My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 143 Spreading Far and Wide
Sun Ce's army was currently on its way back. If there was any gain this time, it was certainly quite substantial. They took away more than 20% of the most valuable goods in Guangling County, which, according to a rough estimate, exceeded two million coins.

However, Sun Ce's army also suffered considerable losses, losing six warhorses alone, which amounted to two or three hundred thousand coins, and they were difficult to replace.

The losses of cavalry and armored soldiers also caused Sun Ce considerable distress.

However, all of this pales in comparison to Liu Ye and Taishi Ci.

"How many heroes there are in the North!"

Sun Ce couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Is Bo Fu regretting the loss of Guangling?"

Huang Gai leaned closer, his words filled with regret: "We were just one step away. If we had been able to seize the East Gate, Guangling would have been ours."

"No, I do not regret Guangling."

Sun Ce shook his head seriously: "Even if we take it, so what? General Zuo will never let me take the position of Prefect of Guangling. It would just be doing someone else's work for them."

Now Cheng Pu, Song Qian, and the others were also intrigued and asked curiously, "What is Bo Fu regretting?"

Sun Ce sighed leisurely: "I regret the loss of Taishi Ci and Liu Ye."

"If we can take Guangling, these two will surely be ours."

Sun Ce said confidently, "Both of these men are capable and competent. Liu Ye is a mere scholar, yet he dared to sneak into Guangling and persuade the Li brothers, Li Luo and Li Zhang, to rebel. Moreover, upon learning that we had arrived in Jiangdu, he resolutely convinced the Li brothers to launch an uprising in the middle of the night. What decisiveness and bravery! Such a strategist is the assistant to a king and a hegemon, and cannot be compared to ordinary pedantic scholars. If I can obtain him, I will certainly rely on him to assist in the king's affairs!"

Sun Ce's military superiors were already aware of Liu Ye's performance through Yuan Sui, and they greatly admired his strategy and courage.

Sun Ce, in particular, was eager to recruit talented individuals and deeply regretted not being able to capture them alive and recruit them for his own use.

At this time, Sun Ce had almost no useful strategists around him.

Zhang Zhao was still living in seclusion in Sheyang, and Zhang Hong was in Jiangdu. Although they had known Sun Ce for a long time and valued him highly, they never intended to serve him. As for the three future strategists, Chen Duan and Qin Song, they were all staying in Guangling and did not yet know Sun Ce.

As for Zhou Yu, Sun Ce's childhood friend, he hesitated in Danyang, not daring to make a decision easily.

Therefore, although Sun Ce had developed a friendship with Taishi Ci, his desire for Liu Ye was even greater than that for Taishi Ci.

"And then there was the tiger general Taishi Ci, whose archery skills were superb and whose martial arts were outstanding. He was even brave enough to be no match for ten thousand men. It's a pity that such a man was wasted, as he was acquired by Liu Bei."

Sun Ce shook his head and sighed repeatedly.

He didn't look down on Liu Bei, but he felt that Liu Bei's martial prowess was average. He was good at swordsmanship, but in battle, long weapons were the way to go, and short weapons were always too limiting.

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Song Qian all nodded repeatedly, quite surprised by Taishi Ci's bravery, and even felt ashamed of their own inferiority.

The saying "there is no first place in literature, but there is no second place in martial arts" only applies when the difference in skill level is not significant.

If there were truly no first place in literature, how could Wang Bo's Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng have become famous for all time?

How did Li Bai come to be hailed as the "Poet Immortal"?

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Song Qian realized that they probably wouldn't last more than twenty rounds against Taishi Ci, and even if they fought to the death, they would only last thirty or forty rounds at most.

They had sparred with Sun Ce before, and they knew all too well his bravery and strength.

Taishi Ci was able to fight Sun Ce to a standstill, and even gained a slight advantage in the end, so his strength naturally surpassed theirs.

Huang Gai then remarked, "The Xuzhou army is indeed full of strong generals. Pan Zhang, who is my opponent, is a fierce and brave man whose martial arts are no less than mine. Yet he is only a minor commander in the Xuzhou army, which is truly astonishing."

"A separate commander? This... is extremely wasteful."

Sun Ce was also surprised; he knew all too well how strong Huang Gai was.

For Huang Gai to admit that he was evenly matched with him, then at least they were evenly matched, or even better.

How could such a military man only be a minor military commander?
Xuzhou has an abundance of talented military personnel.

Before this northward march, Sun Ce had actually underestimated the Xuzhou army.

Although he stumbled when recruiting soldiers in Danyang, things went much smoother for Sun Ce after he retrieved his father's former troops from Yuan Shu. It was far more successful than when he nearly lost his life recruiting soldiers in Danyang.

Although Sun Ce's attacks were repelled by Liu Yao's army several times and he himself suffered serious injuries, the prestige of the Sun family brought him a great deal of benefit, with thirty to fifty people coming to join him every day.

In just a few months, four or five thousand people, admiring Sun Jian's fame and favor, flocked from the Jiangdong region, making Sun Ce's main force grow to six or seven thousand men.

This demonstrates the high prestige Sun Jian enjoyed among the common people of Jing and Yang regions. In contrast, the powerful clans and wealthy families of these two regions often held Sun Jian in contempt.

Even so, Sun Ce couldn't find a single warrior among them who could match Pan Zhang, let alone Taishi Ci.

Only Chen Wu, who came on his own initiative, was not as good as Taishi Ci, but he was still passable.

In fact, Sun Ce was unaware of the specific situation. Pan Zhang had only served Liu Bei for a little over half a year, and he was able to become a separate commander. This was already a testament to Liu Bei and Liu Feng's discerning eye for talent and their boldness in promoting young generals. At the same time, he also caught the opportunity of Liu Bei annexing the Danyang and Taishan armies, reorganizing the Xuzhou commandery and kingdom troops, and expanding his core forces on a large scale.

Otherwise, even if he were Liu Feng's confidant, he would at most be a military commander, or perhaps just a captain of Liu Feng's personal guards.

After pondering for a long time, Sun Ce solemnly warned his generals: "In the future, we must never underestimate the Xuzhou army and should treat them as a formidable enemy."

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Song Qian all nodded seriously, as Sun Ce's words were exactly what they had in mind.

After Sun Ce finished speaking, he fell silent again.

He was lying supine on a supply wagon, with a sheepskin quilt underneath him to ensure his wounds wouldn't be aggravated by the jolting.

Sun Ce actually had a strange idea in his heart, but he couldn't tell Cheng Pu and the others.

He always felt that the names Taishi Ci, Pan Zhang, and Liu Ye were somewhat familiar and particularly endearing, and he didn't know why, as if they were connected to him by fate.

Just as Sun Ce had predicted, they did not see any trace of the Xuzhou pursuers until they encountered reinforcements sent by his uncle Wu Jing halfway there.

Sun Ce's army regrouped with allied forces and retreated all the way to Jiangdu.

In Guangling, the Li family was quite sensible. They knew that they had lost their nerve at the last minute and wanted to withdraw from Guangling, which was a loss. Now they were trying to make up for it.

Naturally, he dared not disagree with Liu Feng's suggestion and immediately agreed.

The situation on the Guangling battlefield calmed down once again.

However, this was not the end of the battle, but rather the beginning of a major war. Both sides continued to mobilize troops and build up their strength, and an even larger battle was about to unfold.

With the news of Guangling City's acquisition spread in all directions, various surrounding forces reacted in different ways.

Guo Gong was in a panic. As early as when Liu Bei mobilized and began to march south to Guangling, he felt that Liu Bei was indeed very ambitious, just as Cheng Yu had said.

Once Liu Bei unifies Xuzhou, he will inevitably turn his attention to Yuzhou.

Before taking over Xu Province, Liu Bei held the title of Governor of Yu Province. Not to mention, Liu Bei had a large base of popular support in Yu Province, especially in Pei State, and the gentry and powerful families had a great deal of goodwill towards him.

Therefore, Guo Gong's concerns were justified.

Guo Gong had originally sent an envoy to the State of Chen to try to win over King Liu Chong and Chancellor Luo Jun to join him in sending troops, but Liu Chong and Luo Jun refused.

This does not mean that Prince Chen, Liu Chong, and Luo Jun had any goodwill towards Liu Bei. In fact, Liu Chong was not particularly fond of Liu Bei and did not even acknowledge that the other party was of Han blood.

I may dislike Liu Bei, but who are you, Guo Gong, to order me around?
They immediately sent Guo Gong's envoy back.

Guo Gong, lacking the support of the Chen state, only had the Liang state with an army of about 13,000 to 14,000 men. He wanted to make a move, but dared not.

Just when he was in a dilemma, he received this news, which greatly stimulated him, and he decided to start by attacking the State of Lu.

The State of Lu is small and has little border with Xuzhou. Moreover, after taking over the State of Lu, we can also swallow up the northern region of the State of Pei, connecting them into one area and creating a strategic advantage for the State of Pei.

Most importantly, in Guo Gong's view, taking over Lu would be far less disruptive than taking over Pei, and less likely to provoke Liu Bei.

For all these reasons, Guo Gong finally began to take action.

He left 4,000 men to guard the old home of Liang, while Guo Gong raised a total of 10,000 troops and marched north along the Pao River, passing through Feng and Pei counties, bypassing Weishan Lake, and entering Lu from Qi County.

Chen Yi, the chancellor of the State of Lu, was the son of Chen Fan, a famous minister in history. Chen Fan was an extremely important and pivotal figure during the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and his influence also affected the historical positioning of Emperors Huan and Ling.

It was precisely because of the existence of Chen Fan that Emperors Huan and Ling were objectively turned into incompetent rulers.

Especially Emperor Huan of Han, whose posthumous title was clearly a complimentary one.

To expand one's territory and subjugate distant lands is called Huan; to pacify and quell the unrest among the people is called Huan; to expand one's territory and annex other states is called Huan.

An emperor who can expand his territory, annex other countries, and respect his own people—isn't that a glorious posthumous title?
However, Zhuge Liang's retelling of Liu Bei's words about Emperors Huan and Ling effectively downgraded Emperor Huan of Han to the same level of incompetent ruler as Emperor Ling.

This demonstrates the immense historical influence of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang.

In reality, Emperor Huan of Han was not a foolish ruler. He was a capable, accomplished, ambitious, and accommodating monarch.

Emperor Huan of Han endured for thirteen years, and with the help of powerful eunuchs, he wiped out the Liang Ji family, a powerful maternal relative, and regained real power. He then exiled this group of arrogant eunuchs who had made contributions, and truly took control of the government.

Unlike the present history, Emperor Huan of Han paid great attention to the balance of power in the court and wanted to restore the traditional balance of the three major powers in the Eastern Han Dynasty. To this end, he did not hesitate to compromise with the aristocratic families many times.

Many scholars, including Chen Fan, were personally promoted by Emperor Huan of Han. Chen Fan, in particular, was almost entirely promoted to the position of one of the Three Dukes by Emperor Huan himself.

At the same time, Emperor Huan of Han compromised with Chen Fan and adopted the recommendation of the Dou family, a powerful maternal relative of Chen Fan. It should be noted that the Dou family was extremely sensitive in the Eastern Han Dynasty because their ancestors, Empress Dowager Dou and Dou Xian, had even once plotted to usurp the throne and were executed along with their entire clan by Emperor He of Han.

And this Dou Xian was precisely a member of the collateral branch of the Dou family that was executed back then.

Only Chen Fan, stubborn as ever, dared to recommend Dou Miao to Emperor Huan of Han as empress.

At that time, Emperor Huan of Han wanted to make his favorite concubine, Lady Wang, his empress.

In the end, Emperor Huan of Han made a concession. He even tolerated this. If you say he only favored eunuchs, isn't that unfair to him?
Shouldn't Emperor Huan of Han have favored Chen Fan the most?
In addition, he made good use of the three Mings of Liangzhou, and solved the problem of the Western Qiang that had plagued the entire Eastern Han Dynasty in one fell swoop. In the early and middle period of the dynasty, this was a great achievement of expanding territory and sealing the wolf's lair.

Unfortunately, Emperor Huan of Han was born too late in history.

If he had lived fifty years earlier, he might very well have been a wise and benevolent ruler.

However, by the time he ascended the throne, the accumulated problems of the Eastern Han Dynasty were already too great to be reversed by human effort alone.

Even though Chen Fan repeatedly threatened Emperor Huan of Han, making him realize that the power of the aristocratic clans had grown too much.

Emperor Huan of Han still did not take action against Chen Fan, which can only be described as the work of a wise ruler.

The two instances of the "Party Prohibitions" occurred before and after Emperor Huan of Han. This time, it was indeed the aristocratic families who went too far, provoking a backlash from the imperial power.

However, Emperor Huan of Han still exercised caution and restraint in exercising imperial power. Even six months before his death, he began to pardon the aristocratic families and lift the ban on political parties.

But before the matter was resolved, Emperor Huan of Han died.

Chen Fan remained stubborn, and this time he targeted Empress Dowager Dou Miao, the empress of Emperor Huan of Han, who was ruling as regent.

Dou Miao lacked Emperor Huan's control over the situation. After the eunuchs received the news, they coerced Emperor Ling into killing Chen Fan and Dou Miao's father, General Dou Wu.

Imagine that Emperor Ling of Han only had two paths before him at this point.

The first rule is to make the best of a mistake and take control of the situation.

The second option is to admit that the eunuch deceived him, so that power can be returned to Dou Miao. At this time, Dou Miao's father has just been killed. What kind of result awaits Emperor Ling?
Therefore, Chen Fan's death created an inherent and irreconcilable conflict between Emperor Ling of Han and the aristocratic clans.

Liu Feng believed that, in a sense, the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty began with Chen Fan.

Chen Yi, the son of Chen Fan, had been on the run for more than ten years. He was hidden by Zhu Zhen, a friend of Chen Fan, on the border of Ganling, and Zhu Zhen kept the secret even at the cost of his life. Finally, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, and Emperor Ling of Han granted a general amnesty to the gentry.

However, compared to his father, Chen Yi was utterly mediocre.

Chen Fan at least had the ability to govern, but he had some inherent flaws, such as being too straightforward.

Chen Yi, however, was utterly mediocre. He once listened to Xiang Kai's celestial predictions while with Wang Fen and actually plotted to install the Marquis of Hefei and depose Emperor Ling of Han. Even in the Eastern Han Dynasty, an era rife with prophecies and divination, this was far too outrageous.

They genuinely invited Cao Cao to participate, which terrified him.

Cao Cao really wanted to tell them, "Thank you, please forget about me."

However, Cao Cao was truly righteous at this time. Even in such danger, he did not immediately report the other party. Instead, he wrote a letter to persuade Wang Fen and the others not to have any wild thoughts.

For this reason alone, Cao Cao truly deserved the title of righteous and chivalrous in his youth.

If this letter were discovered by the imperial court, Cao Cao would be severely punished, even if he didn't die.

However, Liu Feng also suspected that this was related to Cao Cao's desperate attempt to squeeze into the scholar class. After all, Cao Cao in his youth, and even the entire Cao family, had an unrealistic desire to leave officialdom and enter the scholar class.

Xu You, who was involved in the incident, went into hiding and survived thanks to Yuan Shao's protection. Wang Fen committed suicide in Pingyuan. Only Chen Yi escaped unscathed and rose through the ranks to become the Chancellor of Lu.

It just goes to show how unpredictable fate can be.

Just like now, Chen Yi was staying in Lu State just fine, like a nobody, barely surviving in the chaos of the world, when Guo Gong suddenly attacked, coming with great force, as if he wanted to swallow up Lu State in one gulp.

Chen Yi, a mediocre man, how could he possibly withstand it?

He began to consider requesting help.

After carefully counting the people around him, he realized that only Liu Bei could save him.

Cao Cao, needless to say, was still locked in a fierce battle with Lü Bu.

In the south, Yuan Shu was not only engaged in a fierce battle with Liu Bei, Liu Yao, and Liu Biao, but was also thousands of miles away from the State of Lu.

The only person who had the power to save him was Liu Bei.

Therefore, Chen Yi sent an envoy to pursue Liu Bei day and night, heading towards Yangzhou.

Meanwhile, in Qu'a County, Yangzhou, Liu Yao also received news that Guangling had been taken over by the Xuzhou army, and he was immediately shocked.

He immediately invited Xu Shao, Sun Shao, and the Teng brothers to discuss the matter.

Teng Dan, the elder of the Teng brothers, couldn't help but ask, "Are the Xuzhou army really as fierce as wolves and tigers? In just over a month, how could such a fortified city as Guangling have fallen?"

Liu Yao shook his head: "No, it was because of an inside agent that the city was captured. However, Sun Bofu also brought his troops into the city. The two armies fought fiercely for most of the night. Eventually, reinforcements from Xuzhou arrived one after another. Fearing annihilation, Sun Bofu had no choice but to abandon Guangling."

“Sun Bofu is exceptionally brave, and his troops are also extremely elite. The fact that the Xuzhou army was able to withstand the Sun family army shows that they are no ordinary troops.”

Xu Shao sighed, thinking that such a powerful Xuzhou army had been defeated by Cao Cao's Yanzhou army several times, and in a crushing defeat, and was forced to be trapped in Tancheng.

Just how powerful must the Yanzhou army be?

The world is indeed getting more and more chaotic.

Sun Shao glanced at Liu Yao and Xu Shao, and after some deliberation, said, "When will our previously agreed plan to launch a surprise attack on Liyang Water Fortress and burn the warships be carried out?"

Liu Yao thought for a moment and shook his head: "It's still early. Although Guangling has been lost, General Zuo has occupied Jiangdu. Jiangdu is only twenty miles away from Guangling. If Jiangdu is not taken, Guangling will not be at peace day and night. The Xuzhou army and General Zuo will probably have to fight a big battle for Jiangdu."

Xu Shao nodded in agreement: "Jiangdu is built along the river and has the river flowing around it, making it a formidable city. It will not be easy for the Xuzhou army to take Jiangdu. We can continue to sit back and watch the two sides fight, waiting for the right opportunity to make our move. If the two armies are deadlocked, then we may be able to sell our position at a higher price."

Everyone agreed to remain neutral and wait for the best offer. However, both Liu Yao and Xu Shao were deeply worried about the formidable fighting power of the Central Plains army.

Qiao Rui received the message on the third day.

Sun Ce returned to Jiangdu that night and set off by fast boat upstream. It wasn't until the third day that he arrived at Liyang Water Fortress.

After reading it, Qiao Rui was also greatly shocked and hurriedly reported the news to Shou Chunfei.

By the time Yuan Shu saw this intelligence, it was already the seventh day.

"Bo Fu is so cowardly, he is truly unworthy of being the son of Wen Tai."

Yuan Shu was furious after reading the intelligence.

(End of this chapter)