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

Chapter 205 Liangzhou Warlords
Ma Teng really needs to hurry up; a large flock of birds has already taken flight from the forest that Liu Bei was pointing to.

Further away, wisps of smoke and dust could be faintly seen.

This clearly indicates that a large number of cavalry are approaching.

That forest was right by the main road. When cavalry came to Langgan County, they would definitely pass through the forest. Ma Teng was very familiar with the terrain of this area.

Ma Teng immediately rushed down the city wall, but Zhao Yun at the city gate stopped him. However, Zhao Yun was holding a horse by the reins.

Zhao Yun didn't say anything, but simply tossed the reins to Ma Teng and opened the city gate.

Ma Teng clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhao Yun, then leaped onto his horse and galloped away.

Zhao Yun climbed the city wall and asked Liu Bei, "Does my lord truly believe that Han Sui will defect to the court? What if he comes to Langgan and fights us to the death..."

"Who in Liangzhou truly has their heart set on the imperial court? They're all just warlords..."

Liu Bei watched Ma Teng's departing figure and said, "But Han Sui was indeed coerced into becoming a bandit by Bei Gong Boyu. Now that the Xianling Qiang dare not join the rebellion and Bei Gong Boyu's strength has weakened, it is the perfect time for Han Sui to settle old scores with Bei Gong Boyu. As long as there is an opportunity, Han Sui will not fight me to the death."

"My lord, I have a question, but I'm not sure if I should ask it..."

Zhao Yun nodded, but there was some hesitation on his face.

Liu Bei turned his head: "Zilong, speak frankly."

"Does our lord favor the court?"

Zhao Yun asked the question very frankly.

"Liu Bei's heart is with the Han Dynasty... Liu Bei wants to sweep away the deep-seated problems of the world, let the Han Dynasty restore the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, and restore the glory of Emperor Wu."

Liu Bei answered without hesitation or concealment: "But the current court... is not the Han Dynasty."

……

On the other side, Li Jue led all the cavalry, horsemen and infantry of the Sanfu Commandery to Jieting.

The troop strength was not large, about two thousand men.

Han Sui still left men to garrison Jieting, but only eight hundred old and weak men.

After arriving in haste, Li Jue did not immediately attack the rebel army at Jieting. Instead, he set up camp and defenses in the old city of Lueyang, blocking the road to the south with many barricades.

The eight hundred old and weak rebels in Jieting to the north dared not take the initiative to attack Li Jue, and could only watch helplessly as the road south of Lueyang Road was blocked.

The road to Chencang was unattended, but eight hundred old and weak people alone dared not go there...

Li Jue was indeed very skilled in warfare. After setting up the southern defense line, he leisurely turned his troops around to bully the eight hundred old and weak people in Jieting in the north.

……

Han Sui was actually very cautious. He neither attacked Ji County nor launched a surprise attack on Liu Bei's camp. Instead, he first sent people to spy on Liu Bei and Li Jue's camps.

"Brother Han, we failed to infiltrate Liu Bei's camp, but we have discovered that Li Jue's troops are not actually attacking Liu Bei... they are just waving flags and shouting."

Liang Xinglai, a powerful clan leader from Liangzhou, reported this to Han Sui.

"We've been tricked... Recall Cheng Gongying, we're heading to Langgan immediately!"

Han Sui was quick-witted and immediately realized that Liu Bei and Li Jue were putting on an act.

But the performance was indeed quite realistic, after all, it was Ma Teng who informed Han Sui.

"Brother Han, could it be that Ma Shoucheng has defected to Liu Bei? Should we withdraw our troops immediately?"

Liang Xing asked hesitantly.

"...Impossible, Shoucheng wouldn't harm me..."

Han Sui hesitated for a moment, but then shook his head: "Since Liu Bei has lured us into Tianshui, the Lueyang Road is probably already cut off. If we retreat now, we will be stuck in the Lueyang Gorge and unable to move forward or backward... We can only go to Langgan County first and then look for an opportunity to open up the Lueyang Road."

Han Sui was indeed very clever and his judgment was accurate, but that's how the battlefield is; one wrong step leads to another.

We are not confident in attacking Ji County. If we attack the city now, we will likely be attacked from both sides.

They weren't confident in attacking Liu Bei's camp, since they already knew Liu Bei and Li Jue were putting on an act. At this point, attacking the camp would be like handing themselves over to be attacked from both sides.

If we don't have a place to stay now, we can only stay in the wild and waste food and fodder. Without logistical support, tens of thousands of troops will starve to death in the wild in no time.

Even if a decisive battle is to be sought, the city should be fortified and the imperial army should be stationed there to await the attack.

Just as Han Sui arrived at the forest outside Langgan County, Ma Teng came galloping up: "Brother Wenyue! Brother Wenyue...stop!"

Having a trustworthy friend in life is a great fortune.

Han Sui was lucky to have Ma Teng as a friend.

Just as Ma Teng shouted to stop, the sound of gongs rang out from the mountains to the side, and many soldiers holding bows and crossbows emerged from the forest.

Fortunately, the gong sounded as a signal to retreat.

Guan Yu stood on the hillside and sheathed his sword.

The soldiers kept their crossbows aimed at Han Sui's troops below the mountain, neither withdrawing their troops nor launching an attack.

Han Sui's sweat poured down his face: "Shoucheng... what is this?"

Clearly, he realized that Liu Bei had let him go.

"Liu Bei has entered Langan... Wen Yue instructed the troops not to act rashly, as Liu Bei has no intention of exterminating them all. Wen Yue suggested that they perhaps work together to deal with Beigong Boyu..."

Ma Teng spoke hurriedly.

……

Soon after, Han Sui arrived outside Langgan City with Ma Teng, but he did not bring any troops, only Liang Xing and other soldiers from Jincheng County.

Liu Bei greeted Han Sui outside the city, which was considered a sign of respect: "Does Han Sui have any intention of resuming his official post in the court?"

This refers to Han Sui's original official position; Han Sui was originally the Military Supervisor of the Liangzhou Governor's Office.

"General Liu is kind and benevolent, and I am deeply grateful."

Han Sui looked at Liu Bei and sighed, "But I, Han, have never betrayed the court, so there's no question of me regaining my official position... Those who betrayed the court are Beigong Boyu, Bian Zhang, and Li Wenhou..."

"Oh? Everyone else betrayed us, but Han was the only loyal one. Yet the rebels didn't kill Han, and even elected him to take charge of military and political affairs. Why?"

Liu Bei shook his head and laughed, "Could it be that the court in the eyes of the heroes of Xizhou is different from the court of the Han Dynasty?"

"...Perhaps they are indeed different."

Han Sui nodded and asked, "General Liu, do you know why there is unrest in Xizhou?"

"What? Isn't it Beigong Boyu who caused the trouble?"

Liu Bei suddenly felt that the situation in Liangzhou might be different from the announcement issued by the imperial court.

According to the imperial court's announcement, it was initially the two leaders of the Huangzhong Righteous Army, Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou, who rebelled during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. They joined forces with the Xianling Qiang of the north and the bandits of the Heguan region, proclaimed themselves generals, and killed Ling Zheng, the Protector of the Qiang.

Subsequently, Beigong Boyu kidnapped Han Yue and Bian Yun, two renowned scholars from Xizhou, and forced them to kill Chen Yi, the governor of Jincheng. The two prefectures of Longxi and Hanyang then issued a petition to the court, declaring Bian Yun and Han Yue traitors and offering a reward of a thousand households for their arrest.

With no way out, Bian Yun changed his name to Bian Zhang and Han Yue changed his name to Han Sui. They were put in charge of the military and political affairs of Liangzhou for Beigong Boyu and attacked Sanfu and harassed Xiling.

This was the information Liu Bei was aware of, and it was also a public announcement issued by the imperial court.

But according to Han Sui, the story is not like that.

……

Initially, it was the Protector of the Qiang, Ling Zheng, who mistreated the Qiang people, not only forcibly enslaving them but also indiscriminately killing innocent people, which caused all the Qiang and Hu people to deeply hate the Han Dynasty.

This is actually somewhat related to Duan Jiong...

Duan Jiong truly terrified the Qiang people, and it can be said that the Qiang people were wiped out by Duan Jiong. Don't think that 60,000 heads is a small number. These are just the heads of Qiang soldiers that Duan Jiong killed on the battlefield. The lives and deaths of ordinary Qiang people were not recorded.

The Qiang people only numbered a few hundred thousand... but those sixty thousand heads were all young and strong warriors.

In the decade or so after Duan Jiong quelled the Qiang rebellion, which was roughly the length of a generation, the Qiang people dared not express any dissatisfaction with the Han Dynasty and had to endure being treated like cattle and horses.

Ling Zheng not only treated the Qiang people like cattle and horses, but he treated them like 007's pure cattle and horses, the kind of people who paid him to work.

Not only were ordinary Qiang people mistreated, but tribal leaders were also treated no better. Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou were Qiang leaders, but Ling Zheng forcibly conscripted them into the army and ordered them to harm the Qiang people.

They called it a righteous rebellion, but it was really just a way to conscript men.

In order to control the two men, Ling Zheng also kidnapped their wives and children and took them to his home.

Although they were Qiang people, the chieftain's wives and concubines were quite beautiful, and Beigong Boyu also had a mixed-race daughter...

This is intolerable.

Bei Gong Boyu and Li Wenhou killed Ling Zheng.

After the Qiang people killed the Protector of the Qiang, they had no choice but to continue down the path of rebellion. Beigong Boyu began to plunder the counties of Longyou.

If this matter ended there, it wouldn't really be a big problem. It would just be a case of officials bullying the Hu people, which led to their rebellion. The same thing has been happening all over the Han Dynasty, so it's not surprising.

However, after Beigong Boyu rebelled, Zuo Chang, the governor of Liangzhou, had to suppress the rebellion. He ordered all counties in Liangzhou to raise troops and prepare for war, and requested reinforcements from the imperial court.

It was Han Sui (Han Yue) who went to Luoyang to seek help at that time.

However, at that time, the Yellow Turban Rebellion was at its most intense, and the imperial court had no time to deal with the affairs of Liangzhou. Naturally, there were no reinforcements. But the imperial court allowed the governors of various regions to raise military funds on their own and organize their own righteous armies to quell the rebellion.

This result is not bad; Han Sui originally planned to return to Liangzhou.

Before leaving, General He Jin summoned Han Sui.

Han Sui was a renowned scholar from Xizhou, and He Jin naturally wanted to recruit him.

Han Sui could see that He Jin was not very capable, so he claimed that the eunuchs above were misleading the country and that there were rebellions everywhere below. He said that he had to quell the Qiang rebellion in his hometown and did not want to stay in Luoyang.

However, He Jin said something surprising to Han Sui: "I'm afraid the Qiang rebellion can't be quelled. Wen Yue would be better off coming to Luoyang to help me, otherwise he might become a traitor."

Han Sui initially thought He Jin was just bluffing and didn't take it seriously, so he returned to Liangzhou.

Unexpectedly, after returning to Liangzhou, Han Sui actually became a traitor.

Zuo Chang, the governor of Liangzhou, raised a large amount of military funds in Tianshui, claiming it was to recruit soldiers to quell the rebellion. However, none of the funds were used for recruiting soldiers; they all went into Zuo Chang's household.

(Note: At this time, Tianshui had been renamed Hanyang. The official name should be Hanyang Commandery, but it was still commonly referred to as Tianshui.)
Since the imperial court was too busy to manage Liangzhou, Zuo Chang embezzled tens of millions of coins and sent the military supervisors Bian Zhang (Bian Yun) and Han Sui to Jincheng to recruit volunteers—in reality, they were just conscripting men.

The reason for going to Jincheng was twofold: firstly, Han Sui was from Jincheng, and secondly, Zuo Chang did not want to cause public outrage in Ji County... Like most officials, he committed crimes in neighboring counties, but he still had to maintain order in his own prefecture.

At that time, Gai Xun, the Prefect of Tianshui, strongly advised Zuo Chang not to be so greedy. As a result, Zuo Chang sent Gai Xun to resist the rebel army of Beigong Boyu, which meant sending him to his death.

But Gai Xun was quite skilled in warfare and actually managed to hold off Beigong Boyu.

Subsequently, Beigong Boyu turned around and attacked Jincheng County, while Bian Zhang and Han Sui sought help from Zuo Chang.

Gai Xun also urged Zuo Chang to send troops to rescue them quickly, but Zuo Chang refused.

At the same time, Chen Yi, the prefect of Jincheng, forced Bian Zhang and Han Sui to leave the city to meet the enemy. The governor did not send reinforcements, and the prefect forced them to leave the city, which was tantamount to sending Bian Zhang and Han Sui to their deaths.

So the two men gritted their teeth and surrendered.

Of course, Beigong Boyu didn't trust the two of them much, so Bian Zhang killed Chen Yi, the governor of Jincheng, as a way of showing his loyalty.

Han Sui was thus labeled a traitor.

Shortly thereafter, Bian Zhang led his army to attack Ji County in Tianshui. Zuo Chang, the governor of Liangzhou, was trapped and sought help from Gai Xun.

After Gai Xun arrived in Jicheng, he rebuked Bian Zhang and others for betraying the court. Bian Zhang said at the time, "If the Left Envoy had listened to Chief Secretary Gai's advice and sent troops to rescue Jincheng, we wouldn't be in this situation. Now we have committed a serious crime and there is no turning back."

Despite saying that, Bian Zhang still didn't confront Gai Xun, but instead tearfully left to defuse the situation.

Shortly thereafter, Gai Xun accused Zuo Chang of corruption and dereliction of duty. Zuo Chang was recalled by the court, which then appointed Song Xiao as the governor of Liangzhou.

After taking office, Song Xiao's first priority was not to quell the rebellion, but... to engage in academic research.

Song Xiao believed that the riots in Liangzhou were caused by the lack of education among the soldiers and civilians. Therefore, he planned to widely spread the "Classic of Filial Piety" so that every household in Liangzhou would study it diligently and strive for improvement. Perhaps this would help people understand propriety and righteousness and prevent them from causing trouble...

Gai Xun gave Song Xiao a thorough dressing-down, but Song Xiao insisted on submitting a memorial to the court requesting the implementation of his cultural reform plan.

As a result, Song Xiao was punished for his arrogance and incompetence and was dismissed from his post.

Not long after, the imperial court sent a third governor of Liangzhou, named Yang Yong.

Yang Yong didn't cause any trouble, but the problem was that while he didn't cause any trouble, he also did nothing... advocating a policy of non-interference.

Even after Bian Zhang and Beigong Boyu conquered the Three Auxiliary Regions, Yang Yong continued to govern by non-interference.

"The governors and prefects sent by the imperial court are all of such virtue. Apart from Gai Xun, who has some integrity, there is no other virtuous person in the various prefectures of Liangzhou."

At this point, Han Sui asked Liu Bei, "General Liu, we are regarded as traitors by the court, but... is the root cause of the chaos in the Western Regions really with us?"

“Yes… there is not a single wise man in the counties of Liangzhou, and the source of the chaos is not you, Han Wenyue.”

Liu Bei nodded in agreement, but then asked Han Sui, "If that's the case, why don't you, Han Wenyue, become that virtuous man?"

"I do want to kill Beigong Boyu, but even if I get rid of Beigong Boyu... I, Han Wenyue, will still be a sinner! Will the court pardon me? Will General Liu help me?"

Han Sui asked again.

"Han Wenyue, Beigong Boyu, Bian Zhang and others disturbed Xiling, and they deserve to die for this crime. Yet you did not send troops to the Three Auxiliary Regions, which must have been thought out long ago... If you are willing to eliminate the rebels, I can help you."

Liu Bei smiled and said quite bluntly, "But if you do nothing and just talk the talk, how can I help you?"

"What does General Liu want me to do?"

Han Sui nodded, but his eyes narrowed.

"The imperial army is targeting Beigong Boyu, Bian Zhang, and Li Wenhou. Once they have their heads, the imperial army can withdraw. As long as no one in Liangzhou openly raises the banner of rebellion again, then Liangzhou will be considered pacified."

Liu Bei narrowed his eyes: "As for you, Han Wenyue, whether you become a renowned scholar of Xizhou or a warlord of Xizhou, it doesn't matter... Have I made myself clear enough?"

(End of this chapter)