The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

"Left Envoy, please take a look," Li Chang said with a smile. "Five thousand taels of gold, hundreds of thousands of coins, and countless treasures. That's our haul this time."

Zuo Feng picked up a gold ingot, took a bite, and smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits:

"No need to order! We trust Strategist Li to handle things!"

"As agreed beforehand," Li Changdao said, "the largest boxes are for His Majesty, the middle ones are for the Ten Attendants. The rest are for you, the Imperial Envoy!"

"Good, good, good!" Zuo Feng nodded repeatedly.

"Military Advisor Li is indeed a wise man! Unlike those scholar-officials and wealthy families, who are all incredibly rich but unwilling to give up their reputation even when they want to obtain an official position!"

"It's all as we should do," Li Chang said with a smile. "In the future, we will have to rely on the angel to speak well of us to His Majesty and the Attendant."

"Of course!" Zuo Feng patted his chest.

"I'll write a battle report for His Majesty right away! I'll exaggerate your achievements in recapturing Ji County... no, Hanyang Commandery, and severely damaging the Liangzhou rebels! I guarantee His Majesty will reward you handsomely!"

As he spoke, he picked up a pen, laid out paper, and began to write.

He wrote eloquently, praising Liu Bei and Li Chang to the skies, describing them as loyal, brave, and fearless in battle, who launched a surprise attack on Ji County and saved countless people from suffering!

As for finding the family's money and grain, he didn't mention Liu Bei or Li Chang at all, taking all the blame himself!

It is said that the embezzled funds of the rebels will be seized, and all the money and grain obtained will be transported back to Luoyang to be used as His Majesty's private treasury!

After finishing writing, Zuo Feng blew the ink dry and handed it to his trusted aide outside:

"Send it to Luoyang immediately by express courier, without delay."

"Yes, sir!" The confidant took the memorial, turned, and left.

Zuo Feng collected the remaining gold and silver and smiled at Li Chang:

"Military Advisor Li, now we can rest assured and wait for His Majesty's reward! When Huangfu Song arrives, if we can join forces to wipe out the remnants of Beigong Boyu's forces, all the credit for Liangzhou will be ours!"

"Thank you for the angel's kind words," Li Chang said with a smile, cupping his hands in greeting.

Stepping out of the secret chamber, a cool night breeze blew in. Liu Bei was standing in the courtyard waiting for him.

"Is everything settled?" Liu Bei asked in a low voice.

"It's all taken care of." Li Chang nodded. "Zuo Feng has already written the memorial and sent it to Luoyang. He took all the blame and didn't mention a single word about us."

Liu Bei sighed and looked up at the bright moon in the sky.

Is this really a good thing? Is it still the kind of service to the country he imagined? Has he become the very person he once hated the most?

Li Chang seemed to sense Liu Bei's emotions and advised, "Brother, sometimes, we should not only look at what we do on the surface, but also at what we actually do!"

Look at the people of Ji County now! They still say: "Don't worry about the rebels causing trouble!"

"Next, we just need to wait for Beigong Boyu. We'll hold Ji County, and once General Huangfu's army arrives, we can take it all in one fell swoop."

……

The next day, just as dawn broke, Beigong Boyu woke up in his temporary tent.

A white cloth was wrapped around my neck, and it hurt terribly to move it.

He touched his wound.

"hiss!!!"

I should have known better than to touch it!

Han Sui is dead, but his anger hasn't subsided! Ji County has also been lost, and the grain supplies are gone!

Han Sui, you deserve to die! You actually chose to sacrifice yourself to betray me?!

"Give the order!" Bei Gong Boyu slammed his hand on the bed, causing his wound to bleed profusely again!

"Everyone, disperse and sweep through all the counties of Hanyang! Loot grain, loot money, loot people! Bring back everything edible and usable! Anyone who dares to resist, kill!"

Once the order was given, within a few days, tens of thousands of rebel troops rushed towards various parts of Hanyang as if they were starving.

They burned, killed, looted, and committed all sorts of atrocities. In just two days, eight of the thirteen counties of Hanyang Prefecture were completely ransacked!

Whether ordinary people or powerful clans in Liangzhou, everyone was plunged into misery!

Once, Beigong Boyu wanted to continue Han Sui and Bian Zhang's rule over Liangzhou, but now he only wants revenge!

Upon learning this, Liu Bei flew into a rage and wanted to personally lead an expedition outside the city to fight Beigong Boyu. He was persuaded to stop, and only then did he send Zhao Yun with cavalry to specifically target and kill any isolated rebel soldiers!

By the morning of the fifth day, Beigong Boyu had gathered all his men, along with the civilians he had taken along the way and the newly recruited Qiang people, and had raised a force of 100,000.

He led his 100,000 ragtag troops back to Ji County and besieged the city completely.

"Attack! Fight to the death!" Bei Gong Boyu roared, brandishing his scimitar as he stood at the front of the battle lines.

"After the city falls, swords will not be sheathed for three days! The women and wealth within the city are all yours!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

One hundred thousand rebels shouted in unison, their voices shaking heaven and earth.

Those carrying ladders and pushing battering rams surged toward the city wall.

On the city wall, Liu Bei, clad in full armor, personally supervised the battle, wielding a double-edged sword.

Guan Yu guarded the east gate, Zhang Fei the west gate, Zhao Yun the south gate, and Xu Rong the north gate. Pang De led the reserve force to fill any gaps as needed.

"Release the arrows!"

At Liu Bei's command, ten thousand arrows were unleashed from the city walls. The rebel soldiers at the forefront fell in droves, and their corpses quickly piled up at the foot of the city walls.

There were too many rebel soldiers. As the soldiers in front fell, those behind stepped over the corpses and charged upwards. In less than half an hour, ladders had been erected on several sections of the city wall.

Simon.

"court death!"

Zhang Fei roared and swept his eighteen-foot spear, sending several rebel soldiers who had climbed onto the city wall flying.

His armor was covered in blood. The rebels looked at him and dared not approach!

East Gate.

With a swipe of his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, Guan Yu cleaved a siege ladder in two. A dozen or so rebel soldiers screamed as they fell from the ladder.

The same applies to the south and north gates; they are holding off the rebel army head-on!

Zuo Feng hid in a corner of the prefect's room, trembling as he clung to a pillar.

Upon hearing the report, his face turned pale, and he kept muttering:

"I'm doomed, I'm definitely going to die. I shouldn't have been greedy and walked into the encirclement of Ji County..."

The fighting lasted from dawn until noon. The rebels charged seven times, but were repelled each time.

Corpses piled up like mountains beneath the city walls, and blood flowed like rivers. The Han army also lost more than a thousand men and was exhausted.

"Brother, this won't work." Guan Yu wiped the blood from his sword. "There are too many rebels, and we're almost out of arrows."

Liu Bei frowned and nodded.

He looked at Li Chang: "Fourth brother, what's your idea?"

"Hold on for now," Li Changdao said. "Beigong Boyu's 100,000 men won't last long. I estimate that if we hold out for three days, General Huangfu's army will arrive. We'll then take them down from both sides in one fell swoop."

"Alright." Liu Bei nodded. "Order the entire army to take turns resting and hold the line."

After arranging the defense of the city, Li Chang went down from the city wall to deal with the mess behind it.

Ji County had just been taken back, and everything was in need of rebuilding. Food, weapons, wounded soldiers, and the resettlement of civilians all awaited him.

Li Chang was forced to be assigned to Jian Yong and Xiahou Lan, and even Bian Zhang and the scholars who were still in the prefect's office were pulled in to make up the numbers!

In a side room of the prefect's residence, documents were piled up like mountains.

They sat at the desk, flipping through the documents one by one, Jian Yong and Xiahou Lan were so busy they barely had time to breathe.

"Strategist, here are the registration books for people who have passed through the post station these past few days." Xiahou Lan brought over a stack of books and placed them in front of Li Chang.

Li Chang casually picked up the top book and flipped through it.

I was flipping through the pages quickly, mostly just glancing at the names. Suddenly, my fingers stopped!

The booklet had three characters written on it: Jia Xu, Jia Wenhe!

Native place: Guzang, Wuwei. Reason for travel: Returning home from Luoyang, stranded due to the chaos of war!

Li Chang's heart skipped a beat.

Jia Xu! You're actually here!

How long had he been searching for this person! From Zhuojun to Luoyang, from Luoyang to Liangzhou, he never expected that he would find him at the post station in Ji County!

"Strategist? What's wrong?" Xiahou Lan asked, seeing that Li Chang did not respond.

Li Chang took a deep breath to calm his emotions.

His voice changed when he looked up: "Where's Wang Jiang? Call him here."

We mustn't let Jia Xu escape! We'd rather capture him than let him join another side!

Otherwise I won't be able to sleep soundly!

"Yes!" Xiahou Lan ran out.

A moment later, Wang Jiang strode in, clasped his hands in greeting, and asked, "Strategist, what brings you here?"

"Give me two hundred elite guards and come with me." Li Chang stood up. "To the inn in the west of the city."

"Why go to the post station?" Wang Jiang was taken aback.

"To meet someone." Li Chang thought for a moment, then added, "Surround him from all sides, advance stealthily, and whatever you do, don't let him escape!"

"promise!"

Without saying another word, he quickly walked out.

Wang Jiang dared not delay and immediately mustered two hundred elite troops to follow.

The inn in the west of the city was surrounded by 150 elite troops, and 50 of them pushed open the door and entered.

Looking up, I saw a middle-aged man trying to climb over the wall to escape!