Chapter 137 Governance Team, Savage Brothers In September of the second year of Jian'an, Liu Bei led his troops back to Shouchun, thus officially starting his rule over Huainan. However, the first thing Old Liu did when he entered Shouchun was not to govern the country and ensure the people's safety, but to destroy a pile of contraband items stored in the government treasury by Yuan Shu. On September 23, the day after discussing with Qin Zhen and others, Liu Bei ordered Zhang Fei to lead the army to destroy the altars built by Yuan Shu in the south and north of the city. All prohibited items in the palace, including carriages, ceremonial objects, yellow robes, and all other things that were considered improper were placed outside the city and burned. All his actions expressed an attitude: Liu Bei respected the emperor and had no selfish motives. After finishing these things, Lao Liu began to deal with Yuan Shu’s wives and concubines. This is also one of Liu Bei's advantages compared to other princes. He is good at controlling his wife but not lustful. He didn't even look at these wives and concubines. He waved his hand and let those with families go home, and those without families marry meritorious soldiers under his command. Most of Yuan Shu's concubines came from commoner families, so Liu Bei's move naturally won him a lot of support.

Seeing this, the noble families in Huainan formally accepted Liu Bei. During this time, Lu Su had already gone south to Chaohu to take up his post, and Liu Ye brought Liu Fu to Liu Bei. After Liu Bei met Liu Fu, he talked with him for a long time and was very happy to see his talents. Then he followed Qin Zhen's method, first making friends with relatives, then recruiting them, appealing to their emotions and reasoning with them. Liu Fu was originally a famous scholar in Yuzhou. To be honest, if Liu Bei only had a territory like Pei State in the past, he would most likely ignore Liu Bei. But now that Liu Bei had taken over Yuan Shu's foundation, he had become a phoenix from a bird on a tree, so Liu Fu naturally recognized Liu Bei as a fellow clan member. After all, it’s the same truth, after all, it’s the same surname. Seeing that the Han Dynasty could not be supported, the only way out for these descendants of the royal family was to seek refuge with the imperial court. But once there is a lord named Liu who can really assist them, these people will not resist too much. However, Liu Fu was old after all, and he was also a famous scholar in Yuzhou, so he naturally could not be like Liu Ye. So Liu Bei first appointed Liu Fu as the prefect of Jiujiang, and told Liu Fu that he was going to recommend him as the governor of Yangzhou. Liu Fu was a smart man and knew that he was just holding a title, so he simply nodded in agreement. After agreeing, he asked Liu Bei how he planned to govern Huainan. When Liu Bei saw this, he knew that the old man wanted to offer a suggestion, so he hurriedly said that he had not yet decided and asked him to come up with a solution. After Liu Fu pondered for a while, he gave his suggestion; "There is a severe drought in Huainan now, and the people have no harvest. The reason is mostly because they don't repair water conservancy projects. After the drought, there will be a flood, and it will be too late to repair them then!" "While there are not many refugees left, we should repair the ditches and prevent flooding!" "Furthermore, Huainan has many rivers, but the rivers are more in the west than in the east. We can build dams in the eastern counties to store water for irrigation of paddy fields next year!" "Apart from this proposal, considering the large number of refugees this winter, we should quickly gather wise men from all regions to coordinate the number of refugees." "For example, those who have no harvest this year and are about to lose their land should be helped by the government, and not allowed to sell their land and leave it barren."

"And those who have no land and no food will become refugees this winter, and it will be difficult to rescue them even if we scatter porridge everywhere!" "Why not gather the money and grain under your command in Shouchun, Quyang, Yinling and other counties, and let the officials advertise to the people, so that they can gather here and settle down." "As for money and food, I don't know if you can provide it. However, Huainan has two large lakes and is close to the river. It is rich in fish and clams. You can catch them and dry them as soon as possible to reserve food." "Winter is approaching, and the weather is cold. Refugees like those coming from far away will have no place to stay." “We can first weave straw mats and store wood and stones to help refugees keep warm in winter!” "If you are willing to do these few things, it will be a blessing for the people!" Liu Fu was a capable man. As soon as he joined Liu Bei's army, he planned the way of governance for Liu Bei. When Liu Bei heard these words, he suddenly understood and thought to himself that Qin Zhen had invited a firefighter for him! He was worried about the winter refugee crisis, and Liu Fu gave him so many solutions. Just from these words, we can see that Liu Fu is an expert in managing people's livelihood. Immediately, Liu Bei directly told Liu Fu: "You are a talented person in governing. The affairs of Huainan can be entrusted to you. You should act quickly and not leave the people without support or scattered!" After making this statement, Liu Bei handed over the power of governance to Liu Fu. It's just an attitude. I will fully support you in any way you want to govern. You can do it yourself if you can, and I will help you with what you can't do. When Liu Fu saw Liu Bei giving up so much power, he was shocked. He thought to himself that he had just arrived, but Liu Bei dared to entrust him with such an important task, which must be extraordinary. Although he was so shocked, he nodded secretly, thinking that Liu Bei would be able to accomplish great things if he trusted his people! Then he no longer hesitated and acted according to his own ideas. But once he took office, he discovered that there were very few grassroots talents under Liu Bei. In desperation, he used his personal connections to recruit those scholars who could not escape the refuge to serve Liu Bei. At one time, a large number of grassroots talents were recruited for Liu Bei. He personally went to Liu Bei's house and invited many local and other famous people to come to him. For example, the famous scholars Shi Yi Guan, Zong Cheng, Tao Qiuhong, etc., who were originally unsuccessful under Yuan Shu's command. At this point, Liu Bei's governance team gradually took shape. Led by Qin Zhen, Jian Yong, Liu Ye, Lu Su, Zhuge Jin and others were in charge of military affairs, while Yuan Huan, Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, Liu Fu, Zheng Hun, Zhang Cheng and others were responsible for governing the people. Among them, only Xu Shu was extremely special. He was appointed by Liu Bei as the prime minister of Pei State, and both military and political power were in his hands. Such a governing team is more than enough to govern one or two large states, let alone Huainan. As Liu Bei's army gradually gained more talented people, Qin Zhen finally got rid of the situation where he had to do everything himself and returned to a more leisurely state.

Qin Zhen was naturally happy to see this happen. After all, he is not Zhuge Liang, so there is no need for him to hold both military and political power. Some things can be delegated if possible. There is no need to hold everything in your hands. With Liu Fu and others managing people's livelihood, he could free up his hands to do what he wanted to do. And there were only three things he wanted to do: to gain Lujiang, to make money, and to engage in education. As mentioned before, the purpose of taking Lujiang was to prepare for moving south to Jiangdong, and it was also their next strategy. If we make plans now while they are recuperating, we can save ourselves a lot of trouble later. The first step in taking over Lujiang was taken by the Mei brothers. Therefore, Qin Zhen asked Xu Shu to send the two brothers over and chose a time to meet with the Mei brothers. But when he saw the Mei brothers, he was shocked. Mei Gan, who used to be quite sturdy, had become much thinner, with stubble all over his face, and looked emaciated. Mei Cheng changed from a pretty boy into a skinny young man with a yellow and bloodless face. Simply put, these two brothers have become deformed. But the real reason is that these two brothers asked for trouble. Because when Liu Bei captured Xiang County, Mei Qian's family was still in the hands of Yuan Shu, so this guy played some tricks on Liu Bei, expressing that he was willing to surrender, but was afraid that Liu Bei would not dare to use it. A few words made Liu Bei spare his life, and he was kept in custody without any punishment. Originally according to Mei Qian's idea, Liu Bei was a man who would have difficulty achieving great things. He previously owned a large state, Xuzhou, but was still driven out of his home by Lu Bu. Even if they had captured Xiang County at that time, they would probably not have been able to hold out for more than a few months before being defeated by Yuan Shu. At that time, he returned to Yuan Shu's army. Although he was responsible for the defeat, at least he would rather die than surrender. Yuan Shu would not punish him because of their old friendship. But Mei Qian never imagined that the subsequent plot would be the rise of Liu Bei. Relying on Xiang County, he managed to gain a foothold in this chaotic world. Not only was he not defeated as in the past, but he became stronger and stronger, and even took Huainan into his hands. When Mei Qian received this news, he wanted to die. Because of his momentary cleverness, he missed the best opportunity to surrender! You have to know that prisons in this era are not as comfortable as those in later generations, with food and accommodation provided, and places for leisure and entertainment. In this era of prison, every day is like a year, without seeing the sun. There are only a few small rooms in total, with very little space for activities and almost no freedom. Fortunately, Liu Bei treated the captured generals well and provided them with two generous meals a day. Otherwise, these few months alone would have been enough to drive the two brothers crazy. Why did he get so obsessed with this little idea in the first place? Wouldn't it be better to just surrender like Qiao Rui did?

Putting aside other things, with his ability, it wouldn't be difficult for him to become a general, so why should he work so hard? But when he regretted it was too late. At that time, Liu Bei had already arrived in Huainan. Even if he regretted it, he could only regret it in prison. Compared with dried plums, mature plums are more painful. Because Mei Qian at least had the opportunity to surrender, but he displeased Liu Bei. The military advisor whose name is unknown even said that he has a rebellious mind! Isn't this guy pushing him to death? Although Liu Bei did not kill him in the end, he would never forget Qin Zhen's playful look. In his heart, Liu Bei might not kill him, but Qin Zhen would most likely. Therefore, compared to Mei Qian's regret, Mei Cheng had an extra layer of fear, fearing that he would fall into Qin Chen's hands if he was not careful. Every time the jailer opened the door, he suspected that Qin Zhen was coming to kill him. After several months of this, he had developed paranoia. Therefore, when the two brothers saw Qin Zhen, Mei Qian fell to his knees and cried: "My humble servant Mei Qian is honored to meet you, Military Advisor! Your Excellency is indeed considerate of me!" "I have been thinking hard for a long time in prison and I am willing to surrender to your army. I hope the military advisor will report to you that I will be loyal and serve you even if it means death!" "If I was disrespectful in the past, I hope you will forgive me, Military Advisor!" Mei Cheng also knelt on the ground and cried loudly, howling: "I have realized my past mistakes and have repented long ago. I hope the military advisor will take my repentance into consideration and give me a way out, so that I can make up for my crime and serve you with all my strength!" "I hope the military advisor will take another look. I really have no more rebellious bones in my head. I will never rebel even if I die!" The two brothers cried, their feelings were revealed so sincerely and so touchingly that it made Qin Zhen feel sick to his stomach. He originally wanted to meet the two of them to see what they thought. Unexpectedly, after being locked up for several months, the two brothers were turned into savages. Judging from their performance, who knows if they have some mental illness. Even if the two of them really want to surrender, he dare not use them! However, since the two of them were like this, he couldn't help but say something, so he could only say in a deep voice: "So, you two really intend to surrender to our army?" When the two brothers heard this, they expressed their loyalty again: "We are all willing to surrender, and have no other intentions!" Seeing the two of them like this, Qin Zhen hesitated for a moment. According to his original idea, he should let the Mei brothers replace Xiahou Lan to garrison Lu'an. Then he asked Mei Cheng to secretly deliver a letter of surrender to Liu Xun, and gradually gain Liu Xun's trust. Then slowly attract Liu Xun's attention to Chaohu Lake. But now the two of them are in this state, it will take at least some time for them to recover before they can use it. I just don’t know if the plan is still in time!

Don't let a single carelessness ruin their plans, or you'll be in big trouble. But after hesitating for a while, he shook his head again, thinking that it was still early anyway. Judging from the current situation, if they want to take action against Liu Xun, it will take at least until winter. A few months is enough time for him to observe whether the two can be used. If not, he will change his strategy. The current task is to prepare to make money first! So after thinking for a while, Qin Zhen decided to release the Mei brothers first to give them some time to recover. And he slowly carried out his money-making plan! (End of this chapter)