Ji Han Liu Zhang

The sixth year of Jian'an, the end of August.

The scorching hot summer has long gone, and the refreshing autumn breeze rises and falls. The broad leaves of the plane trees on both sides of the roads in Chang'an City have turned golden yellow, and the fallen leaves are stacked on the bluestone paved road, and the autumn is deep.

It should have been an autumn day with a solemn and solemn atmosphere, but the atmosphere in Chang'an today is a little hot.

People in the streets and alleys gathered in groups of three or five, enthusiastically discussing the news from Hedong - the generals of Yuan army, Qu Yi, Guo Yuan and others who invaded Hedong were beheaded, and this battle between Guanzhong and Hebei ended with Guanzhong's complete victory.

The victory in the war meant that the peaceful situation in Chang'an could continue, and everyone could enjoy peace without worrying about war and disasters.

Going one step further means that Qin King Liu Zhang has a greater chance of conquering the world, and Guanzhong will become the emperor's residence and the cornerstone of his hegemony, and he will be able to enjoy supreme glory.

This was the case in the streets and alleys, and it was also the case for the civil and military officials in the government offices of Chang'an City. When the officials came and went, they all had smiles on their faces when they met eyes, happy for their masters and pleased for their bright future.

In the meeting room on the left wing of the official residence.

While chatting and laughing, Jia Xu analyzed the war in Hedong to everyone.

"First, the commander-in-chief Gao Gan and the general Qu Yi fell out. Gao Gan intended to attack Taiyuan, while Qu Yi was interested in Hedong. After endless arguments, Gao Gan had no choice but to split the troops. Qu Yi led the troops to attack Hedong, while Gao Gan led the army to Taiyuan."

"But Qu Yi was a man who was more brave than wise, and did not know how to advance or retreat, so our army took advantage of him and surrounded him."

"But even so, if Gao Gan had led his troops to rescue us immediately, it wouldn't have been difficult to rescue Qu Yi who was besieged by our army. However, as I said before, Gao Gan and Qu Yi were not on good terms, so Gao Gan hesitated and only sent Guo Yuan to lead a brigade."

"Guo Yuan is a man of short temper and can't stand others. Ma Mengqi, his enemy, only made a few plans, and Guo Yuan, who was enraged, took the risk of advancing and was killed by Ma Mengqi in battle."

"Once Guo Yuan died, the reinforcements were cut off. Next, Qu Yi's defeat was to be expected."

At this point, Jia Xu stroked his beard and said, "In terms of the gains and losses of this battle, our army won because of the harmony of the people, while Yuan's army lost because of internal strife. People like Gao Gan and Qu Yi were neither harmonious nor compatible with each other, just like water and fire. It is natural that Yuan's army suffered such a defeat today."

Zhao Ang, the governor of Yongzhou, laughed and said, "The Yuan army is not just about the generals and commanders, but also about the factional disputes and discord between the upper and lower levels. It has almost reached the point of life and death. If Yuan Benchu ​​was not still alive, Hebei would have been torn apart."

As for Hebei's internal problems, the important officials of the Qin Palace present at the meeting were all well aware of them.

Yuan Shao relied on people from Yingchuan to start his career, such as Guo Tu, Xin Pi, and Xun Chen. After he took control of Hebei, scholars from Hebei entered Yuan's court, including Tian Feng, Shen Pei, and Ju Su.

The scholars from the two places disliked each other. The scholars from Yingchuan considered themselves to be Yuan Shao's trusted old ministers and their status should be higher than that of the scholars from Hebei. However, the scholars from Hebei believed that Yuan Shao could be what he was today thanks to the help from the scholars from Hebei, otherwise how could he have defeated Gongsun and broke through Heishan.

Moreover, Yuan Shao's headquarters was in Yecheng. In terms of status, Hebei should be the most respected and other places should be the inferior.

As a result, Yuan Shao's shogunate was divided and attacked each other, which greatly consumed Yuan Shao's strength and made it difficult for Yuan Shao to truly exert the strength of Hebei. Jiang Jiong, an official in Yongzhou, followed up with a comment: "I heard that Yuan Benchu ​​was no longer as healthy as before after the Battle of Guandu, so all the civil and military officials wanted to retreat and wanted to curry favor with the emperor, so they chose among Yuan Benchu's sons."

"Yuan Benchu's eldest son, Yuan Tan, was old and kind, so he should have been the only candidate for the successor. However, Yuan Benchu ​​loved his youngest son, Yuan Shang, and rumors spread that he would make Yuan Shang the successor, causing the civil and military officials to hesitate and unable to make a final decision."

"Now, apart from Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Cui Yan and other fair-minded people, Yuan Benchu ​​has probably already chosen one of Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang to serve, hoping that the young man they serve will one day take control of Hebei and rise to prominence with him."

Having said this, Jiang Jiong bowed to Liu Zhang who was listening quietly at the top of his head and said, "Your Majesty, when Yuan Benchu ​​dies, the brothers in Hebei will fight each other in one fell swoop without any effort."

When Liu Zhang heard Jiang Jiong's suggestion, he shook his head: "After Hou Yuan Benchu ​​passed away, I don't know how many years he had left. Today, the world is in turmoil, the people are suffering, and the people are wailing. How can I bear to ignore the people of the world for several years? I will save the people from suffering as soon as possible."

"Your Majesty is so benevolent and virtuous that I, a minister, feel ashamed and guilty." Jiang Jiong knew that he had spoken out of turn and felt ashamed of his own shallow knowledge. He bowed and praised him.

Liu Zhang waved his hand and said with a smile: "Now that the victory report has come, we should be happy and enjoy ourselves, and not have any other thoughts. I will hold a banquet tonight, firstly to celebrate the great victory in Hedong, and secondly, I haven't had a drink with you for a long time, so I will have a drink together."

"Yes." All the civil and military officials in the Qin King's court responded.

At night, the lights in the lobby of the Prince of Qin's Mansion were as bright as day.

"Gentlemen, please." Liu Zhang raised his glass and motioned for everyone to drink together.

Amid the sounds of stringed instruments, the civil and military officials of the Prince of Qin's Palace raised their glasses and drank with their lord Liu Zhang, marking the beginning of tonight's banquet.

"Factions." After drinking a glass of wine, Liu Zhang talked about the issue of factions within Hebei that was discussed during the gathering today.

Just thinking about it, which warlord shogunate that spans states and counties doesn’t have factions?
The territory is so large and there are so many areas divided by mountains and rivers that scholars from the same place are naturally friendly to each other. Then they gather under the same lord, and it is inevitable that they will form factions.

It's nothing more than whether the leader can suppress the factional struggles under his command and maximize the strength of the group, rather than wasting energy and time on internal struggles.

Yuan Shao did a very poor job in this regard. The internal struggle was too fierce, which affected the group's external confrontations, resulting in a disastrous defeat at Guandu even though he had the advantage.

Of course, compared with the arrangements for the successor, Yuan Shao’s internal struggles are not worth mentioning.

Liu Zhang could understand Yuan Shao's favoritism. After all, an aging emperor would be afraid of the middle-aged prince and would inevitably show weakness when facing the prince. He was worried that the power would be taken away by the prince while he was alive. Therefore, he would subconsciously suppress the prince and keep the power firmly in his own hands. It was human nature.

But Yuan Shao was so afraid that he did not decide on a successor, which led to Hebei falling into a situation of brothers fighting each other, which inevitably led to his downfall.

Facing such a Hebei and such a Yuan Shao, Liu Zhang said he was full of confidence and had the ambition to take Hebei. (End of this chapter)