Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 231: Treat the world as chess pieces, Xuande will fall into my trap!
October, Le'an State.

In the county government office, Sun Zi was welcomed into the government office by Liu Bei and was invited to sit with him.

"I wonder why the Right General sent Mr. Sun to Pingyuan as an envoy?" Liu Bei asked as he asked his attendants to serve him honey water.

"My Lord, Dong Zhuo rebelled against the imperial court and was killed by the princes in May. However, his remnants rose up again with more than 100,000 soldiers, captured Chang'an, killed the princes, and held the emperor hostage. Your Majesty was furious and raised an army to kill Niu Fu. However, because the enemy was much more numerous than you, you wanted to invite the righteous men from Guandong to raise an army to kill Guo and Li together and welcome the emperor to Luoyang."

Sun Zi took out the letter from his bosom and said, "I have sent you this letter. Please read it, Lord Liu."

Liu Bei took the letter with both hands, his expression calmed down, and said: "The Right General actually remembered Liu Xuande of Pingyuan!"

"Lord Liu is a relative of the Han royal family. He is kind and loves the people. He is brave and outstanding in martial arts. He has a close relationship with the right general. How could he not remember him!" Sun Zi said with a respectful look.

Liu Bei read the letter and asked, "Since you are from Youzhou, why don't you go as an envoy to Gongsun Bogui?"

Sun Zi put down the lacquer cup filled with honey water and said, "Gongsun Bogui has been defeated repeatedly by Yuan Shao. Now Yuan Shao is eyeing Bohai Sea covetously. He is greedy for territory and may not have the intention to send troops. But Lord Liu is different. You have the ambition to help the world. How can you sit and watch the emperor in danger?"

After Yuan Shao dealt with the Black Mountain bandits, in mid-August, he fought a great battle with Gongsun Zan in Pingyuan for the control of Qingzhou. Gongsun Zan was defeated and retreated to Bohai County. Liu Bei and Tian Kai led the defeated army to retreat to Anle.

There were six counties and kingdoms in Qingzhou. Donglai County was occupied by Gongsun Du, Kong Rong was the governor of Beihai, and the remaining four counties and kingdoms, Pingyuan, Jinan, Le'an, and Qi, were originally occupied by Gongsun Zan. However, after the defeat at Pingyuan, Gongsun Zan lost Pingyuan and Jinan, and now only Anle and Qi counties and kingdoms remain.

After his defeat, Gongsun Zan intensified his conscription and demanded military supplies from Youzhou in order to resist Yuan Shao's attack. That's why Sun Zi said that Gongsun Zan defeated Yuan Shao repeatedly.

After reading the letter, Liu Bei asked, "I wonder if Liu Youzhou is willing to send troops?"

"Liu Youzhou has promised to send troops and food to you!" Sun Zi said, "If you can respond to the call to fight the enemy, you will be appointed as the governor of Chenliu and the general of Yangwu so that you can protect the emperor in the future."

Liu Bei looked unhappy and asked, "My Lord, do you think I am a person who covets official positions?"

"How dare you!"

Sun Zi clasped his hands and said, "Your Excellency has made an alliance and honored Yuan Shu as the general. Now your Excellency is presenting you with an official title to show your sincerity in fighting the enemy!"

Liu Bei looked surprised and asked, "General Right, why did you make the alliance and respect Yuan Shu as the leader?"

"There are more than 100,000 bandits. In order to defeat them in one fell swoop, Your Excellency wants to humble the position of leader of the alliance to Yuan Shu and ask Yuan Shu to send troops to help." Sun Zi said.

Hearing this, Liu Bei was deeply moved and said, "I finally understand the Right General's intention to support the Han Dynasty!"

Regardless of whether Zhang Yu had other intentions in sending troops, the fact that he did not seek fame and gain alone was worthy of Liu Bei's admiration. After all, the previous Guandong princes had fought against Dong Zhuo in the name of fighting against the enemy, but in fact they all got what they wanted.

If we can rescue the emperor from the hands of Guo and Li and move him to Luoyang, we can at least strengthen the prestige of the Han Dynasty and prevent the princes in Guandong from wantonly annexing counties and kingdoms.

"Then I wonder what Lord Liu means?" Sun Zi asked tentatively.

Liu Bei restrained his expression and said, "How dare I hesitate to fight against the enemy for the country? I don't know when to send troops, and when to use them?"

"My lord, you will hold a meeting in the first month of next year and send troops to Guanzhong in February or March. If you raise troops now, you may need to go to Henei and then station troops in Hedong County." Sun Zi said.

"good!"

Liu Bei nodded slightly and said, "I only have a thousand soldiers now. Please pay a visit to Gongsun Bogui and ask him to allocate some soldiers to me."

"What if we can't get soldiers and horses?" Sun Zi asked.

"Whether we can get soldiers or not, I will go to Hedong and follow the right general to fight the enemy!" Liu Bei said seriously.

"Zi is looking forward to hearing from you, my Lord!" Sun Zi said with sincere admiration.

Zhang Yu had previously asked him to come to Liu Bei, but Sun Zi disagreed, or rather, he thought Liu Bei would not send troops. After all, Liu Bei had only a thousand soldiers, which was not a big deal in a war of tens of thousands of people.

He even thought that saying that there were more than 100,000 bandits would scare Liu Bei away, but the result was beyond his expectation, Liu Bei dared to accept the alliance. Now Sun Zi had to admire Liu Bei's courage, and also admire Zhang Yu's ability to judge people.

When Sun Zi left the palace, Guan Yu frowned and asked, "Brother, are you really going to Bingzhou to fight the bandits today?"

"Why not?"

Liu Bei sat cross-legged, put away the letter, and said with emotion: "Now the Han Dynasty is declining and the world is falling apart. As a descendant of the Liu family, how can I not lend a helping hand to Zhang Ji'an?"

"Is it possible that Yunchang is afraid of the large number of troops?"

Guan Yu looked solemn and said, "Brother, why do you say that? Even if there is a sea of fire ahead, I will still go there, let alone the likes of Li Jue and Guo Si."

After a pause, Guan Yu said, "The Han Dynasty is declining, the emperor has lost power, and many heroes have risen up. I am only afraid that Zhang Yu will become Dong Zhuo again!"

"In the past, the Zhou Dynasty moved eastward and was able to last for hundreds of years. Now the Han Dynasty is difficult to revive. If we can emulate the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, it is not a bad idea." Liu Bei stood up from the couch, walked to the entrance of the hall with his sword in hand, and said with a sigh: "As for whether Zhang Yu will become Dong Zhuo again, let's save the emperor first!"

Although Liu Bei did not have a superior strategic perspective, he knew the complexity of the current situation. After Emperor Ling of Han died, the world suddenly fell into division because of Dong Zhuo. Now, several years have passed, the world has become more and more chaotic, and the emperor is controlled by the rebels.

In his opinion, if the Han Dynasty wanted to be revived, there was no other way except to have another Guangwu. If Guangwu could not appear, perhaps the only way was to imitate the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and barely maintain the so-called Han Dynasty in Luoyang.

He was born in a humble family, and it was difficult for him to make a name for himself. If he could save the emperor, he might be able to move up to a higher level. After all, if he followed Gongsun Zan, he would be defeated by Yuan Shao repeatedly, and he really saw no hope.

Guan Yu said solemnly: "No matter what, I will follow my brother!" "Me too!" Zhang Fei said.

"it is good!"

In fact, Zhang Yu had his own considerations as to why he asked Sun Zi to invite Liu Bei to raise an army to join the alliance.

As a surviving player in the chicken-eating competition, Liu Bei established Shu Han in history and divided the world with Wei and Wu, which fully demonstrates that Liu Bei's talents should not be underestimated.

Since Zhang Yu was determined to unify the world, how could he let these overlords go? Sun Jian was in Yuzhou, and Sun Ce would have a hard time going to Jiangdong. If Liu Bei was allowed to develop normally and take over Tao Qian's position, if he suffered in the Central Plains, he would probably go south to Huainan.

After all, Yuan Shu is in Jingzhou now, not Yangzhou. Yangzhou is still an undeveloped virgin land with the potential for secession. Zhang Yu will not let Liu Bei develop on his own, so as not to raise a big daddy.

Zhang Yu is very ambitious. Although he is now stationed in the northern border, more than 100,000 rebels are still entrenched in Guanzhong. He still wants to rely on his understanding of the progress to try his best to avoid the emergence of powerful opponents. The most typical example is to break Hebei into pieces and prevent Yuan Shao from unifying Hebei.

Treating the world as a chessboard and the princes as chess pieces is what Zhang Yu is doing now!
Sun Zi stayed in Anle for a few days, and under the escort of people sent by Liu Bei, he traveled west to Yanzhou, borrowed a road from Cao Cao's territory, and prepared to go to Jingzhou.

As for the communication problem with Xuzhou Tao Qian, sending a letter was enough. After all, Tao Qian was too far away from Guanzhong, and apart from waving flags and shouting, he could not do much for the coalition forces.

Soon after Sun Zi left, Liu Bei went to Nanpi, Bohai, to meet Gongsun Zan and see if he could allocate some troops to him in order to fulfill his promise. But Gongsun Zan was angry about Liu Yu's behavior.

Nanpi, within the county seat.

Gongsun Zan angrily smashed the wine jar and said, "You old villain are so treacherous and hateful. How dare you send me to the expedition to Guanzhong?"

"General, calm down!" Guan Jing said soothingly.

"How can I calm down?"

Gongsun Zan paced back and forth angrily, saying, "The old villain just sent someone to tell me to march to Guanzhong, otherwise he will cut off my food supplies. If I march to Guanzhong now, the land you and I have worked so hard to obtain will be handed over to Yuan Shao and Liu Yu. How can I not be angry!"

Guan Jing sighed, not knowing what to say.

Gongsun Zan was the general and Liu Yu was the governor. He had already anticipated the problems that would arise between the two due to military power. In the past, Liu Yu could tolerate Gongsun Zan, and the two could still coexist. Now Liu Yu decided not to tolerate him, but wanted to control the military power himself, and Gongsun Zan was bound to conflict with him.

If he wants to solve this problem now, Gongsun Zan must no longer need military supplies from Youzhou, or let Liu Yu continue to maintain this status.

While Gongsun Zan was furious, he saw a servant coming hurriedly to report.

"General, Prime Minister Liu Bei of Pingyuan is here to pay you a visit!"

"not see!"

Gongsun Zan was angry and said this angrily.

"Not urgent!"

Guan Jing appeased him and said, "Liu Bei has come to visit you, general. He must have important business, so why not summon him to meet you?"

"Let him in!"

Gongsun Zan calmed down a little and said.

"promise!"

After a while, Liu Bei stepped into the hall and saluted Gongsun Zan.

"Xuan De came here from Anle, I wonder what's the matter?" Gongsun Zan asked with a unhappy expression.

"I now take my leave from the general. Lord Zhang will fight the bandits next year and is now gathering heroes from Guandong. Although I am not talented, I am willing to lead the troops to Bingzhou and do my best to save the emperor from the dire straits." Liu Bei said solemnly.

Gongsun Zan squinted at Liu Bei and asked, "Are you going to abandon me and run away now?"

"I have no such intention. It's just that the emperor is in danger, so I have to go and serve. When the emperor returns to Luoyang, if there is nothing important, I will repay the general's courtesy!" Liu Bei said.

"General!"

Guan Jing seemed to have thought of something, and whispered in Gongsun Zan's ear: "Liu Mubo wants to force you to go on an expedition to Guanzhong, why not let Liu Bei lead the troops to go on the expedition on your behalf. This may be able to appease Liu Mubo. Now Yuan Shao is your great enemy, so don't conflict with Youzhou."

Hearing this, Gongsun Zan's expression improved slightly, and he asked, "Xuan De went on an expedition to Guanzhong, what does he want?"

Liu Bei was slightly delighted and quickly said, "I only have a thousand men under my command. I wonder if the general can transfer some troops to me?"

Gongsun Zan pondered for a long time and said, "Xuan De is short of soldiers, and so are I. But you are on a long expedition to Guanzhong to rescue the emperor, so how can I turn a blind eye? I will allow you to recruit soldiers on your own and give you 500 cavalry. What do you think?"

"Thank you, General. I will report your achievements to the Emperor!"

Five hundred cavalrymen might be considered few for Gongsun Zan, but they were enough for Liu Bei, so Liu Bei thanked Gongsun Zan.

"good!"

(End of this chapter)