Chapter 184

Chapter 184

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 6: The Tiger’s Roar in Two Provinces, the Silk Road Reopens Chapter 184: Li Jue’s Thoughts

Some people are martyrs in their twilight years, still full of ambition, while others are just old and helpless.

Dong Zhuo clearly belongs to the latter.

For someone like Li Jue, who followed Dong Zhuo early on, this change is especially tragic.

In his early years, he rose from a local strongman in Liangzhou to join the military, relying on his expanding influence to seek higher positions until he had the chance to reach a place where he stood above thousands, seizing the opportunity in one fell swoop.

At that time, Dong Zhuo was full of ambition and vision.

When they were rampaging through Luoyang, Li Jue was extremely grateful that he had chosen to follow Dong Zhuo.

But now?

He listened in a daze as Dong Zhuo said that, given Qiao Yan’s military habits, she would not allow such a void in her rear, giving them an opportunity to exploit.

And given her habit of launching campaigns in early spring, no one could guarantee that while they were mobilizing, Qiao Yan wouldn’t simultaneously march on Chang’an.

If that were the case, their retreat would be completely cut off, and even the original middle and lower strategies for retreat would no longer exist.

Theoretically, this statement has some basis.

In the spring of the fifth year of Zhongping, Qiao Yan led troops beyond the frontier to attack the Xianbei royal court.

In the spring of the sixth year of Zhongping, to ensure the Xianbei would not invade again and deepen their reverence for the Han Dynasty, she launched another campaign.

In the spring of the second year of Guangxi, she led troops to Gaoping City, slaughtering 8,000 Zhong Qiang.

In the spring of the third year of Guangxi, there was indeed a significant probability that she would continue to launch military campaigns.

Although Li Jue did not secure the position of Middle General under Dong Zhuo when he entered Luoyang, he was no less knowledgeable about Dong Zhuo than anyone else.

He could clearly see whether Dong Zhuo chose not to advance at this time due to a clear judgment of the situation or because he was too afraid to fight and chose to shrink back.

Li Jue felt a chill in his heart.

If the leader, Dong Zhuo, was like this, what should they, his followers, do?

Wait with him until Qiao Yan’s power grew stronger and they were surrounded and killed in Chang’an?

Or continue to flee south into the territories of Yizhou and Jing Province?

If Li Jue were the type to be content with small gains, he might accept such an arrangement.

But after most of Dong Zhuo’s available men were killed or injured in the battle of Luoyang, and he was promoted from a captain, he became somewhat dissatisfied.

Dong Zhuo’s aging state and the cold, lonely environment of wealth undoubtedly exacerbated this change in his mentality.

Although he did not express this frustration when dealing with Dong Zhuo, his face immediately fell when he returned to his garrison at Gaoling.

“If the Prime Minister wants to wait, his opponents won’t let him wait so peacefully. What kind of situation is this!”

“If the Prime Minister doesn’t make a decision soon, we either pack our bags and prepare to leave at any moment, or we prepare our own funeral clothes!”

Li Jue’s wife, who was beside him, was shocked, “What do you mean?”

She had previously thought that the defense of Chang’an was as solid as Mount Tai.

Dong Zhuo ultimately did not follow Jia Xu’s advice to rotate the garrisons in these areas, so Li Jue still guarded the Gaoling Jing River estuary, and his nephew Hu Feng was stationed at Chunhua.

In the year and a half since, the forces stationed in these two places had expanded along with Dong Zhuo’s recruitment.

This increase in military strength had given her a lot of peace of mind.

Why do they now have to prepare their own funeral clothes?

Li Jue sighed, “The Prime Minister no longer wants to fight, he can’t fight anymore!”

He raised his voice a bit, gritting his teeth, “But does he even know that at his stage, taking a step back is not about finding a place to enjoy his old age, but about falling from a height and being shattered to pieces.”

“—Along with us!”

Li Jue’s wife, who had been confidently talking about the advantageous positions of Gaoling and Chunhua, was now speechless in the face of this life-threatening situation.

After a long while, she managed to squeeze out a question, “Then… what should we do?”

Li Jue took the teacup from his wife’s hand, drank the water, and calmed some of the frustration in his chest, saying the answer he had already figured out on the way, “If the Prime Minister doesn’t want to fight, I still want to fight! Then I’ll take control of the army from him!”

People always don’t want to die!

He has to give it a try.

But this is not an easy thing to do.

He saw the change in Dong Zhuo’s mentality, but the soldiers under Dong Zhuo’s command would not follow his orders because of this.

These people are an interest and military group formed around Dong Zhuo, not Li Jue.

He held his aching head and asked his wife, “What do you think, if we let Shi’er marry the Prime Minister’s granddaughter, making us and the Prime Minister family, is it possible…”

Li Shi was his son, Dong Bai was Dong Zhuo’s granddaughter, and their ages were similar.

If he could gain Dong Zhuo’s further trust in this way, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

But before he could finish, his wife sharply rejected him. “Don’t even think about it!”

“I tell you, even if you want to take over the Prime Minister’s generals through marriage, don’t think about having Shi’er marry Dong Bai. That girl has been spoiled by her grandfather, she’s no good match. I think you might as well give your daughter to the Prime Minister and become his father-in-law.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Li Jue’s face darkened.

“You know I’m talking nonsense, huh?” She sneered, “I tell you! If you really want to use Shi’er as a stepping stone for your power grab, you don’t have to wait for the Bingzhou army to invade Chang’an, I’ll take your son and jump off the Gaoling city wall right now.”

“Alright, alright, stop causing trouble…” Li Jue grabbed her hand, stopping her from turning to leave, “I’ll find another way, okay?”

His wife had always doted on their son Li Shi, so her reaction was not surprising.

But with this path cut off, he couldn’t help but think that he didn’t necessarily have to establish such a connection with Dong Zhuo.

After calculating the forces under his command, he realized he actually had quite a few.

Dong Zhuo, after the early death of his elder brother and the death of his younger brother in battle, only had his old mother, granddaughter, and Dong Huang, who commanded the imperial guards, with few relatives to rely on.

Even Dong Huang only replaced Fan Chou as the commander of the palace guards in Chang’an due to Dong Zhuo’s paranoia.

But Li Jue had many relatives under his command.

He had two cousins, Li Ying and Li Huan, who were with him in Chang’an, two nephews, Li Li and Li Xian, who were old enough to lead troops, and a nephew, Hu Feng, who was appointed as a cavalry captain by Dong Zhuo to guard Chunhua.

If these people each led a unit… he wouldn’t have to be so afraid of Dong Zhuo.

Putting himself in others’ shoes, he couldn’t help but think that if destruction was imminent, would Fan Chou, Zhang Ji, Duan Wei, and others really be so loyal to Dong Zhuo?

And what about those who, due to the turmoil in Liangzhou…








Yan Xing, who had just pledged allegiance to Dong Zhuo.

That guy chose to serve Dong Zhuo because Dong Zhuo was the only one with a chance to send troops to Liangzhou and avenge Han Sui.

What would such a young general with extraordinary martial arts skills react if he found out that Dong Zhuo had already decided to give up the counterattack?

And Jia Xu, who repeatedly strategized for Dong Zhuo but sighed in frustration due to Dong Zhuo’s decision.

If Li Jue remembered correctly, Jia Xu had given up the lives of his wife and children in Bingzhou to strategize for Dong Zhuo, hoping that Dong Zhuo could help revive the Jia family in Wuwei.

But Dong Zhuo clearly failed Jia Xu’s expectations.

Thinking about it, even Jia Xu might be swayed to his side!

Realizing this, Li Jue’s heart suddenly brightened.

However, he didn’t act immediately. Instead, he waited until Jia Xu was assigned by Dong Zhuo to inspect various military camps. Seeing Jia Xu staring blankly at the road for a long time, as if lamenting why Dong Zhuo didn’t follow his plan, Li Jue finally struck up a conversation.

“Master Wenhe, forgive my boldness, but I’d like to ask you something. I also think your plan to attack Bingzhou is feasible—”

Seeing Jia Xu’s attitude soften at his words, Li Jue pressed on: “The Prime Minister might think Qiao Yan is invincible due to the previous defeat in Luoyang and the successive failures of Ma Teng and Han Sui, but in the end, she’s just a mere child. To control two provinces without any mistakes is something even a god couldn’t do.”

Jia Xu asked, “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying, if we could act first and report later, showing the Prime Minister the brilliance of your strategy, he might wake up and take immediate action. Why not give it a try?”

Li Jue declared solemnly, “We are all from Liangzhou, and we can only rely on each other. How can we let such a heaven-sent opportunity slip away? Even if the Prime Minister blames me and punishes me, I’ll accept it. It’s better than being wiped out on the Guanzhong Plain without taking a single step.”

As he spoke, he kept a close eye on Jia Xu’s expression.

If Jia Xu showed any sign of suspicion, Li Jue was ready to eliminate him on the spot, even if it meant dealing with the aftermath.

But all he saw was a flicker of emotion quickly suppressed beneath a calm demeanor, followed by Jia Xu’s words: “You’re too late.”

Li Jue was puzzled, “What do you mean, too late?”

Jia Xu replied, “If you had said this earlier, I might have been able to help you achieve a victory without incurring the Prime Minister’s wrath. But now, it’s impossible.”

“You must have received the scouts’ reports from the road patrols a few days ago. The Governor of Bingzhou has been expanding farmland in Shangjun and even deployed troops. This might just be her establishing another military settlement to expand Shangjun’s arable land, but there’s also the possibility that someone leaked the news, prompting her to prepare for our attack from this route.”

Li Jue’s hesitation to approach Jia Xu had cost him a month.

In terms of military operations, this meant missing the optimal time for action.

Qiao Yan’s actions made it unnecessary for Jia Xu to find excuses to dissuade Li Jue from attacking Shangjun.

Though they were in different locations and couldn’t communicate further, the situation was still under control.

Jia Xu suspected that Qiao Yan had some method to increase crop yields, hence the expansion of farmland in Shangjun.

However, he probably wouldn’t have guessed that in southern Shangjun, near today’s Yan’an and Suide, what was being planted and heavily guarded wasn’t millet or wheat, but cotton.

Of course, this didn’t stop him from stirring up trouble in Chang’an.

The timing of his suggestion to Dong Zhuo to attack Bingzhou had been carefully chosen.

It was right before Li Jue came to report on the defense situation.

And the scene Li Jue witnessed—Jia Xu’s suggestion being ignored and his subsequent sighs—was all part of Jia Xu’s plan.

He had finally heard the Western Liang general’s desire to act independently, disregarding Dong Zhuo’s orders.

The wall was already loose; it was time to dig.

Seeing Li Jue’s confusion over the missed opportunity, Jia Xu said, “I know General Li is both brave and wise. Acting first and reporting later isn’t a betrayal of the Prime Minister but an attempt to break the current deadlock.”

“But the situation has changed. Please, General, don’t make unnecessary sacrifices. If you must act, choose a different time and method.”

Jia Xu’s words, “Don’t make unnecessary sacrifices,” particularly resonated with Li Jue.

He quickly bowed to Jia Xu, “Please, Master, teach me.”

At that moment, Li Jue had only one thought:

If Dong Zhuo couldn’t use this strategist properly, then he would!

The undercurrents in Chang’an showed no outward signs.

After Li Jue was persuaded by Jia Xu and abandoned his plan to mobilize troops, the city still appeared to be under Dong Zhuo’s absolute control.

Confident in Jia Xu’s manipulation of the situation, Qiao Yan focused on overseeing the spring plowing activities in Liangzhou and Bingzhou.

Especially in Liangzhou.

The winter rapeseed sown after the land was reclaimed last year had turned into a golden sea of flowers by April.

Rapeseed flowers could produce seeds twenty days after blooming. By the time Qiao Yan inspected the fields in Wuwei Commandery, the flowering period was already halfway over.

In about ten days, the flowers would fade, and the rapeseed would be harvested, followed by the planting of wheat.

During this transition period, most of the Qiang people who had been guided to the five administrative offices would also be reassigned to the farming teams.

The exceptions were likely the members of the reception and foreign language offices.

But the number of Qiang people in the former was limited, and the latter’s main task was to guide various Qiang people to their respective farming settlements, using the Chinese they had learned during the winter to explain the work. They, too, should be considered part of the spring plowing effort.

As Qiao Yan strolled, she saw many Qiang people in uniform standing in the fields, busy communicating with the experienced farmers sent from Bingzhou and relaying messages to their fellow Qiang people.

Compared to the tones she heard outside her window when she first returned to Liangzhou in February, the Chinese spoken by the Qiang people had improved significantly in just two months, likely due to practice.

At least it sounded much more pleasant to her ears now.

Other Qiang people, after working in the creation, textile, and construction offices throughout the winter and receiving their wages, had also begun to build confidence in Qiao Yan.

When working in the fields, it was hard to tell at first glance that they originally belonged to a nomadic tribe.

It was even harder to remember that just two years ago, they were locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Han army.

The scenes before her prompted Qiao Yan to remark to Zhao Yun beside her, “Zilong, don’t today’s Qiang people remind you of yesterday’s Black Mountain Bandits?”

And now, the Black Mountain Bandits had become the Black Mountain Army—no, an inseparable part of the Bingzhou Army.

What about these Qiang people?