Wang Lang proclaimed himself emperor in Handan and received the support of the three kings of Hebei, which allowed Wang Lang to secure his throne at once. Wang Lang named Liu Lin prime minister, Li Yu Grand Sima, and Zhang Shen general, and established his own army in Handan.
's imperial court.
There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and there is no room for two masters in the world. After Wang Lang became emperor, the biggest enemy in front of him was naturally the Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan.
Liu Xuan was too far away from Hebei, and Wang Lang did not have the strength to attack Liu Xuan now. His eyes naturally fell on Liu Xiu, who was appointed by Liu Xuan and came to Hebei to recruit him.
Currently, his biggest and most direct threat in Hebei is none other than Liu Xiu.
Wang Lang was also ruthless. In order to get rid of the threat of Liu Xiu, he issued an imperial decree and announced to the world that anyone who could take Liu Xiu's head would be rewarded with a hundred thousand households.
You must know that Lu Buwei, who had great power in the country at that time, only lived in a town of 100,000 households. In order to kill Liu Xiu, Wang Lang paid a sky-high price.
Speaking of which, Liu Xiu was really unlucky. He finally escaped from Liu Xuan's control and had this opportunity to appease Hebei. However, he didn't have time to show off his power. Not long after arriving in Hebei, something happened here in Hebei.
Come to Wang Lang, the emperor.
Liu Xiu had just left Longtan and entered the tiger's den again, and his situation in Hebei was definitely much more dangerous than that with Liu Xuan.
If Liu Xuan wanted to deal with him, he would also have to worry about the face of the Liu family members. As long as Liu Xiu was careful enough to prevent Liu Xuan from getting caught, there was nothing Liu Xuan could do against him.
But the situation is different now. Here in Hebei, no one cares about face. Wang Lang issued such a high reward. It can be said that there was a nationwide mobilization in the entire Hebei area. Everyone wanted Liu Xiu's head.
, take it to the king to ask for a reward.
With Wang Lang proclaiming himself emperor, Liu Xiu's situation in Hebei took a turn for the worse. He was once a respected and highest-ranking official, and suddenly became a street rat that everyone wanted to kill.
After Liu Xiu arrived in Hebei, there were hundreds of people who took refuge with him. However, after Wang Lang issued a reward order for Liu Xiu, these people who kept saying they were loyal to him fled in groups.
In the end, there were only dozens of people who insisted on staying with Liu Xiu and refused to leave, including Deng Yu, Zhu You, Yao Qi and other die-hard subordinates of Liu Xiu.
On this day, Liu Xiu and others entered Julu County. Originally, Liu Xiu planned to go to Zhending County to recruit Zhending King Liu Yang, but now he didn't have to go. Liu Yang had already publicly supported Wang Lang. He went to find Liu Yang again, but nothing happened.
It is different from throwing yourself into a trap.
Liu Xiu knew very well that his current situation in Hebei was extremely dangerous and his life could be lost at any time.
Now he was faced with two choices: either stay in Hebei and continue to recruit people, or go south immediately, return to Luoyang, and return to Liu Xuan.
Liu Xiu could predict the outcome of returning south to Luoyang now, and Liu Xuan would definitely not give him a way to survive.
Liu Xuan had no chance to attack him before, but now he finally had a reasonable reason.
While he was pacifying Hebei, there was an incident in Hebei where Wang Lang proclaimed himself emperor. Even if this matter had nothing to do with Liu Xiu, Liu Xuan would forcefully put the blame on him.
If he chooses to return to Luoyang, he will undoubtedly die.
Therefore, there seemed to be two options, but in fact Liu Xiu had no choice at all. He could only bite the bullet and continue to stay in Hebei. Even if he was hiding in Tibet, it would be much better than returning to Luoyang and being humiliated and beheaded by Liu Xuan.
The reason why Liu Xiu chose to enter Julu County was very simple. Julu County had not yet fallen to Wang Lang, and there were many waters in the territory, which were suitable for hiding. Wang Lang sent people to pursue him, and they could not move quickly here.
But similarly, the conditions in Julu County are also very difficult. It is winter now. In Julu County, it sometimes rains and sometimes snows. It is hot during the day and cold at night. The temperature difference between day and night is huge.
The ground is also muddy, and the mud on the ground is freezing cold. If you walk in the mud, your feet will be frozen to the point of losing consciousness in a short time.
Traveling to the Dalu Ze area, Liu Xiu and his party happened to encounter an abandoned small village. Liu Xiu and others entered the village and found no one, so they chose a relatively spacious empty house to rest temporarily.
Long Yuan and others lit a fire in the house, boiled a pot of boiling water, poured a bowl, handed it to Liu Xiu, and said: "My lord, drink some hot water and go to get rid of the cold!"
Liu Xiu nodded, took the bowl, and said to everyone around him: "Everyone, please drink some hot water too!"
"Thank you, Lord!" Everyone around responded in unison.
They had just rested for a short time when there was a noise outside.
Zhu You, Xu Ying, Xu Ting, and Xu Fei dragged the two young men in from outside. Entering the house, Xu Ying, Xu Fei, and Xu Ting pushed the two young men to their knees on the ground.
Everyone present knew these two young men. They both took refuge with Liu Xiu in Yecheng.
Everyone didn't understand what happened, and they all cast surprised glances. The two young men shivered and knelt on the ground, their heads lowered, and they didn't dare to take a breath.
Liu Xiu looked at Zhu You and asked, "Ayou, what's going on?"
"Lord, the two of them were about to run away, but they were caught by their subordinates! According to my guess, they must have gone to inform the police!" Zhu You glared at the two young men fiercely as he spoke.
The two young men trembled and said hurriedly: "My lord, I am not going to inform you!"
One of the young men said with red eyes and choked with sobs: "Since the villain has taken refuge with the lord, the lord has treated us with great courtesy and kindness. The villain is also grateful to the lord. However, the villain has a high position. , I have a wife and children, so... I really can’t abandon him..." At the end of the sentence, the young man was crying so much that he couldn't stop crying.
Everyone present listened to his words and felt sad.
They also had parents, wives and children, and they had struggled in their hearts, and there were times when they wanted to leave, but Liu Xiu's character and virtue made them admire Liu Xiu from the bottom of their hearts, and they were reluctant to leave just like that.
After listening to the young man's words, Liu Xiu was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Zhu You and asked: "Ayou, how much dry food do we have?"
Zhu You frowned and whispered: "My lord, there isn't much left!"
Liu Xiu said: "Give him a package for two people and let them go!"
"Lord -" Zhu You was anxious. They had very little food left, so when they were given another bag, there was even less left. Besides, who knew if they left at this time to inform? Revealing the whereabouts of the lord?
Liu Xiu looked around at everyone present and said softly: "I know that everyone has relatives who need to be taken care of, so no matter who chooses to leave at this time, I will not blame you, nor will I hold any grudges. If in the future, If anyone wants to leave, you can explain to me openly and openly. There is no need to run secretly. If there is no food, how far can you go?!"
His words moved everyone present deeply, and many people couldn't help crying. The two young men who were captured by Zhu You were even more ashamed and burst into tears.
"Lord, we are not leaving, we are willing to stay!" The two young men kowtowed forward and cried in unison.
Liu Xiu stood up, walked up to the two of them, pulled them up from the ground, and said, "Everyone, get up!" As he spoke, he turned to look at Zhu You.
The latter's facial features were about to clench into a ball. In the end, he had no choice but to stamp his feet fiercely. He took out a few pieces of dry food from his luggage and wrapped them in a piece of cloth.
Then he walked back to the two young men, stuffed the small cloth bag into the hands of one of them, and shouted in a deep voice: "Get out of here! If you meet me again in the future, even if I show mercy, my sword will be gone." No mercy!"
The two young men knelt down to Liu Xiu again and cried: "My lord——"
"Go!" The two of them have become separated, and Liu Xiu will not stay anymore. Even if he stays with them now, it will not last long in the future, and it will also affect the emotions of other people.
Seeing that Liu Xiu was determined and refused to stay with them anymore, the two young men looked at each other, kowtowed to Liu Xiu, then stood up and left in three steps.
Liu Xiu and others stayed overnight in this abandoned village. Early the next morning, everyone continued on their way. Liu Xiu and his party did not dare to enter the town because they were wanted by Wang Lang, and their food could not be replenished.
Along the way, food was constantly being consumed. After crossing the Sishui River in Julu County, Liu Xiu and his party were completely out of food. At this time, Liu Xiu could be regarded as the most difficult moment he had ever experienced in his life.
He was in a foreign land with no relatives, and there were countless people around him who were searching for his whereabouts and trying to take his head.
In fact, the danger Liu Xiu encountered at this time was no less than the Battle of Kunyang, and even more dangerous than the Battle of Kunyang.
It rained continuously all night, and Liu Xiu's situation was already difficult enough. At this time, he heard that the governor of Julu County had surrendered to Wang Lang. The governor of Julu County was gathering troops to hunt him down.
Liu Xiu could no longer stay in Julu County, so he had no choice but to head northeast to Xindu County. However, not long after entering Xindu County, bad news came again, and Xindu County also surrendered to Wang Lang.
Forced by the situation, Liu Xiu could no longer stay in Jizhou. In desperation, he had to continue fleeing north, out of Jizhou and into Youzhou.
Liu Xiu left Xindu County and fell ill as soon as he entered Zhuo County in Youzhou.
In the past few days, Liu Xiu had been exhausted from running around. He had already been exhausted. He had also been without food for many days, and his body was seriously overdrafted. However, none of these factors could compare with his psychological pressure.
He finally left Luoyang and escaped Liu Xuan's control. As a result, when he arrived in Jizhou, Wang Lang proclaimed himself emperor, and he was chased and killed by Wang Lang all the way.
From Zhao Guo County, he ran to Julu County, and then to Xindu County. Now in the huge Jizhou, Liu Xiu no longer had a foothold, and he had to run into Youzhou.
During this whole journey of escaping, Liu Xiu was under much greater pressure than the people around him.
He wants to live, and he also needs to lead the brothers around him to live together, but God seems to not want to give him a way to live, and has blocked all his roads.
Under tremendous psychological pressure, as well as being hungry and cold, Liu Xiu finally couldn't bear it anymore and suddenly fell ill.
At this time, Liu Xiu and his party had been without food for many days. In recent days, they had been relying on digging wild vegetables and grass roots to satisfy their hunger.
Seeing Liu Xiu who was ill at this time, everyone present was at a loss what to do. Even if there was good medicine now, it would be of no use. The Lord had to eat.
At this time, Feng Yi suddenly pulled out the sword from his ribs. Everyone present was shocked when they saw this, and they all asked in shock: "Gongsun, what are you going to do?" Could he be trying to do this? Rebellion and want to kill the lord?
Feng Yi looked at the crowd, then turned back and cut his robe open with his sword. People's eyes widened even more. Is he trying to cut off his robe to sever justice?
Normally, Feng Yi was a man of few words. He didn't speak at this time. After cutting open his robe, he put his hand into the seam of the robe and searched for a long time. Then, he took his hand out.
Everyone looked closely and saw his hands clearly. Their eyes almost popped out of their heads. It turned out that Feng Yi was holding a handful of beans in his hand.