In the tenth month of the fifth year of the Jian'an Era, after stabilizing the situation in Jiaozhou, Qin Tian sent Lu Xun as an envoy to persuade Zhang Xian.
Though it was called persuasion, the true purpose was to pluck the already ripened peach that was Jingnan.
Before this, ever since the third year of the Jian'an Era, Liu Biao and Zhang Xian had been locked in a two-year tug-of-war.
Thanks to Zhang Xian's prestige and connections in Jingnan, Liu Biao had failed to eliminate him even after several years.
The reason for sending an envoy now was that, by Qin Tian's estimation, Zhang Xian was likely already gravely ill.
After all, in the original history, though Zhang Xian's birth and death years were unknown, records stated that he answered Cao Cao's call in the fifth year of the Jian'an Era and died of illness that same year.
Combined with Zhang Xian's earlier uprising, Qin Tian concluded that the course of Zhang Xian's life had likely not been altered.
If they judged by this event, then now was the best time to act.
Of course, due to the inconvenience of travel, Zhang Xian might already have died, and they simply had not learned of it yet.
But that would not affect the overall situation, because after Zhang Xian's death, the Jingnan alliance did not dissolve. Instead, his son Zhang Yi inherited it.
The premise behind Qin Tian's attempt to persuade Zhang Xian was that the Jingnan allied forces had already reached the end of the road!
If they did not submit to them, they would sooner or later be completely wiped out by Liu Biao. Only by relying on them could they preserve their lives.
This was also Qin Tian's first step in plotting against Jing Province: use Jingnan