Brother, stop curling up! You're curling up like the founder of the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 170: Defeating Yuan Shu, Liu Bei Saves Cao Cao's Wife and Children (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
Kong Rong was taken aback: "Isn't it to lure Liu Bei into sending troops?"

"Prime Minister Kong, you're thinking too simply," Tao Qian said with disdain. "Those people from Yanzhou aren't just targeting Xiaopei, they're also aiming for Yuzhou and Xuzhou!"

Everyone present was shocked. Apart from Kong Rong, Zang Ba, Zhou Gan, Yin De, Liu Kui, and Ji Lian all held military power in Xuzhou, while Yuan Zhong was the Chancellor of Pei.

If the generals of Yanzhou's goal is Yuzhou and Xuzhou, then everyone present except Kong Rong will have to be annexed by the people of Yanzhou.

"Lord Tao, you mustn't frame someone and incite conflict between the two prefectures of Yan and Xu!" Kong Rong said urgently, clearly not believing Tao Qian's words.

Tao Qian chuckled and said, "Prime Minister Kong, I must correct your statement. It's not that I'm trying to frame you, but those people in Yanzhou have always had this intention."

"When Guo Tu came to persuade me to raise an army, he told me that Yuan Yi originally wanted to take Xiaopei directly, but he persuaded Yuan Yi to use Xiaopei as bait to lure Liu Bei into sending troops."

"So, what does Kong Guoxiang think Yuan Yi will attack after taking Xiaopei?"

Pengcheng State Chancellor Ji Lian exclaimed in surprise, "If I were Yuan Yi, I would definitely borrow Pengcheng State as a route to enter Xiapi and attack Gai Xun. This is a scheme to use a pretext to destroy Guo!"

Liu Kui, the prime minister of Donghai Kingdom, also said: "Not only that, Yuan Yi and others may also use the excuse that Xiapi is easy to defend and difficult to attack to recruit soldiers and grain in Pengcheng Kingdom and Donghai Kingdom. Yuan Yi may even win over the powerful clans of the two countries."

"Zhang Chao, the Prefect of Guangling, is the younger brother of Zhang Miao, the Prefect of Chenliu. As long as Xiapi is captured, most of Xuzhou will fall into the hands of Yuan Yi and his men. At that time, Yuan Yi can recommend Zhang Chao to the Grand Marshal to be the Governor of Xuzhou, and then he can gather the strength of the two provinces to attack Yuzhou!"

The Chancellor of Langya, Yin De, exclaimed in shock: "If that's the case, if I want to protect myself, I have no choice but to submit to the people of Yanzhou. What a vicious mind they have!"

Kong Rong grew increasingly alarmed as he listened, saying, "These are all just your speculations, and may not be true. We are all now appointed and granted titles by the Grand Marshal, and we all obey his orders. How could we possibly fight among ourselves?"

Tao Qian was even more disdainful of Kong Rong's pedantry: "Prime Minister Kong, forgive my bluntness. In terms of literature, I am not as good as you; in terms of military prowess, you are not as good as me. Although I respect your coming from afar from Beihai Kingdom to help me, you should not interfere in matters of military affairs."

Kong Rong was indignant and developed a strong dissatisfaction with Tao Qian.

As a 20th-generation descendant of Confucius, Kong Rong showed outstanding talent in his youth and was praised by the famous scholar Li Ying.

Kong Rong believed himself to be exceptionally talented, unmatched by any other hero of his time. Therefore, he harbored great ambitions, intending to raise an army and display his military prowess, to compete with other virtuous men for merit, and to establish his base in the coastal region rather than become a mediocre prime minister.

After the Luoyang coup, Kong Rong was selected by Yuan Wei to be the Chancellor of Beihai. Upon arriving in Beihai, he enthusiastically summoned the people and soldiers, gathered troops for military training, issued proclamations, and personally wrote letters to communicate with various prefectures and counties.

In order to compete with other virtuous men for credit, Kong Rong even traveled all the way from Beihai to help Tao Qian defeat Gai Xun.

Unexpectedly, Tao Qian looked down on him so much!

"So we're just supposed to watch Lü Bu swagger around like that?" Kong Rong was dissatisfied, and his tone became more displeased.

Tao Qian pointed to the crowd and said, "Why don't we make a joint decision? Is there anyone willing to lead troops to fight Lü Bu?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zang Ba, Zhou Gan, Yin De, Liu Kui, Ji Lian, and Yuan Zhong all remained silent.

Kong Rong didn't understand what Tao Qian said, but everyone else did.

Instead of taking this opportunity to weaken the generals of Yanzhou with Liu Bei's help, they deliberately offered themselves up to be weakened by Liu Bei, leaving the generals of Yanzhou to sit on the sidelines and watch the snipe and the clam fight. This is either wicked or stupid.

Kong Rong came from afar to help Tao Qian, so he must not be a bad person; the only word to describe him is stupid.

Seeing the silent generals, Kong Rong said angrily, "You are afraid of Lü Bu, but I am not! I also have five thousand elite infantry and cavalry under my command, enough to contend with Lü Bu. After I defeat Lü Bu, none of you are allowed to compete with me for credit!"

"Prime Minister Kong, think carefully. Lü Bu has defeated Kong Zhou; he should not be underestimated." Yuan Zhong couldn't help but advise, "If we establish our camp based on the natural defenses of the water, Lü Bu will be unable to do anything to us. Why must we abandon our geographical advantage and risk our strength for a short-term gain?"

Kong Rong retorted sarcastically, "I've heard that Lü Bu is Dong Zhuo's adopted son, and Dong Zhuo killed the Duke of Ciyang. Yuan Xiang is a talented man of the Yuan family of Runan, yet he doesn't think of avenging the Duke of Ciyang, and is so cowardly?"

"I was recommended by Lord Ciyang to become the Prime Minister of Beihai, and I was also ordered by the Grand Marshal to suppress the rebels. How could I shrink back? There are no cowards in Beihai!"

Yuan Zhong was immediately filled with shame and said, "I will go with Kong Guo."

Tao Qian did not object, after all, Yuan Zhong was the chancellor of Yu Province, not Xu Province. As long as the chancellor of Xu Province was of one mind, that was enough.

Kong Rong then joined forces with Yuan Zhong, and the two armies, numbering over ten thousand, marched out of the camp and headed straight for Lü Bu.

"Huh? Someone actually dares to leave the camp?" Lu Bu was quite surprised.

Before challenging the enemy, Cao Cao and Fa Zheng had analyzed that Tao Qian and others were not of one mind with Yuan Yi and others, and that both sides wanted to take the opportunity to weaken the other's power.

The conclusion drawn was that anyone leaving the village was doing something foolish.

"Uncle Huang's commander, the Lingyan Army Colonel Lü Bu is here. Who comes here?" Lü Bu rode his horse to the front of the formation, staring disdainfully at the Kong and Yuan banners in front of him.

Kong Rong stepped forward first, shouting, "Traitorous scoundrel, listen up! I am Kong Rong, the Chancellor of Beihai. If you surrender, I will guarantee your corpse."

Lu Bu's breath hitched.

Where did this pedantic scholar come from? Is he sick in the head?
If I surrender and still die, then why should I surrender?
Lü Bu then pointed at Yuan Zhong: "And who are you?"

Unlike Kong Rong, Yuan Zhong was not arrogant. He said loudly, "I am Yuan Zhong of Runan Yuan Clan and the Chancellor of Pei. Dong Zhuo killed the Duke of Ciyang. As Dong Zhuo's adopted son, I will kill you, the Duke of Ciyang, to avenge him."

"Wait a minute!" Lü Bu scratched his head: "Who is Ciyang Gong?"

Yuan Zhong's tone turned serious: "Ciyang Gong was the former Grand Tutor, whose surname was Yuan, given name Wei, and courtesy name Ciyang."

"Oh, so it's Yuan Wei." Lü Bu finally understood, and then shouted, "Yuan Zhong, how ungrateful you are! My adoptive father killed Yuan Wei, what does that have to do with me, Lü Bu? Didn't you understand? I am under the command of the Imperial Uncle!"

"Don't you know that if it weren't for your uncle, the Yuan family of Luoyang would have been executed by your adoptive father? Now only Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji have died. Shouldn't you be grateful to your uncle for sparing their lives?"

"Even the Imperial Uncle only punished the ringleaders Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji, without harming the descendants of the Yuan family; yet you want to kill me just because my adoptive father killed Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji. How can you be so ungrateful and lacking in benevolence and virtue? How dare you kill me?"

Yuan Zhong stared wide-eyed, speechless for a moment.

Kong Rong shouted, "Prime Minister Yuan, there's no need to waste words with Lü Bu. Charge with our army, and we will surely win!"

Kong Rong then immediately ordered the entire army to charge.

Not only was Yuan Zhong stunned, but Lü Bu was also stunned.

Is this how wars are fought?
Do you think this is a group fight between kids?
Meanwhile, the valiant generals of Yong and Liang who originally belonged to Dong Zhuo, such as Duan Wei, Hu Zhen, Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, Fan Chou, Hua Xiong, Wang Fang, and Li Meng, were also dumbfounded under Lü Bu's command.

"Captain Lü, could this be a trap?" Hua Xiong asked cautiously.

Normally, with so many troops, Kong Rong should at least have launched a mid-battle charge or maneuvered around them, but instead, the entire army charged in a chaotic rush.

"A trap, my foot!" Realizing what was happening, Lü Bu was instantly enraged: "This Kong Rong thinks we're Yellow Turbans!"

All the generals' expressions changed drastically.

All the generals present had fought hard battles with Dong Zhuo in the Yongliang region, some with more than twenty years of military service and others with at least ten.

A large portion of his soldiers were veterans who had served under Dong Zhuo for ten years. Among Liu Bei's ten camps of the Lingyan Army, Lü Bu's camp was second only to Guan Yu's camp in overall combat strength, and even Zhao Yun's camp was inferior.

Now they're being treated like Yellow Turbans by Kong Rong, which is no different from being directly humiliated!

"All generals, listen to my command! Let that pedantic scholar Kong Rong see how a battle is fought!" With a single command from Lü Bu, Hua Xiong and his nine generals each led two hundred men.

With Lü Bu at the core, the two thousand men quickly transformed into a wedge formation.

First, they avoided Kong Rong's fiercest attack from the front, then they circled around like sharp arrows, and finally made a direct breakthrough, splitting Kong Rong and Yuan Zhong's more than 10,000 men into two parts.

Immediately afterwards, Lü Bu led his troops in another round of attacks, turning two into four, and Kong Rong didn't even know where Lü Bu's banner was.

Just as Kong Rong was frantically directing his men and issuing military orders, he was shocked to see that Lü Bu was now less than a hundred paces away from the general's flag.

With a "whoosh," an arrow shot and killed the warrior carrying the Kong character flag. As the Kong character flag fell, Kong Rong's army scattered like headless flies.

If Tao Qian hadn't been unable to bear it any longer and led troops to the rescue, Kong Rong, the prime minister of Beihai who boasted that no hero of his time could compare to him, would have been trampled to death by the chaotic army.

However, Kong Rong, who was rescued, did not even say a word of thanks, but instead led the remnants of the Beihai Kingdom back to Beihai Kingdom.

"I never expected Kong Rong to leave in shame. If he had listened to Prefect Tao's advice earlier, how could he have suffered such a crushing defeat?" Zhou Gan, the former governor of Yangzhou, shook his head and sighed.

Tao Qian remained unconcerned: "I had expected this, and the defeat was also anticipated. Having observed the battle for so long, what are your thoughts on Lü Bu's army?"

Cavalry Commandant Zang Ba said solemnly, "If all of Liu Bei's men were as valiant as these, we would be no match for him."

Zhou Gan, Yin De, Liu Kui, and Ji Lian also echoed and agreed.

Although Kong Rong's tactics were flawed, Lü Bu and his men didn't use any tactics either; it was more like a forced charge in retaliation after being humiliated.

If Liu Bei's troops were all this valiant, their tens of thousands of men wouldn't be enough to kill them.

"Let's invite Yuan Yi to a meeting first," Tao Qian sighed softly. "We can't afford to be so wary of each other anymore. One Lü Bu and one Zhao Yun are enough to keep hundreds of thousands of troops in Yan and Xu from moving. How ridiculous!"

"Originally, we wanted to use Liu Bei's strength to weaken Yuan Yi and others, but now it seems that if the two sides of Yan and Xu cannot cooperate sincerely, they will be defeated one by one by Liu Bei."

"Everyone thinks we are fishermen, but in reality we are the snipe and the clam."

While Tao Qian was deciding to meet with Yuan Yi to discuss matters, Liu Bei and his men, who were launching a surprise attack on Yuan Shu, also arrived in Qiao County.

Although Yuan Shu's vanguard had reached the vicinity of Mangdang Mountain, Yuan Shu's central army was still looting extensively in Qiao County.

Qiao County was also a prosperous place with many powerful clans, which made Yuan Shu's plundering very enjoyable.

The Xiahou and Cao families, in particular, plundered even more ruthlessly.

What pleased Yuan Shu the most was that Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, was incredibly wealthy!

The wealth obtained from robbing Cao Song alone is more than the wealth obtained from robbing the entire Cao clan!
"No wonder he was a corrupt official who offered 100 million coins to buy the position of Grand Commandant. The funniest thing is that Cao Cao actively punished corrupt officials. Why didn't he just behead Cao Song?"

Yuan Shu laughed heartily. He was quite fascinated by the pleasure of gaining both wealth and humiliating Cao Cao.

"Lord Yuan, I've given you all this wealth, can you spare my life?" Cao Song asked cautiously with a forced smile.

Although I'm heartbroken about the money, life is more important than money.

"Spare you?" Yuan Shu scoffed, then sneered repeatedly: "Your son Cao Cao assists Liu Bei and repeatedly opposes the Yuan family. You still want to live? Throw him out and behead him! Leave no one alive except the women!"

Cao Song immediately beat his chest and stamped his feet: "You unfilial son Mengde, I told you long ago not to go against the Yuan family, but you wouldn't listen. Now you've ruined the entire Cao family!"

Yuan Shu, annoyed by Cao Song's crying, stepped forward and killed him with a single blow: "What a nuisance!"

After dealing with Cao Song, Yuan Shu then had Cao Song's son, Cao De, and others killed.

Just as the soldiers were killing the more than one hundred members of the Cao family they had captured one by one, Ji Ling, who was patrolling outside the city, rushed over to report.

"My lord, it's terrible! Liu Bei is attacking!"

What?
Yuan Shu's expression changed drastically: "Didn't Liu Bei go to Xiaopei? Why is he in Qiao County?"

"I don't know either. Liu Bei has broken through the north gate and entered the city. My lord, if we don't leave now, it will be too late!" Ji Ling was even more flustered.

Because Yuan Shu had the looted goods moved out of the city, Qiao County was undefended, which Liu Bei seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Hesitant.

Someone rushed in to report: "My lord, Liu Bei is attacking this place!"

Yuan Shu was even more astonished: "How did Liu Bei know I was here?"

Hearing the battle cries approaching, Yuan Shu glanced at the room full of valuables and cursed, "Damn Liu Bei! Why does he always ruin my plans!"

The money he had just acquired was about to be lost, leaving Yuan Shu both heartbroken and furious. However, he now faced a choice between giving up his wealth or his life.

Yuan Shu had no choice but to abandon his wealth to save his life.

"We can't go through the front gate, and there must be people at the back gate too, my lord! Quickly climb over the wall!" Ji Ling shouted again.

Yuan Shu, who had also been a scoundrel for a time, did not hesitate and used Ji Ling and others as cover to climb over the wall and escape.

Liu Bei suddenly appeared, and Yuan Shu jumped over the wall and ran away. Yuan Shu's soldiers who had been killing Cao's men dared not linger any longer and fled for their lives.

After a while.

Liu Bei entered with his sword drawn, glanced at the bloodstains in the courtyard, sighed softly, and bowed to everyone: "I am Liu Bei, the Imperial Uncle. I have come to rescue Cao Yanzhou's family after learning of their plight."

Upon hearing that the person before them was none other than Liu Bei, the Imperial Uncle, a chorus of joyful cries erupted in the courtyard.

A graceful woman rose and returned the greeting: "I am Ding Hui, wife of Cao Yanzhou. I am deeply grateful to the Imperial Uncle for his rescue."

"Madam Ding, you are too kind. I have a blood oath with Cao Yanzhou, and this is my duty." Liu Bei glanced at the corpse on the ground and sighed again, "Unfortunately, I am still a step too late."

Ding Hui shook her head: "Although there were some casualties, it is fortunate that Cao Yanzhou's sons are still alive. As for the old man and his uncles, it was all fate."

Liu Bei cared little for Cao Cao except for his wife and children.

Especially Cao Song, such a corrupt official was someone Liu Bei wanted to eliminate, and now that he has died at the hands of Yuan Shu, it is actually a good thing.

(End of this chapter)