Chương 391: The Debate

The banquet hall was brightly lit, and the aroma of wine and meat filled the air.

Liu Ce sat in the main seat, raised his wine cup, and said loudly:

"Gentlemen! In this battle, we have captured the four provinces of Guandong and pacified Liangzhou... Most of the north is now in our hands!"

The generals cheered in unison.

Liu Ce continued:

"This battle was well fought! But it's not because I, Liu Ce, am so great, it's because of you all! Jingde, Shubao, Chengdu, Zhijie... charging into battle on the front lines; Yaoshi, Dingfang, Rengui, Tiande, Maogong strategizing behind the scenes."

He scanned the entire room, his voice rising higher and higher:

"Fengxiao, Zhicai, Wenhe, and Gongtai are also in the rear, managing supplies and handling administrative affairs. Without them, we couldn't have won the battle!"

"This glass is for you! For all our brothers who fought and bled! Cheers!"

Everyone drank it all in one gulp.

...

In the following days, Liu Ce went to the military camp again and personally hosted a banquet for all the generals and soldiers.

"Brothers! You've worked hard!"

He held a bowl of wine and shouted to the dark mass of soldiers:

"In this battle, you fought with great might and displayed your might! The whole world knows that the Youzhou army is the strongest army in the land! I, Liu Ce, thank you!"

The soldiers cheered in unison.

Liu Ce continued:

"From now on, you will be the guardians of this land! As long as you are here, no one will dare to bully our people! No one will dare to wreak havoc on our kingdom!"

The cheers grew louder.

Behind them, the soldiers shouted in unison:

"I am willing to die for my lord!"

Liu Ce smiled and waved his hand, saying:

"No need to die for them, just live well! There will be even bigger battles to fight in the future! But there's one rule: you are not allowed to bully the common people or harm innocent civilians! Anyone who violates this rule, I, Liu Ce, will be the first to punish them!"

The soldiers responded with a resounding roar.

Liu Ce then offered many words of encouragement and explained the matter of bestowing rewards upon the recipients.

Those who deserve promotions are promoted, and those who deserve rewards are rewarded; no one is left out.

The soldiers were filled with fervor.

After that battle, they all became heroes.

...

A few days later, in the council hall of the Prince of Yan's residence in Luoyang.

Liu Ce sat in the main seat, with his core team members sitting on either side.

On the military side: Li Jing, Li Ji, Su Lie, Xu Da, Xue Rengui, Guan Yu, Qin Qiong...

On the civil service side: Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, Jia Xu, Cheng Yu...

The room was packed with people.

A huge map hung on the wall, showing the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty. Nine of them were now in Liu Ce's hands: Youzhou, Jizhou, Bingzhou, Sili, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, and Liangzhou.

Only four remain: Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou.

Liu Ce got straight to the point:

"Gentlemen, the north has been pacified. What should we do next? Head south? Or should we hold our ground for now?"

No sooner had the words been spoken than someone else spoke up.

Guan Yu stroked his long beard and said calmly:

"Brother, speed is of the essence in war! Our army's morale is high, and the surrendered troops have been reorganized. We should press south and take Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou in one fell swoop!"

Zhang Fei echoed:

"Yes, yes, yes! Brother, let me, Old Zhang, be the vanguard! I guarantee I'll be the first to storm Jingzhou!"

Cheng Yaojin joined in the commotion:

"Yes, yes, yes! Let's go all out! I, Old Cheng, will be the vanguard! I guarantee we'll have the entire south flattened in three months!"

Qin Qiong nodded in agreement:

"That's absolutely right. Our morale is high, our troops are well-trained and our supplies are plentiful, so now is the perfect time to march south."

Su Lie also spoke up:

"My lord, in my humble opinion, now is indeed a good time to march south. Our morale is high, our troops are plentiful, and our supplies are sufficient. Although Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou in the south have large territories, they are not united. If we attack in one fell swoop, our chances of victory are very high."

Xue Rengui nodded and said:

"This humble general also agrees to march south. Speed is of the essence in war; strike while the iron is hot. Once they realize what's happening and unite, it will be much more difficult to defeat them."

Xu Da shook his head and said:

"In my humble opinion, it is not advisable to head south at this time."

He looked at Liu Ce and said seriously:

"My lord, although we have recovered the four provinces of Guandong and Liangzhou, these places have only just been taken over, the people's hearts are not yet won over, and the governance is not yet stable. If we rashly march south, our rear will be vulnerable, and if any place becomes a hotbed of unrest, we will be unable to attend to both ends."

Li Ji also nodded and said:

"Brother Tiande is right. Although Ma Teng and others have surrendered in Liangzhou, the hearts of the Xiliang cavalry have not yet fully turned to us. Now that our territory has expanded so much, do we have enough officials? Do we have a governance plan? Will the people accept us? These things must be done slowly. We can't rush it."

"In the four prefectures of Kanto, those who surrendered appear obedient on the surface, but who knows what they are really thinking behind the scenes? We need to stabilize these places first before we can truly be free from worries about the future."

Cheng Yu added:

"There's also the issue of supplies. This battle has been extremely costly. Although we have a strong foundation, we still need to slow down. We can move south after the autumn harvest when we have sufficient supplies."

Li Jing pondered for a moment and said:

"What you all say makes sense. Heading south is indeed a good opportunity, but the rear also needs to be secured. I believe we can proceed on two fronts simultaneously: the main force can rest and regroup, while small detachments are sent south to probe the enemy's movements, and at the same time, we should seize the time to stabilize the rear. Once the rear is secure, we can then launch a major southward offensive."

Guan Yu stroked his long beard and said:

"The pharmacist's plan is prudent. We should test the waters first, then proceed steadily, so as not to miss the opportunity or act rashly."

Guo Jia, waving his feather fan, smiled and said:

"What the generals have said makes sense. But I believe that the time is not yet ripe to march south."

Everyone looked at him.

Guo Jia walked to the map and pointed to the four prefectures in the south:

"Although Yangzhou and Jingzhou are large places, they have something in common: their leaders are both members of the Han imperial family. Liu Yu of Jingzhou and Liu Yan of Yizhou were both members of the Liu family."

"Our lord is also a member of the Liu family. Moreover, our lord was personally appointed Prince of Yan by the late emperor, so his legitimacy is higher than theirs. As long as our lord remains calm, they may not dare to confront our lord head-on. They might even surrender on their own initiative, and we can take him down without bloodshed."

He paused, then continued:

"If we rush into battle now, we'll only push them further and force them to band together against us. If we do, it will be time-consuming and exhausting, and we might not even come out on top. It's better to stabilize the situation first, let them see our strength and our benevolent governance. We can move south when their internal problems arise or when they come to us on their own initiative."

Xi Zhicai coughed twice and said softly:

"Fengxiao is right. Heading south now is indeed risky. Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou are strategically important, easy to defend and difficult to attack. We are going a long way, and our supply lines are long. If we fail to conquer them after a long siege, we will only deplete our strength. It would be better to stabilize our rear first, accumulate strength, and then head south when the time is right."

"Moreover, Jingzhou has the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, Yizhou has towering mountains, and Yangzhou has a dense network of waterways... Our cavalry won't be very effective there. We need time to train our navy and prepare ships."

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, each with their own reasoning.

Finally, everyone's eyes turned to Liu Ce.