ushernet Chapter 223 Unscrupulous
Chapter 223 Unscrupulous
Faced with the Luoyang city guards, the elite Yanzhou soldiers finally regained their confidence. The soldiers of the city guards, who had only been formed for a month and had not even been trained in formation, dared not resist the entry of the Yanzhou soldiers.
They didn't even dare to raise their flintlock pistols; they really did become fire sticks.
However, when the Yanzhou army entered the vicinity of the palace, they encountered trouble, as the palace was no longer guarded by those greenhorn recruits.
These soldiers were originally elite musketeers under Gongsun Zan, who had participated in the Yongzhou and Liangzhou campaigns and were not afraid of the Yanzhou army at all.
Come on, the worst that can happen is death, who's afraid of who! These veterans who survived the battlefield knew very well that courage was very important in war. The more afraid you were of death, the faster you would die. Yuan Shao did not want to start a battle with Liu Xie at the moment. He did not want to lose the troops he had worked so hard to rebuild in this meaningless battle.
Yuan Shao ordered his troops to leave the palace grounds and then sent Xu You to the palace to test Liu Xie's intentions, saying that he had not yet arrived in Luoyang, but was instead suppressing rebels and rioters in Sili.
Liu Xie knew perfectly well that Yuan Shao was already here; otherwise, how could the Yanzhou troops in the city have acted so recklessly?
Liu Xie severely reprimanded Xu You, ordering him to immediately gather his troops and discipline them, otherwise he would send the Imperial Guards to suppress them.
Hearing Liu Xie's words, Xu You cursed inwardly, "What a brat! He doesn't know his own limitations. Does he really think we're retreating because we're afraid of him? We're only retreating to avoid causing more casualties."
Of course, these words could not be spoken aloud. Xu You said to Liu Xie, "Your Majesty, Governor Yuan only sent his troops to protect Your Majesty because he was concerned that there might still be remnants of Gongsun Zan's faction among the guards in the palace. If Your Majesty has been disturbed, please forgive him."
"I appreciate Minister Yuan's kindness, but as for the palace guards, let General Dong Yu handle them. If there were any remnants of Gongsun Zan's faction, I would probably have been killed long ago, and there wouldn't be this conversation between us now," Liu Xie said with a cold laugh. Did they really think he was a child? Did they think he was so easy to fool?
However, now is not the time to turn against Yuan Shao. Liu Xie said to Xu You, "However, since we have just killed the rebels, General Dong's soldiers are now able to protect the palace. Since Minister Yuan is so loyal to me, let's temporarily entrust the defense of Luoyang to Minister Yuan's elite troops."
Both Yuan Shao and Liu Xie restrained themselves, and in their brief confrontation, they chose to compromise with each other, maintaining an unstable balance. As for what the future holds, that depends on their respective methods.
Overall, Yuan Shao still achieved a visible victory in this confrontation. At least he controlled the outer city of Luoyang. It won't be so easy for this caged bird in the palace to fly out again.
"My dear brother, it's a pity you had such a good hand but played it wrong," Yuan Shao sighed inwardly as he entered Luoyang. Fortunately, the deal between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu gave Yuan Shao access to the Chenliu line; otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to retreat into Guanzhong.
Of course, this was just Yuan Shao comforting himself. If Chen Er hadn't been willing to let him go, Yuan Shao's large organization would never have been able to leave. Although his self-governed territory only had one formal organization in Yu Province, it had been transferred to the south to support Chen Er's actions.
However, Yuan Shao should not overlook the fact that the reserve forces and self-governing detachments already established in Yu Province have an organizational capacity that is definitely faster than Yuan Shao's troops. Later events proved this to be true, as Yuan Shao's troops were more or less intercepted by the self-governing detachments.
“Chen Er’s strength is indeed too great. Now that we have entered Luoyang and controlled Sili, the geographical advantages here are much better than those four-way battlegrounds in Yanzhou,” Yuan Shao said to his men.
Guo Tu stepped forward and replied, "My lord, the governor of the self-governing region in Yanzhou has already taken office."
"who is it?"
“Shenpei!” Guo Tu replied.
It was him! Everyone sitting in the room was shocked. They never expected that the person who would take over Yanzhou would be Shen Pei.
Yuan Shao sneered, "Chen Er seems to trust Shen Pei quite a bit."
“That scoundrel Shen Pei not only surrendered to Chen Er, but also became a high-ranking official. It seems he must have received some benefits from Chen Er, otherwise why would Shen Pei cooperate with Chen Er so much?” Feng Ji said.
Yuan Shao is no longer the arrogant, impulsive, and immature youth he once was. After years of training, he has become quite mature in politics and organization. He knows that Chen Er's decision to have Shen Pei take over Yanzhou has three meanings: first, to divide his own people; second, to make his intentions quite clear. Look, even someone like Shen Pei, who was captured on the battlefield, can sit in such a high position. If you surrender, your treatment will be much better.
Secondly, it was to use Shen Pei's familiarity with Yanzhou and his connections there to quickly stabilize the province. Thirdly, and most importantly for Yuan Shao, it was to reassure Chen Er that he didn't want to be his enemy for the time being and that he had placed Shen Pei there to put his mind at ease.
Yuan Shao addressed the people in the room, saying, "Shen Zhengnan has helped me before, and we cannot blame him just because he has now sided with Chen Er. After all, everyone values their life."
"Nobody wants to die, let alone have a lot of wives, children and elderly people to take care of at home. Besides, Chen Er's decision to let Zheng Nan take charge of Yanzhou might not be a sign that he doesn't want to be on good terms with us."
Upon hearing Yuan Shao's words, everyone below felt fear. Everyone present knew Yuan Shao's character, and they would not take his words seriously. Although Yuan Shao did not say anything on the surface, he was actually speaking well of Shen Pei.
But everyone knew that Yuan Shao was warning their families. They should think about their families, not themselves. Moreover, Shen Pei was the first person to defect to Chen Er, setting a precedent. If they wanted to defect to Chen Er, they should think about the consequences.
The next moment, Xu You, Guo Tu, and the others quickly stood up and said to Yuan Shao, "We are willing to die for our lord."
"Yes, regarding Yanzhou, we just need to keep a close eye on Hulao Pass, and the defenses along the river must be strengthened. Even if we can't defend it, we must increase patrols. We can't let it happen again like this time, when tens of thousands of people had already crossed the river and were right behind us before we even noticed!" Yuan Shao said.
"I wonder which general would be willing to take on the patrol duties along the riverbanks?" Yuan Shao asked again.
As soon as Yuan Shao finished speaking, a burly man stepped forward and said to Yuan Shao, "My lord, this humble general is willing."