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Chapter 673: The Troublesome Gongsun Zan
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 08:00:20 +0000 UTCLü Bu’s northern return began on a positive note. Upon receiving intelligence about Lü Bu’s move north, Shen Pei, who was stationed in Youbeiping, made a surprising decision.
After being driven out of southern Youzhou by Ju Yi and then blocked by Shen Pei, making it impossible to advance south from Youbeiping, Gongsun Zan had no choice but to occupy the Liaodong Commandery and station his troops in Changli, gathering forces in preparation to retake Youzhou.
Thanks to Shen Pei's formidable defensive capabilities, Gongsun Zan found himself with no effective strategy. However, Shen Pei did not go out of his way to attack Gongsun Zan either. Despite the harsh conditions in Changli, Gongsun Zan gradually stabilized the situation by plundering the Hu people.
Youzhou and Bingzhou were quite similar in many ways. The size of a territory largely depended on how one drew the borders on the map, and the extent of the territory was determined by military strength. After being forced to retreat northeast by Shen Pei, Gongsun Zan discovered that he still had territory behind him. As for the border issue, Gongsun Zan's approach had always been simple: "Wherever I conquer, that’s where the map's boundary will be. If you disagree, come and take it back."
Of course, the current Gongsun Zan could no longer maintain the same swagger as before, but his stance on dealing with foreign tribes remained as unyielding as ever. As a hardliner within the iron-blooded faction, Gongsun Zan had never compromised on the issue of foreign enemies.
Losing to Yuan Shao had been an unfortunate event, but if he were to lose to the Hu people, Gongsun Zan felt he might as well kill himself. Even without his elite Baima cavalry, which had once been able to pursue and annihilate enemies with ease, as long as he had soldiers, he remained the invincible General of the Baima, Gongsun Zan.
However, while Gongsun Zan could defeat the Hu people, Youzhou's population problem severely hampered his ability to restore his strength. He had to resort to extreme militarism to gather more than 30,000 infantry and cavalry. As for Tian Yu, who was stationed on the border, Gongsun Zan never counted him among his subordinates; Tian Yu represented Gongsun Zan's last shred of dignity and mission, and he would not waver in that regard.
With Shen Pei’s blockade effectively cutting off information, Gongsun Zan was largely unaware of the political developments in the Central Plains over the past two years. He didn’t even know about Lü Bu's return to Bingzhou, an event that had stirred up quite a commotion.
In this respect, the widespread support for Gongsun Zan, particularly from Chen Lin and others, had little to do with Gongsun Zan himself. By the time the dust had settled, Gongsun Zan, residing in Changli, was completely unaware that such an event had even taken place.
This highlights just how isolated Gongsun Zan had become, as well as the slow transmission of information in this era without a professional intelligence network.
In short, things had reached a point where Gongsun Zan, a central figure in the discussions of the time, was entirely oblivious to the events involving him. At present, Gongsun Zan was still pondering how to counterattack and retake Youzhou.
That Gongsun Zan was able to maintain his extreme militarism without facing significant food shortages was largely due to the generous support of Chen Xi.
Although communication between Taishan and Gongsun Zan had lessened over the past two years, the maritime transport route had remained intact, and Liu Bei had never ceased supplying Gongsun Zan with grain.
Of course, Yuan Shao was no fool and had sent troops to intercept these shipments at sea. Unfortunately, the warriors of Ji Province were formidable on land but terrible in water, and Yuan Shao's army lacked experienced naval commanders. The sea raids turned out to be a disaster, costing Yuan Shao men without yielding any significant results. After suffering several defeats, Yuan Shao decided to let it be.
According to reliable intelligence from Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei had only provided material support and had not sent any troops. For Yuan Shao, this material support alone did not threaten his control over Youzhou. With Gongsun Zan's limited forces, Yuan Shao believed he could crush him anytime he wanted.
If Yuan Shao hadn’t been struggling with how to deal with Gongsun Zan, he would have long ago sent troops to crush him.
In history, after Gongsun Zan’s defeat at the Battle of Jieqiao, he had killed Liu Yu to eliminate any future threats. Following this, Liu Yu’s supporters among the people and military of Youzhou rebelled against Gongsun Zan. Desperate for food, Gongsun Zan had unleashed his soldiers to plunder, utterly destroying his reputation in Youzhou.
In this timeline, although Liu Yu had been attacked, he was still alive. After cooling down, Gongsun Zan didn’t kill Liu Yu’s family and, instead, sent them to Taishan, who then transferred them to Chang'an, reuniting them with Liu Yu. By that time, Li Jue’s regime had started to stabilize, and Liu Yu didn’t suffer much hardship.
In other words, Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu in this timeline were merely political opponents who had clashed, rather than bitter enemies. Gongsun Zan hadn’t committed the reckless act of killing a member of the imperial family.
Throughout the Han Dynasty, it wasn’t unusual for military commanders and border officials to clash over the handling of foreign tribes. This was no different, and most saw it as just another instance of the central government mishandling personnel appointments, blaming it for the country's current troubles.
As for plundering for food, thanks to Liu Bei’s substantial support, Gongsun Zan hadn’t sunk to that level. Therefore, for the people of Youzhou, life was largely unchanged, with only a new inspector in charge. This allowed Gongsun Zan to retain his prestige in Youzhou.
This is why, despite being much stronger than Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao was still hesitant to move against him. Killing Gongsun Zan was not an option, but leaving him be was problematic due to his enduring popularity among the people of Youzhou. Many still fondly remembered Gongsun Zan.
If Yuan Shao continued to press Gongsun Zan, knowing his character, Gongsun Zan would likely choose to commit suicide rather than be captured, denying Yuan Shao the opportunity to parade him as a prisoner. If that happened, Yuan Shao would be left to bear the blame for his death.
For these reasons, Yuan Shao refrained from further attacks on Gongsun Zan, instead pondering how he could capture him alive or eliminate him without inciting widespread public outrage. Of course, if push came to shove, Yuan Shao was prepared to deal with the public outcry if it meant eliminating Gongsun Zan.
At present, however, the situation hadn’t escalated to the point where Yuan Shao was ready to make such a drastic move, although he had already steeled himself for the possibility.
Shen Pei was fully aware of these complexities. He had considered various ways to eliminate Gongsun Zan, such as using Liu Yu’s subordinates to avenge their leader or inciting the Hu people to attack Gongsun Zan. However, none of these plans were truly feasible.
Liu Yu’s subordinates indeed wished to avenge him, but since Liu Yu wasn’t dead and had effectively stepped down from his position in Youzhou after being relocated to Chang'an, he had no interest in seeking vengeance. In fact, he had issued a declaration, at Liu Yan’s urging, to prevent his former subordinates from being manipulated by the Hu people.
The declaration essentially said, "I’m still alive and well. You don’t need to avenge me. Gongsun Zan will protect the Han people in our lands. As for the Hu people, I appreciate your concern, but you can’t defeat Gongsun Zan. Without me in Youzhou, Gongsun Zan might unleash his wrath at any moment."
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