"The governor has summoned me. What could he want this time?"
Yan Rou was starting to dread seeing Bai Xiaowen.
"General Yan, you've spent years in Youzhou, so you must know the local situation. What can you tell me about Liaodong?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
Unsure what Bai Xiaowen was getting at, Yan Rou answered honestly:
"My lord, Liaodong comprises four commanderies: Liaodong, Lelang, Daifang, and Xuantu. All four are held by Gongsun Du, the Marquis of Liaodong. After the Grand General—Yuan Shao—destroyed Gongsun Zan, Gongsun Du sent an envoy with congratulations. That amounted to a pledge of allegiance."
Bai Xiaowen nodded, then asked, "Gongsun Du and Gongsun Zan share a surname. Are they related?"
Yan Rou shook his head. "Gongsun Zan was in western Liaoning, while Gongsun Du holds Liaodong. They have no connection."
Bai Xiaowen nodded. From the historical records, he knew that Gongsun Du's family would rule Liaodong for three generations. It would take Gongsun Du's grandson, Gongsun Yuan, declaring himself Prince of Yan and betraying Cao Wei before Sima Yi's army finally subdued them.
But the age of rival warlords had only just begun. Gongsun Du could not have held the Liaodong Four Commanderies for long, and his foundations were likely still shallow.
Yuan Shao loved grand displays of success. Gongsun Du's pledge of allegiance had left him thoroughly pleased with himself. Besides, Liaodong was remote and bitterly cold, with little to gain even if he conquered it. So Yuan Shao had not marched farther east, tacitly accepting Gongsun Du's control of the region.
Another important reason, of course, was that Yuan Shao had his hands full. Though he held the Four Provinces of Hebei, he had yet to subdue the powerful Yellow Turban Army faction led by Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Bandits, right in his Jizhou