Chapter 673: The Eastern Journey
Liaodong, Lushun.

The original port was upgraded to a county, and Guan Yu was stationed here in person.

It was May, and the sea breeze was calm.

The envoys from Yuan and Cao gathered in Lushun to discuss the migration.

The long winter in Liaodong has made most of Liu Bei’s subordinates feel uncomfortable.

As for the conquest of the Three Han states, forces have begun to gather at the grassroots level to push forward the war.

The area of ​​the Three Kingdoms of Korea is at least more comfortable and pleasant than Liaodong after winter.

The long winter was too torturous, and how to conquer the Three Han regions was not something Liu Bei could decide alone.

Yuan Shang and Cao Cao both have naval forces and will intervene.

After an inconclusive meeting, Guan Yu went out of the city to hunt.

The sea breeze was blowing gently, and Qin Lang and Guan Ping, who were riding horses and following Guan Yu, were chasing each other and gradually went away.

Guan Yu drove his horse to the top of the mountain ridge, and the twenty or so riders he had sent out earlier had already begun to drive the prey towards him.

“Sir, there are two deer!”

Guo Mu, a minor official beside him, pointed at a pair of deer running out from the depths of the ravine and called out softly. Guan Yu simply drew his bow and aimed at the approaching deer.

As he was about to pass by, he shot an arrow which hit the belly of a deer.

Immediately afterwards, the hunting team shot arrows one after another, and the other deer didn’t run far before it was also hit by an arrow and became lame.

Soon, the two deer were carried in front of Guan Yu, and the guards took out knives to butcher the deer.

“Sir, Wang Ji of Donglai and Xu Ci of Nanyang came with Wang Xiu, and there are only three of them.”

Another knight came forward to report, and Guan Yu’s eyes moved away from the basin of deer blood. He said to Guo Mu: “Find a sunny place with leeward wind, set up a curtain, and make some tea.”

“Here!”

Guo Mu agreed and immediately called a group of resting knights to find a suitable location.

Wang Xiu was the permanent representative of Guanzhong stationed in Liaodong, and held the title of an official in the Grand Marshal’s office.

The most active area in Liaodong is the newly established Lushun County. Even the name was given by the Grand Marshal, and it has a beautiful meaning.

Wang Xiu can be considered a permanent resident of Lushun. Relying on his family and master’s connections and with Guanzhong as his backing, his influence continues to grow.

Wang Ji of Donglai was a student accepted by Zheng Xuan in his later years. After being captured by Cao’s army, he was quickly promoted from the grassroots level.

After all, if Cao Cao wanted to have a dialogue with Wang Xiu, it would be best to use Zheng Xuan’s disciples.

Xu Ci from Nanyang had only come to Beihai to study in those days, so he could be considered a disciple of Zheng Xuan.

He only served Liu Bei at the persuasion of Sun Qian, and was considered a substitute for his two fellow brothers Sun Qian and Liu Yan. He also stayed in Lushun to facilitate his dealings with Wang Xiu.

If nothing unexpected had happened, Xu Ci would have followed Wang Xiu north to Guanzhong, where he would have been robbed by Sun Qian on the way.

Now in Guanzhong, among the disciples of Zheng school, there are Xi Lu, Guo Yuan, Cui Yan and others who hold high positions in government.

Under Cao Cao, disciples of Zheng school also began to rise. In addition to Wang Ji from Donglai, there was also the prodigy Ren Xia from Le’an.

As for Yuan Shang, the disciples of Zheng school were declining, and some followed Wang Xiu or Cui Yan.

Zheng’s disciples were distributed in Guanzhong, Liaodong and Qi. They achieved mutual success and were mostly engaged in foreign negotiations.

Guan Yu doesn’t like these people who can change their positions at any time, haggle over every penny during negotiations, and cannot truly represent the monarch behind them…

Later, Guan Yu sat in the main seat behind a simple windproof curtain.

Xu Ci sat in the first position on the right, Wang Xiu sat first on the left, followed by Wang Ji.

After brewing tea, Guan Yu looked at Wang Xiu and Wang Ji and said, “Mr. Shuzhi, my lord Xuande has 50,000 soldiers and the Dongyi have no less than 80,000 followers. After the autumn harvest, we can use our troops to attack the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Why do we need to ask for help from outsiders?”

Wang Xiu leaned over and saluted: “This is not my suggestion, it is the decision of the Grand Marshal.”

Wang Xiu took out a letter from his sleeve and held it up with both hands: “Please take a look at it, my lord.”

Guan Yu turned to look at Guo Mu. Guo Mu stood up, took the letter and handed it to Guan Yu.

Guan Yu opened the lacquer seal and found it was a letter written by Black Bear himself. He held the letter in both hands and read it carefully before saying, “Since the Grand Marshal has given his instructions, I cannot make the final decision on this matter. I will report to Lord Xuande and then make a decision.”

Seeing that he had put away the letter, Wang Xiu said, “The four islands of Yingzhou are not something that Cao can monopolize. Now Jizhou has trained many naval forces and is operating in Bohai. If we cannot get an island, it will also affect the Grand Marshal’s strategy. I hope Yunchang will understand.”

The Hebei envoy was not here, so Guan Yu asked: “The South Island is the narrowest, is it okay to be with it?”

Wang Xiu turned his head and looked at Wang Ji: “The northern island is bitterly cold, and the Grand Marshal took it himself to exile the criminals. As for the remaining three islands, Lord Xuande already has Korea, so it is reasonable for him to get the western island. The central island is the largest, and can accommodate tens of millions of officials and civilians, enough for the Cao family to multiply.”

Wang Ji was favored by Wang Xiu when he was young, and their friendship was not just that of classmates. At this moment, Wang Ji said: “Conquering the Three Han is a major event, and we should combine the strength of the three families and give the South Island to the Yuan family. I have no objection. If the King of Qi disagrees, I will send another envoy to negotiate with Yunchang Gong and the Grand Marshal.”

Guan Yu stared at Wang Ji and said, “It all depends on how my Lord Xuande decides.”

According to the previous plan, Liu Bei’s side wanted to divide it in half. They would take the West Island, South Island and half of the Central Island, and the rest would belong to Cao Cao.

But the two sides kept arguing and no decision was made.

After all, this distribution plan was very unfriendly to Cao Cao. Several transit bases during the migration were basically given to Liu Bei for free.

I thought the negotiations could be completed before the expedition to the Three Han, but I didn’t expect Yuan Shang and Guanzhong to get involved.

The four islands of Yingzhou should each occupy one piece, and no one should fight over it.

Guan Yu didn’t care much about this. Based on his understanding of Black Bear, he knew that after solving the Hebei problem, he would definitely find a way to take away the three counties of Liaodong.

All that could be left for them were the Three Koreas and the Western Island of Yingzhou… He really looked down upon these places.

Even people like Liu Bei and Zhang Fei looked down on them. It is very likely that their descendants would manage these places, while they would return to the court to serve, just like the old days of Zhou Gong.

It’s such a small place that’s not worth their time.

Instead of guarding such a small thing, it is better to accept an official position in the court and do something more meaningful.

Since Wang Xiu showed Black Bear’s handwritten letter, the decision-making power was no longer in the hands of the person present, but in the hands of Liu Bei.

Liu Bei had two choices, agree or oppose.

If you oppose it, you will face unimaginable risks, just like the Battle of You and Ji that happened back then.

If Guanzhong is really angered, Yuan and Cao, who already have navies, will cross the sea to join the war, making Liaodong exhausted from dealing with it.

Then the two sides stopped discussing this matter and started discussing the primary school in Guanzhong which had just started this year.

This was a very shocking policy. To traditional scholars, it was even more shocking than the Skull’s Nest and no less shocking than the steam engine and hot air balloon.

At one time, 15,000 Qinghua guards were dispatched to more than 300 counties to open 3,000 primary schools.

Liaodong had already obtained the handwritten copies of the primary school textbooks, and even the printed illustrations were copied by copying.

The amount of knowledge in the teaching content is not dense and is lighter than the elementary education curriculum for scholars.

However, the teaching scope is very wide. With the training speed of Qinghua guards and the expansion speed of the primary school itself, one hundred counties can be added every year in the future.

In less than ten years, the primary and secondary school systems will be able to train a large number of “primary school teachers”, and after a few years of sedimentation, they will be able to provide enlightenment on a large scale.

You cannot blame this kind of work of enlightening the people, and you cannot resist or obstruct it militarily.

What we can do is to join in as soon as possible and share the merits.

Especially after the Zheng school and Lu school declined and the Cai school was targeted, the Zheng school began to gain momentum.

Therefore, Wang Xiu and Wang Ji were very concerned about the education in Liaodong, and hoped that Liu Bei could speed up the construction of primary schools.

Guanzhong’s teaching materials can be used, and teachers should preferably be selected locally.

Liaodong is basically populated by exiled and sojourning scholars. After gathering a group of them and training them intensively, school can start in the autumn.

And this training process is Zheng Xue’s goal.

If they don’t take the initiative, they will most likely be controlled by Lu Xue.

Guan Yu didn’t care much about these things.

If nothing unexpected happens, Guan Ping, Zhang Bao, Qin Lang, Cao Lin and other children will be sent to study abroad in Guanzhong next year.

Liu Bei and his gang had no interest in going out to sea to become foreign kings or foreign soldiers.

They are not the Yuan or Cao families. Like Zang Ba, they have a way out.

Looking at these years, although the Grand Marshal repeatedly tormented officials, the only person who was actually executed was Lu Cui.

Even the officials who were punished for their crimes last year were not exiled. Instead, they were changed to Hancheng criminals, giving them a chance to reform.

The most valuable thing is that the Grand Marshal rarely carries out any hidden executions.

Only occasionally, when they find an excuse, they will make a big fuss about it and implicate a group of people to do hard labor.

In the winter of Yizhou, there was an assassination attempt. It was said that the main plotter was not killed, but all his fellow villagers, nearly 4,000 people, were punished by planting trees and accumulating virtue.

At the same time, their homes were confiscated and their families were exiled to the four counties in Hexi.

After planting trees for five years, these scholars had to go to the four counties in Hexi to reunite with their families.

(End of this chapter)