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

Chapter 150: The city you want to build is on the bones
Shouchun City was filled with gloom and sorrow.

Yuan Shu fled back to Shouchun after his defeat, with no trace of radiance on his face.

The 40,000-strong army was almost wiped out.

He has completely lost the chance to turn the tables.

Just when Yuan Shu was worried, an even heavier blow came.

"Report——"

"Mr. Yuan, something terrible has happened. Hefei, Hefei has been lost!"

When the soldiers brought the news of the fall of Hefei back to the palace, everyone in the hall was shocked.

“…This, this, this is impossible!”

Yuan Shu was stunned with shock, and was at a loss as to where to put his hands.

Hefei is an important town in the south of Jiujiang. If it is lost.

This means that Yuan Shu no longer has the chance to give up Shouchun and escape to the south.

"It's true. Chen Deng landed in Jiujiang and made great progress all the way. Just a few days ago, he reached Hefei."

"Since Hefei was poorly defended, Chen Deng captured it without much effort."

boom!
Yuan Shu was struck by lightning, as he personally withdrew the troops from Hefei.

The purpose was to gather enough troops and horses to fight against the big-eared bandits, but unfortunately, in the Battle of Tushan, all of them were destroyed in the Huai River.

"impossible!"

Yuan Shu's eyes were bloodshot and he gnashed his teeth.

"Although Hefei is short of troops, Chen Deng must first pass Liyang if he wants to reach Jiujiang."

"Liyang is guarded by Sun Xiang and Sun Fu with 10,000 troops."

"Even if Chen Deng had three heads and six arms, it's impossible for him to reach Hefei in such a short time!"

Everyone looked at each other.

After a long while, Li Ye, the counsellor, stepped forward and said to Yuan Shu in a fearful manner:
"My lord, according to the report from the scouts."

"It was Sun Xiang and Sun Fu who took the initiative to give up Liyang, so Chen Deng could reach Jiujiang so easily."

What did you say!?

Yuan Shu had been in a depressed mood these days, and when he heard that the southern gateway to Jiujiang and the important town of Liyang were given to him for free.

He was so angry that he spurted blood.

Li Ye lowered his head and sighed:

"Sun Xiang and Sun Fu did not put up any resistance, saved their own troops, and crossed the river to Wujun to join Sun Ce."

Well!
Yuan Shu's eyes went dark, and he finally understood.

It feels like I trusted the wrong person and was betrayed at the critical moment.

The reason he was defeated was because he was betrayed.

After returning to Shouchun, he was betrayed again.

"Pass the order! Send warriors to capture Wu Jing and Sun Ben immediately and execute them in the market!"

"Behead him immediately in the market!!"

Yuan Shu's voice became hoarse and he almost shouted.

Since Sun Ce dared to betray me, don't blame me for being ruthless to the hostages you left with me.

But just as the order was given, another servant came to report.

"Mr. Yuan, Wu Jing and Sun Ben escaped from Shouchun last night with their troops!"

Yuan Shu opened his mouth wide, as if petrified.

Is this what it feels like to be deserted by everyone?
But this is not the end yet, reports of defeat came one after another.

Cao Cao conquered Xincai and Ji Ling was defeated and beheaded.

Now Cao's troops have reached Yangquan County, not far from Shouchun.

Guan Yu has already conquered Shencheng and will arrive in Shouchun soon.

There is no way forward and no way back.

Yuan Shu sat down on the ground dejectedly, his whole body limp and powerless.

I don't even have the energy to be angry.

Just a year ago, he was still striding across Huainan, looking down on the world.

Don't take any hero in the world seriously.

But only a year had passed, how did Yuan Gonglu end up in such a state?
Yuan Shu was really at his wit's end at this point.

Until now, he still couldn't understand why he failed.

"Mingsir, what should we do about today's incident?"

Chief Clerk Yang Hong asked.

In recent years, he followed Yuan Shu in Huainan to abuse his power and squeeze the people's wealth.

If Yuan Shu was defeated, his fate would definitely not be any better.

"...Gentlemen."

Yuan Shu sat on the ground and pondered for a long time.

Finally, he slowly opened his mouth, raised his eyes, and said:
"The only way to survive now is to surrender to Yuan Shao."

what?
When these words came out of Yuan Shu's mouth, everyone was shocked.

Would the fight between the two Yuans end with Yuan Shu, the legitimate son, surrendering to Yuan Shao, the son born to a maid?

This was the first time Yuan Shu lowered his noble head.

Everyone understood that when Yuan Shu made this decision, it proved that he really had no other options.

Only when he was most desperate did he think of joining Yuan Shao.

In history, Yuan Shu did choose to join Yuan Shao when he was at his wit's end.

Because in the Han Dynasty, blood ties were emphasized and could not be severed easily.

At the same time, for Yuan Shao.

Having been suppressed by Yuan Shu since childhood because of his status as a legitimate son, it would be such a great pleasure if he could see Yuan Shu bowing his head to him.

In history, Yuan Shao agreed to accept Yuan Shu and even sent troops to pick him up.

But in the end, the plan failed because Cao Cao sent Liu Bei to stop it.

Now, Yuan Shu once again came to a crossroads in his life.

This time, he still chose to bow to Yuan Shao.

After all, he is no longer able to stop either Cao Cao or Liu Bei.

He immediately ordered someone to bring paper and pen, and personally wrote a letter to Yuan Shao.

The letter said:
"Han lost the world long ago. The government is in the family. Warlords are fighting for supremacy and the country is divided."

"Just like the seven kingdoms at the end of the Zhou Dynasty, only the strong can take over."

"The Yuan family was born in Chen, and Chen was the descendant of Shun, and was ordained to be the king."

"Now Benchu controls four states and has a population of one million. In terms of strength, he is unmatched, and in terms of virtue, he is unmatched."

"Cao Cao and Liu Bei wanted to help the weak and the dying, but how could they save the dead?"

"The will of heaven is with you, I shall obey it."

The content of Yuan Shu's letter was almost flattering, and he even said that the Mandate of Heaven was with Yuan Shao.

Although Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor in history, he was not the only one who wanted to be emperor.

Yuan Shao actually wanted to do the same.

Because the Yuan family always believed that they were born in Chen and were appointed by heaven, and that the one who would replace the Han Dynasty was Dangtu Gao.

However, Yuan Shao was not as impulsive as Yuan Shu, and he had tried to test the officials in Hebei several times.

There was no doubt that this was opposed by his ministers, so Yuan Shao had to give up in the end.

But Yuan Shu persisted.

Now that Yuan Shu has taken the initiative to give up his position as the master of the Yuan family, Yuan Shao will definitely buy into it.

Yuan Shu also firmly believed that Yuan Shao would come to rescue him, which was a secretly happy thing for him.

In order to speed up efficiency, Yuan Shu specially sent out five teams of trusted cavalry, dividing them into five routes.

Whoever can get it to Yuan Shao first will give the letter to him.

The messenger set off quickly, but as expected, an accident occurred on the way to Xia Pi.

This group of people was soon intercepted by Zhao Yun's patrolling cavalry.

The crowd tied him up and brought him to see Li Yi.

Li Yi began to interrogate the knight, who confessed the truth and handed over Yuan Shu's letter.

After reading it, Li Yi found Liu Bei and told him what happened.

Liu Bei was slightly surprised:
"Yuan Shu was desperate and wanted to surrender to Yuan Shao."

"If they really kill the Hebei people, it will not be good for our army."

Li Yi smiled and said:

"Otherwise, now that the war has been decided, even if Yuan Shao is defeated, there is nothing that can be done."

"Besides, we are here to fight the enemy according to the imperial edict. Yuan Shao will at most settle Yuan Shu. How dare we send troops to interfere?"

"Not to mention that we have already detained Yuan Shu's messenger. How can he inform Yuan Shao?"

"Even if by luck someone can get to Hebei and explain the matter."

"Given Yuan Shao's indecisive character, he would waste time thinking and sending troops would also waste time."

"Due to the delay, our army has already taken Huainan."

After listening to Li Yi's analysis, Liu Bei felt relieved.

At the same time, he couldn't help but praise him, "Military Advisor can always keep a clear head no matter what the situation."

"What's next?"

"Just march normally to Shouchun."

"Yuan Shu is already trapped in a jar. His defeat has little to do with us."

What this means is that for Lao Liu, taking over Huainan is the top priority.

As for Yuan Shu, he is just a pile of dry bones in a tomb.

Skeleton King should be a skeleton.

After he drifted away, he could no longer cause any trouble and posed no threat to Xuzhou.

Li Yi never took him seriously from beginning to end. He could clearly distinguish the main contradictions from the secondary contradictions.

Taking over Huainan is the serious matter.

So the march was very slow.

Because in every county he passed through, he had to appease the people, win over their hearts, and prepare for future rule over them.

Li Yi was extremely busy. Whenever he arrived at a county, he had to collect official documents and legal books from the county government.

So as to meet the needs of governing Huainan in the future.

The army passed through many counties and prefectures, and many locals along the way came to greet them with food and drink.

Liu Bei sighed with emotion and said:

"I never thought that the people of Huainan would love me, Liu Bei, so much."

"My merits and virtues are so meagre, why do the people love me so much?"

Li Yi and Liu Ye looked at each other and smiled.

Liu Bei certainly didn't know that the people of Huainan welcomed them so much because Li Yi was working on them privately. Throughout history, the war of public opinion has always played a leading role in wars.

Only by taking the initiative in shaping public opinion, speaking before the enemy, and taking the initiative can we be invincible.

Li Yi sent people to spread rumors in Huainan in advance.

——"There is a envoy named Liu in Xuzhou. When he comes, Huainan will be at peace!"

"The envoy has arrived, and the blue sky will be there!"

Because Yuan Shu had been unscrupulously exploiting the people in Huainan over the years, the people had long hated him to the core.

Even if it's a bad match, we should all be thankful if we can get someone better than Yuan Shu.

Not to mention that Liu Xuande's reputation for benevolence and righteousness was well-known throughout the world. Huainan was adjacent to Xuzhou, and everyone had heard of Liu Bei's name to some extent.

Under Li Yi's public opinion offensive, everyone became more convinced that Liu Bei was the savior of Huainan, and only he could lead everyone out of the sea of suffering.

Li Yi specifically entrusted Liu Ye to handle this matter because he was from Huainan and a local nobleman.

He is quite influential in the local area, and the effect can be doubled if he promotes it.

Sure enough, it was just as Li Yi expected.

After a round of propaganda, wherever Liu's army went, the people lined the streets to welcome them.

There were still soldiers stationed in many counties, but the county magistrates and village heads surrendered the entire city to Liu's troops.

Liu Bei was grateful for the kindness of the people of Huainan, so he led Li Yi and other civil and military ministers to personally come out to comfort the folks.

There were several elders, their hair and beards were completely white, their faces were gaunt, and their eyes were dull.

Liu Bei, thinking of their hardship, invited them into his tent, gave them a seat, and asked:
"How old is the old man?"

An old man replied:
"I am approaching eighty."

Well!
All the generals in the tent exclaimed in surprise, saying that this age was considered unusually longevity in ancient times.

Liu Bei was also amazed, and holding the old man's hand, he shed tears and said:
"My soldiers have disturbed the countryside, and I am very worried."

The old man sighed:
"I am about to be buried, so why should I cherish my years?"

"Yuan Gonglu has been levying heavy taxes in Huainan for many years, and the people are resentful of him."

"General Liu raised a righteous army, comforted the people and punished the criminals. In the battle of Tushan, he defeated Yuan Shu's army of 400,000."

Liu Bei was shocked when he heard this, and thought to himself that Yuan Shu only had 40,000 men, so how could he defeat 400,000 men?

He turned around and glanced at Li Yi, who smiled at him.

It seems to say that you just have to accept what the people say.

Liu Bei suddenly realized that this was also Li Yi's public opinion offensive.

Whenever the ancients talked about numbers, they basically just spoke nonsense.

Because this is not the information age, there is no way to count specifically. As long as there are a lot of people, we can just say the number is higher.

Since Liu Bei led an army of 20,000, he dared to claim that he had 200,000 troops.

After defeating Yuan Shu's 40,000 troops, he announced to the outside world that he had annihilated 400,000 troops.

This makes sense, right?
"Now that General Liu's benevolent and righteous army has arrived, the people can hope for peace."

The old man held Liu Bei's hand and spoke with sincerity and emotion.

Liu Bei was filled with emotion and sighed:
"How dare I take your advice?"

So he ordered people to bring wine, food, and silk to give to the old man.

The remaining wine and food were distributed to other elderly people.

Immediately issued an order to the three armies:

——"If anyone goes to the countryside to kill chickens and dogs, he will be guilty of murder!"

When the order was passed down, all the armies were shocked.

The people of Huainan were all grateful for Liu Bei's kindness and bowed their heads to bid him farewell.

……

The words are divided into two parts,

However, Yuan Shu sent someone to deliver a book to Hebei, but was intercepted by Liu Bei halfway.

He was extremely depressed, because of the disastrous defeat he had suffered at Tushan.

He wasted his time and suffered a lot, while Yuan Shu had many wives and concubines, numbering as many as a hundred.

Yuan Shu and his wives and concubines lived a life of extravagance and debauchery, spending huge sums of money every day.

As the treasury was running low on silver and money, Yuan Shu sent people to Shouchun to rob the wealthy and take their food.

For a while, the city was filled with cries and howls.

Yuan Shu pretended not to see or hear anything.

Since there is no hope of a comeback, I might as well just give up.

Enjoy these last few days of life before the Xuzhou army arrives.

They survived by looting every day to maintain their food and clothing.

The people of Shouchun had no way to survive, so they broke their bones for cooking and exchanged their children for food.

The lower-level soldiers were so hungry that they could only go to the river to catch clams to eat.

Many ministers advised Yuan Shu and pleaded with him to provide grain to help the soldiers and civilians.

There were even radical ministers who advised:
"The people can go without food, but the soldiers at the bottom cannot go without pay."

"As time goes on, the morale of the army will change, and disaster will surely occur!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu became furious and killed two ministers in a row.

The ministers then dared not speak out.

Yuan Shu's family, including his hundreds of wives and concubines in the harem, still lived a life of luxury and debauchery every day.

In just a few days, a large number of officials and soldiers fled from Shouchun.

Yuan Shu just ignored him and threatened, "Let him go!"

He still drank and had fun with his wives and concubines every day.

Yuan Shu was immersed in his own beautiful dream, but he could not stop the Xuzhou army from advancing forward.

Within two days, Liu Bei's army arrived in Shouchun.

Shouchun is the strongest city in Huainan.

The circumference alone is more than ten miles long and covers an area of nearly six thousand acres.

The Huai River runs across it, with the Feishui River right behind it.

No wonder Yuan Shu dared to lead his entire army to fight Liu Bei so confidently.

Because even if he lost the battle, he still had such a strong city to defend.

Liu Bei's troops were at the gate of the city, but he was not in a hurry to attack it.

Adopt Li Yi's suggestion and temporarily surround Shouchun.

However, due to the large size of Shouchun City and the numerous rivers, it was impossible to surround it on all sides.

Liu Bei first ordered people to manufacture engineering equipment and counterweight catapults.

On the other hand, he marveled at the magnificence of Shouchun, even though it had been ravaged by Yuan Shu.

But just by looking at the buildings, you can tell that this city is prosperous.

I wonder how much of the people's money Yuan Shu extorted to build his private palace.

"It would be a shame if such a rich city were destroyed."

Looking at the counterweight trebuchet, Liu Bei hesitated a bit.

He had seen the power of the catapult.

If a few shells were fired at Shouchun City, it would be bombarded every day.

Even if it is as strong as Shouchun, it cannot withstand it.

Especially after Yuan Shu suffered a great defeat, there was no time to repair and reinforce the city.

For Liu Bei, Yuan Shu could be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Shouchun is his future base. It would be a pity if it was destroyed.

Li Yi advised:
"After Yuan Shu's defeat at Tushan, how could he have the energy to fight against our army?"

"All we can rely on is a strong city."

"We can follow the method we used to conquer Long Kang and use the method of attacking his mind."

"Yuan Shu was deserted by his friends and relatives, and Shouchun fell without a fight."

Liu Bei was overjoyed. It would be great if he could capture this most fortified city in Huainan without losing a single soldier.

"Then what about these catapults that the military advisor ordered people to build?"

"Send it as is, this is for deterrence."

Li Yi began to explain that both kindness and severity should be used in everything.

On the one hand, he wanted to show kindness to the people of Shouchun, and on the other hand, he wanted to use Huihui cannons to attack the city walls to demonstrate his strength.

Liu Bei followed his advice and first ordered people to launch a public opinion offensive against Shouchun.

The routine is still the same as before, those who surrender will not be killed and their original official positions will be retained.

After entering the city, Liu's army sealed the government treasury and did not harm the people.

Afterwards, he ordered Tian Yu and others to operate the catapults and fire intermittently to bombard the walls of Shouchun.

For a moment, the earth shook and the mountains collapsed.

Wherever the boulder struck, everything was destroyed.

Within two days, Cao Cao's troops from the Ru River and Guan Yu's troops from the Ying River also arrived.

He joined forces with Liu Bei, strengthened the siege of Shouchun, and attacked together.

Yuan Shu was reveling in the Golden Palace every night when he heard a noise outside the city and woke up as if from a dream, realizing that Liu Bei had arrived.

Minister Shu Shao rushed to the palace and risked his life to advise him:
"My lord, the Henan army has already reached the city!"

Yuan Shu was drunk, but his mind was surprisingly clear at this moment.

I had expected this result, so I just asked calmly:
"Since the enemy troops have already arrived, why don't you lead the troops to resist them?"

Shu Shao smiled bitterly:
"The army has not received pay for a long time, and the soldiers are unwilling to fight again."

"Most people have already fled the city and surrendered to the Henan coalition forces."

hum~
Yuan Shu snorted, "They are all ungrateful people."

Then he asked, "Where are Yang Changshi and Yan Zhubu?"

Shu Shao replied: "They all stayed indoors and refused to see guests."

A trusted attendant whispered in Yuan Shu's ear:
"These two must have known that the coalition forces were coming, so they stayed indoors on purpose."

"My lord, please send your warriors to capture him."

Yuan Shu shook his head and sighed:

"The situation is over and there is nothing we can do."

"Why force it? Just let it be."

Yuan Shu put down the jar of wine in his arms and stood up tremblingly.

Because of the extravagant life during this period, he has gained a lot of weight.

Yuan Shu drew his sword and strode towards Shu Shao.

……

(Current power distribution map of Cao and Liu)

(End of this chapter)