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

Chapter 395 Total War
During this period, Jian Yong relocated more than 200,000 people from Qingzhou to Xuzhou for resettlement. This relocation was not based on household registration, but rather on the principle of voluntary migration.

Immigrants to Xuzhou could be redistributed land, and those willing to cultivate wasteland could also obtain private land, with the imperial court supplying them with this year's rations.

This would save grain for the villagers and allow them to acquire more land, so many people signed up.

Xuzhou has been restored to stability during this period. However, due to the tragic incident in which Zhang Chao, Chen Gui, Xu Qiu, Xu Sheng, Mi Fang, and others caused the Sishui River to stop flowing, each family has become enemies with the others. Liu Bei has made new arrangements for them.

After all, the dead believers were all from various families in Xuzhou.

Zhang Chao was transferred to Linzi and appointed as the Grand Herald, responsible for supervising the laws and regulations of the Yuezhi monks, which was considered a promotion.

However, none of the Nine Ministers in Linzi held real power.

The Court of State Ceremonies of Qingzhou had really nothing to do; it could only receive foreign guests from foreign countries. Even matters concerning the princes or presiding over ceremonies were not under Zhang Chao's jurisdiction.

As for foreign guests, for the time being, they are only Buddhist monks from the Yuezhi Kingdom.

The method of receiving them was to lock them in dungeons to rewrite the Buddhist scriptures, reorganize the Buddhist religion into a demonic religion, and publish it as a book to support Jia Xu in order to wage a cultural war against the Western Regions.

The reorganized Floating Pagoda Cult is a purely anti-human cult, and its interpretation is entirely based on the existing doctrines of the Floating Pagoda Cult.

In essence, it expresses the idea that the Western Regions Buddhist demons are skilled at bewitching people's hearts. In order to exterminate the human spirit in the Central Plains, they trick people into converting to evil ways, wanting them to sever their seven emotions and six desires, stop reproducing, stop thinking about work, and offer everything to the evil cult monks...

In order to seek a better afterlife, they betray their ancestors, abandon their wives and children, forsake their families and businesses, and sever all human relationships... and so on.

In short, he is unrighteous, disloyal, and unfilial, and all of these traits align with the doctrines of Buddhism.

Normal people would never believe in such a thing; even the bumps on the heads of pagodas would be called malignant tumors.

Zhang Chao essentially became the chief editor of the "Buddha's Demon Scripture," using a whip to force foreign guests from the Kushan Empire to write jokes in a dark room.

Zhang Chao was the most ruthless member of the Buddhist sect in the massacre. He killed more than 3,000 people in Xiapi. Since he was not from Xuzhou, he was easily targeted for revenge. Liu Bei appointed him as the warden of the prison for foreign guests, which was also a way to protect him.

After being imprisoned in a dark room, many monks in the Yuezhi Kingdom committed suicide or self-harmed.

But this only confirms that cults do indeed bewitch people and lead them to their own destruction—the Yuezhi people are human too, and they were so deeply misled that they started to harm themselves. This cult is truly evil…

Hua Tuo and Xiuniang also brought a group of students to conduct research, saying they wanted to see the effects of the medicine and the differences between people of different races after using the same medicine.

We also need to see if suicide victims heal more slowly due to their mental state, and incidentally, we should also examine the differences in the body parts of foreign corpses.

The medical school is currently developing drugs, including battlefield first aid drugs and drugs for common injuries and illnesses, and is conducting clinical trials.

Anyway, the cult monks have no human rights, so Zhang Chao doesn't care whether these monks live or die. The Buddhist monks of the Futu Sect have become worthy of study.

Chen Deng's illness was temporarily cured; Hua Tuo used poison to make Chen Deng vomit a bunch of parasites.

Hua Tuo's use of medicine was indeed potent; he dared to use any kind of poison... More clinical research is definitely needed.

However, the poison could not cure Chen Deng's illness, and the poison could not be used continuously, otherwise it would completely ruin Chen Deng's already disordered liver and kidneys. Chen Deng's illness was not just caused by parasites, and it might relapse in the future.

However, as of now, Chen Deng has recovered and returned to Xiapi.

Chen Gui went into seclusion in Hailing, refusing to hold any official position, and wisely allowed the Chen family to split into smaller households. This was not a division of the clan, but rather the division of the family into smaller households, abandoning the large clan manor model.

Chen Gui was indeed a clever man. He knew that Liu Bei would eventually not tolerate a large local clan like the Chen family with tens of thousands of households, and that the Chen family's excessive landholdings would easily lead to conflicts with the government-run farms.

In order to ensure the survival of his family, Chen Gui simply followed the example of Liu Yuanqi of Zhuojun and divided all the family's land among the various branches of the family.

Chen Gui was very perceptive, and Liu Bei immediately reciprocated by appointing Chen Deng as the governor of Guangling, in charge of matters related to land reclamation and settlement.

Mi Zhu, the original Agricultural Commandant, was transferred to be the Prefect of Xiapi and concurrently supervised the grain transport in Xuzhou. The seat of Xuzhou was also moved to Xiapi, while Zhang Fei remained the Governor of Xuzhou.

Mi Fang was transferred to Ji Province to serve as Guan Yu's assistant.

Xu Qiu was transferred to the position of Grand Master of Ceremonies, becoming the head of the Nine Ministers, but like Zhang Chao, he had no real power.

The Grand Master of Ceremonies was originally in charge of national etiquette and culture, but under Liu Bei, the Grand Master of Ceremonies was only the director of the etiquette and culture office. Cultural and educational affairs were managed by Cai Yong and Xu Shu, while Liu Bei himself was in charge of ancestral temple rites and laws. Xu Qiu had nothing to do at all.

Xu Sheng was transferred to Hefei and appointed as the magistrate of Hefei, under the control of Taishi Ci.

The Xu family of Guangling were not as astute as Chen Gui, and Liu Bei treated them very differently.

The climate in Xuzhou was alright, and spring plowing in various official villages went relatively smoothly. Moreover, Chen Deng and Mi Zhu provided a lot of plump rice grains as seeds.

Rice wasn't considered a high-yield crop back then, but its yield was still much higher than that of millet.

This year's grain supply can only come from Xuzhou.

Liu Bei predicted that Qingzhou would see a 30% reduction in production this year, Jizhou would likely see a reduction of more than half, and as for Youzhou... he feared there would be no harvest at all.

……

Late February.

Sowing should have started in mid-February.

However, the climate in the entire north shows no signs of improvement; not only has the weather not warmed up, but there has also been less snowfall than in previous years.

Sowing has been impossible in the entire Youzhou region.

If the soil temperature is too low, it's all for naught to plant anything; it simply won't sprout.

Liu Yu was very anxious.

If Youzhou was in such a state, then the northern part of Jizhou was certainly no better.

Youzhou already had a food shortage and had to rely on Jizhou for support. Now it's even more troublesome, as Jizhou itself may not have enough.

The northern nomadic people had an even harder time, as neither people nor horses could survive on the frozen ground.

For the Xianbei and Wuhuan, the only way to survive was to migrate south and plunder the lands of the Han Dynasty.

This, of course, means war.

Liu Yu had a good relationship with the Hu people, and the Hu people had not invaded in the past two years.

But this year is different.

Xianyu Fu sent a report from Lulong Pass that the Wuhuan army was launching a fierce attack and was in large numbers, requesting reinforcements.

Xu Rong, the governor of Youbeiping, was engaged in a major battle with the Xianbei people in the Xuwushan area and was unable to help Xianyu Fu.

Hu people have invaded the northern part of Yuyang, and Xianyu Fu's younger brother, Xianyu Yin, is trying to stop them.

Nanlou, the leader of the Wuhuan people in Shanggu, also requested assistance from Liu Yu, hoping to exchange warhorses for grain.

But Liu Yu really had no food to give...

Liu Yu sent Yan Rou as an envoy to the Wuhuan, hoping to resolve the issue peacefully.

However, after Yan Rou returned, he said that the Wuhuan people were out of control. Although the Shanggu Wuhuan still regarded Yan Rou as a friend and Liu Yu as a benevolent ruler, they could not even see a single sheep in their tribe anymore.

This is no longer a question of whether the Wuhuan of Shanggu are willing to be friendly. Even the Han people, when they have no food, can only resort to raiding and plundering.

The Wuhuan of Shanggu attacked Zhuojun, and Qi Zhou, a subordinate of Liu Yu, was defeated by Nanlou at Xihe and could only retreat to Zhuo County.

Previously, Liu Bei had written a letter advising Liu Yu to change his attitude towards the Hu people, to focus on military preparedness, and to abandon any thoughts of friendship with the Xianbei and Wuhuan.

However, Liu Yu did not want to give up all his previous efforts. In the past few years in Youzhou, he had finally gained the trust of the Hu people and was even able to govern Shanggu County normally. Moreover, he had reclaimed Guangning and established a trade market there.

If there were a few more years, perhaps the Wuhuan people in the west could have completely become subjects of the Han Dynasty, and the Xianbei people would have honestly started doing business.

But now...

Liu Yu had no choice but to quickly ask Guan Yu for help.

……

Guan Yu received a series of letters requesting reinforcements from Xianyu Fu, Liu Yu, Xu Rong, and others.

The situation in Youzhou is critical, and the Hu people are all desperately heading south.

Guan Yu originally planned to send the entire army to Youbeiping to reinforce the area, but then he received news from Xu Huang and Heishan.

Xu Huang sent a message from Wei Commandery that Guo Tai of Baibo Valley, in alliance with Yufuluo of the Southern Xiongnu, had gathered an army of 100,000 and launched a sudden attack in the dead of winter, successively capturing Taiyuan and Shangdang Commandery.

Last year, Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu transferred most of his elite troops to Nanyang to deal with Sun Jian, leaving the greenhorns guarding Bingzhou to be unable to withstand the attack.

Niu Fujun abandoned the entire Bingzhou and retreated to Hanoi.

Guo Tai then swiftly marched south and invaded Hedong. Ufulo invaded Hanoi.

Heishan Commandant Yang Feng was originally still resisting at Jiguan, but Niu Fu's troops behind him abandoned the counties of Henan and retreated to the Yellow River, resulting in Yang Feng being attacked from both sides.

Yang Feng was trapped at Jiguan Pass with nowhere to go and had no choice but to surrender to Guo Tai again.

Fortunately, their past friendship remained intact, and Guo Tai did not kill Yang Feng, but instead ordered Yang Feng to lead his troops into Black Mountain to ambush and kill Zhang Yan.

In Guo Tai's view, if Zhang Yan were eliminated, the Black Mountain Army could be won over in the name of the Taiping Dao.

Yang Feng knew this was impossible. The Black Mountain Army was different now than it had been a few years ago. Even if Zhang Yan died, the Black Mountain Army would no longer be Yellow Turbans.

But that's just how Guo Tai thinks; fixed mindsets really don't make sense.

Yang Feng had been living west of Black Mountain for many years and was also the Black Mountain Commandant, so he was quite familiar with the roads and people there.

Moreover, Zhang Yan was unaware that Yang Feng had been captured at the time.

If Yang Feng retreats into Heishan under the pretext of seeking reinforcements, he will indeed have a great chance of attacking Zhang Yan.

But Yang Feng knew the consequences of doing so. Over the years, Zhang Yan had managed things well in Heishan and had maintained a good relationship with Liu Bei. Now Heishan was practically considered part of Taihang County, and many of the Heishan tribesmen had moved to the western part of Wei County to farm.

Xu Huang was doing this kind of work when he was stationed in Wei Commandery to cultivate land. Zhang Yan was also willing to ensure that his brothers had enough to eat. Liu Bei's policies were relatively mild, and his taxes were reasonable, so everyone benefited.

Zhang Yan is a legitimate general of the Han Dynasty, and the Black Mountain Army is no longer just bandits.

A sneak attack to kill Zhang Yan might be possible, but doing so would certainly kill Yang Feng as well.

So Yang Fengming openly agreed to Guo Tai's request, but secretly sent messages to Zhang Yan and Xu Huang.

Subsequently, Yang Feng entered Black Mountain, and Zhang Yan led his troops to intercept Guo Tai's forces in the mountains, so the assassination attempt failed.

In order to regain Guo Tai's trust, Zhang Yan even "pursued" Yang Feng out of the mountains and then set up a battleground in the Hanoi-Chaoge area to fight Guo Tai.

Xu Huang led his troops through the Fukou Pass to reinforce Zhang Yan, but encountered a large Southern Xiongnu force in the Shexian area. He then sent a letter to Guan Yu requesting reinforcements.

Yang Feng knew the enemy's situation. The White Wave Army and the Southern Xiongnu had joined forces and their strength was indeed 100,000 men, especially the Southern Xiongnu, who could be said to have mobilized their entire tribe.

Both Youzhou and Hanoi needed reinforcements, so Guan Yu had no choice but to divide his forces.

Zhang He was in charge of the Youzhou war zone and led Bai Yao and Zhang Rao to reinforce Youzhou. This was all the troops in northern Jizhou, totaling about 10,000 men, and they were relatively close to Youzhou.

Guan Yu then led his 5,000 elite troops across Jingxing Pass, through the Taihang Mountains, and circled around to Taiyuan, intending to launch an attack from behind the White Wave Army and the Southern Xiongnu.

Although it may seem far-fetched, it is actually the most reasonable course of action – even if the enemy numbered 100,000, Guan Yu was still considering how to annihilate them all.

Xu Huang's forces are insufficient, but he should be able to block the Fukou Pass, although the losses may be significant.

With the terrain as their base and Yang Feng acting as an inside agent, Zhang Yan should be able to hold out in Chaoge.

Guan Yu's flanking attack could very well wipe out the Southern Xiongnu and the White Wave Army.

This arrangement is not a big problem; Guan Yu's military prowess is beyond question.

However, once this large-scale battle began, the entire Bingzhou, Heishan, as well as Hedong, Henan, Weijun and other places, were unable to farm normally.

Jizhou is unusually cold this year, and there is little usable arable land around the Taihang Mountains, resulting in low grain yields. The entire area around the Taihang Mountains will be in a state of food shortage.

……

In the Youzhou war zone, Zhang He quickly arrived at Youbeiping, joined forces with Xu Rong, and defeated the Xianbei people, beheading three thousand and achieving a great victory.

Xu Rong and Bai Yao immediately reinforced Lulong Fortress.

Zhang He was transferred to Zhuojun to deal with the Wuhuan Nanlou tribe in Shanggu.

Zhang Rao entered Lingzhi in western Liaoning and sealed off the Ru River.

But Tadun probably mobilized all the Wuhuan people.

The number of Wuhuan people north of Lulong Pass appears to be at least 50,000. Most of them did not ride horses, and some even went to the battlefield with only a wooden stick with a stone blade attached.

Xianyu Fu struggled to defend the city and suffered heavy casualties. Fortunately, Tian Yu had built a strong fortification of Lulong Pass, otherwise Xianyu Fu would likely have been wiped out by sheer numbers.

Although the Lulong Pass was stabilized with the reinforcements of Xu Rong and Bai Yao, the huge disparity in numbers meant that it was unlikely to end the battle quickly.

After arriving in Xihe, Zhang He also faced a tough battle. The Wuhuan of Shanggu mobilized all their forces, and their numbers were impossible to count. Zhang He could only defend the city and try his best to protect the various counties of Zhuojun.

Throughout Hebei, almost all the troops of both non-Han and Han people were engaged in battle.

This harsh winter has ignited a full-scale war.

……

At this time, a fleet sailed to the southwestern part of Liaoning, at the mouth of the Ru River.

At this time, Zhang Rao was leading his troops to blockade the Wuhuan people in the Rushui River Valley.

The area around Lulong Pass is blocked by mountains, but the downstream section of the Ru River near the Bohai Bay is passable.

This area used to be full of swamps, but after the extreme cold weather caused the entire area to freeze over, the swamps also became traversable.

Indeed, a large number of Wuhuan people detoured to western Liaoning.

In those days, there was no Shanhaiguan Pass, and the Ru River was completely frozen over with extremely thick ice, so that the Wuhuan people could even ride horses across the river.

It was already difficult for Zhang Rao to hold the Ru River, but suddenly he received a report from a scout that a force was approaching from the direction of the Ru River estuary behind him.

The troops weren't flying any flags, but judging from their attire, they were Han Chinese.

Zhang Rao initially thought it was reinforcements from some Han army force, so he sent his men to inquire, but they never returned.

Zhang Rao realized something was wrong and intended to retreat, but at that moment, thousands of Wuhuan cavalry charged over from the north, and they all looked to be elite troops.

Retreat is not an option when facing elite cavalry.

While Zhang Rao was being held back by the Wuhuan people and engaged in fierce fighting, the Han Chinese troops appeared behind him and launched a surprise attack.

Zhang Rao originally intended to send a messenger to inform Zhang He of the situation, but being attacked from both sides, the messengers he sent were intercepted and killed one after another by the Wuhuan cavalry.

Moreover, more and more Wuhuan cavalry are taking a detour.

Knowing that he could not retreat, Zhang Rao did not beg for mercy or back down. Instead, he kept shouting "Kill the Hu!" and fought desperately to kill the enemy.

After a day of fierce fighting, he finally collapsed from exhaustion and died on the frozen surface of the water.

……

"This person's name is Zhang Rao?"

The leader of the Wuhuan people asked.

"...His name is Zhang Yao, the Yao of Yao and Shun."

The Han Chinese leader dismounted, stood before Zhang Rao's body, and bowed in respect.

This was actually a high-ranking official, Yuan Shao's nephew.

"He's quite a hero..."

The leader of the Wuhuan army was none other than Tadun himself: "Gao Gan, should we head straight for Ji County or head south to Ji Province? The counties of Ji Province are already vulnerable..."

"You may call me by my courtesy name Yuancai, or you may call me General. But if you call me by my given name again, I will kill you!"

The high-ranking official looked very displeased: "Go wherever you want, I will only take Youzhou..."

After saying this, Gao Gan ordered his personal guards to collect Zhang Rao's body: "Preserve his body with ice and send it to Linzi to be handed over to Liu Bei."

"Why did General Gao do this? He killed someone and then sent the body back. Is this a custom in Han China?"

Tadun has indeed changed his title; it seems he simply lacks manners, not that he looks down on high-ranking officials.

"...fearless, unyielding, fighting to the last moment...such heroes, whether friend or foe, should all have their souls sent home so that they may be worshipped."

Gao Gan turned around and mounted his horse: "Even if we are enemies and each of us uses every means at our disposal, we must not lose the etiquette of the Han people."

(End of this chapter)