I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 110 Lu Bu of Yanzhou, Liu Bei of Xuzhou!
"Is there such a thing?"

This caused many of the Yue soldiers that Liu Miao had already captured to escape, forcing Zhou Yu to send troops to their aid. His wife even wanted a divorce, and he himself lacked the ability to command respect; she even had to write to him specifically asking for food…

Liu Xun's actions during his time in Jiangdong have undoubtedly and completely overturned Yuan Shu's impression of him!

Chief Clerk Yang Hong and Registrar Yan Xiang both spoke up for Liu Xun: "General, you must not believe Liu Miao's one-sided story! Liu Zitai has the demeanor of a hero and has hundreds of retainers. How could he possibly make such a mistake?"

"Do you even need to tell me?"

Yuan Shu waved the letter in his hand: "Zhongshan has already exonerated Liu Xun in the letter, saying that the situation in Jiangdong is complex, with powerful families and the Yue tribes running rampant, unlike other places. Therefore, when governing there, one must often follow the example of Cao Can and implement a policy of inaction in order to satisfy all parties! He also said that Liu Xun is not without talent, but he is too sharp and outspoken, which is why he is the way he is today."

Liu Miao... would actually defend Liu Xun?
Chief Secretary Yang Hong and Registrar Yan Xiang both found this matter unbelievable!

Anyone with eyes can see what Yuan Shu sent Liu Xun to do!

In their view, Liu Miao and Liu Xun were not exactly sworn enemies, but they were at each other's throats, wishing they could kill each other!
Liu Miao, in particular, will surely take the initiative to drive Liu Xun away!
But now that Liu Xun has messed up the Danyang affair, Liu Miao is actually speaking well of Liu Xun? What is he thinking?

Seeing that the two men still did not believe him, Yuan Shu handed them the letter.

"Who among you is willing to go to Danyang and visit Liu Xun on my behalf?"

On the surface, it was a visit, but in reality, it was to see if Liu Xun's side was really as Liu Miao described in his letter, and also to see Liu Xun's attitude towards Liu Miao, and whether Liu Miao was deliberately obstructing him.

Yan Xiang immediately bowed his head: "Your subject is willing to go!"

Han Yin, who was standing to the side, stepped forward and said, "General, I am familiar with Zhongshan. Why don't you let me go?"

It's precisely because you're familiar with Liu Miao that we can't let you continue to Jiangdong!

However, Yuan Shu did not tell Han Yin so directly, but instead sent him a military intelligence letter: "Minister Han has an important mission!"

Han Yin glanced at the military intelligence report with curiosity, then immediately exclaimed, "How could such a thing happen?"

As an envoy, Han Yin was always composed. How could something have shocked him to this extent?

Yuan Shu's ministers gathered around to watch, and immediately there were exclamations of surprise, even more intense than those from Han Yin!

Yuan Shu was very satisfied with everyone's reaction!

Because when he saw this military intelligence, he reacted just like everyone else!

The above records only two events, but both of them were earth-shattering events!

In Xuzhou, Tao Qian died of illness, and the person who succeeded him was not one of Tao Qian's confidants, but Liu Bei, the governor of Yuzhou, who had only joined Tao Qian from Gongsun Zan the previous year!
In Yanzhou, something even more significant has occurred!

Just as Cao Cao launched his attack on Xuzhou, Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu under his command, and Xu Si, Wang Kai, and Chen Gong, Cao Cao’s subordinates, rebelled against Cao Cao and welcomed Lü Bu, the Marquis of Wen, to take control of Yanzhou!
The world situation is so turbulent that it can be so dazzling!
For Yuan Shu, this matter brought both great joy and minor worries.

The great joy was that Cao Cao, the son of a eunuch, had instantly gone from a warlord who controlled a province to a rootless ghost!

Now that Yanzhou is occupied by Lü Bu, Yuan Shu is confident that Cao Cao will have no chance of turning the tide!
How could Yuan Shu not be overjoyed at the fate of his former enemy?
Yuan Shu's minor worry was that Tao Qian had taken it upon himself to cede Xuzhou to Liu Bei.

Although Tao Qian was nominally Yuan Shu's ally rather than his subordinate, Yuan Shu had long regarded Tao Qian as one of his own, and Xuzhou should have been his for the taking!
But then a member of the Liu clan, who appeared out of nowhere, stole the prize. How could Yuan Shu, who was used to taking credit for others' work, tolerate this?
and so……

Whether it was Liu Bei occupying Xuzhou or Lü Bu occupying Yanzhou, which of those matters was less important than Liu Miao's?
Instead of worrying about things at home that are like children playing house, we should be more concerned about how turbulent the global situation really is!
"Lu Bu, the Marquis of Wen, was driven to Yanzhou by that concubine's daughter, and he must harbor resentment towards her! Liu Bei, the Governor of Xuzhou, is a fellow disciple of Lu Zhi, just like Gongsun Zan, and is a mortal enemy of that concubine's daughter... Hahahaha! Heaven is helping me!!!"

When Lü Bu seized Yan Province from Cao Cao, this gain and loss instantly brought about a fundamental change in the power of Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao!
He eliminated Cao Cao, a major threat, without lifting a finger, and took control of Yanzhou. Wasn't this a sign of divine intervention?

Yes……

Although Liu Miao has not yet conquered Jiangdong, and has only captured Danyang, Yuan Shu already considers Jiangdong to be his for the taking.

Although he had no direct interaction with Liu Bei, he believed that Xuzhou was still within his sphere of influence because of Liu Bei's relationships with Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao.

Although he and Lü Bu were previously at odds and sworn enemies, Yuan Shu already believed that Lü Bu would inevitably submit to him, thus allowing him to seize control of Yan Province.

Although Yuzhou was always rife with bandits and no effective rule had been established there, Yuan Shu thought that since he was from the Yuan family of Runan, once he returned to Yuzhou, wouldn't he welcome the king's army with food and drink?
and so……

Although Yuan Shu currently only controls Huainan and the two commanderies of Jiujiang and Lujiang, in his eyes he is the number one warlord of the world, controlling the four provinces of Yang, Yan, Xu and Yu!

How could a lord like him focus his energy on Liu Miao and Liu Xun?
Therefore, when Yuan Shu sent Yan Xiang to Jiangdong and brought some gifts of comfort to Liu Miao, he focused all his attention on the chaos in the north, especially on winning over and appeasing Lü Bu and Liu Bei!
Yan Xiang didn't dare to pursue the matter further, especially since the affairs of the north were indeed more important than Liu Miao's. So he took the gifts and headed to Jiangdong. When Liu Miao saw that the person who came wasn't his old brother Han Yin, but Yan Xiang, he was initially somewhat unhappy. However, upon seeing Yuan Shu's usual abundance of gifts, his tears of unhappiness instantly turned into drool flowing from the corner of his mouth: "General Hou's kindness is something I, Liu Miao, can never repay in my lifetime!"

This was Yan Xiang's first time meeting Liu Miao, and upon seeing Liu Miao's appearance, he was quite skeptical: "Could it be that I really saw wrong?"

Liu Miao was not only greedy for money, but also lecherous! At the banquet, besides praising Yuan Shu, he talked about all sorts of vulgar matters of love and sex. How could he be a hero with ambition and ambition? He was clearly a hooligan! He was completely unfit for a refined manner!

After Yan Xiang and Liu Miao finished the banquet that he found offensive, he did not rush to see Liu Xun, but instead demanded an investigation of Danyang's accounts and treasury.

Yan Xiang's actions were clearly intended to verify whether, as Liu Xun had previously stated, the Danyang treasury was indeed running out of supplies and there wasn't even enough grain to support his army.

After carefully reviewing it several times, Yan Xiang still couldn't find any problems.

In fact, Gu Yong's previous words were not meant to fob off Yan Xiang.

Danyang did have some surplus grain in its treasury before, but it had been completely emptied out to accommodate the people Liu Miao brought from Jiangbei, leaving no surplus at all!
Even if some grain remained in some granaries, it was reserved for the people's rations for the next few months, ensuring they wouldn't starve before the autumn harvest. Even though Yan Xiang favored Liu Xun, he knew these rations absolutely could not be used, so in the end, the matter was dropped, acknowledging Gu Yong's words and confirming that Danyang's grain supplies were indeed insufficient to feed Liu Xun's army.

Yan Xiang then visited Liu Xun's retainers, who are now the officials of Danyang County.

From them, Yan Xiang also learned that it was not Liu Miao or his men who were stopping them. Even those who were injured were beaten by the local dissatisfied people and the Yue tribes. In any case, it could not be attributed to Liu Miao.

Even some of Liu Xun's retainers spoke up for Liu Miao.

"Liu Yangzhou even sent doctors to treat our injuries, and during this period, Liu Yangzhou personally paid our salaries!"

“Registrar Yan, Liu Yangzhou is truly a wonderful man! Moreover, he is a loyal subject of the General of the Rear! I have heard that Liu Yangzhou prays for the General of the Rear before every meal and before going to bed! Where can the General of the Rear find such a subject?”

"..."

Yan Xiang became increasingly confused, and finally went to Liu Xun to ask him about Liu Miao.

After arriving in Danyang, Liu Xun encountered setbacks everywhere and was divorced by his wife, Wang. He was completely devoid of his previous high spirits. Even when he saw Yan Xiang, he stared blankly and bowed casually.

"Zitai, what kind of person do you think Liu Zhongshan is? Is everything he's doing now just a matter of forbearance and biding his time?"

Liu Zhongshan...

Upon hearing this name, Liu Xun went berserk!
"Liu Zhongshan! I'm going to kill Liu Zhongshan!!!"

Upon seeing this, Yan Xiang was overjoyed: "Could it be that all of this was caused by Liu Zhongshan?"

Seeing that there was finally a breakthrough, Yan Xiang was overjoyed and quickly took out his pen and silk, wanting to record Liu Xun's words!

"Liu Zhongshan! I treated him like a brother! And guess how he treated me? The moment my wife handed me the divorce papers, he brought her into his mansion! What a disgrace! What a disgrace!!!"

"..."

Yan Xiang's brush paused, leaving a thick ink stain on the expensive silk.

That's it?

Although Liu Miao went a bit too far, he wasn't wrong from a legal standpoint. After all, Liu Xun was a good-for-nothing who got divorced by the woman.
Moreover, everyone knows that Liu Miao is fond of beautiful women. He even dared to provoke Sun Jian's widow. Isn't it normal for him to take Liu Xun's wife with him?
If it were someone else who did this, Yan Xiang would most likely condemn them... but if it were Liu Miao who did this, Yan Xiang would think it was perfectly normal!

"What I mean is... has Liu Zhongshan colluded with his subordinates to oppose the General of the Rear?"

"Liu Zhongshan! I'm going to kill you! Kill you! Give me back my wife!!!"

However, Liu Xun was in a state of madness at the time and could not say anything. Moreover, he could not say anything else. Seeing this, Yan Xiang had no choice but to take Liu Xun away and planned to return to Huainan to be dealt with by Yuan Shu.

"Registration Officer Yan! Come again soon!"

"Zitai! Take care! By the way, let me tell you, your wife, oh no, your ex-wife... is very voluptuous!"

"Liu Zhongshan! I'll kill you!!!"

(End of this chapter)