I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 264 Yuan Shao personally leads the expedition!

The Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou), in the section on Xia Guan (Summer Official) and Xiao Ren (Inspector), states: "In summer, sacrifices are offered to the first herdsman, and horses are distributed for attacking the enemy."

"攻" means castration.

“Te” means foal.

Castration of warhorses was already a method of horse domestication as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Therefore, whether it was the warhorses that Liu Miao had extorted from Cao Cao or the warhorses that he had ceded to Yuan Shao, it was assumed that they were already castrated male horses.

Because of their ability to reproduce, mares can be considered one of the most important strategic resources.

Liu Miao could easily ask Cao Cao and Yuan Shao for tens of thousands of stallions, but he had no chance with mares.

Even if they were trading with Gongsun Du, Gongsun Du would not give the mare to Liu Miao.

Now that Guan Jing is offering Liu Miao two thousand mares, it's like giving him a horse farm that produces two thousand warhorses a year. How could Liu Miao not be tempted?
"hiss--"

Liu Miao then realized that Gongsun Zan was definitely a wealthy and powerful family!

Even if they're not a big spender, how could they send two thousand mares directly?
Even if they weren't wealthy, how could they build thousands of high platforms and thousands of tall buildings?

Even if they weren't wealthy, how could they possibly stockpile three million bushels of grain in their own hundred-foot-tall building?
That's three million bushels!
Back then, Liu Miao had to haggle with Yuan Shu for half a day over tens of thousands of bushels of grain, but this amount of grain might not even fill the bottom of Gongsun Zan's granary!

Moreover, at the height of Gongsun Zan's power, his control extended far beyond just Youzhou.

When Gongsun Zan raised an army to attack Ji Province and stationed his troops in Guangzong, even Yuan Shao was extremely alarmed. He handed over the seal of the governor of Bohai Commandery to Gongsun Fan, Gongsun Zan's cousin, and sent him to the commandery, intending to use this to form an alliance with Gongsun Zan.

At that time, Gongsun Zan appointed Yan Gang as the governor of Ji Province, Tian Kai as the governor of Qing Province, and Shan Jing as the governor of Yan Province. Their power was no less than that of Yuan Shao today!

A dead skinny camel is bigger than a horse.

The essence of the Han Dynasty was concentrated in Hebei. Even though Gongsun Zan's glory lasted only a few years, he must have accumulated enough wealth during those years!

And so, Liu Miao's gaze towards Guan Jing changed!
Big dog owner!
Moreover, it was a dying, powerful dog who needed his help!
Liu Miao suddenly realized that there might be some profit to be made from this!

"Two thousand mares?"

Although Liu Miao still really wanted it, he couldn't show it and instead hesitated greatly.

"Two thousand and five!"

"That's Yuan Shao!"

Two thousand eight!

"Now the people and horses in the south are exhausted..."

"Three thousand!"

"make a deal!"

Liu Miao looked at Guan Jing with envy once again.

What a rich bastard!

How much wealth did Gongsun Zan amass back then?

No wonder he was able to gather three thousand white horses to form the White Horse Cavalry. With such extravagance, Liu Miao suspected that Gongsun Zan probably had more than thirty thousand warhorses under his command!
If these warhorses are used to form a cavalry, even if it's just one person with three horses, a cavalry force of ten thousand men can be formed!
Ten thousand cavalrymen!
Even if they weren't heavily armored cavalry, they would still be enough to give Yuan Shao a hard time.

But Gongsun Zan chose to build tall buildings and defend himself... Liu Miao was at a loss for words about Gongsun Zan!

Guan Jing was finally relieved to see that Liu Miao had agreed.

At the same time, he also offered a few words of explanation on behalf of Gongsun Zan—

“Former officials of the Yuan family are scattered throughout the country.”

"The Marquis of Ji had personal guards who had fought alongside him for over ten years, but Yuan Shao had bribed them all. After that, the Marquis of Ji gradually lost his will to fight and stopped fighting Yuan Shao."

"Is this actually happening?"

Liu Miao was also surprised.

What are personal guards?
For a general, that was a brother even more important than his wife!
These people were either from the same hometown or the same clan, and many of them even had a history of friendship spanning three generations... How could such people be bribed by Yuan Shao?

However, when Liu Miao thought about how former Yangzhou governors Chen Wen and Prince Liu Chong had both died at the hands of Yuan Shu, he didn't think there was anything strange about it.

The aristocratic families have integrated too many resources in the world today, and in the two hundred years of the Later Han Dynasty, most of them have become closely connected, with each other intertwined.

Not everyone has the courage of Liu Miao to burn down the entire jungle. Most people can only grit their teeth and wander through this thorny jungle, and being scratched by thorns is extremely common.

Even Cao Cao was almost knocked to the ground, so it would be a shame if Gongsun Zan didn't get hit a couple of times, given his former title of "overlord".

At least among the warlords known to Liu Miao, it seems that only he and Gongsun Du, the governor of Liaodong, have not yet suffered betrayal from powerful families.

Yes, Gongsun Du.

Taking advantage of Liaodong's isolation, Gongsun Du was truly capable of killing people when trouble arose!

Liu Miao only recently learned that after Gongsun Du took office as the governor of Liaodong, he actually slaughtered more than a hundred powerful families in Liaodong!
For example, Tian Shao, it is said that he was a descendant of Tian Qi during the Warring States period. He was killed by Gongsun Du on a whim simply because he had not done Gongsun Du any favors in their usual dealings...

Damn!

That's what you call domineering!
Compared to Liu Miao and Gongsun Du's methods, theirs seemed much milder.

Unfortunately, no one else can learn this skill, not even Liu Miao.

Therefore, Liu Miao could only pity Gongsun Zan for his misfortune and be angry at his lack of ambition.

"The Yuan family of Runan is truly formidable."

In fact, what we need to fight now is not just the Yuan family of Runan.

That was a super monster that the Later Han Dynasty had absorbed two hundred years of nourishment! Gongsun Zan could neither follow Gongsun Du's example of indiscriminate killing, nor could he follow Liu Miao's example of using the refugees from the north to overwhelm Jiangdong, brutally complete the land reform, and dismantle the foundation of the aristocratic families.

Even Cao Cao, who relied on local powerful families to fight against Yuan Shao, could not do it.

Because the powerful families of Youzhou initially chose Liu Yu, not Gongsun Zan.

If Gongsun Zan had been more lenient back then, things would have been fine, but he directly beheaded Liu Yu, cutting off his own escape route. Who would want to cooperate with Gongsun Zan?
This leads to...

"Where is Shiqi from?"

"A native of Taiyuan, Bingzhou."

This resulted in Gongsun Zan, a native of Youzhou, having a chief clerk who was actually from Bingzhou!

On Yuan Shao's side, Shen Pei, who was in charge of the general staff, was from Ji Province.

Cao Cao's chief clerk Liu Dai (not Liu Dai, the governor of Yan Province) and Wang Bi were from Yu Province and Yan Province respectively.

Even Liu Miao's chief secretary was Gu Yong from Jiangdong.

However, Gongsun Zan could not find a single scholar from Youzhou who supported him.

This shows that Gongsun Zan had completely lost the foundation for ruling Youzhou!
What he truly relies on is that hundred-foot-tall building and the three million bushels of grain hidden within it...

“If the Marquis of Ji truly wishes to contend with Yuan Shao in the future, I fear this is not the way.”

Liu Miao went to great lengths to save his ally.

Not only did he share all his governance experience with Guan Jing, but he also specifically asked Guan Jing, "If needed, I can send Ziyu to Youzhou to lend a helping hand to the Marquis of Ji!"

Guan Jing was overjoyed: "In that case! Thank you very much, General Liu!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

What the two were unaware of was...

Just before Guan Jing went to Liaodong, someone had already brought the news to Hebei.

"Are you sure that person is Guan Jing, Gongsun Zan's chief clerk?"

“Absolutely true! That man spoke with a Bingzhou accent, which is different from the Yan accent!”

"Moreover, he said that his lord was like a person trapped in a swamp, and as his subject, he had no choice but to rescue him!"

The scout relayed everything he had heard that day to Shenpei.

"Guan Jing must have already gone to Liaodong to seek reinforcements!"

Shen Pei closed his eyes and shook his head.

"You don't believe me, Your Excellency?"

"It's not that I don't believe it, it's that Guan Jing couldn't possibly go to Liaodong to ask for help."

Although Liaodong and Youzhou are adjacent, they are inaccessible by road. How could Gongsun Zan and Guan Jing possibly place their hopes on Gongsun Du?

Considering Liu Miao's current demand for Qingzhou, Guan Jing's true target for seeking aid is quite obvious!
"Liu Miao... he's really restless!"

When Shen Pei mentioned Liu Miao, his voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth!
"Want to form an alliance with Gongsun Zan, and threaten Lord Yuan like you did back in Langya? Dream on!"

Shen Pei immediately went to see Yuan Shao and told him his suspicion that Guan Jing might go to Qingzhou and form an alliance with Liu Miao.

Since the last "Alliance of Langya", Yuan Shao's complexion has clearly deteriorated considerably.

His once plump figure gradually became somewhat skeletal, bearing a striking resemblance to Yuan Shu in his prime! Furthermore, Yuan Shao often woke up thirsty in the middle of the night, asking for honey water to quench his thirst…

However, when facing Shen Pei, Yuan Shao still stood tall and straight, and even applied rouge to his face to make himself look rosy. Therefore, even Shen Pei, a close minister, did not notice anything wrong with Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao rallied his spirits and asked Shen Pei, "From the perspective of the south, what should we do?"

"Secretly mobilize troops and launch a full-scale attack on Gongsun Zan at all costs!"

This was a pre-determined strategy, but it was shelved due to Liu Miao's actions in Langya and could not be implemented.

Now that it seems Gongsun Zan really wants to collude with Liu Miao, it's clear that the die is cast!
"At all costs..."

Yuan Shao muttered a couple of words, but he also nodded.

"In that case, let's proceed with the plan from the south and make the arrangements as soon as possible."

"Here!"

There was also a look of surprise in Shen Pei's lowered eyes.

In the past, when he and Yuan Shao devised plans, they could never implement them immediately.

While Xu You and Guo Tu's deliberate disagreement with Shen Pei was certainly a contributing factor, the main reason was that Yuan Shao often had to "consider" things carefully, which resulted in a lot of wasted time.

But this time, Yuan Shao agreed without hesitation?

Yuan Shao didn't even consult anyone's opinion before agreeing to implement it.
Shen Pei had a vague feeling that something seemed off about Yuan Shao.

But no matter what, a decisive decision and a decisive Yuan Shao are not bad things for the current situation!
Therefore, Shen Pei accepted the order and began secretly mobilizing his soldiers, heading north!
After Shen Pei left, Yuan Shao finally shouted, "Bring water! Bring meat! Go now!"

Servants kept bringing Yuan Shao drinks and meat, which he wolfed down for a while before his complexion finally returned to normal.

"Go after Zheng Nan and tell him that this time I will personally lead the expedition!"

"He's right, I've wasted far too much time."

(End of this chapter)