Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 93 Yuan Shao: Liu Bei dares to slap me in the face

In the wilderness far away from Yecheng, the wind blew the flags and raised dust.

The troops marched forward with drums and horns blaring, and the armored soldiers armed with swords, shields, spears and guns, standing in dense formation and ready for battle, looked majestic and advanced in neat steps with great enthusiasm.

The crossbowmen were armed with bows and crossbows, each carrying a quiver on his back, and the assistants beside them held shields and swords.

More than two hundred cavalrymen armed with lances were lined up on both sides, and the leading military officer held the bow and arrow, alert to all parties.

Liu Bei's large banner was held high by the soldiers and fluttered in the wind.

The 310 baggage carts seized from Yan Liang's camp lengthened the marching column and made it more powerful.

On the tall walls of Yecheng, many assistant officials from wealthy families, clerks from the aristocratic families, and county soldiers guarding the city were all stunned when they saw the powerful soldiers below the city.

Earlier, an angry roar was heard from Yuan Gong’s mansion: “Yan Liang has misled me!”, and soon after, the sound of gongs and drums was heard outside the city.

Three or four hundred clerks and historians were in a daze. They followed Yuan Gong to the top of the city wall and saw an arrogant army reaching Yecheng, Jizhou.

The soldiers all held their heads high and chests puffed out, holding sharp, bloody weapons in their hands, glancing at the top of the city walls, as if preparing to attack.

Liu Bei ordered his men to erect a red flag with the words "Liu, the Governor of Qingzhou" written on silk on a high platform.

He stood on the high platform and looked out over Yecheng. He smiled at Guan Yu beside him and said, "Yunchang, do you think Yuan Shao is watching us from the wall right now?"

He divided his troops into three groups to attack Liu Bei, but before the second and third groups could achieve success, Yan Liang's group was wiped out, leaving only Wen Chou and Qu Yi.

One is hanging around in Fanyang, while the other is fighting hard in Liaocheng.

If I punch out, my abdomen will be unprotected. If I don't take advantage of the situation and take a stroll in Yecheng, I will be sorry for Yuan Shao's warm hospitality.

This is our first encounter, there won’t be such a good opportunity again in the future.

Liu Bei then ordered his men to challenge Yuan's army to a battle outside the city in the name of fighting against Yuan's traitors in order to mock and undermine the morale of Yuan's army.

Yuan Shao on the top of the city wall was furious and stared at Liu Bei's banner erected on the high platform. Even Gongsun Zan had never mocked him like this before.

When more than a hundred people were surrounded by Gongsun Zan's cavalry, Tian Feng advised him to retreat, but he threw his helmet to the ground and said, "A real man should fight to the death fearlessly. How can I live in this world by hiding?"

How could the Yuan family, with three officials in five generations, be allowed to be insulted by Liu Bei?

Yuan Shao gnashed his teeth and said angrily: "Call the troops, watch me personally meet the enemy!"

"No! Lord Yuan." Ju Su, Guo Tu, and Xin Ping hugged Yuan Shao tightly. Guo Tu tried to persuade them, "Lord Yuan is from a noble family, how can you argue with a lowly person? It is not suitable for a noble to fight in the battlefield in times of danger."

"Liu Xuande is just an ordinary person from the Su sect. He can only show off his power by holding a badge and a halberd. How can he last long?"

"When the reinforcements arrive, this guy will surely flee in panic. There is no need for you, Mr. Yuan, to show off your courage and compete with him."

Tian Feng, Xun Chen and the officials who gathered around also advised them.

Yuan Shao was so angry that he pulled out an arrow thrown by a nearby soldier, broke it and threw it to the ground, shouting, "I am a descendant of three officials for four generations, but today, a shoe peddler and mat weaver comes to humiliate the Yuan family, and I am powerless to fight back. I feel ashamed of my ancestors."

Then he said coldly: "Order Wen Chou and the son of the Xiongnu Chanyu who came to help to lead the army back to Yecheng. We will not stop until we defeat and kill Liu Bei."

"Mr. Yuan, wait a minute! This order can be postponed." Ju Su said.

The others also looked over in surprise. What happened? Besides Guo Tu, you are also secretly communicating with Liu Bei.

Ever since Guo Tu's advice and strategy caused Jizhou to lose the initiative, some rumors have been circulating among the officials, saying that Guo Gongze has an unspeakably close relationship with his relative Guo Jia.

Perhaps he had other intentions. Rumors are often generated when power struggles occur in the vortex of power. Yuan Gong has limited confidants, and if one falls, another one or a whole clan will take his place.

Ju Su ignored the looks from others and said to Yuan Shao, "Yuan Gong, you must not forget that during the Warring States Period, Sun Bin led the Qi army to besiege Daliang, waited for Pang Juan to come back to rescue, and then ambushed the Wei army on their way back, causing even the famous general Pang Juan to be defeated and killed."

"Do you think Wen Chou can lead troops as well as Pang Juan?"

Ju Su pointed out the key point that this kind of rescue was very risky and Liu Xuande was good at using troops for rapid attacks.

With an army of 7,000 strong, how could they miss such an opportunity?

Yan Liang has been defeated, is Wen Chou going to be defeated again?
How much foundation can withstand such a torment? If Jizhou comes a few more times, it will be gone.

At this time, the sound of golden drums under the city wall suddenly stopped, and the Qingzhou army began to dig trenches and build camp walls, while others were digging tunnels in the distance.

This caused the officials to exclaim in surprise.

Liu Bei did not plan to attack by force, but to dig his way into the city.

Tian Feng said anxiously: "We can't delay. Lord Yuan should ask Wen Chou to return slowly and pay attention to the ambush troops on the way to Yecheng. As long as we don't lead the army and march lightly, there should be no problem."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded slightly.

With the lessons learned hundreds of years ago before them and him sending someone to deliver the message, Wen Chou would not make such a big mistake and be taken advantage of by Liu Xuande.

Suddenly remembering Lü Bu who was staying in Liyang, Yuan Shao angrily scolded him, "Lü Bu was ungrateful. I lent him a county and provided him with money and food, but he blatantly let Liu Bei bypass the Qi River and Dang River to attack Yan Liang, causing our army to lose tens of thousands of soldiers. How can this crime be forgiven?"

"Lord Yuan, it is too early to discuss the matter of Lu Bu. It will not be too late to send someone to investigate first and then deal with it." Xin Ping suggested.

Now we should try our best to win over Lu Bu. As long as he doesn't lead the army to attack Jizhou, even if he really lets Liu Bei go, we should turn a blind eye to it. It will not be too late to kill Lu Bu after destroying Liu Bei.

Xin Ping replied: "Liu Bei and Lu Bu have never had any contact. Why would Lu Fengxian risk offending the Yuan family to help Liu Xuande? There may be a misunderstanding."

"What Zhongzhi said makes sense. It's my fault that I was irritated by Liu Bei and lost my usual calmness." Yuan Shao was also angry. He didn't know whether Yan Liang was alive or dead, so he couldn't find anyone to blame.

After Xin Ping's persuasion, his anger dissipated and he regained his rationality.

After careful consideration, Lu Bu would not join forces with Liu Bei. Based on what he did in Luoyang, even if he killed Dong Zhuo to apologize, it would be difficult for Liu Xuande to not mind.

What's more, the two had a confrontation in Dongjun last year, and they must have had a lot of grudges after being besieged in Puyang City for several months.

Yuan Shao thought of Cao Mengde, and took advantage of the fact that all his staff were present to ask, "Mengde wants me to recommend him as the governor of Yangzhou. What do you think?"

"I wanted him to contain Liu Bei in Yanzhou, but Meng De declined because he had no place to stay. However, it would be nice if he could go to Yangzhou to deal with Yuan Gonglu who has embarrassed me many times."

Liu Bei is hateful, and Yuan Shu is equally hateful.

If Cao Cao could whip Yuan Gonglu, he would be willing to do him a favor.

Xun Chen said, "Cao Mengde is friendly with Lord Yuan and always obeys his orders. It would be helpful to use him to check and balance Yuan Gonglu of Ruyang. Otherwise, Yuzhou and Yangzhou will fall into Yuan Gonglu's hands."

Yuan Shao nodded. He was now faced with a tough challenge and was pushed back to Yecheng by Liu Bei.

But seeing that Yuan Shu was about to take control of the two states, and was taking advantage of Kong Rong's death and Yangzhou's ownerlessness to pick up the remaining things, he suddenly became furious.

You made life difficult for me before, so I can’t make it easy for you either.

(End of this chapter)