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

Chapter 371 The shit stirrer

Mid-July, Shanyang County.

Liu Bei and Cao Cao were surveying the terrain in the Juye area.

Chen Gong's cousin, Chen Shuo, was serving as the bandit king of Liangshan Marsh, while Xue Lan, a renowned scholar from Shanyang, was defending Juye City.

The southern part of Liangshan Mountain connects with Juye County, and this area could threaten the three counties of Dongjun, Shanyang, and Jiyin at any time, so it must be eliminated.

However, it is very difficult to attack Juye at the moment.

The terrain of Liangshanbo is too complex, with a network of waterways and swamps, towering mountains and steep ridges, and the town of Juye blocking the way between land and water.

Juye City is now just a dilapidated fortress. There are no other residents in the city, but the terrain of the county town is slightly higher than the surrounding area, which makes the area around the city full of swamps.

The army was difficult to deploy in the swampy area, and even finding a place to set up camp was difficult, making it impossible to besiege the city and extremely difficult to attack it.

Cavalry or heavily armored elite troops are unable to operate effectively in such places; the heavier they are, the easier it is for them to sink, and in swampy areas, it is impossible to discern where one might sink.

However, if they did not wear armor and relied on rafts to carry lightly armed soldiers for amphibious operations, they would be riddled with arrows from the enemy's high ground.

Chen Gong marched to Qingzhou without any supplies, and only brought ten days' worth of food. All the food and fodder were stored in Juye County and Liangshan, so Chen Shuo and Xue Lan would not be short of food for the time being.

"The floodwaters of Juye have not receded, and everywhere are man-eating swamps. If you are not careful, you will fall into them... A direct attack will inevitably result in heavy casualties, and this place is difficult to conquer in a short time."

Cao Cao asked Liu Bei, "We cannot besiege the city. Why don't we send our various troops to guard the surrounding area and then launch an attack when the floodwaters recede in winter? What do you think, Lord Xuande?"

"For the sake of the mere Juye, we have to send a large number of troops to guard various places, which is too much of a loss... Moreover, we have to be on guard all the time, and there is no food to be obtained in the Juye area, so the logistical costs are too high."

Liu Bei felt it wasn't worth it: "Is there any way to force Xue Lan to surrender?"

With the autumn harvest approaching, Liu Bei needed to return to his army as soon as possible to oversee the important task of collecting grain from the official farms, and did not want to waste tens of thousands of auxiliary troops from the official farms here.

“Li Qian has already tried, but Xue Lan refuses to surrender.”

Cao Cao shook his head: "Moreover, I fear I will have to retreat to Qiao County to seize the grain."

"Rushing to harvest grain? Why? Didn't we give you 100,000 bushels of grain?"

Liu Bei turned to Cao Cao and said, "It's not harvest time yet. If we rush to harvest now, the yield will be very low."

“Yuan Gonglu went to Qiao County… and demanded grain from my wife’s family, the Ding family. Ding Chong refused, so Yuan Gonglu ordered his men to seize the grain from the Ding family’s fields.”

Cao Cao said with some helplessness, "Yuan Rang sent a letter saying that Yuan Gonglu has his eye on my military farms again..."

"...We should beat him up!"

Liu Bei felt that Yuan Shu was a troublemaker, he was everywhere, and he really deserved to be beaten.

"But Yuan Gonglu paid money after he seized the Ding family's grain..."

Cao Cao shrugged: "They really did pay, at a rate of 1,000 coins per bushel. They sent over a hundred cartloads of brand-new Wuzhu coins to the Ding family... Ding Chong is wary of Liu Chong and doesn't dare to fall out with Yuan Gonglu... Moreover, Yuan Gonglu is just passing through, he didn't draw his sword, and he even said he came to mediate our dispute..."

Liu Bei was stunned: "Yuan Shu? Mediate our conflict?"

Cao Cao smiled wryly: "That's what Yuan Rang said... I guess Yuan Gonglu really did say that too..."

Previously, Liu Bei and Cao Cao faked a battle, which even fooled Chen Gong, and Yuan Shu could indeed have believed it to be true.

But to say that he could mediate the conflict between Liu Bei and Cao Cao was definitely out of the question; he was more likely to fan the flames.

Yuan Shu certainly wasn't short of money, but he was definitely short of food. This guy never managed civil affairs; his mind was full of bandit mentality.

They seized the grain from the Ding family's fields, but then paid them money, and at a high price. Although it was a forced sale, at least they were morally justifiable.

However, food is much more valuable than money these days.

Ding Chong would certainly not easily have a conflict with Yuan Shu, not because they were acquaintances, but mainly because he couldn't afford to offend him.

At this time, Cao Cao was also reluctant to turn against Yuan Shu. After all, Cao Cao was short of food, had to digest the territory he had just conquered, and also had to deal with Liu Chong. He dared not fight on multiple fronts.

No wonder Cao Cao said he wanted to go back and seize the grain. Just then, Zhang Fei rushed over: "Brother, Sister Zuo has sent an urgent military report..."

Zuo Yuan's military report was, of course, about the situation in Qingzhou where they were lured out to eliminate the rebels. Moreover, it wasn't a messenger; Zhang Baiqi was sent personally to deliver the message.

After Yuan Yi surrendered, he revealed that Chen Gong had asked Yuan Shu for help.

Chen Gong and Yuan Yi's raid on Qingzhou required someone to hold back Liu Bei's army. Chen Shuo and Xue Lan's refusal to surrender in Juye and Liangshan was also to restrict Liu Bei's return.

What Chen Gong meant by asking Yuan Shu for help was actually "offering land" to Yuan Shu, allowing Yuan Shu to take over the Liang Kingdom.

It's purely a "gift," a free gift, with no other requirements.

Previously, Yuan Yi was in Dingtao. Yuan Yi was Yuan Shu's cousin. Chen Gong's "offering of Liang State" was a sign of trust for Yuan Shu.

This is to make Yuan Shu a troublemaker.

Given Yuan Shu's character, once he went to Liang, he would most likely have some conflict with Liu Bei and Cao Cao over "his own territory and food".

"Mengde, Chen Gong, and others surrendered the Kingdom of Liang to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu's raid on Qiao Commandery was likely a prelude to seizing the Kingdom of Liang. But if he truly takes the Kingdom of Liang, he will surely try to annex Qiao Commandery..."

Cao Cao had initially stayed away to avoid eavesdropping, but after Liu Bei heard Zhang Baiqi's detailed account, he pondered for a while and, without hiding anything from Cao Cao, told him everything.

"……yes."

Cao Cao was somewhat anxious: "If Yuan Shu wants to cause trouble, Liu Chong will surely seize the opportunity to act as well, and Qiao Commandery will be attacked from three sides..."

Liu Bei nodded: "Mengde might as well try to make Yuan Shu and Liu Chong fight each other... Yuan Shu is short of food, and at present, only Chen County in Yu Province has not been affected by war. In recent years, Liu Chong has gathered hundreds of thousands of refugees in Chen County and reclaimed countless fields. If Chen County is allowed to harvest in the autumn, it will be even more difficult to deal with."

"That Juye..."

Cao Cao looked back at the swamp behind him.

“I will have Li Qian oversee Juye, and I will appoint Li Qian as the Prefect of Shanyang… Zhang Liao will serve as the Prefect of Jiyin.”

Liu Bei immediately divided the spoils: "You and I shall each return to our troops to oversee the autumn harvest."

Zuo Yuan's actions were certainly different from Liu Bei's original intentions. It was also difficult to predict what Yuan Shu, this troublemaker, would do. The troops Liu Bei brought to Yanzhou were not regular troops, so naturally they had to rush back to Qingzhou.

On the way, Liu Bei sent an order to Qingzhou, instructing Guan Yu, Zhang He, and others to return to Jizhou immediately.

At the same time, a message was sent to Xu Huang of Wei Commandery, requesting him to march north and station troops at Julu to guard against unrest in Hebei.

Zhang Fei also returned to Qingzhou. Liu Bei urged him to quickly produce a new biography of treacherous officials, widely disseminating the facts about Chen Gong's plot to kidnap the emperor at Mount Tai, his betrayal of Cao Cao and the chaos in Yanzhou, his arbitrary killing of Liu Dai and Bao Xin, and his collusion with the Qingzhou rebel Sima Ju and others to plot a rebellion.

Every event has many impacts, both good and bad.

The extermination of most of the powerful clans in Qingzhou will indeed stabilize the province, make it easier to govern, and also benefit the development of large-scale wealth accumulation.

Liu Bei's subordinates also agreed with Zuo Yuan and Jia Xu's decision—none of them came from wealthy or powerful families, and no one wanted any prominent families to join Liu Bei's ranks; their positions determined their thinking.

Xun You is now the sole member of the family, while Jia Xu, Guo Jia, and Zhang He, all from humble backgrounds, are the most distinguished members of Liu Bei's forces.

However, when news of the "massacre" spread, it caused instability in other states.

The previously barely pacified Ji and Yan provinces will also become unstable.

Many things can become completely different simply by changing how they are phrased.

Tens of thousands of people from various families in Qingzhou were exterminated for "resisting tyranny." Subsequently, most of the major clans split up to protect themselves, and many powerful families abandoned their lands and fled. The "Yellow Turban Rebellion" broke out in various counties of Qingzhou.

To those unaware of the truth, wouldn't this suggest that Qingzhou was "living in misery under tyranny," or even that "people rose up in rebellion"?
At the same time, this would be interpreted as "intolerant of the wealthy" or "resentment of the rich".

After all, a great many people were killed, and they were all members of powerful clans.

Even if those people were executed for treason, even if Zuo Yuan did not impose collective punishment, even if it was just following the law, even if it was Yuan Yi who carried out the killings, the powerful families in each state would still interpret it as a "massacre".

This will certainly raise many new questions.

(End of this chapter)