My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 310 The Enemy Approaches Qu'a
When Liu Yao went north, perhaps because he had been relieved of the heavy responsibility of governorship and had completely extinguished his thoughts of establishing his own independent regime, his health gradually stabilized.

Although there hasn't been much improvement, at least it's no longer getting worse.

Therefore, Liu Yao and his entourage slowed down their northward journey, and Liu Yao even accepted banquets from local gentry officials.

At this time, the governor of Guangling was Chen Ji, the father of Chen Qun. Chen Ji had actually passed away in the past few years, but after arriving in Xuzhou, he was treated by Hua Tuo and was appointed governor of Guangling by Liu Bei. His health was actually quite good.

This is understandable, given the current situation in Yingchuan. Elderly people are prone to overthinking, and seeing their desolate hometown every day is bound to cause trouble.

Now that he had arrived in Xuzhou, his son had taken up a local post, and he himself was half a patron of Liu Bei. Moreover, Liu Bei valued this favor highly, which made Chen Ji very happy. His health, which was not too bad to begin with, naturally improved.

Chen Ji and Liu Yao were old acquaintances, but their relationship was not close.

Hearing that Liu Yao was passing through Guangling, Chen Ji personally went more than twenty miles out of the city to Jiangdu to welcome Liu Yao.

This respect and affection deeply moved Liu Yao, so he abandoned the boat and took a carriage, following Chen Ji to Guangling City.

This reunion was a disappointing one, yet he had only just left Jiangdong when he received such high regard from Chen Ji. Moreover, Chen Ji himself was humble and modest, and possessed profound knowledge; the fact that Kong Rong praised him so highly must mean he had his merits.

Liu Yao and Kong Rong actually had a good relationship. Over time, the friendship between Liu and Chen actually improved.

The Eastern Han Dynasty was actually an era in which there was no obvious class division on the surface, but in reality, class division was ubiquitous.

As mentioned before, there was regional discrimination among the aristocratic families, which was even very sophisticated within a single state.

For example, in Jingzhou, among the four prefectures in southern Jingzhou, Changsha was the most prominent, and the gentry of Changsha held the highest status in southern Jingzhou.

Yuzhou was one of the provinces where the power of the aristocratic clans was the greatest, but within Yuzhou, Runan was the most powerful, followed by Yingchuan.

The same applies within Xuzhou. Due to its geographical location, most of Guangling's counties and prefectural seat are actually located close to Yangzhou.

Therefore, Guangling was always at the bottom of the social hierarchy within Xuzhou.

Scholars from Xuzhou were already at the bottom of the second class, so one can imagine their status in Guangling.

Besides being the governor of Yangzhou, Liu Yao was also a renowned scholar in Qingzhou, someone who could be considered an equal to Yuan Shao.

Such a renowned scholar was invited to visit Guangling by the prefect, who was also the famous scholar Chen Ji of Yuzhou.

Such a grand gathering of scholars had never happened in a remote area like Guangling County.

This naturally attracted a huge following among the gentry and powerful families throughout the Guangling region.

Liu Yao was originally a strong-willed person, so he naturally disdained these people he looked down upon.

However, perhaps impressed by Chen Ji's respectful manner and congeniality, Liu Yao also gave him considerable face and participated in several literary gatherings held in Guangling.

Therefore, Liu Yao stayed in Guangling and did not continue his journey north for a long time.

On this day, Liu Yao was reading a book at Chen Ji's residence. Since entering Guangling, he had been temporarily staying at Chen Ji's prefectural governor's residence.

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside the mansion, seemingly a great uproar.

Liu Yao frowned in displeasure and said to Liu Ji, who was serving him, "Go and ask what's causing this commotion."

Liu Ji obeyed the order and hurriedly left.

The commotion didn't subside; instead, it grew louder and louder, spreading in all directions as if the entire city had joined in.

Liu Yao was startled, instinctively suspecting that a mutiny had broken out.

Only a mutiny could lead to such a situation, but the problem is that when he entered the city, the support of the gentry, powerful families, and common people of Guangling for Chen Ji did not seem fake.

Just as Liu Yao was wondering what to do, Liu Ji came running back, his fair nose glistening with beads of sweat, making him look quite adorable.

"F-Father."

Liu Yao's expression turned serious, and he scolded, "What's the rush? Calm down before you speak."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ji quickly took two deep breaths to calm himself before saying, "It's Lord Zuo. Lord Zuo is hanging on the city wall."

Liu Yao stared blankly at his son, unable to understand what his son was saying.
"When did Zuo Rong arrive in Guangling? How dare he come to Guangling?"

Liu Yao had heard some things about what Zuo Rong had done in Xuzhou, so he was naturally surprised.

Liu Ji's face paled, realizing he had said the wrong thing. He forced himself to explain, "Father, it wasn't that Lord Zuo came to Guangling, it was that Lord Zuo's head came to Guangling."

"Brain...head?"

Liu Yao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Zuo Rong is dead!?"

Liu Ji dared not delay and quickly finished speaking: "Father, it is said that Zuo Gong set up a banquet in Jurong, conspiring with Xue Gong to ambush Liu Zhengnan, but Liu Zhengnan saw through the plot and therefore beheaded him."

Liu Yao was dumbfounded. Zuo Rong and Xue Li had been dealt with by Liu Feng so easily?
"Where are Zuo Rong and Xue Li's followers?"

"It is said that they have been completely reorganized by Liu Zhengnan and are now serving as auxiliary soldiers in the Zhengnan Army."

No wonder Liu Ji took quite a while earlier; he asked about this matter quite clearly, but he didn't explain the beginning clearly.

An overwhelming sense of defeat washed over Liu Yao. In truth, Liu Yao was still angry with Liu Feng and hoped that the other party would suffer some loss at the hands of those two bastards, Xue Li and Zuo Rong.

As a result, the two people he considered a chronic problem were so easily eliminated by Liu Feng, and even their followers and retainers were not spared.

The thought that Zuo Rong and Xue Li had hoarded supplies, wealth, money, and military equipment, all of which benefited Liu Feng, made Liu Yao even more resentful towards them.

When I tried to reason with you nicely, offered you benefits, and asked you to do my part, you all started playing tricks on me.

Now an even fiercer one has appeared, and you've all given up your lives.

Thinking of this, Liu Yao couldn't help but feel smug again, almost shouting that he wished he were dead.

"Zuo Gong's reputation in Guangling is really bad."

Liu Ji glanced at his father and then continued, "Liu Zhengnan ordered that Zuo Gong's head be sent to the five prefectures of Xuzhou. It was just delivered to Guangling at noon today, and the whole city is in an uproar. The people of Guangling hate him to the bone, and Liu Zhengnan's reputation is now widespread in Guangling."

Liu Yao remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

*******
"Excellent! Xuande is truly a loyal and honest man!"

Meanwhile, Cao Cao in the north was also praising Liu Bei lavishly.

He had previously forwarded Yuan Shao's memorial to Shouchun, and now Liu Bei's reply had also arrived.

Liu Bei gave two replies, one of which was a memorial to the emperor.

The other document was a letter addressed to Cao Cao.

In his memorial, Liu Bei strongly advised the emperor not to move the capital lightly, arguing that Luoyang was the center of the world and the capital of the Han Dynasty. Although it was in ruins, it still held the hearts of the people.

If the emperor were to be transferred to Ji Province, what would become of his status?

At the same time, Liu Bei also advised the Grand Marshal to increase the tribute, donate grain and goods, and rebuild the palace for the emperor, which was the proper way for a subject to serve. He also expressed his willingness to contribute an additional ten percent of the tribute in the autumn harvest next year, in addition to the tribute from the previous year, to support the emperor's palace repairs.

The emperor was deeply moved after reading it. He looked around and praised Liu Bei's loyalty highly.

As for Liu Bei's private letter to Cao Cao, it was even more direct. He refuted the Grand Marshal's wolfish ambitions to his face and stated decisively that if the Grand Marshal truly disregarded the emperor and dared to raise an army to threaten the court, he would definitely lead his troops north to join the general in governing the country.

Cao Cao was delighted to receive this guarantee.

Wasn't that exactly what he was planning when he sent Yuan Shao's memorial to Liu Bei?
Liu Bei's reaction was even better than Cao Cao had originally hoped for. Cao Cao was already quite satisfied that Liu Bei was willing to stand firmly on his side and help him by saying a few words, thus increasing his influence over Yuan Shao.

Who would have thought that Liu Bei would be so righteous as to send troops?

Liu Bei's promise was written in a letter. If he broke it without a reasonable reason, Cao Cao could easily damage Liu Bei's reputation by producing the letter.

This demonstrates the high value of Liu Bei's statement, which is the fundamental reason why Cao Cao was so pleased.

In addition, Liu Bei also mentioned in the letter that he had a mysterious gift to send to Luozhong to present to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was a romantic and naturally curious man. After Liu Bei kept him in suspense, he became quite intrigued and even sent a letter to Liu Bei to inquire about the situation. Cao Cao's advisors, including Xun Yu and Cheng Yu, considered Liu Bei's reaction a good sign.

After all, Xun Yu and Cheng Yu were just geniuses, not gods or demons.

At the same time, Liu Bei's image was well-developed, making it easy for him to gain people's trust.

If you were to ask Yuan Shu to say the same thing, Cao Cao's first instinctive reaction would be, "The skeletons in the tomb are trying to make me and Yuan Shu fight to the death."

Liu Bei's accumulated personal charisma and political credibility were the fundamental reasons why Cao Cao, Xun Yu, and others trusted him.

This is something that even Liu Feng cannot replace.

After all, it was Liu Bei, not Liu Feng, who was a friend of Cao Cao.

Cao Cao understood Liu Bei's temperament and personality, but he did not understand Liu Feng.

********
News spread that Zuo Rong and Xue Li had been beheaded by Liu Feng and their heads displayed to the public, and that all their followers had been reorganized into new groups.

The first to bear the brunt was naturally Wu Pan, the garrison commander of Qu'a.

Wu Pan was a colonel under Wu Jing, considered a right-hand man. He had previously been assigned three thousand troops to guard the Qu'a line, repeatedly defeating Zuo Rong's probing incursions and giving the enemy no chance whatsoever.

Today, Sun Ce's army still has very few troops remaining in the Qu'a area, only three thousand men, of whom five hundred are stationed in Dantu.

The reason for this situation is that Sun Ce, Wu Jing, Xu Kun and other senior generals of the Sun family army all agreed that Qu'a could not be defended and was not worth holding.

If the opponent is Liu Yao, then Sun Ce's army only needs to station 3,000 men along the Qu'a and Dantu line.

Liu Yao himself had already lost prestige and confidence in the Battle of Xiangcao River, and had not been able to recover for a year to launch another decent attack.

As for hyenas like Zuo Rong and Xue Li, it's common for them to engage in small-scale skirmishes, launching probing attacks in an attempt to gain an advantage.

But if you ask them to put all their resources into a big undertaking, those two will back down even faster than a mouse.

Conversely, if facing Liu Feng, Sun Ce and others felt that unless they stationed 15,000 or even 20,000 men in Qu'a, they simply could not hold it.

Moreover, in order to hold Qu'a, it is necessary to deploy a detachment of troops in Dantu, which must be at least three thousand men, otherwise it will be impossible to hold the position.

There is another more troublesome aspect: although Qu'a was a county in Wu Commandery, it had closer ties with counties in northern Dantu during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

This is not only because the Grand Canal did not exist at that time, but also because there were many marshes, streams, and lakes between Qu'a and Piling.

If it weren't for boats, traveling back and forth would be quite troublesome, and even with boats, it wouldn't be a point-to-point journey, so it wouldn't be possible to travel directly from Piling to Qu'a, and the efficiency wouldn't be very high.

This problem was addressed later in Jiangdong by digging a canal and dredging the marshland, but the trouble was indeed a real issue at that time.

Therefore, it is clear that an army of 20,000 men stationed along the Qu'a line could not be fed by the grain produced in the two counties of Qu'a and Dantu.

This would inevitably require transshipment through Wu County, which would undoubtedly be another heavy burden.

Since that's the case, why not use the Qu'a and Dantu line as a warning line and place a small number of troops there as a boundary?

If the invading enemy is few, they will be repelled; if the invading enemy is many, they will simply abandon Qu'a and retreat to Piling, Wuxi, or even Wuxian.

This is the fundamental reason why Qu'a, as the front line, only had 2,500 troops stationed there, plus 500 from Dantu, for a total of no more than 3,000.

Wu Pan had spies and informants in Jurong, Hushu, and even Moling, but Liu Feng's methods were simply too ruthless.

Xue Li and Zuo Rong were both powerful figures with tens of thousands of followers and thousands of retainers. Even Liu Yao, the legitimate governor of Yangzhou, could only swallow his anger and try his best to win them over.

Who could have imagined that Liu Feng, as a newcomer to the river, would actually be so powerful, killing two powerful figures and swallowing their followers in a single day, so fast that no one around had time to receive the news, let alone react.

Wu Pan sent the message he received to Wu County in the rear, ordering them to strengthen the city's defenses. He also gave an order to Dantu, instructing the five hundred men in Dantu to abandon the city and retreat to Qu'a. Clearly, he was prepared to flee immediately if things went wrong.

Wu Pan's reaction was quick and correct, to say the least.

After all, the one who came was the Imperial General Who Conquers the South, who had fought in the south and north, served the Emperor in Hedong, swept through Yingchuan, and raided Shouchun.

Even though Liu Feng is only thirteen years old, Wu Pan does not think he has the right to look down on him.

Unfortunately, although Wu Pan did not underestimate it, he still harbored a侥幸心理 (a sense of侥幸, or a feeling of getting away with it), or rather, he was still greedy.

Wu Pan wasn't after credit, but rather time.

He thought that if he stayed in Qu'ado for another day, the pressure on Wu County would be relieved.

Once Liu Feng's army had truly surrounded them, his three thousand light infantrymen were naturally able to move swiftly, especially since this was in Jiangdong.

Northerners ride horses, southerners sail boats.

I am a lightly armed force, and I have prepared ships in advance. Even if you have cavalry, you can't do anything to me.

This is Wu Pan's idea.

But he didn't expect Liu Feng to be so decisive. The day after killing Zuo Rong and Xue Li, he had already mobilized his elite troops and rushed towards Qu'a.

The force dispatched was Jia Kui's troops, with an additional 500 armored soldiers from Pan Zhang's troops assigned to Jia Kui to operate together, for a total of 6,500 men.

The army left the city at dawn, and later that day, Liu Feng ordered the entire city to be sealed off, with no entry or exit permitted. Anyone who attempted to force their way in would be executed without mercy.

In this way, Wu Pan's spies in Jurong had no time to spread the news.

Jia Kui's army galloped forward, carrying a large number of packhorses. Liu Feng had given them almost all of his packhorses, which undoubtedly greatly increased their speed.

Meanwhile, because the Xiangcao River was an obstacle between Jurong and Qu'a, Liu Feng and others agreed that the garrison in Qu'a would not have time to react before reaching the Xiangcao River.

However, after crossing the Fragrant Grass River, the marching speed must be slowed down to guard against enemy ambushes along the way.

Although this area later became the vast Jiangsu Plain, with a maximum elevation of one or two hundred meters, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, while there were no mountains, there were reed marshes that could easily shelter several thousand people.

Jia Kui strictly carried out Liu Feng's orders, and did so quite well.

It was originally estimated that after the Southern Expeditionary Army crossed the Xiangcao River, the troops stationed in Qu'a would receive intelligence about the enemy. However, unexpectedly, Wu Pan of Qu'a was withdrawing his troops and preparing to flee.

By the time Wu Pan received the message, Jia Bin's cavalry had already appeared in sight above the city walls of Qu'a.

At this point, trying to run away would be like handing your head to the Southern Expeditionary Army's cavalry.

Out of caution, Wu Pan made another wrong decision: he wanted to hold out for a while and retreat after dark.

But instead of waiting, Jia Kui arrived.

Jia Kui was extremely ruthless, and he set up camp directly in the southwest of Qu'a City.

Jia Kui's force of 6,000 men, plus the 500 armored soldiers transferred to him from Pan Zhang's forces, totaled no more than 6,500.

Qu'a is a county with a circumference of two or three miles, so it's impossible for them to besiege it with just 6,500 men.

Therefore, Jia Kui simply stopped besieging the city and instead set up camp in the southwest of the city, effectively cutting off Wu Pan's retreat route.

This tactic actually requires a certain amount of courage, because by setting up camp in this way, Jia Kui not only cut off his own supply lines, but also put himself in a pincer attack by reinforcements and the defending forces.

Once Sun's army from Piling arrives to reinforce, it will truly be a pincer attack.

Therefore, Jia Kui's decision to set up camp southwest of Qu'a was not only due to his confidence in himself, but also to his contempt for Sun's army.

Wu Pan stood atop the city wall in the southwest of Qu'a County, watching Jia Kui's soldiers cutting down trees and setting up camp several miles away, his face extremely grim.

He was actually quite regretful, realizing that he had been careless. He thought that Liu Feng had just killed Zuo Rong and Xue Li, so he should at least rest in Jurong for a few days.

Who could have imagined that the Southern Expeditionary Army would advance so swiftly, and that its commander would be so arrogant as to recklessly block their retreat?

Jia Kui was inspecting the camp at this time, directing the soldiers to speed up the construction of fortifications.

(End of this chapter)