Chapter 16: Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu

……

Chen Xi curled the corners of his mouth without answering. It wasn't a matter of confidence; regarding the grand trajectory of the situation, he was supremely confident, but regarding the details and the capabilities of those people, he truly had no way to help.

Seeing that Chen Xi remained silent, Liu Bei did not press further. For the current Liu Bei, he had already moved closer to the goals he had set in his youth; Chen Xi's series of arrangements had given him immense confidence.

"Report!" A messenger ran toward Liu Bei.

"What is it?" Liu Bei looked up and asked.

"General Gongsun has dispatched three hundred White Horse Cavalry from Yimeng, and has also allocated an additional three hundred horses. Please go to receive them, General," the messenger shouted loudly.

"He really is a tycoon..." Chen Xi whispered.

Yesterday, during the battle at Sishui Pass, some of Liu Bei's soldiers had suffered casualties. After Gongsun Zan replenished his own forces, he had conveniently allocated a troop to Liu Bei as well. For the currently wealthy Gongsun Zan, cavalry was something he possessed more of than anyone except Dong Zhuo; through years of fighting the Xianbei and the Wuhuan, he had acquired many fine horses.

"Gongsun Bogui..." Liu Bei sighed. He currently had no way to repay Gongsun Bogui; he could only keep the sentiment of "when you achieve wealth and status, do not forget your old friends" firmly in mind.

"They've already been sent to the camp, so there's nothing left to say. Just accept them. We will prosper sooner or later; when that time comes, just don't forget the friendship we shared now," Chen Xi said with a smile. He greatly admired Gongsun Zan's behavior; as a pure nationalist, this series of gestures left Chen Xi with a very good impression.

One must realize that Liu Bei was currently just a nobody. Others might not know, but how could Gongsun Zan not know? Yet, he had never looked down on Liu Bei because of his status. Even as their relationship shifted from classmates to the gap between a Provincial Governor and a commoner, Gongsun Zan never looked down on him, instead maintaining their original friendship.

"Du Bo of General Gongsun's command greets General Liu," a young officer with a fair face and no beard said, bowing respectfully upon seeing Liu Bei approach.

"Rise, rise. Is General Gongsun well?" Liu Bei reached out to help him up. From the officer's movements, he understood that this Du Bo was also part of the handover and was likely a capable cavalry officer.

"The northern barbarians are about to invade again. There was heavy snow last year, and many people starved to death. With spring approaching, the barbarians may move south. General Gongsun is hesitating about whether to return to reinforce; he is worried about Youzhou," the Du Bo replied clearly. It seemed Gongsun Zan had sent him to deliver the message.

While Liu Bei was still pondering the situation, Chen Xi spoke up, "If General Gongsun is worried, he may well return to Youzhou first. The matter of slaying Dong Zhuo in Luoyang can be left to Lord Xuande; as for the issue of Lord Liu of Youzhou, it can be left to Dong Zhuo to resolve."

Gongsun Zan did not necessarily see the state of the coalition, but he cared deeply for the people of Youzhou. Hearing that the northern barbarians were about to invade, he thought only of returning to Youzhou to crush those scoundrels. Unlike the vast majority of people in the Han Dynasty, the word "appeasement" did not exist in Gongsun Zan's vocabulary!

The White Horse General and the White Horse Cavalry were fearsome reputations built entirely upon the blood of the barbarians!

This was also the reason why Gongsun Zan and the Governor of Youzhou, Liu Yu, had nearly come to blows. One must remember that Liu Yu was an orthodox member of the imperial Liu clan; in the Han Dynasty, one had to respect the dignity of the Liu family to some extent. However, in 193 AD, Gongsun Zan ultimately killed Liu Yu.

As a provincial governor, Liu Yu could be considered one of the few capable officials of the late Eastern Han. He had governed the wasteland of Youzhou well enough to rival Jizhou, but he had one very significant flaw: appeasement. He sought to appease the barbarians. While Youzhou was managed well, it was constantly being plundered due to his policy of appeasement, leaving the people scattered and broken.

Gongsun Zan believed that only dead barbarians were good barbarians, whereas Liu Yu believed in turning the barbarians into his own people. Naturally, their political views clashed, leading to a bitter fallout and eventually to drawn swords, where the General of the Cavalry, Gongsun Zan, defeated Liu Yu.

As for why Yuan Shao always had large numbers of barbarians coming to assist him when fighting Gongsun Zan later, it was because they fought under the banner of avenging Liu Yu. In this sense, Liu Yu did indeed possess some prestige among the barbarians.

It could be said that if Liu Yu hadn't been pulling Gongsun Zan's leg and constantly interfering, the barbarians would have been driven north of the Great Wall long ago; Gongsun Zan might even have crossed the Changbai Mountains to deal with the barbarians in Bingzhou.

Chen Xi's current idea was to have Dong Zhuo bring Liu Yu back to Luoyang. If not, then in view of Gongsun Zan's departure, give him a high official position—at least higher than Liu Yu's. This way, the moral high ground would prevent Liu Yu from sabotaging him. Once back in Youzhou, Gongsun Zan would be free to kick the northern barbarians to death without issue.

As for whether returning home to deal with the barbarians and withdrawing from the eighteen-way coalition would damage the "greater cause"—ha! Who said he was withdrawing? General Gongsun was merely returning to protect his home and defend the borders. The soldiers loyal to the Emperor were still within the coalition, left under the command of Lord Xuande. Who said he withdrew? General Gongsun was simply forced to return to Youzhou to guard the frontier due to the limitations of his duties.

Chen Xi explained at length to the Du Bo, and the officer's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

The common people in the Central Plains could hardly imagine the misery of the people on the borders. This was why Gongsun Zan held such prestige in the north, and also why Lu Bu's character was so despised. Yet, it was also why the Bingzhou soldiers, including Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, did not abandon him, and why Lu Bu, after leaving Bingzhou, had many opportunities but never set foot there again.

"Zichuan, is this perhaps not a good idea?" After the Du Bo left, Liu Bei asked with a hint of hesitation on his face.

"There is nothing wrong with it. Honestly, General Gongsun probably wants to go back very badly right now. Having stayed in Youzhou for several years, Lord Xuande should understand the General's attitude toward the barbarians, and he should also understand Liu of Youzhou's attitude toward the General," Chen Xi said with a smile.

Chen Xi could guarantee that, according to Gongsun Zan's way of thinking, if someone could stop Liu Yu from sabotaging him, he wouldn't care about such a minor stain on his reputation. For a man like this, official rewards were not as important as the livelihoods of the people. After all, in history, this man had once ignored imperial orders not to launch an offensive, but upon seeing the displaced people fleeing to Liaoxi Commandery, he finally could not restrain himself and mobilized his troops.

He mobilized despite the imperial decree that those who launched unauthorized attacks would be executed. After driving the invading barbarians back, he turned around and killed the intolerable Liu Yu. After that, no one was left to pull his leg, and one never heard of the barbarians raiding on a large scale again. However, a more troublesome problem arose: Gongsun Zan's governance of Youzhou was truly inferior to Liu Yu's. As expected, a man who excelled at conquering the world struggled when it came to ruling it.

(End of Chapter)