Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 138 The Conflicting Edict

Zhang Jiao established thirty-six districts in various prefectures, and naturally, there were also Yellow Turbans in Youzhou.

There was no large-scale unrest in Zhuojun. As the Chief Clerk of Guangyang, it was Liu Bei's duty to send troops to reinforce Guangyang.

But Liu Bei knew that if it was because of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, a foreign invasion, or a major battle in Guangyang, Liu Yu and Zou Jing would not send him to "reinforce" them.

Liu Wei, the prefect of Guangyang, was Liu Bei's nominal superior. When battles were needed, he could simply issue mobilization orders to Liu Bei...

Reinforcements could be omitted, since Liu Bei was neither under the command of the Protectorate of Wuhuan nor under Liu Yu's command.

The military orders that require mobilization are the ones that must be obeyed.

However—for Liu Bei, the situation was actually quite the opposite.

After all, they were partners, and their logic was different. Liu Wei would never issue military orders to Liu Bei.

If Liu Bei received a mobilization order, he would ignore it completely, or he would directly lead his troops to attack whoever issued the order—because it meant that Liu Wei had definitely been kidnapped.

On the contrary, when he received a letter requesting reinforcements that he could choose not to go, Liu Bei felt compelled to go—because it meant that something had happened to Zou Jing and Liu Yu.

If nothing goes wrong, and Zou Jing needs troops, he can simply order Qian Zhao to mobilize his own troops.

If Qian Zhao felt that his forces were insufficient, he would naturally ask Liu Bei for help, without having to submit a written request for assistance, and the process would be much more efficient.

However, Qian Zhao has not yet received the transfer order, while Liu Bei has directly received the reinforcement order, which is certainly very abnormal, since Liu Bei's troops are 'garrison troops'.

In other words, Zou Jing and Liu Yu were probably using the guise of "reinforcements" to let Liu Bei know that something was wrong in Ji County and that they needed Liu Bei's help, but not necessarily that Liu Bei would send troops.

Therefore, Liu Bei did not act rashly, but first sent Jian Yong and Zuo Yuan to investigate the situation in Guangyang through both public and private channels.

At the same time, Liu Bei ordered Qian Zhao to lead Zou Jing's troops directly north to settle in the territory of the Wuhuan people—the Wuhuan settlements that Liu Bei and Qian Zhao had settled together.

This was both to protect Zou Jing's main force from being seized by others and to prevent foreign tribes from taking advantage of the situation.

Subsequently, Liu Bei gathered his troops in Qian Zhao's camp and changed the banner of the Protector of Wuhuan to "Liu, Chief Clerk of Guangyang," which was equivalent to exchanging defense zones with Qian Zhao.

Two days later, Jian Yong brought back the publicly available information; Zuo Yuan brought back the covert intelligence.

……

Not long ago, before the Yellow Turban Rebellion had even begun, but when chaos had already broken out in various places, Guo Xun from Jinyang brought the imperial edict to Ji County.

Liu Yu was given a bizarre charge, accused of arbitrarily interfering in military affairs, which led to the loss of territory in the northern frontier, and was ordered to resign and go to the capital.

This is not a false accusation. Liu Yu did interfere in military affairs, such as the three military commanders in Zhuojun and the withdrawal of the defense line in Youzhou. In a sense, it could be considered an overreach of authority.

Of course, the main reason is that the defensive line was withdrawn, which gave others a handle to use against them, claiming that the northern border had been lost.

In fact, no territory was lost in the northern frontier. Zou Jing and Liu Yu simply moved their garrison positions back to save manpower and food. The actual area under their control was not reduced, and the Xianbei people did not come at all last winter.

Normally, no one would accuse someone of such a crime. Governors who are not involved in military affairs cannot do their jobs at all. Moreover, Liu Yu wanted to pacify the Xianbei, which was a military matter in itself. But in any case, governors do not have military or political power, so interfering with the defense of prefectures and counties can indeed be considered a crime on the surface.

Zou Jing also suffered the same punishment of disgracing the country and losing territory, and was ordered to resign and go to the capital.

This charge is certainly not a fault. After the bandits in Zhuojun rebelled, Youzhou lost its food support. Subsequently, the imperial court levied large amounts of grain, which led to a shortage of food for the border troops, forcing them to withdraw from the defense line.

The Hu cavalry commanders of various border regions of Youzhou, as well as the border troops in Yuyang, Shanggu and other places, all withdrew to reduce food consumption.

Similarly, the imperial edict brought by Guo Xun included the same approval for Xianyu Fu, Wang Men, Xu Rong, and Zhang Chun—"failure to advance in battle will result in the loss of territory."

But the problem is...

This edict was not made public.

The edict was neither announced publicly in the imperial court nor proclaimed to the various counties of Youzhou. Instead, it was brought directly by the newly appointed Governor of Youzhou, Guo Xun. Accompanying Guo Xun to Ji County was Zong Yuan, the Protector of the Wuhuan.

Because Liu Yu and Zou Jing were first convicted and dismissed from their posts, and then taken to the capital in prison carts, they were unable to send anyone to deliver the message. At that time, Liu Bei and Qian Zhao were in Jizhou receiving Yue Yin's family, so they were also unable to find out.

However, Liu Yu and Zou Jing clearly understood that only the emperor could have made such a sweeping move as to remove all the military officers involved in the affairs of the Wuhuan and Xianbei.

So they did not resist, but wrote a letter to Liu Bei asking for help, and then handed over their official seals and insignia before being put into prison.

Liu Bei understood what they meant: they wanted him to protect the headquarters of the Protectorate of Wuhuan and also wanted to find a way to preserve the achievements they had made over the past few years.

At the same time, with Liu Bei leading the army as an external aid, they could exonerate themselves—this was the request for aid, not the request to lead troops into Ji County.

Because this document was written in front of Guo Xun, and the seal of the Governor of Youzhou was affixed by Guo Xun.

But Liu Yu and Zou Jing obediently entered the capital, while the other Hu cavalry commanders were not so obedient.

Zuo Yuan received intelligence that Xianyu Fu had resigned from his post.

Wang Men led his army beyond the Great Wall and disappeared without a trace;
Xu Rong led his troops into the remote mountainous areas of Liaodong, but could not find anyone;
Zhang Chun remained in Yuyang, but he also resigned from his post. He then mobilized his family troops to block the roads and moved the Wuhuan cavalry, originally stationed in the north of Yuyang, to the south of Yuyang...

Meanwhile, the imperial court issued another public edict appointing Zong Yuan as Protector of the Wuhuan and his deputy to lead troops to suppress the Yellow Turbans. Liu Bei received this edict.

The Protector of Wuhuan and the Protector of Wuhuan were not in a superior-subordinate relationship, but rather a temporary supervisory relationship.

The Zhonglang General was a commander temporarily appointed during wartime. He was an imperial envoy and was responsible for specific tasks. He was not a permanent official position and was usually dismissed after the war ended.

The position of Colonel was a permanent administrative post within the military camp.

In special battles such as suppressing rebellions, a lieutenant general would be temporarily appointed to formulate tactical strategies for quelling the unrest. As long as the lieutenant general remained in office until the battle was over, all colonels had to obey military orders.

The title of "Lieutenant General of a Certain Army" actually refers to a temporary commander of a certain army, who directs the various officers and lieutenants in battle.

Lu Zhi was appointed as the General of the Northern Army, leading five battalions of the Northern Army.

Zong Yuan, the Protector of the Wuhuan, was in charge of Zou Jing and the four tribes of Hu cavalry.

However, according to the edict in Guo Xun's possession, Zou Jing and the four commanders of the Hu cavalry should have been convicted and sent to the capital or dismissed on the spot—Xianyu Fu's voluntary resignation was also considered a dismissal on the spot.

Without actual managers in each department, the clan members were actually unable to command the army.

Zong Yuan briefly served as Protector of the Wuhuan – this was before Zou Jing took up the position, shortly after the Han Dynasty was defeated by the Xianbei Tanshihuai, but he only served for two months before leaving office due to illness.

Whether the illness was real or not, the situation of the Wuhuan people was indeed dire at the time, so it was normal for them to fall ill on their own... In fact, considering the journey, he was essentially 'sick' as soon as he arrived in Youzhou, and had never even interacted with the Wuhuan people.

Zou Jing's Han army only obeyed Zou Jing's orders, and the Wuhuan cavalry only recognized Zou Jing and Liu Yu. With Zou Jing and Liu Yu around, Zong Yuan could truly command the Wuhuan Colonel's troops—the same was true for the other Hu cavalry commanders.

In other words, the two imperial edicts were actually contradictory. At this critical juncture, if it was truly for the purpose of suppressing the Yellow Turbans, Zou Jing and the commanders of the various Hu cavalry should not have been transferred away on such a minor charge.

However, the fact that Zou Jing and Liu Yu were willing to accept the edict and voluntarily boarded the prison cart indicates that both edicts were genuine, and that one was issued overtly and the other covertly at roughly the same time, since Guo Xun had traveled with Zong Yuan.

Some things... you have to look at them from the opposite perspective.

The Protector of the Wuhuan Commandant's troops are mostly cavalry, and the various Hu cavalry commanders also have mostly cavalry under their command. In addition, they can control the Wuhuan elite cavalry. If they want to quickly quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion, a large number of cavalrymen going south is the best option. At present, the Xianbei are in internal strife and cannot invade the border, so it is a good time to mobilize these troops.

But he deliberately appointed Zong Yuan as the Protector of the Wuhuan and then deliberately prevented Zong Yuan from commanding the troops...

That is indeed the style of the current emperor.

Liu Bei sensed that the emperor seemed reluctant to resolve the Yellow Turban Rebellion too quickly.

But the emperor probably didn't realize the consequences this would bring...

……

A few days later, Liu Wei sent a military order, requiring Liu Bei to "bring his troops stationed in the fields to Ji County to await orders."

He had to obey the military order, but Liu Bei was somewhat slow in going.

The so-called headquarters... can only bring a thousand infantrymen; bringing more might give others a handle to use against us.

Since his official position was recommended by Liu Yu, Zou Jing, and others, Liu Bei made some preparations at home before setting off to avoid being delivered to their door.

Liu Bei currently has a severely excessive number of troops, with his own personal retainers numbering 1,800.

The army had 600 veteran soldiers equipped with iron armor and proficient in all five arts, who were elite armored warriors. However, Liu Bei did not maintain the armored warrior system, but instead used them as the basis to expand his military strength.

In the past two years, 1,200 young men have been recruited in batches from the original 6,000 young men and Zhuo County. The remaining young men are used for tasks such as land reclamation, construction, and transportation. After all, the Juma River area is such a large place that it is necessary to maintain military supplies.

In addition, there were about a hundred servants brought by Zhang He, who led them himself.

Jian Yong also had about a hundred men under his command, some of whom were wandering knights who had a good relationship with him, and others were private soldiers that Jian Yong had recruited himself.

If you include all of them, the number exceeds two thousand.

However, neither Jian Yong nor Zhang He were Liu Bei's retainers. Although Jian Yong was closer than a retainer, they were still subordinates, not personal dependents, and their troops were not Liu Bei's troops.

Even if we only consider Liu Bei's own troops, the number has already exceeded the limit by a significant margin, by a full 100%.

The chief clerk of a border prefecture could lead a unit of garrison troops. The normal unit should be five qu (a unit of military units), with no more than a thousand men. Moreover, according to regulations, this was a garrison unit, and the prefecture did not issue armor or weapons to it.

Liu Bei's forces were not only overstaffed, but also overequipped.

(End of this chapter)