“Can strategists not ascend to the throne?”
At the end of the Central Plains, in Luoyang, Chapter 129 unfolds with a twist of borrowing supplies from Qiao Yan? Only Yuan Shao could come up with such a thought.
Lu Zhi was only contemplating how Qiao Yan could muster an army of twenty to thirty thousand on the south bank of the Yellow River to pressure Dong Zhuo, while he could only command a mere two to three thousand, most of whom were Liu Bei’s ragtag troops. He felt utterly ashamed to gather with these troops from various regions to discuss breaking through Xuanmen Pass.
Yuan Shao, however, was quite audacious, actually wanting to borrow supplies from Qiao Yan!
But if we’re counting facts, the army here was, indeed, short on supplies.
Liu Dai, Kong Zong, and Zhang Miao were all appointed as governors under Dong Zhuo’s regime. They hadn’t been in power long and were simply leveraging their prestigious status and the righteousness of overthrowing Dong Zhuo to rally troops. Qiao Zhao, Sun Jian, and Bao Xin had been in place a bit longer, yet the harvests in the Central Plains this year were nothing to write home about. Though slightly better than previous droughts, it was still common for government storehouses to be without surplus.
The only ones who could actually boast of enough military supplies were Bao Xin and Qiao Zhao, who together had over five thousand supply carts.
Of course, that number was somewhat exaggerated.
To keep the spirits of the troops high, they had stuffed the supply carts with straw and stones, while the real military supplies were hidden above.
These supplies were supposed to feed the entire army as they advanced, which was indeed a bit lacking.
But that was no justification for Yuan Shao to rob Qiao Yan in this situation!
Seeing Lu Zhi’s troubled expression, as if he were about to speak up, Yuan Shao continued, “Lu Gong, I’m not trying to make things difficult for our juniors. But as you can see, the current situation is dire. There was a conflict between Sun Wentai and Zhang Ziyi that ended with Ziyi dead. Recently, there have also been frictions between Liu from Yanzhou and Qiao from Dong Commandery, mostly over food supplies. If we were to rashly unite forces to attack this perilous pass, and if anything were to go wrong, we could end up in an internal conflict rather than defeating the enemy, turning us into prey!”
“I know it’s truly difficult to ask Qiao Bingzhou for more supplies, but she has defeated the Xianbei twice beyond the mountain, coming back with spoils. Her troops have meat to eat and have even set up military camps along Baidaochuan. Although the borderlands are poor this year, her supplies are solid…”
“If we can defeat Dong Zhuo, we’ll be able to return to our posts and restore agriculture and livelihoods in the regions, and we will definitely repay her generously. This is the only way!”
Yuan Shao waxed lyrical, and if Qiao Yan knew he was using military supplies as a pretext, she’d probably applaud his cleverness.
After all, it was indeed due to conflicts over supplies that Liu Dai of Yanzhou and Qiao Zhao of Dong Commandery had turned violent, ultimately resulting in Qiao Zhao’s death.
However, whether Yuan Shao was genuinely delayed because of a lack of food or for some other reason was anyone’s guess.
He relied on the reputation of the Yuan clan from Runan, leading both him and Yuan Shu to rally against Dong Zhuo. Indeed, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had the backing of the masses.
But what if they successfully took Luoyang?
Today’s Emperor Liu Xie had previously fled due to the Yuan family’s burning of the Southern Palace. Even Dong Zhuo’s invasion of the capital was somewhat instigated by Yuan Shao.
While he couldn’t predict the many twists and turns in between, once the Emperor free from Dong Zhuo’s influence aimed to settle accounts with the Yuan family, he’d have every reason to do so.
Even if over the years, due to Dong Zhuo’s misdeeds and the Yuan clan’s standing, the Emperor might continue to bestow responsibilities upon them—
But Yuan Shao, despite being adopted by his uncle, was still somewhat a half-son. The true eldest son of the Yuan family, Yuan Ji, was alive, and he had to stay humble. That was an undeniable fact.
Eventually, he’d find it hard to hold on to such status.
Even if he hadn’t gone mad enough to hope Yuan Ji would be dealt with by Dong Zhuo, who had already dispatched a handful of notables like Yulong Zong, Zhou Huirong, Wu Qiong, and Zhou Bi, he at least hoped to hold a few more chips in his hand before aiming to eliminate the bandit.
He always possessed a rather decent appearance, and at this moment, his words had indeed caught Lu Zhi off guard.
Yet Lu Zhi’s inability to refute Yuan Shao wasn’t for lack of words; it was merely because once the other had logically convinced himself, it became difficult to reason with him.
“This is too shameless…” Suddenly, a voice came from the corner of the discussion tent.
Yuan Shao turned to see a rugged face, and upon noticing that Yuan Shao was looking, Zhang Fei wasn’t intimidated by his status at all. He raised his voice, “I didn’t say anything wrong! You say this is about borrowing and repaying. But during these disasters, why wouldn’t Bingzhou save more grain for themselves if they had excess, instead of betting on an uncertain promise? Not like they were just bored after filling their bellies!”
“Yide.” Liu Bei quickly reminded him to shut it.
Yuan Shao frowned, “Is that also what Xuande thinks?”
Liu Bei might be looked down upon by Yuan Shao based solely on status, but having befriended the horse traders from Ji Province, nearly half of the troops he brought were cavalry, just slightly fewer than the over 700 cavalry of Bao Xin from Jibei. This was enough to position him as the leader among equals.
Furthermore, Lu Zhi was now the coalition’s leader, and Liu Bei, as his disciple, naturally counted as a second-in-command.
In such circumstances, Yuan Shao was compelled to consider Liu Bei’s views.
“If it’s the truth you want to hear, then I must say—I, Liu Bei, though not occupying an entire region like Qiao Hou, also wouldn’t want to demand military supplies from her for this reason. May I ask, Yuan Shao, if Qiao Hou were to lend food, would we share any military merits with her after our successful campaign?”
Yuan Shao fell silent.
If he had to answer that question, the likely answer would be—no.
Food supplies were supplies, military merit was military merit; Yuan Shao made that distinction very clear.
Liu Bei then asked, “If she refuses to lend food supplies, should the blame for any lost opportunities due to not mobilizing the army fall on her?”
That didn’t seem too hard to answer. Yuan Shao already had a perfect scapegoat in mind for those who chose not to mobilize.
Upon reaching this point, Liu Bei cupped his hands toward Yuan Shao: “I can’t change his mind; if he still wants to borrow supplies from Qiao Hou, just don’t mind my troops. I’ll find a way to sort out the food issue myself.”
“No need to mind me either,” Cao Cao said darkly from the side.
He felt embarrassed to be mingling with these people!
If it wasn’t for Zhang Fei blabbing out first, he would have jumped in ages ago.
How could they expect Qiao Yan to initiate the campaign against Dong while also providing them with supplies?
He scanned the faces of those in the tent, clearly seeing their shifting expressions when Yuan Shao first brought up this idea.
That East Commandery governor Qiao Zhao was actually a relative of Qiao Yan and hadn’t made any objections, which made Cao Cao feel a bit disheartened.
Cao Cao vaguely remembered that Qiao Yan had mentioned in their previous letters that Qiao Zhao’s second daughter had been sent to Leping for schooling, maintaining ties with the Qiao family in Yanzhou.
But this meager connection was evidently worth less than the benefits laid out before them.
Such a group of people…
Even with Lu Zhi, Liu Bei, and himself present, according to the coalition’s majority rule and the moral weight of denouncing Dong, there was no way to shake off their idea of borrowing supplies.
Cao Cao felt an immense sense of melancholy.
If this was the group attempting to revitalize the Han Dynasty, then the Han truly stood no chance!
Even if they were to behead Dong Zhuo for his crimes, who knows what other similar evils might arise tomorrow!
This greed could morph into a monster at any moment!
Cao Cao recalled his past conversations with Qiao Yan over drinks during Yanxi, thinking about her continuous assaults on the Hu, now should be termed three times, to safeguard peace in Bingzhou, made him feel even more puzzled by her actions.
In this world, those like Lu Zhi who would back down for justice were simply seen as gullible fools, while those like Qiao Yan, who guarded the border and governed livelihoods, merely became fodder to feed military supplies.
How laughable!
He didn’t even wait for Yuan Shao to speak again; he bowed to Lu Zhi and Liu Bei, then stormed out of the tent.
Had he stayed a moment longer, he feared he’d hear Yuan Shao utter some ridiculous excuse and find himself exclaiming, “These brats aren’t worth the strategy!”
As Cao Cao suspected, while a couple of people opted out of requesting supplies from Bingzhou, the letter sent to Qiao Yan still mentioned the agreed-upon time for attack.
When Qiao Yan received this letter, she took a long moment to digest it, realizing her underestimation of Yuan Shao’s audacity!
“I thought he’d at most only be slacking or contesting with Lu Gong for the position of leader, yet I never expected…” Qiao Yan pinched the letter, turning to Jia Xu and Guo Jia with an utterly speechless expression, “He’s even trying to shake me down for supplies?”
Jia Xu, who had seen plenty in Liang Province and Luoyang, had never encountered anyone so brazenly demanding supplies.
But considering the four generations of three dukes behind the Yuan family, it wasn’t completely out of the question.
He asked, “So what does Qiao Hou think?”
She naturally anticipated the questions Liu Bei would pose. Although she hoped the outcome would be that when they successfully entered Luoyang, Yuan Shao and the others would be stuck outside Xuanmen Pass, she didn’t want to leave any room for others to criticize her. So borrowing supplies was certainly manageable under the current circumstances in Bingzhou.
But—
“The terms of this borrowing and repayment should be set by us.”
Did Yuan Shao forget? When she first came to the capital to request the emperor promote the general Du Liao, while she kindly shared the emperor’s plans with Yuan Shao, the one who truly benefited was not General Han Fu, but rather Qiao Yan of Bingzhou.
Due to the constraints of this relationship, when Han Fu wished to express support during Yuan Shao’s revolt against Dong Zhuo, Qiao Yan had detained him under the pretense of “the governor is out of the province and has ill intentions,” even going so far as to assign Qu Yi to the camps by the Yellow River.
No way Han Fu dared to utter a word against her.
This was her character—she never allowed herself to be at a disadvantage, so how could she let Yuan Shao gain the upper hand!
“Fengxiao, I want you to head to the camp of the meeting at Suanzao,” Qiao Yan instructed.
Guo Jia replied, “Yuan Shao is an ambitious one; even if the food is sent by the lord, he’s likely to tell the troops he obtained it himself. If the lord doesn’t put restrictions on this, he might take all the credit.”
“That’s one reason.” Qiao Yan tapped her fingers frantically on the table, quicker than usual because of Yuan Shao’s calculated audacity.
But Guo Jia soon saw a hint of a mysterious smile on her face, seemingly having devised a solution to limit Yuan Shao.
She waved at Guo Jia, “Do as I say.”
“The camp at Suanzhao is a buzz, and here stands the envoy sent by Qiao Yan before Yuan Shao.”
Guo Jia arrived in Leping in the fourth year of Zhongping, and now two years have passed. As a young man just about to come of age, he was serving under the Bingzhou governor, and with him moving around, he didn’t need to stick to the rules too strictly.
The handsome young man, nourished by the fine food from Bingzhou and Leping, bowed politely to Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao was a bit shameless, often putting on a show of humility, but seeing that the envoy sent by Qiao Yan was an impressive-looking scholar, he clearly took this meeting very seriously and offered the necessary courtesies.
Since Lu Zhi and Liu Bei didn’t want to borrow grain from Qiao Yan, Yuan Shao received Guo Jia alone to discuss the grain borrowing matter.
“Lord Qiao’s intention is that, since we are all working for the benefit of the Han, Bingzhou can supply a bit more rice, but it’s still not harvest season, so we can only spare 50,000 stones from last year’s stock.”
Fifty thousand stones? This amount was already more than Yuan Shao had originally estimated.
He flashed a hint of joy but still maintained some airs, replying, “Lord Qiao’s dedication to the empire truly makes him a leader among patriots. If this battle can rescue the Son of Heaven from insurrection, Lord Qiao will undoubtedly get the credit.”
Guo Jia thought to himself, what authority does Yuan Benchu have to make such promises?
Regardless, they didn’t need this superficial generosity; they needed something practical.
Keeping a calm demeanor, he continued, “It won’t be hard for us to come up with these 50,000 stones, but as Yuan Zhonglang saw, my lord is at a standoff with Niu Fu at the Great River. If any commotion were to arise in the camp, the opposing side would notice. If Dong Zhuo gets wind of our grain transport, it would expose our intentions to him.”
Yuan Shao asked, “So what is Lord Qiao suggesting?”
Guo Jia replied, “Why not have Lord Qiao write a letter, instructing the Shangdang Prefect to transport the grain out via Fuko Pass, going through Ji Province down to Suanzhao? That way, it would be closer and less likely to miss the opportunity for battle.”
As for how they would spread this information on the way, that was their own business.
If only Yuan Shao’s friend He Yong weren’t in Luoyang, forced by Dong Zhuo, and had been there to see Guo Jia’s easygoing demeanor, he would have definitely sounded the alarm.
But he was completely oblivious, only thinking about getting the grain, believing that as the one making the suggestion, he could score some points with the allied forces and still let Qiao Yan get a bit of a bargain.
Yuan Shao responded, “If it can go like this, even better.”
Guo Jia added, “Moreover, Lord Qiao means that since this is a loan, it still needs to be repaid. Even though he is the Bingzhou governor, he is no warlord independent from Bingzhou. That 50,000 stones of military grain could be for the campaign in the north, so moving it now is a temporary measure. Thankfully, Yuan Zhonglang is from an illustrious family and is well-respected in the Central Plains, as noted in his letter, he definitely won’t go back on his word.”
“According to Lord Qiao’s plan, if it’s repaid by multiple people, that could get troublesome. If Yuan Zhonglang doesn’t mind, why not let one person take on the 50,000 stones?”
Yuan Shao pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement.
After all, it didn’t matter if it was one person or everyone owing Qiao Yan a little; what’s the difference?
With that reaction, the subsequent conversation flowed easily.
“But—”
Guo Jia cleared his throat, “Let’s get one thing straight: the main task now is to deal with Dong. The prefects have just taken office, and Yuan Benchu is essentially a nominal Middle General. Therefore, any repayment would have to wait until next autumn harvest. We in Bingzhou don’t ask for unreasonable terms; just require them to repay by next September. But we need a promissory note.”
“Yuan Benchu comes from a four-generational family of ministers; surely he won’t default. But as we are short on money, we need some kind of guarantee. We can waive the interest for next September, but if they delay a day, Yuan Benchu would owe us a grain of wheat on top of the 50,000 stones; if delayed for two days, then two grains; if for three days, four grains; if for four days, eight grains, and so on. If he defaults, I’m fully justified in coming to collect, and he will have to count it out for me!”
Yuan Shao was just about to get mad when Guo Jia smoothly bowed and clasped his hands, saying, “This is my lord’s original wording. If Yuan Zhonglang will write this promissory note, the 50,000 stones of military grain will be delivered immediately, no delays.”
“…” Yuan Shao was momentarily choked by the term “nominal Middle General” in Guo Jia’s words, then heard the strange rules about repayment delays.
This ridiculous one grain, two grains delay system sounded like a joke; in front of 50,000 stones, those few grains barely counted as a decimal! The real crux of that statement was likely the part about “count it out for me”!
Qiao Yan was already sixteen this year; if she were anyone else, she should be of marrying age, so why was she acting so childishly!
But Yuan Shao had already mentally calculated his plans to default; it didn’t matter what she wrote about those grains.
After contemplating, he replied, “Then let’s write it down. Lord Qiao’s timely assistance is indeed hard to come by; surely we can’t let you suffer losses.”
Suffer losses?
They certainly hadn’t suffered any losses!
As Guo Jia held the document stamped and signed by Yuan Shao, he coincidentally ran into Cao Cao.
Cao Cao recognized Guo Jia, having seen him before while he was closer to Qiao Yan, back during that martial arts competition.
“Did Lord Qiao send you here to…?”
Guo Jia interrupted, “He sent me to discuss the grain delivery with Yuan Zhonglang. Right now capturing Luoyang is paramount, and everything else can wait.”
Cao Cao hesitated for a moment and sighed, “Yue Shu is truly a pillar of the Han; I can’t match her, but she is indeed at a serious disadvantage this time.”
He knew full well what kind of person Yuan Shao was—certainly not someone who returned favors after gaining benefits from others.
But all he could see was Guo Jia keeping a cool demeanor, so he turned around and said, “I remember that Cao Xiaowei and Yuan Zhonglang are childhood friends. If I may be so bold, I want to ask a question.”
“Ask away.”
Guo Jia smiled meaningfully, “Is Yuan Zhonglang’s calculating ability always this poor?”
“……?” Cao Cao was puzzled by the intent of this question.
Guo Jia clearly wasn’t looking for an answer from Cao Cao, and he walked away from the camp at Suanzhao.
Before he left Mengjin for Suanzhao, Qiao Yan had already sent out a letter to gather grain from Shangdang, and Guo Jia met up with the grain delivery team before turning back.
Meanwhile, Qiao Yan had exchanged letters with the allied forces at Suanzhao again, clarifying the timing for the advance.
The formal attack on Luoyang was set to begin five days later, on June 13 of the first year of Guangxi.
It was the rainy season in Luoyang, and the Yellow River had risen quite a bit. Mengjin and Xiaopingjin’s passes had not yet expanded to the flood levels.
However, these were not regular checkpoints, and this time to guard against Qiao Yan’s army, they even had to augment their soldiers’ numbers and place some troops in camps outside the passes.
It was no pleasant environment, and to make matters worse, during the rainy season, if drainage in the camps wasn’t arranged properly, it would become even more unbearable.
Niu Fu had heard plenty of gossip while wandering the camp, saying they had been stationed here for almost a month and a half without a taste of victory, only suffering from the torment of camping, while the Chancellor was living it up in Luoyang. What was up with that?
Even back at the beginning of the month, when the moon was absent, there was no sign of an attack across the river, and they were just left waiting around for no reason; now they likely wouldn’t come at all.
This kind of grumbling made it even more frustrating, especially as they compared themselves to the other side’s troops, eagerly training on the riverbank, which made it feel all the more unfair.
But little did they know, while the guards at both passes were lax about the island in the river’s center, Qiao Yan’s soldiers had practiced countless times at night crossing the stretch between the northern riverbank and the island.
Even if some couldn’t swim, they tied themselves to something like a life buoy with ropes; even a terrible swimmer had to learn to paddle.
Now everything was ready!
Qiao Yan looked up at the sky.
Perhaps due to the fact that it was going to rain tomorrow, the clouds were thick today, blocking out the moonlight.
It was the perfect time and place!
With a gesture of her hand, the commands to signal the camp were passed quickly in silence.
The soldiers in leather armor, weapons in hand, rushed to grab their sheep skin bags as they had trained at night and quickly lined up to leave the camp, heading west.
They needed to run about eight miles upstream with the sheep skin bags on their backs and then swim to the island in the river before drifting downstream.
Qiao Yan herself would officially set out an hour later.
This was to give her soldiers time to reach the river island, eat the dried meat they carried, and recover their strength.
As she gave her second command, two huge sheep skin rafts were carried to the riverbank, stationed some distance from the wooden boats, completely out of sight from the opposing side.
The rafts made from six hundred sheep skin bags could carry up to thirty tons, a figure Qiao Yan had tested.
This meant she could transport her hundreds of heavily armored soldiers across to the other side on these rafts.
Qiao Yan herself stepped onto one of the rafts.
The rafts, equipped with three heavy paddles each, hit the water with a muted sound.
But with the roaring night wind and the rushing river, that sound went unnoticed; it would be taken as mere wave splashes against the shore.
Dian Wei and Qu Yi, who had been ordered by Qiao Yan, each led two hundred armored soldiers onto one raft, using the shields carried by the shield soldiers to protect the front.
With the raft fully occupied, it still floated steadily on the water.
In this near-silent atmosphere where even the sound of armor was scarcely audible, Qiao Yan raised her hand and issued the third command.
Set sail!
Each paddle needed two people to handle it; that was the only way this large raft could navigate the Yellow River.
Qiao Yan stood behind the first row of shields, gazing ahead where the Mangshan Mountain on the opposite bank was nearly invisible in the dark night, with only a faint glimmering of light above Mengjin Pass.
As the commander, she shouldn’t be taking such a risky action, but this battle across the river was crucial, plus she needed to command the remaining troops across and block the reinforcements coming from Xiaopingjin.
Thus, she had to personally oversee the operation!
But once they were on the river, her only regret about being here had totally vanished.
Who had ever seen a river crossing like this?
In tonight’s murky weather, there was no romance like ‘Flowing waves moving the moon away’, only two massive sheep skin rafts carrying heavily armored soldiers slicing through the waves.
And ahead of them, three thousand soldiers with sheep skin bags floated in the river, drifting downstream. Even if she couldn’t clearly see each of their movements, she could see a continuous line forming, heading towards the landing point.
They were forming an unstoppable attack that even nature couldn’t hinder!
Qiao Yan couldn’t help but grip her long spear tightly.
Cross the river! Attack!
