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

Chapter 427 The Unexpected Negotiation

After Gao Gan disappeared and Nan Lou was killed, the main force of the Wuhuan retreated to Shanggu County, while the remaining troops of Gao Gan retreated to Guangyang.

The enemy troops weren't stupid; none of them were willing to fight Liu Bei to the bitter end.

Along the way, not only was Fanyang relieved, but there were no more enemies outside Zhuoxian City.

Even the Wuhuan people who were originally stationed in Xihe retreated.

Logically speaking, defeating an enemy army of 50,000 and beheading the Wuhuan king Nanlou in a single battle should have put one in a good mood.

But Liu Bei was in a bad mood when he returned to his hometown.

The scene in Zhuoxian was even worse than in Fanyang.

Most of the houses inside the city were demolished, and the wood and bricks were used for the city defense. There were stones everywhere outside the city walls, and dried bloodstains were everywhere on the battlements.

The ground beneath the city walls had become sticky, and the corpses lay unburied, their armor stripped away, bones and rotting flesh piled up beneath the walls, the remains a jumbled mess, making it impossible to distinguish friend from foe.

The city gates were all charred black, a testament to the fire.

However, the doorway was completely blocked, and it took two full days of digging to reopen it.

Zhang He was as emaciated as Xianyu Yin, with at least a dozen arrow wounds all over his body.

Their troops originally had a large number of cavalry, but at this moment, there were not a single horse left in Zhuo County; they had eaten them all while defending the city.

Whether inside or outside the city, the remaining population is no more than two or three out of ten.

From Zhongshan Lunu all the way to Zhuoxian, Liu Bei did not see any villages or towns where anyone lived; there were only empty houses and a mess everywhere.

The entire Zhuojun County looked almost empty.

The bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no cock crowing for thousands of miles.

This was not a massacre.

Neither the Wuhuan of Shanggu nor Gao Gan's troops carried out any pointless massacres.

The Wuhuan people's main objective was to plunder resources, while Gao Gan's main objective was to coerce people into opposing Liu Bei.

However, the actual damage caused to Zhuojun by looting and coercion was far greater than that caused by the massacre.

The seven counties of Zhuojun originally had 48,000 households and 250,000 people. Even after Zhang Chun's rebellion, the population did not decrease significantly.

Judging from the current situation, it would be good if Zhuojun had 50,000 people left.

Those who were able to remain in Zhuojun were all those with families to rely on, specifically those families that had been coerced by high-ranking officials.

The others either became skeletons outside the city or fled elsewhere.

No one knows how many people will die in the wilderness during the escape, and no one will record it.

And what's most infuriating is...

After Xu Miao arrived with Zhang Nan, Ma Yan, and others, he whispered a few words of inside information to Liu Bei.

Each county had been recruited by members of Liu Bei's clan.

After Liu Yu's death, Gao Gan went to Zhuo County. In order to protect the ancestral tombs, Liu Yuanqi led his clansmen in a battle and was subsequently captured.

After Liu Yuanqi was captured, the first to surrender were the Liu family of Zhuo County.

Subsequently, Liu Bei's uncle Liu Zijing and others were sent by Gao Gan to various parts of Youzhou to persuade them to surrender, just as Liu Deran was sent to Jizhou.

It was precisely because the Liu family had all surrendered that Zhang Nan, Ma Yan, and others decided to surrender to the enemy.

Especially Ma Yan, whose father died on the battlefield. Originally, Ma Yan would rather die than surrender to Gao Gan, but since Liu Bei's uncles had all surrendered, Ma Yan lost his confidence.

Otherwise, Gao Gan wouldn't have been able to so quickly control most of Youzhou.

Only Zhang He understood Liu Bei, which is why he persevered through gritted teeth.

Xianyu Yin, on the other hand, refused to surrender to the enemy because Liu Yu had died.

The people in Youbeiping were also quite stubborn. Qian Zhao, Xu Rong, Xianyu Fu, Bai Yao and others were all holding out to the death, and there was no news of anyone surrendering.

Moreover, after Liu Bei arrived in Zhuo County, Liu Zijing actually criticized Liu Bei severely.

“The traitors have made you their enemy, yet the people of Youzhou have suffered so much. This is all your fault!”

Relying on his seniority over Liu Bei, Liu Zijing spoke very rudely: "More than half of my clan has perished! This great calamity is all due to your misdeeds!"

No one expected Liu Zijing to lose his temper like this after Liu Bei's great victory.

Liu Bei hadn't expected this either.

"What sins did my paternal uncle refer to?"

Liu Bei looked coldly at Liu Zijing: "What sins have I committed?"

"In order to seize power, you have slaughtered countless people and committed numerous evil deeds, making enemies of the people and putting your own clan in danger. Isn't that a sin?!"

Liu Zijing roared, his beard bristling and eyes wide, "To protect the graves of your ancestors, countless members of your clan have died! Many have been held hostage by bandits, all because the bandits want to fight you! If you could be kind to others, how could Youzhou have fallen into such a state?!"

"...I have committed countless murders and many evil deeds?"

Liu Bei nodded expressionlessly: "Yes... in your eyes it is indeed a bad regime. But Liu Bo'an has always been kind to others and has never fought with anyone, but have the bandits ever let Liu Bo'an go?"

Upon hearing Liu Bei mention Liu Yu, Liu Zijing seemed even angrier: "Liu Bo'an appointed members of his clan as officials, yet he neglected military affairs and could not protect my clansmen..."

"Brother Zijing! That's an overstatement!"

Liu Yuanqi frowned and stopped Liu Zijing from continuing.

It's acceptable to criticize Liu Bei, after all, Liu Zijing was indeed Liu Bei's elder.

However, it was unacceptable to scold Liu Yu, as he would rather die than submit to the enemy's coercion, and no one could speak ill of him.

Among the Liu family in Zhuo County, the one most closely related to Liu Bei by blood is Liu Zijing. Liu Bei's grandfather and Liu Zijing's father were brothers, making Liu Zijing Liu Bei's cousin.

Liu Zijing is not old, nor is he considered an elder in the clan; he is currently under fifty years old.

Liu Yuanqi was the elder of the clan, a direct descendant, and was quite distant from Liu Bei.

However, Liu Bei had already broken away from the clan, and Liu Yuanqi was a reasonable person who would not act arrogantly or boss Liu Bei around.

There must be a reason why Liu Zijing, who belonged to the same branch of the family as Liu Bei, was so dissatisfied with Liu Bei.

In Liu Bei's regime, one had to rely on ability to become an official. The Liu family of Zhuojun, including Liu Zijing, did not intend to take the examination route.

With Liu Bei's name on their side, Liu Yu would naturally recruit them, so they wouldn't need to work hard under Liu Bei anymore, nor would they need to leave their hometowns to go to Qingzhou.

Once people have a shortcut, they certainly won't take the long way around anymore.

Liu Yu appointed most of Liu Bei's clan members as officials, and several of them held high-ranking positions that did not require them to do any work.

For example, Liu Zijing himself was an official in charge of the governorship.

But people are never satisfied...

Once they have a leisurely official position, they will want to get their hands on more power and benefits.

There are still many vacant high-ranking official positions in the court on Liu Bei's side...

However, when Liu Bei took control of the government, he implemented a civil service examination system but did not promote any of his clansmen to official positions... This was, of course, seen as a 'bad policy' by the clansmen.

It is indeed true that Liu Bei's enemies used his family and ancestral graves to coerce him.

Many members of Liu Bei's clan did indeed die trying to protect their ancestral tombs.

If Liu Bei hadn't used himself as bait to lure Gao Gan into sending troops to pursue him, but instead engaged in a direct battle, he would have faced even more coercion, and his entire clan might have been wiped out.

But to say that all of this is Liu Bei's responsibility would be to falsely accuse him.

When Liu Yu was in charge of Youzhou, Liu Bei had already transferred Qian Zhao and Xu Rong to Youzhou in advance to avoid any problems in the province.

Xianyu Fu also stayed in Youzhou.

These are all generals familiar with the situation in Youzhou, and they all have rich experience. They would not clash with Liu Yu. Under normal circumstances, even if the Xianbei and Wuhuan launched a large-scale southward invasion, Youzhou could completely withstand it.

Even now, with all the Wuhuan tribes invading the Han Dynasty, Qian Zhao still firmly controls the Yuyang Wuhuan. He even used the Yuyang Wuhuan to resist Gongsun Du's troops in Wuzhong.

Before Zhang Yao was killed, Youzhou was able to withstand the enemy's attack.

However, it was unforeseen that Gao Gan and Gongsun Du would collude with the Wuhuan to attack Zhang Yao by sea and rapidly devastate Youzhou through coercion.

Liu Bei reacted quickly, immediately leading his army north to provide support.

Despite encountering obstacles in both Jieqiao and Zhongshan, they overcame them in the fastest possible way.

In this situation, only people with warped values ​​would criticize Liu Bei...

But that's often how things are.

Truly evil people are not condemned, because evil people really do kill.

Only morally upright people can be morally blackmailed.

"Master Zijing only knows how to blame others, but what have you done?!... If no one in the clan had surrendered, and all fought to the death like Xianyu, Lu Shi, or Zhang Junyi, how could Youzhou be in such a state?"

Liu Bei was in a bad mood, and he stopped addressing his paternal uncle as "father," his tone becoming increasingly cold.

Liu Zijing continued vehemently, "If you had sent a large army here earlier, how could the bandits have seized Youzhou? You are in charge of the court, yet you cannot even protect your own hometown and clansmen. More than half of our clansmen have perished. What else can we do but surrender?! Are we all supposed to die here..."

"enough!!"

Liu Bei's weariness turned into rage: "The Lu family suffered heavy casualties in Fanyang, with less than one in ten of their clansmen surviving, yet none of them surrendered! Xianyu Yin fought to the death for months, his troops almost all killed or wounded, yet he did not surrender! Junyi defended the city for more than two months, without food for over a month, killing horses for food to defend the isolated city, yet he did not surrender!!"

"Liu Zijing, you are also an official of Youzhou, a Han official, and you too have a duty to defend this land... Moreover, this is your hometown! What right do you have to surrender?!"

"I have traveled thousands of miles to provide reinforcements, fighting several battles along the way, defeating tens of thousands of enemies, and suffering countless casualties... In order to get here as soon as possible, I have used myself as bait in every battle, always charging ahead!"

Liu Bei pointed to his wounds: "Now that I've arrived and the enemy has retreated... I haven't punished you for betraying the enemy, yet you still have the nerve to accuse me?!"

"You didn't fight to the death for your homeland, handing the city and your people over to the enemy, causing Zhuojun to refuse to resist and allowing the enemy to quickly coerce you... and yet you still stand here arguing?!"

In fact, Liu Bei never had any illusions about his clansmen.

But he never expected his people to treat him this way.

"You! Liu Bei!"

Liu Zijing continued shouting, "If you had come earlier, so many people wouldn't have died! If you hadn't come, so many people wouldn't have died! You..."

"Shut up!!"

Liu Bei stepped forward and delivered a heavy slap to Liu Zijing, knocking him to the ground: "If I hadn't come, Youzhou would have become a land for the barbarians to graze their horses! You dare not fight the barbarians, yet you dare to scold me here... Is it because I am easier to bully?!"

"...You disobedient and unfilial brat, how dare you treat me like this..."

Liu Zijing trembled all over; he probably never imagined that Liu Bei would dare to hit him.

"You helped the enemy to coerce the villagers, and you still dare to discuss the laws and etiquette of the Han Dynasty with me?"

Liu Bei turned his back and beckoned to Xu Miao: "It seems that Liu Zijing has been poisoned by the bandits and has gone mad. He can't even distinguish between the Han and the Hu people... Send him to Ji County and see if we can exchange him for your Xu family members."

"Liu Bei! Do you want to get me killed?!"

Liu Zijing was both flustered and furious: "You show no mercy to your relatives, this is utterly immoral..."

“You’ve already said I’m immoral… so be it.”

Liu Bei didn't want to talk to Liu Zijing anymore, so he waved his hand and told Qu Yi to take the man away quickly.

Qu Yi glanced at Liu Bei's indifferent eyes, then at Liu Zijing, and said nothing. He then led Liu Zijing towards Ji County.

Behind him, all the generals remained silent.

Guan Yu stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Brother, I was also questioned by ignorant scholars in Jinyang. There are many idiots in this world, so there is no need to take it to heart."

"I don't mind these kinds of people..."

Liu Bei turned his head: "I am heartbroken that so many loyal and brave soldiers of the Han Dynasty have died, while cowardly people who dare not fight have survived. The enemy wants to control my people. If I can exchange a member of my clan like Liu Zijing for loyal and brave men, then that would be a great merit..."

Guan Yu sighed: "Brother, I'm afraid you'll bear the blame..."

"Let them curse."

Liu Bei smiled sarcastically: "Anyway, someone will criticize us."

……

A few days later, Liu Bei held a funeral for the fallen heroes in Zhuo County.

The dead, including Zhang He and Xianyu Yin's troops, as well as the subordinates of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, and others, were all regarded as martyrs.

Those who survived will not only receive commendations, but will also be qualified to study at the Linzi Military Academy, and wounded soldiers will serve as instructors.

Many of the wounded soldiers under Zhang He and Xianyu Yin were not highly skilled in tactics, but they fought to the death without surrendering after being besieged for months. This in itself was the highest level of tactical skill, and the spirit of perseverance is always more important than technique.

The troops that had surrendered to the high-ranking officials would all serve as the vanguard, using the heads of the enemy to atone for their past sins.

If there are any gains, the head of the guilty can still be credited as usual.

However, if no victory is achieved by the end of the entire war between the Han and the Hu people, then a crime must be committed.

Corporals and above were beheaded, while others were forced into hard labor.

Yes, that seems unfair...

But there is no such thing as fairness in this world.

Liu Bei did not use force or coercion, but gave them an opportunity and a way to atone for their sins and make meritorious contributions. Those who were squad leaders or above were fully capable of making meritorious contributions to atone for their sins, as long as they were willing to work hard.

Ordinary soldiers may indeed be unable to atone for their sins and perform meritorious service, either because they are cowardly and lack courage, or because they lack ability.

Then do manual labor, like the people from the Tian family and the Liu family of Zhongshan.

A hero with both ability and courage is likely to reap the rewards.

Liu Bei would not use people for wealth, nor would he kill indiscriminately, but everyone has their place, and the cowardly should only do hard labor.

After the funeral, Liu Bei received news from Ji County.

In Ji County, Xu Mao was indeed released, but Liu Zijing was detained.

Moreover, Liu Yi, the garrison commander of Ji County, planned to negotiate with Liu Bei.

Liu Yi was not famous in the Central Plains, but he was very famous in Liaodong.

This is Gongsun Du's trusted general. He and Yang Yi are Gongsun Du's right and left hands and can directly represent Gongsun Du.

The news that Liu Yi was trying to negotiate was brought back by Xu Mao.

Xu Mao told Liu Bei that Liu Yi was not very willing to cooperate with Tadun and often clashed with Tadun's men.

Liu Yi wanted Liu Bei to publicly recognize Gongsun Du's legitimate official position in the name of the imperial court, appoint Gongsun Du as the governor of Youzhou, and Liu Yi as the general to suppress bandits and oversee military affairs in Youzhou.

If Liu Bei is willing, Liu Yi can lead Gongsun Du's troops to wipe out the Wuhuan.

Moreover, Liu Yi directly gave Liu Bei a message as a sign of sincerity...

Gongsun Du and Yuan Shao defeated Guan Hai at Sanshan Port (Dalian Bay) in Liaodong and seized many of Guan Hai's large ships.

Yuan Shao gathered pirates from Liaodong and formed a large navy, which was preparing to cross the sea to attack Qingzhou.

If Liu Bei does not agree to negotiations, as long as Liu Yi can hold back Liu Bei's main force in Ji County and delay the inevitable for a while, Qingzhou may not be able to be defended.

Moreover, Liu Yi directly gave Liu Bei the current location of Tadun, who was besieging and attacking Qianzhao in Youbeiping Wuzhong.

Similarly, if Liu Yi had held Liu Bei back for a while, Qian Zhao would likely have been trapped among tens of thousands of troops.

(End of this chapter)