Chapter 139 - Reactions to the Noble Massacre in Wancheng City (1)
Translated by Bloodfalcon, Edited by Krayto
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Cao Cao's POV
There are many events happening almost the same time in this nation, Wancheng city has been cleaned up of its internal rebellion, the Zhou clan is cornered in Shucheng County and on its last leg. The biggest news came from Jing Province, it said that when Liu Biao of Jing Province learned of Sun Ce's retreat to his main HQ, he quickly increased their troops in order to quickly expel Zhou Yu out of Jiangxia, and now they are in a stalemate due to Zhou Yu's deft strategies in spite of being outnumbered.
The second event was that Big-eared Liu was expelled from Xu Province for the second time after expelled he was expelled by Lu Bu quite some time ago.
This time due under pressure of his grain and provisions depleting, Old Cao did not pull any punches fighting Liu Bei. He sent out all of his elites, including the newly-reformed Ferocious Cavalry. Liu Bei could not defend nor counter-attack due to severe lack of personnel who were willing to fight for him.
Although he had several tens thousands soldiers under him, all of them were remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion that was reformed and called then renamed the Qing Province soldiers which was forcefully taken from Cao Cao. They did not have sense of belonging toward Liu Bei, so naturally they were fighting half-heartedly and that was the cause of Liu Bei's defeat.
Liu Bei who was expelled out of Xu Province, quickly asked the commoners of Pengcheng County and Xiapi to leave Cao Cao. In their eyes, Liu Bei was a benevolent ruler, so they quickly followed him to escape like at Changban. At the surface it is showed his benevolence toward the world, but the truth is those commoners became his meat shield in order to slow down the enemy advance, further demonizing Cao Cao.
TL: Battle of Changban, Dynasty Warriors players should be familiar, when Zhao Yun rescued Liu Shan and when Zhang Fei bellowed his challenge
When Liu Bei saw Old Cao withdraw his offense, he quickly ordered those commoners to disperse and return to their own home. Meanwhile, Liu Bei also seized this opportunity to bring several thousand elites with the Qing Province soldiers to look shelter in Yu Province's capital Runan, taking shelter under Liu Pi.
Yuan Shao also became more aggressive toward Old Cao. He demanded Old Cao to give the Han Emperor to him, demanding Old Cao to resign from being regent, and finally demanded that he surrender along with his civil and military officials.
The massacre in Wancheng city naturally gathered huge attention in this nation, unable to hide the truth.
32 nobles clan that participated in the rebellion was cut down by Liu Mang, including servants and private soldiers. 32 surnames perished from the world.
Wancheng city currently had 30,000 families with population of 150,000 people. During rebellion, 5000 families were decimated by noble's private soldiers. During massacre, Liu Mang had killed more than 10,000 families including the noble’s main family and branch families with the elderly, infants and women.
Wancheng city's moat was filled with blood.
“Eh, all the nobles killed was by His Highness Prince of Shu?!” Cao Cao who had returned to his main HQ in Xu Du, after pacifying Xu Province, was now really stunned in disbelief when he read this Intel.
Cao Cao then recalled the events regarding Liu Mang the “Prince of Shu is Liu Mang right? Is not he just a weakly scholar like Fengxiao (Guo Jia)? Alright, I admit, he had a very poisonous tongue, he almost made me vomit blood in Kaiyang! But that person was a very frail young man. He was definitely unable to commit this!!! Was it a miscalculation for me, to seal him as the Prince of Shu?” Originally, he sealed Liu Mang as the Prince of Shu in order for Lu Bu to kill him. Now that plan had failed and the incoming Intel stated that the Prince of Shu killed 32 noble clans including their branch clans. More than 10,000 families, with a population of more than 40,000 people, was killed in this weak scholar's hand.
Cao Cao really did not think that this Prince of Shu dared to kill people.
The reason why Cao Cao was regarded as a mass-murderer is because when Cao Song was murdered in Xu Province, Cao Cao led his army to destroy 3 counties in Xu Province to serve only as a warning to Tao Qian. Those three counties are only small counties, and only held at least 1000 families each; none of them being major nobles.
Even still, such an act rewarded him the title of mass-murderer; the black-hearted monster. Now, Liu Mang murdered 32 noble clans which comprised of 10,000 families, what title would he get?
Truly the biggest event now is in Lujiang Prefecture, the entirety of Lujiang now only had 6 noble clans. Wancheng city only had Liu clan, Lu clan, Han clan and Xu clan and the four of them was led by Liu clan. Jiashi County only had 2 clans. The other, was decimated completely.
“Really, this is really out of my expectation, this Liu Mang, Liu Hanyang!!!” Guo Jia replied to Cao Cao. This is the third time that Cao Cao mentioned this person.
During Xiapi, he managed to scheme Lu Bu's escape to the point of managing to destroy the four armies Wei, Song, Yu and Xiahou by his words alone. In the end, Wei Xu and Song Xian returned to Lu Bu's side to hold Cao army off. That act alone truly made Guo Jia surprised to no end.
During Kaiyang, he managed to anger Cao Cao until he was unable to think of any strategies. At that time, Guo Jia had concluded that this Prince of Shu is a character that is deft in strategies and a person who is very good in argument. Now he was really surprised that this Prince of Shu is a decisive character that is able to kill.
“Hmm, Hmm!!!” Guo Jia is humming as if truly commending this His Highness Prince of Shu. This Prince of Shu is decisive, once he says to kill, he did not back out on words at all. The heads that he just killed amounted to several stories high.
Sometime ago, when Lu Bu killed the Chen clan, he had expected that there would be a change in Wancheng city's noble status, but he never thought the change would be like this! And the one who made this big change is His Highness Prince of Shu, eradicating those who had rebelled.
This Prince of Shu is either courageous or cruel-hearted, offending Jiangdong's nobles. But looking at the bigger perspective, this must be one of the Prince of Shu's bigger plans for the future.
In any case, Jiangdongs nobles and Lu Bu’s army will never be in harmony. They are always guarded against each other. So, might as well eradicate all of them. The most surprising one is that Liu Mang did not kill those who did not participate in rebellion.
The Liu clan, Han clan, Lu clan and Xu clan still existed and all helping to clean up the rebellion. This kind of publicity stunt can also become an advertisement for Lu Bu’s army.
The message stated “Stay beside me, and you will gain riches and prosper. Stand against me, and you will all perish!!!”
This can make, those nobles who supported Sun Ce army and oppose Lu Bu’s army scared until they are unable to make any decisions to or provide or support Sun Ce, for fear they will be eliminated like those of Wancheng city.
“This is also one of strategies against Jiangdong's Little Conqueror, so he is preoccupied with Lujiang!!!” Guo Jia concluded. Guo Jia's assessment is that Old Cao's threats are Big-eared Liu and Jiangdong's Little Conqueror with Sun Ce as the bigger threat than Liu Bei now.
Liu Bei is a truly restless lord. After winning Cao Cao's trust, he quickly rebelled and snatched Xu Province. If he was patient and waited for 10 years, building his forces and then betray Cao Cao his betrayal would have had a better outcome. But he did not, and now he suffered the consequences, being kicked out of Xu Province.
This second enemy was Sun Ce. When he was stationed at Lujiang, he just remained motionless, waiting for Cao Cao to do battle at Guandu. When Guo Jia saw his moves, he realized that his ambition is not small and prudent in his actions and can be one of Cao Cao's greatest enemy. Even Guo Jia had offered many strategies to battle Sun Ce, but now, those plans were useless, because Sun Ce had been halted by Lu Bu.
If one wants to halt a tiger, you can only use a tiger to fight another tiger. This time the one who halted Sun Ce is the mighty tiger Lu Bu. One can just wait until they are finished fighting and collect the spoils for themselves.
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Liu Biao's POV
In Jing Province's capital Xiangyang
“Hahahaha, nice, nice!!!” Cai Mao and Zhang Yun who were looking at the Intel are laughing loudly, speaking to the middle-aged man who was seated at the seat of honor while holding their fists “Milord, be happy, this is a very good news for us!!!”
“HUMPH!!!! What good news?!!!” the nearby middle-aged general had a lot of contempt for Lu Bu after losing at Huangzhou city. “Both of them are our enemies, including Sun Ce. Don't forget we took Sun Jian's life and my son at the hands of Lu Bu. No matter who wins, we will not have good results to our Jing Province. That is for certain!!!”
“General Huang, do not lose your temper. Lend your ear to Mao's explanation!!!” That middle-aged general is Huang Zu, he was recalled back to Jing Province because he had failed to defend his Jiangxia and was replaced by Wen Ping. He truly angry, because he just made two mortal enemies. One mortal enemy was the Sun clan who had already given him big troubles, now adding Lu Bu who currently had possession of his captured son. Huang Zu will not have good impressions on both of them.
Cai Mao really did not care whether Jiangxia lost or not, because that is not his domain. That is Huang clan's domain. His domain in Xiangyang and his clan is the oldest noble. He can also see Liu Biao is not a wise lord, but he is the master of Jing Province. What Cai Mao and others were doing now, was waiting for any side who can offer the better price in order for Cai clan to rise further.
However now, Sun Ce had now become much more aggressive and has overcome half of Jiangxia. If he managed to reach Xiangyang, the Cai clan will also die because Cai Mao was also involved in killing Sun Jian. Currently the Huang clan of Jiangxia was in a dire state for they are the last defense against Jiangdong's Little Conqueror.
“General Huang Zu, open your mind and hear my explanation carefully. Now that Lu Bu’s army has killed the majority of the nobles in Wancheng city, it can be said he has lost favor with Jiangdong's nobles! Without the support of the local nobles, one can be said to be rootless in that particular land. Moreover, Lu Bu has offended Sun Ce was impossible to be harmonious again. So, the enemy of our enemy is our friend!!!” Cai Mao explained.
“HUMPH!!! Is not Lu Bu also an enemy?!” Huang Zu is muddle-headed, because according to Cai Mao's speech, they must form an alliance with Lu Bu.
“GENERAL HUANG ZU, PATIENCE, I AM NOT FINISHED MY SPEECH!!!” Although the Huang clan has lost its prestige because of Huang Zu's loss, Cai Mao was still giving Huang Zu face.
“Offending Jiangdong's nobles is not as bad as offending this nation's nobles! If Jiangdong's nobles spread the news that Lu Bu is a mass-murderer and the nobles enemies, what do you think the effect will have on Lu Bu’s army?!”
What kind of effect will it have...? Huang Zu quickly understood.
If Jiangdong's nobles screamed the news, nobody will want to help Lu Bu’s army. Counselors and strategists usually come from noble families. Along with that, teachers who raise the future generation would not want to associate themselves with them. Lu Bu’s army being pinned as mass murderers and demons, they will not help them as they will be an accomplice to disasters and murders.
With a reputation like that, even commoners will not join such an army. When Lu Bu’s army comes, commoners will see that as a god of death and will recognized them as an enemy and definitely will defend their city or counties to the death, because of fear.
With Lu Bu army not being able to obtain new soldiers and officials, they will perish quickly.
“Are you thinking of?!” Huang Zu thought of something.
“That is correct! We of Jing Province’s major nobles need to beautify Lu Bu’s army and help justify their name. We should spread the news that the 32 nobles were cut down because they rebelled against Lu Bu’s army. Those nobles defied their superiors so Lu Bu’s army had no other choice but to counter-attack!!!” This was Cai Mao's idea.
“Will this give us an advantage?!” Liu Biao opened his mouth. He is the master of Jing Province and he is also a Han Dynasty clansmen and definitely one of the largest nobles. If he opened his mouth to restore Lu Bu’s army's reputation, then all of nobles will comply with his decision.
“Milord! With this, we will be on good terms with Lu Bu army?!” Cai Mao explained again.
“Good terms with Lu Bu army?!” Do you want to form an alliance with them? You are out of your mind, he is the enemy. He just conquered my Huangzhou city and captured Huang She!” Huang Zu rejected that idea.
“General Huang, I did not say anything about making alliance with Lu Bu army!” Cai Mao said it while smiling “We only need to beautify and restore their reputation, no more than that. And with that, Lu Bu’s army will definitely thank us profusely for it!”
“What use is your scheme this time, brother Degui? Will it wash our hands off the battlefield?!” Huang Zu questioned.
TL: Degui is Cai Mao's courtesy name
“Oh, the use is very big. Washing our hand off the battlefield is not possible, but at least we have secured Huang She’s safety. Moreover, Lu Bu’s army is stronger than Sun Ce and can pin down Sun Ce for quite a long time. We can also make Zhang Xiu of Wan Castle to help restore this Marquis of Wen's reputation. With this, we can have a guard dog on our north gate and east gate!”
Lu Bu is more powerful than Sun Ce. With Sun Ce being pinned down, Jiangxia will be able to return to our hands and our Jing Province can become the overlord of south China.