Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 252: Four States Hegemony, Hebei Undercurrent

May, Wancheng.

Yuan Shu sat cross-legged in the waterside pavilion, with two pretty maids serving him on both sides. Several civil and military officials knelt on the table and discussed the current situation with Yuan Shu.

"Zhang Ji'an is indeed an extraordinary person. He dared to imitate Xiang Yu's desperate move and led a small army to defeat Li Jue's 100,000 troops!" Yuan Shu laughed and said, "Yuan Benchu once called himself the General of Chariots and Cavalry. Now Zhang Yu welcomes the emperor and takes away his official position. I'm afraid he is not ashamed to kill Yuan Shao."

Yuan Shu had been depressed since his defeat by Cao Cao, but the news of Zhang Yu's success in defeating the enemy helped him get out of his depression. After all, as the leader of the alliance, he naturally had a share of the credit for the success of the coalition in welcoming the emperor.

In addition, after the successful campaign against the rebels, the emperor mocked Yuan Shao in disguise by conferring him an official title. Previously, when the heroes were fighting against Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao was recommended by everyone as the General of Chariots and Cavalry, but he failed to defeat the rebels. Now that Zhang Yu saved the court from danger, the court conferred him the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry. Wasn't this a deliberate mockery of Yuan Shao?
Now he was honored by the emperor as the general, while Yuan Shao did not even have the rank of general of chariots and cavalry. The gap between their status made Yuan Shu secretly happy.

Seeing Yuan Shu was so happy, the Chief Clerk Yang Hong said, "Mingsir, Zhang Yu controls Bingzhou and now he has taken over Guanzhong in the name of suppressing the enemy. He has the power of Qin and Jin. He will move the emperor to Luoyang soon. His reputation will surpass Yuan Shao and is no less than yours. If what I predict is correct, Zhang Yu will become your great enemy in the future."

Yuan Shu leaned slightly on the table, rubbing the sandalwood armrest with his hands, and said: "Although Zhang Ji'an was born in a humble family, he is both civil and military. Although he now dominates Jin and Qin, the person who should be worried about the situation right now is Yuan Shao, not me!"

"Yuan Shao has occupied most of Jizhou, and has taken over the counties of Qingzhou. He also has Cao Cao as his wing, making him a powerful enemy in the north. Zhang Yu is on the brink of Yuan Shao, and now he has sent Lu Bu to be the governor of Yanzhou. Sooner or later, the two will fight, but we don't know who will win!"

Yuan Shu could not help but be wary of Zhang Yu's expansion of power into Guanzhong. However, the reason why Yuan Shu allied with Zhang Yu was simply because he valued the hostile relationship between Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao.

"In your opinion, sir, should our army allow Lu Bu to temporarily stay in Yingchuan?" Yang Hong asked.

Yuan Shu looked at everyone and asked, "What do you think?"

Yan Xiang hesitated for a moment and said, "Mingsir, I heard that the reason why Zhang Yu defeated Li Jue was because of Lu Bu's cavalry breaking through the enemy's formation. Zhang Yu sent Lu Bu out of the pass to serve as the governor of Yanzhou, with the intention of plotting against Cao Cao. Cao Cao is a good commander and has the help of Yuan Shao. His strength should not be underestimated. So why don't you sit back and watch the fight!"

"Do you want Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao to fight to the death?" Yuan Shu asked.

"Ming Gong is wise!"

Yan Xiang cupped his hands and said, "In order to contain Yuan Shao, Zhang Yu did not hesitate to send troops to Hebei to help Gongsun Zan. Although Zhang Yu has taken Guanzhong, he wants to dominate the Central Plains and will inevitably compete with Yuan Shao for Yanzhou and Jizhou. Zhang Yu sent Lu Bu out of Guanzhong, and his intention is clear."

"So why don't you help Lu Bu, use Lu Bu as a pioneer, and let him fight Cao Cao. When Yanzhou is exhausted, you can march north to take over Henan."

Yuan Shu stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then said, "Now that we are using Lü Bu to fight for Yanzhou, Sun Jian will not have any place to use his talents."

"My lord, Sun Jian has the ability of a tiger and his military strategy is not inferior to Cao and Lu. Since you and Zhang Yu are supporting Lu Bu to fight for Yanzhou, why not let Sun Jian march east to Yangzhou, or west to Yizhou, to expand your territory!" Yan Xiang said.

"Sun Jian has lived in Yingchuan for a long time and is deeply loved by the people. All the soldiers under his command follow Sun Jian's lead. In the past, you trusted Sun Jian with important tasks because of his bravery. Now Sun Jian's claws are sharp and can kill enemies for you, and even hurt you." Han Yin said.

The relationship between Sun Jian and Yuan Shu was delicate. Although Sun Jian had worked for Yuan Shu for a long time, he was unwilling to rely on Yuan Shu as his master. Therefore, Sun Jian accumulated a lot of capital in the process of fighting for Yuzhou. Especially after the Sun brothers joined Sun Jian, Sun Jian had a deep control over his troops.

For Yuan Shu, the growth of Sun Jian and his army was a threat to his rule. Therefore, Yuan Shu used Sun Jian to fight for Yanzhou, but because of the situation of Sun Jian and his army, Yuan Shu also wanted to prevent Sun Jian from doing anything wrong.

Especially since he was defeated by Cao Cao, his feelings towards Sun Jian became more complicated, and he was now afraid of Sun Jian. However, Yuan Shu was reluctant to let Sun Jian go, after all, Sun Jian was very capable and a sharp sword!
Kuai Yue thought for a while and said, "If you want to help the world, you can do as you said and ally with Zhang and Lu to contain Yuan and Cao. You can take advantage of the opportunity to go up and down the Yangtze River and sweep Yi and Yang. At that time, you will have Jing and Yu, and Yi and Yang, and you will control half of the world."

"Sun Jian is a man of outstanding military strategy, a fierce tiger of Jiangdong, and he was born in Wujun. If he were to attack Yangzhou now, it would be difficult to stop him. Moreover, there are no strong enemies in Yangzhou, and most of the governors and county governors are your trusted confidants. But it is not the case in Yizhou. Liu Yan has closed the Shu Road and strictly guarded the pass. Only a great general can break through. Therefore, you might as well borrow Sun Jian's ability to plot against Bashu!"

Hearing this, Yuan Shu nodded slightly, and said meaningfully, "In the past, Liu Yan wanted to go to Jiaozhou to serve as an official, but suddenly heard that Yizhou had the aura of an emperor, so he asked to be the governor of Yizhou. Liu Yan lived in Shu, built the emperor's carriage, and went in and out like a prince. His heart was not right. Now I am the general of the court, and I should fight against the enemy for the court."

After a pause, Yuan Shu said, "Since Zhang Yu intends to attack Cao Cao, let Lu Bu stay in Yingchuan temporarily. We need to discuss the matter of attacking Yizhou again!"

"promise!"

Yan Xiang said, "Mingsir, the emperor will move east to Luoyang at the end of June, and we need to send an envoy to pay homage to the emperor."

"Can!"

Yuan Shu looked at his son Yuan Yao and said, "Gao Rong is my eldest son. You will go on the mission to Luoyang on my behalf."

"As ordered!"

Yuan Yao is not as high-profile as Yuan Shu and is a man of few words.

"By the way, Zhang Xun led his troops to break through Wuguan Pass for the first time and almost reached Chang'an to join forces with Zhang Yu. I have written a letter to Zhang Yu, allowing Lu Bu to station his troops in Yingchuan to see if he can give the 600-li Shangyu area to our army!" Yuan Shu was thinking about Wuguan Pass, so he emphasized.

"Yes!" The connection between the Guanzhong Plain and the Nanyang Basin relies on the narrow Wuguan Road, which is the throat of Qin and Chu. In history, Wuguan Road is also called Shangyu. Why Wei Yang is called Shang Jun is because his fief was granted Shangyu.

Many wars broke out between Qin and Chu because of Shangyu. If Qin controlled Shangyu, it could attack Nanyang, while if Chu controlled Shangyu, it could directly take Xianyang.

Now that Zhang Yu occupies Guanzhong, although Yuan Shu intends to use Zhang Yu to contain Yuan Shao, for the safety of his own Nanyang, he must occupy Shangyu in order to have a buffer zone.

Not to mention that Yuan Shu's ambition was gradually expanding. Now that Yuan Shao learned that Zhang Yu had defeated the enemy with a small force, occupied Guanzhong, and was in charge of the government as the General of Chariots and Cavalry, Yuan Shao, who was far away in Yecheng, was in a very difficult situation.

"Li Jue led a hundred thousand men to defend Zhang Yu across the river, but now he is not only unable to defeat Zhang Yu, but is defeated by Zhang Yu following Xiang Yu's strategy."

Yuan Shao paced in the hall, angrily saying, "He is such a fool. If Dong Zhuo was still in Guanzhong, how could he allow Zhang Yu to be so arrogant?"

Although Zhang Yu did not boast to his subordinates about how skilled he was in using troops, anyone who knew what happened before and after the Battle of Luoshui would have to admit that Zhang Yu fought very well in that battle.

Li Jue's army was almost twice as large as Zhang Yu's. It was difficult for Zhang Yu to break through the Yellow River defense line, so in order to bypass Guanzhong, Zhang Yu rushed thousands of miles and attacked directly behind Li Jue. In order to confuse Li Jue, he also attracted Li Jue's attention to Ma Teng.

After breaking through the Yellow River defense line, Zhang Yu fought against a large number of enemies with a small number of troops, took advantage of the terrain of Puling to form a battle array, and exerted the combat effectiveness of the cavalry to the limit, which led to the so-called Luoshui victory. When Zhang Yu was conquering Li Jue, Yuan Shao did not think that Zhang Yu had any hope of winning, but unexpectedly, the result slapped him in the face.

The slap in the face today is a small matter. If Zhang Yu annexes Guanzhong and his power grows further, and he uses Shangdang to threaten Yecheng, that will be the real danger!

"Don't worry, my lord!"

Xu You comforted him, saying, "Zhang Yu wants to move the emperor to Luoyang, following the example of Ji Zhou's eastward migration. Moreover, Li Jue is still in exile, and Han Sui and Ma Teng in Longyou are entrenched there. Therefore, although Zhang Yu has gone to Guanzhong, he will not be able to take care of Hebei in the short term."

"The key now is to take advantage of Zhang Yu's stay in Guanzhong and quickly have Gongsun Zan take Youzhou and cut off Zhang Yu's arm. At the same time, our army will attack Beihai in the east and defeat Zhang Yan in the west, and take over Qingzhou and Jizhou as soon as possible."

Yuan Shao looked at Feng Ji and asked, "Yuan Tu, it has been half a year since Zhang Yu and his allies joined forces to attack Guanzhong. Why has Gongsun Zan not taken action against Liu Yu yet?"

Feng Ji said helplessly: "My Lord, it's not that Gongsun Zan doesn't want to do it, but he is afraid that if he leads his troops north, Liu Yu will notice it. So Gongsun Zan secretly sent troops to Youzhou to break Zhuo County. Now that Zhang Yu has defeated Li Jue and taken Guanzhong, if Gongsun Zan wants to be a local lord, he dare not not move now!"

Yuan Shao suppressed his anxiety and said, "Yuan Tu will be in charge of this matter. If necessary, you can send troops to help Gongsun Zan!"

"promise!"

Yuan Shao collected his thoughts and asked, "Your Majesty is about to move the capital to Luoyang. I wonder if you will send an envoy to pay a visit to your majesty?"

"How can we not send an envoy to pay homage to you?"

Seeing Yuan Shao's confusion on this matter, Ju Su frowned and said, "Although Zhang Yu welcomed the emperor in Luoyang, the court is also wary of Zhang Yu. My lord, you are the governor of Jizhou and a strong enemy of Zhang Yu. Now you send an envoy to pay a visit and present a generous gift. The court will reward you greatly!"

"In the past, you were the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and you led the alliance to fight against the enemy. Now the court has appointed Yuan Shu as the general, Liu Yu as the Grand Marshal, and appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry to Zhang Yu. So why don't you ask for the title of General of the Cavalry?"

"What you said makes sense!"

Yuan Shao stopped and suddenly came to his senses.

He had always regarded Zhang Yu as a great enemy, so he had a repulsive mentality towards Liu Xie, whom Zhang Yu welcomed. However, the reality was that Liu Xie was also afraid of Zhang Yu. In order to maintain the balance of the world, if he sent an envoy to Luoyang, Liu Xie would most likely confer the title of General of Cavalry on him.

Although the rank of General of Cavalry was not as high as that of Grand Marshal or General, it was at least slightly higher than that of General of Chariots and Cavalry. If possible, he might be able to ask the Emperor to formally appoint his eldest son Yuan Tan as the Governor of Qingzhou.

"In that case, Rong Gu will consider the selection of the envoy to pay homage to the emperor!"

"Ming Gong is wise!"

Ju Su said: "If Gongsun Zan succeeds in taking Youzhou, Zhang Yu will certainly send troops to Youzhou. You may need to make plans for the future situation as soon as possible."

"Ok!"

Yuan Shao nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "If Beihai is conquered, Qingzhou will be mine. Then we can take Changshan, support Youzhou in the north, look to Xuzhou and Yanzhou in the south, and then decide the outcome with Zhang Yu!"

(End of this chapter)