Chapter 376: Take off your emperor's new clothes! Execute Yuan Shao and issue an edict to Hebei! Want to learn from Gongsun Zan? He thinks too much!

Liu Bei's eyes were calm as he looked down at Yuan Shao coldly.

Although he appeared calm on the surface, he was filled with emotion deep down.

It would be a lie to say that there was no ripple in my heart.

The person kneeling in front of me at this moment is not an ordinary person, but Yuan Shao.

When he was still playing in the mud in his hometown of Zhuo County, he had already become famous all over the world and was regarded as the leader of future scholars and the backbone to save the declining Han Dynasty.

In his eyes, it was high above, unattainable, a legendary existence.

At that time, he was just a small county magistrate, but he was already the leader of all the princes in the world, a hegemon who had the support of hundreds of people in the world.

Once upon a time, he never dreamed that he would be able to defeat this man one day.

Or even replace it.

But now, he did it.

He has replaced this legendary strong man, pulled this man down from the clouds to the mortal world, and made this man kneel before him.

And he himself has become the new strongest in the world!
It all seemed like a dream and there was a feeling of unreality.

"Your Majesty, this thief is a Han minister, but he has usurped the throne and is plotting treason and usurping the throne. He deserves death!"

"Now he even resisted until Yecheng was destroyed, causing many people to die because of him."

"I think we should behead this villain to deter the world from usurping the throne and traitors!"

Xiao Fangsen's cold advice brought Liu Bei back to reality from his trance.

Liu Bei put away his emotions, and a murderous intent gradually arose in his calm expression.

"Yuan Shao, you heard what Prime Minister Xiao said."

"You have usurped the throne and plotted treason to usurp the Han Dynasty. If I don't execute you, I will not be able to uphold justice."

"If you have anything else to say, say it now."

Liu Bei's attitude was clear.

He wanted to kill Yuan Shao.

Emperor Gaozu left a legacy: if anyone other than a member of the Liu clan becomes king, the whole world will unite to attack him!

Yuan Shao was not a member of the Liu royal family and had not received the emperor's edict, but he dared to call himself king and sovereign, making it clear to the world that he intended to usurp the Han Dynasty and commit treason.

How could such a traitor to the Han Dynasty not be killed when he was a descendant of the Han Dynasty and the King of Chu appointed by the Emperor?

He had to kill him, but he respected Yuan Shao as a local tyrant after all, so he wanted to give him a chance to leave a last will.

Yuan Shao knew that this would be his fate, and Liu Bei's death sentence did not break his spirit.

But the word "Prime Minister" made his body tremble, and his eyes shot towards Xiao Fang with trembling hands.

"You...you are the Xiao Fang Xiao Jinglue?"

Yuan Shao's eyes were bloodshot and he asked almost gritting his teeth.

"Yes, I am Xiao Fang."

There was naturally no need for Xiao Fang to hide his identity and he admitted it openly.

Yuan Shao's heart was shocked again. He clenched his fists in an instant, anger burning in his eyes. He even had the urge to jump up and use all his last bit of strength to strangle Xiao Fang to death.

If possible, he would like to cut Xiao Fang into pieces to relieve the hatred in his heart.

If it weren't for the assistance of this country bumpkin, if it weren't for his brilliant strategy and numerous ingenious plans, how could he have been defeated again and again by Liu Bei, and been forced step by step into the desperate situation today?
If Liu Bei forced his mortal enemy to death, then Xiao Fang was the culprit hiding behind the scenes and adding fuel to the flames!
"Xiao Fang, you are such a blind man!"

"My family has been three ministers for four generations, and my name is known all over the world. Why don't you come to assist me and join me?"

"Why did you join that mat weaver and shoe seller and help him drive me into a dead end?"

Yuan Shao was filled with grief, anger and confusion, and asked Xiao Fang angrily.

Xiao Fang smiled.

At this time, when he was about to die, Yuan Shao was still proud of his family background and looked down on Liu Bang because of his humble origins.

In this case, it is necessary to kill him and destroy his heart. Before killing Yuan Shao, his arrogance must be destroyed first.

"Although my family, the King of Chu, was born in a humble family, he has the blood of the Liu royal family flowing in his veins. Even though you, Yuan Shao, have been a minister for four generations, you are still just a minister of the Liu family."

"Besides, heroes have always been judged by their origins. Emperor Gaozu was only a village headman, but he was able to overthrow the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, kill Xiang Yu, and establish the 400-year foundation of the Han Dynasty."

"Until now, you still think that one's background is the key to success or failure. Yuan Shao, your vision is just like that."

Xiao Fang mocked Yuan Shao back with just a few casual remarks.

"Xiao Fang, you——"

Yuan Shao was so embarrassed that his face turned red, and he was speechless for a while.

Xiao Fang did not give him a chance to talk back, and continued:

"Although you have occupied Hebei and once became the most powerful ruler in the world, it is not because you are truly a powerful ruler, but because you have never met a true and wise ruler like my Lord."

"In my opinion, you are fierce but timid, you are good at making plans but lack decision-making, you are too cautious when doing big things, and you forget your life when you see small gains. You are not worthy of the word hero at all!"

"You are only slightly better than that idiot Yuan Shu."

"How ridiculous that you have only learned a few superficial aspects of the emperor's mind, and you are already playing political games before the world is settled. You indulge your two sons in fighting for the throne, your ministers forming cliques for private interests, fighting openly and secretly, and putting personal gain above justice!"

"You thought you were a master of political tactics, and that you had your sons and subordinates check and balance each other, but in the end, you were deserted by everyone, and even your own son was left alone to die!"

"Yuan Shao, you are so stupid and mediocre!"

"For someone like you whose bloodline is inferior to that of the King of Chu, whose bearing and pattern are inferior to that of the King of Chu, and whose imperial mentality is inferior to that of the King of Chu, are you worthy of me, Xiao Fang, to join you and assist you?"

Xiao Fang was not polite and stripped Yuan Shao of his emperor's new clothes. Of course, there was some exaggeration in it.

So what? Do you need to consider the other person’s feelings when you argue with them?
"Xiao Fang, a country bumpkin, you, you——"

Yuan Shao, whose spine was stabbed, turned red and purple in the face. His eyes were full of rage and seemed to be about to burst out. The veins on his forehead were bulging.

His pride, his innate sense of superiority, and his arrogance were all ruthlessly torn apart by Xiao Fang at this moment.

"Woo——"

Yuan Shao was so angry that he spurted out a stream of blood.

Looking at Yuan Shao who was vomiting blood after being scolded by Xiao Fang, Lao Liu didn't say anything, but he felt secretly happy in his heart and secretly praised the scolding!

After Xiao Fang had finished arguing with Yuan Shao, he retreated to the side of Liu Bei, giving him a slight hint with his eyes.

Liu Bei was too lazy to listen to Yuan Shao's angry words, and waved his hand and shouted:

"Come here, drag this traitor Yuan Shao away and behead him!"

"Send his head to all the counties in Hebei!"

Chen Dao and other Yulin guards had been holding their breath, waiting for Liu Bei to say this.

As soon as the order was given, Chen Dao waved his hand and his left and right men rushed forward and lifted up Yuan Shao, who was vomiting blood.

"Xiao Fang, you are a country bumpkin, a thief from a poor family!"

"Even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go—"

"Big-eared thief, do you think that if you kill me, you can conquer the world and revive your Han Dynasty?"

"This world belongs to the aristocratic family, not your Liu family!"

"The noble families will not sincerely submit to a person like you who only makes mats and sells shoes. The world you stole from me will sooner or later be stolen by the noble families!"

"Big-eared thief, I will wait for you on the road to the underworld—"

Yuan Shao, who was suffering from a mental breakdown, had completely lost his composure at this moment. He started to curse like a shrew whose lies were exposed.

Seeing Yuan Shao in such an undignified manner, Liu Bei showed no anger on his face, but just shook his head with regret.

Yuan Shao was so mad and furious that he was dragged out of the Golden Palace by the Yulin Guards with a heart full of curses.

"My king, it's a good thing that Yuan Shao was killed. It's so satisfying!"

"Now that the old villain Yuan has been killed and Yecheng has been captured, the State of Wei is doomed!"

"We must reward the soldiers today and get them drunk!"

Zhang Fei shouted in ecstasy.

The emotions of all the generals were aroused, and they all laughed and agreed with Zhang Fei.

"Of course we have to drink the celebratory wine, and we have to reward the soldiers of the three armies, but it's too early to say that the Wei Kingdom has been destroyed now."

After Liu Bei smiled, he said calmly:
"Although Yuan Shao was executed, his son Yuan Xi still occupies Bingzhou. Yuan Shang still has 40,000 troops stationed in Nanpi, and Chunyu Qiong still has 10,000 troops in Pingyuan."

"The northern counties of Jizhou and the counties of Youzhou have not yet been taken over."

"Yide, now is not the time to sit back and relax."

Old Liu was not overwhelmed by the great victory of Yuan Shao's assassination and the capture of Ye City, but he still remained calm.

This calmness made Xiao Fang nod secretly and approve of it.

"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. Now the overall situation has been decided, but we still have a few final battles to fight."

"Yuan Xi has less than 20,000 troops and Bingzhou is a remote place, so it has nothing to do with the overall situation."

"After the king defeated Yuan Shao, the first thing he did was to turn his troops against Yuan Shang."

"I predict that Yuan Shang will not dare to defend Nanpi. He will definitely join Chunyu Qiong and lead his army to retreat north to Youzhou. Relying on the Yijing defense line left by Gongsun Zan and using the Yishui River as a natural barrier, he will continue to resist stubbornly with Youzhou at his back."

"After our army has rested for a while, Your Majesty will quickly lead the troops north, first take Nanpi, recover the counties of Jizhou, and then head straight for Yijing!"

"As long as Yijing is destroyed, Youzhou will have no defenses, Yuan Shang will surely die, and Youzhou can be conquered by sending an edict."

Xiao Fang pointed his feather fan to the north, and in an instant outlined the next direction of military deployment for Lao Liu.

Liu Bei agreed with this, but when he heard the words "Yijing Defense Line", his brows furrowed slightly.

"The Yijing defense line is said to be impregnable. I heard that Gongsun Zan relied on this defense line to hold out for more than a year."

"Yuan Shang has retreated to Yijing and is relying on this line of defense to put up a desperate resistance. I'm afraid it will cause a lot of trouble for our army to sweep Youyan."

Taishi Ci expressed what Liu Bei was thinking.

Liu Bei nodded slightly.

"Gongsun Zan was able to hold on to Yijing for a year because he had been managing Youzhou for many years. Even though rebellions broke out due to the killing of Liu Yu, there were still many heroes who were loyal to him."

"Yuan Shao had just conquered Youzhou and was eager to return to the Central Plains. In fact, Yuan Shao did not complete the consolation and win over the people of Youzhou."

"If Yuan Shao is like this, what about Yuan Shang?"

After Xiao Fang made a comparative analysis, he said slowly:

"Your Majesty is originally from Youzhou. Now that he has returned to Youzhou, he can be regarded as returning home in glory. Naturally, he has an irreplaceable influence on the heroes of Youzhou."

"What the king has to do now is to quickly go to the prison and personally release and recruit one of Yuan Shao's old officials to serve the king."

"With your own influence, coupled with this man's relationship with the scholars in Youzhou, he will surely lead the heroes of Youzhou to rise up against Yuan Shang."

"Without the support of the Youzhou people, how can Yuan Shang hold on to the Yishui defense line even if it is strong?"

(End of this chapter)