Chapter 172: Fight in Jingzhou
It was in the year when the post of Governor of Bingzhou was established that Liu Biao volunteered to ride alone into Jingzhou, unite the local aristocratic families in Jingzhou, and wipe out the threat of clan bandits in the southern part of Jingzhou. Relying on his low-cost budget and his status as a member of the Han royal family, he took the position of Governor of Jingzhou from the stingy Emperor Ling of Han.
It has been almost three years now.
Three years is enough time for a capable person to build up considerable power. This is what Liu Biao did.
Originally, he had a probation period to determine whether he could be promoted from the Governor of Jingzhou to the Governor of Jingzhou, but the death of Emperor Ling of Han and Dong Zhuo's usurpation of power directly benefited Liu Biao and made him the Governor of Jingzhou.
It doesn't matter whether it is legitimate or not. At least Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others who supported Liu Biao have the legal capital to fight against other clan forces in Jingzhou.
But if we dig deeper, Liu Biao's power was not stable.
The noble families in Jingzhou were also divided into different levels.
After all, if the Cai family had not aimed at becoming the most powerful family in Jingzhou, there would have been no need for them to marry their daughter to Liu Biao as his second wife.
Given that Liu Biao's dependence on the aristocratic family was much higher than Qiao Yan's, it was hard not to allow this competition to escalate.
However, at the moment, Liu Biao first rejected Sun Jian's request to pass through his territory, and then, after Cai Mao persuaded him with the example of Zhang Zi, he also imposed restrictions on Sun Jian's recruitment of soldiers in Jingzhou, resulting in a situation of confrontation between the two sides.
Then the noble families of Jingzhou would have to put their own struggles behind each other, eliminate external threats, and keep Liu Biao, the "son-in-law of Jingzhou."
Therefore, this instability presents a relatively balanced state.
In their eyes, even though Sun Jian had been the governor of Changsha and had once suppressed the Lingling Guanhu Rebellion, his rough and unbridled behavior made it difficult for them to have a good impression of this reckless man.
In comparison, Liu Biao, a Confucian scholar with a "gentle and majestic appearance", one of the eight most talented people in the world, and able to establish a school of thought, was the one they recognized as the lord of Jingzhou.
Like the powerful people in the north, they had the habit of training private soldiers, and even trained special forces such as navy. With the support of the Jingzhou families, Liu Biao had obtained a considerable army.
In addition to the money and food supported by the prominent families in Xiangyang, Jingzhou, as well as the title of Governor of Jingzhou, it was enough for Liu Biao to establish an additional private army.
Thanks to these reliances, although Liu Biao was no match for Sun Jian in personal bravery, he was able to form a confrontation between the north and the south with him.
It was at the time when the two sides were fighting that he suddenly received the news sent by Dong Zhuo from Chang'an.
Liu Biao never had a good attitude towards Dong Zhuo, a common man from Liang Province.
Previously recognizing the status of the Chang'an court was just a stopgap measure that was more beneficial to him.
Of course, after the royal family's reputation had been completely burned away by the fire in Luoyang, this should have been something Dong Zhuo was aware of.
Therefore, Liu Biao had already made plans that after Dong Zhuo gave him a remote title, he would never interfere in the affairs of Jingzhou again.
It was precisely because of this idea that when he opened the letter that Dong Zhuo had sent to him in advance, he could not help but be surprised by what was said in the letter.
He immediately handed the letter to Cai Mao, who was standing beside him, and asked, "Degui, how do you think I should handle this situation?"
Cai Mao took the letter and just after reading two lines, he frowned subconsciously. "Dong Zhuo wants to send more troops to help us deal with Sun Jian? Does he have extra troops?"
This is not really that Cai Mao looked down on Dong Zhuo.
The population concentrated in Sili is indeed larger than that in other states.
But when Dong Zhuo was defeated and forced to flee from Luoyang, the millions of people around Luoyang were divided into various states. Even Bingzhou, which was separated by the Taihang Mountains, was taken as a part of it, which was equivalent to removing a lot of its population.
And not all of the 200,000 people in Chang'an can become soldiers.
Even though Dong Zhuo was still able to maintain a bit of dignity by defending the pass in the face of threats from the north including Bingzhou and Liangzhou, Qiao Yan had to first put down the rebellion of Ma Teng and Han Sui and ensure that there would be no sneak attack from behind before he could attack Chang'an.
Now she is forced to stay in Liangzhou because of her fear of consequences.
But Cai Mao and Liu Biao never thought that Dong Zhuo's current military strength was still one-third of what it was in its heyday.
If Jingzhou could send another team to support the king, Dong Zhuo would inevitably face the situation of losing sight of one thing while focusing on another.
What he should do most at this time is to gather his troops into a point, rather than disperse a part of them to support Liu Biao!
However, when Cai Mao continued to read on, he had to admit that what Dong Zhuo said in the letter was not wrong.
Even he felt that Dong Zhuo was not sure about dividing his troops at this time, which was the same as no one expected that Qiao Yan, who was stationed in Gaoping, would suddenly launch a battle against Longxi and Jincheng.
I’m afraid no one would have thought that Dong Zhuo would actually send reinforcements to Jingzhou at this time!
This must be an unexpected reinforcement!
The reason for increasing the number of troops was exactly what Liu Biao had in mind.
Dong Zhuo said in the letter that he and Liu Biao did not have a master-servant relationship, and he also knew that it was impossible for him to ask Liu Biao to pay an unrealistic price just for supporting the emperor.
But this non-interference does not mean that they cannot win together!
Dong Zhuo stationed his troops in the Guanzhong Plain, so if he wanted to expand, Jingzhou would definitely not be his first choice.
Liu Biao, who was located in Jingzhou, had no need to attack towards Guanzhong unless he wanted to try what it felt like to hold Liu Xie, a hot potato.
Well, since it was a situation where I would not offend others unless they offended me, why couldn't Dong Zhuo help Liu Biao and repel Sun Jian's offensive to take Jingzhou first and then advance to Guanzhong?
This move was also beneficial to Dong Zhuo himself.
This means he will have fewer enemies along the way.
The letter then mentioned that he had also given in-depth consideration to choosing who to send to assist Liu Biao.
In the end, the candidate for assistance was decided to be Zhang Ji.
According to the letter, Zhang Ji's nephew was captured by Qiao Yeshu's troops in the Battle of Luoyang and taken to Bingzhou. He also wrote a letter to Zhang Ji, saying that he could not protect his nephew and his wife, and he could no longer care about the uncle-nephew relationship.
Because of this, he needed a victory more than anyone else to prove his ability and to raise his head again among the generals in Liangzhou.
Then he must be the most motivated fighter among Dong Zhuo's troops now!
When Cai Mao first read this statement, he felt that it seemed quite convincing.
But he couldn't help but have a question in mind: "How could Dong Zhuo, who was so good at writing letters, be chased from Luoyang to Chang'an like a stray dog?"
The language in this letter is very clever.
Whether it is to dispel Liu Biao's suspicion about Dong Zhuo sending troops into Jingzhou, or to explain the candidate for assistance, it is full of logic.
In particular, at the end of the letter it was mentioned that if a win-win situation was really to be achieved, how should the team led by Zhang Ji be used to ambush Sun Jian?
The strategy given in this letter can indeed make use of Zhang Ji's Western Liang cavalry. Considering Sun Jian's temperament, this is most likely the least costly way for Liu Biao to defeat Sun Jian.
"Either Dong Zhuo now has a very capable strategist who is making decisions for him. Or..." Liu Biao paused and said, "Either Qiao Yeshu's ability is really too high, which is why Dong Zhuo looked so embarrassed before."
Think about what Dong Zhuo did after entering Luoyang. He was able to play with the Yuan family at his fingertips, successfully expelled Cao Cao and Lu Zhi from the capital, turned around and stabbed the Yuan family, and swallowed up General He Jin's troops. It was obviously not the work of a mediocre person. Liu Biao actually tended to the latter.
But Liu Biao obviously did not know that Dong Zhuo's previous performance in seizing power like a smart man and the wisdom he showed in his current letter were actually the works of two different advisers.
He continued, "Degui, don't worry about Dong Zhuo's performance before and after. Just tell me whether you think his move is feasible."
If Liu Biao himself were to say, he was actually somewhat surprised that Dong Zhuo was willing to send out a high-spirited team to support him.
Sun Jian's army was stationed in Changsha, where he served as the prefect, to ensure that there was sufficient food and a base for recruiting soldiers.
This has both advantages and disadvantages for Liu Biao.
The advantage is that, in this way, in addition to the support of the Jingzhou families, Liu Biao actually has the natural dangers of the Yangtze River and Yunmeng Lake as a defensive barrier.
In addition, Huang Zu, who was from the Jiangxia Huang clan, joined him and was recommended by him to be the governor of Jiangxia. He gathered the clan forces to guard the front line, which could serve as a sentry against Sun Jian.
But this does not mean that Liu Biao has the confidence to defeat Sun Jian.
With the ships stored in Changsha County and Sun Jian's habit of fighting bravely, it would not be difficult for him to cross the river and attack, and reach Xiangyang directly via the Han River!
The current stalemate is more like the calm before the storm.
Thinking about it this way, it would be better to use the foreign aid to give Sun Jian a head-on blow.
The only question that needs to be considered is whether it is possible for Dong Zhuo to occupy Nanyang County after letting this reinforcement army repel Sun Jian.
It is true as Dong Zhuo said, it is impossible for him to take all of Jingzhou.
Because for his Liangzhou army, this would mean a complete exile to a faraway place.
But if he only took Nanyang and controlled the entrance from Jingzhou to the Guanzhong Plain, and at the same time obtained supplies from Nanyang County to supply the Guanzhong garrison, it would be enough to make Liu Biao uncomfortable.
Liu Biao would have thought of this, and Cai Mao, a native of Jingzhou, would not have failed to think of this.
He thought for a moment and replied, "What you are worried about is nothing more than Nanyang County. But if Sun Jian is allowed to attack Xiangyang directly, not only Nanyang will be lost, but the entire Jingzhou will fall into Sun Jian's hands. This man claims to be fighting against Dong, but in fact he is an evil villain who covets Jingzhou. He will never allow you to be here. On the contrary, Dong Zhuo, who has no support from Liangzhou at this time, will not dig his own grave."
"The combined forces of Xiangyang and Jiangxia are enough to block the Nanyang County troops from advancing southward. Even if we lead a tiger in front and a wolf behind, this is a wolf that cannot withstand a fight."
Cai Mao paused and said, "But it is not enough for me to make such a judgment for you alone. Since it involves the major events of Jingxiang, I should ask the Kuai brothers."
After Liu Biao entered Jingzhou, the Kuai brothers formulated a strategy for him to pacify Jingzhou. They also lured the clan bandits in Jingzhou to surrender, and used a banquet to behead more than 50 bandit leaders, allowing Liu Biao to annex their tribes. Liu Biao praised them for their strategy "as good as that of Yong Ji and Jiu Fan."
Although Cai Mao hoped that Liu Biao would rely more on the Cai family, he also knew when to take a step back.
Just like at this moment, when he saw Liu Biao's thoughtful expression, he knew that he really wanted to hear other people's opinions.
After Cai Mao withdrew, Liu Biao immediately summoned the Kuai brothers for a meeting.
However, perhaps because the statement of cooperation in the letter sent by Dong Zhuo was indeed sound, and on the other hand, Sun Jian was showing an aggressive stance after the autumn harvest, both the relatively conservative Kuai Liang and the ruthless Kuai Yue felt that they could bring in Dong Zhuo as external aid.
As for how to respond if the other party wanted to occupy Nanyang County, the two of them provided Liu Biao with a set of alternative plans.
Liu Biao immediately made the decision and asked someone to send a reply letter to Dong Zhuo.
The land of Jingzhou is mostly flat, and Nanyang is an area with a crisscross network of rivers, so traveling is very fast.
Dong Zhuo mentioned in the letter that Zhang Ji, who was in charge of this aid, had already arrived at Wugu Pass, the border between Sili and Jingzhou, and would only enter the country with Liu Biao's permission.
Therefore, when Liu Biao's messenger rode at full speed and arrived at Wuguan, and then the cavalry led by Zhang Ji entered the country and arrived at the city of Xiangyang, only seven days had passed since Liu Biao and his subordinates discussed whether to cooperate.
Liu Biao looked at the dusty general from Liang Province in front of him.
Compared with Dong Zhuo, with whom he had met several times, Zhang Ji could truly be called a Confucian general. During this first encounter, he made a quite good impression on Liu Biao.
What made Liu Biao even more delighted was that Zhang Ji seemed to be eager to fight, just as Dong Zhuo had said in the letter.
In accordance with the agreement, he immediately ordered his General Huang Zhong and his troops to join forces with Zhang Ji and station their troops at Lankou on the bank of the Han River.
He also ordered Huang Zu of Jiangxia to go to Jingling to prepare for Sun Jian's possible move north.
However, Sun Jian knew nothing about this personnel transfer because of the Yangtze River.
At this time, the autumn wind blowing across the surface of the Yangtze River was already a bit chilly.
He put on his clothes, walked out of the barracks and looked outside.
Because his troops were stationed on the shore of Dongting Lake, what he saw when he looked up was the vast misty lake scene shrouded in a layer of cold moonlight.
The military camp had already fallen asleep and was silent. Only the torches erected around the camp were still making burning sounds, making the night seem even colder.
He raised his hand to stop the patrol officers who were about to follow him after calling out "General", and rode along the lakeside with only a few personal guards.
Only when he reached the bank of the river did he stop riding his horse and look towards the direction of Yunmengze on the other side of the river.
Thinking about the battle against Liu Biao, a Han traitor who was in cahoots with Dong Zhuo, with the full warehouse of military rations after the autumn harvest, Sun Jian's heart was filled with fighting spirit.
The Liangzhou battle initiated by Qiao Yan and the results achieved in this battle did not make Sun Jian feel that he was inferior to a young man. Instead, it made this Jiangdong tiger more determined.
He must take down Liu Biao as soon as possible!
Thinking about the fact that it was he who defeated the rebellion of the Jingzhou clan bandits in the fourth year of Zhongping, but Liu Biao, a Confucian scholar, took away the position of Governor of Jingzhou, Sun Jian could not help but feel unwilling to kill this bandit.
What further encouraged his idea was that Zhu Jun, who was recruiting soldiers with him in Changsha, was already showing signs of being a hero in his later years.
Thinking of the battle at Changsha in the past and Zhu Jun's heroic appearance when he abandoned his cavalry and fought on foot, Sun Jian could not help but sigh in his heart.
He was immersed in his thoughts, but suddenly he heard the sound of a spear breaking through the air.
The loud sound made him subconsciously pull himself away from his emotions and look in the direction where the sound came from.
In his sight, by the riverside in the moonlight, there was a young man practicing with a gun, and he became the source of the sound.
Although he hadn't seen the other person's face clearly, just seeing the power and flowers of the spear swung by the other person was enough for Sun Jian to be sure that this person could not be anyone else but his eldest son Sun Ce!
He immediately walked towards where Sun Ce was and asked loudly, "Bofu, why can't you sleep at night?"
Upon hearing this, the agile young man stopped the momentum of his spear, turned his hand and leaned it on the ground, looking towards Sun Jian, and replied loudly: "Father himself couldn't sleep at night, why are you asking me!"
Sun Jian took two or three steps forward and patted him on the shoulder. "I've been busy with military affairs, so I'm not sleepless."
Sun Ce curled his lips at Sun Jian's stubborn behavior, too lazy to refute, and simply replied: "Then my father will let me take more responsibility."
Sun Jian smiled and said, "Stop talking nonsense and answer my previous question first."
He originally thought that Sun Ce would say that he was hit by Qiao Yan's special double-sectioned spear during the previous battle in Luoyang, and felt that his spear skills were still lacking, so he practiced here. However, he did not expect that Sun Ce would say: "Father, I was wondering why we had to go to war with Liu Biao directly?"
Sun Jian frowned: "Are you scared?"
"Who's afraid?" Sun Ce replied without thinking. "I think that if we go directly down the river and head straight to Lujiang, we can support from the south of Shu County, repel Yuan Shu, swallow up his followers, and then take Gongjin and Lu Taishou who are currently in Shu County, and turn back to give Liu Biao a head-on blow, it may be faster than the current battle. And it will also cause less damage to the good men under my father's command."
Sun Ce completely inherited Sun Jian's warlike and aggressive temperament, so there is no way he would be afraid of Liu Biao.
The competitive spirit in the boy's eyes was clearly visible even in the darkness.
For a moment, he even gripped the spear a little tighter in his hand, and the strength revealed between his knuckles made him look like a tiger roaring in the mountains.
Sun Jian was proud of his son's vision, judgment and courage at this time, but at the same time he could only scold him: "What nonsense are you talking about!"
"I know what father means." Sun Ce raised his hand and apologized, "Father's title of General Po Lu was conferred by the court in Yecheng, and Yuan Shu's title of General Chariot and Cavalry also came from there. If you fall out with Yuan Shu because of rescuing Lujiang, it would be an act of disloyalty to the court. At least you still need the title of General Po Lu and the title of Changsha Governor, so you can't act rashly."
He sighed, "I just feel it's a pity."
If Liu Biao's move to favor Liu Xie caused dissatisfaction among the court in Yecheng, it would be even better if Liu Bian could appoint Sun Jian as the governor of Jingzhou and directly compete with Liu Biao.
It's a pity that Liu Biao was well versed in the Confucian doctrine of the mean. While he was at war with Sun Jian, he did not forget to send both sides a gift of a good harvest and paid double the annual tribute. So people could not come up with an excuse of disrespecting the emperor if they wanted to hold him accountable.
What can I do? I can only fight under the name of General Po Lu!
Fortunately, Liu Biao had very few capable fighters under his command, so even if he hadn't taken such an unconventional action -
And you will surely defeat him!
It won’t be too late to go to Lujiang after we capture Liu Biao.
Lujiang prefect Lu Kang is good at defending the city, and Shu County also has Gongjin, a wise man, so it is expected that they can hold out for at least half a year.
He looked at the river in front of him, his eyes showing a hint of a stern offensive look, and asked again: "When does father plan to march?"
When Sun Ce asked Sun Jian this question earlier, he never got a definite answer.
This was done to prevent the news from spreading and accidentally reaching Liu Biao's ears, so that he could make preparations early.
But Sun Jian calculated that he now had a strong army and sufficient food and grass. Even if Liu Biao had the support of the Jingzhou families and stationed troops at various passes, they would not be able to stop his powerful attack to the north.
So what if Liu Biao knew his intention of action?
He could only watch him attack Xiangyang City!
He replied firmly, "In three days."
Although the night was as cold as water, above the sound of the river, a cluster of burning war flames could be vaguely heard.
The battle for Jingzhou has begun!
In comparison, Liangzhou, a border area that had been plagued by frequent turmoil before, seems to be a peaceful place at this time.
Especially——
Wuwei County is now guarded by Qiao Yan himself.
September in Wuwei is immersed in a busy atmosphere.
When Liu Yu arrived at Guzang, what he saw was a large piece of cultivated land. Rapeseed seeds had already been planted, but there were still busy people around the fields.
Among these people were those who came from the nearby Zhangye County to watch after hearing the news, Qiang soldiers gathered by Qiao Yan, and Lu Shui Qiang people recruited from Wuwei County.
But their origins are obviously not that important at this time.
In Liu Yu's sight, some of these people were digging deep pits for planting mulberry trees, while others were engaged in excavation of water storage projects in Wuwei County. It was clearly a harmonious scene with a common goal.
Liu Yu already felt somewhat guilty about his action of restricting Qiao Yan's advance.
After all, he is not blind.
After completing the population registration of the newly surrendered Qiang people around Gaoping and the autumn revenue of the Huoshizhai military settlement for her, it was not difficult for him to find that Qiao Yan was not like the strange rumors that spread to Jizhou and Youzhou, and did not seem like a cruel and inhumane anti-Qiangist.
After much deliberation, he decided to go to Wuwei County to talk to Qiao Yan again.
If the situation was indeed under control, he would wait until the various rumors in Youzhou supporting him to become the emperor faded away, and then turn back immediately without any further delay.
There was no restriction on Qiao Yan from marching towards Chang'an to rescue Liu Xie after he had finished recruiting soldiers in Liang Province.
Now that he had seen this scene, he became more certain of his judgment.
When he was led to Qiao Yan, he saw the young governor holding a farming book in his hand and listening carefully to an old farmer from Wuwei beside him talking about how to identify the quality of mulberry seedlings.
When she heard him say that the mulberry seedlings should be cut close to the ground next year and then grow quickly in the second year, she subconsciously smiled with satisfaction because it was consistent with the records in front of her.
It seems that the cultivation of mulberry seedlings promoted in the Guanzhong area has also been put into practice in Liangzhou. Qiao Yan immediately looked at Zhao Yun and signaled him to pay attention to this matter later.
When she turned around, she saw Liu Yu who was nearby.
Before Liu Yu could go up to her and tell her what she was thinking, Qiao Yan's eyes lit up first and he quickly stood up and walked towards Liu Yu.
This overly enthusiastic look made Liu Yu subconsciously swallow back what he wanted to say.
"I was just planning to go to Gaoping to look for you, but I didn't expect you to come in person." Before Liu Yu could react, Qiao Yan led him two steps forward. "Did you see those people?"
Liu Yu subconsciously looked in the direction indicated by Qiao Yan and saw a group of Lu Shui Qiang people over there.
Because there are not many people in the Qiang ethnic group who are proficient in Chinese, in this kind of class, these people can only rely on one of the "translators" to understand what the Han official wants to express.
Precisely for the purpose of accurate message delivery, the size of such a gathering of people cannot be too large.
Just when Qiao Yan was worried that he did not have enough people under his command, Liu Yu ran into trouble.
This is really...great!
She went on to say, "What Liu Youzhou said before is very correct. If we only rely on brute force to tame these Qiang people, it is inevitable that there will be troubles in the future. But to truly naturalize them, we cannot just change their living habits and make them participate in farming production, we must also let them learn the knowledge of the Han people..."
"Ah, that's not right. This seems a bit difficult." Qiao Yan laughed when he said this. "It's necessary to let them learn a few simple Chinese words to ensure that the government orders can be passed smoothly."
Liu Yu nodded, admitting that what Qiao Yan said was right.
But he still didn't understand what this had to do with him.
However, he immediately heard Qiao Yan say, "Aren't there many disciples who followed Liu Youzhou to Liangzhou and were taught by Lord Lu and Lord Xun?"
"I was also taught by Lord Lu, and I am considered their peer. It would be inappropriate to ask them to do the job, so I can only take the liberty of entrusting this matter to Liu Youzhou."
She bowed to Liu Yu and said with the courtesy of a junior: "It is a humble request from me. Could you please ask Liu Youzhou to let those students try to learn the language corresponding to the Qiang people and then teach them Chinese?"
Before Liu Yu had time to refuse, he heard Qiao Yan put a big hat on him again: "Look, this is the way to ensure long-term peace and stability in Liangzhou..."
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