Tiger Guards

Chapter 377 Plan Changed
Located in the eastern suburbs of Luodu, at the confluence of the Yi River and the Luo River.

The waterwheel is propelled by the water flow, drawing water from the riverbank.

When Zhao Ji arrived here on his inspection tour, he searched for horses in the wild, while he led his close guards to wash their feet and cool off in the river.

Looking westward up the Luo River from here, you can see the ruins of the Biyong and Mingtang on the south bank of the Luo River, which are now the campsites of the Five Battalions.

Just as he was enjoying this moment of leisure, a rider came galloping up, accompanied by guards and leading knights.

The messenger from Jinyang dismounted nimbly, holding a waterproof lacquered wooden bucket: "Express delivery from Jinyang!"

Zhao Ji also stood up, and Guan Shang quickly went over to take the lacquered wooden bucket and handed it to Zhao Ji.

Seeing that the lacquer seal was intact, Zhao Ji took the knife handed to him by Guan Shang and cut open the seal. He then asked the messenger, "What is the matter in Jinyang that is so urgent?"

"I do not know, but General Zilong ordered me to present it to the Grand Marshal in person."

The envoy answered truthfully: normal official documents would be sent to the shogunate headquarters and handled there; important and urgent military intelligence would be sent directly to Zhao Ji in person; and ordinary issues would be left to be resolved together.

Zhao Ji took out the official documents inside and immediately began to read them.

There are those attributed to Zhao Yan, and also those attributed to Jia Xu.

Zhao Ji was somewhat reluctant to send troops ahead of schedule, as Jia Xu had suggested.

After the officials and scholars of Chen betrayed King Chen, they incited the soldiers and civilians of Chen, and now these people are in a good honeymoon period with Yuan Shu.

It seems that even without the King of Chen, after relying on Yuan Shu, the people of Chen could still maintain their original way of life, and even expand their territory to reap the benefits of war.

Faced with Jia Xu's prediction, Zhao Ji had no choice but to be cautious and reassess the current battle situation.

Certainly, Zhao Ji had confidence in Lü Bu; no matter how foolish those nobles were, they wouldn't actively try to assassinate Lü Bu.

However, many things cannot be estimated optimistically, and it is not necessarily true that the officials and nobles have the rationality of normal people.

Rational thinking is actually a relatively advanced and scarce ability.

It's not that receiving a complete education automatically gives you the ability to think rationally.

If it is predicted in advance that Lü Bu's forces will fall into internal strife or other reasons, making it impossible for him to send troops to the Central Plains.

Then I will be facing Yuan Shu in his full form. Yuan Shu is currently on the rise. The legacy of Prince Chen and the summer grain from Yu Province have greatly boosted Yuan Shu's power. During this period of rise, there are almost no major internal conflicts.

Besides Yuan Shu, there was also Yuan Shao and his important ally Cao Cao.

Yuan Shao, currently emulating Emperor Guangwu's past actions in Hebei, failed to properly balance the conflicts between the scholars from Henan and the native scholars of Hebei. This led to the departure of Xun Yu and Guo Jia, who subsequently joined Cao Cao.

At that time, Cao Cao was to Yuan Shao what Deng Yu was to Emperor Guangwu.

After Cao Cao refused to hand over the hostages, Deng Feng, who was essentially rebelling, was in charge.

After suffering a heavy defeat at the Battle of Chenliu, Cao Cao had no choice but to bow down to Yuan Shao, transferring his family members and handing over hostages, thus becoming Yuan Shao's good partner again, Deng Yu.

Therefore, even without Lü Bu's strong participation, Cao Cao dared to intervene deeply in the war against Yuan Shikai.

Under Yuan Shao's instructions, Cao Cao was unlikely to come to fight a battle that was going smoothly, which would be meaningless to Yuan Shao.

In that case, Cao Cao could only act as a "dragonfly captain." When his side fought Yuan Shu, whoever won, Cao Cao would come to attack them and mediate, thus giving the loser a chance to retreat and gather their scattered troops.

How many people can be killed in the final battle?
Only during pursuit can effective captures and kills be achieved.

After reading the letter, Zhao Ji remained calm and indifferent, saying, "A Shang, prepare pen and ink."

"Here."

Guan Shang strode away, bringing back a table made of wooden planks, on which were all the necessary writing implements: brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Seeing that Zhao Ji was about to write the order, a guard brought a straw mat and also brought Zhao Ji's crimson-purple long banner. He stood to one side and adjusted it slightly. The long banner, like an umbrella, blocked the sunlight, and the shadow was cast between Zhao Ji and the table.

Regardless of Jia Xu's predictions, since he has taken the initiative to offer advice, all I have to do is listen obediently and execute it immediately.

Given Jia Xu's opportunistic and risk-averse nature, if you don't listen, he'll jump ship at the first opportunity.

While he might not necessarily switch jobs outright, he could choose to retire due to illness.

After all, the biggest threat to the world right now seems to be Yuan Shu, but Yuan Shu is just a facade; in essence, he is still the same group of former officials.

My understanding of the high-ranking officials is certainly not as good as Jia Xu's.

Zhao Ji accepted the entire plan that Zhao Yan and Jia Xu had already begun implementing, without changing a single word.

The letter also made arrangements for some of the gold and jade luxury goods stored in Jinyang, and that if a suitable plan was made, it would be entrusted to Jia Xu to carry it out.

Not only on Yuan Shao's side, but also on Gongsun Zan's side, arrangements need to be made. In this decisive battle in the Central Plains, the more badly we defeat Yuan Shu, the more fiercely Yuan Shao will react!

Yuan Shu's influence and base of support were limited; he couldn't hold onto them, and these people didn't want to be slaughtered. So, surrendering to Yuan Shao became their only way out.

Only Liu Bei in history dared to intercept and kill Yuan Shu; who else would have dared?

After handling the matter and sending another messenger, Zhao Ji returned to the canal to soak his feet.

Anyway, the battle wasn't urgent, so we had to go back to camp at night to select scouts. We dispatched scouts at midnight to conduct reconnaissance in different directions, going out of Yique Pass and Hulao Pass.

The next troops would need at least two or three days to prepare their vehicles and horses, and could only march in the early morning or evening, as it was not suitable to move within two to three hours at noon.

The same applies to horses as to humans.

Now, the cavalry units of all sizes are scattered and stationed in the mountainous areas south of Luoyang, where they forage and graze their horses.

It takes time to assemble these knights, and it also takes time to redistribute vehicles and supplies.

After scouts have conducted reconnaissance, planning the march also takes time.

When marching in the height of summer, the most crucial thing is 'water supply routes'. While marching, one can briefly leave the water source area, but a stable water source is essential when resting.

When an army is marching and loses its water supply, it is just as terrible as getting lost!
Although the Central Plains has the Ru-Ying River system, rainfall has been insufficient since April, and many small tributaries are dry.

Zhao Ji's original plan was to send troops out of Hulao Pass, leading only a portion of the army to attack, with the troops taking turns fighting, which would alleviate logistical pressure.

Even when launching an attack, a portion of the army could be detached and transported by boat from the Luo River into the Yellow River, then into the Honggou Canal, connecting to the Central Plains water system.

The entire army marched and fought around the Honggou River system, heading straight for the Chen Kingdom along the Honggou!

In times of chaos and drought, how did the State of Chen manage to maintain a stable grain output?
This is because the Honggou River flows directly into the State of Chen.

Even though the gully has silted up and its flow is much less than before, it can still meet the irrigation needs of the State of Chen.

After passing through the territory of Chen State, the Honggou River enters the eastern part of Runan and merges with the Ying River. The Ying River flows southeast and flows into the Huai River.

The confluence of the Ying River and the Huai River is less than 100 li from Shouchun!
Now, Jia Xu predicts that Lü Bu of Nanyang will become a crippled knight, so he can only send troops out from Yique Pass, reversing the route Sun Jian took to attack Dong Zhuo, passing through Luyang and arriving at the vicinity of Wankou.

The advantage of this route is that it allows for the early collection of grain and manpower from Yingchuan, since most of the resources are located in Yingchuan. As a result, Yingchuan recovered better last autumn and winter, and a large area of ​​winter wheat was planted.

Yingchuan's area is less than half that of Runan, but in terms of this year's summer grain harvest, it is only slightly worse than Chen State, and definitely more than Runan.

Runan is mountainous, and the cost of requisitioning and transporting grain is too high, so it can be requisitioned slowly and gradually.

The grain supply in Yingchuan is relatively simple. As long as you seize the three places of Yangdi, Yingyin, and Xudu, you can obtain two million shi of grain!
According to the wartime rations, each person eats three shi of grain per month, and each horse eats fifteen shi of grain. This batch of grain is enough to feed us for five months!
If we also take into account the grain requisitioned from the surrounding areas, we can either defeat Yuan Shu outright or wear him down.

Since he had decided to follow Jia Xu's advice, Zhao Ji also had to inform Lü Bu.

That night, upon returning to the Xianyangyuan camp, Zhao Ji summoned Qin Yilu and handed him the official document he had written during the day, saying, "I have heard that Yuan Shu is about to send rebel troops to forcibly requisition grain, fodder, and civilians from Ru and Ying. I do not know what the General thinks, but I cannot stand idly by. Please inform the General that if he does not object, I will lead my troops south from Yique Pass and station them in Xudu."

Qin Yilu reviewed Zhao Ji's official documents and found that they did not differ significantly from Zhao Ji's statements. He then said, "Grand Marshal, the General has eliminated the bandits of Nanyang, allowing the Emperor to secure his position, and the court is now able to cultivate land for self-sufficiency. The concern now is that of your Yingzong bandit. If they are allied with Yuan Shu, it would be perfect to eliminate them as well."

"It's unnecessary."

Zhao Ji commented, "I don't know what influence the General has been under lately. Why has he started to pay attention to these things? Last winter and spring, Cao Cao used the pretext of suppressing the Yellow Turbans to eliminate dissidents. In my opinion, the remaining powerful clans must have colluded with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. Send someone to deal with them; what's there to worry about in terms of charges?"

Qin Yilu remained silent, embarrassed. When Lü Bu divided his troops to garrison Ruying in the autumn and winter, he dug up the ancestral graves of many powerful families and clans. Logically speaking, he should have seized the opportunity to torment the descendants of these grave owners to prevent them from causing trouble.

Seeing Qin Yilu's sullen expression, Zhao Ji couldn't help but sneer: "I think he's been flattered by those officials and lost his way. Does he really think he's the Duke of Zhou, the advisor to the state? When future generations compile history books, he'll only be listed alongside figures like Wei Xiao and Gongsun Shu. Not to mention Huo Guang, even Liang Ji and Dou Wu are above him."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yilu couldn't help but sigh: "Grand Marshal, although the nobles and ministers no longer hold power, their disciples and former officials are all over the world. Who can look down on them?"

"So he doesn't dare offend these people?"

Zhao Ji sneered, looking at Qin Yilu and saying, "Pass on a message for me. Tell him that all men must die. How much of the fertile land of Nanyang can one truly possess when one dies? I hope that when we reach Wankou, the vanguard of the General will also arrive there, so we can join forces. As for those officials, bring them along too; they must be missing me. Also, tell him that Ruying and Chen will have a surplus of ten million shi of summer and autumn grain this year. If we don't take it and Yuan Shu does, it will be a disaster."

The estimated amount of grain, numbering in the tens of millions of bushels, was scraped together from the last drop of grain.

If there were any more grain, the cost of requisitioning would be too high, and it would be counterproductive.

There is a bottom line to the requisitioning and transportation of grain, but it cannot be done in a way that would cause officials and the people to rebel.

Requisitioning grain from various counties is inefficient and yields limited quantities, while also taking into account the feelings of the local people.

Military settlements were a great option, as they promised high grain production and efficient collection. Unfortunately, there was unrest in Xuchang, and Lü Bu, coveting the land of Nanyang, focused on developing Nanyang.

If we had withstood the pressure of the Xuchang riots... it's too late to say all this now. If we had truly withstood the pressure, there wouldn't have been the assassination of Prince Chen and the messy situation of Yuan Shu annexing the State of Chen.

(End of this chapter)