Before Declaring Emperor

With Liu Bei’s entry into Chang’an, I stepped down from my position as overall commander.

It was natural. And it was something to welcome. How joyous it is to be able to rest thoroughly without having to take care of this and that.

But before that, there was one thing left to finish. It was appointing the pass commander of Xiaoguan, which blocks the north of Guanzhong.

This task should have been handed over to Liu Bei as well, since he had become the overall commander of Chang’an. But Liu Bei left just this one thing, with the intention of having me finish up to the defense as the commander-in-chief of the Guanzhong expedition.

Wanting to quickly return the tally axe symbolizing the position of commander-in-chief of the Guanzhong expedition army, I was pondering who to assign to Xiaoguan.

“Haven’t you decided yet?”

Fei Yi, who had become similar to me, asked casually.

Under the leadership of Minister of Works Huang Quan, the tasks that Fei Yi and Wei officials had been taking care of were being transferred to Liu Bei’s civil officials.

The fact that Fei Yi had been in charge of Chang’an’s administration in cooperation with Wei officials was certainly a meritorious deed worthy of recognition. But considering the positions and seniority of the civil officials Liu Bei brought, it was natural for them to take over.

I heard that if Fei Yi had wanted to continue working, Huang Quan’s side was willing to accept him.

Fei Yi withdrew on his own, seemingly not wanting to work more. It must have been tiring with so much work.

‘Well. No matter how much of a multitasking master Fei Yi is and an expert at dividing work to distribute tasks to subordinates, there was quite a lot of work.’

Because Chang’an is such a large city, there was a mountain of work. On top of that, he had to manage reports coming up from all over Guanzhong outside Chang’an, so it was amazing that things had run without any major problems so far.

Anyway, Fei Yi, who had washed his hands of it, finished the work of the Rear General’s office in an instant and then lingered around me.

Though it must be heavy, he never failed to carry around the Go board. I played a game with him each time, impressed by his dedication, and now he would come before me, set it up, and wait.

Even now, seeing me holding a brush instead of Go stones, he intervened with the thought of making me finish quickly and play Go with him.

“We can’t send just anyone. But all of the general’s lieutenants are capable, so it shouldn’t be too much to worry about…”

Jiang Wei is excluded as he’s in an ambiguous position straddling civil and military affairs, and is a key figure responsible for the military affairs of the Rear General’s office.

Guo Yi and Bu Zhan are still young and have too little experience properly leading an army.

Ma Dai can be said to have reached the level of a mature general, but it’s questionable whether his experience leading cavalry will apply to defensive warfare.

We can’t be careless just because it’s a temporary position that will change when Liu Bei ascends the throne. Because Liu Bei himself left this task to me.

“I’d like to entrust it to Zijun if I could.”

Wang Ping was becoming nearly complete. He led an army independently in this Northern Expedition too. Though he was still young at thirty, his experience was by no means shallow.

If there was a single flaw, it might be that he’s still illiterate.

At least now he could write his own name. But even that was more like memorizing and copying a single picture rather than writing characters, so the theory of dyslexia raised in later generations seemed to be correct.

“But isn’t Wang Jinbei in Anding?”

“Didn’t a report come up saying he won against Xu Mao? We can just call him to Guanzhong.”

But there was a reason I couldn’t easily call Wang Ping. It was concern about whether the public sentiment in Anding would be alright after calling Wang Ping away.

Xu Mao, the Governor of Anding whom Wang Ping defeated in this Northern Expedition, was a man of extremely outstanding ability.

A talent in both civil and military affairs, specialized in civil matters. That specialized civil ability went beyond just academic realms, showing its true worth in governing the people.

If there was a Wei version of Ma Chong, wouldn’t it be Xu Mao? If you lower the military talent a bit from Ma Chong and fill it with business talent instead, it would fit perfectly.

How much the Qiang and Di people, called the Western Rong, followed Xu Mao could be seen just from this Northern Expedition. Even when Ma Chao, who had raised his fame again, came personally, all the ethnic minorities of Anding took Xu Mao’s side.

However, since his military talent was somewhat lacking, he was no match for Wang Ping. Despite having greater numbers with the joining of ethnic minorities, he was defeated by Wang Ping.

Though he was defeated, Xu Mao’s influence still remained. He was someone the ethnic minorities didn’t hesitate to call “Great Man”.

If Wang Ping remained, there would be no problem, but I wondered if Anding would run smoothly without disturbances even after the restraining stone of Wang Ping disappeared.

‘Should I send Xiao Xing since he’s coming with General Pang?’

Though overshadowed by Wang Ping, Gou Bo is also an excellent talent.

I felt sorry for making him leave again right after arriving, but it couldn’t be helped. Just as I decided on Gou Bo for the appointment and was about to write up the order and appointment letter, Jiang Wei’s voice was heard from outside the door.

“Rear General, it’s Bai Yue.”

“Come in. Have you finished everything I assigned?”

“Yes, I made final confirmations and handed it over. And a letter has come for you, General.”

“A letter? From whom?”

“It’s from General Jinbei.”

Wang Ping?

We were just talking about Wang Ping, and it’s as if he timed it.

“Zijun isn’t a gentleman either, I see.”

“Pardon? What’s a gentleman? Is it from the classics?”

“There is such a thing.”

It’s a Joseon status that combines the civil and military classes, Fei Yi. Ignoring Fei Yi who was again showing his curiosity about words he didn’t know, I held out my hand to Jiang Wei.

“Give it here.”

I checked the very last part first in Wang Ping’s letter received from Jiang Wei. At the end of the letter written by a proxy for Wang Ping who doesn’t know letters, there was Wang Ping’s official seal along with his crooked signature.

‘It is indeed from Wang Ping.’

[To the Rear General. Have you been in good health all this while? This humble official humbly received orders…]

Perhaps because it was written by proxy, it was full of flowery language that didn’t match Wang Ping’s practical character at all.

To roughly summarize the contents, it went like this:

[Successfully occupied Anding. Xu Mao can’t fight but has considerable virtue. He’s a good person so I’m trying to persuade him to our side but it’s not working well. Help.]

A perfect summary.

‘Xu Mao… Xu Mao.’

Without experiencing defeat, and by preserving those who would have originally died or defected, Shu Han had long since escaped from a shortage of talents. Rather, now countless talents were waiting eagerly for a chance to come.

One proof of this was that I sent Yang Yi, who would have originally held the high position of Minister, to be the governor of the remote village of Yingchang County. The reason Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang willingly followed my request was because there were many who could replace Yang Yi.

If there had been a talent drought, even if I had said to demote him, it would have been cut off at Zhuge Liang’s level.

‘For Wang Ping to contact me directly like this, he must have really liked him.’

Wang Ping usually tries to handle things at his own level. This is the first time he has directly requested help from me like this.

Though we don’t urgently need Xu Mao right now, isn’t it always better to have more talents?

“I should go to Anding.”

Muttering softly as I made the decision, I picked up the brush and began to write the order I was about to compose.

Anding is quite far away. I can’t just go arbitrarily without returning the tally axe.

I should appoint Gou Bo as the commander of Xiaoguan, then return the tally axe and get Liu Bei’s permission.

It’s not like Liu Bei will ascend the throne right away. For the time being, there will be things to prepare, like building up the justification that he is suitable for the position of emperor.

Fei Yi, who was near me, must have heard my muttering and said:

“You’re going to Anding?”

“Yes. It seems Zijun is having trouble resolving something on his own.”

“Isn’t it far? There will be a big event soon too.”

Fei Yi was referring indirectly to the imperial ascension. It’s problematic to speak as if it’s a foregone conclusion when Liu Bei hasn’t even accepted it yet. Even if it’s a fact tacitly acknowledged by everyone.

“Does a joyous event happen overnight? There will be much to do, like choosing an auspicious day.”

We’ll have to find and apply auspicious signs, and go through several rejections for the sake of justification.

Considering building the altar and preparing the rituals after Liu Bei declares himself emperor, there’s plenty of time to go to Anding and come back.

My plan proceeded smoothly. Gou Bo received orders to take up his post at Xiaoguan as soon as he arrived in Chang’an, and had to turn his horse around immediately. Feeling guilty, I went out to greet him at the city gate and apologetically asked him to take charge for just a while.

Afterwards, I went to Liu Bei and returned the tally axe. With this, the title of commander-in-chief of the Guanzhong expedition army disappeared from before my name.

Liu Bei received only the tally from me and returned the axe. The axe I originally had was maintained.

After finishing the procedure of laying down the overall command, I expressed my thoughts to Liu Bei about going to Anding.

“You’re going to Anding?”

“Yes. I want to try persuading Xu Mao, whom General Jinbei captured as a prisoner.”

“Xu Mao. That’s a name I remember. I heard he’s an excellent governor. It would be a great help if he defects to our country.”

Fortunately, Liu Bei’s reaction wasn’t bad.

With the imperial ascension ahead, the more auspicious signs the better. An enemy official defecting was the most intuitive and clear example to show Liu Bei’s virtue.

Liu Bei added one more thing to that.

“Zhuge Military Advisor will come to Chang’an.”

“The Military Advisor? Then who will guard Chengdu?”

Even if the imperial ascension is done in Chang’an, the capital will inevitably be Chengdu in the end. Chang’an was too dangerous being on the front lines.

“I plan to leave the Crown Prince there as is. There’s also Liu Zichao and Ma Qishang. With Shuzhi guarding it, what problems could there be?”

With Ministers Liu Ba and Ma Liang taking care of internal affairs and Chen Zhen guarding Chengdu, it would be harder for problems to occur.

“Then should this humble official assist the Military Advisor and return together?”

“Yes. I’m counting on you.”

After finishing the meeting with Liu Bei, I immediately organized troops to go to Anding. At first I was going to gather just a few people, but the scale increased as the additional task of escorting Zhuge Liang was added.

Since moving the entire Luanling Army would be a waste of manpower, I asked Wu Yi, who had commanded the Luanling Army in my place before, to act as my proxy.

I realized I really had risen to a high position, given that even moving just myself required such procedures.

“We’re departing.”

After a long preparation process, I set out towards Anding.