The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 59: What kind of extravagant behavior was it to parade through the streets at the end of the Han Dynasty carrying a collection of over seven thousand volumes of books?

"Can!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang agreed to Guan Yu's request to train troops independently almost without hesitation.

By having Guan Yu accompany him to observe and train troops, Zhuge Liang had the intention of enabling Guan Yu to train troops independently in the future.

In the early stages of the struggle between various warlords, there were very few high-end military operations between the various states and counties. It was almost all the private armies and retinues of powerful families and clans playing a game of weaklings fighting each other.

However, as the competition among various factions progressed, the use of advanced military units increased, raising the bar for generals' abilities to train, command, and lead troops.

When weaklings fight amongst themselves, heroes like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who can defeat ten thousand men, can rely on their personal bravery and superior equipment and weapons to slay generals and capture flags.

Even for elite troops like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who could defeat ten thousand men, they dared not act rashly in the face of a well-equipped and disciplined army.

Liu Bei's opponents were no longer those like Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu, who were content with their limited territory. At the beginning of the war, he faced the two strongest men of the time: Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

In terms of the social standing and resources of the powerful families under his command, Liu Bei was no match for Yuan Shao and Cao Cao; in terms of the combat prowess of his generals and soldiers, Liu Bei was no match for Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

In Zhuge Liang's view, if Liu Bei wanted to gain momentum between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, he needed to introduce advanced military concepts in advance, strengthen the training, command, and leadership of his generals, and enhance the training, equipment, and discipline of his soldiers.

"Thank you, strategist!"

Guan Yu was extremely excited.

With Zhuge Liang's permission, Guan Yu selected 500 men from the young and old soldiers given to him by Zang Ba and others, named them "Sword-wielding Soldiers," and trained them diligently.

Liu Bei returned to camp on the third day.

He returned to camp beaming with joy.

The scholars accompanying the group were both astonished and envious of the more than sixty cartloads of books they had collected.

This is a book annotated by Zheng Xuan, a famous scholar from Dongzhou, and it's a collection that money can't buy!
In addition to the ten cartloads of books donated by Chen Deng, a total of more than seventy cartloads of books were traveling on the main road. The scene and momentum alone were astonishing!

For several days.

Liu Bei couldn't stop smiling.

Zheng Xuan's gift of over sixty cartloads of books was itself a sensational news story that shook the prefecture and county.

Zhuge Liang was also adept at creating public opinion, so after Liu Bei officially obtained Zheng Xuan's collection of books, he directly wrote a document, distributed it to the officials for copying, and finally sent people to distribute it to various counties and villages.

As the news spread, Liu Bei's fame grew day by day, and scholars from counties and towns along the way would come to visit him from time to time.

Yuan Tan, who came to meet Liu Bei, couldn't help but exclaim in amazement: "Duke Kang Cheng is actually willing to give away more than 6,000 volumes of his collection of books to General Zuo?"

In awe.

Yuan Tan then recalled Pang Tong's suggestion: "General Zuo and Governor Yuan have a history of mutual recommendation. Would Governor Yuan be willing to first help General Zuo establish himself in Youzhou, and then join forces with General Zuo to counterbalance the forces of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and others? If so, even a dead end can be turned into a path to survival."

Cao Cao once commented on Yuan Tan, saying that he was "cunning and shrewd," which was quite accurate.

Yuan Tan was a cunning man, and also a man with a bit of cleverness.

Although Yuan Tan told Pang Tong a lot of "grievances," these "grievances" were actually no secret to the important civil and military officials in Hebei.

Yuan Tan's true intentions have always been hidden.

Whenever Pang Tong asked about the key points, Yuan Tan remained noncommittal.

however.

Those who only have petty tricks but lack a grand strategy cannot outmaneuver geniuses like Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, who excel at grand strategies.

Yuan Tan's petty schemes were as naive as a child compared to those of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong.

These are all things that Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong had already done!

After Liu Bei acquired Zheng Xuan's collection of over six thousand books, his value as a partner became extremely high.

Even if Yuan Tan knew that Liu Bei's visit to Hebei was not truly for teaching purposes, he still had to acknowledge the value of Liu Bei's cooperation.

More importantly, Liu Bei's offensive and defensive positions have now reversed. It's not that Liu Bei is begging Yuan Tan to cooperate, but rather that Yuan Tan is begging Liu Bei to cooperate.

Yuan Shao had more than one son, Yuan Tan!
When Liu Bei led tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians northward and arrived in Hebei with more than seventy carriages gifted by Chen Deng and Zheng Xuan, how could Yuan Shang sit idly by?

This is also why Cao Cao was willing to compromise with Zhuge Liang and allow Liu Bei to march north.

Liu Bei's arrival in Hebei was a double-edged sword for Yuan Shao's forces.

Although Yuan Shao could use Liu Bei's reputation to attack Cao Cao, his sons would also fight each other because of Liu Bei's reputation.

The advantages and disadvantages, and which is better or worse, are still unknown!

Yuan Tan had been vying with Yuan Shang for many years, so he naturally understood the abilities of his younger brother and his stepmother.

If Yuan Tan doesn't try to win over Liu Bei, Yuan Shang and the Liu family will definitely try to win him over!

Taking a deep breath, Yuan Tan looked at Pang Tong, who was riding alongside him: "Although I am willing to help General Zuo establish himself in Youzhou, the governor of Youzhou, Yuan Xi, has always followed Yuan Shang's lead. I have no good plan. I wonder if Chief Clerk Pang has any advice?"

Pang Tong chuckled inwardly.

At first, Yuan Tan stubbornly insisted that he would discuss the matter with Liu Bei.

result.

Before Liu Bei arrived, Yuan Tan anxiously sought advice from Pang Tong.

Obviously.

Yuan Tan was afraid that if he verbally agreed to Liu Bei's request but couldn't give a specific explanation, Liu Bei might misunderstand.

For Yuan Shang, winning over Liu Bei was much easier!
As the designated successor of the Yuan family, Yuan Shang was wealthy and generous, and was more willing to invest resources in Liu Bei than Yuan Tan.

Pang Tong saw through the situation but didn't say anything. He said, "Governor Yuan only needs to send a trusted confidant to Liyang to report that General Zuo has led tens of thousands of people from Xuzhou northwards, and that he has also received more than 6,000 volumes of books from Duke Kangcheng. Just tell the General the truth about all these things, and that will be enough!"

Yuan Tan was taken aback: "That's it?"

When Yuan Tan sought advice from Pang Tong, he was prepared to meet Pang Tong's demanding conditions. However, Pang Tong only asked Yuan Tan to truthfully report all matters to Yuan Shao!

What Yuan Tan didn't know was that Pang Tong never expected Yuan Tan to agree to many conditions from the very beginning.

It was Yuan Shao, not Yuan Tan, who commanded the counties of the four provinces of Qing, Ji, You, and Bing!
Pang Tong wanted to use Yuan Tan's words to send a signal to Yuan Shao: winning over Liu Bei would help them defeat Cao Cao.

Take this opportunity to demand benefits from Yuan Shao!
Only benefits personally promised by Yuan Shao are considered benefits.

Yuan Shao could easily reject the benefits promised by Yuan Tan!
As for Yuan Shao going back on his word?

How could a great general go back on his promise to a mere left general?

Doesn't Yuan Shao have any pride?

Even if Yuan Shao really wanted to go back on his word, he wouldn't dare to do it openly.

But secretly using underhanded tactics is something Pang Tong fears the least.

after all.

Pang Tong himself was using underhanded tactics against Yuan Shao, so how could he be afraid of Yuan Shao using underhanded tactics?

As long as things appear calm on the surface, it's no big deal if things are actually turbulent behind the scenes.

Yuan Tan lowered his head and thought carefully for a while, but couldn't figure out if Pang Tong had any other hidden intentions.

If Zhuge Liang were here, he would surely laugh.

Because Pang Tong used a perfectly legitimate and open strategy, his words were all true, and he acted in accordance with the prevailing circumstances, it would be strange if Yuan Tan, with his limited intelligence and lack of strategic thinking, could have figured out Pang Tong's hidden intentions.

Unable to come up with an answer, Yuan Tan simply gave up on thinking about it.

He said, "Tan will convey Chief Clerk Pang's intention to the General truthfully."

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(End of this chapter)