The Collection of The End

——AD 189——

Youzhou.

Two years have passed since [Four Elephants came to the world].

Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong was successfully welcomed back to Jixian by his "imperial brother" Liu Bei after this incident.

At that time, Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, made a decisive decision and declared Guangyang County, where Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan ruled, to be the new capital of the Han Dynasty, and asked the emperor to issue an edict to the world and move the capital to Youzhou.

After this edict was issued, except for Youzhou, Jizhou, and northern Bingzhou, all the prefectures and counties did not obey the edict, and each issued a proclamation saying that Liu Xuande used magic pills to control the emperor's life and death. This edict was a falsehood. The imperial edict, people with lofty ideals should discuss it together.

However, these statements are just words.

Liu Bei's sworn brother Zhang Fei is related by marriage to the Xiahou family of Cao Cao, the governor of Qingzhou. Liu Bei himself has won the favor of the legitimate daughter of the Sun family in Jiangdong. The only people who may have no scruples in starting a war with him are those who occupy Liangzhou, Bingzhou and Most of them were Dong Zhuo, but there was a natural barrier between them.

Ordinary people naturally don’t know the specific story of the coming of the Four Symbols. Even the local residents of Luoyang only know that “the palace was completely destroyed”, “the sky suddenly darkened”, “the golden light reaches the sky”, and “the Four Symbols descended”, etc., which can be viewed directly. Arrived scene.

However, its "consequences" are now known to the world, that is, the original inner city of the palace was completely sealed by golden light, and the outer city was divided into three by an insurmountable "sacred monument".

The "White Tiger Wall" composed entirely of water separates the northeast, the transparent and blue "Blue Dragon Wall" blocks the northwest, and the transparent "Blue Dragon Wall" blocks the northwest, while the dark, unknown "Xuanwu Shell" covers the southeast.

Of course, these directions are not rigorous. They each have extensions and expansions, completely dividing the outer city of Luoyang into three parts, leaving no gap for the "southwest".

They are connected to the sky and the ground, and their scope of influence includes the entire Sili. Therefore, if Liu Bei and Cao Cao, or Cao Cao and Sun Jian, have a direct battle, but if Dong Zhuo in Guanzhong wants to send troops, he must either go around and merge with the state from the north, or pass through from the south. In Bashu, the original route "via Tongguan, Hangu, and Luoyang" has been completely cut off.

As for why this "holy sign" came into being and what happened when [Four Symbols came to the world], all the forces are secretive. However, there are rumors among the people that because all parties in Luoyang at that time were so powerful and fighting each other endlessly, a shocking tragedy was very likely to occur. , the "immortals" of all parties then jointly took action to separate the parties.

After the "Four Symbols" came to the world, those "immortals" and "extraordinary beings" whose deeds would be spread even though the dragons had their heads but not their tails, such as Mei Lin, Zuo Ci, Yu Ji, Ge Xuan, Tong Yuan, etc. Wang Yue and others all stopped appearing for unknown reasons, which can be said to indirectly prove this matter.

However, even if others don't know it, the existence of Master Ge Tianshi can still be determined, because he has been taking care of the emperor who was in a strange state, and... he blew up the alchemy room many times.

Liu Bei was thinking as he walked towards the palace.

————

"My dear brother, I am dead."

After the emperor saw Liu Bei, Duotou said this, leaving Liu Bei completely confused as to how to react.

"Your Majesty, take care!" On the contrary, the three current princes, Liu Yu, former governor of Youzhou, teacher Lu Zhi, and Wang Yun, said in unison first, and all the courtiers immediately prostrated themselves.

After the Luoyang Incident, the courtiers were divided into three factions due to interests, tendencies and beliefs. Each followed the emperor, the queen and the eldest prince, the noble concubine and the second prince, and went their separate ways.

The people who came to Youzhou were basically orthodox pure ministers. Although they suspected that Liu Bei was "holding the emperor to order the princes" and disliked him, Liu Bei did not take power at all and did not even compete for the position of the three princes. Under the eyes of the three princes, Yu, Lu Zhi and Wang Yun, it is difficult to say anything without evidence.

At this time, these people probably thought that the emperor was saying "I am going to die", but Liu Bei knew very well that it did mean "already dead" literally.

That is to say, his original lifespan has been exhausted, and from now on, he will completely rely on Xiahou Ji's "elixir". Although he has enough food to spare, and as long as there is no shortage of supply, he will not die, but he will still have to Be prepared for a rainy day, after all, the other two princes who are eligible to succeed are under the control of other forces.

"Everyone is safe," the emperor waved his hand and said, "I know how to take care of myself, but what if I can't take care of myself?"

I always felt that the emperor seemed to be more open-minded after leaving Luoyang and the protection of the empress and the sword master. However, it was already too late. Liu Bei secretly shook his head.

According to the third younger brother and sister who had grown up but whose words were even more incomprehensible, the emperor collected all the gold and silver in the world and played with it every day, and took all kinds of strange elixirs. He was suffering from "heavy metal poisoning" and was terminally ill with no cure. , after the original life span is exhausted, the only way to continue living is to borrow the "elixir", and as long as there is any accident during the medication...

"Pass the imperial edict," seeing the ministers talking in low voices but not knowing how to respond, the emperor waved behind him and said, "Call your younger brother Liu Bei the [King of Yan]."

At this time, the court was completely in a state of shock. A series of "I have my own memorials" were heard, but the three princes were thoughtful and did not speak.

"I have made up my mind to hold the ceremony of enthroning the king on a certain date." The emperor ignored them completely and waved his hand to Liu Bei to accept the order.

Liu Bei was a little excited at first, but when he saw Dahuang and Baizhu coming out from behind holding the imperial edict cautiously, he just wanted to laugh.

After receiving the edict, Liu Bei had already figured out the ins and outs. His current advantage is really extraordinary, because the Han Dynasty has a rule that "people with different surnames are not kings." No matter how great their achievements are, as long as their surname is not Liu, they cannot be crowned kings. , such as Cao Cao, at most he can only call himself "gong".

If the emperor dies and abdicates, although the prince should succeed to the throne, if the prince is unable to succeed for some reason and there is a "king" with sufficient status, he can take his place.

After the emperor was taken to Youzhou, other forces may have been frightened by what happened in Luoyang and did not dare to directly recommend the prince or princess to the throne. They just kept waiting to see the situation in Youzhou. Although there were frictions on the borders of the various parties, there was no conflict, but this time Once this happens, they will probably not be able to bear it any longer.

Finally, Liu Bei resigned and left with the imperial edict under the complicated eyes of the ministers.

————

Jixian County, County Sheriff's Office.

"Oh? King of Hell?" Zhang Fei asked in surprise: "Can this position be divided among the emperors?"

"Of course not," Xiahouji, who had grown up a bit but still looked young, replied, holding the rabbit in her arms: "The Ten Palaces of Hell must be appointed by Empress Houtu, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Jade Emperor after discussion, and they must be appointed with sufficient merit. .”

"...It's 'Yan'. It occupied Youzhou and Jizhou during the Warring States Period. It was once one of the seven heroes." Liu Bei was already used to the different ideas of these two people, so he explained casually.

"So this is what I meant by 'Zhang Yide from Yan' all day long?" Zhang Fei looked very happy, "I thought it meant 'as light as a swallow'."

"..." These two are really a perfect match, but the third brother didn't seem so stupid before, right?

"Congratulations, Your Majesty." Jian Yong made a moderate response in order to smooth things over.

"After I learned about the 'Edict on Clothes and Belts', I guessed that Your Majesty might have high hopes for King Yan, and now it seems that is indeed the case." Sima Fang also agreed.

"But... other parties may take action, so be careful." Sima Lang agreed.

"In this way, eldest brother can interfere with certain things that he could not interfere with originally?" Guan Yu raised a new question.

"Exactly." Liu Bei nodded.

The various places in Youzhou had already developed according to his expectations, but because they welcomed the emperor, they naturally brought some old officials from Luoyang. They still used the old-style governance methods, which made many people in Youzhou quite dissatisfied and even complained to Guan Yu. ——In Youzhou, everyone knows that Guan Yunchang is very concerned about justice and justice.

Before today, Guan Yu could only use his own identity to subdue those corrupt officials. The real initiator of public resentment was even higher than Liu Bei's official position.

Since those old ministers from Luoyang were already very suspicious of Liu Bei's motives, if they were to deal with these old ministers just after welcoming the emperor, they would probably cause an uproar in the court. Although the emperor himself should be towards Liu Bei, he would not be able to persuade the courtiers Supporting Liu Bei's "insignificant" order despite unanimous opposition - yes, in the eyes of those courtiers, corruption and dereliction of duty are just minor issues. Maintaining their status and the right to speak before the emperor is important. thing.

From now on, as the "King of Yan" who is subordinate to one person and above ten thousand people, Liu Bei will no longer have to care about those Luoyang courtiers who only have sharp words, because the "King" is not within the scope that they can question and criticize at any time. If Zhang Fei listens When someone slanders Liu Bei, he can just tie him up and whip him.

"Hmph... In this case, those idiots like Zhang He Gao Lan and Yan Liang Wen Chou will have to call you my lord." Sima Yi, the little boy behind Sima Fang, interjected.

Well, this is true, Liu Bei thought. The four self-proclaimed "Hebei Four Court Pillars" only recognize the current governor and not the county magistrate. A county magistrate who may be replaced at any time, even if he fought side by side in Luoyang, will not be recognized. He is not quite qualified to be called the lord, but after becoming the "King of Yan", he will be their "county official" and "current governor" at the same time.

"Then..." "Husband~ I'm here to find you~" "Bah, I'm not your husband!"

In the middle of Liu Bei's words, he was suddenly interrupted by a female voice coming from outside. He couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead, while other subordinates present snickered and left.

"Luo Shen" and Sun Shangxiang, the legitimate daughter of Wu Di's Sun family, are obviously the same person in childhood and adulthood, but somehow they are incompatible with each other.

In Xia Houji's words, their names were "Zhang Yunhua" and "Ao Cunxin" respectively, which should be the relationship between "Wushuang" and "the original one", but I don't know why the fusion failed, and they will remain like this until Sun Shangxiang and Ji.

"Brother, don't worry." Zhang Fei said, "Your interpersonal relationship is already messy enough, and it won't continue to be messy."

May I lend you some good words... Liu Bei rubbed his face and prepared to greet the two girls.

Suddenly, he hung it around his neck, and the "wooden sculpture" that had been silent since two years ago gave out a strong warmth.

Buddha?

Liu Bei was half-surprised when he suddenly felt that his neck was empty. The "warmth" separated and turned into a ball of green light that floated to the ground in front of him and began to twist and transform.

At the same time as "Luo Shen" and Sun Shangxiang stepped into the door, this group of green light also transformed. It was a person about seven or eight years old, wearing a light green skirt and armor, a shield in his left hand, and a knife in his right hand. He had short hair that reached his ears, and his eyebrows were wide. A cute little girl with a rather serious face.

"Father, mother," the girl saluted Zhang Fei and Xiahou Ji, then turned to Liu Bei, "Luo Shen" and Sun Shangxiang: "father-in-law, mother-in-law."

"..." Liu Bei silently covered his ears when he heard the sudden, unexplained scream of a girl in the room.