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

Chapter 413 Battle Situation
The rising sun had already peeked over the mountaintop, but it couldn't penetrate the thick, damp fog that enveloped the Boluojin Valley.

Daylight broke, but it grew even colder.

A string of bright dewdrops hung from the foxtail grass in the skull's eye socket, swaying and reflecting the footsteps of a group of black-armored soldiers.

Liu Bei led his army to this dilapidated camp in the Boluojin Mountains.

Qu Yi and Tian Feng are no longer here.

Only Liu Yuanqi and his son, along with dozens of elderly and infirm people, remained in the camp.

Liu Yuanqi looked injured, his complexion was poor, and he was somewhat hunched over.

Liu Deran helped him out of the camp and walked towards Liu Bei.

"Qu Yi and Tian Feng released you, presumably because they didn't want to fight me to the death... Where did they escape to?"

Liu Bei looked around at the surroundings and asked Liu Deran.

Liu Deran hesitated for a moment and did not speak.

"They have already retreated westward overnight, and it will probably be difficult to catch up."

Liu Yuanqi's voice was weak and feeble: "Xuande, many of our clansmen have already been recruited by Magistrate Feng. Do you intend to kill your own clansmen?"

"Feng Xun?"

Liu Bei's expression remained unchanged as he waved for Zhao Yun to lead the troops westward to search: "How could a mere governor of Yongzhou recruit people from Youzhou? Is he like my uncle, who kidnapped people's parents and then recruited their sons?"

"Yes...that's how it's used, but what can we do?"

Liu Yuanqi's expression was bitter: "The clansmen were all serving Liu Bo'an, but Liu Bo'an is dead..."

"Liu Bo'an is dead?!"

Liu Bei gritted his teeth: "How did he die? Has Youzhou completely fallen?"

"When Liu's wife and children were captured and his concubines were harmed by the Hu people, he angrily drew his sword to kill the Wuhuan chieftain Tadun... but was killed by Tadun..."

Liu Yuanqi told Liu Bei about the situation in Youzhou.

After Gao Gan and Tadun killed Zhang Yao, they bypassed the Ru River and attacked Ji County, forcing Liu Yu to declare himself emperor.

Liu Yu's wives, concubines, and children were all under Tadun's control, but they still resisted to the death.

After that, Gao Gan backed down and allowed Liu Yu to take charge of the affairs of the Imperial Secretariat as Grand Marshal and support "Liu Bian's posthumous son" to be enthroned, but Liu Yu still disagreed and preferred to die.

Seeing that Liu Yu was not afraid of death, Tadun tore the clothes of Liu Yu's wives and concubines in front of him, uttered foul language, and used violence to coerce him.

In a fit of rage, Liu Yu drew his sword and killed his own wives and concubines, then charged at Tadun with his sword raised.

Tadun was already threatening Liu Yu's son, Liu He, with a knife, and upon seeing this, he instinctively retaliated with a slash.

Liu Yu was hacked to death in the guesthouse in Ji County.

When Liu Yu died, Liu Bei had just received news of Zhang Yao's death in battle.

After Liu Yu's death, Tadun and Gaogan usurped the imperial edict by using Liu Yu's Grand Marshal seal to distribute seals to various Wuhuan tribes, allowing them to declare themselves kings, and also issued the Chanyu seal to Tadun.

Meanwhile, Nanlou, the Wuhuan chieftain of Shanggu, besieged Zhuoxian, and Zhang He and Xianyu Yin were trapped in the city by 20,000 troops.

Zhuo County was not captured, but Gongsun Du's subordinate Liu Yi and Liu Hui, a direct descendant of the Zhongshan Liu clan, jointly sent troops to Zhuo County, and the entire Zhuo County Liu clan fell into Liu Hui's hands.

Liu Hui hated Liu Bei for killing his father and attempted to dig up the tombs of Liu Bei's father and grandfather.

The Liu clan of Zhuojun had already split into several branches. Although most of them did not have a good impression of Liu Bei, they still tried to stop him from digging up his ancestral graves. It was during that time that Liu Yuanqi was injured.

Since they were all of the same clan, Liu Hui did not kill Liu Yuanqi and the others, nor did he dig up their graves. He only controlled the elderly and weak members of the Liu family in Zhuojun and, in his capacity as the governor of Yongzhou, forced the able-bodied members of the Liu family to join his army.

Afterwards, Liu Hui sent Yan Liang and Wen Chou to Julu to meet with Qu Yi and Tian Feng, attempting to quickly seize Jizhou and control the key area on the north bank of the Yellow River. If possible, they could also try to take Qingzhou directly.

Liu Hui and Liu Yi went to Wuzhong to deal with Qian Zhao—who was also Liu Hui's enemy.

At this time, Liu Bei led his troops to Qinghe, but was blocked at Jieqiao and remained in a stalemate for many days.

In fact, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and the others did not expect Liu Bei to appear in Qinghe so quickly; in reality, they were blocked by Liu Bei.

If the strategic goal of controlling Ji Province cannot be achieved, both Zhang Yan and Guan Yu and Zhang Liao will quickly return to their posts. If the war in Bing Province ends but You Province has not yet been captured, Liu Bei's side will quickly organize a large force to counterattack You Province.

Liu Hui believed that Liu Deran was close to Liu Bei, so he threatened the lives of the entire Liu family to force Liu Deran to negotiate with Liu Bei in an attempt to disrupt Liu Bei's plans.

Liu Deran did believe that Liu Xie was not Liu Hong's biological son, but he could not say that Liu Yu was dead, otherwise Liu Bei would definitely send all his troops, and the Liu family of Zhuojun would be forced to fight against Liu Bei.

Liu Hui's main purpose in sending Liu Deran to see Liu Bei was to use the ancestral tombs and the clansmen of Zhuojun to delay Liu Bei.

He actually succeeded, but provoking Liu Bei backfired, as Liu Bei preferred to fight to the death rather than be coerced.

Liu Bei remembered very clearly how Zhang Sheng was forced to become a ghost back then.

“Father, it’s not that I want to kill my clansmen… Why would Lord Bo’an rather die than be coerced? Doesn’t he care about his family? The country is in peril right now; if the country is not at peace, how can our families be safe?”

Liu Bei bowed to Liu Yuanqi and said, "My paternal uncle protects the graves of my father and grandfather. Is it merely out of kinship? This is the duty of the Han people! My paternal uncle is virtuous. I request that my paternal uncle be the head of the Liu clan... I am a general of the Han Dynasty. I cannot be coerced by barbarian bandits and traitors."

"Xuan De..."

Liu Yuanqi stretched out his hand, but seeing Liu Bei's resolute expression, he lowered it again: "Sigh..."

He knew he couldn't persuade him; the image of Liu Bei dumping tens of millions of coins outside Liu Family Fortress was still vivid in his mind.

Tian Feng and Qu Yi released Liu Yuanqi and his son, allowing Liu Bei to learn about the situation in Youzhou.

At this point, the situation in Youzhou was extremely urgent.

The Wuhuan Nanlou tribe of Shanggu continued to plunder in Zhuojun and besieged Zhang He.

Most of the Wuhuan tribe of Liaoxi, led by Tadun, were attacking Lulong Pass, but their elite troops all followed Tadun to Hejian to plunder.

Wu Yan, the chieftain of the Wuhuan tribe in Youbeiping, attacked Xu Rong's rear at Xuwushan. At this time, the situation of the battle was unclear.

Su Puyan, the Wuhuan chieftain of Liaodong, is attacking Shimen, while Bai Yao is defending Shimen Gorge.

The Han army that is still holding out in Youzhou is now completely divided and besieged, making it difficult for them to communicate with each other and almost impossible to send out messages for help.

Zhang He and Xianyu Yin were in Zhuo County, Qian Zhao was in Wuzhong, Xu Rong was in Xuwu Mountain, Xianyu Fu was in Lulong Pass, and Bai Yao was in Shimen.

If reinforcements cannot be delivered quickly, Gongsun Du and Liu Hui's troops will use their superior numbers to defeat the Han army piecemeal while the various tribes are defending against the Wuhuan and Xianbei.

Once Youzhou is completely under our control, and the enemy fully enters Jizhou, then it will be really difficult to fight them.

Fortunately, the boundary bridge has now been reopened, and Liu Bei's communication with the various tribes in Bingzhou, which had been cut off for many days, can be re-established. This is the most important thing.

Liu Bei quickly sent orders to all sides, mobilizing the troops of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and others, and requesting Zhang Yan to launch another northern expedition against Youzhou.

During the standoff at Jieqiao, news from the west could not reach Liu Bei and was easily intercepted by the enemy.

Of course, the enemy might not be able to understand the messages in Liu Bei's army, but with communication cut off and orders unable to be relayed, the various units would be less likely to act rashly, and the various units in Bingzhou certainly wouldn't know the situation in Youzhou.

Now that we can send messages, if the messenger doesn't make any mistakes, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Guan Yu should all appear on the Jixi Highway.

Therefore, Liu Bei once again divided his troops, sending Zhao Yun with all the cavalry to Xindu to meet Tian Yu, in order to prevent Yan Liang from making a comeback.

After defeating Xindu, Zhao Yun will head north along the Jidong road, with his cavalry heading straight for Youbeiping.

Liu Bei continued westward in pursuit of Qu Yi and Tian Feng's troops, taking the route along the Jixi Highway in order to reach Zhuojun more quickly and relieve the siege.

They had already sworn an oath to kill the barbarian invaders and eliminate the traitors. Unless Qu Yi and Tian Feng went to fight the barbarians immediately, Liu Bei would not hold back.

Liu Bei had no intention of recruiting them—he knew they were unlikely to genuinely submit to him.

However, since Tian Feng and Qu Yi released Liu Yuanqi and his son, Liu Bei was willing to give them a chance to live.

If they want to live.

……

In fact, Tian Feng and Qu Yi didn't run very far.

They were in Ren County, Julu, which is about 70 li (30 kilometers) west of Boluojin.

There was no other way; they had abandoned the Guangzong camp and were now out of supplies. The soldiers' personal provisions would only last for two days, so they had to seek resupply along the way.

They couldn't run very far at night anyway, but if they could run seventy li in one night and half a morning, then Qu Yi really had the talent to lead troops.

There are not many people living in Ren County now. Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled, there are not many residents around Julu County, and not a single commoner.

Right now, everyone in Ren County is in the city.

These are all Tian Feng's men. Ren County has been downgraded to a lower-level county. The county magistrate is named Tian Zhao, who was among the last batch of officials sold by Liu Hong before his death.

Ren County is now entirely owned by the Tian family. This land was divided among the gentry of Ji Province after the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled. At that time, various powerful families were encroaching on land, and the land in Julu County and the surrounding area was divided among more than a dozen large families.

The Tian family owns a large amount of land in Julu, Anping, and Bohai counties. In fact, it doesn't matter whether they buy the county magistrate position or not, but having a local official would be more convenient.

This is why Tian Feng was unwilling to let Liu Bei obtain Hebei; it was his family's wealth...

In fact, none of these aristocratic families understood Liu Bei.

Liu Bei didn't care how many people his clansmen were, how high their reputation was, or how many years of aristocratic families they had been... What Liu Bei cared about was how much land they controlled.

Liu Bei was open to anyone being wealthy, no matter how rich their family was, as long as it was earned through legitimate business.

Anyone who wants to become an official can take the exam according to the new rules. As long as they have achievements, everyone is treated the same. Liu Bei did not discriminate based on class background.

But one family shouldn't be allowed to occupy too much land.

The Tian family owned more than two million acres of land in various counties, but they could only support about ten thousand people, namely the thousand or so clansmen and tens of thousands of retainers and servants.

But if these lands were used as government-run military settlements, at least 200,000 people could be fed.

The Tian family had more than 3,000 servants in Ren County, and Tian Feng's troops were drawn from among them.

But the land in Ren County can support at least 60,000 people.

This is not determined by productivity.

　Note: Both the Book of the Later Han and the Records of the Three Kingdoms record that Yuan Shao forged an imperial edict to bestow titles upon Tadun, Nanlou, Supuyan, Wuyan, and others, all of whom were granted the seals and ribbons of the Chanyu (Xiongnu ruler).

　　Historically, when Yuan Shao dealt with Gongsun Zan, he did indeed bring in the Hu people to Youzhou, directly leading to the complete southward migration of the region. At the same time, his support of Liu Yu was also intended to sow discord between Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu, and to use this as a means to seduce the Hu people.

　　Although Gongsun Zan was rough and a bit crazy, he was truly effective at dealing with the Hu people.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)