In the second half of the 11th year of Jian'an, wars raged across the Han Dynasty.
Cai Hao and Zhang Lu fought in many places in Bajun. The two sides were evenly matched, with similar numbers of soldiers and horses, and similar tactical levels. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, they were novices fighting each other, with each other winning or losing. It was difficult to tell the difference in a short period of time.
Huang Zu was not angry at being captured alive by Zhou Yu, so he secretly returned to Jiangxia. With the support of Liu Biao, he trained the navy, built ships, and prepared to attack Jiangdong again and eliminate Sun Quan.
Yuan Shang also actively prepared food, grass, weapons and equipment in the first half of the year, hoping to take advantage of Cao Cao's focus on the south to visit Bo brothers as soon as possible.
So in the second half of the 11th year of Jian'an, wars were going on all over the country. Huang Zu led 50,000 Jiangxia naval forces and launched a large-scale invasion of Jiangdong. Yuan Shang led an army of 60,000 and left 20,000 in Yecheng to attack Qingzhou.
At the beginning of the twelfth year of Jian'an, the entire Han Dynasty was fighting everywhere. Even Han Sui in Guanzhong wanted to destroy Ma Teng and occupy Xiliang and Guanzhong as soon as possible. Moreover, even the northern nomads came to intervene, and high officials invited
The southern Xiongnu came to the east of the Koluo River.
Under pressure, Ma Teng finally agreed to Cao Cao's request to serve as an official in Chendu, but there were conditions: his troops must be led by his eldest son Ma Chao, and Cao Cao must also send troops to assist him.
In order to return to Guanzhong as soon as possible and drive away Han Sui's forces, Zhong Yao agreed to these conditions. So Hedong belonged to the imperial court and was occupied by Zhong Yao, Duan Xuan and others.
In other words, the current situation is that Ma Teng uses himself as a hostage to lure the wolf into the house in exchange for the Ma family's breathing space.
Therefore, this led to chaos in Guanzhong.
The forces of Han Sui, Cao Cao, and Yuan Shang were attacking each other, and the small princes such as Liang Xing, Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Li Kan, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yi, Ma Wan, and Yang Qiu were mixed in, making the already broken state
The unbearable Guanzhong is even more withered.
While war was going on all over the country, Liu Bei, who was far away in Jingnan, was still in the stage of recuperation. Although he did not get Jingnan, he was tacitly allowed by Liu Biao to station troops in southern Hunan.
At this moment, in the Xiangnan County government office, Liu Bei was in a very depressed mood. His eldest son passed away a few months ago, and he had been in mourning during this period.
Historically, he actually had many children, but during the early battles with Cao Cao and Lu Bu, his family members were kidnapped many times. As a result, his children either died early or were lost among the rebels. By the time he arrived in Xinye, only two daughters were still there.
By his side, he was finally kidnapped by Cao Cao in Changbanpo.
But now, because Shen Chen had reminded him early and asked him to disperse his family members around him, every time he was defeated, his family members were safe and sound, hiding in other counties and protected by bodyguard Chen Dao.
Only the last time when Cao Cao defeated Liu Bei, Guan Yu and his two wives were captured alive, while his son and daughter were protected by Chen Dao and fled elsewhere.
It was not until Liu Bei returned to Runan again that Chen brought his children to join him.
This means that Liu Bei's eldest son, who should have died or disappeared in the war in history, did not die. He followed him to Changsha County alive. He is now twelve years old. He was born when he was a shepherd in Xuzhou in 194 AD. He is about to grow up.
Become an adult and become his heir.
As a result, due to the miasma in the south, Liu Bei's eldest son wandered around since he was a child. He was often frightened and lacked food and clothing. He was weak and sick. He was not accustomed to the climate and the climate, and became seriously ill. He died of illness in the middle of the eleventh year of Jian'an.
For several months, Liu Bei was in great pain, but for the sake of the great cause of the world, he had to hold on to his strength, still handle official documents as usual every day, and often go to the military camp to train his soldiers.
Today, Liu Bei was handling official business in the county government office. Chen Dao suddenly came in and said: "Report, Uncle Emperor, Liu Mi from Changsha has come to see you."
"oh?"
Liu Bei had heard that Liu Bi was a descendant of the King of Changsha. Although he had disappeared from everyone, he was also a member of the Han family and a prominent local family in Changsha, so he said: "Please come in quickly."
Soon a middle-aged man walked into the hall with a young man. The person who came was none other than Liu Mi of the Liu family in Changsha. When he saw Liu Bei, he raised his hands and said, "Meet General Zuo."
Liu Bei stood up quickly and said: "I am a member of the Han family, and have the same surname and clan. Please don't be too polite. Please sit down!"
Liu Mi then smiled and said, "Thank you, General Zuo. This is my nephew's name, Kou Feng."
Liu Bei looked over and saw the handsome young man. He immediately liked him and said, "You two, sit down quickly."
The two sat down.
Liu Mi said: "General Zuo is stationed in southern Hunan and has a reputation for good governance. The local people love him. I, the Liu family, come from a wealthy family in Changsha and are willing to help. My nephew has been practicing martial arts since he was a child and is quite brave. Hearing that I want to offer him to my family.
The people from the Zihe tribe came to help the general, so they clamored to come."
Kou Feng also raised his hand and said: "General Zuo has a reputation as thunderous as thunder. He is willing to bring me, the members of the Kou clan, to join the general's army and help the general achieve great achievements!"
Although Jingnan is remote, there is no shortage of capable people.
Liu Biao seemed powerful, but he was too old, and he was eager to attack Xichuan and Jiangdong. In fact, he wanted to pacify the south as soon as possible, and then quell the internal troubles before his death, paving the way for his eldest son Liu Qi or his second son Liu Cong to ascend to power.
It's just that many people feel that Liu Biao will definitely not be able to capture Yizhou and Yangzhou in a short time. Once he falls before capturing these two places, Liu Biao's family will be exhausted and fall apart.
Therefore, many aristocratic families began to look for other wise masters who could lead Jingzhou to dominate. Liu Bei, who was currently stationed in southern Hunan, was obviously a good choice.
Therefore, these local wealthy families in Jingnan wanted to invest in him. Liu Bi was close, so he naturally wanted to be the first to come and join him.
As for the defection of aristocratic families, Liu Bei naturally accepted all comers, and said very happily at the moment: "I am very happy that you two can help me. Our army is short of two such talents. If you don't give up,
You can join my shogunate."
Aristocratic families can provide many benefits, such as stabilizing the place, providing money and weapons and equipment, and these aristocratic families have a lot of land and people, which can supplement soldiers and food.
Therefore, Liu Bei also gave generous rewards and invited Liu Mi to join his shogunate.
As General Zuo, he was able to open a government. Coupled with the title of Yuzhou Mu, among the actual official positions given by the court, he was the second largest prince in Jingzhou after Liu Biao. At least before Sun Quan got Yangzhou Mu, he had no official positions.
Liu Bei is taller, and he is not as legitimate as him.
Liu Bei invited him to join the shogunate, and Liu Bi naturally accepted the invitation happily. The three of them continued to talk. During the conversation, Liu Bei fell in love with Kou Feng very much, and unconsciously he wanted to adopt him as his adopted son.
After having this idea, Liu Bei made some insinuations and found out that Kou Feng was from the Kou family, a wealthy family in Luo County. Kou Feng's parents died early, so he followed his uncle Liu Mi and had no parents.
After learning the news, Liu Bei planned to express his intention to adopt him as his adopted son.
"Sir and I are from the same clan."
Liu Bei thought about his words and said to Liu Bi: "My nephew Kou Feng is also my nephew, and he happens to be my descendant."
While talking.
A maidservant came hurriedly from the backyard and whispered a few words to Liu Bei.
Liu Mi and Kou Feng saw Liu Bei's expression of ecstasy, and then they stood up and said to them: "You two, there are some things in the back house. Please excuse me for a while, and I will let someone talk to you about the specific matters."
"It doesn't matter, the general's business is important."
Liu Mi said quickly.
"Thank you for your forgiveness, sir. I'm sorry."
Liu Bei apologized repeatedly and hurried to the backyard.
The two of them were confused.
However, Liu Bei did not keep them waiting for too long. After a while, Jian Yong and Sun Qian came over and started chatting with them.
Liu Bei came to the backyard and hurried to Mrs. Gan's room.
It turned out that the maid told him that Mrs. Gan was not in good health recently, so she went to the doctor to diagnose her and found out about her happy pulse.
After knowing that he might have another son, Liu Bei gave up the idea of adopting an adopted son and came to visit.
"lady."
Liu Bei entered the room and saw Mrs. Gan lying on the bed with Mrs. Mi accompanying her. He was overjoyed and walked over, held Mrs. Gan's hand and said, "Madam."
Mrs. Gan smiled and said: "Husband, I have been feeling unwell in recent days and often want to vomit. I thought I might be pregnant, so I went to the doctor to have a look. I didn't expect that I was indeed pregnant."
"It's good to be pregnant, it's good to be pregnant."
Liu Bei clapped Mrs. Gan's hand excitedly. His eldest son died of illness, leaving only two daughters. There was no successor to his great cause, which always made people feel decadent.
Now Mrs. Gan is pregnant again. Although she still doesn't know whether it is a boy or a girl, there is always hope.
When there is hope, there is a rush, which boosts his mood and mood a lot.
Seeing that he was as happy as a child, the two ladies immediately showed cheerful smiles. It seemed that because of Liu Bei's happiness, they themselves became happy.
When Liu Bei saw this scene, he looked at the two ladies and felt sad for a moment. He couldn't help but sigh: "In the early years, I wandered around and let the two ladies suffer with me. Now I have finally settled down and don't have to worry anymore."
Mrs. Mi smiled and said: "Yes, husband, I am finally a little more stable now. I only hope that my sister will give birth to a child and inherit my husband's great cause."
Mrs. Gan looked at Mrs. Mi, took her hand and said, "My sister and I are like sisters. We have supported each other every day over the years. My husband cannot neglect my sister because I am pregnant."
"This is natural. You two ladies will suffer with me. I will never let you be homeless again in the future!"
Liu Bei hugged them, his eyes extremely firm.
He has let down too many people over the years, whether it is his wife, children, or the brothers who follow him.
From now on, I, Liu Bei, will definitely pursue a career, and I will never let down my family and subordinates!
"Report!"
At this time, someone came to report outside the door.
Liu Bei then told his maid to take good care of the two ladies. He left the backyard and asked on the porch, "What's the matter?"
The attendant who came to report said: "Report to the general, there is a merchant named Zhou Lin who wants to see you."
"oh?"
Liu Bei was puzzled. Why did the merchants come to him?
Are they like those aristocratic families who also want to learn from Lu Buwei to make a living?
However, since someone asked to see him, he naturally refused to refuse anyone who came. Not to mention merchants, even ordinary civilians could come in and out of his mansion to find him at will.
Soon Liu Bei summoned Zhou Lin in the side courtyard.
Zhou Lin is the merchant representative of the combined fleets of many aristocratic families in Xichuan, and has many transactions with Huangmenting.
But now because of the war between Xichuan, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou, it is difficult to maintain his business. In the past two years, he followed Shen Chen's suggestion and went to Jiaozhi.
Jiaozhi is actually rich in spices, jewelry, ivory, medicinal materials, grain, and minerals. However, due to its remote location and difficult road traffic, almost no one except the governor of Jiaozhou is interested in that place.
However, when commerce in the south was almost cut off due to the war, Zhou Lin could only choose to send people to try his luck. Unexpectedly, he found a lot of good things.
For example, there is a kind of rice in Rinan County south of Jiaozhi. It has a large yield and a short growth cycle. It seems that it can be planted alternately with southern rice.
This kind of rice was requested by Shen Chen, but Zhou Lin wanted to sell it at a good price, so he promoted it everywhere in Jingzhou. However, the wealthy families in various places were not very interested in this kind of rice, so he found Liu Bei to see if he needed it. need.