Chapter 149: Inheriting the Ancestral Title, Xun You's Plan Talking about Liu Bei's seniority is actually an unsolved mystery. Since his grandfather Liu Zhen lost his title, Liu Bei's branch completely lost the qualification to be included in history books, and it is difficult to trace its genealogy. As for the seniority rankings in the novel, they are purely fictitious. After all, after Emperor Wu of Han implemented the Enfeoffment Order, most of the Liu family marquises were eliminated. It is impossible that the situation recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was that all of Liu Zhen's descendants were marquises. Moreover, according to the generation ranking in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei is the fifth-generation grandson of Liu Xie, so it is impossible for him to be considered the emperor's uncle. Therefore, when Liu Xie summoned Liu Ai, the chief of clan affairs, to inquire about Liu Bei's genealogy, Liu Ai checked the genealogy and came to the conclusion of only four words - it can no longer be verified! Facing this, Liu Xie frowned and asked quickly: "What is Zong Zheng saying? Liu Bei is a descendant of the imperial clan, so what he said cannot be verified." Seeing this, Liu Ai bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, it is not that I did not try my best, but King Jing of Zhongshan Liu Sheng had more than 120 sons!" "Only his son Liu Zhen was granted the title of Marquis of Lucheng County in Zhongshan State. Later, because his offering of gold was impure, he lost his title and was demoted to a commoner." "Their descendants have lived in Zhuo County for a long time. Liu Bei's ancestral home is in Zhuo County, and most of them are from this branch. If you want to find out their lineage, you must send someone to Zhuo County for a detailed investigation." "There is no such record in the family tree stored in the Imperial Palace!" Here we have to mention the development history of the royal family genealogy. In fact, the royal family genealogy has been constantly changing and improving. It was first created in the Zhou Dynasty in order to establish the lineage and distinguish the ancestors. Later, the Qin Dynasty was established and the position of Zong Zheng was created to specifically manage the family tree. But in this era, the royal family genealogy had only one function, which was to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate members of the royal family, and the closeness of relatives, in order to prevent the intrusion of other branches. If one holds a title, it will naturally be recorded in the family tree. But without the title, he has basically lost his status as a member of the royal family and has no right of inheritance, so there is naturally no need to record him for future generations. In a situation like Liu Bei, he belongs to the side branch outside the main branch. He can only be regarded as a descendant of the royal family, but not a member of the royal family. He is not under the management of Liu Ai, the chief of the royal family. The record of this genealogy was not improved until the Tang Dynasty. It was not until the Song Dynasty that special Zongzheng Temples were established, with special officials and institutions responsible for editing. That is why Liu Ai at this time gave Liu Xie a conclusion that could not be verified. The meaning is also very clear. Even if Liu Bei is a descendant of the royal family, he is not even remotely related to him, just a distant relative. But the reason why Liu Xie wanted to check the family tree was to recognize his relatives and strengthen the relationship. Naturally, Liu Ai's answer could not satisfy him. While thinking, he looked at Dong Cheng and Fu Wan and said: "Liu Bei's ancestral home is in Zhuo County, but there is no way to verify it now. What do you two think we should do about it?" Seeing this, the two men also understood Liu Xie's worries. Now that Liu Bei's envoy was right before their eyes, they should take this opportunity to win over Liu Bei.

If we send someone to Zhuo County to check the family tree now, it will be too late. Therefore, they needed to find a way to define Liu Bei's identity. Fu Wan came from a noble family and knew that this was against etiquette, so he frowned and said nothing. On the contrary, Dong Cheng smiled and said to Liu Xie upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the journey to Zhuo County is long and it will take half a year to go back and forth. It is too late to send someone now!" "Since you are the head of the clan, you know that Liu Zhen has lived in Zhuo County for generations, and Liu Bei is also from Zhuo County. When the envoy arrives, you can ask about Liu Bei's ancestors. If it is Liu Zhen, you will know that Liu Bei is also a descendant of the clan." "Your Majesty may issue an edict to restore Liu Zhen to the title of Marquis of Lucheng County, and in recognition of Liu Bei's merits, transfer him to the title of Marquis of Lucheng County and let him inherit his ancestral title." "This way, we can show Liu Bei's merits and Your Majesty's virtues!" His method was also a matter of rights and interests. Since Liu Bei's ancestors could no longer be traced, he might as well have a cross-generational inheritance. First restore Liu Zhen's title, and then let Liu Bei inherit the title, then Liu Bei will naturally become a recognizable relative of the Han royal family. Although they were still distant relatives, after being conferred the title of marquis, they were equal to Liu Biao, Liu Zhang and others. It can also achieve Liu Xie's goal of winning over Liu Bei. When Liu Xie heard this, he was overjoyed and said: "My dear minister, you are absolutely right. I will act accordingly!" After discussing this, Liu Xie felt more confident and issued an edict for Liu Ye to come to the court to meet him. At the same time, in Cao Cao's mansion, he heard that Liu Ye had come with the imperial seal, and read Cheng Yu's letter. He couldn't help but stroke his beard and sighed: "How did Liu Bei have such great fortune? First of all, he got the great sage Qin Zixuan under my command." "Now we have Liu Ziyang, who is also a man of great talent!" "And now they have taken Huainan and allied with Liu Chong and Lu Bu. If they take Jiangdong in the future, how will we deal with them?" As he said this, he felt very depressed. He thought that Qin Zhen alone was already troublesome enough, and now with Liu Ye added to the mix, it really made the situation difficult for him. He then called over a scholar in black to ask for advice. He had a tall hat and a long beard, his eyes were slanted, his cheekbones were high, and his appearance was quite serious. This person was none other than Cao Cao’s newly promoted military advisor, Xun You, also known as Xun Gongda. As for Xun You, he had actually joined Cao's army a long time ago. He had originally wanted to enter Shu and serve as the prefect of Shu County, but was later stopped in Jingzhou due to rebellion in Shu. After Xi Zhicai passed away, in order to fill Xi Zhicai's vacancy, Xun Yu recommended Guo Jia to join Cao Cao's army. But Cao Cao thought that one person was not enough to suppress Qin Zhen, so he wrote another letter to recruit Xun You into his army. However, Qin Zhen had already become a powerful figure by then, and Xun You had no place to display his abilities after his arrival, so Cao Cao recommended him to be the governor of Runan.

After meeting Qin Zhen in Runan this time, Cao Cao often sighed when he returned. He suddenly remembered this idle talent and recruited him to replace Qin Zhen. After hearing Cao Cao's words, Xun You shook his head and said: "My lord, please forgive me for being blunt. Liu Bei is now a powerful figure. Qin Zixuan is in charge of everything at home, and Xu Yuanzhi, Guan Yu and others are stationed outside!" "Besides, Jiangdong is in chaos now. Sooner or later, it will be taken by Liu Bei. Our army is out of reach. We can only make peace with him, not plot against him!" When Cao Cao heard this, he frowned and said: "How could I not know about this? Liu Bei and Lu Bu are in the east and south respectively, and there are Yuan Shao and Liu Biao beside them. If we don't plan for Huainan, where else can we plan for?" With the rise of Liu Bei, Cao Cao's plan was completely disrupted because Xun Yu and Qin Zhen had planned a route for him. At that time, Yuan Shao's dominance in Hebei was a foregone conclusion, and they were surrounded by enemies in Yanzhou. Therefore, the two of them gave Cao Cao advice to first eliminate the Central Plains forces, develop internal affairs, increase the population, and then compete with Yuan Shao for hegemony after there are no more troubles in the surrounding areas. Originally, the plan was being implemented well, but with Qin Zhen's departure, everything became very difficult. Although he successfully defeated Yuan Shu, Liu Bei took advantage of the situation to occupy Huainan and now has an alliance with Lu Bu. In other words, his way to the east was tightly clamped by the two families. Similarly, in the west, Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao were also in an alliance. It can be said that compared with the original history, Cao Cao’s current development situation is blocked! Qin Zhen only used a trick to get chestnuts from the fire, but he made Cao suffer. Now he has Liu Biao's help in fighting Zhang Xiu, and Liu Bei's restraint in fighting Lu Bu. After all the calculations, he can only break the deadlock by defeating Liu Bei first. Only in this way could he have the strength to compete with Yuan Shao for hegemony after Yuan Shao destroyed Gongsun Zan. So when Cao Cao heard Xun You's words, he was naturally quite puzzled. But Xun You saw this, but shook his head and said to Cao Cao: "If you think this way, our army will be doomed and it will be difficult to recover!" "You must know that all our military strategies were devised by Qin Zhen, who is an expert in strategy and the best in the world!" "Now that he has joined Liu Bei's army, in just half a year, Liu Bei has become the dominant power in Huainan." "In this situation, if we continue to follow the strategy formulated by this person, our army will be controlled by him at every step!" "So in my opinion, our army should immediately change its strategy and break the original layout, only then will there be a glimmer of hope!" Listening to Xun You's words, Cao Cao nodded secretly. I thought to myself that this was indeed true. The reason why Liu Bei overtook him at every step was because Qin Zhen helped Liu Bei with his plans! Before Qin Zhen's strategic decision changes, it would be equivalent to using Qin Zhen's strategy to fight Qin Zhen himself. How could he not be controlled by Qin Zhen? The current situation is the same. The reason why he feels he cannot break the impasse is because Qin Zhen knows what he will do and planned the current situation based on this, putting him in a difficult situation. If Qin Zhen didn't know what he would do, Liu Bei wouldn't have reached this point. Thinking of this, Cao Cao looked at Xun You and asked: "Then Gongda, how do you think our army should change its strategy now?" As soon as he finished speaking, Xun You stood up and said:

"In my opinion, our army should now change the direction of attack to Yongliang!" "Because right now in the Central Plains, our army has no room for expansion." "The next step is to capture Nanyang, go south to Huainan, or take Xuzhou in the east. All of them are fraught with difficulties." "At this time, Yuan Shao is besieging Gongsun Zan in Hebei. In one or two years at most, he will be able to unify several states in Hebei!" "At present, our army is only able to occupy Guanzhong, Yanzhou, Runan and other places. If we cannot break the alliance between Liu and Lu in a short time, we will have to face the pressure of Yuan Shao's army!" "If Liu Bei and Lu Bu had interfered, our army would have been defeated by Yuan Shao." "Therefore, the only chance for our army to survive is to use Guanzhong as a springboard and take over Yongliang and other places." "If our army can defeat Yuan Shao, we can first take over Hebei, unify the north, and then move south." "If our army cannot defeat Yuan Shao, we will retreat to Guanzhong, defend the pass, and seize Yizhou as a retreat!" "In this way, even if Liu Bei occupies the southeast and Yuan Shao occupies Hebei and the Central Plains, our army can still dominate the pre-Qin territory, defend the pass, and overlook the Central Plains." "As long as our army's foundation is intact, even if Yuan Shao has strong soldiers and horses, and Qin Zhen is a scholar, they will not be able to do anything to our army!" Hearing this, Cao Cao's eyes revealed an inexplicable look and said: "Gongda is advising me to withdraw from the Central Plains?" Xun You saw this and shook his head: "It's not about withdrawing from the Central Plains, it's about making plans for your retreat!" "Judging from the current situation, although Liu Bei has become a threat, he is not enough to shake the foundation of our army. However, if Liu Bei cannot do this, Yuan Shao can!" "As long as our army's base remains in the Central Plains, it will be controlled by the two families." "But if our army moves its base into Guanzhong, then no matter whether Liu Bei becomes stronger or Yuan Shao moves south, our army won't have to fear it." "It just so happens that Qin Zixuan's strategy of farming is effective, and the people of Luoyang and Guanzhong have not suffered too much damage. Our army's relocation base only needs to migrate to two places." "Once the base is moved to Guanzhong, you will no longer have to worry about Liu Bei's rise in the southeast." This was also a major change caused by Qin Zhen. According to the original history, it would be impossible for Cao Cao to shift his strategic goals during this period of time. Because Guanzhong and Luoyang were both severely damaged in the original process, Cao Cao had no ability to plot against Xiliang and could only send Zhong Yao to pacify the situation. However, because Qin Zhen rescued a large number of people for Cao Cao, Guanzhong and Luoyang now retain a lot of vitality. With this little bit of vitality, Cao can completely shift his strategic direction and develop towards Xiliang and Yizhou. Listening to Xun You's words at this time, Cao Cao was naturally moved. But thinking carefully, it has not reached that point yet. He thought for a while and said: "Gongda's words make sense, but I still need to think about it for a while. However, pacifying Yongliang is feasible." "Gongda, go and think about the strategy of advancing, so as to avoid being at a loss in the future!"

Seeing this, Xun You nodded. Then Cao Cao asked: "Then what should we do with Liu Bei's offering of the Imperial Seal?" Xun You heard this, thought for a moment and said: "Since you value Liu Ziyang's talent, why not take this opportunity to retain him and employ him in the court!" "As for what Liu Bei is asking for, it is nothing more than looking for a pastoral position, so let him do it." "Liu Bei and Sun Ce are both serious threats. If we throw Yangzhou away, we can attract the two tigers to eat each other. This will also allow our army to pacify Xiliang with peace of mind!" After hearing this, Cao Cao nodded and smiled: "Gongda is indeed a good assistant to me. If you follow my advice, I will make a decision!" At that moment, he was no longer worried and waited for Liu Ye to come to see him. (End of this chapter)