Tiger Guards

Chapter 269 Zhang Hong's Plan
In Xia Pi City, all gates were closed and communication between the inside and outside was prohibited.

When Sun Ce was inspecting the city wall, he saw a group of scouts and two horsemen coming from the upper reaches of the Si River in the northwest.

His presence on the scene saved the gatekeepers from having to go back and forth to ask for instructions.

The gate was opened, and two messengers rode into the city on foot and climbed up the city wall under the guidance of guards.

Inside the tower, Sun Ce examined the two men, flipping through the letter, and jokingly said, "I never thought you were the envoys of Cao Mengde. I wonder what your intentions are?"

"I've come to rescue General Sun."

Xue Ti, a native of Dongjun, bowed gracefully, his frivolous behavior further irritating Sun Ce. He stared at Xue Ti and said, "A strategist like you, speaking threatening words, do you think I should be afraid of you?"

Xue Ti shook his head and laughed softly, "So the general still doesn't know."

Seeing Sun Ce's handsome face darken, Xue Ti's smile faded, his expression serious. "The general's envoy has been captured by the treacherous minister Zhao Ji. The Zhao thief is worried that if you come to the court to assist in the administration, this thief will abuse his power for personal gain. As far as Cao Gong knows, the Zhao thief has already delivered the general's envoy and letter to Yuan Shu."

"Yuan Shu is a fierce and ruthless man. If he had this letter, would he have spared the general so easily?"

Xue Ti's tone slowed. "From what I've heard, there are many people around him who are jealous of his talent. Who would be willing to vouch for you now? If my prediction is correct, Yuan Shu will summon you to a banquet. This trip will be a life-or-death experience, even more dangerous than the Hongmen Banquet. You must be vigilant."

This was also what Sun Ce was most worried about. He already had officers and soldiers sent by Yuan Shu under his command, and many people admired Yuan Shu even more than he did.

Without an imperial edict, he could not control the army.

Sun Ce drew his halberd, his face stern. "Sir, your arrival is a coincidence. Cao Cao is isolated and powerless... Now he is begging me, even more than I begging him."

He really wanted to throw his hand halberd and stab Xue Ti to death. Even if Xue Ti died, Cao Cao would send other envoys.

But the messengers would waste time running back and forth.

Now Zhao Ji has stationed his troops in Suanzao and raised his troops along the upper reaches of the Central Plains water system, and a decisive battle with Cao Cao may break out at any time.

So what is Cao Cao missing now?
There is absolutely no shortage of the more than 40,000 people in Sun Ce's hands, because even if Sun Ce led his troops upstream against the Si River and the Bian Canal, Cao Cao would not dare to trust them.

Therefore, what Cao Cao lacked most was the support from Sun Ce. The support from Sun Ce, the governor of Xuzhou, would allow Cao Cao to fool and stabilize the majority of the honest people under his command.

The court cannot appoint him as the governor of Xuzhou, but Cao Cao, the governor of Yanzhou, can submit a petition to the court and guarantee that he will become the governor of Xuzhou!
Sun Ce could only suppress his anger and murderous intent, and said to Sun He who was accompanying him: "Detain this man, and do not let the generals know."

"Here."

Sun He agreed and selected several personal soldiers to escort Xue Ti and others to a secret place in the city and place them under house arrest.

After Xue Ti and others left, Sun Ce suddenly drew his sword and slashed it hard on the pillar inside the gatehouse. The sword penetrated more than an inch into the pillar and became embedded in it.

Sun Ce let go of his sword, angrily saying, "Cao, the thief, has ruined my plan!"

At this time, Zhang Hong appeared in front of the city gate. His figure blocked the light, and the room was slightly dark.

Sun Ce turned his head to look, and his anger subsided. He bowed and said, "Mr. Zigang."

"General, Zhang Cheng from Hanoi, under orders from the Left General, has arrived at the East Gate on his own... The gatekeepers dared not stop him and have already opened the gate."

"..."

Sun Ce was speechless, feeling that a civil war might break out in Xia Pi City today.

Zhang Hong noticed that he looked uneasy and asked with concern, "General?"

"Cao Cao intercepted our army's messenger and informed Yuan Shu. Just now, Cao Cao's messenger came to see me and wanted to form an alliance with me."

Sun Ce looked expressionless and didn't want to face the situation before him, but he couldn't escape.

He said that there were more than 50,000 troops, and nearly 20,000 could be deducted from Chen Deng and Chen Yu, plus the Danyang soldiers of Cao Bao and the Xuzhou soldiers who were enlisted.

There were still Yuan Shu's men in the remaining army, but there were only more than 13,000 people who were truly determined to follow him, and less than 500 knights.

He also has an army, to be precise, Sun Ben's army, which is stationed in Haixi with the fleet... If Yuan Shu takes the initiative, based on Sun Ce's understanding of his cousin, he will most likely surrender to Yuan Shu directly.

If the situation gets serious, Sun Ben will lead the charge to attack him in Xia Pi.

This was originally a gamble, and he never expected that he would be intercepted by Cao Cao and betrayed.

Considering the deadly feud between Cao Cao and Yuan Shu, Cao Cao is in such a difficult situation now, why is he still in the mood to help Yuan Shu?

Only Cao Cao himself knows what he is thinking.

At present, after Cao Cao betrayed him, he wanted to form an alliance with him.

Sun Ce was very uncomfortable with this disgusting method; what made him even more uncomfortable was that he had to consider the feasibility of this proposal.

Zhang Hong's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. He immediately said, "If you ally with Cao Cao, you will inevitably become enemies of the Zhao family. The people of Xuzhou will also regard you as a pawn of Cao. How can Xuzhou be safe?"

"That's what I'm worried about, too," Sun Ce sighed softly, extending his arm to invite Zhang Hong into the tower to take a seat. Zhang Hong noticed the sword inlaid on the pillar, withdrew his gaze, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Sun Ce, "Summon Chen Yuanlong to discuss this."

Sun Ce sat down and pondered the feasibility of this matter: "Should I give Xuzhou to Liu Xuande?"

Chen Deng was still stationed outside the city, while Chen Yu returned to Haixi to gather his scattered troops.

If Yuan Shu really sent troops to attack, there would be chaos in Xia Pi City, and Chen Deng would most likely just stand by and watch.

But even if Chen Deng assisted him, he might not be able to purge the military officers of Yuan Shu's faction in the army. He had to involve Liu Bei in it.

It is easy to suppress and clean, but I am afraid that I will be washed away along with it.

Seeing that Sun Ce was hesitant to make a decision, Zhang Hong said, "We are not afraid of Yuan Shu raising an army to attack. The people of our state are terrified of Yuan Shu and regard him as Cao Cao. If he attacks, our armies will be able to unite and resist him. Once we defeat Yuan Shu, his power will be weakened. Then we can send an envoy to the court and obtain an imperial decree to conquer Yuan Shu without delay."

They all served under Yuan Shu, so they naturally understood Yuan Shu's special mobilization mechanism.

As long as Yuan Shu could maintain his status as the big brother of Jianghuai, he would naturally be able to recruit wave after wave of troops, which would be very intimidating.

But if they suppressed Yuan Shu and pierced through his tiger skin, and were unable to extract troops, money and food from the periphery and subordinates, then Yuan Shu would be finished immediately.

Yuan Shu's logic for recruiting soldiers was very simple. Apart from the local powerful people who followed him voluntarily, many of them were intimidated into joining.

They believed that Yuan Shu could regain his power after a temporary defeat, so they did not dare to refuse Yuan Shu's blackmail.

As long as Yuan Shu could extort manpower and material resources, he could continue to maintain his position as the boss of the South; and then rely on this position to continue extorting.

How much money can you make by running a county household registration business?

Yuan Shu ate wherever he went these years, and the food was always ready.

It's not a waste of money. Yuan Shu even gave up managing the county households... These households that lost their protection would naturally be annexed by the powerful in the face of natural disasters and man-made disasters due to the pressure of survival.

When the registered households were annexed by the powerful, Yuan Shu came to extort them... There were no registered households left, only the hidden households of the powerful. This was no different from collecting taxes and conscription. The powerful were equivalent to hereditary county magistrates. It was a complete cycle.

Under the rule of Yuan Shu, the powerful people must have felt happier than sadder in this new order that was similar to hereditary nobility and official positions.

Yuan Shu was very good at using the tiger's skin to deceive others. Back then, he also used the tiger's skin to swallow up the Jingzhou regular troops in Sun Jian's hands.

In return, the payment was deferred. After the defeat of Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian was given the post of Governor of Yuzhou, and then he was sent to fight Liu Biao.

After Yuan Shu obtained the Jingzhou soldiers, he was anxious to get gold coins from the Nanyang big families. However, he was taught a lesson by the Nanyang big families. The Jingzhou regular army was defeated, and the supply of money and food was cut off. Finally, he was expelled by the Nanyang big families.

Other places eat the signature dish of the Yuan family of Runan, three officials from four generations, but the big families in Nanyang don’t recognize this sign.

Sun Ce was well aware of Yuan Shu's fatal weakness. He chased and beat Yuan Shu, and did not give him the opportunity to extort the powerful people around him, otherwise Yuan Shu would die suddenly.

Zhang Hong's proposal was quite reasonable, and Sun Ce naturally understood the key point, which was to kill Yuan Shu's envoy Zhang Cheng, to anger Yuan Shu and make him send troops to attack.

By that time, facing the survival crisis, Chen Deng and Liu Bei would definitely cooperate with Sun Ce in order to work together to repel Yuan Shu.

Then he abandoned the mess in Xuzhou and escaped. He kept attacking Yuan Shu, not giving him a chance to breathe or recover, and beat him to death.

Finally, you can report your achievements to the court and ask for rewards.

Apart from anything else, the Lianghuai and Wuyue regions can still be taken control.

As for Liu Yao, the defeated general, how could he possibly gain a foothold even if he returned to Jiangdong now?

Killing Yuan Shu would be enough to shock the world.

Occupying the two Huai regions, with a military force ten times greater than when they crossed the Yangtze River, wouldn't it be easy to capture Liu Yao, who had already lost his temper?

Zhang Hong planned the next route with just one sentence.

Anyway, Liu Bei was not offended too much. The real unlucky one was Chen Yu, so he was allowed to go back to gather the defeated soldiers.

Sun Ce listened and felt that this could be done... but he was unable to agree to Zhang Hong on the spot.

Compared to his hometown, Sun Ce preferred the Xuhua area where he studied and lived as a teenager.

Being recognized by the imperial court as the governor of Xuzhou gave him a sense of honor of returning home in glory.

Zhang Hong did not force Sun Ce. Sun Ce was not the kind of person who would make decisions according to your wishes just by a few words of pressure.

Zhang Hong waited patiently. After a moment, Sun Ce made up his mind: "Mr. Zigang, please go see Chen Wenlong on my behalf and declare my loyalty to the court. I will kill Zhang Cheng and take his head as a token of my loyalty."

Zhang Cheng was from Henei County, and his head could be used as an oath.

As for other things, such as the sacred white horse, in the eyes of a practical person like Sun Ce, the white horse is just a thing, and it is too wasteful to swear an oath to kill the horse.

(End of this chapter)