Chương 440: Liu Ce learns of the recapture of Jiaozhou

Liu Ce, no longer bothering to play with his wives, smiled and waved to them, saying:

"You guys keep playing, I'll be right back."

He turned and led Lu Bing to the study, his steps quick and eager to see the details of the victory report.

Zhang Ning called out from behind, "Husband, I'm waiting for you for dinner tonight!"

Liu Ce waved his hand without turning his head and left the courtyard.

...

Upon entering the study, Liu Ce closed the door behind him, hurriedly tore open the envelope, and began scanning it at a glance.

Upon arriving in Cangwu, Zhu Fu opened the city gates and surrendered, then saw him off.

Zhang Liao marched east into the South China Sea and quelled a rebellion of powerful clans within three days, killing the stubborn tribal leaders.

The four generals joined forces and captured Hepu and Yulin counties in half a month; In the battle at Longbian City, Zhang Fei was the first to break through the city, and all four brothers of Shi Xie were captured.

The two prefectures of Jiuzhen and Rinan surrendered without resistance.

From the dispatch of troops to the pacification of the entire territory, it took less than half a year at most.

After reading the last word, Liu Ce slapped his thigh and burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking with mirth.

"Excellent! Excellent! Pengju, Yunchang, Yide, and Wenyuan, you have indeed lived up to my expectations! In less than half a year, you have pacified the entire Jiaozhou! Now, of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, only Yangzhou remains!"

After he finished laughing, he immediately gave orders to the guards outside the door:

"Go quickly! Summon Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and all the civil and military officials in Luoyang to the council hall! There are important matters to discuss!"

"Yes, sir!" the guard replied, turning and running off to relay the order.

Lu Bing stood to the side, watching his lord's happy expression, and grinned as well:

"My lord, the unification of the world is now just one step away!"

Liu Ce smiled and patted him on the shoulder, full of vigor:

"That's right! This chaotic world should be coming to an end! Let's go to the council hall and have a good discussion with these old buddies about how to crack this last tough nut!"

...

The council chamber was already brightly lit, with civil and military officials gathered together.

On the civil officials' side, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, Xun You, Jia Xu, Cheng Yu and others sat in a row, each with a smile on their face, obviously having already heard the news of the great victory at Jiaozhou.

On the military side, Li Jing, Xue Rengui, Zhao Yun, Lü Bu, Qi Jiguang, Gongsun Zan, Qu Yi, Yu Jin, Xu Huang, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong, and others were all fully armored, full of energy, and their eyes were shining.

With only Yangzhou left in the world, who wouldn't want to make a great contribution in this final battle to unify the world?

Upon seeing Liu Ce enter, everyone stood up in unison and bowed in greeting:

"Greetings, my lord!"

"No need for formalities, please sit down."

Liu Ce waved his hand, walked to the main seat and sat down, casually tossing Yue Fei's victory report to the personal guard beside him, and said with a smile:

"As you've all surely heard, the great victory at Jiaozhou! Yue Fei and his men pacified all seven counties of Jiaozhou in less than six months, and there is no more war in the southern borderlands. I've called you here today for one thing: to discuss how to take down this last Yangzhou!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a cheer erupted in the council chamber.

Lu Bu was the first to jump up, shouting in a loud voice, "Great! My lord! Now only Yangzhou is left as an easy target! I'll be the vanguard, and I guarantee that within a month, we'll take Shouchun for you! And bring that brat Chen Wen to Luoyang!"

Zhao Yun echoed, "Brother! This humble general is also willing to go! Together with Fengxian, I guarantee we'll raze Yangzhou to the ground!"

Chang Yuchun stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "My lord, this humble general is also willing to go! The troops in Yangzhou are not even enough to fill my teeth! Give me 100, 000—bah, 10, 000 elite soldiers—and I, Chang Yuchun, can flatten Yangzhou all by myself!"

Li Wenzhong, not to be outdone, replied, "My lord, although I am young, I am also willing to follow the army into battle and achieve merit!"

In an instant, the council hall erupted in chaos, with military officers vying for the opportunity to fight, arguing heatedly until their faces were red.

Zhang Fei is not here, but he is still in Jiaozhou. If he were here, he would definitely be the first to jump up and shout "I, Old Zhang, will be the vanguard!"

Liu Ce smiled and waved his hand, silencing the crowd's clamor:

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. You guys have the fighting to do. We'll decide who goes first once we've decided on the strategy."

He got up and walked to the huge map of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty on the wall.

On the map, he had circled all twelve provinces—Youzhou, Jizhou, Bingzhou, Liangzhou, Sili, Jingzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou—with red pen.

The red circles are neatly arranged, almost covering the entire map.

Only Yangzhou, located in the far southeast, remains deserted, standing out conspicuously within the red circle.

Liu Ce lightly touched the ground of Yangzhou with his charcoal pencil, his eyes filled with certainty as he said:

"Gentlemen, look. From the time I raised my army in Youzhou to the time I took Jiaozhou, it's only been a little over a year. Of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, we have already taken twelve."

"Only Yangzhou remains. Once we take it, the fragmented Han dynasty will be completely reunited. This chaotic era will finally be over!"

As everyone looked at the red circle on the map, their hearts surged with excitement, and even their breathing became heavier.

They followed Liu Ce in his campaigns, fighting from Youzhou all the way to Jiaozhou, engaging in countless hard battles, defeating Dong Zhuo, pacifying the warlords, subjugating Guandong, pacifying Liangzhou, and taking over Jingzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou.

Now that we've finally reached this final step, with the unification of the world just around the corner, who wouldn't be excited?

The guards had already copied Yue Fei's victory report dozens of times and delivered them to the officials one by one.

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and others took the report of victory and read it from one to another, their smiles growing wider with each reading.

After everyone had finished reading, they all stood up and bowed to Liu Ce to congratulate him.

Fang Xuanling was the first to step forward, bowing and cupping his hands in greeting, his tone full of excitement:

"Congratulations, my lord! Congratulations, my lord! Jiaozhou has been pacified, and of the thirteen provinces in the realm, you have gained twelve! Now, Yangzhou, surrounded on all sides by the territory of our Great Han, is like a turtle in a jar, an isolated city!"

"In my opinion, once the autumn harvest is complete and supplies are plentiful, the army can march south and capture Yangzhou in one fell swoop, thus securing the realm!"

Du Ruhui also stepped forward and nodded, his tone resolute:

"My lord, Xuanling is absolutely right. Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, is only holding on because of the powerful clans of Runan. He has no more than 50, 000 troops at most. Compared to our hundreds of thousands of soldiers, it's like throwing an egg against a rock. Taking Yangzhou is only a matter of time, there will be no surprises!"

As soon as the two finished speaking, the officials below began to dig up all the secrets of Yangzhou.

Xun Yu stroked his beard and spoke first, thoroughly dissecting the power structure of Yangzhou:

"My lord, gentlemen, Chen Wen may appear to be in charge of six counties in Yangzhou, but in reality, he is no different from Zhu Fu and Liu Yan before him."