Chapter 46 2. Gongsun Du and Liu Biao

Before introducing Cao Cao's next move, there are two more people to explain: Gongsun Du and Liu Biao. Gongsun Du, with the style name Shengji, was originally from Xiangping County, Liaodong County, the Governor of Youzhou. When his father Gongsun Yan was around, he fled to Xuantu County (where the government is located in today's Shenyang, Liaoning) in order to escape. fellow countrymen.Gongsun Du was named Gongsun Bao when he was a child, and this name brought him good luck. Gongsun Yan's family living in Xuantu County lived a precarious life away from home, working everywhere, and it was impossible to send their son Gongsundu to school.The prefect of Xuantu County was called Gongsun, and he had a son named Gongsun Bao, who was about the same age as Gongsun Du. Help him marry a wife and treat him like his own son.

Gongsun Du was later recommended to the imperial court as a clerk (Shang Shulang) at Shangshutai. Later, relying on his own efforts, he was promoted step by step, and the highest was the governor of Jizhou. Later, he was dismissed because of other things. Gongsundu and Xu Rong are not only from the same hometown, but also have a very good relationship. After Xu Rong defeated Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian in a row, he was deeply trusted by Dong Zhuo.Before and after Dong Zhuo moved his capital to Chang'an, he considered appointing a group of people to serve in the local area, with the purpose of infiltrating into the territory of the Kwantung Allied Army.Xu Rong got the news and strongly recommended his fellow villager Gongsun Du as the prefect of Liaodong County.

Liaodong County is roughly equivalent to the entire Liaodong Peninsula today. The government is located in Gongsundu’s hometown, Xiangping County (now Liaoyang, Liaoning). So strict.Gongsundu took office, but the start was not smooth. As an official at the gate of the house, many people know him well. They think that this family used to nod and bow when they saw everyone here. How did they suddenly become masters?Some people can't accept it psychologically, and they are a bit unconvinced. Gongsun Zhao, the magistrate of Xiangping County, is such a person. Gongsun Du thought, he had to find something to gain his prestige, and he chose Gongsun Zhao as his target.He found a fault, arrested Gongsun Zhao, publicly tried and sentenced him in the market, and beat Gongsun Zhao to death.

This is not enough, Gongsun Du launched a campaign against criminals, killing the local lawless tyrants and evil forces, and wiped out more than a hundred tyrants including Tian Shao (destroyed more than a hundred families), and the whole county was shocked. No one dared to Challenge him.Gongsun Du also rectified the troops and attacked the Wuhuan people and Goguryeo people in Xuantu County with great momentum. Liaodong is far away from the mainland, so even though Liu Yu, the shepherd of Youzhou, is Gongsundu's immediate boss, he has no power to control him.When Gongsundu gained strength, he started local autonomy and continued to develop his power to the surrounding areas. He established new counties and counties, appointed prefects by himself, and became an independent kingdom.

At the same time that Gongsun Du went to the Northeast to take office, Dong Zhuo also appointed a governor of Jingzhou, Liu Biao. Liu Biao has been introduced earlier. He and Wang Chang, one of the current three princes, are both from Shanyang Kingdom (now in Shandong). Wang Chang is his teacher. one.When He Jin came to power, he had great trust in Liu Biao and appointed him as the chief of staff of the Northern Army (Zhonghou of the Northern Army). Judging from Liu Biao's political orientation, he has a normal relationship with Yuan Shao and others. In addition, he is a relative of the Liu family and is loyal to the court.Dong Zhuo took a fancy to this point. When Yuan Shu, Sun Jian and others were about to control Jingzhou, he appointed Liu Biao as the governor of Jingzhou.Dong Zhuo hoped that this capable person would come to Jingzhou to stir things up and cause trouble for Yuan Shu and Sun Jian.

Liu Biao went to Jingzhou alone, and the results he achieved far exceeded Dong Zhuo's expectations. It didn't take long to squeeze Yuan Shu and Sun Jian's forces out of Jingzhou, and killed Sun Jian. A book called "Strategy" written by Sima Biao has a detailed account of Liu Biao's entrepreneurial process.At that time, there were many self-respecting people in the Jingzhou generation, not to mention Yuan Shu and Sun Jian, but also Su Dai, Bei Yu, Zhang Hu, Chen Sheng, Kuai Yue, Pang Ji, Cai Mao, Huang Zu and others.The headquarters of the Jingzhou Governor's Department was originally in Hanshou (near Changde, Hunan Province today). Liu Biao first went to Yicheng alone, and his old friend Kuai Yue, who had worked with him in the mansion of General He Jin, was here.

With the support of Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, Cai Mao, Pang Ji, Huang Zu and others all came to join Liu Biao.Liu Biao asked them about the strategy for acquiring the entire Jingzhou. Kuai Liang believed that the key to acquiring Jingzhou was to acquire Nanjun, and the key to acquiring Nanjun was to acquire Xiangyang. As long as Xiangyang was kept, the government was benevolent, and the people settled down, the other counties of Jingzhou could be passed on. The Kuai family and the Cai family were very powerful in Xiangyang. With their assistance, Liu Biao quickly controlled most of Nanjun, leaving only Zhang Hu and Chen Sheng to guard Xiangyang.Kuai Yue and Pang Ji entered the city and persuaded them to surrender. Liu Biao succeeded in occupying Nanjun.

Liu Biao simply moved the headquarters of the Jingzhou Governor's Department to Xiangyang instead of Hanshou.As Kuai Liang analyzed, after Nanjun was pacified, Jiangxia County, Changsha County, Wuling County, Lingling County, and Guiyang County in Jingzhou all surrendered to Liu Biao. Among the seven counties in Jingzhou, only Nanyang County was controlled by Yuan Shu. under. At this time, Yuan Shu was in Luyang, and Sun Jian made a northern expedition. The coalition forces captured Luoyang and drove Dong Zhuo to Guanzhong. Sun Jian was preparing to pursue the victory.Liu Biao, who had just arrived in Jingzhou, made Yuan Shu very unhappy. At the same time, Yuan Shao also made a small move behind his back, appointing Zhou Ang as the governor of Yuzhou, and came to grab the territory.Faced with these new situations, Yuan Shu ordered Sun Jian to return to the army quickly to discuss countermeasures.

It seems that Dong Zhuo's placement of Liu Biao behind Yuan Shu and Sun Jian was really a clever move, and it really helped him out of the siege at the critical moment. According to the book "Wu Lu" written by Zhang Bo, a native of Jin, when Sun Jian heard that Yuan Shao sent Zhou Ang to grab the territory, he was so sad that he shed tears.He said: "Let's raise righteous soldiers together to save the country. Dong Zhuo's rebels are about to perish. Who else can join hands with me (who should I fight with)?" Sun Jian returned to the army and sent troops to meet Zhou Ang. Zhou Ang was defeated.Yuan Shu and Sun Jian jointly dealt with Liu Biao in the south.

In the second year of Chuping (191), Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to attack Xiangyang, and Liu Biao sent his general Huang Zu to meet him in Fancheng and Deng County.Huang Zu was defeated, and Sun Jian led his army across the Han River and surrounded Xiangyang. Liu Biao stayed behind closed doors and did not fight. At the same time, he sent Huang Zu out of the city at night to mobilize troops to fight again, but was defeated again.Huang Zu was defeated and fled to Mount Xian in the western suburbs of Xiangyang. On the way to pursue Sun Jian, he was attacked by Huang Zu's subordinates who fired hidden arrows from among the bamboo forests.

Chen Shou's evaluation of Sun Jian is: brave and resolute, he started to fight from the bottom of the society, established his achievements, persuaded Zhang Wen to kill Dong Zhuo, and repaired the palace tomb after recovering Luoyang.But Chen Shou also pointed out that Sun Jian, like his son Sun Ce, acted recklessly and violently (both frivolous and reckless), so that he died in an accident, which led to the failure of the entire business. When Sun Jian died, his eldest son, Sun Ce, who was far away in Shu County, was only sixteen years old, and his second son, Sun Quan, was nine years old.With the support of Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang and other veteran subordinates who have followed Sun Jian for many years, Sun Ce grew up rapidly and took on the important task of continuing to write the family glory. The death of Sun Jian was a heavy blow to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu was essentially a playboy. Although he was more ambitious than anyone else, his actual talents were limited.When Sun Jian was there, Yuan Shu could stay in Luyang's lair all day long and enjoy his success. Now that Sun Jian is gone, he dare not attack rashly. He should defend Nanyang County first to see the situation. In this way, the Jingzhou Governor's Department, except for Nanyang County, was in the hands of Liu Biao.