Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Since Liu Bei occupied Yangzhou first, it was naturally impossible for Yuan Shu to follow the original trajectory and make Shouchun City, which belonged to Jiujiang County of Yangzhou, the seat of government.

Therefore, Yuan Shu, who had to settle for the second best, simply used his hometown Ruyang County as the seat of government and governed the four counties and kingdoms under his jurisdiction: Nanyang County, Ruyang County, Pei State, and Chen State.

Upon learning that the war in Yi and Jing states had broken out, Yuan Shu, who had been preparing for war for a long time, was preparing to launch an attack with his entire army to capture Xiangyang and take back the imperial seal.

Upon learning that Guan Yu was in the direction of Jiujiang County and was willing to attack at all costs based on the previous attack on the merchants, Yuan Shu undoubtedly became furious. He could not help but sweep all the things on the table to the ground, scaring the several stunning beauties who were originally serving Yuan Shu to tremble in fear.

"Bang bang bang!"

Immediately, Yuan Shu spoke angrily to the civil and military officials below.

"What does a weaver and shoe seller want to do?! Does he really want to go to war with me for a few cheap merchants?"

Faced with Yuan Shu's rage, all the civil and military officials below were timid and did not dare to speak, for fear that saying something would bring down Yuan Shu's wrath.

In particular, Yuan Shu had already prepared to appoint Ji Ling as general and lead 150,000 troops south to take Xiangyang directly.

This sudden change was undoubtedly intended to force Yuan Shu to divide his troops.

However, with fewer troops attacking Jingzhou, the difficulty of capturing Xiangyang would undoubtedly increase greatly. How could this not make Yuan Shu furious?

"Speak, are you all dumb?"

Yuan Shu glared at him, and without waiting for his subordinates to speak, he pointed his finger directly at Chief Clerk Yan Xiang and said, "Chief Clerk Yan, tell me...what does Liu Da'er want to do?"

Or maybe Cao Cao accidentally mentioned this nickname in front of Yuan Shu, which made Yuan Shu greatly approve of it. So in private, Yuan Shu almost always referred to Liu Bei as "the mat weaver and shoe seller" or "Liu Da'er".

Yan Xiang felt the anger in Yuan Cheng's tone and wiped the sweat from his forehead unconsciously. He answered while his mind raced.

"My lord, in my opinion, I'm afraid that Liu Da'er is afraid of your power. He is afraid that after you sweep across northern Jingzhou and occupy Jingzhou, Yangzhou will be your next target. So he intends to use this as an excuse to contain you from going south."

Yuan Shu curled his lips and said.

"Do you want me to tell you about this? The Yuan family has three dukes for four generations, and I, Yuan Shu, am a tyrant. It's only natural that Liu Da'er would regard me as his enemy. What I want is a solution!"

"This this……"

Yan Xiang was really not a quick-witted person. He thought of several ideas in a row, but they were all full of loopholes, so he didn't dare to speak at all.

"Get out of here, useless thing! I've seen Liu Da'er repeatedly ask for advice from Li Ji, who came from a poor family, but he always came up with a solution after just four or five breaths. You guys who claim to be from a high-class family are also outshined by Li Ji."

Yuan Shu could not help but curse loudly, but there was no hint of punishment in his words, which made Yan Xiang secretly breathe a sigh of relief and step aside with a look of shame on his face.

Even though Yuan Shu's words were harsh, Yan Xiang was grateful for the courtesy he showed to him on a daily basis.

Yan Xiang felt ashamed for not being able to share his lord's worries.

Immediately, Yuan Shu looked at the Chief Secretary Yang Hong and asked, "Chief Secretary Yang, do you have any ideas?"

Yang Hong's expression was calmer than Yan Xiang's, and he had more of the demeanor of a celebrity. When Yuan Shu called him, he stepped out of the line and saluted without haste before speaking.

"My lord, as the saying goes, a little impatience can ruin a great plan. Liu Da'er is afraid of what you have done, so he only dares to use the matter of the cheap merchant as an excuse. Why don't you just do what Liu Da'er wants?"

After a pause, Yang Hong waved his sleeves and said, "In this case, what else can Liu Da'er, who claims to be determined to support the Han Dynasty, say? He will not dare to invade Yuzhou."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu frowned slightly.

When the alliance against Dong Zhuo was formed, Yuan Shu was already dissatisfied with Liu Da'er being listed as the vice leader. Now if Liu Da'er is held accountable for the matter of cheap merchants, it would make me, Yuan Gonglu, look inferior to Liu Da'er.

"No, what qualifications does Liu Da'er have to make me, Yuan Gonglu, bow my head?" Yuan Shu said in a deep voice.

This made Yang Hong a little confused.

This was just a counter-attack, leaving Liu Bei with no excuse to attack and hinder Yuan Shu's attack on Jingzhou. How did it make Yuan Shu seem inferior to Liu Bei?
However, Yang Hong changed his mind and spoke quickly.

"It's not that I want you to bow to Liu Da'er, but that you should follow the laws of the court to arrest the murderer and hand him over to the court for punishment."

"And the lord is merciful and gives some compensation because he thinks of the loss of labor of those lowly merchants. This way, the world will know that the lord's kindness is even greater than that of Liu Da'er."

When Yuan Shu heard this, his expression changed from anger to joy in a few breaths. He felt that what Yang Hong said made sense, but he still spoke with a stiff tone.

"It is indeed necessary to follow the imperial law, but if this matter gets out, it may still cause some people to misunderstand it."

Yang Hong quickly replied.

"My lord, it's still the same old saying: a little impatience can ruin a big plan. My lord is from the famous Yuan family, why do you need to quibble with Liu Da'er and lower your status?"

"Besides, the lord is concerned about the great cause. Even if the country folk occasionally gossip, how can they understand the lord's aspirations? The lord may as well tolerate some trivial words."

As soon as Yang Hong finished speaking, Lei Bo hurriedly stepped out of the crowd and bowed.

"If the master insults the minister, he will die. If anyone dares to criticize the master behind his back, I, Lei, will kill him with my sword to deter those ignorant villains."

"Good good!"

Yuan Shu was overjoyed and said, "With your help, why should we worry about not accomplishing our great cause?"

Immediately, all the civil and military officials understood and saluted and responded in unison.

"I wish to build a great cause with the Lord."

Yuan Shu immediately ordered a general to lead a thousand men to find the rebels who attacked and killed the merchants in Yangzhou, and then asked Yang Hong to go to Yangzhou to discuss compensation.

However, for the sake of safety, Yuan Shu still appointed Qiao Rui (rui) as general and led 20,000 troops to station in Ruyin, block the Yingshui River, and prevent Guan Yu from leading his troops north.

In addition, considering the threat posed by Liu Bei, Yuan Shu, while preparing to send troops to Jingzhou, continued to order the conscription of young and strong men under his rule, either to enlist as soldiers or to serve as laborers to transport food in order to expand the number of troops.

Two days later.

Yuan Shu, who had everything ready, could not wait for the latest news from Yangzhou. He continued to recruit young and strong men for emergency use, and at the same time, he went to Nanyang County in person, accompanied by an army of more than 100,000.

To the outside world, Yuan Shu claimed that he had 250,000 troops, and began to march southward to attack Jingzhou on the pretext that Liu Biao had killed his good friend Sun Jian without reason, so he raised an army to avenge Sun Jian.

Li Ji, who was the first to learn the news, thought it was a hellish joke.

Yuan Shu wants to avenge Sun Jian...

The truth is that Yuan Shu really couldn't find any excuse to attack Jingzhou, so he even used Sun Jian, who had once drawn his sword against him, as an excuse.

By the time the news of Yuan Shu's dispatch of troops reached Liu Biao, Liu Biao, who was stationed in Yiling, had been fighting back and forth with the Yizhou troops for nearly a month. (End of this chapter)