He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Liu Bei happily welcomed Lu Wan off the boat: "Sir, your wisdom is truly remarkable! You even predicted that Ji Ling would cross the river here. You are indeed a man of great talent who can save the world!"

Seeing Liu Bei's agitation, Lu Wan couldn't very well say that she was just scared and wanted to escape. With so many people around, if she said that, she would lose all face.

He could only nod, indicating that he agreed with this statement.

After talking with Lu Wan for a while, Liu Bei decided to invite her to return to Huaiyin with him and then travel together to Xiapi.

Lu Wan was naturally happy to have more security: "In that case, I'll trouble Lord Xuande."

At the same time, Chen Dao and his men had gathered all the prisoners they could, ready to return to their camp at any time.

The army then began its march, and along the way, there were many Yuan Shu soldiers whom Liu Bei had not yet captured. They rested for a while and recovered some of their strength.

Upon seeing the sheer number of prisoners Liu Bei had captured, they obediently followed the large contingent of prisoners.

Lu Wan was surprised by this; it was rare to see prisoners with such initiative.

Liu Bei, who was walking alongside Lu Wan, noticed Lu Wan's surprise and spoke up to explain for him: "These people also know that running into the wilderness now will only lead to their death."

Back when Tao Qian was alive, Zhao Yu, the governor of Guangling, recruited the bandit Ze Rong. Later, when Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, Ze Rong took the opportunity to kill Governor Zhao, looted all the counties of Guangling, and fled to Jiangdong.

From then on, Guangling never recovered and is still nearly deserted. If these defeated soldiers don't follow our army, where will they find food?

This explains why Ji Ling reacted so strongly after Xuyi was captured. They couldn't collect food in Guangling, and it was difficult to even see people. All supplies had to come from the rear.

Lu Wan, however, discerned another meaning in his words: the fact that nine out of ten households in Guangling County were empty meant that all the original local forces had been eradicated.

In this way, Guangling has much more room for development than Xiapi.

Lu Wan, who had tried to cause trouble several times before, felt that she wasn't cut out for scheming. Since she couldn't outmaneuver others in this area, she might as well try a different approach.

Let's focus on economic development. Once I've developed Guangling, I don't believe I can't turn Cao Cao into a fisherman.

Lu Wan slowly made her plans in her mind, while the returning team also moved forward at a leisurely pace.

The return journey was much slower, and we didn't arrive in Huaiyin until the afternoon of the following day.

Outside the city, Chen Deng and his men were already waiting to greet them.

Looking at the long line of soldiers guarding prisoners that outnumbered them several times over, even someone as experienced as Chen Deng found it hard to remain calm.

"Congratulations on your victorious return, my lord!"

Liu Bei dismounted and pulled Chen Deng aside, saying, "This is not my achievement; it is all thanks to the proper strategy and the bravery of the soldiers."

After saying that, he pulled Chen Deng back into the city. Chen Deng had already prepared a banquet after receiving news of the army's great victory. However, due to limited supplies, the banquet was not large in scale. There would be a larger one when they returned to Xiapi.

The night was filled with joyous celebrations, which need no further elaboration.

The next day, Lu Wan forced herself to get out of bed despite feeling unwell.

Rubbing her throbbing head, Lu Wan thought: The feeling of a hangover is really awful. I wonder how much alcohol was in it. I can't drink so much next time.

Although she wanted to sleep a little longer, Lu Wan had important business to attend to.

Riding in the oxcart that Zhang Fei had given her, Lu Wan arrived at Liu Bei's residence, ready to tell Liu Bei about her ideas.

Liu Bei hadn't gotten up yet, after all, Lu Wan remembered that Liu Bei had drunk at least as much as him last night.

Hearing the gatekeeper's report, Lu Wan figured she had nothing better to do, so she decided to wait and organize her thoughts. She asked the gatekeeper for a wooden tablet and a brush, and slowly began to draw a diagram on it.

Everyone knows how convenient PowerPoint is. Lu Wan detests documents that are all text and have no punctuation marks, so of course she'll use the convenient method now that she has one.

Although this victory meant that Liu Bei had secured his position in Xuzhou, he was still much weaker than his other neighbors.

So next, Lu Wan began to design a strategic plan for Liu Bei.

Half an hour later, Liu Bei finally woke up in the room.

After smacking his dry lips a few times, a maid brought him a bowl of hangover soup. Liu Bei drank it while listening to see if there was anything important he needed to handle.

Upon learning that his strategist had been waiting for him outside for half an hour, Liu Bei immediately snapped out of his daze and rushed to see Lu Wan without even bothering to put on his shoes.

At this moment, Lu Wan was already writing on the eighth wooden tablet.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, and looking up, he saw Liu Bei rushing towards him. He asked, "Why is Lord Xuande in such a panic?"

Liu Bei thought to himself that he was afraid of leaving a bad impression on her, so he quickly welcomed Lu Wan back into the house.

"I am deeply sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, sir. Please forgive me." The first thing Liu Bei did upon entering the room was to apologize.

If anyone else had been left standing outside by Liu Bei for half an hour, they would have probably stormed off long ago. However, as a modern person, Lu Wan didn't think waiting for others was anything shameful.

"Lord Xuande, there's no need for that. I just feel that you've just won a great victory and should rest."

Liu Bei didn't refute this statement; he had indeed been under a lot of pressure lately, but that wasn't the focus right now: "May I ask what brings you here today, sir?"

"What are your plans for the future, Lord Xuande?"

This question stumped Liu Bei, as he had never thought about it before.

Seeing Liu Bei's saintly demeanor as before, Lu Wan felt that this trip had not been in vain.

Lu Wan laid out several wooden tablets and began his first project report of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

"Lord Xuande is nominally the ruler of Xuzhou, but in reality, his territory only includes Xiapi, Donghai, a ravaged Pengcheng, and half of the ravaged Guangling."

The surrounding terrain, which could be utilized, was not in Xuande Gong's hands. Langya County to the north was controlled by the Taishan bandit Zang Ba, and Guangling to the south was mostly in the hands of the Yuan bandits. This resulted in Xuzhou currently lacking the Yimeng Mountains to the north and the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to the south.

Xuande Gong has several urgent tasks at hand:

First, we must absorb the captured Yuan Shu troops to strengthen the military forces in Xuzhou. Even that might not be enough; we need to recruit more.

Second, recruit displaced people to settle and cultivate land in the unclaimed areas of Xuzhou to restore grain production. With so many prisoners suddenly appearing, the existing grain reserves may not be enough to supply them, and a large amount of grain must be stored in preparation for subsequent military operations.

Third, it is best to prepare for the attack on Langya County in advance. First, use caravans as cover to scout out cities such as Kaiyang. At the latest, in the autumn of Jian'an 2, troops must be dispatched to recapture Langya County and rebuild the northern defense line.

Fourth, recruit enough officials, as many subsequent actions will require manpower, and Xuande Gong's current talent pool is far from sufficient.

Only by fulfilling the above points can Xuzhou be preserved. Otherwise, any oversight could lead to Xuande losing Xuzhou.