Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 128 His son’s name is Zhuge Liang?
"No, why did Zhang Ju rebel?"

In Yong'an Palace, Liu Bian suddenly threw the report in his hand onto the table. His face was full of anger, his brows were furrowed, his eyes were burning with rage, and his heart was full of confusion and resentment.

He was really angry and amused, and he really couldn't understand the thoughts of people like Zhang Ju.

You levied heavy taxes and levies in the name of the imperial court, and then said that this was because the crown prince was tyrannical and unkind, that the Han Dynasty was doomed to perish, and that you wanted to attack him?

Absolutely ridiculous!
Besides, what makes you think you can do that?

He had thought that during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the governors of various states and counties temporarily recruited soldiers from the prefectures and states, and the local wealthy families also secretly raised more private soldiers. It was normal for some people to have ulterior motives.

However, he was confident of his strong military and increasing control over the court. Although there were financial risks, they were things of the future, not the current difficulties.

If all of Zhao Rao's private property worth more than 5 billion yuan could be sold and confiscated, the national treasury and the prince's treasury could take out more than 20 billion yuan, which would be enough to fight several more intense Yellow Turban rebellions.

On the other hand, Zhang Ju only had 3,000 soldiers from the counties and prefectures, and he also forcibly conscripted 30,000 young and strong men. This amount of troops was not enough to fill his teeth.

Liu Bian snorted coldly and casually tossed the report to Gao Wang, signaling him to circulate it to the officials in the Crown Prince's Mansion. After reading it, everyone looked at each other in confusion and shook their heads, completely unable to understand what Zhang Ju was thinking.

However, no one investigated further. If someone was rebelling, they would just suppress it.

When the officers and soldiers of the five schools of the Northern Army and the Yulin Cavalry heard about the rebellion, they were eager to take action and were rubbing their hands in excitement.

However, at this moment, Tian Feng solemnly said, "Your Highness, I request that you posthumously confer the title of Prince's Groom Zhuge Gui."

Liu Bian was slightly startled when he heard this, and then he couldn't help but sigh repeatedly, raising his hand to rub his brow.

Because of his surname "Zhuge" and his previous report and impeachment of Zhang Ju, Zhuge Gui led Xun Yu to issue a conscription order to recruit Zhuge Gui as the prince's groom four days ago as soon as the court meeting was over.

Unexpectedly, Zhuge Gui met with this misfortune before he had even started his official duties. Although he had not yet officially taken up the position, he was already a retainer of the Prince's Mansion in terms of organization, and was considered a colleague that the other officials in the Prince's Mansion had never met.

It's a pity that he died before we even met. Thinking about this, it makes me sigh with regret.

As the Crown Prince of the Han Dynasty, his retainers were killed by rebels. Zhuge Gui was also the first retainer in the Crown Prince's Mansion to die in the service of the king. Even though he had not yet officially taken office, his loyalty of preferring death to colluding with the rebels made it necessary for him to posthumously confer a title on Zhuge Gui to appease the people.

"Does Zhuge Gui have a wife and children?"

Liu Bian stroked his chin and looked at Jia Xu.

After calming down, he could roughly guess the reason why Zhang Ju rebelled.

Presumably, the Embroidered Uniform Envoy had been investigating in Taishan County for many days and had indeed found a lot of evidence of Zhang Ju's violations of laws and disciplines, forcing him into a desperate situation. Knowing that his crimes were unforgivable, he resorted to desperate measures.

With the investigative ability of the Embroidered Uniform Envoy, since he had investigated to the point of driving Zhang Ju to desperation, he should not be unaware of the situation of Zhuge Gui's family.

"Your Highness, Zhuge Gui's wife died of illness after giving birth to our young son, Zhuge Jun, last year. She had three sons and two daughters. The embroidered envoys have already escorted the children out of Fenggao County, the seat of Taishan Commandery."

While listening to Jia Xu's narration, Liu Bian frowned, and his right hand unconsciously tapped the armrest of the table he was leaning on.

"Zhuge Jun?" The name seemed familiar to him. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind, and Liu Bian suddenly asked, "What are the names of the other two sons?"

Jia Xu replied, "My eldest son, Zhuge Jin, is eleven years old; my second son, Zhuge Liang, is three years old."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bian's body stiffened, his words faltered, and he slowly leaned against the backrest of the table. After a long silence, he slowly said, "I grant you pearls and paintings, special imperial decrees, and secret weapons, and rice and grain for food. I posthumously confer the title of Caoyang Pavilion and the posthumous title of 'loyalty' on them. All three sons may enter the Imperial Academy to study ancient texts, and I will personally arrange marriages for my two daughters."

The secret weapon of the Pearl-Painted Special Edict is a coffin painted with cinnabar. According to regulations, only officials with a rank of two thousand stones are qualified to use it.

The term "fan han ji yu" (a kind of jade placed in the mouth of the deceased) refers to an item placed in the mouth of the deceased during burial, such as a plug of bran. The Modern School of Literature believes that jade should be placed in the mouth after death, stating that "the emperor should use pearls, princes should use jade, high officials should use ji yu, scholars should use shells, and common people should use grain." However, the Ancient School of Literature, led by Zheng Xuan, believes that "the emperor should use sorghum, high officials should use millet, and scholars should use rice."

Even Tian Feng, who had taken the initiative to request the crown prince to posthumously confer the title on Zhuge Gui, could not help but frown slightly, feeling that such a gift seemed too generous.

But after hesitating for a moment, Tian Feng still leaned forward and praised loudly: "Your Highness is kind and benevolent!"

People always have some selfish desires.

Given His Highness's physical condition, he should be able to send them all away if nothing unexpected happens.

Your Highness can give such generous rewards to Zhuge Gui, whom he has never met. What about these retainers who work hard for Your Highness?
I think if such a day ever comes in the future, I will surely receive an even more generous posthumous award.

Just as everyone was sighing with admiration at the Crown Prince's generosity, Huang Zhong, one of the generals, suddenly stood up, strode away from his seat, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I beg you to lead the army and capture the two thieves, Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun, for Your Highness!"

"Han Sheng, how could you, an old soldier, run away?"

Sun Jian cursed with a smile, but did not stand up to compete with Huang Zhong for the merit.

Before he turned thirty, he was already a cavalry captain with a salary of 2,000 stones and a Marquis of Huating with a fief of 800 households. Naturally, he had no worries about meritorious service.

Besides, he had reaped a lot of rewards during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, so it was time for him to give way to other comrades. He couldn't let the other comrades who hadn't eaten enough go hungry, right?
Lu Bu, the captain of the Yue cavalry, just glanced at Huang Zhong slightly and did not compete with him.

Huang Zhong and he had a close friendship. Both of them were good archers and often exchanged archery skills.

More importantly, his beloved wife Yan gave birth to a daughter last year, nicknamed "Xiao Lingdang". Now he is also the Marquis of Changping Pavilion with a fief of 400 households. He is not in a hurry to make achievements, but just wants to spend more time with his wife and daughter.

Seeing that Sun Jian and Lu Bu did not fight for it, Liu Bei looked hesitant and opened his mouth. Even under Zhang Fei's secret urging, he finally did not have the courage to stand up and claim the credit.

Gao Shun had always been a calm and peaceful person, and for a while, no one competed with Huang Zhong for the credit of suppressing the rebellion.

"Your Highness, I do not want any reward this time. I only ask to repay Your Highness's kindness." Huang Zhong saw that none of his colleagues competed for the credit, and the prince still did not express his opinion, so he knelt on the ground and begged.

"What is Han Sheng doing?"

Liu Bian quickly stood up and walked quickly to Huang Zhong. He took Huang Zhong's arm with both hands, helped him up, and said comfortingly, "Han Sheng will definitely have a role in suppressing the rebellion this time. However, I still have some doubts about the position of commander-in-chief."

In fact, Liu Bian understood why Huang Zhong acted out of character and was so eager to fight that he didn't even care about military merit.

Some time ago, Huang Zhong's three-year-old son Huang Xu suddenly became seriously ill, and Huang Zhong hurriedly requested a personal physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau to treat him.

Officials of the Later Han Dynasty enjoyed the benefit of "medical treatment". Officials in Beijing could directly request the Imperial Medical Bureau to send doctors to treat them at home without paying any medical fees, and they could also receive a certain amount of medicine for free.

However, Huang Zhong's son's condition was quite serious and required a lot of precious and rare medicinal materials, so he had to apply to the prince.

Liu Bian waved his hand and ordered the Imperial Medical Bureau to treat Huang Xu at all costs, and asked the Imperial Medical Bureau to prescribe some health-preserving prescriptions for Huang Xu, and all expenses were paid from the palace.

After learning roughly the expenses from the Imperial Physician, Huang Zhong burst into tears and kowtowed nine times in the direction of Yong'an Palace.

Huang Xu's illness is not a terminal illness, but because his mother was weak and premature during childbirth, he is frail and needs long-term careful care with medicine.

However, Huang Zhong's previous salary was only that of a county lieutenant, so he could not afford such expensive medicinal materials. The only people who had treated him before were itinerant folk doctors.

If the Crown Prince had not recruited him to the capital to serve as a Shesheng Cavalry Captain with a rank equivalent to that of a two thousand stone official, and had not covered the medical expenses for his son, he would probably have faced the pain of losing his wife in middle age and then his son, and this was his only son, who he had finally had.

With such a great favor, how could he not repay His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with his death?
(End of this chapter)