Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1318: Chapter 1271: Talents Among the Yellow Turbans

Guo Jia and Liu Ye, upon receiving the news of Cao Cao’s large-scale troop movements, felt some tension. However, both Guo Jia and Liu Ye understood the obvious meaning behind such an open action by the other party.

”Things seem to be going well,” Guo Jia said with a smile. ”Han Mo has already embarked on the right path, and Cao Cao can be allowed to handle many matters on his own. Now, we can focus our defensive efforts on the South, while Cao Cao’s side can prioritize agricultural management.”

Guan Yu stroked his beard and said nothing. Cao Cao’s large-scale mobilization put some pressure on Guan Yu, but he always had great faith in Guo Jia’s judgment.

”Inform Xiuruo and Yuanlong that they can start handling the spring plowing locally,” Guo Jia said, taking a sip of tea and smacking his lips as he found the flavor a bit bland.

Compared to Cao Cao and Sun Ce’s side, Liu Bei’s side found it much easier to change planting methods. However, the newly acquired lands like Yuzhou would still require personal oversight. After all, food is the primary concern of the people, and matters concerning sustenance must be handled with utmost care. Therefore, both Guo Jia and Cao Cao made the same choice.

”Fengxiao, why didn’t you let me transfer Yuanjian here earlier? I have a strong military force, but my generals are somewhat scarce. Yuanjian is one of the few in our army who are good at learning,” Guan Yu asked, having sent Guo Jia’s orders to Yingchuan, the question he’d been wanting to ask for a long time.

Everyone was aware of Guan Yu’s personality — proud but unable to tolerate subservience. Though Chen Xi’s influence had made him somewhat better, not as dismissive towards civil officials as he used to be, generally there were only a dozen or so civil officials that Guan Yu genuinely respected. At other times, Guan Yu would squint silently.

However, due to Chen Xi’s influence, Guan Yu refrained from speaking to those he was not familiar with, treating everyone impartially, so no one felt Guan Yu was problematic. At most, they found him difficult to get along with.

Yet, considering Guan Yu’s evident capabilities, this difficult-to-get-along-with valiant general, as long as no one provokes him, everyone would complete the tasks he assigns without cutting corners. Therefore, civil officials not familiar with Guan Yu maintained a single opinion: just do your work properly.

Because of this, even though mid- and lower-tier scholars found Guan Yu hard to get along with, not many criticized him. After all, Guan Yu’s ability to lead troops to victory was undisputed, and no one would sacrifice their future due to someone’s cold demeanor.

Of course, this was from the perspective of middle- and lower-tier civil officials. For soldiers, the situation was entirely different. Guan Yu’s character of treating soldiers well had not changed; in fact, it became more pronounced due to increased money and grain, making him more generous towards his soldiers.

Additionally, those Yellow Turban commanders who joined under Liu Bei’s banner, regardless of other aspects, at least shared the sense of loyalty that greatly appealed to Guan Yu, so naturally, he wouldn’t treat them poorly.

However, coming back to the point, Guan Yu rallied his soldiers with a sense of righteousness primarily not only due to his belief in righteousness but also because the deaths of the two previous Great Commanders provided a profound emotional impact on these Yellow Turban commanders, especially those who witnessed Xuangu and Guann Hai face death.

For those individuals, it was truly shocking. The choices of those two made many Yellow Turbans understand the cost of their future, and clearly taught this group, mostly illiterate, what righteousness and benevolence were.

This is why even Guan Yu’s own forces included many former Yellow Turbans. It was not solely due to his promise to Guann Hai, but also the display of loyalty from these Yellow Turban commanders that moved Guan Yu— a person who values loyalty understands others’ loyalty better.

Although Chen Xi had once warned Guan Yu that incorporating the Yellow Turbans under his command might lead to their factionalizing and becoming exclusionary, Guan Yu still chose to proceed. So far, it seemed there had been no incidents among Guan Yu’s soldiers.

Thus, people like Pei Yuanshao, Zhou Cang, Jiang Gong, Sima Ju, Qu Gong, Du Yuan, and Guann Cheng were all under Guan Yu’s command, naturally including Liaoo Hua as well.

However, unlike the aforementioned group, Guan Yu saw leadership potential in Liaoo Hua. As for the others, though some were strong enough to be at the Inner Qi Manifestation level, and the weaker ones at the Qi Refining to Gang Peak, those individuals’ innate quality destined them to be commanded by others.

Though this group could command a thousand or two thousand men, it wasn’t due to talent but entirely due to instincts honed on the battlefield. Frankly, anyone surviving dozens of times on a large battlefield would have battle strength and commanding skills not lesser than this group.

Their command was not reliant on intellect but on instinct. Due to numerous battles, they instinctively remembered how to respond. This method doomed them to never grow into generals as there wouldn’t be endless soldiers to expend.

Liaoo Hua, Wei Yan, and Guan Ping were different. These individuals could improve from just one big battle. Wei Yan might exhibit significant progress from a single big battle, while Guan Ping might take a big step forward, and Liaoo Hua might take a small step, but unlike the previous group, who would merely inch forward.

However, given that Liaoo Hua had the basic qualifications and Guan Yu valued the loyalty of the Yellow Turbans, he gave all Yellow Turban-originated military officers a chance. Liaoo Hua stood out, so Guan Yu promoted him to return to Mount Tai to systematically study military strategy.

Indeed, Liaoo Hua’s qualifications were not outstanding, but he was the most diligent among everyone, and he had a natural interest in studying military strategy.

It was around the end of the previous year when Liaoo Hua completed his advanced studies, and Guan Yu planned to bring him back to the camp as the Military Marshal of his headquarters. However, Guo Jia stopped him.

With numerous matters at hand, Guan Yu had put this aside, and it wasn’t until recently that he remembered this issue, leaving him with some questions.

”Yuanjian has a chance to surprise everyone,” Guo Jia said after a moment of silence. ”His strength has already reached the peak of Qi Refining to Gang, and he’s only slightly older than Tanzhi. Additionally, the elders of the academy told me that Yuanjian has a broad perspective. The spring examination is imminent.”

Guan Yu narrowed his eyes. According to Guo Jia, Liaoo Hua had a chance to top the military exams. As for martial arts, without encountering those Qi Refining to Gang peak masters born with innate divine strength, Liaoo Hua’s victory or defeat was uncertain; but concerning military strategy...

”General Guan, although you can summon him over, if he passes the exams by himself, it would be easier to grant him an official position,” Guo Jia half-explained. The top candidates of each division were guaranteed official positions worth a thousand stones!

Although at the time, the exam topics for each division had not been decided, nor had the examiners been confirmed, Guo Jia was already aware of the subjects that would likely be tested. By having someone within their ranks occupy this position, it was beneficial. Guo Jia was quite confident in Liaoo Hua.