Chapter 236: Westward Advance to Nanyang
There was nothing wrong with Chen Qun's strategy, but it was also the strategy that Xi Zhicai and others prepared for Liu Bei.
The Central Plains is too small and already dilapidated, and cannot accommodate the three forces of Yuan, Cao and Liu.
Yuan Shao occupied Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and it was impossible to drive him away. Cao Cao was in Yanzhou, in the heart of the Central Plains, and he could not leave.
Only Liu Bei, who was located in the southern part of the Central Plains, had the possibility of leaving.
For Liu Bei, exchanging Jingzhou for Yuzhou was actually a very cost-effective deal, and everyone was happy.
Xi Zhicai calculated that Liu Bei would have such an idea, so he made this plan.
Chen Qun had guessed that this was a plot set up by Cao Cao, because Liu Biao's death was too coincidental, and there was probably someone behind it.
But even if he knew it was someone else's calculation, Chen Qun would still make this choice.
This fish bait from Jingzhou is so fragrant.
Liu Bei, who had made up his mind, quickly reorganized an army of 100,000 and personally went south to Jingzhou. Under the pretext of suppressing the rebellion and comforting Liu Biao, he advertised it to the world and achieved victory for the great cause.
He also arranged for Tian Yu and Du Xi to stay in Yuzhou, while Zhang Fei's troops continued to guard Runan to stabilize the people's hearts.
Conquering Runan was not just about driving away Yuan Shu's army. The local noble families needed to be appeased, local rebellions needed to be resolved, and the newly captured soldiers could not be digested in a short time. Zhang Fei was unable to spare any time at this time.
Before leaving, Chen Qun made final arrangements and moved some of the more cooperative people in northern Yuzhou to Runan County, and specifically instructed Tian Yu and Du Xi who stayed behind.
If the situation is not right, you can abandon the northern border of Yuzhou and defend Runan to the death, but you must not lose all of Yuzhou.
Chen Qun was well aware that the troops left behind in Yuzhou were too limited. If any of Cao Cao, Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu attacked, it would be difficult to defend.
If two or three parties attack, there is a possibility that the whole city will fall.
Therefore, he made the worst plan. If he couldn't defend Yuzhou, he could defend Runan. After all, Runan was the essence of Yuzhou, and it was adjacent to Jingzhou, so Liu Bei could quickly provide support.
Even if we cannot hold on to Runan, we must hold out until Liu Bei initially stabilizes Nanyang and relocates most of the people there.
At this time, Liu Bei's extraordinary charm was demonstrated. Although not many local tyrants were willing to migrate, ordinary people responded one after another and followed him to Runan.
You know, at that time there was no Boss Cao who liked to massacre the city to threaten them, so even though these people were reluctant to leave their homeland, they still chose Liu Bei.
Cao Cao's development was relatively smooth now, and he had obtained a lot of food and supplies from Tian Ze, so he had never massacred a city or used human flesh as food.
The original reason why Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou was not to vent his anger, but the biggest reason was that he had no food. From robbery to massacre, it was also a helpless act.
Although this warlord in troubled times is a man of great talent and strategy, he is really cruel.
Of course, it was not just Cao Cao who did this. Other princes also did this a lot. In the face of consecutive years of natural disasters, the princes who had not massacred the city were a minority.
Excluding people like Tao Qian and Liu Biao who ruled wealthy areas, the only one who never massacred a city when facing a desperate situation and extreme food shortage was probably Liu Bei.
But in today's world, except for a few bandits, most princes rarely commit massacres in cities, let alone even small-scale killings of civilians.
Human life is money!
These people only have a few pounds of meat. If they exchange it with Tianze, they can at least get dozens of times more money and food. Under such circumstances, who would do a losing business?
Liu Bei did not lead his army directly to Nanjun, where the capital of Jingzhou was located, but instead marched westward through Runan, preparing to take over Nanyang first.
These refugees were originally supposed to follow the government's arrangements, but Chen Qun considered that the group was too large and difficult to manage, so he arranged for them to follow Liu Bei's army just in case.
Such a large team was bound to encounter many obstacles and problems. After learning about this, Liu Bei reluctantly ordered the army to slow down and arranged for some soldiers to take care of the people.
Although there were occasional disturbances along the way, the overall situation was relatively stable. The people and soldiers got along very well, and there was a sense of close relationship between the army and the people. Liu Bei led this huge team forward, and from time to time he had to stop the team and appease the people, which made the march quite slow, which made Chen Qun very embarrassed.
Just do good things and don’t worry about the future.
Liu Bei's benevolence had often caused Chen Qun headaches, but this time, Chen Qun truly witnessed the power of benevolence.
What is the King's Teacher?
At the beginning, Chen Qun just wanted to settle these people in Runan County. After all, after entering Jingzhou, the situation would no longer be under their control. If a war broke out, they would miss the opportunity and would not be able to take care of these people.
However, when Liu Bei arrived at the border of Nanyang County with this group of families and was preparing to resettle the people, Wen Pin, the prefect of Nanyang appointed by Liu Biao before his death, directly led his troops to join him.
Chen Qun was confused.
He had contacted Wen Pin before to lobby him, but was rejected.
Because in Wen Pin's view, Liu Bei was taking advantage of someone's misfortune. As a former minister of his old master, how could he switch sides while Liu Biao's body was still warm?
But when he heard that Liu Bei was leading his people westward, he was deeply moved.
The fact that Liu Bei was so trusted and loved by the people shows that he was a truly wise leader.
At this time, Nanyang was in great chaos because of Liu Biao's death, and even some bandits took the opportunity to cause chaos. Although this was not a problem for Wen Pin, the change in the situation in Xiangyang was what he was most worried about.
After Liu Biao's death, he left behind only three sons and one daughter.
He had not been in Jingzhou for long, so his foundation was not solid enough. His eldest son Liu Qi was only a dozen years old, too young to take charge of the overall situation.
If nothing unexpected happens, power will inevitably fall into the hands of others.
Liu Biao was kind to Wen Pin, so Wen Pin naturally wanted to support Liu Qi to repay Liu Biao's kindness.
However, he was a lowly person with little influence, and his family background was not high. Liu Biao promoted him to be the governor of Nanyang. The aristocratic families in Jingzhou agreed to this because they wanted to push him to the front to take the blame, so they naturally did not care about his thoughts.
Jingzhou is now controlled by the four families of Cai, Kuai, Huang and Pang. They hold almost all the political and military power in their hands, but they are not of one mind.
After learning that Liu Bei was heading south, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue each handed him a letter, each containing an order.
He Wenpin is very clear about the meaning behind this.
Originally he was still worrying about what to do, but after the soldiers who were spying on the military intelligence brought back the news that Liu Bei was leading his people south, Wen Pin suddenly became enlightened and decided to come and join the army.
He had also heard of Liu Bei's reputation for benevolence and righteousness, but he had never taken it seriously before.
With so much experience, he has long understood that many of these so-called reputations are just exaggerations.
But when the spies reported back and described to him the scene of people all over the mountains and plains, carrying their old and young, and their families, marching forward in an orderly manner and full of hope, he could not help but be shocked.
After seeing it with his own eyes, the strong visual impact shocked him immensely.
"Envoy Liu is truly a benevolent and righteous ruler!"
At this moment, Wen Pin recalled what Chen Qun had said when he sent people to lobby him.
Treat Liu Biao's wife, children and the elderly well, and when Liu Qi reaches adulthood, if he finds himself capable, return Jingzhou to his management.
He had originally scoffed at this, thinking it was just a polite remark. In the end, Liu Qi was lucky not to end up like Han Fu.
But now, he believes it!
(End of this chapter)
