From the time when Liu Bei raised his troops in Zhuoxian County until now, the journey has been quite difficult.
His biggest reliance is simply his status as a descendant of the Han Dynasty Queen.
However, this identity is what he said himself and has not received any official certification. In the eyes of outsiders, Liu Bei's identity is impossible to find out, so most people, especially literati, don't really buy his account.
This time he was invited by Cao Cao to go to Xuchang. Although Liu Bei was a little worried, he decided to go after careful consideration.
His main worries came from many aspects, but the most important ones were the following two: first, Cao Cao would be disadvantageous to him after going to Xuchang; second, Liu Bei discovered that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu did not actually take him seriously.
Moreover, he cannot compete with Cao Cao or Sun Ce based on his own strength, and sooner or later he will end up being annexed.
Naturally, Sun Ce looked down upon Liu Bei. His previous relationship with Liu Bei was nothing more than a show-off. Rather than forming an alliance, he actually wanted to annex Liu Bei and capture Guangling County.
Cao Cao had also been prepared for it. After Guangling County was taken back by Xuzhou Mu Che Zhou, a large army was immediately stationed in Guangling to guard against Sun Ce from Jiangdong.
Instead of sitting and waiting for death, it is better to take the initiative to seek change. Although going to Xuchang is risky, Liu Bei feels that this is not an opportunity.
After many days, Liu Bei and his party finally arrived at the border of Yingchuan County.
Ever since he entered Yanzhou, Liu Bei felt as if he had entered another world.
War, hunger, disaster, disease, etc., all seem to have automatically moved away from this world.
"Brother, why were you in a trance along the way?" Guan Yu came to Liu Bei and asked with concern.
Liu Bei looked at the people working in the fields in the distance and asked: "Yun Chang, since you entered the rule of Prime Minister Cao, have you found a withered skeleton or a refugee?"
Guan Yu was startled when he heard this, and after recalling it carefully, he replied in surprise: "That's right! I really haven't seen a refugee, let alone a corpse! If you hadn't reminded me, brother, I would have still
Really didn’t notice that.”
"We passed through Chen State and Qiao County along the way. These two places were suffering from the Yellow Turbans at first, but now you look at..." Liu Bei said here, pointing to the faintly visible villages in the distance and several curling trees.
The rising smoke said: "There is no better peace for the people than this!"
Guan Yu was silent for a moment and sighed: "I have to admit that Prime Minister Cao is indeed very good at governing the world."
The conversation between Liu Bei and Guan Yu was heard by Guoyuan not far away.
However, this was not a shameful remark. It was just that Guoyuan felt that what they said was not accurate, so he corrected him: "You two don't know. Strictly speaking, today's peaceful and prosperous age can be achieved under the Prime Minister's rule. In fact,
It’s all thanks to Lu Qianqi’s contribution.”
Guoyuan was a disciple of Zheng Xuan, a master of Confucian classics in the late Han Dynasty. He was an upright man and always had one thing first and two things two. The credit should be attributed to Lu Yan. He would never brag about Lao Cao.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu didn't know what details there were, so they asked, "Please ask the angels to help us clear up my doubts!"
Guoyuan gently stroked his three-foot-long beard, and after a slight adjustment he replied: "When the prime minister started his army, there were only a few thousand soldiers, and there were only four brothers from the Xiahou family and the Cao family."
"It's better than us..." Zhang Fei, who was following Guan Yu, couldn't help but mutter.
Guoyuan ignored Zhang Fei's noise and continued: "Later, after conquering Dong Zhuo, and after the prime minister defeated the Yellow Turbans and took over Yanzhou, he had a foothold.
It was at this time that Lu Qiuqi, who was appointed by the prime minister as the governor of Chenliu County, began to reform and implement the farming system, reduce agricultural taxes, and encourage the cultivation of new fields."
Not only Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei listened attentively, but even Jian Yong, Sun Qian, Mi Zhu and others also joined in.
Guoyuan saw that there were more people around him, so he increased his voice and said: "After the farming system, Lu Qiaoqi implemented a new Lijia and household registration system. From this point on, he started fighting with the aristocratic families.
Later, Lu Qiaoqi attached great importance to the reform of the labor force by craftsmen and rented out oxen and curved plows at low prices. As a result, the people's farming efficiency increased by several levels.
After agriculture was stabilized, Lu Xiuqi established the Chenliu Yingchuan United Chamber of Commerce to encourage business and extract business taxes from it.
At this point, Chen Liu and Yingchuan are prosperous!"
"Such a talent is really enviable!" Liu Bei sighed deeply. The scene when Zhao Yun rejected him and followed a young man in white suddenly flashed through his mind. "I think Zhao Yun followed him." That person is Lu Qiaoqi."
A smile appeared at the corner of Guoyuan's lips and he said: "Lu Qiaoqi's civil and martial arts are at the pinnacle of the world... Even the teacher is full of praise for him."
Liu Bei was a little curious, so he raised his hands and asked, "May I ask your honorable master Gao's name?"
"My mentor's surname is Zheng, his first name is Xuan, and his given name is Kangcheng!" Guoyuan said with some pride.
After getting along for so few months, this was the first time Liu Bei and others saw Guoyuan showing such an expression. It seemed that the thing he was most proud of was that he studied under the great scholar Zheng Xuan.
Zheng Xuan once entered Taixue to study "Jingshi Yi", "Gongyang Chunqiu", "Santong Calendar" and "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic"; he also studied "Guwen Shangshu", "Zhou Li" and "Zuo Zhuan" from Zhang Gongzu, and finally studied from Ma Integrate the study of ancient Chinese classics.
After returning home from his study tour, he returned to cultivate in Donglai and gathered his disciples to teach. There were thousands of disciples. He came from a poor family and was eager to learn, and eventually became a great Confucian.
Zheng Xuan's scholarship was mainly based on ancient classics, and also adopted modern classics. He devoted his life to organizing Confucian classics and organizing ancient cultural heritage, which brought the classics into a "little unification era". He also wrote "Seven Political Treatises on Astronomy" and "Zhongguo" "Hou" and other books, with a total of more than one million words, are known as "Zheng Xue" in the world.
When they heard that Guoyuan was a disciple of the great scholar Zheng Xuan, Liu Bei, Jian Yong and others immediately bowed their hands respectfully.
Guoyuan returned the greeting with his hands raised and said with a smile: "Everyone, after passing the woods in front, we will enter Yingchuan County!"
Liu Bei immediately sighed: "We are finally going to Xuchang!"
Jian Yong suddenly asked at this time: "Angel, can this Xuchang City be as prosperous as Luoyang City?"
Hearing this, Guoyuan smiled casually and said, "There are two more prosperous cities in Luoyang now than in the past!"
Seeing Liu Bei and others looking at him eagerly, Guoyuan continued: "First, Xudu, Yingchuan; Second, Yecheng, Jizhou!"
"Huh?" Mi Zhu was surprised when he heard this: "Chenliucheng can't compare with these two cities?"
Guoyuan's lips curled up as he replied: "The prosperity of Chenliu City has long surpassed that of Luoyang, the old imperial capital!"
"!!!" Liu Bei and others' eyes suddenly widened, "How on earth did you do it in just a few years?"
"I don't know either." Guoyuan shook his head and suddenly laughed and said: "How did it happen? I'm afraid you have to ask the former Grand Administrator Chen Liu and the current hussar general Lu Yan and Lu Changsheng!"
"Is Lu Qiaoqi really a god descended from heaven? It's really fascinating!" Liu Bei seemed to be impressed by Lu Yan.
After walking some distance, a hearty laugh suddenly came: "Hahaha! Mr. Xuande, Ren has been waiting here for you for a long time!"
Liu Bei naturally knew Cao Ren, who followed Cao Cao wherever he went. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei even drank with him.
Seeing Cao Ren, the three Liu Bei brothers suddenly felt a sense of intimacy in their hearts.
Liu Bei rode up to Cao Ren, cupped his fists and said, "General Zixiao, long time no see!"
"Yes! It's been nearly half a year since I said goodbye to Shouchun..." Seeing Guan Yu and Zhang Fei coming over, Cao Ren laughed and said, "Heroes, let's hurry up and try to catch up with our elder brother in the evening.