Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

Liu Yu then said with great concern:

"Our dynasty is corrupt and declining day by day, but the barbarian tribes beyond the Great Wall yearn for the civilization of our Chinese nation. Once they learn the benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness of the Han people, I fear that the future Han lands will also fall into the hands of the barbarians. At that time, our descendants will probably all become barbarian captives."

Liu Gao also sighed:

"Without Guan Zhong, we would be wearing our hair loose and our robes fastened on the left! But who in the whole world could be as capable as Guan Zhong?"

Liu Bei knew that what his cousin Liu Gao said came from the sayings of Confucius in the Analects.

"Hair disheveled and left-fastening clothing" was a custom of the northern barbarians during the Spring and Autumn Period, meaning that they wore their hair loose and their clothes covered to the left.

Han Chinese clothing is right-fastening, with the garment covering the right side, which is the opposite of that of northern ethnic minorities.

"Without Guan Zhong, we would be living in disarray, with our hair disheveled and our robes fastened on the left," meaning that without Guan Zhong, the Han people would have been ruled by the northern barbarians.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, with the assistance of Guan Zhong, Duke Huan of Qi unified the world and united the feudal lords nine times. During this period, he also successfully resisted the northern barbarian Shanrong's attack on the Central Plains.

Therefore, Confucius greatly admired Guan Zhong's great achievement in assisting Duke Huan of Qi in defeating the Shanrong.

Liu Bei naturally aspired to be a wise ruler like Duke Huan of Qi, and he also had his own "Guan Zhong," namely Zhuge Liang, the Crouching Dragon of Nanyang.

He listened to his two cousins ​​and said:

"Although the Xianbei were powerful, they were not without ways to defeat them. The reason they were powerful was that Tanshihuai united them into a tribal alliance, turning them into a cohesive force."

"If our Han Dynasty wants to deal with the Xianbei, the best way is to kill Tanshihuai and cause the eastern, central and western Xianbei tribes to fall into a state of division and fight each other."

"In this way, they will no longer have the strength to launch a large-scale war of aggression against Han lands."

Upon hearing Liu Bei's words, Liu Yu and Liu Gao both widened their eyes and looked at him with surprise and delight.

"Xuande, I never imagined you had such a bold idea."

Liu Yu's courage was also bolstered. "Although you are a young man, you are full of vigor. If all the brave men of our Han land were like you, how could we not destroy the Xianbei?"

Liu Gao sighed:

"To shoot a man, shoot his horse first; to capture a thief, capture his king first. This is indeed a good strategy, but unfortunately, the current rulers did not adopt this suggestion. Moreover, no one was able to implement this bold plan."

Liu Bei knew that in modern society, the operation of directly dispatching special forces to parachute into the capital of an enemy country, or using precision-guided ballistic missiles to kill the head of an enemy country, is usually called a "decapitation strike".

The advantage of a decapitation strike is that it can achieve the greatest objective with minimal casualties, completely undermine the enemy's morale, paralyze their command system, and plunge them into chaos, thus allowing the enemy's territory to be occupied without bloodshed.

Liu Bei believed that the decapitation operation would still be effective in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

However, he did not intend to tell the Western Xianbei about his plan to use the relationship between Liu Yu and Liu Gao to infiltrate their territory for the time being.

It's not too late to talk about it after he returns from Xu Wushan in Youbeiping County.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei said:

"My two cousins ​​need not despair. Perhaps in the future, someone will indeed infiltrate the Xianbei and assassinate Tan Shihuai. Let us wait and see."

Liu Yu sighed:

"I hope so."

Liu Yu and Liu Gao could never have imagined that the cousin Liu Bei standing before them was the very Han hero they admired who dared to assassinate the Xianbei Khan.

The group chatted happily.

Liu Gao looked at Liu Bei, his eyes revealing admiration and respect, and said:

"On this trip to the western Xianbei region of Yinshan, I brought back several Xianbei belts called Guo Luo belts. I'll give you one when we get back to Lousangli later."

Liu Yu explained from the side:

"Guoluo is an auspicious beast. The Xianbei people liked to carve the auspicious beast Guoluo on their belt buckles. Therefore, this kind of belt is called Xianbei Guoluo belt."

Because Liu Bei followed his father's teachings from a young age, he was humble and polite. Although he was taciturn, he was quite bold, which made him well-liked by his clansmen.

The archery and horsemanship skills he learned at the clan training ground were all carefully taught by his two cousins, Liu Gao and Liu Yu.

Liu Gao and Liu Yu were cousins, both from wealthy families. They not only studied diligently from a young age, but also possessed exceptional martial arts skills, consistently ranking among the best in the clan's private school.

Abdominal poetry and gas from China.

This is why they were chosen by Tuoba Lin, the Tuoba chieftain of the Western Xianbei tribe.

The two men were very fond of Liu Bei. They not only taught him everything they knew, but also often took the ten-year-old Liu Bei on trips to broaden his horizons.

Seeing his two cousins, Liu Yu and Liu Gao, return from beyond the Great Wall after surviving numerous close calls, and still thinking of giving them the Xianbei Guo Luo belt, Liu Bei was deeply moved.

"I am deeply grateful for the kindness and support of my two cousins. I am deeply grateful and do not know how to repay them."

Liu Yu hurriedly said:

"We are both members of the Liu clan, why be so formal? My uncle says you will be extraordinary in the future. When that time comes, we will both need your guidance."

"How dare I!?"

Liu Bei knew that his cousin Liu Yuanqi and others valued him highly.

Many members of the Liu clan in Zhuoxian County also placed their hopes for revitalizing the clan and bringing glory to the family on his shoulders, a man who lost his father at a young age.

Therefore, his clansmen have been helping him, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in their daily lives.

Liu Bei, burdened by this great favor, felt the weight of his responsibility growing ever heavier.

Liu Gao suddenly said:

"I've always wanted to ask, Xuande, did you come to this Spring Wine Shop specifically to find us?"

"no."

Liu Bei hurriedly replied, "I am currently in another private room, having a banquet with two prominent merchants from Zhongshan, as well as some friends I have recently made."

He hesitated, wondering whether to tell his two cousins ​​about his upcoming trip to Xuwu Mountain.

However, in order not to worry his two cousins, Liu Bei ultimately decided to keep it a secret for the time being.

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"Since my two cousins ​​are in business, I can introduce them. Those two wealthy merchants from Zhongshan are horse traders who travel between Zhuojun and Liaodong. You may have business dealings with them in the future."

Liu Gao asked:

"What are the names of those two prominent businessmen from Zhongshan?"

"Zhang Shiping, Su Shuang," Liu Bei said.

Liu Yu pondered silently and said:

"I think I vaguely heard their names. There are many merchants from all over the country traveling to and from Zhuojun, and Zhongshan County is right next to our Zhuojun..."

Liu Gao nodded and said:

"Very well. In that case, Xuande, please help introduce us."

"it is good."

So Liu Bei and Jian Yong led Liu Yu and Liu Gao out of the private room and into their own private room where they were having a banquet, where they introduced their two cousins ​​to Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, two wealthy merchants from Zhongshan.

Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, upon hearing that Liu Yu and Liu Gao were Liu Bei's cousins, also made a point of befriending them. They even said that after bringing back horses from the Wuhuan people in Liaodong to Zhuojun, they could give some horses to Liu Yu and Liu Gao so that they could sell them in the manors of powerful families in the nearby counties and make a profit.

Liu Yu and Liu Gao were also very interested in this, saying they wanted to buy some fine Wuhuan horses from Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang and transport them to Xuzhou, where they would sell them for a better price.

The four men got more and more excited as they talked. They quickly reached an agreement to go into the horse trading business.

Liu Bei remembered that he had an "investor" in Donghai County, Xuzhou, named Mi Zhu. Therefore, he strongly supported his two cousins ​​to go to Xuzhou to trade.

In Liu Bei's grassroots "entrepreneurship" process, if Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang were his "angel investors," then Mi Zhu was his "Series A investor."

Mi Zhu, a wealthy landowner and merchant from Donghai County in Xuzhou, followed Liu Bei wholeheartedly and never abandoned him, but in the end, he died in sorrow in Shu.

Looking back on this life, Liu Bei still felt a mix of emotions.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Bei introduced Qian Zhao, Guan Yu, Zuo Zi, Dong Ye Ban, Xin Yuan Jian, Zhang Ba, and others to his two cousins, Liu Yu and Liu Gao.

When Liu Yu and Liu Gao saw the people in the room, all of whom had fierce and imposing appearances, they knew that this group was no ordinary bunch.

They couldn't help but marvel at their fifteen-year-old cousin, Liu Bei: how had this boy made so many friends among the heroes of the martial world in just over a year...?

Seeing that Guan Yu and Zhang Ba were both nine feet tall and had impressive appearances, Liu Yu, who was only seven feet tall, had to look up to see their faces.

"Yun Chang, what a tall man! If he went to the battlefield, he could easily cut down enemies from his high vantage point, as effortlessly as chopping melons and vegetables."

Liu Gao was also pleasantly surprised:

"He truly possesses the heroic spirit of a warrior!"

……

The Xianbei Guoluo belt is the name of an auspicious beast, which the Donghu (Xianbei and Wuhuan) people liked to wear.

—A comment written by Zhang Yan, a scholar from Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, in the "Biography of the Xiongnu" in the Book of Han.