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

As soon as Zhou Yu received news of Liu Bei's great victory, he knew that Huainan was no longer a viable option. Liu Bei, who was already quite strong, was greatly boosted by the supplies from Langya. If he were to march south directly, Sun Ce would not be able to withstand him.

Zhou Yu no longer seeks revenge for Sun Ce; getting Sun Ce out of trouble is now a struggle.

After several failed attacks, Liu Xun's army had approached Chaoxian. If Sun Ce still wanted to establish a foothold in Jiangbei, he had nowhere to retreat and could only stop his retreat here.

Given his current situation, Sun Ce knew that this Northern Expedition was mostly futile and would also affect the Jiangdong gentry who had settled down. These guys would definitely start causing trouble again when they saw him slinking back to Jiangdong.

Sun Ce never believed in ghosts or gods, but Huainan was just too strange. Whenever he came here, his luck would turn exceptionally bad. He had previously worked for Yuan Shu for years for nothing, and now he was being repeatedly defeated by his father's killer and a mediocre warlord. Who wouldn't be confused?

Sun Ce possessed an exceptionally keen sense of strategy; after his failed surprise attack on the Yangtze River, he sensed that the tide had turned against him. However, unwilling to let such a good opportunity slip away, he tried to enlist the help of Cao Cao and Liu Bei in the north. Unexpectedly, neither of these two old men took the bait, making Sun Ce appear like a clown in his frantic efforts.

Although Sun Ce was always proud, he now had to consider how to gracefully withdraw from the battle for Huainan.

Liu Biao had just finished the New Year celebrations when he heard about this. His usually calm face changed color: "I didn't expect Xuande to have such ability. He is indeed a hero of this region."

Liu Biao tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, his mind racing with thought.

Previously, Liu Bei was called the Governor of Xu Province, but in reality, he was only slightly better than the Chancellor of Xiapi, and was still a mercenary leader whose position was precarious. Such a person naturally had little value to Liu Biao. However, now that Liu Bei has transformed into one of the largest warlords in the Central Plains, Liu Biao will have to consider cooperating with him.

Liu Biao also had his own ambitions. When he first entered Jingzhou, he decisively allied himself with the Cai and Kuai families. At that time, Jingzhou was full of clan bandits. Liu Biao conspired with Kuai Yue to invite as many as 55 clan bandit leaders to a banquet, where they were all killed. The remaining troops were also annexed by him.

Then Liu Biao began his expansionist path. He didn't care whether the local officials were legitimate officials appointed by the imperial court; Liu Biao attacked from the start. After unifying Jingzhou, before he could even settle into his new position, Liu Biao immediately headed north to Nanyang, cutting off Yuan Shu's supply lines and forcing Yuan Shu to expand into Yan and Yu provinces, ultimately leading to the Battle of Kuangting between Yuan Shu and Cao Cao.

After eliminating the threat from the north, Liu Biao turned his attention to Yizhou. At that time, Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou, had just died and his son Liu Zhang had just ascended the throne. Liu Biao sent his subordinate Liu He to persuade Liu Zhang's generals to rebel. This strategy was successful, but the generals did not win the subsequent battles. Otherwise, Liu Biao could have started preparing to enter Shu directly.

Even in history, after he quelled Zhang Xian's rebellion in Changsha in 203, he actually imitated the emperor by performing a sacrificial ceremony to heaven and earth in the wilderness. It can only be said that on the grand stage of the late Han Dynasty, if you have the guts, come and join the fun.

With this series of maneuvers, Liu Biao directly gained the capital to contend for the throne. In contrast, Liu Bei, upon arriving in Xuzhou, obediently remained in his position for two years, only to be taken advantage of by Lü Bu and eventually forced to wander aimlessly.

It's easy to see who the real traitors are at a glance.

However, Liu Biao's rapid expansion came at a price. The surrounding major powers had all become his enemies, and Liu Biao's diplomatic environment was now very bad, even worse than Liu Bei's. At least Liu Bei had his nephew in the north to play with.

A person can't be without any friends, so he set his sights on Liu Bei.

At this time, Liu Biao had already made contact with Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao was still dealing with the seemingly invincible Gongsun Zan, so they only reached some basic terms and did not rise to the level of allies.

After careful consideration, Liu Biao felt that Liu Bei was the best candidate for an alliance. At this time, Liu Bei was just right in terms of strength and resources; he had a certain ability to protect himself, but unlike Yuan Shao in Hebei, he wasn't overwhelmingly powerful with his vast territory spanning multiple provinces and counties. Best of all, Liu Bei was far enough away that he didn't have to worry about Liu Bei plotting to seize his territory.

In his view, Liu Bei's next target was Sun Ce, who was entrenched in Yangzhou. Liu Bei's current expansion strategy mainly consisted of three directions: north to conquer Qingzhou; west to conquer Yan and Yu provinces; and south to take Guangling and then Yangzhou. Going north would offend Yuan Shao, and going west would make Liu Bei a traitor to the Han dynasty. Therefore, Liu Bei essentially only had one path: south!

Isn't that a coincidence? You, Liu Bei, want Yangzhou, and I, Liu Biao, want it too. We're in cahoots!

Without delay, Liu Biao summoned his advisor Yi Ji, intending to send him as an envoy to Liu Bei to see if this man truly had designs on Jiangdong, and to probe his opinion on Liu Biao's army.

Yi Ji was his fellow townsman, and he had joined Liu Biao when he was young. These two factors combined made Liu Biao trust him greatly. Liu Biao felt that the Cai and Kuai families, who had shared hardships with him in the past, were now becoming too powerful to control, and he didn't need to let them get involved anymore.

At this time, Yi Ji had not yet left after the ceremony. Upon hearing his lord's summons, he hurriedly went to Liu Biao's side.

Liu Biao then said gently, "Uncle Ji, I'm so sorry to have to put you on official business at this time."

"To be loyal to the ruler and receive his salary is the duty of a subject. But I wonder what important matter it is?"

"I want you to go to Xuzhou to see if we can form an alliance with Liu Bei and jointly conquer Yangzhou."

Yi Ji immediately understood his lord's thoughts: "My lord intends to attack...! I understand, I'll prepare to depart immediately."

"Well, Uncle Ji, there's no need to force yourself too much. If we can't reach an agreement right away, don't worry. We can start by cooperating on small things, like cooperating with our army to attack Sun Ce and drive him back to Jiangdong. Then Jiujiang County will be mine and Guangling County will be his. If we can't reach an agreement on that either, Uncle Ji, we can start with trade. Tell him that as long as we drive Sun Ce back, our army can start grain trade with him."

Liu Biao had long recognized Liu Bei's dire need for grain, which now served as a potential military force. He was adept at supplying other warlords with grain; Zhang Xiu of Nanyang had joined his ranks in just such a way.

Liu Biao's bottom line was the four commanderies of Jiujiang, Lujiang, Yuzhang, and Danyang. He was even willing to abandon Danyang if necessary, but he absolutely needed Jiujiang, Lujiang, and Yuzhang. With Jiujiang and Lujiang, he would have a second route to launch a northern expedition into the Central Plains, which was of great military significance to Liu Biao. Holding these two commanderies would also allow Liu Biao to control the Yangtze River waterway, effectively dividing Liu Bei's territory in two and preventing Liu Bei from exerting influence over the three commanderies of Jiangdong.

Yuzhang Commandery ensured the safety of the flank of Liu Biao's base in Jingzhou, preventing Liu Bei from taking risks and breaking into core areas like Jiangxia.

This was Liu Biao's deepest idea: to gradually gain the initiative over Liu Bei by controlling grain supplies and cutting off Liu Bei's territory along the Yangtze River, thereby turning Liu Bei into a puppet and ultimately annexing him.

Liu Biao picked up his teacup, and Yi Ji voluntarily took his leave to prepare for his mission.

After seeing Yi Ji leave, Liu Biao summoned the others to discuss the matter. Although Yi Ji was from the same hometown, there was no need for him to know everything.

His plan wasn't over yet; there was another part to it.

In the second year of Jian'an, another person ultimately succumbed to his injuries and met the Lord of Mount Tai: Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou. Already in poor health, Liu Yao's condition worsened after the crushing defeat. In his final moments, Liu Zhengli fought desperately to defeat Zuo Rong, who was wreaking havoc and looting everywhere. He ultimately succumbed to his illness in Dantu, where his life force was exhausted.

His death delighted Liu Biao, as it gave him legitimacy to lead his troops into Yangzhou: to avenge the legitimate governor of Yangzhou and eliminate Sun Ce, who was secretly plotting against him.

Moreover, Liu Yao's 10,000 soldiers are currently leaderless. If this force is absorbed, Liu Biao's elite troops can immediately expand to 20,000.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Jingzhou has more than 70,000 troops now; the vast majority of them are beyond Liu Biao's control. The number of people Liu Biao can actually use is very small.

If the plan goes smoothly, then Liu Biao will truly be able to conquer the Central Plains.

--------

While Liu Bei was on his northern expedition, Chen Deng in the south was also doing something big.

He was organizing the first forging competition of the Han Dynasty.

The iron ore deal has been finalized; it involves a deposit located in Langya. Chen Deng has great confidence in his boss's abilities, so he had already begun preparing the related industrial chain.

The idea of ​​selecting capable blacksmiths through a competition was something Lu Wan had mentioned casually in a letter to him. Chen Deng thought about it and felt it was indeed a good idea, so he held the competition during the winter off-season.

The news of the forging competition immediately attracted a large number of craftsmen to sign up. No wonder, the rewards were so generous: the champion would receive a large cash prize, immediate residency in Xuzhou, and best of all, a job would be arranged for them.

After rounds of selection, only four contestants remained to enter the finals.

The first round's challenge was to forge discarded weapon remnants. Where these things came from and whether they had spirit rings on them didn't matter. As long as the contestants could process this pile of junk into a six- to eight-inch knife within two hours, they would advance.

The main difficulty of this project lies in the fact that most of the materials provided have impurities on their surface, which must be removed during the forging process, otherwise the strength of the blade will be affected.

Of course, given the high level of forging difficulty, the contestants are no ordinary people. Two of them are blacksmiths from Yuan Shu's palace who escaped during the Huainan Rebellion. One is a blacksmith from Pengcheng who was massacred by Cao Cao and managed to escape. The last one is a blacksmith from Xiapi who wants to test his skills.

The competition consists of three rounds of testing, each round being an elimination round, with three judges deciding the contestants' fate. These three judges were specially selected by Chen Deng; two were from the Forging Bureau, and one was a retired veteran who had been injured, ensuring their professional competence.

Just as the contestants were working normally and had already heated the materials, one of them suddenly caught their attention. The blacksmith from Pengcheng brought some water and sprinkled it on the table. Before each strike of the material, he would dip his hammer in the water. The two officials immediately recognized his skill; dipping the hammer in water not only allowed the outer layer to oxidize and peel off quickly, removing impurities, but also made the material more resilient through repeated hammering.

The two officials exchanged a glance. They decided that regardless of the outcome of the competition, they would get the blacksmith into their hands.

However, just when the group thought this was the most skilled craftsman in the competition, another big shot appeared.

One of Yuan Shu's court blacksmiths began to quench the forged blade in water. Water quenching is a very difficult technique, and only those with considerable skill dare to attempt it. However, this man did not plunge the blade directly into the water like the others. Instead, he first touched the blade to the water and waited for the overall temperature of the blade blank to drop before immersing it completely in the water.

The two officials were already confused by this step; it didn't seem to be a common way of playing the game.

When the time was up, the staff took out the works of the four people and compared them one by one. All four works were quite good. After some discussion, the blacksmith from Xiapi was the first to be eliminated.

Then they attached the handle and started testing the knife. After a lot of fiddling, another craftsman from Yuan Shu's court was eliminated.

The final project involved staying near the competition venue and using the provided equipment and materials to forge a ring-pommel sword in three days.

Time is like an arrow, the sun and the moon are like a shuttle.

Soon it came time for the final evaluation, where veterans conducted various tests.

Several staff members brought up several rolls of straw mats. The veteran wielded his knife and chopped at the straw mats. The craftsmen from Yuan Shu's court completed two straw mats. When it was the turn of the craftsmen from Pengcheng, he secretly wiped the sweat from his palms.

Swish!

To everyone's surprise, the knife sliced ​​through all three straw mats.

There was no foul play involved; the champion of this competition was this blacksmith from Pengcheng.

The court swordsmith was a man of composure, praising the fine sword he saw without a trace of resentment at losing the competition. As the competition concluded, the three judges quickly drafted a report based on their opinions and submitted it.

Chen Deng read the report, and although his face showed no outward change, he secretly thought the method was good. He thought that if talent selection were also done through competitions in the future…

Chen Deng suddenly felt that his thoughts were a little dangerous, and quickly brought his attention back to the matter at hand.

The four contestants above were selected through multiple rounds of competition and will all be recruited into the forging workshop. There is no situation where only one person is recruited. After all, even if the champion forges one sword a day, he would only be able to forge a little over 10,000 swords even if he forged until he died.

Such a talented person should be placed in a top-level technical department to study, or become a technical leader to guide others in forging.

After confirming that nothing had been missed, Chen Deng began writing a letter to Liu Bei, recommending the victorious craftsman, Pu Yuan.