Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 838 The Situation of the Han Dynasty

In the winter of 194 AD, the Han Dynasty entered a special stage as various princes emerged and the situation of warlords ruling the country entered a special stage.

The Luoyang court, with Liu He as emperor, occupied the six northern states and received the support of Qingzhou, making it the most powerful.

The Yizhou court made Liu Yan the emperor and occupied Yizhou. At the same time, Jiaozhou also declared its surrender and sent troops to respond to Yizhou's offensive.

The Yuzhou court respected Emperor Xian Liu Xie who had already announced his abdication, but was actually ruled by Cao Cao, who governed the entire Yuzhou, half of Xuzhou, and Nanyang County in Jingzhou.

In addition to these three "Great Han Courts", there were also several other major princes traveling abroad.

Jiao He, Kong Rong and others occupied Qingzhou. Not only did they submit to the Luoyang court, they also accepted all requests for money, food and manpower, which showed their loyalty.

Liu Bei occupied the northern part of Xuzhou, as well as the Donglai and Chengyang counties of Qingzhou. He nominally submitted to the Luoyang court, but when the Luoyang army fought with Cao's army many times, he did not send troops to help, nor did he pay any money or food as tribute to Luoyang.

Liu Yao occupied Yangzhou, but he was a gentle person and did not care about military affairs. In fact, more than half of the counties and cities in Yangzhou were occupied by Sun Jian.

Liu Biao occupied Jingzhou, but Nanjun was captured by Cao Cao. The four counties in southern Jingzhou were actually divided into four counties by the governors and local wealthy families. Therefore, the areas under his actual jurisdiction were limited to Nanjun and Jiangxia counties. However, the richest areas in Jingzhou were the three northern counties. Therefore, although Liu Biao only occupied two counties, his strength still exceeded the sum of the four counties in southern Jingzhou, especially the two cities of Xiangyang and Jiangling, which were thoroughfares by land and water, and had prosperous agriculture and commerce. The population of the two cities was almost equal to that of any of the four counties in southern Jingzhou.

However, he was nominally the lord of Jingzhou after all. Therefore, when facing the invasion of Jiaozhou, although he did not have to lead troops to resist personally, he could not avoid supplying food, fodder and equipment to the four counties in southern Jingzhou. Moreover, if the four counties were lost, Xiangyang City would have to face attacks from Liu Yan, Cao Cao and Shi Xie on three sides. Therefore, when faced with requests for help from the four counties, he often did not dare to neglect them.

In the southernmost part of the Han Dynasty, Jiaozhou was poor and desolate, but it had a population of over one million and rich in resources. It was occupied by the local powerful family Shi Xie. He sent troops to attack Jingzhou in response to Liu Yan, but Jiaozhou was poor and the soldiers were not well-equipped, so he could not conquer it for a long time and made no progress.

Liu Xie of Yuzhou issued a manifesto to denounce Liu He and recruit Liu Yan, while Liu He also issued a manifesto to the world, denouncing Cao Cao for his disrespect for the emperor, disloyalty and unrighteousness, holding the abdicated emperor hostage, forcing him privately, and plotting rebellion.

As for Liu Yan, he was the weakest among the three forces. Everyone in the world believed that he would choose to remain silent and not express his position. He would neither abdicate and accept a title and obey the Yuzhou court, nor would he become an enemy of any of the other two parties. He would just sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the two tigers. Even Cao Cao and Liu He himself thought so.

But just a few days before the New Year, Liu Yan actually scolded Liu Xie, saying that since he had abdicated, he was no longer the emperor, and that he, Liu Yan, had the highest seniority and the greatest reputation in the royal family, and that he would inherit the throne and fight against the traitor Liu He, so he was the rightful emperor of the Han Dynasty.

At this moment, everyone in the world was stunned. In the taverns and streets everywhere, people were talking about it, wondering if the Emperor of Yizhou had lost his mind. He actually gave up the good situation and fought against two strong forces with his weak side, which was tantamount to seeking death.

At the same time, Liu Yan sent Zhang Ren to reinforce Hanzhong with 30,000 troops. Guan Yu and Zhao Yun's feint attack was discovered by Zhang Ren. The army clamored outside the city for half a day, until noon, when they were about to return to the camp for lunch, Zhang Ren suddenly led his troops to attack, catching them off guard.

Although Generals Guan and Zhao personally went out of the camp to fight, the Han army still lost nearly two thousand people. From then on, the danger in Hanzhong was resolved.

Cui Jun, who had become the governor of Liangzhou, hurriedly wrote a letter to Guan Yu, explaining the situation and asking the two generals to withdraw their troops from Hanzhong and return to Wudu to station there, in order to avoid heavy snow blocking the mountains and the retreat route, which would bring about a disaster.

Guan Yu was very unwilling at first. How could he suffer a loss? He immediately gathered his troops and attacked Hanzhong City with all his strength, but he did not achieve any success. Instead, he suffered heavy casualties. Later, Liu He personally issued an imperial decree, and he and Zhao Yun obediently led the troops to retreat.

At the same time, on the east side of Yizhou, generals such as Yan Yan, Meng Da, and Wu Lan led their troops to garrison important towns such as Shangyong, Fangling, and Fuling, confronting Jingzhou.

Liu Biao, on the other hand, had accumulated nearly 180,000 troops in Xiangyang and Jiangxia, ready to respond to Cao's offensive at any time.

At this point, the Three Han Dynasties were established and the situation of conflicts among the princes began.

In the blink of an eye, winter has gone and spring has arrived. The cities in the Sili region have just welcomed the last heavy snowfall not long ago. In Jingzhou in the south, the ice and snow have melted and all things have revived in recent days. However, when the snow melts, the weather is the coldest. Therefore, there are still few pedestrians in the cities of Jingzhou.

Liu Biao was already old and frail. Now Jingzhou was unstable and he had lost the great county of Nanyang. In a moment of desperation, his old illness relapsed and he has been bedridden ever since. It was only in the past few days that he managed to recover some of his strength and was able to get out of bed and walk freely again.

That day, when he was resting in his bedroom, he heard a "creak" and the door opened, and it was Liu Qi who walked in.

"Father, it's time to eat." He brought a bowl of porridge and a few side dishes and placed them on a table next to the bed. Then he went to the bedside himself and helped Liu Biao up.

"My son is the most filial son. It is worthy of your father's love for you."

Liu Biao was very pleased. He got off the bed and sat down at the table.

He picked up the porridge and was about to eat it when he suddenly asked, "By the way, has the city defense been unusual these days?"

Liu Qi replied, "Father, I and my cousin Liu Pan are in charge of the defense of the city. There are 80,000 soldiers in the city and 15,000 naval forces on the river outside the city. We are ready to fight at any time. If Cao Cao dares to come, we will make sure he never returns."

"Okay, okay. With Qi'er's dedication, Jingzhou won't have to worry."

Liu Biao looked relieved and started to eat.

Liu Qi's face showed a bit of pride. "Thank you for your praise, father. But I've said it before, father is the master of Jingzhou. In the past, the Cai family relied on their meritorious service in assisting father and acted recklessly in Jingzhou, even occupying military power, which was like a subject bullying the master. However, when father took my stepmother in and demoted Cai Mao to the position of city gate captain, wouldn't Jingzhou be safe and sound?"

Hearing his words, Liu Biao put down his bowl and chopsticks and sighed softly: "Alas, your father has relied too much on the Cai family in recent years, resulting in more than 60% of Jingzhou's troops being controlled by the Cai family. Because of this, when the emperor's uncle came to Xiangyang, he dared to send people to assassinate him recklessly, and ignored the prohibition of my lord. It's really hateful. Fortunately, the truth was revealed and your father demoted him in time. Otherwise, if he was allowed to be so unscrupulous, I'm afraid that in less than two years, even your father would find it difficult to deal with them. By then, with the Cai family's pettiness, they will definitely harm you."

"Don't worry, father. Now the troops of Jingzhou have been taken over by me and my cousin. All the generals in the army have surrendered, and no one has pleaded for Cai. This shows what kind of person he is. With the strong city of Xiangyang and sufficient food, it is not difficult to resist Cao's army. Later, father will send a good debater with generous gifts to Luoyang to meet the emperor and ask him to send troops to attack Yuzhou. Our troops of Jingzhou will respond from afar and attack from both sides. We will definitely be able to annihilate Cao in one fell swoop."

Liu Qi's words caused Liu Biao to nod frequently.

"Yes, Cao Cao is ambitious and arrogant. He dared to respect the abdicated Emperor Xian and openly confront the court. His Majesty must be furious and it is only natural that he would send troops to defeat the thief. My father originally wanted to establish his own territory and claim to be the only one who can rule the country. But now he is getting old, while Your Majesty is in good health and in his prime. These days, while my father was lying in bed recuperating, he also figured it out. The unification of the world and the achievement of the eternal cause of the current emperor are an unstoppable trend. It is impossible for Jingzhou to remain immune. It is better to surrender early and completely submit to the court in exchange for fame and title."

After that, he took Liu Qi's hand and said earnestly: "Such a heavy responsibility will be placed on your shoulders. Take advantage of the opportunity to destroy Cao to make achievements and even become famous and go down in history. This is a great opportunity for my son, and you must not miss it."

Liu Qi was overjoyed when he heard this: "Don't worry, father. I will live up to your trust. Later, I will personally select the envoys to go to Luoyang and arrange a date for the attack on Cao."

Liu Biao nodded and said, "That's great. I can rest assured now."

The two were talking happily when someone outside the door suddenly came to report: "My lord, my young master, General Liu Pan sent an urgent report from Jiangxia, saying that Cao's army suddenly launched two troops, one from Yuzhou and the other from Nanyang, and attacked Jiangxia. The enemy army is coming fiercely, with no less than 70,000 or 80,000 people. Please send troops to help as soon as possible."

Liu Biao exclaimed: "How could Cao thief move so swiftly?"

Liu Qi comforted him, saying, "Father, don't be alarmed. This is Cao Cao's desperate attempt to find a cure. From my perspective, he is about to die."

"Oh? What's the explanation?"

Liu Qi sneered, "This thief Cao must have seen that our army's defense is tight, and the soldiers of Yuzhou are not good at water battles. He knew that it would be difficult to win the battle, so he made a desperate move and transferred the Yuzhou garrison to attack Jiangxia first, and then attack Xiangyang from both sides. Little did he know that in this way, Yuzhou would be empty. Generals Gao Shun and Zhang Yong are famous and both wise and brave. Now I am afraid that there is no need for us to send envoys from Jingzhou. The two generals will lead their troops south soon to seize Yuzhou."

"My Jingzhou troops pretended to rush to Jiangxia's aid. Cao Cao has been unable to capture Jiangxia for a long time. Seeing that he is attacked from both sides, he must be panicking. While his army is in chaos, I will turn my troops north to recapture Nanyang, and then order Liu Pan's cousin to go out of the city to fight. How can Cao Cao not be defeated with his meager strength?"

Liu Biao's eyes sparkled when he heard this, and he laughed loudly, clapping his hands: "Well, my son is becoming more knowledgeable and will surely make immortal contributions in the imperial army in the future. I will hand over all the troops in Jingxiang to you for full command. You can make all the important military decisions on your own, and you don't need to report back to me."

"Thank you father!"

Liu Qi clasped his fists in thanks, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

(End of this chapter)