Liu Biao really did not want to take advantage of Yuan Shu’s bereavement to attack him, but the problem was that no sooner had Liu Biao crossed the Yangtze River and pressed towards Jingbei than Yuan Yao died. But at this point, Liu Biao had already fought for South Commandery; would he really have retreated?
That’s why Liu Biao decided to go all or nothing and prepared to counterattack Xiangyang directly. He had waited so long for a good opportunity, and if he didn’t counterattack just because Yuan Shu had lost a son, that wouldn’t be benevolence, that would be brainless!
Liu Biao wasn’t that foolish. He immediately labeled Yuan Shu with the title of a national traitor who had stolen the imperial seal and brought chaos to the world, and continued his campaign.
Previously, Liu Biao had been suppressed by Liaoo Li, Gu Yong, Jiangh Qin, and Yuy Fan, a group of good officials from the Wu State in the later period, and Zhou Yu had even ordered the Yangtze River to be blocked. Without the threat of Yuan Shu, with Liu Biao’s combat power, Zhou Yu would definitely have been able to teach him a lesson.
As a result, last year Zhou Yu and Sunx Ce were successively placed under house arrest, and Liaoo Li, Gu Yong, Jiangh Qin, and Yuy Fan were consequently shelved. Zhou Yu and Sunx Ce made no struggle, so Jiangxia and Xiangyang naturally came under the control of Liu Xun, Li Feng, and Jii Ling.
Afterward, to stabilize Yangzhou, Yuan Shu called Jii Ling back to Shouchun. In such a scenario, it was arguably Liu Biao’s only chance to turn the tables. Naturally, Liu Biao didn’t have the patience to wait for Liu Bei to create an opportunity for him anymore. Who knew if there would still be such an opportunity if he missed this one? Immediately, Kuai Yue suggested to Liu Biao that they should launch an offensive towards South Commandery.
You should know that at this point, Liu Biao could be considered the weakest of all the Feudal Lords, not because of his generals or good officials, but because his foundation was weak.
At this juncture in history, the Central Plains should have been in an endless typhoid stage, until the population dropped to around ten million, at which point Zhang Zhongjing would emerge with this Artemisia Soup that could eliminate typhoid. But in this lifetime, the first outbreak of typhoid in the Central Plains was eradicated by Chen Xi’s cheats, and Hua Tuo’s medicine.
Furthermore, since Artemisia grew from north to south, east to west, wherever the Huaxia occupied, Hua Tuo publicized the prescription, and the epidemic, which was supposed to devastate the population along with starvation, was directly obliterated.
As for starvation, how should that be explained? Historically, after the outbreak of the epidemic, many people died while fleeing from north to south. One should know that as long as there is a government, no matter how incompetent the officials are, it’s actually very hard for large-scale starvation to occur among the people outside years of disaster.
As for now, whether it’s Northern Yuan Shao, Mount Tai’s Liu Bei, or Chenliu’s Cao Cao, they are all essentially considered to be at the level of outstanding leaders for this era. Even if Cao Cao is considered a scourge, he isn’t one to his own people. Although imposing a fifty percent tax does seem rather excessive, at least the other fifty percent manage to survive…
As for Yuan Shu, this man was an oddity. He had considerable expenses, but one thing must be acknowledged: as long as the tax revenue exceeded his expenditure, he wouldn’t increase the taxes. He didn’t bother with the people, viewing them as little bees; as long as they provided the honey he wanted, he didn’t care about the excess.
Originally, Yuan Shu’s policies should have become unbearable after the great epidemic, when the population decreased and his expenditures exceeded his revenue. Viewing the people as ants, Yuan Shu would still demand the same amount of taxes, which basically amounted to an indirect tax increase for the individuals.
The current situation was that Yuzhou had not gone through a great epidemic, and the population under Yuan Shu had grown even more due to his control over parts of Yangzhou and Jingzhou. Yuan Shu’s tax burden, therefore, actually became lighter when spread across a larger population.
Incidentally, among the various Feudal Lords, Yuan Shu’s army size was on a par with Liu Bei’s. Yuan Shu had only two hundred thousand troops, and though they were well-equipped, their combat power was another story. At the same time, Yuan Shu lacked the self-sufficient militarized farming troops of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, nor did he have Liu Bei’s construction corps...
Yuan Shu saw no need for such troops and had no Civil Officials to point out the necessity of these measures. His money and grain were in abundance; he couldn’t be bothered with the chores of farming. That was also why, despite controlling many desirable locations, he could only manage to fight against the lesser lords.
In short, Liu Biao was weak compared to the Three Great Feudal Lords of the Central Plains, so his only chance to turn things around was to wait for the right opportunity. And this time, it could be said to be a heaven-sent one. In Kuai Yue’s view, dangerous individuals were either under house arrest or kept in cold storage, and Liu Zhang, who had just inherited his father’s Official Position, happened to want to make an appearance!
Liu Zhang had only last year inherited his father Liu Yan’s legacy and, with the assistance of people like Wang Lei, Huang Quan, Wu Yi, Zhang Ren, and Yan Yan, successfully consolidated the power of Yizhou after a year, although Hanzhong was still occupied by Zhang Lu.
Initially, Zhang Lu was merely a pawn spread by Liu Yan to block the Qiang People from Yongliang and the imperial edicts, aiming to become a Local Tyrant himself. Now that Liu Yan had passed away, during the time Liu Zhang was consolidating Yizhou, Zhang Lu had also managed to turn Hanzhong into a haven of political and religious integration. Find your next read at freewebnovel
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In simple terms, Zhang Lu had consumed the legacy Liu Yan left for Liu Zhang. And now, as Liu Zhang had just taken on the role of Governor of Yizhou and still had some youthful zeal, how could he allow his inheritance to be snatched away by someone else?
The current situation was that the timid Liu Zhang had a bit of fire in him, and a group of idle Civil Officials and military generals in Yizhou were eager to show the world their combat power. Eventually, they formed two large armies.
One was led by Zhang Ren as the Chief General, setting out from Yizhou to attack Hanzhong in the north, while the other, led by Yan Yan as the Chief General, sailed down from Yizhou to Jingzhou and launched a surprise attack on Hanzhong from Shangyong. Of course, this route also carried the implication of probing the strength of the Central Plains Feudal Lords.
Clearly, Yizhou’s Zhang Song, Liu Ba, Huang Quan, and Zheng Du did not take Yuan Shu seriously. In their view, even if defeated and pushed back to Yizhou, no one would be able to breach their territory. However, even though they didn’t consider Yuan Shu a threat, they still notified Liu Biao, planning to use him as a shield. The pretext was to aid Liu Biao as Imperial Relatives.
Although Kuai Yue saw through the ruse, it was an open strategy; after Kuai Yue exposed Zhang Song and others’ conspiracies, Liu Biao hesitated for a moment before sending out his troops and declared that he would yield the territory west of Tigu to Yizhou should Jingzhou be conquered.
Thus, under the mutually suspicious motives of Kuai Yue and Zhang Song, both Liu Biao and Liu Zhang mobilized their forces. However, compared to Liu Zhang’s grand military posture, Liu Biao’s forces were quite meager. Yet, in terms of effects, both were evenly matched.
Brimming with indignation, Yan Yan marched directly to Baidi, and instantly, the morale of Yizhou’s Civil Officials and military generals surged considerably. They had previously thought their remote location lacked experience. But once they engaged, they realized they had significant combat power. So much for being one of the Three Great Feudal Lords of the Central Plains; they were effortlessly crushed!
With confidence soaring, Yan Yan, under the command of strategists like Zhang Song, Wang Lei, Qin Mi, and Liu Ba, steamrolled through, crushing all in their path until reaching Shangyong. That’s when Yuan Shu finally reacted. However, at this point, Yuan Shu’s abysmal intelligence system still believed it was Liu Biao reclaiming Jingbei. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)