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

In a small, unnamed village in Xiapi Kingdom, the Li family couple and their youngest son were weaving hemp rope.

Farmers have no leisure time, and they will not stop working even in the winter.

Their two sons were already married, and the youngest, Li Xiaoyi, was both clever and obedient. Only the third son, Li Xiuji, was the most troublesome. He was ugly and unruly. Not only was he almost twenty and still unmarried, but he also spent his days hanging out with a bunch of shady characters. Later, he went even further. When Liu Bei's army finished their southern campaign and passed through the area, he didn't even consult his family before joining Liu Bei's army.

After he left, no news of him ever came back.

During that time, some gossipy people spread rumors that their sons were dead, but after his two older brothers heard about it, they beat the man to a pulp, even though they were fined, so such incidents became less frequent.

The elderly couple still felt that they would probably never see their son again, otherwise why wouldn't he have sent back even a message?

Just as Old Man Li had finished twisting a strand of hemp rope and was about to tie it together, a young voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Grandpa! Mother! I've won the battle and come back!"

The familiar voice made them quickly drop what they were holding and rush outside.

They stared in shock at the man before them, who wore slightly worn armor, had a ring-pommel sword at his waist, and led a small, blue-green horse behind him.

On each side of the horse hung a bag filled with silk cloth and five-zhu coins.

If a stranger dressed like this came to them, they would most likely be so frightened that they would kneel on the ground and beg for mercy. However, beneath this helmet were the faces they had been longing for day and night. When Lee Soo-gi saw them, he did not speak, but simply smiled and looked at his parents.

The child who disliked porridge, the child who learned to say "plow" before "grandpa," the child who would treasure a stick and refuse to part with it, is now donning armor and joining the ranks. In an instant, the image of their own child from the past suddenly blurred in their minds.

Li Xiuji's mother stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar: "You...why did you come back?! Where did all this come from? Did you desert?"

Li Xiuji was originally in high spirits after returning home in glory, but his face fell when he heard his mother's words: "What nonsense are you talking about? I went to war and even captured a general! This is a reward from our lord."

Old Man Li pointed at Li Xiuji: "You...you went to the battlefield?"

"Yeah, if I, a soldier, don't go to fight, then who will? You?"

Upon hearing this, Old Man Li wanted to slap him twice.

Li Xiuji suddenly seemed to remember something and said to his parents, "Oh right, let Xiao Yi come with me too. He's so smart, he'll definitely become a high-ranking official in the future!"

Li Xiao's eyes lit up with longing, but seeing her parents' expressions, she quickly put on an act of not wanting to listen and said, "I don't want to go, I just want to be a farmer."

"What's so great about being a farmer? These days, everyone in Xuzhou is into being a factory worker or a soldier! The money a factory worker earns in a month is enough for you to toil in the fields for a year."

Li Xiaoyi shook his head again: "Brother, I can't do it. I don't know how to fight! If I went to the battlefield, my head would definitely be chopped off."

Old Man Li chimed in, "You bastard! You're asking for it yourselves! And you're dragging your brother down with you?!"

"You don't know anything! Fighting a war isn't just about fighting; there are many other things involved! There are strategists, accountants, and..." Before Li Xiuji could finish speaking, Old Man Li interrupted him.

"Alright! I said no, and that's final! Wearing this uniform, you're Lord Liu's soldier; taking it off, you're still my son."

--------

News of Liu Bei's recapture of Langya Commandery and the subsequent conquest of the mountainous region of Taishan Commandery spread like wildfire to the surrounding warlords, with Yuan Tan, who was closest to the city, being the first to receive the news.

Yuan Tan was naturally delighted. With Zang Ba no longer an obstacle, there would be no more roadblocks and tax collection when doing business with Liu Bei.

So after learning this news, Yuan Tan specially sent an envoy to congratulate Liu Bei on unifying the province (in Yuan Tan's view, the part of Guangling territory occupied by Sun Ce was a piece of meat in Liu Bei's mouth, which he could eat whenever he wanted).

Yuan Tan no longer harbored any illusions about Yuan Shao, and even rarely sent official documents to Ye City, only continuing to pay taxes as usual. Of course, this did not include the large sums of money earned from trade with Liu Bei; Yuan Tan had kept all of this as operating funds for his army in case of future trouble.

Yuan Tan's actions led his subordinates Guo Tu and Xin Ping to cease their active lobbying before Yuan Shao. Feng Ji, Shen Pei, and others, believing these men had conceded defeat and withdrawn from the factional struggle, celebrated their victory. Little did they know, Guo Tu and Xin Ping were aware that their lord had already secured a powerful patron.

The two men are now eager for Yuan Shao to die. They've devised a plan: as soon as Yuan Shao kicks the bucket, Yuan Tan will immediately head north to rid the Yuan family of this pest. Then, the armies of Qing and Xu provinces will be mobilized together to send Yuan Shang directly to the underworld to meet his father.

By then, it was too late for Feng Ji and the others to beg for mercy.

In addition, Yuan Shao, the hegemon of the north, was also surprised to learn of Liu Bei's recapture of Langya.

I never expected this little brother to be so amazing.

However, Yuan Shao was not worried. In his view, Liu Bei's strength was still very weak. In addition, Liu Bei had come to him to bow down and admit his inferiority as soon as he became the governor of Xu Province. Therefore, in his opinion, Liu Bei's rise was nothing. As long as he dealt with Gongsun Zan, he could immediately go south. Liu Bei and Cao Cao could only obediently be his subordinates.

The most frustrated warlord among the surrounding forces was none other than Cao Cao. He sent an envoy to Lü Bu, who then made peace with Liu Bei. He sent an envoy to Zang Ba, who immediately refused.

In the current situation, we're caught in a pincer movement, completely overwhelmed.

Although he was very unhappy, Cao Cao still admired Liu Bei's abilities. In Cao Cao's opinion, it would take at least 50,000 troops and at least three months to take Langya County, and the casualties would be quite high.

Cao Cao knew that his reputation in Xuzhou was not good, so he set the calculations based on the worst-case scenario.

Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia: "What should we do? Should we continue targeting Xu Province?"

"My lord, Liu Bei has now become a formidable force. If we intend to seize Xuzhou, we will have to proceed with careful planning. Liu Bei now has an additional prefecture in his territory. The only way to attack him now is to try to find a way from Pengcheng. However, with Lü Bu and Liu Bei about to make peace, this route is also difficult."

Cao Cao could only regret that Lü Bu had come to ambush him, which prevented him from achieving a complete victory in his campaign against Xu Province. Now, Liu Bei had become unstoppable.

Moreover, now that Liu Bei has captured the strategically important Taishan Commandery, the defensive pressure on Cao Cao's side has suddenly increased. Both the wealthy northwest region of Taishan Commandery and the State of Lu are now under the influence of Liu Bei's military might.

The current situation has become such that Liu Bei can attack whenever he wants, but Cao Cao must be on high alert and fully prepared.

Guo Jia, standing to the side, could only shake his head and sigh, "If you try to kill a wolf but fail, you'll get bitten instead."

"Forget it, let that big-eared guy be arrogant for a few days, let's focus our energy on conquering Yuzhou and Nanyang."