Chapter 372 Borrowing chickens to lay eggs
It was a muddy autumn rain in Guanzhong. Black Bear turned his head to look out the window and saw a continuous flock of white geese under a shed built on the slope in the distance.

It is pleasant and pleasing to the eyes, and I don’t feel sleepy anymore.

After waiting for another ten days or so, when the climate in Wuguan Road stabilized, Liu Bei was ready to mobilize troops.

The entire month of October was the time for Liu Bei to mobilize troops, transferring them from Nanyang to Yanmen County and Dai County.

As a show of support for Liu Bei, Hei Xiong has appointed Sun Qian as the prefect of Dai County, Jian Yong as the prefect of Yunzhong County, and Mi Zhu as the prefect of Yuyang County.

These three people have not yet actually taken charge of the counties, but with their current influence and deterrence, if the people of the three counties and the various Hu tribes do not want to die, they should recognize the status of these three new county magistrates. How to govern specifically is Liu Bei's business.

In short, Liu Bei's team will be the General Zhenbei's shogunate from now on. The only bad arrangement is the candidate for the military supervisor, the Governor of Youzhou.

There is no suitable candidate for the time being, and Black Bear does not want to interfere with Liu Bei's actions.

Anyway, if Liu Bei really wanted to establish his own regime, how could the military supervisor he sent over prevent something that even Cao Cao couldn't prevent?

Trusted backbones are already scarce, and they should not be wasted around Liu Bei.

Just as he was relaxing by admiring the geese, the three people, Zhuge Jin, the chief clerk of the remaining garrison, Sima Zhi of the West Cao, and Fu Gan of the East Cao, came together.

Zhuge Jin held the wooden tray and said carefully, "Your Majesty, urgent delivery from Hanzhong."

"Hanzhong?"

Black Bear looked at the three men with serious expressions and asked: "Did Zhang Lu send it?"

"Yes."

Zhuge Jin whispered: "Liu Zhang proclaimed himself king and called himself the King of Liang."

"So this is it?"

Black Bear picked up the silk book on the wooden tray and read it. The book had been fumigated with sandalwood, and there was a distinct fragrance surrounding it when he touched it.

He lowered his eyebrows and examined the contents of the silk book: "Zhang Lu asked me to grant him the title of Marquis of Hanning, Gan Xingba has not yet been granted the title of Marquis. Why should Zhang Lu be granted the title of Marquis?"

Black Bear threw the silk book back into the plate and asked Sima Zhi: "Zihua, what do you think of the changes in the situation in Yizhou and Hanzhong?"

Sima Zhi was also amazed at the black bear's self-restraint, and said: "Although Yizhou is remote, it is also a land of abundance. Therefore, the big families in Yizhou admire the elegance of the Central Plains, but often look down on it. Therefore, Liu Zhang's claim to the throne will inevitably lead to strict laws, which runs counter to the interests of the big families in Yizhou and is incompatible with water and fire. I think Yizhou will fall into chaos, and this is the time for Zhang Lu to use his troops."

At this time, Black Bear turned his head to look at Fu Gan, who bowed and said, "No, I think if Zhang Lu sent troops south, the big families in Shu would definitely join forces with Liu Zhang to resist. Liu Zhang only wants power and money, which does not involve the foundation of the big families in Shu. But if Zhang Lu led his troops into Shu, the Five Pecks of Rice Sect would flourish, which would definitely damage the foundation of the big families."

Fu Gan cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I think Liu Zhang calls himself the King of Liang in order to provoke and provoke Your Majesty. If Your Majesty is angry, the thunder will be unleashed in Hanzhong, which is the throat of Shu. The people of Shu will be terrified and will definitely follow Liu Zhang. The roads in Shu are difficult and dangerous, and Liu Zhang is looking for trouble. If Your Majesty sends troops, he will fall into his trap. He will take advantage of the terrain, and our army will not be able to advance smoothly, which will surely make Liu Zhang famous and powerful throughout the world."

Black Bear nodded after hearing this, feeling a little bored. "Liu Zhang wants to use my power to help him integrate Yizhou. Whether I send troops or not, it will boost his reputation. Zhang Lu's motive is also clear. He is afraid that I will anger Liu Zhang and send troops to Yizhou. If so, his Heavenly Master will abdicate and let others take over."

After thinking for a while, Black Bear asked the three people with a smile: "What is the name of Liu Zhang's brother? Forget it, draft a memorial to send to the Shangshu Xingtai, intending to propose that his brother be named King of Ba. It would be a good story for the two brothers to be vassal kings and guard the border for the Han Dynasty."

Anyway, the Minister of the Court Liu Ai is also in Guanzhong, and the Emperor of Xudu is gone. Now in Hei Xiong's place, all the chief officials with a salary of more than 300 stones are required to submit documents to the Secretariat of State through the East Cao of the shogunate, and the documents will be issued after being signed by the Secretariat of State.

As long as his fist is strong enough, all official documents issued by his Shangshu Xingtai will be called imperial edicts, and he has many believers.

After hearing Black Bear's opinion, Zhuge Jin and the other two immediately felt sorry for the unlucky guy.

How could Liu Zhang allow his brother to become the King of Ba?
There can only be one king in Yizhou, and there must be no division or infighting.

There was no shortage of powerful families and wealthy people in Yizhou who were against Liu Yan and Liu Zhang. It was reasonable for them to support their brother in order to oppose Liu Zhang.

Therefore, it is estimated that before this edict reached Mianzhu and Bazhong, Liu Zhang's elder brother must have died of a sudden illness. Then Fu Gan cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, a man like Liu Jiyu dares to call himself a king. I think that Your Majesty should follow the will of the people and claim the title of king."

Sima Zhi and Zhuge Jin were not slow to react. They both bowed their hands and knelt on one knee. "The world is in turmoil and the people are in dire straits. We beg Your Majesty to think of the country and the people and advance to the throne of king to meet the people's wishes."

"It's not urgent."

Black Bear said firmly without a smile on his face: "I will talk about becoming king after I conquer all of Bashu."

Fu Gan and Zhuge Jin didn't dare to speak again and just remained silent.

Sima Zhi asked: "What should be done with Zhang Lu in Hanzhong?"

"He was recommended as the governor of Hanzhong County, and several of his sons and nephews, as well as sons of Hanzhong and Ba people, were recruited to study at Chang'an University."

The black bear blinked and thought, there was no need to rush to touch Zhang Lu now.

Zhang Lu was smashed to pieces, and there were broken glass shards everywhere, which was very difficult to clean up.

After waiting for another two years, Qinghua Guard would have trained enough reserve officials to swallow up Zhang Lu in one fell swoop.

A collective assessment was conducted on the ghost officials of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect. Those who passed the assessment or could be reformed would be used as supplementary forces for the Qinghua Guard. Those who failed the assessment or were not adaptable to the reform would be packaged and handed over to Ma Chao and Yu Fan, who would be sent deep into the Western Regions.

Where Eastern and Western civilizations collide, with this group of stubborn Five Pecks of Rice Sect backbones, brilliant sparks are bound to be created.

What would the Five Pecks of Rice Sect say... He performed some magic in front of others and summoned a hill of flowers. In the eyes of the stubborn and fanatical core members of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, his behavior was actually the magic of ghosts and gods and evil ways.

Sending this group of tenacious and fanatical Taoists to the Western Regions to train them for a period of time can help improve the Western Regions and also allow them to improve their body and mind.

Such people are much more useful than those who can be easily reformed.

Seeing that several people were puzzled, Black Bear explained: "Zhang Lu has only just begun to settle Hanzhong, and his foundation is not solid. What I value is that he can win over the Badi mountain people. If we send troops to defeat Zhang Lu now, the Badi mountain people will be deceived by him or question his morality, which is not conducive to the shogunate taking over the Badi mountain people."

"We can't be impatient. We should first appoint him as the county governor. If we can give it to him today, we can take it back tomorrow. It will take two years to pacify the Badi mountain people. We must wait."

We are not afraid of the enemies gathering in one place, but we are afraid of them scattering.

The Badi mountain people have this characteristic, and the timing now is so ingenious.

Zhang Lu's Five Pecks of Rice Sect took a different approach, giving the lower-class mountain people of the Badi tribe hope of escaping from bloody and extravagant sacrificial activities.

Therefore, the Badi mountain people absorbed by the Five Pecks of Rice Sect now are mainly from the lower classes; these mountain people cited the Five Pecks of Rice Sect and used it as a banner to unite other mountain people, and jointly wiped out the ancient shamans and priests of the Badi tribe.

The sensible sacrificial shaman suddenly realized his mistake and joined the Five Pecks of Rice Sect system.

The nobles and leaders of the Badi tribe also responded to the call of the people and formed a solid cooperative relationship with Zhang Lu.

This resulted in Zhang Lu having considerable mobilization and appeal before he suffered a defeat and his prestige was greatly damaged.

In order to maintain Zhang Lu's current special status, Guanzhong will continue to send people to fight, so that he can systematically erode the foundation of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect and take over the Badi mountain people completely.

The Ba and Di mountain people... Excluding the Di people, the Ba people are an excellent source of mountain soldiers.

With the support of the Ba people, they would be able to open up the north and south of Yizhou and the passage to Jiaozhou in one go.

This is a process of borrowing a hen to lay eggs. Before the eggs hatch, Zhang Lu, the hen, cannot starve to death.

(End of this chapter)