Chapter 233: Liu Bei has great talent, Zhuge Liang is good at governing the country, Li Yi knows the real situation, Pang Tong sees the military situation, and it is difficult to make a plan

However, Li Yi led his troops through Lulongkou and took a detour to attack Liucheng in western Liaoning.

Scouts had already reported Li Yi’s army’s whereabouts to Wuhuan King Tadun.

Tadun gathered a total of 20,000 troops and rushed to Bailang Mountain to cut off the marching route of Li Yi’s army.

At that time, Li Yi had only 10,000 troops, and the next 20,000 troops were still behind.

So everyone advised Li Yi not to attack in a hurry, but to wait for the large force behind to arrive, gather together, and then attack them in one fell swoop.

Then the Wuhuan can be defeated and Tadun’s head can be taken.

Li Yi looked through the telescope and saw that the Wuhuan troops were just arriving but their battle formation had not yet formed.

He looked back at the warrior following behind him:

——Lü Bu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, Zhang Xiu, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, etc.

Seeing this, Li Yi said to everyone:

“The enemy has just arrived, but their troops are not in order and their battle formation is not yet complete.”

“If you can catch the enemy by surprise and attack them when they are unprepared, it will not be difficult to defeat the enemy.”

After that, he asked everyone, “Who dares to fight?”

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals were full of fighting spirit and enthusiasm.

Lu Bu was the first to ask for battle:

“…Sir, I am willing to be the vanguard and go straight to Tadun’s head!”

Ma Chao was not to be outdone:
“I am very willing to go to war with General Lu, and I will make sure that the Wuhuan villains will never return!”

Zhang Fei glared and roared:

“I, Old Zhang, have been itching to kill him. I will kill him today!”

Huang Zhong stroked his beard and smiled:

“Although I am old, I am skilled in archery and horse riding, and my arrows are still sharp. I am willing to escort the army.”

Zhang Liao and Zhang Xiu calmly analyzed:

“Although Tadun was brave, he had lived outside the Great Wall for a long time and was not familiar with the art of war.”

“The two of us are willing to lead a cavalry team to flank and cut off the enemy’s retreat.”

The reason why everyone is so motivated is because everyone knows one thing.

The expedition to Liaodong was itself an extremely arduous task.

But before reaching Liucheng, they ran into Tadun’s main force head-on.

Everyone understood that as long as they rushed forward, they would be able to hack Tadun to death.

…Then this war is over.

Seeing that everyone was eager to fight, Li Yi was overjoyed and ordered the entire army to charge directly into the center of Tadun’s formation.

At the sound of a horn, four generals, Lu Bu, Ma Chao, Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong, came out together.

Like an overwhelming tidal wave, they divided into four groups and rushed down the mountain with all their might.

Zhang Xiu and Zhang Liao each led the Liangzhou cavalry and Bingzhou elite cavalry to attack the Wuhuan army formation from the left and right wings.

The Wuhuan people were all surprised to see the Han army suddenly attacking.

Because their numbers were greater than the Han army, they originally thought that the Han army would defend and counterattack, and would not dare to take the initiative to attack.

As a result, everyone was not prepared.

They never expected that the Han people would come down the mountain as soon as they said they would, and caught them off guard.

Seeing this, Tadun had to fight back hastily.

Organize the Wuhuan cavalry to counterattack.

Here, Lu Bu took the lead, wielding his Fang Tian Hua Ji like the wind.

Wherever the halberd swept past, the Wuhuan cavalry fell off their horses one after another.

Ma Chao wore a white robe and silver armor, held his spear and rode his horse, as if he was in an empty space.

Zhang Fei roared, as if driving a tiger into a flock of sheep.

The old general Huang Zhong drew his bow and shot every arrow he could find. He rode and shot, and the Wuhuan general fell to the ground.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, more than a dozen Wuhuan generals had died.

The Wuhuan army was unable to stop the Han army’s offensive and fell into chaos among themselves.

He was running around in the crowd like a headless fly.

Countless people were trampled to death by those who fell from their horses.

The Wuhuan army was defeated.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Tadun panicked and rode away quickly.

I ran into a general head-on, who was mighty, majestic and murderous.

“…Yanmen Zhang Wenyuan is here!”

Zhang Liao shouted loudly and rode forward on his horse.

He raised his hand and slashed with the sword.

Tadun screamed, his head fell to the ground, and he died on the spot.

When Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi saw that Tadun was dead, they were so frightened that their souls left their bodies and their hearts were broken.

Under the protection of his personal guards, he fled to the east in a hurry, wearing only a scarf and a single layer of clothes.

The backbone of the group either died or scattered, and the rest were all defeated.

They were unable to resist the heroic spirit of the Han army and were killed by them, leaving their weapons and armors abandoned and blood all over the ground.

This battle,

The Han cavalry was as fast as the wind, and the enemy troops were greatly defeated.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Li Yi ordered his men to hang Tadun’s head on the flagpole.

With Tadun’s head, he declared victory over the entire Wuhuan territory.

When the remaining Wuhuan people saw that their king was dead, they surrendered one after another.

At that time, Liucheng Chanyu Louban saw that all the tribes had surrendered and knew that the situation was hopeless.

As soon as Li Yi’s army arrived, he took the initiative to surrender the city.

Li Yi was able to enter Liucheng without bloodshed.

Li Yi sat on the throne, with the generals standing on his left and right.

Lou Ban took off his shirt and asked for forgiveness.

Although it was almost summer, Liucheng was still cold, with the temperature only a few degrees.

Lou Ban’s face turned red, and he knelt down in panic as soon as he entered the hall.

“…I, the guilty minister Lou Ban, greet the Marquis of Tan.”

“Ruhan’s words are quite good.”

Li Yi was slightly impressed when he saw that Lou Ban spoke Chinese fluently.

Lou Ban bowed and said:

“…In response to Tan Hou’s words, the Han and Hu peoples have lived together in western Liaoning for hundreds of years.”

“I have been learning Chinese since I was young, so I can speak both Chinese and Hu languages.”

Li Yi nodded slightly and then rebuked Lou Ban:
“You, the Wuhuan of Liaoxi, have gathered the Han dynasty’s traitors.”

“We will gather all the troops of the barbarians to resist China.”

“Do you know your sin?”

Lou Ban did not dare to argue and kowtowed repeatedly.

His head was broken and blood was all over the floor.

“…I am a guilty minister and I ask the Heavenly Emperor to punish me.”

The people around were a little surprised to see that Lou Ban was so honest.

The reason why Lou Ban did this was because he knew that it was useless to make excuses.

From the moment Li Yi’s army took over Liucheng, he was like a fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of others.

Li Yi asked Xun You beside him:

“Now that Wuhuan King Tadun is dead, Chanyu Louban has surrendered the city.”

“What crime do you think Lou Ban should be punished for?”

When Xun You was named, he immediately understood the hidden meaning of Li Yi’s words.

Then he said, “I think that the chief traitor who was tolerated and subdued by the two Yuaners this time is Tadun, the king of Wuhuan.”

“Tadun has been executed, but Chanyu Louban was guilty of not ruling his people strictly.”

“But considering that he has the merit of surrendering the city, perhaps his merits and demerits can be offset.”

After listening to Xun You’s words, everyone realized that Li Yi did not want to punish Lou Ban.

That’s why Xun You was allowed to speak out to give them a way out.

“…Well, Gongda’s words make sense.”

“But as Chanyu, you allowed Tadun to resist the royal army. This cannot be offset by Liu Cheng’s contribution.”

Li Yi also blamed Lou Ban for passing through the aisle.

Lou Ban had been the Chanyu for several years, and he immediately understood the hidden meaning in Li Yi’s words.

He immediately bowed his head and said:
“I, the guilty minister Lou Ban, know that I have committed a grave sin and am willing to make meritorious contributions for the Heavenly Dynasty.”

“But if there is a prince who wants to use a guilty minister, I will do it even if it means I have to go through fire and water.”

Zhang Fei couldn’t help but sneer at Zhang Liao beside him when he heard this:

“This man is the Hulu Chanyu, and he speaks Chinese very well.”

“……good.”

Li Yi stared at him, “I heard that there are many Han and Hu people in Liaoxi. You can still be the Chanyu and recruit the people to surrender for me.”

When Lou Ban heard that he could continue to be the Chanyu, he immediately burst into tears of gratitude and thanked the emperor repeatedly.

This is a standard whip and candy trick.

Xu Shu saw that after Li Yi’s operation, he had completely subdued the Louban group.

I was full of admiration at the moment.

Tadun himself enjoyed a very high prestige in western Liaoning. He was beheaded on the battlefield at Bailang Mountain, which greatly shocked the people of western Liaoning.

When Chanyu Louban personally came forward to persuade the people to surrender, the Han and Hu people in western Liaoning surrendered to Li Yi one after another.

Those who surrendered numbered more than 200,000.

Because of his meritorious service in killing Tadun in battle, Zhang Liao was granted an additional fief of 500 households by the imperial court.

Not stated.

After receiving the surrendered Han people, Li Yi sent people to inquire about the whereabouts of Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi.

With the help of the Hu people, they learned that the two men had fled to Gongsun Du in Liaodong after their defeat.

Everyone asked if they were going to Liaodong to pursue the enemy. Li Yi stroked his beard and smiled:
“Now that the Wuhuan have surrendered, Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi are doomed to fail and will no longer be able to achieve anything.”

“Even if they escape, only two wild ducks will fly away.”

“The greatest gain of this battle is to be able to subjugate the Han and Hu people in western Liao.”

After Li Yi recovered Liaoxi, he began to formally deal with the issue of the Hu and Han people there.

Over the years, because the Wuhuan people in western Liaoning have lived together with the Han people for many years, their living habits and language have been mostly sinicized.

The handicraft, manufacturing and iron smelting industries in western Liaoning also had a certain foundation.

On this basis, there was no need for Li Yi to relocate the population here to the inland.

If they move away, the Xianbei people will only benefit from it for nothing.

It was like destroying one Wuhuan tribe and then another Xianbei tribe came.

Will we send out troops to conquer again at that time?

Just stay here and develop rapidly.

If we want to develop, the first thing we need to solve is the “people” problem.

The three counties of Wuhuan in history were directly assimilated into China and slowly disappeared in the long river of history.

However, the history books only briefly mention how it was translated into Chinese.

This work can only be done by Li Yi.

To this end, Li Yi made two personnel appointments.

First, Lou Ban was still appointed as the Chanyu of Wuhuan, commanding all Wuhuan tribes.

This move greatly soothed the hearts of the Wuhuan people who had just surrendered.

When they found that the Han people did not immediately ban them, they would naturally behave themselves as long as the Chanyu did not give any orders.

Second, establish a Northern Garrison Commander, with a rank equivalent to that of a two thousand stone official, and let Zhang Xiu lead him.

The Northern Garrison Commander and the Wuhuan Chanyu jointly governed Liaoxi and Youbeiping County.

However, the Northern Garrison Commander has the power of supervision and decision-making.

Decision-making on major matters, appointment and removal of important positions, arrangement of important projects, use of large sums of funds, etc.

Each has the final decision-making power.

Even if Shanyu Louban had important decisions to make, he had to get the approval of the Northern Garrison Commander first.

That’s right, the post of Northern Garrison Commander was established to monitor Louban.

To be more specific, it is the relationship between the secretary and the mayor.

As for the Northern Garrison Commander, if he has something to do, he can go west to Yuyang County first.

If it is a matter concerning the Han people, the Yuyang prefect will come forward to resolve it. If it cannot be resolved, it will be reported to Li Yi, the governor of Jizhou.

If it is a matter involving the Wuhuan people, the Protector of Wuhuan will come forward to resolve it. If it cannot be resolved, it will also be reported to Li Yi, the governor of Jizhou.

After some operations, Li Yi basically solved the problem of local stability in the recovered Liaoxi County.

Next, the issue is to speed up the sinicization of the local Hu people.

For this purpose, Li Yi had a private meeting with Chanyu Louban.

“…The guilty minister Lou Ban has come to see Marquis Tan.”

“Oh, no need to be so polite.”

Li Yi came straight to the point:
“I heard that your Wuhuan tribe paid leather and cloth taxes to the Xiongnu in the early years. Is this true?”

Lou Ban’s expression changed slightly, and he bowed and said:

“Reporting to the Lord, it is true, but it happened more than three hundred years ago.”

“Now–“

“Hey!” Li Yi interrupted Lou Ban and waved his hand impatiently.

“You just asked if you had it or not. I didn’t ask you anything else.”

Lou Ban was stunned for a moment, then nodded blankly, “Yes.”

The so-called leather and cloth tax

The Wuhuan people had to provide the Xiongnu with a fixed amount of cattle, horse and sheep leather every year.

If the payment was not made on time, the wives and children of the Wuhuan people would be captured by the Xiongnu.

Imagine how you would feel if one day you returned home and your wife and children were suddenly gone?
It can be said that for a long time, the Wuhuan people lived under the shadow of the Xiongnu rule.

The name “Wuhuan” was also given to them by the Xiongnu, meaning “surrender”.

As for why the Xiongnu collected leather and cloth taxes from the Wuhuan people.

This is mainly because animal leather has practical value for nomadic people.

It can serve as a currency.

And to obtain additional animal leather beyond daily living needs.

This will require you to carry out unplanned slaughter of more livestock.

Therefore, the Huns continued to levy taxes on leather and cloth, with the main purpose of weakening the economic power of the Wuhuan.

The relationship between the Wuhuan people lasted for more than a hundred years.

It was not until the Han Dynasty continued to attack the Xiongnu that the Wuhuan people were able to jump back and forth between the two great powers of Han and Xiongnu.

Now Li Yi suddenly mentioned the “leather and cloth tax” from more than 300 years ago, and that ancient dark memory was immediately awakened in Lou Ban’s mind.

“…Now you Wuhuan people are being oppressed by the Xianbei.”

“The living space is shrinking day by day, so we have repeatedly invaded Han territory.”

“You live in Han territory, so you are Han people. Shouldn’t you pay tribute and taxes to our Han court?”

Li Yi’s voice rang in Lou Ban’s ears like the whisper of a devil. Lou Ban suppressed the fear deep in his blood and said with a forced smile:

“…You are right. Since we live in Han territory, we should pay taxes to the Celestial Empire.”

“It’s just that the leather and cloth taxes require the slaughter of cattle and sheep, but most of our Hu people no longer raise livestock.”

“I am worried that I will not be able to deliver the leather that the Marquis of Tan needs on time every year.”

Ok.

Li Yi nodded and said:
“Regardless of whether they are Han or Hu people, since they live in Han territory, they should pay taxes to the imperial court.”

“If you are engaged in farming or hand weaving, you have to pay taxes on grain and cloth.”

“If you are a nomadic person, you must pay the leather and cloth tax on time.”

“Don’t miss the time, don’t miss anything.”

“But if there is a delay, you are the only one who can ask!”

Lou Ban was sweating profusely, and he bowed in fear and replied:

“…Yes, yes, yes, I will obey your order.”

Lou Ban now understood that Li Yi insisted on collecting the leather and cloth tax.

The goal was to force those Wuhuan people who were still in Liao territory and had not yet been assimilated into Han culture to transform.

Start by changing your living habits if you refuse to localize.

That would mean having to bear high taxes on leather and cloth.

You know, what nomads fear most is the forced slaughter of livestock.

Over time, they will naturally give up their original living habits and engage in the same production labor as the Han people.

And once they choose farming life.

Then the vast Liao land was the direction for their reclamation.

This meant that Li Yi got free labor and let people voluntarily develop the land in Northeast China for him.

He didn’t even need to relocate people from the inland areas and force them to develop the Northeast.

It saves a lot of manpower, material and financial resources.

that’s it,
While Li Yi was working to stabilize the situation in western Liaoning, he sent people to Liaodong to ask Gongsun Du for people.

If we follow the historical line, the Gongsun clan of Liaodong would take the initiative to kill the two Yuaners and present their heads to please the court.

But at that time in Liaodong, it was not Gongsun Kang who was in power, but his father Gongsun Du.

Gongsun Du is not comparable to Gongsun Kang.

This person is capable and ambitious.

He conquered Goguryeo in the east and Wuhuan in the west, expanded his influence across the sea, and subdued foreign barbarians.

Even the King of Buyeo took the initiative to request to become a vassal state of Liaodong.

Relying on the Liaodong land, Gongsun Du became the true King of Northeast at that time.

……

Liaodong, Xiangping.

Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi were defeated and fled to Liaodong, seeking political asylum.

Gongsun Du knew the power of the Yuan family in the Central Plains, so he temporarily protected the two of them.

However, Gongsun Du had a strong personality. He did not treat the two Yuan princes as guests of honor and show them courtesy like the Wuhuan people in Liaoxi did.

As the King of Northeast China, this is his world.

Therefore, even though he was a descendant of the Yuan family, he often ordered Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi around and often insulted them.

The two men felt extremely humiliated and often wanted to kill Gongsun Du.

In order to occupy the Liaodong area, he planned to take over China again.

However, the two men had very few troops, and wanting to replace the Gongsun clan of Liaodong was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

Therefore, Yuan Shang comforted Yuan Xi and said:
“Just bear with it for now, and wait for an opportunity to stab him.”

“Then the land of Liaodong will belong to our Yuan family.”

With Yuan Shang’s comfort, the two brothers endured humiliation and spent some time in fear in Liaodong.

This day.

Gongsun Du received a letter from Liaoxi.

The book briefly says:

——”In the past, the Yuan brothers, Xi and Shang, fled due to the chaos and were said to have reached Liaodong.”

“These two were originally traitors to the Han Dynasty, who repeatedly violated the royal law and disturbed the Central Plains.”

“It caused great suffering to the people and displaced them.”

“Now that he is at the end of his rope, he has come to you as a last resort to survive.”

“I heard that the governor is well-known for his loyalty and righteousness, and his power is so great that the barbarians respect him. How can we allow this traitor to hide in our territory?”

“If you can capture these two thieves and present them to the court, you will have made a great contribution to the country and your name will be passed down through the ages.”

“The court will reward you generously for your contribution, and the world will praise your virtue.”

“Although I am not talented, I am willing to recommend you to be the General of Wuwei and be granted the title of Marquis of Yongning Township.”

“If you insist on protecting these two thieves, you may incur the wrath of the imperial court and inevitably lead to war.”

“General, you have been in charge of Liaodong for thirteen years. You should know the importance of this matter. I hope you can make a quick decision.”

“I hereby submit this letter, hoping that you will consider it carefully.”

“Li Yi, I bow my head.”

Li Yi’s letter was neither humble nor arrogant, and it appealed to people’s emotions and reason.

He urged Gongsun Du to hand over Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi.

He also promised to confer the title of Marquis of Yongning on Gongsun Du, which showed his sincerity.

After reading Li Yi’s handwritten letter, Gongsun Du’s face remained calm and his emotions did not change at all.

He just turned around and said to the people around him:

“How can I, the king of Liaodong, stay forever?”

What this means is that he is the king of the Northeast, and Yongning is of no use to him at all.

“Li Ziyu’s sincerity is not enough, but considering that you have come from afar, I will also give you a reward.”

Gongsun Du ordered his men to take fine horses and bright pearls as rewards for Li Yi’s envoy.

“You may go back and tell your master what I want.”

The messenger hurriedly asked Gongsun Du what conditions he had.

The conditions Gongsun Du offered were:

He was to be conferred the title of Marquis of Liaodong and Governor of Pingzhou.

He also posthumously conferred the title of Marquis Jianyi on his father Gongsun Yan.

In return, Gongsun Du would kill the second Yuan’er and offer his head.

At the same time, temples were built for the two ancestors of the Han Dynasty, and an altar was set up in Xiangping City for memorial services according to the ancient Liaodong system.

The messenger reported Gongsun Du’s conditions to Li Yi truthfully.

To everyone’s surprise, Li Yi was extremely angry about this.

“I wanted to save this slave’s life, but this fellow dared to go against my good intentions.”

“If you dare to open your mouth, you will die!”

Everyone was quite surprised to see Li Yi so angry.

Although Gongsun Du’s reply letter was somewhat outrageous, the conditions he offered were not unacceptable.

Because Liaodong originally belonged to Gongsun Du.

Whether he asked for a title of nobility or the position of governor of Pingzhou, he did not ask the court to pay a penny.

It’s fine to give it, so why is Marquis Tan so angry?

Li Yi continued:

“I have already said before that if Gongsun Du does not obey my orders.”

“I will send troops to conquer them and wipe out their clan.”

“Now that they are not obeying the imperial order, we should report it to the emperor and send troops to attack them!”

After hearing this, everyone had to remain silent.

Zhang Fei saw this and asked Xu Shu:

“…Mr. Yuanzhi, do you know why Mr. Ziyu is like this?”

Although Xu Shu was a scholar, he also had a chivalrous spirit, which was very suitable for Zhang Fei’s temperament.

The two had a very pleasant relationship.

Xu Shu explained to Zhang Fei:
“…Perhaps Marquis Tan has long had the intention to conquer Liaodong.”

“…already?”

Zhang Fei was a little surprised, thinking to himself, weren’t they going on this expedition to conquer the Wuhuan in the three counties?

Now that the Wuhuan in the three counties have been basically pacified, I think we can return to Jizhou.

I don’t want to talk about conquering Liaodong again.

“… Marquis Tan has been vigorously developing land in western Liaoning and has made preparations for a long-term war.”

“With the completion of the Pinglu Canal and Quanzhou Canal, the transportation of grain and fodder can also save a lot of manpower.”

“So the Marquis of Tan must want to solve the Liaodong issue at the same time. After all, it’s a rare trip, so he can’t come in vain.”

Xu Shu and Li Yi did not have a close relationship, and he was just trying to figure out Li Yi’s thoughts.

From Li Yi’s perspective, he certainly did not want such a separatist regime in Liaodong.

The reward Gongsun Du asked for seemed reasonable, but in fact he just wanted to be king in Liaodong.

As early as when the Central Plains was in turmoil, he had said to his subordinates:
“The Han Dynasty is about to end, so I should work with you to make him king.”

There are also rumors that when Gongsun Du traveled to Liaodong, he rode in a carriage that only the emperor could ride.

The cavalry also wore nine tassels and wore a tassel hat, which was called the Yulin Army.

As Gongsun Du had committed such a heinous act, Li Yi naturally wanted to conquer him.

At the same time, Li Yi was also dissatisfied with Gongsun Du’s inaction during the Central Plains War.

As early as the Xuzhou period, Liu Bei and Gongsun Du were good friends.

He sent Taishi Ci across the sea by boat to trade horses with him and engage in mutual trade.

They also agreed that when the war broke out between Hebei and Henan, Gongsun Du would cooperate in sending troops.

As a result, this guy just watched the whole show and didn’t make any move.

This act of betrayal has caused Li Yi’s dissatisfaction to reach a threshold.

The letter he wrote was the final ultimatum.

If you return to the Central Plains obediently, I will be the Marquis of Yongning Township.

You can also become a rich man and enjoy wealth for the rest of your life.

But if you refuse to cooperate, then we can only fight with weapons.

After all, since Li Yi had already decided to develop western Liaoning, why couldn’t he develop Liaodong as well?
Therefore, Li Yi made up his mind to attack Gongsun Du in Liaodong.

Not to mention that Li Yi was dissatisfied with Gongsun Du.

In fact, Gongsun Du was also dissatisfied with Liu Bei’s camp.

When he was discussing with Liu Bei about sending troops to attack Yuan Shao, he asked Liu Bei to cede a piece of land in Donglai, Qingzhou.

Gongsun Du sent people to set up the governor of Yingzhou.

Since Donglai is close to Liaodong and it is convenient to go out to sea by boat, Gongsun Du naturally wants to come here because he wants to interfere more in the affairs of the Central Plains.

However, at that time, Liu Bei had not yet controlled Donglai.

So the promise was to wait until we take Qingzhou.

It was not until Li Yi pacified Qingzhou that Gongsun Du sent people to demand the return of the Donglai counties.

This move was undoubtedly severely criticized by Liu Bei and Li Yi.

The reason is very simple. We fought bloody battles and lost countless lives before we captured the Qingzhou counties.

You want to get Donglai for free without sending out any soldiers?
But Gongsun Du did not buy this argument.

He said that it was clearly agreed that if he took Qingzhou, Donglai would be given to him.

Now it is you, Liu Bei, who broke your promise to me first, so naturally there is no need for me to send troops to help you.

The relationship between the two families became tense.

In addition, the outbreak of the Battle of Guandu made communication between the two sides difficult.

So we basically cut off contact.

It was not until Li Yi arrived in Liaoxi that the two places resumed communication and old matters were brought up again.

As early as the reign of Emperor Wu, the Han Dynasty controlled not only Liaodong, but even the Korean Peninsula.

Since they were determined to revive the Han Dynasty for the third time, they naturally had to restore the old territory.

Moreover, from a strategic geographical point of view, Liao has always been a place that military strategists must fight for.

It can serve as a buffer zone, effectively guarding against the Xianbei and Buyeo people in the north.

As well as the Goguryeo and Okjeo people in the northeast.

Without the Liao area as a buffer zone, the northern nomads would be able to invade the Han Dynasty’s borders at will and disrupt production labor.

By then, there will be no peace in the North, which is something Li Yi does not want to see.

Of course, the decision to conquer Liaodong was only Li Yi’s personal decision.

He also has to find a way to stabilize the people under his command.

After all, a bunch of brothers are eager to return to the warm south.

To this end, Li Yi developed Liaoxi County while sending people back to Xuzhou to report the victory.

It was said to be a report of victory, but it was also a way of informing Liu Bei.

He, Mr. Li, is just the president of the company, responsible for operations management.

You, Old Liu, are the company’s chairman and are responsible for making the final decision.

As long as Old Liu is willing to help him, he can put pressure on the officials in western Liaoning.

Li Yi was confident that he could continue the war and take his men to Liaodong.

Liu Bei soon received Li Yi’s letter of victory.

Seeing that he not only pacified the Wuhuan but also recovered Liaoxi, they were naturally overjoyed.

On the one hand, he wrote a letter to the court to ask for credit for everyone.

At the same time, he ordered people to bring some gold, silver, silk, ginseng and angelica to be given to Li Yi alone as rewards.

At the same time, when he saw Li Yi request to continue the expedition against Gongsun Du in Liaodong.

Liu Bei couldn’t help but sigh:
“… Why does Ziyu need to spend so much energy and effort on such a bitter and cold place?”

Liu Bei was actually more concerned about the affairs of the Central Plains.

Recently, I received news that Cao Cao heard that Li Yi supported Ma Chao to become the governor of Bingzhou.

Immediately put pressure on Ma Teng and Han Sui in Liang Province.

He forced Ma Teng to go to Yingchuan as a hostage.

The purpose of doing this is also to guard against Liu Bei.

He was afraid that Liu Bei would use Ma Chao to threaten his northwest flank in Bingzhou.

So we should get Ma Chao’s father as a hostage first.

In the Han Dynasty, which advocated filial piety,

Cao Cao didn’t believe that Ma Chao would betray his father for Liu Bei.

…Hehe, Big Ears, Big Ears, I’m afraid that your cleverness might backfire.

If you support Ma Chao to go to Bingzhou, he will become a hindrance to you later.

Cao Cao thought so.

Liu Bei was really worried about this and tried many times to rescue Ma Teng.

They were all blocked by Cao Cao.

Liu Bei was also thinking about this.

Should he call Li Yi back first, or support him to continue fighting in Liaodong?

(End of this chapter)