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Chapter 2738 The Great Pacification of Yuzhou!

In fact, Wang Yue had another method that was no less effective than Jia Xu's: to force Sun Quan and Zhang Zhao to attack Ji Province, and to launch an attack regardless of casualties. This would surely eliminate Cao Pi ahead of time and prevent future troubles.

Of course, one possibility is that Sun Quan would directly surrender to Cao Pi, but in that case, Jiangdong would be completely pacified, and all efforts could be concentrated on dealing with Cao Pi.

But this method was too underhanded, and Wang Yue was afraid that bringing it up would damage his image, so he didn't say anything and planned to do it directly later.

Fa Zheng was originally very good at devising ingenious strategies, and he thought this method was excellent, so he said directly, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Fangcheng's method is good. The Yuan family has been in power for four generations, with disciples and former officials all over the world. Although they are not as powerful as before after their battle with Cao Cao."

However, this also created a deep-seated enmity between the Yuan clan and the Cao Wei clan. If the Han Dynasty were to truly employ the Yuan family, it would certainly be able to win over the hearts of those powerful families.

However, this also has a drawback: it allows the powerful families of Yuzhou to rise again, and they might become too influential to control in the future.

Wang Yue was prepared, so he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I think there is no need to fear these families. The reason why the Yuan family, a powerful clan, is so strong is because their connections control a large number of books."

"Your Majesty only needs to establish some national academies in various prefectures and counties after unifying the country, and then conduct imperial examinations to select officials. This will surely allow you to gradually rid yourself of this problem."

Upon hearing Wang Yue's words, Liu Bei asked curiously, "What is the imperial examination?"

Wang Yue calmly explained the imperial examination system, and finally said, "In this way, whether one comes from a humble background or a powerful family, everyone can serve our Han Dynasty, and the powerful families will no longer be able to threaten our Han Dynasty."

Liu Bei's eyes lit up as he listened, but he understood that this was something to be discussed after unification, so he simply smiled and said...

"That's all for the future. Since you and Xiaozhi both think we can use Yuan Shang's descendants, I'll make the arrangements now. I hope they'll be sensible."

After meeting Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, Wang Yue stayed in Jiangxia for three days before taking a fast boat back to Jianye.

After the situation stabilized, Liu Bei personally visited the Yuan family in Runan and met Yuan Shang's son, Yuan Hua.

After a meeting, Yuan Hua was appointed as the governor of Yuzhou, and the Yuan family's connections quickly stabilized Yuzhou, eliminating the need for large-scale military suppression.

Moreover, Yuan Hua helped Liu Bei raise a large amount of grain and recruited 30,000 soldiers from Yuzhou, demonstrating his sincerity.

These soldiers were not like the ordinary men from good families that Wang Yue brought from Jiangdong, who could only be used as auxiliary troops at first. They were all composed of the private soldiers of those powerful families, and could be used as elite troops.

This shows that all the families in Yuzhou who had a good relationship with the Yuan family have now chosen to side with Liu Bei.

It's not really their fault. It's because Cao Cao suppressed the Yuan family very severely, fearing that they would affect his rule.

After Cao Pi ascended to the throne, he became even more ruthless and decisive, eliminating several of Yuan family's protégés and former officials, leaving the Yuan family angry but unable to speak out.

If there were no external enemies, or if Yu Province was firmly under his control, Cao Pi's actions would be perfectly acceptable.

However, the Han Dynasty's forces snowballed, first taking over the entire Jingzhou, then Nanyang, and finally most of Yangzhou and Yuzhou, continuously increasing their strength and directly threatening Xuzhou.

Under these circumstances, the former retainers and followers of the Yuan family were not about to admit defeat; instead, they sought revenge against Cao Pi. Thus, with the help of the Yuan family, Liu Feng led an army of 30,000 towards Chenliu, while Guan Ping and Zhang Bao each led an army of 30,000, splitting into two routes to head towards Xuzhou.

Meanwhile, after returning to Yangzhou, Wang Yue spent more than half a year preparing before leading his army to Wu County, requesting to take over Sun Quan's last 40,000 troops.

Wang Yue is the governor of Yangzhou, so he has the authority to do so. Now it depends on whether Sun Quan is willing to surrender.

If Sun Quan surrenders his troops, Wang Yue will not make things difficult for him. After all, Sun Quan is still a member of the imperial family. If he does not surrender, then war will be the only option.

Sun Quan was filled with regret at this moment. He hadn't expected Wang Yue to be so ruthless. He thought that if he took a step back, he would still have a chance, but he didn't expect that he would have to keep retreating after retreating, and that Wang Yue would even take away his troops.

However, Sun Quan had no choice at this point. If he did not relinquish his military power, his men would be unable to face Wang Yue's 50,000-strong army and numerous catapults.

While arrows can be blocked with a shield, and even armor can provide protection, large boulders can cause serious injury even with a shield.

After the catapults swept through the area, coupled with the tight formation, Sun Quan knew he was doomed. So, though he had no choice, he had to relinquish his military power.

After seeing Sun Quan surrender, Wang Yue did not make things difficult for him. Instead, he reorganized the army and then headed south to find Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao already knew about Wang Yue's arrival in Wu Commandery, so he had been observing the situation. If Sun Quan resisted, he might also resist, since the Marquis of Yue with 3 troops was different from the Marquis of Yue without 3 troops.

But now that Sun Quan has surrendered, Zhang Zhao, though somewhat regretful, still handed over his military power without hesitation.

Wang Yue consolidated the 60,000 troops, leaving 30,000 to guard Jianye, and then marched north towards Guangling City.

The garrison in Guangling originally numbered only three thousand. When they saw Wang Yue leading an army of nearly one hundred thousand, they abandoned the city and fled, even though they were still a disorganized mob that had not yet come together.

The army advanced rapidly and soon arrived at Xiapi.

Zhang Liao, Li Dian, and Yue Jin knew that if they retreated again, they would surely be killed by Cao Pi. So, after discussing it, the three decided to use the same trick again.

Therefore, Li Dian led several thousand men to stay behind and defend the city, while Le Jin led nearly 50,000 troops gathered in Hefei and Xuzhou directly out of the city and charged towards Wang Yue's Yangzhou army to the south.

They chose this direction because they received information that although the Yangzhou soldiers were numerous, they were a newly formed force of three parties.

In such situations, if the team's coordination isn't particularly good, it can easily be torn apart, leading to a complete collapse.

Given that the ratio of soldiers on both sides was one to two, and that they had more elite troops, they were not entirely at a disadvantage. Fighting against the Yangzhou army was indeed the best option.

Moreover, among these 5 troops, there were nearly a thousand brave warriors, each clad in heavy armor and wielding a broadsword similar to Zhang Liao's. They were ready to attack at any moment and charge towards Wang Yue, their commander.

(End of this chapter)