Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 468: Another Expedition to the Hu People
Yuan Shao stepped in to mediate, and Xu You could no longer argue.

"Yes, my lord. Among all the princes, Kong Rong of Beihai and Jiao He of Qingzhou are both incompetent and the easiest to deal with."

Yuan Shao was delighted: "Oh? What good plan does Ziyuan have?"

"In the past, the Yellow Turban Army swept across the country, with Ji, Qing, and Xu being the most rampant. Afterwards, the three Zhang Jue brothers died, and their followers were scattered all over the country, such as the Black Mountain Army, Taishan Bandits, and Guan Hai, all of whom had tens of thousands to more than a hundred thousand soldiers."

When Yuan Shao heard this, he also guessed Xu You's plan.

"Ziyuan means..."

"My lord, you only need to send people to meet these bandits, promise them food, gold and silver, and ask them to harass Qing, Xu, Bing and You respectively, so that these princes will be exhausted from dealing with them. How can they have the energy to fight against my lord? In addition, Gongsun Zan has been coveting the entire Youzhou for a long time, and Liu Yu is weak and can be bullied. My lord can bribe Gongsun Zan's men and instigate them to attack Liu Yu, so that Youzhou will be in chaos. In this way, will my Jizhou be worried again?"

"How wonderful! Ziyuan's plan is beyond words."

Yuan Shao was about to praise him when his brows suddenly frowned again.

"You and Qing are not worth worrying about. Liu Bei of Shangdang has few soldiers and generals, so they are not worth mentioning. But I hate Cao Aman. I have known him since childhood, but I didn't expect that he would betray me at Hulao Pass that day. Now he has surrendered to Liu He and received a title and a lord. It's really annoying! He controls the land of Yanzhou, has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food. If he comes to attack me, I am not afraid, but I am afraid that Jizhou will suffer heavy losses."

"My lord, you are worrying too much."

Another person stood up, and Yuan Shao looked and saw that it was another counselor under his command, Guo Tu.

"I think Cao Mengde is not sincere in joining Liu He. He is just forced by the situation and afraid of his power, so he is just hiding for a while. He attacked and killed Liu Dai and occupied Yanzhou not for the court, but to consolidate his power. Why would he waste energy fighting our army? I predict that he will station troops on the border between Yanzhou and Jizhou, pretending to obey but secretly disobeying, and will never really attack."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded repeatedly.

"Well... I don't think Aman would dare to do that. Gongze's thoughts are very thorough."

When Guo Tu received Yuan Shao's praise, a look of pride immediately appeared on his face.

"In addition, you can also contact the Wuhuan King, the Xianbei Kebineng tribe, the Xiongnu Zuoxian King tribe, and the Western Qiang tribe, give them money and food, and ask them to send troops south, but not to attack the strong city defended by Liu He, but to harass the weaker Liu Yu, Ma Teng and other tribes. These two are close to Liu He. If Liu He wants to rescue, he will have to send out more troops than he can to defend the city. Then I can take advantage of the situation to attack Yanmen and Taiyuan. If he does not send troops, the two will turn against Liu He from then on. In any case, it will be of great benefit to the lord."

"Okay, if you follow this plan, Liu He will definitely be exhausted from dealing with it. Hahaha, let's get started quickly!"

"My lord, wait a minute! Their opinions are certainly acceptable, but my lord's foundation now lies not in others, but in himself."

Yuan Shao didn't even need to turn his head to look. Just by listening to the serious and upright tone, he guessed who was speaking.

"Tian Feng, tell me, how can I do this in my own body?"

Yuan Shao had always disliked Tian Feng's character, who was full of moral principles and had a bad temper. However, he had to admit that among the many counselors under his command, Tian Feng's wisdom and insight were indeed first-class.

Tian Feng stepped forward and said, "Jizhou is as rich as Sili. In the past, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Jizhou was the base, so it has suffered from wars in recent years and its people have been displaced. After the imperial court's conquest, although it has been largely pacified, it has not yet fully recovered. My lord, you should reduce the harsh taxes, order people to build water conservancy projects, restore production, and accumulate people's strength. In this way, within two years, Jizhou should be able to store millions of grain and grass, and recruit no less than 200,000 young and strong men to join the army. This is a strategy to consolidate the foundation and maintain long-term peace."

"After Ziyuan's plan has achieved some success, you can order people to seize Qing, You and other places while the chaos is going on to boost your momentum. By then, your power will be strong enough to compete with Liu He, and you can call on all the heroes in the world to fight against him together. The princes will surely come in droves. Otherwise, if the gap in strength is too big, and attacking Luoyang becomes a life-threatening move, who will respond?"

"Great! Yuan Hao's words are like clearing away the clouds and revealing the blue sky! I will make Yuan Hao the deputy governor of Jizhou. If he can always make good plans like this in the future, then there will be no need to worry about instability in the world. Hahaha!"

Yuan Shao was overjoyed, but he didn't notice the jealousy in the eyes of Feng Ji, Xu You, Guo Tu and others beside him...

In the blink of an eye, winter goes and spring comes.

It is now 190 AD, the third year of the Han Dynasty's Chuping reign. The reign title Chuping was set by Dong Zhuo after he established Liu Xie, which meant to stabilize the government and the country, so Liu He did not change it.

On this day, just after dawn, the ministers filed into the palace. Since Liu He entered Luoyang, the daily court meetings have been fully restored. Emperor Xian of Han was still a child after all. Even though he was somewhat intelligent, a child under the age of nine always had a stronger desire to play. Especially in the past, he was bullied by Dong Zhuo and dared not act recklessly. Now that Liu He was always respectful to him, the child gradually began to have some "emperor" airs, but this airs was not to sit in court and govern the country, but to pursue pleasure.

Some ministers in the court deliberately catered to his idea and found ways to give him all kinds of fun and interesting things, making the little emperor very happy.

These ministers were all officials of ordinary origin, and their family backgrounds were just ordinary small families. They often tried to curry favor with Liu He, Cui Jun, Guan Yu and others by overt or covert means, but they ignored them. So they had to settle for the next best thing and turned their flattery to the little emperor. Liu He was too lazy to care about it. After all, he was really busy, and a few flatterers were harmless.

However, this is not without disadvantages. For example, the young emperor gradually began to resist the daily court meetings.

A child who is forced to get up early every day, regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter, and then do things over which he has no control, will naturally develop rebellious emotions over time. In the past, this emotion was intimidated by Dong Zhuo's power, but now that Liu He seems to be easier to talk to, this emotion has been released instead.

This is what happened today. Liu Xie was pulled onto the dragon throne by the eunuchs serving him with a very reluctant look on his face. He pouted and glared, looking unhappy at everyone he looked at. His gaze moved and finally fell on Liu He.

"It's all you who forced me to get up early, you bad guy!"

He had completely forgotten what life was like under Dong Zhuo's majesty. Initially, he was grateful for Liu He's respectful and rigorous attitude, but now he began to feel disgusted.

"Your Majesty, I have a plan to tell you!"

Liu He stood up.

"I have a book, I have a book. I have to play it every day. It's really annoying..."

Liu Xie was very unhappy and looked unhappy. However, Liu He did not care about it.

"The Wuhuan King Tadun raised an army of 40,000 and attacked Youzhou. He invaded Yuyang County, killed more than 3,000 Han people, and looted a large amount of supplies."

"The 20,000 cavalrymen of the Xianbei Kebineng tribe invaded Shanggu County, killed nearly 5,000 Han people, looted tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass, and burned hundreds of houses."

"The Xiongnu Zuoxian King personally led 30,000 cavalrymen to invade Beidi County, killing more than 4,000 of our people and burning more than 1,000 houses. Later, they were repelled by the Pingxi General Ma Teng, who led his army and suffered more than 6,000 casualties."

"The Qiang tribe in the west of Liangzhou claimed to be seeking revenge for Dong Zhuo, so they raised an army of 35,000 and invaded all parts of Western Liang. As Ma Teng's main force was fighting the Xiongnu in the north, the Qiang people burned, killed and looted for several days before leaving."

"I think that the Hu people's rampage should not be tolerated. We should immediately send troops to help You and Liang to quell the rebellion."

After Liu He finished speaking, before Emperor Xian opened his mouth, a minister stood up.

"I have long heard that when the general was in Bingzhou, he used both kindness and power to govern the Hu people in a proper way, making them behave themselves and avoid unrest. Now that peace has been maintained for only a few years, how come unrest has arisen again?"

Liu He glanced at the man, sneered, and was too lazy to answer.

"This is nonsense."

Zhu Jun, the Right General of Chariots and Cavalry, stood up and said, "General, in Bingzhou in the past, you fought against the Xiongnu Xiutu King and the Xianbei tribes. Now the 60,000 main forces of the Xiutu King have been almost completely lost, and two out of ten of the hundreds of thousands of civilians have naturalized as Han people. The three Xianbei tribes of Qianman, Budugen, and Kuitou, which are located north of Bingzhou, have traded with the Han people and have never done anything illegal. Kebi Neng and the Wuhuan are both in Youzhou, and the Xiongnu Zuoxian King and the Qiang are in Liangzhou. How can you levy them in Bingzhou?"

"Yes, this is ignorant and outrageous, and it is suspected of slandering the general. Your Majesty should not believe it."

Wang Yun looked at the person who was speaking with an unfriendly gaze, his tone containing a hint of scolding.

"Okay, okay, the noise is making me upset."

It was a very cold day in early spring and Emperor Xian was forced to get up very early. He was already in a bad mood, and he also remembered the things that several people had said they would send him a few days ago. Therefore, he had been thinking about ending the court meeting quickly. Now, hearing their quarreling, he was really annoyed.

(End of this chapter)