My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 190 I, Liu Bei, am the general, the minister of the court, the recorder of the Secretariat, the commander-in-chief of the military affairs at home and abroad!

Two days later, Cao Cao led an army of more than 100,000, broke camp and retreated north, withdrawing all the way from Nanyang County.

After leaving Cao Ren with 30,000 troops to guard Ye County to prevent Liu Bei from taking advantage of the situation and moving north, Cao Cao led the main force back to Xu Du.

Wancheng side.

The news of Guan Yu's capture of Hefei and killing of Xiahou Yuan then reached Wancheng.

All the soldiers in the city cheered excitedly.

Liu Bei was naturally extremely surprised.

According to the original plan, Guan Yu's strategic goal was only to capture Hefei and kick open the door to Huainan.

Liu Bei never expected that Xiao He's plan not only captured Hefei, but also killed Xiahou Yuan, Cao Cao's right-hand man.

A true surprise!

Fa Zheng and other counselors concluded that Cao Cao was unable to attack Wancheng again and would have to return north in a hurry.

really.

Two days later, Cao Cao withdrew his camp and retreated northward. More than one hundred thousand troops left the Nanyang County area.

After concluding from the intelligence of the scouts that Cao Cao had indeed withdrawn his troops, Liu Bei left Wei Yan in command of 20,000 troops to continue to stay in Wancheng and monitor Cao's army.

Liu Bei went south to Xiangyang, and after meeting with Zhuge Liang, he set out to return east to Moling.

Seven days later, Liu Bei returned to Jiangdong.

At this time, Guan Yu was leading 20,000 troops and continued to stay in Hefei City to prevent Cao's army from sending troops to retake it.

Xiao He, Zhao Yun and others have led the main force back to Jiangdong.

The master and his minister met again in Moling.

According to Liu Bei's previous instructions, after escorting the queen and her son back to Jiangdong, Xiao He ordered Mi Zhu, Jiang Wan and others to mobilize the people's manpower to repair and expand the state capital left by Sun Quan and convert it into the imperial palace.

After several months of rush work, when Hefei was taken and Liu Bei returned, the palace had taken shape and met the conditions for the emperor to live in.

The issue of supporting Prince Jiyin to succeed to the throne was soon put on the agenda.

Considering that the word "Mo" in Moling means fodder and implies horse farm, it was changed from "Jinling" when Qin Shihuang toured Jiangdong. Therefore, the counselors proposed to change Moling back to Jinling before the new emperor ascended the throne.

Xiao He suggested to Liu Bei that there was no need to change Moling back to Jinling, but instead change its name to Yingtian.

Since ancient times, the only person who unified the world from south to north was Zhu Yuanzhang.

After Zhu Yuanzhang conquered Nanjing, he changed its name to Yingtian.

The implication is that it is in accordance with the will of heaven.

Although Xiao He was not very superstitious, he thought that changing the name of Moling to Yingtian would be a good start and a way to borrow some luck from Zhu Yuanzhang for Liu Bei.

After Liu Bei discussed with his advisers, they naturally agreed with the meaning of the name Yingtian and adopted Xiao He's proposal.

Therefore, at the end of summer that year, Liu Bei informed the officials and people of Jing and Yang states, officially changing Moling to Yingtian and designating it as the capital of the Han Dynasty.

The second day of the following month.

Liu Bei led the civil and military officials in Yingtian and formally supported King Jiyin Liu Xi to ascend the throne as emperor and honored Queen Fu as the empress dowager.

On the day he ascended the throne, Liu Xi announced that he would follow the late emperor's will and appoint Liu Bei as the general, and add the titles of Shizhong, Jijie, Recorder of the Secretariat, Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese and foreign armies, and in charge of all officials.

After being promoted to the rank of general, Liu Bei immediately submitted a list of official appointments to the new emperor.

It was naturally impossible to move the team of court officials who remained in Xudu here, and even if those officials wanted to come, Cao Cao would not let them go.

The court officials who followed the new emperor to the south were only a few people such as Kong Rong. There were many vacancies in the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, so naturally new people were needed to fill them.

Liu Bei also needed to use the name of the emperor to commend the heroes who followed him for their merits and to promote them to higher positions.

Liu Bei is now the general, ranking above the three highest officials.

Honorary positions like the Three Dukes require highly respected celebrities like Kong Rong to hold them. Among the Nine Ministers, there must also be famous celebrities of the time to serve as the face of the court.

However, although the official positions promoted to by the Yuan Dynasty officials such as Zhuge Liang, Xiao He, Xu Shu, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were not very high, they all held key real power.

Zhuge Liang, the former left military advisor, has now been appointed as the Minister of the Chancellery, in charge of all matters concerning the General's Office.

Guan Yu was promoted to General Who Conquers the West and went to Xiangyang to take charge, holding the imperial seal and commanding the military affairs of Jingzhou.

Zhang Fei was promoted to General Zhenbei and went to Hefei to take charge, holding the imperial seal and commanding the military affairs of Huainan.

Zhao Yun was promoted to General Pingbei, and Wei Yan to General Anxi...

The rest of the generals, including Huo Jun, Chen Dao, Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, Ding Feng, Guan Ping, Feng Xi, Zhou Cang, and Wen Pin, were all promoted or given titles according to their merits and seniority.

Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, Jian Yong, Xu Shu, Fa Zheng, Lu Su, Lu Xun and other counselors were all given official titles and appointed to important positions within and outside the court.

Xiao He, who served as the right military advisor, was promoted to the rank of Military Advisor General, Shangshu Pushe, and concurrently the Prefect of Danyang.

Xiao He's original official position was Right Military Advisor, and his duties and powers were simply to give advice.

In addition to providing advice and suggestions, the military advisor general also has military power, a position equivalent to that of the chief of general staff.

Liu Bei's appointment clarified the division of responsibilities between Xiao He and Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang played the role of Xiao He, and focused his main energy on handling state affairs on Liu Bei's behalf when Liu Bei was leading the army outside, as the Minister of the Chancellery, and acting as the agent for all matters in the General's Office.

The appointment of Xiao He as military advisor general clarified his identity as a strategist, and he was fully responsible for making military plans and had a certain degree of military power.

The position of Shangshu Pushe is the second-in-command of the Shangshu Tai, which means that Liu Bei has high expectations of him. In addition to letting him serve as a strategist, he also needs him to assist Zhuge Liang, the Shangshu Ling, and participate in the handling of the Shangshu Tai's government affairs.

The last position, Danyang Yin, is also extremely prestigious. Since the Han Dynasty, the governor of the county where the capital is located has been called Yin.

Such as Jingzhao Yin where Chang'an is located, and Henan Yin where Luoyang is located.

Now the new emperor Liu Xi established his capital in Yingtian, which belonged to Danyang County, so Xiao He became the prefect of Danyang.

With these three official positions combined, Xiao He may not be as high as his father-in-law Guan Yu in terms of official position, but his actual power is above Guan Yu, and even on par with Zhuge Liang, and he can be ranked as the second-in-command of Liu Bei's group.

This shows how much Liu Bei valued and trusted Xiao He.

However, the conferment of this official title has completely deviated from Xiao He's original idea.

When he first met Liu Bei, he just wanted to cling to Liu Bei's thighs and help Liu Bei overcome the crisis of "Changbanpo Shock". After that, he worked from nine to five, fished and lay down, and lived a leisurely and comfortable life.

However, he never expected that after several years, Lao Liu would become a great general who dominated Jingyang and served the emperor to suppress rebellion, and he himself would unknowingly become the second in command of a powerful group.

Now that you have reached this position, you still want to work from nine to five and take it easy and lie down, isn't that just a dream?
However, Xiao He also knew that he was able to reach this position because of the circumstances. At this point, it was impossible for him to give up.

Since that was the case, he decided to just go with the flow and gladly took on the heavy responsibility that Lao Liu had placed on his shoulders.

On the day the memorial was submitted, Emperor Liu Xi approved Liu Bei's request and issued an edict to confer titles on his ministers.

As imperial edicts were issued one after another to confer official titles and honors, all the counselors and generals who followed Liu Bei in Jing and Yang provinces, as well as new and old ministers, heroes and patriots, were excited and delighted.

The people of the two states were also excited.

The news that the new emperor had ascended the throne and Liu Bei had been promoted to general was soon sent to Xudu by spies at full speed.

...

Xudu, the prime minister's residence.

Cao Cao had just finished mourning Xiahou Yuan and had recovered a little from the pain of losing his family. He then summoned Xiahou Dun, Cheng Yu and other trusted ministers to discuss the matter of supporting the new emperor.

"According to the law, the throne of the Son of Heaven should be inherited by the bloodline of the previous emperor. This is the most legitimate and will be the most convincing to the people of the world."

"However, the emperor has only one son, the Prince of Jiyin, who is now abducted by Liu Bei. There is no possibility of bringing him back. The lineage of the late emperor is broken."

"The late emperor had no brothers, no sons, or nephews to establish as successors. Our only option is to select a member of the royal family who is the closest blood relative to the late emperor and possesses both virtue and talent, and support him as the successor."

As the most meritorious minister who helped Cao Cao welcome the emperor, Dong Zhao was the first to stand up and offer advice this time.

Cao Cao frowned and stroked his short beard, but did not express his opinion.

Dong Zhao's proposal is not without precedent.

Emperor Zhao of Han had no children. After his death, Huo Guang supported Liu He, the King of Changyi, as the new emperor.

For example, Emperor Huan of Han had no children, so his father-in-law Dou Wu appointed Liu Hong, Marquis of Li Du Ting, as emperor, who became Emperor Ling.

Now that Emperor Liu Xie's lineage has been "extinct", it would be reasonable for him to follow the old rules and choose someone from the royal family to inherit the throne.

But Cao Cao knew, and everyone in the world knew, that Liu Xie's lineage had not been cut off.

The first heir to the throne of the Han Dynasty is now alive and well with Liu Bei.

In this way, no matter who you make emperor, in the eyes of the world, it would be just an attempt to cover up one's own mistakes.

People all over the world are afraid of your power, Cao Cao, and dare not express any objection, but they are definitely dissatisfied with you in their hearts.

If people are dissatisfied, it is like burying a bomb that may explode at any time.

Cao Cao pondered in silence, thinking hard about whether there was any way to have the best of both worlds, and he was unable to make a decision for the time being.

Just then, the Tiger Guard hurried in holding a silk book high.

"Your Excellency, the Jiangdong spies have an urgent report."

"A few days ago, the traitor Liu Bei proclaimed himself the Great General, and enthroned the so-called King of Jiyin, Liu Xi, as emperor. He established the capital in Moling, and renamed it Yingtian!"

Cao Cao's expression suddenly changed and his eyes suddenly widened.

All the counselors and generals in Cao's camp in the hall were immediately in an uproar.

Liu Bei actually took the lead and established the new emperor!
Moreover, they supported Liu Xi, the only descendant of the previous emperor and the rightful successor to the throne of the Han Dynasty, as emperor!
Although Cao Cao had been mentally prepared for this result, when he heard it with his own ears, he could not help but burn with anger.

"Big-eared thief, you are just a mat weaver and shoe seller. Who do you think you are? How dare you imitate me and command the disobedient by following the emperor's example? How dare you call yourself a great general?"

"I will mobilize all the troops in my country, crush Jiangdong, and tear you into pieces to vent my hatred—"

Cao Cao slammed the table and stood up, cursing in anger.

Xiahou Dun, Cao Chun and others all followed suit and started cursing Liu Bei.

Seeing that Cao Cao had almost finished scolding him, Cheng Yufang bowed and said:
"Prime Minister, now that things have come to this, we should quickly choose someone from the royal family to inherit the throne and compete with Liu Bei for the hearts and minds of the people!"

Cao Cao weighed the pros and cons for a moment, then waved his hand helplessly:

"Well, at this point, this is all we can do. Let's follow Zhongde's plan and—"

The words have not yet fallen.

A young nobleman suddenly stood up and said with a salutation:
"Father, I believe that the only way we can compete with Liu Bei for the hearts and minds of the people is to establish the young emperor's son as emperor!"

There was complete silence in the hall, and pairs of surprised eyes were focused on the young man.

Cao Cao was also stunned, and then said with a bewildered look:

"Chong'er, how can such a big thing be treated as a joke?"

"The Young Emperor was poisoned by Dong Zhuo over a decade ago. He left no descendants during his lifetime. How could his offspring be enthroned as the Son of Heaven?"

(End of this chapter)