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

Chapter 154: Launching a Campaign Among Powerful Clans to Combat Corrupt Officials

Guangping County.

At this time, Guangping was heavily fortified, with several thousand garrison troops inside the city and cavalry camps outside.

Guo Dian, the governor of Julu, was deeply worried at this moment.

Zhang Jiao started his rebellion in Julu. Now, only Guangping County remains in the hands of the government in the entire Julu Commandery. Moreover, all the counties surrounding Guangping are inhabited by the Yellow Turbans, with tens of thousands of bandits in every direction. Anyone would be panicked.

Furthermore... Guo Dian himself knew that the reason why Julu County became the stronghold of the Way of Peace was because his previous taxes were too heavy... which was basically equivalent to completely robbing the people, forcing all the common people to join the Yellow Turbans.

Therefore, Guo Dian is currently feeling very insecure.

Lu Zhi's pacification troops are currently outside Guangzong City, not far from Guangping. Guo Dian should be accompanying the army.

However, Lu Zhi did not summon Guo Dian, and Guo Dian himself was naturally unwilling to go.

Lu Zhi knew of Guo Dian's bad reputation; if Guo Dian were alive, Lu Zhi would have no chance of pacifying the Yellow Turbans.

Therefore, for the two months that Lu Zhi was here, he acted like a creditor collecting debts, not only demanding money, grain, and military supplies from the wealthy households in Julu, but also demanding that Guo Dian hand over all the grain and military equipment he had taken from the Julu treasury to supply the troops.

Logically, it was reasonable to supply food to the imperial army to quell the rebellion, since it was for their own protection.

But after supplying military supplies once, Guo Dian didn't want to supply them anymore.

Guo Dian certainly had his reasons for not providing grain.

On the one hand, Lu Zhi's forces were insufficient, and he did not launch a swift attack on Zhang Jiao. Moreover, the Yellow Turbans had taken the two princes of Anping and Ganling hostage, and in order to protect the lives of the royal family, a direct assault was indeed not an option.

On the other hand, Lu Zhi has been adopting a strategy of appeasement, and his troops have been lingering outside Guangzong City, digging trenches and building walls in a defensive posture, showing no intention of quickly quelling the rebellion.

Guo Dian felt that the Yellow Turban rebels would not be able to be dealt with in the short term, so he was unwilling to spend any more money and food. He also needed food to defend Guangping County, and he did not know how long he would have to hold out in the city, so the more food the better.

Without supplying grain, Lu Zhi seemed to have no way to deal with Guo Dian—after all, Lu Zhi was unlikely to come and attack Guangping County.

……

……

Liu Bei was outside Guangping City at that moment.

He came to steal, but he didn't intend to rob anyone—Liu Bei was no longer the petty thief he once was, and he disdained to do such a low-skilled job as robbery.

Besides, being ordered to be a thief is naturally different from usual.

Guangping County has been sealed off, and Liu Bei plans to use a more advanced operating method.

For example... mobilizing powerful clans to fight against corrupt officials?

As a local tycoon in Youzhou oppressed by Lu Zhi and forced to provide food and medicine, Liu Bei's situation was actually the same as that of the local tycoons in Jizhou—at least they shared a common language.

Therefore, Liu Bei needed to find a local tycoon of suitable status and ask him to take care of him, this poor man who was being forced and coerced by Lu Zhi.

The most famous powerful family in Guangping was Ju Shou—mainly because Liu Bei was only familiar with the name Ju Shou.

Since he was coming to Ji Province to participate in the war, Liu Bei brought Zhang He, who was familiar with the environment of Ji Province, with him.

Zhang He recognized Ju Shou and Guo Dian.

However, Zhang He didn't have a good impression of either of them.

"Ju Shou served as the Prefect of Ji Province. He was known for his resourcefulness and administrative skills, and his reputation was quite good. However, he was arrogant and had been recommended as a talented scholar... If one was not a famous scholar or a local resident, it would be difficult for others to associate with him."

Zhang He was telling Liu Bei about these two men: "As for Guo Dian, the governor of Julu... he is brave and resourceful, but he is tyrannical and ungrateful. He has always been cruel to the people. Most of the people in Julu County joined the Yellow Turbans, which shows how badly..."

Liu Bei nodded: "Guo Dian is certainly no good, otherwise General Lu wouldn't have sent me here... But I need to go and see Ju Shou."

"It's easy for you to see Ju Shou, but it won't be easy to get his help..."

Zhang He has now passed the Xihe military selection and officially become Liu Bei's chief scout, and has also started addressing Liu Bei as "Young Master".

“He doesn’t need to help me… I’m here to help him.”

Liu Bei shook his head: "Junyi, please take this letter and visit, saying that Liu Xuande has come here to punish the thieves, and ask Ju Biejia if he is willing to protect the villagers."

Zhang He was a little confused: "Why don't you use helping Guo Dian as an excuse, young master? Ju Shou is stubborn and difficult to deal with..."

"If I use helping Guo Dian as a pretext, I'm afraid everyone in Julu will become my enemy. They won't dare to harm Guo Dian, but they will certainly hate him..."

Liu Bei patted Zhang He on the shoulder: "Although Ju Shou is arrogant, he would probably be willing to befriend me if it were for the sake of scheming against Guo Dian."

……

The next day, Liu Bei met Ju Shou outside Guangping City.

"Now there are bandits on all sides, but there are no bandits in Guangping... What bandits has Chief Clerk Liu come here to hunt down?"

As Zhang He had said, Ju Shou indeed seemed to look down on Liu Bei, and his attitude was quite cold.

"Why does Prefect Ju feign ignorance? You have lived in Guangping for a long time, and you must know why the entire Julu prefecture surrendered to the Yellow Turbans... People have no food to eat, so naturally they seek out places with food to survive. The fact that not all the people of Guangping have fled is thanks to you, Prefect Ju..."

Liu Bei stepped forward with a smile: "But there is trouble in Guangping. If this great threat is not eliminated, this place will likely fall into the hands of the Yellow Turbans sooner or later. What do you think, Prefect?"

"You mean the Yellow Turbans will come to breach the city for food? General Lu is currently in Guangzong, which is only a day's journey from here."

Ju Shou gave Liu Bei a cold glance: "Huangfu Yizhen and Zhu Gongwei are currently leading the elite troops of the land in Yanzhou. They will soon be able to defeat the Yingchuan bandits and march north. Even if the Yellow Turbans attack, we can simply hold Guangping and wait for reinforcements. What great danger could there be?"

"Why deceive yourself, Prefect Ju? Don't you know in your heart whether General Lu will come to Guangping's rescue? General Lu would love for the Yellow Turbans to take someone's head in Guangping. Once the Yellow Turbans have vented their resentment, it will be easier to appease them..."

Liu Bei chuckled and handed Ju Shou a military intelligence document: "As for General Huangfu... he probably won't be able to come for the time being."

That was intelligence obtained from Lu Zhi's army: Zhu Jun, the Right General of the Central Army, was defeated by Bo Cai, the leader of the Yellow Turbans, in Yingchuan and retreated to Changshe, where he was besieged by Bo Cai.

Left General Huangfu Song led five battalions of the Northern Army to the rescue. Bo Cai pretended to withdraw, allowing Huangfu Song to enter Changshe City. He then gathered tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans and pressed forward from all sides, besieging Changshe again.

Bo Cai's organizational and command abilities are quite formidable. The two generals are currently trapped in Changshe City, and the field advantages of cavalry and armored soldiers cannot be fully utilized. It will be difficult to break through the enemy in the short term.

Ju Shou took the intelligence report and looked at it, finding it hard to believe: "Zhu Gongwei once led only his family troops to defeat the rebels in Jiaozhou and pacified Jiaozhou within a month. How could such a famous general, leading the Three Rivers Cavalry, be defeated by the Yellow Turbans?"

"Zhu Gongwei was fierce and irritable, only knowing how to wage war and not how to appease. Although the Sanhe cavalry was strong, it was no match for the 100,000 Yellow Turbans who fought to the death."

Liu Bei said calmly, "General Lu cut off Guangzong with trenches and implemented a policy of pacification, which is the way to quickly pacify the world. The Yellow Turbans are different from barbarian rebellions... and General Lu is also different from corrupt officials and thieves."

"Prefect Ju, you are under great pressure from General Lu and need to find grain to avoid punishment; General Lu also needs to find grain to supply his army and to appease the Yellow Turbans; and the Yellow Turbans... also need to find grain to survive." "At this moment, only Guangping has grain from the Julu treasury... Prefect Ju, Guangping is your hometown, but it is not Guo Dian's hometown. He doesn't care whether Guangping will be captured and become a wasteland... I have said this much. Please make your own plans, Prefect Ju."

Ju Shou frowned and pondered for a while, then looked at Liu Bei: "What do you intend to do?"

"I am only here to obtain grain to supply General Lu's needs. As for how to proceed, I will leave it to you, Prefect Ju... You are known for your strategic acumen, so I don't need to worry about it. If you need manpower, just come to me."

Liu Bei pointed to the east of Guangping County: "The news that General Huangfu and General Zhu are trapped has created an opportunity for you, Prefect. I will set up camp between Guangping and Guangzong and await your news."

……

The following day, Guo Dian received intelligence from Ju Shou that the government troops had been defeated.

Meanwhile, a large group of unidentified people appeared outside Guangping City, who looked like Yellow Turban rebels.

Guo Dian sensed that a large group of Yellow Turban rebels might be about to attack Guangping, so he quickly summoned Ju Shou and Shen Pei into the city to discuss the matter.

In fact, these three men were not subordinate to each other. Ju Shou was the assistant to Wang Fen, the governor of Ji Province, and Shen Pei was the chief clerk of Wei Commandery. However, their superiors had both fled before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and as locals of Ji Province, they had nowhere to go.

Guo Dian had also fled, but he went south under the pretext of "transporting grain tax to Luoyang." He carried too much money and grain, and his journey was too slow, so he didn't escape.

“Lu Zigan said he wanted to redeem the Prince of Anping, but I think he wanted to use money and grain to support the enemy. He has not attacked Guangzong, which may be because he wants to enrich himself by supporting the enemy.”

Guo Dian looked at Ju Shou with unease: "We can't count on General Huangfu right now, and there are already bandits lurking outside the city. I'm afraid the Yellow Turbans will launch a full-scale attack soon... If this continues, I'm afraid we'll all be trapped here and die... Ju Shou is very resourceful, do you know what to do?"

"Minister Lu is an upright and honest official, not one who harbors bandits. Rescuing the prince is his proper duty... but it may indeed take a long time."

Ju Shou calmly looked at Guo Dian: "It's just that the Yellow Turbans of Yingchuan have defeated Zhu Gongwei, and the Yellow Turbans will likely become even more powerful. I'm afraid that all the rebels in the world will flock to them... Your Excellency can only hold this place, as I'm afraid it's not safe anywhere else."

"yes……"

Guo Dian's brows were deeply furrowed.

“Zhang Liang has gathered tens of thousands of people and is attacking and seizing grain everywhere. If more rebels join the bandits, this city will be besieged by Zhang Liang sooner or later. Defending here is tantamount to trapping ourselves.”

Shen Pei cupped his hands and asked, "General Lu's forces are insufficient, and he has gone straight to attack the bandit leader Zhang Jiao without even being able to subdue Zhang Liang... Why don't we abandon Guangping and join forces with General Lu to attack Zhang Jiao and hope for a quick victory? What do you two think?"

"No!" "No way..."

Guo Dian and Ju Shou both refused.

"But if we hold this position, and the city is besieged by the Yellow Turbans, the people inside may not be willing to unite in defending it..."

Shen Pei further advised, "When Ye County was captured by Zhang Liang, it was because the residents of the city acted as Yellow Turban accomplices, and the city was captured in one fell swoop with the help of both inside and outside forces. Lord Guo, Prefect Ju, and the common people all have their hearts with Zhang Jiao... Military strategy says that it takes ten times the force of a siege and five times the force of an attack. Now, the Yellow Turbans are more than ten times the size of us."
"Only by joining forces with General Lu to quickly defeat Zhang Jiao will the Yellow Turbans collapse and disperse... Minister Ju has always been adept at planning, surely you know this?"

What Shen Pei said was actually true, but he was clearly not good at persuading people.

Guo Dian did not trust Lu Zhi, and if he went to surrender to Lu Zhi, everything he had brought from the Julu treasury would be confiscated...

Ju Shou, however, was a native of Guangping and could not abandon his hometown.

Shen Pei could certainly have given up on Guangping—his home was in Yin'an, Weijun, not here. However, Zhang Liang had previously gathered tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans in Ye County, and the roads were blocked by the Yellow Turbans, so Shen Pei was unable to return to Yin'an and could only head north to Guangping.

“Brother Zhengnan, I cannot abandon my homeland… If you wish to return to Wei County, you may do so.”

Ju Shou looked coldly at Shen Pei, clearly somewhat dissatisfied.

Shen Pei snorted coldly, turned to leave, but turned back at the door and said, "Although I am a lowly and unwise official, I know I cannot stay here and wait to die. Governor Ju, you want to defend your homeland, yet you have no way to do so. I wonder where your reputation as a strategist and strategist comes from?"

Both of them are straightforward and their emotions are written all over their faces. They are also not very good at chatting and will start arguing after just a few words.

"Zheng Nan, don't do this... We are both in trouble now, why fight with each other?"

Guo Dian, however, was quite the conversationalist. He stepped forward and pulled Shen Pei aside, saying, "We must work together and use our wisdom to find a way out."

Ju Shou closed his eyes briefly, his tone softening, but he spoke with some hesitation: "What the Prefect is worried about is how to defend himself. What Zheng Nan is worried about is that there may be someone in this city colluding with him from the inside... I do have a plan, but it is against the will of Heaven... Please make the decision, Prefect."

“Your Excellency can use Lu Zigan’s name to collect all the money and grain in the county and drive the people in the city who have no grain out of the city. I, Ju, and Brother Zheng Nan can lead the people in the city to carry grain and grass to Lu Zigan. Your Excellency can then say that all the grain in the city has been handed over to Lu Zigan. This can be considered as giving Lu Zigan an explanation.”

“The common people are unaware of the large sums of grain, only that there is no grain in the city. When they see that the grain has been sent away, they will surely all go to Lu Zigan and never return... Thus, the prefect can avoid disaster in the city, and without the old and weak consuming grain, the soldiers will consume very little, and can defend the city for a long time.”

"The Prefect has provisions but few soldiers, so a protracted war is advisable. The Yellow Turbans have many men but lack provisions, so a swift war is preferable. Even if Zhang Liang attacks, the Prefect can hold the city and wait for the Yellow Turbans to collapse due to lack of provisions... or we can watch Lu Zigan fight the Yellow Turbans."

"But if Your Majesty were to act in this way... it might alienate the people..."

At this point, Ju Shou shook his head and sighed.

Guo Dian's brows relaxed: "The people's hearts? We've already lost the people's hearts, so what does it matter whether we hurt them or not? Governor Ju is indeed far-sighted; this plan suits me perfectly! Let's do it this way!"

Shen Pei pursed his lips and glanced sideways at Ju Shou, only to see that Ju Shou was also looking at him from the side, and Ju Shou even gave Shen Pei a wink.

……

After leaving the residence, Shen Pei privately asked Ju Shou, "Why did you devise such an inhumane plan? The people of this city are all your fellow villagers and neighbors. Are you trying to kill them?"

"They will only die if they stay in the city... I have been in Jizhou for a long time, and I know Guo Dian better than you do."

Ju Shou whispered to Shen Pei, "The Yellow Turban Rebellion in Julu was caused by Guo Dian's tyranny and harm to the people. If Guo Dian is allowed to occupy Guangping, that will be a great calamity for our neighbors..."

"If this city is besieged, the old and young inside will likely be used as military supplies or even food! Do you think I'm here to protect the clan's land? I'm here to protect the villagers... Only with villagers can there be a homeland!"

At this moment, Ju Shou was completely different from when he was in front of Guo Dian; he was not calm at all.

"You said that the two of us would lead the old and young of the city, carrying grain, to General Lu's place... How should we proceed?"

Shen Pei roughly understood Ju Shou's meaning. This was not a plan to defend the city and eliminate all its inhabitants for Guo Dian, but a plan to escape unscathed and to use a bait-and-switch tactic.

"The Yellow Turbans are causing chaos everywhere in search of food... If the people in the city carry food out, it will surely lure Zhang Liang to attack the city. You and I should first evacuate the people, then join forces with Lu Zigan and seize the opportunity to launch a three-pronged attack to defeat Zhang Liang..."

Ju Shou nodded, his voice even softer: "As for Guo Dian... since he's unwilling to part with money and grain and insists on keeping a large amount of food in the city, he'll be perfect bait to lure the enemy. If he uses Lu Zigan's name to plunder the city, how could Lu Zigan possibly let him off?"

"The troubles of Julu were originally caused by Guo Dian. If Guo Dian is allowed to occupy Guangping, that will be a great calamity for our homeland..."

Shen Pei bowed respectfully and said, "I am no match for your wisdom and strategy, Prefect. But if Prefect Guo survives Zhang Liang's attack, he may consider us enemies in the future..."

"What do you mean by 'enemy'? It's the Yellow Turbans who are attacking the city, not you and me... Lu Zigan forced us to provide military supplies and money, and he holds a grudge against me. But we, 'to rescue Prefect Guo,' even put aside our resentment and humbly begged Lu Zigan to come and defeat the enemy. We should be his benefactors..."

Ju Shou shook his head and said, "Besides... he has to leave Guangping alive before he can regard us as enemies."

(End of this chapter)