Chapter 50: Feeling like leaving
A few days later, the fleet went up the Han River and arrived at the abandoned Zhuyang County.

Zhuyang County has been split, with the northern part belonging to Yin County and the southern part to Shandu County.

Liu Qi used Zhuyang County to house the Black Bear Fleet, so he replanned and established Zhuyang County, with Gan Ning as the county magistrate.

The county seat of Zhuyang is just on the south side of the Han River, and the Zhuyang River flows through the south of the city and merges into the Han River.

Therefore, although Zhuyang County has become an ordinary city in recent years, it still has more than 300 households of residents.

The space inside the city is spacious, enough to accommodate Gan Ning's troops.

Most of Gan Ning's troops were single, propertyless young men, and they did not have many families that needed to be accommodated.

Therefore, Gan Ning's troops were unstable.

Liu Qi led Gan Ning and Black Bear to the west gate of the county town, which had been in disrepair for a long time, and pointed to the distance: "Over a hundred miles away is Wudang Mountain. Thirty miles west of the city is Shedu Township, which has about a hundred households and can accommodate the lieutenants and herd horses."

This is just a temporary garrison to hide more than a hundred horses.

Once this elite force of a hundred cavalrymen is exposed, there will be no need to hide it. By then, Nanyang will be vast and they can be stationed in many places.

The black bear looked into the distance and could see the outlines of the continuous Wudang Mountains and Jing Mountains.

The terrain around Zhuyang is less than 100 meters above sea level, but the mountains at the end of the sight are at least thousands of meters above sea level.

He looked out at the mountains in silence, wondering where he could find a place to settle down.

Liu Qi was not in a hurry and asked a local scholar to describe the surrounding mountains, rivers, terrain and population distribution.

The mountains to the west of here can be called Wudang Mountain or Taihe Mountain.

Kunlun is the ancestor of all mountains. The mountains spread eastward and are divided into two major mountain ranges: Dragon and Tiger.

Longshan is the Qinling Mountains, and Hushan is the Daba Mountains.

Wudang Mountain is located between these two mountain ranges, and seems to be connected to each other, so some people call it Taihe Mountain because of the combination of dragon and tiger.

Since the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, many people from other states and counties took refuge in the Wudang Mountains.

Therefore, there is no definite explanation for the changes in the names of the Wudang Mountains.

But the black bear stared for a long time and suddenly sighed, which made Liu Qi look sideways with curiosity.

As for the black bear, after having come into contact with it over the past few days, Liu Qi really wanted to get its help.

He asked, "Is the captain dissatisfied?"

"No, I heard a lot about Wudang Taihe when I came here. I heard that it is covered with clouds and mist all year round, just like a paradise on earth."

Black Bear smiled as he spoke: "Now it seems that the peak is indeed surrounded by clouds and mist, and I don't want to go there anymore. I want to climb up and see the distance, but when I look up from the top of the mountains, I still see layers of mountains, which is very boring."

Liu Qi didn't understand what Black Bear was trying to say, but he could hear Black Bear's disappointment and nodded: "I have also visited the Wudang Mountains. They are indeed deserted and lack fun."

Without the extensive construction efforts of Emperor Yongle during his reign, Mount Wudang did not even have the road infrastructure to and from the mountains, let alone the various palaces and pavilions on the mountainside and top of the mountain.

Therefore, no matter how steep and magnificent Wudang is today, it is just a wonder of nature and lacks cultural heritage.

When the black bear came here and saw the outline of the Wudang Mountains, he began to think of giving up.

Wudang is not suitable, the four counties in southern Jing are not suitable, and the Han River Basin is not suitable.

Once Cao's army accepts the surrender of Jingzhou in the future, staying in a place with convenient transportation will only bring disaster.

The larger the property, the harder it is to give it up, and the greater the loss.

In life, there is no chance to start over.

Unless Liu Bei dared to accept Liu Biao's inheritance, it would be difficult for anyone else to keep it except Liu Bei.

The big families in Jingzhou did not want to fight against the Xudu court and Cao Cao. These people had money, food and population. Without their support, it would be useless for Liu Biao to launch a northern expedition.

Liu Biao had already tested the situation by offering sacrifices to heaven in the suburbs, and found that the great families in Jingzhou did not support his expansion. Otherwise, after offering sacrifices to heaven in the suburbs, it would have been natural for him to proclaim himself the King of Chu and the General Assisting Han, and then start to conquer rebellious officials.

The big families in Jingzhou did not want to fight, and the northern scholars who had taken refuge in Jingzhou did not want to fight either. Once the north was pacified, these people would rush back home and would only cooperate with the big families in Jingzhou to put pressure on the north in order to surrender.

Therefore, there was almost no solution to the collective surrender of Jingzhou after Liu Biao's death.

Even Liu Bei might not dare to take over.

No matter how much the lower-class people in Jingzhou hated Cao Cao, it was difficult to wipe out the surrender factions at the middle and high levels in one fell swoop.

For these scholars, as long as they surrendered to Xu Du, they would no longer have to risk war and everyone would have a bright future.

Anyway, the cruel and ruthless system of forced labor would not fall on the scholars, so they were not averse to it.

Therefore, after Liu Biao, Jingzhou was a surrender group with a strong collective will!

The more you jump, the more miserable it will be when Cao's army takes Jingzhou!

The most important thing is that Jingzhou did not suffer heavy damage from the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty; therefore, the grassroots order was similar to that at the end of the Han Dynasty.

This made Black Bear feel very uncomfortable. The official law was like a furnace, and if he was not careful, he would be suppressed by Jingzhou.

It was as if the fleet was blocked from front and back at Xiakou, and it was in an awkward situation where it could not escape even if it had wings.

Even if you manage to escape by breaking up, you will also lose all your belongings.

After a dozen breaths, the black bear became more determined to leave.

No matter how poor Guanlong is, its beautiful mountains and rivers are indeed real.

If there is no one in Guanlong, go to Hetao and Hexi, and you can always rescue enough people from the Xianbei and other Hu people.

In Guanlong or on the grassland, he dared to drive the soldiers to their full potential and give full play to their strength.

However, in Jingzhou and Yizhou, the local powerful families have hundreds of years of foundation and are of the same blood. They are simply not something that I can challenge!

Liu Qi didn't know about Black Bear's change of mind. Seeing him thinking deeply, he thought he was not satisfied with this place, so he comforted him and said, "This place is just a temporary settlement. If the lieutenant finds a place he likes in the future, it won't be too late to move." "Thank you for your concern, sir. I am not a person who covets prosperity. I am just wondering whether I should see Liu Yuzhou first or Liu Zhennan first after settling the troops."

Black Bear said this and gestured with his arms, and Liu Qi followed Black Bear and walked along the city wall. Gan Ning wanted to follow, but was stopped by Liu Qi's guards.

Black Bear turned around and saw Liu Qi's guard following him, so he raised his hand to signal the other party to stop.

Liu Qi also turned around and saw it, and nodded to the guard, who then stopped.

Over there, Hei Xiong and Liu Qi walked more than a hundred steps to the corner tower at the bend of the city wall, and the tiles of the corner tower collapsed.

Black Bear bent down, picked up half a tile, and began to draw a map of mountains and rivers on the yellow mud-coated wall. Drawing a map of the world was just an instinct for him.

But Liu Qi was stunned. It was a rare talent to have an understanding of the trends of mountains and rivers in the world.

Considering the other party's background and the mission they are carrying out, it is reasonable for them to understand the geography of mountains and rivers.

The two stood side by side and looked at the map on the yellow mud wall. Black Bear drew his sword and pointed at Guanzhong and said, "This is Cao Cao's arm. If we cut it off, we will cut off his source of war horses, and Jingzhou will also be able to obtain more horses."

"After Jingzhou has more horses, even if Jiangdong loses the naval battle, Jiangdong will not dare to go ashore rashly. Cutting off Cao Cao's arm will bring many benefits to Jingzhou."

He pointed his sword at the Liyang area and said, "Now many people in the north are loyal to Cao Cao and think that Yuan will be defeated, so the Central Plains is stable. If Cao Cao cannot conquer Liyang, it will be a sign of people's hearts collapsing. He dare not fail to do his best."

"The general is ill now, and all matters inside and outside the shogunate are decided by Yuan Jizhou and the chief secretary Shen Zhengnan. Therefore, this year, Hebei will deploy troops to defend it, and when the war starts, we will send troops from Taiyuan and Shangdang to attack Hedong, and then look to Guanzhong."

Liu Qi looked at the rough map and analyzed the pros and cons. Yuan gave up the field battle and used the strong city to delay Cao Cao's attacking troops; and then opened up a flank battlefield on the western front, which would be very likely to succeed.

If Liyang successfully resists the offensive of Cao's army, the people in Hebei and Central Plains will become more enthusiastic again; and if victories are achieved in the Guanzhong battlefield on the western front, it will further stimulate changes in people's hearts.

If either of these two things is done well, it will be able to undermine Cao Cao's momentum.

If these mutually influential events had taken effect together, they would have been enough to offset the prestige advantage that the Battle of Guandu had brought to Cao Cao.

On one hand, they defended against the troops that Cao's army was bound to attack, and on the other hand, they attacked Zhong Yao who lacked reinforcements. As long as they could make achievements on the western front of Guanzhong, they could quickly affect the morale of Cao's army on the front battlefield.

This combination of punches is very sophisticated, and even if Cao Cao knew it, it would be difficult to crack it.

It was almost a foregone conclusion that Yuan Shao was seriously ill. If he was dying of illness, the main force of Cao's army would break through Liyang and attack Yecheng directly. If they could capture or force Yuan to surrender in one fell swoop, the world would be quickly settled. Why would they have to worry about the battlefields on the western front in Guanzhong?
Cao Cao might take a gamble and concentrate his main forces to gamble, so that there is hope of breaking the deadlock as quickly as possible.

Guanzhong under Zhong Yao's rule was similar to Huainan. It was only after Zhong Yao brought the imperial edict to Guanzhong to recruit refugees and pacify the local heroes that the area was stabilized.

Therefore, Zhong Yao had no strong soldiers and no standing supplies, and he relied entirely on the counties and local generals to maintain public order.

Even if there is a rebellion, he will recruit other heroes and form a joint force to suppress the rebellion.

It was a diplomatic means to balance the various tribes in Guanzhong. Zhong Yao was able to achieve great results with little effort because of the strong strength of Cao's army in the Central Plains.

If Cao's army was held in Liyang or Yecheng, and Yuan's army invaded Hedong and was about to sweep Guanzhong, what would the Guanzhong generals choose?
Liu Qi thought about it again and again, putting himself in Cao Cao's perspective. Even though he knew the Hebei strategy, he still had no solution to break it.

After a long deliberation, Liu Qi finally sighed and said, "This plot is beyond my ability to break. Captain, do you want to cooperate with Liu Yuzhou's troops to attack Cao's heartland from Wankou, or do you want to attack Guanzhong from Wuguan?"

"It's not clear yet. It depends on what Liu Yuzhou chooses and how many troops Liu Zhennan can provide."

Black Bear raised his hand and pointed his sword at Chang'an. "If nothing unexpected happens, I will lead my troops into Wuguan before the autumn rain and appear in the south of Chang'an to confuse the enemy."

In fact, if Liu Bei gave up competing with Cao Cao now and turned to take the Wuguan Road, the quality of his battle-hardened veterans would be enough to quickly sweep across Guanzhong.

Liu Bei was the Left General, the Governor of Yuzhou, and the Marquis of Yidu. In terms of his status in the court and his position in the emperor's heart, he was much more important than Liu Biao.

If we seize the opportunity to attack Xu Du, Cao's army may collapse in an instant.

It is only more than 200 miles from Ye County to Xu Du. Theoretically, as long as Liu Bei defeats Cao's army in the Wankou area, he has a chance to capture Xu Du by rapid march.

Liu Qi looked at the map and asked, "Does the captain need reinforcements?"

"I am good at raiding, so I don't want too many soldiers. The best strategy is to kill and capture Zhong Yao. But I also need a decoy army to hold back the troops in Guanzhong in Lantian. Regardless of whether I succeed or not, this army is still Liu Zhennan's army."

The black bear held a sword and drew a mark between Chang'an and Xiangyang, which was the Wuguan Road.

He turned his head to look at Liu Qi and said: "If you are willing, you can lead the troops to go with us."

Liu Qi shook his head: "Our state is in danger from Jiangdong, so it is difficult to focus on managing Guanzhong."

He didn't want to take the risk of going to Guanzhong. He was the son of Marquis Chengwu recognized by the court and the future heir to Jingzhou.

The Zhennan Shogunate had already suppressed the prefectures dominated by local big families, so there was no need for Liu Qi to take risks to gain merit.

All you have to do is stay at the center, cultivate your own party, and wait to take over.

If Black Bear had not been carrying Hebei's secrets, there would have been no need for Liu Qi to receive him in person.

Seeing that he was not interested, Black Bear was too lazy to persuade him anymore.

After what happened in Hebei, Black Bear had more or less accepted his fate.

Everything has its own historical inertia. Only by putting yourself in the other person's position can you understand what the other person insists on.

The two Yuans of the older generation fought with each other because the Yuan family had such a rich foundation that Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu felt they could conquer the world.

The same principle also applied to the struggle between the two Yuans of the new generation. Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan both believed that they could unify the world after they succeeded to the throne, so neither of them was willing to give in.

The new alliance between the two Yuans was facilitated by violent means, and the future direction has become uncertain, but we cannot expect changes.

Jingzhou had not experienced the destruction of troubled times, and the old network of relationships was too heavy to be challenged by itself.

Be it the future Cao army, or Liu Bei and Sun Quan, they are not people he can clash with.

Distance creates beauty. If you go to Guanzhong to develop far away, you will have some opportunities in the future.

Otherwise, if he stayed in Jingzhou, he would sooner or later fight with the two Lius.

The current stable order in Jingzhou is of no benefit to its own development, and it will be of no benefit even if it wins the fierce battles among the various parties in the future.

Only Guanlong is my only stage.

(End of this chapter)