Chapter 311

Chapter 311: Changes in Yizhou

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 9: The Calamity of Drought and Locusts, Flying Troops to Liaodong, Chapter 311: Changes in Yizhou

This message reached Qiao Yan faster than she had anticipated.

“The situation in Liaodong hasn’t been delayed at all.”

She flipped through the second page of the report, summarizing the progress of the campaign. Seeing the relatively composed young man among them recounting how they captured Gongsun Du three times and eventually convinced him to surrender, she couldn’t help but smile.

Zhuge Liang mentioned in the letter that after Gongsun Du realized his true purpose through their methods, he no longer dared to act like the self-proclaimed king of Liaodong. Instead, he actively sought to align with them.

He handed over his military authority to Lu Lingju, Tai Shici, and Gan Ning, while also cooperating with Zhuge Liang and others to maintain secrecy about the surprise attack on Liaodong.

The latter might not have been as difficult as they imagined.

Liaodong Commandery, especially Xiangping County, had always been under Gongsun Du’s sole control. After being freed from the siege and returning to his commanding position, he faced some skepticism. However, with the new overseers possibly being even more assertive, the region remained under control.

This was where Sima Yi’s role became evident.

No longer needed to stay on Zhangzi Island to ensure the fishermen they temporarily recruited followed orders, Sima Yi quickly made his way to Xiangping from the southern islands.

At Leping Academy, he had specialized in communication courses. He conducted surveys and inquiries among the people traveling between Liaodong Commandery, its dependencies, Liaoxi Commandery, and Goguryeo to ensure no one would leak information, even though Liaodong wasn’t deliberately sealed off.

The sparse population of Liaodong Commandery undoubtedly facilitated their efforts.

What pleased Qiao Yan even more was that these young men didn’t become overconfident after persuading Gongsun Du to surrender. They didn’t rush to intimidate Buyeo and Goguryeo to bring them under control.

Instead, they wisely maintained Gongsun Du’s existing relations with these groups to avoid escalating conflicts.

This decision was clearly wise.

Goguryeo and Xuantu Commandery were intertwined, and besides the Wuhuan tribe in Liaodong’s dependencies, other tribes resided in Liaodong and Xuantu Commandery.

Forcing Buyeo and Goguryeo to submit to the Chang’an court might not only fail to gain additional allies but could also expose their plans prematurely.

Fortunately, order had been restored.

The students of Leping Academy had delivered a satisfactory performance.

Zhuge Liang reassured Gongsun Du, stating that the Liaodong campaign had mobilized resources from various provinces to capture him, which wasn’t entirely wrong.

Shipbuilding techniques came from Yang Province, labor and materials from Xuzhou, and a significant portion of the ship’s provisions from Hanzhong. The grappling bridges, paiguan, and repeating crossbows that debuted in this battle represented the highest mechanical standards of each province.

With these prerequisites in the hands of young men from various provinces and Tai Shici and Gan Ning, they achieved a result that intimidated Gongsun Du, making him feel like a fallen warlord.

Anyone who still saw these academy graduates as greenhorns would be in for a rude awakening.

While Gongsun Du was still considered useful by Qiao Yan, others like Gongsun Zan…

“Now that Liaodong is secured, when does the lord plan to launch the Youzhou campaign?” Guo Jia took the report from Qiao Yan and understood the source of her good mood.

Having successors is crucial for any power, even for someone like Qiao Yan with vast resources and mostly youthful subordinates.

The performances of Zhuge Liang and Lu Lingju proved that Qiao Yan’s initiatives in founding Leping Academy were correct, allowing these graduates to make a stunning debut.

Now, the only decision left was when to attack Youzhou.

Through her intelligence channels, she could coordinate Zhang Liao in Juyong Pass, Shanggu Commandery, and Gongsun Du in Liaodong to strike Gongsun Zan simultaneously.

After some thought, Qiao Yan replied, “After the autumn harvest. We also need to consider the sentiments of the provinces under our control.”

Although everyone knew that Guanzhong, Liangzhou, and Bingzhou had shown resilience against drought and locust plagues, maintaining order and increasing public allegiance to the court through Leping Monthly Report, Yuzhou had just been “lost,” leaving only Yingchuan under their control. Henan and Hongnong Commanderies in Sili had only recently returned to Chang’an’s control, making it an inopportune time for military action.

Even with 15 million dan of grain stored in Chang’an’s granaries, using these reserves for northern military supplies before the autumn harvest could be seen as militaristic.

If such criticism arose, Yuan Shao, who had tasted the benefits of public opinion attacks, wouldn’t miss the chance to repeat his tactics.

While the other three provinces had countered public opinion, could Sili and the newly captured Youzhou remain unaffected?

According to Zhuge Liang’s letter, changes in Liaodong Commandery wouldn’t be quickly noticed, and the secrecy could be maintained for at least four months after they took control.

Qiao Yan trusted Zhuge Liang’s judgment.

Thus, launching the attack after the autumn harvest would be timely!

As long as it was within the year, there would be no issues.

“Before that, medical checks for the people in Luoyang, the promotion of emergency measures from Chang’an, and well-digging projects could all be completed by August. By then, we could focus on defending the border between Youzhou and Jizhou after the Youzhou campaign.”

It wasn’t yet time to leave everything to the young men in the confrontation with Yuan Shao.

She also needed to distract Yuan Shao to prevent him from focusing entirely on the north.

When Youzhou was first secured, it couldn’t be fully controlled at once; it needed to be taken step by step.

“Autumn harvest…” Guo Jia muttered, understanding the timing. “As the lord said, it must be delayed until then.”

Qiao Yan’s advance wouldn’t just be hindered by natural disasters and public opinion in Jizhou. After the emergency measures were distributed in Luoyang half a month ago, some criticisms inevitably arose in Chang’an, which had always been under her control.

Although these voices were quickly suppressed by Emperor Liu Yu’s support for Qiao Yan, it didn’t mean she was entirely worry-free.

Moreover, transporting grain to Juyong Pass in Bingzhou and across the sea to Gongsun Du to strengthen the alliance would take time.

To make the grain shipment more plausible, it first needed a reasonable excuse to reach Xuzhou.

Therefore—

“According to the lord’s plan, Xuzhou will also have to change by then, right?”

Guo Jia phrased it as a question, but his tone was affirmative.

The current state of the war was like beads on a string—pulling one would affect the whole.

Qiao Yan clearly understood this chain reaction and firmly grasped the hubs connecting various regions. Changing Xuzhou wasn’t difficult after the standoff was broken in May.

Moreover, although Zhuge Liang and Lu Lingju had gone to Liaodong, Pang Tong, Jia Xu, and the Qiao sisters were still in Xuzhou and Yangzhou.

They were also capable assistants Qiao Yan relied on.

Qiao Yan affirmed, “Yes, using Xuzhou as an excuse to send grain, stabilizing the people with the autumn harvest, and launching from Liaodong… we’ll catch Gongsun Zan off guard!”

In the chess game of the realm, it was time for all-out war!

But as Qiao Yan and Guo Jia finalized the timing, they didn’t anticipate the sudden changes that would occur.








An unexpected turn of events forced them to adjust their original plans once again.

Just three days after the news of the successful operation in Liaodong arrived, an urgent secret report was delivered to Qiao Yan’s desk.

This secret letter actually came from Yizhou!

As Qiao Yan unfolded the letter and read the first two lines, her expression immediately changed.

All personnel under her command who belonged to the intelligence department were trained to deliver their reports in a concise and straightforward manner right from the start.

So, the first sentence of this report was: Liu Yan is critically ill, and the Yizhou gentry are plotting to seize power.

Liu Yan is critically ill!

Liu Yan, also known as Liu Junlang, was indeed not young anymore. After all, he already had four sons, and even the eldest son of his youngest son, Liu Zhang, was almost old enough to get married.

As early as last year, Liu Yan had arranged for his grandson, Liu Xun, to marry the daughter of Pang Xi in an effort to further win over the Dongzhou gentry.

This Yizhou Governor, already in his fifties, had also suffered an arrow wound during the early years of suppressing rebellions in Yizhou, which had caused his health to deteriorate over time.

Even though he had gained access to rare treasures from the provinces to maintain his health after fully consolidating power in Yizhou, the inevitable disaster of old age was clearly not something he could easily avoid.

In fact, historically, Liu Yan died this very year.

However, Qiao Yan had previously thought that since Liu Yan hadn’t experienced the trauma of having two sons killed by Dong Zhuo, which would have caused his arrow wound to flare up and led to his death, he should have been able to live a couple more years.

But to her surprise, she received the news of Liu Yan’s critical illness in the summer of the third year of Jian’an.

“Go and summon Guo Fengxiao and Xun Wenruo,” she immediately ordered her subordinates.

When Guo Jia and Xun Yu arrived, they saw Qiao Yan with a stern expression, her eyes fixed on the documents on her desk, occasionally tapping the table lightly with her fingertips.

This behavior made it clear that something serious had happened.

Her first words were, “I thought that after the last battle in Hanzhong, we had not only intimidated the disloyal Liu Yan but also the Yizhou gentry who relied on the natural defenses of Yizhou to feel secure.”

“But now it seems that these people not only want to be the gentry of Yizhou but also its masters.”

“Liu Junlang is critically ill, and instead of sending this news to the central government for the Chang’an court to make a decision, they have suppressed the information. What do you think they are planning?”

Guo Jia raised an eyebrow, “Are the Yizhou gentry trying to replace the Dongzhou gentry?”

This move wasn’t unexpected, and given Liu Yan’s critical condition, it was highly likely to happen.

“Take a look,” Qiao Yan handed the letter to the two of them.

Xun Yu’s gaze met Qiao Yan’s for a moment, and seeing her calm expression, it seemed she didn’t mind revealing her extensive intelligence network in front of him.

He couldn’t help but speculate whether it was because he had refrained from disclosing how she had learned of Yuan Shu’s death so quickly in Chang’an, which aligned with her intentions, that she now treated him with a bit more trust.

But after reading the contents of the letter, he pushed these thoughts aside.

The letter stated that since April of this year, the Yizhou Governor’s residence had been purchasing a significant amount of medicine for arrow wounds and secretly inviting many local Yizhou doctors for consultations.

These doctors were paid to keep silent, so no one could get any information from them.

However, the scarcity of some medicines forced the Governor’s residence to inquire and purchase from traveling merchants, which inadvertently exposed Liu Yan’s condition.

If it were just a common illness for someone with a military background, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But what if the doctors who visited were detained and never seen again?

That would be quite suspicious.

By mid to late May, Liu Yan had not been seen in public for half a month.

Although Yizhou’s administrative affairs were still being handled normally, and there were no abnormalities in the policies or interactions with the Nanman tribes, Liu Yan’s absence was the biggest issue.

Who was Liu Yan? A man who loved grand displays.

If it weren’t for Qiao Yan’s attack on Hanzhong, he might have even used the thousand carriages he had built in an act of overreach to tour Yizhou.

Now those carriages were burned, and Liu Yan had been taught a lesson by Qiao Yan under the pretext of a hunting expedition in Hanzhong, but that didn’t mean he would give up showing off his grandeur as the Yizhou Governor.

Unfortunately, the Yizhou Governor’s residence was inaccessible, making it impossible for the intelligence agents to determine Liu Yan’s current condition.

But if they couldn’t see Liu Yan directly, couldn’t they take a roundabout approach?

These spies planted in Yizhou had once received guidance from Li Ru and were quite adept at gathering information.

They noticed two particularly interesting developments.

First, members of the Fei family from Jiangxia had been brought to Shu.

This wouldn’t have been noteworthy at other times, but under the current circumstances, it was highly suspicious.

Liu Yan’s wife, the mother of Liu Zhang, was from the Jiangxia Fei family.

The Fei family had many capable members, including Fei Guan, the Zhenwei General of Shu Han, and Fei Yi, one of the Four Chancellors of Shu Han.

Second, Zhao Wei from Yizhou had secretly visited Liu Zhang several times.

If the Fei family’s visit could be explained as Liu Yan trying to strengthen his rule by promoting his wife’s family, then Zhao Wei’s secret visits to Liu Zhang hinted at underlying tensions.

Subsequently, the intelligence agents arranged a coincidental meeting with the Fei family members and learned that the invitation to Yizhou did not come from Liu Yan himself but from Liu Zhang.

These clues were enough to raise alarms in Yizhou, which should have been stable this year!

Qiao Yan couldn’t help but comment, “Liu Junlang isn’t the First Emperor, but the Yizhou gentry are acting like Zhao Gao.”

She didn’t know whether to say that Liu Yan’s oppression of the Yizhou gentry since becoming Governor had led to this backlash, making it a kind of poetic justice, or to point out that although Yizhou was known as the Land of Abundance, it hadn’t become an independent mini-court, so why were they staging secret funerals and supporting a young heir?

It was both tragic and amusing.

But regardless of how it felt, there was a pressing issue at hand.

They couldn’t let Yizhou spiral out of control due to this situation.

Yizhou’s situation was somewhat similar to that of Yu Province.

Both Yizhou under Liu Yan and Yu Province under Yuan Shu did not fully obey the central government’s orders.

The current state of Yizhou, with Qiao Yan’s forces controlling Hanzhong, was somewhat similar to Yu Province, where her allies held Yingchuan, a strategic location.

But the two situations were not entirely the same.

While Qiao Yan could accept Cao Cao controlling Runan in Yu Province, she couldn’t allow Yizhou to become a place where the Dongzhou gentry supported Liu Yan’s youngest son, Liu Zhang, to take power!

Setting aside the amount of grain tribute Yizhou had provided over the past two years, or the bamboo sent from Yizhou to Hanzhong, which allowed the paper mills to produce more bamboo paper—

On the surface, Yizhou’s existence made the Chang’an court’s territory appear to stretch from north to south. If Yizhou were to become independent under the support of the Yizhou gentry, it would be a greater blow to the Chang’an court than Yu Province falling to Cao Cao.

If they let this situation develop, the impact of their upcoming campaign in Youzhou would be significantly diminished.

It wouldn’t be a threat to the eastern court with a sword hanging over its head, but rather losing one territory and having to compensate with another.

That wouldn’t do!

But perhaps this was also their opportunity.

If they could take control of the power transition in Yizhou, it would mean they could fully secure a region largely unaffected by droughts and locust plagues, without needing to go through Liu Yan as an intermediary.

The grain from this region could be used to supply other areas still suffering from natural disasters in the coming years or serve as military provisions for the campaign in Youzhou.

As long as they acted quickly!

As fast as the surprise attack on Hanzhong back then!

Qiao Yan asked, “In your opinion, if I were to go to Yizhou now, would the situation in Luoyang spiral out of control?”

Xun Yu didn’t answer directly but instead asked, “How long does the Grand Marshal plan to be away?”

Qiao Yan replied firmly, “At most one month.”

One month—she intended to resolve the situation in Yizhou swiftly!