“Can a strategist not ascend the throne?”
Chapter 202: Making Connections in Every Direction
In Chang’an, would Dong Zhuo and Li Jue spiral from one being under house arrest by the other to battling it out? Huangfu Song didn’t know the whole picture, so he couldn’t jump to any conclusions.
But one thing was for sure —
He followed his father Huangfu Jie into war at Yanmen when he was young, became the Prefect of Beidi, fought in Liangzhou, and due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he gained even more importance, ping-ponging between the Central Plains and Liangzhou, always leading from the front and never slacking off like he was just bumming around!
Of course, saying he was just bumming around wasn’t entirely fair.
While he was stationed at Gaoping for Qiao Yan, he relied on the reputation he built in Anding Commandery to assist in the governance of Liangzhou’s people’s livelihood and maintain order at Huo Shizhai.
With Gaoping City as the center, trade markets were blooming thanks to Qiao Yan’s persistent five-copper transactions and the people’s lives in Liangzhou stabilizing after the chaos.
Though Liangzhou had Hanyang Jixian as the capital, in terms of accessibility, Gaoping was definitely the hub.
Had Qiao Yan’s actions and developments not been unsuitable for outsiders to notice, choosing to develop Gaoping over Wuwei and Jincheng wouldn’t have made much sense. She really shouldn’t have delegated Gaoping to others.
Fortunately, Huangfu Song was considered one of their own now, and he firmly established himself as a fair and just law enforcement figure in Gaoping.
Still… according to Huangfu Song’s definition of a military general, he felt a bit off.
He really needed a few battles to stretch his limbs.
If it weren’t for Qiao Yan bringing it up first and Xu Shu snatching up Chencang, Huangfu Song would have been eager to volunteer for a fight.
For now, he could only consider the situation in Chang’an.
He replied, “That explains why it’s Li Ying leading the troops along with Fan Chou.”
If you overlooked Dong Zhuo’s corruption of power after entering Luoyang, there was no way he’d let someone like Li Ying be the main general attacking Liangzhou.
Experience in battle, a certain status, and actually being responsible for mobilizing troops of that scale were worlds apart.
Even letting Fan Chou take that main general role sounded more reliable than Li Ying.
This certainly felt like something Li Jue would do.
Thinking of all this made Huangfu Song anxious. While Li Jue taking Dong Zhuo’s place managing Chang’an meant their attack would face a lot less difficulty, it also suggested that the state of affairs in the city might be messier than they anticipated by the time they arrive.
Huangfu Song knew exactly how capable Li Jue was.
If he were to hold a high position, he might be even worse than Dong Zhuo.
And Dong Zhuo was definitely not someone to just sit back and take it.
In the conflict between both sides, would the Son of Heaven and his court in Chang’an remain safe until their rescue? That was hard to predict.
But he also knew that rushing into battle was unwise at this moment.
So he simply said, “Let us first reach Chencang; as we march, let’s send scouts to gather more intel towards Chang’an.”
With both Chencang and Shanggui in their hands, after tying up affairs with the Western Liang nobles and deciding what to do with the prisoners, their marching speed southward could actually surpass that of Li Ying and Fan Chou’s earlier advance.
They would swiftly enter the Guanzhong region.
Upon arriving at Chencang, Qiao Yan met up with Xu Shu, who had already been waiting there.
He had changed out of his earlier disguise as a Five Pecks of Rice sect uniform, but talking about his two trips to Chencang, Qiao Yan couldn’t help but express, “It was essential to secure Li Ying and the others with supplies, but directly seizing Chencang was quite risky.”
Xu Shu replied, “Risky or not, taking Chencang sooner allows for your Lordship’s army in the Weishui River Valley to move without worrying about enemies, which is a good thing for maintaining the soldiers’ fighting spirit.”
After all, once Qiao Yan was on this road, it would be hard for Xu Shu to reach out to her quickly.
Having some reliable intel was better than none.
Qiao Yan also heard Xu Shu say, “Moreover, when it comes to risk, who could outdo Wenhe in that regard?”
This was a fair point.
Since last year, when Qiao Yan successfully attacked Jincheng Commandery, Jia Xu had been taken hostage by Yan Xing to Chang’an.
Only a few of her trusted subordinates knew that he was acting as an undercover agent over there.
Even Jia Mu, who was appointed as the floodgate messenger, didn’t know his father was on an important mission, thinking he had been given a chance to continue his duties because Qiao Yan didn’t want to involve others.
With that in mind, he helped Bi Lan plan and oversee the construction of water channels within Liangzhou, putting in a lot of effort.
To fool opponents, one must first fool their own people, and that was the reality.
Compared to someone like Jia Mu, who worked diligently for fear of retribution, the stakes Jia Xu was dealing with were much larger.
This was exactly why Qiao Yan wanted Yan Xing to accompany him.
With Jia Xu’s sharp wit, getting Yan Xing to assist him in this situation shouldn’t be hard.
Jia Xu would handle the brains while Yan Xing would handle the brawn, making for a fantastic pairing.
Plus, before Jia Xu left Liangzhou for Chang’an, Qiao Yan had already informed him that should things go awry, he should abandon the plan and prioritize his safety first.
His goal of stirring up the situation in the south was already accomplished, so this trip to Chang’an wouldn’t be a loss.
Having Liu Xie deliver things in the planned direction didn’t necessarily need to succeed.
If push came to shove, they could activate a backup plan.
Jia Xu would surely make a suitable decision on his own.
Qiao Yan stood atop the city wall of Chencang, looking east.
In the defense range where Dong Zhuo held sway, bordered by Maiwu in the west and Huayin in the east, the flow of information was quite limited, and she couldn’t access news from further away.
She murmured, “What do you think the situation in Chang’an is like right now?”
Before the attacking forces from Li Jue reached Chencang, Dong Bai, through secret passages, had already reached Maiwu.
After giving his troops to Li Ying, Duan Wei received this shocking news from Dong Bai.
This news didn’t seem fake at all!
Having trekked for nearly five days, even though Dong Bai had food with her and traveled through the plains of Guanzhong, by the time she appeared before Duan Wei, she looked utterly exhausted.
Dong Bai had no reason to joke with him.
Whether out of loyalty to Dong Zhuo or evaluation of capabilities, Duan Wei did not believe Li Jue could handle such heavy responsibilities.
In some sense, evaluations of strength between foes and allies are often quite similar.
So he certainly chose Dong Zhuo.
But the timing for him to learn this news was a bit late.
If he’d had a chance to know about this earlier, he could have used those five thousand troops to send to Li Ying and seized the opportunity to take the reins.
Li Jue wouldn’t openly announce to everyone about replacing Dong Zhuo; at most, he would confide in those involved in the coup and some high-ranking generals under Dong Zhuo.
At least those lower-ranking soldiers wouldn’t have a clue about this.
This gave Duan Wei some leeway to maneuver.
But now that the other side had set off towards Chencang, taking reckless action would not only have slim chances of success but could also raise alarms in the capital.
So, they had to go directly for Chang’an.
Duan Wei said, “We must leave some troops at Maiwu for defense; if our campaign against Liangzhou flounders and Qiao Yan charges in, I can deploy around a thousand troops.”
Dong Bai didn’t have much of a concept regarding troop numbers, but thankfully, Duan Wei elaborated, “To put it this way, the Chang’an garrison now answers to Li Jue, and he will certainly be wary of me. Even to capitalize on a surprise attack, we’d need at least five thousand men given the fortified city walls.”
When Qiao Yan attacked Luoyang, she brought over ten thousand troops for the siege.
No matter how weak Chang’an might seem, it still had its defenses intact after two years under Dong Zhuo’s watch.
If it weren’t for Dong Zhuo not anticipating a traitor among his own ranks, Li Jue would never have managed to take over so easily.
However, Duan Wei’s words made Dong Bai’s heart tighten.
If she had known sooner, she should have just raced over regardless of the danger.
She quickly asked, “Is it possible to mobilize an extra two thousand men to take Chang’an first?”
Duan Wei replied, “Yes, but it can’t be my side that’s moving.”
Maiwu was specially fortified by Dong Zhuo, which meant this place needed to be well defended…
The defenses of Chang’an are anything but ordinary.
From Yizhou, you can reach Maiwu via the Xiexia Valley road, or you can take the route down the Wei River directly towards Liangzhou, passing through Chencang.
With the situation changing rapidly, we can’t have overly high expectations of our allies.
If Li Jue can betray Dong Zhuo, then Liu Yan, who’s merely been given the title of Grand Marshal, doesn’t have to maintain a friendly relationship either.
So he can’t just up and leave.
“But there’s one person who can assist me with this military expedition,” Duan Wei replied confidently. “General Zhang can.”
This General Zhang refers to Zhang Ji.
Duan Wei explained, “If it weren’t for the Prime Minister’s appointment, Zhang Zidu wouldn’t have regained his confidence to assist Liu Biao in taking out Sun Jian. The Prime Minister has a favor to him. Plus, Li Jue had some past altercations with him. If Li Jue is in power, it’s no good for Zhang Ji. I suspect the Prime Minister’s constraints from Li Jue haven’t reached Zhang Ji’s ears yet.”
“Please have Lord Weiyang rest here for a bit. I’ll send a message to General Zhang stationed in Shangluo. Once both sides agree on a time to attack, we will definitely converge on the capital to quell the threat from Li Jue.”
Dong Bai could tell that her grandfather’s judgment about Duan Wei was spot on. In this time of falling fortunes for the Dong family, Duan Wei hadn’t kicked them while they were down nor sat idly by, waiting for things to change.
He had already taken a stand.
And coordinating with Zhang Ji for a joint attack on Chang’an truly was the best option right now.
She replied resolutely, “I’ll go with your messenger!”
Before Duan Wei could offer any objections, Dong Bai continued, “It makes the most sense for me to go as well. Just think, if it were someone else delivering the message of this situation in the capital, would you really believe them?”
The answer was probably no.
Seeing Duan Wei lost in thought, Dong Bai added, “I doubt General Zhang would believe it either.”
So a messenger with enough weight was a must!
In Dong Bai’s view, compared to walking from Chang’an to Maiwu, now that she could ride from Maiwu to Shangluo, accompanied by retainers for protection, it was already a much better situation.
What made her even more grateful was that Dong Zhuo had chosen Duan Wei as the target for seeking help, and Duan Wei hadn’t misjudged in picking Zhang Ji for support.
Zhang Ji not only had conflicts with Li Jue, but he also had a nephew who had fallen into Qiao Yan’s hands. If Li Jue maintained control over Chang’an, Zhang Ji would definitely face reckoning.
With these considerations, he had to act.
After calculating the marching time from Maiwu to Chang’an alongside his own, he said to Dong Bai, “Give me a day to mobilize and arrange everything. I’ll lead the advance with troops to the Lantian Valley, and then you go inform General Zhang. We’ll agree on a specific day to launch our attack, and we should arrive at the city walls of Chang’an simultaneously.”
Dong Bai was overjoyed to hear this.
With both routes moving out, her grandfather and great-grandmother would be saved.
When Li Ying and the others were about to launch their attack from Chencang into Liangzhou, she had already met with Zhang Ji.
Afterwards, she accompanied Zhang Ji to Lantian Valley and then headed to Maiwu to deliver the message to Duan Wei, agreeing on the strike time on Chang’an.
This was just as Li Ying and the others were about to exit the Wei River Valley when they were met head-on by Qiao Yan.
However, despite everything progressing smoothly, Dong Bai still felt an underlying sense of unease.
This unrest might stem from the situation in Liangzhou or the hidden dangers posed by her quiet departure from Chang’an.
But given the current state of affairs, she could only press on.
What she didn’t know was, while she was hustling back and forth to establish Duan Wei and Zhang Ji’s cooperation plan, Chang’an was welcoming a special visitor to the confines where Dong Zhuo was held.
“What brings you here?” Dong Zhuo asked, glaring at Jia Xu as he entered.
Compared to Li Jue’s betrayal, Dong Zhuo clearly had a harder time understanding Jia Xu’s choice.
Li Jue was short-sighted and overly power-hungry, and after having lived under others for so long, when he suddenly got the chance to rise, it was impossible not to be corrupt.
But Jia Xu was smart; why would he choose to back such an idiot like Li Jue?
If he truly backed Li Jue, Jia Xu might as well escape back to Liangzhou, inform Qiao Yan about the situation in Chang’an, and let her exploit the opportunity, wouldn’t that serve to redeem his failures?
However, to Dong Zhuo’s surprise, the reply from Jia Xu was, “I’m here to assist the Prime Minister.”
“Assist me?” Dong Zhuo scoffed, “Without your advice to Li Jue, I don’t believe he would’ve thought to challenge me using the Son of Heaven’s name. He also wouldn’t have figured out how to employ Wang Yun to achieve this goal.”
Li Jue had some brains, but not much; such a suggestion could only have come from Jia Xu’s hand.
Being at a disadvantage made Dong Zhuo clearer-minded than ever before.
In response to Dong Zhuo’s inquiry, Jia Xu shook his head calmly, saying, “Isn’t that helping the Prime Minister? Just like I knew the Prime Minister was using Lord Weiyang as a messenger to relay messages to Duan Zhongming, I didn’t tell Li Jue about this and even helped cover it up.”
Dong Zhuo’s gaze changed.
Jia Xu’s words directly exposed Dong Bai’s actions.
Even if he claimed not to have informed Li Jue, for Dong Zhuo, it was still bad news.
But he then heard Jia Xu continue, “Li Jue claims this is a restoration of order, which can’t be entirely wrong. I, too, am restoring order in my own way for the sake of the Prime Minister.”
Seeing Dong Zhuo’s anger subside somewhat, replaced by suspicion, Jia Xu added, “The Prime Minister has missed the best opportunity to attack Liangzhou and Jing Province from both sides. If we let this slip, that attacking force into Liangzhou has no chance of victory, but—”
“They can draw Qiao Yan into Guanzhong.”
“From Liangzhou, first hitting the invading troops of Li Jue, then realizing there’s a change in Chang’an, regardless of whether Qiao Yan is cautious, she’ll have to march into Guanzhong swiftly.”
“This is good news for us.”
“In the current situation, we have no way to expel her from Liangzhou and re-establish that retreat route. We can only take a risk and try to lure her into the battlefield of Guanzhong. If we don’t do this, we’ll just have to wait a month or two until she’s well-equipped and steadily marching into Guanzhong, by which time we’ll have only the middle and lower strategies left.”
Jia Xu said meaningfully, “To make an act convincing, the first thing is to fool our own people.”
“……” Dong Zhuo honestly didn’t know where to start.
Even if they tricked their own people, wasn’t it a bit beyond the pale to trick him too?
But Jia Xu seemed to sense his thoughts, saying, “The Prime Minister need not worry about losing your authority. Those who know are merely wondering about your poor decisions, and then you can crush the enemy with an overwhelming force.”
“But inside Chang’an, there are still many who are unaware. To them, the Prime Minister still resides high in the Hall of Enlightenment, the supreme commander of the Xiliang army. How could Li Jue dare to compare with you?”
Dong Zhuo was silent for quite a while before finally asking, “But how can you be sure Qiao Yan will choose to march hastily?”
Jia Xu replied, “Has the Prime Minister forgotten why she wants to attack Chang’an?”
Of course it’s to rescue Liu Xie.
The invading force into Liangzhou could create how much trouble for her, that was hard to say, but one thing was for sure—regardless of whether for the lords of Guandong or for Dong Zhuo, Qiao Yan’s objective was to save Liu Xie.
The internal strife within the Xiliang army brought her an opportunity, and at the same time, it could also lead to the Son of Heaven’s demise.
By ordinary reckoning, she wouldn’t dare to hesitate.
Jia Xu clasped his hands to Dong Zhuo, saying, “The Prime Minister can rest easy. This plan to first eliminate Li Jue and then confront Qiao Yan, while dangerous, is one of rebuilding. Even if all else fails, we can retreat to Wuguan via Shangluo and temporarily take refuge in Jiangzhou’s Nanyang; there’s still a way out.”
This grand speech made it impossible for Dong Zhuo to discern any strangeness in Jia Xu’s profound expression.
He asked, “Why do you choose to tell me this now?”
Jia Xu replied, “In the chaos of Chang’an, while everything else is trivial, what merits concern are the Prime Minister’s family. Thus, I wish to request an order from the Prime Minister that allows me to escort Chen Yangjun and others to safety.”
This was undoubtedly Dong Zhuo’s weak spot.
He didn’t know whether he could still trust Jia Xu after this, but every word he expressed hit the nail on the head.
He could only trust this extraordinary strategist.
Wearily, he spoke, “If you have a way, take my mother, daughter, and nephew into the tunnels. The spare keys are…”
As Jia Xu left the Weiyang Palace’s side hall, a barely noticeable smile crept across his face.
With this kind of deception, amid the chaos of war, his refuge and the future capture of Dong Zhuo’s subordinates became assured.
He was almost at the point of success and retirement.
Now, he just needed to add a little more fuel to the fire for Li Jue!
