The Collection of The End

——AD 183——

In the second year of Guanghe, on the tenth day of the tenth month, it is forbidden to travel far and it is better to get married.

The county seat of Liangxiang County was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations to celebrate the wedding of the county magistrate Gongsun Zan and Liu Ling, the daughter of Youzhou governor Liu Yu. The chiefs of surrounding counties and counties were present in person, and servants sent gifts like a stream of water. Others who were farther away or had friendships State and county officials who were not familiar with the event also sent their subordinates to congratulate him in a symbolic way.

Looking at this scene, Liu Bei, who was the magistrate of J County at the time, was also thinking about something while helping to greet the guests.

On the surface, this marriage seems to be the result of Gongsun Zan's high promotion, and even his position as county magistrate was appointed by his father-in-law. But for those who know the inside story, this is actually a political marriage between the two major forces in Youzhou.

At this time, Youzhou was roughly divided into two parts: the east and west, which were close to the Central Plains and relatively prosperous. Dai County, Shanggu County, Zhuo County, Guangyang County, Yuyang County and Beiping County; Bohai Sea borders Liaoxi County, Liaodong County, Xuanying County and Lelang County of Wuhuan tribe to the north.

The prosperous place is still dominated by imperial laws and appointed officials. There are many aristocratic families and the forces are intertwined. However, the desolate place is completely controlled by the local wealthy family, or to be clear, by the Gongsun family, although there is also another wealthy family. The Su family, but they are businesses that build and sell weapons, equipment and horses, and there is no conflict with them.

Because they have been rooted there for generations, they have resisted countless Wuhuan invasions, and their reputation among the people is at its peak. The people follow them, and the county magistrates and county guards appointed by the imperial court cannot leave the yamen to issue government orders. As time went by, these officials simply stopped asking for trouble. After receiving the order, they stopped directly at the territory controlled by Liu Yu. With this Han clan clan member taking care of him and receiving his salary, they did not have to take care of anything - Liu Bei is currently receiving officials such as Most are like this.

At this time, the legitimate son of the Gongsun family married the legitimate daughter of the governor. It would be logical for both parties to lift their mutual vigilance and vigilance and engage in in-depth and friendly cooperation. As for who can take the dominant position and control more power under such circumstances, it will be up to each of them. It's up to you.

Liu Bei once thought about whether someone might be secretly promoting this marriage, but he couldn't figure it out because there were too many people who were suspected and could seriously do it, such as his teacher Lu Zhi, the immortal Zuo Ci who for some reason was very optimistic about him, and The "Linhao Bodhisattva" who acted strangely and seemingly without any purpose - she opened the garden full of peach blossoms, which made most of the people watching the ceremony think that the three brothers were reincarnations of some kind of star and began to kneel down and worship. It took a long time to calm down.

In addition, Liangxiang County, like J County under Liu Bei's control, is part of Guangyang County, which is well protected by surrounding counties. There will be no border troubles from thieves and bandits. The power of the aristocratic families can be ignored, and there have been no disasters in the past hundred years. Local chiefs are jokingly called "easy-chair county magistrates" by local people, which means they don't have to do anything and just wait for promotion.

In this regard, it was obvious that he had the same surname as Liu, was on good terms with Gongsun Zan, and was sworn sworn brother to Zhang Fei. Although the relationship between Liu Ling and Zhang Fei did not work out in the end, the governor must have regarded him as his son-in-law for a long time. .

As for him being a clan member of the Han Dynasty, strictly speaking, the fact that he is Liu Yu's nephew is not that important - there are too many children of the old Liu family.

However, Liu Bei was unwilling to be an "easy chair magistrate". Although this title meant that there were reasonable laws and smooth circulation of goods under his rule, and the people could complete most of the work without the guidance of officials, it also meant that There has been no progress. Ten years ago, it was blacksmithing and farming, but ten years later it is still the same.

Although there is an "unparalleled" person in the world at this time, who is as powerful as Wang Yue and can control a state alone, but what do ordinary people do when there is no "unparalleled general" to protect them?

Suppose that those alien races who have never been able to understand the "unparalleled" one day gain similar power to the "unparalleled" and no longer take the "unparalleled generals" in their eyes. They invade and plunder the Central Plains when they themselves are in chaos. How should they respond? ? Do you expect the gods and Buddhas to bless you?

Even if the "Bodhisattva" intends to protect him,

But how can she save all the people in the world by herself?

There is no problem that people "want" a stable life, but what they really "need" is the "power" to protect that life. To this end, Liu Bei conducted some exploratory projects in J County and Liangxiang County. Changes, such as encouraging the development of technology, training of battle formations, etc., but the time is still short and no effect can be seen yet.

Liu Bei retracted his thoughts, looked at the sun that was gradually setting in the west, and handed over the task of welcoming guests to his servants. After all, important guests, such as the elders of the Gongsun family and the Liu family, needed to prepare a lot of etiquette, and they would not be able to pinch themselves. Why did you do this kind of disrespectful behavior?

However, Liu Bei did not intend to attend the wedding in the auditorium, but planned to accompany his two brothers-in-law at a separate table in the side hall. After all, it was not appropriate for Zhang Fei to appear at Liu Ling's wedding, but he himself was completely unaware of anything inappropriate. OK, so Liu Bei could only blame himself, saying that he saw many high-ranking officials of the Liu family who were ashamed of themselves, and did not intend to attend the ceremony and hoped that the two sworn brothers would accompany him.

Guan Yu probably saw the real reason and nodded in agreement, but Zhang Fei was completely unaware and patted his chest to express that he wouldn't go even if his eldest brother didn't go... Well, at least the result would be the same.

————

Side hall.

Although Gongsun Zan didn't care about the affair between Liu Ling and Zhang Fei, there were many guests who came to the wedding who knew the inside story. In order to prevent them from pointing fingers, the fiancée who was about to become his wife broke out at the wedding banquet. Liu Bei naturally agreed to the arrangement of having a seat alone in the side hall.

"Hahaha! Brother Bogui's hard life for more than a year has finally come to an end!" Zhang Fei laughed at the banquet and raised his glass in the direction of the wedding hall: "What about three matchmakers and six certificates, Najib asking for names? , it actually took me almost a year, it was so troublesome.”

"Only those with a big family and a big business would be in such trouble," Liu Bei responded: "For a small family like me, we often hire a matchmaker, entertain a few relatives and friends, and put a table of wine and that's it."

"With the current status of the eldest brother and the third brother, I'm afraid they can't be regarded as small families." Guan Yu was pouring a drink for himself and answered after hearing the words.

"Hey, speaking of which, Brother Gongsun promised to take us to Liaodong to kill foreigners, and we can fulfill it after we get married." Zhang Fei added: "Staying in Guangyang County where there are not even bandits, I have so much time. Hairy.”

This third brother could really anger Liu Ling intentionally or unintentionally. Liu Bei shook his head secretly. At first he fell in love with him, he regarded him as a brother, and he just got married, and he wanted to take his husband to the battlefield... In short, these words cannot reach the ears of the person in the worship hall.

"With the talents of you and I, the three brothers, we will not stay in this comfortable place for long," Liu Bei said: "The governor is in charge of the entire Youzhou, which is bordered by the Wuhuan, Xianbei, Xiongnu and other foreign-controlled areas. There are many, just because the war in Xiliang has just calmed down, and the foreign races everywhere are still safe."

However... I seem to have heard recently that the Xiongnu colluded with the Taiping Dao to harm the Central Plains. Although the person who conveyed this news was relaying it with a joke-telling mentality, it actually caused such an obviously abnormal rumor to spread outside. If it is said behind the scenes, It's impossible without a pusher.

If their purpose is to deal with Taiping Dao, they may have to face civil strife in the Central Plains before attacking the foreign races this time...

"If you ask me, we should raise an elite force and take the initiative to attack the royal courts of those foreign races and make them fall into internal struggles for power. Whoever shows strength should be beaten," Zhang Fei said: "This is what General Huo Qubing did back then. , so that the Huns did not dare to invade for nearly a hundred years."

Back then...it was with the full support of the emperor. Although there was some suspicion of the hero, there was no doubt that His Majesty spared no effort in attacking the foreign races.

As for the current Majesty, Liu Bei couldn't think of how to evaluate him for a moment. Even if he had to use troops against foreigners, he would probably carefully calculate every dollar and try to achieve the greatest results with the least military expenditure. The emperor is the emperor, why on earth is he so interested in property? Careful?

However, this kind of doubt is not suitable to be spoken out.

"Third brother's thinking is too simple," Liu Bei finally said: "Real elites require a large investment of money. If you had gone with me and Yunchang to quell the chaos, you would have known that whether it was the 'Knights of Three Rivers', Camp', or 'mountain riding', all need well-trained veterans equipped with at least 'sophisticated' weapons and equipment, otherwise the tactics they use will be easily defeated."

Of course, there is no comparison between the former and the latter two, Liu Bei secretly added in his heart.

"Weapons, equipment and horses," Guan Yu continued: "Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, who visited my elder brother not long ago, seemed to have said that if needed, they would do their best to provide it?"

"Ha, brother, don't worry! The younger brother's family is quite wealthy!" Zhang Fei drank another glass of wine and laughed: "I can buy as many weapons and equipment as I want! The only problem is that well-trained soldiers are hard to find."

The two sworn brothers seemed to really want to go into battle to kill the enemy... Liu Bei thought, this should be the case. The second brother Guan Yu originally wanted to join the army but was cut off by him. The reason why the third brother Zhang Fei was willing to sworn sworn brother was probably because of his fancy. The two men's martial arts skills and the strength they showed in quelling the rebellion in Liangzhou.

Liu Bei looked at the two sworn brothers, and then said: "Brother, during the more than a year of governing J County, I visited many local counties and villages. Although many young men called the local chief 'Easy Chair County Magistrate', But we don't want to be 'easy' all the time. If we propose to go to Liaodong to fight against the Wuhuan tribe, we will be able to gather thousands or even tens of thousands of soldiers. With a little training, we will be a powerful force. In addition, after pacifying Liangzhou, During the chaos, many of the 'Three Rivers Knights' under my command expressed their willingness to follow Brother Bogui, Yun Chang and me. If they were all recruited, there would be more than 10,000 of them."

After speaking, Liu Bei looked at his two sworn brothers who were a little stunned: "Yun Chang, Yide, are the weapons reserves still enough?"