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

Chapter 93 Jerry gets hit on the head by Tom.jpg

"These guys are really—" Lu Wan was amused. How should she put it? Infantile? Arrogant?

After gently stroking her mustache, Lu Wan offered her opinion: "Those who fraudulently obtained subsidies should be dealt with seriously. As for the others, they only have some minor issues in their lives, which are not serious."

Guan Yu let out a long sigh: "If we had let these young men quell the rebellion back then, the Han Dynasty would probably have been in grave danger."

"Yun Chang, don't be too anxious. Young people are naturally lively and active. In my opinion, these young people are quite talented. What generals need are these quick-witted individuals. Staying quiet all the time..."

"Wen Yuan's words sound like something an old man would say. I know that, but I'm just worried that if they don't change their mindset quickly, these young men will likely suffer a great loss when they fight against other lords in the future."

In Guan Yu's eyes, these new recruits were just a bunch of immature kids. Right now, the bandit suppression was a major advantage, and these veterans could still keep an eye on them. But when they faced other powerful warlords in the future, these veterans would probably be too busy to even take care of themselves. What would happen to these young men then? They couldn't just rely on God's protection.

"Everything takes time. Look, Yun Chang, most of our soldiers' losses are non-combat casualties. The number of soldiers who actually sacrificed their lives on the battlefield is not that many. This shows that although these young men are sometimes a bit unreliable, they are still dependable in critical moments."

Guan Yu nodded, acknowledging the recruits' good performance in this regard. He then changed the subject, asking, "Wen Yuan should continue resting today; there's no need to rush to work. Is there something urgent?"

"I mainly remembered some important things, Yun Chang. Our cavalry seems to be a bit too few."

This is actually a dilemma. Without cavalry, they would suffer heavy losses in plains warfare, making it difficult to expand their territory and acquire new grain-producing areas. However, Xuzhou cannot afford to support cavalry at present, so they have to find a way to expand their territory. In the end, they can only choose the lesser of two evils and grit their teeth to raise cavalry.

It's like turning a single thread into two blocked ends.

"This is indeed a problem. If our army wants to purchase horses, we can only choose Yuan Shao's horses. In my opinion, Yuan Shao now regards our army as a hypothetical enemy. He is only reluctantly not turning against us because he is worried about the breakdown of our trade relations with them. Even so, it will be very difficult for our army to buy strategic materials such as horses."

Lu Suo shared the same idea, even more realistically than Guan Yu. In his vision, the worst-case scenario for Liu Bei's army was to fight a major battle against Yuan Shao with pure infantry, and they had to win.

That means completely disregarding buying horses from Yuan Shao as a solution to the current predicament. In the future, as Liu Bei's military and civilian strength increase, Yuan Shao, unless incompetent, will undoubtedly impose the strictest economic controls on Liu Bei. At that point, Liu Bei's army will still need to find ways to obtain horses from other places. Rather than delaying the problem, it's better to resolve it now.

In addition, Lu Wan remembered that horses are very delicate creatures. If the environment is even slightly unsuitable, these big guys can really die. And now that shipping is relatively underdeveloped, you might buy hundreds of horses, only to have them fall ill halfway through the journey, leaving only a small portion of them alive by the time they arrive.

"Since importing horses through Yuan Shao is not feasible, we can only try to find a way through Liangzhou, Youzhou, or even Liaodong. Liangzhou now needs to go through Cao Cao's territory for trade, and based on my understanding of Cao Cao, he will most likely obstruct it. As for Youzhou and Liaodong, they have to go by waterway to buy horses, which is also very troublesome."

Guan Yu chuckled a few times and said gently, "Wen Yuan, there's no need to worry. The horses in the north are very robust and not so prone to illness. The kind of horses you're worried about simply won't appear. If they were so easily sick and died, they would have all perished in the wild long ago. How could they still be around now?"

Lu Wan's knowledge has increased again. Originally, he had included the racehorses of later generations. Most of those racehorses were bred by inbreeding in order to maintain the purity of their bloodlines, so they had many genetic diseases and generally had short lifespans.

"Then I'll discuss it with Zizhong first, and see if we can use their caravan to buy some horses. Let's put that issue aside for now. Next is the issue of cavalry composition. Our army's current classification and use of cavalry is not scientific enough. I've further subdivided it here. Yunchang, listen to this."

The cavalry units that were formed had to be divided into two categories. The cavalrymen who were tasked with attacking the enemy's flanks and directly breaking through the enemy's formation were called lancers. The cavalrymen who were traditionally responsible for reconnaissance, harassment, and pursuit were called light cavalry.

As the name suggests, lancers mainly use long spears as their primary weapon and wear relatively sturdy armor. They are specifically designed to break through enemy formations and are essentially disposable on the battlefield. If they can break through, they survive; if they cannot, they lose their mobility and are wiped out by infantry.

Light cavalry only need to be equipped with weapons such as ring-pommel swords and horse bows. Each unit must have such a unit for reconnaissance to ensure that the unit's intelligence gathering work can always proceed normally.

"Lancers? Wen Yuan, you're not from the North, so you might not know much about cavalry. Riding on horseback is extremely bumpy. An average rider has to hold onto the horse's mane with one hand and clench their legs around the horse's belly to stay on the horse's back. Apart from those who are truly talented or have lived in the North since childhood, very few people can fight with both hands free while riding a horse." Guan Yu didn't find this strange at all. It was difficult for a Southerner to know how to use cavalry, so it was normal for Lu Wan not to know.

Lu Wan suddenly straightened her expression and quietly said to Guan Yu, "Don't worry, Yun Chang, I've already solved this problem."

.

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu was immediately alarmed. He stared wide-eyed at Lu Wan, then quickly composed himself and asked, "Is this the kind of method that's easy to understand at a glance?"

Lu Wan remained silent, only nodding.

"Let's discuss this method when we have horses later. Now is not the time to talk about it." Guan Yu was still somewhat worried about the future situation. What if Yuan Shao got his hands on such a thing? Or worse, what if those barbarians from beyond the pass got their hands on it?

"I understand, but I also want to be frank with you first. Once this thing is introduced, it will inevitably bring about earth-shattering changes to the cavalry. So since our army has this opportunity, we must seize it."

"In addition, when our army makes purchases, we should not only focus on horses, but also bring back other livestock. Right now, Xuzhou lacks everything except people and money, so the more supplies flowing into Xuzhou from outside, the better."

Liu Bei's army needed more than just horses; they also needed oxen and other agricultural draft animals for plowing. As mentioned many times before, Xuzhou's grain production had always been insufficient to cover its costs, relying entirely on trade and other industries to buy grain. Now, the grain market price in the Eastern Han Dynasty had been driven sky-high by the people of Xuzhou, and everyone wanted to make a fortune in this market.

Currently, both Jing and Ji provinces are exchanging grain for salt, iron, paper, and books from Xu province. Although this market is a seller's market, Liu Bei has too many places to spend money. Military, education, organization, and various other areas are all asking Liu Bei for support. Grain trade accounts for a large portion of this. If this matter can be resolved, Xu province's finances will certainly be much healthier.

Every time it came time to allocate funds, the governor's office in Xiapi would engage in numerous verbal battles, turning the previously harmonious departments into fierce rivalries. At this time, if someone could persuade Liu Bei to allocate a larger share of the budget to their department, that person would become a hero of that department, gaining the appreciation and promotion of their superiors.

Just thinking about that noisy scene made Lu Wan feel a dull ache in the wound on her head.

Seeing Lu Wan's headache, Guan Yu quickly advised, "Let's call it a day. By the way, Wen Yuan, is your head injury any better? Is it hurting again?"

Lu Wan's face immediately fell. It would have been better if this matter hadn't been mentioned, because it made him angry: "Don't talk about it. I haven't slept well these past few days. My head hurts every time I turn over."

Why did Lu Wan suddenly have an injury on her head? This was a mess that Cao Cao had orchestrated before. He wanted to test Lu Wan to see if she was willing to submit to him, Cao Cao, but he didn't want to alarm Liu Bei, so he had to put Guo Jia's intelligence department in charge of the matter.

However, this intelligence agency's branch in Xiapi had just suffered a severe blow, and it was only after people from other places were transferred there and some new recruits were recruited that the framework was put back together. The professionalism of the personnel inside was now a big question mark, but under such unfavorable circumstances, the operation still began.

As a high-ranking official in Liu Bei's army, Lu Wan's residence was not difficult to find, so Cao Cao's spies quickly found his way to his door. However, a problem arose: Liu Bei valued this hard-won strategist highly, and his residence was heavily guarded to protect Lu Wan. How could the spies get the information past the heavily guarded soldiers and deliver it accurately to Lu Wan's residence?

After careful consideration, this group realized that accurately conveying the message, not alerting the guards, and letting Lu Su know was an impossible triangle; at most, only two of them could be achieved.

However, the task assigned by their superiors was something they had to do. What to do? After thinking for a while, they finally decided to choose the option with the highest probability of success from the three directions: to let Lu Wan get the news without alerting the guards. Of course, they couldn't openly ask: "Mr. Lu, are you interested in joining us? As long as you abandon the darkness and embrace the light, we guarantee you a lifetime of wealth and riches!"

They could only express Cao Cao's eagerness to see Lu Wan in more subtle terms, so they wrote the following on a piece of silk: "Mr. Lu, Cao Sikong sends his greetings."

Then they tied the silk cloth to a rock the size of a sandbag, intending to throw it in when all was quiet at night. Of course, they also waited for the servants to approach, when the light from the lanterns in their hands could be faintly seen even from outside the wall, before taking the opportunity to throw it in.

According to their plan, throwing the stone in would attract the attention of Lu Wan's servants. Once the servants got their hands on it, they might not dare to throw it away privately. As long as they handed it over to Lu Wan, they could gradually establish a connection with him. Moreover, if this operation didn't work the first time, they could try it again. After all, it was just throwing a stone; it wasn't a very difficult thing.

It just so happens that Lu Wan's habit is to take a walk after a long day of work. That evening, she had just finished compiling a part of the teaching materials for training police officers and wanted to take a walk in the courtyard. Several servants then carried lanterns to light the way for Lu Wan.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flew in from outside the wall and hit Lu Wan on the head with a thud. At first, Lu Wan took two steps forward as if nothing had happened, but then it seemed as if she remembered that something had hit her head. Her eyes turned into cross-eyed eyes, her body suddenly stiffened, and she fell to the ground with a thud.

The servants who witnessed this scene were terrified and hurriedly reported to the guards that Chief of Staff Lu had been assassinated by a flying stone! The guards were also terrified and almost cried. They hadn't even noticed the enemy's movements before their protective shield was destroyed. If things continued like this, they would at least be dismissed and investigated, or at least receive a lenient punishment. They hadn't expected anyone to be lying in wait for Lu Wan in the middle of the night, and dared not delay any longer, immediately reporting the matter to their superiors.

Now most of Liu Bei's high-ranking officers knew about this, and they were all anxious to check on Lu Wan's condition. She was the god of wealth in Xuzhou; if she was gone, where would anyone else make money?

The news finally reached the highest levels. When Liu Bei and Guan Yu heard that Lu Wan had been assassinated, they were so frightened that their faces turned pale. They immediately jumped out of bed, rode their horses at breakneck speed, and rushed to the scene.

By this time, a considerable number of people had gathered at Lu Wan's residence, including several bigwigs such as Chen Jiao and Mi Zhu. Chen Jiao had even begun to direct his officials to protect the scene of the incident and prepare to investigate who was so fearless as to provoke Liu Bei.

Upon seeing Liu Bei arrive, the crowd immediately parted to make way and pay their respects. However, Liu Bei did not return the greetings as usual; instead, he hurried towards Lu Wan without stopping. Just then, he saw Lu Wan lying peacefully on the ground inside the house. Liu Bei immediately burst into tears, embraced Lu Wan, and wept bitterly.

To be fair, Lao Liu usually doesn't show his emotions, but this time he's truly heartbroken. He finally got a strategist, and his career was just starting to take off, only to have his strategist stabbed in the back. How can anyone stay calm like that?

At this moment, Chen Jiao, who had finished his examination, handed the murder weapon he had found to Guan Yu: a stone with a strip of cloth tied to it!

He quickly untied the strip of cloth, and when he unfolded it, several large characters appeared on it: "Mr. Lu, Cao Sikong sends his greetings."

Guan Yu, his face pale, thrust the strip of cloth in front of Liu Bei. Liu Bei immediately bristled, his eyes red with rage: "How can Cao Cao be so wicked! Can't he stand seeing others doing well?"