mtl008 Chapter 601 Liu Shan Returns to Jiangling
Chapter 601 Liu Shan Returns to Jiangling
Liu Bei naturally knew that Liu Shan and Guan Xing's purpose in robbing the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun was that Shi Hui's rebellion had swindled Liu Shan out of 20,000 strings of cash, forcing Liu Shan to take such a risk.
But you damned unfilial son, you can't risk everything to rob tombs! It's not honorable to do that!
Grave robbing is one thing, but why did you have to rob the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun? Did a donkey kick your brain or something?
Who was the Marquis of Haihun? He was the grandson of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, and the great-grandson of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi. Liu Bei's ancestor, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, was the son of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi. Both families shared Emperor Jing of Han as their ancestor.
In other words, the Marquis of Haihun was also Liu Bei's ancestor. Damn unfilial son, how dare you desecrate your father's ancestral grave?
If this gets out, Liu Bei's good reputation, which he has painstakingly cultivated for decades, will be completely turned into a joke.
The thought of being universally condemned by the world made Liu Bei shudder. He was so angry that he wanted to fly to Haihun right now and bury those two scoundrels, Liu Chan and Guan Xing, in their graves.
Liu Bei gritted his teeth and said, "Prime Minister, how should we handle this?"
Zhuge Liang was also somewhat taken aback by Liu Shan and Guan Xing's actions. He waved his feather fan and pondered, "Haihun is more than a thousand miles away from Jiangling. It would take Liu Zhao at least two or three days to get here from Haihun. In such a long time, His Highness and Anguo must have finished their business. Now there is no way to stop them. I just hope that they will not destroy the tomb too badly and will not really act like bandits entering a village without any regard for anything."
"The best alternative is to relocate the tomb. It sounds terrible to hear about tomb raiding, but relocating the tomb sounds much better."
Liu Bei immediately refused, saying, "Moving the tomb is not an option. We don't have the money. This isn't like moving graves for ordinary people, where you can just dig a hole somewhere else."
The tombs of dukes and marquises cannot be moved at will; it would require conscripting laborers to carry out large-scale construction, which would be time-consuming, laborious, and wasteful of resources.
The key point is that the Marquis of Haihun was not an ordinary duke or marquis; he was a deposed emperor! Could his tomb be built according to the standards of an ordinary duke or marquis? Even if it's not as grand as an imperial tomb, it's still much better than a royal tomb.
Liu Bei hadn't even finished building his own tomb, so where would he find the spare money to build another one for Liu He?
Zhuge Liang knew that moving the tomb was unrealistic, and said with a wry smile, "Then we can only do our best to restore the tomb of Marquis Haihun to its original state, and ask Ge Xuan and Zhang Sheng to gather Taoist priests to perform a grand ritual for Marquis Haihun. Only in this way can we minimize the impact."
Liu Bei sighed, "It seems there's no other way. Wait, it seems that Daoist Zhang Sheng also went with A Dou. That rebellious son is quite good at using people."
It goes without saying what Zhang Sheng was doing with Liu Shan; tomb raiding is a professional activity that can't be done without professionals.
The emperor and his minister sat in their original seats, sighing deeply. That damned Liu Shan and Guan Xing had really given them a difficult problem this time.
Just as the two were sighing, the tent door was suddenly pushed open, and Guan Yu strode in angrily with Zhang Fei, clasping his hands in a fist and bowing, saying, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, I heard that that scoundrel Anguo has robbed the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun?"
When Guan Yu first heard the news, his vision went black and he almost fainted.
Like Liu Bei, he valued his reputation above all else, even more than his life. But what happened? The reputation he had painstakingly maintained for most of his life was completely destroyed by Guan Xing's one act.
If this gets out, what will people think of Guan Yu?
Look, everyone! He's Guan Yu, the father of that tomb raider. A father is to blame for his son's misbehavior; if a son is rotten to the core, the father must be no better.
Thinking of these mocking words, Guan Yu felt like his lungs were about to explode with anger.
Liu Bei asked in surprise, "How did you know? Does news travel that fast?"
Guan Yu gritted his teeth and said, "We rushed here as soon as we heard the drums. We heard Liu Zhao's two nephews say outside the tent, 'Your Majesty, Anguo has gone too far this time. I request permission to personally go and bring this scoundrel back.'"
Zhang Fei said nonchalantly, "Second Brother, you don't need to bother. It's just tomb raiding, what's the big deal? Cao Cao raided so many tombs and nothing happened to him."
Compared to Liu Bei and Guan Yu, Zhang Fei had less of a reputation burden. Without that burden, tomb raiding doesn't seem like such a big deal.
The tomb of the Marquis of Haihun is right there; if Guan Xing doesn't rob it, someone else will—it's only a matter of time.
After so much time had passed, Liu Bei gradually recovered from his shock and anger, and thought to himself, "Second brother, calm down. It's no use getting angry now that it's happened. But you're right, we must send someone to bring those bastards back. We still need to make a show of it. But second brother, you still need to take charge of the overall situation, so you don't need to go. Third brother, you go. Remember to go in a big show, so that everyone knows you're going to Haihun to arrest them."
He feared that Guan Yu might act irrationally out of anger, whereas the carefree Zhang Fei didn't have this concern.
Zhang Fei accepted the order and was about to leave when Liu Bei called him back, reminding him, "Keep a close eye on the money for me, don't let these brats divide it up in secret."
Even a fool would know that Liu Shan and Guan Xing robbed the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun because the Marquis of Haihun was rich.
How rich was the Marquis of Haihun? Let's put it this way: the entire national treasury belonged to him back then.
Historical records state that General Guang discussed with his ministers and decided to depose Empress Xiaozhao and return He to his ancient state, granting him a fief of two thousand households, and giving all the royal family's property to He.
This means that General Huo Guang discussed the matter with his ministers and reported it to Empress Xiaozhao, deposing Liu He from the throne and returning him to his fiefdom, granting him a fief of two thousand households, and giving all the royal family's property to Liu He as compensation for the deposed emperor.
In other words, although Liu He did not secure the throne, he made a fortune while on the throne. Liu Bei was also curious about the exact amount of this money.
Zhang Fei had recently been driven to the brink of collapse by his brother-in-law, and was in dire financial straits. Upon hearing this, he was overjoyed and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I guarantee that they won't pocket a single penny."
Soon Zhang Fei led his personal guards and set off. Before leaving, he made a point of passing by the inn where Liu Zhao was staying, loudly announcing to everyone that he was going to capture Guan Xing, but...
Zhang Fei led his army out of the city and south to Jinxiang Ferry. After crossing the Yangtze River at the ferry, he did not go to Haihun, but instead set up camp near the official road and sent a messenger to Haihun to inform Liu Shan and Guan Xing to hurry up.
Anyway, whether I go to Haihun or not, the others will come back from Haihun anyway, so why should I make an extra trip?
After waiting for seven or eight days, Liu Shan and Guan Xing finally returned from Haihun with a large convoy. Zhang Fei strode forward, looked at the convoy, and laughed, "Not bad! Is the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun so rich?"
Liu Chan, Guan Xing, and the others hurriedly stepped forward to pay their respects, then sidled up to Zhang Fei with a fawning smile and asked, "Third Uncle, how's my father doing? Is he very angry?"
Zhang Fei laughed and scolded, "Isn't that obvious? You dug up your own ancestral graves, how could you not be angry? Even if you weren't angry, you had to pretend to be very angry, after all, Liu Zhao has already filed a complaint with the emperor."
"Let's go. An ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her in-laws sooner or later. You can't escape this beating. Go back and try to be nicer."
After saying this, he handed the convoy over to Jiang Wei and Xia Tong for escort, and led the three main criminals, Liu Chan, Guan Xing, and Zhang Bao, across the Yangtze River to return to the city first.
This time, they returned secretly, and upon entering the city, they went straight to Liu Bei's royal tent without delay.
The closer they got to the king's tent, the more uneasy Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei became. After dismounting, they felt their legs trembling. They cautiously followed Zhang Fei into the tent and bowed to Liu Bei, who was reviewing memorials.
Without even looking up, Liu Bei said sarcastically, "Oh, who do we have here? Isn't this His Highness the Crown Prince who dug up his own ancestral graves? You've finally decided to come back?"
Liu Shan bowed his head and carefully said, "Father, I know I was wrong. I realized it was wrong as soon as I dug the money out, so I buried it back in."
Liu Bei suddenly looked up, his face darkening, and said, "What did you say? Say it again, you brat?"