Chapter 73: Receiving a New Title

  As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the Youshuo, Liu Hu rushed out and said urgently: "Jingdi, your uncle has sent someone to find you twice, hurry up!"

  Liu Jiong was taken aback, and without thinking twice, he turned his warhorse around and galloped towards the dock. Liu Hu quickly rode up from behind, "Jiong, wait for me, I'll go with you."

  "Tiger, did the messenger say anything?" Liu Xuan asked on the ferry.

  "No, but Uncle Bo seems to be in a hurry. The messenger told me to find you. I've searched all over Fan City and can't find you anywhere. Neither Meng Shu nor Xiao Baozi know where you went?"

  Liu Hu's eyes had some resentment, "Where did you go?"

  Liu Jue smiled slightly, his eyes gazing towards Xiangyang City. He had a premonition that Liu Bei's urgent summons would be good news.

  The two of them crossed the river and entered Xiangyang City, riding their horses towards Liu's mansion.

  Today is the third day of the first month, and it's also the last day off for government officials. For Liu Biao, who has been busy for two days, it's his first day off. At this moment, Liu Biao is sitting in his study reading a book. He loves reading books all his life, and his collection of books is impressive, ranking among the best in Jingzhou.

  Liu Biao was unwilling to be disturbed while reading and required absolute quiet, but at this time he seemed a bit restless. He was waiting for Liu Xun, who had been notified more than an hour ago, but Liu Xun still did not arrive, which made Liu Biao slightly displeased in his heart.

  Although Liu Biao was only the governor of Jingzhou, he was a legitimate relative of the Han imperial family and had no psychological barrier to ascending to the throne. He felt that he was more suitable to inherit the Han dynasty than the current emperor, especially since Cao Cao was manipulating the emperor to control the vassals. He believed that he himself had an unshirkable responsibility to continue the Liu clan's legacy.

  Although ambitious, Liu Biao did not dare to march north and attack Cao Cao. He knew he was no match for Cao Cao, and even when Yuan Shao invited him to launch a pincer movement against Cao's army from both south and north, he hesitated and refused to send troops.

  Liu Biao's greatest wish was to lead his troops southward and establish a Southern Han Dynasty, continuing the Han imperial lineage in the south.

  Although he had ambitions, Liu Biao did not have the courage to do so. Whether it was Cai Mao or Kuai Yue, or his most trusted Huang Zu, they all strongly opposed him having such thoughts, making Liu Biao's ambitions turn into empty fantasies.

  For the past two days, Liu Biao's attention has been focused on his nephew Liu Xun. After the new year, this child will be seventeen years old. Seventeen is just the beginning of establishing achievements, and no matter whether it was Kuai Yue, Liu Bei, or eldest son Liu Qi advising him, they were unable to make Liu Biao shake off his suspicions towards Liu Xun.

  His foundation in Jingzhou will certainly be passed on to his son, and no one else can covet it, including his nephew. The more capable Liu Jue appears, the more worried Liu Biao becomes.

  On the other hand, Liu Jue was after all his nephew and should be more trustworthy than outsiders. Moreover, he was clever and capable, if cultivated well, he could indeed become a reliable assistant to his eldest son Liu Qi. Everything has two sides, it depends on how one arranges things.

  It was Liu Bei's repeated persuasions last night that finally made Liu Biao make up his mind.

  At this time, the guard outside the door reported: "Master, Gongzi Xuan has arrived, and also Gongzi Hu has come!"

  "Let them both come in!" Liu Biao put down his book and waited for Liu Xun to enter.

  Liu Jiong and Liu Hu quickly walked into the study room, knelt down together and paid their respects, "Greetings, Uncle!"

  Liu Hu was a nephew of Liu Biao, and compared to Liu Xun, he was slightly further away in terms of relationship. However, Liu Biao also liked him, liking his foolishness and simplicity.

  By contrast, Liu Biao actually didn't like Liu Hu's elder brother Liu Pi very much. Liu Pi was mediocre and unremarkable.

  "Get up, both of you!" Liu Biao said with a smile.

  The two stood up, both with their hands hanging down, and Liu Bei smiled at Liu Hu and said: "Hu Er, you stand aside first, I'll say a couple of words to your younger brother.

  Liu Hu hastily retreated two steps and stood against the wall. Only then did Liu Biao ask Liu Xun, "I heard that you released five hundred slaves?"

  Liu Jiong nodded, "Indeed it is!"

  "Why?" Liu Bei gazed at him and asked.

  "I report to uncle, having many slaves will necessarily reduce the number of self-cultivating farmers, which is not beneficial for the government's taxation. I have always opposed keeping slaves, but being a person of low status, I have no power to persuade the wealthy families, and can only do my best and restrain myself."

  Liu Jue's anti-slavery remarks were actually spoken to Liu Biao's heart, if Jingzhou had enough self-cultivating farmers and sufficient taxes, his dependence on the major aristocratic families of Jingzhou would be much smaller, unlike now, when almost half of the military rations are provided by the aristocratic families, making him unable to offend the aristocratic families of Jing and Xiang.

  However, Liu Jue's approach still made Liu Biao slightly displeased. He did not ask for his own consent and released the slaves on his own initiative. Once it was spread out, although Liu Jue's reputation had been established, his identity as his nephew would make the aristocratic families of Jingzhou think that releasing slaves was his own idea, implying them.

  All that can be said is that Liu Jue was a bit rash in doing things, although he was not very satisfied in his heart, but Liu Biao did not want to say more, and only said lightly: "Increasing the self-cultivating farmers is good, but these slaves have returned to Yuzhou, increasing Cao Cao's self-cultivating farmers, and instead became a help to the enemy, what do you say?"

  Liu Jue had long been prepared in his heart, knowing that Liu Biao would definitely be dissatisfied with this matter. He calmly said: "Please calm down, uncle, I have something to say. These slaves were originally prisoners of war from the Yellow Turban Army. Because the people of Yu Nan and the Yellow Turban Army supported Liu Bei, Cao Cao issued a kill order, almost killing all the Yellow Turbans who supported Liu Bei. When these people return home, their lives will not be easy, and most of them will bring their families to settle in Jingzhou. At that time, 500 people will become 2-3,000 people, increasing the population of Jingzhou, which is actually a good thing for Jingzhou."

  Liu Biao's expression eased a bit, and Liu Xun also made sense, it was likely that such a situation would occur. The dissatisfaction in his heart gradually dissipated, and a smile finally appeared on his face.

  Liu Biao's smile made Liu Xuan suddenly feel relieved, just like a boat rushing out of the dangerous shoals in the rapid current, he finally passed this level, and from now on it should be smooth sailing.

  "Alright! Let's not talk about this for now."

  Liu Biao put aside the matter of the slaves and turned to today's main topic. "I asked you to come today to discuss the matter of touring and collecting taxes. This is your first official duty, so I'd like to ask: do you think you're suitable for this position?"

  Liu Jiong thought for a moment and said, "Nephew has been in this position for just over half a month, the people under him are very hardworking, and everything is going smoothly, thank you Uncle for your concern."

  "Not bad! Only half a month and you can already do it with ease, it's really not easy, but..."

  Liu Bei's tone changed and he smiled as he asked: "I mean, would you like to switch places?"

  Liu Jue secretly looked forward to it, and it seemed that Liu Biao was indeed planning to reuse himself. In fact, Liu Jue didn't want to be the supervisor of the Yu Fu Cao at all, although the benefits were quite rich and many people's eyes were on him, but that wasn't what he wanted to do.

  In terms of status, the position of a yóu jiǎo was not high, belonging to a kind of servile job. In the official hierarchy, it was mid-to-lower level, looked down upon by civil officials and even more so by regular army troops who considered these soldiers-turned-local-orderlies as inferior.

  And he went to You Fu's place, actually Kui Yue had another purpose, and it was not his willingness.

  Liu Jiong restrained his emotions and respectfully said: "Uncle's arrangement, nephew dare not disobey."

  "Is it?" Liu Bei said with a hint of a smile: "But there are some arrangements, yet you would rather die than comply!"

  Liu Hu's face turned pale with fright. Jingdi unexpectedly refused to accept his uncle's arrangement, and he had the audacity to defy him to the death. It was simply unimaginable.

  Liu Jue's face turned hot, he knew that Liu Bei was referring to the marriage with the Cai family, which concerned his lifelong affairs and could not be listened to.

  At this time, Liu Jue suddenly remembered Cai Mao's visit last night and thought to himself, 'Should I tell Liu Bei about this?'

  It was just a thought, and Liu Xuan immediately negated his own idea. Liu Bei didn't mention this matter, Cai Mao obviously kept silent, so why would he say it? Liu Bei would rather blame himself to save Cai Mao's face, and might even bring up the marriage again, thus making things worse.

  Liu Xuan lowered his head and remained silent.

  Liu Biao just casually said, without taking it to heart. He continued to smile and say: "Last night, Xuande repeatedly advised me to reappoint you. In fact, you are my nephew. How could I not use you? It's just that I think you're still young and lack experience. If I rely on you too much, people will say that I favor relatives over the virtuous. So I've been considering it for a long time, hesitating to make a decision. But now I see clearly: in war, one relies on father-son soldiers. From your performance in pacifying Zhang Wu's rebellion in Jiangxia, I have decided to let you join the army."

  Liu Xuan was overjoyed in his heart, this was exactly what he had been hoping for. He immediately bowed down and said, "Nephew is willing to follow uncle's arrangement."

  Liu Biao nodded and gazed at Liu Xuan: "But you must understand that I cannot give you a high position."

  "The nephew understands his uncle's kindness."

  "It's fine as long as you understand. Zhang Yun was promoted to Colonel at a young age also because of his accumulated merits, and you have shallow qualifications and are too young for a high position, so I appoint you as the Military Marquis directly under me, commanding 500 men, do you have any questions?"

  Junhou is also known as Quzhang, one level higher than Tunchang and lower than Yajiang. He belongs to the middle and lower ranks of military officers. Liu Xuan had a slight disappointment in his heart, thinking that he would at least be a Yajiang, but unexpectedly, Liu Biao was just a lateral transfer.

  However, with 500 troops under his command, and also being part of the directly affiliated army, this slightly made up for Liu Xuan's sense of loss.

  "Thanks to Uncle's promotion, nephew has no problem."

  Liu Biao and the like, Liu Xuan's fleeting loss on his face was captured by him, he secretly smiled in his heart, Liu Xuan's loss was within his expectation, he was just a lateral transfer to him, of course, he would be disappointed.

  Liu Bei pondered for a moment, then smiled and said: "Besides, I plan to appoint Gan Ning. Are you satisfied now?"

  Liu Jue was overjoyed, Gan Ning had finally been put to use, the loss in his heart was instantly swept away, this was what he had been looking forward to the most, only to wonder how Liu Bei planned to utilize Gan Ning, he looked expectantly at Liu Bei.

  Liu Biao smiled slightly, "Zhang Wu and Chen Sun have been eliminated, and the area around Yangxin County is short of manpower to guard. After some thought, I still think Gan Ning is the most suitable. Early this morning, I appointed him as a military commander to garrison Yangxin County."