The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 142 Are the Yuan family the only strong family in the world?
"The military advisor has been busy from morning till night. It is rare for him to rest during tonight's feast."

"Why are you still unwilling to give up your books?"

Liu Bei walked up to Li Yi with a wine cup in his hand.

Seeing that he was writing something, I couldn't help but ask.

When Li Yi saw Liu Bei coming, he stopped writing.

"Now that the war is approaching, Yiyi dare not relax or slack off."

"Eh!"

Liu Bei raised his wine cup and patted Li Yi on the shoulder.

"It won't hurt to take a break for a while."

He turned his head and glanced at the scroll in Li Yi's hand, then asked:

"I wonder what you were writing just now?"

Li Yi handed the scroll to Liu Bei and said to himself:

"Since the war is imminent, we must first report this to the Emperor."

"This is the only way to have a legitimate reason to be a teacher."

Liu Bei unfolded the scroll, and found that it listed Yuan Shu's crimes.

The major sins include:

First, Yuan Shu arbitrarily attacked Lu Kang, the governor of Lujiang appointed by the imperial court.

Lu Kang established his favor and credibility in Lujiang and put down the rebellion of the Jiangxia barbarians.

He has achieved considerable political achievements and is very popular among the people.

When faced with Yuan Shu's attack, many soldiers who were on leave rushed back and climbed over the wall at night to help Lu Kang defend the city.

Lu Kang persisted for two full years and eventually died of illness.

The court took pity on his integrity and appointed his son as a doctor.

It can be said that Yuan Shu's move was contrary to the court's philosophy.

Second, he arbitrarily detained and forced to death the court minister Ma Ritian.

Ma Riti held a high position as Grand Tutor, but when he passed through Shouchun, he was detained by Yuan Shu, who also snatched his seal and official token.

Ma Riti wanted to get his seal back, but Yuan Shu refused to give it to him.

He wanted to leave, but Yuan Shu wouldn't let him go.

Ma Riti could not bear the humiliation and died of grief and vomiting blood in the first year of Xingping.

Yuan Shu's move was tantamount to treason.

Third, he privately kept the imperial seal.

The imperial seal was indeed obtained by Sun Jian, but it was not used by Sun Ce to exchange for troops as described in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Instead, it was left to his wife, Wu, by Sun Jian.

Yuan Shu directly arrested Wu and snatched the imperial seal.

This third point is actually more serious than the above two combined.

The seal of the imperial seal reads, "Mandated by Heaven, long life and everlasting prosperity."

It is almost a symbol of the Han Dynasty's reputation.

But you, Yuan Shu, hid it secretly. It would not be excessive to kill all your nine clans.

These are the three major charges listed by Li Yi.

There were also many relatively smaller charges.

For example, harming the people, making up excuses, being disrespectful to the emperor, etc.

In short, the goal is to have enough crimes.

It doesn’t matter whether you actually committed these crimes.

It's important that we say you've committed these sins.

"Okay, sir, that's very thoughtful."

Liu Bei flipped through the memorial, which was well-organized and logically coherent.

With these charges, there is definitely a legitimate reason.

Don't underestimate the legitimate reasons for a teacher's actions in ancient times.

In particular, it played an immeasurable role in undermining the morale of the people in Yuan Shu's group.

"Good! I will personally draft the memorial and submit it to the court."

"Please attack Yuan Shu!"

As they were speaking, a servant suddenly came to report that the envoy from Huainan wanted to see him.

An envoy from Huainan?
Liu Bei frowned, looked at Li Yi, and said:
"Sir, why do you think Yuan Shu sent someone here at this time?"

Li Yi smiled slightly and said:

"It must be to make people make peace."

"Humph." Liu Bei sneered, "Our two families have long been enemies, how can we ever make peace?"

Although he felt puzzled, Liu Bei still received the envoy.

The messenger was Li Feng, a general under Yuan Shu.

After the two sides finished their greetings, Li Feng got straight to the point and said:
"I am here on the orders of my Lord to repair my relationship with General Liu."

Liu Bei said coldly:
"Could it be that Yuan Gonglu sent you here to negotiate peace between the two families?"

"Exactly."

Li Feng nodded without any hesitation.

Li Yi couldn't help but interrupt:

"There is a feud between Xuzhou and Yuan Shu over the murder of his son. How can Yuan Shu put aside his status as a high-ranking official and lower his head to negotiate peace with Xuzhou?"

Li Feng's face turned red, and he was speechless after being rebuked by Li Yi.

In fact, he came here only on Yuan Shu's orders to implement a delaying tactic.

Yuan Shu knew that Xuzhou was mobilizing, so he deliberately sent people to negotiate peace, hoping to slow down Liu Bei's advance.

On the one hand, it gives themselves time to prepare, and on the other hand, it delays Xuzhou's administrative efficiency.

This is indeed in line with the Skeleton King's sinister personality.

cough cough...

Li Feng clenched his fist and coughed twice, then said seriously:

"In today's world, many heroes are rising up."

"General Yuan is about to unify Hebei and is eyeing Henan."

"Cao Mengde has taken control of most of the prefectures and counties of Yan and Yu. These two were good friends since childhood, supporting each other and responding to each other from north to south."

"Who in the world today can resist it?"

"Only my Lord!"

Li Feng praised Yuan Shu solemnly.

"Yuan Shao allied with Cao Cao to intimidate the south, so why can't General Liu ally with my lord to resist the north?"

"If Huainan and Xuzhou can make peace, then we can definitely fight Cao Cao together and divide up the two states of Yan and Yu."

"We can deal with Yuan Shao together later, and the world will be stable."

"May the general take note of this!"

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, then gradually came to his senses.

It seems that Yuan Shu wants me to be his younger brother!

Wasn't Cao Cao Yuan Shao's younger brother at that time? It was like Yuan Shao was connected with Cao Cao.

Doesn't that mean that I, Liu Bei, would be Yuan Shu's little brother?
This is really unreasonable!

Liu Bei's face was heavy and he tried hard to suppress his anger.

Seeing this, Li Yi was the first to speak up and refute:

"Your words are too outrageous."

"Are you the only one in the Yuan family who are strong in the world?"

"How can Yuan Gonglu be someone who only cares about his country and forgets about his family? Is it possible to work with him?"

Li Feng was scolded so harshly that he felt ashamed.

There's no way. When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

Now that he is in Xuzhou, he can only be humble.

Liu Bei drew his sword and said in a deep voice:

"Chopping off your head now will not be enough to relieve my anger."

"It is shameful for a man to kill an envoy. You can quickly return to Huainan and tell Yuan Gonglu."

"They are doing evil and oppressing the people. After the autumn harvest, I will personally lead the army to fight against them."

"Punish the people and punish the criminals!"

At the end, he even said the word "get out".

Li Feng was so frightened that he felt like he had just walked through the gates of hell and ran away like a rat.

After driving away the envoy from Huainan, Liu Bei asked Li Yi:
"Sir, how do you know that Yuan Shu is not sincerely seeking peace?"

Just now, Li Yi was the first to speak and scold Li Feng, and Liu Bei knew that Li Yi wanted him to reject Yuan Shu's request.

So just now, he showed no mercy and even drew his sword.

The two families have completely torn their relations apart.

Li Yi explained:
"Yuan Gonglu has long wanted to annex Xuzhou, and we have the hatred of killing his son."

"With Yuan Shu's magnanimity, how could he be willing to make peace with Xuzhou?"

"Besides, if they really want peace, they should bring some sincerity."

"But he only let Li Feng explain the pros and cons, without giving any concessions."

"It shows that he is not sincere in wanting to make peace with us. He just wants to slow us down and buy time for himself."

Liu Bei admired Li Yi's insights very much.

Li Yi said again:

"Yuan Gonglu boasts of his good strategy, so he might be too smart and go and make peace with Cao Cao."

……

It turned out to be just as Li Yi expected.

While sending people to Xuzhou to negotiate peace, Yuan Shu also sent people to Xuchang to negotiate peace.

Unlike Xuzhou, Yuan Shu really wanted to make peace with Cao Cao.

After all, two fists are no match for four hands.

Liu Bei's peace talks were Yuan Shu's delaying tactic.

Cao Cao's peace talks were Yuan Shu's sincere intention.

After all, his hatred with Cao Cao was nothing more than the previous fight for Yanzhou.

Yuan Shu also accepted the fact that the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit.

The envoy met Cao Cao and explained Yuan Shu's desire for peace.

As Li Yi said, this time Yuan Shu really offered practical benefits to those who really wanted to make peace.

"My Lord said that as long as Cao Sikong is willing to stop his troops and not interfere in the war in Huainan."

"My Lord is willing to give Cao Sikong 300,000 bushels of grain for military use."

"There are also countless gold, silver, silk, cattle and horses. I hope that Minister Cao will accept them with pleasure."

Cao Cao looked at the list of gifts from Huainan presented by the envoy.

He stroked his long beard and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

"……Hahaha."

Cao Cao put down the gift list and asked, "Is Yuan Gonglu a trustworthy person?"

"If you really want Cao to withdraw his troops, you can ask the highwaymen to send money and food first."

Cao Cao is such a shrewd man that he knows that you, Yuan Shu, like to get things for free.

He decisively demanded that Yuan Shu send money and food first before he would withdraw his troops.

"……this."

The Huai envoy was suddenly embarrassed. He was only ordered to deliver the gift, but Yuan Shu did not give him the gift.

What do you think this is all about?

"My lord also has good intentions. If our two families can work together to deal with Liu Bei and divide Xuzhou together." "Wouldn't it be a win-win situation for everyone?"

snort!
Cao Cao slammed the table and stood up, shouting:
"No need to say more!"

"Yuan Gonglu persecuted local people, forced celebrities to death, opposed the imperial court, and even secretly kept the imperial seal."

"Cao is the Minister of Works appointed by the imperial court. His ancestors have been enjoying the Han Dynasty salary for generations. If he does not think about serving the country and eliminating the thieves, what is the difference between him and an animal?"

"You can retreat quickly!"

Cao Cao didn't know that Yuan Shu had written him a blank check.

Even if Yuan Shu really sent money and food, he would not stop his troops.

What's more, the army has already begun to mobilize, and food and fodder from all parties have been transported to the front line.

If we stop now, wouldn't all the work done before be in vain?

How much money and food is wasted!
"Humph!"

"How foolish Cao Aman is!"

When the messenger passed Cao Cao's reply back to Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu was also furious.

"He claims to be well-versed in military books, but doesn't he know the principle of the lips and teeth being cold?"

"If Huainan is lost, how can Cao Cao escape unscathed?"

"He is just the descendant of a eunuch. I am willing to condescend to make peace with him."

"How dare he be so rude? He doesn't even take my Yuan family seriously!"

The reason why Yuan Shu was so angry was that he had high expectations for peace talks from Cao Cao.

Logically speaking, his feud with Cao Cao started much earlier than Liu Bei's.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei had just fought in Xuzhou not long ago.

He had no reason to give up on himself and join forces with Liu Bei to fight against him.

But he just did it.

How stupid!

"Mingsir, since Cao Cao refuses to negotiate peace and insists on launching an attack, we must strengthen our defense in Xincai."

There is a Huai River flowing through Shouchun.

In Runan, there are three rivers that can flow into the Huai River.

From west to east, they are Ru River, Ying River, and Wo River.

Yuan Shu established an important town on each of the three rivers.

That is, Xincai, Ruyin and Longkang.

Xincai is an important town along the Ru River, which is mainly located in the western border of Runan.

The western border of Runan was Cao Cao's territory, so to defend Xincai on the Ru River was to defend Cao Cao.

"Okay, in that case, transfer another 8,000 soldiers from Shouchun to Xincai!"

Yuan Shu was about to agree.

Suddenly someone stopped him and said:

"You can't do that, my lord! We only have 20,000 soldiers in Shouchun. If we send another 8,000 out,

"If Ruyin and Longkang on the eastern front are lost, and Liu Bei's army marches directly to Shouchun, won't Shouchun be in danger?"

"Kuang Jiling already has 10,000 troops in Xincai, enough to resist Cao Cao's attack."

"If you can't resist, I will send troops from Shouchun to rescue you."

The person who spoke was the chief clerk Yan Xiang.

His concerns are justified.

Now Huainan is likely to face at least three armies.

Cao Cao went one way, Liu Bei went another way.

Another route was taken by Chen Deng in Guangling, who most likely crossed the Yangtze River and attacked from behind Jiujiang.

As the heart of Huainan, Shouchun must retain enough troops and horses to support the strongholds of all parties at any time.

This suggestion is quite reasonable.

But after hesitating for a while, Yuan Shu finally rejected Yan Xiang's proposal.

"No!"

Yuan Shu waved his hand and said, "We can first send 8,000 troops to Xincai to help Ji Ling defend against Cao Cao."

"Then mobilize 8,000 soldiers from Liu Xun in Lujiang to Shouchun to fill the vacancy of 8,000 men."

After a slight pause, he added:
"Kuang Bofu has ordered Wu Jing and Sun Ben to return to Shouchun."

"The combined number of troops under the command of the two of them should be around 10,000."

"Once their reinforcements arrive, we can take the initiative to attack and fight Liu Bei in Ruyin and Longkang!"

It has to be said that Yuan Shu's family background was indeed strong.

Facing the offensive of Cao and Liu, even if the troops are divided, the advantage can still be retained.

Even though he was fighting one against two, Yuan Shu was still very confident.

Yuan Shu sent heavy troops to guard the three strongholds.

At the same time, the Yellow Turban Army of Runan, led by Liu Pi, would also fight on their home ground.

Deal with the armies of Cao and Liu to buy yourself enough time.

In the following period, Yuan Shu was also actively maneuvering.

First, according to the original plan, transfer Lu Bu to the Longkang front line.

In order to prevent Lü Bu from being out of control, Yuan Shu specially dispatched General Zhang Xun with 10,000 soldiers to defend Longkang together with Lü Bu.

It was said that they were defending together, but in fact they were restraining Lu Bu and preventing him from getting out of control.

Subsequently, another 15,000 laborers were conscripted from Lujiang to transport food and fodder and to repair the city.

Yuan Shu mobilized almost the entire country, consuming a large amount of manpower.

If Liu Bei suddenly canceled the southern expedition, Yuan Shu would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood.

……

Soon, it was September.

It is the autumn harvest season.

Liu Bei had already arranged his troops and was ready to march south.

When Li Yi was planning the southern expedition strategy, he deliberately chose the autumn harvest, not just for the food of Xuzhou.

It was also for the food of Huainan.

Because this time they basically traveled by water during their southern expedition.

In other words, even if they canceled the attack plan, there would not be much loss in supplies.

Because most of the supplies are concentrated in strategic locations, the same will apply when we attack next year.

In this way, they could go and harvest the wheat in Huainan.

But Yuan Shu had no way to defend his city and clear the countryside.

Because once all the rice and wheat in Huainan are harvested, what will we eat next year?
Yuan Shu will pay the price of losing everything.

This is the so-called "take food from the enemy and use it for the country" in "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.

It is truly a matter of fighting to support fighting.

Afterwards, he ordered the governor of Guangling to lead the troops of Guangling into the Yangtze River to attack Jiujiang from behind.

Before this, Liu Bei had left 20,000 soldiers in Guangling specifically for Chen Deng.

Now, more than a year has passed, and these soldiers have already become strong and vigorous.

Chen Deng ordered Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin to lead 4,000 water athletes each, while he personally led an army of 6,000 people.

Leave Chen Jiao to guard Guangling.

He then entered the Yangtze River and headed straight for Jiujiang Liyang.

As for Ruyin and Longkang.

At Ruyin on the Ying River, Liu Bei appointed Guan Yu as general, Lu Su as counselor, and Zhang Liao as deputy general.

He also sent the Danyang generals Xu Dan and Zhang Kuo to serve under him.

Attack the important town of Ruyin with all our strength.

The other route, Longkang, is closest to Xuzhou, so this route will naturally be the target that Liu Bei will focus on.

Therefore, he personally led an army of 20,000 and appointed Li Yi as his strategist.

Tian Yu, Xu Sheng, Cao Bao, Taishi Ci and other generals followed him into the battle.

In addition to the water routes, he also appointed Zhang Fei as the general, Liu Ye as the counselor, and Zhao Yun as the assistant.

Take the land route and attack the remaining counties in Runan to prevent them from communicating with Yuan Shu.

Zhang Fei advanced at great speed and quickly swept through the counties of Runan.

Wherever the army went, small counties everywhere asked for surrender.

Many counties surrendered to Zhang Fei without even sending out troops to resist.

Zhang Fei's journey was the smoothest.

As for Guan Yu's side, he encountered stubborn resistance from Yuan Shu's army.

Yuan Shu also knew the importance of Ruyin, so he sent Qiao Rui and Le Jiu to lead 8,000 soldiers each to defend it.

When Guan Yu arrived, he personally went to the city to supervise the battle.

Urge the soldiers to move soil and stones to fill the trenches.

Guan Yu personally led the battle line and urged the soldiers to move forward.

Arrows and stones rained down from the city.

Guan Gong attacked for three days in a row but failed to take the city.

So he temporarily withdrew the camp thirty miles away and gathered all the generals to discuss the matter.

Lu Su suggested:
"The counterweight trebuchet invented by Mr. Li has been assembled and can be tested tomorrow."

Guan Yu was overjoyed and agreed happily.

The next day, early morning.

Early in the morning, Guan Yu led his troops to attack Ruyin again.

The defender Qiao Rui on the city wall felt relieved to see that Guan Yu was not attacking as aggressively today as in the past.

He claimed that he was no match for Guan Yu, but he had the strong city of Ruyin.

No matter how capable Guan Yu was, he couldn't break it easily.

Rub rub rub...

A rustling sound came from below the city.

The soldiers guarding the city did not dare to slack off in the slightest and hurried to take a look below the city.

"what is that!?"

The defenders just stuck their heads out and took a look for less than two seconds when they heard a whoosh sound.

The sound of a sharp arrow breaking through the air was heard, and the shouting soldiers were caught off guard and had their throats pierced.

Blood flowed down the arrow shaft and fell off the city wall.

"Oh no! Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

Hearing the noise, the rest of the defenders started beating gongs and drums.

Qiao Rui and Le Ju hurriedly drew their swords and rushed to the top of the city wall.

Fang Yi stood on the wall and was stunned.

Outside the city, I saw huge machines moving slowly on the ground, approaching the city wall.

The huge object was shaped like a catapult, but much larger.

It moved slowly like a monster, making clanging sounds as it scraped against the ground.

"…Then…what is that?"

Qiao Rui opened his mouth in shock.

He had led troops throughout his life, but he had never seen such siege equipment.

Soon, the catapults stopped moving forward after traveling a certain distance.

"Wait, these Xuzhou people are not going to... just... "

Le opened his eyes wide and looked towards the city in disbelief.

(End of this chapter)