xymnovel Chapter 4: Fertile Water?
Chapter 4: Fertile Water?
Upon learning that the Lujiang army was blocking their way, Yuan Shu's army immediately convened an emergency military meeting.
Head coach Ji Ling flew into a rage on the spot: "We'll crush them in one battle!"
The strategist Yan Xiang hurriedly stepped forward: "General! You cannot raise an army in anger."
"Oh, never mind then." Ji Ling readily accepted the advice.
Actually, I didn't want to fight in the first place.
Yuan Yao was fully aware of this.
On paper, Liu Xun's Lujiang army numbered about three thousand, while Yuan Shu's army had more than five thousand, seemingly giving him a significant advantage.
However, Liu Xun was fighting on home soil, which gave him both the advantage of terrain and popular support. On the other hand, Yuan Shu's army had suffered defeats year after year, and their morale was very low. If they really fought, they would definitely suffer heavy losses.
Worse still, compared to Liu Xun's military threat, the most important thing right now is to figure out why he is here.
According to the previous plan, Yuan Shu's army had been using the pretext of attacking Sun Ce. Lujiang County was located between the two, which was almost a necessary route, so it was necessary to communicate with Liu Xun, the governor of Lujiang, in advance.
Since Liu Xun had previously served under Yuan Shu, and the Chief Clerk Yang Hong was known for having connections with everyone, he wrote a letter to Liu Xun requesting passage for his southern expedition and also advising Liu Xun to join forces with the Zhong family to attack Jiangdong.
Therefore, before the expedition, many ministers, including Yuan Shu, thought that this southward expedition was basically just a sightseeing trip, and that Liu Xun would most likely defect and surrender with courtesy, voluntarily handing over Lujiang to the Zhong family.
Yuan Yao was not so optimistic, but he also did not expect Liu Xun's reaction to be so strong, that he would actually lead his troops over personally.
It just doesn't make sense.
Regardless of how abstract Yuan Shu's act of declaring himself emperor may be, just considering his relationship with Liu Xun, the debt of gratitude he owed him was absolutely immense, and the Yuan family could never repay it.
Even Liu Xun's position as the Prefect of Lujiang was appointed by Yuan Shu. Even if Yuan Shu forcibly attacked Lujiang, he would have a legitimate reason to do so, let alone merely requesting passage.
Therefore, Liu Xun's behavior of disregarding past relationships and directly breaking ties with his benefactor will definitely attract a lot of criticism if it gets out.
unless--
Yuan Yao secretly guessed that unless Liu Xun saw through his plan...
But according to other people's evaluations of Liu Xun, he shouldn't have that ability, right?
Half an hour later, the messenger sent by Liu Xun answered Yuan Yao's doubts.
The visitor was an acquaintance, someone who knew Ji Ling, Yan Xiang, and even Yuan Yao. He was Liu Xun's cousin, Liu Xie.
Liu Xie exchanged a few pleasantries before turning serious and saying, "I urge you all to return to Shouchun. Do not try to deceive my brother again. Your plan to use a pretext to attack Guo has already been seen through by Liu Ziyang!"
"Liu Ziyang?"
The name startled Yuan Yao.
Huang Yi, standing beside him, whispered, "It should be Liu Ye from Chengde, a direct descendant of Emperor Guangwu, who was once praised by Xu Zijiang as having the talent to assist the world."
"I know," Yuan Yao said weakly.
How could he not know Liu Ye? This man was one of Cao Cao's five great strategists!
He simply didn't know that Liu Ye was now under Liu Xun's command.
This is really bad...
Unfortunately, others failed to realize the seriousness of the problem.
When his true intentions were exposed, the strategist Yan Xiang remained calm and instead burst into laughter.
Liu Xie was taken aback: "Why is Lord Yan laughing?"
Yan Xiang shook his head: "I laugh at Liu Zitai (Liu Xun's courtesy name) for being so unaware of the impending doom!"
Liu Xie was immediately puzzled: "What makes you say that?"
Yan Xiang stroked his beard and asked in return, "May I ask what great ambitions your brother has in establishing a foothold in Lujiang?"
Liu Xie sighed deeply and replied sincerely, "It's just about survival."
Yan Xiang nodded: "This is the way to certain death."
Yan Xiang: "Forgive my bluntness, but given the current situation, Lujiang is surrounded by wolves. To the west is Liu Biao, to the north is Cao Cao, and to the south is Sun Ce. It is by no means a place for peace and tranquility."
"Now that our army is marching south to attack Sun Ce, Liu Zitai insists on blocking our way. Does he think those three families will be grateful to him? No, they will only watch coldly and observe the outcome!"
"Consider this: if your brother insists on fighting our army, losing will naturally end everything, but even if he manages to win, what then?"
"This will only benefit others, especially Sun Ce, who is eyeing Lujiang covetously! It will cause pain to our allies and joy to our enemies!"
"Moreover, everyone knows that Liu Zitai is a former subordinate of my lord. Once this battle begins, he will be seen as a traitor in the eyes of the world. Who will respect a person who has betrayed his lord in the future?"
"Why not fulfill this duty between ruler and subject, and allow our army to pass through Lujiang? My lord will surely remember our past relationship and treat your brother well, thus allowing you to preserve your reputation and wealth!"
After these words were spoken, not only Liu Xie fell into deep thought, but Yuan Yao also nodded repeatedly.
Unexpectedly, Yan Xiang, who seemed like an inconspicuous white-haired old man, actually had some skills and directly pointed out a fatal problem with Liu Xun.
That is, as a place of constant warfare, Lujiang's geographical environment was extremely harsh.
In this situation, it is pointless to dwell on whether Yuan Shu's army was using a pretext to attack Guo. Since Liu Xun's strength was limited and he could not protect himself, he might as well just submit.
Otherwise, if both sides fight to the death, it won't benefit him regardless of who wins or loses.
"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Yan. I will certainly convey these words to my elder brother."
After Liu Xie left, Yan Xiang said confidently to Ji Ling and Yuan Yao, "If I am not mistaken, Liu Zitai will come to my camp to apologize within three days at the latest."
Even if the other side is power-hungry and unwilling to hand over Lujiang, they will never again use force to stop Yuan Shu's army.
That's enough. Once Zhong's army enters Lujiang, they only need to find a reason to stop and then gradually adopt the salami-slicing tactic. This "borrowing a path to conquer Guo" campaign will then be a great success.
Ji Ling thought so too. He was also familiar with the Liu Xun and Liu Xie brothers. They used to mock the Sun family's southern Jiangsu accent together, and they knew the brothers were quite capable.
Only Yuan Yao remained silent.
Yan Xiang's explanation is certainly reasonable, but Liu Ye is also involved...
Three days later, Liu Xun's men indeed arrived at Yuan Shu's army camp.
But it wasn't Liu Xun, the prefect of Lujiang, as everyone had expected; it was still Liu Xie.
Liu Xie seemed somewhat uneasy: "To be honest, my elder brother was deeply moved after hearing what Lord Yan said. He knows that he is not talented and virtuous enough to live up to the expectations of the people of Lujiang. He originally wanted to return the entire prefecture to its former master and only wish to retire to the mountains and live a wealthy life. But alas..."
Yan Xiang hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Liu Xie: "However, Liu Ziyang changed my brother's mind with just one sentence."
Yan Xiang: "Which sentence?"
Liu Xie: "Have you forgotten what happened to Han, the governor of Ji Province?"
Everyone fell silent.
The main problem is that Liu Ye's words were too harsh.
Back then, Han Fu, as a protégé of Yuan Shao, faced a situation quite similar to Liu Xun's today. What became of him after ceding Ji Province to Yuan Shao?
The answer is that he hid in the toilet and committed suicide with a book-carving knife!
Liu Xun's status is now inferior to Han Fu's, his land in Lujiang is not as good as Jizhou's, and most importantly, Yuan Shu's reputation is far inferior to that of Yuan Shao, who is known as the model of the world.
How could Liu Xun possibly believe that he would have a good ending?
It would be better to fight Yuan Shu to the death.
After a long pause, Yan Xiang finally spoke, "Liu Zitai is overthinking it. Times have changed; how can you equate them?"
"That's true, but my brother... still has some doubts." Liu Xie was somewhat discouraged.
To be fair, Liu Xie was actually a proponent of peace and did not want war to break out; otherwise, he would not have repeatedly come to Yuan Shu's army to negotiate.
But what Liu Ye said made a lot of sense, and he didn't know what to do.
After pondering for a long time, Yan Xiang tentatively asked, "How about I send a messenger to Shouchun overnight to request a letter in my lord's own handwriting? Would that put your brother's mind at ease?"
Liu Xie wasn't very confident: "Perhaps, why not give it a try?"
There's no other way at this point.
Just as Yan Xiang was giving the order to send people back to Shouchun, someone spoke up—
"Wait a minute!"
It was Yuan Yao.
Yuan Yao shook his head slightly at Yan Xiang, stopping him from doing so.
Because it's meaningless.
Firstly, given Yuan Shu's personality, when he learned that Liu Xun did not believe him, he would only fly into a rage and would never write a letter to comfort him.
Secondly, even if Yuan Shu wrote it under duress, would Liu Xun really believe it? And even if he did, wouldn't Liu Ye have had other ways to stop him?
Yuan Yao absolutely refused to believe it.
So there's no need to go through that trouble.
But given the current situation, if we don't heed Liu Xun's words, Yuan Shu's army will be stuck halfway, and if it drags on, it will definitely cause big problems.
Only by using a decisive move to break down Liu Xun's psychological defenses in one fell swoop, catching even Liu Ye off guard.
Fortunately, Yuan Yao knew that one secret technique.
Taking a deep breath, Yuan Yao couldn't help but pray in his heart, hoping that Liu Xun was indeed, as others had said, a clingy and indecisive wretch.
Then he began his performance.
Yuan Yao stood up and approached Liu Xie, asking, "Do you recognize me, sir?"
"Young Master is too kind." Liu Xie had previously served under Yuan Shu, so of course he recognized him.
"That's good." Yuan Yao smiled, then grabbed Liu Xie's hand: "Please come with me, sir."
Liu Xie, unaware of what was going on, had no choice but to leave the tent with Yuan Yao. The others, equally confused, followed suit.
Soon after, the group arrived at the rear of Yuan Shu's army camp.
There was nothing here except a wide open space, three or five soldiers on guard, and a river flowing endlessly in front of them.
The next moment, Yuan Yao, holding Liu Xie's left hand and pointing to the river in front of them with his right, said earnestly:
"Please convey to your brother that Yuan Yao swears an oath by the Fei River that he will not betray Lord Liu!"