Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 348: Zhou Gong Difficulty
Outside Xudu , Liu Bei's Xuzhou army and the generals of the court officials were confronting Qu Yi...
Qu Yi was very angry now - I was the one who came to rescue you, but you actually announced to the public that my master was a traitor? You also put my master's uncle Yuan Wei in the rebel faction... How shameless? Yuan Taiwei was killed by Dong Zhuo because of his alliance with the Guandong army to fight against Dong!
Once this decree was issued, it could be said that unless Yuan Shao broke his own spine, he would have no choice but to fight the court to the end.
"Your Majesty, and all the dignitaries in the court, don't you feel ashamed of yourselves?" Qu Yi shouted directly in front of the battle line.
Liu Xie was a little embarrassed and hid in the formation without answering. Dong Cheng then took the initiative to stand in front of Liu Xie and said, "The Yuan family rebelled and Your Majesty did not kill all of their nine clans. This is already a special grace! Of course... Your Majesty has always praised General Qu and Mr. Xu. If General Qu and Mr. Xu are willing to give up the dark and join the light, Your Majesty is willing to treat them as General Wei and Minister of Works!"
"Shut up! How dare you, you shameless man, humiliate me?" Qu Yi was also an arrogant person. He was so arrogant that after winning a battle, he became so complacent that even Yuan Shao was dissatisfied with him. However... Qu Yi's arrogance was by no means disloyal.
Xu You simply didn't answer.
In fact, Xu You had expected this scene. At most, he did not expect that the imperial court would be so shameless. Moreover, Xun Yu was worthy of being a talent as a king's assistant. Under such circumstances, he could still think of the most favorable negotiation conditions for himself and completely tear apart Yuan Shao and the imperial court.
However, Xu You's previous "bottom line" goal was to create chaos in Xu Du, so that the court and the Han emperor would break away from Cao Cao's control. He even considered sending out his death squad to assassinate Liu Xie in the chaos... Unfortunately, he never had the chance.
The current situation has actually reached Xu You’s lowest expectations.
"You...a traitor is a traitor, a jackal by nature, and inhumane!" Dong Cheng said with great disgust. He hated being called shameless the most.
"Today I want to see how you are going to get through..." Qu Yi said as he was about to set up his formation.
On the imperial court side, the main combat effectiveness came from the Xuzhou army. Other court officials and family generals only had some combat effectiveness when there was no fighting in the inner city when Ji Zao's soldiers intervened.
However, Xu You just curled his lips when he heard that Qu Yi wanted to stop the court.
"General Qu, forget it...our mission has been completed." Xu You said sarcastically.
If Qu Yi had not realized that the "sarcasm" was not directed at him, he would have probably hit the person!
"Military Advisor, can't we stop these fools..." Qu Yi said anxiously.
But just when he was halfway through his words, Xu You raised his chin towards Tao Sheng and said, "I wonder what official position the court gave to General Tao? If he is only the General of Siping, I'm afraid it's a bit of a loss. Even Yang Fengke was given the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry before."
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi immediately glared at Tao Sheng, only to see that Tao Sheng was surrounded by layers of Yellow Turban warriors guarding him!
"Sheng is a man of limited talent and learning, and has only made some insignificant contributions to the court. Your Majesty, considering that Sheng has made some hard work even though he has no merits, has conferred on him the title of 'General Wei', which General Qu looks down upon." Tao Sheng said without any embarrassment, and even with some pride.
As a rebel who "kills people and sets fires in the hope of being recruited", the imperial court's recruitment is obviously more attractive than the recruitment offered by Yuan Shao, who is on the decline!
Besides... General Wei sounds more impressive than Yuan Shao's General of the Household.
Twenty years ago, General Wei... this would have been such a big deal that his ancestors would be so angry that smoke would well up in their graves. As a minor official in the county, he couldn't even think about it!
Indeed, the power in Tao Sheng's hands now plays a crucial role.
The snowball of the Yellow Turban Army was able to start rolling thanks to Qu Yi's halberd soldiers, who provided combat support. Otherwise, it would have been crushed by the defenders halfway through its roll.
However, the special nature of the Halberd Soldiers and the Yellow Turban Army means that the snowball is still in Tao Sheng's hands, and he can cross the river and destroy the bridge at any time!
Qu Yi wanted to say something, but Xu You stopped him, saying, "Okay... General Qu, now that we're done here, we need to return to Hebei soon... General Wei, do you have any objections?" As he spoke, he glanced at Tao Sheng.
Although Tao Sheng felt very unhappy with Xu You's look, he did not lose his temper. Instead, he smiled and said, "Of course not."
Xu You had never thought of surrendering to the imperial court. After all, it would take a while for Yuan Shao to be destroyed, and his family was still in Yecheng!
Moreover, in Xu You's opinion, even if this "imperial court" came out of the shackles of Xudu, it would be difficult for it to turn into a golden dragon again...
It now seems that the only force that can barely be regarded as the power of the imperial court is the Xuzhou Army - and the Xuzhou Army is only surnamed Liu, but they are not loyal to the Han emperor!
If Liu Bei was really willing to be like Duke Zhou and assist the Han emperor wholeheartedly, he could indeed enhance the prestige of the Han Dynasty. However... now it seems that the court is going to return to Sili in the west, rather than going east to Xuzhou.
The meaning behind this is worth pondering...
Xu You couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Xun Yu - in the future, Xudu... no, it should be said that the area around Xu County would be hard to withstand the double-sided attack from Sili and Xuzhou.
However, separating Sili and Xuzhou now and forcing the court to return to the west is definitely a brilliant move!
Indeed, in Sili , there are princes like Yang Feng who participated in the Han Emperor's return to the east and had cooperation experience with the court. The court should also have people in contact with them, but... not going to Liu Bei's Xuzhou will add countless variables to the future of the court.
Qu Yi and Xu You were about to leave. Neither Liu Bei nor the court wanted to cause trouble. However, before Xu You left, he smiled and sang loudly: "In the west, there is Shao and Sili is in chaos. Duke Zhou spits out food to feed his guests and people's hearts are chilled. If the Shang Dynasty is defeated again, the retreat will be cut off! Hahaha..."
Dong Cheng and Liu Xie's faces were grim for a long time. After a while, Liu Xie asked, "Uncle, what does he mean by singing?"
"Your Majesty, I guess... it should be some prophecy cursing the Han Dynasty. It must be banned in the future!" Dong Cheng said with a mysterious look on his face.
"Well, I'll follow your advice, uncle." Liu Xie thought for a while and nodded.
Liu Ai looked at Liu Bei worriedly at this time, and was relieved when he found that the latter's face was just ashen but not gloomy.
Xu You's "Nan Zhou Gong Nan", which was a random remake of "Da Feng Ge", was obviously not sung to Your Majesty, but a mockery of Liu Bei!
During the period of Duke of Zhou, the Western Zhou Dynasty was also in turmoil. The Shang Dynasty revived and colluded with the Dongyi to rise again, and the Central Plains was full of war. Duke of Zhou and Shao Gong agreed to divide Shaanxi and govern it separately. Shao Gong governed the western part of Shaanxi - this is also the original origin of the name of the province, while Duke of Zhou governed the eastern part of Shaanxi.
Duke Shao was in the west of Shaanxi, and only needed to restore agricultural production, rest the people, and provide logistics, while Duke Zhou was in the east of Shaanxi to quell the rebellion...
Duke Zhou not only had noble sentiments and eventually returned power to King Cheng, but also, during his regency, he selected talented people for office, defeated the Shang Dynasty twice, and established the Zhou rites... He was revered to the same degree as Confucius.
However, no matter how Xu You looked at it, he felt that Liu Bei's situation was much more difficult than that of Zhou Gong!
Even if Liu Bei wanted to be the Duke of Zhou, when Duke Zhou was regent, at least King Cheng did not make trouble, and the one who governed the west was Duke Shao, who was on the same side as him. Now... the west is ruled by the warlords of Liang Province and the whitewashed Yellow Turbans, and the one sitting on the dragon throne is Liu Xie.
That's why he deliberately mocked and provoked Liu Bei. You want to be Duke of Zhou? But there is no Duke of Shao to your west, only warlords with ulterior motives. You can buy the hearts of others, but you will be disappointed. If you want to go to war, I'm afraid that your own people will cut off your retreat...
