Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 260: The Perfect Plan: Moving the Capital to Avoid the War

In September, Zhu Jun was ordered to go to Guandong, intending to mediate the war between Cao Cao and Tao Qian. However, because Gongsun Zan attacked and killed Liu Yu, in order to get Yuan Shao to send troops to attack Gongsun Zan, Zhu Jun had to change his itinerary and asked his deputy Han Rong to take his letter to mediate between Cao Cao and Tao Qian, while he went north to Yecheng.

Cao Cao had intended to withdraw his troops from Xuzhou because his army and food were running out. But when Han Rong came to mediate, Cao Cao sold his reputation to the imperial court and withdrew his troops from Xuzhou back to Yanzhou.

At the same time, Yuan Shao met Zhu Jun in Yecheng, and reluctantly accepted the title of former general. Later, during the conversation with Zhu Jun, he received the imperial decree to conquer Youzhou. So after meeting Zhu Jun, Yuan Shao immediately summoned his subordinates to discuss matters related to the imperial decree to conquer Gongsun Zan.

Inside the palace, Yuan Shao sat in the hall and said sarcastically: "Gongsun Zan will not be able to accomplish anything great. Liu Yu is deeply loved by the people of Youzhou. If he holds Liu Yu hostage and makes Youzhou the ruler, the people of Youzhou will still obey Gongsun Zan's orders. However, Gongsun Zan cannot tolerate Liu Yu, so he kills Liu Yu and calls himself the ruler of Youzhou, which not only angers the people of Youzhou, but also angers the court."

Compared with Yuan Shao's peaceful means of seizing the post of governor of Jizhou, Gongsun Zan's political means were really crude. Yuan Shao was also afraid of Han Fu before, but in order to avoid being criticized, he deliberately forced Han Fu to leave.

When Gongsun Zan saw that Liu Yu refused to cooperate, the only means he could resort to was killing. The difference in the political levels of the two is now clear.

Yuan Shao looked at his advisers and asked, "The court has issued an edict to dismiss Gongsun Zan from his post and to punish him with an unpardonable crime. It has also ordered me and Zhang Yu to conquer Youzhou. What do you think?"

Feng Ji said, "My Lord, our army has an alliance with Gongsun Zan. If Zhang Yu leads his troops to attack Youzhou, our army will send troops to help him to preserve the alliance. If we let Zhang Yu seize Youzhou, our army will be controlled by him!"

Yuan Shao did not answer Feng Ji's words, but looked at the others and asked, "Do you have any other different opinions?"

Shen Pei hesitated for a moment and said, "If our army helps Gongsun now, I am afraid that Your Majesty will issue an imperial edict to reprimand us. However, if we do not help Gongsun, I am afraid that we will violate the words of the alliance!"

"I'm afraid not!"

Tian Feng made a startling statement, saying: "Gongsun Zan is now occupying Youzhou, and has become a threat to Jizhou. If Zhang Yu does not attack Youzhou, our army will sooner or later attack Youzhou. Therefore, in Feng's opinion, it is better to obey the emperor's order and attack Gongsun Zan together with Zhang Yu to eliminate the threat to Pingjiang!"

"Then won't we share Youzhou with Zhang Yu?" Shen Pei asked.

Tian Feng sneered and said, "Zhang Yu had to send troops from Daidi to attack Youzhou, and it would take thousands of miles to reach Youzhou. Even if our army and Zhang Yu share Youzhou, who would be the neighbor of Youzhou?"

"Our army is adjacent to Youzhou. When Zhang Yu withdraws, you can send your generals to attack Youyan. Then Zhang Yu will waste his troops and horses, and make things easier for you. You are too short-sighted to think ahead!"

"If our army can take Youzhou, then why can't Zhang Yu take Yecheng?"

Feng Ji was dissatisfied with Tian Feng's attitude and retorted, "Shangdang is close to Yecheng. Our army will go north to take Youzhou. If Zhang Yu sends troops to attack Yecheng, our army will be in danger of being destroyed!"

Tian Feng shook his head and sighed, saying: "Yecheng is high and strong, how can Zhang Yu break it suddenly? Use Yecheng to resist Zhang Yu, divide the troops to take Youzhou, and then attack Yanmen. At that time, Zhang Yu has been attacking for a long time without success, and when he hears about the changes in the northern border, he will definitely withdraw his troops back to Jin, so why worry?"

"What about the second young master?"

Feng Ji said angrily, "Are you trying to kill the Second Young Master?"

"Besides, Yecheng is to you what the capital is to our dynasty. If the bandits besiege Yecheng for a long time, won't it make the world laugh at you and shake the morale of your soldiers and officers?"

Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan had an alliance, and in order to build trust between the two sides, Yuan Shao exchanged his second son Yuan Xi with Gongsun Xu. Now Tian Feng asked Yuan Shao to conquer Gongsun Zan, which would inevitably sacrifice Yuan Xi's life.

When Feng Ji mentioned Yuan Xi, Tian Feng glanced at Yuan Shao, who looked dissatisfied, and immediately shook his head and sighed.

He knew that his plan had displeased Yuan Shao. After all, it was too cruel to let Yuan Shao ignore the life of his own son. However, in order to dominate the world, how could he be bound by family affection? Now Yuan Shao did not attack Youzhou, and let Zhang Yu take Youzhou, I am afraid that there would be no peace in the northern border.

"Yuan Hao's plan makes sense. Youzhou is a great threat to me and cannot be taken by Zhang Yu. But if I abandon Gongsun Zan now, I am afraid that Zhang Yu will gain the upper hand."

Yuan Shao quickly concealed his dissatisfaction and said, "Zhang Yu and Liu He are good friends, and Liu He is Liu Yu's son. Now the court has appointed Liu He as the governor of Youzhou. If Zhang Yu respects Liu He, given Liu Yu's reputation, I'm afraid all the counties in Youzhou will be under Liu He's control. Therefore, if our army attacks Gongsun Zan in the north, I'm afraid that Zhang Yu and Liu He will benefit instead."

Although Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao were the only two who had the strength to send troops, the existence of Liu He forced Zhang and Yuan Shao to consider many things. As Liu He was the son of Liu Yu and the governor of Youzhou appointed by the emperor, he was naturally Liu Yu's successor, and many of Liu Yu's former officials would recognize Liu He.

Yuan Shao was having trouble making a decision. He looked at Ju Su, who was stroking his beard in thought, and asked, "Do you have any strategy to teach me?"

Ju Su hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Since you are worried about Youzhou and do not want to see Zhang Yu take Youzhou, I have a plan that may satisfy you."

"Please talk to me!"

"The emperor has issued an edict ordering you to attack Gongsun Zan. You must not disobey the order, so you can station your troops between Zhao and Yan and watch Zhang Yu and Gongsun Zan attack."

Ju Su stroked his beard and thought, and said, "If Zhang Yu is defeated by Gongsun Zan, you should send troops to take Shangdang, and try to hold Shangdang to protect Yecheng. You can also take advantage of the situation to advance westward, besiege Jinyang, and take Bingzhou in one go."

"If Gongsun Zan is defeated by Zhang Yu, you can threaten Gongsun Zan to surrender Bohai by sending troops. You can also go to Shangdang and threaten to take Jinyang. Zhang Yu will worry about the gains and losses of Bingzhou and will abandon Youzhou and withdraw his troops. At that time, Youzhou will be difficult for Gongsun Zan to own." "When two tigers fight, one will be injured. So no matter what, you can gain the advantage. The former eliminates the threat of Bingzhou, and the latter eliminates the danger of Youzhou. So this is a perfect strategy."

Yuan Shao couldn't help but nod. Compared with Tian Feng's strategy of taking Youzhou directly, Ju Su's strategy of sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight was more to his liking.

"Your strategy is comprehensive, so let's follow it," Yuan Shao said.

After a pause, Yuan Shao asked, "Now that Zhang Yu has just arrived in Guanzhong, if he has no intention of sending troops to Youzhou and instead waits to see how the situation develops, what should we do?"

"It's easy!"

Ju Su smiled and said, "Although Liu Yu was defeated, his former officials Xian Yu Fu, Qi Zhou, Xian Yu Yin and others are working for Liu Yu and want to raise an army to rebel against Gongsun Zan. Therefore, Zhang Yu has no intention of sending troops. It is better to welcome Liu He to Ji, order him to station in Changshan, and recruit Liu Yu's former officials. If you support Liu He, you can plan to weaken Gongsun in Youzhou."

If Zhang Yu had not been eyeing Bingzhou, the situation in Hebei would have been clearer and Yuan Shao would have directly taken action to deal with Gongsun Zan.

"You are as wise as my son Fang Er!" Yuan Shao praised.

"It's just a little bit of wisdom, not worth boasting about!" Ju Su said modestly.

Yuan Shao nodded slightly, changed the question and said, "Zhang Yu divided Guan and Long into Yongzhou and appointed himself as governor of Yongzhou. Now Zhang Yu is entrenched in the Qin and Jin regions, while our army is based in Yecheng, which is adjacent to Shangdang. Zhang Yu's army is strong now. If he shows off his power in Shandong, Yecheng will be easily attacked. I want to move the capital. What do you think?"

"Moving the capital?"

Xu You thought about it and asked, "Where do you want to move to?"

Yuan Shao thought about it and said, "In the past, the world was divided. Qi was the Eastern Emperor and made Linzi its capital. Therefore, Linzi has a geographical location to defend the seashore. However, considering that Jizhou is the base, I want to make Xindu (now Jizhou District, Hengshui City) the capital to avoid Zhang Yu's troops. What do you think?"

Moving the capital to avoid Zhang Yu's army was not Yuan Shao's recent idea. Instead, after Zhang Yu occupied Bingzhou, the threat to Yecheng suddenly increased, so Yuan Shao considered moving the capital to the center of Jizhou.

As for why Linzi was mentioned, it was because Yuan Shao really wanted to move the capital to Linzi.

After all, apart from Handan, the only capital city that could be compared with Yecheng was Linzi in Qingzhou. Although Linzi had good geographical conditions, Yuan Shao's base was in Jizhou. Therefore, even if Yuan Shao agreed, he was afraid that his subordinates would not agree. Therefore, Yuan Shao turned to the next best option and chose Xindu as the capital.

Since the establishment of Jizhou in the Western Han Dynasty, Xindu became the capital of Jizhou due to its geographical location in the middle of Hebei, and it lasted until the reign of Emperor Ling of Han. Because the governors of Jizhou had made many repairs in successive dynasties, the city of Xindu was quite large, with a circumference of twelve miles, a height of 5 feet ( meters), and a moat that was seven feet deep and wide.

The reason why the capital was moved to Yecheng was because of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. In order to avoid the war, the imperial court moved the capital of Han Jizhou to Yecheng, which was closer to the capital.

"Move the capital to Xindu?"

Xu You said: "Xindu is in the middle of Hebei Province. It was the old capital of Jizhou Prefecture. So it is feasible for you to move the capital to Xindu!"

Ju Su thought for a moment and said, "Linzi is located in the Taishan Mountains. If you want to use Qingzhou to check and balance Yan and Xu, it is feasible to use Linzi as the capital. However, the registered population of Qingzhou is not as good as that of Jizhou. Jizhou has one million households and can send out 300,000 infantry and cavalry. It is the leader of the world. How can we give up the big and go to the small. Therefore, it is the best strategy for you to use Xindu as the capital. The mountains to the west separate the two counties of Julu and Wei, which is enough to avoid the edge of Zhang Yu!"

Yuan Shao and everyone else were well aware of the threat Shangdang posed to Yecheng. Now, in order to provide a buffer zone, moving the government seat to Xindu would allow everyone to reach a consensus.

"Feng has a word!"

"please!"

Tian Feng bowed and said, "Your Excellency will fight with Zhang Yu sooner or later, so I think we should make plans now. The key to Zhang Yu's territory, besides Bingzhou, is Guanzhong. Han Sui and Ma Teng in Longshan rebelled in a dangerous place. When the late emperor was alive, we sent troops to suppress them many times but it was difficult to put down."

"So according to Feng's opinion, you need to send someone to contact the nobles in Longshang. When they fight Zhang Yu, you can order Han and Ma to attack Guanzhong to disrupt Zhang Yu's heartland."

Yuan Shao agreed and said, "Zhang Yu has taken Bingzhou to Guanzhong and occupied Henei and Hedong counties. His troops are now strong. Only Gongsun Zan and I are left in Hebei. If Gongsun Zan is defeated, I will have to fight Zhang Yu to see who is better."

"Han Sui, I met him once in Luoyang. I can send someone to contact him now!"

Although the situation in the Central Plains was in a mess, the situation in Hebei had gradually become clearer with the death of Liu Yu. Yuan Shao and Zhang Yu had not fought before, and had not touched each other's interests. Now Yuan Shao sent troops to attack Changshan, and although Zhang Yu did not pursue the matter for the time being, in fact, the war between the two had already begun in disguise.

"Ming Gong is wise!"

(End of this chapter)