There was a rule in the Eastern Han Dynasty that local people were not allowed to be local officials, especially the provincial governor of a state and the prefect of a county.
While this system prevented the local forces from growing, it also made it so that many times, when the officials first took up their posts in the local area and were unfamiliar with the place, they had to rely on the local clans to maintain their rule.
The consequence of this was that both provincial governors and prefects had to share power with the local aristocrats.
If the local forces were strong, the provincial governor or prefect would be directly figureheads to a certain extent.
For example, when Liu Biao entered Jingzhou, it was like this.
Xu Zhou under Tao Qian had a similar situation.
Of course, Tao Qian was quite capable.
After so many years of development, the civil forces had Chen Deng, Mi Zhu, and the others. The military forces also had their own confidant, Cao Bao, who could control the military power. They also had an elite force like the Elixir Yang Soldiers.
Although he was still restricted by Chen Deng and the other aristocratic families, the power was still in Tao Qian's hands.
However, it was also because of this that it was even more unreasonable for him to propose giving up his position to Liu Bei.
Even if he had been struck by Cao Cao's brutality during this period of time, it was not to the point of being unable to govern.
Therefore, Liu Bei's response was correct.
Xia Cheng rubbed his chin as this thought flashed through his mind.
He should think of a way to plan for other benefits first.
As for Xu Prefecture…
Anyway, Tao Qian was already sixty-two years old. Even if he didn't get sick from depression, he didn't have many days left to live.
When he died, Xu Prefecture would still belong to Liu Bei.
After all, it was not Tao Qian who gave way to Liu Bei.
Rather, it was the result of many compromises.
The real reason why Liu Bei was able to take over Xu Prefecture was that he was the best candidate to balance the interests of all parties and was also the best candidate that all parties could accept.
If he revealed his greed now, it would damage Liu Bei's reputation.
Xia Cheng's goal was clear and simple.
In other words, ever since he came to this world, he had always been pragmatic.
The most important thing was to get the benefits.
Of course, he still had to fight for what he should fight for.
This was also the reason why Xia Cheng had worked so hard to help Liu Bei subdue Guan Hai's 50,000 Yellow Turban soldiers and recruit new recruits.
As long as one's strength was not weak, one could be valued more and get more of the cake.
Although Liu Bei had helped Tao Qian to stop Cao Cao, the people of Xu Prefecture did not have a deep impression of him.
In addition, Liu Bei's strength was not that strong. He only had a thousand soldiers and a few thousand hungry people on the road.
As a result, after Tao Qian declined for the first time, he dismounted and gave Liu Bei 4,000 Dan Yang soldiers, then sent them to Xiaopei.
After Cao Cao retreated, Tian Kai returned to Qingzhou while Liu Bei remained in Xuzhou.
In order to continue to win Liu Bei over, Tao Qian later recommended Liu Bei as the governor of Yuzhou.
However, this identity alone was clearly not enough.
After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei had only become the governor of Xu State with the support of Chen Deng, Kong Rong, and other local aristocratic families.
He had been busy fighting with Lu Bu over Yanzhou and Yuzhou, and had no time to care about Liu Bei, so he was recommended as the General of East Town and the Marquis of Yi City.
With the addition of the governor of Xuzhou, Liu Bei had the military title of General of the East, the title of Marquis, and the administrative position of the governor of Xuzhou. Only then did he truly become a vassal and his status was relatively high.
After that, Liu Bei sought refuge with others. They were all guests and retained their independence. They were not completely subordinates.
Later, Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Bu and Yuan Shu in Xuzhou. His wife and children were captured and he fled to Xudu alone to join Cao Cao.
At this time, Cao Cao recommended Liu Bei as the herdsman of Yuzhou, a rank higher than the governor of Yuzhou.
From 193 to 198, Liu Bei was 30 to 35 years old.
Liu Bei's position had been promoted from the Prime Minister of Pingyuan to the Governor of Yuzhou, then to the Governor of Xuzhou, then to the General of East Town and the Marquis of Yicheng Pavilion.
By the year 198, Liu Bei was already the Left General, the Marquis of Yi City, and the herdsman of Yuzhou. His rank was quite high.
After that, whether it was Liu Bei who defected to Yuan Shao or Liu Biao, they all acted under this identity.
Even when Liu Biao stationed Liu Bei in Xinye, Liu Bei still used this name to recruit talents and establish a military headquarters.
Later on, during the Battle of Red Cliff, although Sun Quan's territory was much larger than Liu Bei's, his position in the court was still that of a general and the prefect of Kuaiji. It was much lower than Liu Bei's position as the Marquis of Yicheng, the Left General, and the herdsman of Yuzhou.
It was not until the second year after the Battle of Red Cliff, which was the 14th year of Jian 'an, that Liu Bei recommended Sun Quan to be the General of Chariots and Cavalry and the Governor of Xuzhou.
At this time, Liu Bei had borrowed the Public Security Bureau from Sun Quan and used it as his base. He began to gradually occupy the four counties in the west of Jing Zhou.
Therefore, Liu Bei's position was changed to Jingzhou Prefecture Overseer, officially replacing Liu Biao.
It could be said that Liu Bei had been active in the name of Yuzhou's herdsman for ten years.
Even though Liu Bei had never really managed Yuzhou.
However, this was not important.
After all, when he recommended Sun Quan to be the herdsman of Xu Prefecture, Xu Prefecture was actually under Cao Cao's control. Sun Quan had never controlled it before.
This was called remote leadership.
And now, Xia Cheng planned to give Liu Bei this title five years in advance!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。