The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 237 The Organization's Strength

"My lord," Cai Mao said, "I believe our organization should build warships as soon as possible that can rival the ironclad warships of the Jiangdong navy. Otherwise, the entire river defense of Jingzhou will be rendered useless."

Liu Biao said with a headache, "These ironclad warships are not so easy to build. I'm afraid we won't be able to find such craftsmen even if we search all over Jingzhou."

Kuai Yue said, "My lord, I have heard that when those Westerners came to the East, some of them traveled by sea on iron ships like these. I think there must be craftsmen among those Westerners who know this kind of technology. We just need to recruit widely in various places and we should be able to find a few people who know how to manufacture them."

"My lord, based on Cai's experience in fighting against the self-governed district's troops, the muskets and cannons of our Jingzhou infantry are far inferior to those of the self-governed district. I believe that we should not only build ironclad warships, but also forge more powerful cannons and muskets."

Liu Biao sighed, "In the past, we were all a bit narrow-minded, always thinking that all the warlords in the world were about the same. Who knew that they had already taken such a big lead? This defeat is not necessarily a bad thing. At least it has made us realize our own shortcomings."

"What you say is true, my lord. However, we must also be wary of Liu Bei. It was because of his instigation that we clashed with the autonomous region and also provoked the Sun family of Jiangdong, making too many enemies."

“Currently, apart from Yizhou, which has a relatively good relationship with my Jingzhou, the surrounding major warlords are all hostile to Jingzhou. This is not a good sign,” Kuai Yue said.

"Before we have absolute strength, we can only compromise with one or a few parties," Kuai Liang said.

Liu Biao concluded, "In that case, Yidu, I will trouble you to go to Luoyang to secretly meet with Yuan Shao. You must reach an agreement with Yuan Shao, after all, we have a common enemy."

"Yes, my lord!"

Liu Biao had no intention of reconciling with Chen Er, not only because Chen Er was trying to seize his Liu family's empire, but more importantly because Chen Er was too powerful. Liu Biao was well aware that allying with a powerful ally was tantamount to courting a tiger.

As Chen Er had predicted, Liu Biao refused Liu Xie's request for help. Although Liu Biao did not say it outright, his attitude could be seen from the fact that the angels who came to ask for help were the same people who had come.

He didn't think highly of Liu Xie, and neither did the entire Jingzhou region. They favored Yuan Shao, or perhaps they thought Yuan Shao was a better investment.

Like Liu Biao, Liu Yu of Yizhou also refused Liu Xie's request for help. However, he was better than Liu Biao. In his reply to Liu Xie, he wrote that he really had no troops to mobilize and could only gather some troops in Hanzhong to meet Liu Xie. Liu Yu thought to himself that if the emperor was in danger, he could go to Yizhou.

When Liu Xie received the reply from his two uncles, whom he regarded as his last hope, no one could understand the despair deep in the young man's heart. He was in despair.

His initial elation at eliminating Gongsun Zan and seizing power transformed into a deep despair. He didn't know where his future lay; he was the supreme ruler, the master of the entire empire.

However, he has now become someone even his own family is unwilling to help.

When Xiao Dezi came to report that some guards in the palace had secretly escaped, Liu Xie's first reaction was not to order them to be caught and executed, but to simply wave his hand and say it was fine.

Xiao Dezi had no idea what was going on. Although he was a close attendant of the emperor, he was just a child who knew nothing. Seeing that his master was not in a good mood, he could only do his best to make Liu Xie happier and ask the imperial chefs to make some good food under the existing conditions.

Suddenly, Liu Xie said to Xiao Dezi, "Xiao Dezi, starting tomorrow, you no longer need to serve me."

Upon hearing the emperor's words, Xiao Dezi knelt on the ground in fear. He said to Liu Xie, "Your Majesty, what wrong have I done? Please punish me. If I leave, who will take care of you?"

Liu Xie said, "I know you are loyal to me, but now I am just an emperor that no one cares about. If you still follow me, you will die."

Liu Xie had witnessed Xiao Dezi's loyalty, which was why he was unwilling to let such a loyal person die without a proper burial.

Once Yuan Shao launches his attack, all those around him will surely be eliminated by Yuan Shao. At that time, Xiao Dezi, as Liu Xie's close attendant, will naturally be on the elimination list. Liu Xie is protecting Xiao Dezi.

Hearing the emperor speak so sincerely to him, Xiao Dezi was so moved that he wept bitterly, and he was even more unwilling to leave Liu Xie.

He said to Liu Xie, "Your Majesty, I have been following you since Chang'an. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be who I am today. Although I don't understand any grand principles, I know that one should never live a life of dishonor. I am willing to stay with Your Majesty, even if it means death."

Liu Xie cried out, "If all the ministers in the world were like you, how could my Han Dynasty not prosper!"

According to historical records: "In the winter of the 9th year of the Yellow Emperor's reign, Yuan Shao, the former governor of Yan Province, led an organization to attack the Luoyang Imperial Palace. Several years later, the Luoyang Imperial Palace was once again captured by a rebellious organization."

"After a brief period of personal rule, Liu Xie, the last emperor of the Han Dynasty, once again became a puppet in the hands of the warlord Yuan Shao. Afterwards, Yuan Shao's organization disarmed the palace guards and, in the subsequent reorganization, dispersed all the soldiers and distributed them to various places, thus strengthening the power of Yuan Shao's organization."

At the end of December of the same year, under the "persuasion" of a group of ministers, Liu Xie appointed Yuan Shao as Minister of Works, giving him overall control of the government.

It is worth mentioning that after Yuan Shao occupied the palace, Jia Xu, the mysterious strategist of Liu Xie who had been mentioned in the intelligence reports, disappeared without a trace, and Jia Xu's whereabouts became a mystery.

Even Liu Xie himself was unaware that Yuan Shao's investigation, which lasted for some time, had yielded no results, ultimately forcing him to abandon the search for Jia Xu. Xu You, Guo Tu, and others were quite pleased with this, as it meant one less competitor.

The refusal of Liu Biao and Liu Yu to come to the aid of the emperor became a major incentive for Yuan Shao to finally take action. Without the constraints of external factors, this clearly boosted Yuan Shao's confidence.

As for Liu Xie, after this coup, he became completely dispensable in the eyes of everyone, except for Chen Er in the north and Liu Yu in Yizhou who still paid attention to him.

If Yuan Shao hadn't been using the young emperor's banner to issue imperial edicts in an attempt to command the warlords, the Liu imperial family would probably have become history in the public eye much sooner or later.