Tiger Guards

Chapter 304 Find your own way out
At Lu Bu's camp, he kept a close eye on Zhao Ji.

After Zhao Ji sent troops to garrison Yingyin City, Lü Bu immediately invited Chen Gong to come and negotiate.

Lü Bu was also aware of his own shortcomings, so after Chen Gong led his troops to the vicinity of Xu County, he took the initiative to make contact with Chen Gong.

The unpleasantness of the previous division of forces was tacitly ignored by both sides.

However, Lü Bu now appears even more agitated.

At this crucial moment of ruling the world, Lü Bu could only endure and patiently negotiate with Chen Gong.

So, Lü Bu and Chen Gong rode in a carriage along the banks of the Wei River, and Lü Bu said, "It's not surprising that Zhao Yuansi and Zhang Xiu have joined forces. The powerful families of Nanyang are willing to submit to me. What do you think, Gongtai?"

Only by working together can the two effectively control the imperial court.

Previously, the people of Nanyang and Zhang Xiu were only superficially on good terms. With Zhao Ji's arrival, the fog cleared, and the people of Nanyang broke camp and moved to the west of Yingyin, thus officially breaking away from Zhang Xiu, the governor of Nanyang.

The people of Nanyang had nowhere else to go. Liu Biao was too far away, and they already had conflicts with each other. They could not rely on the high officials, let alone join forces with their old enemy Yuan Shu.

As for the traitor Cao Cao, he was the worst possible choice for the people of Nanyang.

Currently, the people of Nanyang are the weakest and can only rely on Lü Bu.

This left only Li Tong and Xun Yu. Chen Gong immediately asked, "May I ask Li Tong what his opinion is?"

“I will offer you the prefecture of Nanyang, and Li Tong is willing to work with me to restore the Han Dynasty.”

Lu Bu gazed at the Wei River: "Jingzhou is prosperous, and Liu Biao's loyalty to the emperor has waned. If he refuses to obey the emperor's orders, I will personally protect the emperor and lead an expedition against Jingzhou."

He also knew that the Central Plains was a mess, and that people would go hungry next year, with many dying of starvation.

Zhao Ji has made a good start by joining the emperor in a southern campaign against Liu Biao, and the officials, soldiers, and disaster victims of Liang and Pei are happy to support him.

Moreover, there are also refugees from the Three Auxiliary Regions in Nanyang. If they go south together to Jingzhou to take advantage of wealthy families, they can quickly gather an army of over 100,000.

Rather than starve to death, more people would choose to die in battle, even if it meant taking the wealthy families with them.

Chen Gong also understood that what Lü Bu meant by "obeying the king's orders" was that Liu Biao was exhausting all his resources to transport money and grain to the court.

Even if Liu Biao was willing, the powerful families of Jingzhou were not.

If military action were to be taken, given Zhao Ji's previous actions in purging the powerful clans of Taiyuan and Shangdang, the powerful clans of Jingzhou would likely rally closely around Liu Biao and rise up in rebellion.

If it really comes to that, defeating Liu Biao will also allow them to purge the powerful clans of Jingzhou.

People from Nanyang don't care about any hometown ties with their fellow townsmen from Jingzhou when it comes to this kind of thing.

Nanyang is called Jingzhou, but since Emperor Guangwu, it has been a separate geographical unit, and the people of Nanjun and Jiangxia have never been taken seriously.

Jingzhou consisted of three parts: Nanyang, the two prefectures of Jingbei, and the four prefectures of Jingnan; its influence also decreased from high to low.

Because of Yuan Shu, the people of Nanyang were severely weakened and could not bear to see the rise of the two counties of Jingbei.

Seeing that Lü Bu seemed to have a good plan, Chen Gong asked, "Liu Biao does not submit to the emperor. How does Your Excellency intend to conquer him?"

"hehe."

Lü Bu chuckled, “Zhang Xian, the governor of Lingling, is beloved by the people of Jingnan, which Liu Biao considers a great threat. He has petitioned the court to transfer Zhang Xian to the position of governor of Guiyang. His envoy, Han Song from Nanyang, has come to court to report on this matter. I intend to appoint Han Song as governor of Lingling, and after he takes office, I will transfer Zhang Xian to the position of governor of Changsha. If Liu Biao refuses to yield, then we will follow the plan of the people of Nanyang, divide the four commanderies of Jingnan into Xiangzhou, and appoint Zhang Xian as the governor of Xiangzhou.”

Of the four prefectures in Jingnan, Changsha was the most prosperous, with a population of nearly one million at its peak.

Chen Gong listened with a furrowed brow in thought. If Lü Bu's plan were followed, Zhang Xian, who already had considerable influence in Lingling, could be transferred to Changsha after taking over Guiyang, thus squeezing out the original governors of Lingling and Changsha.

If he were suddenly promoted to governor, the three prefectures of Jingnan would be united under Zhang Xian's command.

Zhang Xian was from the Zhang family of Nieyang in Nanyang. He was essentially using the imperial court to support people from Nanyang to control Jingnan.

By taking away the four southern commanderies from Liu Biao, Liu Biao was caught in a pincer attack from the north and south.

If the people of Jingnan were to establish their own prefecture, they would be able to break free from the oppression of the two prefectures of Jingbei, and the scholars of Jingnan would naturally support them.

Jingzhou is simply too large. Previously, Nanyang was far from Jingnan, so the siphoning and exploitation effects were not obvious.

After Liu Biao arrived, the people of Jingnan were immediately subjected to this kind of exploitation.

For the time being, the people of Jingnan and the people of Nanyang share a relatively similar stance.

As for whether the people of Nanyang would become powerful because of this, Lü Bu didn't care much. Solving the problems of food for winter and next year, as well as the expenses of supporting the army, was more important than anything else.

Besides, people from Jingnan are people from Jingnan, and people from Nanyang are people from Nanyang; they are fundamentally different.

However, Lü Bu's plan was too radical; that was Liu Biao, not the scattered Taiyuan and Shangdang.

The mere arrangement of Li Tong as the governor of Nanyang was enough to alert Liu Biao and prompt him to act prematurely. Seeing Chen Gong remain silent, Lü Bu continued, "Sun Ce has a blood feud with Liu Biao for killing his father. Once Zhao Yuansi has retreated to Bingzhou, I will send an envoy to invite him, with Sun Ce as the vanguard."

While others worried that Sun Ce might seize power on the battlefield, Lü Bu was not so concerned.

Given this opportunity, how could Sun Ce possibly slack off?
Zhao Ji's idea was to maintain a balance in the Central Plains, preventing anyone from dying suddenly and instead allowing them to wear each other down.

How could Lü Bu simply waste time? Taking on Liu Biao as his target became inevitable.

As for Li Tong, does he have a choice?
Refusing to obey orders, Lü Bu joined forces with the people of Nanyang to surround and kill Li Tong.

Chen Gong pondered the risks of this matter. If Liu Biao was not defeated, the imperial court would be on the verge of collapse.

After Zhao Ji arrived, he closed his camp for three days to build up the atmosphere. Before leaving, Zhao Ji was sure to get rid of several high-ranking officials.

If Lü Bu's campaign goes smoothly, the prestige gained from the victory can quickly mend the rifts in the imperial court.

If we are defeated, the imperial court may truly crumble.

By then, the Liu family will be the first to declare themselves kings, so how could the two Yuan brothers be willing to lag behind?
From a personal perspective, Chen Gong didn't want to see that kind of situation.

Even after two or three years of recuperation, he still managed to bully Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Liu Biao on a political level, and even Zhao Ji had to restrain his brilliance.

Currently, Cao Cao has fallen to the same level as Sun Ce, Zang Ba, and Liu Bei.

Seeing Lü Bu's smug expression, Chen Gong couldn't help but sigh: "My lord, the people of Nanyang are skilled in political maneuvering. To ally with them is definitely not a good thing."

"If we don't ally with them, how could Liu Biao be the kind of person who would willingly offer up money and provisions?"

Lu Bu glanced at Chen Gong, finding him as hesitant as ever, and said irritably, "Now, the combined forces of Nanyang, Xun Yu, and Li Tong under our command number no less than 100,000. King Chen has stopped supplying us with provisions. This winter, we either have to make drastic measures and lay off officials and soldiers, or we will starve. Gongtai, what good solutions do you have in my position?"

Chen Gong remained silent and lowered his head.

Lü Bu sighed again: "Zhao Yuansi's grain reserves are also insufficient, so there is no way he can lend me any. If we force him to lend us grain, given Chen Wang's character, he will surely invite Zhao Yuansi to lead troops to relieve the siege. Our army cannot afford to antagonize Zhao Yuansi; I still need him to restrain Yuan Shao and provide support for Zhang Zhishu."

He couldn't possibly abandon Yanzhou, and when attacking Liu Biao, he would definitely need Zhao Ji to provide support for Zhang Yang.

King Chen and Zhao Ji had already sworn an oath that neither should offend King Chen nor should they maintain friendly relations.

In this way, King Chen and Zhang Yang would be like lips and teeth, ensuring his rear and the safety of his inner circle.

The Central Plains was a battleground on all sides. To fight Cao Cao, one had to compete with Yuan Shao in terms of strength. Lü Bu didn't want to fight alone; if he were to fight, he would have to drag Zhao Ji into it.

Therefore, before attacking Cao Cao, it would be best to conquer Jingzhou to strengthen oneself and increase one's room for maneuver.

In this way, when he joined forces with Zhao Ji to attack Cao Cao the following year, his vast territory, numerous soldiers and generals would enable him to gain a dominant position in the alliance.

If an opportunity is found to detain Zhao Ji in the court, then the people of Bingzhou will also be at his disposal.

Considering everything, taking action against Liu Biao was his only option.

Alternatively, they could attack Yuan Shu, whose territory was devastated, while the best of the best had been taken over by powerful clans and local tyrants.

Yuan Shu was not difficult to defeat; the difficulty lay in drawing manpower and resources from the powerful clans scattered throughout the land.

Chen Gong also sighed, "Since that's the case, we should conspire with Zhao Yuansi. Attacking Jingzhou is a matter that shakes the foundation of the country. It is an important town of the imperial clan. If Your Majesty raises troops to attack it, it will cause slander throughout the world and be detrimental to the court."

Even when Dong Zhuo was in power, he still heavily relied on Liu Biao; when Li Jue was in power, he appointed Liu Yao to lead Yangzhou.

Being in the imperial court and vigorously supporting the imperial clan was itself a symbolic gesture of public opinion that he was actively supporting the Han dynasty and had no intention of usurping it.

Therefore, launching an attack on Liu Biao put them in a very passive position in terms of public opinion.

Unless Liu Biao rebels and declares himself king or emperor, it would be possible to legitimately attack Jingzhou.

"I will talk to Zhao Yuansi later. That boy is always arrogant and selfish, and I'm afraid he won't agree."

Although Lü Bu said it, Chen Gong knew that Lü Bu had agreed.

First, let's inform Zhao Ji. At worst, we can give Liangzhou to Zhao Ji as well.

We must also discuss with Zhao Ji that the Three Departments and Six Ministries system must be abolished and replaced with the old system that Lü Bu is familiar with.

The existing high-ranking officials also need to be reassigned. Zhao Yan should be appointed as one of the Three Dukes, and appointed as the Commandant of the Capital Region and the Imperial Envoy.

After believing that he had reached a consensus with Chen Gong, Lü Bu returned to his camp and sent an envoy to summon Lou Gui, preparing to carry out the plan to attack and seize Jingzhou.

Lou Gui then offered Lü Bu a plan, which kept Lü Bu awake all night.

(End of this chapter)