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

Chapter 87 Yuan Shao's Army: Experts in Internal Strife

Liu Bei's movements in Xuzhou are indeed one of the top news stories in the Han Dynasty. Any slight movement will alarm a group of warlords around him, who will start to speculate whether Liu Bei is about to do something big again.

Therefore, the news that Liu Bei's army had abruptly stopped after seizing a large territory without clashing with any neighboring forces spread quickly, once again propelling him to the top of the Eastern Han Dynasty's popularity charts.

Unfortunately, there are very few people like Liu Bei these days who can stir up trouble every day and still have something to do. Take the elder brother Yuan Shao for example; he's been fighting Gongsun Zan since 191, and all he's managed to do is send Gongsun Zan back to his hometown. Even then, he hasn't finished Gongsun Zan off, and the White Horse General can still contribute damage. This leaves many people, including Yuan Shao, speechless.

A powerful ruler of Hebei? That's all?

However, it wasn't all bad news for Yuan Shao. Ever since Yuan Tan was appointed governor of Qingzhou, his supporters had become more subdued and stopped clashing with others. As for their desires—some wanted to be transferred to Qingzhou, some wanted to be sent to the army, and some wanted to be transferred to less demanding positions—these were all minor issues, and Yuan Shao agreed to them without even looking at them.

The news of Liu Bei's renewed advance also made Yuan Shao feel a sense of urgency. What if Liu Bei attacked Qingzhou before he had finished dealing with this area? Therefore, he also accelerated his efforts to eliminate Gongsun Zan so that he could free up his resources to march south into the Central Plains and achieve his goal of becoming a great general.

Of course, he still needed to discuss the specifics with his advisors: "Liu Xuande has quietly pulled off another big deal, now extending his reach all the way to Huainan. What are your thoughts on this?"

At this point, Guo Tu and Xin Ping were no longer interested in assisting Yuan Shao, so offering them advice was neither useful nor necessary.

Finally, Ju Shou offered him advice: "Although Liu Bei's army is strong and well-equipped, we cannot start a war immediately. My lord, the most urgent task now is to send an army along the Liyang-Baima line to force Liu Bei to shift his defensive forces to northern Xuzhou, leaving him unable to spy on other warlords. This will also allow our army to eliminate any worries about Gongsun Zan's rear in the future, rather than having designs on Liu Bei in Xuzhou now and fighting him to the death. After eliminating Gongsun Zan, we can then march south through Qingzhou and wipe out Liu Bei in one fell swoop."

"Yes—you're right."

"No!" A voice suddenly interrupted Yuan Shao's thoughts. Everyone looked closely and saw it was Xu You, Yuan Shao's old friend and former subordinate. He stepped out of the ranks, solemnly bowed to Yuan Shao, and said, "My lord, the greatest enemy in the world for you is Cao Cao of Chongzhou. Liu Bei is merely a rising star, and his power is not yet consolidated. We should first send envoys to establish good relations, and even recommend that he concurrently serve as the governor of Yuzhou, so that he can contend with Cao Cao. Our army should conserve its strength and eliminate internal threats such as Zhang Yan and Gongsun Zan before plotting against Cao Cao. We must not fight against multiple enemies at the same time."

As a childhood friend of both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Xu You had a fairly objective understanding of their abilities. In his view, Cao Cao must be eliminated as soon as possible, otherwise he would be the biggest obstacle to Yuan Shao's southward advance.

"Hey—Ziyuan's words make a lot of sense, then—"

"No! Xu Ziyuan's views are childish! He's not worthy of being discussed with a learned man!" Shen Pei chimed in, "I've heard that the eldest son of Qingzhou has many treacherous and sycophantic officials under his command, who frequently slander him. Hebei can't collect Qingzhou's trade revenue at all. Something must have happened within Qingzhou. My lord should first summon the eldest son back to Yecheng, and then thoroughly investigate whether anyone within Qingzhou is plotting rebellion."

Shen Pei wanted to crush Guo Tu and his group in one fell swoop, ensuring they could never recover. Once the Yingchuan faction was eliminated, Yuan Shao's forces would be entirely composed of Hebei supporters.

"Ugh—why are things always so bad in Qingzhou? Oh well, whatever—"

Now Guo Tu and Xin Ping could no longer pretend they hadn't heard, because they really wanted to cause trouble. Shen Pei's words were tantamount to turning their final trump card into a clown's act, which they could not accept.

Guo Tu interrupted Yuan Shao directly: "Hmph! Don't change the subject! Liu Bei is now Hebei's largest trading partner. If you transfer the eldest son away, Qingzhou will officially come to a standstill. Who will still trade with Liu Bei? I bet you'll be recommending your own family's young talents right away. Do you think I don't know that you guys are the biggest supporters of Liu Bei? How much of the grain sent to Xuzhou came from your family?"

"Don't generalize from individual actions to the whole. What others do is none of my business. But you, you're the one changing the subject! Do you think I don't know what you've done this time? As soon as the farm tools from Xuzhou left the factory, your managers immediately bought up the entire batch and sold them in Jizhou. If we're talking about something unclean, you're the most despicable ones!"

At this point, Shen Pei's tone could no longer conceal his disgust. Wasn't it obvious that Guo Tu and Xin Ping's group had something wrong with them? He stared at Guo Tu with wide eyes, as if he wanted to devour him alive.

This was exactly what Guo Tu had planned. He addressed Yuan Shao, word by word, "My lord! The treacherous ministers have revealed themselves! One is Shen Pei, and the other is Feng Ji! These two appear loyal to the emperor and the people, but in reality, they are only concerned with their own interests. We didn't speak out before because I always remembered that the lord's great cause was the most important thing; forbearance is for the sake of the country!"

"I knew you lot would always try to pin this on our lord. Why do you think we did business with the people of Xuzhou? It's because our lord saw the people of Hebei were living in poverty, lacking even farming tools. Since the people of Xuzhou were selling their agricultural implements, our lord entrusted us with buying and selling them. Are you trying to say we pocketed the money? That we were trying to profit at the expense of the people? You, surnamed Shen! Let me tell you! Nobody's making money off this!"

"Our lord is practically throwing money into this! Even the lady and the young masters have contributed a considerable amount. We, as the king's vanguard, are naturally losing money as well. And you're still not satisfied?! What more do you want from us?!"

"I was wondering why there was so much talk of unrest throughout Ji Province lately. It turns out it's because you lot can't stand our lord's benevolence towards his people!"

They can't stand seeing ordinary people living in peace and prosperity! For their own petty gains, they wantonly slander and ridicule others!

"I didn't say that. I meant the deal with Liu Bei—"

Shen Pei suddenly realized he had misspoke. He naturally didn't believe they hadn't made money in the process. However, according to Guo Tu, the lord's family members had also been involved in this business, meaning the lord was also earning extra money through it.

His tone immediately softened, and he seemed much less confident.

After months of pent-up anger, Guo Tu unleashed it all on Shen Pei. Having vented his emotions, Guo Tu then turned his gaze to the others, speaking with passionate fervor: "For our lord, for the people, we can endure any hardship. But I just don't understand, we're all working for our lord, so why is it that whoever does the most work suffers the most?"

Upon hearing these words, Yuan Shao's impression of Shen Pei immediately soured, and his gaze towards Shen Pei became slightly colder.

This big mouth has exposed such a secret. If he hadn't been so talkative and tried to force the Yingchuan Sect to its death, none of this would have happened, and everyone would have lost face.

Previously, I thought I had neglected Guo Tu and the others because of Tan'er's matter, so I was thinking of finding them some work to do and, while I was at it, buying some good stuff from Liu Bei before we went to war. Now it seems I can't let these people become too powerful; there needs to be a check and balance. Otherwise, if these bastards dare to investigate my trade today, they'll dare to investigate my military treasury tomorrow.

"Alright, alright, you people are all like clouds and water, you just do different things. You are all loyal ministers, there are no treacherous ministers."

With a single sentence, the argument between the Hebei and Yingchuan factions vanished instantly. Yet, it also subtly revealed Yuan Shao's stance: all he wanted were loyal subjects. Anyone who could help him and accomplish things was a loyal subject.

In the end, Yuan Shao made a choice that didn't surprise anyone: he listened to a bit of every strategist's advice. He both organized an armed demonstration and tried to cultivate a good relationship with Liu Bei, hoping he wouldn't cause trouble.

As for his eldest son, let's leave him be for now and not provoke him further. Liu Biao of Jingzhou begged his sons to stay, and his son was willing to bear the stigma of being unfilial to run away, which meant there must be something wrong in Liu Biao's family. He couldn't follow in Liu Jing's footsteps. Fortunately, his sons were quite good; they didn't cause any trouble in Qingzhou, just engaged in trade to make some money, which was nothing serious.

In Yanzhou, Cao Cao's reaction was not as strong as it had been the previous two times. His advisors had predicted this as early as when Liu Bei launched his campaign. They believed Liu Bei would simply reap a quick victory and return home, and would not foolishly get bogged down in the chaos of Huainan.

He also seized the opportunity when Liu Bei was too busy to attend to other places and sent troops to annex the Liang Kingdom. Guo Gong, the former governor of Yuzhou, could no longer even serve as the "Chancellor of Liang Kingdom" and had to slink back to the Xuchang court to take up a sinecure.

The State of Chen wasn't significantly affected, as Yuan Shu's corpse was practically rotting, making an assassination attempt on King Liu Chong of Chen, as was the historical one, impossible. King Liu Chong had been the ruler of Chen since the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, and Cao Cao truly had no way to force him to relinquish his territory. To Cao Cao, the State of Chen was like a fishbone stuck in his throat—very troublesome, yet one he couldn't quite get rid of.

After recovering some of his losses with the help of the Liang Kingdom, Cao Cao was also considering what to do next.

The land reclamation project has been implemented, and Zhang Xiu in Nanyang has received supplies from Liu Biao. Meanwhile, Yuan Shao, the elder brother in the north, is still locked in a fierce battle with Gongsun Zan. The remaining focus is on the Guanzhong region and Runan County.

Just as he was hesitating, his advisors gave him some ideas.

Xunzi argued that the current chaos in Runan was the result of a balance of power among various factions, and that rashly sending troops to annex Runan might cause a host of surrounding lords to overreact. Therefore, compared to Runan, the Guanzhong region was undoubtedly a better choice.

As early as last year, when Cao Cao brought the emperor back, he sent Zhong Yao to appease a large group of warlords in Guanzhong. Although Chang'an was nominally Cao Cao's territory, it was actually controlled by the Guanzhong warlords led by Ma Teng and Han Sui.

Now that Cao Cao can no longer take over Xuzhou as he did in history, he can only test the waters with Guanzhong to see if he can move from nominal control to actual control.

As for Liu Biao of Jingzhou, he won face this time, but lost everything. Although his eldest son became the governor of Yangzhou and he no longer had to waste his time in the complicated place of Jingzhou, the harm caused by this memorial has truly shaken the foundation of his rule.

A large number of powerful families in Jingzhou, who had been suppressed by the Cai and Kuai families, began to try every means to get on Liu Qi's side. As for his father, Liu Biao, he could just stay out of it.

Although most of the prominent families in Jingzhou still treated Liu Biao with utmost respect, strangely, some of their young members suddenly disappeared. Their explanation was that they had gone on a journey. As for why the last records of these people before their disappearance were all about Zhang Xiu, it was probably because there was some very attractive scenery there.

At this point, Liu Biao could only let things take their course. "Do whatever you want," he thought, "I can't deal with you right now." Although Cai Mao and Kuai Yue regretted not being able to kill Liu Qi, they had at least cleared the way for Liu Cong. Now, as soon as Liu Biao suddenly died, they would immediately support Liu Cong as the new ruler of Jingzhou.

"What does Liu Bei mean by this?" After receiving the envoy from Xuzhou, Sun Ce gathered his civil and military officials together to discuss what tricks Liu Bei was up to this time.

Previously, when Sun Ce learned that Liu Bei had actually recommended the son of his mortal enemy to be the governor of Yangzhou, he was so angry that he cleaved his small table in two with a single sword stroke. Even this did not appease him; he immediately gathered his men and prepared to show Liu Bei how Sun Ce had conquered Jiangdong.

His ministers naturally tried to persuade him not to get angry. Liu Bei was now the military governor of Xu and Yang provinces. If he went against him, wouldn't he be going against the Han Dynasty? They didn't want to become traitors to the Han Dynasty for the time being.

Few people from top to bottom supported the plan, and Sun Ce calmed down after his outburst of anger. This wasn't because he had come to terms with it, but rather because some people in Jiangdong had crossed him.

After being bribed by certain forces, a group of Yue people began to plunder Sun Ce's border cities. Although it was spring planting season and there was not much harvest, such behavior was still unexpected. At first, they were strictly guarding against the aristocratic families inside the city. Who knew that the southern barbarians would suddenly invade?

Sun Ce could only hurriedly lead his men to resist the invasion while cursing those who were causing him trouble: "These damned four men! One day I'll wipe them all out!"

At this critical juncture of launching an attack, Liu Bei's envoy suddenly approached Sun Ce, proposing to establish friendly relations and engage in trade between the two families. This left Sun Ce somewhat mentally unstable.

"General, I think this is inappropriate. Liu Bei is ambitious and has always coveted the land of Jiangdong. Ever since he recommended Liu Biao's son as the governor of Yangzhou, his ulterior motives have been common knowledge in Jiangdong. He definitely has ill intentions. It's possible that this time he's ostensibly trading with us, but secretly selling weapons or something to those powerful families who are unwilling to submit to us." A middle-aged strategist advised Sun Ce. The Jiangdong region is currently a boiling pot; who knows what outsiders might suddenly throw into it.

"Bo Fu, although it's obviously Liu Bei's treacherous scheme, we have no choice but to fall for it. Jiangdong is exhausted and has no strength left for anything else; it can only focus all its energy on recovery. Liu Bei's willingness to trade with us is the best way to aid in rebuilding Jiangdong."

It was Zhou Yu who finalized the trade agreement with Liu Bei. Now, thanks to his efforts, Zhou Yu had successfully led Sun Ce out of the quagmire of Huainan. Sun Ce's civil and military officials all knew that Zhou Yu was highly capable and naturally began to value his opinions.

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