Chapter 403: People's Minds Are Settled
Chengdu was the new seat of government chosen by Liu Yan when he moved in his later years.

The original seat of government, Luo County, had a complex network of local big families, which was difficult for Liu Yan to control, so he simply moved the seat of government to Mianzhu.

But Mianzhu seemed to have bad feng shui, and nothing went smoothly. The emperor's ceremonial guards and vehicles that were hoarded were unexpectedly burned to ashes due to a fire that started out of nothing.

This kind of thing cannot be investigated in detail, and Liu Yan felt his life was threatened, so he decisively moved the capital to Chengdu.

The relocation of a state capital naturally involves huge changes in interests.

How much could ordinary Chengdu people benefit? Only the powerful and wealthy families who originally owned land and houses could seize the profits from the appreciation of land and house capital, so they had some good feelings towards the foreign Liu Yan and Liu Zhang, but this good feeling was not much.

After all, when the capital was moved, not only Liu Yan and Liu Zhang, father and son, came to Chengdu, but also outstanding people from the entire Yizhou. These people increased the competitive pressure on Chengdu.

Compared with these local heroes, the Chengdu heroes can only bow their heads.

There were also people from Guanzhong, Nanyang and Jiangxia who fled here to escape the chaos and followed Liu Yan and his son Liu Zhang.

These people were distributed around Chengdu, setting up settlements and seizing local land and housing resources.

In order to hold on to the allocated land and houses for a long time, these immigrants from other states, known as Dongzhou people, banded together to face the outside world and firmly grasped the armed forces amid the ever-present friction between the natives and the immigrants.

Shu County is a true land of abundance. The locals are used to a good life and lack the fighting spirit.

If some of their land and housing resources are occupied, the worst that can happen is that they have to move farther away and still have enough food to eat, but their life will not be as convenient as before.

But there are always some people who maintain a strong fighting spirit, which leads to conflicts and frictions between the natives and the Hakkas from time to time, and this fuels the antagonism between the natives and the Hakkas.

In general, the people of Shu County, who have been used to a good life, still have room and leeway to continue to be patient.

Therefore, the strongest force in Yizhou is the Dongzhou soldiers.

However, now with Zhang Lu of Hanzhong suddenly surrendering to the north, a huge split occurred within the Dongzhou army.

The Dongzhou soldiers from Guanzhong and Nanyang were overjoyed. If they could return to their hometown, who would be willing to live in a foreign land and depend on others for their living?

The Dongzhou soldiers in other places were in uncontrollable fear. They were in Shu County and were always following the war in their hometown and Central Plains through various news channels.

They knew too well the intensity of the war outside, and they knew even more clearly how powerful the winner of the duel would be.

The locals don't care much about this. No matter they are ordinary people or powerful families, they all remain silent at this moment.

They did not support Liu Zhang's claim to the throne. The main force supporting him was the 100,000 Dongzhou soldiers, who were outsiders. What did they have to do with the people of Yizhou?
As news from Hanzhong continued to arrive, intelligence about the army entering Hanzhong became more and more detailed.

The more they understood, the calmer the Yizhou big families became.

I am not afraid of the other party being strong, I am just afraid that the other party is not strong enough, and it seems that both of you are evenly matched, which would be miserable.

With the current situation as thunderous as it is, and Yizhou being so vast, who is willing to guard the pass and resist the enemy for His Highness Prince Liang?
The situation became increasingly obvious in the tacit silence among the local big names.

For King Liang Liu Zhang, this was a very difficult choice.

He had not had time to build his palace, nor did he exploit or unite the big families in Yizhou by selecting palace maids and concubines.

He has so many things to do, but he hasn't had time to do them yet.

Whether to fight or surrender is a huge dilemma.

If you fight, your whole family will die if you fail; as a less orthodox king, if you usurp the opponent's title, your whole family will definitely die.

The same applies to surrender, the future is not optimistic.

Then there is only one option left, which is to escape and seek refuge in the southeastern court.

But he really couldn't bear to do that. At the moment, he didn't seem to have any choice.

While Liu Zhang was worried about this, some Dongzhou military leaders were secretly uniting.

Outside the simple royal palace is the residence of Liu Zhang’s third brother Liu Mao.

Liu Mao returned home and took off his silver-gilt chain mail with the help of his wives and concubines.

His wife, Wu, put on a small, light household crown for him, and when she saw the concubines and harems had left, she whispered, "My dear, my uncle is here."

"Why is uncle here?"

Liu Mao suddenly became nervous and asked in a concentrated tone, "But is there something wrong in Hanzhong?"

"I don't know, and my brother has urged me repeatedly, so I can only hide my uncle in the woodshed."

Mrs. Wu continued in a low voice: "My brother recently bought a fine horse from Hexi, and he will come to see my husband later."

"Okay, I'll go to the backyard to meet my uncle first."

Liu Mao went back to the wall, took down his sword and hung it up. Among Liu Zhang's four sons, he was the most knowledgeable about military affairs and had a close relationship with the Dongzhou soldiers.

It was precisely because of this factor that the local big families pushed the fourth son Liu Zhang to inherit the throne.

Now the Dongzhou soldiers are still the mainstay of Liu Zhang's strength, and Liu Mao is an important bridge to control the Dongzhou soldiers.

So Liu Mao was not only alive and very healthy at this moment, but also held enormous military power.

Liu Mao was still confident in his control over his mansion.

He did not shy away from it and immediately took his wife Wu to the firewood room in the backyard to meet Wu Kuang.

The two men greeted each other, and Wu Kuang took out a few stacks of silk books and put them on the ground: "Shugui, this is a letter from Hanzhong."

He took out a copy and handed it over: "This is written by Yang Song."

Wu Kuang just motioned Liu Mao to read it first. Liu Mao sat opposite Wu Kuang, took it and shook it open, then read it. His eyes widened immediately: "How could this be?"

This is a letter from Yang Song to Wu Kuang, telling about the incident a month ago when the imperial envoy from Guanzhong passed through Hanzhong to confer the title of King of Ba on Liu Mao.

The imperial envoy did not have the nerve to come to Chengdu to summon Liu Mao to read the imperial edict. Instead, he just made a tour in Hanzhong and then took the Qishan Road to Tianshui.

Liu Mao couldn't believe it and was secretly delighted. He quickly took the second silk book handed to him by Wu Kuang, which was written by Yan Pu.

It was also written to Wu Kuang, with the intention of persuading him to surrender.

Before Liu Zhang succeeded to the throne and killed Zhang Lu's mother, brothers, and some of his family members, Zhang Lu's status was like that of Liu Yan's adopted son, and the core members of both parties were basically familiar with each other.

Naturally, they were all very clear about their relationship with each other, for example, Liu Mao married Wu Kuang's niece.

Yan Pu's letter described in detail the Grand Marshal's horrific record of successive victories in the past two years. He hoped that Wu Kuang could spread the news so that more people could understand what kind of war this was.

Otherwise, too many idiots will incite and lead more innocent people to death under the information blockade.

Liu Mao looked at the horrifying data on beheadings and captures on the second silk book. If the battle records in this silk book... even if they were inflated, with only one-tenth of the beheadings, it would still be very terrifying.

The Southern Xiongnu, Xianbei, and various Qiang people were all defeated. Compared with these, what are the Dongzhou soldiers?
Who is King Liang Liu Zhang?
As the son of Liu Yan who was most knowledgeable about military affairs, Liu Mao had always been clear that the entire Yizhou had been dormant and had failed to awaken its full war potential.

No matter whether it is Liu Yan or the current Liu Zhang period, no one dares to awaken the war potential of the natives of Yizhou!
In this situation, there is really no way to fight!
(End of this chapter)