Chapter 66: The Protector of the Imperial Guard

  Liu Xuan wanting to go on a campaign is not something strange, he has been cultivating for so long, can't always hide in the palace, right? Moreover, with his current strength, even if Lü Bu came to his face, it's impossible to say that he could kill himself, let alone the many guards around him. Those people are not just decorations.

  Also because of the relationship with Youlin Rider, Zhang Liao needs to guard him at all times. Originally, Zhang Liao's martial arts were not ordinary, and after this period of practice, his strength has risen to another level. If according to the previous game settings, Zhang Liao's martial arts have absolutely broken through the value of one hundred.

  Lü Bu? That's unclear, but for now, he is still stronger than Zhang Liao.

  After there were no more safety concerns, Liu Xuan wanted to take a look at what the war scene of this era was like - although he had seen more spectacular wars before, it didn't mean that he wouldn't be interested in the war scenes of this era.

  It's the same as even if it's thousands of years later, when war has become a different form, there are still many people who love the battle scenes from thousands of years ago - the difference in warfare methods is just a different feeling, but that doesn't mean it's not shocking enough.

  Moreover, the emperor's personal expedition could also boost the confidence of the courtiers in the emperor, although the premise is to win, but Liu Xuan had never thought that he would lose.

  Li Jue and Guo Si's forces were indeed impressive, with tens of thousands of soldiers under their command, all of whom were elite troops from the Western Liang army.

  And the Western Liang, being located in the northwest, not only frequently fought with the Xiongnu, but also had the Qiang and Di tribes constantly stirring up trouble on their western flank. Therefore, the soldiers of the Western Liang army were all seasoned veterans who had been through many battles. If they hadn't undergone the baptism of numerous internal conflicts, it's likely that Liu Xuan's elite troops would be inferior to the enemy's ordinary soldiers.

  However, Liu Xuan is now reorganizing the Imperial Guard, greatly expanding its ranks, making it a professional army with sufficient training guarantees. Although it cannot instantly surpass the Western Liang Army, with excellent generals commanding and coordinating, defeating Li Jue and Guo Si will not be difficult.

  Moreover, behind Li Jue and Guo Si, there is also Ma Teng. When the time comes, with a pincer movement from both sides, if this battle still can't be won, what's the point of Liu Xuan contending for the world? Finding a place to cultivate bitterly for 10,800 years might have a greater hope of revenge.

  Although this war must be fought and Liu Xuan will definitely go into battle himself, it won't be now, at least not until next spring.

  After all, it was only 1900 AD at that time, and there was no greenhouse effect. The winter was very cold. In addition, the warming measures at this time were far from those in later generations. Even if they hid at home every day, many people froze to death or were injured by frostbite. Not to mention marching and fighting - in winter battles, fewer soldiers died in battle, but more froze to death. Moreover, it was difficult to transport supplies, and it was easy to get lost on snowy days. The cavalry could not exert its due strength. Under such circumstances, unless there were special circumstances, war would not be waged.

  However, this period of time is suitable for the final preparations - the last training and assembly of soldiers, the forging of military equipment, those long guns, long knives and other weapons are not something that can be used once they are made, many weapons will only participate in one battle before being scrapped, so a large number of weapons need to be prepared.

  There were also arrows, as well as the mobilization of civilians to transport grain - this was a suggestion that Liu Xuan had made earlier, and later when manpower was needed for a major war, priority would be given to drafting soldiers from the commanderies and states - however, Liu Xuan did not have any commandery or state soldiers under his command at present, so he could only mobilize genuine civilians.

  Fortunately, due to the chaos in the world, many people fled to the Sili area to avoid disaster. At the beginning of the year, Liu Xuan ordered the recruitment of refugees, so the only shortage in the capital was not a lack of people. As soon as Liu Xuan confirmed that he would go to war against Li Jue and Guo Si next spring, mobilization work began immediately on this side.

  Later, Liu Xuan and Lü Bu took a stroll around the school grounds together. When he heard that war was about to break out, Lü Bu seemed very excited, probably wanting to show off his improved martial arts skills again, so those jumping clowns would know how formidable he really was.

  At the same time, Hu Biao was becoming increasingly powerful under Lü Bu's leadership, and now had a few points of the world's elite troops. Lü Bu didn't take all the credit for this, explaining to Liu Xuan: "My general Gao Shun is skilled at training soldiers and excels at fighting fierce battles. I have 800 strong soldiers, all trained by him, and whenever we don't win a battle, these 800 men will be deployed, and one battle can decide the outcome."

  Even if Lü Bu didn't say it, Liu Xuan knew about Gao Shun, he just hadn't met him before, today was the first time he saw his true self.

  Gao Shun's appearance was ordinary, although he wore a helmet and armor, at first glance, he didn't look like a great general, but rather like one of the armored guards beside a great general. Yet this unremarkable person was one of Lü Bu's most outstanding talents.

  Liu Xuan should go to evaluate Lü Bu's generals, the most outstanding one should be Zhang Liao, because Zhang Liao is not only a powerful warrior but also an excellent commander who can take charge of a whole army.

  Secondly, it is Gao Shun. Gao Shun may not be able to be a commander who leads the army alone, but he is a brave general who charges into battle. He is more adept at leading a team of strong soldiers to charge forward and solve the opponent's problems.

  Of course, if it were just that easy to get such a high evaluation, the key lies in Gao Shun's ability to train troops, which is not so simple - at this time, although all the military generals understand how to train troops, there are not many who can train elite soldiers.

  In Liu Xuan's memory, one was Yu Jin, and the other was Gao Shun - the rest were mostly those who were good at both literature and martial arts. However, what they trained were only good fighting soldiers, not elite troops.

  After meeting Gao Shun, Liu Xuan did not immediately promote him. He planned to let Gao Shun establish a few more great merits before having formal reasons to promote him.

  Lü Bu did not know that Liu Xuan was thinking of digging his own corner, but pointed to the distant Cao Song's archery and said: "At present, the soldiers are strong and healthy, and the military equipment is complete. It's just that there are a few less arrows, so we need to take advantage of this time to make more arrows, lest they be insufficient during battle."

  The bow and arrow have always held a high position in ancient warfare, and to some extent, they are even more powerful than cavalry. Liu Xuan nodded after hearing this and said to Zhang Rang beside him: "Take note of it, go back and issue an edict to the Ministry of Works, asking them to prepare the necessary military equipment as soon as possible."

  At this time, the Minister of Works was Ma Ruzong. He was a master of Confucian classics and a well-known scholar with great reputation. Originally, Liu Xuan wanted to find someone more suitable for the position of Minister of Works, as it was an important position in his plan. However, there was no suitable candidate at present, so he had to temporarily appoint Ma Ruzong to this position, waiting for a technical expert to take over later.

  Unfortunately, there were not many technical experts in this period that he could think of. It seemed that only Zhuge Liang was a master of technology - even when Liu Ye came up with the strategy of using catapults during the Battle of Guandu, the catapult itself was not his invention, at most it was an improvement.

  It seems like I can only rely on myself to cultivate it?

  He brought his thoughts back and made two more laps around the school grounds. After saying a couple of words to the other officers, he left the school grounds directly.

  Hu Bīng Army this side looked, Liu Xuan again went to Yu Lin Riding that side took a look, Yu Lin Riding this side actually nothing good to see, Zhang Liao often in the palace patrol, so he has something can ask Zhang Liao nearby, now just symbolically turned around, finally went to the Imperial Guard that side.

  At this time, the Imperial Guard had been reorganized and 10,000 of them were being trained according to the current drill manual. Liu Xuan took a look but didn't express any opinion on it - after all, in this era of cold weapons, Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, and Huangfu Song were all several levels higher than himself in terms of battle array and training, so he might as well not show off his own little tricks.

  "However, the position of Zhong Hu Jun needs to be settled as soon as possible."

  Liu Xuan only then remembered that after the establishment of the Zhonghu Jun, this position had been vacant and there was no suitable person to take it. The civil officials in the court were definitely not suitable, while the military generals were also a case of "one radish one pit", and they couldn't be transferred around.

  "Gentlemen, is there anyone suitable you would recommend?"

  After much deliberation, it still had to rely on a major killer from the Han Dynasty: recommendation! to solve this difficult problem.

  Liu Xuan didn't have high hopes for these people to recommend any outstanding talent, anyway, they could just make do with them for now and replace them later when someone more suitable comes along.

  Unexpectedly, he actually recommended someone Liu Xuan knew.

  Lu Zhi bowed his fist and said: "Your Majesty previously summoned my student Liu Bei to the capital, but has yet to make any arrangements. Why not appoint him as Zhong Huo Jun?"

  Liu Bei?

  Liu Xuanzhen was startled, and didn't expect that Lu Zhi had recommended a great talent for himself.

  It wasn't until now that he remembered, after tricking Liu Bei into coming, he actually forgot to take care of it. It's said that when Liu Bei arrived in Chang'an earlier, because the Emperor didn't summon him, he had no choice but to stay at Lu Zhi's residence. When Liu Xuan heard about this, he thought about it for two days and planned to summon him, but during these two days, he walked around and actually forgot about this matter.

  However... Liu Bei being appointed as Zhong Hu Jun seems also acceptable?

  Anyway, for now, the vacancies in the imperial court are not suitable for Liu Bei - because those positions are too high-end, and putting Liu Bei in a small position would not show his ability, it's better to put him in the military.

  But the special nature of the position of Zhong Hu Jun also doesn't worry that Liu Bei will hold troops and become self-sufficient, after a suitable replacement candidate is found later, Liu Bei has accumulated enough 'seniority' in this position as Zhong Hu Jun, and when the time comes to move to the imperial court, no one will say anything.

  What's more important is that if Liu Bei was appointed as the Central Protector of the Army, then his two brothers would go to serve in the Imperial Guards, wouldn't that be equivalent to giving himself an additional two top-notch generals?

  "It's actually not bad at all."

  The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Liu Xuan rarely looked at Lu Zhi with approval, nodding in agreement: "I almost forgot about this matter, and Liu Bei is indeed a suitable candidate."

  Seeing the emperor means this, Zhu Jun thought about whether Emperor Xian was going to appoint Liu Bei, and whether it represented a plan to reuse his relatives. If so, they couldn't oppose it either.

  Besides, Zhu Ge had a good impression of Liu Bei and said: "I heard that this Liu Xuande is a relative of the Han imperial family. Your Majesty might as well check the genealogy. If it's true, you can also ask him to acknowledge his ancestors and return to the clan..."