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

Chapter 200 The Fierce Ghost on the Road
During this period, Zhu Jun did not actually hinder Liu Bei's efforts to recruit the White Wave Army.

Previously, the White Wave Army looted the treasury in Hanoi and seized a lot of grain during the autumn harvest. They also intercepted some old copper coins that had been sent from various counties in Hebei to Luoyang. Although many prefectures and counties were privately minting coins, most of them would send some old coins to Luoyang as a formality.

Because of their considerable gains and Liu Bei's instructions, the White Wave Army did not harm the villagers or engage in banditry. Instead, they followed the methods of Liu Bei and Zhang Yan and collected protection money from wealthy families.

Moreover, Guo Daxian conscientiously shared some of the spoils with Zhang He and Bai Yao, and also received some benefits from Zhang Yan of Heishan, doing things quite meticulously.

Zhu Jun had killed countless people when he was suppressing the Yellow Turbans, but at that time, many powerful clans supplied him with troops and provisions, and he could exchange other people's troops and heads for his own military merits.

The situation is different now. The White Wave Army is not causing trouble, and Zhu Jun is not getting much support in Hanoi. He also understands that the only option at present is to offer amnesty.

Zhu Jun's mission in Hanoi was to keep an eye on the Black Mountain and White Wave armies and serve as the gatekeeper of Luoyang, but he only had a little over a thousand soldiers, which was clearly insufficient.

During the time Liu Bei was dealing with the pacification of the White Wave Army, Zhu Jun gathered some wealthy households, borrowed some money and grain, and set up a camp outside Huai County to recruit able-bodied men to supplement the manpower.

Guo Tai led Yang Feng, Liu Shi, and other leaders to Huai County to receive imperial rewards. Afterwards, Guo Tai planned to lead his troops to withdraw from Henan and return to Baibo Valley in Hedong.

However, Liu Shi, the former left colonel of the Yellow Turbans, did not withdraw his troops. Instead, he took advantage of everyone's unpreparedness and suddenly attacked Zhu Jun's barracks where he was recruiting soldiers.

Zhu Jun was in the barracks at the time, and immediately led his troops to fight back after being attacked.

Although Zhu Jun's forces were small, his personal troops were indeed battle-hardened elites, and after a fierce battle, they still managed to defeat Liu Shi's army.

However, Zhu Jun suffered considerable losses. Almost all the newly recruited able-bodied men were gone, and the money and provisions used for recruiting soldiers were also gone.

The two armies are currently locked in a standoff in the vicinity of Shanyang County.

Zhu Jun really didn't provoke anyone this time...

However, he had killed too many people when he fought against the Yellow Turbans, and the person the Yellow Turban army hated the most was Huangfu Song, followed by Zhu Jun.

This is a personal enmity.

However, Liu Bei had just secured the same autonomy for the White Wave Army as Zhang Yan, and both the court and Guo Tai had accepted it. What was the nature of Liu Shi's attempt to assassinate the governor of Hanoi at this time?

……

The next day, Liu Bei led his troops to besiege Shanyang County and demanded that Liu Shi come out to confess his crimes.

But Guo Tai led her troops to block Liu Bei's path...

However, Guo Tai did not fight with Liu Bei, but instead entered Liu Bei's camp alone.

“General, this was not my doing, but I cannot control Liu Shi and the others… They have a deep-seated hatred for Zhu Jun, and I am caught in a dilemma…”

Guo Tai felt rather helpless in front of Liu Bei.

"Guo Daxian, Guo Tai, Junior Envoy of Taiping! Do you understand that you are no longer a Yellow Turban?! You are now a court official, the Commandant of Fenshui! Liu Shi is now your subordinate Sima, and you dare to say you can't control him? If you can't control him, then kill him!!"

Liu Bei pointed to the imperial banner behind him: "I am using this banner to pacify you, and I am using my own credibility to guarantee your success! Now that Liu Shi has turned against us, do you know what I should do? If we don't eliminate Liu Shi's forces, everyone in the world will think that I, Liu Bei, am treacherous and that your White Wave Army is fickle! Even Zhang Yan of Black Mountain will have to become an enemy of your White Wave Valley!"

"Yes... Guo knows that too, but Liu Shi... sigh..."

Mrs. Guo lowered her head.

"When Zhang Yan accepted the imperial pardon, didn't the Black Mountain region have people like Liu Shi? But what did Zhang Yan do? Did he ever openly incite unrest? Did he ever say he couldn't control them?"

Liu Bei waved his hand and pointed outside the camp: "Colonel Guo, you go and deal with your subordinates yourself. Use the pretext of a mutiny to kill them, or you can kill only Liu Shi... If I go to suppress them, then no one in Liu Shi's troops will survive!"

Whoever is in charge of granting amnesty must also be responsible for handling the aftermath; this is customary and a matter of principle.

When subordinates rebel, superiors must naturally clean house; this is both customary and a matter of principle.

But Guo Tai stood still, looking up at Liu Bei with tears in her eyes: "General, you have been kind to me. If I were to tarnish your reputation because of this, I would be untrustworthy and heartless. But... Zuo Xiao has also helped me a lot and is loyal to me. If I were to kill Zuo Xiao, I would be heartless and heartless!"

Liu Bei closed his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air: "If you don't punish those who acted without authorization now, how will you control your subordinates in the future? Besides... if you don't kill Liu Shi, the White Wave Army will only be able to become thieves... How will you, as a thief, inherit the way of the Great Teacher of Virtue?"

Guo Tai covered his face and knelt down: "General, all those who join the Taiping Dao are brothers. If I were to wage war against my own brothers, I would be violating the teachings of my sect... General, you are also a man of great righteousness. If your subordinates commit the crime committed by Liu Shi, what would you do?"

What will happen?
Liu Bei sighed. To be honest, if that were the case, Liu Bei would also protect his own people.

Zhao Yun had just committed a similar crime, only the circumstances were minor—the Zhao family had just been exonerated when Zhao Yun committed the crime.

In fact, Zhao Lin's approach was the benchmark for this era. Once you become an official, you can't mix law and morality. So Zhao Lin first made a judgment according to the law, and then impeached himself on the grounds that it was against morality.

Moreover, Zhao Lin wasn't too rigid in his thinking. The reason he sentenced Zhao Yun to exile in Liangzhou was because Zhao Lin knew that Liu Bei had received orders to reinforce Liangzhou, and he himself had gone to Youzhou with the imperial envoy who delivered the order.

However, Liu Shi's crime was serious in nature, and Guo Tai really couldn't handle it like Zhao Lin did.

Liu Bei understood that Guo Tai was indeed in a difficult position. After a moment of silence, he pulled Guo Tai up and said, "You don't have to kill Liu Shi. Go find some corpses... let Liu Shi leave this place under an assumed name. You take the heads of the dead and say that Liu Shi and the rebels have been eliminated to give an explanation to the court... perhaps you can also take over Liu Shi's troops."

“Zhu Jun recognizes Liu Shi; it can’t be hidden.”

Guo Tai gave a bitter smile: "I have already tried to persuade him, but Liu Shi is unwilling to go into hiding, nor will he abandon his troops. He is determined to kill Zhu Jun, so he will not obey my orders..."

"Zhu Jun is now isolated and alone. As long as there's a way out, he'll have no choice but to admit it. What if he can't hide it? If Liu Shi wants to kill Zhu Jun, when can't he do it after everything has settled down? Why rush to do it now?!"

Liu Bei was quite exasperated: "Guo Tai, since Liu Shi completely disobeys your orders, what use is he to you?"

"If you can't even give me this much, then what use are you to me?"

"Liu Shi has been pacified but has rebelled again. This will surely cause the Taiping Dao to lose credibility with the world. If this is not dealt with, who will dare to trust your White Wave Army or the Taiping Dao in the future?"

"You are a successor of the Way of Peace, yet you do not protect the Way. What use are you to the Great Teacher of Virtue?!"

"Liu Shi caused countless Bai Bo brothers to be forced to become thieves for life. Liu Shi is your brother, but aren't the other brothers? You want to protect Liu Shi, but Liu Shi has no intention of protecting you!"

Guo Tai was speechless. After a long silence, he finally whispered, "I, Guo, am unwilling to kill my own brother for Zhu Jun..."

"You actually think this is helping Zhu Jun? Fine... you can't pass on the Taiping Dao lineage... go be a thief, but if you still stand in my way, I'll have no choice but to consider you my enemy!"

Liu Bei shook his head and dismissed Guo Tai from the camp.

……

The next day, Guo Tai led his troops away.

He was unwilling to fight Liu Shi, but he also did not want to be enemies with Liu Bei, so he returned to Baibo Valley in Hedong on his own.

But if he does nothing, he is destined to never become an official; at least in the eyes of the court, Guo Tai can only be a thief.

Zhu Jun entered Liu Bei's army camp.

Zhu Jun truly did not expect Liu Bei to handle the matter impartially; he came to express his gratitude.

But Liu Bei never intended to help Zhu Jun. He only eliminated Liu Shi because he felt it was his responsibility; otherwise, he would also be considered a thief.

Moreover, if Hanoi remains unsettled, Liu Bei will essentially be stuck there.

Of course, most importantly, Liu Shi disobeyed orders.

Or rather, they don't understand the rules.

If Liu Shi had waited a year or two after Liu Bei left before dealing with Zhu Jun, then Liu Bei wouldn't have cared how Liu Shi and Zhu Jun fought...

But Liu Shi insisted on taking action in front of Liu Bei, so Liu Bei had no choice but to suppress the bandits.

Bai Yao was acquainted with Liu Shi, and Liu Bei sent Bai Yao to Shanyang to persuade Liu Shi again. But just as Guo Tai said, Liu Shi was completely unyielding and only wanted to kill Zhu Jun.

Bai Yao was a man of principle, and he immediately broke off relations with Liu Shi.

Instead of leading his own army into battle, Liu Bei sent Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, each leading a contingent of troops, to join forces with Zhu Jun to attack Liu Shi.

Liu Bei himself remained stationed in Huai County, and sent Zhang He as a mobile force to cut off Liu Shi's route.

Liu Shi's army was quite large, numbering over five thousand men. Blinded by hatred, he saw Zhu Jun leading his troops to attack the city and once again attempted to surround and kill Zhu Jun.

However, when they besieged Zhu Jun, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led their troops in a fierce attack, defeating Liu Shi's main force in a single battle. Liu Shi abandoned his main force and fled westward with his thousand-plus men.

Zhu Jun originally intended to exterminate all of Liu Shi's remaining forces, but Guan Yu stopped him.

Having witnessed the fighting prowess of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and others, Zhu Jun dared not clash with Guan Yu and allowed Liu Shi's remaining troops to flee to Huai County.

Liu Bei also spared the Yellow Turbans in Huai County, only taking their weapons and letting them go to Hedong.

Liu Shi fled to the vicinity of Yewang County, where he was intercepted by Zhang He's army. Zhang He charged into the enemy lines and routed Liu Shi's main force.

But Liu Shi still escaped alone.

However, as soon as they escaped to Jiguan, they were blocked by someone again.

"Yang Feng...why are you stopping me? Are you going to rebel?!" Liu Shi was very surprised and suspicious. The person who was blocking him was actually Yang Feng's troops, another major leader of the White Wave Army.

"General Liu's troops are so powerful that they wiped out Zuo Xiao's army in just three days?"

Yang Feng did not answer Liu Shi's question, but turned to another young man beside him and said, "Gongming, Guo Shaoshi has petty righteousness but no great principles, I'm afraid he won't last long. We should take Liu Shi's head and seek a proper way out."

The young man nodded, carrying the double-edged heavy axe, and walked towards Liu Shi, bowing respectfully: "Xu Gongming of Hedong, please present my head, Left Colonel!"

Having said that, he raised his hand and slashed horizontally.

……

three days later.

Yang Feng came to see Liu Bei, bringing with him Liu Shi's head.

Yang Feng was originally a powerful family in Yang County, Hedong. He was not actually a Yellow Turban, but rather a follower of the Way of Peace.

In truth, Yang Feng was the local strongman of Hedong, while Guo Tai and Liu Shi were actually guest troops who went to Hedong to seek refuge with Yang Feng after the main force of the Yellow Turbans was defeated.

Guo Tai was indeed unable to control these two men; though they were called his subordinates, they were essentially allies. It was only because of Guo Tai's special status that Yang Feng and Liu Shicai considered themselves subordinate to him.

Liu Shi's men were all remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, while Yang Feng's men were all local militia and private soldiers; the two sides were of different natures.

During Liu Shi's rebellion, Yang Feng did not act recklessly at all, and even tried to persuade Liu Shi—but again, she couldn't persuade him, and Yang Feng and Liu Shi's relationship wasn't very good.

After Guo Tai withdrew his troops, Yang Feng consciously retreated to Jiguan, a city gate at the border between Hedong and Henan.

But Yang Feng did not return to Baibo Valley with Guo Tai... Clearly, he realized that if Guo Tai did not punish Liu Shi, who disobeyed orders, then the Baibo Army could only be regarded as thieves in the eyes of the imperial court.

"Brother Yang has rendered meritorious service in suppressing the bandits... I wonder if Brother Yang needs anything? I am prepared to do my utmost to help."

Seeing that Yang Feng had brought Liu Shi's head with him, Liu Bei naturally knew Yang Feng's purpose.

In this White Wave Valley, everyone has their own thoughts...

Liu Shi was filled with hatred and only wanted revenge, which led him down a dead end.

Guo Tai was unwilling to deal with the remnants of the Yellow Turbans and wanted to win people's hearts with loyalty. This was no longer the Way of Peace, but the Way of Bandits.

Yang Feng took Liu Shi's head and came to him voluntarily, which clearly showed that he wanted to pursue an official career.

“I dare not trouble you, General. I am now a general of the imperial army and should obey your orders. If you want to take the enemy’s head, I should take it.”

Yang Feng spoke humbly, but his words implied a desire to serve Liu Bei.

Liu Bei nodded, a smile appearing on his face: "Brother Yang's kindness is truly my good fortune! Since Brother Yang has helped me, I should repay you... Brother Yang, would you like to be given a real position?"

Yang Feng bowed and remained silent, but her eyes clearly showed joy.

Whether it was Zhang Yan's title of General Who Pacifies the Disasters or Guo Tai's title of Colonel of Fen River, these were merely honorary positions, but they wielded real power, since they already controlled the local areas...

Now that Guo Tai's position is clearly nominal and will not be truly recognized, Yang Feng will naturally not benefit from it either.

"If Brother Yang truly desires a real official position, he should follow the proper path and be recommended as a candidate for the civil service examination... Now that Brother Yang has taken Liu Shi's head, Prefect Zhu will surely be happy to recommend him..."

Liu Bei probed the question.

“Yang is from Yang County in Hedong, and the governor of Henan is not allowed to recommend him.”

Yang Feng cupped his hands and said, "Moreover... I am willing to listen to General Liu's orders, not Prefect Zhu's."

This is such a sensible child...

Liu Bei rose and returned the bow with clasped hands: "Since that's the case... then I will record your name as Yang Feng, and I will appoint you as the Commandant of Black Mountain, so that you can be considered a member of Black Mountain. I will ask General Zhang of Black Mountain to recommend you as a candidate for the civil service examination and appoint you as the chief strategist of Black Mountain. What do you say?"

The clerks in charge of accounting in each prefecture were usually the first positions they held before or after being recommended as candidates for the civil service examination. This was to familiarize them with officialdom and etiquette, which truly gave Yang Feng a proper path.

Yang Feng was overjoyed: "I, Yang, will certainly follow General Liu's lead!"

Yang Feng's real name is actually Yang Feng; Feng is an alias.

Liu Bei appointed him as the Commandant of the Black Mountain Camp and stationed him in Heyang to control the Yellow River crossing.

Of course, the official purpose was to monitor both Heishan and Baibo simultaneously to prevent any further disturbances that could threaten Luoyang.

Since Zhu Jun also signed the petition, the court quickly approved it, and the pacification of the White Wave Army effectively became the pacification of Yang Feng. The emperor had allowed Liu Bei to decide whether to fight or pacify, and it was only reasonable to pacify some and fight others.

The position of Black Mountain Captain is not a proper official post. He has neither the authority to establish a military camp nor any administrative power; it is merely a nominal one.

But being recommended for the civil service is different; it's the proper path to officialdom, far more valuable than any empty title like "military officer."

Liu Bei sent a letter to Zhang Yan and also recalled Zhang Yan (Zhang Baiqi).

Zhang Yan's quota for the recommendation of filial and incorruptible officials this year was taken by Yang Feng—Zhang Yan was actually very happy. Yang Feng was very powerful, and Zhang Yan had essentially gained a strong army with thousands of soldiers as an ally for free.

Guo Tai's relationship with Liu Bei had faded considerably, but her choice led to the defection of many bandits, and Liu Shi's remaining forces all joined her. Although she abandoned the greater good for the lesser good, it is true that people who value loyalty are more likely to attract bandits.

Liu Bei sent Bai Yao back to Ganling and left Zhang He in Mengjin, both to support him and to keep an eye on Guo Tai and Yang Feng.

Zhu Jun is in a very difficult position as governor. He is now out of money and grain, in debt, and has suffered heavy losses in his personal troops. Moreover, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans from Black Mountain and White Wave will likely continue to attack him. He can only maintain good relations with Zhang He, otherwise he will not have any help at all.

But at least Hanoi was pacified at this point.

Liu Bei did not delay any longer and led his army to Fufeng.

……

Huaili County has now become a large military camp.

Moreover, the military camp was quite chaotic.

Perhaps because Zhang Wen lacked a sense of security, he stationed a full 40,000 troops outside Huaili County... and these 40,000 troops captured at least 20,000 more for his own use.

Huaili was originally Huangfu Song's fiefdom. When Huangfu Song was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Huaili for suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion, eight thousand households in Meiyang and Huaili were his fiefdoms.

However, after being dismissed from his post and demoted to Marquis of Duxiang, his fief was reduced to only two thousand households in Huaili Duxiang (the central township).

Now, apart from Duxiang, most people in the eastern and western townships of Huaili have been captured by the army and become "military laborers".

These so-called laborers... included both men and women.

The man did indeed do hard labor.

But the woman...

Zhang Wen's troops were all composed of local powerful clans, so it was normal for them to act this way. They were all used to enjoying life, and even when they were fighting alongside the army, they still needed someone to serve them.

When Liu Bei led his army there, he encountered Yuan Shu forcibly conscripting laborers.

The army's forced conscription of civilians was a normal practice in those days, and as long as there was a military order, there was no way to criticize it.

However, it's clear that Yuan Shu only recruited women...

Dozens of soldiers were dragging young women out of several houses, amidst the cries of the women and the curses of the old men.

This place is more than ten miles outside the county. There are not many houses, and there is no smoke from cooking fires. It looks like no one lives here and it is very desolate.

These women must have deliberately hidden in this sparsely populated area, but they were still found...

Clearly, Yuan Shu's subordinates were quite experienced in finding women.

Liu Bei, holding the imperial insignia and supervising the army, naturally had to intervene in this mess.

"Is that Yuan Highway ahead?"

Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to lead troops to surround Yuan Shu, and then led Zhao Yun forward to ask, "With Yuan Changshui's current status and position, where can't he obtain beautiful women? Why did he still resort to this act of abduction?"

"You are... Big-Eared Thief?!"

Yuan Shu stepped out from among the soldiers, frowned as he looked at Liu Bei's ear: "You actually dare to hold the imperial staff?!"

Liu Bei sighed; Yuan Shu still remembered him.

But even though he had already risen to the rank of Left General of the Household, Yuan Shu was completely unaware of how little importance he was placed on him…

(End of this chapter)