Ji City.
This had originally been the seat of Youzhou's government, but after Gongsun Zan suffered two defeats at Yuan Shao's hands, fear had taken root in his heart.
Although Ji City was a great city founded as far back as the Yellow Emperor's time, it stood on the same plain as Jizhou. In other words, against an army attacking from the south, Ji City, like Ye City, had no natural defenses to hold.
Gongsun Zan wanted to move the seat of government, using the Yan Mountain range to block any Hebei army that might appear.
But Liu Yu was the rightful Governor of Youzhou!
Liu Yu refused to move the seat of government because Youzhou was not a major grain-producing province of the Central Plains like Jizhou or Qingzhou. Its output already struggled to support its own commanderies; it was barely keeping afloat.
Moving the seat of government would itself consume enormous manpower and resources, and maintaining the political center afterward would require a constant expenditure of vast resources.
In Liu Yu's eyes, that would only bring all of Youzhou crashing down. He could never agree to sacrifice the entire province for Gongsun Zan's selfish desires.
Youzhou's great clans naturally stood with Liu Yu. A man lost his standing when he left his native soil; given a choice, almost no great clan wanted to build its fortunes elsewhere.
Under these circumstances, the conflict between Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu deepened. Neither would bow to the other, and swords were increasingly drawn and bows bent.
This conflict reached its peak when Liu Yu returned from Zhao City.
Attending the alliance gathering with the feudal lords in Zhao City had won Liu Yu immense political prestige. He was already an official of the Three Excellencies' rank, having long since reached the