Chapter 251 Hesitation and Disappointment
Perhaps because Zhen Mi was given the authority to manage and develop the manor, her spirits were particularly high.

The black bear, who originally wanted to take a rest at noon and leave after a simple meal, was restrained by Zhen Mi.

Ma Yun also had a grateful heart and served the black bear meals very seriously.

The black bear took its time to finish its meal until nightfall, and had no choice but to stay in Lantian.

My body felt empty, and I thought about having to read and process many documents after returning to Chiyang.

He became more and more tired and lay on the bed not wanting to move.

After Zhen Mi came back from washing, she laid on the bed again and said, "I heard that the Yuan family girl has already arrived in Hedong. In five or six days, she will reach Guanzhong and meet the imperial envoy from Xudu. Will that be bad?"

Yuan Shang married three daughters of the Yuan family at once. The leader was naturally Yuan Shang's sister, but she was a little young.

In order to take care of her, two of Yuan Shang's cousins ​​were given as dowry.

Whether you are good-looking or not, or whether you have special talents or not, it doesn’t matter to the black bear now.

If sacrificing these three Yuan girls could get three pepper seeds in return, he would do it without hesitation.

I always feel that eating too much is not a good thing. After the Battle of Liyang and the end of spring plowing in Guanzhong, I will lead the officials to fast!

After Zhen Mi finished speaking, she waited quietly. She was somewhat disappointed.

She could feel that the black bear's arms around her waist were not very strong, as if it was perfunctory and out of habit.

Black Bear blinked his eyes and said, "I know what you are worried about. I will place them in Shanglin Garden with the men and women who came with them as dowries. I will let them out after you build the Beishan Villa. I will place them in Nanshan in the future to avoid you from meeting each other."

Zhen Mi was satisfied, but she was worried again and said, "I heard that Yuan Shang killed many people. Can you send someone to inquire about it? If my mother is safe, I will be relieved."

"Well, I'll keep an eye on it."

Black Bear raised his hand and patted her shoulder. "Do you remember Zhuge Kongming? He has moved to Shanglin Garden and will be responsible for the minting of copper coins. When he has made great achievements, I will have his assistance in the future. I won't have to do everything myself and run around."

Zhen Mi had some impression of Zhuge Liang and couldn't help but think of her experience in Jingzhou.

She was lost in memories for a moment. Although life in the cabin was difficult at that time, there was no one to serve her, and she was not even willing to spend money to buy two maids.

Although she has everything she wants now, the man she lives with day and night is getting further and further away from her.

She couldn't help but complain, and her voice became low: "My dear, I want to go to Xiangyang Official Market, and I also want to go to Lumen Mountain."

"Wait until Guanzhong is stable, which will be three years at the earliest, and I'll take you there."

Seeing that she seemed unconvinced, Black Bear patiently explained: "Liu Qi and I need to have a formal alliance. Pang Tong is like a wild horse that has run away from its reins. He will not let Jingzhou be conquered and annexed by me. But he is not Liu Qi's son. With the strength of the Pang family, he cannot replace him."

"So in the future, he will try every means to make Jingzhou obtain a unique status, such as letting Liu Qi be king. Only when Liu Qi is king can the people of Jingzhou get rid of the shackles of Han Dynasty's legal principles and become independent. In this way, even if Liu Qi wants to surrender, the people of Jingzhou will not allow him to surrender."

"Why did you let Pang Tong go?"

"Who in the world doesn't want to be king?"

Black Bear spoke in a slow and gentle voice, just like when the two of them were hugging and talking in the cabin, "I can be king now if I want, but I have to consider the situation of my allies. Only when all parties become kings can we avoid the Han Dynasty's last glory."

Liu Qi's declaration of kingship would naturally hinder the future annexation of Jingzhou.

However, after Liu Qi becomes king, the people of Jingzhou will be firmly bound to Liu Qi.

In Black Bear's eyes, Liu Bei replacing Cao Cao is the most terrifying situation; if this happens, the Han court will have extremely high diplomatic mobilization, appeal, and organizational power.

But if Liu Qi becomes king, then with the current human resources and productivity in Guandong and Hebei, they will not be able to do anything to him.

Allowing and supporting Liu Qi to become king would stimulate the ambitions of the scholars in Jingzhou, making them drift further and further away from the Han court and making it difficult for them to unite.

But it is also possible that the Xudu court controlled by Liu Bei appointed Liu Qi as king.

This is acceptable, after all, it is easy to establish a vassal state but difficult to reduce it.

The scholars of Jingzhou will only be loyal to their king, and it is impossible for Jingzhou to provide money and manpower to Xu Du without any bottom line.

After the vassal state was established, Liu Bei or the Xudu court could no longer directly annex Jingzhou.

Supporting Liu Qi to become king and establish a country was a key step in destroying the influence of the Han Dynasty.

If this step is achieved, then in many cases, the people of Jingzhou will be able to justifiably sit back and watch.

You can use Jingzhou, and the people of Jingzhou will also use you to gain a more comfortable position.

The two of them talked in low voices. Ma Yun, who was drowsy and fast asleep beside them, raised her eyebrows, twisted her body, changed her posture and continued to sleep.

At this moment, in the eastern suburbs of Chang'an, hundreds of temporarily conscripted laborers returned to the camp with their tools.

Zhong Yao drove to check and couldn't help frowning.

The Grand Marshal is the highest official in the country, equivalent to the general.

To be conferred a title of nobility and to be appointed as a general, even generals had to be appointed, let alone the Grand Marshal.

Unfortunately, Hei Xiong did not take the ceremony of paying homage to the Grand Marshal seriously, but Zhong Yao had to do it in a respectful manner.

It was impossible to borrow troops from Black Bear to serve as labor, so they could only temporarily conscript a group of corvée laborers from the surrounding counties.

Time was too tight and there was no time to pile up the soil to build the stage.

Zhong Yao could only transport the wood out of Chang'an City and build a wooden platform in the eastern suburbs.

As soon as Zhong Yao left, Guan Yu came here with a dozen people to observe the progress of the project.

Guan Yu looked unhappy. Although the position of Grand Marshal was offered to him by the imperial court, Black Bear reacted coldly.

Guan Yu instinctively disliked this attitude.

During this period, he went to Lantian and Chiyang, submitted visiting cards in both places, and also waited for Black Bear in Xinfeng.

As a result, because he was catching up too fast, he was always one or two days behind.

This experience had already made him unhappy, and now Black Bear was so perfunctory to the imperial envoy, which made Guan Yu feel that his honorable title of "Marquis of Han Shou Ting" seemed to have depreciated.

It cannot be said that it has depreciated. Black Bear does not even look down on the imperial court, so how could he take his title of Marquis of Han Shou Ting seriously?

As the sky was about to darken, Guan Yu could only lead the tired people back to Chang'an. After chasing back and forth, Guan Yu was exhausted and the horses could no longer bear it.

This trip to Guanzhong was a spur of the moment decision, and he did not prepare much money; if he continued to travel back and forth like this, he would have to borrow money.

Anyway, the imperial envoy is coming to Chang'an, and Black Bear will also come here, so just wait.

All the gates of Chang'an City were open, and there were not even any guards, let alone a night curfew.

It’s not that I don’t want to guard the gate, but Chang’an City is too big.

If someone really wants to enter or leave Chang'an City at night, they can just find a section of the city wall to climb over. You can't guard against such people at all.

Therefore, only the internal living areas of Chang'an City had sentries set up, and other places were like the wilderness outside the city.

Not only were people allowed to walk around freely, but groups of animals or hungry wild beasts would occasionally enter and exit the city gates.

In the official residence in the city, Guan Yu personally mixed the horse feed before going to bed. Looking at Red Hare, who had obviously become thinner, he couldn't help feeling distressed.

After feeding the horses, he returned to his dormitory, took out a newly copied volume of "Spring and Autumn Annals" and read it, and soon calmed down.

After nightfall, Guan Yu looked at the red flame of the oil lamp and became more and more certain that Black Bear was a traitor like Cao Cao.

In some ways, the black bear is even more hateful than Cao Cao.

Cao Cao often had limited abilities, and he made mistakes at every step. He fell down and got up again, and he had to do many things to get to where he is today. But the black bear, although he was very capable, was pursuing extreme personal gain.

However, Guan Yu did not feel any hatred. He just woke up from the initial beautiful vision.

Black Bear defeated the Huns and rescued so many boys and girls...It was difficult for any warrior from a border county to harbor any ill will towards Black Bear.

Perhaps their relatives, friends and fellow villagers who were abducted in their early years were among the people rescued this time; even if not, the black bear had avenged them.

This is the great cause of ethnic group's survival and continuation.

At this moment, Guan Yu regained his composure and thought about how to gain more benefits.

Of course, the great military prestige brought by the defeat of the Huns consolidated Black Bear's foundation and made the lower-level officials and people identify with and support Black Bear's rule.

But Black Bear rose too quickly, so he was highly dependent on the guest troops loaned by his allies.

It’s not that these guest troops need to do anything. As long as they stand next to the black bear, they can hold back many people.

Black Bear still lacks a trustworthy pillar of support.

Otherwise, how could a general like Gan Ning stay in Tongguan for such a long time?

The decisive battle of Liyang is about to break out. I can't go into the battlefield again to attack and kill Cao Cao's generals, right?

Guan Yu couldn't help but think of his good friends Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. The current situation of these two people was very dangerous.

Not only them, but also Zhang Xiu.

If the old soldiers from Yongliang under Zhang Xiu's command heard that Guanzhong was in great order, some of them would definitely desert.

The black bear cut off the horse supply channel from Yongliang, and Zhang Xiu's value to Cao Cao plummeted.

In this situation, Zhang Xiu wanted to prove his worth and loyalty, so he had to fight desperately.

This would further aggravate the losses of his troops, and the losses would intensify their escape... In short, Zhang Xiu was finished.

If you can see it, then many people can see it too.

As for Zhang Xiu himself, did he actively save himself, or did he play dumb and believe in Cao Cao one-sidedly?

The fate of these three surrendered generals will also affect people like Zang Ba, Liu Xun and Liu Ruo.

Guan Yu frowned as he pondered. He was somewhat reluctant to persuade Zhang Liao and Xu Huang to rebel. Wouldn't it be great to keep them and persuade them to rebel when attacking the Central Plains?
As for making meritorious contributions, Zhang Xiu is very suitable.

This is a heavyweight figure. Whether for the Xudu court or for Cao Cao, Zhang Xiu, the general who defeated the Qiang and the Marquis of Xuanwei with a fief of a thousand households, is also very suitable for him.

Guan Yu made repeated choices and only went to bed to rest after he decided to take action against Zhang Xiu this time.

As the sky brightened, Guan Yu naturally woke up.

When he opened his eyes to rest, his attendant brought him hot water and said, "Sir, Hei Zhenbei has come to the city and sent someone to deliver a reply."

Putting down the wooden basin of hot water, the follower took out the reply and handed it over.

Guan Yu picked it up and observed it. It was actually his visiting card, with Black Bear's reply on it, inviting him to meet before noon today.

"I want to take a shower and change into new clothes."

Guan Yu stood up and asked again, "Why didn't Guo Mu come?"

"He went to an appointment early in the morning."

The attendant smiled and said, "There are many young men from Hedong in the city. They admire you. Guo Mu was invited to preach your majesty."

"Hedong boy..."

Guan Yu had a complicated expression after hearing this. The powerful and wealthy families in Hedong who had rebelled were basically dealt with by Black Bear. No matter if their ancestors had a queen or three dukes or nine ministers, all three clans were made official slaves.

While being ruthless, he also allowed young people of appropriate age from Hedong to come to Chang'an University to make a living.

The current lecture system is incomplete. Black Bear has not established rewards, promotions and treatment, and the various scholars in the university are in a scattered state.

For the young people in Guanzhong, Hedong and Taiyuan, it was a great success if they could fill their stomachs and learn some words at the same time.

Anyway, we don’t charge tuition fees, so how much loss can we make?
I also thought that after this brief cooperation, the next time we meet in the future, we might become rivals.

Guan Yu was in a low mood, but not to the point of losing his composure.

After bathing, he changed into new clothes, led a few horsemen, and went to visit with the reply.

After all, this is the first time the two meet, so Guan Yu needs to be more serious.

(End of this chapter)