The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 684 The Conflicting Old Father

Jiangling.

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he saw the battle report sent by Guan Xing.

Guan Xing's bandit-suppression army marched at an exceptionally fast pace. One battle report was in Lingyang, the next it was in Yuanling, and the following one was in Zhaoling. They were truly moving from place to place after each battle, and they were in a different place every day.

At this speed, there's no way Zhang Zhao and his men could deliver the imperial edict to Liu Shan.

Even if it's sent to Liu Bei, there's no need to worry. Given the nature of Liu Shan, Guan Xing, and Zhang Bao, even if they receive the imperial edict, they'll probably try all sorts of ways to delay or even openly defy it.

These three scoundrels are absolutely capable of defying imperial orders. After all, they're not afraid of getting beaten up. They'll behave for less than three days after being beaten, and now that they're far from the capital and the emperor's reach is far away, it's good enough if they don't run wild and go crazy. Do you really expect them to behave?

Since there's no need to worry about Liu Shan being summoned back by imperial decree, we should worry about other things, such as Liu Shan's safety.

Parents often have conflicting thoughts: they want their children to succeed and be successful, but they also don't want their children to suffer and are afraid that they might get hurt.

Liu Bei was the same way. He had Liu Shan when he was forty-six years old. At that age, others were already grandfathers, but he was only now becoming a father. Naturally, he valued Liu Shan highly. He really treated him like a precious gem.

As an elderly father in his sixties, Liu Bei had no expectations for Liu Shan, only hoping that he would grow up happily.

But as emperor, he also hoped that Liu Shan, the crown prince, would behave like a monarch, and that Liu Shan would be as wise and powerful as emperors Wen, Jing, Wu, Xiao, and Xuan, becoming a great and ambitious emperor.

In summary, they wanted to raise Liu Shan like a hothouse flower, but also hoped he would be as resilient as wild grass that had weathered storms in the wild. They truly wanted both, creating an extreme contradiction.

Therefore, regarding Liu Shan's campaign against the bandits, Liu Bei was emotionally worried that Liu Shan was in danger and really wanted to recall him. However, rationally, he knew that this was a good opportunity for Liu Shan to go deep into the countryside, hone his abilities, experience the hardships of the people, and establish prestige in the army, and should not be given up.

With his mind conflicted, Liu Bei was at a loss and decided to simply let things unfold as they would.

However, this idea only lasted for a moment before he was caught up in the dilemma of whether or not to recall Liu Shan.

Fortunately, this time the struggle didn't last long because Zhuge Liang arrived.

Under Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang did not need to announce their arrival before entering the palace; they could simply walk in.

Zhuge Liang entered the hall and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, good news."

Liu Bei quickly composed himself and asked excitedly, "What's wrong? Did Anguo reply again?"

Zhuge Liang knew that Liu Bei was saying "An Guo" but thinking "A Dou" in his heart, so he comforted him, saying, "It won't be that fast, but Your Majesty doesn't need to worry. With An Guo by your side, and with Xing Guo, Jiang Wei, and Xia Tong, several fierce generals, your safety is guaranteed. Moreover, the three thousand troops that Your Majesty leads are all the best of the best, and they have been personally trained by An Guo for half a year. Not to mention bandits and outlaws, they are capable of protecting Your Majesty and helping you break through the encirclement even if you are surrounded by Cao Wei's tens of thousands of troops."

Using three thousand elite soldiers personally trained by Guan Xing to suppress bandits is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito; there's nothing to worry about.

Zhuge Liang strongly supported Guan Xing's use of bandits to train troops because he was the prime minister and the primary person in charge of governing the country and ensuring social stability. Bandits in various places occupied the mountains and blocked roads, preventing caravans from passing through easily. They were the culprits that hindered transportation and endangered social stability, and were targets that the court had to eliminate.

However, suppressing bandits is too difficult, mainly because the army's camp is too far from the bandit's den, and the cost of travel is too high. In addition, bandits are highly mobile, and even if they reach the bandit's den, they may not be able to find the bandits. In short, it is not only a waste of money, but also ineffective. Therefore, we need to plan for the long term.

Zhuge Liang originally planned to wait until the autumn harvest this year to have surplus grain before starting to suppress the bandits, but unexpectedly, Liu Shan and Guan Xing took over this task.

This is a good thing. First of all, Guan Xing is leading what he calls special forces, so there are fewer people and less consumption.

Secondly, this bandit suppression campaign is for the purpose of learning. Since it is for learning, there is no need to record military merits or give too much reward. You are using the resources of the court to learn your own skills. It is already good that the court has not asked you to pay tuition. Why would you want to ask the court for rewards?

Therefore, Zhuge Liang was eager for Liu Shan and Guan Xing to stay outside for a longer period of time so that they could wipe out all the bandits in the Jiangnan region.

Liu Bei laughed and said, "I believe Anguo has the ability, but since you didn't come here to talk about that, what other good news do you have?"

Zhuge Liang bowed and said, "Wang Fu just sent an urgent message, saying that Sima Yi is preparing to attack Liaodong. The Gongsun family of Liaodong knows that they are no match for him, so they sent Gongsun Yuan to ask for help. Gongsun Yuan came by sea. Before he left the Bohai Bay, he met Ji Jie, who was escorting a caravan. He then boarded Ji Jie's treasure ship and has now landed at the mouth of the Yangtze River. He should be able to reach Jiangling in five or six days at most."

Liu Bei slapped the table excitedly and said, "This is really good news, but we still need to see how to deal with it. We can't really send troops to support Liaodong, that's too far away."

Zhuge Liang said, "We must provide support. Cao Pi sent Sima Yi to attack Liaodong with the intention of a quick victory. We cannot do as he wishes. We must help the Gongsun family defend Liaodong and, ideally, drag this war into a protracted war, so that Cao Wei will be bogged down in a quagmire. This way, we can continuously deplete Cao Wei's national strength."

"However, sending troops directly to provide support is not feasible. Firstly, the journey is too long, and troops can only be transported by sea. How many can be sent that way?"

"Secondly, the Gongsun clan is not trustworthy. What if this war is a charade orchestrated by Cao Wei and the Gongsun clan, or what if the Gongsun clan suddenly surrenders to Cao Wei after the imperial army has passed by? Wouldn't the imperial army be like lambs to the slaughter?"

"Therefore, my suggestion is not to send troops, but to provide three kinds of support. First, we can provide food and weapons by sea. Second, we can help the Gongsun family train soldiers. We can have the Gongsun family send a batch of outstanding trainees to Anguo for training. After the training is completed, they can return to Liaodong to fight for the Gongsun family. Even if Liaodong is breached, these people can go to the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare."

"Finally, why not send a large army from Japan and let the Japanese soldiers serve as cannon fodder, as An Guo mentioned? What do you think, Your Majesty?"

The entire Central Plains lie between Jiangnan and Liaodong. If the Han army were to go directly to their aid, the Wei army would cut off the sea route, leaving the Han army trapped like turtles in a jar.

With a shortage of population, every soldier was extremely valuable. Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang would naturally not allow their soldiers to take such a risk, so sending troops directly was impossible.

However, they also wanted to use Liaodong to contain the Wei army and deplete its national strength. Moreover, although the position of governor of the Gongsun family was granted by Dong Zhuo, it was still nominally the governor of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bei was now the emperor of the Han Dynasty, so the Gongsun family was also his subject.

Although this subject may not be very loyal, and may even be thinking of betraying you at all times, the relationship between ruler and subject is still there. If you don't save the world, what will people think of you?

Since they didn't want to send troops but couldn't refuse to help, what could they do? They could only provide some material assistance. As for how long the Gongsun clan could hold out, it didn't matter. They hadn't expected them to do much anyway; they just wanted them to stay out of trouble.

Liu Bei pondered, "That's fine, but shouldn't we also make plans in advance to prepare for the future recapture of Liaodong?"

Zhuge Liang pondered, "Does Your Majesty intend to withdraw a portion of the special forces from Anguo to infiltrate Liaodong?"