Chapter 311 Changes in Yizhou

The news reached Qiao Yan faster than she had imagined.

"The battle in Liaodong has not been delayed at all."

She flipped through the second page of the letter newspaper, which summarized the battle situation of this trip. She smiled easily as she watched the relatively steady one among the young men recount in a summary report the process of how they captured Gongsun Du three times and finally persuaded him to surrender.

Zhuge Liang said in the letter that after Gongsun Du had realized his true purpose in this way, he no longer dared to act like the king of Liaodong, but took the initiative to show goodwill to them.

While transferring the military power under his command to Lu Lingju, Taishi Ci, Gan Ning and others, he actively cooperated with Zhuge Liang and others to keep the Liaodong raid secret.

The latter may not be as difficult as they imagine.

Liaodong County, especially Xiangping County, has always been a place where Gongsun Du has the final say. After he lifted the siege and returned to his original position of issuing orders, although he inevitably faced some doubts, the place was still under control as the people who took over might be even more powerful than him.

This is when Sima Yi's role came into play.

Since there was no need to stay on Changzi Island anymore and to ensure that the fishermen thugs they had temporarily recruited on the island obeyed their orders, Sima Yi quickly set off from the southern islands and headed for Xiangping.

In Leping Academy, he specially took a communication course, and made some observations and inquiries on the people who traveled between Liaodong County and its vassal states, Liaoxi County, and Goguryeo, to ensure that, under the premise that Liaodong County was not deliberately closed to the outside world, no one would go and inform on others.

The small population of Liaodong County undoubtedly facilitates their efforts in carrying out these tasks.

What made Qiao Yan feel even more gratified was that these young men did not become arrogant after persuading Gongsun Du to surrender, but chose to continue with this victory to deter Buyeo and Goguryeo and control these two foreign forces.

They were quite prudent and let Gongsun Du maintain his original relationship with these two parties to avoid exacerbating other conflicts.

This decision is obviously a wise one.

The people of Goguryeo and Xuantu County lived in an intermixed manner. In addition to the branch of Tadun who lived in the vassal state of Liaodong, there were also other tribes of Wuhuan living in Liaodong and Xuantu County.

If Buyeo and Goguryeo were to rashly submit to the imperial court in Chang'an, not only would it fail to allow them to obtain the other two groups of personnel for joint action, but it would also expose their action plans ahead of time.

Fortunately, everything is in good order now.

The students of Leping Academy gave her a satisfactory answer.

When Zhuge Liang was trying to comfort Gongsun Du, he said that the battle of Liaodong was equivalent to mobilizing all the states to take down Gongsun Du, which was actually not wrong.

The shipbuilding technology came from Yangzhou, the shipbuilding manpower and materials came from Xuzhou, a considerable portion of the grain on the ship came from Hanzhong, and the hook-and-repellent wooden bridges, battering poles and crossbows that appeared before the world for the first time in this battle represented the highest mechanical standards in each state.

When these prerequisites were in the hands of young men from various states and Taishi Ci and Gan Ning, what was achieved was a scene that frightened Gongsun Du and even made him feel that he was on the verge of the end of his career!

Anyone who still treats these young people who are about to graduate from college as inexperienced youngsters will be defeated miserably.

For someone like Gongsun Du who Qiao Yan still finds useful, it’s not so bad. At least his life can be saved. But for someone like Gongsun Zan…

"Speaking of which, now that Liaodong has been conquered, when are you planning to launch the battle of Youzhou?" Guo Jia took the letter from Qiao Yan and read the news on it. He immediately understood where Qiao Yan's good mood came from.

Having a successor is a particularly important matter for any force.

Even a family as wealthy and powerful as Qiao Yan, whose subordinates are mostly in their prime, is no exception.

At the same time, the performance of Zhuge Liang and Lu Lingju also proved that Qiao Yan did nothing wrong in establishing Leping Academy, and he also successfully made these students who graduated from the academy bring enough shock to the world as soon as they appeared.

Now, they only had one thing to decide.

When should we attack Youzhou?

Through the information transmitted through her intelligence channels, Zhang Liao in Juyongguan, Shanggu County, and Gongsun Du in Liaodong simultaneously launched a fatal attack on Gongsun Zan who was caught in the middle!

Qiao Yan pondered for a moment and replied, "After the autumn harvest, we also need to consider the ideas of the states we currently control."

Although everyone knows that Guanzhong, Liangzhou and Bingzhou showed their ability to withstand the disasters of drought and locust plagues at this time, and the overall order did not collapse, on the contrary, because of the series of news conveyed through the Leping Monthly Report, the people's loyalty to the court became more and more obvious.

But Yuzhou had just been "lost", and only Yingchuan was still in their hands. The Henan Yin and Hongnong County of Sili had just returned to the hands of the Chang'an court. It was not a suitable time to mobilize troops directly.

Even though everyone knew that there were 15 million dan of grain stored in the granary of Chang'an over two years, if the army was mobilized before the autumn harvest and this part of the grain was used to support the military supplies in the north, there might still be a saying -

This is militarism.

If such a statement really appeared, Yuan Shao, who had already tasted the sweetness of public opinion attacks, would probably not miss this good opportunity to repeat his old tricks.

The other three states have already fought back against public opinion, but what about Sili, which has a large population, and Youzhou, which will just be captured by then?

Can they appear so unaffected?

Anyway, according to what Zhuge Liang wrote in the letter, the changes in the situation in Liaodong County would not be noticed by outsiders so quickly. After they gradually took power here, the news could be kept secret for at least four months.

Qiao Yan trusted Zhuge Liang's judgment.

In this way, it will be just in time to launch an attack after the autumn harvest!

As long as it is within this year, there will be no problem.

"Before that, the medical examinations for the people in Luoyang, the emergency promotion sent from Chang'an, and the well digging work carried out here can all be in place before August. By then, we can also separate our efforts and make proper arrangements for the garrison work in the border area between Youzhou and Jizhou after the battle of Youzhou is settled."

In the confrontation with Yuan Shao, it is not yet time to leave everything to those young people.

She also had to find more distractions for Yuan Shao to keep him busy so that he wouldn't focus all his energy on the north.

When Youzhou was first established, it was impossible to become rich all at once; it was necessary to gradually take control of the territory.

"Autumn harvest..." Guo Jia muttered about the time and had an idea in his mind, "It is indeed as you said, it has to be postponed to this time."

What would hinder Qiao Yan's advance was not just a natural disaster and the spread of public opinion in Jizhou. After the Jijiupian was distributed to Luoyang half a month ago, it had never left Chang'an, which was under her control. It was inevitable that some voices that could be considered as criticizing this matter would appear.

Although these voices were quickly suppressed due to Emperor Liu Yu's support for Qiao Yan, it did not mean that she could rest assured.

What's more, in order for the grain to be delivered to Juyongguan via Bingzhou, a batch of it would also need to cross the sea again and be delivered to Gongsun Du to further strengthen the alliance.

This transportation also takes time.

In order to allow the military rations to be shipped out to sea in a more logical manner, they must first be delivered to Xuzhou with a more plausible reason.

so--

"According to your plan, Xuzhou must have changed by now, right?"

Although Guo Jia asked a question, he actually said it in an affirmative tone.

The war situation in the world today is like being strung together on a rope. A single move can affect the entire body.

Qiao Yan has seen the effects of these chain changes very clearly, and has firmly grasped the hubs connecting various places in his own hands. It is not difficult to make changes in Xuzhou after the confrontation between the two sides was broken as early as May.

Also, don't forget that although Zhuge Liang, Lu Lingju and others went to Liaodong, Pang Tong, Jia Xu and the Qiao sisters were still in Xuzhou and Yangzhou.

They are also capable assistants favored by Qiao Yan.

Qiao Yan replied confidently: "That's right. Xuzhou can find an excuse to send grain, use the autumn harvest to calm the people, and use Liaodong to send troops... to catch Gongsun Zan off guard!"

In the chess game constructed by this world, the time has finally come for an all-out melee!

However, when Qiao Yan and Guo Jia agreed on the time of the march, they had never expected that such an accident would suddenly occur at this time, forcing them to adjust their original plan.

Just three days after the news of the success in Liaodong reached here, an urgent secret report was delivered to Qiao Yan's desk.

This secret letter actually came from Yizhou!

Qiao Yan unfolded the letter and read just two lines when his expression changed.

The first step for all the personnel in the intelligence department under her command when they are actually put into practical work is -

Be sure to state the intelligence they have received at the beginning in a sufficiently concise and straightforward manner.

So the first sentence in this letter at this moment is: Liu Yan is critically ill, and the Yizhou scholars are plotting to seize power.

Liu Yan is critically ill!

Liu Yan and Liu Junlang were indeed not too young. After all, they already had four sons. Even Liu Xun, the eldest son born to the youngest son Liu Zhang, was almost old enough to marry.

As early as last year, in order to further win over the scholars of Dongzhou, Liu Yan arranged a marriage for his grandson Liu Xun to marry the daughter of Pang Xi.

The governor of Yizhou, who was already in his fifties, was injured by an arrow while dealing with the rebellion of Yizhou scholars in his early years, which made his health deteriorate further.

Even after he completely grasped the power of Yizhou and had the possibility to maintain his body with the rare treasures of the state and county, this impending disaster was obviously not something he could easily change.

In fact, in history, Liu Yan died this year.

However, Qiao Yan had previously felt that Liu Yan did not suffer from the mental and physical exhaustion caused by the killing of his two sons by Dong Zhuo, and therefore should have lived for two more years.

But she never expected that she would receive the news that Liu Yan was critically ill in the summer of the third year of Jian'an.

"Go and get Guo Fengxiao and Xun Wenruo for me." She immediately notified her subordinates.

When Guo Jia and Xun Yu arrived, they saw Qiao Yan looking at the table with a gloomy face, and occasionally tapping the table with his fingertips.

It is not difficult to see from this behavior that this does not seem to be a sign of good things happening.

The first thing she said was, "I thought that in the last battle of Hanzhong, we shocked not only Liu Yan, who had a rebellious heart, but also those Yizhou scholars who relied on the natural defenses of Yizhou and thought they could rest easy."

"But now it seems that these people not only want to be scholars of Yizhou, but also want to be the masters of Yizhou."

"Liu Junlang is critically ill, but they did not think of sending this news to the central government for the Chang'an court to make a decision. Instead, they directly detained this news. What do you think they are thinking at this moment?"

Guo Jia raised his eyebrows, "The Yizhou scholar is going to replace the Dongzhou scholar?"

This action is not surprising. If it happened at a time when Liu Yan was critically ill, it would become something that would happen with a high probability.

"Take a look." Qiao Yan handed the letter in his hand to the two of them.

Xun Yu's eyes met Qiao Yan's for a moment, and he saw that she looked calm, as if she didn't mind showing him the information channel she had access to.

He couldn't help but wonder in his heart whether it was because he did not tell the court officials in Chang'an how she knew about Yuan Shu's death in time in order to prevent the military intelligence from being known to the enemy. This happened to hit the mark on Qiao Yan's mind, and that's why she showed him a bit more of an attitude towards her confidant at this time.

But after seeing the information on the piece of letter, he put these stance decisions behind him.

The letter stated that since April this year, the Yizhou governor's mansion had purchased a lot of medicines for treating arrow wounds, and secretly invited many famous doctors from Yizhou to visit him for treatment.

These famous doctors have received hush money from the state government and will not tell anyone what they have seen, so it is impossible to get to the bottom of the matter.

However, the scarcity of some medicinal materials forced the state government to inquire about purchasing from some traveling merchants, which also exposed Liu Yan's situation to these people.

If it was just an illness like this, it would be commonplace for someone who had a military career. But what if a famous doctor was detained after visiting the patient, or even never appeared in front of outsiders again?

There is something intriguing about this.

By mid-to-late May, Liu Yan had not appeared in public for half a month.

Although the government affairs of Yizhou were still being handled normally, and there were no abnormalities in the various government orders and exchanges with the Southern Barbarians, the absence of Liu Yan was the biggest problem.

Who is Liu Yan? A person who is very keen on pomp and circumstance.

If it weren't for Qiao Yan's attack on Hanzhong, he might even have put the thousand chariots he had usurped the power to use as a tool for his inspection tours of Yizhou.

Now these chariots have been burned, and Liu Yan has been taught a lesson by Qiao Yan in the name of a hunting party in Hanzhong, but it does not mean that he will give up showing his honor as the governor of Yizhou to the people of Yizhou.

Unfortunately, they could not enter the Yizhou provincial government, so these intelligence personnel were unable to truly judge Liu Yan’s current condition.

But since we can't see Liu Yan's situation, can't we make a roundabout strategy?

It must be said that these spies planted in Yizhou had once received guidance from Li Ru, and they were very good at collecting information.

They noticed two very special situations.

One of them was that the children of the Fei family of Jiangxia were brought to Shu.

This might not have been so thought-provoking at other times, but it is very unusual at this moment.

The wife of Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou and the biological mother of Liu Zhang, was from the Fei family of Jiangxia.

Many of the Fei family's descendants were capable. In history, Fei Guan, the great general of Shu Han, and Fei Yi, one of the four prime ministers of Shu Han, were both from this family.

The second is that Zhao Wei, a native of Yizhou, made several secret visits to Liu Zhang.

If Fei's visit could be the result of Liu Yan's intention to promote his wife's maternal family after stabilizing the situation in Yizhou, making the power of his own people more powerful to ensure his rule in Yizhou, then Zhao Wei's secret visit to Liu Zhang had a sense of undercurrent.

Afterwards, these intelligence personnel had a chance encounter with the children of the Jiangxia Fei family, and learned from them that the invitation from Yizhou was not from Liu Yan himself, but from Liu Zhang.

These clues are enough to make people alert in Yizhou, where there shouldn't be many changes this year!

Qiao Yan couldn't help but comment: "This Liu Junlang is not even Qin Shi Huang, but those Yizhou scholars are acting like Zhao Gao."

She didn't know whether she should say that Liu Yan's oppression of Yizhou scholars since he became the governor of Yizhou was indeed quite severe, which led to today's counterattack and should be regarded as a kind of deserved punishment. Or should she say that although Yizhou was known as the Land of Abundance, it had not really become an independent small court, so how could it come up with such a drama as keeping the death a secret and supporting the young son?

It really makes people feel sad and funny.

But no matter how this matter appears to people, there is a problem that is now before everyone.

They couldn't really let Yizhou get out of control because of such a situation.

The situations in Yizhou and Yuzhou are somewhat similar.

Yizhou controlled by Liu Yan and Yuzhou controlled by Yuan Shu did not fully obey the court's orders.

The current situation in Yizhou, where Hanzhong is controlled by Qiao Yan's men, is somewhat similar to the situation in Yuzhou, where their own people control the key place of Yingchuan.

But the situations in these two places are not exactly the same.

As for Yuzhou, Qiao Yan could accept Cao Cao taking charge of Runan, but Yizhou could not be allowed to become a place where the Dongzhou scholars supported Liu Yan's youngest son Liu Zhang to ascend to power!

Let’s not talk about how much grain tribute Yizhou has paid in the past two years, or how much more bamboo paper the paper mills in Hanzhong can produce because of the bamboo transported from Yizhou to Hanzhong.

On the surface, the existence of Yizhou made the Chang'an court appear to have a territory that connected the north and the south. If this place was directly separated with the support of Yizhou scholars, it would be a greater blow to the Chang'an court than giving Yuzhou to Cao Cao.

If they allow this matter to continue, the effectiveness of their war in Youzhou will be greatly reduced.

That was not a threat like a sword hanging over one's head to the eastern court, but rather a loss of one piece of territory and having to make up for it with another.

This won't do!

But perhaps, this is actually their opportunity.

After the power transition in Yizhou, if they could grasp the initiative in their hands, it would mean that they would completely get hold of a piece of land that was basically unaffected by drought and locust plagues, and they would not even have to go through Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou, as a transit point.

This amount of grain can be used to supply other areas that will be affected by natural disasters in the following years, and can also be used as military rations for the attack on Youzhou.

As long as they are fast enough!

It’s almost here...just like the surprise attack on Hanzhong that year!

Qiao Yan asked, "According to Wen Ruo and Feng Xiao, if I go to Yizhou at this time, will the situation in Luoyang get out of control?"

Xun Yu did not answer the question directly, but asked: "How long does the Grand Marshal plan to be away?"

Qiao Yan replied confidently: "One month at most."

She needs to quickly resolve the situation in Yizhou within one month!