Wei and Yang Bo did not choose to surrender to the court after learning that Hanzhong had been taken. Instead, they were terrified and crossed Dingjun Mountain to Shu to join Liu Yan."

The only thing Liu Xie didn't expect was this.

As far as Liu Xie knew, the families of Zhang Wei and Yang Bo were still in Hanzhong, as were the families of the soldiers. However, they did not dare to ignore them and headed directly to Shu...

"Send a letter to Liu Yan, asking him to send the heads of the two men and the soldiers to us! Otherwise, I will have the Grand Master go and fight him personally!"

Once Hanzhong was captured, Shu was like a little girl without a skirt, and there was no way it could resist the imperial army.

Whether or not to fight, whether or not to fight, is just a matter of will for the imperial court.

The real problem right now is how to deal with Hanzhong.

The household registration list had already been sent by Pang De and Zhang Xiu.

Because Zhang Lu had previously combined politics and religion, he had extremely strict control over the population, and almost every citizen in Hanzhong was recorded in the register.

This led to Liu Xie being amazed when he saw the number of households in Hanzhong.

More than 50,000 households!

A population of nearly three hundred thousand!
Such a large number almost reached one-third of the entire Guanzhong! At this moment, Xun You had also completed the cleansing of Liangzhou and arrived at Shanggui.

When he saw the number of households in Hanzhong, he was also moved.

"There are only about 30,000 households in the entire Liangzhou, but there are 50,000 in Hanzhong. This is really astonishing!"

However, Xun You had seen the Han Dynasty at its peak.

"Before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Nanyang was the largest county in the world."

"At that time, Nanyang had 37 counties, with a total of more than 500,000 households and a population of 2.7 million. Its county seat, Wan County, was the southern capital of the Later Han Dynasty and was as prosperous as Luoyang. It's a pity that we can no longer see the former splendor."

There are 2.7 million people in one county!

It is no wonder that Yuan Shu became complacent after occupying Nanyang, and became as inflated as if he had lost his mind.

If Liu Xie were suddenly given more than 500,000 households now, he would probably wake up laughing in his dreams.

It’s a pity that things have changed and the grand occasion is no longer there.

Too many people have died in the ten years of war.

When Liu Xie heard Xun You's sigh, he also felt a little melancholy.

"That is why the Han Dynasty needs to quell the chaos in all directions as soon as possible and rest with the people!"

How do you write the word "wu"? It's nothing more than "止戈".

Only by pacifying the world as quickly as possible can the people live and work in peace.

If the common people can't even get enough food, then where does the great Han Dynasty come from? What is the dignity of a great country?
Liu Xie sighed and packed up all the official documents sent from Hanzhong and gave them to Xun You. This made Xun You suddenly have a bad premonition...

"I also need Gongda to go to Hanzhong first to take charge."

"Pang De and Zhang Xiu are both military commanders. Although Yan Pu sounds like a capable official, he has just surrendered and cannot be trusted. The Secretariat will probably need to discuss for some time before selecting a suitable officer to go to Hanzhong... Therefore, the post of Hanzhong governor can only be temporarily held by Gongda."

Xun You's mouth twitched.

Sometimes he wondered what he was doing coming out of the Shangshutai?
In the Shangshu Tai, one only handles central government affairs.

But now, although he was ostensibly keeping the army, he had to handle the affairs of Liangzhou, and even the government affairs of Hanzhong were thrown to him...

Xun You felt that sometimes the emperor really treated him like a donkey!

Just as Xun You was thinking about how to decline, he heard Liu Xie "talking to himself": "Wen Ruo (Xun Yu's courtesy name) has been working in the Shangshu Tai for a while. His colleagues in the Shangshu Tai are all convinced of Wen Ruo. After I go back and discuss with the Grand Tutor, I think it's time to promote Wen Ruo to Shangshu Pushe. I just hope that nothing will happen recently that will affect Wen Ruo's promotion..."

Xun You: ...

"My lord, take your orders!"

Liu Xie was satisfied when he saw this and praised: "Gongda has helped the country with its worries. He is truly a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty!"

Xun You showed a smile that was uglier than crying: "Thank you for your majesty's kindness..."

In Liangzhou, Xun You did things that offended people.

In Hanzhong, Xun You's life was not easy either.

When going to Hanzhong, some of the people who had moved from Guanzhong would have to be relocated back to avoid weakening the main force and strengthening the tributaries.

If the people were moved to Guanzhong, they would inevitably have to argue with the bureaucrats and scholars in both places. Xun You, who had handled many government affairs, knew that such trivial matters were often the most exhausting.

In addition, the Guanzhong and Longyou areas were waiting for food relief from Hanzhong.

If it is not handled properly, not only will the people and scholars in Hanzhong come after Xun You to scold him, but even the people in Guanzhong and Longyou may come after Xun You to scold him for the uneven distribution...

Therefore.

Xun You could tell just by thinking how bad of a reputation he had left among the scholars in Hanzhong.

So Xun You still wanted to struggle for himself——

"Your Majesty, can you order Shangshu Ling Jia Xu to go to Hanzhong? Lord Jia is a benevolent man, a true gentleman! If he goes, the people of Hanzhong will surely live and work in peace!"

Jia Xu?

Liu Xie shook his head in panic.

"Why does Gongda hate the people of Hanzhong so much?"

"Although the people of Hanzhong believed in the Five Pecks of Rice Sect before, they are now under the rule of the imperial court. We should not harm them easily!"

It turns out that Your Majesty knows that Jia Xu is a disaster!

Xun You felt very relieved.

"I am not alone in my ways!"

But why could that evil Jia Xu hide in the Secretariat and take time off, while he had to work hard outside like a beast of burden?
For a moment, Xun You's eyes became even more melancholy...

(End of this chapter)