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

Regarding the assessment of the current situation, Zhang Hong also leaned towards Zhou Yu's viewpoint, saying, "The court is in trouble; this is the time to help them and achieve merit. If we don't seize this opportunity now, when will we?"

Seeing that Zhang Zhao was about to speak, Zhang Hong interrupted him again, saying, "Zibu, I know you are worried, but Jiangdong is ultimately not a place to establish an empire, and it will eventually be destroyed by the warlords of the Central Plains. In that case, why can't we strike first and take Cao Cao's place? The father of the Marquis of Wu had the merit of defeating Dong Zhuo and rescuing the emperor, and Gongjin's uncle also had the merit of rescuing the emperor and returning east. I have also entered Xuchang to meet the emperor. If we lead our troops into Xuchang, the emperor will surely be pleased."

He then looked at Sun Quan and said, "Even if we cannot conquer Xuchang, we can still seize Huainan and Runan, and then turn to Xuzhou. Lord Wu can also achieve great things as a hegemon. If we sit on the sidelines in Jiangdong and watch the tigers fight, wouldn't we be missing a crucial opportunity? Moreover, Liu Biao is a conservative who didn't even dare to lead his troops north during the Battle of Guandu. How could he dare to compete with Lord Wu?"

Sun Quan, now young and ambitious, has inherited Sun Ce's wisdom, brave generals, and strong soldiers. Although he is not as adventurous as Sun Ce, he is eager to make achievements and establish his prestige.

Therefore, seeing that both Zhou Yu and Zhang Hong had chosen to attack Xuchang, Sun Quan, also filled with ambition, immediately decided: "In that case, Lord Zhang will remain in the east to guard Jiangdong, while Gongjin and I will go to Xuchang together."

Sun Quan addressed most of his civil and military officials by their courtesy names, but he uniquely addressed Zhang Zhao as "Lord Zhang" and Zhang Hong as "Eastern General," as a sign of respect.

Zhang Zhao no longer objected to this decision. Since both Zhou Yu and Zhang Hong supported the use of force, Zhang Zhao only needed to protect the rear for Sun Quan.

Soldiers are valuable and quick.

On one hand, Sun Quan sent Zhuge Jin to reply to Liu Bei, asking Liu Bei to make sure that Cao Cao's army was kept in Hebei. On the other hand, he gathered troops with Zhou Yu at Ruxukou, selected warships and elite soldiers, and sailed up the river to Shouchun. From Shouchun, they sailed along the Ying River directly into Yingchuan.

Because Sun Quan had the imperial edict appointing him as the governor of Xuzhou, and also had an imperial envoy present, Cao Cao's subordinate generals left in Huainan all assumed that Sun Quan was going to Xuzhou to attack Chen Deng, and let him pass through without any resistance.

However, after capturing Shouchun, Zhou Yu immediately took control of the civil and military officials there. He then issued a proclamation to Chen Deng of Xiapi and Chen Yu of Runan, proclaiming that they were responding to Liu Bei's edict to punish the rebels.

Chen Yu had originally fought his way to Qiang in southern Yingchuan, but was forced to retreat due to Man Chong's counterattack. Upon hearing that Sun Quan had personally led his troops to the city, he was overjoyed.

Although Chen Yu had a grudge against Sun Ce when they were vying for control of Jiangdong, they were now responding to Liu Bei's edict, and their past grievances were temporarily put aside. Not only did Chen Yu allow Sun Quan to pass through, but he also allowed the former Yuan clan members to provide Sun Quan with material support.

Therefore, Sun Quan traveled north along the Ying River to Xuchang, encountering almost no obstacles along the way, and in less than half a month, he once again assisted Chen Yu in defeating Qiang.

Qiang is less than 100 li away from Xudu and is the southeastern gateway to Xudu.

When Chen Yu first arrived with Yuan's old troops, he was repelled by Man Chong. Now that Sun Quan has arrived with a large army, although Man Chong is extremely brave and resourceful, he is unable to withstand the capable generals and elite soldiers left behind by Sun Ce, such as Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, and Cheng Pu.

During this period, although Xun Yu repeatedly sent people to make promises to Sun Quan, Sun Quan refused them all.

With Xuchang right in front of them, how could Sun Quan possibly retreat just because of Xun Yu's few promises? Moreover, Sun Quan had Zhou Yu by his side, a strong advocate for war.

If Sun Quan hesitated even slightly, Zhou Yu would have drawn his sword and beheaded Xun Yu's messenger.

When Xun Yu learned that Cao Cao was unwilling to give up his interests in Hebei and insisted on fighting Liu Bei, he had already foreseen the perilous situation that had arisen.

Xun Yu did not expect that Sun Quan would arrive so quickly!
Even someone as wise as Xun Yu didn't expect that Sun Quan would have Zhuge Liang's elder brother as his chief secretary, which greatly reduced the time for communication between the two sides.

Xun Yu had no idea that Zhuge Liang was in his prime after returning from Wuzhang Plains. He was able to know that Zhuge Jin was serving under Sun Quan and also predicted that Zhou Yu and Sun Quan would take this opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Xuchang.

It's not that Xun Yu was lacking in intelligence; rather, it was because Zhuge Liang was fully aware of Sun Quan's and his officials' behavior afterward, which allowed him to respond promptly when he learned that Chen Yu and Chen Deng had risen in rebellion. Zhuge Liang's insistence on personally pacifying Qing and Xu instead of sending Ju Shou was also to establish communication with Sun Quan, ensuring a decisive and permanent solution to Cao Cao's problems.

With Cao Cao's army trapped in Hebei and Sun Quan's army approaching Xuchang, coupled with news from the south that Wancheng was under attack by Liu Qi's army, the people of Xuchang were immediately filled with panic.

Liu Xie, who had been living in the deep palace as a puppet for nearly ten years, could no longer sit still upon hearing the news.

"The traitor Cao has humiliated me for many years, and today I can finally avenge him!"

Although Dong Cheng and others were dead, Liu Xie had secretly won over many civil and military officials who were dissatisfied with Cao Cao in recent years, such as Wei Huang, Geng Ji, Jin Yi, Ji Ping and his sons Ji Miao and Ji Mu.

While Sun Quan, Zhou Yu, and Chen Yu's troops were approaching Xudu, Ji Miao and others led more than a thousand men, including servants and servants, to attack the south gate of Xudu at night, coordinating with the outside to help Sun Quan enter the city.

Despite Cao Cao's deployment of numerous henchmen in Xuchang and the presence of Xun Yu to guard the city, Cao Cao's power in Xuchang gradually crumbled in the face of a combined attack from within and without. Furthermore, Emperor Liu Xie personally donned armor and appealed to the civil and military officials, promising Xun Yu that he could continue to serve as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat as long as he did not assist Cao Cao.

Seeing that the situation was irreversible, Xun Yu pretended to agree, but at the same time ordered his chief clerk Wang Bi to lead troops to escort Cao Cao and his family members out of Xuchang to Yanzhou.

At daybreak, Liu Xie ordered the city gates to be opened to welcome Sun Quan and his entourage into the city.

Upon regaining power, Liu Xie removed the "fake" from Sun Quan's title of "Fake General of Chariots and Cavalry," appointing Sun Quan as the actual General of Chariots and Cavalry. He then ordered Sun Quan to lead his troops to pursue Cao Cao's remaining forces.

Liu Xie's original intention was to use the pretext of having Sun Quan pursue Cao Cao's remaining forces to incite Sun Quan to fight Cao Cao, so that he could take control of Xuchang.

However, since ancient times, it has been easier to invite a god than to send him away.

Just like when Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, he had come all the way from a remote place to rescue the emperor, so how could he leave so easily?

Therefore, Sun Quan directly used the excuse that the soldiers were tired from their journey and that the southerners were only good at naval warfare to politely refuse Liu Xie's edict, and secretly ordered Zhou Yu to incorporate the troops in Xudu.

Xun Yu, who had feigned allegiance to Liu Xie, turned a blind eye to this and offered no advice to Liu Xie. Instead, he secretly negotiated with Sun Quan in an attempt to protect Cao Cao's civil and military families.

Sun Quan wasn't stupid. Cao Cao's army was still in Hebei. If he were too harsh on Cao Cao's civil and military officials and their families, it would inevitably increase the hostility of Cao Cao's civil and military officials.

Now that Xuchang has been acquired, Sun Quan doesn't need to rush to eliminate Cao Cao's remaining forces; simply keeping them under control is sufficient.

Seeing the power he had just gained snatched away by Sun Quan in the blink of an eye, Liu Xie was dumbfounded: Is there really no one in the world who is a loyal minister?

What Liu Xie didn't understand was that in this chaotic world, only those with soldiers had power; without soldiers, even an emperor could only be a puppet.

With Sun Quan's capture of Xuchang, the entire political landscape was once again altered. Cao Cao's imperial prestige, built up over nearly a decade, was once again eroded by Sun Quan's conquest of Xuchang. (End of Chapter)