The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

The fall of Jiangxia and the unfortunate death of Zhang Liao, who was guarding Huainan, further dampened the already low morale of the Wei army.

Cao Wei could no longer withstand the continuous onslaught of these waves of attacks. Therefore, Cao Pi decided to mobilize the entire nation's resources to fight a decisive battle against Liu Bei, to decide the outcome in one fell swoop, so as to avoid being bombarded by a constant stream of bad news.

When the imperial edict was issued, the gentry of the Central Plains had very mixed feelings. Faced with a battle with little chance of victory, the gentry instinctively wanted to seek advantage and avoid harm by joining Liu Bei's side. However, after receiving news that Liu Bei was carrying out land reform in Jiangxia, they gave up the idea.

Surrendering to Liu was fine, but the fact that they had to hand over all their land and estates afterward was heartbreaking for the aristocratic lords. Those were lands that their ancestors had worked so hard to build.

So the gentry of the Central Plains were caught in a dilemma: if they didn't surrender, they couldn't win; if they surrendered, they would be ruined. It was a real dilemma.

Zhong Yao, that old fox, keenly sensed the contradictory mentality of the Central Plains gentry who were both eager and afraid. He decisively summoned the gentry to discuss the matter and called on them to take a gamble. His reasoning was that surrendering and defeat would have the same result, which would only result in losing everything. He argued that Liu Bei was benevolent and would not kill anyone; at most, he would confiscate their property. What were they afraid of?

Since surrendering and defeat have the same outcome, why rush to surrender?

Conversely, if Cao Wei were to win by chance, your family property would be preserved.

The gentry thought that this made sense. Since both surrendering and defeat would result in financial ruin, it wouldn't be too late to surrender when Liu Bei came to their doorstep!

With this in mind, the top clans submitted petitions one after another, voluntarily handing over their private armies and stored grain to the court for unified allocation. Although they were also reluctant to give up the grain, they knew that if they didn't give it up now, Liu Bei would take it away later.

There was no other way but to hand over the grain.

The major aristocratic families have all handed over their troops and grain, and the smaller aristocratic families are no exception. If they dare not hand over their grain, the major aristocratic families who have already handed over their grain can devour them alive without the court having to lift a finger.

Against this backdrop, grain supplies and troops from various prefectures and counties were frantically converging on Nanyang, and grain transport teams were endlessly traveling along the official roads.

Even more so, Cao Pi issued a special edict ordering the Qiang, Di, Xiongnu and other nomadic tribes that had already submitted to the Cao Pi regime to lead their troops south to be reorganized, so as to prevent them from stabbing him in the back at the crucial moment of his decisive battle with Liu Bei.

To counter Liu Bei's land reform, the Cao Wei imperial family and the gentry of the Central Plains united and cooperated actively, resulting in a terrifying increase in the grain and troops in Nanyang.

News of the large-scale mobilization of the Wei army quickly reached Jiangling and successfully triggered the sensitive nerves of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei immediately convened a meeting of his ministers. Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Zhao, Guan Xing, and others all attended, and even Shi Xie, who was "bedridden," was invited.

Inside the Imperial Study...

Once everyone was present, Liu Bei got straight to the point: "I just received news that Cao Cao has issued a mobilization order to all the prefectures and counties in the Central Plains. All of Cao Wei's troops are now gathering in Xiangfan. In addition, Zhang Liao has suddenly passed away, and Sima Yi has taken his place."

"Let's start with the first thing: how should we deal with Cao Wei's full-scale attack?"

After exchanging glances, Zhuge Liang spoke first: "Of course we should actively fight back; there's nothing to hesitate about."

"This battle is Your Majesty's first since ascending the throne, and it is also the most important decisive battle between the Han Dynasty and Cao Wei. The outcome will directly determine the fate of the world. We must go all out. There is no time to hesitate. Let's talk about how to fight?"

Guan Yu stroked his beard and said, "What's there to discuss? We'll concentrate all our forces in Xiangyang and confront the Wei army head-on. We'll just push through them."

Zhang Zhao frowned and said, "Wouldn't that be too risky? Moreover, Cao Wei has mobilized no less than 500,000 troops nationwide this time. If the imperial court were to gather all its troops, it would probably number 300,000 to 400,000. Xiangfan can't possibly hold all that troops."

"Furthermore, Cao Wei's troops are all converging on Xiangyang and Fancheng, leaving Guanzhong and Huainan vulnerable. In that case, why doesn't the court follow the old story of Tian Ji's horse race and send a main force to Xiangyang to attract the Wei army, while sending two detachments to attack Guanzhong or Huainan when the opportunity arises? No matter which place Guanzhong or Huainan is recovered, the benefits to the court will be immeasurable."

"No..." Zhuge Liang immediately retorted, "First of all, dividing the troops will not only disperse the court's strength, but also cause the soldiers to become complacent. If the soldiers think that if we can't win on our side, there are still two other sides. The change in mentality will affect morale, and morale will directly affect combat effectiveness."

"Secondly, if we split our forces, let's take Guanzhong and Longxi as an example. If Generals Wei Yan and Guan Ping suffer setbacks in their battles, it would be easy for us to support Wei Yan, but if we support Guan Ping in Longxi, we would need to cross the Qishan Road, which is too far. The Wei army, on the other hand, can reach Guanzhong directly by crossing the Wuguan Road, which is closer than our support for Hanzhong."

"The same goes for Huainan. Not only does Cao Wei have more cavalry, but the provinces of Yu, Yan, and Xu near Huainan are all plains. It's much easier for them to provide support, whether it's mobilizing troops or transporting supplies. So let's skip the fancy stuff this time and just confront the Wei army head-on in Xiangfan!"

Liu Bei then asked Guan Xing, "Anguo, what do you think?"

Guan Xing stepped forward and bowed, saying, "I agree with the Prime Minister's opinion. In addition to the two points you mentioned, there is an even more important reason: the core element for conquering the world must be hard power. Only absolute hard power can make the people of the world completely convinced. Therefore, the court needs a tough battle to demonstrate its strength."

"Just like the Battle of Changping in Qin, the Battle of Gaixia in Gaozu, and the Battle of Kunyang in Guangwu, if Your Majesty wants to truly subdue the world, you must put forward a great battle that can be recorded in history. Only in this way will the gentry in the Central Plains truly submit. Otherwise, they will think that Your Majesty is weak and easy to bully. Even if they submit verbally in the future, they will continue to make small moves in secret."

In short, strength is the only true measure of success!

The empire that is forcibly conquered is the most stable, while the empire gained through trickery and compromise has hidden dangers. Take Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu for example. Apart from the Battle of Kunyang, he had no other outstanding achievements. As a result, he was unable to truly enforce his words like Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Wu, which allowed the aristocratic families to gradually grow stronger and eventually devour the court.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei pondered for a moment and then looked at Zhang Zhao. Zhang Zhao bowed and said, "Marquis Shence's words are reasonable, but what if we are unfortunately defeated? You should know that the gentry have put all their resources into supporting Cao Wei this time in order to oppose Your Majesty's land reform."

Before considering victory, one must consider defeat. As the brain of the nation, the imperial court must consider all consequences and cannot act like impulsive young people who roll up their sleeves and rush into action without thinking.

Guan Xing said, "Even if we lose, we can still show the world the court's determination to unify the country and never compromise. At that time, those heroes in the Central Plains who are devoted to the Han Dynasty and have lofty ambitions will naturally come to our aid."

"Furthermore, if we are unfortunately defeated, Your Majesty can retreat to Jiangling to recuperate. I will personally go to the Central Plains with the special forces that have already infiltrated and established themselves to carry out guerrilla warfare, ensuring that the Wei army will have no time to spare and will be unable to take advantage of the victory to attack Jiangling."

Even if this battle is lost, the situation is still much better than Liu Bei's defeat at Yiling in history. After all, Zhuge Liang was still young and had plenty of opportunities to launch a northern expedition.

"Why don't you go to the Central Plains and fight as a guerrilla now?" Zhang Zhao rolled his eyes at Guan Xing, then bowed to Liu Bei and said, "Then I have no objection."

Seeing that no one had any objections, Liu Bei slammed his fist on the table and said with great enthusiasm, "Then let's have a decisive battle in Xiangfan and settle the score in one battle."

As everyone bowed and prepared to take their leave, Guan Yu suddenly spoke up: "Oh, right, there's one more thing..."