In Qu'a City, the seat of Wu County in Yangzhou, which is separated from Guangling County by a river, Liu Yao was talking to his generals Fan Neng and Zhang Ying with a worried look on his face.
Liu Yao, courtesy name Zhengli, was a native of Donglai. He was a descendant of Liu Fei, King Daohui of Qi, and nephew of Grand Commandant Liu Chong.
He was very brave and strong since he was young. When he was 19 years old, his cousin was robbed by bandits. He took more than ten people to sneak into the thieves' den, killed the bandit leader and successfully rescued his cousin. He became famous because of this and was later recommended as a filial and incorrupt official. He was once recommended for positions such as county magistrate and imperial censor, but he never took up any of them.
In the first year of Xingping, the court ordered Liu Yao to replace Chen Wen as the governor of Yangzhou. Generals Wu Jing and Sun Ben welcomed Liu Yao to Qu'a to take up the post. During this period, the court conferred on Liu Yao the title of Governor of Yangzhou, General Zhenwu, and commanded tens of thousands of troops.
At this time, Yuan Shu rebelled and attacked the counties of Yangzhou. Sun Ce especially conquered Lujiang with great momentum. Liu Yao was extremely frightened and ordered Fan Neng and Zhang Ying to station on the river bank to defend against Sun Ce's army.
At this time, he discovered that Wu Jing and Sun Ben had defected to Yuan Shu, so he drove them to Jiangbei. Wu Jing and Sun Ben were indignant, and joined forces with Sun Ce's army to attack Fan Neng and Zhang Ying. The two sides have been in a stalemate for more than a year.
Liu Yao asked worriedly, "Why did you two come back together?"
"Are the riverside defenses still strong?"
Fan Neng bowed and said, "Because the military situation is urgent, two of us have come to see you, Your Excellency."
Liu Yao asked in confusion: "What happened?"
Zhang Ying said, "Report to the envoy, Sun Ce is back!"
Liu Yao was shocked, and then Fan Neng's words made him even more frightened, "Sun Ce has been requisitioning all the ships these days. It is estimated that he will cross the river to attack within a few days!"
Liu Yao stood up suddenly. "Sun Ce is a fierce beast from Jiangdong. He is really hard to deal with. I heard that he suffered a loss in Xuzhou and fled back. I thought he would be quiet for a while, but why is he attacking us again?"
Fan Neng and Zhang Ying looked at each other and thought that maybe Sun Zai suffered a loss in Xuzhou and had no place to vent his anger, so he took it out on us.
Over the past year, Fan Neng and Zhang Ying fought against Wu Jing and Sun Ben, and both sides won and lost. Yangzhou could still hold on, but when Yuan Shu sent Sun Ce to join, Fan Neng and Zhang Ying's side immediately began to lose the support, and were beaten to the point of being in danger several times, and the riverside defense line was almost lost.
If it weren't for the weak navy of Yuan Shu's army, Wujun would have been captured long ago.
When Fan Neng and Zhang Ying were worried, a few months ago, Sun Ce, for unknown reasons, took his men away and went north to attack Liu Bei in Xuzhou!
The two were overjoyed and thankful that they had escaped, but they were also worried. If Sun Ce occupied Xuzhou, he would be able to launch naval forces from Guangling and other cities to cooperate with Wu Jing and Sun Ben in the attack. By then, the Danyang defense line would be full of loopholes. How could it be defended?
While Danyang was worried and couldn't find a solution, Sun Ce was making great progress in Xuzhou and occupied the two counties of Xia Pi and Guangling. When Liu Yao learned about this, he had already prepared a retreat.
Later, the situation developed unexpectedly and Sun Ce was actually defeated!
When Liu Yao heard that it was the two sons of the Yuan family who came to help Liu Bei, he couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his luck. This was considered lucky, right?
He was not happy for two days when the news brought by Fan Neng and Zhang Ying made him dumbfounded again. Sun Ce came back only a few days ago and came to attack him again. What kind of grudge was there?
He had a headache and said to the two men, "Generals, do you think we can't stop it?"
Fan Neng and Zhang Ying nodded at the same time and said, "Sun Ce's generals are becoming more and more difficult to deal with. I heard that he has also recruited the strategist Zhou Yu, who is full of wisdom and strategies and is extremely difficult to deal with."
"We are here to ask you to send reinforcements."
Liu Yao sighed, "How can I have any extra soldiers?"
Fan Neng hesitated and asked, "Isn't there still a troop of Zhu Hao and Zuo Rong in Yuzhang County?"
After hearing this, Liu Yao sighed and said, "Zhu Hao is competing with Zhuge Xuan, a subordinate of Yuan Shu, for the post of governor of Yuzhang. The two sides have been fighting until now. Although Zhu Hao has the upper hand, he has been unable to defeat Zhuge Xuan and cannot withdraw."
"Moreover, Yuzhang County and Wu County are separated by Lujiang County, which is occupied by Sun Ce. Even if they are asked to return, they can only go through Kuaiji County first. Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst."
Zhang Ying asked at this time: "Do you want to befriend Xuzhou?"
"Now that Sun Ce and Xuzhou have become mortal enemies, if we go to Xuzhou for help, they should be able to help us to some extent, right?"
Liu Yao asked uncertainly: "Liu Bei?"
"Is their navy not very good?"
Zhang Ying said: "It's not Liu Bei, but the fierce tiger of the Yuan family who now occupies Guangling County, Yuan Xi."
After hearing this, Liu Yao hesitated and said, "Yuan Shao's son? He has ulterior motives towards the Han Dynasty. Can he be trusted?"
Fan Neng hurriedly said: "Sir, don't forget that our biggest enemy right now is Yuan Shu."
"Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are already at loggerheads with each other, and the two sides just fought a battle in Xuzhou. The hatred cannot be resolved."
Zhang Ying added: "But the Yuan family is a fierce tiger who will not do anything without profit. This time he helped Liu Bei and took Xuzhou. If you want him to help, I'm afraid you will have to pay a price."
Liu Yao hesitated when he heard this. Zhang Ying saw this and said hurriedly, "But the fierce tiger of the Yuan family has a general whom he admires very much. His name is Taishi Ci, and he is from Donglai, just like you."
"If you can persuade him, you might be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort."
Liu Yao listened and nodded, saying, "That makes a lot of sense. Let me think about it."
Fan Neng said, "There is one more thing."
"Wujun soldiers are good at defending the land, but they are extremely afraid of fighting. Currently, there are fewer and fewer available manpower, and money and food are also beginning to run short."
"The Jiangdong nobles are all profiteers who sit back and reap the benefits. They hold the money in their hands and are not willing to give it out. How can we defeat Sun Ce and his men like this?"
"I hope you can find a way to get the Jiangdong nobles to contribute, otherwise this battle cannot be fought."
This was the real purpose of the two men. They had been fighting for two years and were already at a disadvantage against Yuan Shu on the battlefield. Unfortunately, the Jiangdong gentry pretended to obey and kept defaulting on payments and food, which made the two men extremely unhappy.
Liu Yao sighed. How could he not know about this situation?
Most of the Jiangdong gentry are like this. For them, it is enough to protect their family business. They don't care who will be the lord of Yangzhou. The worst that can happen is that they will have to pay more money to save their lives.
He walked around the room a few times and sighed, "In the past two years, I have made friends with the Gu, Lu, Zhu, Zhang and other big families, but they no longer have a good impression of the Han Dynasty and have been perfunctory to me!"
"Don't even mention asking them to send people to resist. Even if it's for money and food, they are unwilling to do so!"
"I, Liu Yao, am the governor of a state, but apart from you guys, I have no one else around me who can be used!"
Fan Neng and Zhang Ying looked at each other and thought to themselves that this was indeed true. The general even dared to take in a fickle villain like Zuo Rong, which showed that he was so hungry that he would do anything.
Zhang Ying said, "Among these major families, there are also mortal enemies of Sun Ce."
"Lujiang Governor Lu Kang led his people to defend the city for two years against Yuan Shu. Nearly half of his people were killed or wounded. When the city was captured by Sun Ce half a year ago, Lu Kang also died in the city."
"I heard that before the city fell, the remaining members of the Lu family fled to Wujun for refuge. These people have fought for two years, and many of them are proficient in military tactics. Why don't you recruit them?"
Liu Yao frowned and said, "I also know about this, but I heard that Lu Kang's youngest son Lu Ji will inherit the family headship. He is only eight years old now. How can we count on him?"
Zhang Ying said, "Your Excellency, you don't know that the one supporting the Lu family now is not Lu Ji, but Lu Ji's nephew Lu Xun."
"Although this person is only thirteen or fourteen years old, he is indeed very talented."
Fan Neng agreed, "That's true. When he led his people across the river, he told us the key points of how to guard against the enemy."
"At that time, the two of us were being beaten badly by Yuan Shu and we were at our wits' end. So we followed his instructions and decided to give it a try. Eventually, we managed to even the situation."
"It is really surprising that he has such great talent at such a young age."
Liu Yao was surprised when he heard this and asked, "Is this really true?"
He thought for a moment and said, "I have taken note of what the two generals said. I would like to ask the two generals to return to the riverside defense line to prevent Yuan Shu's army from attacking."
Fan Neng and Zhang Ying took the order and turned around to go out.
After the two men left, Liu Yao went into the back hall of the compartment and said to a scholar in his forties or fifties who was writing, "Mr. Zijiang, can we trust what they said just now?"
Xu Shao, courtesy name Zijiang, was a native of Runan. He was born into a family of filial and honest officials, had a good reputation at a young age, was good at evaluation, and regularly held "Monthly Evaluations". He once served as Gongcao of Runan County, but later refused to be summoned by Sikong Yang Biao.
Later, when Xu Shao arrived in Xuzhou, Tao Qian, the governor at the time, treated him with courtesy, but Xu Shao thought that Tao Qian was hypocritical, saying, "Tao Gongzu appears to admire fame, but is not genuine on the inside. Although he treats me well, I will inevitably treat him less," so he left Xuzhou.
Afterwards, Tao Qian really took action against the scholars and officials living in Xuzhou, arresting and imprisoning those who did not have time to leave. Xu Shao thus escaped.
Later, Xu Shao crossed the river to join Liu Yao, and is now his adviser.
Xu Shao put down his pen and said, "There is nothing wrong with what Fan Neng and Zhang Ying said. You can follow their advice."
After hearing this, Liu Yao was delighted and said, "Let's do as you say, sir."
Xu Shao snorted coldly, "But if we don't guard against Zuo Rong, he will become a disaster sooner or later."
Liu Yao heard this and said helplessly: "Sir, you also know that Yuan Shu is very powerful. If I intend to deal with Zuo Rong, if he finds out, he will defect to Yuan Shu, which will be the same mistake as Wu Jing and Sun Ben."
Xu Shao listened and shook his head slightly, "Sun Ce is fierce, the envoy really needs to prepare for a rainy day."
"I think Lu Xun and Yuan Xi are both extraordinary people, and they are from aristocratic families. I think you can make good use of them."
He thought for a moment and then said, "But I heard that Yuan Xi appointed Taishi Ci as the Sima of the other department, which really disappointed me."
"Taishi Ci was born in a humble family and had been a fraud. I think he is not as knowledgeable as the children of the rich families."
"Although you are from the same hometown as him, you should respect your status and keep your distance from him, so as not to lose face for the noble family."
Although Xu Shao was very good at judging people, he had a flaw: he attached great importance to status. He looked up to children of aristocratic families, but did not comment on people of lower status and even belittled them.
After hearing this, Liu Yao realized that he still had to rely on the Jiangdong gentry for the time being, and that he had to be cautious in appointing officials from humble backgrounds, so as not to offend the Jiangdong gentry. He nodded and said, "Sir, you make sense."
At that time, Yuan Xi and his party had already left Xia Pi and were on their way back to Guangling.
Yuan Xi was looking through the movements of the Five Animal Exercises on the silk book and found that there were hundreds of movements, both dynamic and static. The dynamic ones were like the hit aerobics in his previous life, and the static ones were like yoga stretching poses. The movements at the end were already quite difficult.
If you adjust the frequency of movements according to the postures, it can indeed help to strengthen your body. These movements can not only be used in the boudoir, but also can be used to train soldiers to increase physical strength and flexibility.
You have to know that the soldiers trained by Yuan Xi were all according to the standards of elite soldiers. Each person had a set of armor and two weapons, one long and one short. Weak people could not even perform the movements properly.
As for the former, it greatly inspired the writing ideas of the Boudoir Guide for Couples signed by Yuan Xi, although he estimated that the book would not be published to the public before his death.
Thinking of this, he couldn't wait to rush back to Guangling and mobilize everyone to copy the classics brought back this time, organize them into volumes, and then teach them in the charity school.