Chapter 376 Battle Invitation
But Xun Yu had to admit that what Qiao Yan said was actually not wrong.
Others who returned to Luoyang, such as Xu Shu, were now making their final declaration of allegiance as subjects to the wise leader who was about to overthrow the Han Dynasty. What they needed was an in-depth communication with careful wording.
So that we can both be sure that we can support each other in this final stretch of the journey.
There are indeed too many people who cannot come back in one go.
Otherwise, if the order of return is due to the distance of the journey, it would be fine. But if not, is the order of return also a distinction between close and distant relatives?
Qiao Yan had obviously considered this.
At this moment, all the pressure she faced could only come from outside, and never from inside.
It is precisely because of this that she did not give Xun Yu any time to consider at this moment, but directly issued him an ultimatum forcing him to make a decision, so that Xun Yu could serve as a benchmark to attract knowledgeable people within the aristocratic family.
It is also for this reason that she released Chang Yan. In addition to being a response to the people, it also serves as a watershed in judging the enemy and ourselves during special times.
However, in this serious life-or-death atmosphere, Lu Bu and Lu Lingju seemed to be completely unaware of the undercurrents that were about to explode.
They also apparently did not realize that their liege was taking a step towards becoming a monarch.
Compared to this, they probably only care about two other things.
One thing is that by coming to Qiao Yan in person during the first month of the year, he can get the lucky money directly to prevent it from being snatched away by someone in advance.
The other thing is——
When to mobilize troops.
Zhuge Liang, Xun Yu and Xu Shu were talking outside the door, allowing Lu Bu and Lu Lingju, father and daughter, to come to Qiao Yan first.
Before he even had time to sit down, Lu Bu asked, "When do you plan to attack Jizhou?"
Qiao Yan glanced at the two guys and was extremely sure of one thing: it might be a bit difficult for Lu Bu to have any special political awareness. Lu Lingju was slightly better than Lu Bu in terms of combat acumen, but she also needed a competent military advisor to supplement and correct her. She was also unaware of the current political game.
But anyway, interacting with such a relatively simple-minded and controllable character is also a good thing for Qiao Yan to calm down.
As for these two generals, they had no objection to changing their positions anyway, and "ignorance" at the moment might be a kind of happiness for them.
It is impossible that everyone is an insider in this chess game. If that were the case, there would be no need for Qiao Yan to continue his play.
Lu Bu was completely unaware of what Qiao Yan was thinking at the moment, and continued, "Your Majesty, you can't be so partial to one while neglecting the other. Yizhou and Youzhou were conquered one after the other, but now there is a war to be fought in Yizhou's territory to advance southward to gather the southern barbarian forces, and we can also join forces with Jiaozhou to attack the former Jiaozhou governor Zhang Jin and make more contributions. I heard that your Majesty also intends to let the prefects Zhao and Shi start exchanges with Funan and introduce the local shipbuilding technology and products to the Central Plains. There are new things to do, and Youzhou..."
Obviously there isn't that much to do.
It is true that there were many tribes within the Wuhuan, but after the Wuhuan leader Tadun formed an alliance with Gongsun Zan, he carried out a bloody massacre against the forces that supported the old Chanyu, and even exterminated a branch of the three kings of the Wuhuan. Therefore, when Tadun was defeated and died, Lu Lingju became the captain of the Wuhuan Guard and Yan Rou became her deputy, and the reorganization of the Wuhuan became much easier than they had imagined.
If not for this, Qiao Yan would not have been able to let Yan Rou temporarily take over Lu Lingju's position at this time, giving the young general a chance to go home to visit his family and then come to Luoyang.
The Wuhuan are already the most troublesome foreign force in Youzhou, and the situation is still like this, let alone the others.
Kebi Neng of the Xianbei branch died in the battle between Zhang Liao and Gongsun Zan more than four years ago. Qian Man, the exiled son of the former Xianbei Chanyu, died in an internal attack of the Xianbei branch last year.
Qiao Yan ordered that Xieguini, the eldest son of Fuluohan, Budugen's brother, take over this branch of the Xianbei tribe, and did not allow this transfer of power to cause any turmoil.
As for Buyeo and Goguryeo, which are still outside the territory, it is not the time to deal with them yet.
From this perspective, the only minor frictions left in Youzhou were between Youzhou and Jizhou.
Lu Bu had a great time in the battle against Gongsun Zan, and had wanted to take advantage of the situation to attack south to Jizhou. However, he only got a chance to show his skills when he attacked Gao Lan's camp, and then he stopped. This made him very depressed.
"Sir, you see, in Youzhou we have Wenyuan, Military Advisor Xun, and Mr. Tian Yuanhao whom you recruited from Yuan Shao. We have generals and counselors. As long as you give the order, we can attack both land and sea forces. I guarantee that Yuan Shao will be unable to resist."
Qiao Yan couldn't help laughing, "It's really difficult. Lu Fengxian, why haven't you made any progress in all these years?"
Lu Bu scratched his head, "That's about what I mean. My Lord, when can we fight?"
No matter how Lu Bu thought about it, he felt that they had all the conditions ready to send troops.
Although there was a drought in the Central Plains this year, there was a lot of beef and mutton sent from the northern border.
If the soldiers could fill their stomachs and then launch an attack, it would be better than the conditions on Yuan Shao's side. If the other side could be allowed to catch their breath from their current predicament, who knows if there would be another such good opportunity.
The alliance between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had been publicized by Yuan Shao in a high-profile manner as early as the middle of last year, that is, before the pandemic, in order to prevent Qiao Yan from having to face the joint attack of two enemies at the same time.
However, for a person like Lu Bu who puts the prince first and him second, any concerns about being cautious in doing something wrong have never concerned him.
As long as Qiao Yan dared to give the order, he would dare to attack.
But Qiao Yan, who was sitting in front of him, did not seem to give permission for the troops to be dispatched immediately because of his ready-to-go performance. She just asked, "Yuan Benchu made some troop movements on the You-Ji border at the end of the year. In your opinion, is it easier or harder to fight now than before?"
Lu Bu was not a man who would lie in front of Qiao Yan, so he replied, "If your Excellency asks that, it will be difficult to fight."
After the Xuzhou-Yangzhou Incident, Xin Ping went to Qingzhou to become Yuan Tan's military advisor, looking for an opportunity to attack Xuzhou from Qingzhou. Unfortunately, Zhou Yu, Pang Tong, Lu Su in Xuzhou, and Jia Xu who had already been given the honorary title of Qingzhou Governor, were all weak forces, so this possibility was directly cut off.
Guo Tu was forced to abandon his attempt to go to Yangzhou, and he also brought back news that Qiao Yan had another magical weapon.
This made Yuan Shao no longer dare to delay on the northern defense line, and he finally completed a transfer he had planned earlier.
Shen Pei replaced Xin Pi, and Gao Shun replaced Gao Lan.
The purpose was to prevent Xin Pi and Gao Lan from being defeated by the same person again as they had been captured by Qiao Yan's subordinates before.
Changing generals before a battle is indeed a taboo, but Lu Bu has to admit that it is hard to say how capable Shen Pei is, but Gao Shun is indeed a rare genius.
Compared with Gao Lan, Gao Shun's garrison made it much more difficult for Lu Bu to cross the border.
But Lu Bu is still Lu Bu. After giving this "difficult to fight" evaluation, he seemed to be afraid that Qiao Yan would take back his opportunity to attack, and immediately added, "But I have more than one general in Youzhou. We are all united. Even if there are ten Gao Shuns, it will be difficult to stop the iron hoofs from marching south. Your Excellency does not need to worry about this matter."
"Alright, alright, I know how eager you are to fight." Qiao Yan raised his hand, signaling Lu Bu not to say anything more, "But not now."
Just as Lu Bu was feeling a little frustrated, he heard Qiao Yan say, "I will give you the opportunity to send troops by the end of the year at the latest, but before that, I have a few things I need you to do."
Upon hearing the words "by the end of the year at the latest", Lu Bu immediately returned to his high spirits as Qiao Yan always kept his word and it was a signal that troops would be dispatched within this year.
Learning in January that there would be an opportunity to mobilize troops this year is simply the best New Year gift possible.
He patted his chest and replied, "If you have any instructions, please tell me."
As long as he can send troops, let alone a few things, even a dozen things will do the trick.
It’s no wonder that Lu Bu has such anxious thoughts.
This was not entirely the result of his reckless nature.
You know, he will be forty years old in two years.
For civil officials, this age can be said to be their golden period, and it is not too late to start their career. But for military generals, their physical strength will already be declining at this age.
Lu Bu has a particularly clear understanding of this.
If he used the same method of commanding troops as Zhang Liao and Zhou Yu, his age of 40 would only make him more experienced in marching and deploying troops, but his greatest strength was relying on his own courage and raising his arms to get his subordinates to follow him in battle, which meant that the time he could continue to charge recklessly on the battlefield like today might not be long.
While he felt pleased and proud of his daughter's demonstrated abilities, he also truly felt the sense of urgency of the young people catching up with him.
The year before last, he had accepted the post of General Hu Ya from the envoy who bestowed the official title, and after hearing the beautiful wishes of this title from his daughter, he had already told himself in his heart: Rather than emulating the previous General Hu Ya and having a good end, becoming one of the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai, he would rather use every bit of his strength on the battlefield to repay the prince for his kindness in recognizing his talent before he can no longer charge into battle with a Fang Tian Hua Ji in his hand.
If he missed the attack on Jizhou, no matter how he ended up well or how stable his life was, he would never be willing to accept it!
Qiao Yan replied, "First, I want you to launch an offensive breakout attempt at the Jizhou border every half a month starting from March this year. Draw lots before you go out to decide whether to attract the attention of the enemy's defense and then turn back, or to engage in a fight with the enemy. But even if you engage in a fight, you must not go too deep, and you must return immediately before any casualties occur. At the same time, Gan Xingba will find a flaw by water to break into the Jizhou border, reach the fields on the outskirts of the nearest county town, disrupt their farming, and then return."
"Secondly, Captain Lu's troops returned from Liaodong to join you after August. This made General Gao, who was frequently harassed by you, as well as old foxes like Ju Gongyu and Shen Zhengnan, think that you could replace Wen Yuan's authority to command the troops in Youzhou by relying on the cooperation between father and daughter."
"Third, there is a kind of ship called Funan Dafu in the shipbuilding technology of the Funan Kingdom west of Jiaozhou, which is used for sea trade between the East and the West. According to Shi Weiyan's promise to me, I will get the first batch of ships in September. I will send some things and people to Youzhou, but I must not let the other side know, so..."
After the Battle of Liaodong, Yuan Shao was more sensitive to sea navigation than ever before.
Yuan Tan, Jiang Qi and others stationed in Qingzhou were also keeping an eye on the sea.
Only when the stalemate in Youzhou is intensified and is in a state where it may explode at any time, will it be possible for them to shift their attention from the sea back to the inland.
This is the last instruction.
Lu Bu clapped his hands together and said, "So I have to stand out as much as possible."
Although Lu Bu was a little confused by Qiao Yan's three instructions and did not fully understand what arrangements she was going to make in Youzhou before launching a full-scale attack on Jizhou, he just had to follow these methods.
If it is really implemented in this way, Lu Bu will have no worries about doing things throughout the year.
With that said, he only had one question left, "Why did Lingju meet me in August? On the way to Luoyang, I heard her talk about the progress she and Boyan had made in Liaodong. The more we threaten Yuan Shao, the smoother the division and leadership of the Wuhuan tribes will go, and the less Gongsun Shengji in Liaodong will dare to make any moves."
"It has been almost two years since you captured Youzhou. Logically speaking, it should be in time for us to join forces in April or May."
Qiao Yan looked towards Lu Lingju and asked, "What does Lingju think?"
Lu Lingju met Qiao Yan's gaze and replied, "I guess the Lord has another plan for me."
She is indeed a very smart child.
Even though she was confused about the friction between Qiao Yan and the Baohan forces because she had never been involved in this matter, she was very clear about the situation in Liaodong because of the contact she had in the past two years.
August is a bit of a weird time.
If she is to join forces with Lu Bu, the time can be brought forward or postponed until after the autumn harvest.
Judging from the vision of Ju Shou and Shen Pei, if there was no external force pushing them, they would probably not believe that Lu Bu had the possibility of replacing Zhang Liao. The meeting with Lu Lingju was a great help to Lu Bu.
Therefore, Qiao Yan must have another plan.
Qiao Yan smiled and said, "That's right. You can wait half a year before returning to Liaodong. During this half year, Boyan, Boji and others will temporarily take over your duties. Nothing will go wrong, but I have something that requires your assistance."
In Liaodong, the Wuhuan have Yan Rou, and in Liaodong County there are Lu Yi and Guo Huai. Gongsun Du has also been intimidated and conquered. Lu Lingju's temporary departure does not affect her position as the commander of the Wuhuan Guard, nor does it affect the stability of Liaodong County and the simultaneous recovery of Lelang and Xuantu counties.
On the contrary, it is Qiao Yan here...
She extended her hand to the young female general and asked, "Lingju, are you willing to fight alongside me once?"
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