Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 138 Seeking a tiger's skin, each with their own ulterior motives
Shouchun.

"Zhang Miao from Chenliu has come to surrender?" Yuan Shu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this news.

A year ago, he was defeated by Cao Cao and his army of 200,000 was almost wiped out, leaving only less than 20,000 remnants who fled with him to Jiujiang County.

That was one of the most devastating defeats of his life, and even today, thinking back on it still causes him pain.

But just one year later, he used his superb skills to raise an army of over 100,000 again.

His sphere of influence extended to Runan County in Yuzhou, part of Pei State, Jiujiang County and Danyang County in Yangzhou, and Guangling County in Xuzhou, making it much larger than the area he controlled in Nanyang.

This made Yuan Shu feel even more that he was destined by fate to achieve great things.

Zhang Miao had once had a very close relationship with Cao Cao, but now he betrayed Cao Cao and came to join him with several thousand remaining soldiers.

Yuan Shu weighed the options repeatedly in his mind.
He knew that accepting Zhang Miao was tantamount to openly challenging Cao Cao.

But now that our power is so great, and we will have to fight Cao Cao sooner or later, what is there to fear?

Moreover, although Zhang Miao was defeated, he was once a regional warlord who fought against Dong Zhuo and still had a certain influence in places like Yanzhou.

Now that we've brought him under our wing, we can spread the word about Cao Cao's "tyranny," how he harmed his allies, and how we can avenge Zhang Miao, thereby winning over more people's hearts.

In the future, when attacking Yanzhou, Zhang Miao might even become a surprise force.

After much deliberation, Yuan Shu decided to accept Zhang Miao.

Therefore, Yuan Shu ordered his men to bring Zhang Miao into the main hall.

As Zhang Miao stepped into the main hall, looking at the luxurious furnishings and the numerous civil and military officials, and reflecting on his current impoverished situation, he couldn't help but sigh.

Upon seeing Yuan Shu, Zhang Miao bowed respectfully, his voice tinged with weariness: "Lord Yuan, I am now desperate and have come to seek refuge. I hope you will take me in."

Yuan Shu smiled and stood up, helping Zhang Miao to his feet: "Brother Mengzhuo, there's no need for such politeness. We are both opponents of Cao Cao. I am naturally pleased that you thought of me, Yuan Gonglu, when you were down on your luck. That Cao Cao is cruel and ruthless. I will definitely seek justice for you, Brother Mengzhuo."

Zhang Miao looked at Yuan Shu gratefully: "Thank you, Lord Yuan. I am willing to serve you with utmost loyalty."

Zhang Miao knew that Yuan Shu was ambitious and that he only took him in to exploit his reputation.

But now that I have nowhere else to go, I can only rely on him for the time being.

After calming Zhang Miao down,
Yang Hong, the strategist who had been standing silently to the side, suddenly spoke up: "My lord, I have received news that Lu Kang of Lujiang and Liu Yao seem to be forming an alliance. We must be on guard!"

Let's go back to last year.

After being driven to Jiujiang Commandery by Cao Cao, Yuan Shu killed Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, and occupied the northern part of Yangzhou.

The imperial court then appointed Liu Yao as the governor of Yangzhou to compete with Yuan Shu, who had seized control of Yangzhou, for control of the province.

Liu Yao was born into the Han Dynasty imperial family, a descendant of Liu Jianglu, the King of Qi, and the son of Liu Fang, the Prefect of Shanyang. He was influenced by his family's good traditions from a young age and was upright and brave.

However, Jiujiang Commandery, the capital of Yangzhou, had already been occupied by Yuan Shu. At this time, Liu Yao, who was weak and alone, was naturally unable to confront him directly. So he crossed the Yangtze River to the south and relied on Wu Jing, the governor of Danyang, and Sun Ben, the commandant of Danyang.

Yuan Shu was naturally very dissatisfied with Liu Yao's activities in Jiangdong, so he sent people to conquer the counties of Yangzhou.

To prevent Yuan Shu from invading the south, Liu Yao sent Fan Neng and Zhang Ying to guard the Yangtze River.

Later, Liu Yao saw that Wu Jing's nephew and Sun Ben's cousin, Sun Ce, were serving under Yuan Shu, and since Wu Jing and Sun Ben were Yuan Shu's former subordinates, he worried that the two would betray him, so he drove them away.

Wu Jing and Sun Ben then switched allegiance to Yuan Shu and led Yuan Shu's army to attack Liu Yao.

The two sides fought fiercely for over a year, but no victor could be determined.

Subsequently, in order to exacerbate the infighting among the warlords in Guandong, the Eastern Han court, controlled by Li Jue and Guo Si, bestowed upon Liu Yao the titles of Governor of Yangzhou and General Zhenwu.

Upon hearing that Lu Kang and Liu Yao were secretly colluding, Yuan Shu couldn't help but feel a tightness in his chrysanthemum.

He knew that Lu Kang had been operating in Lujiang for many years and was very popular.

If Lu Kang and Liu Yao join forces and launch a surprise attack from the rear while I am heading north to attack Xuzhou, I will be attacked from both sides.

Yuan Shu pondered for a moment and said, "You're right. Our primary task right now should be to take Lujiang County!"
That old scoundrel Lu Kang actually dared to refuse my request.

"If we don't get rid of him, he will definitely join forces with Liu Yao to attack when I head north to Xuzhou." The people below nodded in agreement.

Yuan Shu turned to Sun Ce and said, "Bo Fu, the important task of attacking Lujiang is now entrusted to you. If you can capture Lujiang and seize Lu Kang, Lujiang County will be yours!"

"Your humble servant obeys!" Sun Ce was thrilled upon hearing this.

At this time, Sun Ce had already established his prestige within Yuan Shu's camp through his decisive and ruthless actions.

The reason why attacking Lu Kang excited Sun Ce so much was not only the temptation of the position of Prefect of Lujiang, but also because of a personal grudge between him and Lu Kang.

Sun Ce had previously visited Lu Kang when he was in Shu County.

Lu Kang looked down on Sun Ce, and only had his chief clerk receive him, while he himself did not come out to meet him.

Sun Ce felt insulted and harbored resentment towards Lu Kang ever since.

After receiving the order, Sun Ce immediately assembled his troops and marched towards Lujiang.

He thought taking Lujiang would be an easy task, but when he arrived in Lujiang, he found that things were far more complicated than he had imagined.

Lu Kang was very popular in Lujiang County.

His officials and soldiers, who were on leave, would climb over the walls in the middle of the night to help defend the city when they heard that Lujiang was about to be attacked...

Sun Ce's army quickly arrived at the seat of Lujiang, below the county seat of Shuxian.

Just as Sun Ce was ambitiously preparing to take the city and avenge the humiliation Lu Kang had caused him years ago, he probably never imagined that this battle would last for two whole years!
……

At the same time that Zhang Miao joined Yuan Shu, Lü Bu also arrived at the gates of Tancheng.

It was February, and the weather was cold, but everyone in the council hall was sweating profusely.

Lu Bu and his entourage arrived at the city of Tancheng so quietly that the consequences of a surprise attack would be unimaginable!
At this moment, a group of people in the hall are having a heated discussion about whether or not to take in Lü Bu.

"Lu Bu is an unparalleled general of our time; we should go and meet him," Liu Bei said, expressing his opinion.

However, it was met with a lot of skepticism.

Zhang Fei certainly disagreed, but after making a couple of noises, he was silenced by a glare from Liu Bei.

Subsequently, Mi Zhu, Liu Bei's most trusted advisor, stepped forward to refute him, saying, "My lord, you must not! Lü Bu is a warlord, and his army is like wolves, only knowing how to plunder and not how to care for the people."

If Lü Bu is allowed to remain in Xuzhou, he will surely harm the people of Xuzhou!

Sun Qian, who was recommended by the great Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan to serve under Liu Bei, also stepped forward and said, "Lu Bu first surrendered to Yuan Shu, but Yuan Shu could not tolerate him."

Later, he joined Yuan Shao, who accepted his offer. However, Lü Bu, relying on his high merits, allowed his subordinates to rob and plunder, which angered Yuan Shao, who banished him from Ji Province, thus leading to the great war between Cao Cao and Lü Bu.

Now that he has come to serve you, if he were to unleash his troops to plunder as he has elsewhere, the newly stabilized situation in Xuzhou would likely be thrown into chaos again.

Although Chen Deng was outside Liu Bei's inner circle, for the sake of Xuzhou and his family's interests, he decided to step forward and persuade him: "Lü Bu is a fierce tiger. If he is not given food, he will surely harm people."

Seeing that everyone below was against the matter, Liu Bei began to waver.

However, after much deliberation, he still sighed and insisted, "How could I not know the danger posed by Lü Bu?"

But if Lü Bu hadn't attacked Yanzhou, which drew Cao Cao's army back to help, how could the predicament of Xuzhou have been resolved?
Now that he has nowhere else to turn but has come to me for refuge, if I refuse him, I fear I would be going against the principles of benevolence and righteousness.

Moreover, if it wants to focus on developing its domestic affairs and grow stronger, it needs strong power as an aid.

Lü Bu and I are interdependent; if he falls, we'll be left with nothing. Even if he's unreasonable, he should understand this basic principle.

My mind is made up; please refrain from further discussion.

Seeing that Liu Bei had made up his mind, the others stopped trying to persuade him.

Only Chen Deng chuckled inwardly and muttered, "Trying to get something out of a tiger is suicidal."

(End of this chapter)