Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 394 Cutting Off the Main Artery

At the end of January of the fifth year of Chuping (Liu Bei changed it to Xin Chuping earlier, 193 AD).

Yuan Shu sent Yuan Yin with over two hundred Buddhist monks to Xiapi to request an audience with Liu Bei.

In fact, Yuan Shu killed or captured many Buddhist followers, but spared their lives because he needed to bring Buddhist monks to Xuzhou to express his stance to Liu Bei.

In order to save food, only these two hundred monks were left.

Fadu's son, Zhijin, was also among them.

The destruction of Buddhism and the sending of monks were, of course, intended to show that Yuan Shu was a "loyal minister who obeyed the imperial court's order to suppress Buddhism," and to demonstrate that "this was a conspiracy orchestrated by the Buddhist sect, and it was all a misunderstanding."

"The foreign Buddhist sect plotted to wreak havoc on the Han Dynasty. Zuo Rong, Cao Bao, Zu Lang, and other Yue people from Danyang were all misled by the evil sect and plotted to establish the Buddhist Kingdom in Xuyang... My brother was unaware of this matter. It was only after Yin and Commandant Ji intercepted the Buddhist sect's letters that they learned of the Yuezhi Kingdom's conspiracy."

Yuan Yin explained to Liu Bei: "Zuo Rong killed and robbed people in Xiapi under the pretext of eradicating heresy, which resulted in the deaths of Ji Ling's family. Ji Ling originally sent troops to Xiapi to avenge his family and eliminate the heretical sect, but he did not expect that General Wei had already pacified the Buddhist sect in Xiapi, which led to a misunderstanding between the two armies."

"As for Zhang Kai... my brother only learned of Zhang Kai's serious crime in Qingzhou after receiving the imperial edict, but Zhang Kai has already fled, and my brother is personally pursuing him..."

This was obviously fabricated, but it was indeed convincingly made up. Liu Bei originally intended for them to pin the blame on the Buddhist sect.

The Yuezhi Buddhist sect's conspiracy is the only explanation that can clear Yuan Shu of his crimes.

Yuan Shu had to destroy the Buddhist temple because of this.

Sun Jian was not mentioned because he only offered the idea; it was Yuan Shu himself who ordered the capture of the three counties of Xuzhou.

Yuan Shu cannot be said to have been misled by Sun Jian, since no matter what advice others gave, it was Yuan Shu who gave the order—a crime Yuan Shu could not admit, because if he did, he would have no choice but to go to war with Liu Bei.

Yuan Shu was willing to back down, but he could not admit his guilt, nor could he hand over the people.

It can only be described as a conspiracy by the foreign Buddhist sect, trying to pin everything on the Buddhist sect.

Zhang Kai is just a different name; the so-called pursuit is just issuing an arrest warrant.

Liu Bei also knew that Yuan Shu would never hand over Zhang Kai no matter what.

Everyone has their own path. Yuan Shu may have been absurd, domineering, unreasonable, and liked to bully others by abusing his power, but he did have a sense of loyalty.

These are qualities that every leader of the Green Forest Road must possess.

But Yuan Shu had already made a very good show of it.

They obeyed the imperial edict to destroy the Buddhist sect and sent all the monks to the capital. The explanation they gave was quite plausible, and the story of Ji Ling sending troops to Xuzhou was also plausible—many wealthy families in Xiapi were killed by Zuo Rong, and most of them were indeed relatives and friends of Ji Ling.

Since Yuan Shu has backed down, Liu Bei certainly won't push him too far.

"It seems that Yuan Gonglu does have a heart that respects the imperial court... Since he is unwilling to enter the Great Han Military Academy and become a general of the Great Han, then so be it."

Liu Bei didn't make any further demands: "Go back and tell Gonglu that not a single person who colluded with the Buddhist sect should be spared. I don't blame him for being misled; let him clean up his own house as soon as possible."

This was actually a reminder to Yuan Shu that Liu Bei accepted this explanation, but since Yuan Shu did not come to see Liu Bei in person, he would not be able to become an official.

Moreover, Liu Bei reminded Yuan Shu to deal with Sun Jian as soon as possible... Sun Jian was the first to be targeted for colluding with the Buddhist sect.

Although Yuan Shu wasn't one of their own, he was still someone they could mobilize...

And they might even be more proactive than their own people.

Since both Liu Bei and Yuan Shu said that this was a conspiracy by the Buddhist sect to bring chaos to the Han Dynasty, then the Buddhist sect would have a hard time surviving and would not even be able to survive.

Moreover, and most importantly, Yuan Shu now clearly understands that this was all caused by Sun Jian.

As a result of this incident, Yuan Shu lost his official position and title, and had to swallow his pride and admit defeat.

When has this bandit leader ever suffered such injustice?

Of course, we need to clean house.

Yuan Shu should even thank Liu Bei—thank Liu Bei for not taking advantage of his internal troubles to attack him.

Liu Bei didn't push him too hard, and Yuan Shu could tell that.

The biggest internal threat Yuan Shu faces now is Sun Jian.

Sun Jian's troops were not under Yuan Shu's command. This powerful but not his own armed force formed a circle around his core base, which would make anyone feel unsafe.

Only by killing Sun Jian and incorporating Sun Jian's troops could Yuan Shu have the confidence to do other things.

If Liu Bei goes to war with Yuan Shu, Sun Jian will only benefit from it.

However, the infighting between Yuan Shu and Sun Jian allowed Liu Bei to reap the benefits.

Yuan Shu is now a nobody, without any official status, like a mistress who can't enter the family, but he can only accept it, since he can't really go to Linzi to study military science.

Even if a mistress is rich and comes from a good family, she is still just a mistress in the eyes of others, which makes it difficult for her to form a ruling regime.

His subordinates felt insecure.

Liu Bei would no longer allow Yuan Shu to receive any official title.

What future awaited Yuan Shu's generals if they continued to follow him?
No matter how powerful the leader of the Green Forest Alliance is, he is still just a bandit. If there is a better path, who would want to be a bandit?

Sun Jian was indeed an internal threat to Yuan Shu, but after eliminating Sun Jian, Yuan Shu would also lose his strongest fighting force.

Furthermore, without official recognition, they lost their cohesion...

What would Yuan Shu's subordinates do?
If Sun Jian were killed by Yuan Shu, to whom would Sun Jian's former subordinates go?
After Liu Bei dismissed Yuan Yin, he immediately sent a message to Taishi Ci and Liu Pi, and dispatched many of his personal guards to Jiangxia, Lujiang, Runan, Jiujiang and other places.

These guards were the same people who had served as tax inspectors in the past; now they are all instructors at the Great Han Military Academy.

As is well known, college teachers usually take on student recruitment part-time and receive commissions.

……

At this time, in Jingzhou.

Sun Jian had already captured Fancheng and crossed the Han River, stationing himself outside Xiangyang.

Fancheng belonged to Nanyang and was located on the north bank of the Han River. The south bank of the Han River was Xiangyang, the capital of Nanjun.

The Han River is the dividing line between the three prefectures of Nanyang, Nanjun, and Jiangxia, and also a natural defensive zone.

At present, most of Nanyang County has been occupied by Dong Zhuo, and Zhang Ji is stationed in Wancheng.

Sun Jian had already withdrawn from Nanyang and reached the Jiangxia area, but for the sake of his wife and children's lives, he had no choice but to attack Jingzhou according to Yuan Shu's orders.

For Yuan Shu, if Sun Jian could capture Xiangyang, he could take the fertile land of Jingzhou.

If Sun Jian dies here, it will eliminate internal threats and allow us to incorporate Sun Jian's troops.

This is how a bandit leader treats a traitor.

Sun Jian advanced his troops extremely quickly, and even staged a feint attack, sending Cheng Pu to divide his forces and circle around to Deng County, north of Fancheng, where they used Zhang Ji's banner to plunder Deng County, attempting to lull Huang Zu, who was guarding Fancheng, into a false sense of security.

He himself led his troops to cross the river secretly, intending to lure out the garrison and then seize Fancheng.

Unexpectedly, Huang Zu completely ignored Deng County and instead focused on building a tight defense in Fancheng, as if he had foreseen Sun Jian's plan.

Moreover, there was almost nothing to plunder in Deng County; the county town was practically empty.

Sun Jian had no choice but to launch a direct attack, and his fighting prowess was indeed formidable. In one battle, he defeated Huang Zu and captured Fancheng.

But when Sun Jian entered Fancheng, he found the city completely empty.

There was no one, and no food.

No wonder Huang Zu retreated so quickly...

Sun Jian understood. Zhang Ji was in Wan County, and Zhang Ji's subordinates had always liked to plunder. Counties north of the Han River were indeed easy targets for Dong Zhuo's army. It was normal to transfer money, grain, and people to Nan Commandery.

However, Sun Jian was short of food and could not obtain sustenance from the enemy, so he had no choice but to launch a swift attack.

Sun Jian sent a message to Yuan Shu, hoping that Yuan Shu could provide military supplies from Yiyang, and then take advantage of the victory to quickly cross the Han River and advance into Xiangyang.

However, Sun Jian's forces were too small to besiege the city.

Moreover, Xiangyang was a city with high walls and thick fortifications, making it difficult to attack by force. Sun Jian could only station his troops outside the city, first taking down the outer outposts, scavenging nearby grain and fodder, and building siege equipment.

At this moment, inside Xiangyang City...

"My lord, you only need to close the city and not fight. Sun Jian has too few troops to besiege the city and is short of food, so he will definitely want to attack quickly. As long as we send people out of the city at night, Sun Jian will think that there are deserters in our army, so he will not leave Xiangyang and will not launch a strong attack."

Kuai Yue was advising Liu Biao: "Yuan Gonglu will not support Sun Jian... Even if he does, he can send men to intercept him at Xiakou. Without reinforcements, Sun Jian will inevitably be defeated here in the long run."

“Sun Jian is fierce and brave. We must devise a plan to take his life quickly. Otherwise, if he stays here for too long, it will cause trouble and delay the farming season, which will also be our defeat.”

Liu Biao looked at Kuai Yue: "Does Yidu have a plan?" "Since he is short of food, then lure him to take it... Please, Brother Huang, go out of the city tonight to gather troops, set up an ambush at Xian Mountain, fight Sun Jian, and then retreat from Xian Mountain..."

As Kuai Yue spoke, he looked at Huang Zu.

There's a reason why Liu Biao's side is so well-informed.

When Yuan Shu was in Nanyang, he asked Liu Biao for grain, but Liu Biao refused, and the two sides did not get along well.

But a few days ago, Yuan Shu's son-in-law, Huang Yi, came to Xiangyang.

Huang Yi was Huang Zu's nephew.

Perhaps Huang Yi also wanted to find a way out, since Liu Biao and Huang Zu knew almost everything about Sun Jian.

Huang Zu cleared out Fancheng, not to defend it to the death, but to prevent Sun Jian from depleting his supplies, allowing Sun Jian to cross the river.

Liu Biao closed the city of Xiangyang and refused to fight.

Sun Jian's troops were elite, but their numbers were too small to launch a full-scale siege. So he sent another message to Yuan Shu, hoping that Yuan Shu could send ships to reinforce them, or at least bring some grain.

Taking advantage of Sun Jian's shortage of manpower and his need to seize grain from the surrounding areas, Liu Biao sent Huang Zu out of the city in the middle of the night to Jiangling to mobilize troops.

Sun Jian indeed believed that the garrison in Xiangyang was afraid and that deserters had appeared during the night.

Huang Zu collapsed at the first touch, and Sun Jian also swept through the surrounding military camps of Xiangyang with unstoppable momentum. In Sun Jian's view, the Xiangyang garrison was indeed extremely weak, and it was normal for them to flee.

In this situation, you'll naturally have to wait a few days.

So Sun Jian started shouting and cursing at the city every day, and looted grain on the spot, intending to lower the morale of the city of Xiangyang and make more deserters, so that he could build more siege weapons and then break through the city in one fell swoop.

If Yuan Shu could send supplies and troops to reinforce the city by water, Sun Jian would be confident of capturing Xiangyang.

However, instead of receiving reinforcements, Sun Jian received news that Changsha had fallen.

Liu Biao's nephew, Liu Pan, led his army from Jiangling to attack Changsha. Liu Pan's general, Huang Zhong, killed Wu Kui, Sun Jian's general who was left to defend Changsha, and captured Sun Jian's stronghold, Linxiang.

Meanwhile, Cai Mao blocked the waterway at Xiakou—but Cai Mao saw no sign of Yuan Shu sending reinforcements to Sun Jian.

Sun Jian stayed outside Xiangyang for about ten days. When he learned that Linxiang had fallen and that the waterway from Xiakou had been cut off, he gritted his teeth and decided to launch a strong attack on Xiangyang.

However, scouts reported that Huang Zu was leading his troops back from Jiangling.

Sun Jian fought another major battle with Huang Zu south of Xiangyang. Huang Zu was defeated once again and fled to Xian Mountain.

In order to pursue Huang Zu and seize military supplies, Sun Jian chased him all the way into the mountains and did catch up with Huang Zu's supply convoy.

But at that moment, someone shot an arrow from the bamboo forest in the mountains.

Even the weakest soldiers from Jingzhou could shoot deadly arrows.

Huang Zu suffered repeated defeats, but this ambush was a complete success.

Sun Jian was struck by several arrows and died on the spot.

……

After news of Sun Jian's death reached Changsha, Huan Jie, a Changsha native who had been recommended by Sun Jian as a candidate for the civil service examination, sought an audience with Liu Biao and requested the return of Sun Jian's remains.

Sun Ben led Sun Jian's former troops to escort his coffin back to Wu.

Upon hearing of Sun Jian's death in battle, Yuan Shu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly recruited and incorporated Sun Jian's troops into his army.

Wu Jing and Sun Ben, along with Huang Gai, Cheng Pu, and other followers of Sun Jian, still chose Yuan Shu. This was out of necessity, as Sun Ce, Sun Quan, and Lady Wu were all in Yuan Shu's hands.

However, the various commanders did not make this choice...

As Yuan Shu's top general, Sun Jian's death in battle had a significant impact, far exceeding his role while alive...

All the underworld leaders under Yuan Shu knew Sun Jian's fighting prowess and could guess some of the circumstances—if Yuan Shu had sent reinforcements, or even just provided provisions, the outcome would have been different.

Liu Biao's side wouldn't hide the details of this battle. The Green Forest Path had their own intelligence channels, and after learning what happened, they could guess most of it.

Most people wouldn't consider things from Yuan Shu's perspective...

The saying goes, "When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves," and the leaders of the outlaws don't want to be unable to get reinforcements, supplies, or be forced into battle while being held hostage.

Almost all the warlords and officials from various counties in Changsha chose to join Liu Biao.

There was no other way; Liu Pan and Huang Zhong were pacifying Changsha, and if they didn't surrender to Liu Biao, they would die immediately.

Huang Zu gained fame for ambushing and killing Sun Jian. He went to Xiakou and together with Cai Mao, he recruited people in Jiangxia. Some of the Jiangxia clan leaders chose to submit to Liu Biao, while most of the clan leaders or gangsters retreated to Lujiang.

Lou Gui, a native of Nanyang, also joined Liu Biao and recruited many refugees to garrison Xinye.

Liu Biao was able to control Changsha and Jiangxia.

Yuan Shu gained the elite troops under Sun Jian, but lost two counties—of course, Changsha and Jiangxia were originally Sun Jian's territory and were not under Yuan Shu's control, so he was not too bothered by losing them.

Cao Cao also gained some benefits.

Since Yuan Shu lost his official position and Sun Jian, his strongest warrior, was killed in battle, panic ensued within Yuan Shu's forces.

Some powerful clans that had originally served Yuan Shu began to contact Cao Cao.

Unlike underworld leaders who brought their followers to join them, no one knows exactly who contacted Cao Cao. In any case, there were many more carriages and horses traveling from Lujiang and Jiujiang counties to Qiao County.

However, neither Liu Biao nor Cao Cao benefited the most.

The biggest beneficiary was Liu Bei, who had arranged for the "director of admissions office" to go to various counties to woo the generals.

Most of the clan leaders who retreated to Lujiang, under the leadership of Li Tong and Chen Gong, chose to join forces with Liu Pi of Runan. Each clan leader sent their sons, nephews, or brothers to Linzi for schooling.

This wasn't a direct surrender to Liu Bei, because the various clan leaders were also worried about being killed by Yuan Shu...

But they wanted to send their children to Linzi because they didn't want Yuan Shu to force them to go to the battlefield by using their children. Sending their children to study at the Han Military Academy was the best way out for soldiers like them.

Liu Pi had always been loyal to Liu Bei. It was Liu Bei's bidding order that made Liu Pi, a low-born military leader, a governor. No one else could have given him such a high position.

At present, most of Yuzhou is controlled by Cao Cao. Liu Pi, the governor of Yuzhou, can only control the area around Ancheng in southern Runan, which is the area south of the Ru River and north of the Huai River.

However, after Li Tong and Liu Pi joined forces, Runan was connected with Lujiang, Yiyang, Anfeng and other places.

Li Tong was originally from Jiangxia. His courtesy name was Wenda, and his bandit nickname was "Wanyi". He was a wandering knight-errant in the Yiyang area of ​​western Lujiang for a long time. He was a gangster who made his living away from his hometown.

After receiving news of Sun Jian's death, most of the military commanders in Jiangxia, Lujiang, and southern Runan believed that they needed to find a way out, but they disagreed on what that way was.

The biggest underworld boss, Zhou Zhi, plans to join Liu Biao.

There are countless underworld leaders in Jiangxia. Zhou Zhi is also from Jiangxia and is a fellow townsman of Li Tong. He was appointed as the inspector of Langling, Runan because of Liu Bei's bidding order, and he has a large number of men under his command.

Zhou Zhi was the strongest among the elder brothers, so everyone was inclined to join Liu Biao.

But Li Tong and Liu Biao had a grudge—Liu Biao's Hongmen Banquet killed Li Tong's paternal uncle, who was killed by Liu Pan.

Li Tong planned to join Liu Bei, since Liu Bei truly didn't care about background and only valued ability.

Although Li Tong came from a small landlord family, he was merely a gangster and wandering knight-errant. It was impossible for him to be valued by a renowned scholar like Liu Biao, and given the enmity between them, eliminating him completely was the best course of action.

Liu Pi, who was once roughly equal to Li Tong, is now a high-ranking governor.

So Li Tong also set up a Hongmen Banquet, where he killed Zhou Zhi, who was killed by Liu Bei's subordinates.

Subsequently, Li Tong incorporated Zhou Zhi's troops and led various underworld figures to join forces with Liu Pi.

This can be considered a practical application of knowledge, completely replicating Liu Biao's approach.

Actually, this wasn't Liu Bei's idea, but everything Liu Bei did in Qingzhou was in anticipation of this effect.

There is no doubt that Liu Bei's place was the best path for people of humble origins but with great abilities.

Meanwhile, Lei Bo, the commander of Lujiang, welcomed Taishi Ci to Hefei and sent his son Lei Xu to the Great Han Military Academy.

Taishi Ci, the cavalry commander in charge of Huainan, finally stepped into the territory of Huainan.

The other two Grand Marshals, Mei Qian and Chen Jian, controlled the Qianshan (Dabie Mountains) area. Mei Qian's son, Mei Cheng, went to Linzi to study, and Chen Jian changed his name to Chen Lan and entered the Great Han Military Academy.

Liu Bei has gained the allegiance of the Lianghuai gangs, and now Yuan Shu is essentially besieged in Shouchun by Liu Bei's men...

Moreover, Yuan Shu was unaware of this.

Sun Jian's life was indeed a threat to Yuan Shu, but Sun Jian's death was like cutting off a vital artery for Yuan Shu.

It felt good, but after the pain, the pleasure was over...

(End of this chapter)