Brother, stop curling up! You're curling up like the founder of the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 177: Liu Bei defeats the bandits at Xiapi and takes Lady Gan as a concubine (Seeking subscriptions and monthly votes)
Xia Pi.

Zhang Chao has been besieging the city for a long time.

Since Tao Qian and others went to Xiaopei, Zhang Chao's forces were insufficient to attack Xiapi, so he could only try to persuade Xiapi to surrender every day outside the city.

However, Gai Xun was a tough nut to crack and wasn't afraid of Zhang Chao's threats at all.

Instead, every time Zhang Chao came to persuade him to surrender, he would be met with a furious outburst from Gai Xun.

Zhang Chao was not angry and would occasionally inform Gai Xun and the people of Xiapi about the latest battle situation.

today.

Zhang Chao rode his horse to the city walls again and shouted, "Gai Xun, a wise man knows when to yield. Now Liu Bei's reinforcements have been trapped in Xiaopei by Magistrate Tao. You have no more reinforcements, so why struggle on?"

"This is not just me talking nonsense. I still have the people from Xiaopei here, and they all say that Magistrate Tao is benevolent and righteous. He only flooded the city after the people in the city had left."

Zhang Chao shouted out the newly discovered intelligence, his tone becoming increasingly smug.

However, Gai Xun on the city wall remained unmoved and responded with a sneer: "Zhang Chao, if you have the ability, then come and attack Xiapi City. If you don't, then don't bark outside the city like a wild dog every day."

Zhang Chao laughed loudly: "Gai Xun, if I can subdue the enemy without fighting, why should I let my soldiers suffer? Don't you know how many people in your city of Xiapi are so frightened that they want to surrender?"

"Once Lord Tao has wiped out Liu Bei, the heroes of Xiapi will bring you out to see me. At that time, I hope you will be as stubborn as you are today."

Gai Xun frowned.

Although Xiapi City is currently unharmed, as Zhang Chao said, there are already many voices of discontent within the city.

No one wanted to die, and the powerful and wealthy families in the city were even less willing to die.

Many officials in Xiapi also wanted to surrender, but dared not act rashly because Gai Xun's prestige was still intact.

With a sigh, Gai Xun said to Chen Deng, Mi Zhu, and Sun Qian on his left and right, "If the Imperial Uncle is defeated, you can bind me and take me to Tao Qian. Tao Qian will not harm me."

Chen Deng, Mi Zhu, and Sun Qian all had drastic changes in expression.

Due to Liu Bei's recommendation, Gai Xun recruited three people after entering Xuzhou, and all of them became Xuzhou officials.

Because all three of them helped Gai Xun, Gai Xun was worried that Tao Qian would harm them after he came to power. He did not want to take their lives, so he said these words as a way of giving back for their help.

"Does Your Excellency think I, Chen Yuanlong, am a sycophantic coward who clings to power and fears death? If Your Excellency is to be bound and taken to Tao Qian, I would rather resign and return to my hometown than suffer such humiliation!"

"Although I am a merchant, I still know propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame. How can you, my lord, underestimate me?"

“If my master knew that I had acted in this way, he would surely expel me. I know that the magistrate is afraid that we will be harmed by Tao Qian, but people have things they will do and things they will not do. I, Sun Qian, will never do anything that is treacherous and ungrateful.”

Seeing the indignant tone of Chen Deng and the other two, Gai Xun sighed with guilt: "It is my incompetence that has let you down."

Chen Deng comforted him, saying, "My lord, please don't say such discouraging things. We are complete strangers to the Imperial Uncle, yet he knows our talents and character. This shows that the Imperial Uncle's abilities are beyond those of ordinary people. Tao Qian may not be able to win."

Gai Xun said worriedly, "If it were only Tao Qian, the Imperial Uncle could defeat him; but now Yuan Shu and the rebels from Yanzhou are attacking the Imperial Uncle together, with hundreds of thousands of troops gathered in Xiaopei. How can the Imperial Uncle possibly win?"

Chen Deng laughed and said, "In the Battle of Pengcheng, Xiang Yu defeated the allied forces of the feudal lords, numbering 560,000, with only 30,000 troops. In the Battle of Kunyang, Emperor Guangwu defeated Wang Mang's army of 130,000 with only 20,000 troops."

"The strength of an army lies not in its size, but in its deployment. Although the rebel army is numerous, their orders are inconsistent; while the Imperial Uncle's army is smaller, his commands are unified. How can the rebel army, even with hundreds of thousands of troops, possibly defeat the Imperial Uncle?"

"Zhang Chao's words should not be taken at face value. There will be results in the next few days."

Mi Zhu and Sun Qian also offered kind words of comfort to Gai Xun.

But outside the city.

Seeing that Gai Xun remained unmoved, Zhang Chao turned his smile into worry as he turned away.

News of Yuan Shu's defeat by Liu Bei and the surprise attacks on Xiang County and Pengcheng by Liu Bei had already reached Zhang Chao's ears.

That was just a bluff to Gai Xun, hoping to frighten Gai Xun and the people of Xiapi into surrendering.

Zhang Chao's biggest fear right now is that Tao Qian's hasty return to rescue Pengcheng will be met with an ambush by Liu Bei.

Fearing that Tao Qian would suffer a crushing defeat like Pang Juan in the Battle of Maling, Zhang Chao would be left isolated and helpless in Guangling.

Just as they were wondering whether to send troops to Pengcheng, a messenger reported that Zang Ba had led his troops to Xiapi.

"Zang Ba is here? It must be that Magistrate Tao has won!" Zhang Chao was overjoyed, and his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. He then hurriedly went out of the village to see Zang Ba.

In order to gain Liu Bei's protection, and also out of fear that Cao Bao and others would ruin things, and even more so because Zhang Chao would get the news in advance, Zang Ba rushed to Xiapi after reorganizing his troops at Jiuli Mountain.

Because Zang Ba arrived so quickly, news of Tao Qian's defeat had not yet reached Xiapi. Zhang Chao assumed that Zang Ba had come to reinforce, and thus took no precautions against him.

He only asked, "I heard that Pengcheng was occupied by Liu Bei. I wonder what the situation is?"

Zang Ba feigned a sneer: "Liu Bei only has a few thousand soldiers, how dare he occupy Pengcheng? He even wants to ambush us at Jiuli Mountain! How laughable, does he, a man from Youzhou, know Jiuli Mountain better than us?"

Zhang Chao also laughed: "Liu Bei was lucky to launch a surprise attack on Pengcheng, and now he wants to emulate Sun Bin's strategy of waiting in comfort to exhaust the enemy. How foolish! Is there any chance of capturing Liu Bei?"

"Liu Bei had fierce warriors on his left and right, and he was lucky to escape." Zang Ba sighed, his face full of regret.

Zhang Chao also expressed his regret: "What a pity. If we could capture Liu Bei alive, we could also enter Luoyang and be ranked among the Nine Ministers."

Just as Zhang Chao turned around, Zang Ba suddenly drew his sword and slashed at him. Caught off guard, Zhang Chao was cut down and stared in astonishment at Zang Ba: "Zang Ba, you—"

Then Zang Ba raised his sword again and killed Zhang Chao, shouting, "Tao Qian has been captured alive by the Imperial Uncle. We have already surrendered to the Imperial Uncle. Now that Zhang Chao is dead, those who surrender will not be killed!"

The rest of the crowd were greatly alarmed and scattered in all directions.

Zang Ba shouted to his men, "Attack the camp immediately! Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"

Sun Guan and the others obeyed the order and quickly charged into Zhang Chao's remaining troops.

Meanwhile, in the central command tent, the clerk Zang Hong, who was sorting through documents, was both shocked and furious to hear that Tao Qian had been captured and that Zang Ba had killed Zhang Chao.

Zang Hong's prestige in the army was second only to Zhang Chao. Even after Zhang Chao was killed, a large number of soldiers still gathered around Zang Hong.

"Zang Ba, how dare you betray your ally?" Zang Hong glared angrily.

Zhang Chao had recommended Zang Hong, and the two had a very good relationship. Now that Zhang Chao had been killed, Zang Hong harbored great hatred for Zang Ba.

Zang Ba sneered: "It is Tao Qian who has allied with you. I have never allied with you. Now that Tao Qian has been captured alive by the Imperial Uncle, we will serve the Imperial Uncle. If you surrender, I will not kill you; if you resist, you will suffer the same fate as Zhang Chao."

Zang Ba was originally a bandit from Mount Tai, and he couldn't get along with scions of powerful families like Zang Hong and Zhang Chao. He also didn't talk much to Zang Hong.

Today, outside the city of Xiapi, only one side can stand.

The sounds of fighting echoed throughout the camp, alarming Gai Xun of Xiapi.

"Internal strife? Reinforcements?"

Gai Xun was unsure of the situation, so he ordered his soldiers to strengthen their vigilance while sending people out of the city to gather information.

A moment later, the scout returned: "Reporting to the lord, there is infighting among the rebels. Zang Ba killed Zhang Chao and is now fighting Zang Hong."

Is Zhang Chao dead?

Gai Xun was utterly shocked. This internal strife had escalated far too much!
Could it be a scam?

Are they trying to lure me into sending troops so they can seize the city?

"Yuanlong, what do you think?" Gai Xun looked at Chen Deng, who also had a solemn expression, beside him.

With too little intelligence, Chen Deng could not make a judgment, so he said, "Whether it is a real internal strife or a deliberate act, as long as we defend Xiapi to the death, we will not go wrong."

Gai Xun nodded in agreement: "In that case, we can have our spies keep a close eye on things."

About half an hour.

The scout reported again: "Reporting to the magistrate, Zang Hong has been defeated and has led his troops to flee towards Guangling."

Before Gai Xun could react, he saw Zang Ba's banner heading towards the city gate. Gai Xun was startled and quickly ordered his soldiers to be on guard.

Seeing the bows and arrows raised on the city wall, Zang Ba halted his troops and shouted, "I am Zang Ba of Langya. The false governor of Xuzhou, Tao Qian, has been captured alive by the Imperial Uncle, and we have also surrendered to the Imperial Uncle. Now, we are ordered by the Imperial Uncle to take Zhang Chao's head."

“If Governor Gai does not believe us, he may send someone to Xiaopei immediately. We also need to return to Xiaopei to report back to the Imperial Uncle.”

Regardless of whether Gai Xun believed it or not, Zang Bale turned his horse around and left.

For Zang Ba, whether Gai Xun believed him or not was unimportant; what mattered most was whether he could send his wife and children to Luoyang to seek refuge under Liu Bei's command.

Zang Ba was different from other bandits of Mount Tai.

Zang Ba's father, Zang Jie, was once a prison clerk in the county. Because he upheld the law and refused to obey the prefect's request to kill a prisoner, the prefect arrested Jie and brought him to the prefectural office to be punished.

Enraged, Zang Ba kidnapped Zang Jie and became a thief.

However, Zang Ba was unwilling to be a bandit, so he surrendered to Tao Qian when Tao Qian was campaigning against the Yellow Turbans.

Although he became an official, Zang Ba still felt insecure and dared not relinquish his military power, thus forming his own faction in the Kaiyang area.

Even so, Zang Ba was often filled with fear. For example, when he followed Tao Qian to fight Liu Bei, if Liu Bei had been any more ruthless, Zang Ba and the others would have been killed.

In this way, Kaiyang's family members would not know who would plunder them.

Zang Ba knew very well that the world was in chaos, and he himself did not have much ability. If he could not find refuge with a powerful ruler, he might die and his family would be wiped out one day.

Zang Ba followed Tao Qian hoping to find refuge under Tao Qian's protection, but now that Tao Qian has been captured alive by Liu Bei, Zang Ba has seen another opportunity.

The three governors, a dozen prefects, and chancellors, with hundreds of thousands of troops, were all defeated and annihilated by Liu Bei with only 20,000 men.

His military prowess is astonishing.

In addition, Liu Bei's status as Grand Commandant, Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and Imperial Uncle, as well as his benevolence in only killing Tao Qian and protecting Tao Qian's family, led Zang Ba to decide to send his family to Luoyang on his own initiative.

In this way, Liu Bei could rest assured, and his family could have no worries in the future.

Liu Bei even protected the family of Tao Qian, a man who could be executed for treason. How could he possibly mistreat the families of his loyal generals?
With Yuan Shu fleeing to Huainan, Tao Qian and Yuan Yi were captured one after another, and Zhang Chao was killed by Zang Ba, thus bringing this deadly plot against Liu Bei to an end.

Liu Bei ordered Lü Bu, Zhao Yun, Xu Huang, and Huang Zhong to lead troops into Qiao County to transport some of the gold and silver given by Yuan Shu, the generous spender, back to Luoyang to reward the army. He left Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, Dian Wei, Ma Chao, and Chen Dao to temporarily reside in Xiaopei.

After discovering that the war had ended, the people of Xiaopei, along with the elderly and children, returned home one after another.

Xiaopei was flooded.

There was a lot of flooding in the city.

To prevent the people of Xiaopei from falling ill after drinking polluted water, Liu Bei organized his soldiers to clean the streets and dig ditches to drain the sewage.

Soldiers were also dispatched to assist the elderly, women, and children in carrying water and repairing their homes.

These unprecedented scenes left the people of Xiaopei utterly astonished.

When did soldiers who used to live on the edge become so kind?

The traditional practice was to have the city's residents perform these tasks for free, such as cleaning streets and digging ditches to drain sewage.

Carrying water to repair the house was even more impossible; they'd be grateful if they didn't break in and rob them.

Kind-hearted civilians brought food to the Lingyan Army, but the Lingyan Army returned it all.

The answer is that the Lingyan Army's motto was "Rather freeze to death than dismantle a house, rather starve to death than plunder."

In fact, given the current level of awareness and understanding of the Lingyan Army, it is far from achieving the ideal of close ties between the military and the people.

However, Liu Bei had his own way of doing things.

Yuan Shu, the "splurging child," gave away far too much money.

Once the money is paid in full, harmony will naturally follow.

First, use money to satisfy the soldiers' basic desires. Once they have satisfied these basic desires, then guide them to pursue higher-level desires.

Once a habit becomes second nature, using sophisticated interests to enrich one's mind and awareness will naturally lead to greater efficiency.

"If it weren't for Xuande's help, I would be the governor of Yanzhou in name only. I have a great gift to give to Xuande."

Upon returning to Xiaopei, Cao Cao had Liu Bei change into ordinary clothes and then mysteriously led him to a village outside Xiaopei.

Although he was now Liu Bei's uncle, they had a life-or-death friendship and Cao Ang had become Liu Bei's disciple. In private, Liu Bei and Cao Cao still addressed each other by their courtesy names.

Liu Bei, unaware of the reason, and seeing Cao Cao heading straight for the village outside the city, couldn't help but joke, "Brother Mengde, have you perhaps secretly taken another widow in your arms?"

"Xuande is joking. I have no interest in widows," Cao Cao said, straightening his posture and speaking with righteous indignation.

"Although He Jin and his son deserved their deaths, their families were innocent. However, I have heard that He Jin's daughter-in-law and grandson were taken away by an old friend of He Jin. I must investigate who this old friend is when I get back." Liu Bei said with a gentle smile.

Cao Cao chuckled and said, "Xuande, there's no need to investigate. I am that old friend. Let's not talk about that today. I've found you a great gift."

Seemingly afraid that Liu Bei would mention Lady Yin again, Cao Cao quickened his pace and arrived at a simple mud house.

Then, mysteriously, he said, "Xuande, you may not know this, but when I was in Xiaopei, I heard that this family had a daughter named Gan. Although her family was poor, when she was young, a villager told her that she would be extremely wealthy and noble in the future. Xuande, you are knowledgeable in divination and prophecy, can you see the noble aura of this house?"

"Although Cai Gong's daughter is gentle, refined, knowledgeable and reasonable, it is still best to take a concubine to have children. After all, Xuande's status is different now, and the matter of having a son cannot be left to Cai Gong's daughter alone."

“If Cai Gong’s daughter’s first child is a daughter, it will not only affect Xuande’s future career, but also Cai Gong’s daughter’s future status. However, if she takes a concubine and has a son, and then raises him under Cai Gong’s daughter’s name, it will be the best of both worlds.”

“My son Cao Ang was also born to a concubine.”

Cao Cao had one more thing to say: if Cai Wenji had a difficult childbirth, it would have a serious impact on Liu Bei, both personally and in terms of his career.

While we were chatting.

A young woman emerged from the earthen house. Although she was simply dressed, her skin was as white as jade, and she possessed an indescribable beauty and charm.

Even Liu Bei, who had seen many beauties, couldn't help but be stunned by her unadorned face.

Seeing this, Cao Cao stroked his long beard and said, "Xuande, this woman's surname is Gan and her given name is Mei. I have already asked her father, and she is not yet betrothed."

(End of this chapter)