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

Chapter 154: Cao, Sun and Liu unite to fight against Yuan Shao?
Liu Bei used some kind words of persuasion and explained his determination to confer a title of nobility on Li Yi.

After being awarded the title of Marquis of Tan, Liu Bei also recommended Li Yi as Military Advisor and Lieutenant General.

If we say that before this, Marquis of Tan was just a title given as an award to show one's honorable position.

The position of general behind this, the Military Advisor and Lieutenant General, is one that actually gives real power.

The characteristic of the General of the Household is that although his status is not high, his power is enormous.

At most, you can directly control the troops of an entire military region.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song each commanded a group of troops and fought across states and counties.

Their war zones all governed at least one state, and the imperial court granted them considerable autonomy.

To be more intuitive, you can directly understand it as the "Marshal" of later generations.

"Lord, this..."

Li Yi looked at the position of Military Advisor and Lieutenant General and was quite surprised.

In the past, he always accompanied the army to provide advice and rarely took charge of leading troops.

Although he was the chief strategist, he had never held a specific position in Liuying before.

If we have to say something, at least in the army he played more of a military advisor role.

But the Military Advisor General actually led the troops alone.

Liu Bei said:
"Now that Huainan has been pacified, there is a lot of work to be done. I want to have my military advisor occupy Guangling and control the troops from Jiujiang."

What this meant was that the two war zones of Guangling and Jiujiang should be directly handed over to Li Yi.

All the troops here are under his control and can obey his orders.

Although Li Yi had always been the chief strategist in Xuzhou, he was nominally the second in command in Liu Yingli.

But he had never held much real power, so this time Liu Bei directly delegated power.

"It's just that Yi is still young, and his merits are meager."

"I was already extremely terrified when I was named Marquis of Tan. If I were to control two more armies, I'm afraid I might not be able to convince the people."

Liu Bei held Li Yi's hand and said sternly:

"Otherwise, how can everything go as planned? Just be at peace with your conscience."

“Since I have worked with you, sir, and established the court, your ministers have been your assistants, and your ministers have been your examiners.”

"The king's ministers have been there to make plans, and the king's ministers have been there to plot against each other, which is already a lot."

"A man's achievements do not necessarily have to be achieved through field battles. I hope you will not refuse."

Liu Bei's words were sincere and his tone was almost pleading.

He really hopes to repay Li Yi for his efforts over the past three years.

And Lao Liu has always been willing to delegate power.

Historically, when he had four counties, he let Zhuge Liang directly control the troops of three counties.

Today, Li Yi has planned a grand strategy for pacifying the south for Lao Liu.

So Old Liu handed over the troops in Huainan and Guangling areas to Li Yi, and let him handle all the affairs in the south.

"……Hahaha."

Li Yi smiled and said, "Thank you, my lord, for not abandoning me. I am willing to serve you as a dog or horse."

After some refusal, seeing that Liu Bei insisted, Li Yi accepted it frankly.

Liu Bei was overjoyed and immediately ordered someone to send the report to the court.

Not stated.

……

Just after Cao and Liu defeated Yuan Shu with great force, Sun Ce, who was located in Wujun not far to the south, also expanded rapidly.

Shortly after he pacified Wu County, he took advantage of the fact that Cao, Liu and Yuan were distracted by the battle and immediately continued to attack southwards.

Attack Wang Lang in Kuaiji County.

Wang Lang regarded himself as a Han official, so he should protect the city and mobilize all the soldiers in the city to fight against Sun Ce.

Unable to defeat the enemy, he was forced to surrender to Sun Ce, and Kuaiji was thus pacified.

Sun Ce replaced all the original officials and took over the position of prefect of Kuaiji.

He appointed the veteran general Zhu Zhi as the governor of Wujun.

He appointed his uncle Wu Jing as the governor of Danyang, and his cousin Sun Ben as the governor of Yuzhang.

Sun Ce did not have direct control over these two places, but he still ordered his own men to serve as prefects so that he could take control of them in the future.

Sun Ce's power expanded rapidly, and he also knew that he was a "rebel" and urgently needed official recognition.

So he sent Fengzheng Duwei Liu You and Wuguan Yuan Gao Cheng to pay a visit to the court of Chen with the memorial.

And brought gifts to pay tribute to the court.

On this day,

Sun Ce was gathering his civil and military officers to discuss the matter of advancing into Yuzhang County.

However, news came from the north that Yuan Shu was defeated by the armies of Cao and Liu, and all the land south of the Huai River was lost.

Sun Ce was surprised:

"Yuan Gonglu lost!"

Sun Ce's defeat to Yuan Shu was expected.

After all, he secretly transferred all his clan generals, including Sun Xiang, Sun Fu, Wu Jing, Sun Ben and others out of Huainan.

Almost all of Yuan Shu's capable generals were from the Sun family.

Without them, Yuan Shu would never be a match for the coalition forces of Cao and Liu.

But what Sun Ce did not expect was that Yuan Shu would be defeated so quickly.

According to the strategic concept originally formulated by him, Zhou Yu and others, a melee was set up among Cao, Liu and Yuan.

It will take at least one or two years.

In the next one or two years, Sun Ce is confident that he can conquer Yuzhang and Danyang.

But unexpectedly, just as he captured Kuaiji, he received news that Yuan Shu had been defeated.

The offensive of the Cao-Liu coalition was a bit too fierce.

"Yuan Shu was defeated, Cao Cao and Liu Bei occupied Huainan and headed straight for Jiangdong."

"What can we do about it?"

Previously, Chen Deng and Li Yi had always advocated a policy of suppressing Sun Wu.

Strictly restrict Sun Ce's development in Jiangdong.

Sun Ce took advantage of the great battle between Cao, Liu and Yuan Shu to quickly capture Kuaiji with lightning speed.

Originally, he wanted to take down Yuzhang and Danyang before the end of the war.

But now Cao and Liu have basically freed up their hands, and I'm afraid they won't let me do whatever I want anymore.

"Cao Cao controlled Lujiang, Liu Bei controlled Jiujiang."

"These two places are adjacent to Yuzhang and Danyang respectively."

"I'm afraid it won't be easy to get."

Wu Jing frowned, his expression very serious.

With their current strength, they do not take Yuan Yin of Danyang, Hua Xin of Yuzhang and Liu Yao seriously.

But the problem is that after Cao and Liu conquered Huainan, they must have regarded Yuzhang and Danyang as their own back garden.

If they dare to fight, Cao and Liu will definitely intervene.

"Gongjin, what do you think?"

Sun Ce took the initiative to seek Zhou Yu's opinion.

Zhou Yu pondered for a while before saying:
"The plan remains unchanged. Let's go get Yuzhang first."

Advisor Chen Duan asked:

"Yuzhang Hua Xin is a dog guarding the door, and Liu Yao is a general who has been defeated. They are not worth worrying about."

"But if we take Yuzhang, it will border Lujiang. How can we deal with Cao Cao?"

Zhou Yu explained:
"Although Yuan Shu is destroyed, Liu Xun is still alive."

"It will take time for Cao Cao to deal with Liu Xun. Before he gets rid of Liu Xun, let's take down Yuzhang first."

"Only by combining the strength of the three counties can we be qualified to negotiate with Cao and Liu."

When everyone heard this, they were all stunned.

"Gongjin, what do you mean by negotiating with Cao Cao and Liu Bei?"

Sun Ce took the initiative to ask.

Judging from what Zhou Yu said, he still wants to cooperate with Cao and Liu.

Zhou Yu analyzed methodically:

"In today's world, the two Yuans are the most powerful."

"Although Yuan Shu has been destroyed, his remnants still exist."

"Although Cao Cao and Liu Bei have taken control of Huainan, it will take time to eliminate Yuan Shu's power. This time is a good opportunity for us to develop."

"After Yuan Shu's death, Yuan Shao became the most powerful lord in the world."

"Since they control the Hebei region, they have long been looking southwards."

"Now that Cao and Liu have united, I think it must be to guard against Yuan Shao."

Zhou Yu saw through the fundamental reason for the strategic cooperation between Cao and Liu at a glance.

Dividing Yuan Shu was just a matter of course, while joining forces to resist Yuan Shao was what was in their best interest.

Sun Ce nodded, put his hands behind his back and said:

"Gongjin, what you mean is that Cao and Liu are unable to deploy a large number of troops in the south in order to guard against Yuan Shao?"

"……exactly."

Zhou Yu nodded.

The purpose of Cao and Liu joining forces to fight Yuan Shu was not so much to strengthen their own strength as to eliminate the hidden dangers in the south.

If Yuan Shao completely unified the north and had time, he would definitely turn his attention to Henan.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei, who were in Henan, were the first to be affected, so naturally they had to unite.

If Sun Wu's power could have grown rapidly before Yuan Shao went south.

Be strong enough to negotiate with Cao and Liu, so that they cannot destroy you easily.

Then even Cao Cao and Liu Bei would have to consider their strategic value.

After all, these two families certainly do not want to face the threat of Sun Wu in the south while facing the Hebei army, and be attacked from both sides.

"Then according to Gongjin, how should we deal with Cao Cao and Liu Bei?"

Sun Ce asked patiently.

Zhou Yu replied sternly:
"Everything must be prioritized. It's not easy to target Cao Cao or Liu Bei now."

"Besides, the two families have the potential to unite, so we really can't compete with them."

"If we take Yuzhang, we will be bordering Liu Biao of Jingzhou."

"Liu Biao and my brother have a grudge against each other for killing their father. This is our biggest enemy."

"And Cao Cao is also afraid that Liu Biao will threaten his capital Yingchuan in the south. If we take the initiative to attack Liu Biao, we will definitely get Cao Cao's support."

"If that's true, it's not easy for Liu Bei to interfere."

Sun Ce nodded, apparently agreeing with Zhou Yu's suggestion.

Since Cao and Liu are not easy to deal with, we can only deal with Liu Biao first.

What's more, Jingzhou is rich, and Liu Biao is just a guard dog, who has killed his father.

There is almost no reason for me not to attack Liu Biao first.

"Good, then follow Gongjin's advice and send envoys to make friends with Cao Cao and Liu Bei."

"Then immediately send troops to attack Yuzhang first, and after taking Yuzhang, send troops to Jiangxia."

"Kill Huang Zu and avenge my father."

Sun Ce acted decisively and immediately decided on the next strategic direction.

As they were talking, a clerk hurried into the hall.

"Lord..."

Ok?
Sun Ce raised an eyebrow and asked in a deep voice, "What's the matter?"

"Xu Gong's secret letter to the court was just intercepted by me."

"Xu Gong?"

Sun Ce frowned slightly. Since Xu Gong was defeated by him, he was simply settled in Wu County.

He was busy attacking Kuaiji before, so he had no time to deal with him.

"What document? Show it to me!"

The marquis handed over Xu Gong's memorial to Sun Ce with both hands.

Xu Gong, the governor of Wujun, presented a memorial to the Han emperor, saying:
"Sun Ce is a tyrant, similar to Xiang Yu. He should be given more favor and recalled to the capital."

"If you are summoned but cannot return, and are released outside, you will become a nuisance to the world!"

This is a memorial, usually placed in a wooden box.

Post clerks were not allowed to check officials' memorials at will, but the post clerks appointed by Sun Ce did not care about this.

He is looking at your commendation as the prefect of Wujun.

When he found something wrong, he immediately handed it over to Sun Ce.

After reading it, Sun Ce became furious.

"How dare this fellow plot to harm me!"

After saying this, he threw the certificate heavily to the ground.

The main idea of the memorial was to summon Sun Ce to the court.

This is obviously not in line with Sun Ce's core interests.

It is really insidious to keep him in captivity in the capital.

In fact, Sun Ce's nickname "Little Overlord" in history came from this memorial from Xu Gong.

Xu Gong compared Sun Ce to Xiang Yu in his article, but this was not a compliment to him.

Because Xiang Ji was the enemy of Emperor Gaozu of Han and was considered a rebel at the time.

Sun Ce's attack on Jiangdong was defined as rebellion by the local gentry.

That's why Sun Ce was so angry after reading the memorial, as it touched the most painful part of his heart.

"Someone, bring Xu Gong here!"

Sun Ce gave an order.

After a while, two warriors brought Xu Gong into the hall.

When Xu Gong saw that all the civil and military officials under Sun Ce were present, he felt a little scared.

He came closer and bowed to him with great fear and trepidation:

"...Gong has met General Sun."

Sun Ce's eyes widened with anger, and he glared at him, shouting:
"Xu Gong, I have treated you well, why are you plotting to harm me?"

Xu Gong was shocked and bowed quickly, asking, "General, what are you talking about?"

"How has Gong ever plotted to harm the general?"

Sun Ce laughed coldly:

"You submitted a petition to make me return to the court and to keep me in the capital."

"Do you still dare to say no?"

Xu Gong gritted his teeth and refused to admit it.

"There is no such thing, why do you have to force it on me?"

Sun Ce took out the petition and sneered:
"Here is the petition, do you still dare to deny it?"

Xu Gong was horrified when he saw this, and said in panic:

"This is the memorial I submitted to the court. How dare you open it and read it without permission?"

Sun Ce curved his lips and said:
"If I hadn't opened it, how would I know that you were harboring evil intentions and wanted to harm me?"

"Today the matter has been exposed and the evidence is irrefutable. What else do you have to say?"

Xu Gong remained silent and could not answer, as if he had already tacitly agreed to the matter.

Sun Ce became even more enraged upon seeing this, and immediately ordered his warriors to hang Xu Gong in the hall.

When Xu Gong saw this, he was shocked.

"Sun Ce! I am the governor of Wujun appointed by the imperial court. How dare you kill me?"

"Who are you to judge my sins?"

Sun Ce put his hands behind his back and laughed coldly:

"You want to harm me, how can I keep you?"

"Besides, you are a defeated general and are no longer the governor of Wu County. I have appointed one of my generals, Zhu Zhi, as the governor of Wu County."

"The memorial to the court has been sent, so you can go with peace of mind."

Xu Gong's face turned red and he stamped his feet in anger.

"You... you are a traitor who has committed treason and invaded my land, and you want to seize my position."

“Where is the justice and human heart?”

Sun Ce glanced at him and said calmly:
"Justice and truth do not lie in people's hearts, but right and wrong lie in strength."

After saying that, two warriors lifted up Xu Gong and hanged him alive in the hall.

Uncle Wu Jing came over and said to Sun Ce with some concern:

"Bofu, Xu Gong is quite famous in the local area. Even if you want to kill him, you should report it to the court first and investigate his crime."

"It would be too reckless to execute him without authorization."

Sun Ce disagreed, "Kill him if you want, why bother saying more?"

After a slight pause, he continued, "Besides, the local big families cannot tolerate me and regard us as traitors."

"We will have to fight this sooner or later, so why not start now?"

He and Li Yi helped Lao Liu and appeased the different factions in Xuzhou.

Sun Ce's way of dealing with local powerful families in Jiangdong was even simpler and more brutal, that is, kill, kill, kill.

The history books say, "He fought for thousands of miles and took control of all the land south of the Yangtze River. He killed the famous heroes and spread his power to neighboring countries."

The historical books simply summarize Sun Ce's massacre of the aristocratic families as being because Sun Ce wanted to establish his authority.

But this is only the superficial reason.

Sun Ce was not a fool, he knew what the local wealthy families meant.

But he couldn't appease each faction one by one like Li Yi did.

Because time waits for no one, Sun Ce must raise his army quickly.

Secondly, there are so many large families in Jiangdong that it is difficult for Sun Ce to appease them one by one.

Third, and most important.

Sun Ce did not have the conditions to appease these big clans, so he could only choose to kill them indiscriminately.

Sun Ce was not from a prominent family in Jiangdong, but he brought people from Jianghuai and went to Jiangdong to claim his throne.

It is neither right nor justifiable, and is a rebellion against superiors.

Xu Gong of Wujun, Wang Lang of Kuaiji, and Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, were all local officials appointed by the imperial court.

Resisting Sun Ce is like fighting against the enemy for the country.

Of course, the local gentry also supported them.

There are precedents for suppressing local families through tough measures.

For example, when Liu Yan entered Yizhou, he killed fifteen local powerful families.

Liu Biao rode alone into Jingzhou and killed fifty-five powerful men in the south of the Yangtze River.

Both of them chose the same operation.

When a foreign monarch arrives in a certain place, he has to kill the local tyrants to establish his authority, otherwise he will not be able to keep the people under control.

However, after establishing their power, Liu Biao and Liu Yan both chose to stop in time and began to appease local powerful people, using both kindness and force.

But Sun Ce had no way to stop, he only had "power" and could only choose to keep killing.

Because he is different from Liu Biao and Liu Yan.

These two are relatives of the Han emperor and have the aura of being descendants of the Han royal family.

Second, when Liu Biao entered Jingzhou, he was the governor of Jingzhou, and when Liu Yan entered Yizhou, he was the governor of Yizhou.

But Sun Ce only had the title of General of Suppressing Bandits given by Yuan Shu. What qualifications did he have to occupy the territory of Jiangdong?

Therefore, the quality of Sun Ce's army was very high, and wherever the army passed, the people were hardly harmed.

Because Sun Ce knew that since he had chosen to offend the gentry, he absolutely could not offend the military and civilians again.

Sun Ce's military discipline was among the best in the Three Kingdoms period, and wherever he went, people would line the streets to see him off.

This is the patch Sun Ce made for himself.

After killing Xu Gong, Sun Ce ordered his men to slaughter all of Xu Gong's family members, leaving no one alive.

The warriors took the order and went to raid Xu Gong's house, killing everyone in the house, young and old.

The only sound in the Xu family was wailing and screaming.

Afterwards, the warriors reported to Sun Ce that all of Xu Gong's eighty-plus men had been killed.

Sun Ce nodded with satisfaction, and suddenly someone came to report.

It was the counselor Qin Song.

"My lord, Xu Gong's youngest son and three servants have disappeared."

Sun Ce put his hands on his waist and said disdainfully:
"I have seen that child before. He is only eight or nine years old. There is no need to worry."

"As for the three slaves, they are nothing more than stray dogs from their homes. Why should we talk about them?"

"Let it go!"

This……

Qin Song hesitated and advised:
"My lord, we must root out the weeds. These slaves have been receiving great favors from Xu Gong."

"If you kill them now, there is no guarantee that they will avenge you in the future."

Sun Ce just smiled calmly, "Who am I afraid of?"

Seeing this, Zhou Yu also advised:

"Brother, what Mr. Qin said makes sense."

"Even though my brother is extremely brave, you must know that it is easy to dodge an open spear, but it is difficult to guard against an arrow from the dark."

When Sun Ce heard Zhou Yu say this, he sighed and said:
"Well, then you can take some people with you to track down these escaped slaves."

"Here."

Zhou Yu took the order and left the hall with Qin Song.

"Gongjin, you don't look too well?"

Qin Song saw that Zhou Yu looked unhappy and took the initiative to ask about his concern.

Zhou Yu sighed:
"My Lord is a man of unrivalled talent, but sometimes he is careless and unprepared."

"I am worried that one day he will be harmed by a villain."

Qin Song was a little surprised when he heard this, and said:

"My lord is quite brave and has dozens of generals around him. How could he be killed by an assassin?"

Zhou Yu raised his eyebrows and said seriously:

"As I just said, it's easy to dodge an open attack, but it's hard to guard against an arrow from the dark."

“Even if a person is invincible, he cannot defeat the conspiracy and intrigue of the world and human nature.”

Qin Song was silent for a long time after hearing this.

"In this case, we must be more cautious in the future."

"So as to prevent the lord from being harmed."

Zhou Yu sighed:
"It's useless for us to take precautions. My lord, you have to take it seriously yourself."

"Forget it, I just hope I'm worrying too much..."

……

Sun Wu had already planned his own strategy. He intended to make friends with Cao and Liu in the north, expand to the west, and strike a heavy blow to Liu Biao.

At this time, Liu Biao was also sitting in Xiangyang City, thinking about his foreign strategy.

"Yuan Gonglu actually lost?"

Liu Biao was very surprised when he saw the military report brought back by the scouts.

Previously, when Cao and Liu fought against Yuan Shu, Liu Biao made a fortune from the war.

Food, fodder and military equipment were continuously transported to Huainan.

He accumulated a large amount of wealth for Jingzhou.

I originally thought I could eat for two more years and at the same time consume the strength of the three families.

I didn't expect Yuan Shu to be so weak and be defeated so quickly.

"My lord, Lujiang has now been occupied by Cao Cao."

Kuai Liang said to Liu Biao.

Liu Biao frowned, slammed the table and said angrily:

"When Liu Bei was doing business with me before, he promised to give me Lujiang."

"But now they have handed it over to Cao Cao. They are bullying me!"

Everyone was silent and looked at each other.

Their family also made a lot of profit from the trade in Xuzhou.

Kuai Liang comforted Liu Biao and said:
"Xiahou Dun was appointed by the emperor himself as the governor of Lujiang."

"Cao Cao now has Lujiang under his control, and it is legitimate, but my lord, it is not easy for him to send troops."

"Liu Bei also has reasons to stall my Jingzhou envoy."

Liu Biao's expression was very ugly, he felt like he was being played by Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

It was obvious that these two people had colluded with each other and just didn't want me to interfere in Yangzhou affairs.

"This person is so despicable!"

"Cao Cao and Liu Bei have joined forces in Henan, which is a huge threat."

"Especially since Cao Cao moved his capital to Yingchuan, it directly threatened Jingzhou."

"We must plan to attack Cao Cao, but I have never wanted to use troops in Jingzhou. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Liu Biao realized the threat posed by Cao Cao.

He moved the seat of government to Yingchuan, directly bordering Jingzhou.

Liu Biao felt uneasy, but sending troops was not in line with his doctrine of the mean.

He has the ambition to unify the world.

But his strategy was to wait slowly until the Han Dynasty declined, and then he could come out and take over the world.

Therefore, Liu Biao's diplomatic strategy has always been to please both sides.

He was willing to watch other princes fighting each other, but he didn't want to end up like that himself.

Kuai Liang said aloud:

"My lord, do you still remember Zhang Ji who attacked Rangcheng not long ago?"

Zhang Ji?

Liu Biao frowned. This man had previously led troops from Guanzhong to invade Jingzhou because the army was short of food.

However, during the siege of Rangcheng, he was hit by a stray arrow and died.

"Yes, I owe Zhang Ji a debt of gratitude in this matter."

Liu Biao said with some self-blame.

Kuai Liang continued:
"After Zhang Ji died, his nephew Zhang Xiu took over his troops and withdrew from Rangcheng."

"My lord, why don't you surrender Zhang Xiu, lure his troops, and have them stationed in Wancheng?"

"As a shield to the north of Jingzhou to guard against Cao Cao?"

"In this way, Jingzhou will not have to take the initiative to send troops to resolve Cao Cao's external threat."

Liu Biao was overjoyed when he heard this:

"This is exactly what I want!"

When Zhang Ji died, officials from Jingzhou all came to congratulate Liu Biao.

However, Liu Biao said, Zhang Ji came here because he was at the end of his rope, but I, as his host, was so rude to him.

This was not my original intention, so I only accept condolences, not congratulations.

Just looking at these remarks, one would feel that Liu Biao is an honest gentleman.

But Liu Biao himself is very scheming and has his own strategic vision.

When Zhang Ji arrived, Cao Cao had already moved his headquarters to Yingchuan.

At that time, Liu Biao realized the threat posed by Cao Cao and planned to keep a foreign general in Nanyang as a cover to guard against Cao Cao.

Zhang Ji came at the right time, but he was a bit reckless.

He started by attacking cities and seizing territories, and Liu Biao didn't even have a chance to greet him or persuade him to surrender.

If you are short of food, just tell me directly. I’m not withholding food from you.

Liu Biao was speechless and wanted to send someone to mediate, but when the person arrived, Zhang Ji had already died.

His nephew Zhang Xiu took over his troops.

Now Kuai Liang's proposal to persuade Zhang Xiu to surrender and keep him in Wancheng to guard against Cao Cao coincided with Liu Biao's suggestion.

"Just do as Zirou said. Send my order immediately to persuade Zhang Xiu's troops to surrender."

Liu Biao gave an order and sent people to lure Zhang Ji's troops.

……

(End of this chapter)