Chapter 258: People’s Minds Are Settled
Liu Bei smiled at him and asked, “Feng Xiao, what’s your plan?”

Guo Jia smiled and bowed, saying, “Sir, Zhu Wenbo has led thousands of Yuan troops to come. If Qingzhou does not return a favor with a peach, it would be rude.

But they can repeat the old trick and pretend to attack Ling County again. When Zhu Ling hears that Ling County is under attack, he will not dare to continue advancing. He will definitely lead his troops to rush to relieve the siege. Our army will then take advantage of the situation and attack him halfway. We can capture and kill him in one battle, and then go straight to Ling County. “

“Once Ling County is lost, the defenders of Du County will be even more shocked. Given the selfishness of Xu You, Gao Gan and others, they will definitely send messengers out of the city overnight to ask Yuan Benchu ​​for help.”

“If the main force of Yuan’s army does not arrive, our army will continue to besiege the city and harass the enemy day and night in order to tire them out. If Yuan Shao arrives with his army, it will further delay the transportation of Yuan’s food and fodder.

Our army has the advantage of shipping water along the river. You will surely be able to defeat Yuan Shao, unify Hebei, restore the Han Dynasty, return to the old capital, and pay homage to Emperor Gaozu’s Changling.”

After Guo Jia finished speaking, he bowed and clasped his hands in a respectful and polite manner.

When Liu Bei heard the familiar words, he looked up at Guo Fengxiao’s figure, was slightly startled, and seemed to remember something. He stood up from his seat and helped Guo Jia up.

He patted the other’s shoulder, looked towards the south, and said with a smile in his eyes: “Even if I don’t form an alliance with any princes, I can do my best to fight against the enemy, support the Han Dynasty, and restore the Central Plains. Since Anxi County, I have been fighting for my life, and I have been fighting with Yunchang and Yide.

Later, I met Zilong from Changshan, who followed me through danger and never abandoned me. Afterwards, I went to Gaotang and Pingyuan, destroyed the bandits, defeated the Yellow Turbans, and drove Cao Cao back to the Central Plains, thus achieving great success.

Now our Han army is divided into two groups, calmly conquering Hebei, and Yunchang has Xun Gongda and Lu Zijing to assist him in the northern expedition and attack the Wei territory…”

“The Han thieves and I have already switched positions.”

Liu Bei’s eyes were full of light, and he clapped his hands and chuckled.

Kong Ming, this time we don’t need you to stay in Shu anymore. Just watch how I will personally wipe out these pests.

Upon hearing this, Guo Jia immediately cupped his hands and congratulated him, saying, “The Han Dynasty is weak, and Dong Zhuo is in chaos. Your Excellency, with your humble status, has combined the generosity of Emperor Gaozu, the benevolence of Emperor Xiaowen, the insight of Emperor Xiaoxuan, and the diligence of Emperor Guangwu. You have nurtured the people, spread education, and practiced righteousness. You have supported the Han Dynasty, which is about to fall, and have worked hard to turn the tide. Our Han Dynasty will surely prosper for thousands of years.”

“Yuan Shao of Hebei, Yuan Shu of Huainan, Cao Cao of Jiangdong, Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Liu Zhang of Yizhou, Li Jue and Guo Si of Guanzhong, Han Sui and Ma Teng of Liangzhou, and Gongsun Du of Liaodong are all mediocre people. Why should we be afraid of them?”

All the clerks in the military tent bowed and echoed in unison.

Lord Xuande will surely achieve great things, and no one can stop him.

Not to mention that Yuan Shao had sent all the troops from Jizhou and Youzhou, even if he added the soldiers from Bingzhou and Liaodong, the many officials in Qingzhou would not be afraid.

Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Guangwu both experienced military defeats, but Lord Xuande, since he raised his army, issued strict orders, was victorious in every battle he went to, and was always victorious. He often used a small force to defeat a large one, and won every battle he fought.

If you want to scare them, no one can take away their will unless Liu Shijun’s troops are defeated.

Liu Bei smiled, and after making an agreement with Guo Jia, he wrote a reply to Xun Yu, asking him to appease the people in Jinan County according to the previous plan.

Take good care of teachers Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan, as well as those elderly Confucian scholars.

“Send the order to all the armies. The Chai Camp will be in the front, clearing the way through the thorns and brambles. The Xiandeng Camp will be behind the Chai Camp, followed by the Hengqiang Camp and the Shengshe Camp. The Tiejia Camp and the auxiliary soldiers transporting food, fodder, weapons and supplies will be in the middle. The Wugang Chariots will be on both sides of the infantry. The Huben Cavalry will be on the wings of the chariots. The Ruichong Camp will be at the end.”

“The scouts should spread out for ten miles, and all the combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers should work closely together to prevent the enemy cavalry from taking advantage of the situation.”

Liu Bei’s military order was issued, and the army began to redeploy and quickly march south. No matter how Yuan Shao reacted at this moment, he would first pick on the weak. Yuan’s army in Du County had suffered a defeat and morale was low. Even if Yuan Shao sent Xu You as the military supervisor to distribute money and goods to encourage the army, it would not work quickly.

What’s more, Xu You was extremely greedy, and Yuan Benchu ​​was far away in Xindu, so it was not certain how much money he could give out.

……

When Liu Bei was gathering the main force of the Qingzhou army and rushing from Ge County to Ganling Du County, Du County had a rare autumn rain, which drove away the humidity and heat.

Even though the ground was splashing with mud, it made Yuan’s army stationed in the two camps in the east and north of the city feel a little better.

“Didn’t I hear that Lord Yuan would give out fine silk and money to the soldiers of Jizhou out of sympathy for us? Why hasn’t he distributed it yet today?”

A rough soldier hid in the corner of the camp and complained to several of his comrades.

Another thin soldier heard this and couldn’t help grinning, “You really believed it. How come you only remembered General Jiang saying that Yuan Gong would give you money, but forgot that Lieutenant Xu said that you need to wait until you have made meritorious service before you can get the reward?”

“Do you think we are in Qingzhou?”

Although the burly soldier heard his fellow villagers joking, he still had a lot of thoughts and sighed, “I have heard several times in Changshan over the years that Qingzhou distributed farmland and farm tools and iron tools to soldiers, and even provided financial compensation to those who died in battle. I wonder if it is true or not.”

Several people looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.

When the soldier with a sparse beard heard this, he immediately shook his head and laughed, “This must be a lie. It’s just a ploy by Qingzhou to lure people into surrender. Just think about it. Even the fields in our village have to be sold cheaply to the wealthy families when there is drought or locust plague. Otherwise, we have no money to pay taxes.”

“The land of the common people is getting smaller and smaller. If they don’t flee to the mountains when disaster strikes, they will have to sell their children to become servants. Where does Qingzhou get so much arable land to distribute to the soldiers? Hundreds and thousands of acres of good farmland have already been in the hands of the wealthy families.”

“Except for urine and phlegm, who would vomit out the contents of their stomach and distribute them to the common people? My grandfather has never seen such a good thing, and my grandfather has never seen it. I am thirty-nine years old now, and I have never seen or heard of it. Unless the ancient sage Confucius is resurrected, perhaps this will happen.”

The soldier with a sparse beard couldn’t help but point to the sky and sneer.

All the powerful people in the world are equally greedy. If you want them to give you money, you must use that money to buy your life.

Some people even wanted to buy their lives but were unwilling to pay money, like the newly arrived military supervisor Xu, who put cartloads of money into the county treasury of Du County, waiting for the battle to become unfavorable before taking the money out to reward the soldiers for their lives.

When that time really comes, it would be considered good if ten out of a hundred people could survive and receive the reward money.

If you don’t survive the knife attack, you don’t deserve to get any money other than military salary.

The burly soldier and the skinny soldier naturally understood the simple truth and couldn’t help but sigh.

The world has been in constant war for years. When will it end? Either we are fighting the Black Mountain bandits in Changshan, or we are going to Youzhou to fight Gongsun Zan.

Now they have to fight with Liu Bei, a relative of the Han Dynasty. When will Lord Yuan stop the conquest? They have been serving in the army for too long.

(End of this chapter)