The surging Great River crossed Pingyuan Commandery in northern Qingzhou, then thundered onward into Bohai.
After swiftly routing several remnant forces on the Northern Bank of the Great River, Liu Bei's Army crossed straight south. South of the Great River lay two extremely important commandery-level kingdoms of Qingzhou.
Le'an Kingdom and Jinan Kingdom.
Amid the Later Han dynasty's general trend toward reducing kingdoms, Qingzhou was an exception. Kingdoms, duchies, and marquisate states occupied most of its land.
Besides the two kingdoms on the southern bank of the Great River, there were the kingdoms of Jiaodong, North Sea, Jibei, and Jidong, along with such duchies and marquisates as the Qi Duchy and Marquis Lü State.
Although Marquis Ying's Marquisate was primarily active in Yanzhou, it also fell within Qingzhou's administrative boundaries and occupied a vital chokepoint on a tributary of the Si River.
Though a typical wandering army, Liu Bei's Army possessed considerable strength.
Back when he was in Zhuo Commandery, the wealthy local merchants Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang had provided him with money and goods out of admiration.
After he parted ways with Gongsun Zan and left Zhuo Commandery, the two great merchants had again supplied him with a substantial sum of gold and silver, along with horses.
By the time he entered the capital of Jinan Kingdom, the troops under his command numbered over three thousand. Most were sturdy men skilled in mounted archery whom he had recruited along the way from Youzhou.
His military officers included Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun. Liu Bei himself was also a formidable fighter, and in engagements involving fewer than ten thousand men, his instincts were exceptionally keen; he could always make the most appropriate response.
Among his civil advisers was the quite talented Jian Yong, currently Liu Bei's only