Mythical Three Kingdoms

Fa Zheng listened to the account of Gan Ning and the others in silence, then after a long while, he said with a sigh, ”It is only now that I realize how vast the heavens and earth are. I also understand the injustice of fate that Master Li and Master Jia once spoke of.”

”Indeed, the injustice of fate. Where in our Great Han do we have such places? There’s never enough money, sigh,” Mi Fang sighed, not knowing exactly what Jia Xu and Li Youu had said, but Fa Zheng’s remark about the injustice of fate made him feel the same.

”Master Li said it best, ’If heaven does not grant it, I shall take it myself.’ If we plant our flag there, it becomes our land,” Fa Zheng nodded, quite proud. In fact, at this time, officials of the Great Han felt a sense of pride in the strength of the Han Dynasty; even amidst the internal strife of the Han, they had no doubts about their ability to defeat the Hu people.

”Rest assured, rest assured. Despite my men being dazzled by money, those thousand soldiers are more than enough to take that place,” Gan Ning said confidently, ”No matter how they change, they can’t change their bloodline. A Han person is a Han person.”

Fa Zheng nodded. A thousand well-armed soldiers of the Han Army were an astonishing force anywhere outside the Central Plains, let alone the fact that the Wuxi Colonel tasked with suppressing the Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions had fewer than two thousand men...

”I’d like to go out and see for myself in the future. It’s getting rather dull focusing on the Central Plains all the time. Our preparations in Mount Tai are beyond what any of the feudal lords can imagine. It’s just a pity that, by my estimates, the Han Dynasty can only govern as far as intelligence can travel in ten days,” Fa Zheng said with a sigh.

Once news can’t be delivered within ten days and an army can’t arrive in a hundred, any rebellion becomes impossible to resolve. This is a critical factor that limits the extent of an empire’s rule.

”Gong Youu is building roads to address this issue. Although roads don’t increase the speed of intelligence transmission by much, they significantly improve the marching speed of an army,” Gan Ning commented habitually before realizing he should pretend not to understand these matters, coughed, and added, ”Ahem, this is something I heard Zijing mention.”

Although Fa Zheng had his suspicions, he didn’t inquire further. He nodded and continued to chat with Gan Ning and the others, building relationships until the night had fallen, then he returned to Fenggao to spend the night at home.

Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang was still diligently learning, much more serious compared to the relaxed Fa Zheng. The cautious Zhuge Liang had already started familiarizing himself with the situations in Yuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, and Yizhou.

”Phew, Yizhou is really a headache.” After perusing the rough intelligence on Yizhou from the past few years, that was the feeling Zhuge Liang got. Yizhou was tightly sealed, not giving outsiders any chance to learn about it.

[It seems that the most crucial part of this military endeavor is to obtain relevant intelligence on Yizhou.] Zhuge Liang thought to himself as he closed the intelligence dossier with a frown.

[It seems this is to take precautions early. Liu Zhang of Yizhou is weak in character and also an imperial relative. If our lord could sweep across the eight deserts, in the end sending an envoy would be enough to make him submit. However, Liu Zhang’s weak character also makes it very likely that someone else could steal Yizhou from him. So, should preparations be made early?] Zhuge Liang carefully analyzed, looking at the potential enemies of Liu Zhang from all directions. His eyes eventually fell on Hanzhong and he couldn’t help thinking, [If Zhang Lu could be eliminated, then Liu Zhang might well be kept as a guardian dog. If the original Hanzhong cannot be taken, then I fear I should make preparations early.]

”My husband, please rest,” Jiangg Ying brought a bowl of ginseng soup to Fa Zheng and spoke after watching him finish it.

”Oh, right, let’s sleep, let’s sleep. I’ll study it later and just adapt to the situation then. What use is this intelligence? It’s all useless,” Fa Zheng said somewhat crazily, then he embraced Jiangg Ying and went to bed.

Fa Zheng did not possess the same patience as Zhuge Liang; he was better at adapting to changes on the fly. After reviewing the intelligence related to Yizhou, Fa Zheng came to a single conclusion: Yizhou was closed off and xenophobic. Beyond that, he had no other insights, so all his responses would have to wait until he met with the people from Yizhou.

The following day, both Fa Zheng and Zhuge Liang appeared before Gan Ning, spirited and energetic. They then took the water route towards Xuzhou, planning to rendezvous with Chen Dao. After reinforcing their troops, they would feint an attack on Yuzhou while actually enabling the transfer of troops to Yanzhou, as well as vacating Xuzhou and making preparations to establish relations with the Two Lius.

As soon as Zhuge Liang arrived in Xuzhou, he noticed these matters immediately. Having already transferred Zhao Yun’s White Horse Soldiers, he was now about to call in the White Spear Elite Soldiers, trained by Chen Dao using the Elite of Danyang. Excluding Zhang Fei’s corps, Xuzhou no longer had many regular troops originally from Mount Tai.

Zhuge Liang also had an understanding of Zhang Fei’s temperament. Although he could be meticulous at times, it didn’t change the fact that he was rash, and Zhang Fei also had a side prone to rage. Was it really no problem to have Zhang Fei stationed in Xuzhou?

”Kongming, are you worried about General Zhang?” asked Fa Zheng with a smile.

”General Zhang is suited for charging into battle, not for holding a position,” Zhuge Liang stated seriously. ”Moreover, the Xuzhou aristocratic family has many grievances against us; I fear General Zhang might be the target of their schemes.”

”It was actually my early suggestion for General Zhang to be stationed in Xuzhou,” Fa Zheng said, glancing at Zhuge Liang.

”That doesn’t seem quite appropriate,” said Zhuge Liang, frowning.

”No, on the contrary, it is only with General Zhang there that the Xuzhou aristocratic families would dare,” Fa Zheng said with a cold laugh. ”General Zhang is capable of managing this balance, or rather, he doesn’t need to manage it at all; naturally, someone will do it for him.”

”Luring the snake out of its hole? What if Yuzhou makes a move too? Or even Jizhou?” Zhuge Liang’s frown did not ease upon hearing Fa Zheng’s explanation.

”Jizhou is far away and out of reach. Most importantly, when Jizhou receives this intelligence, they will surely face unexpected complications,” Fa Zheng said with a cold laugh. ”Moreover, Yuzhou will never forget the incident from a few years ago. Given such an opportunity, even if it were a trap, they would not be able to resist trying.”

”Did you have an early suspicion of the Yuan Family and Sunce?” Zhuge Liang asked, his brow relaxing after hearing Fa Zheng’s words, and then he sighed.

”No, when I was making arrangements earlier, I had not anticipated the situation would turn out to be so favorable,” Fa Zheng sighed. ”Still, I have met Chen Yuanlong from Xuzhou. The man is talented, but unfortunately constrained by his family.”

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”I see,” Zhuge Liang nodded, choosing not to inquire further.

Not long after, Fa Zheng’s strategy began to demonstrate its effectiveness. The Xuzhou aristocratic families, seeing that only Zhang Fei’s corps remained in Xuzhou, could hardly restrain their resentment and prepared to seize the opportunity to settle the score with Liu Bei once and for all.

Similarly, the Yuzhou Yuan Family and Zhou Yu also received this tempting news. To fight or not to fight was indeed a troubling question. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian ) with recommendation tickets or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)