Chapter 174 Liu Bei: If we are brothers, let’s start a business together
Before Jin Mao's battle with Wuqiu Yi and Zhou Xin, Liu Bei went to the county governor's mansion, took the gold and ran away.

He didn't go anywhere, just ran north.

He is going to find Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Could it be that there was a spy among Jin Mao's troops? Or did Liu Bei foresee the future?
neither!
In fact, Liu Bei had a vague feeling since he arrived in Wu County, but he was not sure at that time.

Now that Jinmao's army was engaged in a fierce battle with others, Liu Bei had not heard of any of his two younger brothers' heroic deeds, such as beheading generals and seizing flags.

Liu Bei realized that his guess was probably true.

"Envoy Jin is on guard against me!"

It might be because he came to Yangzhou with Wuqiu Yi, or he was too close to Sheng Xian and Wang Lang, or even because he was handsome and was envied.

In short, Liu Bei deeply felt that Jin Mao was guarding against him.

Don't make this sign too obvious.

He was made the magistrate of Wu County, the capital of Wujun County, but was not given any authority at all.

Otherwise, why would Liu Bei have to explore the new system under Jin Mao on his own, ending up with a mess?

Didn’t Liu Bei know about the little tricks that the Wujun gentry were doing behind the scenes?

he knows!
But what can he do?
First, there is no strategist to give advice, and second, there is no support from Jinmao.

There were jackals, tigers and leopards all around, and it was amazing enough that Liu Bei could handle it with ease.

Therefore, Liu Bei did not feel any guilt for selling out Jinmao's reputation for money.

We are just ordinary superiors and subordinates, with no relatives or friends. Why should we work so hard?
To put it another way, the three brothers escorted Wuqiu Yi to Danyang to recruit soldiers. This merit was enough for Liu Bei to become a county magistrate, or at least a county lieutenant or county magistrate.

Isn't he better than a county magistrate who can't do anything?

So, this time Liu Bei wanted to find two sworn brothers, and the three brothers would make a name for themselves again.

I believe that with a starting capital of one thousand gold, getting off to a good start will be very stable and quick.

Liu Bei, along with the remaining 100 elite soldiers who had fought their way through the war between his three brothers, set out from Wu County, Wujun, and headed north along Wuxi, Piling, Qu'a, and Dantu.

During this period, Liu Bei, relying on his superhuman affinity, learned from the garrison in Qu'a after an encounter in a brothel that Guan Yu was in Huaiyin County and Zhang Fei was in Yandu County.

Liu Bei knew his limits and did not ask any further questions.

The two sides had a very pleasant conversation. Liu Bei wanted to treat the other party to a good drink, but was politely declined.

For this reason, Liu Bei could only painfully treat the other party to a top-level package and paid a hundred gold coins!
A set meal is only ten gold coins, but there are ten people on the other side!
They all take advantage of the short break to have some fun.

After leaving Dantu County, Liu Bei had just crossed the Yangtze River when he encountered Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin blocking the river. His luck was surprisingly good.

When he arrived in Guangling County, Liu Bei felt like a fish in water.

During this time in Wu County, Sheng Xian helped Liu Bei lay a good foundation for debate, which was enough for him to be able to show off in front of ordinary powerful people.

Although it is said that if you meet a famous scholar, you will be exposed, but how many famous scholars are there in the world? Do you hang out every day just to meet Liu Bei once?

In addition, there were a large number of royal families in Xuzhou, and Liu Bei, with the title of descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan, was able to get along very well.

If the other party insisted on asking about his specific occupation, he could also use his title of Wu County Magistrate as an excuse.

At this time, the other party would generally look up to Liu Bei with admiration.

Who can blame the fact that there are so few outstanding descendants of the royal family?

On the way north, money was spent like water. Liu Bei was not a frugal person. As soon as he arrived in Yandu County, he spent one-third of his one thousand gold.

It doesn’t matter if you lose the start-up capital. As long as you have brothers around you, everything will be easy.

The reason why Liu Bei went to Yandu County first was because all the ships in Guangling County were requisitioned by Jinmao, and Yangzhou had a well-developed water system, so no matter how many ships there were, they would not be enough.

Therefore, Liu Bei still felt that he could travel faster by donkey cart.

However, water transportation in Guangling County was blocked, and the price of donkey carts also increased, from one gold to five gold!
Helplessly, Liu Bei spent another fifty gold coins to buy ten donkey carts, as his entourage also needed to ride in them.

Yandu County.

When Zhang Fei learned that his elder brother Liu Bei came to see him, he was as happy as a 300-pound child. He spent all his salary and specially booked a room at the best restaurant in Yandu County.

This behavior attracted the attention of Wu Ning and Jin Yang, until Zhang Fei issued a military order promising not to drink a drop of alcohol, and then they stopped.

When he saw Zhang Fei again, Liu Bei couldn't hold back his tears and grabbed his arms with both hands and refused to let go.

"Third brother, you have lost weight."

Zhang Fei looked himself up and down and couldn't tell that he had lost weight in any way, but since his elder brother said he had lost weight, then he had.

Zhang Fei scratched his head and said, "There is no meat in the army, so we can only eat cakes. I think we are losing weight because we don't have meat to eat!"

Swallowing his saliva, Zhang Fei pulled Liu Bei into the restaurant and said as they walked: "Brother, you came at the right time. I have ordered a sumptuous banquet. I can also take advantage of your kindness and satisfy my craving."

Seeing that Zhang Fei was more sensible and polite, Liu Bei was both relieved and distressed, and said: "It must be hard in the army, do you miss the old days?"

"Before?" Zhang Fei's eyes widened like cows: "Brother, have you forgotten that during the campaign against the Yellow Turbans, the army was seriously short of food, even that..."

"Stop talking!" Liu Bei interrupted with a smile, "I am happy today. Saying those depressing words will affect my mood."

Zhang Fei nodded in agreement and shouted to the restaurant owner, "Bring me all the good wine and food!"

The shopkeeper came in with a big smile on his face, brought a large basin of pork and mutton, and asked, "We have a new batch of cicada fish (yellow eel), would you like some?"

Zhang Fei looked embarrassed. Pork and mutton were already the limit of what he could afford. The price of cicada fish was too high and he could not afford it.

"What's so delicious about that thing? There's not even two ounces of meat!"

Zhang Fei said no, but his actions betrayed him. He was swallowing his saliva wildly. After eating it with Jin Mao in Huaiyin County last time, he could never forget the taste.

Cicada fish is not as fishy as pork or mutton, and the taste is really good. It has only one drawback: it is expensive!
As brothers for many years, Liu Bei could see the difference, so he called to the shopkeeper and said, "I want as many cicada fish as you can get!"

"My brother is hosting a welcome party for me today, so I don't care about this little money!"

The shopkeeper was overjoyed, smiled, closed the door and went downstairs.

"Brother..."

Zhang Fei wanted to say something, but Liu Bei stopped him: "I brought enough money, you can eat without worry."

During the meal, both of them had their own concerns and did not enjoy it very much.

Zhang Fei had a premonition that Liu Bei had something important to tell him, but Liu Bei was hesitant about whether to pull Zhang Fei out to start a business.

Even though they are in a good position now, in the past, when the two brothers followed Liu Bei, they sometimes had to go hungry for nine meals out of three days.

Finally, Liu Bei confronted Zhang Fei: "I can no longer serve under the command of Jin Shijun, and I have decided to return home. Third brother, will you come with me?"

Zhang Fei didn't say anything else, and said: "Big brother, have you asked the second brother? I will do whatever he does!"

As soon as these words came out, Liu Bei understood what Zhang Fei meant and picked up the wine jar and said, "Okay! I'll go ask my second brother first, let's drink this jar!"

Zhang Fei substituted tea for wine and said, "Please forgive me, brother. Alcohol is prohibited in the army. I can't go back with the smell of alcohol. Those two guys have noses like dogs. You don't know..."

Once Zhang Fei started talking about military matters, he would talk endlessly, with saliva flying everywhere, and he would pour out all the happy, sad and unhappy things.

The excitement on his face was evident.

Liu Bei smiled silently, feeling extremely bitter in his heart, because his third brother no longer belonged to him alone.

The next day.

Before leaving, Liu Bei said to Zhang Fei meaningfully: "Yide, you have changed a lot in recent days." Zhang Fei chuckled and said: "People have to make progress. I don't want to be outdone by Guan Er all the time!"

At this moment, Liu Bei was deeply touched.

Indeed, one can learn a lot working under Jinmao.

so what?

After all, what belongs to others is not yours, and if Jinmao was willing to teach, would he run away?

All the way from Yandu County to Huaiyin County.

What Liu Bei saw most was the suffering of the people.

After Jin Mao came, the wealthy and powerful did become more restrained, but the common people were only slightly better off than before, and there was not much change.

Liu Bei himself rose from the bottom of society, so he understood the difficulties of the people and the power of Jinmao's new system.

In fact, deep down in his heart, Liu Bei also wanted to serve Jin Mao wholeheartedly.

But after seeing Zhang Fei, his guess had become reality, and Liu Bei didn't understand why Jin Mao was on guard against him.

Since we are all members of the royal family, can't we help each other?
Even if Liu Bei racked his brains, he would never have thought that Jin Mao came from the future and would definitely be wary of "entrepreneurs" like him.

Even for Sun Jian, Jin Mao had taken precautions and never gave away the mother seeds of good quality. All he gave were sub-seeds that could only be planted once or twice before returning to their original state.

Huaiyin County.

Guan Yu was really troubled during this period of time. He was so immersed in trivial matters that he never came out.

He didn't expect that daily training, expenses, and travel alone would make him overwhelmed, not to mention suppressing bandits, guarding the city, and even dealing with disputes among the people.

Interestingly, local officials and gentry don’t pay much attention to the trivial matters of the people.

Guan Yu was born in a poor family. He first followed Liu Bei and then Jin Mao. Both of them were people who valued the people very much, which also made Guan Yu pay great attention to the people's affairs.

As word spread of Guan Yu's one or two deeds in defense of the people's interests, the entire Huaiyin County knew that there was a man named Guan who could stand up for the people.

Therefore, people would come to Guan Yu for advice on both big and small matters.

Guan Yu is indeed a tough guy. Even though he was annoyed to death, he still persisted.

This results in things on land not being dealt with in a timely manner.

After Huang Gai learned about the situation, he took over the baton very considerately and allowed Guan Yu to wholeheartedly become a good official who served the people.

Unexpectedly, Guan Yu not only did not appreciate it, but also suspected Huang Gai of seizing power.

Huang Gai then asked, "Guan Yunchang, this is a military matter! What is the penalty for delaying military affairs?"

Guan Yu refused to give in: "Don't worry about my business. I will take responsibility if there is any problem!"

The two parted unhappily.

As a result, Guan Yu was busy all day long. He either went to the east of the county to deal with the oxen, or went to the south of the county to suppress bandits and deal with the grievances of the people.

In less than two months, the people of Huaiyin County could no longer live without Guan Yu and had no feelings for Huang Gai.

this day.

When Liu Bei arrived at Huaiyin County and was about to get close to the guards at the city gate, he met Guan Yu leading his men out of the city.

"Have you heard? Farmers near the Dai family in Huaiyin filed a complaint with Captain Guan last month, saying that their land was being occupied."

"This is so new! It's not uncommon."

"But Captain Guan is determined to take care of it! I think the Dai family will shed blood today."

Listening to the discussion of the people nearby, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel curious. He stuffed a few big coins into the city gate guards' pockets and said, "Brother, I want to ask you something. That Captain Guan seems to have a high reputation among the people."

The guard weighed the weight in his hand, then happily put it in his arms and said, "Indeed."

"Since our Captain Guan came to Huaiyin County, which of the powerful and prominent families dared to speak loudly in front of the people?"

"If things get out of hand, Captain Guan will be merciless, just like the Xu family from Huaiyin who are determined to cause trouble."

"Captain Guan didn't tolerate them. He picked up a ten-foot-long sword and chopped them off. Oh, that scene..."

The guard was a boastful chatterbox, but Liu Bei still heard the key information in him and couldn't help but frown.

Walking into Huaiyin County again, Liu Bei could feel the vitality in the eyes of the people. It was no longer as lifeless as the area near Yandu.

While Liu Bei was proud of Guan Yu's achievements, he was also worried about him.

Late.

Liu Bei finally met Guan Yu.

Unlike Zhang Fei at that time, Guan Yu was only a little proactive at the beginning, but he was never idle afterwards.

One moment, this matter needs to be dealt with, and the next moment, that matter comes to disturb you.

Liu Bei spent two hours with Guan Yu on and off, but they didn't say a few words.

It was not until night when the people were asleep that Guan Yu had time to sit down and have a good talk with Liu Bei.

"Brother must have come to see me for something." Guan Yu suddenly remembered something: "Isn't brother the magistrate of Wu County? Why did you run so far..."

Guan Yu didn't say anything else. He realized the problem and waited for Liu Bei to speak.

"Second brother, I am proud of what you have done in Huaiyin County."

Liu Bei sighed and said, "I am useless and cannot live up to Envoy Jin's expectations, so I resigned and prepared to return home."

"Originally I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go back together, but now I feel relieved."

"My second brother is more suitable to stay in Huaiyin County for development."

Guan Yu was very touched and stood up and said, "Brother!"

Liu Bei waved his hand and said, "You don't need to persuade me."

"No! That's not what I meant!" Guan Yu excitedly stepped forward and shook Liu Bei's hands, saying, "Brother, your talent is many times greater than mine! Envoy Jin is eager to recruit talented people, how could he ignore you?"

Liu Bei also wanted to ask this question.

"There must be something hidden here!" Guan Yu said, "I will write a letter right away, and Envoy Jin will definitely show some leniency!"

Then, Guan Yu wrote awkwardly while narrating his experience.

Liu Bei couldn't bear to watch this, so he took over the task and said, "You tell me and I'll write."

When the letter was finished, Guan Yu also told the whole story, "Brother, Envoy Jin has a broad mind and will not care about such a small matter."

After hesitating for a few seconds, Guan Yu said, "If you insist on going back, I will come to you after I repay Envoy Jin's favor!"

Liu Bei burst into tears: "Brother, with your words, I am willing to give it another try."

Seeing that his two sworn brothers were unwilling to start a business with him, Liu Bei decided to give it one more try.

If they continued to hold an empty position and not be taken seriously as before, Liu Bei would force his two sworn brothers to start a business together.

As for what happened in Wu County, Liu Bei decided to trust Guan Yu's judgment.

"Envoy Jin is eager to seek talents and is open-minded. He should not blame me for such a small matter."

(End of this chapter)