After news of Zhang San destroying Xianbei spread out, Bai Xiaowen received the notification that the unification quest 2: Consolidate the north had been completed.
Bai Xiaowen chose to submit the quest.
Although this second unification quest was not as difficult as defeating Cao Cao, it took a longer time.
Bai Xiaowen took ten days to defeat Ma Chao. Following which, taking in Zhang Yan and conquering the Hu people also took ten days. In total, it had been close to a month.
Although the unification process was going smoothly, and they had accumulated forty days of free exploration time, Bai Xiaowen did not dare to slack off.
After all, these two unification quests were quite special.
Cao Cao was an ambitious person, and he knew that he had no chance of conquering the world. As such, he passed his ambition to Bai Xiaowen. This will saved Bai Xiaowen a lot of time to clean up the mess, and he was able to consolidate his rule of Henan in the shortest time possible. In the end, it only took ten days.
As for Ma Chao, he had Camille, a high-level spy, which was why he was able to defeat him so quickly.
If such a special situation did not occur, the time taken to complete these two Grand Unification Missions would not be less than two months.
Bai Xiaowen once again gathered the civil servants and generals to set the country policy.
Xun Yu was sick and did not participate. This was also a sign that Xun Yu was slowly distancing himself from Bai Xiaowen's ruling core.
Bai Xiaowen naturally cherished Xun Yu's talents. After Xun Yu fell sick, he invited a famous doctor to treat him. However, this was the best Bai Xiaowen could do. He couldn't change Xun Yu's mind and make him give him advice on how to proclaim himself king or emperor.
Till now, Xun Yu's Wang Zuo Lord skill was still working, and Bai Xiaowen was already thankful.
During this meeting, the strategists had an argument about their next strategic goal.
Some people said that they should first attack Jingzhou, then go down to Jiangnan, and then attack the East and West Rivers (Xichuan is Yizhou, Dongchuan is Hanzhong).
The reason was that Jingzhou's terrain was simple and easy to attack. Hanzhong and Yizhou's terrain was complicated, and the mountain paths were rugged. If they forcefully attacked, they would only get half the result.
There was some truth to this saying.
However, Tian Feng proposed the opposite opinion:
"There are three reasons why the Duke Of Yan should take the Two Rivers first.
"Firstly, Sun Ce of Jiangdong and Liu Cong of Jingzhou have temporarily reconciled because they are afraid of our army going south. If our army attacks urgently, the Sun-Liu alliance will be quite troublesome. If our army attacks slowly, the Sun-Liu alliance will inevitably change.
"Secondly, when conquering an enemy country, the focus is not on whether the terrain is dangerous or whether the mountain path is rugged, but on whether the ruler of the enemy country is wise and whether the ruler and his subjects are of one mind. There is no need to mention Sun Ce of Jiangdong, Liu Cong of Jingzhou also has Liu Bei's assistance; they are all wise masters, from top to bottom they work together. As for Zhang Lu of Hanzhong, his army was small and his generals were few; Liu Zhang of Yizhou, even more so, was a weak and incompetent leader.
"Thirdly, the surrendered general, Ma Chao, sharpened his blade and thought about it day and night. He wanted to capture Hanzhong and punish Zhang Lu. Since the Duke Of Yan has already made a promise, he cannot go back on his word. Moreover, if Ma Chao swallows Zhang Lu, regardless of whether our army wins or loses, we can reap the benefits. "
Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "Sir Tian's words are truly logical. I have already decided to take the Two Rivers first before taking Jiangnan. "
After Bai Xiaowen said this, a notification from the Spiritual Realm's Rule came:
"Grand Unification Main Storyline Mission 3: Greedy for Shu, activated."
"Mission Objective: Obtain the actual ruling rights of Hanzhong and Yizhou."
"You have obtained 30 days of free exploration time."
The actual ruling rights did not refer to the submission of the Two Rivers on the surface, but to the actual submission of Bai Xiaowen's empire.
Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes slightly. This Grand Unification Main Storyline Mission 3 was triggered so easily?
No matter how he looked at it, Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu could not compare to the combination of Ma Chao, the Hu, and the bandits, nor could they compare to the Cao Group.
However, since it had been triggered, Bai Xiaowen did not think too much about it.
He immediately gave the order to give Chenglie General Ma Chao ten thousand elite troops to be the vanguard. Ma Dai, Ma Xiu, Ma Tie, Ma Yunlu, and the other Ma family members would follow the vanguard.
Bai Xiaowen led the army and made some preparations. Three days later, he would personally set off.
This time, Bai Xiaowen did not bring too many men, only fifty thousand elite troops. He also sent Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, two Lord rank generals, to lead the troops to defend Yuzhou and prevent Sun Liu from making any moves.
Ma Chao had been placed on the bench by Bai Xiaowen, sitting on the cold bench for half a month. It could be said that he had been oppressed for a long time.
Now that he finally had a chance to go on the field, he was naturally impatient. He ordered the troops to rush toward Hanzhong.
…
When Zhang Lu of Hanzhong heard about the Imperial Court's expedition, he panicked and gathered his subordinates to discuss the matter.
Under Zhang Lu, the civil servants were Yan Pu and Yang Song, while the generals were Yang Ang and Yang Ren. Their strength was average, and only Yang Ren was a rare leader rank general.
Apart from that, Zhang Lu also had a younger brother, Zhang Wei, who was also quite famous in Hanzhong. Many times, Zhang Lu had to consider Zhang Wei's opinion when making decisions.
After hearing that Bai Xiaowen was honored by the imperial court as the Duke of Yan, that he did not enter the imperial court, did not have a good reputation, and did not have a sword in his hand, Zhang Lu was worried and thought about how to protect Hanzhong.
After much consideration, Zhang Lu came up with the idea of establishing himself as the "King of Hanning" and vassals to fight against Bai Xiaowen.
From this, it could be seen that Zhang Lu was a practical person. Did he really think that he could beat Bai Xiaowen just because he was a king and had a higher title than Bai Xiaowen?
Before Zhang Lu could stand on his own, the civil and military officials under his command were startled.
Yan Pu tried to persuade Zhang Lu to think of a way to swallow up Liu Zhang and take over the land of the two rivers before establishing himself as king.
Zhang Lu felt that it made sense, so he temporarily shelved the idea of establishing himself.
Liu Zhang of Yi Province and Zhang Lu had a grudge against each other. In terms of territory, Liu Zhang's territory was several times that of Zhang Lu's! The reason why he had not been able to take down Zhang Lu was because Liu Zhang was too weak, and the civil servants and generals under him were not on the same page.
However, the relationship between the two families was still extremely bad.
Whether it was for public or private reasons, Zhang Lu wanted to kill Liu Zhang.
However, Yizhou was easy to defend and hard to attack. Furthermore, Zhang Lu's strength was not enough, so he was all bark and no bite.
Before Zhang Lu could make any progress, new news came.
The Duke of Yan, Yuan Xi, had pacified the Wuhuan tribes in the north, incorporated Zhang Yan, and completely consolidated the entire northern territory. He had also appointed the surrendered general, Ma Chao, as the vanguard to attack Hanzhong!
Zhang Lu panicked and said, "Why don't we surrender?"
Zhang Lu sent down his subordinates. Yan Pu was silent. Yang Song nodded and said, "I have long heard of the Duke Of Yan's benevolence. He has always treated the surrendered generals well. My lord, with the strength of a county, going against the Duke Of Yan's army is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. It is better to surrender early, and perhaps you can still be conferred the title of Marquis. "
Zhang Wei scolded, "You can surrender, but my brother is the ruler of Hanzhong. After surrendering to Yuan Xi, how can he be tolerated? He will definitely be killed. Brother, don't worry. Hanzhong's terrain is very dangerous. I will bring Generals Yang Ang and Yang Ren to defend Yangping Pass. Even if Yuan Xi has a million troops, he will not be able to fly over. "
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