Chapter 308: Secret Decree of the Regent
Five days after the Xudu Incident, Black Bear, who was concentrating on raising geese in Ganquan Valley, finally received conclusive intelligence feedback.

For ten days, the black bear concentrated on tidying up the valley.

More than a hundred puppet Taoist soldiers worked day and night to effectively widen the creek, mining stone slabs to lay stone embankments and build water weirs.

The water weir is a huge project. With each additional layer of stone embankment, the amount of work required almost doubles.

For every half-foot rise in the water level in ponds and weirs, the overall water volume increases more.

During these ten days, they only built an area of ​​about 800 acres with two gourd-shaped water ponds.

The foundation for the third weir has been dug, but there is no time for construction recently.

In the middle of the gourd pond, on a water pavilion built of stones.

While Black Bear was fishing, Zhen Mi scraped and washed the fish scales, and smeared the fish body with crushed ginger in a stone mortar to marinate it.

Black Bear was wearing a short coarse cloth coat, his trouser legs rolled up to his knees, and a white scarf wrapped around his forehead.

Zhen Mi wore a green dress and a white gauze, and also had a white scarf on her head to cover her bunted hair.

During the Xudu Incident, the emperor sacrificed his life for the country, and it was only right and reasonable for the whole nation to be in mourning.

Flocks of geese, big and small, were paddling in the pond, and Zhen Mi looked at them with a bit of envy.

But so far, except for the first three geese, black bears are reluctant to eat other geese...except ganders.

I don’t eat it now because it’s not the most plump season yet.

Only female geese have reproductive value and have a larger tolerance level.

As for the ganders, only those are kept for breeding, and the rest are consumables.

When feed is insufficient, thin geese and geese lacking potential will be slaughtered.

The same is true for raising geese, and also for raising cattle, horses and sheep.

Sitting in the shadow of the waterside pavilion, Black Bear's confusion and resentment from his previous life disappeared.

As long as you think it through, you won’t have so much resentment and anger.

I just figured it out, so when there is a flood, just take care of your own home.

As for Liu Xie's life or death, whether he was wronged, or whether he was wise and brave, what does it have to do with me?

As Black Bear admired the lake, geese, mountains and forests in the distance, and the sky, Zhen Mi said, "My dear, the chief officer has arrived at the shore and is about to board the boat."

Hearing this, Black Bear turned around and looked, and saw dozens of people on the shore, but only seven or eight of them finally got on the boat.

"Then you stay away."

As Black Bear was speaking, a small boat carrying stone slabs approached the pond downstream of the water pavilion. Two puppet Taoist soldiers rowed the boat, carrying Zhen Mi away.

Soon, Cui Zhouping and others arrived at the water pavilion by boat.

When they arrived, Black Bear put away his fishing rod and personally dealt with the last palm-sized fish, which was already a big fish in the pond.

Holding a short knife in hand, the fish scales faded away quickly.

The blade was sharp, and after removing the internal organs, he began to scrape out the delicate fish meat.

Before mixing the fish and meat paste, Black Bear stirred it and put it into a wooden jar, covered it with a lid and washed his hands with water.

After washing himself, the black bear came to the pavilion for the meeting.

He rolled up his sleeves and sat down. Cui Zhouping sat in the front row and led everyone in bowing: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"What's going on?"

"I heard that Your Majesty will attend the Hun's grand meeting in June. Today's changing times have caused unrest in the country, and the subjects are all angry about losing their master. In my opinion, Your Majesty should spread the message and gather heroes and patriots from all over the country to fight against the traitors. When the traitors are beheaded, peace will be restored to the world. I hope Your Majesty will understand this clearly."

After Cui Zhouping finished speaking, he bowed his head and the Si Zhi Kong Rong also wore white clothes, and even the black gauze Jinxian crown on his head was made of plain gauze.

Kong Rong also bowed and said: "The only one who can bring peace to the world is Your Majesty."

Kong Rong was also very scared these two days. If Kong Rong had not left Xudu early, he would have either died for the emperor, died for the country, or been killed by Cao Cao. He had no other way to go. Wei Duan, who came with him, also bowed and said, "I am willing to follow the Grand Marshal to fight against the traitors! I hope you will not abandon me and allow the people of Liangzhou to have a chance to serve the country and atone for their sins."

The other people also bowed and saluted, but Black Bear was unmoved: "Although Cao Cao is cunning and rampant, I don't think he dares to kill the king. There is no rush for this matter, and we will wait and see what the world decides."

Cui Zhouping added: "No matter what, please cancel your June trip."

"I have the natural defenses of Taihang and Nanshan, so why should I fear the changes in Guandong?"

Black Bear sat upright, took out his small teapot to pour himself tea, picked up the teacup and took a sip, then turned his head to look at the chief clerk Yang Fu.

Yang Fu then stood up to fetch boiling water and make tea for others.

In order to avoid waste, Yang Fu also improved his tea-making skills.

For example, nowadays, tea leaves and rock honey are boiled in a teapot and served directly to everyone.

The tea in front of me was scalding hot and hard to drink.

Cui Zhouping no longer cared about his face. Seeing that Black Bear was so leisurely and had no ambition to make progress, he said bluntly: "The country cannot be without a master for a day. I think the most important thing now is to contact all parties and establish a new emperor to ensure the safety of the country."

Several people holding tea bowls and blowing the tea took the opportunity to look up at the black bear and found that the black bear showed no sign of being interested.

Feeling quite disappointed and surprised, these people made eye contact again and communicated cryptically.

After hearing this, the black bear picked up an early-ripening red apricot, peeled the flesh, put down the apricot kernel, put the flesh into his mouth and chewed it. The flesh was slightly soft and tough.

Anyone who has tasted this kind of mountain red apricot will only feel a sour taste in the teeth and a salivating mouth.

After swallowing, Black Bear said, "As for the matter of electing an emperor, no one would be elected but me. It is important for people to know themselves. If I don't nod, what kind of emperor will they elect? We can't say that the one with the most powerful army is the emperor. We should say that the emperor must have powerful army and horses."

No one argued, which surprised Black Bear.

He glanced around and said, "Even if a centipede dies, it will not die. What's more, Cao Cao is such a treacherous and evil person in the world. I really can't afford to manage Guandong, and even Heluo is not enough. Let them fight. When I subdue the tribes in Hetao, there will be tens of thousands of cavalry. Compared with strengthening the foundation, why should I pursue trivial things?"

At this time, Wei Duan said: "Since Your Majesty does not fight for the throne, you should be promoted to the king to reassure the people of Guanlong."

Kong Rong was anxious and was about to persuade him to ascend the throne when he heard Black Bear's firm tone: "Not appropriate. How can we do such self-entertainment during a national mourning? With my achievements, I am still a little short of the throne. After I recover the four counties of Shuofang, unite and organize the various tribes in Hetao, and defeat the Xianbei in the west to eliminate the border threat of Liangzhou, we can discuss this matter later."

The Western Xianbei were a border threat to Liangzhou, and there were also the Hehuang Qiang and the miscellaneous Hu people scattered throughout Liangzhou.

Now everyone else was anxious. Sima Zhi, the Eastern Cao official, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is the time for great struggle. The people of Guandong have been deceived by Cao Cao, and now they are all in panic, and they all want a wise ruler to help them wash away the shame. If you delay, the people of Guandong will all belong to others, and they will be our powerful enemies in the future."

Kong Rong also said: "That's right. The heroes of Guandong have their hearts set on the court and the country, and they have been deceived by Cao Cao. They are eager to surrender to the new emperor to prove their innocence. If the emperor lets them go, they will have nowhere to retreat and will fight to the death."

"Well, that makes sense. Let them die someday."

As Black Bear spoke, he looked sideways, and Kong Rong and the others were choked and speechless.

The monarch who holds actual military power is not someone they can easily control.

At this moment, they all followed Black Bear's gaze and saw Zhong Yao leading a dozen officials from the Sili Xiaowei's office to the shore. Zhong Yao boarded the boat, and several officials who knew how to row the boat followed him.

The stern oar was shaking, and the boat was moving faster on the calm pond water.

After twenty or so breaths, they arrived at the Waterside Pier. It was called a pier, but in fact it was a pool of water that submerged the stone steps.

The boat barely stopped, and Zhong Yao, dressed in white clothes and a white scarf on his head, went ashore, stepped on the stone steps, and walked quickly forward.

He raised his hands and fell in front of the black bear, kowtowed with both hands and sobbed: "The thief Cao killed the king, the country cannot be without a master for a day! I beg the Grand Marshal of Liang to supervise the state affairs and follow the old ways of Duke Zhou!"

Wei Duan's eyes lit up, and he also stood up and knelt beside Zhong Yao: "Liangzhou Mu Wei Duan, I beg you to take charge of the state affairs and follow the old ways of Duke Zhou!"

Without waiting for Cui Zhouping, Kong Rong, Fu Gan of the Western Division, and Sima Zhi of the Eastern Division to speak, Zhong Yao, who had been prepared, took out a scroll of silk and held it in both hands: "The former General Zhenbei Wang Yi and General Zhengbei Kaifu Yitong Sansi Ma Teng signed their names here!"

While Zhong Yao was speaking, his accompanying official brought up Zhong Yao's flag and stood behind him.

He was the Shizhong and Sili Xiaowei who held the imperial seal. In fact, he was the authorized envoy of the emperor during his lifetime. His status was very special at this moment.

At this time, Cui Zhouping suddenly realized: "Your Majesty, does the Minister Liu Ai have the secret decree of the Emperor to supervise the country?"

Kong Rong nodded seriously: "So that's how it should be!"

(End of this chapter)