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

Chapter 298 The Two-Pronged Hijacking
Li Hu.

"General Cao, now that you have evaded pursuit, you should be retreating south incognito. Why do you insist on staying here?"

Li Qian looked slightly displeased: "General Cao, you are now a wanted criminal for treason! I can help you escape, but I cannot allow you to stay here and harm my entire Li clan..."

“Brother Li, the world is not the same as it used to be. Liu Bei has taken the emperor on an eastern tour and has seized great power… That big-eared bandit once robbed Lihu and had a bounty placed on his head by you. Whether it’s for his reputation or for past grudges, he will not let you go.”

Cao Cao explained to Li Qian, "If I were to flee, Brother Li, Liu Bei would surely pursue me, which would be the real harm to Brother Li's entire clan."

Li Qian also knew that Liu Bei was the same Liu Bei who had been known as "Big Ear Bandit" back then. After Liu Bei set fire to and robbed the Li family's grain, Li Qian did indeed offer a reward for Liu Bei's capture for several years.

Although this is not a major grudge, according to the general understanding, Liu Bei might indeed regard Li Qian as a traitor in order to cover up his past bad reputation after he came to power.

“If we don’t flee, does General Cao intend to help Yuan Shao attack Liu Bei? I, Li, have no intention of helping Yuan Shao…”

Li Qian thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "When Yuan Shao gathered an alliance to raise an army, all the allies came to help him. But when they were united to fight, Yuan Shao abandoned his allies and fled to Hebei... This man is unrighteous, and I do not trust him."

Cao Cao looked back at the 'General Who Conquers the West' command flag that Yuan Shao had privately given him, hesitated for a moment, then tore down the flag, drew his sword, and cut it in two.

“It’s not to help Yuan Shao… Brother Li, I was invited by Zhang Mengzhuo and others to join the alliance to help Yuan Shao. It is out of loyalty to friends and out of gratitude for Qiao Gong’s past kindness.”

"Now that the alliance has dissolved and Qiao Yuanwei has retreated from Juancheng, I, Cao Mengde, have almost lost my entire army to save Zhang Chao. I have already done right by my friend's kindness..."

Cao Cao said solemnly, "Yuan Shao has abandoned us out of loyalty and self-preservation, and I will no longer help him... I only want to wash away the name of treason from my body and become a minister of the court again, so that Brother Li will not be harmed by Liu Bei."

Qiao Yuanwei is Qiao Mao. Qiao Mao's paternal uncle, Qiao Xuan, had helped and protected Cao Cao in his early years. Moreover, Zhang Miao and Wei Zi were indeed Cao Cao's friends for many years.

However, Cao Cao must have seen through the true colors of those scholars by now.

Li Qian nodded: "Then... what should we do?"

"Now that all the officials have sent their sons and nephews to accompany the Emperor on his eastern tour, we only need to lead the remnants of the Yellow Turbans and the bandits of Mount Tai to attack them, and then we can send troops to their rescue. This will not only save the Emperor, but also allow us to take the sons of all the officials as hostages..."

Cao Cao replied, “Both Black Mountain and Mount Tai are inhabited by remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels who are hostile to the court, and many of them are acquainted with Brother Li. If Brother Li can send a message to them, they will come to attack us... There is no need to fake this, so as not to expose our plan.”

"This is indeed a good plan... but I wonder if anyone would dare to hijack the Emperor's carriage..."

Li Qian considered it for a while and felt that Cao Cao's approach was indeed worth trying, but he was unsure what the outcome would be.

Although the bandits of Black Mountain all accepted Zhang Yan's management, many of them still refused to submit to the imperial court. Zhang Yan was able to control them only because he had a large number of men at his disposal.

After all, Montenegro has a large number of remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

There were even more people calling themselves Yellow Turbans in the Taishan area. Cao Cao had just come out of Taishan County with Li Qian after a tour. Only a few counties in the entire Taishan County were nominally under the control of the imperial court. The areas outside the counties could basically be regarded as bandits.

“If no one comes to ambush you… I will have to send my troops to do it. Most of my troops were remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion… but if I send my troops to ambush you, Brother Li may not be able to escape either.”

Cao Cao gritted his teeth: "Brother Li, this is the only way I can do now. If this succeeds, and I have the sons and nephews of all the officials in my hands, I can recommend you for a position with a salary of two thousand piculs! If this fails, I will surely die here, and you can take my head to absolve yourself of punishment..."

This was actually a form of coercion, but Cao Cao was relatively kind and made things clear beforehand, letting Li Qian choose whether or not to do it.

Cao Cao had this idea because he remembered the way Liu Bei had escaped when he was being pursued in Dunqiu.

Liu Bei was already cornered by Cao Cao at the riverbank with nowhere to go, but Cao Cao saw the value of his identity as "Big Ear Bandit" and he got the opportunity to help Cao Cao seize grain.

This is the 'value of a thief'.

So... Cao Cao also realized that he himself had 'value as a bandit'—his own troops were recruited from the remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

At the same time, Li Qian had thousands of retainers and extensive connections, including with bandits from Black Mountain and Mount Tai. It would not have been difficult for him to spread rumors and lure bandits into robbing the emperor's carriage.

Just as Liu Bei incited refugees to rob Li Hu's grain, the thieves who robbed the emperor's carriage could be real thieves, and the robbery could be a real robbery; there was no need to fake it.

By first orchestrating a hijacking of the emperor and then rescuing him, Cao Cao could clear his name of his previous collusion with Yuan Shao, transform himself into a loyal subject of the emperor, and even potentially seize control of the emperor and the sons of his officials.

If things succeed, Cao Cao will have rendered meritorious service in saving the emperor, and will certainly be able to turn his fortunes around. Li Qian, at the very least, can become a proper colonel.

If things failed or the secret was leaked, Li Qian could kill Cao Cao on the spot, be exempted from the crime of treason, and even be appointed to an official position. The Li family could also rise to prominence overnight.

Ideally, Li Qian would help lure the real thieves to become scapegoats. If Li Qian refused, Cao Cao would have to rely on his former Yellow Turban rebels—if successful, it wouldn't matter, but if it failed, Cao Cao's actions would likely implicate Li Qian. Therefore, Cao Cao instructed Li Qian to take his own head to escape punishment if things became unfavorable.

"...In that case, I'll send someone to deliver the message..."

Li Qian hesitated for a moment, then decided to help Cao Cao with this job.

Since Cao Cao has already put it this way, there is actually no risk for Li Qian in this matter.

……

……

Dunqiu.

The other two are also making similar plans...

"...Wen Yuan, Zhang Miao kidnapped the relatives of Bi Zili (Bi Chen), the magistrate of Dunqiu, and forced them to leave the emperor's carriage in Dunqiu...I think Zhang Miao intends to kidnap the emperor in order to escape the pursuit."

Cheng Yu was advising Zhang Liao: "Now that Bi Zili has asked for my help, I have no choice but to ask Wen Yuan for help..."

"Mr. Zhongde, do you know where Zhang Miao is now?"

Zhang Liao nodded and said, "We should kill this man quickly to achieve our goal. As long as we kill Zhang Miao, whatever his schemes may be, we will have to give up."

"That's true, but... Zhang Miao has disappeared without a trace, leaving only a threatening letter for Bi Zili... Bi Zili knows that this is likely an attempt to kidnap the emperor, but his parents, wife, and children are all in Zhang Miao's hands, so he has no choice but to comply... Moreover, he doesn't know who Zhang Miao will send to kidnap the emperor, so he has no way to defend himself."

Cheng Yu sighed, “Bi Zili is my close neighbor and friend. I need to help him out of this dilemma. The best solution right now is for Wen Yuan to go and protect the emperor. Bi Zili will have his men pretend to hijack the emperor’s carriage before it arrives at Dunqiu, deliberately stirring up trouble and attracting Zhang Miao’s men. This will not only help Zili out of his predicament, but Wen Yuan can also gain the emperor’s favor.”

"No matter how difficult it is, it is wrong to allow someone to hijack the carriage."

Zhang Liao shook his head and refused: "Besides, I am of low rank and my words carry little weight. The Emperor will not believe me. He might even think I am Zhang Miao's accomplice... Why doesn't Mr. Zhongde go and report this matter to the Emperor himself?"

“Wen Yuan, you have been chasing Zhang Miao for several days. If I am not mistaken, Zhang Miao may very well use your name to hijack the Emperor’s carriage…”

Cheng Yu said, “Both Bi Zili and I were recommended by Zhang Miao. If I were to go and report to the Emperor, no one would believe me. Moreover... if there are hijackers in Dunqiu, Bi Zili and I are local officials. Even if we are innocent, we will be executed along with our entire families. We can only fabricate this case in advance.”

After leaving Lü Bu, Zhang Liao went to Chenliu.

With his men all being clan soldiers, Zhang Liao didn't want to be cannon fodder for Lü Bu any longer. He originally planned to wait until the war was over before making any further plans, and could also take the opportunity to cooperate with Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain to attack Chenliu.

But Zhang Liao did not expect the war to end so suddenly. Just a few days after arriving in Chenliu, the Guandong Coalition disbanded, and Zhang Yan returned to Hebei.

Meanwhile, Lü Bu's fame spread rapidly throughout Yanzhou, and Zhang Liao, a guest general who had left Lü Bu, felt a little uneasy.

He disobeyed Lü Bu's order to cover the rear; if he had gone back, he might have been killed by Lü Bu, who was at the height of his power.

After the Guandong Allied Forces dispersed, Zhang Miao abandoned Chenliu and planned to flee. Zhang Liao followed Zhang Miao and chased him to Dongjun.

Zhang Miao was the organizer of the Guandong Coalition and a major bandit leader. If we could capture Zhang Miao or take his head, the merit would be enough to directly grant us the title of county marquis, and we wouldn't have to worry about Lü Bu anymore.

Zhang Liao pursued Zhang Miao all the way to Yan Jin, but Zhang Miao circled around and failed to cross the river.

Then they chased him all the way to Dunqiu North—the place where Liu Bei was trapped by Cao Cao back then.

Zhang Liao thought he had captured Zhang Miao, but unexpectedly, bandits came out to intercept him.

By the time Zhang Liao had defeated the bandits who were blocking his way, Zhang Miao had already disappeared.

The person who helped Zhang Miao stop Zhang Liao was a subordinate of Bi Chen, the current magistrate of Dunqiu.

So Zhang Liao went to Dunqiu to cause trouble for Bi Chen, and also learned in Dunqiu that the emperor was going on an eastern tour.

Later, Zhang Liao met Cheng Yu—Cheng Yu was from Dong'e in Dongping State, and was brought in by Bi Chen for help.

Bi Chen was also from Dongping Kingdom. He asked Cheng Yu for help because Zhang Miao had kidnapped Bi Chen's entire family when he fled—if he didn't listen to Zhang Miao, his whole family would die; if he did listen to Zhang Miao, his whole family would also likely die...

(End of this chapter)