People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 388 Despair
Disasters are always painful, but they will eventually end. As the pace of war slows down and the plague gradually weakens, the land will eventually enter a relatively peaceful stage. It's just that the price in between is too high.

A plague plundered countless lives in Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Jingzhou. After this, the three states were severely damaged. The damage brought about by the sharp decline in population was unimaginable. Not only was there a shortage of soldiers, but even grain taxes were difficult to collect, and corvee labor was out of the question.

However, under such circumstances, the three kingdoms of Wei, Han and Wu were established one after another. Among the southern princes, only Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu of Yizhou maintained their independence due to the relatively isolated geographical conditions of Shu and were not disturbed by the turmoil in the outside world.

The world thus entered into a situation of one hegemon and many strong powers.

Xuanxia in the north is already the de facto overlord that occupies half of the country. Not only is it militarily strong, but the people's livelihood is also prosperous. It is almost invulnerable, which makes all other princes in the world despair.

Especially the surrender of Liu Xie, the emperor of the old Han Dynasty, made everyone clearly feel the changes in luck and destiny. No matter how they denied it on the surface, they were very afraid of the unstoppable momentum of the Yellow Turbans in their hearts.

The nobles and scholars all over the world were trembling with fear about this. The name Xu Chen had become their nightmare.

Today, Xu Chen is no longer the small thief who lived in peace in a corner. Now no one can ignore the threat of Xu Chen. Every scholar can feel that the sword in Xu Chen's hand is getting closer.

But what was despairing was that they found that they had no way to stop Xu Chen.

Watching someone approaching step by step to take your life, and then counting the time you have left, is a fear that goes deep into your bones.

The southern gentry woke up from their sleep every day, and the most terrifying thing in their nightmares was that their wealth and glory turned into nothing.

And these nightmares seem to be becoming reality.

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, Wei, Han and Wu were established one after another. The gentry in the southern states and counties could only rely closely on the Three Kingdoms. Although the timing and strength for the establishment of these three kingdoms were not mature, they had to force it. Otherwise, there would be no way to resist Xuan Xia.

However, the consequence of forcing the launch was that even after the three kingdoms were established one after another, their fortunes did not see any signs of growth. Instead, pessimism spread throughout the three kingdoms, and people saw no hope that the three kingdoms could resist Xuan Xia.

Today, the plague has gradually subsided, but the war has not completely ended. After Cao Cao formally established the Wei Kingdom and proclaimed himself emperor, he began to deal with Xuan Xia's subsequent offensive.

Although Xuan Xia had temporarily retreated in the previous decisive battle, this did not mean the end of the war, but rather a transformation from a large-scale decisive battle to a long-term, small-scale, continuous battle.

Wuli, Wang Dang and Lu Ping were respectively stationed in Bingzhou, Yanzhou and Qingzhou, and continued to exert military pressure on the forces of Wei.

After the establishment of the Wei State, Cao Cao received border battle reports almost every month. Although these wars were mostly on a scale of several thousand to ten or twenty thousand people, and the two sides mostly fought for one or two counties or even the actual land in the countryside, it was still not easy for Cao Cao.

Although he managed to retreat safely from Wang Dang's main force of the Yellow Turbans in the last battle, the price he paid was giving up a large area of ​​land in Yanzhou.

The Wei Kingdom had already been severely weakened. If the Yellow Turbans continued to erode it bit by bit, sooner or later the Wei Kingdom would be completely devoured.

Of course Cao Cao did not dare to be negligent and responded with all his might, and managed to slow down the Yellow Turbans' offensive.

In the long and continuous border war, Xuanxia still had the upper hand overall. Even if it could not achieve a rapid victory, it could still swallow up some towns and cities of Wei every one or two months of fighting.

After all, the investment in the last decisive battle against the Yellow Turbans was enormous, and the newly occupied territory also requires a lot of effort to transform and construct, so the current war strategy has changed from a large decisive battle on a large battlefield to a solid method of slow retreat and advance.

However, even though Xuan Xia slowed down the pace of attack, it still made Cao Cao feel very uncomfortable.

After all, Cao Cao was a hero of the time. No matter what kind of blows he had suffered before and how he became decadent, he eventually cheered up after founding the country and regained his ambition.

Unfortunately, the advantages and disadvantages of the situation are not so easy to make up for. Even though Cao Cao is busy every day, the situation is still slowly developing in the direction of collapse.

Fortunately, Wu and Han, which were also in a difficult situation, did not give up their support and assistance to Wei. Even though they could not provide much military support after being hit by the plague, they still squeezed out a lot of money and food to support Wei.

This is not because Liu Bei and Sun Quan are so selfless. They are purely maintaining the alliance based on the common enemy. They still understand the principle of "the lips and the teeth are cold". Now everyone is in the same boat, and they have no choice but to provide full assistance.

If it weren't for their support, the State of Wei would have been unable to face the aggressive Xuan Xia.

In addition to the unfavorable situation on the front battlefield that made Cao Cao anxious, the sudden growth of Lu Meng's rebel army in Runan further aggravated Cao Cao's headache.

After the establishment of the Wei Kingdom, Cao Cao discovered that the rebels in Runan in his rear had suddenly become too powerful to be controlled.

The rebel army's tactics suddenly changed from roving warfare to guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.

After they took root in the countryside, it was difficult for both Cao Cao and Liu Bei to spend a lot of effort and a long time to completely encircle and suppress them. However, if they did not invest enough energy, the rebels would always bring great trouble to the rear with their flexible command. Cao Cao was now in a dilemma. If he managed them, it would mean that he would have to send troops to control the vast rural areas for a long time, which would inevitably involve the energy of the front battlefield. If he did not manage them, the rural areas would be completely out of control, and it would be difficult for him to carry out corvée and grain tax work.

After the plague, the population of Wei State suffered serious losses. If the rebels in Runan were allowed to continue to develop like this, the financial situation of Wei State would become even worse.

Guan Ye could not choose to ignore it, as the former would immediately kill Wei State, while the latter would slowly cut off Wei State's roots.

Every time Cao Cao thought about this situation, his scalp would tingle. However, he had no good way to deal with it, so he could only send Zhang Liao and Guo Jia to lead a small group of elite troops to suppress the bandits in the rear.

This was just a helpless move made by Cao Cao in the dilemma, but he had no idea how much effect it would have in the end.

In any case, the war situation was maintained as Xuan Xia slowly advanced. Although Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan were all very anxious about this, they had no way to deal with it.

The absolute gap in strength is not so easy to reverse, and those clever tricks to turn defeat into victory are ultimately just the interpretation of the story.

Returning to the real world, when the rulers of the three kingdoms of Cao, Liu and Sun faced the enemy Xuanxia together, they were all desperate and pessimistic. Although they did not clearly realize that Xuanxia and the Three Kingdoms were actually a victory of the advanced over the backward, they could also feel the invisible huge pressure.

The establishment of the Three Kingdoms was not a clarion call for a counterattack by the South, but more like a desperate struggle before death. Unfortunately, this struggle did not produce any effect.

Xuan Xia only needs to maintain the current offensive rhythm. As time goes by, victory will come naturally.

Xuan Xia has this patience, and Xu Chen also has this patience.

For Xu Chen, his biggest enemy is no longer the natives of the era of Cao, Liu, and Sun.

The so-called heroes of the Three Kingdoms were, after all, just people trapped in the times. Faced with more advanced existence, all their lofty ambitions and heroic spirit were just in vain.

Xu Chen’s real enemy is only time.

Human power is limited. Only when you really stand in this position can you feel the urgency of time. Even though Xu Chen is only in his thirties and can be considered quite young, he feels that time is catching up with him.

When a person's will can influence the fate of the world, he will find that time is simply not enough.

There are too many things that need to be done, but the scale of many things is measured in decades or half a year. If you are a step slower, you may not see the results until you die.

This is the case with Xu Chen now. He no longer needs to worry about the progress of the war. After everything is on track, he begins to focus more on racing against time.

Although some things may not show much effect if we do them now, we still need to start planning ahead.

Not far from the Xuanxia capital Beiping, in a port that was built long ago and named Zhigu Port by Xu Chen, dozens of ships are docked and ready to set sail.

These ships are of different sizes, and the largest six or seven of them are more than a hundred meters long. Not only are the hulls huge, but tall wooden buildings can also be seen on top of the hulls. Looking at these huge ships from afar can give people a sense of shock. At least it is the first time for the villagers near Zhigu to see such huge ships.

Even if the other ships were not this big, they were still dozens of meters long, and their hulls were even more slender, as if they were guards guarding the side of the building ship.

Dozens of ships docked at Zhigu Port make it look very crowded, as if the entire sea surface is filled with the fleet.

It can be seen that at this time there are many porters carrying boxes and moving goods up and down the ship. The entire port is busy because of the presence of the fleet.

At this time, on the largest main ship in the fleet, many sailors, students and several Xuanxia officials were standing on the wide deck, and they were all looking at a figure in front of them. It was their prime minister and leader Xu Chen.

Standing at the front of the ship, feeling the sea breeze, Xu Chen's mood also became relaxed and open.

I am in my thirties now, and it is hard to say whether I have another 40 or 50 years to live. This amount of time is simply not enough, so I must push forward what I can do as much as possible.

The beginning of the Age of Discovery is a cause that I absolutely cannot miss, and this cause will also begin today.

"This voyage is just an attempt to accumulate experience, so I don't need you to go out to sea to find unknown continents. It is enough for you to explore the coastal areas of China."

(End of this chapter)