A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 704 General Lu Cheng

In the autumn of the third year of Chuping (192 AD), General Lu Cheng, the General of the Northern Expedition, escorted the Han Emperor Liu Xie back to Luoyang and returned to the old capital.

The emperor highly praised the General who Conquers the North as a loyal minister to the country and appointed Lu Cheng as the general and Marquis of Xiangping.

At the same time, Lu Cheng presented a memorial to the emperor, appointing Xi Zhicai as the Minister of the Court and the Minister of the Chancellery, Guo Jia as the Military Advisor, Tian Feng as the Minister of Warehouse, Liu Ye as the Minister of Works, Man Chong as the Governor of Luoyang, and Lu Su as the Governor of Chang'an...

As for military generals, Zhou Cang, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci and others who followed Lu Cheng the earliest were all appointed as generals. Li Dian, Xu Chu, Dian Wei, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Zhang He, Liao Hua and others were all appointed as colonels. Xu Huang, Gao Shun and others were all appointed as captains.

As for Lu Bu, he did not receive any reward this time because he had already been granted a title.

As for Jia Xu, he stayed with Lu Cheng and waited to be used.

Of course, the emperor was also surrounded by some so-called loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty, such as Dong Cheng, Zhong Ji, Wang Zifu, etc.

Lu Cheng had the Flying Eagle Guard secretly monitor these so-called loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty. These were the guys who had the secret decree with Emperor Xian of Han in the original novel.

Although Lu Cheng did not completely restrict Liu Xie's freedom, he did limit the people and things Liu Xie could come into contact with. He tried not to let these people be alone with Liu Xie, but instead took Liu Xie out more often.

During the journey from Chang'an to Luoyang, Lu Cheng kept Liu Xie with him most of the time. Sometimes he took him to watch soldiers' training, sometimes he took him to experience the sufferings of the people, and sometimes he lectured him on some great principles and talked him into believing in something.

By the time they reached Luoyang, Liu Xie had already begun to respect Lu Cheng as his teacher and basically obeyed his orders.

When he was in the deep palace, Liu Xie learned from those ministers how to endure humiliation, restore the Han Dynasty, and the mentality of an emperor.

But on the way out of Chang'an City, Liu Xie learned more useful knowledge, such as which season to farm and which season to harvest, how to build farmland water conservancy facilities, how to ensure that the people have enough food, and so on.

Although Liu Xie only had a superficial understanding of this knowledge, he made him realize deeply that it was not easy to be a good emperor.

In fact, when thinking about what his father had done, Liu Xie felt that the reason why the Han Dynasty fell to this point was largely due to his father's blame.

If his father had not favored eunuchs, sold official positions and titles, indulged in debauchery and extravagance, how could the officials have forced the people to rebel?

At first, Liu Xie did not dare to question his father. After all, this was an era where filial piety ruled the world, kings ruled, ministers served, fathers served, and sons served. How could a son dare to doubt his father?

But after Lu Cheng's constant guidance and subtle influence, Liu Xie's thoughts have begun to change. Sometimes he even began to wonder if he could really be a good emperor and make the people healthy and the world peaceful.

Especially after spending a long time with Lu Cheng, Liu Xie discovered that Lu Cheng could do almost everything. He could command the army on horseback and pacify the people on foot. He could discuss philosophy with the court officials and chat with the farmers in the countryside. He was also good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, medicine, divination, and astrology. He knew everything.

The more Liu Xie interacted with Lu Cheng and the more he learned, the more he doubted himself, and his three views were gradually reshaped.

Of course, Lu Cheng did not use some false things to fool Liu Xie, but used some views and ideas that were different from this era to influence Liu Xie, letting him know that it was not that easy to be a good emperor.

Moreover, every time Lu Cheng taught Liu Xie, he would deliberately make simple problems more complicated, causing Liu Xie to constantly fall into self-doubt. He would then choose a suitable direction, simplify the complicated problems, cultivate a specific interest or hobby in Liu Xie, and divert his attention.

Some emperors may not be good emperors, but they can become good calligraphers, painters, or carpenters.

Liu Xie was less than 12 years old, which would still be a primary school student in later generations. Even if he had been influenced by Confucian education, his thoughts had not yet been fully formed. There are many possibilities in the future.

If Liu Xie really has the ability to govern a region and be a good monarch, Lu Cheng wouldn't mind allocating him a piece of land in the future so that he can try to start a business.

The world is so big. Besides China, there are many places, such as Europe, Africa, Australia, North and South America, or the Sakura Country. There are still large tracts of land that need to be conquered and defended.

Who knows, by then there might actually be some people willing to follow Liu Xie and swear allegiance to him until death.

Just as Lu Cheng escorted Liu Xie back to Luoyang, many scholars and officials from nearby areas came to Luoyang to meet the emperor.

Of course, some people also came to pay their respects to Lu Cheng, the newly appointed general of the Han Dynasty.

"I am Dong Zhao, a native of Dingtao, Jiyin. I am here to see the general."

"So it's Dong Gongren from Jiyin. I have heard of your great name for a long time."

When Dong Zhao was young, he was selected as a filial and incorruptible official and was appointed as the magistrate of Yingtao County. When Lu Cheng led his troops south to seize Jizhou, Dong Zhao resigned from his post and went out to visit a friend.

Now, seeing that Lu Cheng has welcomed back the emperor and the situation has become a foregone conclusion, he came to join the army.

Speaking of which, he was also an important official of Cao Wei later on. He was considered a veteran of three dynasties of Cao Wei and finally became the Prime Minister.

Now that Lu Cheng has conquered so many territories, it is inevitable that there will be a shortage of civil servants under his command. When Dong Zhao came to offer his services, Lu Cheng naturally acted courteous and conversed with him cordially.

Seeing Lu Cheng like this, Dong Zhao also began to offer advice on the spot: "Mr. Mingshou, raise an army of righteousness, eliminate the rebellion, protect the emperor, and return to the old capital. This is the achievement of the Five Hegemons. However, the ministers in the court may not all obey you. Staying in Luoyang for a long time may be inconvenient. It is better to move the capital somewhere else..."

Hearing this, Lu Cheng suddenly remembered that in the novel, it seemed that it was this person who advised Cao Cao to move the capital to Xuchang.

However, the current situation is different. Luoyang has not been burned down, and Luoyang has convenient transportation, connecting all directions, and there are many passes around it. In addition, Lu Cheng has basically occupied the north, so whether to move the capital or not will not have a big impact.

As for the old ministers in the court, they had no troops or power and were always under the surveillance of the Flying Eagle Guards, so they could not cause any waves.

"Gongren's words make sense, but now is not the time to move the capital. Gongren has just arrived in Luoyang and is not familiar with the situation yet. He can get familiar with it first, and perhaps he will have a different opinion."

Seeing that Lu Cheng did not accept his suggestion, Dong Zhao just bowed and said: "Since you have already made a plan, I was talking nonsense."

"Gong Ren said this for my own good. How could I not know this? Please wait and see. Everything will become clear in the future."

After arranging a new official position for Dong Zhao, Lu Cheng got busy with other things.

This year, the four states of Qing, Ji, You and Bing all had a bumper harvest of crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, greatly filling the granaries.

Compared with crops such as corn planted in this era, the yield per mu of these high-yield crops cultivated in later generations increased several times or even more than ten times. The grain brought by one year's harvest was at least enough to feed all the people under the rule for two or three years.

Once there is enough food, you can do a lot of things.

You can develop, train new soldiers, capture cities and territories, and conquer all directions.