Chapter 12: Jia Yu offers his plan

  Jia Zhan was taken aback for a moment. He knew that Liu Bian had summoned him to ask for his advice, but he hadn't expected Liu Bian to be so direct in asking for it.

  This doesn't seem like a conversation between a monarch and his subject, but rather like old friends who have known each other for many years. It lacks the formalities of respect, but makes up for it with trust and warmth. In all these years since he started his career, he has never encountered such a situation, not even when he was under Dong Zhuo's command, had Dong Zhuo ever spoken to him in such an informal manner.

  He again thought of how Emperor Xian had been taken from Dong Zhuo's hands, and his heart was stirred with a ripple, that nearly dead heart came back to life.

  "Your Majesty, I have three proposals."

  "You speak." Liu Bian ordered someone to offer a seat, and let Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu sit in front of him to talk. He was not used to looking up at them, feeling a kind of pressure, especially when facing Zhang Xiu, who had a strong murderous aura. It had to be said that although he had also carried out many tasks, the murderous aura on his body was still not as heavy as that of a military general like Zhang Xiu. This made him further realize that even though he came from the 21st century, he still thought he was superior and looked down on ancient people.

  For him, letting Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu sit down was a way to relax himself. But for Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu, the emperor's permission to take a seat was an enormous honor. Jia Xu was somewhat calm, but Zhang Xiu was already getting flustered, afraid of making a fool of himself.

  After calming down, Jia Yu proposed three suggestions.

  First, they ordered Yuan Shu to investigate the responsibility for the military mutiny, especially the death of the General of Chariots and Cavalry, He Miao. Jia Xu had already found out that He Miao was killed by Wu Kuang, who nominally was under the command of General-in-Chief He Jin but actually was a supporter of the Yuan family. By ordering Yuan Shu to investigate this matter, they were forcing him to deal with Wu Kuang and cut off his own arm.

  Next, appoint Lu Zhi, Yang Bi and other ministers with reputation and reliable loyalty to take over the power vacuum left by General-in-Chief He Jin's death, preventing it from being seized by the Yuan family.

  Finally, taking advantage of Yuan Shu's burning of the Zhuque Gate and Jiulongmen, he dismissed his position as Hu Ben Zhonglang Jiang, recalling some military power. Weakened the Yuan family's control over the Northern and Southern Armies, at least first recalled the Southern Army, that is, the control rights of the Hu Ben Lang and Yu Lin Lang, ensuring the safety of the imperial palace.

  Jia Xu's three suggestions went beyond Liu Bei's understanding, and in relation to the Ding Yuan-led forces he was worried about, they were actually only a part of Jia Xu's third suggestion. From this, it can be seen that Jia Xu's vision is much higher than Liu Bei's, and the problems he considers are also more comprehensive.

  Liu Bian was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. However, he didn't idle around, but rather racked his brains. A clever person like Jia Xian wouldn't assist a fool; he was equally dangerous, and if Liu Bian didn't have his own ideas, heaven knows when he would be sold out by him.

  He carefully considered Jia Xu's words and found that Jia Xu had missed one person: Dong Zhuo.

  Dong Zhuo is now his greatest reliance, and he was the former master of Jia Xu, but he didn't mention how to reward Dong Zhuo, doesn't this seem strange?

  "Dong Gong's military achievements are brilliant, and this time he has rendered meritorious service in escorting the Emperor. In view of his literary and martial talents, it is fitting to appoint Dong Gong as Grand Marshal."

  Jia Xun's eyes flashed with a hint of joy, and he hastily bowed his head, saying: "Your Majesty is wise."

  Zhang Huan also let out a sigh of relief. Now their biggest worry was how the Emperor would reward Dong Zhuo. The Emperor had poached them from under Dong Zhuo's command, and if he heavily rewarded Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhuo would think it was because they had spoken on his behalf to the Emperor, and would feel that recommending them as imperial guards was the right decision. If the Emperor didn't reward Dong Zhuo, after a long time, Dong Zhuo would definitely have ideas, and might even vent his anger on them.

  Dong Zhuo was promoted from the governor of a state to the position of Taifu, the head of the three dukes. This reward must be rich enough to satisfy him. More importantly, with the title of Taifu, he can openly stay in Luoyang and speak with confidence as a representative of Xiliang.

  Seeing Jia Xu and Zhang Liao's faces, Liu Bei felt a sense of relief in his heart, and immediately asked: "Zi Zhang, have you ever heard of Lü Bu?"

  Zhang Hua smiled and bowed his head, saying: "Among men, Lü Bu is a hero; although I am humble and unsophisticated, I have also heard of him."

  "How does your martial arts compare with his?"

  Zhang Xiu felt somewhat embarrassed and hesitated for a moment: "I have no confidence."

  Liu Bian secretly smiled to himself, thinking that if he couldn't even defeat him, then there was no point. He didn't expose the truth and instead asked: "In these difficult times, it's still unclear whether Ding Yuan and Lü Bu will be able to serve the imperial court loyally. I need not only your loyalty but also your abilities. Think carefully, how can you quickly improve your martial skills?"

  Zhang Xiu's heart was filled with joy, and he blurted out: "Your Majesty, I am a martial artist. To improve my martial arts skills, apart from receiving guidance from a famous teacher and practicing hard myself, the fastest way is to have a precious horse and divine soldiers. If Your Majesty can..."

  "Hmm!" Jia Yu coughed and Zhang Xiang suddenly came to his senses, hastily closing his mouth and forcing a smile.

  Liu Bian heard the sound of the strings and knew the elegant meaning. Zhang Xiu was discussing rewards, however. He also had this intention, Jia Xu was a strategist, he sought the trust of the monarch, in order to have space for development. Zhang Xiu was a military man, what he wanted was precious horses and divine soldiers, to make his military strength even stronger.

  "Although there isn't a dragon steed like Chì Tù in the palace, there are some good horses. You can go pick two later. As for divine weapons, the palace has also collected some, maybe you'll find one that suits you. After choosing your horse, we'll go take a look together and pick one that fits your hand."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhang Xiu's voice trembled with excitement. "I am willing to serve Your Majesty with the loyalty of a dog or horse, and die for it a thousand times without regret."

  Liu Biancai didn't believe in such nonsense, but he indeed needed to win over Zhang Zuo and others now, as his life was in their hands.

  Time was pressing, so Liu Bei set off immediately, accompanied by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, with Jian Yong and Zang Ba as escorts. They first arrived at the imperial stables. During Emperor Ling's reign, he had always wanted to reorganize a new army to counter He Jin and Yuan Shao, so he had prepared many fine horses, known as "stable horses". During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, many were allocated for military use, and now there were still about 100 or more, which were used for ceremonial purposes.

  The horses used for the suburban sacrifice were naturally the best, and they were all fed with fine feed. They were sturdy and strong, and at first glance, they were good horses. Zhang Xiu was moved by one look, picked and chose, selected two, and was so happy that his mouth couldn't be closed.

  Liu Bian said with a smile, "Wen He can also choose one as a substitute for walking."

  Jia Yu didn't stand on ceremony, went forward and chose one, but it wasn't the best, nor was it the worst.

  "Wenhe, why don't you choose a better one?" Zhang Xiu was puzzled.

  Jia Xian smiled: "I'm different from you, my martial arts skills are too poor, and I can't go to the battlefield to kill enemies. Even a good horse is useless to me. A good horse should be left for a brave warrior like you, who will ride it into battle in the future and serve the emperor."

  Zhang Xiu burst out laughing and nodded repeatedly, deeply agreeing with him.

  After selecting the horses, Liu Bian led them to the armory in the palace. The national armory was located in the northeast corner of Luoyang City, storing large quantities of weapons for the northern and southern armies. The small armory in the palace stored weapons used by the palace guards on duty, as well as some ancient weapons. Now that Liu Bian needed Zhang Heng's loyalty, he had to bring out something substantial, so he took them directly to the secret chamber where the previous emperor collected ancient weapons.

  As soon as her foot stepped across the threshold, Zhang Xiu suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide open, her teeth clenched, and she took a step back, her body slightly crouched, like a tiger coiling its strength, an aura of killing intent enveloping her entire body. Wang Yue and Shi A saw this and instinctively pressed their swords to protect Liu Bian on either side. Liu Bian was also startled, and Jia Xun furrowed his brow: "Zi Zhang, what's wrong?"

  "There's a divine soldier!" Zhang Hua slowly relaxed, his teeth still chattering: "Just now I activated my protective true energy."