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

On the other hand, Liu Bei's side, due to the rapid expansion of his power, not only faced shortages of money and food and heavy corvée labor, but also lacked popular support in the territories he acquired.

If Liu Bei couldn't accumulate wealth and control the counties before Cao Cao left Yizhou, he would have to give back the counties he had swallowed.

Therefore, after Cao Cao conquered Yangping Pass, Zhuge Liang focused his efforts on controlling the various counties.

West of Guanzhong, whether it was Longyou or Xiliang, they were nominally subordinate to the Xuchang court led by Cao Cao. Even if Cao Cao was forced to flee to Yizhou, Zhuge Liang would still need time to subdue them.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang was quite familiar with Longyou and Xiliang, so it wasn't too difficult to control them.

After arriving in Tianshui, Zhuge Liang made a special effort to befriend Jiang Jiong, the Tianshui official in charge of official duties, who was also Jiang Wei's biological father.

At this time, Jiang Jiong had not yet died in the Rongdi rebellion, and Jiang Wei was still just a three-year-old child.

To allow Jiang Wei to grow better, Zhuge Liang temporarily appointed Zhao Yun as General Who Conquers the West, overseeing the four commanderies of Longxi, Tianshui, Anding, and Beidi, while stationing troops in Ji County. Jiang Jiong was appointed as the Chief Clerk of General Who Conquers the West to assist Zhao Yun.

He then appointed Ma Chao as the temporary governor of Yongzhou, stationed his troops in Jincheng, and pacified the Qiang people. Subsequently, Zhuge Liang personally led generals such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Huang Zhong to garrison Chang'an and pacify the counties.

And on the other side.

In order to appease the newly acquired territories, Liu Bei temporarily appointed Pang Tong as the governor of Bingzhou, Ju Shou as the governor of Qingzhou, Tian Feng as the governor of Youzhou, and Yuan Huan as the governor of Xuzhou.

Since Ye City had been burned down by Cao Cao, Liu Bei took over as Governor of Ji Province and led his civil and military officials to govern Quliang City, northwest of Ye City.

at the same time.

Sun Quan was also rapidly annexing Cao Cao's original two provinces of Yan and Yu, and appointed Zhou Yu as the governor of Yan Province stationed in Chenliu City, Gu Yong as the governor of Yu Province stationed in Chen County, and Zhang Zhao as the governor of Yang Province stationed in Dantu.

At the same time, the old troops and clan civil and military officials left behind by Sun Ce were divided and placed in the three provinces of Yan, Yu, and Yang.

By the end of 205, when Cao Cao captured Chengdu, the situation in the world was re-established.

On the surface, Liu Bei controlled Bingzhou, Youzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and the Yongliang region west of Hangu Pass; Sun Quan controlled Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Yangzhou, and the Luoyang region east of Hangu Pass; Liu Biao controlled Jingzhou; and Cao Cao controlled Yizhou.

However, the strength of the various forces cannot be simply divided according to their regions. The main reason is that Sun Quan controlled Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and the Luoyang area west of Hangu Pass, which contained a large number of Cao Cao's former troops. Sun Quan dared not kill these former troops directly, nor did he dare to abandon them all. He could only use them while appeasing them.

This situation also occurred in the Yongliang region west of Hangu Pass, where Zhuge Liang also needed to use force while simultaneously appeasing the enemy.

These hidden former subordinates of Cao Cao thus became Cao Cao's secret allies.

In a short period of time, neither Sun Quan nor Liu Bei could fully absorb the power lost by Cao Cao.

After news of Cao Cao's defeat of Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang spread, Cao Cao's former subordinates would inevitably have second thoughts.

After all, not everyone is willing to follow Liu Bei or Sun Quan.

Cao Cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao in just a few years, which naturally meant that he had a large number of loyal civil and military officials who agreed with his way of governing. They were not easily subdued by Liu Bei and Sun Quan with just a few words.

In other words, if Cao Cao had failed to obtain Yizhou and had become a bandit, these people might have changed their minds and submitted to Liu Bei or Sun Quan. However, the fact that Cao Cao was able to obtain Yizhou even in such a desperate situation meant that there was still hope for Cao Cao's former subordinates.

As long as they help Cao Cao regain power, Cao Cao's former subordinates can also be promoted, instead of starting over under Liu Bei or Sun Quan.

No matter how loud the slogans, conflicts between people are ultimately about interests. If one can be the head of a chicken, few would want to be the tail of a phoenix.

The only thing that hasn't changed much is Liu Biao in Jingzhou.

From the beginning of the year to the end, Liu Biao barely managed to acquire Wancheng, and he could not even control it.

This was because Liu Qi, who had been appointed governor of Nanyang, was no longer satisfied with being oppressed by Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, and others, thanks to the support of rising stars in the army such as Wei Yan.

Especially after Wen Ping withdrew to Xiangyang, Liu Qi dispersed Wei Yan and others to the surrounding counties of Wancheng, thus taking control of half of Nanyang.

To spite Liu Biao, Sun Quan of Xudu added the title of General Who Guards the East above Liu Qi's position as Prefect of Nanyang.

Liu Biao is now only a General Who Guards the South, while his son has become a General Who Guards the East.

In other words, while Liu Qi, the Prefect of Nanyang, was still subject to some constraints from Liu Biao, the Governor of Jingzhou, in political affairs, the two were equals in military matters.

Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, and others had no right to interfere with Liu Qi anymore!

Although Liu Biao knew that Sun Quan was deliberately sowing discord between father and son, he was unable to take any countermeasures against Sun Quan.

The prerequisite for countering the divisive tactic is that Liu Biao and his son Liu Qi have no grudges against each other. However, Liu Biao cannot meet this basic prerequisite unless he abandons Liu Cong and focuses on cultivating Liu Qi instead.

However, this would also sow discord between Liu Biao and Cai Mao.

Therefore, Liu Biao had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.

In the eleventh year of Jian'an (206 AD), Sun Quan was no longer satisfied with being just a General of Chariots and Cavalry, so he petitioned Liu Xie to appoint him as Grand General.

The twenty-four-year-old general, wielding the power to command the feudal lords by holding the emperor hostage, began to make Sun Quan arrogant.

Not only did he not strip Xun Yu and Xun You of their power, as well as Zhong Yao, but he also valued them highly. Even when Zhou Yu from Chenliu sent a letter to advise him, Sun Quan only told the messenger, "My brother once said before his death, 'If you cannot decide on internal affairs, consult Zhang Gong; if you cannot decide on external affairs, consult Gong Jin.' Now that Zhang Gong is not here, I can decide on internal affairs myself."

It wasn't that Sun Quan didn't believe Zhou Yu's suspicions about the three men, but rather that Sun Quan believed Cao Cao had already established himself in Yizhou, and that Xun Yu, Xun You, and Zhong Yao, as powerful families from Yingchuan, wouldn't continue to support Cao Cao.

What Cao Cao could give, Sun Quan believed he could give as well.

What convinced Sun Quan even more that his decision was correct was that, in order to test Liu Bei's reaction, Sun Quan followed Cao Cao's example and also appointed Liu Bei as Grand Commandant and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Ye. Although the position of Grand Commandant was below that of General-in-Chief, Liu Bei did not show any humiliation. Instead, he specially sent someone to Xudu to congratulate Sun Quan on his promotion to General-in-Chief and expressed his willingness to work with Sun Quan to restore the Han Dynasty and eliminate the traitor Cao.

With the support of Cao Cao's former subordinates and Liu Bei's patronage, Sun Quan's confidence swelled, becoming as arrogant as Dong Zhuo in the past, who declared, "The affairs of the world are in my hands; I will do it now, and who dares not obey?"

Even more remarkably, after Cao Cao acquired Yizhou, he actually submitted a memorial stating that he was willing to obey Sun Quan's orders to launch a northern expedition against him.

It was practically a blatant declaration to Sun Quan: "If you want to attack Liu Bei, I will send troops from Hanzhong, and together we will destroy Liu Bei."

In order to win over Cao Cao, a natural ally, Sun Quan sent an envoy to appoint Cao Cao as the Governor of Yi Province and General of Chariots and Cavalry, and even sent Cao Cao's wife and children to Hanzhong to show his sincerity.

As for Cao Cao's family members, Sun Quan kept them detained in Xuchang, only allowing Cao Cao's wife and children to take the family letters to Hanzhong.

Sun Quan's strategy of holding the emperor hostage to command Cao Cao and Liu Bei seemed perfectly reasonable. (End of Chapter)