Chapter 37: Continuing the Marriage

  Liu Xun was writing on the side, Wang Lei and Fa were drinking tea in the hall, Liu Zhang changed into casual clothes and came out, saw Fa Zheng and Wang Lei discussing something, looking at himself as if he had something to say, while tying his waistband, asked: "What are you whispering about, can't be seen by people?"

  Fa Zheng stood up and looked at Liu Xun, saying in Liu Zhang's ear: "In four years, the main hall will be empty, and it's time to continue the family line."

  "What's the hurry?" Liu Zhang said nonchalantly, sitting down on a bamboo mat and picking up a scroll of bamboo slips.

  Fa Zheng sat down beside him and said: "I and Wang Can are old acquaintances, but the young master is still young. If we wait until he grows up, this matter will likely become even more complicated."

  Liu Zhang's gaze shifted from the bamboo slips to Fa Zheng, just about to say "what does it have to do with me that my son is getting married", but suddenly thought better of it. When Liu Xun grows up and gets married himself, he will threaten his own position, not to mention this child has lost his mother and may not take kindly to a stepmother, and there are indeed variables at play.

  Fa Zheng moved his buttocks closer to Liu Zhang and said, "My lord, there is another advantage to this matter. Your actions in Jiangzhou have caused the people of the various regions to be worried and fearful. If you were to take a daughter from a powerful family as your wife at this time, it would help to stabilize the minds of the people."

  Liu Zhang glanced at Fa Zheng and said in a particularly annoyed tone, "Can't you think of something more reliable? I won't use my own marriage as a political bargaining chip. You have time to ponder this, but it's better to think about how to solve the current predicament we're facing."

  At this time, Wang Lai also came over. Liu Zhang threw away the bamboo slips and said: "As for our Western Sichuan, there is now an external enemy, Zhang Lu. Hanzhong must be conquered, but before conquering Hanzhong, we have to solve three things first. First, we need to appease the powerful families. It's not a good thing to let people worry all the time. Fa Zheng, don't look at me like that. I won't betray myself for this. Second, we need to implement the four categories of official selection. Since we have decided to do it, we must not do it half-heartedly and make a joke out of it. This is related to the prosperity of our Yi state for a hundred years.

  Finally, it's about economic development. We can't stay in Xichuan without spending any money, maintaining an army of 100,000 and having plenty of grain in storage. But if we want to leave Xichuan, it's a different story. The army needs to be expanded by at least double, with annual consumption of hundreds of millions of grains. However, the current situation is that only the areas around Chengdu in Yizhou are developed, while the areas west of Chengdu, eastern Shu, and southern Shu can only be self-sufficient, which is far from enough to support a large army going on an expedition.

  "All these are worrying me to death, and you two still have the leisure to think about continuing the story? Can't you also spare some time to consider these pressing problems?"

  "What idea does Master have?" Wang Lei asked.

  "We'll talk about it tonight."

  Liu Zhang looked at the time and got up from his seat. At this moment, Liu Xun raised his head and shouted: "Dad is going out again, can I come with you?" Liu Xun looked at Liu Zhang with a hopeful face.

  Liu Zhang sighed and walked over to touch his little face: "Huan'er is well-behaved, Daddy will be back soon."

  In the evening, important officials from Yi Province arrived one after another. Many of the civil and military officials who had gone on distant expeditions had not returned home yet, but after handing over their duties, they hurried over, without even having dinner. Liu Zhang took this into consideration and ordered his servants to prepare a late dinner.

  Huang Quan and Zhang Ren took the lead, Yan Yan and Wang Fu followed, Liu Zhong sat in the main seat, Fa Zheng and Wang Lei sat beside Liu Zhong. Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, Liu Zhong didn't bother with formalities and said directly: "Everyone, now that Zhao Wei's rebel party has been destroyed and the great calamity of Yizhou has been eliminated, we should also think about what to do next. This is not a formal meeting, so let's discuss freely, everyone is a pillar of my Yizhou, feel free to make suggestions without hesitation."

  The civil and military officials were all silent, not speaking. Wang Fu saw this and bowed, saying: "Your Excellency, I think that now that the situation in Yi Province is initially settled, we should vigorously promote agriculture and sericulture, store up grain and arms, and wait for changes in the situation."

  "Your Excellency, I think that County Magistrate Wang's words are quite reasonable. However, I believe that before we can develop agriculture and sericulture in the region, we must first eliminate the bandit Zhang Lu. The Han Zhong area is originally part of Yi Province, but it has been occupied by the bandits, blocking our transportation route to the northwest. We should get rid of them first. If we connect with the Three Adjuncts again, and have the fertile land of Han Zhong, which stretches for a thousand miles, it will certainly be beneficial for us to accumulate strength."

  Zhang Ren finished speaking, Huang Quan said in a low voice: "My lord, Huang Quan thinks that everything else can wait, but stabilizing the internal situation is the most important. My lord says that the great disaster of Yi Province has been eliminated, but Huang Quan cannot agree with this view. When the powerful clans encounter the strong power of the imperial court, they have always endured and not acted rashly. When the time is ripe, they will make trouble and even rebel. This calamity is far greater than Zhao Wei's, please my lord be vigilant."

  Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Gong Heng, I know you are from a wealthy family in Langzhong. Why do you agree with the local officials to guard against the wealthy families?"

  Huang Quan said solemnly: "It is precisely because of his noble birth that he dare not be self-indulgent, and in order for Western Chu to enjoy long-term peace and stability, it must first stabilize the hearts of the aristocratic families."

  "Gong Heng Chi Yan, loyalty and righteousness are commendable... In that case..." Liu Zhang tilted his head to think for a moment: "Alright then, I'll invite the Chengdu aristocrats to dinner later..."

  "... Hall below, the civil and military officials looked at each other in dismay, shocked and bewildered. They all thought of that banquet in Jiangzhou. Liu Zhang still didn't understand the expressions on their faces when Fa Zheng smiled and said: "Everyone can rest assured, if the lord really treats the wealthy families of Chengdu like those of Jiangzhou, I reckon the Fu River to the south will have to be renamed Blood River."

  At this time, Liu Zhang also reacted and secretly shook his head. As the saying goes, "indiscriminate rewards make people unaware of kindness, excessive blame makes everyone fearful for their own safety". In the past, Liu Zhang was too lenient, which led to the aristocratic families being unscrupulous. Now, in order to intimidate the aristocratic families, he used severe punishments comparable to those of Han Wudi's cruel officials, but it is inevitable that these trusted civil and military officials would think him tyrannical. As a result, when he consulted for opinions, except for a few trusted ones, no one dared to speak up.

  Liu Zhang deliberately avoided the topic and coughed, saying: "Huang Quan is right. Although Zhao Wei has been eliminated, the internal threat in Yi Province still exists. We should be vigilant against the sons of powerful families. Now, I declare an order: from today on, Huang Quan will be removed from his position as general, and Zhang Ren will be appointed as the General of Yi Province, leading the Wei Wu Army, taking over all the troops under Huang Quan's command in Dongzhou, garrisoned in Fucheng, guarding Chengdu.

  Liu Zhang gave the order, and the hall fell into a commotion. Huang Quan's face changed several times, and he bowed his head to say: "I will obey your orders, and tomorrow I will hand over the military symbol to General Zhang."

  "Does Governor Huang have any grievances against me?" Liu Zhang asked with a smile.

  Huang Quan bowed and said: "Nowadays, the people of Yi Province are suspicious, as a member of the aristocratic family, I should avoid suspicion, and my subordinates have no complaints."

  "Hahaha." Liu Zhang burst out laughing and said to the crowd of officials, "From now on, you must not speak like Huang Gonghe, being hypocritical and not daring to speak your mind. If everyone speaks like this, won't I be unable to hear a single true word? Huang Quan is a great contributor to our victory in Fu City, and if I remove him like this, I'm afraid it's not just Huang Quan who will have complaints, many people will lose heart, and the powerful families will become even more fearful. Won't Yi Province fall into chaos because of this? If that's really the case, Wang Lu will be the first to shed tears and remonstrate with me, I won't be able to bear it."

  Liu Zhang said, turning to Wang Lei beside him: "Isn't it?"

  Wang Lu's expression suddenly became tense, and the other officials in Chengdu heard that Liu Zhang had beheaded over 2,000 people in Jiangzhou, thinking that Liu Zhang had become cruel and ruthless. Now hearing Liu Zhang's words, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, realizing that their lord could still joke around, and their tense hearts relaxed, following Liu Zhang's laughter.

  Liu Zhang took a look at the expressions of the civil and military officials, knowing that his goal had been achieved. At least for now, his image had improved somewhat, and these officials no longer needed to be overly cautious in front of him. He continued: "Gong Heng, I know you are a man of both literary and martial talents, capable of leading the army on horseback and governing the people when dismounted. Now, I just want to hear your thoughts."

  "If you want to govern the people, I will do as I said before, hand over all military power to Zhang Ren, and then hand over all the money, grain, taxes and levies of Yi Province to you, taking charge of all civil administration in Yi Province. If you want to lead the army, I will promote you to be the Western Expeditionary General, together with Zhang Ren as the Supreme General, what do you think?"

  Happy New Year! Don't be like me, while others are playing mahjong, I'm typing away. Also, beware of the fireworks, they say this year's ones are especially powerful and can blast through mountains and bridges.