The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 366 Zhuge Liang's advance is unstoppable; he intends to persuade Zang Ba to surrender to Liu Bei (3rd update)
Zhuge Liang's move was like cutting off the fuel supply, which made Cheng Yu on the city wall furious: This country bumpkin!

Cheng Yu had just used the killings to intimidate disloyal officials in the city, but Zhuge Liang retaliated by giving him a grand funeral.

Normally, Cheng Yu wouldn't have cared about Zhuge Liang's actions; how could the grace of a grand burial compare to the threat of a butcher's knife?

Given the current turbulent situation and Cao Cao's already weak control over Qingzhou, Zhuge Liang's act of offering a lavish funeral further weakened Cheng Yu's resolve to strike.

Seeing the looks in the eyes of the officials around him, Cheng Yu had no choice but to issue another strict order, and ordered his trusted men to lead axemen to patrol the city walls and below, to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to sneak open the city gates.

However, Zhuge Liang did not take Cheng Yu of Linzi seriously. Seeing that Cheng Yu was defending the city and not coming out, Zhuge Liang did not linger in Linzi. Instead, he directly led his troops south to Dongguan County and put the banner of General Liu of the Left on all the cities along the way.

In fact, Zhuge Liang did not leave a single soldier behind, and he did not make things difficult for anyone who was willing to change their allegiance.

This move made Huang Zhong wonder: "Strategist, if we don't leave troops behind, the counties might switch allegiance to Cao Cao again."

Zhuge Liang smiled, fanning himself: "Hansheng only knows one side of the story. Whether he surrenders to the Left General or to Cao Cao, it's merely a matter of the people of the counties trying to save their lives. Why force it? What I seek is not for the counties to be loyal to the Left General, but to remain neutral. The key to Qing and Xu lies not in the counties that surrender at the first sign of trouble, nor in Cheng Yu of Linzi, but in Zang Ba of Langya! If Zang Ba refuses to surrender, then Qing and Xu will not truly submit to the Left General."

In other words, there are now three military forces in the Qing and Xu regions: Cheng Yu's Cao troops, Zang Ba's private army, and Chen Deng's righteous army.

Now Chen Deng has raised his banner in support of Liu Bei, while Zang Ba has yet to make a statement. If Zang Ba does not surrender, even if Cheng Yu is defeated, the connection between Hebei and Xuzhou will not be restored.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang never considered confronting Cheng Yu in Linzi, but instead led his troops directly to Langya; once Zang Ba surrendered, Cheng Yu would be powerless to stop him in Linzi.

Zhuge Liang's army marched very quickly, and within a few days they had already entered Dongguan County, the seat of Dongguan Commandery.

By the time Yin Li, the governor of Dongguan, received the news, Zhuge Liang's troops were already less than ten miles away from the city!

"Quickly, request Prime Minister Zang to send troops!"

Yin Li was horrified. He organized his troops to defend the city while sending someone to Kaiyang to ask Zang Ba for help.

Dongguan City is located upstream of the Yi River, while Kaiyang City is located midstream of the Yi River. The two places are more than a hundred miles apart. Scouts can travel down the Yi River by boat and arrive in half a day.

Upon hearing that Zhuge Liang had besieged Dongguan, Zang Ba was greatly alarmed.

"Zhuge Liang has driven his troops to Dongguan. Could it be that Qingzhou has already fallen completely?" Zang Ba was hesitant and uncertain.

Zhuge Liang arrived too quickly, so much so that Zang Ba was unable to learn of the changes in Qingzhou in time.

After a moment's thought, Zang Ba ordered Wu Dun, the prefect of Licheng, to return to Kaiyang to guard against Chen Deng of Xiapi's northward advance. He also ordered Sun Guan, the chancellor of Beihai, and Sun Kang, the prefect of Chengyang, to come to Dongguan's aid. Zang Ba then personally led two thousand infantry and cavalry northward along the Yi River to Dongguan City, where they set up camp on the mountainside and waited for the brothers Sun Guan and Sun Kang to join forces.

Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang did not attack Dongguan City or ambush Zang Ba, but waited until Zang Ba had set up camp before sending a messenger.

The letter's content was also very clear: it urged Zang Ba to abandon darkness and embrace the light. Zang Ba neither agreed nor disagreed, only instructing the messenger to reply, "Let me consider it."

Zhuge Liang indeed gave Zang Ba time to consider, and only sent an envoy to inquire again after Sun Guan and Sun Kang led their troops to the outskirts of Dongguan.

With Sun Gui and Sun Kang joining forces, Zang Ba was more confident and directly led his troops to the front of Zhuge Liang's camp outside Dongguan City, inviting Zhuge Liang to speak. Zhuge Liang rode out into the fray, with Huang Zhong following with his bow.

"Zang Xiang has brought his troops here. Is it to surrender, or to fight?"

Zhuge Liang seemed to have anticipated this, showing no surprise as he gently waved his feather fan.

Zang Ba frowned as he scanned the army formation behind Zhuge Liang. Seeing the clearly distinguished banners and orderly ranks, he was also alarmed and exclaimed, "I am here to guard Langya by order of the court. How dare you, Military Advisor Zhuge, speak of surrender?"

The implication is that Zang Ba was appointed Chancellor of Langya by the imperial court, so he would not surrender to General Liu Bei. If the Chancellor of Langya were to surrender to General Liu Bei, it would be against the rules of the court.

Faced with Zang Ba's sophistry, Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "The Left General is acting on imperial orders to suppress the traitors. Anyone who aids Cao Cao is a rebel. Since Prime Minister Zang is stationed in Langya on the orders of the court, he is not a traitor. If he is not a traitor, why did he send troops to obstruct him?"

Zang Ba was momentarily speechless at Zhuge Liang's counter-question. After a brief silence, Zang Ba's tone softened: "Lord Cao was also ordered to punish the traitors and eliminate the disloyal. The lands of Qing and Xu have been in turmoil for a long time. I was ordered to protect the borders and the people and to end the fighting. Why is Military Advisor Zhuge leading such a large force into the country? Does he intend to reignite the war and cause further suffering to the people of Qing and Xu?"

This attempt to morally shift the blame onto Zhuge Liang might have boosted Zang Ba's prestige, but trying to reason with Zhuge Liang was tantamount to showing off one's limited skills before an expert.

Zhuge Liang was not afraid of Zang Ba's reasoned arguments, but rather of his silence. Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang burst into laughter and said, "Minister Zang is mistaken. The source of the chaos in the world lies in the traitor Cao Cao's manipulation of the emperor to command the feudal lords, his usurpation of power, his persecution of loyal officials, and his disruption of the social order. General Zuo is a member of the Han imperial family, and he has been ordered by the emperor to punish the traitor and rescue the people from their dire straits. This is the true way to secure the territory and protect the people! If Minister Zang truly wishes to secure this territory, he should assist General Zuo in eliminating the traitor as soon as possible. Only then can the world be at peace and the people live in peace and prosperity."

After a slight pause, Zhuge Liang's tone turned stern: "Now, General Zuo is leading a seven-pronged southern expedition, and the former subordinates of the Yuan family and the righteous men of Xuzhou have all raised their banners in response. I have come all the way from Pingyuan, and the Chancellor of Jinan has abandoned the city and fled. Cheng Yu killed officials to defend Linzi, and the counties along the way have surrendered without a fight. I am reluctant to kill Chancellor Zang because of our past friendship, but if Chancellor Zang insists on helping Cao Cao, I will have no choice but to fight him to the death here."

Zang Ba's expression changed several times.

I was initially shocked to hear that the Prime Minister of Jinan had abandoned the city and fled. Then I was shocked to hear that Cheng Yu had killed officials to defend the city. Finally, I was somber after hearing that the counties along the way had surrendered without a fight.

"Minister Zang, should we fight?"

The brothers Sun Guan and Sun Kang approached to inquire, their faces looking rather grim, clearly unwilling to fight Zhuge Liang to the death.

Last year, Cao Cao's northern expedition against Liu Bei failed, which greatly diminished Cao Cao's prestige in the eyes of the Sun brothers, Sun Guan and Sun Kang.

This year, Liu Bei launched a seven-pronged southern campaign, and Cao Cao received responses from many places in the rear. This led Sun Guan and Sun Kang to speculate that Cao Cao's power was inferior to Liu Bei's.

In particular, Zhuge Liang's speed in entering Qing and Xu was too fast!
Apart from Cheng Yu, who was still putting up a stubborn resistance in Linzi, almost no one dared to withstand Zhuge Liang's military might. This made the Sun brothers, Sun Guan and Sun Kang, even more doubtful about whether Cao Cao could continue to control Qing and Xu.

To talk about loyalty to these bandits from Mount Tai would be an overestimation of their character. How much loyalty could they possibly have after becoming thieves?
The reason why Zang Ba, Sun Guan and others have been able to hold their positions until now is not because of loyalty, but because they have military power that allows them to control a region. Even though they have changed masters several times, they can still stand firm between Qing and Xu.

(End of this chapter)