There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 432 The White Lotus Takes Xi'an

An urgent message from the Han envoy?

Liu Zhixie was somewhat confused upon hearing this. Although the White Lotus Sect in Henan and the Great Han maintained close cooperation, their actual relationship had always been in a very delicate state.

The Han Dynasty did indeed provide them with a considerable amount of firearms and armor, but the cost of these weapons was equally high.

Money was secondary; the Han dynasty had already forcibly seized Runing Prefecture and Guangzhou in southwestern Henan through negotiations.

Although the White Lotus Sect did not actually control this prefecture or county, not attacking it did not mean that they could simply hand it over to others.

Even if the White Lotus Sect sweeps across Henan in the future, it will permanently lose the land in southwestern Henan.

Moreover, even Nanyang Prefecture, the stronghold of the White Lotus Sect, had several border counties taken away by the Han army.

At first, Liu Zhixie didn't care much, but as more and more scholars joined him, he recruited and established a complete staff.

After his advisors analyzed and offered their advice, he roughly understood that the Han army was simply using him as a pawn, and even planned to discard him after they had finished using him.

No one would be happy about this.

Although Liu Zhixie was surprised and suspicious, he remained calm on the surface and quickly scanned the urgent letter.

A moment later, one of Liu Zhixie's trusted advisors couldn't help but ask, "Master, has something happened?"

He couldn't help but care, because Liu Zhixie's expression changed too quickly, from calm and composed at the beginning to ferocious and as if he wanted to eat people.

What exactly was written in the letter that made the cult leader so angry?

Liu Zhixie did not reply, but simply handed the letter to the other party to read.

The aide took the letter, and after reading only a few lines, his expression suddenly changed. He finally understood why Liu Zhixie was suddenly so angry.

The letter was very simple, mentioning only two things. The first was that Li Jie, Liu Zhixie's personal disciple and also being groomed as his adopted son and successor, had been captured by the Han army.

Of course, the Han army did not send this letter to extort money from Liu Zhixie to ransom the person, but rather to tell Liu Zhixie to take the person away as soon as possible. The Han army would not waste food to support this idle person.

As for why Li Jie was captured by the Han army, we need to talk about the second thing in the letter.

The Han army and the White Lotus Sect just fought a battle in Xuzhou!
Xuzhou is adjacent to Ruzhou and Nanyang Prefecture. It has long been a battleground between the White Lotus Rebellion and the Qing army. After the Qing army withdrew last year, Xuzhou was lost and then regained by the White Lotus Rebellion.

Overjoyed and also wanting to cultivate Li Jie's ability to govern, Liu Zhixie granted Li Jie the entire territory of Xuzhou as his fief.

Then, Li Jie hadn't even held the title of "King of Xuzhou" for half a year when the Han army suddenly sent a detachment of 2,000 men from Guang Prefecture.

He was formally informed that the Great Han was going to officially take over Xuzhou and that he should immediately lead the White Lotus Sect out of Xuzhou.

Putting aside whether Xuzhou is worth it or not, it is Li Jie's fiefdom, and Li Jie is the successor of the White Lotus Sect, who will inherit the sect's vast legacy in the future.

These Han troops are something else. At most, they can only be considered allies of the White Lotus Sect. Suddenly, they come to the White Lotus Sect's territory and say they want to take over their Xuzhou, and they even do so in a commanding tone.

How could Li Jie tolerate this?

The Han army was indeed renowned in the south, but Henan was a province where the White Lotus sect had been operating for many years. Li Jie, young and inexperienced, only knew about the White Lotus sect and was not afraid of the Han army.

Li Jie resolutely refused to withdraw from Xuzhou and issued a stern warning to the Han army. He stated that if they dared to set foot in Xuzhou again, it would be tantamount to an invasion, and he would expel them.

After that, there is no more.

The Han army was not the White Lotus sect, so naturally they did not tolerate it. Seeing that Li Jie was not leaving, they launched a merciless attack on Xuzhou.

A detachment of 2,000 Han soldiers defeated Li Jie's 10,000 White Lotus followers in Xuzhou in just half a day, causing the 10,000-strong army to collapse and scatter.

Li Jie himself was also captured by the Han army. If he hadn't revealed his identity in time, he probably would have been beheaded by the Han army and recorded as a meritorious service.

Now, the Han army has sent this letter, which is not only a clear notification to Liu Zhixie to take the person away on his own, but also a message to Liu Zhixie that Xuzhou will henceforth be the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Not only Xuzhou, but also Kaifeng Prefecture in the north, the Great Han also wanted it, and at the same time warned Liu Zhixie's White Lotus Sect not to go north and meddle in Kaifeng Prefecture.

Liu Zhixie was so furious for two reasons: first, the Han Dynasty's undeclared war and swift capture of his Xuzhou; and second, the Han army's explicit warning to him to abandon any further ambitions towards Kaifeng. Not long ago, Liu Zhixie had been seriously considering whether to formally declare himself king after conquering Kaifeng.
What title would be appropriate for a king?
As a result, they told him in the blink of an eye that there was no need to fight for Kaifeng, because the Han army had already set its sights on it. This was just too damn bullying!

Liu Zhixie's advisors quickly read through the letter, then looked at each other in bewilderment.

Is this move by the Han army considered bullying?
That does seem to be true.

The advisor who had spoken earlier suddenly asked, "Master, if our army were to clash with the Han army now, who would be stronger?"

Liu Zhixie was still annoyed and angry, but when he heard his advisor's sudden question, he was stunned for a moment. After pondering for a while, he said, "We should be the weaker one. The firearms of the Han army are really powerful. If we really fight, I am somewhat confident in fighting with real swords and spears, but if the Han army uses firearms, I am afraid that my White Lotus Sect will suffer a loss."

This was also Liu Zhixie's Achilles' heel. He rose to power through the White Lotus Sect and was situated in the Central Plains, a land of constant warfare.

Since he started his career, he had been constantly engaged in a tug-of-war with the Qing army. He had no time or resources to develop firearms and cannons. It was a testament to his ability to keep his troops from falling apart.

The firearms given to the Han army were all outdated, yet they were still able to fight the Qing army to a standstill.

If the Han army were to really fight them, Liu Zhixie would be a little apprehensive, but if it were just swords and spears, Liu Zhixie felt confident.

Firearms and guns are all ingenious tricks and unorthodox techniques, and in terms of the soldiers' combat strength, Liu Zhixie felt that he was no better than the Han army.

After listening to Liu Zhixie's reply, the advisor pondered for a moment and then said, "Master, if our army is not confident of victory over the Han army, then it is best not to fight this battle. In fact, even if our army has a chance to defeat the Han army, if we cannot expand our gains, then we should avoid this battle if possible."

"Why is that?" Liu Zhixie asked, somewhat annoyed.

The advisor solemnly stated, "Because we cannot afford to lose. Our White Lotus Sect currently controls only two prefectures and two states. Now, having lost one state, we are left with only two prefectures and one state. We haven't even captured Luoyang yet."

"Both prefectures are incomplete, and Henan has been plagued by years of war, leaving the local people destitute. Only the leader's compassion for the people has brought some life back to the land. But even so, the population is only a little over a million. Does the leader know how many people the Han Dynasty has?"

Liu Zhixie asked instinctively, "How many people?"

Another aide, who was responsible for frequently liaising with the Han envoys, replied: "Tens of millions of people!"

The sheer number of tens of millions of people stunned Liu Zhixie.

Before speaking, he had thought that the Han Dynasty would be very powerful, but his peasant background and small-farmer mentality limited his thinking, making him feel that the Han Dynasty was indeed very strong, but not that powerful.

Now, good heavens, tens of millions of people, dozens of times more than the population of his territory.

The advisor continued, “The Han Dynasty has tens of millions of people, which is dozens of times greater than our White Lotus Sect. Under the rule of the Han Dynasty, the people live in peace, their hearts are with the Han, and there is no major war. If our army were to fight the Han army, the Han army could be defeated again and again, while our army would be doomed if we were to be defeated even once.”

"Master, may I ask you a question? Can you guarantee that you can keep winning?"

"This..." Liu Zhixie opened his mouth, but still didn't dare to make any boastful remarks.

Liu Zhixie was ambitious, not really stupid.

He might dare to dream of winning against the Han army once, but to keep winning was out of the question.

If he really had that ability, he wouldn't have been stuck in Nanyang with the Qing army, unable to leave or retreat.

Seeing that Liu Zhixie seemed to have taken it to heart, another aide chimed in, "Master, there's no need to be so discouraged. Xuzhou is no big deal if we give it up. As for Kaifeng, if the Han army wants it, we can give it to them too. I've just thought about it carefully and realized that although Kaifeng is in the Central Plains and can be the foundation of your kingdom, it is also a place of constant warfare and has no natural defenses."

"Our army is not yet firmly established, so it would be too hasty to attack Kaifeng. If we can hold it, that would be best. If we cannot, it would be very disadvantageous for our army if either the Qing army or the Han army attacked. It would be better not to take Kaifeng in the first place."

"If the Han army wants to take Kaifeng, then let them have it. This will help the leader withstand the pressure from the Qing army, while the leader can go through Luoyang, calmly head west, advance into Shanzhou, and attack Xi'an."

"With Xi'an under control, the path to becoming a leader of the sect is within reach!"

After listening to the analysis and supplementary information from his staff, Liu Zhixie felt more and more that Kaifeng was indeed not easy to capture.

Even if you manage to eat it, it will likely be difficult to digest and may cause stomach upset.

It would be better to hand this hot potato to the Han army, let them help them withstand the pressure from the Qing army at the front, and create an opportunity for them to attack Xi'an Prefecture.

With the grand strategy finalized, Liu Zhixie then discussed and supplemented the details with his staff, while personally writing a reply to the Han army, expressing his willingness to cede Kaifeng and Xuzhou.

(End of this chapter)