Chapter 150: Court Dispute, Rift Between Lord and Minister Without talking about the reactions of Liu Xie and Cao Cao, it can be said that after Liu Ye arrived in Xuchang, he first visited Xu Qiu's mansion. After returning to the court with Cao Cao, Xu Qiu was appointed as the Chief Justice by Liu Xie, and had already settled down in the city of Xuchang. After all, because of Guan Yu's rescue, Xu Qiu had a very good impression of Liu Bei's army. Seeing Liu Ye coming, he hosted a banquet to entertain him and asked him the purpose of his visit. When Liu Ye saw this, he told Xu Qiu his request. He had only one request, which was to ask Xu Qiu to help him submit a petition to the court to have Liu Bei recognized as a relative of the Han royal family. Because he came this time with only two purposes: first, to help Liu Bei recommend Liu Fu as the governor of Yangzhou; Second, let Liu Bei’s clan identity be certified by the court. The first thing was simple. As the governor of Yuzhou, Liu Bei was fully qualified to recommend Liu Fu as the governor. On the contrary, the second thing is quite troublesome and requires the use of someone else's mouth! After all the calculations, in the entire court, only Xu Qiu had such a relationship and qualifications with them. When Xu Qiu heard this, he thought it was not a big deal and he would help if he could.

He then asked in detail about the names of Liu Bei's ancestors and several generations before him, and after confirming that Liu Bei's identity was correct, he agreed immediately. So Liu Ye stayed in Xu Qiu's mansion for a day, and then heard Liu Xie's edict. He then fasted for three days, burned incense and bathed, and then he entered the palace with the jade seal to present it. After meeting Liu Xie, he presented the jade seal respectfully without saying a word. When Liu Xie saw the jade seal, he was extremely delighted. With the cheers of his ministers, he looked at Liu Ye with even greater joy and said with a smile: "I heard that your surname is also Liu, I wonder who your ancestors were?" Liu Ye bowed hastily and then told the story of his ancestors. When Liu Xie heard that Liu Ye was also a relative of the Han royal family, his eyes suddenly lit up. He thought to himself that it was indeed the Liu family that was on the rise. Now that Liu Bei had risen, and with the Han royal family members flocking to him, they could become a strong support for him! At that time, Liu Ye was appointed as the Marquis of Xinyu Ting for his merit in presenting the jade seal. Later, Liu Xie asked his ministers how Liu Bei should be rewarded for his great contribution in getting the jade seal back. While everyone was thinking about this, Cao Cao stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, I have a report to make!" Seeing Cao Cao step out, Liu Xie's heart sank, and he asked again: "What do you have to say?" Cao Cao then looked up and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the person who took back the jade seal this time was not Liu Bei, but his subordinate Guan Yu!" "If we are to confer awards today, we should confer an award on Guan Yu first!" "I recommend Guan Yu to be the Marquis of Han Shou Ting, so as not to dishearten the brave warriors!" He naturally knew that Liu Xie might be preparing to increase Liu Bei's reward, but now Liu Bei was already the General Zhendong and the Governor of Yuzhou. If Liu Xie had been determined, Liu Bei might have been promoted to the rank of General of the Four Expeditions or even to such high positions as General of the Cavalry or General of the Chariots.

Although it has no special effect, it can enhance Liu Bei's momentum. Therefore, he simply decided to divide the credit and give part of the credit to Guan Yu first, so that Liu Bei would not be able to be promoted twice in a row. At this point, he continued: "There is also Sun Ce, the governor of Kuaiji, who has made great contributions in the campaign against Yuan Shu, but has not yet been rewarded." "Now that Yangzhou is in chaos again, I recommend Sun Ce to be the governor of Yangzhou and confer the title of Marquis of Wu as a reward for his contribution in defeating the enemy!" After hearing what Cao Cao said, Liu Xie felt relieved, but Liu Ye frowned. Now they are recommending Liu Fu in order to control Sun Ce. Unexpectedly, Cao Cao would suddenly recommend Sun Ce as the governor of Yangzhou. In this way, even if Liu Fu became the governor of Yangzhou, his effectiveness would be greatly reduced. He wanted to say a few words, but he had no official position and no say in the court, so he could only keep quiet. But at this moment, as soon as Cao Cao finished speaking, Dong Cheng stepped out and said: "I don't agree with what you said, Sikong. Sun Ce was originally a member of Yuan Shu's army and he fought with him in the south and the north." "He drove away Lu Kang, the governor of Lujiang, attacked and killed Xu Gong, and expelled Wang Lang. All these actions were acts of rebellion!" "Even though I followed the emperor's orders to fight the enemy, it's hard to offset my merits and demerits!" “Most of the chaos in Yangzhou today is in Wujun, Kuaiji and other places, which shows that it is incapable of governance.” "It is Your Majesty's kindness that the court has not punished such a person. How can you reward him with the position of pastor?" As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Wan and others stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, I have heard that during the campaign against Yuan Shu, Sun Ce turned against his allies and attacked them. Please punish me, Your Majesty!" Liu Xie had no objection at first, but when he saw Dong Cheng and Fu Wan step out, he said in surprise: "You didn't expect this to happen?" He looked at Cao Cao with interest for a moment: "Sikong Cao, is what the father-in-law said true?" Seeing Dong Cheng and Fu Wan suddenly come out to charge, Cao Cao frowned, and seeing Liu Xie asking questions, he could only say in a deep voice: "I don't know much about this matter, so I dare not make any assertions!" When he said this, Xun Yu saw that he was frustrated, so he sighed slightly and stepped out of the group and said: "Your Majesty, although Sun Ce did this, it is not necessarily a rebellion. It is also true that he tried his best to fight against the enemy!" "Considering that he is the descendant of the meritorious official Sun Po Lu, he should not be rewarded for his merits, nor should he be punished!" "Today is the day when the imperial seal is returned to the court. We should first report Liu Xuande's achievements. As for the punishment, we can discuss it another day." His appearance brought the matter back to the issue of Liu Bei's reward. Seeing this, Liu Xie didn't want to push Cao Cao too far, so he simply asked Liu Bei how to reward him. Then Xu Qiu stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, I have heard that Liu Xuande is a descendant of the royal family, but his ancestors were stripped of their titles and demoted to commoners." "Now that we have returned the imperial seal to the court, why not restore his status as a royal family member to show your majesty's virtue!" Liu Xie was delighted to see him take the initiative to talk about this matter, and asked hurriedly:

"My dear, do you know who his ancestors were and why they lost their titles?" Xu Qiu then told the story of Liu Zhen offering gold and losing the title. After Liu Xie heard that Liu Bei was indeed Liu Zhen, he smiled and said: "If they are indeed royal relatives, even if their ancestors have done something wrong, their descendants should not be blamed." "Now that you have recovered the Imperial Seal, your title should be restored!" At that moment, he followed Dong Cheng's suggestion and announced the restoration of Liu Zhen's title, changing Liu Bei's Yichengting Marquis to Lucheng County Marquis. Later, in recognition of Liu Bei's contribution in defeating Yuan Shu, he promoted Liu Bei to General Zhengdong, and appointed him to supervise the military affairs of Yu, Xu, and Yangzhou. With such a set of rewards, Liu Bei was instantly promoted to one of the Four Expeditions, ranking above Liu Biao and Liu Zhang. After giving the reward, Liu Xie looked at Liu Ye again and said: "I wonder if Lord Liu has anything to ask for?" Liu Ye was very smart. When he saw this situation, he knew that a rift had arisen between Liu Xie and Cao Cao. The reason why he rewarded Liu Bei so generously was that he wanted to use Liu Bei to check and balance Cao Cao! This little emperor is not very old, but he has some imperial mentality! Then he bowed to Liu Xie and said: "Because the situation in Yangzhou is currently in chaos, the envoy wants to recommend Liu Yuanying of Pei State to serve as the governor of Yangzhou to quell the chaos in the southeast." Hearing that the person Liu Bei recommended was also surnamed Liu, Liu Xie nodded secretly again, thinking that it had to be a family member. The people recommended all have the surname Liu. Unlike Cao Cao, he actually recommended Sun Ce, which really showed his evil intentions. After some thought, he approved the request again, and at the same time, Qin Zhen, Guan Yu and others were all rewarded. Liu Xie was particularly impressed by Qin Zhen. He had previously assisted Cao Cao in welcoming him to Xu County. Now, after betraying Cao Cao, he helped to support a loyal and useful Liu Bei. It can be seen that Qin Zhen is a loyal person who is devoted to the Han Dynasty, otherwise he would never betray Cao and join Liu! Liu Xie followed Cao Cao's previous report and said to his ministers with a smile: "I heard that Qin Yilang helped Sikong to welcome me back to Xu, and now he is helping Liu Zhengdong to attack Yuan Shu. His contribution is great!" "I think his father-in-law Cai Zhonglang is also a good minister of the country, and he should also be rewarded!" Afterwards, he personally issued an edict, appointing Qin Zhen as the General of the Five Officials and adding an additional fief of 500 households. At this point, the rewards for Liu Bei's family were completely completed, and Liu Ye was invited to the side hall for a chat. In his words, he was generous in praising Liu Bei, and asked Liu Ye to urge Liu Bei to fight the enemy as soon as possible after returning to Shouchun and to pacify the southeast. Of course, Liu Ye agreed to this. After Cao Cao returned home, he was furious. He wanted to have a two-tiger competition for food, but he didn't expect to be rejected by Liu Xie! Moreover, Liu Xie strongly supported Liu Bei and specially singled out Qin Zhen for reward. What was he trying to do? The only thing left is pointing at his nose and calling him a traitor! Let alone suppressing Liu Bei, if this continues, I'm afraid Cao Cao won't even be able to control the situation in the court! He then summoned Xun Yu and others into the mansion to discuss matters. Talking about the events in the court today, he glared at Xun Yu and said: "Today, when I presented my memorial to Sun Ce, why did you turn to talk about something else?" Cao Cao was such a shrewd man. Looking at Xun Yu's appearance today, he knew that Xun Yu did not want to confront him, Liu Xie. Although this action respected the emperor, it indirectly helped Liu Bei, which really made him angry. When Xun Yu saw this, he immediately shook his head and sighed:

"Because Dong Cheng and others launched an attack today, I was afraid that I would lose my manners in front of my lord, so I did this!" Such an understatement naturally could not eliminate Cao Cao's anger. Cao Cao was about to attack when Guo Jia stepped out and said: "My lord, today the emperor has helped Liu Bei's power. Liu Bei has become a great threat abroad. If the emperor continues to do this, it may be detrimental to my lord!" Cao Cao heard this and knew that Guo Jia had eased the atmosphere, so he said in a deep voice: "I know about this, but I am worried that some people might be dissatisfied, so I do nothing!" Xun Yu listened and knew that Cao Cao was dissatisfied with him, so he lowered his head and said nothing. Guo Jia continued in a deep voice: "Given the current situation, I am worried that someone in the court is colluding with foreign enemies!" "Yang Biao is related to the two Yuan brothers and is in a high position. If he is in collusion with the two Yuan brothers, he will cause great harm. We must eliminate him immediately!" Now that Cao Cao's prestige in the court had been damaged and he was in urgent need of reestablishing his authority, Guo Jia could not possibly let Cao Cao vent his anger on Xun Yu, so he simply suggested using Yang Biao to take the blame. When Lao Cao saw him like this, he knew what Guo Jia was thinking. He hesitated for a while, then looked at Xun Yu and said; "I want to remove Yang Biao from his position as Grand Commandant. Do you have any opinion?" Xun Yu heard this and sighed again: "I have no objection!" Seeing how submissive he was, Cao Cao stopped talking and asked Guo Jia to prepare people to deal with Yang Biao. Only then did he calm down. After Liu Ye left the palace, he knew that Cao Cao and Liu Xie would inevitably fight, and he would inevitably be affected, so he simply returned to Xu Qiu's mansion and said goodbye. After leaving Xuchang with his guards, he entered the territory of Chen State. Because he knew that the geographical location of Liu Chong's territory was extremely important, and he had received help from Liu Chong last time, he planned to go and pay a visit again. After entering the State of Chen, they sent a letter to Chen County and handed it over to Liu Chong. When Liu Chong saw Liu Ye's return, he was overjoyed and held a banquet in the palace to entertain him. He specially invited his son Liu Xian and Princess He to entertain Liu Ye in the form of a family dinner, and also let Liu Ye and Liu Xian call each other brothers. After all this, Liu Ye began to feel favorable towards Liu Chong. He thought that if Liu Chong stayed here, he would be annexed by Cao Cao sooner or later, so it would be better to form an alliance with Liu Bei and serve as external aid. So he told Liu Chong his thoughts. But Liu Chong had little interest in this. Because at this time Liu Chong was no longer the King Chen who worked hard to govern the country during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Being trapped in the State of Chen for more than ten years has made him lose the desire to dominate. Anyway, he can live and work in peace and contentment in the State of Chen now. Even if Cao Cao and Yuan Shu are fighting fiercely nearby, it will not affect his stability in the State of Chen.

Under such circumstances, forming an alliance with Liu Bei would be just looking for trouble! Therefore, after Liu Ye made this request, he politely declined it. But when Liu Ye saw this, he secretly thought it was not good. In his opinion, the reason why Liu Chong had been able to remain in seclusion until now was because neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shu wanted to touch him. Now that Liu Chong and Cao Cao had become resentful of each other, Liu Chong became a piece of fat meat. In this situation, if there is no strong support, Liu Chong will definitely be in big trouble with his character! If there is no interaction, then he will leave. But now Liu Chong is really good to him, and he knows this, so he naturally cannot sit idly by and watch Liu Chong like this. After careful consideration, Liu Ye wrote a letter and sent it to Shouchun. (End of this chapter)