Chapter 259: Liu Bei Arrives

In the county government office of Du County, Xu You, who woke up early and worked at his desk, had no worries like the soldiers in the outer city military camp.

Benchu ​​entrusted tens of thousands of people in Du County to him, so he had to defend the city with enthusiasm and spare no effort to prevent Liu Xuande from taking advantage of the opportunity.

As the sound of hurried footsteps came, a blaming tone also sounded in the hall.

“General Xu, why hasn’t the reward that Lord Yuan intended for his soldiers been distributed to you yet?”

Xu You couldn’t help but frown when he heard this. He looked at the high official in brocade robes and said solemnly, “Yuan Cai, I have my own ideas about the reward. Since I am the military supervisor appointed by Lord Yuan, I am in charge of the military affairs of Ganling. Everything I do is justified.”

Gao Gan smiled and asked, “May I ask the military supervisor, why did Lord Yuan specially transfer money, food, silk, gold and jade items from Yecheng to Du County? Please explain to me.”

Although there was a hint of asking for advice in his words, there was a hint of sarcasm at the corner of Gao Gan’s mouth.

He just didn’t believe that Xu You did this without any selfish thoughts in his mind.

Perhaps it was just as was privately rumored in Jizhou, that Xu Ziyuan was greedy for money and profit, and was insatiable in accumulating wealth just to fill his own pocket. Now that he was holding back on distributing the money, he might have other plans.

The senior official glanced at the pile of documents on Xu You’s desk and secretly sneered at the other party for pretending to be so serious and working so hard that even Yuan Gong was deceived into thinking that he would not put public interests above personal interests.

It is a pity that Xu Ziyuan likes to use his power to pursue personal gain, associate with small groups of people, and steal from his superiors.

When he came, he had already decided that as long as Xu You’s explanation did not satisfy him, he would never care about the other party’s face again. He would go back and write a letter to Yuan Gong to decide the matter.

Xu You heard Gao Gan’s mockery, so he put down his brush, sat upright, and said, “Our army was recently defeated in Du County. In order to boost morale and build up strength, Lord Yuan sent money, food, and silk to us. Although this is a good strategy, I have visited all the military camps and found that the soldiers are in disarray and their movements are sloppy. The three armies are noisy and unstable. This is a sign of defeat.”

“When deploying troops, one must clearly understand the benefits and harms, and not reward them without careful analysis. If soldiers do not perform meritorious deeds, they should not be rewarded lightly, otherwise they will become careless and lazy.”

“A general should be a wise general, not a foolish one. He should use money to lure them, and then select a few people who are familiar with the formation of the army to test them. He will be eager to move forward and compete to practice the formation of the army. He will use flags and banners as banners during the day and gongs, drums, horns and flutes as rhythms at night.

By then, the three armies will be in awe, the soldiers will obey orders, and there will be no strong enemy in battle!”

Xu You raised his head and smiled, saying, “I just came from Chenliu, Yanzhou, so I guess you haven’t heard of this. There is a horse breeder in the north who says, ‘A horse that has been tired for a long time will either be hurt by hunger or by overeating. The same is true for raising soldiers.”

Food, silk, gold and jade items were never distributed to the common people. The reason they were sent all the way with such fanfare was simply because people wanted to see them.

When these treasures were transported along the way to Du County, the morale-boosting task had already been completed. After the treasury was sealed, the next step was to wait for the soldiers to take orders.

What if we distribute these rewards to soldiers who have done nothing, and make them arrogant? What if they want more in the future?

Gao Yuancai, how could a child know your deep meaning? !
Xu You stroked his beard with pride, but felt indignant in his heart.

“Is it really so?” Gao Gan frowned and looked at Xu You, still suspicious.

“May I ask the military supervisor, does Lord Yuan know about this?”

Xu You shook his head when he heard this, showing a look of “you don’t understand” and lowered his voice and said: “Why did Lord Yuan pay you a salary to support you for so many days? It was to help you solve your problems. How can you let Lord Yuan know about this inconvenience? How can you deal with it?”

Seeing Gao Gan still hesitating and somewhat unconvinced, Xu You then said confidently: “You, Benchu, Mengde, and Mengzhuo have known each other since childhood. We are very close friends and know each other very well. Since Benchu ​​has appointed me to succeed Feng Yuantu, he must have some deep intentions in his heart.”

“This meaning is beyond the understanding of ordinary people.”

Xu You stroked his beard and spoke earnestly.

What I meant was, even though you, Gao Gan, are Benchu’s nephew, in terms of relationship, I, Xu You, am no worse than you.

When we were in Luoyang City, we didn’t know where you, Gao Yuancai, were. Even if we leaked the matter, it depends on whether Benchu ​​trusts you more or me more. Gao Gan had no choice but to stop asking questions and turned the topic to Qingzhou, saying worriedly: “Dui County is the closest to the plain, and the morale of the army cannot be raised in a short time. If Liu Xuande comes with the momentum of lightning, how can I defend it?”

Honestly speaking, as the commander of an army and the one closest to Liu Bei, he seemed calm but was actually very nervous.

Gao Gan also knew his own strengths and weaknesses. When it came to the use of military strategies, Zhu Ling and Jiang Qi were both better than him. Otherwise, as the nephew of Lord Yuan, he would never have been able to become the chief general.

When he inspected the military camp on weekdays, others thought he was confident, but in fact he was extremely nervous inside.

However, Han Mu, an unknown man in Qingzhou, plotted to kill Qu Yi, the most famous general in Hebei. If Liu Xuande came personally with his troops, how could he, a high-ranking official, resist?

The Qingzhou army was not incompetent at breaking into cities and charging in. Did they really want him to go out and fight in person, braving the arrows and stones?
Xu You was suddenly speechless. Liu Bei’s army was invincible and unmatched. There was no way he could take the initiative to attack and defeat the enemy. It would be better to hold on and wait for the enemy to change its mind.

Then he coughed dryly and said comfortingly: “The way to use troops is to use strategies first. You just need to plan and respond to emergencies.”

Gao Gan’s eyes lit up, he bowed respectfully and said, “General Xu has a lot of experience in military affairs, I wonder if he has any good advice for me.”

Xu You didn’t have any good solutions. No matter how many plans he made, he still needed someone to execute them. If he couldn’t even find the right people to execute them, all the good plans would be useless.

I wanted to refute the other party, but when the words were on the tip of my tongue, an idea suddenly came to my mind. Other methods might not work, but the senior official might be good at this.

So he waved his hand to let the other side come closer, and said in a low voice: “A man who uses military tactics can judge the situation and use strategies instead of fighting. As long as he sees Liu Xuande’s banner, he will immediately take action and send a messenger on horseback to ask for help from the various armies.”

Gao Gan was doubtful and asked hesitantly, “What if the reinforcements arrive and are defeated by Liu Xuande on the way?”

“May I ask why the generals failed to rescue him and were captured by Liu Bei?!”

Xu You couldn’t help but be surprised.

Dǔ County was besieged by Liu Xuande’s army, and the most they could do was beat drums and wave flags to cheer on the city walls.

What’s more, Liu Bei was good at using unusual forces and sending them out from different routes to catch the enemy by surprise.

What would he do if he led his troops out of the city and encountered Qu Yi again? Facing such stray arrows, wearing armor and helmet would be useless.

If Gao Gan wants to go to rescue, he can go by himself. Xu You doesn’t want to be killed by a spear arrow like Qu Yi.

After hearing this, Gao Yuancai couldn’t help but frown.

After all, he is Lord Yuan’s nephew. How could he betray the generals like this? How can he face Lord Yuan in the future if he is so afraid of death?

Just then, disorderly footsteps were heard, and the leader of Yuan army scouts, covered in dust and with a terrified look on his face, came forward to report.

“Urgent report from the front army!”

“More than ten miles to the north, the Qingzhou army’s flags were shattering the sky, and the soldiers were holding spears, pouring down like a torrent. The soldiers at the front were holding high a flag with the word ‘Liu’ fluttering in the wind.”

“Our scouts were badly defeated in the battle with the enemy cavalry. The Qingzhou cavalry chased them down at high speed on three horses each. Our scouts lost no less than a hundred cavalrymen.”

“Based on the speed of the enemy cavalry, they will be at the gates of the city in less than half an hour.”

Gao Gan’s eyes widened when he heard this. He was shocked and blurted out, “How come he’s here when we talk about Liu Xuande?”

“Hurry up and prepare your horses, and send a letter for help! Don’t let the Qingzhou cavalry intercept the messenger!”

(End of this chapter)