Chapter 237: Mandate from Heaven! Jia Xu: What if I surrender to Liu Bei? To conquer Shouchun, we must first conquer Yuan and Cao!

"Pass the country's jade seal!"

The four words "Ju Su" came out slowly.

Everyone in the big tent was shocked.

Yuan Shao's nerves suddenly tensed up and his half-opened eyes suddenly opened.

He instantly understood Ju Su's profound meaning.

When Sun Jian conquered Luoyang, he accidentally obtained the jade seal that symbolized the divine right of emperor, but he refused to keep it for himself.

After Sun Jian's death, the imperial seal became the property of Sun Ce. In order to get his troops back, Sun Ce presented the imperial seal to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu dared to proclaim himself emperor because he had the confidence to hold the imperial seal.

After all, not everyone can withstand the temptation of the eight words "Received the Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosperous".

After Yuan Shu was killed by Liu Bei and Lu Bu seized Huainan, the imperial seal naturally fell into Lu Bu's hands.

Ju Su's meaning was very clear, he wanted to take advantage of Lu Bu's request for help to force him to hand over the imperial seal!
The imperial seal is the destiny...

If we defeat Cao Cao, capture Xu Du, and hold the imperial seal, what does this symbolize in the hearts of people all over the world? Does it need too much explanation?
Although Ju Su initially opposed Yuan Shao's southern expedition in order to protect the interests of Hebei scholars, this does not mean that he could not figure out Yuan Shao's ambitions.

Since Yuan Shao's march south was an accomplished fact and replacing the Liu family was an inevitable trend, he might as well go all out and help Yuan Shao get the imperial seal.

Yuan Shao clenched his fists quietly, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and an imperceptible excitement flashed in his eyes.

The excitement was fleeting, Yuan Shao coughed a few times, and then a righteous look appeared on his face.

"You are right!"

"The Imperial Seal is a sacred object of the emperor. If it falls into the hands of ambitious people like Liu Bei and Cao Cao, they will definitely use it to rebel and usurp the throne."

"These sacred artifacts of the country should be kept by me. After I defeat Cao the thief and welcome the emperor, I will present them to the emperor."

Yuan Shao naturally did not dare to openly reveal his ambition to steal the imperial seal in front of all the ministers, so he found a plausible excuse for himself.

Guo Tu, Feng Ji and others were busy praising Yuan Shao's loyalty.

So the plan was finalized, and Xu You left Guandu overnight and headed eastwards to Xuzhou.

Lu Bu's envoy hurriedly returned south to Shouchun, carrying Yuan Shao's conditions.

...

Guanzhong, the seat of Fufeng County, Huaili City.

Inside the county government, a middle-aged military officer with a square face was examining the imperial edict in his hand.

That was the secret decree that had just arrived from the emperor, ordering him to send his Xiliang troops out of Tongguan, double the speed to Xudu, accept the command of the eldest son Cao Ang, and rush south to Yangquan to save Lü Bu from danger.'

"This secret decree from the emperor should be the intention of Cao Gong. Wenhe, do you think I should obey his orders or not?"

Ma Teng looked hesitant as he raised his head to look at the black-clad strategist who was over sixty years old and had half white hair and beard.

Jia Xu.

At the invitation of Zhang Xiu, he left Guanzhong and went to Nanyang to join Zhang's uncle and nephew.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they left Tongguan, they learned that Zhang Ji had been killed by Liu Bei, and Zhang Xiu led the remaining troops to surrender to Liu Bei.

This poisonous scholar had no choice but to return to Guanzhong. After weighing the pros and cons, he joined Ma Teng's army.

Naturally, all the generals in Xiliang knew about Jia Xu's wisdom and strategy. Ma Teng regarded it as a treasure and immediately appointed him as his strategist.

So, relying on Jia Xu's wisdom, Ma Teng killed Han Sui in one fell swoop, and defeated various princes in Guanzhong, big and small, and in a few years he made himself the strongest prince in Guanlong.

One year before the decisive battle between Yuan and Cao, Cao Cao sent Zhong Yao to manage Guanzhong, and Jia Xu persuaded Ma Teng to submit a petition to the court and nominally join Cao Cao's camp.

Ma Teng listened to Jia Xu's advice and sent his sons and nephews to the court as hostages in exchange for Cao Cao, in the name of the emperor, appointing him as the general and Marquis of Huaili, and stationing him in Fufeng County.

Now that Yuan and Cao were fighting at Guandu, Ma Teng nominally obeyed Cao Cao's orders, but in fact he remained neutral and did not send a single soldier to participate.

Now Cao Cao suddenly ordered him to send troops to Huainan to rescue Lu Bu. Ma Teng was in a difficult position to make a decision, so he naturally had to ask Jia Xu for advice.

"As Yuan and Cao are fighting, our Ma family is not helping either of them. This is already a gesture of respect to Cao Cao."

"Now Cao Cao wants us to send troops and travel all the way to Huainan to help Lu Bu, who has nothing to do with us. Why should we listen to him?"

"Father, I think you should politely refuse this secret decree."

Before Jia Xu could speak, a young, brave and strong general in his twenties slammed the table and vetoed the proposal.

Ma Teng frowned slightly and said unhappily: "Mengqi, don't rush to draw conclusions. Listen to Wenhe's opinion first."

The young general swallowed and had to sit down again.

Jia Xu stroked his half-white beard and said calmly: "My opinion is different from that of General Mengqi. I think you should obey this order!"

Ma Teng looked confused and motioned for Jia Xu to continue.

"First of all, this is the emperor's decree. General, as a former general of the Han Dynasty, it is your duty as a minister to obey the emperor's order and dispatch troops."

"Secondly, the general is sending troops this time to relieve the danger in Huainan, not to become an enemy of Yuan Shao. He can still be neutral in the dispute between Yuan and Cao."

"Furthermore, the reason Cao Gong went to rescue Lü Bu was because he was afraid that Liu Bei would seize Huainan and he would be defeated by enemies from both sides."

"If Cao Gong loses, Yuan Shao will surely take over the Central Plains. By then, he will dominate the two rivers, and no one in the world will be able to compete with him. The Yuan family's troops will turn to Guanzhong at any time." "Back then, Dong Zhuo killed more than 50 members of the Yuan family. I'm sure you, General, know how much Yuan Shao hates us Xiliang people."

"Does the general really want to see Cao Gong being attacked from both north and south by Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, and being destroyed by Yuan Shao?"

Jia Xu spoke eloquently and listed three reasons, strongly advocating to obey the imperial edict.

Especially the last reason, which made Ma Teng feel a chill down his spine and shudder violently.

"Wenhe's words make sense. If Yuan Shao takes over the Central Plains, all of us in Xiliang will die without a burial place!"

"I must accept this secret decree from the emperor. Helping Lord Cao is helping the people of Xiliang, and it is helping my Ma family!"

Ma Teng slammed the table and made a decision.

Then he glanced at the Ma family's disciples and shouted:

"Ziyue, listen to my orders. I order you to lead 3,000 Ma family soldiers from Tongguan to Xudu immediately and follow the orders of the eldest son of the Cao family."

"Nephew, I obey!"

Among the Ma family’s children, a young military general stood up and accepted the order with great enthusiasm.

Jia Xu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked towards the direction of Huainan with a subtle look in his eyes.

"If I had heard that Zhang Ji was defeated, and had not returned to Guanzhong, but had continued to Nanyang and joined Liu Bei, what would have been the outcome..."

...

South of Shouchun City, Liu Jun’s main camp.

A sand table has been moved into the central military tent.

On the sand table, the layout of Shouchun City and the camps of Liu’s army on all four sides were piled up in equal proportions.

"After Yuan Shu first arrived in Huainan, he repaired Shouchun City. After he usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, he conscripted more than 10,000 civilians to raise and thicken the city walls."

"After Lü Bu replaced Yuan Shu and occupied Shouchun, although he did not carry out large-scale construction, he did make some repairs on the original foundation and added many defensive fortifications such as arrow towers."

"Based on Liao's understanding of Shouchun City, even if this city is not the strongest city in the world, its solidity is definitely among the best."

As an old subordinate of Lu Bu, Zhang Liao naturally knew the strengths and weaknesses of Shouchun City very well. He immediately pointed to the sand table and described it in detail.

"Although Lu Bu has suffered several defeats, he still has more than 10,000 soldiers and horses at his disposal, which should be enough to defend the city."

"And with Chen Gong's wisdom, he will definitely take all our siege tactics into consideration and remind Lu Bu to take corresponding precautions."

"For example, a spy reported back that Lü Bu had dug a trench nearly ten feet deep inside the city wall, obviously to prevent us from secretly digging a tunnel into the city."

"So in my opinion, if Lu Bu is determined to defend to the death, it will be extremely difficult for us to capture Shouchun by force."

"Even if we storm the city, our army will suffer heavy losses. It will be a tragic victory, and the loss will outweigh the gain."

Pang Tong then gave some analysis and pointed out the difficulties of attacking the city.

Then it was Lu Xun's turn to step forward and point at the sand table:
"Shouchun City is indeed strong. Xun and Shi Yuan have discussed that a strong attack is not a wise move."

"But this city is not invulnerable. Its weakness is the lack of food and fodder. It can only hold out for about three months at most."

"Gu Xun's opinion is that we can besiege Shouchun without attacking it, and wait until the food in the city is exhausted and the morale of the army is broken before attacking the city. By then, it will be easy to break through."

After several people's analysis, Lao Liu and the generals had a clear understanding of Shouchun City.

The generals nodded in agreement with Lu Xun's proposed siege strategy.

"Jinglue, what do you think of Boyan and the others' proposal?"

Before making the decision, Liu Bei naturally did not forget to ask Xiao Fang for his opinion.

When he and everyone else turned around, they found that Xiao Fang's eyes were not on Shouchun City in the sand table, but wandering on the wider map.

"Shi Yuan and the others' analysis is reasonable. I also agree with Boyan's suggestion of surrounding the enemy without attacking and waiting for them to run out of food."

Xiao Fang nodded first, then raised his hand and pointed north:
"But my lord, have you ever thought about the fact that these two giant crocodiles, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, would tolerate each other's death at Guandu, but let my lord reap the benefits and calmly besiege Shouchun and seize Huainan?"

This question shocked Lao Liu and everyone else, and everyone's eyes were drawn from Shouchun City to Guandu.

There, Yuan and Cao's nearly 200,000 troops had been in a stalemate for nearly a month.

It was a life-and-death battle to determine the fate of the North. Both Yuan and Cao invested their best assets and vowed to fight to the death.

Compared with the life-and-death battle between Yuan and Cao, as Xiao Fang said, his battle to capture Huainan did seem like an opportunity to take advantage of an opportunity.

"Military Advisor, what you mean is that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao will send troops to Huainan to interfere in the battle between me and Lu Bu?"

Liu Bei quickly deduced the deeper meaning from Xiao Fang's reminder.

Xiao Fang did not answer, but raised his feather fan and pointed at the two cities at the east and west ends of Shouchun.

"Yangquan City and Xuyi City are like two locks at both ends of the Huai River, locking Shouchun in it."

"I expected that Cao Cao and Yuan Shao would send troops from Xudu and Xuzhou, one to attack Yangquan and the other to attack Xuyi, in order to threaten our rear and force you to withdraw the siege of Shouchun."

"So if you want to capture Shouchun, attacking the city is secondary. The most important thing is to defeat the two thieves Yuan and Cao in Yangquan and Xuyi first!"

(End of this chapter)