Battle Royale of the Sinners

Cao Cao was not the only one that planned to absorb the Yellow Turban into their forces. Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao also made their moves.

…

Ji City.

The city which was attacked by Tong's flame tactic had restored its peace. On top of the wall, flags of Gongsun Clan and the [Liu] flags fluttered by the wind.

Inside the government hall, Gongsun Zan sat on the main seat. Below him, his clan members stood still and watched the visitor in the middle of the hall.

Gongsun Zan now had controlled the entire You Province, which consisted of Ji, Beiping, and Xiangping Commandery. His eyes were looking at the Ji Province where Tong and Yuan Shao pretended to form a truce.

However, the visitor made him reconsidered his plans.

"I have brought a gift from Lord Yuan Shao to show you our goodwill. We hope that you can swear allegiance to the right Han Dynasty successor and not fall for the tricks of the rebel Dong Zhuo and the false Empress. In exchange for your allegiance, we shall bestow you the title of the Grand General of White Horse, and you will have the right to manage the entire You Province with our authority."

Gongsun Zan smirked, "Isn't that the same as surrendering my army to you? Aside from that useless title, I don't see the benefit of joining forces with Yuan Shao."

"You misunderstand me. We only want you to place our [Yuan] flags on top of your wall, and we won't interfere with what you're doing with your cities. We hope to form a friendly relationship with you without oppressing each other. After, we both serve the Han. You are the protector of the northern border. Without you, there is no Han Dynasty. How could we try to control you and your forces?"

Tian Feng smiled, but his eyes said otherwise. Had elite politicians gazed into Tian Feng's eyes, they would have thought that he was mocking and laughing at Gongsun Zan.

Gongsun Zan's eyes did not notice this as his eyes locked on the tribute boxes. In the boxes, gold nuggets, treasures, and expensive jewels mixed into the same boxes, which made it looked attractive to those who had never seen this many jewels.

"What do you get from me by having the Yuan Clan flags on top of my walls? Bragging right?"

"We are hoping to restore the order of this land. You see, bandits are everywhere, and I'm sure that a bunch of peasants is now enjoying pretending that they are Yellow Turban."

Gongsun Zan's face twitched. He knew that the mastermind behind the Yellow Turban's movement was Tong, his junior disciple of Lu Zhi. As a fellow disciple of the same mentor, he wanted to have a good relationship with the Yellow Turban main forces so they could protect this country from the Xiongnu together.

However, Gongsun Zan also heard that the relationship between Tong and Yuan Shao was not very good at this moment as they fought several times in the past. By allying with Yuan Shao, they would have to fight Tong Army, which was not a part of his goal.

The glare of Gongsun Zan hardened, "What does the Yellow Turban have to do with it? Bandits are bandits, Yellow Turban is created to resist the previous Emperor Liu Ping. Now that Liu Ping is dead, I also heard that the Yellow Turban is going to be disbanded. I have no intention to get involved in their affair but getting rid of the bandits."

"We understand that, and we promise that we won't meddle in any of your affairs. Besides, we have already formed an alliance with the Yellow Turban forces, and we have reopened our trade routes again. You see, we sincerely hope for peace and order. We want to unite everyone and stop the useless fighting."

Gongsun Zan laughed in his mind and thought.

'Hypocrites! You formed a coalition against Zhang Tong, but you failed. Now you turn tail and run away like a dog! Peace? Pfft, you just want to recover from your damaged supplies in the last battle. Don't you think that I didn't know about the details of the battle? Naïve fools!'

Gongsun Zan continued to pretend to ponder before nodded, "Fine, I don't see the harm if you go that far. Draft me the contract treaties so I can see the details."

"A wise decision, Lord Gongsun. I shall go back and finalize our alliance treaties at once."

…

Within the crowd, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Jian Yong, and Jiang Man were there.

After the battle against Tong, they withdrew and surrendered themselves to Gongsun Zan, who ordered an immediate dispatch of his force to take over Ji Commandery.

As the leaders of volunteer forces, they were promoted as Gongsun Zan's officials. For Liu Bei who was Gongsun Zan's junior, he received the rank of a battalion general while the rest of Liu Bei's followers became his lieutenants.

Liu Bei licked his lips, "This is good. Now that Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao are allied, Zhang Tong can't defeat these two. He will fail sooner or later."

Guan Yu sighed and shook his head, "Do not hold a grudge against them, Xuande. War comes and goes. People also adapt to the changes. Look at those men and listen to their conversation. You can see that they want to kill each other, yet they swallowed their pride and agree to form an alliance because of their co-interest. If we want to be successful in this land, we have to learn to control our impulse. Yide, are you listening?"

Zhang Fei closed his eyes and nodded. He did not nod because he understood, but he nodded because he was sleeping while standing.

Jiang Man and Jian Yong were sweating, looking at these brothers.

'They are hopeless,' Thought Jiang Man, 'I knew that they are the underdogs, but I didn't expect that they are this pathetic. Zhang Fei is just plain stupid. Guan Yu is fine, but Liu Bei is stubborn and grudgeful. He will eventually follow after his emotion to his death like in history at this rate.'

Jiang Man stared at Tian Feng with reddened eyes. He also had not forgotten about the disgrace and the humiliation he received in front of Nanpi City that day.

'Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan fought each other after the Anti-Dong Zhuo Alliance fell apart in history. Dong Zhuo in this world has already taken the throne, but Yuan Shao and a new Empress suddenly emerged as new powerhouses. I doubt the Anti-Dong Zhuo Alliance can happen, but …'

Jiang Man touched his blinded left eye and grinned.

'Since Zhang Tong took Dong Bai as his concubine, Dong Zhuo will demand Zhang Tong to surrender the Yellow Turban to himself as they are relatives. Zhang Tong will eventually resist, and war will break out between them. If that happens, Yuan Shao and that Empress won't let this chance slip away. They will either attack Dong Zhuo in the guise of a coalition force or backstab Zhang Tong to destroy this threat of Immortal forces for good.'

Jiang Man snickered and whispered to Liu Bei, "First brother, you will get your chance to rise up soon. For now, please be patient and work with your senior disciple. More war will happen soon, and you will have a chance to reap some benefits."

Liu Bei widened his eyes while Guan Yu raised his eyebrows.

"How did you know?"

"Let's talk about this in private."

…

Later that day at their private resident, Jiang Man told everyone about his speculation about the overall situation of Dong Zhuo, the Empress, Zhang Tong, and Yuan Shao. The three major factions would struggle to obtain supporters while the Yellow Turban would be dragged to the conflicts as they were the most influential force in this country.

Because the Yellow Turban did not declare independence or raise their own Emperor, they would be misunderstood as a force that could be absorbed into a monarch faction.

Guan Yu and Jian Yong caught up with the situation in no time, while Liu Bei and Zhang Fei had to ask for further explanation for another hour before they could understand everything.

"So Zhang Tong and Yuan Shao will eventually fight each other? Are you sure about that?"

Jiang Man chuckled as he placed four stones on top of the country map. They represented each major force.

"I heard Zhang Tong sent a tribute to Xuchang. With this move, Yuan Shao and Dong Zhuo think that Zhang Tong is their enemy, and they want to destroy his force as soon as possible. The negotiation of the alliance today is the proof of that."

Liu Bei's mouth was agape, "Yuan Shao is afraid that Gongsun Zan will help his junior disciple, so he sent Tian Feng here to avoid the scenario?"

"That's half-correct. Yuan Shao is spreading his influences to the other governors with this move. Once Gongsun Zan put the Yuan Clan flags on top of the wall, they will think that Gongsun Zan served the Yuan Clan. This will intimidate all minor lords into surrendering their counties to Yuan Shao in the future."

Guan Yu frowned as he could not understand a few details behind Tong's move, "Why didn't the Yellow Turban declare independence from all forces? Why are they disbanding their hard-earned influence?"

"The situation is not simple like that. Zhang Tong clearly wants to buy time so his forces can recuperate from the previous series of battles. If he were to make his father another Emperor, the reputation of his force would have been reduced to the same level as Dong Zhuo. Many people would have misunderstood him that he supported the outbreaking bandits."

Jiang Man grinned, "Remember what Zhang Tong did in Liyang? I'm sure he's traumatized by his previous decision and want to avoid repeating that incident again, which lead to this decision for not declaring independence right away. Instead of separating themselves from the current power struggle, he attached his force with the Empress to divert Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao's attention to Xuchang because the Empress Faction is now the strongest faction with Zhang Tong's support. Xuchang also can't refuse their surrender offer since they can reap many benefits with the Yellow Turban economic power and military forces so the Empress will accept their conditions. When the time is right, I believe Zhang Tong will betray the Empress."

The mind game between the four powerhouses had begun before they realized it. They were fighting over the supremacy for the influence while destroying the reputation of their rivals at the same time.

Liu Bei and Guan Yu had a chill running down their spine as they thought about the scales of this chess board where Tong, Yuan Shao, the Empress, and Dong Zhuo were playing.

"We will also make use of Yuan Shao!" Jiang Man pointed at the east coast, south of You Province and east of Ji Province, "Yuan Shao will expand his forces eastward to prepare for the next fight against Zhang Tong. Qing Province is the potential target that we can exploit. I have a few plans I want you to do, brother Xuande."