Mythical Three Kingdoms

Lyu Bu’s return to the north certainly marked a good beginning. Sheni Pei, who was originally stationed in Youbeiping, silently took a startling action after reviewing the intelligence on Lyu Bu’s return.

Gongsun Zan, having been driven out of southern Youzhou by Juo Yi and blocked by Sheni Pei from advancing southward through Youbeiping to launch an attack, had no choice but to occupy the Liaodong dependent state and stationed himself in Changli, amassing his troops and waiting for an opportunity to counter-attack Youzhou.

Due to Sheni Pei’s monstrous defensive capabilities, Gongsun Zan had essentially no good solutions, but fortunately, Sheni Pei did not make a pointed effort to attack Gongsun Zan. Although life in Changli was harsh, Gongsun Zan gradually stabilized the situation by plundering the Hu People.

It can be said that the situation in Youzhou and Bingzhou was actually the same. How large the territory was depended purely on the drawing of influence on the map. If Youzhou had a strong fist, it would show as larger. Now, with Gongsun Zan being pressured by Sheni Pei, he could only retreat northeastward.

Upon retreating, Gongsun Zan realized that he still had territory behind him. As for the border issue, Gongsun Zan’s consistent style was, ”Where I strike, that’s where the map’s border line is drawn. If you disagree, fight back.”

Of course, the current Gongsun Zan could no longer be as domineering as before, but when it came to dealing with foreign clans, he had never changed. A hardliner within the Iron Blood Sect, he never compromised on issues with foreign clans.

It was an accident that he couldn’t defeat Yuan Shao, but if he couldn’t defeat the foreign clans, Gongsun Zan felt he might as well take his own life. Without the White Horse, at most he couldn’t pursue and eradicate completely. As long as he still had troops, for the Hu People, he was still the invincible White Horse General, Gongsun Zan.

Although he could defeat the Hu People, the inherent population issue in Youzhou still severely restricted the recovery of Gongsun Zan’s strength. He had almost desperately mustered more than thirty thousand infantry and cavalry. As for Tian Yu, who was stationed on the border, Gongsun Zan never counted him among his own ranks. That belonged to his last bit of dignity and mission and must not be shaken.

Because Sheni Pei had sealed him off tightly, Gongsun Zan, located in Changli, had basically no understanding of the situation in the Central Plains for nearly two years. He had not even received any news about the much-discussed issue of Lyu Bu joining Bingzhou.

From this perspective, the vigorous support of individuals like Chen Lin for Gongsun Zan had nothing to do with Gongsun Zan himself. The man in question didn’t know that such an incident had ever occurred until after the dust had settled.

This shows how isolated Gongsun Zan was from information at the time, and also illustrates the slowness of intelligence transmission in this era without specialized intelligence organizations.

In summary, to the point that another major party involved in heated discussions was completely uninformed. Now, Gongsun Zan in Changli was still contemplating how to retake Youzhou.

It’s worth mentioning that Gongsun Zan was able to practice all-out militarism without running into food supply problems, thanks to the strong support of Chen Xi.

Although contacts between Mount Tai and Gongsun Zan had decreased over the past two years, the sea transport routes had not been cut off. Liu Bei’s food aid to Gongsun Zan had never stopped.

Of course, Yuan Shao was not a fool; he naturally had also sent troops to intercept the transport ships at sea. Unfortunately, the warriors of Jizhou were mostly strong on land. The large armies were all landlubbers; they couldn’t even conduct a naval battle, let alone fight at sea.

Moreover, Yuan Shao had no naval commanders, and his sea ships were deployed haphazardly; thus, after several failed attempts to hijack Liu Bei’s transport ships, only resulting in the loss of many men, Yuan Shao let the matter go.

After all, based on the precise intel from Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei only provided material support to Gongsun Zan, not personnel support. To the current Yuan Shao, the mere material support would not shake his dominion over Youzhou. With Gongsun Zan’s paltry strength, Yuan Shao could crush him with ease whenever he wished.

If it weren’t for the lack of a viable plan to deal with Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao would have wanted to send troops to crush him immediately.

In history, Gongsun Zan, after his defeat at Jieqiao, killed Liu Yu to eradicate future troubles. Thereafter, the people of Youzhou, who had supported Liu Yu, followed Liu Yu’s officers in rebellion. Faced with a shortage of provisions, Gongsun Zan resorted to looting for food, permanently destroying his public favor in Youzhou.

In this life, Liu Yu was indeed attacked but survived. After Gongsun Zan’s anger subsided, he didn’t kill Liu Yu’s family, but instead sent them to Mount Tai, and subsequently to Chang’an, to reunite them with Liu Yu. By that time, Li Jue had entered a period of calm, and Liu Yu did not suffer much.

In other words, in this life, Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu had political disagreements and fought, but did not commit the madness of killing imperial relatives.

Moreover, in the Great Han Dynasty, it was not uncommon for regional inspectors and border military generals to fall out with each other over conflicts with foreign clans; it was hardly considered a significant issue. At most, people thought the Central Government was messing up appointments again, no wonder the world was not prospering in these years.

As for looting provisions, with Liu Bei’s substantial support, Gongsun Zan had not plummeted to such depths. Therefore, to the people of Youzhou, it was as if they had merely changed regional inspectors, and their lives were not adversely affected. Consequently, Gongsun Zan still maintained his prestige in Youzhou.

This was also why Yuan Shao, despite being far more powerful than Gongsun Zan, had to contemplate how to handle him. Killing him was definitely not advisable, but leaving him alive, given Gongsun Zan’s prestige in Youzhou, was problematic. Didn’t they see that many people in Youzhou still remembered Gongsun Zan fondly?

If the attacks on Gongsun Zan continued, based on Yuan Shao’s understanding of Gongsun Zan’s character, once Gongsun Zan was completely out of options, that bastard would surely commit suicide with defiant integrity, denying Yuan Shao any chance of capturing him. In such a scenario, if Gongsun Zan died, Yuan Shao would inevitably shoulder the blame.

Therefore, Yuan Shao was not actively assaulting Gongsun Zan, he was contemplating how to capture him alive, or how to kill him without inciting public outrage. Of course, if it really came down to it, Yuan Shao was prepared to kill Gongsun Zan, even at the risk of public fury boiling over.

But the current situation had not reached the point where Yuan Shao was resolute enough to directly kill Gongsun Zan, even though he was prepared to take the risk.

Shen Pei was quite clear about all these matters and had considered getting rid of Gongsun Zan, such as using Liu Yu’s officers to avenge him or coaxing the Hu People to attack Gongsun Zan. He thought of many strategies, but realistically, none were feasible.

Liu Yu’s officers indeed wished to avenge him, but there was no mortal enmity between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan. After being sent to Chang’an, Liu Yu had fully withdrawn from politics. Moreover, to prevent his officers from being swayed by the Hu People, influenced by Liu Yan’s persuasion, he issued a statement.

The message was essentially, ”I am alive and well, so there is no need for vengeance. Han people should stay in Han territories where Gongsun Zan will protect you; Hu People, you should not trouble Gongsun Zan. I appreciate your kind intentions, but you are no match for Gongsun Zan, better to run away quickly. With me no longer in Youzhou, Gongsun Zan might start a massacre at any moment.” (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets on . Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)