The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 481 Volume Is this steady?

The commander of Yi County was Yang Zuo, a subordinate of Gongsun Du.

After Yang Zuo learned that Liu Bei might attack Liaodong, he sent troops to set up barriers in the south in an attempt to resist.

"It is summer now, the water level has risen sharply, and the roads are impassable. Liu Bei will not be able to invade Liaodong!"

Compared with Liu Bei who attacked from land, Yang Zuo thought that Cao Cao and Sun Ce who attacked from Qingzhou in the south were more threatening, so he often inquired about intelligence from the south, and thus relaxed his vigilance.

"General! There are traces of Han troops outside the city!"

When a scout reported the military situation to Yang Zuo, Yang Zuo thought that the scout had misunderstood: "Are all the Han soldiers gods?"

It was not until he climbed up the city wall and saw Xu Rong's troops lined up neatly below the city that Yang Zuo showed fear.

Xu Rong looked around and saw that the wall of Yi County was not high, so he immediately ordered a violent attack!
Seeing this, Yang Zuo hurriedly shouted outside the city: "Is it Emperor Liu himself?"

Xu Rong ignored him and did not give Yang Zuo any chance to negotiate. He just stood under the war drum and encouraged the soldiers to charge forward!
Seeing that Xu Rong ignored him, Yang Zuo had even more guesses in his mind!
In Liaodong, perhaps because of the cold weather, people usually prefer to do things instead of talking too much.

Seeing that Xu Rong didn't even give him a chance to negotiate, Yang Zuo immediately guessed: "The Han army may have already arrived in Liaodong!"

At this time, the court no longer needs to weigh the gains and losses, as long as it can capture the city!

Yang Zuo was so horrified that he even forgot to order his soldiers to resist. Instead, he got down from the city wall, mounted his horse, and was about to abandon the city and flee!
Upon seeing this, Xu Rong immediately ordered his cavalry to give chase.

They chased all the way to the vicinity of the Daliao River, where the Yan army on the opposite side came out to support them, and Xu Rong then led his troops back.

Liu Bei wanted to hold a banquet to celebrate Xu Rong's success, but Xu Rong refused.

"Only by crossing the Liao River can we achieve true military achievement!"

Liaodong and Liaoxi.

The division between the two places comes from the Daliao River.

The Daliao River has a huge flow rate. Although it is not as large as the big rivers and the Yangtze River, it is far superior to other natural barriers.

The reason why Gongsun Du was able to establish his own regime was that he relied on Yanshan Mountain and the Liaohe River.

Xu Rong was from Liaodong and was most familiar with the terrain of Liaodong, so he told Liu Bei not to be careless.

"Exactly!"

Liu Bei never took the blame in front of senior colleagues like Xu Rong and just let things take their course.

"But now that we have captured Yi County, we have a foothold in Liaodong. We can plan slowly!"

Unexpectedly, Xu Rong shook his head again.

“It rains a lot in Liaodong.”

"It's summer now and sudden heavy rains may come at any time."

"When the rainstorm comes, the roads are cut off, and there is no food or grass left, so we have no choice but to withdraw."

"Therefore, we should find a way to cross the Liao River as soon as possible and should not delay."

After listening to Xu Rong's explanation, Liu Bei had a deeper understanding of the difficulty of Liaodong.

"The people of Liaodong must be having a hard time, right?"

Liu Bei sighed and said, "I'm afraid General Xu didn't have an easy life when he was young, right?"

Xu Rong didn't expect that Liu Bei would still be compassionate and care about the livelihood of the people in Liaodong at this time.

But after thinking about it, Xu Rong also sighed.

"It's actually not bad. Liaodong has a network of waterways, fertile farmland, and abundant products. There are all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and the sea."

"It's just that the winter is too cold. We must prepare firewood, otherwise we may not be able to survive the winter."

Liaodong’s biggest enemy is the cold.

Even if there are abundant resources, Liaodong will never be able to develop if the problem of the freezing winter climate is not resolved.

"Firewood?"

It was also the first time that Zhuge Liang came to such an extremely cold place as Liaodong.

But when he heard Xu Rong talking about firewood, he couldn't help but interrupt: "When Zi Yang and I were in Handan before, I followed the emperor's order to replace charcoal with coal in Handan."

"Coal is more durable than charcoal. If we bring coal from Hebei here, wouldn't it help the people in Liaodong keep out the cold?"

Xu Rong smiled bitterly and waved his hands.

"I've heard of coal before, but the cost of transporting it to Liaodong is too high. Even if it is transported to Liaodong, only the rich and powerful can afford it. What does it have to do with ordinary people?"

Coal is nothing else.

Xu Rong, a native of Liaodong, knew very well how quickly this thing was consumed in winter.

Even if the coal was really transported here, the high cost would make it unaffordable for ordinary people in Liaodong.

"No!"

Zhuge Liang interrupted Xu Rong.

"The emperor mentioned this to me when he was in Xuzhou, saying that he was interested in developing shipping in the Bohai and Qingzhou areas."

"This will not only facilitate the court's control over the Liaodong area, but also make the connection between Hebei and Liaodong closer. By then, the cost of transporting coal from Hebei to Liaodong will inevitably decrease."

"and……"

At this point, Zhuge Liang looked a little strange.

"Based on my observations these days, I always feel that the terrain in the Liaodong area is very similar to that of Handan."

"Moreover, the farmlands in some places here are all black, and the crops grow more vigorously than in the Central Plains..."

Xu Rong quickly asked, "What exactly does Kong Ming want to say?"

Zhuge Liang took a deep breath.

"I dare not make any assumptions."

"But if my guess is correct, there may be coal mines like the one near Handan in Liaodong!"...

Xu Rong didn't react at first.

But soon Xu Rong's eyes widened, and he stepped forward and pressed Zhuge Liang's shoulders: "Did Kong Ming really say that?"

"Liang doesn't dare to make any assumptions, but if we just observe, there is a high possibility that there is a coal mine here."

Zhuge Liang wasn't sure.

But Xu Rong had heard of Zhuge Liang's reputation long ago, and knew that since the other party could say this, it must be for a good reason!
There may really be coal mines in Liaodong!

Xu Rong, a native of Liaodong, knows too well the constraints that the cold winter has on the development of Liaodong.

Once we can really discover coal in Liaodong on the scale of Handan, it will surely make Liaodong a land of abundance!

And Liu Bei was naturally happy to help others achieve their goal.

"Kong Ming, I will let Han Sheng escort you and search along the Liao River."

"In this way, it won't be a difficult matter to search for coal while trying to cross the river."

Xu Rong immediately bowed to Zhuge Liang solemnly and said, "If Kong Ming can really find the coal mine, I wonder how many people in Liaodong who have frozen to death due to the severe cold can be saved!"

"Please, Kong Ming, spend more energy on the people!"

Xu Rong was extremely enthusiastic about this matter.

One cannot help but wonder whether Xu Rong also suffered from the damn severe cold and the precious firewood when he was young.

Zhuge Liang also assured Xu Rong: "Liang, I will definitely go all out!"

Under Huang Zhong's protection, Zhuge Liang has been traveling for several days.

And finally, he brought two pieces of news to Xu Rong.

"One good news and one bad news, which one do you want to hear first, General Xu?"

"good news!"

"There must be such a coal mine in Liaodong! And the coal mine here far exceeds the reserves in Handan!"

Xu Rong's face immediately turned red with excitement!
"What about the bad news?"

"The bad news is..."

Zhuge Liang pointed to the east bank of the Daliao River.

"The location of the coal mine is in the east, in the area actually controlled by Gongsun Du!"

Xu Rong was stunned on the spot.

But when he thought that the lifeline that could save the entire Liaodong people was just across the Daliao River, Xu Rong shook his head and laughed.

"What kind of bad news is this?"

"Since it's in the east, then we just need to defeat Gongsun Du. How can it be that difficult?"

Xu Rong, who was always calm, suddenly had a burst of enthusiasm in his eyes.

"This time, even if it means sacrificing my life, I will force my way across the river!"

When these words were spoken, Liu Bei and Zhao Yun were so frightened that they hurried to stop him.

It seems that Xu Rong has gone completely crazy because of the coal mine incident!

Liu Bei had no doubt that Xu Rong, who came from the Western Liang Army, was really capable of throwing all his soldiers into the Liao River.

Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang did not stand on the same side as Liu Bei, but asked Xu Rong: "General Xu, are you really willing to seize Liaodong at all costs?"

"nature!"

"Kong Ming!"

Liu Bei thought Zhuge Liang was going to instigate Xu Rong to force a crossing of the Liao River, but unexpectedly Zhuge Liang produced a military report:

"This is the detailed process of how Zhongda broke through the river from the north and captured Qingzhou."

"If he can use a raft to cross the river and take Qingzhou directly, then the general can certainly cross the Liao River and head to Hedong."

"Only firstly, the lower reaches of the Daliao River are more dangerous than those of the Great River. The soldiers are likely to be swept away by the undercurrent. Secondly, we cannot imitate Zhongda's strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, and practice the strategy of false and real. After crossing the river, the general must form a battle array to defend the enemy on the opposite side!"

These days, in addition to looking for the specific location of the coal mine, Zhuge Liang was thinking about how to cross the Daliao River.

Just at this time, news came that Sima Yi had captured Qingzhou, so Zhuge Liang simply followed suit and applied this method of crossing the water to the Liao River!
"it is good!"

Xu Rong agreed without any hesitation!
For the coal mine opposite, this usually cautious Xiliang veteran is obviously ready to fight for his life!

Seeing this, Liu Bei had no choice but to respect Xu Rong's opinion and let him try Zhuge Liang's method.

……

the other side.

Yang Zuo, who fled to Xiangping, immediately informed Gongsun Du that the Han army had passed through Yanshan.

Poor Gongsun Du had just become king of Yan with Yuan Tan, and hadn’t even finished conferring the titles of King of Yan and all the officials, when he learned that the Han army was coming!
But when he heard that the commander of the opposing army was Xu Rong, Gongsun Du's expression was a little complicated, but he still comforted everyone and said, "Xu Rong has always been cautious in using troops and will not act radically."

"He is from Liaodong. He knows that the Liao River is difficult to cross, so he will definitely stay put."

"In this case, as long as we wait until the autumn rainstorm, the Han army will surely retreat due to supply difficulties!"

Only then did Yang Zuo feel relieved, and then he and Bei Yan were ordered to station in Fang County on the east bank of the Daliao River.

But a few days later, they saw a miracle!
Xu Rong, who was described as "steady" by Gongsun Du, was wearing light armor and floating in the water holding a sheepskin air bag, not knowing whether he was alive or dead!

Yang Zuo really wanted to go back and ask Gongsun Du -

You call this being steady?

How could a stable person do such a thing?
(End of this chapter)