amaotonovel Chapter 628 Cao Pi, are you ready?
Chapter 628 Cao Pi, are you ready?
With the issuance of Liu Bei's imperial edict granting fiefdoms, the court began to actively prepare for Jian Huan's enfeoffment.
This was the first time the imperial court had granted fiefdoms, and Liu Bei was determined to make a great start. Therefore, he provided great support to Jian Huan, directly ordering him to post notices and distribute leaflets to recruit people on his own. Those who were willing to go to Funan with Jian Huan could move their whole family there.
At the same time, Jian Huan was also given 5,000 sets of equipment, 8,000 sets of farm tools, and sufficient cloth, grain and other supplies, as well as two warships, so that Jian Huan could immediately gain a foothold as soon as he arrived in Funan.
This level of support is far greater than the enfeoffment of royal family members by the Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffment system truly did not treat the royal family members and feudal lords as human beings. They would just draw a place on the map and go there. If they were killed by the local barbarians, it would be as if nothing had happened. But if they gained a foothold and developed in the area, they were expected to pay tribute regularly.
Among them, the most distinctive were the states of Qi and Yan. When Jiang Ziya, the first ruler of Qi, arrived in his fiefdom, he fought against the Dongyi people every day and was almost killed by them several times.
The state of Yan fared even worse. It lost contact with the Zhou royal family for hundreds of years. Later, when it encountered difficulties, it sought help from the Zhou royal family, and only then did everyone realize that the state of Yan had not died.
Compared to the Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffment system that treated feudal lords as cannon fodder, Liu Bei's enfeoffment was much more benevolent. He provided Jian Huan with all the troops, provisions, and weapons. With this foundation, even if Jian Huan was incompetent, he wouldn't have been killed by the Funan barbarians.
Moreover, unlike the barbaric state of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, Funan had been governed and developed by several generations of rulers and was no longer as barbaric as it was in the pre-Qin period. At least it had cities and houses, and no longer had to camp in the wild or live in caves like the rulers of the Shang and Zhou dynasties when they first arrived at their fiefdoms.
With the support of the Han Dynasty's advanced productivity, Emperor Jian Huan couldn't have been happier.
Amidst the busy affairs of the court, King Fan Shiman of Funan and his entourage were escorted back to Jiangling. Liu Bei held a grand ceremony to present the captives outside the city and bestowed upon King Fan Shiman the title of Marquis Gongshun.
As for Shi Hui, the culprit who caused Fan Shiman's capture, Liu Bei was not so lenient. He handed him over to the Censorate for trial and then publicly executed him.
There's no room for negotiation. Rebellion is an unforgivable crime. What if others follow suit if we don't kill them?
Liu Bei was already considered merciful for only executing one person and not implicating his descendants.
Afterwards, Liu Bei hosted a banquet in the palace to entertain the rulers and ministers of Funan. After speaking with them one by one, he selected a few prisoners who were least hostile to the Han Dynasty and handed them over to Jian Huan, asking them to return to Funan with Jian Huan to help him stabilize the situation there. The rest of them were to stay in Jiangling to live out their lives and never be allowed to step out of Jiangling City again.
Meanwhile, preparations for Jian Huan's enfeoffment were almost complete. On the tenth day after Fan Shiman was taken to Jiangling, Jian Huan, with more than 8,000 men and a "Five-Year Development Plan for Funan" hastily put together by Guan Xing, left Jiangling to take up his post.
These 8,000 people were recently recruited, with only 2,000 being young adults and the rest being their family members. These people were considered the first batch of immigrants to Funan.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Jing, Li Sheng and other prisoners of war from the Imperial Academy were also among them. These prisoners were originally to be exiled to Linyi, but after the incident in Funan, Jian Yong took them from Liu Bei and handed them over to Jian Huan.
Since it's all exile anyway, what's the difference between exile to Linyi and exile to Funan?
On the day Jian Huan took up his fief, Liu Bei held a grand farewell ceremony for him and personally escorted him and his entourage out of the city.
After seeing him off, Liu Bei stood on the city wall watching Jian Huan's departing figure and said, "Now that Linyi and Funan have been enfeoffed and Jiaozhou has been pacified, Minister Yong, do you think there will be any obstacles if I send troops to the south?"
The so-called Minister Yong is none other than Yong Kai, a powerful clan in southern China who rebelled after Liu Bei's death, thus triggering the story of Zhuge Liang capturing Meng Huo seven times.
Some time ago, Liu Bei ordered Yong Kai, Zhu Bao, and Gao Ding, three traitors from the south, to come to the capital. His original intention was to send troops to punish the south if they did not obey the order. However, the three were not fools. Facing Liu Bei, who had unified the south and was at the height of his power, they dared not be negligent. Upon receiving the order, they immediately rushed to Jiangling to pay their respects. And then...
Liu Bei's charm lies in the fact that anyone who meets or interacts with him will naturally be captivated by his personal charisma and willingly serve him. Historically, Yong Kai and the other two never met Liu Bei; if they had, they might not have rebelled.
Now that they had met, the three men, having only been in contact with Liu Bei for a few days, were completely captivated by his charm and could no longer muster any thoughts of resistance. Upon hearing Liu Bei's question, Yong Kai trembled with fear and immediately knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty is wise. I was young and ignorant before and was misled by Shi Xie. I will never dare to do it again."
Liu Bei helped him up and laughed, "I didn't say anything. Why keep bringing up the past? Since that's the case, pack your things and go back to the south. They don't need you there."
Yong Kai was a descendant of Yong Chi, the Marquis of Shifang, and was a Han Chinese. The southern region was a remote and uncivilized area under the control of the government, and the proportion of Han Chinese in the area was too low. Given the background of the court's migration and continuous expansion of territory, Han Chinese in the remote region were very precious. How could Liu Bei bear to kill them?
Rather than killing Yong Kai, it would be more in the best interest of the Han Dynasty to let him return to Nanzhong and continue to contribute to the Han.
Moreover, Liu Bei's ancestor Liu Bang and Yong Kai's ancestor Yong Chi were from the same hometown of Pei County and were also meritorious officials who helped Liu Bang establish the Han Dynasty. Although they had tricked Liu Bang to the point of near death on several occasions, they were still fellow townsmen and comrades-in-arms. With such a deep connection between the Liu and Yong families, Liu Bei would be too embarrassed to take action against them.
Upon hearing this, Yong Kai bowed again and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. After returning to Nanzhong, I will certainly obey Governor Hao Zhao's orders and will never cause trouble again."
Liu Bei nodded and said, "Your Yong family has been operating in Nanzhong for over three hundred years and is quite well-established. It's much easier for you to get things done than for Hao Zhao. Since that's the case, I'm giving you a task: send your clansmen to Kushan to find out the route to Kushan for me. Now that Jian Huan has become the ruler of Funan, Kushan may well have another ruler in the future. Do you understand?"
Yong Kai nodded hurriedly and said, "Understood, understood. My family has been trading with the Kushans for a hundred years. I know the route to the Kushans very well. I will send my family members to draw a map of the route from the south to the Kushans when I get back."
Liu Bei nodded in satisfaction, then turned north and looked towards Luoyang, saying leisurely, "Now that Linyi, Funan, and Nanzhong have been pacified, after accumulating provisions for another three years, I can lead my army north to conquer the world in one battle."
"Cao Pi, you only have three years left. Are you ready?"
……
"A-choo, A-choo!"
Cao Pi, far away in Luoyang, sneezed twice, rubbing his nose and muttering, "Damn it, who's talking badly about me behind my back again?"
After saying that, he hugged the two beauties and lewdly said, "Never mind, let's keep drinking. Beauties, jump up for me!"
At this moment, Cao Pi had two people lying in his arms, and a group of people were standing in the hall in front of him. Upon hearing the order, they all swayed their hips and danced to entertain Cao Pi.
Upon closer inspection, these beauties are all actually Cao Cao's concubines, now perfectly inherited by Cao Pi.
Cao Pi, who inherited all of Cao Cao's wealth, began to indulge in sensual pleasures and completely abandoned his former ways, citing the fact that Liu Bei was still alive.
Cao Pi believed that he was no match for Liu Bei. Rather than fighting hard only to be captured by Liu Bei in the end, he might as well enjoy this time while he could.
Therefore, after ascending the throne, Cao Pi completely abandoned the government. He didn't care about the court affairs, and he didn't even bother with his two brothers, Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi, whom he had always dreamed of getting rid of. In short, he thought, "Don't let anyone disturb me from enjoying my life. If I don't enjoy it now, I won't have the chance later."
He was relieved, but the court officials couldn't stand it anymore. The memorial submitted two months ago still hadn't received a reply. Grand Tutor Zhong Yao couldn't wait any longer, so he personally went to the palace to request an audience and sternly rebuked the eunuchs who were preventing him from seeing the emperor, saying, "Go and inform His Majesty immediately. I must see His Majesty today."