Three Kingdoms

Lu Bu was not the only one who counted his age with his fingers. Liu Bei, who was far away in Xuzhou, also sat down at the beginning of the new year, his heart skipped a beat, and then he realized that he was already close to forty.

In the Han Dynasty, when the average life expectancy was only over 40 years old and less than 50 years old, there is nothing wrong with saying that a person at the age of 40 has already had loess covered his neck. In the past few years, my body, which seemed to be full of energy and had endless vitality, gradually began to feel a little bit tired. This fatigue is not in the muscles, it seems to come directly from the bones.

Tired.

"Wa hahaha!"

A sound like thunder came from outside the door, awakening Liu Bei from his deep thoughts. He couldn't help but tilted his body and almost fell off his seat, "Third brother..."

"Brother! Congratulations! Brother!!!" Zhang Fei's voice came first before Zhang Fei arrived. As the last sound fell, the figure appeared at the door outside the hospital.

"You know?" Liu Bei pondered for a moment and then said, "Come on. Come in and sit down."

"Brother, why didn't you tell your brother about such a good thing earlier!" Zhang Fei laughed, and then called to the guards on the side, "Come, take the wild plovers and rabbits that someone hunted outside the city and wash them immediately." Peel it clean, cook it quickly and serve it!”

"Where's the second brother?" Liu Bei looked behind Zhang Fei and asked when he didn't see Guan Yu.

"Aha! The second brother is going to get the wine!" Zhang Fei responded, then lowered his voice and muttered, "The second brother is the same, why can't I let you go to get the wine..."

Liu Bei smiled and did not answer.

Not long after, Guan Yu came over with several personal guards carrying two jars of wine.

Zhang Fei jumped off the couch with a "huh", "Second brother is here, sit down, sit down... Well, why are there only two altars..."

Guan Yu glanced over coldly and said, "What else?"

"It's not...that..." Zhang Fei waved his hand quickly, then turned to Liu Bei and said, "Isn't this a happy event for my eldest brother? It's one person for one person, right?"

Guan Yu ignored Zhang Fei, bowed his hands to Liu Bei, and then sat down.

Liu Bei greeted: "Third brother, sit down, sit down... Haha, you want to drink, are you afraid that you won't have a chance?"

Zhang Fei suddenly said: "That's right! Hahahahahaha! I will definitely get drunk before I stop!"

Liu Bei has indeed been reaching the peak of his life recently, and happy events continue...

Although Tao Qian had eleven thousand reasons not to want to die, he still could not endure it and passed away. Before Tao Qian's death, Mi Zhu rushed to Xiaopei overnight as Xuzhou's farewell party to welcome Liu Bei to Xuzhou.

Liu Bei repeatedly gave in? Well, this is true, but seeing that Tao Qian was almost dying, Liu Bei didn't be too pretentious. Otherwise, Liu Bei would not have followed Mi Zhu into the city with his troops and horses, and then asked Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to immediately lead the troops to control the city's defense, wouldn't they?

Where is Tao Qian from?

Danyang people.

To Xuzhou, Tao Qian is a foreigner. Therefore, although Tao Qian has been considered a stable place in Xuzhou over the years and the people's livelihood is peaceful, in fact Tao Qian's ability to control Xuzhou is only superficial.

This can be seen from the fact that Tao Qian's farewell is just Mi Zhu. Before Mi Zhu, it was Zhao Yu who acted as the charioteer. The two charioteers, haha, that's all. Neither of them were powerful nobles, and even their abilities were quite limited.

For a long time, the powerful gentry in Xuzhou actually did not sell Tao Qian's account very much. Of course, Tao Qian is not a fuel-efficient lamp.

When Li Jue and Guo Si rebelled, captured Chang'an, and took control of the government, Zhu Jun was still alive at that time. Tao Qian thought that the time had come, and thought that he could use the Yuan family's scoop to paint the Tao family's gourd, and he thought about doing it again. Then he joined forces with Zhou Qian, the former governor of Yangzhou, Yin De, the prime minister of Langye State, Liu Kui, the prime minister of the East China Sea, Ji Lian, the prime minister of Pengcheng, Kong Rong, the prime minister of the Beihai State, Yuan Zhong, the prime minister of Pei, Ying Shao, the prefect of Taishan, Xu Qiu, the prefect of Runan, and the former prefect of Jiujiang. Fu Qian, Dr. Zheng Xuan and others jointly presented Zhu Jun as the Grand Master, appealed to the Mu Bo, together with Li Jue and others, to welcome the emperor...

It didn't work out.

In addition, two years ago, Que Xuan, a native of Xiapi, gathered thousands of people and claimed to be the emperor. Tao Qian sent troops to kill him...

That's what they say, but what's the reality? It's just that the spoils are unevenly distributed and someone needs to take the blame. Only a few thousand people claim to be the emperor. Is Que Xuan's brain in trouble? Que Xuan and Tao Qian raised their troops together, captured Mount Tai, Hua, and Fei, and plundered Rencheng.

Where are Huaxian, Feixian and Rencheng? Huaxian and Feixian are at the junction of Taishan County and Shanyang County, and Rencheng is the Rencheng Kingdom. Although the bloodline of King Dongping has declined terribly, But after all, he is still a relative of the Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty...

As a result, Tao Qian's actions caused dissatisfaction and strong counterattack by Taishan bandits such as Zang Ba and Sun Guan, and even led to Cao Cao's attack in Yanzhou...

Therefore, Tao Qian knew that after his death, his two sons would not become useful, so he would have to seek help from Liu Bei, an outsider. Otherwise, the local gentry in Xuzhou would most likely betray his sons directly to Cao Cao in Yanzhou. He even sold it to Er Yuan, so he might as well leave it to Liu Bei as a favor.

Seeing that Liu Bei had taken control of the city defense, and Kong Rong had a good impression of Liu Bei, although Chen Gui and Chen Deng were dissatisfied, they did not stand up to oppose it, which was equivalent to acquiescing to this result.

Then Mi Zhu prepares to marry Liu Bei...

This became the great joy that Zhang Fei said today, and he brought the prey to congratulate Liu Bei.

It didn't take long for the guards to bring up the prepared wild harpoons and hares. Some were roasted and some were boiled. Although the craftsmanship was a bit rough, Liu Bei and the other three basically didn't care, so they were happy to do so. He raised his wine bowl and walked away first.

The three of them laughed and talked, eating and drinking for a while, and then gradually got down to business.

"Brother! I heard that the daughter of the Mi family is both talented and beautiful, so she is a perfect match for my eldest brother! Hahaha!" Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Brother, come on, I'll give you another bowl!"

Liu Bei smiled, picked it up casually, touched it with Zhang Fei, and then drank it. He turned his head and saw Guan Yu's thoughtful expression on the side. He couldn't help but reached out and patted Guan Yu's shoulder and said, "It doesn't matter, it's not a big deal. Haven’t you all been here after so many years..."

Zhang Fei thought that he had done something wrong again, so he blinked his eyes and looked confused.

Guan Yu frowned and glanced at Zhang Fei, then said: "Brother, I haven't mentioned this matter to you and me yet, but it turns out that the whole city knows about it. Third brother, why don't you think more about it?"

"Ah?" Zhang Fei was stunned as he held the wine bowl.

Liu Bei said: "It's okay, it's okay. In fact, there is nothing wrong with this... I just felt that I was not worthy of Zizhong's sister, so I was still considering it..."

Zhang Fei's eyes widened: "What?! Who is not worthy of my brother?!"

"Shut up!" Guan Yu scolded Zhang Fei first, and then said to Liu Bei, his eyebrows raised, "So, it was Mi Zizhong who made the claim without authorization and declared it in the city? How brave! How dare you threaten your elder brother with public opinion! "

"Zizhong..." Liu Bei waved his hand and said slowly, "It can't be said to be coercion... Zizhong was probably helpless... At the moment Tao Xuzhou passed away, the people of Xuzhou were undecided... In the past few years, the Mi family, with the help of Tao Xuzhou, With the momentum, the business has expanded a lot..."

Zhang Fei scratched his head and didn't quite understand. Zhang Fei is not stupid, but he is too straightforward and unwilling to think about many things in a roundabout way, so sometimes it is inevitable that he feels a little slow on the surface.

"...For us, it is a combination of two benefits and a division of two harms. After all, the Danyang soldiers who have recently joined the army are also feeling uneasy..." Liu Bei looked at the sky and said, "Everything is about stability...I The reason why I didn’t agree to Zizhong immediately was because I felt that there was no need for a marriage... What’s more, the second brother and the third brother are not married yet, so I, the eldest brother..."

"But Mi Zizhong believes that people will not be at peace without marriage, so..." Guan Yu frowned, and although his expression became more relaxed, he was still a little dissatisfied and said, "Although it is excusable, but based on the friendship between family members, It’s just a deal, but it makes someone look down upon you!”

"Well... Second brother, you can't be like this. Zizhong also has difficulties..." Liu Bei said with a slight smile, "What's more, this has indeed played a role in stabilizing people's hearts, hasn't it?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's true. I heard that my eldest brother is getting married, and even the shops on the street started to hang black and red colors to express the celebration..."

Liu Bei smiled.

In fact, there is one thing Liu Bei did not say.

Mi Zhu’s sister wants the position of wife! I want to reserve the position of Liu Bei's heir! Although Mi Zhu did not say it explicitly, the so-called wedding etiquette arrangements were all based on the position of Liu Bei's wife.

Liu Bei is now Xuzhou Mu, so Mi is the wife of Xuzhou Mu!

And Gan...

well.

Liu Bei is not a ruthless person when he treats his wives and concubines around him, but many times it is because he is forced to have no choice...

After all, during these years of fighting in the north and south, there was no peace. Although several wives were with him, not all women could adapt to the harsh battlefield environment and long-distance migration.

So Liu Bei has lost his wife. Well, he has lost his wife many times. Now he has a Gan family. Originally he was just a concubine. Now Liu Bei has stabilized a little. Thinking of Gan family's hard work and friendship for many years, he promoted Gan family as his wife. First wife, so Liu Bei also had such hesitation when Mi Zhu proposed it. After all, if the Mi family did this, it would definitely be aggrieved to the Gan family...

Originally, Liu Bei wanted to ask Mi Zhu to provide some money and food as capital for training and recruitment, but Mi Zhu was also afraid that the money would be wasted, so he simply followed the example of the Huang family in Jingxiang and married Liu Bei, thus providing Liu Bei with money. , which is equivalent to paying for yourself. As long as the Mi family can give birth to a son and a half daughters and become heirs, it will be equivalent to stabilizing the Mi family's position in the future. This approach is actually no different from the template used by the royal relatives of the Han Dynasty.

"In addition..." Liu Bei signaled, and after asking his servants and guards to retreat, he lowered his voice and said, "Two Yuans from the north and the south, do you think...who has a better chance of winning?"

Liu Bei took over Xuzhou Mu. As the saying goes, if he is not in the position, he will not seek political power. Although he is the state Mu, he is actually sandwiched between the two big guys, Yuan. Now that he has received the seal for the first time, of course he needs to Express your attitude, and this attitude is very important and will determine the future route.

Previously, Liu Bei followed Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Zan formed an alliance with Yuan Shu. Although everyone knows what this so-called alliance is, and Yuan Shu may not think highly of Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei has received some favors from Gongsun Zan, and he is naturally close to Yuan Shu. One faction, in cooperation with Cao Cao, was also hostile to Cao Cao, and they met several times.

And now Gongsun Zan is obviously...

Liu Bei naturally had to consider leaving a way out for himself.

This time Liu Bei accepted Xuzhou Mu, Yuan Shu didn't show any sign, and he didn't know whether he disagreed or didn't care. Anyway, there was no news so far, so Liu Bei had no idea.

As for Yuan Shao, they have been in a state of war before, but after all, they have not offended him. If he expressed his surrender to Yuan Shao now, Yuan Shao would not refuse, and Liu Bei would not mind being the horse bone of a rich man.

Guan Yu pondered for a while and then said: "General Gongsun is kind to us..."

"It's kind of a favor to be kind, but it's also called back and forth without any respect!" Zhang Fei muttered, "Do you still remember that... what was that person's name? He was the younger brother of General Gongsun, who scolded his eldest brother. That kid? Didn’t the result end up being nothing? He didn’t even let out a fart!"

"Well..." Guan Yu nodded, not denying the fact, "General Gongsun did not do this well..."

Liu Bei was silent for a moment and said: "General Gongsun and so-and-so are classmates. General Gongsun lent troops to so-and-so, and he has also fought for so-and-so over the years... There is nothing wrong with this... But at the moment, the soldiers under your three brothers and me , most of them are not Youzhou soldiers now... If Danyang soldiers are still allowed to go north... Well..."

This is the practical difficulty. Although friendship is also very important, it is useless to talk about friendship alone to bypass difficulties. Regarding Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei was indeed powerless at the moment. He has not yet established a stable footing. Should he abandon all the hard-earned territory in his hands and lead an army thousands of miles alone, across Qingzhou and Jizhou, and go north to rescue Gongsun Zan?

And judging from the current situation, Gongsun Zan is inevitably going to be destroyed. Even if he goes to rescue him, it will only be a drop in the bucket and will not change anything.

So, after Gongsun Zan fell, Liu Bei should still follow Gongsun Zan's old path and continue to hug Yuan Shu's thigh, or should he hug Yuan Shu with another thigh?

"Brother, I wonder what you think?" Guan Yu looked at Liu Bei and asked.

Liu Bei took a long breath, then sighed and said: "I heard that the emperor has become the pro-government. No matter what, you and I are also the courtiers of the Han Dynasty, so I decided to send people to pay tribute to the court... What do you two wise brothers think? ?”

After Guan Yu heard this, he thought for a moment and then nodded and said: "This policy must be the right one!"