Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 384: Holding a Three-foot Sword, Climbing the Emperor's Steps

Cishan, Yuan army camp.

"Do you know why Zhang Yu ordered the entire army to wear mourning clothes? Could it be that his father has passed away?"

Yuan Shao stood on a high point with his sword in hand, his armor and robe fluttering in the summer breeze. Seeing that the Shanxi army had been in mourning for many days, Yuan Shao asked jokingly.

"My Lord, according to our scouts, Zhang Yu ordered his troops to wear mourning clothes in order to mourn the death of the Han Dynasty!" Shen Pei paused for a moment and said, "Yuan Shu usurped the Han Dynasty and established himself as the king of Chen. He changed the reign title to Jianzhong and appointed Zhang Yu as the King of Zhao. Zhang Yu issued an edict to denounce Yuan Shu's actions and ordered people to set up an altar to offer sacrifices to the Han Dynasty and bid farewell to the emperor in tears."

"Ok?"

Yuan Shao looked shocked and asked, "How come I didn't know that Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor?"

"Perhaps the road from Wancheng to Hebei is blocked, and the envoys are having difficulty passing through, so they are unable to report the news to you, my lord." Shen Pei said.

Zhang Yu and Yuan Shu's territories were adjacent, and Wuguan was the main road connecting Jingbei and Guanzhong, so Zhang Yu could often receive news quickly. Yuan Shao, who was located in Hebei, wanted to contact Yuan Shu, so he had to pass through the sparsely populated Yanzhou and ask Zhang Miao, Lu Bu and others to let him pass.

"Ah!"

Feng Ji sneered and said, "If Yuan Shu couldn't even defeat Cao Cao, how could he have the guts to claim the throne?"

"Perhaps he thought he controlled one-third of the world because he was territorially located in four states, so he boldly declared himself emperor!" Xu You stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Yuan Shu has wanted to be emperor for a long time. When he was in Luoyang, he made such wild claims. Now he has welcomed the emperor, punched him three times, and was promoted from duke to king. How could he not take advantage of the situation to usurp the Han Dynasty?"

Yuan Shao glanced at Xu You, as if to say that Xu You was not very courageous. During the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, Xu You had the ambition to replace the emperor.

"The prestige of the Han Dynasty still exists, but now Yuan Shu has usurped the Han Dynasty, and he will undoubtedly bring about his own destruction." Ju Su sighed and said, "Don't look at the fact that Yuan Shu now has four states, but the only two counties that can serve as his base are Runan and Nanyang. If they are overthrown, the counties will not belong to Yuan Shu. Relying on empty reputation, he will not be able to survive for long!"

Feng Ji observed Yuan Shao's expression and said, "I am afraid that you will be implicated by Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu claims to be a descendant of the Yuan family and now usurps the Han Dynasty to establish himself, which will destroy the reputation of the Yuan family. If you want to avoid being implicated, you need to do something."

Although Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao were independent individuals, both were descendants of the Yuan family. Now that Yuan Shu had usurped the Han Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor, he granted fiefs to the descendants of the Yuan family. The reputation of the Runan Yuan family would inevitably be affected, so how could Yuan Shao be spared?
"That's it!"

Yuan Shao suddenly sighed and said, "Send an order. If you encounter an envoy from Yuan Shu, expel him from the country, and let Kong Zhang issue a letter on behalf of the Yuan family, denouncing Yuan Shu's usurpation and saying that I, Yuan Shao, have severed ties with him."

"promise!"

"Is it like Zhang Yu who built an altar for sacrifice and ordered the entire army to wear mourning clothes?" Shen Pei asked.

"Just cry and offer sacrifice!"

Yuan Shao said: "Zhang Yu's feelings are too real, almost fake, so no one can imitate him!"

"As ordered!"

While Yuan Shao was watching, he saw Wen Chou's men riding fast horses to the foot of the mountain and then walking up the mountain.

After reporting the situation, the general bowed to Yuan Shao and said, "I am following General Wen's orders to report the military situation to you."

"What's the matter?"

The troops said, "Li Song has stationed his troops at Jiumen, and most of the enemy's grain comes from Jingxing. General Wen has spent months investigating and discovered the enemy's grain transportation route. Now he wants to lead his cavalry to rob the grain in order to counter the Bing army."

In order to avoid the situation where Yan Liang was defeated and killed, Yuan Shao repeatedly reminded Wen Chou that unless there was an emergency, all other decisions on sending troops should be reported to him.

Yuan Shao hesitated for a moment and asked, "How true is the military intelligence? Can we trust it now?"

The general said truthfully: "General, you have been watching for a long time, and now there is a letter from the enemy soldiers to prove it, so it must be true!"

Yuan Shao looked around and asked, "What do you think?"

"Since Zhongwei (Wenchou) has confirmed the news about the grain carts, why don't you let him give it a try!" Xu You stroked his beard and said, "Since our army confronted Zhang Yu, the grain carts have been robbed many times, and the loss of military grain has reached 100,000 dan. If we go out of the city to rob the enemy's grain, we will be able to defeat the enemy's morale."

Yuan Shao nodded and said with a sigh, "There are many elite cavalrymen under Zhang Yu's command. Since Zhang Yu retreated to Shangquanyi, the enemy has sent many cavalrymen out of the camp to plunder. If our army had not gone to Hebei for food, we would have been in danger of running out of food. Now that Zhong Wei is sure to burn the food and grass, we might as well follow his lead."

"Thank you Ming Gong!"

The troops retreated in joy, intending to report Yuan Shao's order to Wen Chou.

"Sir, should you be more cautious?"

Looking at the retreating figures of his troops, Ju Su hesitated for a moment and said, "Let General Wen take advantage and then retreat. Don't get entangled with the enemy."

"Wen Chou can handle the matter of robbing food by himself, so there is no need to give him too many instructions. Besides, if the enemy can rob our food, why can't our army rob the enemy's food?" Yuan Shao waved his hand and said.

After a pause, Yuan Shao changed the subject and asked, "The army has been looting food and supplies for a long time. Can you come up with a plan to stop Zhang Yu's looting?"

Although Hebei had a lot of grain, it could not withstand Zhang Yu's plundering. For example, 100,000 dan of grain was enough for 50,000 troops to eat for a month, but now it was burned by the Bing army, forcing Yuan Shao to find a way to prevent it. The counselors frowned and thought hard, hoping to come up with a plan to solve the current dilemma.

While thinking, Xun Chen said: "Tian Feng is resourceful and good at making decisions. If you want to solve the current difficulties, why don't you summon Tian Feng to ask him?"

Yuan Shao's anger had subsided a lot, and he asked, "Has Tian Feng reflected on his actions in prison?"

Hearing this, Feng Ji suddenly became flustered and said, "Tian Feng is quite comfortable in prison and is treated with courtesy by the prison guards."

"Why did the jailer treat Tian Feng so well?" Yuan Shao asked.

"Everyone knows that Tian Feng is your confidant and he will be reinstated sooner or later, so many people are trying to please him now!" Feng Ji said deliberately in a flattering manner.

Yuan Shao sneered and said, "Tian Feng relied on his intelligence to be arrogant, and he still refused to repent even after being imprisoned. Without Tian Feng's advice, would we not be able to stop the cavalry from looting?"

Ju Su glanced at Feng Ji and could almost see what Feng Ji was thinking. If Feng Ji had put his efforts in guessing Yuan Shao into thinking about how to defeat the enemy, Feng Ji would definitely be an outstanding strategist. The current conflict between Feng Ji and Tian Feng not only caused a wise man to be imprisoned, but also affected Feng Ji, making him obsessed with political struggles.

Feng Ji was quite capable. When Yuan Shao was just starting out, he would always consult with Feng Ji before encountering any major events. For example, when Yuan Shao was trying to seize Jizhou, the plan to take over Jizhou was the work of Feng Ji.

Now Feng Ji framed Tian Feng, and the strategy he adopted was still to fan the flames, rather than to falsify. It can be said that Feng Ji had a keen insight into Yuan Shao's mind. In order to release Tian Feng without guilt, perhaps the only way was for the army to win. Yuan Shao would be so happy that he would release Tian Feng without holding a grudge. If the army failed...

Out of consideration for public affairs, Ju Su advised: "If the army frequently plunders the grain road, it is easy to be attacked if there are few chariots. Therefore, in my opinion, it is better to divide a thousand chariots into groups, and have ten chariots in parallel, with about ten thousand chariots. If the enemy plunders, the chariots can be used to guard the grain road, so that the enemy dare not approach. In addition, a general can be sent to lead the army to guard the grain road, so that the bandits in Shanxi dare not invade."

"Your plan is a great one!"

Yuan Shao nodded in satisfaction and said, "Our army's food carts are scattered, and most of them are transported by hundreds of carts. Now if we can move 10,000 carts together and have a general to escort them, they will be able to coordinate with each other from a distance, and the cavalry generals will not be able to attack us."

"Come here, from now on, we will transport grain according to your plan!"

"As ordered!"

Looking at the camp of the Bing army, Yuan Shao thought to himself: "If we can defeat Zhang Yu this time, even if we can't conquer Shanxi, we can take advantage of Zhang Yu's inability to look east and lead the army north to Youzhou. And if we have Youzhou, our territory will span five states. Even if we can't become an emperor like Yuan Shu, we can still establish a kingdom and dominate Guandong."

When Yuan Shao was mourning for Liu Xie, Wen Chou received a document from Yuan Shao allowing him to go to the war, and he was overjoyed.

Wen Chou showed the letter to his attendants and said with a smile, "Here is your order. We will be able to send troops to defeat the enemy and dampen the morale of our allied forces."

As he spoke, Wen Chou looked at Zhang He intentionally or unintentionally, as if he was telling Zhang He what he was saying.

Zhang He looked calm, bowed to Wen Chou, and said, "Since you have my orders, I will obey them."

Compared to the restless Wen Chou, Zhang He was more inclined to use troops steadily. Although he had defeated Li Song before, he was afraid of Man Chong's subsequent record of leading his army to rescue and beheading Yan Liang. Now Li Song, Man Chong, and Zhang Yan were stationed at Jiumen. Although Zhang He was not afraid of the three, he had no intention of leading his troops out of the camp to fight without a good chance of winning.

Seeing Zhang He's reluctance, Wen Chou raised his lips slightly, hinting at sarcasm, and said, "General Zhang was scared away by hundreds of cavalrymen, so you should stay in the camp and defend it. I will personally select 3,000 soldiers and horses, hide during the day and move out at night, and burn and loot the military supplies."

Jiang Qi glanced at Zhang He, cupped his hands and asked, "General, you are leaving the camp to rob food. Do you need our army to help you?"

Wen Chou waved his hands and said arrogantly, "Why mobilize so many troops for such a small amount of food and supplies? Yiqu and General Zhang will guard the camp together and watch me burn the food and win, so as to weaken the morale of the troops. If there are too many people, it may be disadvantageous to the army."

"promise!"

After Zhang He and Jiang Qi left the tent, Zhang He let out a long sigh, feeling inexplicably unhappy.

Seeing this, Jiang Qi asked, "Why did you dissuade Wen Chou from burning food this time?"

Zhang He pondered and sighed, saying: "Now we should hold on and wait and see what happens in Youzhou. If we fail in our operations, the enemy's morale will be greatly boosted. And if the enemy wins, they may send troops north to support Youzhou, so we should hold on and wait and see what happens."

Jiang Qi disagreed and said, "Sending troops to plunder food is a secret move. With General Wen's bravery, even if he cannot succeed, he can still return to the camp safely. If he succeeds in burning the food, it will be a great achievement. Moreover, the enemy's food has been transported for thousands of miles. If we cut off their food supply this time, it will be our chance to defeat the Bing army."

"hope so!"

Zhang He didn't say much, he just nodded and returned to the camp.

In the tent, Wen Chou was full of confidence and complained about Zhang He to his attendants.

"Zhang He was timid and lacked courage. He let the enemy at Qingshankou which was his first mistake, and he defended Yuanshi and asked for help which was his second mistake. If Zhang He was not afraid of war, he would not only be able to defeat Li Song, but also make it difficult for Man Chong to resolve the predicament of Puwu. That's why Li Song is a threat now and Yan Gongxuan was beheaded." Wen Chou said.

Wen Chou had a friendly relationship with Yan Liang. As Yan Liang was beheaded because of Zhang He's request for help, Wen Chou felt resentful towards Zhang He and even thought that Zhang He was cowardly in using troops.

"General, this time you go out of the camp to burn the food, you will surely win a great victory and avenge General Yan." Lu Xiang complimented.

Wen Chou paced back and forth, holding his sword, and said with emotion: "Winning and taking revenge is not my wish. My wish now is to assist Lord Ming in destroying Zhang and becoming emperor, then lead the army south to attack Yuan Shu, and ascend the steps of the emperor with a three-foot sword in hand."

(End of this chapter)