Chapter 372 (2/2)

“Two choices?”

“The first choice is for Milord to retreat back to Yuzhou with the Xiliang Cavalry and recuperate until the next harvesting season!” Retreating back to Yuzhou was one method as although Liu Bei had obtained the Xiliang Cavalry, his army would still be less powerful compared to the time he attacked Yangzhou with Qingzhou Army, Yuzhou Yellow Turbans and the White Eared Soldiers.

Besides that, the next harvesting season would be in about half a year while training the new recruits would take about a year. A lot of things would have changed during that time. It may not even be possible for fight for the Central Plains anymore as Liu Bei may also need to deal with Cao Cao.

“The military strategist is truly good at strategems. An entire year of effort only to lose countless soldiers. I wonder if Shuzhi3 would come to find you in your dreams if he knew of your stratagem.” Sun Qian immediately ridiculed Pang Tong the moment he heard the first stratagem. An army of thirty five thousand went out for war but only three thousand injured men returned. Although he obtained thirty eight thousand of the Xiliang Cavalry. Although there were more troops compared to before, what they needed for war were provisions. After so many years at Yuzhou, the savings Liu Pi had given them were already used up. It was not only the loss of provisions but also the loss of Chen Dao and the White Eared Soldiers. The Xiliang Cavalry could not make up for these losses.

Liu Bei felt Sun Qian’s sarcasm as this was also something he himself wanted to say. Liu Bei also did not want to withdraw from Nanyang as it could at least be a consolation prize even if he did not manage to take Yangzhou. Nanyang was also a fertile land that used to have several cities. Wancheng (Nanyang district) itself has a huge population of talented people such as Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu. However, all of these people moved to Jingzhou when Zhang Xiu obtained Nanyang.

Although the population have dropped, the land still remained fertile. That was why Liu Bei refused to give up Nanyang so easily. Nanyang alone was worth half of Yuzhou.

Pang Tong also did not want this to happen. If they withdrew from Nanyang, Liu Bei would definitely have no chance to compete for the Central Plains. “In that case, the second option is to get people to send the provisions over from Yuzhou.” Provisions would be needed for both feeding the soldiers and also as a reward for those that switched allegiances.

“Haha. And here I was, wondering what kind of master plan you have. If it is just about taking provisions from Yuzhou, everybody here knows how to implement it! The Yuzhou right now is exhausted. Did you think it was like the Yuzhou in the past?” Sun Qian took this opportunity to attack Pang Tong again. When they first went out on expedition, Yuzhou was full of provisions. They may not have as much as Nanyang but they had at least two hundred thousand provisions. After fighting for Yangzhou, the Liu Bei’s Army truly became about to collapse. There was only about fifty thousand provisions left at Runan. One must also not forget that there are also troops at Runan. Taking away their provisions may start a rebellion. Their neighbour Cao Ren would certainly not let such a good opportunity go.

“Who said I wanted to take provisions from Runan?” When it comes to military matters, even ten Sun Qian’s would not be able to be a match for Pang Tong. That was why Pang Tong treated Sun Qian with disdain. If Sun Qian was able to keep his mouth shut or not attempt to threaten Pang Tong’s position, it was possible for Pang Tong to end up friends with him. Unfortunately, Sun Qian does not know his place so Pang Tong would not be good natured to him. Sun Qian was allowed to be Liu Bei’s number one civil official but he should learn how to step aside once Pang Tong was around. If Sun Qian remains overconfident, he should also be prepared to die.

Pang Tong looked at Sun Qian with disdain and ridicule as if saying that he, Pang Tong, could think of things Sun Qian could never think of.

“You!” Sun Qian’s anger rose but fortunately, he was someone who could be considered to have died once. If he were to quarrel with Pang Tong in front of Liu Bei, the one that would lose would be him. In the end, he decided to endure so that he would not lose the favourable impression he had just earned.

“Milord. My stratagem is to ask for provisions from the people!” Pang Tong suggested.

“The people?” Liu Bei was stunned. There were several hundred thousand in Xuzhou, most of which had been tricked by Liu Bei to follow him. If Liu Bei were to take provisions from them, his reputation would be finished. His reputation had been obtained with the blood of countless soldiers and decades of effort. No matter what, he was not able to trade it away for provisions.

“Milord. I am not saying we should rob them!” Pang Tong understood Liu Bei’s hesitation.

“What do you mean?” Liu Bei questioned.

“We will simply borrow it!” Pang Tong replied with a smile. “Milord’s benevolence is well known and the people at Yuzhou are extremely thankful of you!” With the citizens of Xuzhou brainwas.h.i.+ng the others, the citizens of Yuzhou also started to believe in Liu Bei’s benevolence. If Cao Cao wanted to do the same thing, the people would disapprove as Cao Cao had killed plenty of citizens before. On the other hand, Liu Bei who is the model example of a respectable person could easily obtain provisions. After all, the citizens at Xuzhou were already willing to throw away their lives to protect Liu Bei physically. In comparison, giving away their provisions is nothing. “However, Milord will need to personally go and ask for it.”

“Of course! With my Yuzhou in desolation, how am I supposed to pacify the lands of the Han? The Sage King deceived the people and the Emperor is controlled by the traitorous Cao! The bitterness and hards.h.i.+ps of saving the great Han dynasty! Taking provisions from my people is not my true wis.h.!.+ I will reimburse them double the provisions taken!” Of course, this was not possible. Liu Bei had already planned to only return a small portion of the provisions taken and not return the rest. After that, he planned to find a scapegoat and blame him for corruption. Liu Bei and Pang Tong both laughed as the thought about it.

Sun Qian would certainly not allow Pang Tong to remain proud. “Milord. You may be benevolent and the people would be willing to give you provisions but how much provisions could they have?” Sun Qian’s words immediately gave Liu Bei something to think about.

“Hm?” Pang Tong looked at Sun Qian with a frown. He had a bad feeling about this as he did not think about this small matter.

“Hmph!” Sun Qian sneered with disdain when he saw Pang Tong’s frown. Although Pang Tong was knowledgeable he was still only a young man who have not reach the age of twenty. He is also the second son of the large Pang Family who lived in extravagance since young. How was he to notice the hards.h.i.+ps of the common people?

During those years, it was good harvest if the people could obtain four hundred catties4 of provisions per acre of land. As Yuzhou had once belonged to the poverty stricken Liu Pi, the taxes had remained the same which was sixty percent. That was why the people did not have much and everything was rationed. If they have a bad harvest, the prosperous ones could only have about a hundred catties while the less prosperous ones could only give five catties at best.

Pang Tong’s stratagem was good but it was not something that could be done repeatedly. The people did not have much to give. They could be considered lucky if they even managed to obtain ten thousand s.h.i.+6. Yet, that amount was only enough to alleviate the immediate crisis. They would also need to reward the Xiliang Cavalry which was a huge expense they could not possible obtain from the people.

“Gongyou’s words are reasonable!” Liu Bei frowned. It was true that the people were not prosperous. The people were impoverished because they did not have enough food. If they had enough to eat, they wouldn’t have become Yellow Turbans in the first place. However, Pang Tong saw them as though they were n.o.bles, giving a wrong estimate. The people could only help a little but would not be able to save them.

“Milord. I have a plan.” Sun Qian who already decided on managing finances definitely needed to find ways to increase Liu Bei’s income.

“Oh, Gongyou. You have not even rested up yet ever since coming to Nanyang but you already have a plan for me?” Liu Bei was happy that Sun Qian had a plan for him to use. Liu Bei still had feelings for Sun Qian. He had obtained Sun Qian from the great scholar Zheng Xuan. At that time, he was still managing Xiaopei in Xuzhou. Zheng Xuan had recommended to him because Sun Qian was good at management and Xiaopei would grow with his help. Sun Qian did not let Liu Bei feel disappointed. With Sun Qian helping out at Xiaopei, Liu Bei was able to pacify Xuzhou.

It was not that Zheng Xuan refused to give Liu Bei a better strategist. However, Liu Bei only had one territory at that time. He was not able to recommend anybody else. After obtaining Xuzhou, Sun Qian became inadequate. However, he would still be able to keep the peace. Even if he would not have any achievements, there would also be no problems.

Unfortunately, Lu Bu attacked and chased Liu Bei away. How was Sun Qian supposed to deal with a top strategist like Chen Gong and the G.o.d of War?

After that defeat, many scholars left Liu Bei for Lu Bu. Only Sun Qian remained loyal. Only Sun Qian stuck with him through trials and tribulations. That was why Liu Bei still had feelings for Sun Qian. Now, Sun Qian was also able to poke holes in Pang Tong’s reasoning. This gave Liu Bei a new found respect for Sun Qian.

“Milord. Taking from the people could only delay us from this crisis. If we truly want to solve this problem, we must borrow from someone else!”

If they were not to take from the common people, they could only take from the n.o.bles. That being said, were there still any n.o.bles left at Yuzhou? Even if there were, they would be his generals or family members. Liu Pi had already wiped them out long ago when taking provisions in the past.

“Why must we take from Yuzhou and Nanyang? The world is big and prosperous. With Yuan Shao on the verge of defeat, Cao Mengde would lend us provisions as well!” Sun Qian said and then looked at Pang Tong. Pang Tong furrowed his brows and had a bad feeling.

“If I am not wrong, the Military Minister’s Pang Family is at the s.h.i.+ling district of Jingzhou.”

_______

Sun Qian claims to have ‘taken’/’been influenced by’ Liu Bei’s good fortune which is why he is still alive.

狗腿子 Which means henchman/faithful follower, things like that. The word ‘gou’ means dog. Troublesome people. You are either disloyal traitorous sc.u.m or faithful follower (dog). There is no winning in life.

Chen Dao for those who forgot (like me)

Half a kilogram. Provisions is counted differently here for some reason.

Tried to avoid using s.h.i.+/stones/koku for so long but the lack of a unit bothers me too much. 石. On Wikipedia, the most reliable yet unreliable source for all knowledge, 石 could be measured by volume or ma.s.s. One石of rice weigh about 150kg[volume] or 31 kg[ma.s.s]. It is likely the ma.s.s measurement is used for this story because Han Dynasty but [volume] is more widely used in general as I can’t seem to find [ma.s.s] in English. Also, each [volume] is ‘enough rice to feed one person for one year’. Too lazy to do the math. Just going to say s.h.i.+ from now on if i really need to.

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