Chapter 208

Chapter 208

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 7: Eight Hundred Qin Rivers, Occupying Guanzhong Chapter 208: Jing and Yi Adaptations

Book: Can a Strategist Not Ascend the Throne?

Chapter 208: Jing and Yi Adaptations

When Liu Xie first left the protection of his court officials, how could he have imagined that the woodcutter before him was not a real woodcutter?

Even the idea that Li Jue had accidentally fallen off a mountain ridge while taking him to escape was a fabricated result. Before he woke up, someone had already prepared this scene.

Otherwise, if he had really fallen like that, whether he could wake up or not would have been a mystery.

What he saw was that this woodcutter was genuinely a kind-hearted person. After taking him back to treat his injuries, he even had his wife prepare a hot meal for him.

The food of the common folk was indeed too rough for Liu Xie, especially since Li Jue had slightly improved his treatment after taking power.

But for Liu Xie, who had experienced another round of hardship, this hot meal was undoubtedly comparable to a feast of delicacies.

Although he was precocious and intelligent, when faced with the couple who genuinely lived a mountain life, he couldn’t detect any flaws.

Naturally, he couldn’t see any difference between the environment they lived in and the Yizhou he found himself in after asking around.

After being taken in by this kind couple for three days due to his inability to remember his origins, he overheard their quiet conversation about their deceased son, who bore some resemblance to him.

It was at this moment that Liu Xie suddenly conceived a particularly special idea.

If… if there were only one Son of Heaven in the Han Dynasty, wouldn’t that eliminate the root of these troubles?

Dong Zhuo would no longer be able to tyrannize Chang’an, conscripting soldiers and levying taxes in his name.

This way, perhaps the chaos could be settled.

After all, the injuries on his face, according to the medical standards of the common folk, were impossible to heal. Unless someone who had seen him before and was very familiar with his appearance, no one should be able to recognize his identity.

So, taking the opportunity to stay here didn’t seem like a bad idea.

He could adopt a pair of foster parents!

Liu Xie wasn’t necessarily unwilling to be the Son of Heaven.

He clearly knew that the position of the Son of Heaven was passed down to him by Emperor Ling of Han with great expectations, and it was his responsibility.

But when the timing wasn’t right, and now it seemed like a rope was being handed to him to pull him out of the well, he made his choice without hesitation.

He even gave himself a pseudonym.

Since his mother’s surname was Wang, and he had just come from Chang’an, he named himself Wang An.

This name probably sounded quite fitting for a country bumpkin.

For now, he would only be a country bumpkin.

Due to the mountain ranges separating Yizhou and Sili, Liu Xie couldn’t quickly learn about the situation in Chang’an.

The couple acting as his parents would strictly limit his access to news from there.

Thus, he wouldn’t know that while people in Chang’an were still searching for his whereabouts, on one hand, Qiao Yan was sending inquiries to Youzhou about supporting Liu Yu as the Son of Heaven, and on the other hand, news of the Guanzhong plains’ campaign against Li Jue and Dong Zhuo, which had lost the Son of Heaven Liu Xie, was spreading to the surrounding areas.

The states suspected of being Liu Xie’s destination were obviously the first to receive this battle report.

First were the two states closest to Wuguan.

Jing Province and Yizhou.

The former’s Nanyang was where Li Jue had originally chosen to temporarily reside, much like Zhang Xiu’s historical choice.

The latter’s Hanzhong was another option, where the Son of Heaven’s uniform was found pointing to.

Liu Yan and Liu Biao received the news almost simultaneously and made the same reaction.

After jumping up in shock from their seats, they snatched the message records from the messengers, almost doubting their own ears.

They had always been closely monitoring the situation in Chang’an.

After all, that was where the Son of Heaven resided.

Maintaining contact with the Chang’an court was essential for them.

But this sudden change had happened too quickly.

Just over a month ago, Qiao Yan had just returned to Liangzhou from Bingzhou, and there had been correspondence with Chang’an.

Now, the situation had completely changed.

No one’s “speed in military affairs” could possibly be this fast!

Regardless of whether Liu Xie was lost or not, Qiao Yan had truly fulfilled her promise from years ago by advancing into Sili through Liangzhou, capturing Chang’an, which was a fact.

None of the old ministers in Chang’an had died due to this successful attack, which was also a fact!

These two points alone were enough to shock people with this achievement.

She also lived up to the trust Emperor Ling of Han had placed in her before his death.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Biao rode alone to Jing Province, establishing himself with the support of the noble families in Jingxiang, while Liu Yan was the first to propose the idea of reinstating the provincial governors, placing his confidants in control of Hanzhong, completely cutting off external channels—

Among the warlords of the late Han, they might not be in the first tier, but they were certainly in the second tier.

But at this moment, they shared a common thought: how did she do it?

Especially when subsequent news also reached them, it was impossible not to be even more shocked.

The four surnames of Hanyang allied with Dong Zhuo and Li Jue, leading 20,000 troops from Chang’an into Liangzhou, but they encountered Qiao Yan’s defensive counterattack in the Wei River Valley before Shanggui. Four thousand of these 20,000 soldiers died on the spot, and the rest were incorporated into her autumn harvest team.

Sanguan in the direction of Chencang and Wudu County had already fallen into her hands before Qiao Yan even sent troops out of the valley.

Maiwu, a city specifically fortified by Dong Zhuo, was forcibly breached after just one day of siege by her army.

The two opposing forces in Chang’an quickly settled down upon the arrival of Qiao Yan’s cavalry.

Dong Zhuo was killed, and Li Jue fled.

These eight simple words marked the end of the campaign to advance into Sili.

Every step of it sounded incredibly bizarre.

Yet, she actually succeeded!

Even knowing that since the Yellow Turban Rebellion… no, since the campaign against Dong Zhuo, Qiao Yan had always had her own way of adapting to the development of the war situation and had always done things that seemed impossible, hearing this news still left people in a daze.

They couldn’t help but ask themselves: if it were them, could they have done this?

Liu Biao and Cai Mao, Kuai Yue, and others exchanged glances, giving a silent answer.

No.

But they suddenly realized something even more terrifying: what they should be concerned about now wasn’t whether they could accomplish the attack on Chang’an if they were in Qiao Yan’s position, but whether they could withstand her attack if they were in Dong Zhuo’s position.

Despite continuous warfare being a deadly matter for any army, if it were truly necessary, with the grain accumulation in the Guanzhong plains after the autumn harvest, it could indeed be done.

But because Li Jue had taken Liu Xie and fled, giving her a reason to attack to more easily find Liu Xie’s whereabouts.

In the subsequent news, Zhao Yun, under Qiao Yan’s command, captured Yan Xing and stationed his troops at Wuguan.

This was both a convenient way to station troops to search for Liu Xie in the surrounding mountains.

And a way to attack Nanyang in Jing Province at any time.








On the other hand, Xu Shu, who had been quietly farming in Wudu County, silently captured Zhang Lu’s men, occupied Sanguan, and then, under the guise of the Taishi Path, took Chencang. It’s hard to say if he won’t turn around and capture Zhang Lu himself to secure the pass for attacking Hanzhong.

Liu Biao and Liu Yan are both in danger.

Putting themselves in the position of Qiao Yan’s enemies to consider their current situation is perfectly normal.

“I think the Prefect should write a memorial to Chang’an,” Kuai Yue said with a grave expression.

Although they never made any substantial promises to Dong Zhuo, they only “cooperated” with him under the banner of respecting the young emperor in Chang’an. If we trace it back, they haven’t had any real conflicts with Qiao Yan.

But judging from the effects of their alliance with Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian’s death is always right in front of them.

If Qiao Yan hadn’t advanced on Chang’an so quickly, perhaps they wouldn’t be in such a panic by the time they fully converted their gains from pacifying the bandits in Jing Province into internal armed forces.

But now, they haven’t even taken Changsha County, which is under Zhu Jun’s control, and the war in Chang’an has already ended.

The situation is beyond their control; they can only show weakness first.

Fortunately, they still have something to say.

Kuai Yue suggested, “Please, in this memorial, do not mention Sun Jian, not a single word!”

This was said with utmost seriousness.

Although they could frame their use of Dong Zhuo’s forces to defeat Sun Jian as Sun Jian’s actions in Jing Province being against the rules.

And by using his previous act of killing the Prefect of Nanyang and his conflict with Liu Biao to deduce that Liu Biao’s actions were retaliatory measures taken under duress.

But all this presupposes that Qiao Yan is not biased in her attitude towards Sun Jian and Liu Biao.

But that’s not the case.

Even Sun Ce’s official position was requested by Qiao Yan.

The closeness of their relationship is self-evident.

So rather than trying to exonerate themselves, which would likely provoke Qiao Yan’s displeasure, it’s better to clearly state the benefits of maintaining Jing Province’s current state in this memorial.

For example, Jing Province has no intention of being independent from the court. Liu Biao initially obtained the position of Governor of Jing Province due to Emperor Ling’s regard, and his political stance can align with Qiao Yan’s.

Secondly, Liu Biao was previously deceived by Dong Zhuo into thinking they could mutually assist each other, but now it’s clear that Dong Zhuo and the Liang rebels were only using Jing Province as a fallback, intending to occupy and divide it.

Thus, Liu Biao and they were never truly allies.

After Liu Biao adopts this stance, as long as Li Jue isn’t too foolish, he shouldn’t come to seek refuge with Liu Biao.

Thirdly, since they need to find someone, it’s more reasonable to rely on the local powerful families in Jing Province to do so without alerting anyone, so it’s better to leave the task of finding people in Jing Province to him.

Then, Liu Biao must express his admiration and gratitude to Qiao Yan for capturing Chang’an in the tone of a Han imperial relative, calling her a loyal minister upholding the Han dynasty’s traditions.

Finally, Liu Biao must add this sentence.

Regardless of whether Liu Xie can be found in the short term or whether the capital will remain in Chang’an or move back to Luoyang, the ancestral sacrifices of the Han dynasty must not be interrupted, and they will inevitably need more hands. Therefore, he will send his eldest son, Liu Qi, to Chang’an to assist Qiao Yan in the cleanup.

This sounds good, but in essence, it’s sending a hostage to Chang’an.

Outsiders won’t know that Liu Biao doesn’t particularly like his eldest son, but Liu Qi isn’t useless and is, by ritual, Liu Biao’s legitimate eldest son.

After this series of moves, Liu Biao has made his position and advantages clear.

Under such circumstances, if Qiao Yan still wants to accuse him of crimes and invade, it would be somewhat unjustifiable.

Liu Biao’s decisiveness is not lacking. After Kuai Yue proposed this series of responses, he completed the letter to Chang’an without hesitation.

Liu Yan is also not idle.

On one hand, he writes to Zhang Lu, urging him to guard the pass between Wudu County and Hanzhong County to prevent any changes.

On the other hand, he publicly declares that he will temporarily block the passes between Hanzhong County and other parts of Yizhou to prevent Li Jue from fleeing further south if he comes towards Yizhou.

In reality, he is using Hanzhong as a barrier to prevent attacks from the direction of Chang’an.

Compared to Liu Yan’s approach, Liu Biao’s more measured response is clearly more dignified.

But both of them are equally terrified.

Yuan Shu, who is further away, isn’t doing much better.

How can Yuan Shu not panic?

He had just taken over the position of Governor of Yu Province from Dong Zhuo, and before he could even enjoy it, he received news that Chang’an had been captured by Qiao Yan.

Forget about recruiting talents in Yingchuan; in this short time, he hasn’t even been able to use his position as Governor to denounce Liu Bei.

In just three or four days… he went from the peak to the bottom.

According to his subordinates’ calculations, the one who sent him the edict wasn’t even Dong Zhuo, but Li Jue, who had seized power from Dong Zhuo.

Yuan Shu could curse Li Jue to the heavens.

Of course, he can’t curse Li Jue for giving him the title of Governor of Yu Province.

If he said that, wouldn’t it mean he himself feels unworthy of the title?

He can’t say that.

If he curses, he should curse Li Jue for marching into Liangzhou during the harvest season, completely disregarding the people’s welfare, making him the number one traitor in the world.

Of course, what he really thinks is, how could someone be so stupid as to turn an attack with 20,000 men and insider help into such a mess, not only failing to weaken Qiao Yan’s forces but allowing her to counterattack and take Chang’an?

“Those are 20,000 men, not 20,000 pigs!” Yuan Shu paced back and forth in the room.

Yuan Huan glanced at Yuan Shu.

His good upbringing from the Yuan Clan of Chen County prevented him from saying that it might be difficult for Yuan Shu to produce 20,000 pigs on the spot, and there was no need to say that Li Jue was incompetent.

It’s just that Qiao Yan is too capable.

He lowered his eyes, deep in thought about the current situation, when suddenly Yuan Shu turned to him and asked, “Yaoqing, what do you think we should do?”

The possibility of Li Jue bringing the young emperor to him has made Yuan Shu feel a sense of crisis.

After Qiao Yan took over Sili, she directly connected Liangzhou, Bingzhou, and Guanzhong into a whole, making it effortless for her to move east through Luoyang to Yu Province.

No matter how arrogant he is, he knows the current situation isn’t favorable for him.

With Liu Bei in front, Qiao Yan behind, Cao Cao to the north, and Liu Biao and Sun Ce to the south, what kind of hellish situation is this!

Yuan Huan calmly replied, “Prefect, there’s no need to rush to respond. Just watch what Yuan Benchu does.”

Yuan Shu was stunned for a moment, but then he realized Yuan Huan was right.

As a member of the Yuan Clan of Runan, he has a reference point.

The conflict between Yuan Shao and Qiao Yan has always been more severe than his own with Qiao Yan.

Even in the current situation, it’s the same.

So, all he needs to do is act more in line with Qiao Yan’s interests than Yuan Benchu!

Yuan Shu’s intelligence finally kicked in, and he quickly ordered, “Quick! Send someone to Jizhou to gather information!”

He wants to see Yuan Shao’s reaction to decide his own actions!