Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 383: Not the Action of a Human Subject

In summer, the army camped by the Qinshui River.

"My lord, Yun led the cavalry out of the camp to rob food, burned two hundred food carts, and killed dozens of enemies."

Inside the big tent, Zhao Yun bowed to Zhang Yu who was sitting on the stool and said, "According to the captives, two hundred carts carrying about five or six thousand dan of grain were transported from Yecheng to Handan. And there are several granaries in Yecheng, and the grain stored there should be no less than 100,000 dan."

"Yecheng?"

Guo Tu found Yecheng on the map and frowned, saying, "Yecheng is more than a hundred miles away from here, and Chunyu Qiong is in charge. Although it is close to the mountains, the city is steep and difficult to capture."

Then Guo Tu said to the crowd: "If we can find Yuan Shao's granary now, and use our elite cavalry to attack and burn it, then Yuan Shao will surely be defeated by our army."

Xun You shook his head and said, "Yuan Shao is cautious in deploying his troops, so the granary must be located in a secret place. Even if we find the granary, Yuan Shao will have a large number of troops guarding it."

Guo Tu paced with his hands behind his back, sighed and said, "We have been confronting Yuan Shao for two months, but we still haven't seen any weakness in Yuan's army. If we continue to confront him for another two months, winter will come, and our army's food and grass supply will be uncertain."

"Our army has looted more than 3,000 carts of grain and burned nearly 100,000 stones of grain. But now Yuan Shao does not seem to be short of grain. There is so much grain in the Hebei storehouses!" Xun You said with a frown.

“Hebei is rich!”

Jia Xu stroked his beard and chanted, saying: "Although Yuan Shao besieged Dongjun last year, he did not stop farming. After a year of rest, Hebei had grain reserves. Moreover, this battle was fought in Wu'an, so Yuan Shao was able to get food from him, while our army had to transport grain for thousands of miles."

"If we follow what Jia said, can we lure the enemy deep into our territory and lure Yuan Shao to Shangdang?" Zhao Zi said, "When Qin conquered Zhao, it was at Shangdang. Because the road to Shangdang was rugged, Qin was supplied with food from Hedong and Henei, while Zhao's army had to transport food through the mountain roads, which led to a shortage of food!"

“It’s difficult!”

Xun You said: "In the past, Zhao only had Zhao territory and Hejian, but now Yuan Shao has occupied the old territory of Qi and Wei. How could he be defeated because of lack of food?"

Zhang Yu asked Zhao Yun to sit down and asked, "Have you received any military reports from Youzhou?"

Guo Tu said: "Tadun has called on the Hu bandits on the border to march south, while Gongsun Zan has led 10,000 soldiers to march north to Zhuojun. The two are attacking from both sides. Liu He has called on tens of thousands of soldiers from Youzhou and entrusted them to Xianyu Fu, but there is still no news of victory or defeat. If Xianyu Fu wins, the generals of Youzhou can march south; if Xianyu Fu loses, most of Youzhou will be plundered."

"I once wrote to Xianyu Fu, urging him to lead his troops to defend the city. Did he reply?" Zhang Yu asked.

"No news!" Guo Tu said.

"The generals in Youzhou are scattered and form a motley crowd. It is not difficult to gather troops to defend the city, but if we send troops to fight Wuhuan in the field, the outcome will be unpredictable!" Zhang Yu said.

In order to avoid an unfavorable situation in Youzhou, Zhang Yu wrote to Xianyu Fu, urging him to defend the city. After all, the Wuhuan were more interested in plundering than attacking cities, so they would not stay under the city for long. Once the Wuhuan withdrew, Xianyu Fu could send troops to fight Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan had fewer soldiers and most of them were old and weak, so the probability of his victory would be very high.

However, since the letter was sent, Zhang Yu never received a reply, and he didn't know whether the letter was delivered to Xianyu Fu.

"My lord, Li Song has submitted a petition requesting war. Will you agree to it now?" Xun You asked.

"What does Gongda mean?"

Xun You cupped his hands and said, "Although Li Duliao was defeated by Zhang He before, we have been confronting him for two months, and he has the assistance of Zhang Yan, Man Chong, Ma Chao and other generals. This time he submitted a petition to ask for war, perhaps he has something in mind!"

"Then allow Li Song to use his troops!"

Zhang Yu stood in front of the map and said with a smile: "Yuan Shao now knows the principle of holding his troops steady, so he has been holding back. If we can make some moves in Changshan, perhaps we can give Yuan Shao a surprise."

"Yuan Shao's advisers were scheming against each other, which is why Tian Feng was imprisoned. If we can make Yuan Shao suddenly change his mind and make sure everyone has different plans, then it will be a chance for our army to win," said Jia Xu.

"hope so!"

Zhang Yu said patiently, "The outcome of this battle is only a matter of seconds. I guessed right. Yuan Shao is delaying the move. Maybe he wants to wait until our army runs out of food, or maybe he wants to see the outcome of Youzhou."

Obviously, Yuan Shao and Zhang Yu made the same choice. They were both unwilling to pin their victory on an illusory field battle, but hoped to gain more chances of winning before the battle.

While Zhang Yu was talking, the scout hurried inside, bowed and said, "My Lord, there is urgent news from Hedong!"

"Emergency news from Hedong?"

Zhang Yu frowned slightly and asked, "But is there unrest in Shanxi?"

"Nothing!" Hearing this, Zhang Yu felt relieved. He opened the letter and read it. When he saw the content, his expression suddenly became happy and he couldn't help but shook his head and laughed.

Seeing Zhang Yu suddenly laugh, Guo Tu asked, "Why are you laughing, sir? Is there some happy event in Shanxi?"

Zhang Yu handed the letter to his attendants and circulated it around, saying with a smile, "It's not Shanxi that is happy, but Jingchu that is happy. Yuan Shu forced the emperor to abdicate to him, and now he has established the country's name as Chen and changed the era name to Jianzhong."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu's smile became brighter and brighter, and he said, "Not only that, Yuan Shu has appointed me as the King of Zhao, and now he wants to persuade me to stop fighting with Yuan Shao."

"Yuan Shu usurped the Han Dynasty?"

Everyone was stunned and hurriedly stood up and squeezed next to Xun You to read the letter sent by Zhong Yao.

"Yuan Shu is really bold. He dares to usurp the Han Dynasty in defiance of the law. He will lose the support of the people!" Zhao Yun said with a sneer.

"Since you have welcomed the Han Dynasty, and now know that the emperor has abdicated, you should issue an edict to fight the enemy, and you cannot accept Yuan Shu's rewards, otherwise you will lose the hope of the scholars and people of Shanxi!" Guo Tu said.

Zhang Yu would have to be out of his mind to accept Yuan Shu's canonization. After all, he had refused the canonization of Zhao Gong by the Han Dynasty before, so how could he accept Yuan Shu's canonization now, let alone listen to Yuan Shu's mediation and stop fighting with Yuan Shao.

Zhang Yu glanced at another letter and said slowly, "A letter came from Bashu saying that Sun Jian had rebelled against Yuan and has issued a manifesto to denounce him."

Jia Xu gloated over the misfortune and said, "Yuan Shu spent tens of thousands of troops and consumed millions of dan of military rations, but now they are all in Sun Jian's hands. I'm afraid Yuan Shu hates Sun Jian deeply."

Zhang Yu said: "Liu Bei is in Jiaoling, Cao Cao is in Jianghuai, and now Sun Jian is rebelling. Yuan Shu is surrounded by enemies on three sides and will have no energy left to attack the north!"

"Yuan Shu usurped the Han Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor, which has aroused the condemnation of many heroes. Now the south may be in chaos!" Zhang Liao said: "Your Excellency, take this opportunity to attack Hebei, and then march south. The world will almost belong to you."

"Your Excellency, the emperor abdicated to Yuan, and now the Han Dynasty has fallen. This means that the world cannot be without a ruler for a day. I wonder if you want to establish a new emperor in the name of fighting the enemy." Zhao Zi suggested.

Guo Tu was the first to stop them, saying, "The Han Dynasty has been in decline for a long time. It will be difficult to revive it now! The heroes now occupy the prefectures and counties, and there are tens of thousands of people. Everyone wants to be king. As the saying goes, when Qin loses its power, the first one to get it will be king. If we welcome the emperor, should we obey his orders, or should we follow your orders?"

"So according to the map, after the victory, you can respect the Han Dynasty instead of welcoming a new emperor. Moreover, you have made great contributions to the Han Dynasty, so you can first worship Gaozu and then advance to the title of king."

"The Han Dynasty is in decline and should not be assisted. I share the same view as Lord Guo." Jia Xu said, "Your Excellency has great power in Hebei and Shanxi has surrendered. You can be king now!"

Zhang Yu looked slightly happy, but reserved. He said, "I have received the favor of the Han Dynasty for a long time. Although the Han Dynasty is gone, its power and virtue still exist. Now we are facing a powerful enemy. After defeating Yuan Shao, we will discuss the matter of welcoming a new emperor."

Zhang Yu had no intention of welcoming a new emperor. After all, a puppet would always be a calamity. It would be better to follow Guo Tu's suggestion and respect the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty, but not welcome a new emperor. If Yuan Shao could be defeated, he could first become a king; and once Hebei and the Central Plains were pacified, he could legitimately become an emperor.

"My Lord, Yan has something to say, and you must advise me now!"

Cui Yan stepped out from the crowd and spoke with a bow.

"What does Ji Gui have to say?" Zhang Yu asked.

Cui Yan looked serious and said, "I have heard that there is no one who does not grieve when a country is destroyed. Now that the Yuan family has seized the throne, you are not sad for the king, but are chatting and laughing with the others. Where is the etiquette between the king and his subjects?"

"When Emperor Gaozu heard that Xiang Yu had killed the Righteous Emperor, he wept and the whole army wore mourning. However, looking at what you have done, I am afraid that you will lose the trust of the righteous men in Hebei. How can you gather people's hearts to fight against the enemy?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was silence in the tent. All the civil and military officials looked at Cui Yan in shock. Isn't he afraid of being beheaded for daring to say such things?

Zhang Yu's expression darkened, and he fell into silence as he looked at the righteous Cui Yan.

The reason why he was so happy today was not because he didn't remember the kindness of the Han Dynasty. It was because Yuan Shu had usurped the throne and destroyed the Han Dynasty according to his plan, which made him quite happy. After all, the Han Dynasty still had people's support. If he usurped the throne and destroyed the Han Dynasty, his reputation would definitely be bad. Now Yuan Shu took over the task of usurping the Han Dynasty according to his expectations, which made Zhang Yu very happy.

However, no matter what, as Cui Yan said, Zhang Yu's attitude was indeed wrong. After all, Zhang Yu packaged himself as a good minister. Now that he knew that the Han Dynasty was destroyed, he not only did not cry, but instead talked and laughed about how to make a profit. His behavior was indeed criticized.

"What Ji Gui said makes sense!"

Zhang Yu forced a smile and said, "What I did violated the etiquette and law. I'm sorry for your advice to correct it."

"Your Excellency is wise!"

(End of this chapter)