A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 706 Using the Imperial Edict

After Tao Qian arrived in Luoyang, he first met with Emperor Liu Xie, and then visited Lu Cheng.

In the novel, Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, has always given people the image of a loyal and honest elder. Later, he gave up Xuzhou three times and finally gave it to Liu Bei.

In fact, the fact that Tao Qian was able to become a governor of a state in such a chaotic time was enough to prove that he was not a simple person.

Tao Qian was smart and studious since childhood with a strong character. He was admitted to the imperial examination with his talent and became an official in the prefecture. Later, he was selected as an outstanding talent and served as a secretary and county magistrate. Because he was unwilling to go along with the corrupt officials of the court at that time, he was almost exiled to the frontier.

Later, Tao Qian was appointed as the governor of Xuzhou. After taking office, he reorganized the military system, put down rebellions, built water conservancy projects, and improved people's livelihood, making Xuzhou gradually prosperous.

Afterwards, Tao Qian relied on the abundant grain accumulated in Xuzhou to attract refugees from the troubled times and continued to grow and develop.

Tao Qian was indeed benevolent and righteous in his treatment of the people. Compared with other places ruled by princes, the people of Xuzhou lived a relatively stable and prosperous life.

Therefore, when Tao Qian came to Luoyang, Lu Cheng treated him with courtesy.

"Envoy Tao was stationed in Xuzhou, quelled the rebellion, and stabilized the people, allowing the people of Xuzhou to enjoy peace in this chaotic world. This is a great achievement, a contribution to the country and the court."

"General, you are overpraising me. Tao Qian is a man of limited talent and learning. He is the governor of a state. He can only do his best to live up to the trust of the court. General, you should lead the army to fight in all directions, stabilize the country, and make the people under your rule well-fed and well-clothed. Only then can you truly make great contributions to the world.

Qian is old, and it is a blessing from heaven that he can see the emperor again in his lifetime. Now, with the general in charge, the world will return to peace sooner or later. Qian is no longer suitable for important positions, and only wants to return to his hometown, enjoy his grandchildren, and enjoy his old age. I hope the general will allow it. "

"Envoy Tao has the ability to stabilize an area, but the world is not stable and the country is not at peace. How can you stay in your hometown? It is better for you to continue to serve as the governor and be responsible for governing Xuzhou. However, Xuzhou's soldiers lack training and need to be reorganized. I hope Envoy Tao can cooperate with us in the future to stabilize Xuzhou together."

Tao Qian heard this and looked up at Lu Cheng. Seeing that Lu Cheng looked sincere and didn't seem to be lying, he declined again and agreed: "Since it is the general's request, Qian will not refuse."

Afterwards, Lu Cheng and Tao Qian learned about the situation in Xuzhou in detail, and then sent Zhang He to Xuzhou with his men to take over the defense and reorganization of various counties in Xuzhou, and asked Tian Yu and Liao Hua to assist.

In this way, the entire Xuzhou fell easily into Lu Cheng's control.

Not long after seeing off Tao Qian, Xu Shu from Yingchuan returned from his studies and came to visit General Lu Cheng.

Speaking of which, ever since he was attacked by the Flying Eagle Guards under Lu Cheng that year, Xu Shu learned his lesson, gave up martial arts and began to study literature. After achieving some success, he traveled around to study and even stayed in Jingzhou for a while.

In just a few years, Xu Shu has become completely different from before.

The young and frivolous ranger disappeared, replaced by a calm and wise strategist.

After Lu Cheng met Xu Shu, he first tested his knowledge and then handed Xu Shu over to Jia Xu, asking Jia Xu to teach him further.

After taking Xuzhou, Lu Cheng also focused on the south and began to pay attention to intelligence from the south.

According to intelligence, Yizhou Governor Liu Yan has fallen ill and probably won't live for many years.

Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, and Yuan Shu often had friction. Recently, after learning that the emperor had returned to the old capital and Xuzhou was controlled by Lu Cheng, Liu Biao and Yuan Shu stopped attacking each other at the same time.

Yuan Shu also focused on Yangzhou in the south, and all cities in Yuzhou were on the defensive.

It is worth mentioning that after Cao Cao led his troops to escape from Dongjun, he went all the way south, crossed the river and went to Wujun.

Since Sun Ce was not yet 18 years old at that time and was still under Yuan Shu, he naturally had no chance to develop in Jiangdong, which gave Cao Cao an opportunity.

However, it was not easy for Cao Cao, a northerner, to control the many aristocratic families in the south.

As for Jiaozhou in the southernmost part, it is now called Jiaozhi and is the territory of Shi Xie, the prefect of Jiaozhi.

After comprehensively considering the situation in the south, the next strategy became very clear: first destroy Yuan Shu, then pacify Liu Biao, cross the Yangtze River, conquer Eastern Wu, and then conquer Hanzhong, Yizhou, and Jiaozhi.

However, since Sili and Xuzhou had just been taken, the counties and prefectures had not yet been completely pacified. The local land surveying and military reorganization would take some time to complete.

Therefore, Lu Cheng was not in a hurry to destroy Yuan Shu, but instead stabilized the internal situation first.

Of course, the brainwashing of Liu Xie cannot stop.

Although Lu Cheng was not afraid of something like the "Secret Edict" happening, he was too lazy to bother with it, and didn't want to disgust himself because of these things.

Therefore, simply changing Liu Xie into the person he wants can fundamentally solve many problems.

If those ministers still want to use the emperor's name and claim themselves to be loyal subjects of the Han Dynasty, Lu Cheng doesn't mind sending them to meet the emperors of the Han Dynasty in advance and let them go to the underworld to pledge their allegiance to the Han Dynasty.

In Luoyang City, the General’s Mansion.

"Xu Hu, how many of our people are there on Yuan Shu's side now? How many of them occupy high positions?"

"My lord, Yuan Shu currently has more than 100,000 soldiers under his command. Among the spies we have planted, the highest-ranking one has become a military lieutenant, commanding 500 soldiers. There are also two of our people in Yuan Shu's personal guard. If my lord needs it, we can send another elite force to cooperate with the internal personnel to take back the imperial seal from Sun Ce."

Lu Cheng shook his head: "There is no need to rush for now. Let our people continue to hide and focus on finding out the defense strength of the cities under Yuan Shu. In addition, pay more attention to Liu Biao. By the way, where are the three brothers Liu, Guan and Zhang now?"

"My lord, Liu Bei is currently stationed in Xinye and is deeply trusted by Liu Biao. However, Liu Biao's wife Cai and Cai Mao and others are quite dissatisfied with Liu Bei. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have also clashed with the generals of Jiangzhou."

"Pay more attention to the generals in Jingzhou. Bribe those who can be bribed in advance. If necessary, make those who cannot be bribed disappear."

"Yes, my lord."

After arranging some more work, Lu Cheng went to the palace to meet Liu Xie, and asked Liu Xie to issue another set of imperial edicts to be sent to Yuan Shu in Runan, asking Yuan Shu to return the imperial seal.

It has to be said that with Liu Xie in hand, imperial edicts could be issued at will. If anyone did not accept the edict or did not obey it after receiving it, Lu Cheng could directly send troops to attack in the name of the court and label the other party as a traitor.

Although he knew that the imperial seal should still be in Sun Ce's hands, Lu Cheng asked Liu Xie to give the imperial edict to Yuan Shu and see how Yuan Shu would deal with it.

At the same time, Lu Cheng also asked the close ministers lurking around Yuan Shu to seduce Yuan Shu to see if this kid had the courage to declare himself emperor now.

If it were any other prince, as long as they were not stupid, they would not dare to claim to be emperor. But for Yuan Shu, it was hard to say...