Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 565 Betrayal
Public Security Bureau, Youjiangkou.

Surrounded by a crowd, Liu Bei walked towards the riverbank.

"Brother, after much thought, I still feel this is inappropriate... Perhaps we should decline the marriage proposal!" Guan Yu said.

"inappropriate!"

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "The other day in Jiangling, I reached an agreement with Cao Cao on a marriage, which established a friendly relationship between our two families. Cao Cao is now lending Xiahou Yuan and 10,000 infantry and cavalry to me. If he changes his mind now, wouldn't he become a laughingstock? If we lose face, our army will become enemies with him, and if the two sides cannot unite, how can we fight against Zhang Yu together?"

"Yes!"

Cheng Bing said, "Now the people of Jing and Yang provinces all know that you, my lord, are going to marry Cao Cao’s beloved daughter. If you go back on your word, the Cao family will lose face, and our army will inevitably become enemies with them."

As he spoke, Cheng Bing added, "Although Cao Cao is a man of deep cunning, the Tang people are powerful now, and the best strategy is to unite against China."

Liu Bei had some reservations about going to Jiangdong to fetch his bride, and only agreed after being persuaded by Xiahou Yuan. If he were to change his mind and break off the engagement now, Cao Cao would lose face and hold a grudge against him, making it difficult to establish an alliance.

Of course, Liu Bei believed that Cao Cao would not dare to act recklessly, since the main contradiction at the moment was to jointly resist the Tang people.

To prevent Liu Bei from breaking off the engagement, Cao Cao deliberately spread the news of the marriage alliance between the Cao and Liu families.

Seeing that Liu Bei's words made sense, Guan Yu said, "In that case, I will guard Jingzhou well and await your return, brother!"

"Ok!"

Liu Bei grasped Guan Yu's hand and said, "Yun Chang is impatient. In case of important matters, you should consult with the strategist more often and not act on your own."

"Rest assured, brother, I will keep it in mind!"

"I entrust Jingzhou to the strategist!"

"My lord, please wait!"

With everyone seeing him off, Liu Bei boarded a boat, which was escorted by hundreds of other boats along the river all the way to Jinling. The waterway from Gong'an to Jinling was thousands of miles long, but with favorable winds and currents, it only took seven or eight days to reach Jinling.

When Liu Bei arrived in Jinling, Cao Cao issued an imperial edict ordering Zhang Zhao, the Imperial Censor, to go to the shore to welcome him. At that time, there was a great commotion of gongs and drums, and the procession was grand. The people of Jinling knew Liu Bei's whereabouts.

"Your Majesty greatly admires the Imperial Uncle, whose power is renowned throughout Jingchu!"

Zhang Zhao smiled and said, "I have specially ordered you to welcome the Imperial Uncle and to host a welcoming banquet for him."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Seeing no sign of the Cao clan, Liu Bei asked in confusion, "I don't know about the wedding?"

"Uncle, do not worry!"

Zhang Zhao smiled and said, "Please allow me to properly entertain the Imperial Uncle, and I will pay my respects to the Emperor later. Cao Cao will take care of the arrangements for the wedding!"

"Thank you so much, Dr. Zhang!"

Seeing that Zhang Zhao had arranged the procedures, Liu Bei had no choice but to comply, attend various banquets, and pay his respects to the emperor of Southern Han.

While Zhang Zhao was receiving Liu Bei, Cao Cao was discussing with others how to imprison Liu Bei and seize the counties of Jingzhou.

"Liu Bei has arrived in Jinling to welcome his bride, and today he will enter the palace to pay homage to the Emperor!" Cheng Yu reported.

Cao Cao said, "When Liu Bei arrives in Jinling, we can first lure him away with a marriage proposal. While Liu Bei is in Jiangdong, we should use the emperor's edict to replace the governors of the various commanderies in Jingzhou."

"Liu Bei and Guan Yu are like brothers. Now that Liu Bei has come to Jinling to welcome his bride, he has appointed Guan Yu as the governor of the six counties of Jingzhou and appointed the military advisor Li Yan to assist him. The Prime Minister wants to replace the governors with the imperial edict, but I'm afraid Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and the others will find it difficult to comply," Liu Ye said.

"What are your thoughts, gentlemen?" Cao Cao asked, his face showing deep contemplation.

"We may need to send troops to capture the city!"

Zhou Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Liu Bei has established his capital in Gong'an. Currently, his main army is in Nan Commandery and Wuling Commandery. Changsha and Guiyang Commandery are undefended. Therefore, while Liu Bei is left in Jiangdong, we should take advantage of this situation to advance our troops to Yiyang to defend against Guan Yu, and then seize Changsha and Guiyang. We should also use the emperor's edict and Liu Bei's personal letter to inform everyone to surrender."

"Not only that, but I fear that the Tang army in Jingzhou might intervene. The Prime Minister may mobilize a large army to garrison Lukou, to resist the Tang army's southward advance in the north and to intimidate the soldiers and civilians of Southern Chu in the west."

Cao Cao nodded slightly and said, "Gongjin's plan is feasible. We can first deceive Liu Bei and have someone forge a letter. Then, a general can take the letter westward, first seizing the two commanderies of Changsha and Guiyang, and stationing troops in Yiyang to distract Guan Yu. At that time, Jingzhou will be without a leader. With the imperial edict and proclamation, the generals will flock to our army, and Jingnan will be within our grasp!"

"I wonder who the Prime Minister intends to lead the expedition?" Cheng Yu asked.

Cao Cao glanced at the crowd and said, "The gain or loss of Jingzhou is a matter of great importance to the success or failure of our great cause. I have observed that none of the generals in the country have the ability to lead a large army to destroy a province. Therefore, I wish to personally lead the troops, defeat Guan Yu, and seize Jingzhou."

Cao Cao was extremely suspicious and found it difficult to trust those outside his own clan. Even among his clan generals, Cao Cao's trust varied. For example, Xiahou Dun was the first to join Cao Cao, so he was the most trusted among the generals. Next were Xiahou Yuan and Cao Ren. Xiahou Yuan had taken the blame for Cao Cao when he was young, while Cao Ren was more capable than Cao Hong.

However, when it came to seizing Jingzhou, Cao Cao felt that no general of his own clan could lead the campaign for him. As for generals from other clans, Cao Cao didn't even consider them. After all, aside from his paranoia, the biggest difference between Cao Cao and Zhang Yu was that Cao Cao had the emperor above him.

Cao Cao held the emperor hostage and commanded the feudal lords, so he could not afford to have military talents more capable than him. If a more capable military general emerged and achieved more military merits, it would mean a higher official position, which would threaten Cao Cao's position in the court.

Therefore, if Cao Cao were to send his generals on a distant expedition to Jingzhou, a powerful general would inevitably emerge. This might not threaten Cao Cao's position, but it would certainly make Cao Cao uneasy. If the emperor intended to eliminate Cao Cao, he could contact that person in the name of the monarch and thus support him to replace Cao Cao.

In conclusion, Cao Cao's inability to tolerate outsiders holding military power stemmed not only from his own paranoia but also from the political environment he was in.

"If the Prime Minister leaves Jinling, how will Liu Bei respond?" Xiahou Yuan asked.

Cao Cao laughed and said, "Now that he's in my trap, why should you worry about Liu Bei? Imprison him in a secluded mansion. When I return victorious, I'll find another opportunity to arrange for Liu Bei and Hui'er to get married."

Although Cao Cao intended to seize Jingzhou by force, he did not intend to break the agreement. The marriage agreement between Cao Hui and Liu Bei was common knowledge in the southeast; if he broke the agreement and seized Liu Bei's territory, wouldn't he be placing himself in a public relations crisis? After all, seizing Liu Bei's territory still had the emperor's authority; he could use Liu Bei's surrender as a pretext to gloss over the matter.

Then Cao Cao asked, "Where is Gongjin?"

"The general is here!"

"On the first day of the twelfth month, you and Cao Ren will serve as the vanguard, departing from Ruxukou with 20,000 troops to first seize Changsha Commandery, then advance to Yiyang County, where you will confront Guan Yu across the Xiang River. Cao Hong and Chen Wu will lead 10,000 troops to attack Guiyang, and then conquer Lingling Commandery. I will lead 30,000 troops to arrive later, specifically to attack the troops led by Guan Yu," Cao Cao said.

The 60,000 troops comprised the majority of Yangzhou's forces. Cao Cao likely committed his entire main force to seize Jingzhou. If he successfully captured the six commanderies of Jingzhou, Cao Cao's army would swell to over 100,000. Cao Cao's goal was to amass an army of over 150,000 to be able to contend with the Tang army's subsequent southern campaign.

"Yes, sir!" everyone responded.

Having devised his plan, Cao Cao, in order to avoid Liu Bei's suspicion, held banquets with Liu Bei every day for the next ten days or so, and had his wife, Lady Ding, arrange meetings with Liu Bei.

Lady Ding was initially unhappy with Liu Bei's age, but seeing his extraordinary demeanor and status as the ruler of Jingzhou, she agreed to the marriage because she believed that marrying her daughter would benefit Cao Cao's ambitions.

With the marriage agreement granted, the wedding date was to be set. Liu Bei was eager to return to Jingzhou and hoped to hold the wedding there. However, Cao Cao deliberately delayed, setting the date for mid-December, requiring Liu Bei to stay for another half month. Seeing that he could not change the date, Liu Bei had no choice but to temporarily agree to Cao Cao's request.

While Liu Bei lingered in Jiangdong, Cao Cao mustered his troops and set off for Jingzhou. To avoid being detected by Liu Bei, Cao Cao arranged for Cheng Yu to lead a thousand soldiers to monitor Liu Bei when he left Jinling.

When Cheng Yu led troops to guard the area, Liu Bei was the first to realize something was wrong and hurriedly sent his subordinate Cheng Bing out to inquire.

"My lord, something terrible has happened!"

Cheng Bing hurried into the hall and said, "According to my investigation, boats are setting sail from the shore of Jinling. Cao Cao was not in Jinling the day before yesterday. According to the officials, there has been frequent troop movements, which suggests that a major battle is about to break out."

Liu Bei frowned, inwardly groaning, and said, "The Tang army has been retreating for months. Why is there a major battle now? Could it be...?"

"Is our lord worried that Cao Cao will send troops to Jingzhou?" Cheng Bing asked.

Liu Bei nodded and said worriedly, "Cao Cao will not attack the Tang people, but only Jingzhou. Otherwise, with the wedding approaching, how could Cao Cao easily leave the capital? Moreover, you and I are now bound here by the Wu people and cannot leave Jinling."

Cheng Bing's expression changed drastically, and he said, "Does my lord mean that Cao Cao first tricked you into coming to Jinling with the marriage proposal, and now, while you are imprisoned, he will send a strong army to seize Jingchu?"

Liu Bei's face was grave; he felt betrayed. He had suspected Cao Cao's sudden marriage proposal was ill-intentioned, but Cao Cao's repeated insistence that it was for better defense against Zhang Yu had gradually convinced him. After all, with Ba and Shu fallen, only an alliance between him and Cao Cao could jointly resist Zhang Yu.

Now Cao Cao has imprisoned him here, and the meaning is obvious. He is simply trying to use the emperor to command the feudal lords again, detaining him in Jinling and using the emperor's name to subjugate Jingzhou.

As for his second brother, Guan Yu, although he is exceptionally brave and skilled in martial arts, he has never had good relations with his colleagues. Now that he is not in Jingzhou, and the people do not submit to Guan Yu, wouldn't they be leaderless?

He had only recently taken control of Jingzhou, and now, without a leader, it meant that Jingzhou could easily fall to Cao Cao. Wouldn't all his years of hard work then be stolen by Cao Cao?

"Cao Cao was so treacherous!"

Liu Bei, furious at having fallen into Cao Cao's trap, sighed in anger and drew his sword to chop at the wooden table, venting his resentment. He had come full of confidence, only to be deceived by Cao Cao and imprisoned here—how foolish of him!

Cheng Bing looked incredulous and said, "The Tang army is the greatest enemy of the world. Now Cao Cao has imprisoned our lord and attacked Jingzhou. Wouldn't this benefit the Tang people?"

As he spoke, Cheng Bing thought of someone and said, "My lord, shall we ask the Ding family for help now?"

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "Ding is just a woman and a child; she is incapable of doing anything!"

"What should I do?"

"Wait patiently!"

After venting his anger, Liu Bei calmed down and said, "The enemy has initially besieged our residence, so their defenses are tight. Let us be at ease for now to lull the guards into a false sense of security. Then, when the enemy is off guard, we can find another opportunity to escape."

"I will follow your orders, my lord!"

Not to mention Liu Bei being imprisoned by Cheng Yu, Cao Cao suddenly sailed out of Jingzhou, leading his army to seize the six counties of Jingzhou. The soldiers and officers of Jingchu were greatly shocked, but because their troops were unprepared, almost no one could stop Cao Cao's advance!
(End of this chapter)