My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 809: Reform and Innovation
Cao Ren knew clearly that he would die when his city was captured, and there was no option for him to surrender and save his life.

So even though the city tower was captured and the city gate was broken, and Liu Bei's army had already poured in from at least two city gates, Cao Ren knew that the situation was hopeless, but he still wanted to take his personal guards to make one last drastic effort.

He could no longer ask for anything but a good reputation after his death. And that was not a good reputation, just a reputation for being defensive and fierce.

In this case, then, you should strive to the utmost for the little bit of posthumous fame you can obtain. This is probably what a pure person with some ambitions would do.

Cao Ren, wearing the finest armor forged with molten steel and holding a sword tempered with fine iron, personally led his guards to retreat to the gate of the imperial palace, occupying the palace gate on the south wall and the two tall Wei towers on both sides of the palace gate. He occupied the palace wall and Wei towers with his most elite archers, and shot arrows at the soldiers of Liu Bei's army rushing towards him from all directions on the long street below.

Luoyang City actually has inner and outer cities, at least there is a palace city on the north side, but Cao Ren also knows that it is too difficult to defend the entire inner city. The situation was so chaotic that as soon as Liu Bei's army entered the city, the morale of most of Cao's soldiers completely collapsed.

The guards of any inner city gate could surrender at any time, or surrender after being chopped down by their own people. In this case, it would be better for him to take thousands of trusted soldiers who he could absolutely control and guard the small area around Nangong Gate. The defense area was within his sight.

As for those distant defense areas that were out of his sight, they could attack if they wanted, Cao Ren could no longer control them.

Liu Bei's army quickly took control of several main streets in Luoyang City, and fought their way through the main roads, dividing the remaining Cao troops into increasingly cramped areas, then gradually narrowed the encirclement, forcing thousands of remaining soldiers to lay down their weapons and surrender.

Of course, Cao Ren's desperate resistance at the palace gate was immediately discovered and reported.

Some soldiers who were greedy for merit wanted to rush over, climb the tower and kill Cao Ren to earn great credit, but due to lack of organization and the wide open area in front of the palace gate, they were attacked by Cao's army from a high position and their cross-fire was repelled several times.

It was impossible to push the siege weapons fighting outside the city in so quickly during the street fighting inside the city, not to mention that the siege towers could not be pushed into the city gates. The attackers had no choice but to find simple ladders and battering rams to break through the city.

"Don't worry about Cao Ren for now. Quickly divide our forces to attack the other gates of the palace and outflank Cao Ren, before he can hide in the inner palace with his layers of resistance!"

Finally, it was the cautious Zhao Yun who arrived at the scene and made prudent arrangements, so that the ordinary soldiers and generals below stopped fighting on their own and scrambling for credit. Everyone obeyed and divided the work, those who needed to find ladders did so, and those who needed to encircle did so.

The reason why Zhao Yun was able to come here to command was not because he was the fastest when attacking the city. In fact, Zhang Fei and Ma Chao and other fierce generals who were as fierce as mad tigers in battle rushed faster than Zhao Yun. Now in the Luoyang battlefield, Liu Bei's side had no shortage of generals with swift styles.

However, Liu Bei was also afraid that the disorderly soldiers would destroy the palace too much during the attack. In this regard, Liu Bei trusted Zhao Yun the most because Zhao Yun had been in charge of his guard work for the longest time and was the most cautious. When Liu Bei heard that Cao Ren was guarding the palace gate and resisting stubbornly, he immediately thought of Zhao Yun and asked him to take charge of this matter.

Zhao Yun knew very well why his lord had chosen him, so he had to try his best to live up to his lord's expectations and minimize the damage to the palace. Fortunately, Cao Ren had no intention of setting fire to the palace, which made Zhao Yun a little relieved.

However, an hour later, all other gates of the palace were breached by Liu Bei's army. The defenders in those places were not determined to fight, and after a hundred or so people were killed or injured, they either fled or surrendered.

The troops that entered the palace were all selected by Zhao Yun, and their military discipline was very strict. They did not enter the inner palace, but took a detour and completely surrounded Cao Ren's troops at the Nangong Gate, forming a pincer attack from both inside and outside.

After an hour of clearing, the chaos in other parts of Luoyang City gradually subsided. At least on both sides of the widest main streets, there were no more chaotic soldiers. After Liu Bei confirmed that it was safe, he personally led his guards into the city and headed straight for the palace.

The Zhuge brothers and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also accompanied Liu Bei into the city.

The last time Liu Bei came to Luoyang was when he was still very young. When he was young, Liu Bei once served as a guide for Youzhou horse traders such as Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping. He sold horses to Luoyang and saw the prosperity of Luoyang. His extravagant pursuit of "good dogs and horses, beautiful clothes" was also learned from Luoyang at that time. It can be said that this is also a city full of memories for Liu Bei.

But since the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, Liu Bei never entered Luoyang City again, and it has been at least twenty years.

Liu Bei thought back to his life in his twenties, and then looked at himself now in his fifties, and couldn't help but feel emotional.

"When Luoyang was burned down by the traitor Dong, I never had the chance to return and witness the tragedy. I only heard about it from people. Although it is still a little dilapidated now, it is much better than when it was at its worst. Although Cao Cao did so many treasonous things, his rebuilding of Luoyang City is also a merit."

Liu Bei made this comment calmly, and no one around him responded.

Rebuilding Luoyang is certainly a merit, although it was all funded by the people. Only Liu Bei could say this openly, but others were not in a position to do so.

No one else in this world is qualified to be generous to others on Liu Bei's behalf and forgive Cao Cao even a little bit. Only Liu Bei himself can say this.

This is the calmness and open-mindedness that only the person who is about to reach the summit can have.

"The thief Cao rebuilt Luoyang at the cost of the people's blood and sweat. Cao Ren defended the city to the death and even retreated to the palace to fight until the last moment. He caused so much damage to Luoyang. This sin is unforgivable."

Zhuge Jin waited until Liu Bei had finished speaking before making a well-placed comment.

Liu Bei stroked his chin and pondered for a few seconds, then thought of asking, "Did Zilong break through the palace gate?"

Zhuge Jin didn't know what was going on, so a military officer who had returned from the front answered his question: "My lord, General Zhao has broken through several other palace gates and trapped Cao Ren's remaining troops from both sides, trapping them outside the Nangong Gate. Cao Ren was not able to escape back to the inner palace to set fire to it."

Liu Bei nodded. "That was his last moment. He gave the Han a little dignity. I will naturally give him some dignity. Let's go and take a look. Don't worry, I won't enter the crossbow range. I will just watch from a distance. Now that the situation is under control, Zilong doesn't need to pursue a quick victory and cause more casualties."

After Liu Bei personally gave the order, the final battle slowed down a little. Zhao Yun's side no longer allowed anyone to attack rashly.

In just a few cups of tea, Liu Bei personally arrived one mile outside the palace gate, and Zhao Yun also came up to him and explained the situation.

Liu Bei looked through the telescope and saw that Cao Ren was guarding the palace gate tower and the high towers on both sides. It was indeed easy to defend but difficult to attack. The target was small and concentrated, and the heavy siege weapons had not entered the city. All Zhao Yun had collected for the time being were simple flying ladders.

Liu Bei thought for a moment and said, "In this case, let's burn down the two towers. Those who are willing to jump down to save their lives will be captured. Those who are unwilling to jump will be burned to death with Cao Ren. They will also be considered heroic and brave. Since they did not destroy the inner palace, this matter will be settled once and for all."

Zhang Fei, who was standing by, was a little reluctant, and muttered, "After all, it is the imperial palace, and it will take a lot of effort to rebuild it in the future."

Finally, it was Zhuge Liang who helped him find the way down and gave a pertinent comment: "Of the Luoyang Palace, only part of the North Palace survived the attack by Dong Zhuo. The South Palace was burned to the ground and was completely rebuilt by Cao Cao.

It is a bad omen that Cao Cao has usurped the throne here. We must eventually sweep away some of his remains, as a way to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new. It is not a big deal for my lord to burn the two towers outside the palace gate. Moreover, the watchtower outside the palace gate is also called Wei Que. Although Cao Cao did not use Wei as a false title when he usurped the throne, he was named Duke of Wei by the previous emperor before he usurped the throne. Burning the Wei Que can also be regarded as a symbol of eliminating the remnants of Wei. "

After hearing this, Liu Bei became more determined, and he asked people to find a large amount of firewood and some oil, and ordered the armored soldiers to carry large shields and bundles of firewood forward.

Cao Ren's arrows were fired in vain, and seeing that the downstairs was full of fire starters and oil, the Cao soldiers guarding the building finally panicked. Even though many of them were loyal warriors, they did not want to be burned to death in the end, so some of them wanted to rush downstairs, and a melee soon broke out.

Cao Ren killed several rebellious soldiers with his own hands, and the rest jumped down from the buildings. Soon, Liu Bei's army threw countless torches over, and the two Wei palaces were finally engulfed in flames.

At this point, Cao Ren didn't care anymore. Some soldiers tried to rush out amid the smoke and fire. Some were lucky enough to survive, while others were unlucky and were engulfed in flames. When they rushed out, their bodies were already on fire and it was obvious that they could not be saved.

Cao Ren himself sat on the roof, with his sword at his side. He also took a jar of wine and drank it all.

The fire had spread to the top floor. Cao Ren resisted for a while, but could not bear the pain of burning any more. He had to draw his sword to kill himself to avoid the pain. But the people below did not know the situation. It was not until the fire was completely burned out and Wei Que collapsed into a pile of ruins that Liu Bei's soldiers came forward and found some charred bodies in the fire.

Fortunately, the burning time was not too long, and from the armor, weapons, body shape and face, it can be vaguely identified as Cao Ren. The Cao soldiers who escaped and surrendered can also testify, so there is no need to worry about Cao Ren's survival.

After the soldiers confirmed it, they reported it to Zhao Yun and Liu Bei step by step.

Liu Bei went forward to inspect it personally and ordered that Cao Ren's body be beheaded and hung on the palace gate. There was no need to mess with the rest of the flesh as it was all burnt anyway, so there was no need to cremate it and it could be directly buried together with the other dead soldiers.

The sporadic searches in the city continued throughout the night and only quieted down at dawn the next day.

Liu Bei did not move into the palace that night. After all, his words would not flow smoothly if his name was not right, and he had not yet officially become emperor.

He simply ordered people to clean up first, and to dismiss all the palace maids who were brought into the palace after Cao Cao became emperor, leaving only the palace maids who had been used by Liu Xie when he was alive.

As for the eunuchs, they were also asked to report each other. Anyone who had colluded with Cao Cao or had obviously helped Cao Cao monitor Liu Xie was expelled and enslaved.

Taking this opportunity, Zhuge Jin, in the light of the humanitarian considerations of later generations, made a few words of advice: "During the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling, the whole country was in decline, all because of the eunuchs. Emperors Huan and Ling relied heavily on eunuchs, and many of them were because the aristocratic families united to evade taxes and labor service, leaving the court with no means of expenditure.

Now, everything is in ruins and all the accumulated problems over the years have been swept away in the war. The lord uses the might of the army to suppress those who cheat and evade, so naturally there is no need for so many eunuchs to supervise the money-making. After those eunuchs with bad records are removed, there should be no need for more.

Besides, Cao Cao has only been a usurper for a few months, and he has not had time to add new eunuchs. Your Majesty has far fewer wives and concubines than Cao Cao, nor as many as the previous emperor, and does not need so many people to serve him... You should be frugal and show your benevolence. At least in this regard, you should do much better than Cao the thief."

Liu Bei nodded. Zhuge Jin did not ask him to abolish the eunuchs, but just asked him not to create new eunuchs for the time being. This was still acceptable.

The key point is that there is Cao Cao as a background board in front. Because Cao Cao had just usurped the throne, he did not have time to create new eunuchs. Since Liu Bei is much more benevolent than Cao Cao, he must do better than Cao Cao to live up to his reputation.

This good reputation sometimes subtly restrains his behavior.

"I have no more than ten wives and concubines, far fewer than Cao Cao. This number of people is enough. The whole country has a lot of work to do, and I should start with that and practice frugality." This was Liu Bei's formal statement.

……

It took two or three days to clean Luoyang and tidy up the palace.

After all, no one wants to talk about the future or hold ceremonies in a city that is still smoking.

The day Liu Bei launched his attack was already September 30th, so after finishing everything, time quietly came to October 5th.

Some issues that have been delayed for several months have finally come to the point where a decision must be made.

For example, the issue of proclaiming oneself emperor has been delayed since June.

There has been no Han emperor in the world for three whole months. At the beginning, Liu Bei repeatedly appeased his subordinates and took down Luoyang City before considering whether to proclaim himself emperor.

Now that Luoyang has fallen, even the ruins of war have been cleared, and this problem will definitely not be delayed any longer.

Zhuge Jin was not very good at this kind of topic, but he was the most respected minister in the world, so those who wanted to persuade them to ascend the throne came to Zhuge Jin and asked him how to handle it and how to make the reason for their lord to become emperor more sufficient and legitimate.

Among the Three Dukes of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei himself was the Grand Marshal, Zhuge Jin was the Minister of Education, and the position of Minister of Works was vacant. Cao Cao had been the Minister of Works, which was unlucky, and Liu Bei never appointed another person to be the Minister of Works.

Only Zhuge Jin can worry about this matter.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin was able to ask his second brother for help in private to help him share the work that these time travelers were not good at.

Zhuge Liang would also continue to outsource and have people bring back some of the senior mascots who had previously escaped from Cao Cao. He would not give them any real power, but just ask them to help with planning and organizing, and give them some honorary titles, which could not be inherited.

In just ten days, all the procedures for persuading Liu Bei to ascend the throne were almost completed.

Someone originally suggested that Liu Bei also build an altar for ceremonies, on a larger scale than Cao Cao's, but this suggestion was rejected by Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang believed that Cao Cao had reached the pinnacle of extravagance and ostentation when he was usurping the throne, and that the lord should be different from the thief Cao and not rely on comparison.

Liu Bei also agreed with this.

The final result of the discussion was to build a small altar outside the Taimiao, not on a large scale, just to pay tribute to the previous emperors of the Han Dynasty. After Liu Bei personally went to the Taimiao to pay tribute to his ancestors and recognized Emperor Shun of Han as his grandfather, he would directly succeed to the throne.

As for the other details of the ceremony, we can just follow the ones used by Emperor Guangwu.

In this regard, Liu Bei was much more convenient than Cao Cao, as he had a ready-made answer to learn from. How did the small clan join the big clan and restore the country back then? The same is true now.

(End of this chapter)