Chapter 202

Chapter 202

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 6: The Two Provinces Stand Firm, the Silk Road Reopens Chapter 202: Playing Both Sides

From the book:


Can a strategist not ascend the throne?

Chapter 202: Playing Both Sides

Whether Dong Zhuo and Li Jue in Chang’an would escalate from one side imprisoning the other to a full-blown conflict, Huangfu Song was not entirely aware of the situation and couldn’t make a direct judgment.

But he was certain of one thing—

In his youth, he followed his father Huangfu Jie in battles at Yanmen, was recommended as the Prefect of Beidi, fought in Liangzhou, and gained more prominence due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Shuttling between the Central Plains and Liangzhou, he always led by example, fulfilling his duties diligently, and had never been in such a seemingly idle state!

Of course, saying he was idle wasn’t entirely accurate.

While guarding Gaoping for Qiao Yan, he leveraged his reputation in Anding Commandery to assist in the governance of Liangzhou and maintained order in the military settlements at Huo Shizhai.

The commercial market centered around Gaoping City also gradually developed as Qiao Yan enforced the use of the five-zhu coin and the lives of Liangzhou’s people stabilized after the chaos of war.

Although Liangzhou’s administrative center was at Jixian in Hanyang, Gaoping was the most accessible in terms of transportation.

If not for some of Qiao Yan’s measures and developments that were unsuitable for public view, choosing Gaoping for development was far less ideal than Wuwei and Jincheng. She shouldn’t have delegated authority over Gaoping to others.

Fortunately, Huangfu Song was now considered one of their own and had set an excellent example of impartial law enforcement while residing in Gaoping.

However… according to Huangfu Song’s own definition of a general, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

He needed a few battles to stretch his limbs.

If Qiao Yan hadn’t already mentioned it and Xu Shu hadn’t preemptively seized Chencang, Huangfu Song would have gladly requested to lead the charge.

For now, he could only focus on the situation in Chang’an.

He replied, “This explains why Li Ying and Fan Chou are leading the troops here.”

Ignoring Dong Zhuo’s corruption after entering Luoyang and just looking at his military command in Liangzhou, it was impossible for him to appoint someone like Li Ying as the main general to attack Liangzhou.

Having combat experience and a certain status is one thing, but being responsible for mobilizing an army of this scale is entirely different.

Even Fan Chou would have been a more reliable choice than Li Ying.

This was indeed something Li Jue would do.

Thinking this, Huangfu Song couldn’t help but worry. Although Li Jue taking over Chang’an’s affairs from Dong Zhuo meant the difficulty of their attack on Chang’an would be significantly reduced, it also implied that the situation in Chang’an might be far more chaotic than they imagined before their arrival.

Huangfu Song knew Li Jue’s capabilities.

If placed in a high position, he might perform even worse than Dong Zhuo.

And Dong Zhuo was not one to sit idly by.

With both sides in conflict, whether the emperor and his courtiers in Chang’an could remain safe until their rescue was uncertain.

But he also knew that rashly advancing now would be unwise.

So he simply said, “Let’s first reach Chencang. As the army marches, we’ll send scouts to gather more information from Chang’an.”

With Chencang and Shanggui under their control, after resolving the issues with the Xiliang nobles and the prisoners, the army’s southward march was actually faster than Li Ying and Fan Chou’s previous advance.

They quickly entered the Guanzhong region.

Upon arriving at Chencang, Qiao Yan met Xu Shu, who had been waiting there.

He had already changed out of his previous disguise as a Five Pecks of Rice sect member, but when discussing his two trips to Chencang, Qiao Yan couldn’t help but remark, “Stabilizing Li Ying and others by delivering grain was necessary, but directly seizing Chencang was still quite risky.”

Xu Shu replied, “Risky as it may be, taking Chencang early ensures that Your Lordship’s march through the Wei River Valley doesn’t need to guard against enemies, which is good for maintaining the soldiers’ energy.”

After all, once Qiao Yan was on this path, Xu Shu would find it difficult to quickly contact her.

Having some certainty was always better.

Qiao Yan then heard Xu Shu say, “Besides, if we’re talking about risk, who could compare to Master Wenhe?”

This was true.

Since Qiao Yan’s successful attack on Jincheng Commandery last year, Jia Xu had been sent to Chang’an under the guise of being taken hostage by Yan Xing.

Only a few of her close confidants knew he was a spy there.

Even Jia Mu, whom Qiao Yan had appointed as the Embankment Protector, didn’t know his father was on a significant mission. He thought Jia Xu was given the opportunity to continue working because Qiao Yan didn’t want to implicate others, making a gesture.

With this in mind, he assisted Bi Lan in planning and supervising the construction of water channels in Liangzhou with utmost diligence.

To deceive the enemy, one must first deceive one’s own people—this was the case.

Compared to Jia Mu’s diligent work to avoid repercussions, Jia Xu’s mission was far more dangerous.

This was why Qiao Yan had Yan Xing accompany him.

With Jia Xu’s wit and adaptability, it shouldn’t be difficult for him to utilize Yan Xing as a guard in such a situation.

Jia Xu handled the strategy, Yan Xing the action—a perfect pair.

Moreover, before Jia Xu left Liangzhou for Chang’an, Qiao Yan had already informed him that if things became untenable, he should abandon the plan and ensure his safety first.

His goal of stirring up the southern situation had already been achieved, so this trip to Chang’an wasn’t a loss.

Ensuring Liu Xie followed the preset direction wasn’t a must.

If necessary, they could always activate the backup plan.

Jia Xu would surely make an appropriate decision.

Standing on the city walls of Chencang, Qiao Yan looked eastward.

Within Dong Zhuo’s defensive range, from Meiwo in the west to Huayin in the east, information flow was difficult, and she couldn’t know the situation further away.

She murmured, “What do you think the current situation in Chang’an is like?”

Before Li Jue’s forces attacking Liangzhou even reached Chencang, Dong Bai, who had escaped Chang’an via a secret tunnel, had already arrived at Meiwo.

Duan Wei, stationed at Meiwo, had just handed over his troops to Li Ying when he received shocking news from Dong Bai.

This couldn’t be fake!

After nearly five days of travel, despite having provisions and traveling on the Guanzhong plains, Dong Bai appeared exhausted when she met Duan Wei.

Dong Bai had no reason to joke about this.

Whether out of loyalty to Dong Zhuo or an assessment of capabilities, Duan Wei didn’t believe Li Jue had the ability to shoulder such a heavy responsibility.

In a sense, opponents and allies are similar in evaluating strength.

So of course, he would choose Dong Zhuo.

But the timing of this news was slightly late.

If he had known earlier, he could have taken advantage of assigning the five thousand soldiers to Li Ying to capture him.

Li Jue wouldn’t openly announce his replacement of Dong Zhuo to everyone, at most informing those involved in the coup and some of Dong Zhuo’s senior officers.

At least the lowest-ranking soldiers wouldn’t know about it.

This gave Duan Wei room to maneuver.

But now that the other side had already set off towards Chencang, a sudden conflict would not only have a low chance of success but might also alert the capital.

So they could only attack Chang’an directly.

Duan Wei said, “We must leave some troops to guard Meiwo in case the attack on Liangzhou fails and Qiao Yan advances unimpeded. I can mobilize about a thousand soldiers.”

Dong Bai didn’t have much concept of this number, but Duan Wei explained, “To put it simply, Chang’an’s defenders now follow Li Jue’s orders, and he will surely be wary of me. Even with a surprise attack, we would need over five thousand men to breach the fortified city.”

When Qiao Yan attacked Luoyang, she led over ten thousand men.

No matter how depleted Chang’an was, in the two years Dong Zhuo had been there, the basic defensive structures were in place.

If Dong Zhuo hadn’t expected such a betrayal from his own officers, Li Jue wouldn’t have succeeded so easily.

But this made Dong Bai anxious.

If she had known, she would have risked everything to rush here.

She quickly asked, “Is it possible to mobilize two thousand more men and take Chang’an first?”

Duan Wei replied, “Yes, but it can’t be from my side.”

Meiwo was specially fortified by Dong Zhuo, meaning this place…








The barrier effect on Chang’an is extraordinary.

From Yizhou, one can reach Maiwu via the Xiegu Road, and from Liangzhou, one can follow the Wei River down, passing through Chencang to arrive here.

In the current volatile situation, one cannot have too high expectations of allies.

Even Li Jue could betray Dong Zhuo, so Liu Yan, who was merely granted the title of Grand Marshal by Dong Zhuo, is not necessarily someone to maintain friendly relations with.

Therefore, he cannot deploy all his forces.

“But there is one person who can assist me in this first wave of troops,” 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 might not have regained his confidence by assisting Liu Biao in killing Sun Jian. The Prime Minister has done him a favor. Additionally, Li Jue had conflicts with him in the past. If Li Jue comes to power, it would be of no benefit to him. I suspect that the news of the Prime Minister being coerced by Li Jue has not reached Zhang Ji’s ears.”

“Please rest here for a while, Lady Weiyang. I will send a messenger to General Zhang stationed in Shangluo. Once both sides agree on the time of attack, we will surely join forces to enter the capital and quell Li Jue’s threat.”

Dong Bai could see that her grandfather’s judgment of Duan Wei was correct. In these times of the Dong family’s decline, Duan Wei did not kick them while they were down, nor did he choose to wait and see.

He had already taken a stand.

And contacting Zhang Ji to jointly attack Chang’an was indeed the best choice at this time.

She replied resolutely: “I will go with your messenger!”

Without waiting for Duan Wei to offer any dissuasion, Dong Bai continued: “Only my presence is most appropriate. Like today, if someone else came to deliver the message and revealed the situation in the capital, would you believe it?”

The answer would most likely be no.

Seeing a thoughtful expression on Duan Wei’s face, Dong Bai added: “I think General Zhang wouldn’t believe it either.”

So, a sufficiently influential envoy is necessary!

In Dong Bai’s view, compared to the previous situation of walking from Chang’an to Maiwu, now she can ride a horse from Maiwu to Shangluo, accompanied by attendants, which is already the best possible situation.

What made her even more relieved was that Dong Zhuo’s choice of Duan Wei as the target for seeking aid was not wrong, and Duan Wei’s choice of Zhang Ji as a collaborator was also correct.

Not only does Zhang Ji have conflicts with Li Jue, but his nephew also fell into Qiao Yan’s hands. If Li Jue continues to control Chang’an, Zhang Ji will surely face retribution.

Considering this, he must deploy his troops.

After calculating the marching time from Maiwu to Chang’an and his own side, he said to Dong Bai: “Give me a day to organize the troops and arrange various matters. I will lead the troops first, stationing them in the Lantian Valley area. Then you can inform General Duan, and we will agree on the day to simultaneously march, probably arriving at the gates of Chang’an together.”

Hearing this, Dong Bai was overjoyed.

With these two forces advancing together, her grandfather and great-grandmother would be saved.

When Li Ying and others set out from Chencang to Liangzhou, she also completed the meeting with Zhang Ji.

Then she followed Zhang Ji to Lantian Valley and went to Maiwu to report to Duan Wei, agreeing on the time to march on Chang’an.

This was also the time when Li Ying and others were just about to exit the Wei River Valley and were met with Qiao Yan’s charge.

Although everything was progressing smoothly, Dong Bai still felt a faint unease in her heart.

This unease might be due to the situation in Liangzhou or the hidden dangers of her quietly leaving Chang’an.

But given the current situation, she could only continue.

What she didn’t know was that while she was busy finalizing the cooperation plan between Duan Wei and Zhang Ji, a special visitor arrived at the place where Dong Zhuo was confined in Chang’an.

“What are you here for?” Dong Zhuo looked at Jia Xu who entered.

Compared to Li Jue’s betrayal, Dong Zhuo obviously couldn’t understand Jia Xu’s choice.

Li Jue is short-sighted and power-hungry, having been subordinate for a long time and suddenly getting a chance to rise, it’s indeed hard to avoid evil thoughts.

But Jia Xu is a smart man, why choose a fool like Li Jue to assist!

If he really chose Li Jue, Jia Xu might as well take the opportunity to escape back to Liangzhou, inform Qiao Yan of the situation in Chang’an, and let her reap the benefits, which could even be a way to atone for his crimes.

However, to Dong Zhuo’s surprise, Jia Xu’s reply was: “I’m here to help the Prime Minister.”

“Help me?” Dong Zhuo sneered in response: “Without your advice to Li Jue, I don’t believe he could have thought of using the Son of Heaven’s name to challenge me, nor could he have thought of using Wang Yun to achieve this goal.”

Li Jue has some brains but not many, such suggestions could only come from Jia Xu.

Being in a disadvantaged position made Dong Zhuo think more clearly than ever.

Facing Dong Zhuo’s accusation, Jia Xu shook his head and calmly replied: “Why isn’t this helping the Prime Minister? Just like I knew the Prime Minister used Lady Weiyang as a messenger to send a message to Duan Zhongming, I didn’t inform Li Jue and even helped cover it up.”

Dong Zhuo’s eyes changed.

Jia Xu’s words directly revealed Dong Bai’s actions.

Even if he said he didn’t inform Li Jue, it was still unexpected bad news for Dong Zhuo.

But then Jia Xu continued: “Li Jue says this is setting things right, and he’s not entirely wrong. I’m also setting things right in my own way, but I’m doing it for the Prime Minister.”

Seeing Dong Zhuo’s anger lessen and be replaced by suspicion, Jia Xu said: “The Prime Minister missed the most opportune moment to attack Liang and Bing provinces, the fleeting opportunity waits for no one, so the troops attacking Liangzhou cannot win, but—”

“They can lure Qiao Yan into Guanzhong.”

“From Liangzhou’s perspective, first defeating the invading Li Jue’s troops, then learning of the changes in Chang’an, whether Qiao Yan is cautious or not, she will surely march into Guanzhong as soon as possible.”

“This is good for us.”

“In the current situation, we can no longer drive her out of Liangzhou and reopen this rear route, we can only risk dragging her into the Guanzhong battlefield. If we don’t do this, we can only wait for her to strengthen her troops and supplies in one or two months and slowly advance into Guanzhong, by then, we would only have mediocre and poor strategies left.”

Jia Xu said meaningfully: “And to make a play convincing, one must first deceive one’s own people.”

“…” Dong Zhuo didn’t know where to start.

Even if it’s deceiving one’s own people, deceiving him too is just too much!

But Jia Xu seemed to guess what he was thinking and said: “The Prime Minister need not worry about this affecting your dignity. Those who know about this will only think you made a wrong decision, and then you can turn the tide and defeat the enemy.”

“But in Chang’an, most people don’t know about this, to them, the Prime Minister still sits high in the Hall of Enlightenment, the commander of the Xiliang Army. How can Li Jue compare to you?”

Dong Zhuo was silent for a while before asking: “But how can you be sure that Qiao Yan will choose to march quickly?”

Jia Xu replied: “Has the Prime Minister forgotten why she is attacking Chang’an in the first place?”

Of course, it’s for Liu Xie.

The invading army from Liangzhou can cause her trouble, but one thing is certain, whether for the eastern warlords or Dong Zhuo, Qiao Yan’s goal is to rescue Liu Xie.

The infighting in the Xiliang Army brings her opportunities but could also lead to the Son of Heaven’s death.

According to others’ understanding, she dares not hesitate.

Jia Xu bowed to Dong Zhuo, “The Prime Minister can rest assured, although it’s dangerous to first quell Li Jue and then fight Qiao Yan, it’s breaking and then establishing. Even if things don’t go well, we can retreat to Wuguan via Shangluo, seize Nanyang in Jing Province, and still have a way out.”

These words were so grand that Dong Zhuo couldn’t detect any abnormality from Jia Xu’s deep expression.

He asked: “Why did you choose to tell me now?”

Jia Xu replied: “In the chaos of Chang’an, nothing else is of concern, only the Prime Minister’s family is. Therefore, I ask the Prime Minister to give me an order to escort Lady Chiyang and others to a safe place.”

This was indeed Dong Zhuo’s soft spot.

He didn’t know if he could still trust Jia Xu after this, but every word Jia Xu said hit the mark.

He could only trust this extraordinarily intelligent man.

He said wearily: “If you have a way, take my mother, daughter, and nephew into the secret passage, the spare key is…”

When Jia Xu walked out of the side hall of Weiyang Palace, a faint smile appeared on his face.

With this deception, his refuge in the midst of war and the hostages to gather Dong Zhuo’s subordinates in the future were secured.

He was almost ready to retire.

Now, all that’s left is to add fuel to Li Jue’s fire!