The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 228 Volume : Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
The chief envoy was Sima Yi and the deputy envoy was Yang Xiu.

The top two winners of the imperial examination formed an envoy team with an extremely young average age, and headed out of Wuguan towards Jingzhou.

Yang Xiu rode on his horse and looked around wherever he went.

As the only son of the Taiwei family, Yang Xiu had never left Guanzhong alone, and everything on the road was quite new to him.

After leaving the narrow Funiu Road and entering the territory of Nanyang, Yang Xiu's curiosity suddenly turned into panic.

"Why did Nanyang lose so badly?"

The Nanyang that Yang Xiu knew was the same Nanyang in the book.

The Southern Capital of the Han Dynasty! The birthplace of Emperor Taizu! The number of households here even surpassed that of Jingzhao, making it the richest county in the world!

But the Nanyang I saw today seemed like a deserted ghost town, with only a few pedestrians wandering around like lonely ghosts, as if there was no human presence.

Sima Yi explained: "Dezu (Yang Xiu's courtesy name), Nanyang was already in a mess because of Yuan Shu. Most of the people there fled to Guanzhong and Jingzhou... and according to the terrain of Nanyang, Liu Biao would not be able to manage this place. It is estimated that he just sent some soldiers to station here."

Nanyang is actually a huge basin with no strategic location to rely on.

In prosperous times, this place was naturally rich.

But now is a time of chaos, and places like Nanyang have lost their meaning of being run.

What's more, Nanyang itself is located in the northernmost part of Jingzhou. If there is a war between Jingzhou and others in the future, Nanyang will be the first front line to bear the brunt.

After spending so much energy to manage a place like Nanyang, it would only end up being a favor to others. No wonder Liu Biao didn't take it seriously.

After listening to Sima Yi's words, Yang Xiu also felt that what he said made sense.

"This Nanyang area is like a piece of chicken ribs that is tasteless and a pity to throw away."

?

Sima Yi found this metaphor a little strange, but he also felt it was quite appropriate.

"Indeed, this place is useless."

A place that is most suitable to be a hinterland has become the front line. Isn't this useless?
Yang Xiu suddenly had an idea: "I wonder if I can ask for the land of Nanyang as well during this mission to Jingzhou?"

Yang Xiu has an incredibly big appetite!
One Ba County is not enough, and you even want Nanyang?
Even if Nanyang is a piece of useless land, it still occupies a vast area and is the northern barrier of Jingzhou. Liu Biao probably would not be so foolish as to give this place to others.

What's more...

This is useless to Liu Biao and the imperial court as well.

The court's defense line now seemed extremely perfect to Sima Yi.

With the Taihang Mountains in the north as a support, they could maintain their advantage over Yuan Shao from a high vantage point.

In the central part, there is the natural barrier of Hangu Pass, which guards the gateway to Guanzhong.

In the south, the Bashu Mountains serve as a barrier, and every place can rely on the advantages of mountains and rivers to defend itself.

If you go an inch further east, you won't get such a perfect map.

For example, Luoyang, which is very close to Guanzhong, was once the imperial capital.

Sima Yi didn't believe that the court had no plans to retake Luoyang.

But what would happen even if it was recovered?

Luoyang is a place with many leaks on all sides. If the imperial court occupied Luoyang, it would very likely be taken away again by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

The imperial capital was captured twice, which would inevitably deal a huge blow to the reputation of the court. It is obviously not a good deal to cause turmoil in the court for the sake of a little face.

The same is true for Nanyang.

As the birthplace of Emperor Taizu Liu Xiu, if the imperial court really sent troops to garrison here, but it was taken away by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, it would undoubtedly be a major blow to the imperial court's reputation.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to tacitly leave the Luoyang-Nanyang front line empty and use it as a buffer area.

“But what Dezu is saying is actually not wrong.”

The place of Nanyang is indeed useless to Liu Biao and the imperial court.

But this is not the case for Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

If they occupied Nanyang, they would directly cut off the land connection between the imperial court and Jingzhou.

Even if we don't spend too much energy here, we shouldn't deal with it so casually, so as to avoid being seized by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in the future.

"I will discuss this matter with Liu Jingzhou."

The Han envoys passed through Nanyang again and finally arrived at Nanjun and saw its county seat, Xiangyang.

"This is truly a strategic military town!"

Sima Yi was extremely concerned about the topography and features of Jingzhou along the way, so concerned that it seemed as if he was not here to make a diplomatic mission to Jingzhou, but to prepare for the attack on Jingzhou...

But when Sima Yi saw Xiangyang, he was still filled with despair.

This city...it's almost impossible to attack it by force!

The Mian River makes a big bend here, almost forming a "几" character, and the city of Xiangyang is located in the center of this "几" character, turning the terrain here into a "凡" character.

On the left and right sides of Xiangyang City are two huge lakes, named Ya Lake and Hui Lake.

In other words, Xiangyang is truly surrounded by water on three sides, with water surrounding the city.

As for the remaining south, it is not without a defense system. On the contrary, there is a mountain called Xianshan.

Surrounded by water on three sides and a mountain on one side, even the strongest warrior would feel a chill down his spine when seeing this place, not knowing how to deal with it.

The most infuriating thing is that there is a Tan River from the west, which directly connects several waterways in Xiangyang, forming an impregnable defense system.

As long as there is a fleet stationed in Xiangyang City, relying on the surrounding waterways, the enemy will have no way to deal with Xiangyang. Not to mention that there is a plain open space in the southwest of Xiangyang, where crops can be grown and food can be provided, allowing Xiangyang to be self-sufficient.

In addition, there is another city that is on par with Xiangyang - Fancheng.

Fancheng and Xiangyang are not in the same place, but on the north side of the Mian River.

Fancheng and Xiangyang are at another extreme. Because there are no natural mountains and rivers, the walls of Fancheng were reinforced at all costs, turning it into a hedgehog.

With the financial support of Xiangyang, even if Fancheng did not have the advantages of mountains and rivers, it would still be easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This whole set of fortifications seemed to have come to Sima Yi's mind, which undoubtedly made his scalp tingle!

Xiangyang...is too hard to attack!
It would be too dangerous for a place like this to fall into the hands of the enemy!
Sima Yi held the scepter in his hand, determined not to let Jingzhou, especially Xiangyang, fall into the hands of the enemy.

At this moment, the Han envoys were approaching Fancheng and were about to enter the city.

Sima Yi stopped at an inn specifically to arrange the ceremonial equipment to avoid bringing shame to the court.

At this moment, Sima Yi suddenly heard the officials at the post station outside whispering:

"There was a group of Han officials yesterday, why are there another group today? Did the court send two teams of envoys?"

"Oh! You don't understand this, do you? Most of the Han envoys in the front group spoke with a Hebei accent, so they must have come from Hebei. Most of the people in the back group spoke with a Guanzhong accent, so they must have come from Guanzhong. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Hiss~~~ Hebei? Isn't Hebei... the Han thieves? Why does the governor want us to welcome them?"

"It's none of your business! Just do your job well!"

"..."

Sima Yi's hands and feet were cold.

He was very sure that the emperor did not send a second delegation.

In other words, the speculation of the officials in this post station might be true!

The Hebei pseudo-dynasty actually sent an envoy to Liu Biao?
And most importantly, Liu Biao actually met with the Hebei delegation?

Sima Yi did not dare to be arrogant, so he quickly found Yang Xiu and told him what happened.

"What does Liu Biao want to do?"

When Yang Xiu heard that the Hebei delegation had also arrived in Jingzhou, he was also shocked.

Yang Xiu then showed his indignation: "The court has been very kind to Liu Biao! When Yuan Shao established Liu He as the fake emperor, Liu Biao also reprimanded him. Why is he now..."

"Don't worry, Dezu. It's probably not what we think."

When Sima Yi arrived, Liu Xie had already told Sima Yi all about the situation in Jingzhou.

"When Liu Jingsheng rode into Jingzhou alone, it sounded cool, but in fact, it was because he did not bring his own staff and soldiers to Jingzhou. As a result, he is now controlled by the Jingzhou clans in everything he does."

"And the aristocratic families in Guandong have always followed Yuan Shao's lead. They will not act according to Liu Jingzhou's wishes."

"Even if Liu Jingzhou is unwilling to meet with the Hebei envoy, I'm afraid he will have to meet with him under the pressure of those powerful families."

Yang Xiu was relieved when he heard that Liu Biao was not going to betray the court or the emperor.

But Yang Xiu soon realized that something was wrong.

"But those Hebei envoys have already entered Xiangyang City!"

"Zhongda said that the nobles in Jingzhou are all leaning towards Hebei. If they use their power to force Liu Biao, even..."

Sima Yi then took over the conversation: "Even directly killing Liu Biao and appointing someone else as governor."

Yang Xiu swallowed his saliva and said, "They... shouldn't be that bold, right?"

Sima Yi glanced at Yang Xiu.

Why aren't you that bold?
The noble families in Guanzhong were already scared of being killed by Dong Zhuo. They were so scared that they could not challenge the authority of the court. Their only way to resist was to pretend to be dead in the court...

But the Kanto family is different.

They really dare to push their limits.

Is it impossible to abolish the governor?
Then how did Yuan Shao get Jizhou?
And how did Yuan Shu suddenly gain such a large territory?

If the Hebei pseudo-dynasty uses its power to suppress others, is it possible for them to directly kill Liu Biao and replace him with someone else who is in charge of Jingzhou?

possible!
Probably!

Therefore, Sima Yi was also very confused at this moment.

Yang Xiu even suggested: "Why not write to the emperor and ask him to send an army to seize Jingzhou?"

Use troops?
But Sima Yi thought of the terrain of Xiangyang that he had just explored, and shook his head wisely.

The risk of using military force is too great.

And once military action is used, it means that there is no chance of improvement.

Presumably, this was also the reason why the emperor did not allow Liu Bei and his men to send troops, but instead sent envoys to Jingzhou.

Sima Yi glanced at the scepter in his hand that represented the Han Dynasty, and suddenly asked Yang Xiu: "Does Dezu know Ban Dingyuan?"

"Zhongda, what are you talking about? Although I ranked second in the imperial examination, I am not an uneducated person. How could I not know Ban Dingyuan who gave up his pen to join the army?"

Sima Yi's eyes flashed with a dangerous light——

"Does Dezu know the story of Ban Dingyuan, 'You can't get a tiger cub without risking it?'"

(End of this chapter)