Chapter 239

Chapter 239: The Encirclement of Hanzhong

Back in the day, during the chaos in Luoyang, Yuan Ji led Liu Bian to escape, avoiding Dong Zhuo’s purge. However, this left a serious aftermath. In the court of Ye City, Yuan Ji held only a nominal position.

Compared to Yuan Shao, who was a leader with real power, Yuan Ji was more like the ceremonial eldest son of the Yuan Clan.

This is why, last year, when Yuan Shu sent the letter claiming “Shao is not a son of the Yuan Clan” to Qiao Yan, she handed it over to Yuan Ji. It was Yuan Ji who handled the relationship between the two brothers and gave Qiao Yan a gift to keep her silent.

At that time, his health was already not great.

Despite the wealth and power of the Yuan Clan, finding a renowned physician and medicinal supplements wasn’t difficult. However, given the medical conditions of the time, the delayed treatment of his injuries and the resulting complications made Yuan Ji’s death only a matter of time.

As early as last winter, Yuan Ji’s condition had worsened, and by the transition from winter to spring, a cold pushed him to the brink of death.

Perhaps it wasn’t just due to his old injuries.

As the heir of the Yuan Clan before the world changed, Yuan Ji couldn’t avoid thinking about the future of the Yuan Clan after arriving in Ye City.

After his uncle Yuan Wei died in Luoyang, the previous generation of the Yuan Clan elders had all passed away.

Yuan Wei’s two sons followed their mother, Ma Lun, to Leping, cutting off almost all contact with the rest of the family.

Yuan Cheng had no sons, so Yuan Shao was adopted into his line.

Yuan Feng’s legitimate sons were Yuan Ji and Yuan Shu.

But now, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu supported the courts of Ye City and Chang’an respectively, each controlling their own regions, clearly leading to the disintegration of the Yuan Clan of Runan.

This wasn’t just a matter of placing bets on different sides.

Yuan Ji had no doubt that whoever won between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, neither would let their brother live.

This completely contradicted their father’s wish for them to support each other.

Given Yuan Shu’s notorious lack of regard for face, whether his aristocratic arrogance would offend Qiao Yan, the top supporter of the Chang’an court, was still hard to predict.

While ill, Yuan Ji borrowed the Leping Monthly Report from Yang Biao and studied it word by word.

With his years of experience in the Luoyang court, Yuan Ji and Ju Shou came to the same conclusion:

The existence of the Leping Monthly Report signified a hidden cultural invasion, testing the waters towards Ye City after its content and system took shape.

This was a dangerous signal.

And how should Yuan Shao respond to this threat?

The Imperial Academy in Ye City lost Zheng Xuan, while Qiao Yan’s Leping Academy built an unshakable cultural foundation. This was a major strategic mistake.

This gap couldn’t be bridged by studying old blueprints.

If Yuan Ji had focused on recuperating, he might have lived a few more years. But he chose to torment himself with such tangled thoughts.

This directly led to his final illness, where Yuan Shao didn’t even have time to summon a renowned physician before Yuan Ji passed away.

Standing by Yuan Ji’s deathbed, Yuan Shao looked at his brother’s lifeless body, feeling both sorrow for the loss and rationally considering another issue.

How would others react to the news of Yuan Ji’s death?

This wasn’t an opportune time for him to die.

While Yuan Ji was alive, both Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao had a “patriarch” above them.

Even though Yuan Shu had shamelessly slandered Yuan Shao, as long as Yuan Ji was alive, he couldn’t further criticize the Yuan branch in Ye City.

But now Yuan Ji was dead, right when the Ye City court had just changed its era name to Yonghan and was confronting the new court in Chang’an!

And Yuan Shu happened to be in the Yuan Clan’s ancestral land of Runan.

This meant he had more access to Yuan Clan members than Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao had many strategists, but he couldn’t predict the thoughts of two people.

One was Qiao Yan, because she always won in unimaginable ways.

The other was Yuan Shu, because he always broke the lower limits in the most outrageous ways.

With Yuan Ji dead, who knew what chaos Yuan Shu would stir up.

Yuan Shao had a massive headache. While arranging Yuan Ji’s funeral, he had people keep an eye on Yu Province and urged a certain General to advance sooner.

Liu Bei had dealt a heavy blow to Yuan Shu when he first entered Yu Province, but his subsequent actions were too cautious, making Yuan Shao doubt whether using Liu Bei to “eliminate the bandits” was the right choice.

Yuan Shao wasn’t wrong. Upon hearing of Yuan Ji’s death, Yuan Shu did something outrageous.

In Chang’an, Cheng Yu and Guo Jia initially thought that Qiao Yan, with her clueless and opportunistic relatives, was already unlucky enough. But compared to the mutual sabotage between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, the Qiao Clan seemed almost obedient.

“Yuan Gonglu really dares to say anything…” Guo Jia marveled as he read the report.

The report claimed that Yuan Shu insisted Yuan Ji’s death was undoubtedly linked to Yuan Shao.

Who were the renowned physicians of the time? The top one was Hua Tuo.

Yuan Ji’s illness wasn’t new. Shouldn’t Yuan Shao have invited Hua Tuo to Ye City to treat him?

Even if Hua Tuo had a better relationship with Qiao Yan and was invited to Bingzhou last spring, that wasn’t an issue.

Even under diplomatic relations, there could be negotiations. Moreover, based on what Yuan Shu knew in Yu Province, Hua Tuo believed in the physician’s benevolence and wouldn’t refuse treatment due to political enmity.

If Yuan Shao said it was due to pride, Yuan Shu could have made the invitation.

But Yuan Shao even sent Liu Bei to attack Yu Province, so perhaps he couldn’t accept goodwill from Yu Province either.

If Yuan Shao said it was because he still owed Qiao Yan and was too embarrassed to ask, that was still Yuan Shao’s problem.

Knowing his own poor calculation skills, why did he agree to such terms and delay repaying a mere 50,000 dan of grain?

If Yuan Shu had known earlier, he would have repaid the debt for Yuan Shao, and Yuan Ji wouldn’t have died.

Going further into conspiracy theories, was it possible that Yuan Shao intentionally let Yuan Ji die to legitimately claim the position of Yuan Clan heir and seek a higher position in the court?

These three speculations thoroughly condemned Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao attacked Yu Province because Yuan Shu acted out of line? Now it didn’t matter. Yuan Ji was dead, and Yuan Shao didn’t do anything good either.

Yuan Shao borrowed military provisions from Qiao Yan, which Yuan Shu also used? That didn’t matter. The debt was Yuan Shao’s responsibility and couldn’t be blamed on Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shao hadn’t actually fought for the position of Yuan Clan heir? If he really didn’t want it, he could prove it by handing the position to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu’s calculations were crystal clear.

Cheng Yu couldn’t help but sigh, “Yuan Gonglu, though he fights his own kin, is quite capable.”

A less capable person couldn’t stir up such a shocking commotion.

Cheng Yu and Guo Jia exchanged smiles, fully able to imagine how Yuan Shao in Ye City would react to such accusations.

Compared to the threat posed by Qiao Yan’s strength, Yuan Shu’s rogue behavior was likely more of a thorn in Yuan Shao’s side.

And this mutual bickering between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu was entirely beneficial to Qiao Yan.

Before they could settle their dispute, Qiao Yan’s hunt in Hanzhong would likely yield remarkable results.

However, it wasn’t just Yuan Shao who was troubled. Cao Cao was also feeling the pressure.

With Yuan Shao in the north and Yuan Shu in the south, the intensifying conflict between them left Cao Cao stuck in the middle.

With the support of the Yanzhou gentry and powerful families, Cao Cao had firmly established himself in Yanzhou.

Through trading cotton clothes with Qiao Yan and last year’s farming efforts, he had combined the soldiers of the Cao and Xiahou families, the private troops and retainers contributed by the powerful families, and the commoners recruited from Yanzhou into a disciplined force.

To put it bluntly, if he wanted to march south and attack Yuan Shu now, it wouldn’t be difficult.

But the gentry of Yu Province identified more with Yuan Shu than with Cao Cao.

Attacking Yu Province was easy, but holding it would be hard.

Moreover, it wasn’t yet time for Yuan Shao to know the full extent of Cao Cao’s strength.

However, this meant he could already imagine the number of messengers and scouts that would pass through Yanzhou once Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu started fighting.

If Yuan Shao, currently cooperating with Gongsun Zan, didn’t have to worry about the northern front and chose to send troops into Yu Province, Yanzhou might have to provide some military provisions.

This was another tricky issue.

Pondering this, Cao Cao pinched Cao Zhang’s cheek and said, “Huang Xu’er, don’t learn from Yuan Gonglu and Yuan Benchu. Sibling rivalry only brings ridicule. Remember the principle of brotherly harmony.”

Cao Zhang, innocent and blunt, asked, “But isn’t Second Brother currently in a territory opposing Father?”

“That’s different,” Cao Cao waved his hand, having Cao Ang take Cao Zhang away.

Nominally, Cao Pi, supporting the Chang’an court in Bingzhou, and Cao Zhang, supporting the Ye City court in Yanzhou, were on opposite sides. But this wasn’t the same as the situation between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Once Cao Cao’s wings were fully grown, he might not need to cater to the Yanzhou gentry or Yuan Shao.

Qiao Yan wouldn’t stay west of Tong Pass forever.

When the time came to expand and connect territories, perhaps it would be time for him to switch sides.

But such words weren’t for children like Cao Zhang, and it wasn’t suitable to say them aloud, lest someone overhear.

After seeing Cao Ang and Cao Zhang off, Cao Cao asked Chen Gong, “What do you think of Ye Shu becoming Grand Marshal?”

Not only did Yuan Shao feel jealous, but even someone like Cao Cao, who had a good relationship with her, couldn’t help but marvel at the rise of such a remarkable newcomer.

No one could have predicted how the situation would change.

The Grand Marshal held military and political power, and in the past, many who held the position overstepped their bounds. For Qiao Yan to suddenly ascend to this position might not be good for her.

But—

“There haven’t been any objections to her taking the position of Grand Marshal in Chang’an. Perhaps there’s more to it,” Chen Gong replied. “This might be related to her military actions in Hanzhong.”

This decree hadn’t reached Yizhou, but news of Qiao Yan’s troop movements had reached the ears of the eastern warlords.








There are still smart people who can connect these two things together.

Unfortunately, if one wants to further realize that the opportunity to send troops to Hanzhong and the act of giving the Grand General position to Liu Yan are both part of Qiao Yan’s schemes, it might still be quite difficult.

Chen Gong added, “However, if we are to attack Hanzhong, I don’t think Zhang Lu will easily surrender.”

Zhang Lu indeed is not, but that doesn’t mean he can easily drive these invaders, who are both intelligent and strong, out of Hanzhong territory when Qiao Yan has taken the initiative.

After Qiao Yan preemptively seized Chenggu, a springboard in the central Hanzhong plain, he fell into a net woven for him.

Zhang Lu’s retreat from Wudu to Hanzhong was not without restrictions.

Zhang Xiu, who also believed in the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, continued to preach in Hanzhong after Zhang Lu went to Wudu and, following Liu Yan’s orders, replaced the original Hanzhong Prefect Su Gu.

Although both were sects of the Five Pecks of Rice, they were not two drops of water that could easily merge. Instead, after Zhang Lu’s father Zhang Heng passed away, there was a time when the east wind overwhelmed the west wind, until Zhang Lu’s power gradually formed, leading to the current situation.

Now, the situation has changed again.

Zhang Lu’s defeat by Xu Shu and Gai Xun forced him to give an explanation to his followers.

Originally, if he had Liu Yan’s support, suppressing Zhang Xiu’s counterattack might not have been too difficult.

But Liu Yan was temporarily unable to attend to Hanzhong due to the Grand General’s appointment, making it much harder for Zhang Lu to re-establish himself.

Fortunately, Lady Lu’s arrival in Hanzhong, though ostensibly to avoid disaster, was also a form of support for his legitimacy in the Taishi Path.

Currently, Zhang Lu stationed his troops in Nanzheng, the administrative center of Hanzhong, while Zhang Xiu resided in Mianyang as a support.

Zhang Lu is indeed capable; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gained Liu Yan’s trust, using the power of the Governor of Yizhou to grow and become the “Master” of the Taishi Path.

He intuitively felt that Qiao Yan’s order to attack him in Wudu was not just a preemptive strike before yielding the position to Liu Yan but likely had further plans.

After being replaced by her subordinate in an attack on Chencang and being expelled from the territory, Zhang Lu’s vigilance against Qiao Yan reached its peak, constantly sending scouts and strictly guarding against the Xiegu Road.

Since the Luo Valley and Ziwu Valley were less likely to be used for military advancement compared to Xiegu Road, he only had patrols moving back and forth.

The defense of these three passes was precisely to ensure that Hanzhong would not face attacks from the direction of Chang’an.

But what you fear most comes to you. Standing on the city wall of Nanzheng, looking towards the distant mountain peaks, he suddenly heard the sound of hoofbeats coming from the east.

He immediately looked in the direction of the sound and saw a cavalryman approaching from afar, raising the token of the Longting garrison high before reaching the city.

Zhang Lu clearly saw that this was the method he had arranged for the Hanzhong garrisons to confirm friend or foe!

The token the other party held was clearly a signal for urgent news.

Zhang Lu quickly raised his hand, signaling the guards on the wall to let the person in.

The young man who entered the city was in a hurry, catching his breath before calming down and saying to Zhang Lu, “General Yang sent me to report to the Master…”

He paused, belatedly realizing that in his haste, he had spoken in the dialect of Badong, and quickly switched to official language, “Scouts report that a large army from Guanzhong is approaching from the Ziwu Valley, numbering about twenty thousand, and is nearing the Wu Pass, at most a day’s journey from exiting the valley.”

Zhang Lu’s expression turned serious.

The Ziwu Valley road is indeed difficult, but during the Chu-Han contention at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang once led his troops through it.

Recently, it hasn’t been the rainy season, and this road, which is easier than the Luo Valley Road, still has a chance of being passable.

Because of this, Zhang Lu stationed his trusted subordinate Yang Ang there.

Now, it seems this arrangement was correct!

The scout continued, “General Yang has already led people to ambush at the valley entrance, but hearing that Qiao Bingzhou’s troops are always elite, General Yang fears a loss and thus requests reinforcements.”

Twenty thousand men!

This is clearly a formidable force.

The scout then handed over a letter from Yang Ang.

Seemingly written in haste and directly tucked into the messenger’s chest, the ink was slightly smudged in some places, but it didn’t prevent Zhang Lu from recognizing Yang Ang’s handwriting.

Before dividing the troops, Zhang Lu had indeed reminded Yang Ang that in case of urgent military situations, a written report must be sent to prevent the enemy from forging seals and causing misinformation.

Thus, this message is indeed true.

With the forces Yang Ang stationed at Longting, dealing with a few thousand troops might be manageable.

With the advantageous position at the Ziwu Valley exit, they might even annihilate the enemy, but suddenly hearing of twenty thousand troops, and from Qiao Yan’s undefeated forces, Zhang Lu dared not hesitate.

He entrusted the defense of Nanzheng to his trusted aides and immediately mobilized five thousand soldiers stationed around.

To prevent Zhang Xiu from making any moves in his absence, he directly issued an order for Zhang Xiu to lead a thousand troops to accompany him.

Zhang Xiu did not know the reason for this order until he arrived at the city of Nanzheng and learned of Zhang Lu’s intentions.

He couldn’t help but sneer, “If the opponent is Qiao Bingzhou, even if you didn’t play these mind games with me, I would still assist you. Her attitude towards Zhang Jiao’s Way of Great Peace and your Taishi Path preaching in Wudu, how could I not see?”

Qiao Yan clearly does not believe in the Taoist tradition and even seems intent on eradicating it.

For this, Zhang Xiu couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared peril.

Since it’s really Qiao Yan attacking, Zhang Lu could have just said he needed assistance.

Now, with this roundabout approach, he didn’t have time to properly arrange the defense of Mianyang.

But since he’s here, and the enemy situation is urgent, he didn’t delay and went straight to Longting with Zhang Lu.

As Yang Ren’s general said, Qiao Yan and her troops are at most a day away from the Wu Pass, and from the Wu Pass to Longting is a smooth road along the Han River. Passing through Chenggu County, Zhang Lu and Zhang Xiu didn’t dare to delay and rushed straight through.

Only seeing Lady Lu, who was there, climbed onto the city wall and glanced at them before disappearing.

In the face of urgent military affairs, Zhang Lu didn’t have time to explain to his mother.

Thinking that Chenggu, being sandwiched between Nanzheng and Longting, didn’t have many troops stationed there, and mobilizing troops now would still take time, it was better not to move, so Zhang Lu didn’t hesitate and continued to lead his troops towards Longting.

He didn’t see that Xun You, still on the city wall of Chenggu, was watching the team with a meaningful smile, as if watching prey jumping into a trap.

Zhang Lu was only looking at the road ahead to the east.

He knew he must not lose this battle.

After being beaten and fleeing in disarray, he must defeat the invading enemy forces to stabilize his position as the Master of the Taishi Path.

The inheritance of the Taishi Path, from its original religious teachings to the integration of military and religious authority under him, must not take a step back, nor can it develop towards disintegration.

With this belief in victory, during the hundred-mile rush from Nanzheng to Longting, he hardly stopped.

Now he couldn’t help but be grateful that he was in the Hanzhong plain.

If not for such terrain, he would never have been able to reach the city of Longting before dusk the next day.

But arriving here, if he continued straight to the Wu Pass, he would inevitably become exhausted.

He immediately decided to rest and resupply in the city, and then, based on the battle situation at the Ziwu Valley, formulate the next step of the battle plan.

Thinking this, he looked towards the county city of Longting.

Although small, this city, located in the Han River basin, could directly draw water into the moat, and the city walls were equipped with many strong bows and crossbows. At this moment, the city gates were tightly closed, and soldiers were strictly guarding all sides, making it a fortified city.

Thinking that this scene was guarding against enemies from the north, Zhang Lu felt reassured.

He raised his hand to signal, and his close attendant immediately rode forward, shouting towards the city wall, “The Master orders, open the city—”

The sudden change happened in this instant.

Before the word “gate” could be uttered, an arrow like lightning had already pierced his head.

As he fell from his horse, Zhang Lu saw a figure in a red cloak appear on the city wall.

At the same time, dozens of heavy crossbows were set up between the battlements.

This situation clearly wasn’t to welcome him but to counterattack his arrival from afar!

Zhang Lu’s face changed, and he suddenly realized a terrible fact.

He was probably too late!

According to the scout’s report, at the moment Yang Ang discovered Qiao Yan’s troops, the Chang’an troops were only a day’s journey from the Wu Pass.

If Yang Ang didn’t effectively intercept them, they indeed had the possibility of already occupying Longting.

Thus, Longting changing hands was only natural.

Almost immediately after the arrow that killed his attendant, the crossbows on the city wall fired a volley of arrows straight at Zhang Lu’s troops.

Zhang Lu didn’t think twice, rolled off his horse, grabbed a shield hanging by the horse, and covered his head.

The incoming arrows instantly killed his warhorse and several soldiers around him.

He rushed back, grabbed another horse, and mounted it.

As the second wave of arrows was fired, Zhang Lu shouted, “Retreat! Archers cover the rear, guard against the enemy leaving the city, the rest follow me and retreat!”

Facing the sudden bad news of the city changing hands, Zhang Lu was indeed momentarily panicked.

Not to mention he had just narrowly escaped deadly arrows.

But he knew this was not the time for him, as the commander, to panic.

The enemy chose to defend the city rather than face the so-called twenty thousand troops in formation outside, probably because their losses in the valley battle were also significant.

And among his six thousand troops, there were not a few cavalry, while the enemy, having come through the Ziwu Valley, couldn’t bring many cavalry. If they fought on the plain, he actually had the advantage.

This gave him a chance to retreat!

Moreover, the enemy only occupied Longting!

It’s just the most marginal position in the Hanzhong plain.

She wants to take all of Hanzhong relying on this place, which is not easy.

The Taishi Path followers and Yizhou troops distributed across the Hanzhong plain number tens of thousands, at least three times the number of the invading forces.

West of Longting, outside the Hanzhong plain, places like Xicheng and Shangyong, upon receiving the news, could also send troops here, immediately forming a two-sided encirclement, and would not delay until she could deploy new forces into the Hanzhong battle.

In this brief moment, Zhang Lu understood the current situation and the advantages and disadvantages of both sides.

He also realized one thing: from this perspective, his chances of winning are not less than the opponent’s.

So he issued another order—

Retreat to Chenggu County!

In the central Hanzhong plain, form an interception line against these invading Guanzhong troops!