Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1316 Epidemic
The reason why he said "try his best" was because Yuan Xi was not sure. After all, Xu City was the rear base that Cao Wei had operated for many years, and the city defense was not much worse than that of Yecheng. However, after discussing with Zhuge Liang, he felt that it was worth a try.

This was because the Wei State would not have expected Yuan Xi to attack immediately after he proclaimed himself emperor, so they would certainly be unprepared for a period of time. Moreover, the biggest threat, Sima Yi, was not in the city, and Cao Pi could not compare with Cao Cao in military terms, so there would definitely be loopholes in the defense around Xu Du.

And most importantly, the Wei State has just taken over the old one and is still in a psychologically weak period against the Jin army. If Yuan Xi shows considerable power, it is likely to have unexpected results.

The best outcome that Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang intended to achieve was to make the State of Wei collapse and flee under the heavy pressure, abandoning Xu Du.

Although this idea is quite fantastic, Yuan Xi still has a trump card, Guan Yu.

Guan Yu's pressure on the Wei generals was definitely not inferior to Yuan Xi, and his victory over Cao Ren and Yu Jin was so great that everyone in Wei was terrified.

Guan Yu himself also had a strong desire to attack Xu Du, so Sima Yi led his main force to defend against Guan Yu. In order to use this trump card, Yuan Xi used a strategy of deceiving the world and let Wei Yan pretend to be Guan Yu's army to tie down Sima Yi, while Guan Yu himself took a detour and defeated the unsuspecting Cao Hong.

With the retreat of Xiahou Shang and Ma Chao's army, the outer defense line of Xu Du collapsed. Yuan Xi successfully created the intention to capture Xu Du with all his might. This intention could change at any time depending on the response of Wei State. If Wei State responded unfavorably, a full-scale attack on Xu Du would become a reality.

Of course, only Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang knew that after several major battles, the Jin army did not have enough strength and confidence to take Xu Du. Even if they could take it, there would be heavy casualties. So the two of them adopted this strategy of false and real to see if Wei could be fooled.

It now seems that the Wei State is indeed in a panic. Cao Pi urgently orders the Cao troops in the surrounding cities to return to defend Xu Du, but now rumors are flying everywhere in the city, which greatly interferes with his decision.

In the past few days, Cao Pi has lost his appetite and often has nightmares about the Jin army's attack on Xu Du. It's not entirely his fault, as it has been less than a year since the last Battle of Yecheng, and the scene of him and Cao Cao's embarrassing escape overnight is still vivid in his mind.

Early this morning, when Cao Pi woke up from another nightmare, his spirit was on the verge of collapse. He kicked Liu beside him off the bed, and then summoned a group of advisers and officials. After everyone arrived, Cao Pi went straight to the point and asked the officials to discuss the feasibility of withdrawing from Xu Du.

Hua Xin was shocked when he heard this and asked quickly, "Where are you going to retreat to, Your Majesty?"

Cao Pi waved his hand impatiently and said, "Luoyang or Chang'an is not Xudu anyway. This place is surrounded by enemies on three sides. How can we defend it?"

What he said was indeed correct. Now the State of Jin and the State of Hannan have surrounded Xu Du. Even if they can survive this time, what about the next time?

Zhong Yao said in a hoarse voice: "The situation in Luoyang is not much better, and there are no natural barriers around Luoyang, so it may not be easier to defend than Xudu."

Cao Pi snorted coldly, "Then let's go to Chang'an!"

"As long as we hold this pass, with Youzhou and Liangzhou behind us, we can go south to Jingzhou at any time. It's much better than staying in Xudu!"

Cao Pi still had some vision. It was because there was nothing wrong with what he said that the officials found it difficult to refute him. But the key issue was that this retreat was almost equivalent to giving up the Sanfu area. If such a large area was obtained by the State of Jin, the possibility of Wei's comeback would be even smaller!
But now that Luoyang was under attack, it seemed that Chang'an had become the only option. Zhong Yao remained silent until Cao Pi asked, "Where is Gongda? Why can't I see Gongda?"

Zhong Yao said, "Gongda is ill and bedridden, unable to move, so he didn't come today."

Cao Pi asked in confusion: "It is summer now, how could there be any serious illness?"

He looked around and found that the chief clerk Chen Lin was not there either, so he asked casually, "Where's Kong Zhang?"

Someone said, "He is also sick and in bed."

As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of everyone present changed. They had all followed Cao Cao in battle and had experienced several epidemics in the army, so an idea immediately came to their minds.

Could this be a sign of a pandemic?
If it were really like the previous times, not only would this city be impossible to defend, it would also be hard to say how many people present would survive!

Thinking of this, everyone was suddenly confused and began to discuss. Cao Pi said, "Send a doctor to find out the condition of the two people. I also want to know if there are other people infected in the city."

Within half a day, news came that Xun You and Chen Lin were indeed infected with the disease, and people in the city started falling ill a few days ago!

When this news came back, everyone from Cao Pi to Zhong Yao and Hua Xin were horrified. They naturally knew how terrible the epidemic was, and they could still deal with it calmly under normal circumstances, but this was the time when the coalition forces of Yuan Xi and Guan Yu were advancing step by step and besieging the city!
Cao Pi quickly ordered a gathering of medical doctors in the city to prevent the epidemic. What made him even more worried was that among the famous doctors who treated epidemics in the world, only Zhang Zhongjing was with Liu Bei and Hua Tuo was with Yuan Xi. The medical doctors on the Wei side had a poor overall understanding of the epidemic and their ability to prevent and control it.

A thought even arose in Cao Pi's mind: Could it be that this epidemic was spread intentionally by the State of Jin?
Although there is no definite conclusion in the world whether the disease can be spread artificially, Cao Pi always feels that if it is a powerful and ferocious tiger, maybe it can be done!

Thinking of this, Cao Pi's desire to withdraw from Xu Du became stronger.

This was actually Cao Pi overthinking. Although Yuan Xi knew what practices were more likely to spread the disease, such things did not distinguish between soldiers and civilians, and were too detrimental to the harmony of nature. At least Yuan Xi had a bottom line when it came to his own Chinese people.

But it is not entirely true to say that he knew nothing about this. The Procuratorate had already conducted intelligence analysis and found that there was a high possibility of an epidemic breaking out in Xudu this year.

The reason was that the fighting in the Xiangyang area lasted for a long time, and it was hot in summer in Jingzhou, when epidemics were prevalent. With Guan Yu's victory, Cao Ren retreated to Xu Du with his wounded soldiers. The journey must have been extremely hasty, and neither food nor water could be guaranteed to be absolutely clean. Past experience also showed that epidemics were most likely to break out among the defeated soldiers.

Cao Ren returned to Xudu with his defeated soldiers more than half a month ago. Sima Yi had already set out at that time, and the two sides passed each other. At that time, some people in Cao Ren's army fell ill, but most people did not understand the principle of epidemics and naturally ignored it. Many of the spies of the Jin army had learned medical skills and were naturally very sensitive to it, so they sent intelligence to Yecheng early in the morning. This was also one of the factors that prompted Yuan Xi to make up his mind to attack Xudu.

The news that an epidemic had begun to spread in Xudu soon reached Yuan Xi, who was on the march. He said to Zhuge Liang, "I never thought it would come true."

"Wei doesn't have many means to deal with the epidemic, and it may become more unstable because of this. Maybe we will win without fighting."

Zhuge Liang said: "That being said, it is not a good way to plan a war if we rely on Cao Wei's cowardice."

"Liang thinks that we can take this opportunity to get the people the lord wants to rescue out of the city at the lowest cost."

After listening to Zhuge Liang's idea, Yuan Xi said thoughtfully: "The military advisor's idea is indeed very interesting."

"But if it's just one person it's fine, but if there are many people, the possibility of being exposed will increase greatly."

Zhuge Liang said: "That's right, so we have to wait for the right time. When people start to die in the city, we can use this strategy. Of course, we also need some luck."

Yuan Xi thought about it and nodded, "Indeed, if this plan works, at least thousands of soldiers will be saved. It's worth a try."

In the next few days, Yuan Xi ordered the army to slow down and temporarily postpone approaching Xu Du. He was able to keep his composure, but Guan Yu could not wait any longer.

Early that morning, he came to Yuan Xi and asked, "Why is the King of Jin delaying the march?"

"The emperor is in danger right now. What if we don't get there in time?"

Zhuge Liang explained: "General Guan, if Cao Wei is determined to hold the emperor hostage, even if we can capture Xu Du, the Wei army will take the emperor with them when they retreat."

"In this case, General, there is no way to save the emperor. The best plan now is to let Cao Wei give up the emperor voluntarily."

Guan Yu frowned and asked, "How is that possible?"

"Although the emperor was forced to abdicate, he still has value to Cao Wei. They won't give up so easily, right?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "So what we need to take advantage of now is the situation in the city."

In the city of Xudu, Mrs. Wu was waiting anxiously at home when her maid came in and said that Liu Zhang had come again.

Although Wu was disgusted, she still welcomed Liu Zhang in. As soon as Liu Zhang saw Wu, he couldn't wait to ask, "What do you think, Mrs. Si?"

Wu was disgusted and said, "I heard that the king is busy with military affairs. How can I have the opportunity to go?"

Liu Zhang said, "That's not a problem. There is a great epidemic in Xudu now. The king will abandon Xudu sooner or later. I just want to see the king. He will definitely come to see me on the way. When the time comes, Si Fu will come out to serve tea, and the matter will be settled."

"In this way, you and I can both leave and save our lives. I guess the King of Wei will either flee to Chang'an or go to Yizhou. Then Si Fu can return to her hometown. Wouldn't that be great?"

Wu bit her lip and bowed her head without saying anything. Liu Zhang thought she was shy and waited quietly. After a long while, Wu finally raised her head and looked directly at Liu Zhang, saying, "It's not difficult to get me to agree."

"But let me ask you one thing first. How did my husband die?"

Liu Zhang's heart skipped a beat, but he pretended to be calm and said, "Si Fu asked me, how should I know?"

Wu heard this and sneered, "I am selling my body for everyone's life. Are you willing to tell me now, Shulang?"

"Even if I knew the truth, what can I do to you?"

Liu Zhang was about to speak when he heard this, but he stopped himself. He laughed dryly and said, "My wife is joking. I am very sorry for my brother's death, but I really didn't know."

After hearing this, Wu stood up and said calmly, "I understand. Shulang, go back first. How to meet the king is up to you."

Liu Zhang left muttering to himself, but the next day, Mrs. Wu received news that Liu He had contracted an epidemic in prison and Madam Yuan was also infected when she visited him.

(End of this chapter)