Liu Mang and the group of Yangzhou's civil and military officials finally compromised. He did not want to proclaim himself as the Emperor. What a joke, being the Emperor was very tiring. Once he proclaims himself as the Emperor, he would not be able to leave. All kinds of etiquette were enough to play Liu Mang to death.
However, the group of people below him were very determined. If Liu Mang did not proclaim himself as the Emperor, a few of the more stubborn ones would really commit suicide in front of Liu Mang. For example, Yang Hong. These people were all diehard loyalists.
In the end, the result of the compromise was that Liu Mang would not proclaim himself as the Emperor, but as the King of Han. The title of King of Han was previously used by a big scoundrel, and that was Liu Bang. King of Han and Emperor of Han only had a difference of one word.
However, the thoughts of Liu Mang and the civil and military officials of Yangzhou, led by Xu Shu, are as clear as day.
They did not want to serve the Emperor of Han, Cao Cao. If Cao Cao wanted to come, then come. If Cao Cao won, then the Yangzhou Group would dominate the world. Even if Cao Cao lost, then the world would be divided equally.
When Liu Mang proclaimed himself as the King of Han, the world was also shaken. This was because Liu Mang's proclamation as the King of Han was a direct slap to the face of the small imperial court of Xu Du. This slap was very loud and clear.
Everyone also discovered that the Han Dynasty, which used to be a huge monster, was about to reach a dead end.
Xu Du's Cao Cao proclaimed himself as the King of Wei. Here, Liu Mang became the King of Han. The prestige of the Han Dynasty had been reduced to the lowest point. People with discerning eyes knew that no matter who won the world, the world would have nothing to do with the little Emperor.
Therefore, all of a sudden, there was a surge of excitement. Some people cursed Cao Cao, saying that he was a traitor, and that he was a traitor. There were also people cursing Liu Mang, saying that he was a traitor to the Han Dynasty.
It could be said that the various powers were surging like a storm. Cao Cao sent troops under the banner of getting rid of the Han bandits. Similarly, Yangzhou's side used the banner of cleaning up the emperor's subordinates.
Even our Jingzhou's Huang She played along and turned Little Liu Zong into Prince Jing.
The smoke and clouds of war spread throughout the entire Great Han Dynasty. Whether it was the officials or the commoners, they all knew that a storm was coming.
"Your Highness! "In Yangzhou, our classmate Liu Mang has changed his attire. His attire is now golden yellow. This represents nobility and represents the Imperial Family.
Everyone entered the hall and bowed to Liu Mang.
"Everyone, please rise!" Liu Mang was still not used to the golden dragon robe he was wearing. If the four-clawed dragon was replaced with a five-clawed dragon, it would really look like a dragon robe.
The current Liu Mang was no longer using the seal of the Great Han King Of Shu. Instead, he was using the seal of the Great Han Dynasty's King Of Shu.
You didn't see wrong. This is the seal inlaid with gold and jade. This seal was passed down through the generations after the Qin Dynasty. It was made by Qin Shi Huang. It had a radius of four cun, and there were five dragons on the buttons. The seal written by Li Si was engraved on the front.
Its predecessor was the Jade Annulus of He Clan. After Emperor Ling of Han, Luoyang was destroyed during the chaos of Dong Zhuo.
This seal was taken into a dry well by a palace maid. According to rumors, there was no moon at the time, but the jade was completely lit up. This attracted the Fierce Tiger of Jiangdong, Sun Jian. Perhaps it was exaggerated, but it was true that Sun Jian obtained it.
Later on, the Imperial Seal fell into the hands of Yuan Shu. This was the origin of the Zhong State. After Yuan Shu died, the Imperial Seal was given to Liu Mang and Yuan Fang as a gift.
In the past, Liu Mang and the others did not take it out because they were afraid of going overboard. After all, he was only the King Of Shu. How could he use the Imperial Seal? If he took it out, he would have to hand it over to the little Emperor of Xu Du. The little Emperor was still in the hands of Cao Cao. Wouldn't it be the same as giving it to Cao Cao?
Therefore, the Imperial Seal had always been in the hands of Liu Mang.
Now, there was no such worry. Yangzhou and Xu Du had completely fallen out. There were a lot of curses between the two sides. The little Emperor issued an edict and removed Liu Mang's title as the King Of Shu. Now, Liu Mang was crowned as the King of Han. Coupled with the Imperial Seal, this orthodox position was even higher than the little Emperor of Xu Du.
"Yuan Zhi, come and talk to everyone!" Liu Mang gave the position of presiding over to Xu Shu. Xu Shu was the Internal Minister. All the big and small affairs should be handled by Xu Shu first.
Xu Shu nodded and walked up to the stage. "I believe that everyone should know that Cao Cao's army is about to attack. There is not much time left for Yangzhou!" The autumn harvest was coming. The autumn harvest was related to the common people of the world. Whether it was war or other things, as long as there were people, they would have to eat. Xu Shu's role in presiding over the autumn harvest was to make the officials of the various departments work together to organize the autumn harvest as soon as possible.
"Internal Minister, Cao Cao's army will only attack after the autumn harvest, right?" asked one of the civil and military officials doubtfully.
Yangzhou needed a lot of provisions. Did Cao Cao not need them?
Xu Shu shook his head. In the past, Xu Shu had the same idea as these people. That is, Cao Cao's strength was greater than Yangzhou's. Yangzhou had raised 100,000 elite soldiers. Adding in the auxiliary soldiers, the total number of soldiers was around 200,000. On the other hand, Cao Cao's main force had 300,000 soldiers. Cao Cao's logistics was much more difficult than Yangzhou's. Therefore, the probability of him attacking after the autumn harvest was very high.
However, some sources of information destroyed Xu Shu's final fantasy. They were the nobles in Hebei. They were constantly transporting provisions from their mansions to Xu Du. They were very diligent in transporting provisions.
It was no wonder that Cao Cao had thoroughly defeated the Yuan Shao of Hebei. The nobles in Hebei were really afraid of Cao Cao's revenge. This was because they had supported the two young masters of the Yuan family.
However, the two young masters of the Yuan family were like mud that could not support a wall. They were quickly defeated by Cao Cao.
The nobles in Hebei were afraid of Lao Cao's revenge. Therefore, they were very diligent in delivering provisions. They hoped that Lao Cao would spare them for the sake of these provisions.
Another thing was that the nobles in the world were Cao Cao and Liu Mang. If they defeated Yangzhou, the world would belong to Cao Cao. They wanted to get a share of the profits. Merchants did not rise early without benefits. These nobles were even more cunning than merchants.
From Hebei, Cao Cao had sent over hundreds of thousands of grain and provisions. In addition to Yan Province and Zhili Province, it could be said that Cao Cao had easily obtained five hundred thousand dan of grain and provisions.
These provisions were enough for Cao Cao to make a preemptive strike. As long as the provisions were in place, he would immediately send his troops to Yangzhou. At that time, Yangzhou would be caught in a dilemma. Fighting a war would delay the harvest. Once it rained, the provisions would rot in the ground. Even if one wanted to cry, they would not be able to do so. Moreover, if the flames of war spread to Yangzhou, the provisions were all outside the city. If they wholeheartedly focused on harvesting and protecting the provisions, then Yangzhou's army would be in a passive position. They could only be led by Cao Cao's army.
"We can also send troops to Yanzhou. I don't believe that we can't beat that traitor Cao!" Someone indignantly said.
"Milord, this is a good plan!" Zhuge Liang also nodded. "As long as our army reaches Yan Province, we can make sure that Yan Province will not be able to harvest anything!"
A long distance attack required mobility. The mobility of Yangzhou's army was so strong that even Yangzhou's people were afraid of them.
The Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry was the world's number one cavalry. There was also the Xiliang Cavalry. In the past, they were not famous and were even suppressed by the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. However, it was different now. Their commander was Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao was the former commander of the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. As the saying goes, when a wolf leads a flock of sheep, the sheep can also be wild.
The current Xiliang Cavalry was not inferior to the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. Two heavy cavalry units were enough to charge into Yanzhou. When Cao Cao went to Yuzhou to threaten Yangzhou, our father-in-law Lü Bu had also brought the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry to Yanzhou for a walk. At that time, our Mengde was so scared that he quickly brought the army back to Yanzhou to defend it.
Now that the Ferocious Cavalry and the Xiandeng Battalion were not in Yanzhou, the Great Halberd Warriors were also not in Yanzhou.
Zhuge Liang's thinking was that if you don't let me feel comfortable, then we will die together.
Liu Mang looked at Zhuge Liang. This Zhuge Liang was becoming more and more like the Old Poison Jia Xu. Speaking of which, Jia Xu had not seen him for a long time. Liu Mang wondered if he was happy in Wu Xi.
"No!" Liu Mang stood up to stop Zhuge Liang's plan. No matter what, it was Cao Cao's fault. How could he implicate the common people? Liu Mang said to Zhuge Liang who was on the other side.
Burning the other party's provisions was a complete extermination plan. It was like using an unconventional weapon.
War was nothing more than people dying. If the war was fierce, only a few hundred thousand people would die. However, if you burned the fertile land, then it would be a matter of ten or twenty thousand people dying. If things went wrong, then the entire Yan Province would be in trouble.
Do you still remember Yangzhou? There was no one within a hundred miles.
That was a complete extermination plan. Not only would Cao Cao suffer, but the common people of Yanzhou would also suffer.
He did not believe that the nobles would generously take out provisions to help the common people. To them, the common people were just the source of their oppression.
"Milord, you must not be soft-hearted!" Someone said these words to provoke Liu Mang.
"Hmph!" Liu Mang coldly snorted. He saw that the person who spoke was a nobleman from Jiangdong. "Soft-Hearted? Whether it is Yangzhou or Yanzhou, aren't they still my Great Han Dynasty's territory? Once Cao Cao is eliminated, Yanzhou will also belong to my Great Han Dynasty. At that time, there will be no provisions in Yanzhou. Are you going to take out provisions to help the common people? "
When they heard that they were going to take out provisions, they all became mute. They really could not afford to take out provisions for the common people of Yanzhou. Even if they could take out provisions, why should they? This group of landowning households was truly treacherous.
"Pass down the order. Some of the paddy fields that can be harvested are to be harvested. As for those that are not ripe, as long as they are edible, they are to be harvested. If there is not enough food, transport it from Jiangdong!" Liu Mang said to the officials of Yangzhou.
"Your Highness, there is not enough food in Jiangdong!" The nobles shouted. They thought that Liu Mang was going to take out provisions from their pockets.
"Hmph, all the provisions will be sold according to the price. The provisions that you take out will not be less than yours. It is real money!" Liu Mang coldly snorted at the nobles.
When they heard that Liu Mang was going to take out money to buy provisions, these nobles were embarrassed and did not speak.
Liu Mang looked at these nobles and could only helplessly shake his head. He, Liu Mang, hated nobles! It could even be said that several massacres had nothing to do with his own feelings. It was because of Liu Mang's disdain for these nobles.
It was because of them that the common people could not eat enough and wear warm clothes.
However, Liu Mang had no other way. This world could not be a unified world. There would always be rulers and the ruled. Even if the constitution was changed, it would still be difficult to change it. It was just a change of name.
Now they were called nobles, aristocratic families. Later on, they would become powerful clans or even consortiums.
There were simply too many of them. Liu Mang could only try his best to obtain benefits for the common people. He could not let the common people have enough to eat and wear warm clothes.
These nobles were already good. If it was before, even if Liu Mang took out real money, they might not be willing to sell. This was because as long as there was a war, there would be no need to worry about the sale of provisions.
The problem of provisions was solved, but Liu Mang was also distressed. According to Liu Mang's words, the unripe provisions would be harvested. At least half of Yangzhou's food would be lost. This was not a small amount, but hundreds of thousands of provisions. How many people could he feed? Therefore, Liu Mang was distressed.
"My lord, instead of letting the common people speed up the harvest, why don't we let Cao Cao slow down the attack?" An indifferent voice sounded from the other side.
Liu Mang turned his head and looked over. This person was not someone else. He had already entered the Yangzhou army's big family. However, after arriving in Yangzhou, the number of times he had spoken was definitely not less than three.
"Mister Youruo?" Liu Mang looked over. Wasn't this person Xun Chen, Xun Youruo? He had now entered Yangzhou as the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel. All this time, after entering Yangzhou, Xun Chen had never spoken like this.
Even when Liu Mang saw him, he just smiled. Sometimes when the Ministry of Personnel was too busy, he would be absent. This made Liu Mang's impression of him even more shallow. He did not expect him to speak today!
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