Chapter 851: Benchu's Scheme

The first snow fell in You Province. Liu Yu led his wives, concubines, and children, a whole family, heading north against the wind and snow, giving people a feeling of desolation and bleakness.

Thinking about it, it was also true. Liu Yu was a member of the Han imperial clan and the You Province Governor, wealthy to the extreme. In the end, he was held hostage by his subordinates and couldn't control himself. The support of the army and people he was proud of was also an illusion created by his subordinates to cater to his preferences. Broken by Wang Yan of Liaodong, his family wealth was collected, his servants were disbanded, and the whole family only carried a pile of gorgeous clothes and messy daily utensils, pulled by a few mules and horses in several large carts, and many people had to walk.

This huge gap looked desolate no matter how you looked at it.

However, the group of people who watched Liu Yu's party off with focused eyes were a group of people who, even wearing coarse cloth and hemp clothes, even with gray heads and dirty faces, could be judged as people who had lived in luxury just by looking at their skin. They were shivering in the cold wind, holding tools, and being driven by soldiers toward the mountains.

They didn't feel Liu Yu was desolate; they were even a bit envious. Who would have thought that the muddled fool they used to mock in private actually survived by relying on being muddled.

Instead, it was them who had to work until they died, or miserably freeze and starve to death. After death, there was no grave, and they didn't know where they were buried with whom...

Easily taking You Province, General Wang sat in Ji County to coordinate. With battle generals like Huang Zhong, Taishi Ci, and Zhou Cang leading the army to expedition, the cities of Dai Commandery, Shanggu Commandery, Zhuo Commandery, Guangyang Commandery, Yuyang Commandery, and Youbeiping Commandery were being conquered one by one.

These cities were mostly small, and many didn't have moats. The grain and grass in their cities were not enough to support long-term siege consumption. Furthermore, an army of one hundred thousand couldn't stop them, Ji County had fallen, and the upper-level leaders were all wiped out. At this time, even if many officials knew they would surely die, they had no other way to go, because dying early or dying late was the same.

On the other hand, the Liaodong soldiers surrounded the cities and shouted, describing Liaodong as a fairyland, inciting the garrison soldiers to kill the officials and offer the city, go home to hold their wives and children to live, and create brilliance together with the General. Many garrison troops were not immune to incitement; after all, rumors had existed for a long time. Furthermore, with the city surrounded on all four sides, if they didn't surrender, they would die; they had no will to fight at all.

Therefore, a considerable number of officials and wealthy households made the same choice. They killed their whole families and then committed suicide.

It wasn't that they had more backbone than the top officials and powerful clans of Ji County; it was just that at that time, the people in Ji County still held a glimmer of fantasy.

After all, Gongsun Zan was still outside. Although Liu Yu didn't say it, they might not have lacked the intention of relying on Gongsun Zan. Battles of attacking and defending cities, especially a large city like Ji County, fighting for one's life—excluding other reasons, in a pure siege battle, under normal circumstances, they could hold out for several months.

And they had sufficient grain and grass in the city. According to the inventory of captured goods, the grain and grass in the city were enough to support them for more than a year. So if events developed according to the normal state of affairs, it was not impossible to wait for Gongsun Zan to return to attack Wang Yan.

Gongsun Zan's foundation was in You Province. If he knew that Liu Yu and the others had raised an army of one hundred thousand and were defeated by Wang Yan, he would definitely be shocked and jump three feet high, cursing loudly. He cursed the Wang thief, and even more so cursed the incompetence of Liu Yu and the others. He wanted both sides to suffer, but he didn't want the Wang thief to take all of You Province.

But no one would have thought that an army of one hundred thousand would be defeated in less than half a month. The sturdy city only held out for one night, and that was because Wang Yan didn't attack and rested for a night first.

Gongsun Zan definitely didn't want to hear such news; his family was all in You Province.

Now they were all doing hard labor; they basically wouldn't survive this winter...

Wang Yan sat in Ji County to coordinate, and all kinds of personnel and materials were constantly transported from Liaodong. Although You Province was cold, this winter was exceptionally hot.

Repeating the old Liaodong affairs, all kinds of blacksmiths and carpenters were busy producing. Brick kilns and glass kilns also began production, just like in Liaodong, to benefit the commoners, installing heated brick beds and glass windows for everyone.

The cost of the first construction and installation of heated brick beds and glass was quite low, and they wouldn't collect some grain until after the autumn harvest. Even if they waited until later, the price for them to buy bricks and glass themselves would return to the original price, and the price would still be affordable.

Bricks were earth, and glass was sand; the raw materials didn't cost money, only a little labor. Relatively speaking, Wang Yan was still quite conscientious. Under his rule, everything that was a daily necessity was not expensive and had always been very stable.

As for the problem of You Province not being as cold as Liaodong and retaining architectural characteristics, this was actually not a problem. Because only rich people would consider architecture; their houses were brick-wood structures, paying attention to form and decoration. But poor commoners didn't have that consideration; it was very good if they had a place to live and it didn't leak wind or rain.

The houses of the commoners in You Province were mostly piled up with stones, using mud mixed with grass as a binder and for warmth. The wooden-beamed roofs didn't even have tiles, just thatch.

In such a situation, how could they have the energy to consider the issue of architectural form? So in the future, it would basically be brick-tile houses. Little by little, when the commoners' living standards improved and they had higher pursuits, there would be so-called architectural art at that time.

The family fortune saved over six years was enough to support You Province through the winter until the autumn harvest of the coming year; it was not a big problem. The problem now was that there was insufficient manpower. The minimum standard for being a civil official was to be literate and able to calculate. As for the wisdom of dealing with commoners, although the internal *Consultant Report* was constantly praising it, it was actually far from the point where these were needed.

But even with this requirement, one couldn't be found among a hundred people.

Although there were geniuses among the commoners in these few years who had learned common characters, could read books themselves, and had learned arithmetic, being able to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, this was still far from the number of officials needed. The students cultivated in the Liaodong Academy would need another three years to finish their basic education.

This explained very well why at the beginning of the founding of the country, whether civil officials or military generals, they were all quite young. But when things stabilized, their ages increased significantly. It was just that there was no usable manpower, so they had to employ talent without sticking to one pattern. A portion of people adapted, grew, and stood out under this heavy pressure, naturally becoming figures in textbooks.

There wasn't enough talent on hand, and there weren't many local officials in You Province left alive, so they couldn't provide much help either. He himself had incorporated the governance of the village into the formal system; village chiefs could also be promoted, which greatly increased the number of officials needed. There weren't enough to begin with, and with him doing this, there was naturally even more of a shortage of manpower.

However, it wasn't a big problem. Anyway, the rules were there. If there wasn't enough manpower, they would start from the higher levels, first covering the county-level administrative units. The village chiefs of Liaodong were promoted to become county magistrates in You Province, doing the work of village chiefs, leading other officials and some soldiers to assist, carrying out work village by village. If it was tiring, it was tiring. If there were mistakes or omissions, they would leak first, and there would always be a day to make up for them. On the whole, the commoners definitely wouldn't suffer losses.

On the other hand, as far as the current situation was concerned, the commoners' enthusiasm for construction was quite high. As long as the officials gave orders and explained clearly what they were doing, there was no need for supervision. The commoners, who were thirsty for a better life, had more drive than anyone else.

Of course, because it was already a cold winter, large-scale construction hadn't started yet; they were just re-measuring the fields and dividing the land. This work was done by county magistrates leading the army, so it wasn't a big problem.

There were many rules in the army, and military orders were strict. Under high pressure, there were quite a few who were literate and could calculate; they were the main force currently governing the local areas.

Overall, the rule of You Province could be considered stabilized.

At the same time, in order to deal with the withdrawal of the feudal lords in the coming spring, each developing and contending for hegemony, as well as Gongsun Zan's intention to lead his army back, Wang Yan carried out a series of military deployments.

Huang Zhong led the Xuanwu Guard to garrison Quanzhou (Tianjin), Zhou Cang led the Weiwu Guard to guard Xu Shui (Baoding Xu Shui), and Taishi Ci led the Guangwu Guard to guard Baxian (Bazhou). This was to prevent Gongsun Zan from returning his army next year, and even more so to prevent Han Fu and Yuan Shao of Ji Province. The current goal was to hold onto the fruits of victory in You Province, so they could solidly farm for a few years, accumulate some more family fortune, and prepare for greater expansion.

As for Bing Province, it was now impossible to take it. Liao Hua's Brave Cavalry Battalion was stationed there, along with three thousand troops of the Zhenwu Guard. If this force was ignored, it would be enough to take a large piece of territory in Bing Province. It was just that resources were tight, and there was no way to expand externally in the short term.

In addition, three thousand troops of the Zhenwu Guard were stationed on the grasslands, and there were six thousand troops of the Xiongwu Guard in Qingping County; those could not be moved. Those were the troops guarding the grassland territory, uniting the Xianbei commoners who had defected, and guarding the eastern and western gateways of Liaodong. The reason Liao Hua's Brave Cavalry Battalion wasn't moved over to trample the Central Plains was also because of this consideration.

The war on the grasslands had never stopped. Even though they had occupied You Province here, when Liao Hua was guarding the territory of Guangning, he still divided a portion of his troops to go to the grasslands to strike at the barbarians.

Regarding them, Wang Yan's attitude was very firm: either enter my command, listen to my orders, and integrate into the Han people, or go west. If they stayed and didn't submit, it was death. Of course, even if they submitted, the leaders of each tribe couldn't live; otherwise, how would they rebel? But if the leaders weren't killed and they were allowed to control the discourse power of the tribe, that was attachment, not submission.

The hostile state between General Wang and the leaders of the various tribes on the grasslands was the same as the hostile state with the powerful clans and officials. To him, they were all class enemies; to the leaders and powerful clans and officials, they were also incompatible, wanting to kill them quickly...

Apart from these few troops, there were three thousand Yingwu Guards in Fang County, and the full-strength Xingwu Guard in Changchun. The Yingwu Guard maintained the stability of the old home, and the Xingwu Guard annexed Fuyu and Goguryeo; these also couldn't be used.

As for the three thousand Yingwu Guards and three thousand conscripted militia sent out earlier, they hadn't been formally reorganized and now belonged to being scattered in various places, maintaining order. Half of the soldiers of Taishi Ci, Huang Zhong, and Zhou Cang had also been drawn to various county towns to assist civil officials in measuring fields.

When they returned to the team in the coming spring, they would just prepare to fight Gongsun Zan.

In fact, when chaos broke out in You Province, some people moved south with their whole families. And after Liaodong defeated the army of one hundred thousand in You Province, under the situation of insufficient blockade, even more people fled south. And when the You Province army was mobilized earlier, Han Fu of Ji Province had already received the news. When Wang Yan mobilized his troops, Huang Zhong, Taishi Ci, and Zhou Cang led their armies south to their stations, blockading from the Baoding line all the way to Quanzhou facing the Bohai Sea.

This blockade line of nearly six hundred li set up various mountain passes, eyeing Ji Province covetously. If Han Fu didn't even know about such movements, he wouldn't need to be the Ji Province Governor...

The winter in Luoyang wasn't very warm, but the various feudal lords often gathered. Although everyone had reached a consensus to wait for the weather to warm up before fighting Dong Zhuo again and then withdrawing their troops after making a gesture, when everyone gathered, they still didn't forget to discuss how to kill the Dong thief and talk about the great ambition of restoring the Han imperial house. In front of these people, Liu Bei, who was a member of the Han imperial clan and also had the ambition to restore the Han imperial house, looked less loyal to the Han imperial house than them.

Everyone knew each other's thoughts and also knew that this was the last peaceful time. Perhaps they would meet with weapons in the future, but everyone was coping here.

This time belonged to the early Han Dynasty. In this situation, everyone was actually revolving around the Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers. Of the eighteen feudal lords, sixteen were revolving around these two, standing in teams.

Of course, no matter how they stood in teams, they were an allied army. When they gathered for drinking and feasting together, it still looked harmonious.

However, today, when the alliance leader invited everyone to a feast, familiar faces were missing.

Scanning the circle, Yuan Shao asked: "Why haven't General Gongsun and Lord Han arrived? Left and right, is it your negligence that you didn't notify the two of them?"

The soldiers under the tent cupped their hands to plead guilty and said: "Reporting to the General, when I went, the two generals were discussing matters in Lord Han's tent, so I couldn't enter to see them. After informing Lord Han's personal guards, I returned. I truly don't know why."

"Oh? There is such a thing?"

Yuan Shao narrowed his eyes slightly, subconsciously feeling a sense of crisis.

He was now the Bohai Prefect. Although he didn't take Han Fu seriously, the man was the Ji Province Governor, his direct superior. And Gongsun Zan was the General of Martial Valor, Marquis of Ji, and a hegemon of You Province, commanding an army of twenty thousand. If the two allied and didn't join him, after returning their troops, if the two attacked him together, how could he deal with it relying on Bohai alone?

It wasn't just Yuan Shao; the other feudal lords sitting in the tent were also whispering to each other. Those who were far away were also silently exchanging glances. Yuan Shu, sitting in the lower position, even had a smile on his face, with unclear meaning.

Yuan Shao's eyes were burning with fire, but his scalp was also numb.

In the middle seat was a person with a square face and a sheep-tail beard, with very dense hair. Although his frame was small, he had a sense of power when sitting. This was Cao Cao, Cao Meng De, who had forged an imperial edict to raise an army and invite the feudal lords.

Cao Cao held a wine goblet, drinking alone, stealing glances at the expressions of the Yuan brothers, and looking at the petty schemes of the feudal lords in the tent, feeling three parts of contempt.

Just at this time, a scholar rushed into the tent, looked at the feudal lords who were talking to each other, and cupped his hands toward Yuan Shao: "Reporting to the Lord, just now soldiers came to report that Gongsun Zan and Han Fu's military camps are noisy, but the two of them are organizing their troops to leave."

"Does Zhongzhi know why?"

"Ping also doesn't know. The Lord should go and ask them."

This person was Yuan Shao's strategist, surnamed Xin, given name Ping, courtesy name Zhongzhi. He served Yuan Shao with his younger brother Xin Pi. After the defeat at Guandu, both fought to the death for the Yuan clan and were killed by Cao Cao.

Yuan Shao said good, got up and left his seat, wanting to go out and find Gongsun Zan and Han Fu to ask clearly. The other feudal lords also got up, wanting to follow to grasp the first-hand news.

At this time, the commander's tent was lifted again, and it was Gongsun Zan and Han Fu who came hand in hand, cupping their hands to salute the feudal lords.

Yuan Shao hurriedly asked: "I just heard that the two generals want to pull up camp and return, but I don't know why? I ask the two generals to speak clearly so that we can understand."

Gongsun Zan exchanged a look with Han Fu. Gongsun Zan was of low rank, so he spoke: "It is not that we do not want to kill the national thief, but it is truly the harm of the Wang thief in the north, which is no different from the Dong thief. Everyone knows about the Wang thief of Liaodong. Last year, hearing that the late Emperor had passed away, he advanced to Linyu, took Guangning, and seized Juyong to plot for the land of You Province. He did not raise an army, but used the benefit of one-tenth tax to widely induce commoners to defect. He divided the fields with the commoners, one hundred mu per household, and thus advanced slowly, encroaching on You Province."

"Just now, Lord Han and I both received news from You Province. Two months ago, Governor Liu and his department all understood the harm of the Wang thief and had to raise an army of one hundred thousand to attack, not seeking to destroy the Wang thief, but to drive him back to Liaodong. However, Governor Liu's soldiers were not good at fighting, and the Wang thief confused their hearing and sight, promising the soldiers things in the face of battle. The soldiers killed the officials and rebelled, and the army of one hundred thousand collapsed without a fight."

"The powerful clans and officials of You Province have all been harmed by the Wang thief. My family members have also been harmed by the thief, and no one survived. With such national hatred and family enmity, how can I not report it? The Dong thief has you gentlemen; I should fight the Wang thief to the death to report my family hatred and guard the Han land. Death is not worth regretting."

Looking at Gongsun Zan, who was already wiping away tears, Han Fu sighed: "Now the Wang thief has deployed troops in Quanzhou, Xu Shui, and Baxian, waiting for the dawn, peeping at Ji Province. Our two families have decided to join forces and should use the strength of Ji Province to fight the Wang thief to the death. The affairs of the world are all in our hands. The Dong thief will trouble you gentlemen to worry about; the two of us are leaving."

Yuan Shao was even more numb. These two had already explained that they were going to join forces. Now Gongsun Zan was attached to Han Fu, and there was the Wang thief in the north eyeing covetously. In such a situation, he was even worse off.

Looking at the people in the field, looking at the strategist who was winking at him crazily, Yuan Shao let out a loud cry, beating his chest and stomping his feet, crying out: "Alas! First there was the chaos of the Ten Eunuchs, then there was the uncalculating He Jin who invited Dong Zhuo to disrupt the country, and now there is the Yellow Turban shifting the disaster, and the rebel Wang Yan seizing my Han land. Lord Han, Bo Gui, I am also the Bohai Prefect. You want to eliminate the Wang thief; how can I sit by and watch? Now I should follow the two of you to withdraw the army back to Ji and crusade against the Wang thief."

"I know what you gentlemen are worried about, so let my younger brother Gonglu be the alliance leader to crusade against the Dong thief. Just as Lord Han said, the affairs of the world are all in our hands. We should work together with one heart, not forgetting the alliance at Suanzao, and swear to kill the Dong thief. We should also fight the Wang thief to the death. You gentlemen do not need to say more. The rise and fall of the Han imperial house are all in your hands. Pass on my order to pull up camp and return to Ji to crusade against the Wang thief."

Yuan Shao said this, not giving Yuan Shu and the others a chance to speak at all, directly leaving the tent to beat the drums and organize the army.

He didn't sit in the position of alliance leader very well, and Yuan Shao felt deeply about this. Leaving early or leaving late was the same; what's more, now there was the Wang thief peeping, and Gongsun Zan attached to Han Fu. He couldn't not leave; he had to follow along.

His good younger brother wasn't competing for everything? Now that he had great righteousness on his body, no one could say anything. He would throw this matter to his good younger brother and let his good younger brother play with it. If he continued to fight, he definitely couldn't take it down. If he didn't fight, he would be fighting the Wang thief really hard in the north, and he would see how his good younger brother and this group of people would handle it.

At this time, Yuan Shu had ten thousand words he wanted to say to his good older brother... ===== CHAPTER 852 =====