Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 112: The Lord's Small Body

Liu Bei marched very quickly and arrived in Puyang in just a few days. After reminiscing about the past with Guan Yu, he quickly made corresponding deployments.

He said to the generals and captains who had surrounded him, "We are short of food and grass in this battle, so it is best to defend instead of attack. Yuan Shao's intention is to prevent us from taking Yanzhou. Attacking the enemy will also destroy the army. After I take Jiyin, the siege of Dongjun will be easily resolved."

Liu Bei then smiled and said, "You can defend the city within two months and then wait for good news from me."

"Yes!" All the generals bowed.

They were never afraid when fighting against Yuan's army. So what if they were famous generals in Hebei? Yan Liang was still in prison. What about Qu Yi and Wen Chou? They were nothing but dry bones.

After thinking it over, Liu Bei decided to let Taishi Ci stay in the north of Dongjun and lead 3,000 auxiliary soldiers to resist Yuan Shao together with Guan Yu.

He ordered Yunchang to open the granary and take out the meat soup purchased from merchants in Yuzhou to reward the soldiers, so that the army could prepare for battle.

The Hengqiang Battalion was the vanguard, leading auxiliary soldiers and craftsmen to cut wood and build a pontoon bridge. They opened the Puyang armory to load baggage wagons, armor, bows and crossbows, arrows, and other scattered military equipment and carried siege rams.

The few pieces of equipment that were brought back from the battlefield cannot just be left gathering dust in the arsenal.

Seeing the generals leaving upon receiving the order, Guo Jia subconsciously took out instant noodles from his waist, but felt that it was a bit inappropriate, so he hesitated for a moment and did not open it.

Seeing this, Liu Bei asked with a smile: "Fengxiao, in autumn and summer, it is understandable that you use instant noodles to fan away mosquitoes, but now that the weather is getting colder, is it useless to put instant noodles on your waist?"

"My Lord, I don't understand that." Guo Jia said with a smile, "When the face is fanned, there is a breeze, which can make people more awake. As a military officer, if I get impatient and make a mistake in my advice one day, it would be a small matter to harm Guo Fengxiao, but it would be a big matter to implicate my Lord. I would rather catch a cold than implicate my Lord."

"Why should you be so filial?" Liu Bei said in a gentle voice.

He has always been the one who cares for his subordinates, but he never expected that one day he would be cared for by his subordinates.

Seeing that he could not persuade Guo Jia, Liu Bei thought: "I will allocate ten acres of land for Feng Xiao to plant more ginger."

Guo Jia had no idea what Liu Shijun was thinking, so he raised his hand and praised him, "Your Excellency's use of troops is becoming more and more like a great man. You are familiar with the military tactics of Sun Wu. The soldiers are always ready to respond to your orders. Wherever they go, no one in the world can stop them. You can be called the army of father and son."

Sometimes Guo Jia was also very curious about why the governor attached great importance to the training of basic officers. There were people in the army who studied the annotations of Sun and Wu, as well as wartime experiences. All soldiers above the rank of garrison commander had to hand them in to the governor after every battle. Those who could not write had to ask military officials to write for them, otherwise their military merits would be reduced by one third.

Some things will be tacitly hidden among the wealthy and powerful families, and will not fall into the hands of ordinary people and soldiers.

On the other hand, the envoy was teaching the officers step by step how to fight, how to meet the enemy, and how to set up guns to defeat the enemy.

Without beating around the bush, clearly list several ways to defeat the enemy, for example: If the enemy has come from afar and has not yet formed a battle formation, you can attack them quickly.

When the enemy's situation is unclear, choose light and agile soldiers to attack. Observe whether there are gaps when the enemy stands up and whether their flags are messy. Use strong soldiers to stabilize the formation first, and attack weak soldiers quickly. Use sharp soldiers to tear open the enemy's formation, and then divide the troops to attack the flanks.

The military camp assessment is conducted every six months and is much stricter than that for government officials. Many officers rack their brains just to avoid being ranked in the bottom three in the assessment. Not only are their names posted throughout the army, but they also eat the worst food in the entire camp.

Liu Bei smiled and said, "Feng Xiao, diligence can make up for lack of talent. You only see me commanding with ease, but you don't see me rehearsing the troops. I am either looking at maps or climbing high places to memorize the terrain. I keep abreast of the situation in each county, from mountains, valleys and rivers to roads in towns, counties and villages. I memorize everything by heart. I can't be afraid of laziness or tiredness. I won't go to bed without personally patrolling the barracks to check the officers' deployment."

"When on the battlefield, you need to observe the changes in the situation without fear of life and death, and the commander must react quickly to lead the army to defeat the enemy. If Yuan Benchu ​​could be like me, how could he dare to let Yunchang resist Yuan Shao." "Since Gao Tang, I have been wounded more than 30 times in seven years, and I have countless scars on my body. Today, I can lead two states. The position is not dropped from the sky, nor is it a reward from the court for my pity. It is accumulated bit by bit through desperate battles."

"Seven years ago, how could anyone in the world know that there was still a Liu Bei in this world?"

"Feng Xiao, I won't hide it from you. I never took the princes of the world seriously. The only thing that can defeat me is my own carelessness."

Guo Jia was silent for a moment, then leaned forward and said, "Your Excellency rose from a humble position, disregarded dangers and obstacles, and raised a three-foot sword to quell the chaos in the world. You are far superior to the other Han princes, and your contribution should be the highest."

Liu Bei understood the implication of Guo Jia's words, and told him to take action when the time came and not to hesitate.

Patting Guo Jia's shoulder, he smiled and said, "I already know your filial piety. If you want to marry, you should do it. Don't act like a woman and hesitate."

Some people can conceal things and be ambiguous, but some people cannot be concealed from him. Liu Bei's true confidants can see that their own envoy is definitely not the kind of person who would be willing to hand over power to Emperor Liu Xie and die at home in an unclear manner.

Ministers with excessive merits in the Han Dynasty almost never had a good ending, let alone the Liu clan. Even if Liu Bei only controlled Qingzhou, he could not turn back. Although the powerful people who violated the law were all killed, the families with marriage relations with him seemed to be obedient. As long as Liu Bei dared to give up his military power, they would be killed without a burial place.

Liu Bei thought to himself, "I support the whole world. If the throne is not for the lineage of Emperor Xiaoling, don't expect me to give up the foundation I worked so hard to build."

Thinking about how after Grand Tutor Ma Riti arrived in Qingzhou, he spent the whole day spreading the word among officials to ask him to welcome the emperor and invite the court back to Luoyang.

As clan members, they should respect the words of Emperor Liu Xie, which made the officials somewhat suspicious.

This made Liu Bei suddenly understand why Ma Riti was mocked and killed by Yuan Shu when he was sent as an envoy to Shouchun in history.

Even he could hardly bear it, let alone Yuan Gonglu who was determined to become the emperor.

Liu Bei had planned to wait until the imperial envoys had rested enough before sending Ma Riti and Zhao Qi away quickly.

……

On October 27th, Liu Bei led his army to the foot of Lihu City at dusk. He first set up camp and camped. The next morning, without saying a word, he ordered the craftsmen and auxiliary soldiers to build battering rams. In less than two hours, they broke into the city and killed the county magistrate, county deputy secretary, and county lieutenant.

The military officers had written letters to persuade the city to surrender at sunset yesterday, but nothing happened until dawn the next day. The county magistrate and others thought that the city wall could hold out for some time, so they could use it to threaten Liu Bei and negotiate with him.

Liu Bei was too lazy to say more. There were always some idiots who couldn't see the situation clearly. Let them see how useless it was to rely on the giant battering ram when it approached the top of the city.

The army rested for a day and then attacked Juyang and Chengyang counties directly. These two places were located on the north bank of the Pu River and there was no way to retreat if they were besieged by a powerful enemy.

At that time, members of the Wei clan, a powerful family in Juyang County, came to the military camp to persuade Liu Bei to withdraw his troops, and were willing to use food and fodder to compensate for the hard work of the army.

The man saluted the soldiers and announced, "Wei Feng from Jiyin wishes to see Lord Xuande."

(End of this chapter)