Chapter 117 Adou ascends the throne

On the list, the first few dozen pages are spies placed in Wei State, and the first one is Xu Shu, whose pseudonym is "Mr. Qiu".

After learning from Jin Mo that there was a person like Mr. Qiu, he had been wondering who Mr. Qiu was. A Dou once suspected that Mr. Qiu might be Xu Shu, but Xu Shu was very low-key when he was in Xu Du and basically had no contact with other officials. Mr. Qiu was a well-informed person, so A Dou thought about it and sent Xu Shu. Now it seems that Xu Shu must have other ways to obtain information. At the same time, because Xu Shu was low-key, he was able to hide in Xu Du for so long and not be discovered.

"Yuan Zhi went to Xudu when he was forced by Cao Cao. Later, I sent someone to Xudu to contact Yuanzhi secretly. Now I am lurking among the officials in Xudu, headed by Yuanzhi." Liu Bei explained from the side.

Adou then turned downwards, followed by one person after another. The one with the greatest official position was Xu Shu, and the youngest even the county magistrate Gongcao. For example, Jin Yi, Geng Ji, Wei Feng and others who had rebelled against Cao Cao before were also on this list.

After turning page by page, many people on it didn't recognize the names of Adou, many of them were local officials. In Adou's opinion, many of them were local officials in the hinterland of Cao's army, so such officials were not very useful.

Next, the spies were installed in the Eastern Wu side. In comparison, there were many fewer people in the Eastern Wu side and there were no senior officials. After all, most of the officials in Jiangdong were from local aristocratic families, and the children of these aristocratic families were people with strong family concepts, so it was difficult to develop spies.

Liu Bei waited quietly for Adou to finish reading, and then said to Jianyong beside him: "Xianhe, you can obey Gongsi's command in the future!"

Jian Yong's body trembled slightly, then he lowered his head and said, "I obey the order."

"Xianhe, you can retreat first if you have nothing to do." Liu Bei then said to Jian Yong, and Jian Yong bowed slightly to Liu Bei and Adou and retreated.

"Mr. I hope you pay attention to someone."

"Who?" A Dou asked.

"Ma Chao!"

"Did your father mean General Ma Chao?" Adou was slightly stunned, and then immediately understood.

Ma Chao was once a prince, but later he had no choice but to surrender to Liu Bei. Although Ma Chao made great contributions in the battle for Hanzhong, Liu Bei still did not eliminate Liu Bei's grudge against Ma Chao. After Liu Bei became the King of Hanzhong, he gave Ma Chao a great official title, and only the generals were under Guan and Zhang. Later, Liu Bei ordered Ma Chao to guard Yangping Pass, nominally guarding Cao Cao, but in fact he was restricting Ma Chao. The food and supplies of Yangping Pass were all supplied by Hanzhong, so even if Ma Chao held heavy troops in his hand, he could not rebel.

Liu Bei was always on guard against Ma Chao, but Liu Bei would never show it. On the surface, Liu Bei still valued Ma Chao very much and did not relax his defense against Ma Chao in secret.

As time goes by, Liu Bei's wariness towards Ma Chao is becoming increasingly serious. Ma Chao is famous all over the world. When Ma Chao just surrendered, the other four of Liu Bei's five tiger generals were all equal to Ma Chao. Now a few years later, Huang Zhong is already nearly 80 years old, and Guan and Zhang are both over 60 years old. Zhao Yun is a little younger and almost 60 years old. Only Ma Chao is only in his forties and is still strong. Back then, Zhang Fei could have a naked battle with Ma Chao, and fight with Ma Chao from daytime to night. Now it is probably difficult for Zhang Fei to do it. Therefore, Ma Chao is the most powerful general of the Five Tigers.

As for the younger generals in Shu, although Zhang Bao, Guan Xing and others had good martial arts skills, they were still not as good as Ma Chao. Guan Ping was well acquainted with Guan Yu's true teachings, and perhaps he could take a few moves in Ma Chao's hands. The only one who could have enough strength to defeat Ma Chao was A Dou.

Now Ma Chao is in Liangzhou. Although he is still surrounded by the Qiang and Di army, Liangzhou is Ma Chao's nest. Especially after Liu Bei became ill, his fear of Ma Chao is increasing day by day.

Liu Bei continued: "Ma Mengqi is a hero of the world. If you can truly support him, you can build Huo Cavalry and Ban Dingyuan's achievements. However, this person is extremely arrogant in nature and it is difficult for ordinary people to truly support him. People like Ma Mengqi, if you use it well, you can open up territory. If you don't use it well, you may be devoured by him. Gongsi, if you think you can control Ma Chao, keep him; if you feel it is difficult to control, kill him..."

Liu Bei's tone seemed very calm, and he couldn't hear any turbulence. Adou could even feel that Liu Bei had planned to kill Ma Chao for a long time, thought about it many times, and even implemented certain specific links, so Liu Bei was so calm when he spoke.

"My son understand." A Dou nodded and said.

Liu Bei sighed slightly and said, "It has been more than thirty years since the Yellow Turban Rebellion. I have been wandering for half my life. Only in recent years have I had a small foundation. I have no ability. I couldn't even keep a Xuzhou back then. I have such a foundation all depend on my subordinates to plan for me. If there is no help from the ministers, I will not be as good as I am today. In short, I am just a ruthless king. You are different from you. You are much smarter than me and have much more skills than me. But remember that you don't need to do it yourself. You must know that you have the skills. Moreover, there is no difference between national affairs. Do not act arbitrarily and do anything extra."

"Sons obey the order."

"Gongsi, now I will hand over all the major affairs of the army and the country. Remember one sentence: Do not do good deeds because of small things, and do not do evil deeds because of small things! There is no sloppy military and national affairs, and you need to follow them carefully..."

"My son must remember it in my heart!"

"Gongsi, please retreat first. I am a little tired. Let me take a good rest!" After the tossing of the prisoner offering ceremony during the day and after saying so, Liu Bei was already very tired.

"My son is leaving." Adou bowed slightly, while Liu Bei closed his eyes opposite him, and the sound of calm breathing gradually appeared, and he seemed to be asleep.

The summer noon sun shines on the land of Yongzhou, and the temperature has gradually risen to its peak. The cool atmosphere brought by the heavy rain a few days ago has been completely wiped out by this hot summer season. As noon approaches, Chang'an City has become extremely hot.

Eunuch Zhang is one of the oldest eunuchs in the Weiyang Palace. Eunuch Zhang, who is over 60 years old, has experienced four emperors of the Han Dynasty in Emperor Huan, Emperor Ling, Emperor Shao, and Emperor Xian. Especially in recent years, Chang'an City has changed its masters one after another. Starting from Dong Zhuo, to Li Jue Guo Si, Zhang Xiu's uncle and nephew, Cao Cao, Ma Chao, and later Cao Cao's revenge on Chang'an, Eunuch Zhang proved all this.

Eunuch Zhang is an old man in the Weiyang Palace and has been staying in the Weiyang Palace for many years. Even when Li Jue and Guo Si were in trouble in Chang'an and Emperor Xian fled, Eunuch Zhang has never left the Weiyang Palace. Liu Bei was a civilian and did not have the foundation of a noble family. Even if he became an emperor, he was still unfamiliar with some things in the palace. After Liu Bei occupied Chang'an, he appointed many elderly people in the Weiyang Palace, and Eunuch Zhang was one of the people valued by Liu Bei.

With the experience of the Taoist, Eunuch Zhang quickly gained the trust of Liu Bei and became the leader of the eunuch in the Weiyang Palace and also Liu Bei's close attendant eunuch.

Eunuch Zhang walked to Liu Bei's door, gently opened the door, and walked to Liu Bei with a lighter pace. At this time, Liu Bei was still closing his eyes, and there was a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty is not awake yet..." Eunuch Zhang sighed slightly in his heart, and began to hesitate whether to wake Liu Bei up. After all, it is already noon now. From yesterday to now, Liu Bei has not eaten anything or drinks any water. For a person who is seriously ill and weak, it is not okay to not eat more than a day.

A little eunuch holding a bowl of ginseng porridge beside him asked in a low voice: "Father-in-law, it's time for your majesty to have a meal. Should we wake up your majesty?"

"When did Your Majesty eat at the first meal?" Zhang Gong asked publicly.

“It was noon yesterday.”

Eunuch Zhang nodded: "It's been so long, Your Majesty is time to eat something, I'll wake up Your Majesty."

Eunuch Zhang lowered his head and called gently in front of Liu Bei's face: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is awake, it's time for you to have a meal."

Liu Bei still closed his eyes tightly and did not wake up. The only thing that remained unchanged was the smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Your Majesty..." Eunuch Zhang's voice became three times louder, but Liu Bei still did not wake up. Eunuch Zhang felt a little uneasy. Eunuch Zhang boldly pulled Liu Bei's corner of his clothes gently, hoping to wake Liu Bei up. But Liu Bei's body still did not move at all.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty wake up! Your Majesty!" Eunuch Zhang mustered up his courage again and reached out to Liu Bei's nose. Then, Eunuch Zhang's face changed drastically. He took several steps and sat on the ground, while murmuring in his mouth: "Your Majesty has passed away..."

However, after all, Eunuch Zhang is an old man in the palace and has rich experience. Four or five seconds later, Eunuch Zhang stood up with a pale face and shouted loudly: "Transfer to the Imperial Doctor!"

When Pang Tong rushed in, he found that Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and A Dou had already arrived.

Guan Yu stood silly against the pillar, his face shone with a sense of confusion, and his eyes were staring ahead with a dull look. Zhang Fei was crying with Liu Bei's body, but Adou did not show any abnormality except for a hint of sadness on his face.

Pang Tong took a deep breath and tried to be more sober. The imperial physician used to say that Liu Bei could hold on for about a year, but he didn't expect that Liu Bei would go there in just a few days. This also disrupted all the plans Pang Tong had planned for Liu Bei before.

Liu Bei died, but Pang Tong knew that this was the end of Liu Bei's life, but in a sense, Liu Bei's death was a new beginning.

"Your Highness, the second general, and the third general, please beg for the conspiracy." Pang Tong said. At this time, the two men of Guan and Zhang discovered that Pang Tong was coming in.

"Shi Yuan, my elder brother..." Zhang Fei said twitchingly.

"Three generals, now there are internal and external troubles in Yongzhou. I think I should immediately handle the funeral for Your Majesty, and then ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to ascend the throne to quickly stabilize people's hearts." Pang Tong said calmly.

Guan Yu was in a daze all the time. Hearing Pang Tong's words, he finally woke up.

"Third brother, what Shi Yuan said is that it is not the time for you and me to be sad. Yongzhou is not in a good situation. When the eldest brother goes there, Yongzhou will be even more uneasy. Now we should handle the funeral for our eldest brother immediately, and then let Gongsi ascend the throne." Guan Yu said.

"Second brother, I'm very confused now, you decide..."

As he got closer and closer to Chang'an City, Zhuge Liang's heart became more and more uneasy.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Zhuge Liang ordered, and the groom immediately beat the horse hard, and the speed of the carriage increased a few points.

But the uneasiness in Zhuge Liang's heart continued to increase. Zhuge Liang couldn't help but poke his head out and looked towards Chang'an City.

Guan Suo next to him saw Guan Yu's anxious expression and immediately spoke: "Prime Minister, we are almost here, Chang'an City is right in front!"

As Guan Suo finished speaking, Chang'an City had already appeared in everyone's sight.

As the distance gets closer, Zhuge Liang can already see the white silk hanging in front of Chang'an City gates floating in the wind.

"White silk!" Zhuge Liang stared at the city gate with his eyes tightly, his mouth slightly opened, and he couldn't speak for a long time.

The carriage drove to the gate of Chang'an City. Zhuge Liang raised his eyes and looked inside. He saw that the streets of Chang'an City in the city were covered with white silks. None of the merchants in the city opened the door. What made Zhuge Liang even more uneasy was that the defenders at the gate were all wearing mourning clothes!

"Your Majesty, he..." Zhuge Liang's mind "bang", and he suddenly lost some consciousness. Then Zhuge Liang felt dizzy, and then Zhuge Liang felt a stinging pain in his chest.

"Puff..." Zhuge Liang squirted out a mouthful of blood.

"Your Majesty, I'm late..." Zhuge Liang's voice burst out these words, and then his eyes went dark and he fell on the carriage with a bang.

Liu Bei's funeral was held very quickly and very simple. If measured by the standards of an emperor, Liu Bei's funeral should be considered simple, even less solemn than Cao Cao's funeral. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of hungry victims outside Chang'an City, and Chang'an City does not have the manpower and material resources to organize a grand funeral.

Liu Bei was posthumously named Emperor Zhaolie, with the temple name Liezu, which is also the Shu Han Liezu.

If we follow the "Book of Zhou", A Dou should have been mourning for Liu Bei for three years. However, now A Dou is the crown prince and is about to become the emperor. There will be many things to deal with, so mourning for three years cannot be applied to A Dou.

As the saying goes, a country cannot be without a king for a day, not to mention that in this chaotic world, Shu needs a monarch to command it, so three days after Liu Bei's funeral, Adou welcomed his own throne ceremony.

Similarly, due to the limitations of manpower and material resources, Adou's throne ceremony seemed very simple and far inferior to the huge abdication ceremony of Cao Pi back then. However, neither Adou nor Zhuge Liang nor Pang Tong or others cared about this. Now the top priority is to stabilize people's hearts as soon as possible.

In early August, on a lucky day determined by Zhuge Liang, A Dou ascended the throne and became the second emperor of Shu Han. This year was the fourth year of Huanglong in Wei. After A Dou ascended the throne, he changed the reign to Jianxing. This year was the first year of Jianxing.
Chapter completed!