Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 870: Rumors Spread
A great war involved four states, namely Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Yuzhou and Xuzhou. Liu He, Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Jian, the four parties, mobilized a total of more than 600,000 troops and fought for nearly two months. As summer approached, the fighting on the battlefields gradually subsided.

Cao Cao captured the four counties in southern Jingzhou and thus occupied the entire Jingzhou. His military force was at its peak and he once again led his troops from Runan to Xuchang, intending to seize Yingchuan County while Zhang Yong was seriously injured, thus opening the way to attack Luoyang.

However, Gao Shun was well prepared and personally ambushed on the road from Runan to Xuchang. The two sides fought for a day and suffered casualties on both sides. Cao Cao had to retreat to Pingyu City, the capital of Runan.

"I should have advised you to kill Chen Gong back in Luoyang. Now that he has defected to Liu He, it is really disadvantageous to our army."

"Yes, Gao Shun's ambush on our army was successful this time, which was closely related to this man's plan. My lord's kindness has led to today's disaster. Alas..."

The generals were defeated and gathered together to complain.

Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Cheng Yu and others walked past the courtyard gate not far away. Xiahou Dun became furious after hearing these remarks. He was about to go forward and scold those generals, but was stopped by Cao Cao.

"Meng De, these generals are not brave enough in battle, but they are so active in gossiping. Why don't you let me capture them and punish them by military law so that they won't disrupt the morale of the army?"

Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "They are right. Although our army's action this time is not secret, we travel day and night and can reach Xuchang in three days. Even if Liu He can find out our route and report it to Gao Shun, he will definitely not be able to set up an ambush. In this battle, Chen Gong appeared beside Gao Shun, and I knew it was his plan. He knows my character very well and can naturally guess that I would have such a plan. It's all my fault that I didn't kill him because of our past friendship, which led to the disastrous consequences today. These generals were implicated by me and said a few words of resentment. What's wrong with that?"

"Meng De, you..."

Xiahou Dun and others were moved, and counselors such as Cheng Yu were also very impressed.

"My lord, with such a broad mind, you will surely accomplish great things. A temporary defeat is nothing to worry about. Please cheer up and make better plans."

Cao Cao took a deep breath and continued forward, saying as he walked: "I have ordered the entire army to build horse gear, armor, and weapons. With our military financial resources, we can train 10,000 heavy cavalry and 10,000 archers. Although Guan Yu and Zhao Yun are in Xiliang, they may be transferred to Yuzhou at any time. Our cavalry is still no match for them. Moreover, it will take at least a year to accomplish this. Do you have any good ideas to help me defeat Liu He?"

Xi Zhong said immediately: "My lord, now our army is surrounded by Liu Yao, Sun Jian, Liu Bei, Liu He, Shi Xie, and Liu Yan, all of whom are enemies of our army. Although the situation has been temporarily calmed down, Liu He is smart and will definitely secretly contact, instigate, provoke, and bribe these forces to attack our army together."

Xiahou Yuan was shocked: "If this is true, our army is in danger."

Xi Zhong smiled slightly: "Since Liu He can do this, why can't our army do it?"

Cao Cao looked at him and asked with interest, "Why?"

Xi Zhong said: "Shi Xie of Jiaozhou has no ambition and is greedy for money and power. Liu Yan promised him benefits and supported him to be the ruler of Jiaozhou, so he supported Liu Yan as emperor. He is adjacent to Yizhou in the west and Jingzhou in the north. The road to Yizhou is difficult and dangerous, but the road to Jingzhou is smooth. However, in the past, the four counties in southern Jingzhou were unable to threaten him, and he often sent troops to harass him. Naturally, he was not afraid of Jingzhou. But now that our army has occupied southern Jingzhou, Shi Xie must be uneasy."

Cao Cao stopped, his eyes flashing with coldness: "Zhicai is right."

Xi Zhong continued, "My lord, you only need to send a general to lead a large army to station in Guiyang and Lingling to intimidate him. Then send a man who is good at debate to Jiaozhou, not only to give him Jiaozhou, but also to confer him a title of nobility. Then, even if Shi Xie does not completely surrender to my lord, at least he will not dare to become an enemy of our army."

"Well, that makes sense. It's indeed a good idea." Cao Cao clapped his hands in praise.

"However, Sun Jian of Jiangdong has great ambitions. After the battle in Jingnan, he has forged a deep hatred with our army. I am afraid it will be difficult to intimidate and appease him. I wonder what strategy Zhicai has to deal with it?"

Xi Zhong stretched out a finger and pointed to the southeast: "Sun Jian has a strong army, but in name, he is not the lord of Yangzhou. Liu He appointed him as the governor of Jingzhou, and Yangzhou is under the jurisdiction of Liu Yao. Sun Jian is just a guest of someone else. Liu Yao's deputy is named Sun Shao. He has a close personal relationship with me and is very fond of calligraphy and painting. My lord, you can select some works of famous artists and give them to him. Let him explain the pros and cons to Liu Yao, so that Liu Yao will be suspicious of Sun Jian. Then Sun Jian will be unable to take care of Jingzhou."

"Hmm...Excellent! Although Liu Yao is talented, he is cowardly and suspicious by nature. This method may work."

Cao Cao's eyes were shining at this moment.

However, Xi Zhicai's plan has not yet been completed.

"As for Liu Bei of Xuzhou, he is a man of great courage, wise and brave, and good at forbearance. He is a great enemy of the Lord. However, he lives in Xuzhou and is weak, so it is difficult for him to achieve anything. Moreover, he and Liu He are superficially in harmony but actually at odds with each other, and they use each other. As long as our army does not move Xuzhou, Liu Bei will not really come to make things difficult for our army."

"As for old Liu Yan, according to the intelligence reports, Hanzhong was attacked by Guan Yu and Zhao Yun last year, and Liu Yan was so angry that his old illness relapsed. His mouth and eyes are crooked and he has difficulty moving. I'm afraid he is running out of energy and has not much time left, let alone the energy to attack Jingzhou."

"Good, good, good." Cao Cao said "good" three times in a row.

"Zhicai's few words are as powerful as a million-strong army. In this way, our army can focus on dealing with Liu He without any worries." When he was happy, Guo Jia stepped forward and said, "My lord, I have another plan. It can make Liu He fall into chaos without fighting, and make you stronger."

"Oh? What Fengxiao said must be a brilliant plan. Tell me quickly."

"My Lord, that's all you need to do..."

After Guo Jia's words, Cao Cao's expression became more and more surprised.

On this day, Liu He had a rare moment of free time and stayed in the harem for a while. Unable to resist Liu Zheng's constant nagging and Zhang Yu's persuasion, Liu He agreed to take him out of the palace in disguise and go out to play on the street.

The family of three dressed up as ordinary people, left the palace, and wandered around the city, enjoying snacks and watching street acrobatics. Liu Zheng was so happy that he forgot himself, and Liu He also felt much more relaxed.

"Huh... I've been so busy with trivial matters these days. I haven't spent enough time with my children for a long time, especially Zheng'er. I guess as a father, I've been too demanding of him. Now I remember that he is only a twelve-year-old child after all."

Liu He looked at Liu Zheng, who was running around in the street lively, and couldn't help but sigh. Zhang Yu peeled an orange and fed it to him with a smile on her face.

"The husband's status is different, and the husband's offspring are naturally different from those of ordinary people. This is a responsibility they are born to bear. They cannot escape or hide from it."

With Zhang Yu's comfort, Liu He felt much better.

"It's almost noon. I'm a little hungry after walking around all morning. Let's go find a place to have lunch first."

Under Liu He's governance, Luoyang City became extraordinarily prosperous, more than ever before. Now, many ordinary people had gone from two meals a day to three meals a day, so various snack bars and small restaurants in the city were doing a booming business during the day.

The three of them randomly found a small street shop and ordered a few side dishes.

While eating, he suddenly heard the guests at the next table chatting, which caught Liu He's attention.

"Have you heard? The Liu family in the south of the city was accused by the current emperor of having treasonous intentions because of an article written by their eldest son. As a result, their family was confiscated and their entire clan was exterminated, and the entire family was implicated."

"How could I not know this? Although the Liu family is not a famous family, it is still well-known among the noble families in our Sili area. I didn't expect that such a disaster would be caused by an ordinary article."

“How many times has this happened this year?”

"At the beginning of the year, there were the Zhao family and the Qian family in Hongnong, the Zhang family, the Yan family, the He family in Jingzhao, the Yun family in Liangzhou, the whole family in Shangdang in Bingzhou, the Han family, and the Li family in Chenliu. That's the tenth family in total."

"Alas... Although the current emperor is diligent and loves his people, I don't know why he is so resentful towards us scholars. There are so many ministers in the court, all of whom are leaders of the aristocracy and masters of Confucian classics. In the past few years, he has dismissed some from office and confiscated their property. I thought those people had committed some serious crimes, but now it seems that they just said something or wrote something that aroused the emperor's taboo."

"We study only to serve the court, but the court is now criticizing us. What can we do? It is better to change our career and go somewhere else to have a chance to make achievements."

"Hush... Speak softly. The city is full of secret agents from the imperial court. If they hear you, you could be killed. Eat quickly and leave the city as soon as possible after you finish eating."

"Yes, yes, yes. Fortunately, you reminded me. Otherwise, I would have almost lost my life in a moment of verbal haste."

Liu He listened to their words from the side, but he was not angry. Instead, he was confused.

"What's going on? Who did I kill? How come I have never heard of these Li and Zhang families?"

He was very confused. After thinking about it, he couldn't remember who these families were and when he had punished them. Unable to suppress his curiosity, Liu He stood up and walked towards those people.

"Father..." Liu Zheng saw his father stand up and was about to ask a question, but Zhang Yu grabbed his hand and shook her head at him.

Although Liu Zheng didn't quite understand what was going on, he didn't ask any further questions. He just thought the food in this small restaurant tasted novel, so he lowered his head and continued eating.

(End of this chapter)