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

After Ju Shou left through the south gate, he did indeed first go to the west to support Ju Hu, and drove Yin Kai back several miles.

After defeating Yin Kai, Ju Hu was about to continue the pursuit, but Ju Shou stopped him and told him to leave the area immediately.

Ju Hu was about to win a great victory, but when he heard Ju Shou say that he had to leave immediately, he was quite unwilling: "We are about to kill Yin Kai. Even if we have to leave, we should kill Yin Kai first... If Yin Kai is not dead, Zhang Yan will find out that we want to take him!"

"Never mind Yin Kai, Liu Bei has come here personally..."

Ju Shou ordered Ju Hu's troops to immediately withdraw: "If you don't leave, Liu Bei will surely take our lives!"

Ju Hu was a little scared upon hearing this: "Liu Bei has led a large army here?"

"The army hasn't come, and it's precisely because the army hasn't come that we must leave immediately!"

Ju Shou shook his head and said, "It seems Liu Bei only brought less than a thousand men..."

"If he only has a thousand men, why don't we fight him?"

Upon hearing the number, Juhu was no longer intimidated.

"Do you think Liu Bei is like Zhuge Xuan? How do you think Liu Bei got his current status? He fought in the south and north for more than ten years. Most of the heroes in the world were defeated and died, but he alone thrived. Do you think he got it by luck?!"

Ju Shou whipped Ju Hu with his horsewhip: "Guan Yu, Zhang Liao and their troops are currently stationed in the north and south, and it's only a three-day journey for them. Liu Bei is also a veteran of many battles. How dare you still harbor the illusion that you can win by fighting? When he took Guangping, he only had a few hundred men! Why do you think my Ju family moved to Handan?!"

Ju Shou did indeed understand Liu Bei, after all, he had witnessed how Liu Bei had driven Guo Dian to a dead end in Guangping.

The current situation is extremely similar to that of Guangping during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Zhang Jiao was also suffering from an epidemic in Guangzong, just like Tao Sheng, who was calling himself the General Who Pacifies Han in Ye County at that time.

Lu Zhi refused to advance directly, instead choosing to besiege the city and force Liu Bei to find supplies. This was because he knew that a direct assault would result in heavy losses. There was a cold epidemic in Guangzong City, and Lu Zhi did not intend to sacrifice the lives of the imperial troops there.

Guo Dian, the governor of Julu who caused trouble by levying taxes, was trapped in Guangping City, just like Ju Hu, who was trapped in Handan at this time.

Ju Shou witnessed Liu Bei, with Zhang Fei and a small number of men, manage to procure the grain from Guo Dian and Guangping. Ju Shou was the one who found the men to transport the grain.

It was precisely because Guangping was burned down that year, leaving them without a city to rely on, that the Ju family moved dozens of miles south to the Quliang and Handan area.

“We are now a righteous army. Although Liu Bei is the prime minister, he cannot kill us without cause. If he insists on taking our lives... then let another peasant uprising break out in Handan!”

Ju Hu disagreed, saying, "If Zhuge Xuan could die in a peasant uprising, then Liu Bei could too!"

"A popular uprising?! Only officials fear popular uprisings... But Liu Bei wasn't an official! He was a bandit! He'd been a bandit since the Yellow Turban Rebellion! Liu Bei was the most skilled at instigating popular uprisings!"

Ju Shou was so angry his face turned green: "It was Liu Bei who burned Guangping back then, and he was the one who gave Guo Dian to Zhang Jiao! I don't want to be a second Guo Dian!"

"But...but Jiang Li is still in Handan. If I can't take her away, Liu Bei will surely find out about my killing of Zhuge Xuan...wouldn't that still confirm my crime of treason?!"

Juhu looked dejected, still trying to figure out how to hide his crime.

"Why do you think Liu Bei came here personally? Haven't you heard that Liu Bei avenged his friend? Zhuge Xuan was a close friend of Liu Bei's, and Liu Bei came here in person without the imperial army. That means he came to avenge Zhuge Xuan! He came specifically to kill you! You beast!"

Ju Shou was so angry his face turned green: "What evidence... What evidence does revenge need? He won't even try to convict you! Right now we must avoid Liu Bei's murderous intent. Only after the border closure is lifted in a while can I discuss with Liu Bei how to atone for your sins!"

After berating Ju Hu, Ju Shou ordered his Ju family soldiers to abandon their baggage, taking only the necessary armor and weapons, leaving behind the wounded and sick, and quickly retreated south from the battlefield.

Yin Kai, who had just been defeated, was a little confused—he was cursing Da Er for being disloyal and abandoning him, but then he saw that Ju Hu had also retreated, leaving him with a lot of questions.

Seeing that no one was pursuing him, Yin Kai gathered his troops again, but he didn't know where to go next.

……

Ju Shou's feeling was correct; Liu Bei had indeed come specifically for the Ju family.

But it wasn't just about killing for revenge.

When Da Erzei and Yin Kai were discussing "cooperation," Yin Kai revealed that Ju Hu had ordered him to attack Zhang Yan.

Ju Shou and his son persuaded Yin Kai to attack Zhang Yan, and Shen Pei persuaded Tao Sheng to declare himself independent. The Ju and Shen families planned to support Tao Sheng to replace Zhang Yan.

However, after failing to assassinate Zhang Yan, the Ju and Shen families transformed themselves into a "righteous army to punish the rebels".

Yin Kai was extremely resentful of the Ju family for causing trouble and then immediately turning their backs on him; he spoke of it with gritted teeth.

Yin Kai did not know who killed Zhuge Xuan, but Liu Bei knew from this that the riot in Ye County must have been caused by the Ju and Shen families, otherwise Ju Shou and Shen Pei would not have plotted against Zhang Yan at such a time.

Originally, Liu Bei planned to reveal his identity and enter Handan, forcing Ju Shou and his son to actually become 'righteous soldiers' and cooperate with Zhang Yan to eliminate Tao Sheng, Yin Kai, and the traitors from Heishan. Then, he would have the Ju and Shen families deal with the plague.

Clearing the epidemic area would definitely lead to many people getting sick. Liu Bei did not want his own troops to be damaged, so he did not let Guan Yu advance directly. He wanted to use those who died without feeling sorry for him to fill the gaps.

Liu Bei knew that Ju Shou wouldn't dare to openly oppose him. As long as he appeared, Ju Shou would either obediently become his 'righteous army' or become an outlaw and hide everywhere.

After all, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao were not far away, and Zhao Yun was by his side. It was impossible for Ju Shou and his son to kill Liu Bei silently in a short time. If Liu Bei openly revealed his identity, they would definitely be afraid.

If Ju Shou and his son were to completely become traitors and take all the blame for their previous crimes, they would inevitably face death, extermination of their clan, and eternal infamy.

It would be better to obey orders, quell the rebellion, control the plague in our hometown, and resolve the troubles we caused before.

Even if they ultimately cannot escape death, at least their wives, children, and clansmen will not be held accountable, because if they really went to fight against the rebellion and eliminate the plague, they would not be publicly punished, and they might "unfortunately die from the plague" or "unfortunately die from a popular uprising."

Just like they say that Zhuge Xuan's tyrannical actions incited popular uprisings.

Liu Bei wanted to force Ju Hu and Shen Pei to actually act tyrannically.

Diao Chan actually had a similar idea. Her first consideration was not to punish or hold anyone accountable, but to make whoever caused the trouble atone for their sins.

As for how to make someone pay for their crime after atoning for their sins... if Ju Hu were still alive at that time, Liu Bei would have had plenty of ways to make Ju Hu confess his crimes and submit to the law.

Moreover, Liu Bei needed Ju Shou and his son to clear Zhuge Xuan's name.

However, Ju Shou did manage to escape in time, using the pretext of 'punishing Yin Kai' to slip away first, thus avoiding the immediate crisis.

Ju Shou's escape left Handan virtually without any troops.

Liu Bei knew that entering Handan would be easy, but he didn't expect it to be this easy.

Shortly after revealing his identity outside the city, someone inside Handan opened the city gates.

It was Chen Dao and Diao Chan who opened the door for Liu Bei.

Diao Chan and Chen Dao were both safe and sound. Ju Hu did not make things difficult for Diao Chan, but simply prevented her from leaving.

"No wonder Ju Gong abandoned the city and fled; it really was the Prime Minister who came!"

Upon seeing Liu Bei and Zhao Yun appear, both of them were overjoyed.

But the surprise was short-lived, and Diao Chan became nervous: "Why has the Prime Minister come here? Could it be that he has led the imperial army to garrison this place?" "There is no imperial army... only eight hundred bandits."

Liu Bei shook his head and asked, "Is the epidemic very serious in the city?"

Diao Chan nodded: "Perhaps every family has patients, and everyone is terrified... Does the Prime Minister intend to treat the epidemic here?"

"Treatment cannot be performed here. It's impossible to cure the disease while it's sealed off within the city. Are there any medicines in the city? Where are they stored?"

Hearing that the epidemic in the city was out of control, Liu Bei did not intend to stay here. As for treating the epidemic... let alone whether it could be cured, at least the spread had to be controlled before treatment could be discussed, otherwise it would be a waste of time even if it was cured.

"The city has plenty of grain, and the grain from Ye County is also here, but medicine... seems to be absent."

Chen Dao led Liu Bei to the place where Juhu stored grain.

There was indeed a lot of grain in the warehouse, most of which was looted from the Ye County warehouse by Ju Hu after Zhuge Xuan's death.

But there were no medicinal herbs.

"Without medicine, we can only send all those who haven't yet contracted the disease out of the city... Keeping the city sealed off won't stop the spread."

Liu Bei turned to Diao Chan and asked, "Jiang Li, you're a local. Can you persuade the people in the city to leave?"

"I'm afraid I can't persuade the people of the county... Previously, Ju Hu had all the sick burned outside, hoping to keep the city free of disease..."

Diao Chan hurriedly explained the situation.

The people of the county refer to those who live in the city, mostly gentry and their retainers and servants, as well as merchants in the city.

Commoners were not allowed to live in the city and were usually called "wild people," that is, people who lived in the countryside.

Most of the people from Ye County had been taken to Handan by Ju Hu. There are now nearly 10,000 people in the city, but it is quite quiet. Many people do not even know that Ju Shou has left and only think that he went to burn the sick.

Juhu originally sealed off Handan City, but not to control the epidemic; rather, to prevent the epidemic from entering. If anyone was found to be sick or suspected of being sick in the city, they would be killed and their bodies thrown outside the city to be burned.

The area inside the city is considered a 'safe zone,' while the mass graves in the east of the city are filled with charred remains of burned corpses.

This was actually the standard way to control epidemics in that era, and burning things to get rid of 'evil spirits' was a common belief at the time.

However, this method is very unreliable, because each family would hide the illness from the patient for fear of their loved ones being killed.

Even the Ju family members would conceal the fact that Handan was actually out of control.

However, this method has made everyone in the city afraid to go out, especially the patients, who all hide from people. This has indeed greatly reduced the spread of the virus and cut off most of the transmission routes.

"Since we can't persuade them, let's move the grain and set the city on fire... They'll leave when they see the fire, and those who escape the fire without suffocating are unlikely to be sick. When the fire starts, everyone will cover their mouths and noses, so it's not easy for disease to spread..."

Liu Bei waved his hand: "Seal the southeast and west gates with earth and stones. We will wait with provisions in the north of the city. If the people of Handan County obey orders, we will take them north to Yiyang. If they do not obey orders, let them fend for themselves."

"That's all it can do..."

Diao Chan nodded: "It's a pity. I just wanted to go back to my hometown to see my homeland, but I never expected it to turn out like this..."

Zhao Yun comforted him, saying, "It's just a city. As long as there are people, it can be rebuilt soon. The most important thing right now is to save lives. Burning it down will actually help to eradicate the plague."

After saying this, he asked Liu Bei, "My lord, shall we not go and pursue Ju Shou and his son?"

“No need, we can’t catch up now. Yun Chang has already tightened the blockade, Zhang Yan is besieging Ye City, and the Fukou Pass is blocked by Luo Shi. Ju Shou has nowhere to go, so he can only hide for now.”

Liu Bei actually understood Ju Shou: "Zilong, first send someone to tell Yin Kai to come and take over the city. I said I would give Handan to him, so of course I must keep my word."

"Zhangba, go and send a message to Zhang Yan and Luo Shi, saying that there is a large amount of grain available outside Handan City."

“When Ju Shou and his son find out I’m not here, they might come back… Ju Shou is afraid of me, but not of Yin Kai. Let them go and fight for grain.”

……

There is no one who cannot be persuaded by a great fire.

If so, then let's play another round.

Liu Bei had lost count of how many times he had set fires. From the beginning at Lihu until now, he had set countless fires, each one larger than the last, often burning down entire cities.

Zhang Fei, even more so than his master, has been turned into a top-tier arsonist who set fire to the vast grasslands.

It's a classic case of the upper beam being crooked, so the lower beam will be crooked too.

There's no way around it; after all, arson is a very effective weapon in many situations.

Just as Ju Shou said, Liu Bei was indeed very good at instigating popular uprisings.

Arson caused chaos and people fled the county, which was also a popular uprising, only the method and the result were different.

The three city gates—east, south, and west—were completely sealed off with earth and stones. The only way to leave Handan was through the north gate, where Liu Bei and his men were waiting. All the grain had already been transported out of the city.

With grain in hand and Zhang Ba by his side, Liu Bei was not worried about the people of the county not obeying him—Zhang Ba's deterrent power was far greater than Zhao Yun's when facing ordinary people, or rather, when not fighting.

In fact, Zhao Yun was also a very strong and powerful man, standing eight feet tall, but most people would be more afraid of the one who was bigger.

Zhangba had already led his troops and the people of Handan County toward Yiyang, and they were very orderly, with each person spaced three steps apart, and Zhangba kept a close eye on them the whole time.

Zhang Liao's troops are currently in Yiyang. After Diao Chan's letter reached Zhang Liao's army, Zhang Liao had already moved into Yiyang to block the northern roads.

Chen Dao accompanied Zhang Ba to meet Zhang Liao, and also served as the military supervisor of Zhang Ba's troops, in charge of managing the food consumed along the way to prevent any accidents.

……

Two days later, Yin Kai led his troops to take over Handan, only to find an empty city burning.

Previously, the big-eared scoundrel said he would work with Yin Kai to deal with Ju Hu, and he did indeed deal with him, but he went too far and charged directly to Handan... But he did manage to 'take' Handan, which can be considered a 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' strategy.

He said he would leave Handan to Yin Kai, and he truly did...

Regardless of whether it burned or not, the city of Handan that was set ablaze is still the city of Handan, so in any case, it can be considered that we kept our word.

Although Big Ear Thief is acting like a hooligan, what kind of thief would he be if he didn't act like a hooligan?
In fact, Yin Kai thought that the big-eared bandit was actually quite kind, because he left a lot of grain outside the city.

With a huge amount of grain, at least tens of thousands of bushels, Yin Kai naturally wouldn't leave easily, so he built a stockade and set up camp on the spot.

Yin Kai has no base of operations and cannot transport the grain away in a short time. During the epidemic, it is also difficult for him to coerce the villagers. Yin Kai is not stupid. At this time, coercing the villagers would be tantamount to inviting the plague upon himself.

But not long after Yin Kai set up camp, Luo Shi's troops, as well as Wang Dang, a general under Zhang Yan, also arrived at the place.

Everyone received the news that there was food here… (End of Chapter)