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

Guan Yu and Chen Deng, who were far away in Guangling, also received instructions from Liu Bei to resettle the displaced people in accordance with the "Memorial on the Urgent Matters of Anhuai Reclamation".

As a military commander, Guan Yu could not stay on the front line for long periods of time. Occasionally, he had to go to Huaiyin, Liu Bei's logistics hub in Guangling, to conduct macro-control.

Upon receiving the detailed contents of the "Urgent Memorial on the Reclamation of Anhuai," Guan Yu's first reaction was that a treacherous minister had misled his elder brother; otherwise, how could such a plan be devised to exploit the refugees to the bone?

A chilling killing intent emanated from Guan Yu. Seeing Guan Yu's terribly gloomy face, Chen Deng hurriedly handed Guan Yu the letter that had been sent along with the official documents.

By the time Guan Yu finished reading the letter, his previous imposing aura had dissipated, and only his sweat-drenched back reminded Chen Deng that he had not been mistaken.

Liu Bei knew his brother too well. In order to appease Guan Yu, he recorded in detail in a letter why Lu Wan did what he did.

"So that's how it is. I almost wronged a good person." Guan Yu stroked his long beard and, like Liu Bei, marveled at Lu Wan's ingenuity.

If this plan is implemented, these hundreds of thousands of refugees will be absorbed, resulting in tens of thousands more soldiers.

Guan Yu and Chen Deng were extremely anxious, wishing they could immediately rehabilitate the existing prisoners and refugees so they could be sent out to fight.

Huainan has become the new focus of the world, with almost half of the warlords of the Han Dynasty wanting to profit from Yuan Shu's corpse.

Guan and Chen also felt that now was the perfect time to extend their reach into Huainan, but there was nothing they could do. Xuzhou was too weak and couldn't withstand any disruption. The two watched helplessly as the situation changed drastically.

In December, the situation in Huainan became increasingly complicated.

After attending Yuan Shu's funeral, Liu Xun took it upon himself to support Yuan Shu's son, Yuan Yao, as the new ruler. Ostensibly, this was to repay Yuan Shu's kindness, but in reality, he was using Yuan Yao as a figurehead to absorb Yuan Shu's original influence.

In this timeline, Yuan Shu died before he could declare himself emperor (at least he didn't have time to formally declare himself emperor; the change in address within Yuan Shu's army to "Your Majesty" was merely to curry favor with Yuan Shu). His reputation hadn't yet reached the point of being universally discredited, and there were still some people willing to follow him. Liu Xun saw this as an opportunity.

Yang Hong, Yan Xiang, and others were at a loss, as their actual control now consisted only of Shouchun City and its surrounding area. Meanwhile, Liu Xun, with his strong and well-equipped army, occupied the entire Lujiang Commandery. Now, taking advantage of the time he was receiving Yuan Shu's legacy, he had also seized control of the western counties of Jiujiang Commandery and Shouchun.

Moreover, in order to further control the officials, Liu Xun also used the excuse of worrying that Liu Bei would go against the current and attack Shouchun, so he moved the capital to Liu'an for resettlement, and Shouchun was used as the logistics center to support the eastern defense line against Liu Bei.

Liu Xun also knew that Yuan Shu's army was not as strong as before. As cunning as a fox, as soon as he took over the affairs of state, he immediately launched a diplomatic offensive. First, he criticized Sun Ce for not coming to the aid of the king, and then he recounted the killing and looting of Zheng Bao, a bandit from Chaohu, in Jiujiang, and expressed that he would never let the two of them live together.

"We must uphold justice and help the weak. We must fight those two despicable villains, Sun Ce and Zheng Bao, to the very end!" Liu Xun said righteously to his two trusted confidants. As opponents, Sun Ce and Zheng Bao were already the easiest to defeat among the group around them.

"Excuse my bluntness, General, if you truly want to uphold justice and help the weak, why not send troops against Cao Cao and Liu Bei?" Chen Lan interjected from the side.

"These two are too strong."

Liu Xun admitted defeat without hesitation. Back then, it was Cao Cao who drove Yuan Shu all the way to Huainan, while Liu Bei single-handedly wiped out Yuan Shu's army, directly splitting Yuan's territory into three parts.

Sun Ce has been incredibly powerful these past few years, but because both Sun Ce and Liu Xun served under Yuan Shu and never actually fought each other, Liu Xun was unaware of Sun Ce's true strength.

However, it's impossible for someone who has served under Yuan Shu for many years to be completely observant. Liu Xun believed that Sun Ce must have some skill to sweep through Jiangdong so quickly, so he began to contact Liu Biao of Jingzhou, expressing his willingness to cooperate with Liu Biao to deal with Sun Ce.

Meanwhile, Sun Ce, the Little Conqueror who had already conquered Jiangdong, had taken over Guangling. With the support of his uncle Wu Jing, he quickly annexed and reorganized Yuan Shu's garrison in Guangling.

After conquering Kuaiji, Sun Ce replenished the money and supplies he had spent on his campaign. Now, with the grain and supplies that Yuan Shu's army had stockpiled in Guangling, he was ready to launch another attack. As long as his exhausted army could rest for a while, he could immediately expand his territory again.

The current Little Conqueror is in unparalleled glory, controlling almost the entire Jiangdong region. Only some remnants of Liu Yao's forces are still putting up a stubborn resistance. Naturally, Sun Ce has begun to choose his next target.

Sun Ce did not intend to provoke Liu Bei and Xuzhou for the time being. The glorious record of defeating 40,000 men with 20,000 men was still there. Moreover, the water-rich terrain of Guangling County would prevent Sun Ce from making full use of his land forces. So Sun Ce turned his attention to Huainan.

Don't be surprised, the army during the time of Sun Jian and Sun Ce was still very strong. It was only during the reign of King Wu of Wei that it became weak.

Since openly declaring his rebellion, Zheng Bao, a river pirate from Chaohu Lake, has controlled the surrounding counties and accumulated considerable capital. However, Zheng Bao, who has always walked a tightrope, knows that everything before him is an illusion. He may appear to have become a local warlord, qualified to sit at the table.

In reality, Zheng Bao's core army now consists of only the original Chaohu Lake bandits, numbering over four thousand. The rest are either able-bodied men or surrendered soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is likely negative.

Zheng Bao's location was also extremely precarious. To the west and north lay Liu Xun's territory, to the east Sun Ce's Guangling, and to the south the Yangtze River, beyond which lay Sun Ce's domain. With these three forces entrenched in Huainan, Zheng Bao was sandwiched between two powerful figures.

But Zheng Bao was indeed a shrewd man. As soon as he obtained Guangling from Sun Ce, he wrote a letter expressing his willingness to submit. In exchange, Sun Ce would provide Zheng Bao with protection.

Sun Ce was naturally happy to gain a piece of land without any casualties, and he immediately led his troops to Zheng Bao's new headquarters in Chao County.

Upon arriving at their destination, Sun Ce and Zheng Bao embraced each other, like old friends who hadn't seen each other for years, and walked hand in hand to the banquet. The two sat side by side, frequently toasting each other, and everyone around couldn't help but sigh: what a harmonious scene of ruler and subject!

In reality, both of them were thinking about how to trip each other up.

Needless to say, Sun Ce absolutely did not want such a military leader in his army. Moreover, Sun Ce actually looked down on Zheng Bao, a river bandit. He only came here because he had his eye on the land.

Zheng Bao is the same. He is willing to bow his head because he is currently weak and wants to find a strong external aid. Once the crisis is over, Zheng Bao will immediately turn his back on him.

Man-eating trees and social maneuvering are examples of...