"Which one was the Tang Dynasty again?"
Liu Bei stared at the glowing lines drifting on the screen, drawing a blank for a moment.
"From the timeline the light screen showed us, it comes right after the Jin dynasty founded by the Sima clan," Guan Yu answered. His grasp of history was always rock solid. "Their greatest scholars spoke very highly of their Martial Emperor Shizong. They even ranked four great generals from the Han era under his reign."
Liu Bei nodded as it all came back to him. "This Tang Dynasty valued good civil governance. They even repaired the Tangluo Road to connect Bashu with the rest of the land. In military matters, they followed Shizong's lead, campaigning against the tribes and holding the Western Regions. It must have been a time of peace and plenty, just like the early days of the Former Han."
Zhang Fei jumped in right away without a second of hesitation. "Big Brother, mark my words! Once you become Emperor, you will walk in the footsteps of those great founders. You will restore the Han and you will not fall one step behind them!"
Liu Bei was overjoyed, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at his third brother. 'In the end, it is still you who understands me best, Yide!'
"Big Brother, if there is ever another Yiling, let me, Old Zhang, lead the troops. You absolutely must not lead the campaign in person!"
'...Yide, that is so completely you.'
[Lightscreen]
[The Han Dynasty always cared a lot about family background and reputation. So it was only natural that people looked at Meng Da with suspicion from the start. But of all the choices that could have been made, sending Liu Feng there was the one that should never have happened.
The Records of Liu Feng do not say much. But among the reasons Meng Da eventually left, there is one simple line. Liu Feng and Meng Da fought constantly and never got along. And then Liu Feng took Meng Da's ceremonial band right off him.
Liu Feng's behavior honestly makes zero sense. He was sent by Liu Bei to share the power and keep things balanced. Even if he could not be polite and smooth things over, that would be one thing. But no. He went out of his way to pick a fight. And as if fighting was not enough, he actually grabbed the man's official ceremonial band!
Did Big Eared Liu really teach him that kind of manners? Even a small child in kindergarten would not pull something like that.
Not long after losing that sash, Meng Da got a message from Cao Pi.
You will be made Marquis of Pingyang Pavilion. And Shangyong, Xicheng, and Fangling will all be combined into a brand new commandery called Xincheng. Meng Da, you will be its Administrator!
Faced with an offer that huge, Meng Da, whose family had always been all about seizing every opportunity, went down on his knees right away. Do not talk to the Administrator of Xincheng about loyalty. That would just insult the money!]
Liu Bei stood completely stunned. However inadequate Liu Feng might have been, he had still been raised as half a son.
Meng Da's betrayal and Liu Feng's eventual execution at his own hands meant there had to be conflict between them. That much Liu Bei could already deduce.
He had run through every possible scenario in his head. Maybe Liu Feng was clumsy and rude. Maybe they disagreed on military plans. Maybe Meng Da had always meant to turn traitor. He even wondered if Liu Feng had acted like Cao Cao and forced himself on Meng Da's favorite woman.
But why on earth would he seize a ceremonial band? No, his head was starting to ache.
Liu Bei pressed a hand against his temples, unable to speak, while Zhang Fei hurried over and began massaging his shoulders with care.
"Big Brother, if this worries you that much, just hand Feng over to me or Second Brother. We will knock some sense into him. You will not have to deal with these headaches anymore."
Huang Yueying smiled softly. "If it would please my lord, the Ministry of Works could gather musicians from all over and recreate the music we hear on the light screen. Perhaps..."
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Liu Bei did not hesitate this time, waving his hand decisively. "Yide, have Feng report to your camp tomorrow... no, take him away tonight! The sooner, the better!"
[Lightscreen]
[In the end, when Liu Bei ordered Liu Feng's death, the charges included not only failing to help Guan Yu. He also blamed Liu Feng for pushing Meng Da too far. And honestly, why did you have to go and snatch the man's little band in the first place?!
Some people say Meng Da and Liu Feng were not actually under Guan Yu's command. So refusing his orders was understandable. After all, Fangling and Shangyong were vital to them too!
But that argument does not hold up. The Records of Guan Yu say in the twenty-fourth year, when Liu Bei became King of Hanzhong, he made Guan Yu General of the Vanguard and gave him the Tally and Axe.
With that kind of authority, Liu Feng and Meng Da refusing to move was basically the same as standing by while Liu Bei himself was in mortal danger. An execution was always going to be the result.
To be fair though, their troops were never the main force in the Xiangyang-Fancheng campaign. At most, they were just the final push that broke Guan Yu.
They are far from being the real reason for his defeat. So we will put them aside for now and turn our attention back to the battlefield itself.]
All eyes once again gathered on Guan Yu. Liu Feng, Meng Da, and even the matter of the little band no longer seemed important.
This was the Tally and Axe! Whether it was the Tally, the Staff, the Tally and Axe, or the Yellow Axe, all of it signified the utmost trust of the Son of Heaven in this dynasty!
There were looks of envy and curiosity, yet Guan Yu remained as steady as Mount Tai.
[Lightscreen]
[Xiangyang-Fancheng can be considered the absolute strategic core of Shu Han.
These two cities lie on the northern and southern banks of the Han River, forming a mutually supporting position.
Geographically, Xiangyang-Fancheng sits at the southernmost edge of the Nanyang Basin, controlling the Han River.
To the east and west stand the Wudang, Dahong, and Tongbai mountain ranges as natural barriers. Whether advancing north into the Central Plains or moving south into the Jianghan Plain, this is an unavoidable passage, a textbook strategic chokepoint.
In particular, the Southern Song and the Mongols dragged out their struggle here for decades. After Xiangyang fell again in 1273, the Southern Song never secured another victory.
Ezhou, Jiading, Huaixi, Dingjiazhou, Jiaoshan, Lin'an, and so on, totaling thirteen consecutive defeats. The main army was completely annihilated by the Mongols.
In the end, at the Battle of Yashan, Lu Xiufu carried the young Emperor Zhao Bing on his back and leapt into the sea. A hundred thousand soldiers and civilians leapt into the sea to martyr themselves, and the Song Dynasty was completely extinguished. The importance of Xiangyang-Fancheng is evident.
From a strategic standpoint, as early as 207, Zhuge Liang had already made it clear in the Longzhong Plan:
If chaos arises under Heaven, then order a great general to lead the forces of Jingzhou toward Wancheng and Luoyang, while you personally lead the troops of Yizhou out through Qinchuan... thus hegemony may be achieved, and the Han restored.
For Shu Han, the strategic objective of spanning and linking Jingzhou and Yizhou had already been perfectly realized by Zhang Fei when he inscribed his victory on the rock at the Battle of Dangqu.
To achieve the next step of leading the forces of Jingzhou toward Wancheng and Luoyang, Xiangyang-Fancheng becomes the necessary springboard. How to secure it becomes an urgent matter.
Unfortunately, Heaven provided the opportunity, but Liu Bei completely failed to grasp it.]
[Li Shimin: Where are these Mongols? Tell me! And being driven all the way back to Xiangyang-Fancheng, how do they still have the face to call themselves emperors?]
Zhang Fei grew agitated and immediately began shouting loudly.
"Zilong was covered in courage, his name passed down through the ages."
"Old Huang was a twilight tiger and an old wolf."
"Second Brother shook the world, his fame unmatched in all ages."
"How come when it gets to me, Zhang Fei, it is just inscribed a stone at Dangqu and that is it? I refuse! I refuse to accept this!"
His third brother was throwing a tantrum, so the big brother and second brother quickly stepped in to comfort him.
Liu Bei said, "The light screen itself said there were two great strategies in the Longzhong Plan, and Yide fulfilled one of them by inscribing the stone at Dangqu. That alone proves the bearing of a legendary general through the ages! How is that not being valued?"
Liu Bei added, "Without pacifying Bashu, Yizhou could not be secured. Without Yide, we would definitely have no place to stand!"
Guan Yu added, "If it were not for Yide at Changban Bridge, how would Big Brother and I be here today! How would A... how would Shu Han continue to exist!"
Only after a round of comforting did they finally get past this matter and let everyone focus on the other text.
"The Song Dynasty... was just destroyed like that??" Liu Bei felt a bit dazed for a moment.
Even though he had learned about the chaos of Wei and Jin from the light screen, and even though the Five Barbarians throwing China into chaos had been mentioned several times, seeing the images released by the light screen and the words that were practically weeping blood...
"A hundred thousand soldiers and civilians leapt into the sea to martyr themselves."
It still made this old veteran, who had fought his way here since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, feel his eyes turn red.
"The disaster of foreign tribes has reached such a perilous level?!"
"Soldiers and civilians martyring themselves for the country... I imagine that Southern Song Emperor must have been diligent in governance, but an emperor who lacked the favor of Heaven."
"And just as we view these Mongols as a foreign tribe, the Mongols must definitely view us Han children as a foreign tribe too," Huang Zhong said with a heavy expression, thinking of the story about Zilong from the light screen.
When the people of later generations wanted Zilong to appear as a divine spirit, what this Mongol army had done was already self-evident.
Zhang Fei recovered and continued muttering over there.
"Big Brother, looking at it this way, we really have to fight for Jiaozhou. Did the light screen not also say that the useless later generations lost Jiaozhou too?"
"A small country daring to falsely call itself supreme, and looking at that tadpole script, they have even abandoned our Han writing. For a place so close to us, who knows if they will come and bully our Han descendants later on?"
"It is still best to completely let Jiaozhou guard the Han dynasty and never be separated!"