I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 384 Revealing the secret
The military intelligence from Jiangzhou was not only transmitted to Baidi City, but also to Chengdu.

The two lines of defense in the east of Sichuan were breached overnight.

"Waste! Waste! They are all waste!"

In the newly built Shu King's Palace, even Liu Zhang, who was known for his stubborn and unruly nature, began to berate his ministers.

"What do Zhang Ren, Fa Zheng, and Yan Yan do?"

"The advance of Liu Miao's army in the east is too fast. We simply cannot find out what is happening in Baidi City and Jiangzhou."

Liu Zhang's eyes widened: "So, you don't even know how you lost?"

"Ah."

This single "hmm" seemed to drain all of Liu Zhang's strength, causing him to slump onto the couch like a boneless limp.

"Junjiao, Ziqiao! Zhang Ren and Fazheng were recommended by you two brothers! Now that Baidi City has fallen, do you two have anything to say?"

When Zhang Su's name was called, he glared at the other person.

"What is there to say? Or is there something you want to hear?"

"Zhang Ren and Fa Zheng's abilities are obvious to everyone! Sending people to Baidi City to resist Liu Miao was also everyone's decision! Why are you questioning me now?"

"Even if the person my brother sent was problematic, what about Yan Yan, the Prefect of Ba Commandery? Was he also recommended by my brother?"

Having been mired in political struggles for years, Zhang Su immediately recognized their intentions!
They simply want to pin the blame for the defeat on their two brothers! Then they can oust them and take their place!
Zhang Su slammed his hand on the table, then stood up abruptly, rolling up his sleeves: "Keep stirring! Keep stirring! You're still stirring things up at a time like this! Wait until there are no generals left to use at the front! Wait until Liu Miao attacks Chengdu, then he'll send you all to the southwest barbarians to plant cotton trees, and take all your land and wealth! Then everyone will be satisfied, won't they?"

Seeing that Zhang Su was really angry, the others quickly stepped forward to act as peacemakers.

"We cannot blame Junjiao and Ziqiao."

"Indeed! Liu Miao's army is so powerful that even Yuan Shao couldn't stop him, let alone Zhang Renfazheng?"

"The most urgent task is to figure out how to keep Liu Miao out of Chengdu!"

"..."

Zhang Su was born into a powerful family in Shu and was highly renowned among the gentry!

More importantly, Zhang Su himself was a large landowner, from a prominent family, and a powerful clan.

He might choose to surrender to Yuan Shao, or even choose to join Zhang Lu, but he would never choose to join Liu Miao!

As some scholars who could see right from wrong gradually sided with Zhang Su, the voices against Zhang Su and Zhang Song were directly drowned out, and no one talked about the matter anymore.

However, the group still couldn't come up with a solution on how to resist Liu Miao, and could only rest before making further plans.

During a break, Zhang Su approached Zhang Song and said, "Ziqiao, you seem a bit off today."

Zhang Song was already feeling guilty, and Zhang Su's trickery made him break out in a cold sweat: "Brother, why would you think that?"

"If it were any other day, if you were framed by someone trying to frame our brothers, you would have already pointed your finger at the other party and given them a thorough dressing down. Why are you so quiet today?"

Zhang Song was short and dissolute, but he was insightful, shrewd, decisive, and extremely talented. He also hated evil, which is why he became friends with Fa Zheng.

If it were any other day, Zhang Song would have attacked any political enemy who dared to slander him, and he would have focused on the other party's mother, extended to their relatives, used their father as an assistant, and aimed at their ancestors, cursing them until they rolled their eyes. Why was he being so unusual today?

Zhang Song's eyes flickered twice, and he finally came up with a reason.

"Upon hearing the sudden news that Baidi City and Jiangzhou had fallen, I was shaken and unable to argue with them."

Baidi City...

Considering the relationship between Fa Zheng and Zhang Song, Zhang Su decided to believe Zhang Song's explanation for the time being.

However, Zhang Su still reminded Zhang Song—

"Ziqiao, remember this."

"You! Me! We are all dependent on our clan! Dependent on our family!"

"Don't betray your roots! Do you understand?!"

Just like his name suggests, Zhang Su was extremely authoritative in his speech and actions.

Its momentum was like a tidal wave, making Zhang Song feel somewhat suffocated. Zhang Song hurriedly raised his hands in surrender: "Brother, don't worry, I... will do my best to protect the clan!"

"Is there anything Ziqiao wants to say to his older brother?"

"What I wanted to say, my brother should already know."

"..."

Zhang Su scrutinized Zhang Song, a hint of barely perceptible disappointment in his eyes.

"I understand!"

After a short rest, the officials of Shu Province resumed their military planning.

Now that Baidi City and Jiangzhou have fallen, Liu Miao can enter Shu at any time, take whatever he wants, and no longer be controlled by others.

However, there are still many distinctions in the routes from Jiangzhou to Shu.

Jiangzhou is important because it is the confluence of four rivers: the Jialing River, the Inner River (Fu River), the Middle River (Tuo River), and the Outer River (Min River).

Among them, the internal water, the middle water, and the external water can all reach the Chengdu Plain from the north, the central, and the south.

Therefore, our ancestors built cities and towns along these waterways for defense purposes.

The dangers of the inland waters lie in Guanghan and Fucheng.

The danger of the middle water lies in the place of Niu Pi.

The danger of external waters lies in Jiangyang and Pengmo.

Among them, Zhongshui, being a small river, could not support a large-scale army entering Sichuan.

The name "Niubi" originates from the ancient observation that several rivers converged in a turbulent manner, resembling a wild, untamed ox, often resulting in massive floods. After being obstructed at the Jintang Gorge, the river was compressed into a narrow stream by the towering cliffs on both sides as it passed through the gorge. After exiting the Jintang Gorge at Huaikou, the river gradually meandered and calmed in the low hills of Jianyang. The ancients, observing this flow, described it as a wild ox being led by a nose rope, hence the name Niubi. Niubi was inherently easy to defend and difficult to attack; even if captured, without support, it would eventually be slowly worn down by the enemy forces in Chengdu.

Therefore, the attack route of Zhongshui was the first one ruled out by the officials of Shu.

However, the choice between internal and external waterways was a major headache for the officials in Shu, who were unsure which side Liu Miao would choose.

The Inner River is the fastest route from Jiangzhou to Chengdu. If Liu Miao's army can capture Fucheng, they can directly invade Chengdu and destroy Liu Zhang's regime.

Although the outer river is winding, it lacks a military fortress like Fucheng for defense, so Liu Miao also had the possibility of choosing this route.

"..."

"Liu Miao is very likely to take the internal route!"

Registrar Huang Quan made the final decision!

"Liu Miao's sudden military campaign was intended to achieve a swift victory and seize Shu before Yuan Shao could react!"

"Especially now that he has captured Baidi City and Jiangzhou, he wants to advance rapidly in order to intimidate our army's morale and make our soldiers fear him!"

Huang Quan explained his reasons.

"Now that Liu Miao has besieged Baidi City for so long, Yuan Shao in the north should have already noticed it and may be planning a southern expedition to seize the Central Plains!"

"Liu Miao is anxious and will surely choose to take the inner waterway to attack Fucheng in order to achieve a quick victory!"

Huang Quan's analysis garnered the approval of most people.

indeed.

Even if Yuan Shao was slow to react, he should have realized what was happening by now, after so much time.

Liu Miao might not fear Liu Zhang or the people of Shu. But if Yuan Shao launches an attack, wouldn't Liu Miao be eager for a quick victory?

"That being the case——"

Liu Zhang appointed Liu Gui, Ling Bao, Deng Xian, Wu Yi, and others as generals to defend Fucheng. He also placed his son Liu Xun in Luocheng as the military supervisor.

The locations for the deployment of each army were then discussed and agreed upon, thus concluding the successful meeting.

After returning to his residence, Zhang Song immediately locked himself in the back room. Only after a long time did he sneak out and beckon to his trusted confidant: "Send this to Liu Miao's army."

As he finished delivering the items, Zhang Song seemed both relieved and lost.

"Such merit should be enough to preserve the clan, right?"

Snapped!
With a loud bang, Zhang Song's door was pushed open, the two doors slamming to the side before slowly closing with a teeth-grinding creak...

Why is my brother so angry?

Zhang Song pretended not to know and went up to Zhang Su to ask him.

"Ziqiao! We're brothers! Now that things have come to this, are you still going to try to fob me off with these words?"

Zhang Su stared at his younger brother, a look of regret in his eyes.

"Ziqiao! I warned you! I warned you! How could you be so foolish?"

“You are also a scholar! You also come from a powerful family!! Why did you choose to pledge allegiance to Liu Miao? What exactly do you want to do? I don’t understand!”

Zhang Song was still gritting his teeth and holding on: "I really don't know what my brother is talking about."

"Still pretending?"

Zhang Su slapped Zhang Song across the face, knocking the already short Zhang Song to the ground.

“I have had doubts about you ever since you recommended Fazheng.”

"Fa Zheng is indeed talented, but he is, after all, a refugee from Guanzhong!"

"To promote him, you even mentioned Zhao Chi? What is Zhao Chi fighting for? Isn't it for us? You actually used him to achieve your own goals, how shameful!"

"After the fall of Baidi City, my suspicions about you only grew!"

"Zhang Ren's talent in leading troops, if not the best in Shu, is at least among the top three!"

"How could someone like that not even make a sound in Baidi City, and Liu Miao took over Baidi City so easily?"

Zhang Su laughed in anger, but tears began to flow again when he thought of Zhang Song's actions.

"I'm waiting for you, waiting for you to explain things to me! But you still haven't said anything to me!"

"When we were discussing the deployment of the various armies just now, although you did it very discreetly, you still glanced at those official documents without realizing it!"

Zhang Su clutched his chest.

"Just one glance, it's nothing to others."

"But others may not know, but do you think I don't know that you have a photographic memory?"

"You wrote down all of our military secrets and passed them on to Liu Miao. Did you really intend to just stand by and watch the King of Shu be captured and his clan wiped out?"

Zhang Song got up from the ground and remained silent.

"What? Still trying to deny it?"

Zhang Su waved his hand, and immediately someone brought in Zhang Song's servant, taking the item from his arms and throwing it heavily to the ground.

Seeing that he had been caught red-handed, Zhang Song knew that he really had no excuse.

“Brother is right, I have indeed sided with Liu Miao.”

"but!"

Zhang Song's voice suddenly rose eight octaves!
"My purpose in joining his cause is precisely to save my clan!"

(End of this chapter)