Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 383 Yizhou Falls, Hebei Unrest

In the summer of May in the eleventh year of Jian'an, because Liu Zhang refused to serve as an official in the court, Liu Bei appointed Zhang Fei as the chief general and led an army of 80,000 to attack Shu.

This war against Shu took place six years earlier than Liu Bei's original plan to invade Shu, and the number of troops Liu Bei brought into Shu was no longer just tens of thousands.

After the Battle of Guanzhong, after three years of recuperation, Liu Bei's army was much more powerful than before, because Qin Zhen reopened the Western Regions Protectorate, which made their trade more developed.

As of the eighth year of Jian'an, cotton planting in Huainan, Qingzhou and Xuzhou had exceeded three million acres, and a large amount of cotton was transported to Jiangdong by ships.

It was woven into cotton cloth by female workers in Jiangdong and transported to Chang'an and Luoyang. While meeting domestic demand, it was also sold to Central Asia via the Silk Road.

In addition to cotton, the export of tea, porcelain, glass, salt, silk, sugar and other goods plundered a large amount of gold from Southeast Asia.

All of this made Liu Bei's army's military expenditure crush that of his contemporaries, and even surpassed that of the period of Emperor Ling of Han. It was far from comparable to Liu Zhang's troops.

Similarly, with the prosperity of the slave trade, tens of thousands of slaves from Nanyang were transported to Jiangdong and Jiaozhi every year. These slaves were used for mining, land reclamation, farming, and sales.

This ensured that Liu Bei's army was well-equipped with supplies, and whether it was weapons, morale, equipment, or system, it had almost surpassed the level of that era.

Therefore, within less than half a month after Zhang Fei arrived at Jiameng Pass, Jiameng Pass was declared to have fallen. Zhang Fei then divided his troops into two groups and marched towards Shuzhong. At the same time, according to Liu Ye's suggestion, he ordered the navy to attack upstream on the river.

At one time, the three armies advanced simultaneously, and wherever they went, the people surrendered. Liu Zhang had no choice but to send his general Yan Yan to Ba County to resist Liu Bei's navy, and to send Wu Yi to lead the generals north to stop Zhang Fei's troops.

After Wu Yi went north, he stationed in the area south of Jiange, forming a confrontation with Zhang Fei. It is worth mentioning that Jiange was not a pass at this time, because Zhuge Liang ordered its establishment after Liu Bei entered Shu.

In this timeline, Liu Bei had not yet entered Shu, and Jianmen Pass had naturally not yet been established. It was just a narrow mountain pass of only a dozen steps north of Zitong!
After Wu Yi entered this place, he avoided fighting and no matter how Zhang Fei challenged him, he refused to fight. Zhang Fei had no choice but to stop, and the two armies fought for more than a month.

Arriving here, Wu Yi thought that Zhang Fei could no longer advance, but at this moment, Zhang Liao, who had not appeared before, suddenly appeared in Baxi.

It turned out that before heading south, Fa Zheng had told Zhang Fei that the road to Shu was difficult to advance, and if the enemy held their ground, they would never be able to capture it, so it would be better for them to advance first and start from within the enemy.

Therefore, Zhang Fei marched here on the surface, but secretly let Zhang Liao lead more than 10,000 soldiers and horses from Chongguo, Anhan and other places to enter Ba County. After Zhang Liao received the order, he sent envoys to persuade Du Fu, Pu Hu and others to surrender.

Du Fu and Pu Hu were originally leaders of the Qiang people in the southwest. They had never submitted to Liu Zhang and had once rebelled together with Zhang Lu. After Zhang Lu was defeated by Liu Bei, they became independent.

Seeing Zhang Liao's persuasion, the two men immediately followed his advice and sent troops to help Zhang Liao take over Langzhong and enter the territory of Baxi. This route was also the route that Zhang He took to go south into Shu in history.

But in history, Liu Bei had Zhang Fei guarding Langzhong to prevent Zhang He from going south. However, Liu Zhang only sent Pang Xi to garrison there, which gave Zhang Liao an opportunity.

On May 17th, Zhang Liao captured Langzhong, and on the 20th he captured Chongguo. He then went downstream to raid Anhan, led hundreds of cavalry into the city, and killed Pang Xi directly.

On June 15, the news reached Jiange. Wu Yi was shocked and immediately ordered the troops to withdraw. This was because with the fall of Anhan, Zhang Liao's army could already march towards Fucheng.

If they don't retreat now, once Fucheng falls, it will be meaningless for them to continue to hold on. Instead, they will be blocked in Jiange Road and attacked from both sides.

As a result, Wu Yi withdrew his troops to Fucheng to hold the city. Zhang Fei followed Pang Tong's plan and divided his troops to launch a surprise attack on the Chengdu Plain through Jiangyou Road. The main army then advanced in succession.

So on the tenth day of the eighth month of the eleventh year of Jian'an, Gan Ning's navy entered Yizhou, defeated Yan Yan, and persuaded the local gentry of Yizhou to surrender.

At one time, from Jiangzhou to the east, counties such as Fujie, Jiangyang, and Han'an surrendered one after another, and the road to the east of Chengdu was opened. Liu Zhang was frightened and ordered Wu Yi and others to return.

As for Luo City, it was ambushed by Zhang Liao, generals Leng Bao and Zhang Ren were beheaded, and Wu Yi was captured. Under the persuasion of Pang Tong, he surrendered to Liu Bei's army.

With the help of Wu Yi and Yan Yan, Zhang Fei's army was no longer hindered and captured Mianzhu, Xindu and other counties. Together with Zhang Liao and Gan Ning, they surrounded Chengdu on three sides.

It was November of the eleventh year of Jian'an, and the defeated soldiers entered the city. Liu Zhang was so frightened that his face turned pale and he collapsed in his mansion. When they woke him up, they saw him sighing and saying:

"When the King of Han summoned me to the court, I said there would be an attack, but you all advised me not to surrender. But now that the army is at the gates of the city, you should surrender to save the people in the city!"

When everyone heard this, they all shed tears, except Zhang Song, who stepped out and offered to surrender. Huang Quan, Wang Lei and others were furious when they saw this and wanted to execute him, but Liu Zhang stopped them:
"My father and I have been in Shu for more than 20 years, and have done no kindness to the people. We have been fighting for three years, and our blood and flesh have been lost in the wilderness. It is all my fault. Ziqiao's words are exactly what I think, so don't be surprised!"

The next day, Zhang Song was ordered to go outside the city to hand in the letter of surrender. Zhang Fei accepted it and the next day he led his troops into the city. When he saw Liu Zhang, he said:
"If I had known this would happen, why would I have done it in the first place? If you don't surrender, I will kill you when the city is captured tomorrow. But if you surrender now, I won't kill you. Go to Chang'an and apologize!"

After saying this, he asked Liu Zhang to pack his luggage, wear the seal of General Zhenwei, and bring his wife, both men and women, to the city of Chang'an to confess his crime. He was to leave immediately.

As soon as Yizhou was captured, Zhang Fei personally took charge of Chengdu and sent messengers to Chang'an to report the situation. The message was sent in November and arrived in Chang'an in the first month of the twelfth year of Jian'an.

At this time in history, it was the eve of the Battle of Chibi. Liu Bei had just gained Xu Shu, and things were starting to get better. But by then he had already occupied 70% to 80% of the land.

Upon hearing that Zhang Fei had conquered Shu, Liu Bei was overjoyed. He then asked Qin Zhen who could govern Shu, since Sichuan people were xenophobic and prone to separatist regimes.

Although Zhang Fei could station troops there, it was still not enough for him to govern Shu. He had to send a capable person who could stabilize the situation in Shu.

When Qin Zhen saw Liu Bei's problem, he thought for a moment and recommended a person to Liu Bei, that is, Zhuge Liang, the prefect of Kuaiji in Jiangdong!
Zhuge Liang has been training in Jiangdong for seven years since he left. Now Kong Ming is no longer the ignorant young man.

During these seven years, Zhuge Liang, in accordance with his policies, developed commerce in Kuaiji, and at the same time took the initiative to suppress and eliminate the Shanyue ethnic minority in Kuaiji.

In just seven years, Kuaiji and Nanping counties were integrated, and port cities such as Yongning and Zhang'an were developed. Zhang'an in particular, which later became Wenzhou City, developed into a light industrial base.

Relying on the advantage of being close to Yizhou, its people continued to develop Yizhou and plunder slaves, which enabled Zhang'an, a land with barren land, to get rid of poverty and become rich, and even developed a money house.

These achievements show that Zhuge Liang has already integrated the economic principles of later generations, and he needs a bigger stage to practice. Liu Bei naturally remembered Zhuge Liang, a young man. After hesitating for a moment, he submitted a memorial to the emperor, dividing Yizhou into two parts, north and south, with Zhuge Liang governing the northern part of Yizhou and Zhang Fei stationed in the southern part of Yizhou.

With this arrangement of the situation in Yizhou, there were finally no more vacant territories under their command, and the only enemies left to be eliminated were the Yuan brothers in Hebei.

On the other hand, it is said that after Yuan Shao died, Tian Feng, Zhang He and others carried Yuan Shao's coffin to Weijun. When Shen Pei, Feng Ji and others heard about it, they burst into tears.

When his wife, Madam Liu, learned of Yuan Shao's death, she did not feel sad at all. In order to seize the throne for her son Yuan Shang, she killed all five of Yuan Shao's beloved concubines.

After killing her, he was afraid that people would go and complain, so he shaved her hair, stabbed her face, and mutilated her body. His son Yuan Shang followed suit, fearing that his favorite concubine's family would cause harm, so he arrested and killed them too.

Tian Feng and others were disgusted when they saw this, but they also knew that this was Yuan Shao's family, so they did not want to interfere. However, when Guo Tu, Xin Ping and others saw this, they fled overnight.

Subsequently, Shen Pei and Feng Ji appointed Yuan Shang as the general, making him the governor of Ji, Qing, You, Bing and Yan provinces. They sent envoys to announce the death and prepared to force Yuan Shang to take the throne.

At this time, Yuan Tan had only one third of Qingzhou left in the war with Zang Ba. Hearing this, Yuan Shang was greatly terrified. Seeing Guo Tu and others coming, he discussed with them. Guo Tu said:
"Now that the lord is away, everyone has abandoned the eldest and enthroned the youngest, which is a violation of the relationship between ministers. Your family alone cannot defeat Yuan Shang, so why not send an envoy to the north to ask for the second young master's help."

The second young master they mentioned was Yuan Shao's son Yuan Xi, who had never participated in the fight between Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan.

But at this time he thought that Yuan Shang was vicious and occupied the richest Jizhou. If Yuan Tan was annexed by Yuan Shang, he would most likely go north to attack Youzhou.

So Yuan Xi joined forces with Yuan Tan to form a brotherly alliance to fight against Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang was furious when he heard this and naturally wanted to lead his troops to attack.

However, Tian Feng and others dissuaded him, saying that Liu Bei's side was a powerful enemy and they could not stir up trouble internally at this time. Instead, they should first occupy the entire Bingzhou, establish a solid defense line, and then try to advance eastward.

Although Liu Bei had stopped his troops at that time, Guan Yu occupied Hedong and continued to advance towards Bingzhou. Yuan Shang had no choice but to turn back and confront Guan Yu.

This confrontation lasted until the ninth year of Jian'an, when Qin Zhen reopened the Protectorate. As it was difficult to achieve any results, Guan Yu simply retreated to Hedong.

Yuan Shang was able to occupy most of Bingzhou. However, after Yuan Shao's advance, Kebi Neng, a leader of the left wing of the Xianbei, took the opportunity to occupy Shuofang, Yunzhong and other counties, which left Yuan Shang with no chance to advance to the north.

Although Tian Feng and others were extremely wary of Cao Cao and others, when it came to foreign wars, Tian Feng and Zhang He were also very tough, so they advised Yuan Shang to send troops to conquer the counties.

Yuan Shang also knew that the Xianbei were powerful and could not be allowed to gain a foothold, so he sent troops to fight against them. In the ninth year of Jian'an, he fought a great battle with Kebi Neng, who was defeated and subsequently surrendered to Yuan Shang.

However, Yuan Shang's tough attitude made the surrounding ethnic minorities uneasy, so they used wizards to bury corpses in the upper reaches of the Yellow River to create diseases, and a plague broke out.

At first, the plague only spread in Shangjun, then spread to Taiyuan, then to Shangdang, and entered Jizhou. When Yuan Shang discovered it, the plague had already swept across Hebei and began to invade the south.

At that time, the plague was raging throughout Hebei, every family was suffering from zombies, and the population continued to decline. Before this, the population of Yuan Shao's territory was nearly 10 million.

After the plague had raged for a year, the population had dropped by more than three million, causing great damage to the power of the Yuan brothers, and they could never regain their former glory.

When Feng Ji saw this, he advised Yuan Shang to unify Hebei as soon as possible, otherwise when Liu Bei withdrew and headed north, they would not be able to stop Liu Bei's troops at all!

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shang immediately mobilized his troops and launched an attack on Youzhou. Yuan Xi was shocked and hurriedly ordered his generals Zhang Nan and Jiao Chu to resist, and also sent someone to ask Yuan Tan for help.

When Yuan Tan received the news, he sent troops towards Youzhou, but this gave Zang Ba an opportunity, so he led his troops north again and seized the entire Qingzhou.

In March of the 12th year of Jian'an, when a plague broke out in Hebei, the three Yuan brothers fought each other in Hebei. In July, due to food shortage in Youzhou, generals Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan under Yuan Xi rebelled and attacked Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi was unable to resist and fled to the territory of Wuhuan. Long before Yuan Shao unified Hebei, Wuhuan took advantage of the chaos in the world to invade Youzhou and captured more than 100,000 Han households.

Yuan Shao adopted a conciliatory policy towards the Wuhuan, appointed Tadun as Chanyu, and married a daughter of the Wuhuan tribe to him as his own, thus forming a good marriage alliance.

After Yuan Xi went north, he was treated well by Tadun. Yuan Shang had no choice but to take over Youzhou and sent Zhang Nan and Jiao Chu to prevent the enemy from going south.

At this point, Yuan Shang had gained control of most of Hebei, but Hebei was already devastated and no longer as glorious as it once was. But now was the time for Guan Yu to send troops.

Seeing that Yuan Shang had firmly established control over four states, Guan Yu knew that he could not wait any longer, so he joined forces with Xu Shu, Chen Deng, and Zang Ba and launched an attack in June of the 12th year of Jian'an.

It is worth mentioning that due to Qin Zhen’s butterfly effect, Chen Deng did not die in this timeline, but was promoted to the governor of Xuzhou after Mi Zhu entered the court.

At this time, all four sides started to launch fierce attacks on Yanzhou, Bingzhou and Jizhou from three directions respectively. Yuan Shang's troops were unable to resist and were defeated.

By July, when Yuan Shang was victorious, Guan Yu had already captured Jiyin, Shanyang, Dongping, Taishan, and Jibei, and his troops crossed the Yellow River to Liyang.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shang personally led his troops to confront Guan Yu. The two armies continued to fight, with Yuan Shang being defeated repeatedly and Guan Yu winning repeatedly. In September of the autumn of the twelfth year of Jian'an, Guan Yu led his troops to defeat Yuan Shang in Liyang.

Yuan Shang was defeated and retreated to Handan for defense. At the same time, the allied forces of Zang Ba and Chen Deng crossed the river to the north and entered Pingyuan County. The Yellow River defense line was completely broken.

Seeing that Yuan Shang began to defend the city, Xu Shu suggested to Guan Yu: "Now that Yuan Shang's army has been defeated, it is difficult to hold on. However, Yecheng is strong and difficult to take, so it will be difficult to break it."

"We have no chance of advancing further. Why don't we submit a petition to the king and ask for permission to march north and mobilize reinforcements? Once the army arrives, we will surely capture this city!"

Although Guan Yu was proud, he also knew that their main forces were insufficient. This was the perfect time for Liu Bei to conquer Hebei with one battle, so he sent someone to inform Liu Bei.

When Liu Bei heard the letter, he did not hesitate and ordered 60,000 soldiers and 20,000 cavalry from Guanzhong and Nanyang, and left Zhang Zhao, Chen Qun and others behind, and went north in person to reinforce Guan Yu.

(End of this chapter)