Liu Bei Breaks the Enemy and Issues a Vow

The Household Bureau at the commandery level managed civil households, sacrificial rites, marriages, agriculture, corvée labor, and road maintenance; it was a functional department of considerable importance.

The chief of the Household Bureau was the Clerk, the deputy was the Scribe, and there were over a dozen subordinate officials below them. Although Lan Ziyu was assigned to the Household Bureau, he started from the bottom as a subordinate official.

As a civil servant in a municipal-level functional department during the Three Kingdoms era, Lan Ziyu had initially been full of enthusiasm, ready to make a grand showing, only to find that reality was entirely different from his expectations.

His colleagues in the Household Bureau, including the Clerk, treated Lan Ziyu like a statue of a deity in a temple, barely assigning him any work at all.

Before Lan Ziyu had even taken up his post, outsiders had already thoroughly investigated his background.

The brother-in-law of General Liu, born into a humble farming family, he was merely using nepotism to enjoy a life of stability and wealth.

Although Lan Ziyu was new to the workplace, he managed to gain a thorough understanding of the interpersonal relationships there through casual chatting and boasting.

Most of these colleagues had intricate ties to the Chen Family of Xiapi or the Mi Family of Donghai; one could hardly find a minor official of grassroots origin. Lan Ziyu witnessed the control exerted by local magnates and prominent clans.

The Chen Family of Xiapi had helped in the plot to kill Che Zhou, and Mi Zhu had exhausted his family fortune to help Liu Bei build his empire; naturally, they were the ones now reaping the benefits.

Lan Ziyu finally understood why Liu Bei did not head to Jing Province; such a move would affect the entire situation, and it was not something he could simply do just because he wanted to.

After thinking this through, Lan Ziyu stopped fretting. He went to sign in and sit at his desk every day, reading and writing whenever he felt bored.

Seeing that this fellow was sensible and knew how to play the game, the Clerk of the Household Bureau spoke well of him to Guan Yu.

Lan Ziyu's main energy remained focused on cultivating new varieties. In addition to turning the soil and farming in the backyard, he often developed new dishes to share with Gan Qian, a display of sibling affection that made Mi Zhen quite envious.

Not long after, Mi Zhu persuaded Chang Ba of Donghai to rebel against Cao, and nearby commanderies and counties followed suit, one after another, in submitting to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei's power grew slightly, his forces reaching several tens of thousands, and he began to feel more confident.

When Cao Cao learned that Liu Bei had seized Xu Province, he was greatly shocked. However, the main force of the Cao army had already marched north toward Liyang. Aside from the great general Xiahou Dun, who was guarding Xudu, there were no generals available to launch a punitive expedition against Xu Province. In his haste, Cao Cao ordered Liu Dai, the Chief Clerk of the Secretariat, and the General of the Household, Wang Zhong, to lead an army to attack Liu Bei.

Cao Cao held the post of Secretariat at the time, and Liu Dai was his trusted confidant, but having never led an army into battle alone, he was extremely excited about the prospect of punishing Liu Bei.

General of the Household Wang Zhong was a native of Fufeng. Back when Li Jue and Guo Si wreaked havoc in Chang'an, and years of famine followed, the people had resorted to trading children to eat; Wang Zhong had also once eaten human flesh due to hunger. Now, serving as the deputy general, he was also eager to prove himself.

Neither of them took the General of the Left, Liu Bei, seriously. They believed Liu Bei had merely picked up a bargain by following Cao Cao to exterminate Lu Bu, and thus they were full of confidence in recapturing Xu Province.

Both vied to be the vanguard to claim the first merit, and as neither would yield, they eventually had to resort to drawing lots to decide.

Unfortunately, fate played a cruel trick; when the copper coin was tossed, it inexplicably caught on a withered branch by the roadside.

Wang Zhong wanted to toss the coin again, but Liu Dai said, "This is Heaven's will for us to advance simultaneously. Why not split into two routes and surround Xiaopei?"

Thus, the two split their forces, marching toward Xiaopei thirty miles apart. Along the way, they saw no signs of human life.

When they finally encountered a living soul, it turned out to be a blind man who said, "General Liu sent word that the Cao army has come to slaughter Xu Province again, and there is even a general in the army who eats people. Everyone was terrified and fled."

Wang Zhong was so angry his beard bristled; he was ashamed to speak of that past, so he cut the blind man down with a sword and continued forward.

By dusk, the soldiers were exhausted from a day of marching, so Wang Zhong had no choice but to set up camp and boil water for a meal.

The fleeing villagers had filled in the village wells before leaving, so Wang Zhong had to order men to dig temporary wells to get water for cooking. Realizing that taking Xiaopei by night was no longer possible, he sent scouts to relay information to Liu Dai, only to find that the other had met with a similar situation.

When a large army camps in the wild, they are always wary of night raids, but the night passed without incident.

At dawn, Wang Zhong received an arrow-letter from Liu Dai requesting reinforcements, stating that Liu Bei was leading his army to raid the camp and asking him to send troops to strike their rear; the first merit would be won this very day.

Wang Zhong was overjoyed to see the letter. He left his infantry to guard the baggage train and led his cavalry at full speed to reinforce Liu Dai.

Halfway there, the cavalry encountered a troop of soldiers. Just as the two sides were about to clash, they realized the others were Liu Dai's cavalry. Only after comparing arrow-letters did they realize they had been tricked, so they joined forces and headed for Liu Dai's camp.

When the two cavalry units arrived, the camp and baggage train had already been destroyed. Before long, remnants from Wang Zhong's camp also arrived to report that because Liu Bei's army had suddenly raided the camp, the grain and supplies had been burned, and the defending troops had scattered in all directions.

How could they fight after losing their grain and supplies? Liu Dai and Wang Zhong had no choice but to lead their troops back to Xudu, encountering an ambush by Liu Bei on the way and nearly being captured.

Liu Bei laughed loudly from behind, "A pack of rats like you—even if a hundred came, it would be the same. Whether Cao the Rebel himself comes, that remains to be seen."

Liu Dai and Wang Zhong dared not respond; they could only whip their horses and flee in a panic, with only a hundred or so riders remaining.

After his victory, Liu Bei was quite proud of himself. He even had Guan Yu recount the battle report to Lan Ziyu, expressing that the great war between Yuan and Cao was about to begin and that he intended to march west into Yu Province to coordinate with Yuan Shao.

After hearing this, Lan Ziyu advised Guan Yu, "Cao Cao is a man of cunning and many schemes. He will surely use diversionary tactics to tie down Yuan Shao first, and only after eliminating threats in his rear will he engage in a decisive battle. Brother-in-law must never lower his guard."

"Ziyu's words are very sound. I shall write a letter to send to Big Brother immediately," Guan Yu said.

Upon receiving Guan Yu's letter, Liu Bei said to Mi Zhu, "Lan Ziyu is overly cautious. Not to mention the threat from my route in Xu Province, there is still Zhang Xiu causing trouble south of Xudu. Once Yuan Benchu engages him, our several armies can attack Xudu together, and we will surely be able to save the Emperor from his plight."

Mi Zhu nodded and said, "Lan Ziyu also means well. My Lord still needs to recruit troops and horses to actively prepare for war."

"I understand this. Are you familiar with Zang Xuangao? Can you persuade him to surrender?" Liu Bei asked.

Mi Zhu shook his head and said, "Although he served as a Cavalry Commandant under Governor Tao, he has always acted alone because he holds heavy military power. It will not be easy to persuade him to surrender."

While the two were discussing Zang Ba, he had already received orders from Cao Cao to invade Qing Province to prevent Yuan Shao's army from launching a pincer attack from the east.

In the ninth month, Cao Cao left the great general Yu Jin to station troops on the south bank of the Yellow River to monitor the north, and also divided his forces to hold Guandu north of Xudu, after which he returned to Xudu to prepare for the battle against Yuan Shao.

By this time, Liu Dai and Wang Zhong had returned to Xudu in defeat, kneeling at the Prime Minister's residence to await Cao Cao's punishment.

Cao Cao had been in Liyang at the time, and his deployment of troops had not been fully considered; he believed it was his own fault for failing to judge his men correctly, so he merely stripped the two of their titles and salaries, ordering them to atone for their crimes through future service.

Upon hearing of Liu Bei's arrogant remarks, Cao Cao was furious and wanted to personally lead an army east to conquer Xu Province.

All the generals advised him, "The one currently contending with you for the world is Yuan Shao. Now that the great army of Hebei is pressing on our borders, if you instead march east to conquer Liu Bei, what will you do if Yuan Shao takes the opportunity to attack?"

Because of the dissuasion of his generals, Cao Cao had no choice but to desist.

In the first month of the fifth year of Jian'an, the Girdle Edict affair was exposed. Cao Cao executed Dong Cheng, Wang Zifu, Zhong Ji, and others, exterminating their three clans.

Liu Bei, who was a co-conspirator in the Girdle Edict, surfaced, and the matter of the eastern expedition to Xu Province was once again placed on the agenda.