Can I get to the other side?

Chapter 209 Yuan Hao, if I pretend to be emperor, I mean if...

Yecheng Imperial Palace, the emperor's residence.

As soon as Liu Xie got up, he sat at the desk and carefully looked through the memorial sent by Liu Bei from Yizhou, with a look of surprise gradually appearing on his face.

In the memorial presented by Liu Bei, he first congratulated him for getting rid of Yuan Shao's control and no longer being trapped in the shoals, and secondly, he reported the situation in Yizhou.

Gao Gan and Zhang Lu were already fighting.

Although Gao Gan brought 10,000 elite troops to quell the rebellion, the terrain in Yizhou was complicated, and Zhang Lu would hide in the mountains and forests if he could not defeat him.

And as long as all the rebels are unable to be annihilated, it won't be long before the other side gathers strength again, and this is where the religious rebels find it difficult to deal with.

There are too many believers, and it is too easy to replenish soldiers.

Therefore, Gao Gan is now entangled with Zhang Lu. Now it is not a question of whether he wants to support the rebels and slowly encroach on Yizhou, but that there is no way to completely eliminate this rebel army in a short time.

Liu Bei's approach was completely different from that of senior officials. After he found Liu Zhang with the emperor's secret edict, he gave him advice, helped handle state affairs and improve people's livelihood, and gradually reduced the influence of Tianshi Dao, so he won Liu Zhang's trust.

Now his reputation in Yizhou is gradually rising.

Secretly winning over many people's hearts.

"Liu Bei is Liu Bei after all. You really can't underestimate him. In just a short time, he has developed so smoothly in Yizhou."

"Give him another year or two, and I'm afraid Yizhou will change hands like it did in history."

Liu Xie couldn't help but sigh with emotion after reading the memorial.

Since he asked Liu Bei to go to Yizhou to develop and contain senior officials at the beginning of the year, he no longer paid attention to Liu Bei's situation.

Unexpectedly, only seven months had passed before Liu Bei brought such good news in the memorial presented to him.

At present, the high-ranking cadres are restrained by Zhang Lu in Yizhou. If they bring troops back to rescue Yuan Shao, all previous efforts will be in vain, so there is no need to worry about the high-ranking cadres returning to aid Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei gained Liu Zhang's trust, and he was recharging his strength and developing slowly in Yizhou. He has a promising future and a bright future.

Liu Zhang is no match for Liu Bei.

"Lu Bu is fighting fiercely with Zhou Yu in Yangzhou, and Liu Bei has established a firm foothold in Yizhou. I can't slack off."

"Once we get the land of the three counties, we can organize a wave of troops and start thinking of ways to capture the entire Jizhou, and then cannibalize all of Yuan Shao's foundation."

Liu Xie's eyes were bright and his heart was full of pride.

After taking Jizhou, annexing Qingzhou and Bingzhou, he does not need the help of the princes. As long as he is given time, he can sweep the world.

"After Yuan Benchu ​​received my secret letter revealing his identity, he showed no sign of surrender. Thinking about it, he still doesn't want to give in."

"I just don't know if receiving the dog crawling letter I sent yesterday will affect his decision-making?"

At this time, Zhen Mi led a group of maids into the palace and said, "Your Majesty, it's almost time to go to court. I, my concubine, are here to change your clothes."

Liu Xie nodded, put down the memorial in his hand, and then put on the crown under the service of Zhen Mi and the maids.

Two years have passed, and Zhen Mi has become more and more beautiful. Compared with before, she has a more mature charm. If I have to describe it, she is a girl with the flavor of a young woman. A young woman with the flavor of a girl, her charm has been raised to a higher level. .

Of course, the reason why she had such a big change was Liu Xie's biggest contribution. After all, he had done a lot.

Looking at Zhen Mi who was arranging his clothes, Liu Xie couldn't help but smile and asked: "Why did my beloved concubine come over to change my clothes today? Could it be that she wanted to see if I had stayed overnight in the palace of other concubines?"

Changing of clothes is usually done by palace maids. Unless he spends the night in a concubine's palace that night, he will be served by that concubine.

However, there have been a lot of things going on recently, and he basically rests alone in the palace. Now that Zhen Mi came here to change his clothes, he naturally thought that Zhen Mi was jealous again.

"Is my concubine such a narrow-minded woman in His Majesty's heart?"

Zhen Mi felt a little embarrassed when she heard this, and said unconvincedly: "I won't mind if your Majesty spends the night in any concubine's palace."

Liu Xie said regretfully: "Well, I originally planned to go to the concubine's palace tonight. Since the concubine has said so, I will go to Guiren Lu tonight."

"no!"

Zhen Mi suddenly became anxious, hugged Liu Xie and said, "Since Your Majesty has decided to stay with me, how can you change it so easily?"

"If Your Majesty misses Guiren Lu, then just ask her to come and sleep with you... Your Majesty has not been to my concubine's palace for ten days and seven hours, and the last time you went was to Guiren Lu's palace."

Hearing Zhen Mi's count that was accurate to the hour.

Liu Xie also couldn't laugh or cry.

Zhen Mi's thoughts are really easy to guess. She even remembers clearly which palace he stayed at last night, and she still says she doesn't care?

"I understand, I will go to see my concubine tonight."

Liu Xie rubbed Zhen Mi's face and comforted her.

Although Zhen Mi is a little jealous easily, she is not bad-tempered. On the surface, she gets along well with the concubines, and she has the demeanor of a harem master.

Only then did Zhen Mi feel relieved. She raised her head from Liu Xie's arms and said, "Your Majesty, I actually came here today because I have other things to report."

Liu Xie raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhen Mi hesitated for a moment and then said: "My mother wrote a letter from home. The letter said that the cost of building weapons and equipment to supply the army is too high, and the family's financial resources can no longer support it."

"Your Majesty has been busy with government affairs these days, so he has not come to my concubine's palace. I can't find a chance to tell your Majesty."

Since Zhen Shi decided to assist Liu Xie, especially after Liu Xie got rid of Yuan Shao's hold, she began to invest regardless of cost.

Not only to provide logistics for Lu Bu so that he can fight in Yangzhou, but also to build a large number of weapons and armor to arm the army.

In addition, war horses must be purchased from Youzhou.

Although Liu Xie provided a new iron smelting technique and fine salt refining technique, the former was used to build weapons and equipment and could not be sold to the outside world at will.

Although the latter made money, it was difficult to support such a large expenditure by relying solely on salt sales.

The construction of weapons and equipment was too expensive, even if Zhen Shi was financially strong.

Hearing this, Liu Xie frowned.

This was the first time he heard this news from Zhen Mi. Zhen Shi supported him wholeheartedly. If there was no other way, she would definitely not open this mouth to him.

"It's not enough to just sell refined salt. The main reason is that now is a time of chaos. The refined salt sales industry has not been fully developed, and the manufacture of glass has not been successful."

"It seems that we have to find a way to make money."

Seeing Liu Xie frowning and silent, Zhen Mi thought he was unhappy, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. My mother said that the clan can still hold on for some time."

Liu Xie gathered his thoughts and smiled gently at Zhen Mi: "Don't worry, my beloved concubine, I don't mean to blame your mother's clan."

"I have seen the efforts of the Zhen family for so long, and I know whether they have done their best. The expenses of supporting the army are indeed too high."

"I will find a way to solve this matter."

Zhen Mi breathed a sigh of relief and dispelled her worries. She was afraid that she would lose favor if she could not help Liu Xie.

After comforting Zhen Mi for a few words, Liu Xie left the palace and went to Tai'an Hall to attend court while thinking about this matter.

In Tai'an Hall, all officials had already gathered in the hall in advance.

Liu Xie walked to the dragon throne and sat down, starting his daily routine court meeting, listening to the ministers report on various affairs in recent days.

Sima Yi stepped forward first and said: "Your Majesty, after the imperial edict was issued, most of the cities in Wei County have surrendered, but Anyang and Puyang are still controlled by Yuan Shao's remnants and refuse to welcome the royal army."

Under normal circumstances, it is enough for the emperor to send the imperial edict.

Those who do not surrender will be treated as traitors.

However, in the eyes of most outsiders, the emperor is still being held hostage, but the hostage has changed from Yuan Shao to Yuan Xi.

Those who do not surrender are basically loyal to Yuan Shao's ministers, who are unwilling to succumb to Yuan Xi's "false" imperial edict and resist stubbornly.

And those cities that surrendered are all fence-sitters, who surrendered directly in accordance with the emperor's imperial edict, and did not offend anyone. Anyway, they will listen to whoever controls the emperor.

This situation is completely within Liu Xie's expectations.

It is inevitable that this side effect will occur when Yuan Xi was used as a shield before.

But after listening to Sima Yi's report, he was still furious and said coldly: "Not respecting the imperial edict and not welcoming the royal army is the same as treason."

"Where is Taishi Ci!"

Taishi Ci stood up and stepped out, clasping his hands: "I am here!"

Liu Xie said: "I order you to lead 5,000 troops to attack the rebels! On the day the city is broken, the three clans of the thieves will be exterminated, and the heads will be sent to 13 cities in Wei County!"

Taishi Ci was overjoyed and promised respectfully: "Within ten days, I will conquer Pingyang and Puyang!"

After Taishi Ci withdrew Afterwards, Liu Xie looked at Guo Jia and Zhang Liao and asked, "How is Wenyuan's army? Are Fengxiao's military supplies and food in place?"

Guo Jia stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, all the military supplies and food are ready."

Zhang Liao also stood up and stepped out and said, "I have already organized the army and horses. I am waiting for your Majesty's order and can send troops to Guangping County and Yangping County at any time."

Liu Xie nodded with satisfaction. Although Guo Jia is best at strategy rather than logistics, he can manage logistics in an orderly manner.

"In this battle, Wenyuan will be the main general, Junyi will be the deputy general, and Hansheng will be the vanguard, leading 10,000 Xuzhou troops and 2,000 Yulin Guards. Tomorrow, we will send troops and advance in two directions to recover the entire territory of Guangping County and Yangping County!"

Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and Huang Zhong all accepted the order.

The faces of the three were full of excitement and excitement.

To make achievements and serve the emperor, it is now.

After the three men left, Yang Xiu stepped forward to report: "Your Majesty, the 6,000 remnants of the captured soldiers a few days ago have been incorporated. But there are no extra weapons and equipment in the warehouse to distribute."

When Liu Xie mentioned this, he felt a headache.

The troops have indeed increased a lot, but the speed of manufacturing weapons and equipment is difficult to keep up. The reason why the Xuzhou Army and Yulin Cavalry are strong is mostly due to weapons and equipment.

Now there are 6,000 more people, and they have to be armed. This is another huge expense. Zhen's side is almost unable to support it.

"You don't know how expensive firewood and rice are if you don't manage the household."

Liu Xie was inevitably a little anxious. After the army increased, he found that the war was not fought by whose general was more powerful, whose counselor was more skilled in calculation, and whose soldiers were more elite.

It was all about logistics, money, and food!

Without money and food, it would be useless even if you were as brave as Lu Bu and as wise as Chen Gong.

He felt more and more that he had to start making money, and he couldn't rely on Zhen for everything.

Fortunately, after Yang Xiu left, Cui Yan brought good news.

"Your Majesty, I have recruited 700 warriors from the people to join the Tiger Guard Camp."

"By the end of the year at most, the 3,000-strong Tiger Guard Camp will be established."

Liu Xie was overjoyed when he heard this. The recruitment requirements of Huben Camp were different from those of other arms.

The soldiers who can enter the Huben camp are all selected from the best, and the best from the best.

Cui Yan deserves to be from a wealthy family in Qinghe, and his work efficiency is very high.

"Thank you, Ai Qing, for your consideration in this matter. I will always keep Ai Qing's contribution and the Cui family's contribution in Qinghe in my heart."

How could Cui Yan dare to take credit? He quickly said: "Since I am the general of Huben, I should fulfill my duty in setting up the Huben camp. How can I dare to take credit?"

After Cui Yan retired, various affairs in the court were not over yet.

All matters, big and small, were discussed for a full two hours before it ended.

After going to court, Liu Xie was already a little dizzy and lacked concentration.

"Only such a small area has so many complicated affairs. After the world is unified in the future, won't I have to die from exhaustion?"

After serving in court for nearly a month, Liu Xie had sincerely admired the diligent emperors such as Ying Zheng, Li Shimin, and Zhu Yuanzhang.

The emperor is really not something ordinary people can do!

…

Jizhou front line.

Although more than 13,000 men and horses were lost in Yecheng, Yuan Tan led troops to come to the rescue and made up for the lack of troops.

So after the victory in the last battle of Jieqiao, Yuan Shao won another battle.

Now that he had taken the initiative, he turned from defense to offense and launched a fierce offensive against Gongsun Zan.

In the past few days, Yuan Shao's army was advancing with great success, and Gongsun Zan was defeated one after another. In the end, he was driven out of Jizhou and retreated to Yicheng.

However, even if Gongsun Zan returned to Youzhou, the fighting between the two sides did not stop.

Yuan Shao listened to Tian Feng's advice - the inside of the pocket must be safe and the outside must be secured. He was determined to completely defeat Gongsun Zan.

Even as the night went deep, candlelight was still lit in Yuan Junzhong's military camp ten miles away from Yicheng.

Yuan Shao held two letters with completely different handwriting in his hands, looked at them and compared them repeatedly.

Both letters were written by Liu Xie.

One was sent together with Jushou's final letter, which revealed his identity and asked Yuan Shao to surrender;

One was just received today, the same dog crawling letter as before.

The handwriting on the two letters was completely different.

The former is flying and majestic; the latter is crooked, like a dog crawling, and is worse than the handwriting written by Meng Tong.

Completely two extremes.

"He doesn't look like a scheming person. Otherwise, after two and a half years of getting along with him, how could I not notice it at all?"

"If he is really the emperor, how can he be respectful to me, a minister?"

Yuan Shao murmured to himself.

The letter Liu Xie sent last time said that he was the real emperor, which really scared him to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat.

But after the initial shock.

He felt there was something fishy in it.

There are too many problems revealed in this letter. Let's not talk about the huge gap in handwriting. Let's take the content of the letter as saying that if he commits suicide, the Yuan family will not be implicated and Yuan Xi will be reused.

But why... is it Yuan Xi?

Yuan Xi and he were already at odds with each other, and he wanted to kill this scoundrel; if he were the real emperor, he would have said that Yuan Tan should be re-employed in order to persuade him to surrender.

This had to make him suspicious.

Moreover, this change was too sudden. How could a refugee with vulgar words and deeds, greedy for money and lust, who was groveling in front of him and had no regard for dignity and face, become the emperor of the Han Dynasty?

"Could it be that the last letter was forged by Yuan Xi's treacherous son? Just like the so-called official and final letter, it's all fake!"

"Yes! That's absolutely the case! That treacherous son of Yuan Xi already knows the true identity of the false emperor. Since he can forge a letter from Gong Yu to persuade me to surrender, why can't he forge a letter from the emperor?"

"He must be trying to use this letter to trick me into committing suicide, and then seize all my power without any effort!"

Yuan Shao's eyes were gloomy and his thoughts were changing.

On the one hand, he didn't believe that the false emperor in Yecheng was the real emperor, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but think about the past.

Kong Rong couldn't tell the difference between true and false, a vision came from the sky, Yang Biao committed suicide by hitting the wall, Yang Xiu surrendered, the shocking majesty of the emperor...

"No, Kong Rong couldn't tell because the fake emperor acted so well. The fake emperor also said in his previous letter about the vision coming from the sky. It was Yuan Xi and Zhang Liao who did it!"

"I can't be deceived. That traitor just wants me to fall into his trap!"

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth and tried hard to convince himself.

The flame of the candle on the table kept beating, and the light hit his face, making his face look flickering and changing.

Without Jushu around to discuss, he didn't even have anyone to talk to, let alone someone to analyze and help him make suggestions. This feeling was really uncomfortable.

"Lord."

At this moment, Tian Feng walked into the account.

Yuan Shao hurriedly hid the two letters in his hands and asked calmly: "Yuan Hao, it's so late, what else can we discuss?"

Tian Feng said: "I have already taken care of the logistical matters, as well as the compensation for the fallen soldiers, the transfer and replenishment of soldiers, etc. Please take a look at it, my lord."

He said and put the book in his hand on the case.

Yuan Shao nodded and said: "I understand. I will look at it later. Please step back first."

"Yes, my lord."

Tian Feng cupped his hands and looked at Yuan Shao, who was a little pale and had dark circles under his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "I know that the murder of the father-in-law is a great blow to the lord, but I hope that the lord will still take good care of his health."

"The war with Gongsun Zan is still going on. If something happens to my lord, the army will lose its backbone, and this battle will definitely be defeated."

Tian Feng's words would have been harsh to Yuan Shao in the past, but now they sounded full of concern and were rare words of loyalty.

Looking at his back as he turned away, Yuan Shao suddenly said out of nowhere: "Yuan Hao, stay here. I have something to ask you."

"What do you want to ask my lord?"

Tian Feng stopped and looked at Yuan Shao with confusion.

"I……"

Yuan Shao didn't know what to say for a while.

He just suddenly wanted to tell Tian Feng everything about the Emperor of Yecheng, including the fact that he and Ju Shou pretended to be the emperor.

But he regretted it after calling Tian Feng.

Because this matter was so shocking, even if Tian Feng was his most trusted and valued confidant, he did not dare to say it.

So Yuan Shao swallowed back the words that were about to reach his lips, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "I had a very strange dream yesterday, and I want you, Yuan Hao, to explain it to me."

Tian Feng said seriously: "I would like to hear the details."

Although he was not good at interpreting dreams, since his lord asked this question, he tried his best to answer it.

"That's it..."

Yuan Shao hesitated for a moment and then said: "I dreamed last night that the fake emperor over Cao Cao suddenly became real. If you, Yuan Hao, were Cao Cao, what would you do?"

Tian Feng was stunned when he heard this, and said naturally: "My lord is joking, how can the false emperor become the real emperor? If the emperor is really in Cao Ying, he will naturally summon the princes of the world to attack the lord."

After hearing Tian Feng's answer, Yuan Shao realized that his metaphor was a bit inappropriate. He and Cao Cao were in completely different situations.

So he changed another angle and continued: "I had another dream later, and I dreamed that the person who pretended to be the emperor became me. But then I suddenly discovered that the emperor who was pretended to be the emperor was real. Yuan Hao thought, What should I do?”