My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 137 The Changing City of Guangling
After a moment, Li Luo asked, "Then, in my opinion, what should your uncle do?"

"Uncle, is there even a need to ask?"

Liu Ye laughed and said, "The world is in chaos now, and heroes are rising up everywhere. Aren't we ministers who choose a lord waiting for an enlightened ruler? If we could have more, and if there were a golden opportunity to serve an enlightened ruler, wouldn't that be twice as effective with half the effort?"

"Now, Guangling is a golden opportunity for my uncle."

Liu Ye stood beside Li Luo, lowering his voice but speaking quickly, giving Li Luo the illusion that his mind was being drawn into the other's words.

"Within Guangling City, there are only four thousand county soldiers, and their combat strength is average, so they are not a concern. Moreover, given Uncle Zhang's abilities, most of them are already completely subservient to him."

"Add to that your uncle's retainers, servants, and family and relatives by marriage. If your uncle mobilizes them all, are you afraid he won't be able to take down a mere Guangling City?"

"Before I arrived in Guangling, Governor Liu's army had already set out. Judging by the time, the vanguard has long since passed Gaoyou County and will soon arrive at the walls of Guangling. By then, my uncle will have already surrendered to Governor Liu in Guangling. What a great achievement that will be!"

"Publicly, my uncle obeyed the prefectural government, dismissed the wicked, and averted a rebellion within the prefecture. How could Prefect Liu not be deeply grateful to my uncle? Privately, my uncle has protected his hometown and sheltered the people. How could the elders and folks of Guangling County not be grateful to my uncle?"

"From my perspective, Uncle's merit cannot be repaid by anyone other than the governor of a prefecture!"

"Prefect, prefect?"

Li Luo felt his mouth go dry. With his family background and reputation, becoming the magistrate of a large county would be almost the end of his official career, bringing glory to his ancestors.

But now, the opportunity to become a prefect is actually right in front of him.

He couldn't help but think of Yuan Sui, a learned and talented man whose name was known throughout the land. He had been valued by the central government and recruited as an aide to the Grand Tutor. He had also served as the prefect and, at the request of the people and officials of the prefecture, twice acted as the prefect of Guangling Prefecture.

To be fair, Li Luo would never dare to compare himself to Yuan Sui.

Even so, Yuan Sui was only acting as the prefect; he was not the prefect.

The thought that he now had the chance to surpass Mr. Yuan Sui made Li Luo tremble with excitement.

"Of course!"

Liu Ye knew that Li Luo had completely wavered, so he quickly added firmly, "Our lord is magnanimous, kind and loving, and it is only right to reward merit and punish wrongdoing. With such great merit as your uncle, you should be rewarded with the position of governor of a large prefecture."

"The governor of a major prefecture?"

Li Luo had been completely drawn into Liu Ye's rhythm, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Liu Ye's words were right.

Liu Bei's reputation for benevolence and righteousness also played a role at this time, giving Li Luo a boost.

"Very well! Nephew, please have a seat. I will call my brother over now so we can discuss important matters together."

Li Zhang was a warrior, so although he was the elder brother, he usually listened to his younger brother Li Luo. The two worked together very well, which allowed the Li family to develop rapidly in Guangling over the years.

At such a crucial moment, Li Luo could not bypass his elder brother and was determined to gain his approval.

After Li Zhang arrived, Li Luo and Liu Ye recounted the events.

Li Zhang surprisingly stated directly that he was willing to follow Liu Bei.

It turns out that Li Zhang was a martial artist, so naturally he valued who had the harder fist.

Leaving aside Liu Bei's affairs in the north, last year he rushed to the aid of Cao Cao, forcing him to retreat. Afterwards, he stationed troops in Yuzhou to suppress bandits and quell rebellions, winning the praise of the local gentry.

Less than six months after entering Xuzhou, they successfully subdued Zang Ba.

This was a huge shock to Li Zhang. In Li Zhang's view, Zang Ba had already achieved the best that people like him could do.

If Liu Bei could so easily defeat and annex him, then Li Zhang would be no match for him either.

On the other hand, Yuan Shu's side was beaten three or four times by Cao Cao all the way from Nanyang, and fled in disarray to Yangzhou. With the help of Chen Yu, they escaped without a fight and obtained Shouchun. Then they stayed under the city of Lujiang for two years.

Instead of welcoming Liu Yao, they were outmaneuvered and easily seized Danyang and Wu counties from Yuan Shu. The two sides faced each other across the river, and Yuan's army launched repeated attacks but could not break through Liu Yao's river defenses.

In comparison, how could Yuan Shu possibly be as capable as Liu Bei?
Not to mention the powerful figures under Liu Bei's command, they too had their chance to rise in the ranks, and even those from humble backgrounds had opportunities.

This is much better than Yuan Shu's.

Therefore, Li Zhang directly stated his position, supporting Li Luo's betrayal and offering Guangling City as a gift.

Now that the decision was made, Liu Ye immediately helped the two devise a plan to betray them.

The Li family clan has two thousand servants and retainers, and they can also gather another thousand from their relatives by marriage and family friends, making a total of three thousand people.

Of the county soldiers, Li Zhang was confident he could win over 1,500, while the other 1,000 were at risk.

Liu Ye assigned Li Luo the task of contacting reliable relatives by marriage and family friends, promising him a lucrative position as a county magistrate and two assistant county magistrates, and demanding that they join him in sending troops.

At the same time, having Li Zhang lead half of the clan soldiers to accept the county soldiers would give them a greater chance of success, as the remaining 2,500 county soldiers would be able to take control of the clan soldiers.

Of the remaining thousand clan soldiers, two hundred were left to protect Li Luo, while the other eight hundred were divided into two groups: one to raid the prefectural government and capture Yuan Sui, and the other to raid the armory and seize control of the equipment and weapons.

Liu Ye also instructed Li Zhang to tell all the soldiers that if they succeeded, all the wealth in the Guangling treasury would belong to them, and everyone would get a share.

Once the operation is launched, Li Zhang will be responsible for sealing all the city gates of Guangling and guarding them strictly. He will leave his trusted troops to guard the city gates, while Li Luo will go to see Yuan Sui and try to get Yuan Sui to come forward and express his support for the Xuzhou army.

At the same time, a messenger was dispatched on horseback northward to inform the vanguard of the Xuzhou army, instructing them to travel day and night to expedite their arrival.

Once the vanguard of the Xuzhou army arrives, the matter will be settled.

Li Luo and Li Zhang nodded repeatedly at Liu Ye's arrangements, feeling that everything, big and small, had been taken care of.

The two were immediately invigorated, thinking that rebellion was quite easy.

My nephew Liu Ye's analysis doesn't seem too difficult.

So the three of them split up and went their separate ways.

Li Luo went out to contact relatives by marriage and family friends, while Li Zhang took his trusted generals to contact the commanders of the county army.

Liu Ye immediately wrote two letters and dispatched trusted confidants with several guards to set off by land and water respectively.

They rode on horses provided by the Li family all the way over land, one person riding two horses.

Meanwhile, a small boat, carried by water, sailed upstream, speeding northward.

At the same time, he also forged a reply letter from the vanguard of the Xuzhou army and kept it close to his body for future use.

What followed went quite smoothly.

The Li family's relatives by marriage and other prominent families were all powerful clans and wealthy local households.

I had long harbored fear of the name of the Yuan Highway Guardian, but I had no other choice.

Now that a benevolent Prefect Liu has suddenly become an option, everyone is choosing to vote with their feet.

Li Luo quickly completed his task, and things went very smoothly for Li Zhang as well.

Unbeknownst to them, more than 60% of the military force in Guangling City had been brought under the control of the Li family.

Liu Ye was secretly delighted. That evening, he discussed the matter with the Li brothers and decided to spend the next day preparing and conserving their energy before making their move at dawn the day after tomorrow.

Just when Liu Ye thought he had accomplished a great feat, an unexpected incident occurred.

The next day at noon, Li Luo came to find Liu Ye with a panicked expression.

Liu Ye had anticipated this situation. Before Li Luo could speak, he pulled a letter from his pocket, his face lighting up with surprise, and said to Li Luo, "Congratulations, Uncle! Congratulations! It's truly heaven's help!"

Li Luo was completely stunned by Liu Ye's interruption, and even temporarily forgot what was on her mind.

Liu Ye handed the letter directly to Li Luo: "Uncle, the vanguard of the Xuzhou army has arrived fifty miles away. They will reach Guangling as soon as tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"Oh!? Really?"

Li Luo was overjoyed and quickly took the letter and unfolded it.

Just as Liu Ye had said, the letter described that the vanguard was led by Xu Sheng, a colonel in Liu Bei's army, and the deputy commander was Taishi Ziyi, a hero from Qingzhou and an unparalleled archer. Under their command were the naval forces of Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin.

What delighted Li Luo even more was that Liu Bei's eldest son, Liu Feng, was among the vanguard troops, serving as a military advisor. No wonder he was able to gather so many valiant generals such as Xu Sheng, Taishi Ci, Pan Zhang, Zhou Tai, and Jiang Qin to accompany him.

The vanguard sailed downstream, passing through Lingxian, Ping'an, and Gaoyou counties without entering, heading straight for Guangling. At this point, they were less than fifty li away from Guangling, and they would be able to enter the Grand Canal the next day. They would arrive in Guangling in one or two days at the latest.

The presence of the official seal of Xuzhou at the very end of the letter further confirms its authenticity.

Li Luo breathed a sigh of relief. Recalling what had just happened, he turned to Liu Ye and said, "Ziyang, do you know that the prefectural government just received news that Yuan Shu has already dispatched Sun Ce and Wu Jing with 10,000 elite troops downstream and has already stationed themselves in Jiangdu. They should arrive in Guangling by the day after tomorrow at the latest." "Is that really true?"

Liu Ye's face showed great surprise, but in reality, he remained calm.

He had long anticipated this situation and knew that the Li brothers were unreliable, like reeds in the wind, and that once Yuan Shu gained power, it would be impossible to expect them to fight to the death.

Therefore, he forged the letter in advance, using the blank seal that Liu Bei had given him before he arrived.

Liu Bei gave him two blank official letters, both bearing the seal of the Governor of Xuzhou. Liu Ye only needed to fill them out at any time to be appointed to an official position immediately.

Originally intended for Liu Ye to win over people's hearts, it was unexpectedly used by Liu Ye to fabricate military intelligence and deceive the Li brothers.

"Fortunately, the young lord was in the capital, and the army rushed there quickly. Otherwise, if Yuan Shu had entered Guangling first, we uncles would have been in trouble."

Liu Ye subtly instilled in the Li brothers the belief that Yuan Shu's occupation of Guangling meant the Li family's downfall was not far off.

Although it's unclear how effective it will be, it's certainly better than nothing, and any increase in the Li family's resolve would be worthwhile.

Li Luo nodded with an awkward smile, then hesitated and said, "What my nephew says is quite right, but we are tomorrow..."

"What's the point of talking about tomorrow!"

Liu Ye pressed close to Li Luo and said fiercely, "Make your move tonight, lest things get complicated."

Li Luo asked in surprise and doubt: "Tonight!?"

"It's tonight!"

Liu Ye analyzed, "Once this news comes out, the traitors in the prefecture who are pro-Yuan Shu will surely think that victory is in their grasp. If we launch an attack now, we will surely catch them off guard and achieve a wonderful effect."

At this moment, Li Zhang also arrived. As a warrior, he was much bolder than Li Luo and admired Liu Bei more, so he was obviously much more determined.

After listening to Liu Ye's words, he agreed and said to Li Luo, "Second brother, what my nephew said is right. We have already united many people. How can we know that there are no villains among them who will betray us and sell out their friends for personal gain? Since things have come to this, we should fight with all our might to show our merits to Lord Liu. How can we be afraid and not move forward?"

"Besides, Sun Ce is just a brat. If his father, Sun Wentai, were here, I would still be somewhat afraid of him. What can Sun Ce do? If he doesn't come, fine. But if he dares to come, I will definitely defeat him!"

Seeing that his brother and Liu Ye both supported launching the operation ahead of schedule, Li Luo also made up his mind. In particular, his brother's suggestion to "connect with many people" really moved him.

In the past few days, he has used almost all the power he can muster, like an arrow on a bowstring, which might hurt him if he doesn't release it.

If this is left unresolved, others, even if not for personal gain but simply out of fear for their own safety, will likely come forward to expose them.

Li Luo had made up his mind and shouted, "Alright! Let's launch it tonight!"

At the same time, Liu Feng was indeed not far from Guangling. Although it was not fifty li away, it was only seventy li away.

He had just received his last supply in Gaoyou and also took Zhao Yun's 3,500 men with him.

Gaoyou County will be taken over by Tian Yu's troops who will arrive later. Tian Yu will then leave 500 soldiers to garrison the area, while his main force will continue to move forward and converge at the foot of Guangling City.

Upon receiving the message from Liu Ye, Liu Feng immediately gathered his generals for discussion.

The final conclusion was that the vanguard force would accelerate forward, and after abandoning the boats and landing, all fifty cavalrymen would be handed over to Taishi Ci for command, and they would set off first, galloping into Guangling.

Subsequently, the entire army of mules, horses, and oxcarts was mobilized to transport Pan Zhang and his Rushan Battalion to set off first in pursuit of Taishi Ci.

Finally, the main army set off in turn, with Zhao Yun's troops and Xu Sheng's troops following in sequence.

Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin's troops left enough men to guard the ships, while the rest of their troops remained on the shore as backup.

At the same time, Liu Feng also sent a message by airship to Liu Bei, the commander-in-chief in the rear, carrying Liu Ye's letter detailing the military situation in Guangling and requesting him to dispatch troops to provide reinforcements.

The camera shifts back to Guangling City, where the once quiet city is suddenly brightly lit.

Large groups of soldiers moved through the city, blocking roads and attacking the armory.

Yuan Sui had already gone to rest, but was suddenly awakened by the noise. Before he could ask what was going on, his attendant came to report.

"Chief Secretary, Li Zhang has rebelled!"

"Li Zhang has rebelled?"

Yuan Sui muttered to himself several times, then suddenly woke up with a start: "Where is the clerk? Quickly go and find someone to invite the clerk here."

The attendant replied, "The clerk is no longer in the prefectural office. We have searched for him several times but have not found him."

Yuan Sui was immediately deflated, realizing that Li Luo must also be an accomplice and had probably already slipped out of the prefectural government to join his brother.

"What is the situation inside the city? First, gather the soldiers and officials in the prefectural government and guard the gates of the prefectural government. There must be no loss."

"Chief Secretary, the main gate has already been breached. The Prefectural Magistrate is leading his troops and state officials to resist at the second gate, and the armory has also fallen into the hands of the Li family."

Yuan Sui knew that the situation was completely out of control, and with his abilities, it would be very difficult to turn the tide.

He then refused his attendant's pleas for him to escape and rose to call out to him, "Help me change my clothes."

After changing into his official robes, Yuan Sui, accompanied by his attendants and several guards outside the gate, went directly to the second gate.

At this time, the Li family's troops had completely surrounded the two gates of the prefectural government.

The prefectural magistrate was shot in the arm with an arrow, but he did not retreat despite the wound.

Logically, the prefectural assistant should be the acting prefect when the prefect is absent, but he is not as famous or experienced as Yuan Sui. Moreover, Zhang Chao and the local gentry both favor Yuan Sui, who is the representative of the local gentry.

Even if the prefectural magistrate were to act as the prefectural governor, he would still need Yuan Sui's help.

However, things are different tonight. No one expected that the local powerful Li family would actually raise the flag of rebellion.

"Ji Ping, you've finally arrived."

Yuan Sui, courtesy name Bo'an, the character Sui means to appease, pacify, and bring peace.

The prefectural governor was a native of Youzhou named Geng Zhao. He was a member of a collateral branch of the Geng family of Hebei during the Eastern Han Dynasty. His ancestor was Geng Chun, one of the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai and a meritorious minister who helped found the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Although Geng Zhao was from a collateral branch, he was very close to the main branch and managed to get a position as a prefectural assistant with a salary of 600 shi (a unit of grain).

But now it seems, he might lose his life here.

"Jinyi, don't rush. Let me go and question the rioting soldiers to find out what their true intentions are."

Yuan Sui straightened his clothes and, disregarding the threat of stray arrows, walked to the second gate and shouted, "Go and call Li Luo and Li Zhang. I, Yuan Sui, will wait for them here."

At this time, Li Luo, Li Zhang, and Liu Ye had already reunited.

The situation was better than expected; the entire army of the prefecture had been swayed by them and had turned against them, guarding all the city gates.

Meanwhile, the 400 troops who attacked the armory have also succeeded, taking out the armory's weapons and equipment to equip the soldiers.

As for the prefectural capital, it was also surrounded. Although it was not completely captured, it was because there were too many famous people in the prefectural capital, all of whom were local gentry and scholars. The retainers were restrained and dared not be too disrespectful to them.

Just as the three were talking, Yuan Sui came out and shouted to the crowd that he was looking for the Li brothers.

Li Zhang immediately lowered his head, pretending to wipe the blade; in short, he couldn't hear anything.

Li Luo was somewhat flustered. Despite his determination to rebel, Yuan Sui was highly respected among the local scholars and had a good relationship with the Li family. Yuan Sui had even promoted Li Luo.

The Li family had no way to deal with Yuan Sui, so the best outcome was to put him under house arrest as soon as possible.

Liu Ye knew he couldn't back down now, so he said directly to Li Luo, "Uncle, give me twenty armored soldiers, and I'll go talk to Lord Yuan."

Upon hearing that Liu Ye wanted armored soldiers, Li Luoke was startled and quickly grabbed him, saying, "No, no! Lord Yuan has a great reputation in Guangling. We can't harm him in the slightest!"

"Uncle, don't worry. How could I harm Lord Yuan? I'm just worried that Lord Yuan might take the opportunity to have me tied up. When that happens, I will only have one thing to say to you, Uncle."

Li Luo, stunned, replied, "What did you say?"

Liu Ye stepped back, bowed deeply, and said, “You must not worry about my life. You should send troops to quickly slaughter the prefecture and hold your ground for reinforcements. Lord Liu’s vanguard has arrived, and the main army is coming in droves. Uncle, you must perform unparalleled merits for Lord Liu. You must not be soft-hearted or hesitant.”

"Things have come to this point. If we advance, we will be famous throughout Xuzhou and achieve great success. If we retreat, we will be indecisive and face death and the extermination of our clan. I hope you will think carefully before acting, Uncle."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards Yuan Sui.

(End of this chapter)