Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

After returning to the side hall, Liu Bei read the military report in his hand several times.

After a long time, Liu Bei slowly spoke with a serious expression.

"There is no mention of support, so Zikun is confident that he can put down the Wuhuan Rebellion and Yingzhou at the same time?"

However, this still made Liu Bei a little uneasy.

Immediately, Liu Bei ordered Xiahou Bo who was standing next to him.

"Ji Chang, on the next shipment of grain and grass to Youzhou, you will dispatch a team of 100 soldiers to accompany you to Youzhou. You must find out the current situation in Youzhou as soon as possible."

"Yes, my lord."

Xiahou Bo responded, and then asked with some confusion.

"My lord, after Mr. Zikun left Wu County, did he say that he could ask Zhang Zhao if he could not decide on internal affairs? Then why did Zhang Zhao, who was deeply trusted by Mr. Zikun, criticize him so much, and my lord had no intention of adopting Zhang Zhao's advice."

"Is this an internal matter?"

Liu Bei asked back, immediately leaving Xiahou Bo speechless.

Internal affairs often refers to government affairs, while foreign affairs often refer to military affairs.

Obviously, issues related to the "Wuhuan Rebellion" are foreign affairs.

"Who should I ask if Mr. Zikun has left any foreign affairs undecided?" Xiahou Bo asked again.

Liu Bei knocked the military newspaper in his hand on the table and said.

"Then I'll naturally ask Zikun. Could it be that I ask you Xiahou Jichang?"

This statement made Xiahou Bo couldn't help but laugh a little.

If Zhao Yun is relatively proficient in the art of war, then Xiahou Bo, who was a ranger for the first half of his life, is completely ignorant of the art of war.

Even Liu Bei and Li Ji had many intentions of using the loyal Xiahou Bo, and they also tried to cultivate him overtly and covertly.

It's just that Xiahou Bo has no talent for military art or government affairs. On the contrary, he has great experience in how to lurk, escape, and assassinate.

Therefore, when Liu Bei said this, Xiahou Bo not only did not feel dissatisfied, but instead looked embarrassed and did not dare to face Liu Bei.

And Liu Bei, whose two close friends were not around, could only speak to Xiahou Bo.

"Isn't the attitude expressed by Zikun quite clear? Otherwise, Zikun would not have sent such a military report back to Wu County."

"It's just that as soon as Mr. Zikun left Wu County, those aristocratic families couldn't wait to start fighting for power..."

After a pause, Xiahou Bo couldn't help but confirm again. "Lord, do you really don't need to pay attention?"

"Just supervise, there is no need to do anything extra." Liu Bei shook his head and replied.

"But now they are already collectively criticizing Mr. Zikun, this..."

Xiahou Bo did not continue. Therefore, even though Xiahou Bo did not have many political skills, he understood that he should fully stand on Liu Bei's side when he was in charge of the Jinyi Division and could not show too much inclination towards Li Ji.

Liu Bei thought for a while and said. "Don't worry, Ji Chang. This was Zikun's explanation before he left Wu County, and Zikun had already anticipated this situation."

"Ah?" Xiahou Bo was surprised.

"Factions are inevitable."

Liu Bei spoke slowly. "Wherever there are people there will be selfishness, and factions will naturally form. This can never be avoided."

"Before, it was only Zikun's existence that suppressed the other thoughts of all the officials in the government office. Therefore, regardless of selfish motives or not, if you want to gain a foothold in Wu County, you must move closer to Zikun."

"But Zikun's departure has undoubtedly given the local aristocratic families in Wu County a little chance to breathe. And naturally they will not let go of this only opportunity and start to unite firmly."

After Xiahou Bo listened, he felt... so complicated.

Obviously, Xiahou Bo would read most of the Jinyi Division's information before sending it to Liu Bei and Li Ji to prevent any major mistakes.

However, Xiahou Bo was completely unable to see that there were such complex connections and problems.

When Liu Bei looked at Xiahou Bo's expression, which seemed to be confused, he couldn't help but recall Li Ji's evaluation of Xiahou Bo.

[The Lord thinks Ji Chang...is not suitable? Why? The most suitable one is obviously Ji Chang. It is precisely because Ji Chang's mind is empty that he won't have too many unnecessary thoughts and ideas. 】

It's just that Xiahou Bo felt Liu Bei's eyes that seemed to be full of complexity, and subconsciously wanted to prove himself. After thinking hard, he asked.

"My lord, in that case, wouldn't Mr. Zikun be creating enemies for himself?"

"The enemies hidden in the dark are much more troublesome than the enemies on the surface, and..."

Having said this, Liu Bei smiled and continued.

"From what I can see, Zikun obviously wants them to stick together consciously, so that he can take advantage of them."

Xiahou Bo gritted his teeth and answered bravely. "I see."

Liu Bei naturally did not believe that Xiahou Bo really understood, but he did not expose Xiahou Bo. Apart from being quite worried about Li Ji, he sighed and looked at the government affairs piled beside the table. It was not until Li Ji temporarily left Wu County that Liu Bei further realized how capable Li Ji was.

Even though Li Ji left enough political "strategies" for Liu Bei to use for two or three years, when Liu Bei personally took charge of all kinds of matters on Li Ji's behalf, he still had the feeling that he needed a lot of brains to use them.

Without Li Ji, Liu Bei had an inexplicable illusion that he was struggling, fearing that a random decision would cause the current good situation in Wu County to collapse.

The four words "walking on thin ice" can quite describe Liu Bei's current state.

Therefore, Liu Bei almost didn't listen to the nonsense said by many officials from the local aristocratic families in Wu County in the main hall. Only the suggestion of "calling Li Ji back to Wu County" really moved Liu Bei.

In addition to Liu Bei receiving intelligence about the "Wuhuan Rebellion" at this moment, this news also spread to almost all the states and counties in the Han Dynasty.

The imperial court certainly knows.

Faced with Liu Yu's letters one after another about "asking for help", both the emperor and the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty could only pretend that they had not seen it.

It's not that the court doesn't want to save, but that the court is now unable to save him.

The Xiqiang rebellion lasted for a long time, but it has not been completely quelled. Not only did it almost completely empty the national treasury, but the losses of Sili soldiers and horses were also particularly serious.

Before the Xiqiang rebellion was quelled, the imperial court no longer cared about the Wuhuan people in Youzhou.

Therefore, the emperor Liu Hong could only give Liu Yu a decree to "act cheaply and resist Wuhuan", but he had no substantial support at all.

It can be said that the big man who is on the verge of collapse and in tatters is currently relying on his last bit of foundation to support himself.

……

It was under this situation that Gongsun Zan led an army of 20,000 people in a circle outside the Great Wall and returned to the northern part of Yuyang County.

The first Wuhuan settlement has already appeared in front of Gongsun Zan.

Because these Wuhuan had settled on the border of the Han Dynasty for more than a hundred years and were deeply influenced by Han culture, they no longer lived in simple tents on the border, but instead built houses one after another.

This made the coldness in Gongsun Zan's eyes even worse. He waved his hand forward, and seven thousand elite men who belonged to Gongsun Zan quietly surrounded him under the cover of night.

The next moment, there was a passionate horn sound.

Facing this Wuhuan settlement with only low walls to guard against wild wolves, seven thousand elite cavalry charged in almost like an overwhelming force.

The young men in this Wuhuan settlement had already gone south to plunder, and almost all the people left in the settlement were old, weak, women and children. How could they stop the elite Han cavalry?
The shouts of death and screams only lasted for about a quarter of an hour, and then stopped completely.

Then, Gongsun Zan sent Qianqi to spread out in the surrounding area to act as scouts to prevent any fish that slipped through the net and were not in the settlement, and those who started to come back at night were also killed.

As for the rest of the cavalry who had been running around for four or five days, they were placed in settlements by Gongsun Zan to serve as temporary military camps.

Moreover, the most indispensable thing in these Wuhuan settlements was cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock. Gongsun Zan even ordered the slaughter of cattle and sheep to relieve the military rations that were close to the limit.

Cavalry marches, coupled with the requirement of sufficient mobility, naturally cannot bring much baggage and food.

Gongsun Zan and his party only carried enough dry food for seven days.

Zhao Yun, who followed Gongsun Zan, felt that he had benefited a lot from Gongsun Zan's methodical and skillful arrangements.

The only thing that made Zhao Yun couldn't help but frown slightly was the corpses of old, weak, women and children that could be seen everywhere in the settlement.

Moreover, instead of ordering the corpses to be collected, Gongsun Zan ordered the infantry on horseback to cut off the heads of each corpse and build a Jingguan.

Zhao Yun found it difficult to admit this, but he also knew that Gongsun Zan was deliberately arousing the anger and hatred of the Wuhuan people, and then made the Wuhuan people pursue them endlessly.

'It's harmful to Tianhe...'

Zhao Yun sighed secretly until he was awakened by a series of cries.

Also shocked by this series of cries was Gongsun Zan, who was standing next to Zhao Yun.

Immediately, Gongsun Zan, who was wearing white armor, led Zhao Yun in the direction of the crying. He saw more than 20 children under the age of six surrounded by Han troops.

"What happened?" Gongsun Zan asked with a frown.

The leader of the team saw Gongsun Zan's displeased look on his face and stepped forward to report it.

"General, these children were all found hiding in the cellar, and all of them seem to be under six years old. According to the rules of the Hu people in tribal attacks, children below the wheel are not killed, so..."

Gongsun Zan immediately became furious and kicked the captain to the ground, saying angrily.

"What a joke, when did the Han people need to abide by the rules of the barbarians? Even if it is lower than the wheel, no killing, a certain rule must be lower than the wheel that has been put to the ground."

Zhao Yun looked at the young faces in different clothes and couldn't help but feel sympathy, and stepped forward to dissuade them.

"General Gongsun, those children may not be able to remember things when they are young, so there is no harm in keeping them alive."

Gongsun Zan suddenly turned his head and looked at Zhao Yun, his face filled with anger, but he suppressed it and said with a sneer.

"Zilong, how do you think Wuhuan learned how to hide young children in cellars to avoid weapons?"

Suddenly, Zhao Yun thought of something and felt cold all over. (End of chapter)