Chapter 389 Youzhou Integration
After staying in Zhuo County for three days, Liu Bei finally led Zhang Fei to start heading north towards Ji County, Guangyang County.

Ji County is the traditional capital of Youzhou. After arriving in Ji County, Liu Bei can perform the duties of General Zhenbei.

Zhuo County and Ji County are separated by Liangxiang County and Guangyang County.

Liu Bei passed Liangxiang but did not enter it, heading straight north. When he was about to cross the county boundary, he saw Guan Yu leading his troops in battle array waiting in the distance.

Guan Yu rode out to meet him and asked, "Brother, has the Yuan family made any unusual moves?"

Zhang Fei answered first: "Yuan Shi did not take any action."

"Yunchang, the people of Youyan have no intention of fighting now. If Yuan wants to start a war, he can only transfer troops from Jizhou."

Liu Bei was calm and smiled: "If we transfer troops from Jizhou, will the people of Youyan under Yuan Xi agree?"

Guan Yu heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this. He was not afraid of going to war with the Yuan family now. The fact is that once a war broke out, it would seriously interfere with the depth of integration of various forces in the six counties of Youzhou.

Without going to war, by relying on the might of Guanzhong, the 12,000 infantry and cavalry they brought would be enough to absorb most of the six counties.

When going to war, various concessions must be made in order to obtain replenishment of food and supplies, as well as the enemy's assistance and neutrality.

In this way, even if Yuan was defeated, they would be restricted by layers of treaties and would find it difficult to continue in-depth integration.

Guan Yu turned his horse around and followed Liu Bei, saying, "The Wuhuan people under Zilong's command are homesick. Zilong has noticed this. Now all the Wuhuan people have been settled in Guangyang County, waiting for your decision."

After listening to this, Liu Bei fell into deep thought. He realized that if he had stayed in Zhuo County for a few more days, many of his veteran soldiers would have to return home, which wasted their time.

Zhang Fei said, "Brother, I think the Wuhuan people now know the power of our army. When fighting Cao Cao, they fought bravely. If we detain them now, it will hurt their feelings and make the heroes of Youyan look down on us."

After hearing this, Guan Yu turned around and looked at Zhang Fei seriously, thinking that this was not something Zhang Fei would say.

After thinking about it, I immediately understood that it really doesn't matter whether the soldiers have morale or not. The key is not to be looked down upon by the fellow villagers.

You should be more generous when doing things and spending money.

Liu Bei thought this made sense, so he said, "Now is the time to gather heroes. I intend to send all the Wuhuan back and let them decide whether to stay or go. If they are willing to come back in the spring, I will submit a petition to the Grand Marshal to register them as households, grant them a register, and survey their pastures."

The captured Wuhuan were mainly from Daijun, Yanmen, Yuyang and Shanggujun. They were a series of Wuhuan tribes that migrated westwards and developed from the three large Wuhuan tribes.

In total, these Wuhuan left voluntarily or involuntarily due to the internal competition among the Wuhuan in the three counties.

With Budugen's surrender, these small Wuhuan tribes that migrated westward were actually under the deterrence range of Guanzhong.

Guan Yu did not comment on this decision. Zhang Fei just frowned slightly, feeling that releasing all of it in one breath was a bit too magnanimous.

These Wuhuan people are worthless, but the horses they bring with them are very valuable.

Now that I have returned to my hometown, recruiting soldiers is no longer a problem.

If you have horses, you can train your sons and daughters to become good riders.

Zhang Fei noticed Liu Bei looking at him, and immediately said, "Let them go. There are more than 4,000 infantry and cavalry, and the food and fodder for them is not cheap. Our army is new, and we still need to collect and distribute food and fodder. It is not easy to collect so much winter fodder. If we do that, we will be laughed at, which will hurt my dignity."

After saying this, Zhang Fei turned and said, "But big brother, the Grand Marshal is now gathering troops in Hexi, and it is difficult for him to take care of the six counties. Without these four thousand Wuhuan volunteers, if something happens, we may be controlled by the enemy cavalry. Why not split them into two groups and send one group back first?"

Guan Yu remained silent. Liu Bei seriously considered Zhang Fei's proposal and said, "No. Yuan wants to use troops in Youzhou, but we dare not rush to attack. Otherwise, the people of Youzhou will be frightened and angry, and will surely join forces with me to fight against them. This is not something Yuan can easily win. I think Yuan will instigate the Wuhuan in the three counties to invade. If so, we should send back the Wuhuan knights earlier."

At this time, there is no need to look for Xu Shu, the military advisor, as Liu Bei can also consider the overall situation.

The reason why Xu Shu was chosen to be the military advisor during the war between Jingzhou and Yuzhou was because Xu Shu had sufficient connections and knowledge, and had a relatively detailed grasp of all aspects of Jingzhou and Yuzhou, so he could make accurate predictions about events.

And this is Youzhou, which involves border disputes.

For many things, even if Liu Bei suddenly returned after being away for ten years, he could still grasp and understand the development trend of the situation.

Because Liu Bei had already grasped the nature of the changes in people's hearts in the border counties.

The reason why a black bear could quickly establish a base in the unfamiliar Guanzhong after traveling around the world was entirely due to its strong fighting power.

When the fighting power is strong enough, it can quickly disrupt the existing situation like a black bear and form a roughly stable ruling structure.

What would have originally required two or three years to become a truly stable foundation was rapidly transformed into a stable, firm, and solid supporter by the people of Guanzhong due to the impact of 100,000 Hun heads, a huge amount of rescued people, and the benefits of the beasts.

We cannot compare with Da Sima when he started his business, but we have the advantage of being locals and being able to draw on Da Sima's power.

Therefore, Liu Bei was confident that he could quickly integrate Youzhou, because the people of Youzhou did not want war to break out in their territory.

The bottom line of the Youzhou people is to keep the enemy out. As long as this bottom line is met, many things can be discussed. Before Liu Bei came, the Youzhou people were divided into various parties, suppressing and delaying the occurrence of large-scale battles; now that Liu Bei has come, how could they deliberately make mistakes and let themselves be cut off from their fellow villagers and abandoned by their relatives and friends?

Liu Bei handled the affairs of Youzhou with ease.

Staying in Guangyang County that night, Liu Bei entered the city to make promises in person and to appease the emotions of the Wuhuan knights.

The Wuhuan knights cannot be released immediately to return to the tribe.

He would have to wait until he entered Ji County, performed his duties as General Zhenbei, and issued relevant notification documents to all counties before he could release the Wuhuan knights.

They were not afraid that the Wuhuan knights would cause damage, but they were worried that the Wuhuan knights who would break up and return to their tribes would be captured, robbed and killed by the Youzhou local tyrants.

After explaining the matter clearly, Liu Bei arrived in Ji County before noon the next day.

The city wall of Ji County is tall and has been well maintained to this day.

Xianyu Fu, Tian Yu and powerful men, warlords, tribal leaders or envoys, big and small, came out to greet them.

A huge curtain was set up on the riverside fields outside the South Gate, and cattle and sheep were slaughtered to welcome Liu Bei and the Zhenbei Army.

After Zhang Fei led his personal soldiers to take over the curtain sentry duty, Liu Bei entered and attended the banquet under the guidance of Xianyu Fu.

At the banquet, Liu Bei naturally sat in the main seat, and Guan Yu sat in the second seat.

So far, Liu Bei was the Marquis of Yicheng Ting conferred by Emperor Xiaolie during his lifetime, and Guan Yu was the Marquis of Hanshou Ting. Guan Yu was conferred the title of marquis for his world-renowned military achievements, so even when he went to meet the Grand Marshal, Guan Yu was qualified to sit in the audience.

Liu Bei sat upright, and after everyone else had taken their seats, he said to Xianyu Fu, who was the first on his left: "You have been able to protect Youzhou from being invaded by the Hu people, which is very valuable. Therefore, the Grand Marshal has submitted a petition to appoint you as General Tiger Teeth."

Liu Bei turned his head to look at his attendants as he spoke. One of them came forward holding an imperial edict issued by the Chang'an Shangshu Xingtai. "General Xianyu Fu of the Left Du Liao, please listen to the edict."

"The minister is here."

Xian Yu Fu knew something about this, and with a heavy heart, he slowly stood up and knelt before the envoy holding the imperial seal. The envoy spread out the imperial edict and read, "You have made contributions to the country by saving the people of the six counties, but you have the reputation of being an accomplice of Cao. I will now strip you of your title of Marquis of Ting, remove you from the post of General Zuo Du Liao, and appoint you General Xing Hu Ya."

"I will listen to your instructions."

Xian Yu Fu bowed again, took out the seal bag and handed it over, then took the tiger-tooth general seal that had been circulated many times.

With the Marquis of Ting gone, his bad history of being a subordinate of Cao Cao was wiped out.

The situation in Youzhou does not stand up to scrutiny. For example, at this moment, where is Liu He, the son of Liu Yu, the former governor of Youzhou?
According to normal cognition, after the annihilation of Gongsun Zan, Liu He, the son of Liu Yu, should be supported again to succeed the governor of the state. Liu He also had troops under his command and had experienced the war to annihilate Gongsun Zan with Xianyu Fu and Yuan Jun.

As a result, such a person disappeared without a trace.

Also disappearing at the same time were the two eldest sons of Yuan Shao's military advisor Lu Zhi.

Gongsun Zan was destroyed seven years after Lu Zhi's death; there is no such thing as Lu Zhi helping Yuan Shao to fight against Gongsun Zan. At that time, Lu Zhi came out to attack Dong Zhuo.

But later, Gongsun Zan was defeated and Lu Zhi's two eldest sons were killed by rebel soldiers.

This is seriously contrary to common sense. What is the status of the Lu family in Youzhou?
Liu Bei could only suppress it and deal with it later.

When Lu Xuemen's disciples gathered one after another, if there was really a conspiracy, Liu Bei would naturally not sit idly by.

Liu Bei waited for Xian Yu Fu to take his seat, and then asked, "You are familiar with border affairs, can you recommend a virtuous and capable commander to protect the Wuhuan?"

Xianyu Fu immediately returned the favor by recommending Tian Yu, an old friend of Liu Bei, his own chief secretary, and fellow villager: "Tian Guorang is smart and capable, familiar with border affairs, and highly respected by the Wuhuan. He can perform the duties of the commander of the Wuhuan Guard."

Liu Bei turned his head to look at Tian Yu standing behind Xian Yu Fu, and said with a straight face: "What do you think, Guo Rang?"

Tian Yu cupped his hands and said: "If Yan Rou from Yan can be retained as the Sima, I can persuade the three counties to make Wuhuan subordinate to the Duke of Zhenbei."

Liu Bei thought about this proposal for a moment and said, "I will appoint you to be in charge of supervising the Wuhuan, and the selection of Sima should be decided by yourself."

Tian Yu took a deep breath, stepped out and bowed to Liu Bei: "I will obey your orders."

Now Liu Bei turned his head to look at another follower, who came forward with an imperial edict and an official seal and appointed Tian Yu as an official.

Then he made arrangements for the governor of Guangyang County, and issued an imperial edict to summon him to Guanzhong and let Xu Shu take over.

As for the Ji County Magistrate, he casually handed it over to Xu Shu's good friend Shi Tao.

After waiting for a long time, Liu Fang, the envoy of Wang Song who was in charge of the three counties, was able to come forward with the gift list and surrender letter.

(End of this chapter)