Ji Han Liu Zhang

Changan.

When the angel Cheng Yu stepped into the Western Capital of the Han Dynasty, he seemed to have returned to the Luoyang City which had not been overthrown by Dong Zhuo. At that time, Luoyang City was prosperous and majestic, just like the Chang'an City today.

I still remember that within less than five years of taking control of Guanzhong, Grand Marshal Liu Zhang had actually made great changes to the entire Guanzhong area and gave the city of Chang'an a brand new look, no longer as dilapidated as before.

"Seeing the prosperous streets and the throng of scholars and common people, we can tell that Mr. Zhang's talent in governance is extraordinary." Cheng Yu also looked to the right and praised Zhang Ji, the Chang'an Ling who was accompanying him.

Zhang Ji bowed his hands and said modestly: "The prosperity of Chang'an today is not something I could have achieved. It is because of my lord's benevolent governance that Chang'an is prosperous today."

Cheng Yu nodded and sighed, "I have been traveling westwards and have seen that Guanzhong has completely changed, with roads, canals, post stations, cities, etc., and the people are living in peace and contentment. This is indeed a glimpse of the benevolence of the Grand Marshal."

Accompanied by Zhang Ji, Cheng Yu came to the official residence in Chang'an. He would rest in the official residence for one night and then issue the decree of Emperor Liu Xie to Liu Zhang the next day.

Of course, this decree with the seal of Emperor Liu Xie, appointing Liu Zhang as King of Qin, was not the emperor's original intention, but was written by Cao Cao, who was in charge of the government.

After Zhang Ji sent Cheng Yu to the official residence, he bowed to Cheng Yu and said goodbye, then walked towards the residence of the Grand Marshal. Not long after, he arrived at the residence of the Grand Marshal, which was not far from the official residence. After informing Liu Zhang, he was received by Liu Zhang.

"Mingsir, the angel Cheng Yu has been arranged and is now staying in the official residence." Zhang Ji briefly reported the angel's situation.

"Yeah." Liu Zhang nodded, his expression indifferent. It was unknown how many times the angel came to the West. The difference was that this time the angel was replaced by a different one. The previous times it was the attendant Liu Ai, but this time it was replaced by Cheng Yu, a confidant of Cao Cao.

Jerky.

What impressed Liu Zhang most about Cheng Yu, a close friend of the Cao family group, was the fact that Cheng Yu made meat jerky. Moreover, the person for whom Cheng Yu made meat jerky was not someone else, but someone from his own county.

It is true that when fellow villagers meet, they shoot each other in the back.

After skipping the meat jerky, Liu Zhang began to think about the most urgent matter at the moment. He asked the Chief Clerk Wang Shang, Chief Clerk Xun You and others, "Cao Cao was discovered by Yuan Shao when he attacked and captured Ye City, and he is worried that Yuan Shao's army will move south... Cao Cao sent an envoy to confer the title of King of Qin on me this time. I think he is trying to divert the trouble to the west. What do you think about the King of Qin?"

Zheng Du, an official at the court, said, "As you said, Cao Cao's intention is to put you in a difficult position and provoke Yuan Shao to attack you... Therefore, you must not accept the title of King of Qin. You should refuse it as you did the previous times."

As soon as Zheng Du finished speaking, Yongzhou Governor Zhao Ang followed up and said, "What Zheng Congshi said makes sense. Cao Cao intends to attract Yuan Shao's attention to the Western Regions by conferring the title of King of Qin on you. This will not fulfill Cao Cao's wish, so you should refuse it."

After Zhao Ang finished speaking, several other people attended the meeting and expressed the same attitude as Zheng Du and Zhao Ang, saying that Cao Cao harbored evil intentions and did not deserve the title of King of Qin.

Jiang Jiong, an official of Yongzhou, thought for a moment, then he stood up and said, "With your meritorious service, you deserve to be rewarded with the title of king. Secondly, whether you accept it or not, the princes of the world will hear about it and become jealous. I think you'd better accept the title from the King of Qin."

"Isn't this fulfilling Cao Cao's plan?" Zheng Du, an official at the meeting, said in confusion. He was somewhat unable to understand Jiang Jiong's words. He knew that they should oppose things that the enemy agreed with, and only agree with things that the enemy opposed.

Now Cao Cao has ill intentions and uses the emperor's order to reward Liu Zhang as King of Qin. According to Zheng Du's thinking, he should not accept the title and go against Cao Cao's wish. This is the rational approach.

"cough."

Just when everyone was discussing in chaos, the chief clerk Xun You coughed lightly, and the discussions in the hall stopped instantly. The whole hall went from noisy to silent, and everyone knew that Xun You had said everything.

But Xun You was present, pointed out the conclusion, and gave his opinion: "Mingsir, in my humble opinion, you should accept this title."

"Why?" In the puzzled looks of Zheng Du and Zhao Ang, Xun You spoke calmly: "First, just as Jiang Congshi said, your Excellency has exterminated Li and Guo, beheaded Han and Song, and pacified Guanzhong and Longyou in one fell swoop, restoring the balance of power in Guanxi. Your merits are so great that there is no reward for them. The humble title of king is just a small reward for you."

"Secondly, Cao Cao wants nothing more than to urge Yuan Shao of Hebei to fight against Guanlong. He wants to sit on the sidelines and take advantage of the situation. That's why he granted you the title of King of Qin."

"However, if you accept it frankly, in Yuan Shao's eyes, it means that you and Cao Cao have a close relationship and are willing to join forces. Yuan Shao previously resented Cao Cao for not following his orders to move the emperor from Xudu to Yecheng. Now Cao Cao is secretly trying to capture Yecheng. Yuan Shao will definitely hate Cao Cao. Cao Cao wants to divert the disaster to Guanzhong, but it is impossible."

At this point, Xun You paused, and after everyone had thought about it for a while, he continued, "Third, you raised an army in Shu with the intention of saving the world and pacifying the people, and you wanted to be king and hegemon, but you repeatedly refused the title of king, which inevitably caused confusion among people near and far. You have a short-sighted ambition and do not have the ambition to fly to the North Sea."

"I only ask that you accept the title of king so that we can capture the captives that the common people near and far can hope for." After saying this, Xun You knelt down and made a request to Liu Zhang.

Following Xun You's lead, people like Jiang Jiong, who originally supported Liu Zhang's enthronement, also bowed and requested Liu Zhang to be enthroned. People like Zheng Du, Zhao Ang and others, who originally opposed Liu Zhang's enthronement, also bowed after thinking for a while.

There was no other reason, it was because Liu Zhang was granted the title of king, which brought him closer to the supreme throne, which was a good thing for them, his subjects. After all, only if Liu Zhang made progress, would they follow suit.

Although some of the people present did not care about fame, wealth and power, and only wanted to repay Liu Zhang's kindness, most of them followed Liu Zhang with the intention of currying favor with the powerful.

Because of this, when Liu Zhang ascended to the title of king, most of the civil and military officials in the hall hoped that Liu Zhang would be conferred the title. Furthermore, many people hoped that Liu Zhang would directly ascend to the supreme position. Only then would they be considered to be truly clinging to the rich and powerful and have a bright future.

"I will ponder over your opinions."

Amid everyone's anticipation, Liu Zhang gave an answer, an ambiguous answer.

into the night.

Liu Zhang stood in the courtyard, looking at the bright moon in the sky. The stars were sparse, and crows and magpies were flying south. Although there was a beautiful scene in front of him, his mind was not on it. Instead, he was thinking about what everyone had been talking about during the day.

Although Xun You took the lead and everyone agreed that Liu Zhang should be rewarded with the title of king, Liu Zhang was still hesitant. The imperial doctrine of building high walls, storing up food, and delaying the declaration of kingship told him that it was not appropriate to declare himself king.

"Husband, it's late, you should go to bed early." Just when Liu Zhang was deep in thought, a crisp voice sounded from behind him. Without turning around, Liu Zhang knew that the person coming was his wife Huang Wan.

Liu Zhang turned around and said to Huang Wan, "Wan'er, today an angel has come to Chang'an and ordered me to be the King of Qin. Do you think I should accept it?"

Liu Zhang, who was deep in thought, asked Huang Wan, who was close to him. He wanted to know Huang Wan's opinion and see if he could get some inspiration.

Huang Wan just evaded Liu Zhang's question and said, "My husband, this important matter should be discussed with Wang Changshi, Xun Zhubu and others. I am just a woman, so I don't have any insightful opinions."

"Oh." Liu Zhang nodded in response, but did not ask any further questions. He also saw Huang Wan's inclination from her expression. He saw a little hope between Huang Wan's eyebrows. It seemed that she was looking forward to Liu Zhang becoming the king and her becoming the princess, so it showed on her face. At this moment, Liu Zhang made up his mind. He stepped forward, took Huang Wan's hand, smiled and said, "Madam is right. We must rest early."

"Husband." Seeing the teasing look on Liu Zhang's face, Huang Wan said shyly.

Day two.

Cheng Yu came to the residence of Grand Marshal Liu Zhang, carrying the emperor's edict made of yellow cloth, and walked towards the lobby of the mansion under the guidance of his attendants.

"It is simple." Cheng Yu saw that the decorations and materials of the houses he saw were all ordinary things, and no rare things were selected to build them. It can be seen that Liu Zhang was a simple and frugal person.

Not long after, Cheng Yu came to the lobby and met the Grand Marshal Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang's first impression on him was that he was young. Although Liu Zhang had grown a short beard, Cheng Yu could still see Liu Zhang's youth from his face.

"Grand Marshal." Cheng Yu bowed and saluted.

Good style and good looks. Liu Zhang took a look at Cheng Yu, who was tall and handsome. He was impressed by Cheng Yu's appearance. Then Liu Zhang extended his hand and said, "Mr. Cheng, please."

Business was important, and Liu Zhang had no intention of being polite with Cheng Yu. He invited Cheng Yu to the main seat to read out the emperor's will. Although Liu Zhang, as the Grand Marshal, was several levels higher than Cheng Yu in rank, Cheng Yu, as an angel, represented the emperor, so he naturally had to be respected.

Cheng Yu stood in the main seat, and then Liu Zhang led a group of civil and military officials to bow down and listen attentively to Cheng Yu reading the emperor's decree. Cheng Yu's voice was loud and clear, and everyone in the room could hear him. The content of the edict was written in beautiful words, which showed that it was written by a great man. The combination of the two made Liu Zhang feel happy.

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First, the first part of the edict expounded Liu Zhang's merits, such as clearing Qin and Long, punishing the bandits, and making contributions to the Han Dynasty.

"…Therefore, I conferred the title of King of Qin on Liu Jiyu, so that people all over the world will know clearly that I favor his meritorious service…"

The content of the edict was not very long, and Cheng Yu quickly read out the end, which was the main business of the edict, the conferring of the title of King of Qin on Liu Zhang.

"Grand Sima, please accept my order and express your gratitude."

After reading the edict, Cheng Yu closed the unfolded edict and handed it to Liu Zhang. However, he guessed that Liu Zhang would most likely refuse the title of king as he did in the previous times, so as to avoid standing out from the crowd and being feared and spied on by the princes of the world.

So Cheng Yu was ready to put away the imperial edict. When he saw Liu Zhang stand up, he was prepared for Liu Zhang to bow and decline.

But after standing up, Liu Zhang reached out and took the document from Cheng Yu's hand, which made Cheng Yu, who was about to take back the edict, stunned. He almost took back the edict subconsciously, but Cheng Yu quickly reacted. He lowered his head slightly and let Liu Zhang take the edict.

"The emperor has issued edicts many times, rewarding Zhang with the title of king. If this has happened two or three times, Zhang should not refuse it again." Liu Zhang took the edict and spoke gently to Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu nodded and smiled, "Your Majesty is right. The emperor's kindness should not be repeatedly declined. You should accept it."

As Liu Zhang took the imperial edict and spoke politely to Cheng Yu, all the civil and military officials in the hall were excited. Although it was Liu Zhang who was conferred the title of king, judging from the faces of the people, they were happier than when they themselves were conferred the title of king.

All the civil and military officials in Guanzhong were so excited and in high spirits that they wanted to laugh out loud, but they couldn't do so due to the situation.

The main person, Liu Zhang, looked calm. After he finished his polite words with Cheng Yu, he said to Cheng Yu, "Mr. Cheng has come a long way and has worked hard. He has also been granted the title of king by Zhang. Tonight, Zhang will hold a banquet for Mr. Cheng and for the reward of the title of king."

At night, in the residence of the Grand Marshal, no, now it should be the residence of King Qin Liu Zhang, the lights in the lobby are brightly lit, as bright as day, the sound of stringed instruments can be heard incessantly, and the aroma of wine is diffused all around.

"Mr. Cheng, please drink this cup to its fullest." Liu Zhang said to Cheng Yu who was approaching him. As an angel, Cheng Yu was arranged to sit near Liu Zhang's left.

"Your Majesty, please." Cheng Yu smiled and returned the greeting.

As Cheng Yu, who came to Chang'an with the imperial edict, he knew too well the real purpose of this trip. On the surface, it was to grant Liu Zhang the title of king, but in reality it was to push Liu Zhang to a high and prominent position so that Liu Zhang could attract Yuan Shao's attention.

However, considering that Liu Zhang had declined the title of king several times before, Cheng Yu thought that this time the situation was not going as planned. However, he never expected that Liu Zhang would simply accept the title of prince this time.

This meant that Cheng Yu's mission was a complete success, so Cheng Yu was very happy and smiled.

"I heard that you are a famous scholar in Yanzhou, and you must have brilliant ideas. I wonder who the First Emperor is." Liu Zhang put down his wine glass and asked Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu pursed his beard, thought for a moment and then said, "The First Emperor has the heart of a tiger and a wolf, whipping the world, just like Jie and Zhou."

Liu Zhang asked, "Are there any others?"

Cheng Yu believed that the more you talk, the more mistakes you make. He shook his head and said no more to avoid leaving any room for gossip.

Seeing Cheng Yu shaking his head, Liu Zhang sighed and said, "What Mr. Cheng just said was the fault of the First Emperor, and he failed to mention his merits."

"As the Zhou dynasty declined, the princes rose up. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the princes fought each other and the empire was in turmoil for more than a hundred years. The First Emperor, with the remaining energy of the six previous emperors, swept across the world and unified the country. It can be seen that the unification of the country and the elimination of disputes were initiated by the First Emperor."

“So the First Emperor had faults for the world, but he also had merits for the world.”

After saying this, Liu Zhang seemed to be touched. He went down to the stage and started dancing and singing with his generals.

The King of Qin conquered the world.

How majestic the tiger is.

Swing the sword to cut through the clouds.

All the princes came west. (End of this chapter)