RPAGF Chapter 8 is no longer needed.
Chapter 8 is no longer needed.
When news of Huang Yuan's capture at the An'nan Gorge reached Chengdu, the entire process took only two months, and the court was filled with praise for Liu Shan.
Not only did he defy public opinion and support Yang Hong's strategy of sending troops, but he also transferred his personal guards to quell the rebellion. For this courage alone, all the officials admired him.
During the two months of suppressing the rebellion, Liu Shan was not idle. In addition to actively participating in government affairs and learning, he also did not neglect his studies, riding, and archery.
More importantly, Liu Shan inspected the city's defenses and met with all the generals guarding the Chengdu border, which greatly boosted morale after the defeat at Yiling and rallied the people's support.
"It's time to come back!"
Liu Shan gazed eastward from the courtyard, muttering to himself.
According to the timeline, Liu Bei, the father of the deceased emperor, has been dead for a month. Now that the rebellion has been quelled, the news should soon reach Chengdu.
Sure enough, just a few days later, news of Liu Bei's death in Baidi City came back, shocking the court.
The Jingzhou faction was the first to be affected.
The Battle of Yiling not only resulted in heavy losses for the soldiers of Jingzhou, but also led to the death of the emperor they supported, greatly diminishing their influence and status in the court.
These veterans who followed Liu Bei in conquering the world in his early years all focused their attention on the young Liu Shan, wondering how the future new emperor would treat them.
As for the Dongzhou faction, they are opportunists who choose to wait and see for their own benefit.
Although the Yizhou faction wanted to regain power, it was helpless because both the court and military power were still firmly controlled by the Jingzhou faction. It could only adopt a "non-violent non-cooperation" attitude.
Liu Shan was well-versed in the Three Kingdoms period and understood human nature. In just two months, he had already figured out the ins and outs of these three factions.
To deal with the Jingzhou faction, we must continue to trust them; to control the Dongzhou faction, we must lure them with benefits; and to suppress the Yizhou faction, we must entrust them with important responsibilities. Only in this way can we maintain a balanced and stable situation among the three parties.
However, he is not currently able to do these things.
Although he was the future emperor, he was inferior to Liu Bei in terms of ability, prestige, and personal charisma, making it impossible for him to firmly control the three factions.
Therefore, for now, we can only lie low and develop properly, and only when we are fully capable can we regain power.
But Liu Shan did not do nothing.
The moment Huang Yuan was brought back to Chengdu, before Zhuge Liang could return, he ordered Huang Yuan to be beheaded immediately to establish his authority in front of the officials.
Even Yang Hong was somewhat intimidated by Lei Ling's swift and decisive methods.
Is this still the kind and gentle crown prince?
When news of Huang Yuan's capture reached Yong'an, Zhuge Liang immediately ordered the army to set off to transport Liu Bei's coffin back to Chengdu for burial.
On the way back, Zhuge Liang finally understood the whole story.
"Although this rebellion was not large, it was of great importance to the future of our Han Dynasty. Fortunately, Heaven intervened and His Majesty's grace was profound, which allowed us to turn danger into safety."
"Ji Xiu deserves much credit for the Huang Yuan Rebellion!"
Inside the carriage, Zhuge Liang and Ma Su sat down for a heart-to-heart talk.
Zhuge Liang gently shook his feather fan, let out a long sigh, and then recalled: "During the Battle of Hanzhong, the late emperor suffered a setback and urgently sent me a letter ordering me to send troops to provide support. At that time, Xiaozhi was not present, so I asked Jixiu what should be done about this matter."
Ji Xiu said, "Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou, a place of life and death. If Hanzhong is not defended, Shu will be in danger. In my opinion, the whole population should be mobilized for war, without any worries."
"Upon hearing this, I lamented the near-miss and hastily dispatched troops to support Hanzhong. Ultimately, the late emperor repelled Cao Cao's army and was promoted to King of Hanzhong."
For this reason, when Zhuge Liang went to Yong'an, he left Yang Hong behind to assist Crown Prince Liu Shan in managing Chengdu.
"Ji Xiu has truly made another contribution by leading troops to quell the rebellion," Ma Su said enviously.
Now that Sun Quan and Cao Pi are locked in a standoff, Shu Han is able to recover from the defeat at Yiling and recuperate.
"Although Ji Xiu made contributions in this battle, the greatest credit belongs to someone else."
"What the Prime Minister says is absolutely right. The two generals, Chen Hu and Zheng Zhuo, who quelled the rebellion this time, were extremely brave and deserve the greatest credit."
Zhuge Liang smiled and shook his head.
"That is Situ Xu Jing, who maneuvered among various forces to stabilize the court."
Zhuge Liang shook his head again.
Ma Su hesitated for a long time, unable to think of anyone who could win the first merit, and shook his head with a short sigh.
Zhuge Liang smiled slightly and said, word by word, "Crown Prince."
Prince?
Ma Su only knew that the main force in suppressing the rebellion was the Crown Prince's personal guards; he knew nothing else.
Zhuge Liang smiled and gently waved his feather fan, saying, "If the Crown Prince hadn't decisively entrusted the guards to Generals Chen Hu and Zheng Chuo, I'm afraid even the best strategies would have been useless."
"Youchang may not know yet that the Crown Prince killed his close advisor Huang Hao."
Ma Su was very surprised when he heard this.
Although Huang Hao was just a minor palace attendant, Zhuge Liang and others knew that Huang Hao often took Liu Shan out for fun in private in order to win his favor.
However, after Liu Bei became the King of Hanzhong, Guan Yu was defeated at Maicheng, Zhang Fei was killed by his subordinates, and then the Battle of Yiling was launched. These many things made him unable to pay attention to the eunuch Huang Hao.
Now that Liu Shan had beheaded him, Ma Su felt a surge of satisfaction.
"Your Highness has discerning eyes. People like Huang Hao will only cause Your Highness to neglect his studies. They should be killed."
Zhuge Liang continued, "Not only that, when the Crown Prince was left to guard Chengdu, he not only supported Yang Hong's military expedition, but also managed to appease the court officials through Xu Situ. His methods were truly remarkable."
In Ma Su's memory, Crown Prince Liu Shan seemed to be a simple-minded scholar, quite unlike the future heir apparent described by Zhuge Liang as being subject to checks and balances.
"If this is true, it would be a blessing for the late emperor and for the Han Dynasty."
Zhuge Liang was quite surprised by Liu Shan's change and said, "Lady Si became pregnant after dreaming of swallowing the Big Dipper, so the late emperor named the crown prince 'A Dou'. I observed the celestial phenomena last night and found that the Big Dipper was unusually bright. This is a sign from heaven that the crown prince is wise and will revive the Han Dynasty."
Ancient people were fascinated by the art of star observation and divination, especially the imperial family, which had a special astronomical bureau to observe celestial phenomena and predict the rise and fall of dynasties.
Zhuge Liang was one of the best among them, so Ma Su agreed with his words.
"With the Crown Prince's virtue and ability, and the Prime Minister's assistance, the Han Dynasty can prosper."
Just then, the messenger brought news from Chengdu again.
After glancing at it, Zhuge Liang's expression turned serious, and he fell into deep thought.
Seeing that things were not going well, Ma Su wondered if there was another strange event in Chengdu.
"Prime Minister, what's the news from Chengdu?"
Zhuge Liang's thoughts were interrupted. After regaining his composure, he said, "It's nothing serious. It's just that the Crown Prince killed Huang Yuan."
Killing a mere Huang Yuan was not a big deal, but Ma Su felt that this action was a bit too hasty.
The best course of action would be to wait until Liu Bei's coffin was transported back to Chengdu before killing Huang Yuan as a sacrifice to the flag.
"Someone, bring a brazier."
Zhuge Liang ordered someone to bring a brazier, then took out a roll of yellow silk from his sleeve and threw it into the brazier.
Ma Su did not understand its meaning, but he knew from its appearance and material that this thing could only be used by the emperor.
In other words, this is an imperial edict or decree.
Everyone in Yong'an Palace at the time knew that Liu Bei had given Zhuge Liang a will, but no one had ever seen it.
Could it be that the imperial edict is in this brazier?
"Prime Minister..."
Just as Ma Su was about to speak, he was interrupted by Zhuge Liang, who had a serious expression on his face.
"No need to elaborate on the common sense."
"This thing is no longer needed."