I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 116 Fishing Law Enforcement
Wucheng County.

After receiving Liu Miao's letter, Yan Baihu was somewhat puzzled, but after a moment's thought, he still fulfilled Liu Miao's instructions as written in the letter.

Actually, the letter wasn't difficult. It simply instructed Yan Baihu to lead the army eastward to Wu County, and then there was no need for any further action; they could simply set up camp and wait.

Meanwhile, Liu Miao was also discussing matters with the others.

"Liu Yao's trip to Wu Commandery at this time was clearly intended to seize the opportunity to take over Jiangdong."

"Currently, the Danyang treasury is clearly not as full as the Wu Commandery treasury, making it difficult to mobilize a large army to drive them away immediately. Do any of you gentlemen have a good plan?"

To take military action, it is essential to ensure an ample supply of provisions.

However, Danyang was just beginning to rebuild after the devastation, and its food supplies were clearly insufficient to support Liu Miao's immediate campaign against Wu Commandery. That's why he needed to discuss countermeasures with everyone.

Lu Su spoke first: "The real difficulty in dealing with Liu Yao right now is not in defeating him militarily."

"Now that Liu Yao has been appointed Governor of Yangzhou by imperial decree, he holds the moral high ground. If we were to engage in armed conflict with him without cause, it would likely draw criticism from the world."

Great justice.

This thing is said to be useful, but in reality, it's often just a piece of waste paper.

However, while it may seem useless, it is often so crucial that it can influence the outcome of a battle in many ways, such as the confidence of generals and the morale of soldiers.

In Lu Su's previous "strategy on the couch," he wanted to find Sheng Xian and use Sheng Xian's name to attack Xu Gong, in order to gain the righteous cause of conquering Wu Commandery.

But now, Liu Miao lacks a sense of righteousness, while Liu Yao, who crossed the river, has taken the lead in upholding righteousness, which has fundamentally changed many things.

Lu Su said worriedly, "Therefore, the most urgent task at present is to find Liu Yao's fault so that our lord can gain the moral high ground!"

At the same time, Lu Su was also worried about another thing—

"I previously told my lord that there was no need to worry about Hua Xin, the Prefect of Yuzhang, and Wang Lang, the Prefect of Kuaiji."

"But now it seems that if Liu Yao were to mobilize the two of them by order of the court, they probably wouldn't refuse, which would definitely not be a good thing for our lord."

If it were just Xu Gong, Hua Xin and Wang Lang would naturally not need to pay any attention to him.

Now that Liu Yao has come with an imperial edict, he has the legal right to mobilize Hua Xin and Wang Lang. For Liu Miao, this is equivalent to turning an enemy of one prefecture into an enemy of three prefectures in an instant, and the situation cannot be described as extremely bad!
For a moment, everyone was silent.

Sending Liu Yao to Jiangdong with the imperial edict was an extremely underhanded move!

The current situation puts Liu Miao in a difficult position, as neither fighting nor not fighting is an option, leaving him feeling extremely frustrated and helpless!

Liu Miao remained silent throughout.

Seeing the atmosphere becoming somewhat subdued, Liu Miao finally chuckled and said, "Before, I was the Prefect of Jiujiang appointed by the imperial court, but I couldn't compete with Zhou Ang, who was appointed by Yuan Shao. Now I've become the Governor of Yangzhou appointed by Yuan Shu, but I still can't compete with the Inspector of Yangzhou appointed by the imperial court? Interesting!"

So, they're all bullying honest people?

Don't they know that when an honest person gets angry, the consequences can be severe?

Liu Miao then asked, "What if I disregard everything and directly attack Liu Yao?"

The expressions of Lu Kang, Zhang Zhao and other elderly officials changed.

Even Chen Yu advised, "Zhongshan shouldn't say such things."

"To rashly send out troops without a strong moral compass will not only confuse the soldiers and disappoint the people, but will also earn the contempt of the feudal lords!"

"During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chu annexed other states, prompting the Zhou emperor to personally lead an expedition. For hundreds of years afterward, renowned scholars in the Central Plains also despised the people of Chu. This is a precedent!"

Liu Miao curled his lip: "Zhang Yi of Qin even deceived the King of Chu! But Qin still unified the six states, didn't it?"

Chen Yu: "That's why the Qin state perished after only two generations!"

Liu Miao: "..."

Even Zhang Zhao spoke up: "Our lord must not wage an unjust war. Otherwise, although it may seem that we can gain temporary benefits, it is actually short-sighted and cannot last long!"

Zhang Zhao's words were as harsh as ever...

At this point, Lu Kang earnestly explained to Liu Miao why it was essential to possess a strong sense of righteousness in order to launch a war—

Sun Tzu said: “When an expedition is launched a thousand miles away, the expenses of the people and the government will amount to a thousand pieces of gold per day; when there is unrest both inside and outside the country, people will be too tired to work on the roads, and seven hundred thousand families will be unable to attend to their duties.”

"Weapons are instruments of destruction; they can harm others, but they can also harm oneself. If Zhongshan lacks righteousness and only sends troops according to his own whims, not only will the other lords be wary of you, thinking you are a man of broken promises, but the people of our own country will also think you are a tyrant who enjoys conquering all sides and destroying peace! Now the people of Danyang have placed their safety on your shoulders, Zhongshan. How can you let them down?"

Lu Su even cited two powerful figures from the north as examples—

"Gongsun Zan of Youzhou easily occupied the land of Youzhou and became the overlord of the north because he initially claimed to be driving out the barbarians and protecting the people. Later, he attacked Jizhou without any reason. Even though he had fine warhorses and agile cavalry under his command, he still could not defeat Yuan Shao. Instead, he was defeated by Yuan Shao at Jieqiao."

"Cao Cao of Yanzhou initially became the governor of Yanzhou because he wanted to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which gave him the righteous cause of occupying the province and establishing his power. However, he later attacked Xuzhou because of his greed. Even though he defeated Tao Qian's army with his strong military force, the people of Xuzhou were still unwilling to accept him, which is why he returned empty-handed several times."

"My lord, you have the ambition to restore order to the world and revive the Han Dynasty! How can you make such a mistake for the sake of a short-term gain?"

Words can sometimes be sharper than arrows!

Sometimes, the human heart is harder than armor!

If one starts to bully others simply because one's military strength is greater than theirs, then defeat and destruction are probably not far off!
Liu Miao placed his fingers on the tip of his nose, cupped his chin with his palm, and began to think deeply.

Only then did he finally realize how powerful it was to "hold the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords"!
Even though the imperial court was already in ruins.

Even if the current emperor's ascension to the throne was illegitimate.

But the Han Dynasty is still the same Han Dynasty!

As long as no one actually crosses that line, everyone is still a Han subject! Everyone still has to abide by certain rules!
"How shameless!"

At the same time, Liu Miao also began to look at those monsters and demons in a different light.

They were incompetent in military campaigns. They were also incompetent in governing a country.

But if we only talk about manipulating power and intimidating others, they are definitely masters among masters!
"Tsk!"

It was unclear whether Liu Miao was praising or disliking him.

"So, according to you all, I have no choice but to wait?"

"I can only retaliate when Liu Yao launches the first attack, right?"

Zhang Zhao: "For the greater good, this is the only way!"

Liu Miao: "If Liu Yao doesn't attack for three or five years, am I supposed to wait for him for another three or five years?"

Zhang Zhao remained silent, but his attitude was already very clear.

Liu Miao let out a long sigh.

It seems that Yuan Shu's support wasn't strong enough!

The imperial court's influence is truly immense!

It seems that once Boss Cao brings the Emperor to Xuchang, I will need to maintain more contact with Xuchang!
At this moment, everyone fell into a deathly silence again, completely speechless, clearly having run out of ideas.

The mere concept of "righteousness" crushed so many capable ministers and generals.

At this point, everyone was clearly at a loss.

"Gong Wei".

"Ok?"

Chen Yu's eyes were wary, weak, and pitiful. He thought that Liu Miao wanted him to kill Liu Yao alone again.

Do you remember what I told you before?

Liu Miao and Chen Yu had talked so much that Chen Yu couldn't remember which sentence it was.

"Neither is acceptable nor unacceptable!"

Liu Miao summoned Chen Yu, not to ask Chen Yu to solve his problem, but to remind Chen Yu—

He can start doing it!
"Right now, I really don't have any grand cause to punish Liu Yao."

"But if he attacks me first, then my counterattack will be a righteous war!"

Liu Miao's words made everyone shake their heads repeatedly.

"Liu Yao came to Jiangdong with the intention of upholding righteousness; why would he take the initiative to attack and give up?"

"Will do."

Liu Miao smiled slightly: "I received news earlier that Yan Baihu is leading his troops eastward toward Wu County."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed, clearly thinking that Liu Miao wanted Yan Baihu to send troops to attack Liu Yao and Xu Gong!

However, Liu Miao immediately waved his hand, signaling everyone to calm down.

"Therefore, it's time for us to send troops to punish Yan Baihu!"

"My lord, you mustn't! Wait? Whom does my lord say he wants to conquer?"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"Yan Baihu!"

Liu Miao slammed his fist on the table!
"How can I, as the governor of Yangzhou, sit idly by and do nothing about a bandit leader like Yan Baihu?"

“Even if he marries his daughter to me, I, Liu Miao, have never tolerated any dissent! This time, even if it means sacrificing family ties for the greater good, for the sake of the people of Jiangdong, I must send troops to punish him!”

Lu Su was the first to react: "My lord intends to use this as a pretext to conquer Guo? No! It's not about using this as a pretext to conquer Guo..."

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Jin borrowed a route from the State of Yu to destroy the State of Guo. After destroying Guo, Jin destroyed the State of Yu on its return journey.

But now, Liu Miao's target is not Yan Baihu, who is from the "Guo" state, but Liu Yao and Xu Gong, who are from the "Yu" state!
Therefore, using the phrase "borrowing a path to destroy Guo" to describe Liu Miao is actually incorrect.

The term that truly describes Liu Miao's current behavior is entrapment!
Liu Miao had someone bring him maps of Danyang and Wu Commandery.

Although the two places are located in different places and have cities guarding each other, the existence of Taihu Lake makes those cities not very significant.

Liu Miao pointed around Taihu Lake—

"Wu County is located east of Taihu Lake. Wucheng County is located south of Taihu Lake. We, on the other hand, can enter Taihu Lake from the west and north."

"At that time, as long as a large army is sent across Taihu Lake to the south under the pretext of attacking Yan Baihu, Liu Yao and Xu Gong will surely be terrified!"

"If they pay attention to this matter, they will take the initiative to attack our army, gaining a bad reputation for attacking friendly forces and losing their sense of righteousness. If they ignore this matter, aren't they afraid that we will encircle them from the north and south and take the opportunity to eliminate them?"

Liu Miao's plan was a calculated, open scheme!
Regardless of what you have or don't have, first use the pretext of conquering Yan Baihu to transfer the army to the south of Wu County!
The army is right there. Are you, Liu Yao and Xu Gong, going to take care of it or not?

Guan launched a surprise attack, but Liu Miao thwarted his plan, thus undermining his righteous cause.

If we don't act, we will face a situation where we are militarily surrounded by the north and south, with no way out.

Strictly speaking, it's actually quite easy to break this plan: just bet that Liu Miao will be too concerned about the greater good to dare to send troops to attack.

But the problem now is—

Do Liu Yao, Xu Gong, and those behind the scenes in Wu Commandery dare to gamble with Liu Miao this time?

Would they dare to gamble their entire lives on the possibility that Liu Miao would abandon his military campaign against them out of consideration for the greater good?
(End of this chapter)