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

Chapter 218 Yuan Shao Goes Mad, Liu Bei Welcomes His Mother in Hanoi (Seeking Monthly Tickets and Follow-Up)

Fan County.

Under Yu Jin's cover, Tian Feng fled all the way here.

Of the five thousand infantry and cavalry, only a thousand or so remained to follow. Tian Feng was overcome with grief.

Tian Feng was once a prominent figure in Hebei, but now he suffered a crushing defeat in Yanzhou, leaving him feeling ashamed and indignant.

Seeing that Tian Feng was only sighing, Yu Jin hurriedly advised, "Prime Minister Tian, ​​victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Prime Minister Ju has strong fortifications, so even if the enemy launches a sneak attack, it will be difficult to break through quickly. You can enter the city first, and then summon troops from Dongping and Jibei to reinforce it."

Tian Feng then realized what was happening, quickly composed himself, and said, "Sima Yu's words make sense; we should enter the city immediately."

However, when they arrived at Fancheng, the city gates were tightly closed.

Looking again at the flags on the city wall, they turned out to be the Qiao Mao flag.

Thinking of Qiao Mao's abandonment of the city and his escape, Tian Feng was furious and shouted at the city wall: "Qiao Mao, you were stationed in Juancheng, why did you abandon the city and flee!"

Seeing that the troops below the city were in disarray and clearly defeated, Qiao Mao didn't tolerate Tian Feng and shouted, "Tian Feng, what do you intend to do by leading your defeated troops here?"

Touched on a sore spot by Qiao Mao, Tian Feng became even more furious: "Qiao Mao, if you hadn't abandoned Juancheng, how could I have been ambushed by Cao Cao? You have betrayed the General's trust!"

Upon hearing Tian Feng's accusation, Qiao Mao instantly became furious: "Tian Feng, you are utterly unreasonable. If the General trusted me, why would he have appointed Shen Pei as the Prefect of Dongjun?"

"When I was guarding Dongjun, Liu Bei didn't even dare to come to Puyang. But when Shen Pei was guarding Dongjun, Yan Liang and Wen Chou were both killed by Liu Bei. Could it be that Shen Pei was in cahoots with Liu Bei, first slandering me to prevent me from becoming the governor, and then deliberately harming Yan Liang and Wen Chou?"

"You've come to accuse me this time, could it be that you're also in cahoots with Shen Pei?"

Kong Zhou, a rebel general from Yanzhou who attacked Cao Cao last year, was shot to death by Lü Bu. Yuan Yi was captured alive and beheaded in Luoyang last year. Zhang Miao, Yuan Xu, and Ying Shao fled to Hebei after their defeat at the beginning of the year. Zheng Sui chose to surrender. Li Zan and Bao Xin both died in the battle at the end of the year. Only Qiao Mao remained in Yanzhou.

From his defeat in the attack on Luoyang with Ding Yuan and Wang Kuang the year before last, to his defeat in the attack on Xiaopei last year, and then to his defeat this year, Qiao Mao has repeatedly suffered defeats but has always managed to survive, which is no small feat.

Therefore, Qiao Mao's words were spoken with righteous indignation, and even Tian Feng could not find a reason to refute them.

Yu Jin hurriedly advised, "Prime Minister Tian, ​​this is not the time to argue. Qiao Mao still has troops; we can join forces."

Suppressing his anger, Tian Feng softened his expression and said, "Cavalry Commandant, our dispute can wait until after the battle. Right now, Prime Minister Ju has been attacked, and we need to join forces to go and rescue him."

Before he could finish speaking, Qiao Mao burst into laughter: "Tian Feng, do you know why I went to Juancheng? It was because Ju Shou was afraid I would shake the morale of the army, so he allowed me to enter Juancheng with my documents. You are just like Shen Pei and Ju Shou, both arrogant and self-righteous, thinking that I am afraid of Liu Bei because of my poor military strategy. How ridiculous!"

"Liu Bei's military strength is unmatched in the world. Instead of gathering your troops in one place to defend the city, you divided your forces and let Liu Bei defeat you one by one. Now that you have been defeated, you expect me to go with you to your death. Do you think I'm as stupid as you?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Feng's suppressed anger erupted once more: "Qiao Mao, are you really going to stand by and do nothing in this danger? Aren't you afraid of being punished by the General?"

Qiao Mao snorted coldly, turned around and left, no longer arguing with Tian Feng.

“If Tian Feng is defeated, Ju Shou will inevitably be defeated as well. With these two defeated, not only will Puyang fall, but Dongping and Jibei will also fall. Given the current situation, we can no longer remain in Yanzhou.”

"If I go to Hebei, I might be targeted by Tian Feng again. Tian Feng is a famous scholar, and I don't have much prestige in Hebei either. Well, I can't go south to Jingyang right now, so I can only stay with Jiao He in Qingzhou for the time being."

After carefully analyzing the current situation in Yanzhou, Qiao Mao decided not to linger there any longer. He robbed the Fancheng treasury of money and grain and headed towards Qingzhou.

Seeing that Qiao Mao would rather flee than join forces to rescue Ju Shou, Tian Feng had no choice but to mobilize troops while sending men across the river at Cangting Ferry to Ye City to seek help.

If Hebei were at peace, Yuan Shao would surely have marched south to its aid as he did at the beginning of the year. However, Yuan Shao is not having an easy time in Ye City either.

First, he was defeated by Liu Bei, and then he went to fight against the Yellow Turbans of Black Mountain.

Although the Yellow Turbans of Black Mountain were driven back to Black Mountain, the powerful families and clans in Zhongshan State, Changshan Commandery, Zhao State, and Wei Commandery suffered heavy losses.

These people's discontent was also directed at Yuan Shao, believing that Yuan Shao, as Grand General and Governor of Ji Province, was unworthy of his position and was not as good as Han Fu.

This infuriated Yuan Shao.

I am a member of the Yuan family, a noble clan that has produced three dukes for four generations. How could I be inferior to Han Fu?
I killed Han Fu and I destroyed Gongsun Zan. How could I be inferior to Han Fu?
Despite his anger, Yuan Shao couldn't actually kill those who were criticizing him in private.

The powerful clans had already suffered heavy losses; if they were to send someone to silence them, then Yuan Shao might as well resign as general.

Yuan Shao felt a strong sense of crisis due to his declining prestige.

As the saying goes, good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.

Before Yuan Shao could recover from the accusations from powerful clans, he received a series of bad news.

First, Yan Liang and Wen Chou were defeated and beheaded. Then, Shen Pei fled back to Ye City in a sorry state, claiming that Puyang had been captured by Liu Bei. Then, Tian Feng brought news of his defeat. Soon after, news of Ju Shou's death also reached Ye City.

These successive pieces of bad news left Yuan Shao stunned and bewildered, finding it hard to believe.

Yuan Shao appointed Shen Pei, Ju Shou, and Tian Feng to replace Qiao Mao, Li Zan, and Bao Xin in Yanzhou because he believed that Qiao Mao, Li Zan, and Bao Xin each had their own selfish motives and only knew how to protect themselves.

The result was hard for Yuan Shao to understand. Shen Pei, Ju Shou, Tian Feng, Yan Liang, and Wen Chou, who had been helping each other, were either dead or had fled. Of the 40,000 troops, only a few thousand of Tian Feng's men remained, barely clinging to life in Dong'e.

Subconsciously, Yuan Shao began to regret replacing Qiao Mao.

Although Qiao Mao only knew how to defend Puyang, he truly defended Puyang.

Feng Ji was also completely demoralized by the successive defeats, and his pride in having outwitted Han Fu and Gongsun Zan was ruthlessly trampled on by Liu Bei.

“For our lord, this might be a good thing.” After a long silence, Feng Ji suppressed his shock and slowly spoke.

Yuan Shao frowned: "Now I have neither quelled the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans nor defended Yanzhou. What good can this be?"

A murderous glint flashed in Feng Ji's eyes: "The main responsibility for the defeat in Yanzhou lies with Shen Pei, because his poor deployment led to the deaths of Yan Liang and Wen Chou, the execution of Ju Shou, the deaths of former Dongping Chancellor Li Zan and former Jibei Chancellor Bao Xin, and the complete defeat of the 40,000-strong army."

"Now they have even abandoned the city and fled! If we do not severely punish Shen Pei, how can we uphold military law? The Shen family of Wei Commandery has a lot of money, grain, land and houses, and they are a large and powerful clan. If we can annex them, it will definitely greatly increase our lord's strength."

"Furthermore, if the anger of the powerful families in Hebei is redirected to Shen Pei, the lord can also reduce criticism."

Yuan Shao was immediately invigorated.

"Better to die than to die myself," Yuan Shao said, adding that he would be happy to have Shen Pei as a scapegoat.

“Yuan Tu also knows that the Shen clan is powerful and its army is strong. If I punish them severely, it will surely incur their dissatisfaction, and the powerful families of Hebei will also fear me. If I cannot gain their support, I will not be able to remain a general for long.” Yuan Shao felt troubled again at the thought of the consequences of severely punishing Shen Pei. Feng Ji sneered: “My lord is only a general, not the emperor. My lord can write a letter to plead guilty, and then privately have the Crown Princess go to the Crown Prince to complain that Shen Pei made a mistake but made my lord take the blame. The Crown Prince will surely go to His Majesty. What does His Majesty have to do with my lord if His Majesty wants to severely punish the Shen clan?”

Yuan Shao suddenly realized, clapped his hands in praise: "Without Yuan Tu's planning, I would have had no chance to establish myself in Hebei!"

Feng Ji's cunning lay in letting Emperor Liu Yu lead the charge against the powerful clans of Hebei, while Yuan Shao pretended to be a good guy and mediate.

This would concentrate some of the anger of the powerful families in Hebei on Shen Pei, and some on Liu Yu, causing the Shen family to lose money, provisions, and troops, and causing Liu Yu to lose the emperor's prestige.

Yuan Shao was "forced" to obtain money, provisions, and troops from the Shen family, and was also "forced" to gain the support of powerful clans to increase his prestige.

The bad guys were all played by Shen Pei and Liu Yu, while the good guys were all played by Yuan Shao. It was a win-win situation with no investment!

To avoid any unforeseen complications over time, Yuan Shao immediately summoned his daughter and instructed her to speak to Liu He and whisper sweet nothings in his ear.

He then wrote a letter to apologize, stating that he wanted to resign from his position as Grand General.

This tactic of retreating to advance surprised Liu Yu greatly.

If you don't become the general, who will?

Although Yuan Shao, the great general, held absolute power, Liu Yu's son married Yuan Shao's daughter, and Liu Yu was also installed by Yuan Shao.

Once Yuan Shao was gone, Liu Yu had no confidence in keeping the civil and military officials in check.

Just then, Liu He, who had been influenced by his wife's words, reported Shen Pei's crimes. Liu Yu immediately arrested Shen Pei and imprisoned him, ordering the Court of Justice to investigate Shen Pei's crimes.

Shen Pei naturally refused to plead guilty.

If Shen Pei were truly willing to die for Liu Yu, he would have died in Puyang long ago, just like Chen Gong.

After escaping Ye City, Shen Pei immediately returned to his clan and raised an army to confront Liu Yu.

Shen Pei's counterattack was exactly what Yuan Shao wanted.

Under Liu Yu's orders, Yuan Shao first feigned reluctance, but then shouted that for the sake of the Han Dynasty, he gathered his elite troops and went to fight Shen Pei.

Although the Shenpei clan had fortified villages that they could defend, they could not stop Yuan Shao, who wanted to establish his authority.

If I can't beat Liu Bei, how can I not beat you, Shen Pei?

Less than ten days.

Shen Pei's fortified village was forcibly breached by Yuan Shao, and Shen Pei was personally killed by Chunyu Qiong. Shen Pei's entire clan, young and old, was also wiped out.

The Shen family's wealth, land, houses, slaves, and retainers were all annexed by Yuan Shao!
"No wonder Liu Bei enjoys eliminating powerful bandits; the feeling of having everything under control is truly intoxicating." Yuan Shao looked at the list of money, grain, land, houses, slaves, and servants confiscated from the Shen family, and his mood, which had been low due to the bad news in recent days, rose again.

A hint of murderous intent flashed in Yuan Shao's heart.

At first, Yuan Shao thought that if he sent someone to silence him, his position as general would be in jeopardy.

However, after confiscating the Shen family property, Yuan Shao's thoughts changed.

Since Liu Yu is already the villain, why not silence him if we can?
They're just a bunch of thieves, yet they dare to criticize me?

"Yuan Tu, compile a list of those who have criticized me. Since you've started, go all the way!" Yuan Shao's cold voice rang out.

As Yuan Shao's most trusted strategist, Feng Ji instantly guessed Yuan Shao's intention and said, "His Majesty is old. If the Crown Prince is not supported by you, my lord, he will surely become a puppet of the powerful clans in Hebei. You, my lord, can privately seek out His Majesty and ask him to assist you in eliminating the lawless bandits in Hebei for the sake of the Han Dynasty and the Crown Prince!"

Although Feng Ji spoke in a grand and righteous manner, Liu Yu could not refuse his intention to eliminate the powerful bandits.

This time, Yuan Shao even requested to resign because of Shen Pei. What will happen next time?

If Liu Yu doesn't punish all the wicked, how will Crown Prince Liu He pacify Hebei after ascending the throne?
Although Liu Yu used to be known for his benevolence and righteousness, that was then. Now that he is sitting on the throne, Liu Yu must also consider the Crown Prince Liu He.

Therefore, when Yuan Shao proposed to kill all the dissenting powerful clans and confiscate their money, grain, land, and houses as a warning to others, Liu Yu hesitated for a while, worried that it would cause the other powerful clans in Hebei to become disloyal.

However, Yuan Shao's next reason dispelled Liu Yu's hesitation. The reason was simple: even if these powerful families were disloyal, they would not possibly surrender to Liu Bei.

Yuan Shao merely eliminated dissidents, while Liu Bei uprooted all powerful and influential families!
In order to secure the future position of Crown Prince Liu He, Liu Yu finally hardened his heart and accused all the powerful families who criticized Yuan Shao of crimes, ordering Yuan Shao to lead troops to attack them.

Liu Yu's infamous reputation spread far and wide, while Yuan Shao's prestige grew as he campaigned against powerful clans and aristocratic families.

Taking advantage of Yuan Shao's lack of interest in the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Heishan and Liu Bei's growing fame in Heishan, Xu Shu finally led Liu Bei's mother and Gongsun Zan's wife and children through the various strongholds of Heishan and arrived in Hanoi.

Upon hearing the news, Liu Bei hurriedly traveled from Yanzhou to Hanoi.

Seeing that Xu Shu and the other eight men looked several years older than when he left, Liu Bei was deeply moved and shook hands with each of them to comfort them.

Xu Shu and the other eight were also deeply moved: How fortunate they were to have met the Imperial Uncle!
After calming down Xu Shu and the other eight, Liu Bei then went to see Gongsun Zan's wife and children, as well as Gongsun Zan's cousin, Gongsun Fan.

Looking at Gongsun Zan's haggard wife and children, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh: "Brother Bo Gui died for his country. I will petition the emperor to posthumously confer upon Brother Bo Gui the title of General Who Conquers the North and Marquis Within the Passes, to display his portrait and to write his biography, so as to show the emperor's favor."

After comforting Gongsun Zan's wife and children, as well as Gongsun Fan, Liu Bei finally bowed to Lady Wu, saying, "Your unfilial son Liu Bei has caused your mother so much trouble."

Liu Bei's biological father died early, and Lady Wu took care of his daily life from childhood. When Liu Bei wanted to study and practice martial arts, Lady Wu also took good care of him. When Liu Bei wanted to leave Zhuo County to pursue his ambitions, Lady Wu told him, "You can't take care of your family if you are concerned about the affairs of the country. Don't worry about things at home."

Even though Lady Wu was trapped in Heishan, Liu Bei did not send anyone to pick her up. Instead, he still prioritized state affairs and considered how to turn the tables on Lady Wu, who might be plotted against by Yuan Shao in Heishan.

Liu Bei felt guilty towards Lady Wu.

However, Lady Wu was a woman of great integrity. Although she had suffered a lot because of Liu Bei in recent years, she had no complaints against him. If it weren't for the persuasion of Xu Shu and others, Lady Wu would have even considered committing suicide so that Liu Bei could focus on his work without distraction.

Now that she had come from Youzhou to Hanoi and was able to see Liu Bei, who had become a general and an imperial uncle, Lady Wu was filled with joy.

But seeing the weathered look on Liu Bei's face, who looked like he was forty even though he was only thirty, Lady Wu felt a pang of heartache.

Gently helping Liu Bei to his feet, Lady Wu carefully straightened his armor and revealed a gentle smile: "To see Xuande is enough for me."

(End of this chapter)