Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 416 Pacifying the Universe, A Minor Punishment

According to Du Ji's subsequent explanation, Zhang Yu learned that while he was fighting Yuan Shao in Hebei, a dramatic change was also taking place in the south due to the three families of Cao, Sun, and Liu attacking Yuan Shu.

After Yuan Shu usurped the throne, Cao Cao seized the opportunity and, with the advice of his subordinates, together with Liu Yao, welcomed Liu Zhi, the grandson of Liu He, the Prince of Pengcheng, to the throne. Liu Zhi was made to acknowledge Emperor Ling as his father and succeed to the throne. The capital was established in Shouchun, and the reign title was Xingwu.

Cao Cao and Liu Yao were appointed Grand General and Minister of Works respectively, and they bestowed titles upon civil and military officials. Fortunately, Liu Yao died of a serious illness shortly after becoming Minister of Works, and the power of the court fell into the hands of Cao Cao.

Taking advantage of Liu Yao's death and the young age of his sons and brothers, Cao Cao seized the opportunity to annex Jiujiang Commandery and accepted Liu Yao's troops, such as Taishi Ci, who then defected to Cao Cao.

After the establishment of the small court, Sun Jian and Liu Bei, for various reasons, both sent envoys to pay homage to the court. Cao Cao took the opportunity to send envoys across the river to recruit powerful figures in Jiangzuo, so that he could later cross the river to attack Jiangdong.

After the three-way alliance was formed, as mentioned before, Sun Jian, who had a huge conflict with Yuan Shu, took the lead in sending troops to attack Yuan Shu. He first broke through Qiao Rui, then defeated Huang Zu, and fought his way to Jiangling City.

Seeing Sun Jian's military success, Cao Cao appointed Xun Yu as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat to guard Shouchun, while he led his troops across the river to conquer Danyang and Wu counties. He swept through the region, decisively defeating Yuan Shao's army in Yangzhou and capturing the counties north of Taihu Lake in both counties. To expand his military strength, Cao Cao continuously recruited and accepted defectors, rapidly increasing his forces from over ten thousand at the start of the campaign to thirty thousand.

After Sun Jian died from an arrow wound, Yuan Shu intended to take advantage of the situation to enter Bashu, but Huang Zu was unable to break through due to Sun Jing's strong defense. Seeing that Cao Cao was causing trouble in Jiangzuo, Yuan Shu mobilized troops to Jiangxia and appointed Huang Zu as commander, ordering him to conquer Lujiang County under Cao Cao's control.

Seeing that Yuan Shu intended to take Lujiang, Cao Cao left Cao Ren to guard Wu Commandery and hurriedly led his army back to reinforce Lujiang. By then it was winter, and the water level had dropped significantly. Huang Zu, fearing Cao Cao, learned of Cao Cao's return and withdrew his troops.

Compared to Sun Jian's tragic fate and Cao Cao's good fortune, Liu Bei's life can only be described as full of hardships.

While Sun Quan and Cao Cao were waging war, Liu Bei, with the support of Shi Xie, launched a northern expedition from Cangwu Commandery to conquer Lingling Commandery in Jingzhou.

First, they trekked for thousands of miles, taking nearly a month to march. With the help of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, they occupied Yingpu, and then went south along the Xiaoshui River to surround Quanling.

Because the governor of Lingling was a retainer of Yuan Shu, he did not surrender but instead closed the city gates and refused to surrender, hoping to take advantage of the long distance Liu Bei was traveling to exhaust Liu Bei's military supplies.

Liu Bei besieged the area for two months, but due to insufficient supplies, his troops were nearly starving, and everyone wanted to retreat. Fortunately, after much thought, Liu Bei came up with a plan and used the excuse of running out of food to lead his army back to Cangwu.

In reality, Liu Bei feigned a retreat while secretly attacking Lingling County, obtaining a large amount of military supplies. He then led his army to besiege Quanling. After a hundred days of siege, the city's food supplies dwindled, and the officials of the prefecture killed the prefect and surrendered to Liu Bei.

Quanling was the seat of Lingling Commandery. After Liu Bei occupied Quanling County, he temporarily settled there. Several counties, including Yingdao, Lingdao, Taoyang, and Shian, as well as various barbarian tribes, surrendered. Liu Bei took the opportunity to collect grain and recruit soldiers in order to later seize Ling County, an important town in southern Jingzhou.

Ling County (present-day Hengyang City) was a county seat under Changsha Commandery, located at the confluence of the Zheng, Xiang, and Lei rivers. Guiyang Commandery needed to follow the Lei River through Ling County to join the Xiang River and connect with Jingbei. Therefore, if Liu Bei could take Ling County, he would not only control Guiyang Commandery, but also be able to subsequently sail down the river to take Changsha.

Liu Bei was aware of the importance of Ling County, and Yuan Shu was certainly aware of it as well. Therefore, after Sun Jian's death, Yuan Shu dispatched Qiao Rui with 10,000 troops to march south, launch another attack on Liu Bei, and recover Lingling County.

Of course, because the places where Cao Cao and Liu Bei were located were too far from the Central Plains, Du Ji could only know the general situation and was unaware of the details.

"In just six months, such changes have unexpectedly taken place in the South!"

Zhang Yu sighed and said, "If Sun Jian had not died in battle, and the Sun family had been able to hold back the enemy in Jiangling, Cao Cao would probably have already gained control of Jiangzuo, and Liu Bei would have been able to establish his base in Jingnan."

"The rise of numerous warlords in the south presents both advantages and disadvantages for you, my lord!" Xun You said. "If Yuan Shu were to dominate the Jianghan region, even if our army were to unify the Central Plains, we would still have to contend with Yuan Shu's army during our subsequent southern campaigns. Now, with Sun Quan, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei dividing up Yuan Shu's territory, it would be advantageous for you, my lord, to seize control of the Central Plains."

Guo Jia shook his head and said, "Cao Cao has the ability to disrupt the world and can become king by occupying a strategic location. If we allow Cao Cao to occupy Yangzhou, which is also protected by the Yangtze River, he will surely become a great threat in the future."

Du Ji took a sip of wine and said, "Although Liu Bei may not be as powerful as Cao Cao, he should not be underestimated!"

Zhang Yu chuckled, patting his knee, and said, "Let the four of them cause some chaos first. After I have pacified the Central Plains, I will then conquer the heroes in the south and cleanse the world."

The tripartite division of the Three Kingdoms was a result of a series of coincidences. Firstly, large-scale wars in the Central Plains led to a sharp decline in population. Meanwhile, after four hundred years of development during the Han Dynasty, the southern provinces of Jing and Yang gradually rose to prominence, providing the foundation for separatist rule in the face of a declining population in the Central Plains.

On the other hand, Cao Cao missed at least two opportunities to unify the country due to strategic choices.

For the first time, after Cao Cao subjugated Jingzhou, he did not adopt Jia Xu's strategy of combining intimidation and appeasement. Instead, he was eager to use troops and was ultimately defeated by Sun Quan and Liu Bei, losing the opportunity to destroy Jiangzuo from Jingzhou.

Secondly, Liu Bei had just occupied Bashu when Cao Cao occupied Hanzhong. At that time, the people of Bashu were restless, and Liu Bei had a dispute with Sun Quan over the Xiang River. Cao Cao rejected the proposal of Sima Yi and Liu Ye to take advantage of the situation to attack Shu, and instead changed his strategy to attack Wu, thus missing the opportunity to eliminate Liu Bei and destroy Jing and Chu from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Zhang Yu didn't think he would miss the opportunity to unify the country, especially since he knew the two main routes for conquering the south throughout history. After Cao Cao's failure to conquer the south from the Hubei and Hunan regions, military strategists throughout history conquered the south in two ways: one was by crossing the Huai River from Huainan, and the other was by sailing down the river from Sichuan.

Therefore, the key at present is to unify the Central Plains and accumulate the strength to sweep across the South in one fell swoop. Zhang Yu's tone of disregarding the heroes of the South made Guo Jia's eyes flash with a strange light. In his heart, he admired Zhang Yu even more and was glad that he had abandoned Cao Cao and joined Zhang Yu.

"Your Excellency possesses great ambition!" Guo Jia praised.

Zhang Yu smiled faintly and said, "There are many virtuous men in Ji Province. Now that you are the governor, you can recruit them as your advisors. After Handan surrenders and the counties are more at peace next year, I will launch another campaign against Yuan Shao."

"As ordered!"

Du Ji responded and asked, "So you're not going back to Anyi?"

"I won't be going back to Anyi for now!"

Zhang Yu rose from his couch, paced around the hall, and said, "For the next few months, I will temporarily use Ye City as my capital. Only when Yuan Shao is no longer a threat to Ji Province will I return to Anyi to rest and recuperate."

Although Zhang Yu has now decisively defeated Yuan Shao and seized Ji Province, the most populous and prosperous region, he remains wary of Yuan Shao. After all, Yuan Shao has governed Ji Province for many years, enjoys a high reputation, and can muster tens of thousands of troops from Qing and Xu provinces. Therefore, if Zhang Yu leaves Ji Province, Yuan Shao is very likely to re-invade the region.

"If Your Excellency wishes to launch another campaign against Yuan Shao next year, you must capture Yijing before spring."

Guo Jia cupped his hands and said, "Yijing is a crucial town at the border of Zhao and Yan. If the troops of Youzhou want to march south to Bohai, they will have to pass through Yijing. If Yijing is not captured, Yuan Shao will be able to recruit former officials of Bohai."

Zhang Yu stopped and asked, "Has Zhang Liao sent any military intelligence today?"

"Have!"

Xun You said, "According to Zhang Liao, with the support of troops from various units, he has cleared the outer camps and surrounded Gongsun Zan in the city. Now, according to the opinions of the people, we want to dig a tunnel into the city to destroy the foundation of the tall building."

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "Have Zhang Yan lead troops to Yijing, and order Zhang Liao to capture Yijing before March."

"My lord, Guo Tu has submitted a memorial stating that many soldiers and officials have fled Handan. According to his inquiries, Yuan Shao has agreed to come to relieve the siege in two months. Therefore, Guo Tu believes that it is possible to have Yuan Shao's surrendered officials write letters to persuade his former friends in the city to surrender. This will surely cause great chaos among the people of Handan and induce the defending general to surrender the city gates," Xun You added.

"Can!"

Zhang Yu said, "We can follow Guo Tu's advice and continue to disrupt the morale of the people in the city. We should also instruct Lü Fan that although the enemy is trapped in the city, we must not be complacent, for Ju Shou is no fool.

“Yes!” Xun You replied.

"My lord!"

However, when Xu You was at the palace gate, he saw Zhang Yu talking with others inside the palace. Without announcing himself, he stepped straight into the palace.

Seeing that Xu You ignored everyone, Wang Ling reprimanded him angrily: "Xu Ziyuan, how dare you enter the palace without prior notice!"

Although Wang Ling was Zhang Yu's brother-in-law, Xu You didn't tolerate him and said, "Your Majesty appointed me as a secret scribe, so why can't I enter the palace today? Besides, if it weren't for my plan, you probably wouldn't be here!"

"You won't die!"

Wang Ling's face was filled with anger, his hand resting on his sword. Because of his noble status, apart from Zhang Yu, no one else dared to speak to him like that.

"quiet!"

Zhang Yu said coldly, "Entering the hall requires reporting. Xu You should leave the hall to report. Wang Ling's words were inappropriate; leave immediately!"

"promise!"

Zhang Yu's punishment of giving each of them twenty lashes displeased both Xu You and Wang Ling. However, Xu You felt much better seeing Wang Ling being reprimanded and forced to leave the hall.

(End of this chapter)