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

Chapter 458 The Second Encirclement
Xia Yu and Duan Wei were about the same age. Xia Yu had served as the Protector of the Qiang Camp Commander forty years ago, and Duan Wei was quite familiar with him.

During the war between the Han and the Xianbei Tanshihuai, Xia Yu served as Protector of the Wuhuan. After the defeat, he was demoted to a commoner, and his relatives were all implicated and forced into hard labor.

When the Western Qiang rebelled, Zhang Wen led a large army, and the imperial court reinstated Xia Yu, appointing him as Protector of the Qiang. However, the war was still unsuccessful, and Zhang Wen's six armies were all defeated. Xia Yu was besieged by the rebellious Qiang in the livestock palace.

Fortunately, Duan Jiong returned to his hometown and appeared. Seeing the God of War come back to life, the Xianling Qiang were all frightened away, and Xia Yucai was spared from death, but he was once again stripped of his title.

Since leaving Duan Jiong, Xia Yu has never won a battle. He is always doing hard work on the front lines and never gets any good results.

However, it would be incorrect to say that Xia Yu is incompetent.

Xia Yu was actually very capable, but he was always on the front lines, using a small force to hold back the enemy's main army, but each time the main force retreated first...

In fact, you can tell from Xia Yu's resume that he is a scapegoat with poor judgment.

Xia Yu always has problems choosing sides...

Liu Hong may not have been a good emperor, but he certainly had excellent judgment. His initial intention was to win over Duan Jiong—those whom Liu Hong supported were all truly capable.

However, the military leaders that Liu Hong wanted to support would inevitably be labeled as eunuchs and targeted by the Qingliu Party.

This targeting was comprehensive, and Duan Jiong suffered greatly from it. After entering the court, he tried to reconcile with the Qingliu gentry and frequently contacted the Yuan family, but he was not pleased by either side.

Loyalty that is not absolute is absolutely disloyal. If one's stance wavers, one will always be disliked by both sides. The imperial court is far more dangerous than the battlefield.

Liu Hong felt that Duan Jiong's stance was not firm, so he changed his approach to winning over Duan Jiong's subordinates, such as Xia Yu.

But Xia Yu and others were also wavering – Qingliu was also trying to win them over.

In order to gain military power, Liu Hong decided to take a risky move, as did the Qingliu Party.

Therefore, in the war against the Xianbei, Liu Hong had people collude with the Xianbei, thus wiping out the military strength of the gentry.

Meanwhile, the Qingliu Party also colluded with Tan Shihuai, leading to the downfall of the border troops who were loyal to the court.

Both sides, without prior agreement, sent each other's troops to the hands of the Xianbei; neither side was any good.

However, the partisan forces left the capital region, and Liu Hong took the opportunity to reorganize the Sanhe cavalry, ensuring the safety of the capital region and temporarily relieving the gentry of their control over it, allowing Liu Hong to truly control the country during that period.

The period during which Liu Hong truly held power was from the Xianbei War to the suppression of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. These eight years also marked the rise of Liu Bei from a criminal and petty thief to a general.

It was during that period that the Guandong gentry repeatedly used their power to force the court to make concessions, and the intensity of the struggle far exceeded that of the past.

Those eight years also marked the period when Xia Yu was demoted to a commoner.

After being demoted, in order to be reinstated, Xia Yu sought refuge with Zhang Wen during the turmoil in Liangzhou and became his henchman.

This choice of allies was actually quite problematic—at the time, Liu Bei, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, Sun Jian, and everyone else felt that Zhang Wen couldn't control the situation.

At that time, Xia Yu could have joined anyone, especially Dong Zhuo, who was the most suitable candidate for the military leaders of Xizhou. Most of the military leaders did indeed join Dong Zhuo.

But Xia Yu chose Zhang Wen.

As a result, Zhang Wen quickly lost power, and Xia Yu was demoted again, for another eight years.

Two years ago, Song Jian established his kingdom in Longxi. Dong Zhuo remembered Xia Yu, who was familiar with the situation of the Western Qiang, and reinstated him, still serving as the Protector of the Qiang.

However, Xia Yu did not go to the west to deal with the Hehuang Hu bandits, but instead led troops with Zhao Rong to try to enter Chang'an, which clearly shows that he was once again being courted by the Guanzhong gentry.

The level of their alignment is... truly indescribable.

The fact that Xia Yu has survived all these ups and downs only shows that he is incredibly lucky, and he certainly has some real skills.

Having met Xia Yu, Duan Wei originally intended to ask him about his purpose, since the two families had been friends for decades and there was some lingering affection between them.

However, when Xia Yu saw Duan Wei leading his troops to intercept him, he didn't say a word and instead led his troops in a surprise attack without hesitation. Duan Wei was caught off guard and retreated to the south of the Wei River.

As a former subordinate of Duan Jiong, Xia Yu showed no respect for Duan Wei and launched a surprise attack without even saying a word, which was of course in line with their original plan.

Zhao Rong did indeed transport some flowers, trees, and rare stones from the north, but the five thousand men he brought were mostly Xia Yu's people, including a large number of Hehuang Zhi Hu.

The flowers, trees, and stones were indeed transported by Zhao Rong at Li Jue's behest.

If Liu Bei hadn't discovered the false report from the north, then the attack on Duan Wei by this group of "northern laborers" would have been seen as a feud between Li Jue and Duan Wei, and no one would have doubted Zhao Rong and Xia Yu's true intentions.

Liu Bei ordered Duan Wei to intercept them, and also stationed all the military leaders around Chang'an. He also appointed his trusted confidants as commanders of the city gates of Chang'an to strengthen the forces. This was all to lure the enemy out of their hole—he wanted to infiltrate Chang'an with 5,000 men. This was definitely for the purpose of coordinating from within and without. The mastermind was definitely not Zhao Rong. There would be many participants, and there would certainly be a large number of external enemies.

Of course, Liu Bei did not expect Xia Yu to be involved, nor did he expect Duan Wei to be defeated.

After his defeat, Duan Wei retreated south of the Wei River, temporarily blocking the ancient road to Xianyang, and sent a letter to Liu Bei requesting reinforcements.

Liu Bei had already issued an edict, saying that no one was allowed to take action, and anyone who dared to do so would be punished. Xia Yu and Zhao Rong were bound to be beaten.

Liu Bei immediately summoned all his troops to support Duan Wei.

Cao Cao's troops have now moved from Ziwu Ridge to the Wei River camp north of Chang'an to provide them with food supplies; being closer would reduce losses.

Since it was uncertain whether the enemy had any further plans, it was not advisable for Liu Bei's main force to leave Chang'an at this time. The only troops that could go to support Duan Wei were the guest troops from various units, and the closest troops to Duan Wei's location at the moment were Cao Cao's forces.

So Liu Bei asked Cao Cao, "General Duan urgently needs reinforcements. Are Mengde's troops still able to fight?"

Cao Cao did not seem to hesitate: "Please give me enough food for a month, Prime Minister. I will definitely capture the rebel leader alive and find out the traitor's conspiracy."

Clearly, Cao Cao sensed a conspiracy and infiltration simply from the names Zhao Rong and Xia Yu.

Liu Bei certainly trusted Cao Cao's abilities, but Cao Cao's stance was hard to trust, and Liu Bei was also unsure whether Zhao Rong and Cao Cao were in cahoots.

In any case, Cao Cao would at least not openly oppose Liu Bei at this time.

Cao Cao also knew that as long as Guanzhong was not pacified, Liu Bei would not allow him to return to Yuzhou.

Currently, Zhang Fei and Xiahou Yuan are cooperating to deal with Lü Bu, while Guan Yu and Xiahou Dun are also cooperating to allocate resources. Liu Bei is unable to go to Qing and Xu to take charge while he is in Chang'an, so naturally he will not let Cao Cao return to Yu Province.

The Liu and Cao families had formidable forces on the Guandong battlefield. With their combined efforts, even the mighty Lü Bu couldn't gain any advantage.

If nothing unexpected happens, Liu Bei will also appoint Cao Cao as the governor of Liangzhou and have him join Duan Wei in attacking Liangzhou.

Appointing Cao Cao as General Who Conquers the West conveys this meaning.

This is similar to how Cao Cao appointed Liu Bei as the Governor of Yu Province and General of the Left, and ordered Liu Bei to attack Han Xian in Huainan and Liu Pi in Runan, only the roles were reversed.

Cao Cao was willing to punish the rebels and expressed his willingness to cooperate, so Liu Bei ordered Zhang Ji to lead troops to transport grain and supplies to support Duan Wei together with Cao Cao.

Zhang Ji was in charge of grain supplies, Cao Cao was the military supervisor, and Duan Wei was the general; the three supervised each other.

but……

Cao Cao had just returned to his own army when he faced a difficult choice.

……

"Mengde, it's been several years since we last met. Do you still remember your old friend?"

Zhao Rong appeared at the Wei River camp, having arrived first to wait for Cao Cao.

Moreover, Zhao Rong also brought a large number of laborers to deliver military provisions and equipment to Cao Cao...

It was Zhong Yao who brought Zhao Rong into Cao Cao's camp—someone had come to deliver grain and military equipment, which they were sure to accept, as Cao Cao's army was in dire need of these.

"Yuan Chang, what's going on?" Cao Cao immediately turned to Zhong Yao: "Could it be that you were the one who orchestrated bringing laborers into Chang'an?"

Zhong Yao was stunned: "What are you planning? It's just that Zhizhang heard that Lord Cao is here and wants to lead his troops to serve Lord Cao. He just wants you to introduce him."

"Sure?"

Cao Cao squinted suspiciously.

To serve one's country?

The various families in Yingchuan also 'submitted' to Cao Cao back then... The word 'submitted' is quite complicated.

If we were to pledge allegiance to them now, wouldn't that be forcing Cao Cao and Liu Bei to become enemies?
They didn't contact Cao Cao directly, but instead used this method, probably because they thought Cao Cao had already "submitted" to Liu Bei.

But we can't blame Zhong Yao for letting the wolf into the house.

Zhong Yao was also considering Cao Cao's interests. Zhao Rong wanted to lead his army to join Cao Cao and even sent him food and weapons. Zhong Yao didn't know that Zhao Rong was plotting a rebellion, so of course he couldn't turn him away.

"Indeed, Mengde, we were loyal to the emperor and the country, and wanted to repair the palace for His Majesty, so we conscripted laborers to go to Chang'an... But we didn't expect to be intercepted by Duan Wei halfway there, who falsely accused us of treason..."

Zhao Rong looked aggrieved: "Fortunately, Commander Xia led his troops to repel Duan Wei, otherwise these thousands of laborers would have been slaughtered by Duan Wei... Now His Majesty and Liu Bei both favor Duan Wei. If we are his enemies, Liu Bei will certainly not tolerate us. I hope Mengde will protect us..."

Xia Mou is currently attacking Duan Wei and is not in Cao Cao's camp.

Zhao Rong's statement sounds as if Duan Wei had privately intercepted and killed innocent civilians.

But this so-called request for asylum, along with the provision of provisions and weapons, was clearly an attempt to get Cao Cao to cooperate with him from within...

Cao Cao did not attend the pacification meeting hosted by Liu Bei for the remnants of Dong Zhuo's forces, but Zhang Ji was aware of the situation and immediately retorted: "You have led your troops without authorization to attempt to infiltrate Chang'an, and now you are even distorting the truth? General Cao, please kill this traitor immediately!"

Zhao Rong immediately denied it: "The repair of Weiyang Palace was ordered by His Majesty. I led the laborers to transport flowers, trees and rare stones into Chang'an at Li Zhiran's request. How could I have sneaked in without permission? Zhang Ji, don't make false accusations!"

Cao Cao glanced at Zhang Ji, then at Zhao Rong, his face grim.

Cao Cao was such a clever man; from just these few words, he already understood the situation.

Liu Bei must have known that Zhao Rong was leading his troops to infiltrate Chang'an, which is why he sent Duan Wei to intercept him.

However, Liu Bei did not inform Cao Cao of this matter because he was unsure of Cao Cao's stance—which was understandable, as Cao Cao himself could also understand, since Zhao Rong was indeed an old friend of his.

At this time, Zhao Rong came to join Cao Cao, bringing with him food and weapons, intending to drag Cao Cao into his scheme.

Zhao Rong clearly intended to be Liu Bei's enemy. Unless Cao Cao killed Zhao Rong immediately, he would be regarded as an accomplice of Liu Bei.

But what would Zhong Yao think if Cao Cao had killed Zhao Rong directly?
What would Yang Biao and the officials of the counties and prefectures in the Three Auxiliary Regions think?
Zhao Rong was one of the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden. He was not only a contemporary and colleague of Cao Cao, but also a famous scholar from Hanyang. If Zhao Rong were killed, in the eyes of all the officials, Cao Cao would be seen as siding with Liu Bei...

But if Zhao Rong isn't killed on the spot, then Zhang Ji will probably have to be killed...

Otherwise, Cao Cao would have no way to explain it.

How to choose?

"General Cao, are you perhaps conspiring with the traitors?"

Zhang Ji also figured it out. He probably sensed some danger, so he took a few steps back and slowly retreated out of the camp with his troops.

"Hahaha……"

Cao Cao watched Zhang Ji retreat, then suddenly burst into laughter: "General Zhang, why must you do this? Both Cao Cao and Zhao Zhichang are former officials of the late emperor, how could we commit treasonous acts? This matter is likely Xia Yu's scheme, we should all attack Xia Yu together... Zhao Zhichang, you have been deceived by Xia Yu! He is not saving you, he is harming you..."

Zhao Rong was taken aback upon hearing this: "Huh? Xia Yu..."

Zhao Rong was certainly not fooled by Xia Yu; it was true, however, that he tricked Xia Yu into being his pawn...

But Zhao Rong quickly realized Cao Cao's meaning and immediately changed his tune, agreeing: "Yes...yes! I see...I was entrusted by Li Zhiran to lead the laborers into Chang'an. Duan Wei framed me without cause because of my discord with Li Zhiran. But Xia Yu's attack has put me in a difficult position, and he is indeed trying to harm me..."

This shows a solid foundation; for officials, things like face are just external matters.

Zhang Ji's face trembled: "Cao Zhengxi, Lord Zhao, you two mustn't make a mistake! The Prime Minister's army is at Bailu Plain, not far from here..."

"General Zhang, Cao Cao is an outsider, unwilling to oppose the court or make enemies of the officials of Xizhou... Your power base is not in the Three Auxiliary Regions either. Do you really want to make enemies of all the scholars in the world?"

Cao Cao walked up to Zhang Ji and whispered, "General, you are no longer a former minister of the Prime Minister. Only by staying out of the strife can you protect yourself. Why put yourself in danger?"

Zhang Ji looked at Cao Cao, lost in thought and remained silent.

He wasn't the kind of reckless fool who didn't understand Cao Cao's meaning—this was a struggle between the officials of Guanzhong and Liu Bei, and there were risks in taking either side. The best option was to remain neutral, which would allow him to be won over by both sides.

Zhang Ji wasn't one of Liu Bei's confidants, so why make enemies for himself?
There's no need for rebellion or treason. Let's all work together to kill Xia Yu, pin the blame on him, and let's just let this go...

If Xia Yu were sold out, Zhao Rong could easily become a witness and claim he was deceived. Cao Cao wouldn't have to kill Zhao Rong, Zhang Ji wouldn't have to take any risks, and everyone could be a loyal subject.

This is why Xia Yu was repeatedly sold out to the front lines.

The pawns are meant to be sold.

"Since that's the case... then let's attack Xia Yu first."

Zhang Ji pondered for a moment, then looked at Cao Cao and said, "I can keep quiet, but I must give an explanation to the court. My wife, children and nephew are all in Chang'an, and I dare not take any risks."

"General Zhang, rest assured..."

Cao Cao nodded and looked at Zhong Yao: "Transfer all the money and grain to General Zhang. The court has ordered General Zhang to supervise the grain supply, and we shall obey the court's decree."

Without hesitation, Zhong Yao turned around and began to arrange for people to hand over all the money and grain warehouses to Zhang Ji's men.

With all the money and provisions in Zhang Ji's hands, Cao Cao and Zhao Rong's troops all depended on Zhang Ji for food, so Zhang Ji was naturally at ease.

but……

While Zhang Ji was receiving the money and grain, Cao Cao pulled Zhao Rong aside to speak with him alone.

“Child, this matter must be more than this, right? Are there other plans? Let’s talk about them together, otherwise I, Cao, will not dare to take you and these ‘laborers’ in…”

Cao Cao was indeed more thoughtful than Zhang Ji and others. Since Zhao Rong planned to infiltrate Chang'an, there was bound to be more to come.

Zhao Rong looked at Cao Cao and hesitated for a moment.

Cao Cao drew his sword immediately, his eyes sharpening...

Zhao Rong immediately spoke up: "I was entrusted by Chunyu Zhongjian... but the counties of the Three Auxiliary Regions have long suffered under the tyranny of warlords. Minister Yang, Grand Master Huang Ziyan, and Governor Liu Junlang of Yizhou all have the intention to cleanse the court of corrupt officials... Mengde, Liu Xuande's rebellious rule is intolerable to the world. You all wish to restore a wise and virtuous era to the world. Why don't you join forces with us, Mengde?"

Chunyu Qiong was also once the Commandant of the Western Garden. When he contacted Zhao Rong, he was actually acting on behalf of Yuan Tan.

Yang Biao represented the former officials of Luoyang, as well as the powerful families of Guanzhong.

Huang Wan represented the famous scholars of Guandong, also known as the Qingliu Party, who were summoned to the capital by Dong Zhuo.

In fact, Huang Wan was also related to Liu Biao.

In addition, Liu Yan...

If Zhao Rong could also drag Cao Cao into this mess, it would almost certainly mean the whole world would be at war.

This is yet another encirclement by Liu Bei, and it's much more elaborate than the last one.

(End of this chapter)