NOVPUB"You mean to say that Yuan Benchu is preparing to shift his focus to internal cleansing, right? If Gongsun Bogui is forced into Youbeiping, Yuan Benchu just needs to secure the Yuyang Commandery, and he can almost ignore Gongsun Bogui’s existence," Jia Xu nodded and said.
"That should be the case. Yuan Benchu has been at war for two years; even Jizhou’s richness will falter if he doesn’t take time to recuperate and heal. The biggest problem for both Jizhou and Bingzhou is, in fact, the Black Mountain Army entrenched in the Taihang Mountain region," Chen Xi thought for a moment and then said.
"Defeating the Black Mountain Army would not only allow us to capture its population for our own expansion but also eliminate unstable elements within. It’s similar to how you dealt with the Bandits of Mount Tai before, but the Black Mountain Army is larger and offers greater benefits," Jia Xu frowned. If Yuan Benchu could assimilate the Black Mountain Army smoothly, it would indeed pose a problem for Qingzhou.
"Clearly, Yuan Benchu won’t engage us directly until he has completed the integration of his military forces. And we, too, are somewhat hesitant because of the power in Jizhou. After all, once we battle him, it would lead straight to a decisive battle," Chen Xi sighed and said. From various intelligence gathered, Yuan Benchu was proving to be far-sighted and adept, except for his emphasis on background; he truly respected talent.
"Although we have been preparing for a decisive battle in the north with him, it’s clear that two years of preparation has been too short. Even though we integrated the Soldiers of Mount Tai and the Yellow Turban Army, compared to Jizhou’s natural wealth, there’s a gap. Fortunately, we have managed to catch up," Chen Xi said somewhat helplessly as he flipped through the material Jia Xu had tossed over.
Thinking about it, should we say that it is the agricultural era’s characteristic? Just two years to catch up and even surpass, while in an industrial era, without ten or twenty years, it would be completely impossible.
"The other side also understands that we aim to completely occupy Qingzhou and Xuzhou, so they’re taking this opportunity to consolidate their power. The main issue with the Black Mountain Army is their lack of unified command: twenty-five smaller and larger powers, with some having as many as thirty to fifty thousand men, and the smallest groups counting one to two thousand. Even if we want to help, it’s difficult to intervene, although they belong to the Yellow Turbans, they do not act as one entity like those from Qingzhou," Jia Xu frowned. Without a unified command, he had no hope for the Black Mountain Army’s prospects.
"It seems like historically, the Black Mountain Army managed to capture Ye City," Chen Xi couldn’t help but curl his lip. This event was the spark that led to Juo Yi’s death in history, dissatisfied with Yuan Shao’s rewards, hence helping the Black Mountain Army to capture Ye and took the bigger share for himself. One might say that historically, Juo Yi truly courted death.
"Let’s leave this matter to Fengxiao; he tends to be quite adept with these situations," Jia Xu suggested after some thought.
After all, despite the Black Mountain Army’s internal disarray, the main difference between Yuan Shao and Liu Bei is that Yuan Shao doesn’t have much support among the Black Mountain Army. In contrast, Liu Bei has completely won over the hearts of the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou. If Liu Bei were to march out of Qingzhou, there’s almost no resistance to expect, while if Yuan Shao were to leave Black Mountain, the Black Mountain Army would fight against him fiercely even knowing they are outmatched.
"The Black Mountain Army’s combat power is not weak, and Zhang Yan is not too feeble in commanding troops. Moreover, that area is not suitable for large army group warfare. If Zhang Yan could unify and control the twenty-five factions of the Black Mountain Army, with an army of about five hundred thousand..." Chen Xi’s eyelids began twitching at this point. Five hundred thousand soldiers, isn’t that more than all the Feudal Lords combined? It seems that the Yellow Turbans are deserving of their reputation.
"Attack is insufficient, defense is more than enough. Does Xuangao have something like the decree of a Great Commander?" Jia Xu asked curiously. The Yellow Turbans might not know, but Jia Xu and others guessed it was all a trap when they first arrived.
"Even if there were, it’s useless now. We need to somehow provide the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans with a hero like the Great Commander. Only under such a leader’s command will their fearless battle spirit allow Yuan Shao’s internal purge plans to fail," Chen Xi expertly plotted how to establish a hero for the Black Mountain Army as well.
"Your approach is too flawed. It may work against the Yellow Turbans, but absolutely not against Yuan Benchu. Once the image we’ve built up is exposed by Tian Yuanhao and others, the Black Mountain Army, which still has some combat power, will completely crumble and disintegrate," Jia Xu promptly rejected Chen Xi’s proposal. Chen Xi’s tactic might deceive the Yellow Turbans, but eight out of ten among the world’s Feudal Lords know what the truth is.
"..." Chen Xi said nothing, "Alright, I’ll leave it to Fengxiao to handle."
In Xuzhou, in Xiapi, Tao Qian had almost reached his wits’ end. In just a short period of time, even Chen Deng hadn’t reacted. The Cao Family had been wiped out, the Zhao Family crippled, and the entire Zhang Family had relocated, leaving only the restricted Chen Family at East Sea as Xuzhou’s significant family!
Furthermore, at the same time, over a dozen medium and small families had been eliminated, and nearly everyone in Xuzhou feared for their own safety, worried that Tao Qian might turn his executioners’ swords on their clans next.
In such a situation, even before Liu Bei had arrived in Xuzhou’s Xiapi, he had already received documents praising his virtues from almost all the families of Xuzhou. Some documents didn’t even bother to hide their desire for Liu Bei to take over Xuzhou.
At this point, Chen Xi finally understood what was meant by ’offers of food and drink’ and ’the chosen one’. Having already won over the common people’s hearts with the massacre in Xuzhou and the Xuzhou Plague incident, Liu Bei now also had the allegiance of the Xuzhou aristocracy. It could be said that Xuzhou was within reach.
"Jia Wenhe, I’m growing more and more convinced that you had a hand in this." The closer the carriage got to Xiapi, the clearer Chen Xi’s perception of the situation in Xuzhou became. It was obviously Jia Wenhe’s doing, Tao Qian could never have been this decisive. However, the fact that no one had discovered it indeed showed remarkable skill.
"Tao Gongzu himself had thoughts of dealing with certain aristocratic families in Xuzhou. I merely went along with the current. However, it’s obvious that the vision of the Xuzhou aristocracy is problematic. Their constant internal strife and mutual accusations have led to the original plan of purging a few families to affect an ever-widening circle. Now, the Chen Family’s weaknesses have all been exposed," Jia Xu said calmly. He had indeed only planted a few Death Spies at the right time, and the mutual incriminations had developed into the current situation.
"The Chen Family, what weaknesses?" Chen Xi asked curiously.
"Bed Crossbows. The Chen Family has finished products of Bed Crossbows, and they also possess the complete production technology," Jia Xu said expressionlessly.
"..." Chen Xi didn’t even have the heart to curse. Bed Crossbows — mere possession of Heavy Crossbows was already a capital offense, let alone Bed Crossbows, and to be able to produce them, the Chen Family was truly audacious.
"Is the intelligence reliable?" Chen Xi inquired.
"Reliable, and I’ve already seen the actual items," Jia Xu said with a trace of icy coldness slipping over his face. "How do you think Zhang Kai got the Bed Crossbow that he used to attack Cao Jugao?"
"The Xuzhou aristocracy really does things right." Chen Xi gave a thumbs up. Clearly, in the matter concerning Cao Song, those among the Xuzhou aristocracy who hadn’t intervened had all fanned the flames.
"I’ve sent the message to Chen Yuanlong and Chen Hanyu. Those craftsmen are what we need," Jia Xu said calmly. Even without Cloud Qi and Inner Qi, a Heavy Crossbow was sufficient to nail down a general. (To be continued. If you like this work, I invite you to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
