I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 139 Arranging a Job for Liu Biao

Wang Jing's indifferent tone made Sun Ce feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave, as if he was in the coldest month of winter. The cold wind stung his bones and made him shiver instinctively.

Under the threat of the powerful divine thought, the heavy mental pressure and the approaching crisis of death made it difficult for Sun Ce to breathe, but his eyes were still sharp and the fighting spirit in his heart burned even more fiercely, revealing a completely unyielding character.

"Lord Qi, Ce came to visit you today only to retrieve my father's body and bring it back to Fuchun for burial."

Sun Ce did not dodge or evade, but stared straight into Wang Jing's eyes with his tiger eyes, with the courage and determination to face death in his heart.

Xun You saw the murderous intention in Wang Jing's heart and quickly stepped forward to persuade him: "Killing a filial son like Sun Ce will not be good for the reputation of the lord. A gentleman should help others to achieve their goals, so why not agree to his request?"

After saying that, he gave Wang Jing a look.

Wang Jing naturally understood that things were not that simple. Since Xun You made such a suggestion, he must have his reasons. Wang Jing trusted Xun You very much, so he naturally followed his advice and agreed to Sun Ce's request to let him take Sun Jian's body back to his hometown for burial.

Before leaving, Xun You found Sun Ce again and said, "Although your father Sun Jian died at the hands of my lord, the one who actually killed him was Yuan Shu."

Sun Ce was furious when he heard this and shouted, "Although I am young, I will not be tempted by your scheme to sow discord between us!"

Xun You looked calm, and after Sun Ce had vented his anger, he said in a cold voice: "If you don't believe me, you can ask someone to examine Sun Jian's body. Then you will know that the real fatal blow came from the arrow wound in the back. As for who ordered the arrow to be shot, I don't need to say more."

Sun Ce was right. Xun You was indeed trying to sow discord and divide the relationship between him and Yuan Shu.

Xun You made no secret of this and was not afraid of being seen through by Sun Ce.

Without asking anyone else, Sun Ce examined his father's body himself and found out that the fatal wound was not caused by a sword but an arrow. From the marks on the wound, it can be judged that the arrow did come from behind.

"Yuan Shu!"

Sun Ce roared angrily. He originally regarded Wang Jing as the murderer of his father, but he did not expect that the real murderer of his father was actually his ally Yuan Shu.

In the end, Sun Ce left with hatred and anger.

"Gongda, Sun Ce is brave and good at fighting. His talent and ability are no less than that of Sun Jian, the fierce tiger of Jiangdong. If you let me let him go, aren't you afraid that I am letting a tiger go back to the mountains?"

"My lord, Liu Jingsheng, one of the eight talented students of Luoyang Imperial College, has already arrived in Jingzhou. With his wisdom and talent, it is only a matter of time before he completely controls Jingzhou. If he is not restricted, I am afraid that the entire Jiangnan region will fall into his control. By then, the Central Plains will be in chaos, and the princes will be fighting, while Jingzhou will be able to recuperate and accumulate troops. Once it relies on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and sits on the strong city of Xiangfan, it will inevitably form a pattern of dividing the river and governing separately, which will be detrimental to the unification of the world."

Sun Ce was indeed a fierce tiger. Xun You had long seen that he had extraordinary talents, especially his talent in martial arts, which was even better than Sun Jian.

But precisely because of this, Xun You suggested that Wang Jing let the tiger go back to the mountains, letting Sun Ce, the young tiger, cause trouble for Liu Biao, letting the two forces fight and bite each other, restraining each other, so that no one could successfully unify the south.

After understanding Xun You's strategic intention, Wang Jing also smiled: "Gongda is worthy of being my Zifang. This strategy of driving the tiger to devour the wolf is really a far-reaching plan and a precautionary measure."

Xun You once again demonstrated his strategic ability as a top strategist and offered this ingenious plan to Wang Jing.

Although Liu Biao was described as "a man of few substance" in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in fact, among the heroes of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Biao's abilities were extraordinary, and he excelled in both civil and military affairs.

Just half a year ago, Dong Zhuo dominated Luoyang and controlled the government. Not long after, he wrote to the court to appoint Liu Biao as the governor of Jingzhou.

Afterwards, Liu Biao resigned from his post as Marquis of the Northern Army, went south to Jingzhou, entered Yicheng alone, and conspired with Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and others to plan major events.

Jingzhou at that time was not very peaceful. Various clans and bandits were rampant in the rivers and lakes. Their power was so great that even the government could hardly control them.

Liu Biao, however, used a trick to lure the enemy into a trap. He held a banquet to lure and kill 55 of the biggest clan thieves, and then took advantage of the situation to annex their tribes. He then sent Kuai Yue and Pang Ji to persuade Zhang Hu and Chen Sheng who occupied Xiangyang to surrender, and captured the strong city that even the Mongols had to attack for ten years without a single soldier.

After this, most of the county magistrates and county governors in Jingzhou, upon hearing of Liu Biao's reputation, took off their seals and fled.

However, in just a few months, Liu Biao had successfully gathered and controlled the seven counties of Jingzhou except Nanyang County, and stationed his troops in Xiangyang to observe how the situation would change.

Although Wang Jing has killed Dong Zhuo, he has not yet occupied the entire Sili region. On the other hand, Liu Biao has already occupied Jingzhou and is eyeing the Central Plains.

If Liu Biao is allowed to continue like this, perhaps the entire Jiangnan region will become his possession and he will raise a terrible monster.

Therefore, Liu Biao had to be given some work, and he must not be allowed to live an easy life.

And Sun Ce was a big problem that Wang Jing left for Liu Biao.

To the south of the city, the Luo River gurgles with endless waves.

Sun Ce took his father Sun Jian's body and crossed the river by boat. The dark coffin floated up and down with the waves.

Soon, the boat reached the shore.

A dozen men wearing conical hats and straw raincoats came over. The leader had a resolute face and a steady gaze. He was none other than Cheng Pu, the most famous general of the Eastern Wu.

Standing next to Cheng Pu was Han Dang.

Cheng Pu was very surprised to see Sun Ce return safely, and his tense face relaxed a little.

But then, Cheng Pu saw a dark black coffin parked behind Sun Ce, and a look of sadness appeared in his eyes.

"Such a blood feud, how can we not take revenge?"

"That's right, kill Wang Jing and avenge our lord!"

Han Dang roared, and the guards who accompanied him echoed him. They were all Sun Jian's confidants. They had followed him in battles for more than ten years and had loyalty and righteousness engraved in their bones and hearts.

Now that they saw Sun Jian's corpse, they wished they could rush into Luoyang immediately to avenge their lord.

However, at this moment, Sun Ce spoke up: "Marquis Qi is not an enemy of my Sun family."

"Bofu, what do you mean?"

"Are you afraid?"

When Han Dang and others heard that Sun Ce didn't want to take revenge, they became furious.

Only Cheng Pu, who was always calm, realized that Sun Ce had something to say, so he stepped forward to appease everyone: "Everyone, please be calm and listen to what Bo Fu has to say first."

Facing these soldiers who had followed his father through thick and thin for many years, Sun Ce said angrily, "I have examined my father's body. The fatal wounds were caused by arrows, and most of them came from his back."

"what!"

"How could this be?"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and then they remembered that it was Yuan Shu who ordered the arrows to be shot shortly after the breakout, which killed and wounded many of their own people. However, after the defeat, everyone was busy escaping and had no chance to clean up the battlefield, so they had no idea that Sun Jian had died in this wave of arrow rain attack.

Now that the truth is known, everyone is filled with indignation and anger.

"Yuan Shu, I've long felt that he is a worthless person!"

Han Dang was furious and said, "I will go back and gather the troops to kill this bastard Yuan!"

"stop!"

Cheng Pu shouted at Han Dang, grabbed his arm tightly with his strong arms, and said sternly: "Yi Gong, what do you want to do?"

"Demou, don't stop me! I have to kill Yuan Shu today!"

Han Dang was obviously angry. Sun Jian was such a heroic figure and should have died heroically on the battlefield, but instead he died from an arrow shot by his own people.

Being shot in the back, such an inglorious death is simply an insult to them.

Therefore, Han Dang could not accept such a result.

"enough!"

Sun Ce coldly stopped the quarrel between Cheng Pu and Han Dang: "Although my father is dead, his ambition will be inherited by me, Sun Ce, Sun Bofu!"

The young man was filled with rage, but his anger did not make him lose his mind. Sun Ce looked at Cheng Pu, Han Dang and other old members of Sun Jian with a stern look, and ordered them firmly: "Now that we have no soldiers and no food, we must not rashly turn against Yuan Shu. We should even take the initiative to get close to him in exchange for military and financial support until we can conquer a piece of land as soon as possible."

At this moment, without the protection of his father, Sun Ce grew up rapidly.

His strategic thinking was very clear, which was to first seize a piece of land as a foothold. Once he had gained a firm foothold and no longer had to worry about survival, he could then consider other things.

Han Dang was still a little angry, and asked unwillingly: "Are we not going to avenge our lord?"

The others also looked at Sun Ce: "Yes, the general's blood feud must be avenged!"

"Without territory, we don't even have the qualifications to survive, let alone revenge. The world is in chaos now, with dragons and snakes rising from the land. In the four seas, heroes are fighting each other, and the future will be full of wars. In such a chaotic world, it is the time for a real man to make achievements. When we have accumulated enough strength, revenge will be easy."

Sun Ce's words were well-reasoned and Han Dang and others were convinced by him.

Cheng Pu was even more pleased, stroking his beard and smiling, "Young Master is truly the Sun family's unicorn son. With such bravery and wisdom, why should we worry about not accomplishing great things?"

Han Dang clenched the hilt of his sword and cursed angrily, "Let Yuan Shu live for a while longer. One day, I will kill this thief with my own hands to comfort my lord's spirit in heaven!"

After the discussion, Sun Ce took Cheng Pu, Han Dang and other former subordinates of Sun Jian to Nanyang to join Yuan Shu.

What they didn't know was that all of this was seen by the secret guards.

As soon as Sun Ce left, a secret guard delivered the news to Wang Jing's desk.

After Wang Jing received the secret letter, he looked towards the south with a faint smile on his face: "As expected of you, you are the little overlord. You are really brave and resourceful. Don't let me down."

"My lord, rest assured. Yuan Shu is ambitious but incompetent, so he will not be able to subdue Sun Ce, the young tiger. However, Sun Jian's former subordinates are not short of capable warriors. Although they are few in number, they should not be underestimated. With them to hold Liu Biao back, even if he has talent, he will not be able to unify the entire Jiangnan area."

Xun You looked calm, as if he had mastered everything: "The most important thing now is to resolve the siege of Luoyang first."

Hundreds of thousands of allied troops gathered outside Hulao Pass. Even though most of them were weaklings, they were still a huge threat to Wang Jing.

"The army has already rested. I will set out tomorrow to meet the heroes of Kanto."

Wang Jing waved his hand, obviously ready for a decisive battle with Yuan Shao.

Early the next morning, as the sun rose, the army broke camp and marched towards Hulao Pass.

At this time, the main force of the Northern Army had completed its rest and recovery, and after receiving the military order, they went south from Hedong to support Luoyang.

One thousand heavy cavalry from the Tunqi Battalion, two thousand strong crossbowmen from the Shesheng Battalion, three thousand elite soldiers from Danyang who had just surrendered, three thousand armored soldiers from Bingzhou, six thousand soldiers from Luoyang, and seven thousand soldiers from Hedong, a total of 22,000 people, rushed to the battlefield under the leadership of Wang Jing.

Among the famous generals who accompanied him, there were top strategists like Xun You who were proficient in tactical arrangements, as well as powerful generals such as Lu Bu, Yan Xing, Zhou Tai, and Jiang Qin. The lineup was luxurious.

When he arrived at Hulao Pass, Wang Jing met Xu Huang and Li Ru.

Because of the injury he suffered in the last battle with Guan Yu, Xu Huang's wound has not yet healed. His bandaged right arm is hanging in front of his chest, and the smell of healing medicine wafts in the air.

As soon as they met, Wang Jing asked with concern: "Gongming, how is your injury?"

Xu Huang was deeply moved and quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for your concern, my lord. I have been bandaged and am now fine."

Then Wang Jing asked about the battle situation. Outside Hulao Pass, the total strength of the coalition forces exceeded 200,000, but there were only a few princes who really wanted to fight Wang Jing to the death.

They were just dissatisfied with Wang Jing and the New Party being in power, just as they were unhappy with Dong Zhuo's control of the government. What they needed was a weak and incompetent court, and they did not want to see a militarily powerful force occupying the righteous position of the court.

Otherwise, if Wang Jing becomes unhappy with them one day and attacks them in the name of the imperial court, what can they use to resist?
In order to be able to act tyrannically in their own territories and become local emperors who are not subject to the control of the imperial court, the various princes would stay in Suanzao to accumulate funds to maintain the alliance.

As a result, the previous campaign of eighteen princes to fight against Dong Zhuo naturally turned into a campaign of eighteen princes to fight against the king.

Walking to the city wall, Wang Jing looked eastward and saw camps stretching for dozens of miles, covering the sky and stretching out endlessly.

"Two hundred thousand troops gathered in one place, it is truly a spectacular sight!"

There were endless rows of spears and banners, a sea of ​​soldiers and people, and countless heroes who had left their names in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. Now they had all gathered here to become his enemy.

The whole world is our enemy, and the whole world is in rebellion.

Wang Jing was not afraid, only because he was fighting for the people of the world and for creating a better future.

On the other hand, his enemies are just the afterglow of the old era and will sooner or later be swept into the dust of history. Even if they seem extremely powerful now, they are nothing but paper tigers in the end.

Standing on the city wall, Wang Jing was in high spirits.

Because he knew that this battle was destined to go down in history, be passed down through the ages, and be remembered forever by the world.

Outside Hulao Pass, the east wind blows and the war drums beat.

A shocking battle is about to begin.

Anger was burning in the hearts of the princes from Guandong. Wang Jing was entrenched in Luoyang, and the New Party was gradually rising, with a tendency to monopolize the government. This move had undoubtedly touched the bottom line of the aristocratic families.

They absolutely could not tolerate a powerful force controlling the government, commanding the world in the name of the emperor, and threatening their interests.

Suanzao County, the Allied Forces Camp.

Yuan Shao, Yuan Yi, Kong Rong, Liu Dai, Wang Kuang, Zhang Miao, Qiao Mao, Bao Xin, Cao Cao and other princes who participated in the campaign against Wang Jing gathered together to discuss important matters.

The news that Yuan Shu was defeated in Liang County and Sun Jian was killed in battle had reached here in the past few days, causing collective panic among the coalition forces of the princes.

"Wang Yuanxu's battle flag has been raised on the city gate. The main force of the Northern Army that quelled the rebellion in Hedong crossed the Yellow River three days ago and arrived at Hulao Pass. The number of soldiers exceeds 20,000. Qi Hou is even braver than Dong Zhuo. The Northern Army is good at fighting. Even the Western Liang soldiers have no choice but to surrender. Do we still have a chance to win?"

Pessimism permeated everyone's heart, and the fear of Wang Jing had become the coalition's inner demon.

Among them, Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai was the first to admit defeat. When this matter was mentioned, his eyes began to evade: "Since Qi Hou started his army, he has won many battles and never suffered a defeat. Why don't we retreat to Chenliu first and wait and see how the situation changes?"

Liu Dai didn't really want to fight. After all, one only has one life, and when one dies, all is over.

How comfortable it would be for him to be a provincial governor?

Why would you risk your life with Wang Jing now?

Even if Wang Jing is a huge threat, that is something for the future. There is no need to worry about it now.

Yuan Shao, who had always advocated war, was furious when he heard this and shouted, "Liu Gongshan, you must be here to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige, right?"

Liu Dai was quite upset to be scolded like this. He looked at Yuan Shao with empty eyes and retorted rudely: "Yuan Benchu, don't think you can boss me around just because you are the leader of the alliance. Since the beginning of the war, the coalition forces have suffered more defeats than victories under your command, and countless casualties. I am not the incompetent one."

"I'm incompetent? How about you come?"

Yuan Shao stared at Liu Dai with eyes as sharp as knives, and there was murderous intent in his eyes.

Although he has no ability in fighting, Liu Dai believes that he will never lose when it comes to talking. "Haha, when you faced Dong Zhuo, you could only flee. Qi Hou dared to fight with Dong Zhuo repeatedly, and finally killed him alone. He also defeated the Xiliang rebels with his own strength. This is a true hero. As for you, Yuan Benchu? You are just a bear."

"Liu Gongshan, you are looking for death!"

It is said that one should not expose someone's weaknesses when insulting him, but Liu Dai did the opposite. He specifically poked at Yuan Shao's sore spots, and he did so in front of all the princes.

Cao Cao, who was lying down and was shot, looked helpless. After all, he had fled when facing Dong Zhuo, so Liu Dai's words made him feel a burning pain on his face.

Seeing that the coalition forces that had been united with great difficulty were about to start internal strife again, Cao Cao had to step out to mediate. He first asked Yuan Shao to control his emotions, then pulled Liu Dai aside and said earnestly: "Brother Gongshan, you are a relative of the Han Dynasty after all, how can you say such discouraging words?"

Liu Dai looked at Cao Cao with a bitter face: "Meng De, it's not that I don't want to fight, but you have to let me see some hope of winning, right?"

(End of this chapter)