Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 133 Anyone who dares to say that he should be abandoned will be punished in the same way as in this case!

Execute Grand Herald Zhang Yi?

To be honest, this idea had already occurred to Liu Bian.

When has there ever been a man who has not put himself in the shoes of those kings who, faced with the advice of their civil officials to cede territory for peace or abandon the territory, and then beheaded the weak peace-seeking factions in public to boost the morale of the army?

But fantasy is fantasy after all. Some people are worth killing, but some people are not killed entirely out of cowardice.

At least a martial man would not fall into such a cowardly state.

Zhang Yi considered the issue from an economic perspective and believed that Liangzhou should be abandoned, but he ignored the military and political perspectives.

If the Han Dynasty gave up Liang Province, it would lose its frontier defense, and the three prefectures would face harassment from the Qiang and Hu people of Liang Province. The situation would only become more deteriorating.

Moreover, if the Han Dynasty lost Liang Province, its rule would inevitably be shaken.

The king receives the mandate and establishes the first month to rule the world, requiring all things to follow it as a beginning, hence the term "great unification".

After losing Liangzhou, can the Han Dynasty still be considered unified?

Liu Bian came back to his senses from his meditation, removed the support from under his buttocks, and leaned on the table without any manners, with his right leg stretched straight out and his left hand holding his bent left leg. He just listened quietly to the argument of the court officials, as if it had nothing to do with him.

But gradually, some people noticed the prince's demeanor. Although it was rude, the smile at the corner of his mouth made people shut their mouths unconsciously.

Yang Ci hunched his back slightly, staring at the figure sitting on the prince's seat, recalling the reason why the emperor had refused to discuss the prince in front of all the officials: "He is frivolous and has no dignity, and is not fit to be a ruler."

But wasn’t the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Gao, also a frivolous ruler?
Are frivolous people really so undignified?
Yang Ci had only seen the portrait of Emperor Gao, and he didn't know what the real Emperor Gao looked like, but Yang Ci felt that perhaps Emperor Gao had this demeanor.

After a long while, as the quarrels among the court officials gradually died down, Liu Bian's gaze slowly fell on Zhang Zhao, the Chief Censor. Zhang Zhao understood and, along with the Assistant Censors, began to maintain order in the court, shouting "Silence" to silence the last sporadic discussions.

"My Lords, do you know why Qin was able to destroy the six kingdoms and unify the world?"

However, Liu Bian did not give the ministers a chance to respond, but instead continued on his own: "The army is not good? The battle is not good?"

"No, the problem lies in bribing Qin!"

"Besides conquering by force, Qin also captured small towns and large cities. Compared to what Qin gained through victory, it was actually a hundred times greater! The losses suffered by the princes were also a hundred times greater than those lost through defeat."

Everyone found it quite novel that the prince attributed the destruction of the six kingdoms to the cession of territory in exchange for peace.

In the past, when scholars commented on Qin's conquest of the six states, although they liked to criticize the six states for their disunity, they generally believed that Qin's soldiers were as brave as tigers and wolves, and that it was Qin's excessive strength that led to the conquest of the six states, rather than the six states being too weak and being conquered by Qin.

Of course, all the learned men in the court could tell that the prince's argument of blaming the demise of the six kingdoms on bribing Qin was too one-sided, but it was also a new theory. They all calmed down and listened to what the prince said, and at the same time secretly associated this matter with the proposal to abandon Liangzhou.

"Think of your ancestors who braved frost and dew and cut through thorns to gain an inch of land. Your descendants do not value it very much and give it away like discarded grass." Liu Bian stood up, pressed the Yuanzhi sword at his waist, and slowly walked down the stairs. His eyes swept over the group of court officials who discussed abandoning Liangzhou because of regional discrimination. His face was so dignified without anger that these people dared not look directly at him.

Many people lowered their heads when the prince's gaze swept over them, and some even shrank back unconsciously.

"Today I surrender five cities, tomorrow ten, and then I can sleep peacefully for one night. When I wake up and survey the surrounding borders, the Qin army has arrived again. However, the lands of the vassal states are limited, while the tyrannical Qin is insatiable. The more tributes we receive, the more aggressive we become. Therefore, without even fighting, the victory or defeat of the strong and the weak is already decided."

"Oh, as for overthrow?" Liu Bian sneered and slowly uttered four words, emphasizing each word, "It is only natural!"

Although he was always discussing the reasons for the demise of the six kingdoms, anyone could hear that the prince was clearly using the past to illustrate the present, and he didn't even care about the ominous nature of his words, which really shocked all the court officials in the hall.

The prince almost said that if Liang Province was abandoned, the Han Dynasty would be destroyed, and it was "rational"?
Who would dare to respond to this? "You may have your reasons for thinking that Liang Province can be abandoned, but the Han Dynasty only has thirteen provinces!" Liu Bian suddenly drew the Yuanzhi sword from his waist and looked around at the courtiers. "I don't have the ability to expand the territory like Taizu, Shizong, and Shizu, but I will never be a king who loses territory!"

After saying this, Liu Bian walked to his desk, held the long sword upside down with both hands, gritted his teeth, and stabbed it down with force. The sword pierced through the table, making a crackling sound.

"Anyone who dares to say that he should be abandoned will be treated the same as this case!"

Seeing the silence of all the officials, Liu Bian simply slammed the table and pointed to the seats of the most important generals. He said, "Left General, you will go to Liang Province to quell the rebellion, and Right General will go to Bing Province. Who will assist the army and how many troops will be recruited? You will discuss the rules in Jiade Hall."

"As for the Grand Herald..."

Liu Bian slowly looked at Zhang Yi and Fu Xie standing in the hall. Facing the excitement in Fu Xie's eyes, he slowly shook his head and looked at Zhang Yi and said, "I would like to ask the Grand Herald to do me the honor of taking on the position of General of the Qiang Army and accompanying the Right General's army to Liang Province to help quell the rebellion."

"Your Highness?"

Zhang Yi was a little confused and quite puzzled.

If you stand on the wrong side, you will lose your head.

Logically speaking, the Crown Prince equated abandoning Liang with the destruction of the country. Even though he was a Nine Ministers, he would not be beheaded or thrown into the market, but as the Grand Herald who first proposed abandoning Liang Province, he would definitely be abandoned.

Faced with such a situation, it was already merciful of the prince not to put him in prison. He was already prepared to take off his official robes and end his official career. Why didn't he just dismiss him from office and instead let him serve in the army?

"Your Highness, I...I was the one who just advised against abandoning Liang. How could I..."

Zhang Yi's face showed hesitation, his brow furrowed, and several deep wrinkles appeared on his forehead. Liu Bian, however, showed a gentle smile, stood up and walked to Zhang Yi, took his hand and gently patted it. "I understand that the Grand Herald feels that since he advised against the rebellion, he is not qualified to join the army to suppress the rebellion, right?"

"Those who advise against the rebellion do so for the sake of the Han Dynasty, and are acting with a clear conscience. Those who advise against the Liang Dynasty also do so for the sake of the Han Dynasty, and are acting with a clear conscience."

"Grand Herald, are you willing to serve me again and contribute to the Han Dynasty?"

Liu Bian was able to distinguish between those who advised against abandoning Liang because of regional discrimination and those who advised against abandoning Liang out of the true interests of the court. Moreover, Zhang Yi was able to elaborate in detail on the habits and livelihood issues of the Qiang people in Liangzhou, which was enough to demonstrate his competence.

Seeing that the prince had said so much, he not only did not pursue his theory of abandoning Liang, but also cleared him of the stigma that might have been brought by the theory. Even though Zhang Yi had been in the officialdom for many years and his heart was already turbid, he could not help but be moved by the prince's kindness at this time.

Zhang Yi's eyes were slightly red, and his voice was trembling as he said, "Your Highness is so kind and magnanimous. He does not look down on me for my stupidity. I will die willingly to repay your kindness!"

After saying this, Zhang Yi prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed.

The prince happily helped Zhang Yi up, and there was a scene of harmony between the monarch and his subjects.

Of course, if Zhang Yi had still refused to join the army to help Huangfu Song suppress the rebellion, the result would have been different.

He is not infinitely tolerant of talents.

I have forgiven you and given you a way out. If you dare not move and are not moved, then I will dare to move against you!

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PS: I encountered something last night, so I still have three more chapters to go.

PPS: The reason why it was not a chopping of the table but an assassination is that Sun Quan's operation of chopping the corner of the table was very confusing. At least in later generations, even with a sword forged with modern technology, it would be difficult to cut off the corner of the table so easily. It would most likely get stuck in the gap between the wood, and at least it would not be cut off with one knife.

(End of this chapter)