Chapter 203
“Can a strategist not ascend the throne?”
As Jia Xu stepped into Li Jue’s office, there was a flicker of mockery in his lowered gaze.
The idea of donning a dragon robe yet failing to act like an emperor was vividly illustrated by Li Jue.
While Dong Zhuo’s age and the defeat at Luoyang had weakened his resolve, Li Jue lacked the vision to rise above his current limitations.
He lounged in Dong Zhuo’s study, casually flipping through documents on the sofa.
Upon seeing Jia Xu enter, he asked in an indifferent tone, “Why bother talking to the Chancellor? He no longer has the ability to back your decisions. We’ve already committed to rebellion; with his temper, there’s no chance for a way back. Better to think about the offensive plans after we secure Liangzhou.”
Li Jue wasn’t worried at all about Jia Xu switching allegiances back to Dong Zhuo.
True, Jia Xu was clever, but the military forces in Chang’an were gradually coming under his control, and even Wang Yun, representing the court’s influence, was on his side. Just a few convincing words from Jia Xu wouldn’t change that.
Once he secured Liangzhou, he would send Duan Wei out to prevent any hassle from the opposition.
Then he could seamlessly replace Dong Zhuo, instead of being just a nameless stand-in.
The mere thought of being addressed as Chancellor Li instead of just Lieutenant Li, Captain Li, or General Li brought a sense of relief to him, making him disregard even his wife’s recent complaint about not leaving opportunities for their son.
Moreover, Dong Zhuo was known for his meticulous nature.
In the past, he considered Huangfu Song, who fought alongside him in Liangzhou with differing strategies, to be a formidable enemy. It was easy to imagine he would hold a grudge against Jia Xu for his betrayal now.
So, there was no way Jia Xu would switch back to help Dong Zhuo.
Unless he had completely given up on the future!
Dong Zhuo shared this perspective.
However, he believed that Jia Xu had eliminated Sun Jian for him, establishing a mutual bond. Thus, aligning with Qiao Yan was not as beneficial as sticking together through thick and thin.
Both logics were sound, but one fundamental condition was flawed—
Neither of them had ever considered the future of serving either of those two.
So there was no need to talk about “afterwards.”
Jia Xu surveyed the disheveled decor of the study, altered by Li Jue, and replied, “I came to confirm how you treat the Chancellor and the Son of Heaven.”
He spoke coldly, “Lieutenant Li, bluntly, now is not the time for you to slack off. How can you afford to provide him with a cattle bone to eat? Do you realize how this will sound to certain ears? Dong Zhuo’s generals are still around!”
This scolding left Li Jue feeling guilty, so he leaned back, no longer keen on mocking Dong Zhuo, and replied, “Got it. I’ll follow your advice.”
“Fine…” Jia Xu shook his head, somewhat frustrated, “I’m here to remind you of two things.”
Upon hearing that Jia Xu had suggestions, Li Jue quickly adjusted his expression, “Please, go ahead.”
Jia Xu continued: “Firstly, if we manage to secure Liangzhou, there will be many subsequent impacts to consider. For example, after Dong Huang took charge of Chang’an’s defenses, Fan Chou was once assigned to Huayin, and now he’s being dispatched to Liangzhou. This leaves Chang’an’s eastern defenses too weak.”
“Once our troops move into Liangzhou, we’ll need to increase our forces, as defenses in Guanzhong must be lacking. Regardless of whether Qiao Yan or we triumph in Liangzhou, there’s no guarantee that the Eastern lords won’t charge in from Luoyang.”
Li Jue was startled, “How can they possibly…”
“Why can’t they?” Jia Xu interrupted confidently.
“Don’t forget, there are those who want to eliminate us and support the Emperor of Chang’an, while others don’t wish for him to remain, making the Emperor of Ye City the only one. Whether under the banner of rescuing the Emperor or as a mission to eliminate bandits, there’s always a pretext.”
“Plus, your conflict with Lu Gong over the autumn harvest sacrifices led to his imprisonment, giving them another reason to seek justice in Chang’an.”
“And Cao Cao, the Governor of Yanzhou, under the guise of governance, is effectively expanding his power. He has no opposition in Yanzhou, so he has the chance to deploy troops.”
Li Jue was quick to ask, “What should we do?”
Jia Xu replied, “Increase troops in Huayin to guard against enemy attacks. You can select generals from among your own people. Also, forge an alliance with Yuan Shu.”
“Forge an alliance… with Yuan Shu?”
Confusion appeared on Li Jue’s face.
The first part of the suggestion was reasonable enough, especially the idea of selecting generals from his own ranks.
Li Ying and Hu Feng were in Liangzhou, and apart from those left behind to guard Gaoling, there were still at least one or two he could deploy—this decision made sense.
But the latter suggestion left him bewildered.
He asked, “Yuan Shu was the initiator of supporting the Emperor of Ye City and is also in a precarious position himself. Why would we want to develop relations with him?”
Yuan Shu’s disdain for their Western Liang army needed no further explanation.
He had been forced to flee Luoyang due to Dong Zhuo playing tricks on the Yuan clan.
Dong Zhuo nearly wiped out the Yuan family in Luoyang during the lords’ indignation.
That was a grudge!
Besides, Liu Bei recently scored a victory in Pei State, and his general, Zhang Fei, had slain Qiao Rui. Now, he was steadily advancing, making Yuan Shu’s situation look grim. Forming an alliance with him might well mean adding a liability to their side, making it a poor prospect.
But Jia Xu just shot him a look of disagreement, “That view isn’t entirely correct. Times have changed. As the future power player, you must have this awareness.”
“Do you really think Yuan Shu has any respect left for the Emperor of Ye City?”
This question… from Li Jue’s perspective, if there used to be three or four points of respect, now it was probably down to none!
While pondering this, he couldn’t help but let his mind drift back to Jia Xu’s phrase “the future power player.”
That sounded a lot more pleasant than all the previous criticisms!
Previously, he was criticized for his disrespect towards Dong Zhuo and the Emperor, but now, this remark made him feel empowered.
Jia Xu seemed oblivious to Li Jue’s distraction and continued, “Yuan Shu tried to unite Qiao Yan and Gongsun Zan but was defeated by Yuan Shao. Liu Bei now holds the title of General of Bandit Suppression, which is clearly how the Chang’an court views Yuan Shu as a bandit as well. Since that’s the case, it’s better for him to acknowledge the Emperor of Chang’an.”
“I dare say that if you pacify Liang and the two provinces and then go to Luoyang, the first one to come congratulate you will definitely be Yuan Shu! So as long as we send a signal of goodwill, he’d surely grab the chance.”
Li Jue murmured, “But if he gets turned into a lost dog by Liu Bei, wouldn’t that make him useless to us…”
“Lieutenant…” Jia Xu sighed, “You underestimate Yuan Shu too much.”
“He may not hold other areas in Yuzhou, but he’ll definitely defend Runan. Moreover, Liu Bei is compassionate and delayed his advancement towards Pei State due to the local people’s dire conditions, remaining in a standoff with Yuan Shu across the Wei River. There’s no way this will be resolved within this year.”
Jia Xu carefully analyzed the situation, making Li Jue increasingly convinced of the argument.
Then Jia Xu added, “In fact, we only need Yuan Shu to act as a barrier against the Eastern lords, which doesn’t mean we need to offer any real support in the conflict between him and Liu Bei.”
Li Jue still had lingering doubts, but he couldn’t help but feel that Jia Xu’s argument made sense.
He quickly replied, “What you say is very true. What’s the second matter?”
Jia Xu stated, “General Duan can be assigned to the battlefield in Liangzhou at any moment, so what about General Zhang?”
Initially, Li Jue had considered Zhang Ji as a potential ally, but old grievances and Dong Zhuo’s trust in Zhang Ji had made him hesitant about forming an alliance, leaving him in doubt until now.
Now indeed was the time to consider him.
He asked, “What’s your take?”
“Let Yan Xing assist him.”
The way Jia Xu stressed the word “assist” didn’t make it hard for Li Jue to understand the underlying meaning.
No matter what Zhang Ji did, they would take him down!
Li Jue pondered for a moment and asked, “Why not send Yan Xing to Liangzhou?”
His ability to convince Yan Xing to serve him had played a crucial role in gaining control over Chang’an, as he assured Yan Xing—Dong Zhuo was abandoning the attack on Liangzhou, but he would not.
If he wanted to take revenge on Han Sui, he had to rely on Li Jue’s strength.
But sending him to guard Jing Province seemed contradictory.
Jia Xu replied, “Then we need to be clever about how we phrase it. Just tell him that Zhang Ji’s presence might impact the battlefield situation in Liangzhou. By first removing Zhang Ji and taking over his military power, we can ensure total control in Liangzhou. Once he secures the region, he can finish setting defenses in the south and immediately head to the battlefield in Liangzhou. Isn’t that a perfect plan? It wouldn’t deny him any opportunity for battle.”
Li Jue’s face lit up with joy.
This was brilliantly articulated!
If what Jia Xu said was true, he could act on multiple fronts to stabilize his position before news of their first victory in Liangzhou reached back.
He stood up to
“A salute to Jia Xu!”
Deep down, he felt that initially winning Jia Xu over was the smartest move ever. “You truly deserve the title of ‘Liangping Talent,’ I’ll follow your advice right away.”
He thought to himself, Jia Xu, this ‘Liangping Talent’ is way more reliable than Wang Yun, the ‘Talent to Assist a King.’
If it weren’t for him covering the gaps, he would have missed out on a bunch of battle opportunities!
Without delay, he sought out Liu Xie to issue three edicts.
The first was to win Yuan Shu over.
If the Luoyang court wouldn’t give Yuan Shu the title of Youzhou Governor, he’d make that offer himself.
But the catch was, Yuan Shu had to keep an eye on Dong Commandery; if Cao Cao showed any signs of mobilizing, he needed to slow him down.
In the letter he sent, under Dong Zhuo’s name, Li Jue mentioned that he had sent 20,000 troops from Chencang to attack Liangzhou, causing Qiao Yan some troubles soon. After that, he could re-establish relations with Liangzhou, and some good horses would surely support Yuan Shu.
The second order was for Yan Xing to guard Shangluo and join forces with Zhang Ji.
Privately, Li Jue relayed Jia Xu’s orders to Yan Xing.
This “young man quite loyal to Han Sui” immediately took his orders and left.
What made Li Jue quite happy was Yan Xing’s reply: “Regarding the General’s attacks on Liangzhou, once implemented, you’ll be way more capable than Dong Zhuo, and you will eliminate a hidden danger for the General.”
Those six words, “more capable than Dong Zhuo,” really hit home for Li Jue.
He waved his hand generously, increasing the troop count from 2,000 to an additional 500.
The third edict was what Li Jue sought for Jia Xu.
He thought, with how much Jia Xu was considering him, he couldn’t still just be the nominal assistant to the Bingzhou Governor.
That would just sound ridiculous.
So, he made Liu Xie summon Jia Xu for a position as an inner court attendant, yanking him out from beneath the control of the Bingzhou Governor’s subordinate structure.
This way, he could show that he valued Jia Xu even more than Dong Zhuo did.
Jia Xu probably didn’t expect Li Jue to pull off some favor and promotion at this time.
After stepping out of Li Jue’s study, he started to calculate what kind of aftermath his added fuel to this fire could cause.
With the Lord’s abilities and Bingzhou’s power, those 20,000 troops in Liangzhou could easily be handled.
If the Lord led the army east, Li Jue would be facing threats from two directions, and he’d have no choice but to run away with the little emperor.
Going north to Bingzhou was a no-go, and forget about heading west.
As for going east…
That was also off-limits.
When he was in Chang’an, Yuan Shu might have given him some quarter because of the goodwill he showed, but if he tried to escape there, Yuan Shu wouldn’t think of him as an ally at all.
Compared to colluding with Li Jue, holding Liu Xie, the Son of Heaven, would make Yuan Shu want to quickly get rid of Li Jue and send the little emperor back to Qiao Yan to curry favor with her.
That left him with only one option—to head south.
At that time, Yan Xing waiting in the south would certainly “see him off” properly.
This was the basic direction Jia Xu had set with Qiao Yan before heading to Chang’an.
In this plan—
Once Qiao Yan attacked the Three Auxiliaries from Liangzhou and took over the Guanzhong region, she would have enough power to make the world take notice.
By then, no matter who Liu Xie fell into the hands of, he’d be a hot potato!
Any provincial governor would think it better to hand him back than to end up like Dong Zhuo, inviting Qiao Yan’s wrath and losing both territory and men.
But elevating Liu Xie as the Son of Heaven and actually keeping him close were two very different things.
So the best outcome was to have him snatched by thieves but then vanish without a trace.
The follow-up would depend on Qiao Yan’s maneuvering.
In this grand scheme, Jia Xu had already handed in a smashing response.
Of course, in the interim, he had to ensure Yan Xing settled smoothly in the south and that Li Jue had some advantage against Dong Zhuo’s reinforcements.
So before Yan Xing headed south, Jia Xu had to lay out a few more instructions.
“Dong Zhuo is sure to send a message, it must be Duan Wei first, but I suspect it could be both Duan Wei and Zhang Ji attacking at the same time. Judging by the timeline, Zhang Ji should already be on the way.”
“You’ve got over 2,000 soldiers, and Zhang Ji is likely to bring only 3,000 reinforcements to Chang’an, so you’ve got the numbers.”
Pointing at the administrative map, Jia Xu added: “You know the drill for a halfway ambush.”
“I want you to crush Zhang Ji as he crosses the Ba River, forcing his remaining troops to head toward Duan Wei. After that, send word back to Chang’an and continue south, stationed at Shangluo. I’ve already briefed you on what to do then.”
Yan Xing nodded.
Jia Xu patted his shoulder: “Go ahead; I’m counting on your good news.”
While Yan Xing moved to ambush Zhang Ji, the edict naming Yuan Shu as the Youzhou Governor was sent east.
The messenger used a relay of alternating horses to deliver the message. After reaching Luoyang, he headed south, passing through Huanxuan Pass to reach Yingchuan in Yu Province, eventually delivering it into Yuan Shu’s hands in Runan.
Li Jue was sold on Jia Xu’s persuasion and granted this promotion without hesitation; Yuan Shu accepted the title enthusiastically, not even consulting with his strategists.
Hearing of Yuan Shu’s hasty decision, Yan Xiang, Yuan Huan, and Yang Hong exchanged helpless glances.
They weren’t surprised that Yuan Shu set about assigning a task.
In his earlier letter to Qiao Yan, he branded the Luoyang court as “a name for the Han house, but truly a fraudulent bandit.” Now that he’d received the emperor’s decree from Chang’an, he felt emboldened to act on it.
He immediately decided to have his strategists draft a more eloquent rant that denounced Liu Bian as an illegitimate heir.
“General…”
Yan Xiang had barely started when Yuan Shu interrupted.
“No need to say more,” Yuan Shu waved his hand, “Let me ask you, has that little emperor in the north already been granted a decree by Liu Bei to invade Youzhou?”
As Jia Xu and Li Jue mentioned, although Liu Bei’s battle prowess might not compare to Qiao Yan or Huangfu Song, since marching into Pei State, he had steadily reclaimed territory and developed it, positioning himself right across the river from Yuan Shu’s Youzhou—an utter nuisance.
Though Liu Bei had not caused any major damage to him a second time, his cautious strategy felt more like a mockery than a swift attack.
Thanks to Qiao Rui’s death, he dared not easily cross the river to attack, fearful of being caught by the fierce generals under Liu Bei’s command.
He planned to gather troops in Yingchuan and Runan after the autumn harvest, then consider kicking Liu Bei out.
This title of Youzhou Governor sent by Liu Xie was truly a welcome gift.
Had it not been for Yan Xiang and others still in the room, he might have said that with the title, he could justifiably recruit capable talents from Runan and Yingchuan to serve under him and surely find a few with true skills!
But even without saying it aloud, Yan Xiang could glean some of this from his expression.
He sighed, “True indeed, but he is the son of the late emperor; how can we trample on his dignity?”
Yan Xiang understood that this was not just about a false emperor; it concerned the authority of the Han dynasty!
However, Yuan Shu didn’t care much, simply saying, “We have the stance of respecting the legitimate line.”
Not wanting to elaborate, he straightforwardly shifted the topic to another matter, “Let’s not discuss that for now; give yourselves a few days to consider your wording. In your opinion, who will win or lose in the Liangzhou battle?”
Yuan Shu initially thought Qiao Yan would advance into Liangzhou first, but in the letter he received, Li Jue informed him with Dong Zhuo’s voice of a truly surprising update: the counterattack from Guanzhong had already begun!
This was really… brilliant!
Qiao Yan ignoring his earlier attempts to win her over had stirred a grudge inside Yuan Shu, itching for someone to keep that victorious brat in check.
In contrast, someone in Chang’an who had a sense of the situation was even praising him as the legitimate heir of the Yuan clan, the hope of the noble families, tipping the scales in his favor.
But considering Qiao Yan could still send support to Youzhou to help Liu Yu resist Gongsun Zan, he felt a bit uneasy.
Seeing Yan Xiang still preoccupied with his earlier assignments, Yuan Shu turned his attention to Yuan Huan. “Yaoqing, what do you think?”
Yuan Shu respected Yuan Huan somewhat, as he hailed from the Chen County Yuan clan.
The Runan Yuan clan was a branch of the Chen County Yuan family, but due to their family teachings emphasizing integrity and public service, over generations, the Runan Yuan clan’s prestige in the political arena far surpassed that of the Chen County Yuan clan.
Even if Yuan Huan’s father, Yuan Pang, once held the position of Minister over the Masses during the Guanghe years, he hadn’t gained much power. Since he previously studied in Jianghuai, he could only rely on Yuan Shu now.
Being a noble son of a family that didn’t hoard wealth made him a moral standard here.
He could naturally pull in a fair bit of support for Yuan Shu.
Yuan Huan met his gaze, replying calmly, “Those who get too cocky often face downfall; I don’t think highly of Dong Zhuo.”
In the letter, the boastful tone about achieving victories in Liangzhou felt too arrogant and left Yuan Huan feeling something was amiss.
His instinct was not flawed at all.
The letter reached Runan precisely as Qiao Yan was rallying her troops in Chencang.
The next day, 30,000 troops moved out in a grand display, marching straight toward Maiwu!
