My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 284 Arrival in Shouchun
Yuan Shao only saw the advantages of this strategy, but failed to see the difficulty in implementing it.

He instinctively felt that Cao Cao was his subordinate, Liu Bei was his ally, and the emperor had long been a figurehead, while he was still the leader of the alliance.

He believed that whether it was Liu Bei, Cao Cao, or the emperor, they would all act according to his wishes.

Yuan Shao's plan, which he thought was ingenious, failed to elicit a positive response from his subordinates.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall became a little strange.

Finally, Guo Tu, who was best able to understand Yuan Shao's thoughts and blindly sided with him, was the first to speak: "I think this plan is brilliant. Cao Mengde keeps saying that he will support the Han Dynasty and protect the emperor, and he wants Hebei to send taxes and grain. If that's the case, then Gongsun Zan is causing trouble in Hebei, disobeying orders, and repeatedly raising troops to plunder the local area. He is a great threat to Hebei and a rebel."

Guo Tu's words were reasonable and well-founded. He had previously said that Hebei was not loyal enough for not paying tribute, but now that Hebei had agreed to pay tribute, wasn't he a loyal and filial son of the court?

It's perfectly reasonable for a loyal minister and filial son to report a traitorous official, isn't it?
The strange expressions on the faces of the people in the hall made Yuan Shao somewhat displeased, and even the smile on his face stiffened a bit.

But as soon as Guo Tu said that, Yuan Benchu ​​immediately calmed down, and even his stiff smile returned to normal.

No wonder Guo Tu later became the king of internal strife, blocking and kicking Ju, and killing Feng. Judging from his ability to understand Yuan Shao's psychology and his ability to warm up the atmosphere for his boss, if he didn't get promoted, who would?
Guo Tu has now risen from a simple scholar to a general, and is also in charge of military law, making him a person of great power and influence.

Many people think that Guo Tu was just a strategist who was always giving bad advice to Yuan Shao, but the truth is quite different. In fact, he spent a lot of time leading troops in the field.

Guo Zhong, the ancestor of the Guo clan of Yingchuan, killed the Xiongnu Li Khan King in battle during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han. For his military achievements, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Cheng'an, and the Marquisate of Cheng'an was located in Yingchuan, thus establishing the Guo clan of Yingchuan.

When the Eastern Han Dynasty was established, Kou Xun, one of the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai, served as the Prefect of Yingchuan. According to regulations, he recruited Guo Hong, a famous scholar in Yingchuan at the time, as his adjudicator. Guo Hong adjudicated cases for thirty years and applied the law fairly.

Those who made decisions for Hong did not harbor any resentment.

What does this mean?

Guo Hong was the head of the public security, procuratorate and judicial system in Yingchuan for a full thirty years, and during those thirty years, not a single convicted criminal cried out for innocence.

What's even more impressive is that Guo Hong lived to be a full ninety-five years old.

This Guo Hong directly led to two results. The first result was that the Guo clan of Yingchuan gained enormous influence in Yingchuan County, directly joining the ranks of the top gentry families in Yingchuan County.

The second result was that the family was directly and deeply bound to the law. The only regret was that Guo Hong himself failed to write an influential legal work, which prevented the Guo family's legal system from opening up to a wider audience and continuing to expand its influence throughout the Han Dynasty.

In contrast, there are the major Du Law and the minor Du Law.

Even so, it enabled the Guo family, who had lost their titles during Wang Mang's reign, to make a comeback and regain their former glory.

From then on, the Guo family rose to the position of Minister of Justice, one of the Nine Ministers, for four consecutive generations, which was closely related to Guo Hong. Guo Zhen and Guo Xi also served as Grand Commandant, one of the Three Dukes.

Therefore, the fact that the Guo family, whose members had held high positions for two generations, were so obsequious to him gave Yuan Shao a considerable sense of satisfaction.

In addition, Guo Tu often guessed what Yuan Shao was thinking and always stood on Yuan Shao's side. In Yuan Shao's eyes, if such a person was not a loyal minister, could he be Tian Feng or Ju Shou who opposed him every day?
"What you all say is exactly what I thought. What do you all think?"

Yuan Shao immediately sided with Guo Tu, and even asked others what they thought and what they could do.
If we object now, wouldn't that just be seen as nitpicking?

Ju Shou and the others looked at each other in the hall, unable to utter the words of advice they had just wanted to give.

Very well, let the lord give it a try. If it succeeds, that would be a good thing.

If it doesn't work out, at least it will let the lord understand who is truly virtuous.

So everyone bowed down and said, "Your Excellency's insight is truly profound; we are deeply impressed."

Seeing everyone bowing in submission, Yuan Shao was quite satisfied. He felt that he was very wise and resourceful, so he naturally came up with his second idea.

"Luozhong has been ravaged by the traitor Dong Zhuo. The royal palace is now in ruins. The former capital is now a desolate wasteland."

Yuan Shao became more and more confident as he spoke, clearly having at least convinced himself: "I wish to request the Emperor to move his residence to Ye City. Do you gentlemen think this is feasible?"

Everyone in the hall was completely dumbfounded. Did their lord really think that the world already belonged to him?

How dare you make such an outrageous request?

Aren't you afraid that Cao Cao and Liu Bei will join forces and turn against you?
Seeing that the expressions of the people in the hall were not right, even Guo Tu, who was his biggest supporter, lowered his head and remained silent.

This is different from before. With the previous suggestion, we could at least give it a try, and even if it didn't work, the blame wouldn't fall on Guo Tu.

This idea is completely different now, and the consequences could be extremely serious. How could a smart person like Guo Tu get involved in such a thing?

Yuan Shao sensed something was amiss. After a moment's hesitation, he proactively lowered his demands: "If it cannot be moved to Ye City, then placing it in Juan City is also feasible. Juan City is a major city in Yanzhou, and it is adjacent to Puyang. It is also extremely convenient for Hebei to transport money and grain. I believe the Emperor and the court would support this suggestion, wouldn't they?"

Yuan Shao's words, if left unsaid, would have been fine, but this addition immediately provoked Ju Shou to the point of no return.

"My lord, I have repeatedly pleaded with you to send troops to Hedong to welcome back the Emperor, but you have always made excuses and ultimately watched as Liu and Cao joined forces to bring the Emperor back to Luoyang."

Ju Shou rose to speak, his face grim, his tone thick with resentment: "The Emperor is currently residing in Luoyang, and all things are going smoothly, with the Central Plains at peace. At this very moment, you wish to move the Emperor to Yecheng. How will Prefect Liu and Prefect Cao view you, my lord? How will the Emperor view you, my lord? How will the people of the world view you, my lord?"

Ju Shou's three perspectives made Yuan Shao's face very awkward.

What's even more embarrassing is that everything Ju Shou said was true, leaving him no room for rebuttal.

Finally, he could only helplessly explain, "I am not doing this for my own selfish interests. It is because Luozhong has long been reduced to ruins. How can the Emperor stay here for an extended period? I invited the Emperor to Hebei because I am thinking of the Emperor's best interests. Mengde and Xuande have always been loyal to the Emperor and unwavering in their devotion. They will surely understand my intentions."

Yuan Shao's secret replacement of Ye City with Hebei was also a subtle hint to Ju Shou and his allies: "Don't you want the Emperor to come to Hebei?"

This point can be considered to have struck at the Achilles' heel of the Hebei literati.

How could they not wish for the emperor to stay in Hebei?

When Emperor Guangwu founded the Han Dynasty, the people of Hebei were the major shareholders. They contributed the most money, grain, and manpower. It can be said that even though the Han Dynasty has wronged me a thousand times, I still love the Han Dynasty like my first love.

If they really didn't want to, why did they repeatedly advise Yuan Shao to welcome the emperor?
So, Tian Feng, Shen Pei, and the others, who were about to speak, fell silent and exchanged glances.

Why don't you give it a try?
Maybe Liu Bei and Cao Cao were really possessed by a demon and sent the emperor over?
After all, even our own lord would occasionally be possessed by evil spirits and do many foolish things.

********
Just as Yuan Shao and the scholars of Hebei were contemplating welcoming the emperor to Ye City, a large army also set out from Chengde and continued northward toward Shouchun.

After detailed discussion and deliberation, Liu Feng finally approved the plan devised by Zhou Yu, Taishi Ci, Liu Ye, Zhang Liao, and others.

Liu Feng did want to play it safe, but the temptation of successfully launching a surprise attack on Shouchun was too great.

Even with the aid of a powerful weapon like a counterweight catapult, a direct siege of Shouchun would still result in a considerable number of casualties.

Yuan Shu's army was indeed lacking in field battles, but their performance in defending cities cannot be judged by field battle standards.

Even though the regular army in Shouchun City only had about 20,000 men left, Liu Feng judged that if it were a frontal siege, Liu Bei's army would likely suffer losses of more than 10,000 men.

Therefore, it would be ideal to take Shouchun at a lower cost.

With this in mind, Liu Feng ultimately approved their plan, allowing Zhang Liao to select 800 elite troops, and Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin to each select 500 men, who, along with Xu Sheng, would infiltrate Zhou Yu's forces, posing as reinforcements from Jiujiang. Sun Xiang's troops remained entirely in Chengde City, and were replaced by Pan Zhang's troops.

Pan Zhang's 4,000 men all changed into Sun family uniforms, replacing Sun family retainers, and were placed under the command of Sun Xiang.

Jia Kui's troops, disguised as soldiers from Chengde County and retainers of powerful clans, were forcibly conscripted by Zhou Yu when he passed by.

Furthermore, Xu Huang personally led 3,000 elite cavalry in close pursuit. The route between Chengde and Shouchun was a major road, which would minimize the wear and tear on the horses. Even if a rapid march was needed to reinforce the troops at a critical moment, it would not consume too many horses.

Taishi Ci led the remaining three thousand cavalry to guard Chengde and watch over the rear.

Before setting off, Liu Feng personally opened Chengde's treasury and borrowed a sum of money from powerful figures like Zhu Zheng, distributing it all as a reward to the entire army. Not only Zhou Yu's troops received rewards, but even the laborers of Jiujiang were all rewarded.

This wave of rewards, which distributed goods worth three million coins, won the loyalty of the entire army and boosted morale.

Not only that, Liu Feng also announced that if they could successfully capture Shouchun on this northward expedition, everyone would receive ten times the reward they would receive this time.

The soldiers and laborers who followed Zhou Yu in Jiujiang were not yet used to Liu Feng's officially granted rewards.

After all, in this era, most rewards were given for allowing the city to be pacified for a certain number of days, or even for massacring the entire city.

In contrast, the Xuzhou army was already used to it, because they knew that as long as Liu Feng promised a reward, there would be no mistakes, and it would be delivered to everyone on time without any deductions.

Because of this issue, Pan Zhang was even flogged by Liu Feng, and several lower-ranking officers even lost their heads.

In other words, Liu Feng had personally raised up his troops such as Pan Zhang and Xu Sheng; otherwise, even several times the number of heads lost wouldn't have been enough.

Liu Feng's lavish spending wasn't for anything else; the most important thing was to ensure the smooth implementation of this plan and to ensure that all the soldiers involved could see the benefits.

After all, such operations place the utmost emphasis on secrecy, and incentives are one of the key factors that make people keep secrets.

In addition, Liu Feng also introduced many details to Zhou Yu and others, and made many contingency plans.

Ideally, we should launch the operation after we have made sufficient preparations. If there are special circumstances, we should launch the operation according to the pre-prepared plan.

The army marched very fast, increasing its daily speed from thirty li to forty li.

Now that the plans have changed, Zhou Yu no longer needs to deliberately slow down the march; on the contrary, he has actually increased the marching time.

Traveling thirty li a day is the marching speed in a war zone, but theoretically they are still in the heart of their own territory and do not need to worry about being suddenly attacked by the enemy, so their marching speed should not be so slow.

If Sun Xiang hadn't been reluctant to arrive in Shouchun early, she probably would have already informed Zhou Yu to speed things up.

Zhou Yu and his men completed the 180-mile journey in just four days.

On the way, they encountered an envoy sent by Yuan Shu to urge them to speed up, and who also brought an order for promotion.

On the morning of the sixth day, the Xuzhou army, after a day of rest, finally arrived at the south gate of Shouchun City.

Upon hearing that Zhou Yu's troops had arrived, Yuan Shu was overjoyed and immediately summoned Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang to the city for an audience. At the same time, he ordered his army to enter Shouchun and set up camp at the South Gate military camp.

At this time, Shouchun had a circumference of over 7,000 meters and covered an area of ​​nearly 4 square kilometers. It was roughly a square city, with the Fei River on one side and the Shaopi, a water conservancy project built by the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, in the distance, which irrigated a small part of Lujiang County.

Shouchun could have housed over 100,000 people, but now only over 40,000 remain in the city. Adding in about 20,000 troops, the total number is less than 70,000, leaving behind a large number of houses and military camps for residents.

To Liu Feng and his men's astonishment, Yuan Shu's army, who were guarding the city, let them in easily, only conducting a token, basic check.

After entering the city, Zhou Yu quickly settled his troops, especially the laborers, into the military camp and strictly forbade them from going out.

Only then did he and Sun Xiang go to Yuan Shu's palace to request an audience with Yuan Shu.

On the way there, Zhou Yu apologized to Sun Xiang, saying, "Brother Wenyang, I had to deceive you because of the previous conflict of interest. Please don't take offense."

Sun Xiang glanced at Zhou Yu. She had been deceived by him all the way, which had directly led her into a desperate situation. How could she easily get rid of this resentment?

However, he also understood that Zhou Yu's apology at this moment was not just an apology, but also a hint.

Now that we're both in the same boat, any problems can be resolved privately; we can't let them interfere with our business.

Sun Xiang nodded slightly: "Since there are two main parties involved, it has to be done, so why should Captain Zhou apologize? But don't worry, I will cooperate with you later."

Sun Xiang's meaning was also very clear: what happened before could not be forgiven with an apology, but now was not the time to dwell on it, so he would cooperate with Zhou Yu properly.

Zhou Yu nodded in satisfaction. Although Sun Xiang indicated that the matter was not over, he didn't mind, as long as it didn't affect the current plan.

The two soon met Yuan Shu.

At this moment, Yuan Shu had dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating that he had not had a proper rest.

Qiao Rui had just reported that Liu Bei outside the city had received reinforcements from the west, and another 10,000 troops had joined the siege.

Liu Bei's army outside Ruyin City has reached nearly 40,000 men. They are working day and night to build siege weapons, and the general offensive is not expected to be over soon.

Upon seeing Sun Xiang and Zhou Yu, Yuan Shu disregarded everything else and immediately asked, "Wen Yang, Gong Jin, messengers from Ruyin have been coming one after another, saying that Liu Bei's army outside the city is about to launch a general attack and requesting reinforcements from Shouchun. What are your thoughts on this?"

Shouchun is about 280 li away from Ruyin. The journey involves crossing the Bi River and takes about seven to nine days.

Now, an army of about 30,000 has gathered in the city, plus nearly 10,000 from Ruyin, totaling no more than 40,000.

However, according to the news sent back from Ruyin, Liu Bei's army outside the city already numbered nearly 40,000, and Yuan Shu couldn't help but hesitate again.

This cannot be blamed on Yuan Shu. He and Liu Bei had already fought each other, and Yuan Shu's 8,000 troops were defeated by Liu Bei's 6,000 troops in open battle.

There are only about 30,000 people in Shouchun City now, and some of them need to stay behind to guard Shouchun, so there are only about 20,000 people that can be mobilized.

Even including the troops in Ruyin, they still didn't have as many troops as Liu Bei's army.

They lost even when they outnumbered the enemy, so what would happen if they outnumbered the enemy? Not to mention that Yuan Shu's troops were divided into two parts, one inside the city and one outside.

"My lord, Liu Bei's army is now very powerful, while we have few soldiers. How can we possibly go out of the city to fight in the open field?"

Zhou Yu spoke first, saying, "Ruyin is a high-lying city with a deep moat and a large population. General Qiao is also a veteran general, so he will surely be able to defend the city. If our army rashly moves out, it would be a minor matter if we fail to relieve the siege, but if our army suffers any mishap, Shouchun will truly become an empty city."

Yuan Shu's heart sank; Zhou Yu had predicted exactly what he feared most.

He currently has too few resources. If he sends troops to rescue Ruyin, and if the rescue is successful, then everyone will be happy.

But if something goes wrong during the expedition, not only will Ruyin be beyond saving, but Shouchun will also be in danger.

"Wen Yang, what's your take on this matter?"

Yuan Shu pondered for a moment, then turned to ask Sun Xiang for her opinion.

"This humble general also does not think sending reinforcements is a good idea."

Sun Xiang shook her head under Yuan Shu's gaze, her brows furrowed: "Gongjin has already made the risks of sending reinforcements very clear. I still have one more concern."

Yuan Shu pressed further, asking, "What is it?"

Sun Xiang said, "I heard that Liu Bei's army besieged Ruyin half a month ago, but has not yet launched an attack. I suspect that Liu Bei might be using Ruyin as bait to lure our army to Ruyin to relieve the siege, so that he can find an opportunity to fight us?"

Yuan Shu's face immediately turned extremely ugly. After pondering for a moment, he stood up, paced around a few times, and suddenly cursed, "My chief clerk and registrar have misled me!"

It turns out that Yan Xiang and Yang Hong had previously advised Yuan Shu to concentrate his forces and head to Ruyin.

Yan Xiang and Yang Hong's views were not wrong. They firmly believed that the intelligence gathered by the spies must be inaccurate, and that Liu Bei's army probably did not have as many as 40,000 men.

Moreover, the expedition was not intended to engage in a decisive battle with Liu Bei. Even if it was merely to garrison Shencheng, Liu Bei's army would inevitably have to devote some attention to the reinforcements, thus preventing them from launching a full-scale attack on Ruyin.

Even so, it can bring considerable help to Ruyin.

(End of this chapter)