Tiger Owl

Chapter 129 Dramatic Changes in Hebei
That morning, the army passed through Baling Town, and Gan Ning ordered the army to rest for a day.
Historically, it wasn't until the 20th year of Jian'an (219 AD) that Sun Quan built Baqiu City, which later became Yueyang City.

There is now only a small fishing town here, Baling Town, which is under the jurisdiction of Xiajun County.

Half a month ago, Gan Ning ordered the recruitment of 100,000 laborers to build Baqiu County. Of course, it cannot be completed immediately and will take one or two years, mainly during the winter off-season for farming.

Currently, Ding Fengzheng is leading 15,000 troops of the Second Army to build houses and reclaim land near Baling Town.

One of the most important reasons why Gan Ning built Baqiu County was to resettle the families of surrendered soldiers from Nanjun.

This was an agreement he reached with Liu Biao: if the families of the surrendered soldiers wanted to go south to Changsha Commandery, Liu Biao was not allowed to stop them.

Currently, the families of surrendered soldiers have begun to move south. Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Jiayu County, and Zhuge Jin is in charge of settling them. Then, several thousand people have arrived from Baling Town. The town cannot accommodate them all, so Gan Ning ordered Prefect Cui Jun to temporarily settle these several thousand people in Luo County.

The fleet anchored at the Second Army's water fortress to rest. Gan Ning, accompanied by Ding Feng, came to the vicinity to inspect the soldiers' reclamation of wasteland.

The soldiers drove the oxen and guided the curved plows through the fields, plowing up fertile plots of land. This area, bordering the lake, was the best land, with soft soil, good moisture content, and few stones and hard soil, making it relatively easy to cultivate.

The only trouble was weeding; several soldiers had to follow behind and pull the weeds off the turned-up soil.

Weeds are the enemy of fertile fields. After land was allocated to military households, they spent most of their time weeding in the fields. If they didn't weed for a few days, large patches of weeds would grow in the fields.

Most land needs to be cultivated continuously for many years before it can truly become fertile land.

Gan Ning said slowly, "In another month, the construction of the county town will begin. Soldiers will not be needed to participate in the construction, but they will need to supervise the construction. You need to cooperate well with Prefect Cui."

"Please rest assured, my lord, I will definitely cooperate with Prefect Cui."

Gan Ning pondered for a moment and then said, "There is another important task that I need you to do!"

"Please give your orders, my lord!"

Gan Ning nodded and said, "There is a water fortress west of Jiangling City with about four or five hundred large ships. I will give you a year to burn all of these warships of the Jingzhou army."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Gan Ning instructed him, "Be patient, thoroughly investigate the intelligence, and ideally have someone infiltrate the area to succeed in one fell swoop and burn these ships. This will cripple Liu Biao."

Ding Feng nodded; he did indeed need to think about it carefully.

The next day, before dawn, the main fleet set off again, heading towards Yuzhang County in a grand procession.

...........
Before we knew it, it was early October. A major piece of news came from the north: Yuan Shao, who had been bedridden for more than a year, finally died. The era of this great warlord had come to an end, which also meant the beginning of the Cao Cao era.

Yuan Shao passed the throne to his youngest son, Yuan Shang, which angered his elder brother, Yuan Tan. Before Yuan Shao's body was even cold, his eldest son, Yuan Tan, led an army to attack Ye City. Yuan Shang also sent a large army to meet the attack, and the two brothers fought fiercely in Wei Commandery.

In November, Cao Cao took the opportunity to lead his army north, captured Neihuang County, and harvested the wheat around Ye City.

Upon hearing that Cao Cao's army was marching north, the Yuan brothers stopped fighting and joined forces to deal with Cao Cao, resulting in a fierce battle between the two sides east of Ye City.

At this time, Gao Gan of Bingzhou and the Southern Xiongnu army joined forces to attack Guanzhong. Zhong Yao, who was stationed in Chang'an, sent troops to meet the attack with the assistance of the Guanzhong warlord group.

War broke out in both North China and Northwest China.

.........

In Xiangyang, the eldest son, Liu Qi, presented a letter to his father.

Since losing Changsha Commandery, Liu Biao has been in low spirits for the past few months. The Battle of Dongting Lake has wiped out 70% of Liu Biao's warships and 40% of his savings accumulated over more than a decade. How could Liu Biao be happy?

"Whose letter is this?" Liu Biao asked, glancing at the envelope. "Reporting to Father, it is a letter from Liu Huangshu to you."

Liu Biao opened the letter and read it carefully, his brows slowly furrowing.

In his letter, Liu Bei told him that Yuan Shao had died, Cao Cao had personally led an army of 80,000 northwards, Ma Teng had attacked Guanzhong, and Cao Cao had sent another 30,000 reinforcements to Chang'an. Xuchang was now vulnerable, and it was the perfect opportunity to send troops. Liu Bei had already led 10,000 troops northwards and hoped that he would send troops as soon as possible as agreed.

Since Liu Biao was persuaded by Liu Bei last time, the two met several more times and finally finalized a joint expedition plan for the Northern Expedition. Once Xuchang was undefended, Liu Biao would send 20,000 troops and Liu Bei would send 10,000 troops. Liu Biao would also transfer troops from Nanyang Commandery, and the entire army of 30,000 would be under the unified command of Liu Bei.

Liu Biao was considering a northern expedition at the time, but after the loss of Changsha Commandery, his enthusiasm for the expedition gradually cooled, and he had no intention of launching one at all.

"Liu Bei is really out of touch with reality, actually wanting me to join him on the Northern Expedition."

Liu Qi quickly whispered, "Father, Cao Cao is fighting on two fronts. Now is indeed a good opportunity for a northern expedition. We should seize this opportunity!"

Liu Biao glared at his eldest son and said, "If you want to launch a northern expedition, go ahead. I won't stop you. You're allowed to recruit your own army, and you'll have to take care of your own food and supplies."

Seeing his father's anger, Liu Qi dared not utter a word.

Liu Biao snorted coldly and said, "I haven't forgotten how Liu Bei killed Che Zhou, seized Cao Cao's army, and made my army join him on the northern expedition. The real danger is not Cao Cao, but Liu Bei. Taking advantage of Cao Cao's inability to look south, he seized my army and occupied Nanyang Commandery. Does he think I can't see through his little scheme?"

Liu Qi disagreed, saying that Liu Huangshu was known for his benevolence and righteousness, and that his father was perhaps a little petty.

"Father, just don't give the military tally to Liu Bei. Without it, Liu Bei can't seize the army."

“That won’t work either. He has a history of killing generals and seizing troops. The risks are too great. Everyone is against it. I have to consider the opinions of the masses.”

Liu Biao took two steps with his hands behind his back and said, "Send an order to Wen Ping to give Liu Bei 10,000 shi of grain and 20,000 dan of fodder. He is not allowed to send out a single soldier. If he wants to launch a northern expedition, let him go."

Liu Qi sighed inwardly. His father was completely led by the nose by the Jingxiang aristocratic families and had lost his own judgment. At this moment, Liu Qi secretly made up his mind that even if his father disagreed, there were some things he had to do. This was to fight for the inheritance rights that should have belonged to him. He needed Liu Biao as an outsider.

Liu Bei led 10,000 troops from Xinye and arrived at Wancheng a few days later. According to the consensus reached between Liu Bei and Liu Biao, they would take advantage of Cao Cao's northern expedition to jointly attack Xuchang and seize the emperor.

That afternoon, Wen Ping, the garrison commander of Nanyang Commandery, arrived at Liu Bei's camp with a convoy. Upon hearing the news, Liu Bei personally came out to greet him.

"This is a small token of support from my lord to Liu Bei, consisting of 10,000 shi of grain and 20,000 dan of fodder. I wish the Liu royal family a victorious start and a safe return."

Liu Bei was taken aback. "General Wen, aren't you coming north with me?"

Wen Ping shook his head apologetically and said, "Our Jingzhou army suffered a disastrous defeat at Dongting Lake, losing tens of thousands of men. Now, Gan Ning's army may invade the north at any time. We cannot spare any troops to go north. I can only apologize!"

Wen Ping's words were like a blow to the head, and Liu Bei almost fainted. Of course, he understood that the other party was making excuses. The loss in Dongting Lake was only a loss of the navy. Liu Biao still had more than 100,000 troops. Why not send 20,000 to follow him on the northern expedition?

Furthermore, Gan Ning has already returned to Yuzhang Commandery and has no intention of attacking Nan Commandery at all. It is clear that Liu Biao has retreated again at the last minute.

Wen Ping was also very disappointed, but since his lord had given the order, he didn't explain further. He bowed and left, sending the cart and all.

Guan Yu asked in a low voice, "Brother, if Liu Biao doesn't come, should we still launch the Northern Expedition?"

Liu Bei gritted his teeth and said, "Of course we must launch a northern expedition, the more tragic the better, so that the world will know that my words about Liu Xuande's restoration of the Han Dynasty are not just empty talk."

Just then, a soldier came to report, "My lord, Master Shui Jing requests an audience!"

Shui Jing was Sima Hui, one of Liu Bei's friends in Jingzhou.

Liu Bei quickly replied, "Where is the gentleman? I will go to greet him."

(End of this chapter)