Liu Bei: My younger brother is a deity.

Chapter 17 War is Coming

After inquiring about the horse farm's business practices...

Liu Bei, Liu Quan, and Zhang Fei mounted their horses and began practicing riding and archery.

After practicing for more than an hour, Liu Quan looked at the sky and felt that it was about time, so he called Liu Bei and Zhang Fei to stop.

The two, still wanting more, reined in their horses.

Liu Bei dismounted, put the bow back into the saddlebag, and affectionately stroked the horse's neck.

This horse was one of the foals that Su Shuang gave to him years ago. Now it has grown into a tall and magnificent steed with a coat as white as a date, long legs, and a fast and steady gait.

Liu Bei named it "Dilu," saying that the horse had a white spot on its forehead, shaped like "Dilu," which was a sign of a thoroughbred horse.

When Yan Rou arrived at the horse farm and saw this horse, he advised Liu Bei, saying, "This horse has tear troughs under its eyes and white spots on its forehead. The servant and passenger will die, and the master will be executed. It is an ominous horse."

Liu Bei didn't care at all.

For some reason, he just found "Dilu" pleasing to the eye.

[PS: "Dilu" means "bright head" or "white head". "Di" in ancient times meant "bright" or "white". "Lu" and "lu" were often used interchangeably in classical Chinese. Therefore, "Dilu" is actually "Dilu".]

Zhang Fei's horse was similar to him; it was also dark-skinned and had a violent temper.

Zhang Fei liked the horse's fiery temper, saying that they were "birds of a feather."

They even gave it a name, "Wuzhui".

Liu Quan was riding a white horse, one of the foals that Su Shuang had given him years ago.

It is pure white, with light and agile hooves, and runs like a white lightning bolt.

Liu Quan named it "Chasing Clouds," which is quite fitting.

Yan Rou had seen everything clearly while they were practicing riding and archery.

Liu Quan spurred his horse and galloped away, firing more than a dozen arrows with both hands from the swift saddle. Each arrow struck the chest of a human-shaped straw target a hundred paces away with precision and swiftness.

With his skill in mounted archery, he would be considered "top-notch" even on the grasslands, let alone in Youzhou.

Yan Rou secretly admired him.

He had wandered in the borderlands for many years and had seen eagle hunters on the grasslands. Those people grew up on horseback and their archery skills had reached perfection.

It's unbelievable that my second master has achieved such skill after only two or three years of training.

Little did he know that Liu Quan's body was already extraordinary, and he also possessed a powerful brain. Coupled with "Pangu's" super-computing ability, he could instantly calculate the optimal shooting direction and force from data such as the trajectory of the arrow, wind speed, and horse speed.

As long as no other variables are encountered during the flight of an arrow, it is almost impossible for it to miss.

As for Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, their horsemanship was quite proficient, but their archery skills... well, you could only say they had mediocre talent.

The three handed the horses over to the stable boy, Liu Quan gave Yan Rou a few more instructions, and then left the horse farm.

Since the horse farm was not far from Lousang Village, the three of them walked along the Juma River, chatting and laughing.

After walking for a while, Liu Quan suddenly stopped and looked north.

"There's going to be a war," he said.

Zhang Fei was bending down to pick up stones to skip across the water when he heard this, and the stone in his hand "thud" into the water.

He straightened up, looking bewildered: "Why did Ah Quan say that?"

"Didn't you hear what Yan Rou just said?" Liu Bei continued, his face grim. "The Xianbei are gathering strong horses and able-bodied men. They don't grow crops on the grasslands, so why are they gathering strong horses and able-bodied men if not for war?"

Zhang Fei exclaimed "Ah!" and suddenly realized.

Then he exclaimed in surprise, "Ah!" "Could it be that the Xianbei bandits are planning to invade the border again?!"

As he spoke, a hint of murderous intent unconsciously crept onto his face.

The people of Youzhou, including the neighboring Bingzhou, all hated the Xianbei.

From the third year of the Xiping era to the present (173-176 AD), the Xianbei people have almost annually invaded Youzhou and Bingzhou, killing, burning, and looting.

The highest record was launching more than 30 raids in a single month.

The people of Youbing regarded the Xianbei as their mortal enemies.

"It's not necessarily that the Xianbei initiated the invasion." Liu Quan gazed thoughtfully to the north, his dark eyes reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun, as if two flames were burning within them. "It's also possible that the imperial court is about to launch a campaign against the Xianbei."

Liu Bei and Zhang Fei exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised.

"The imperial court wants to attack the Xianbei?" Liu Bei frowned. "The Xianbei have been invading the borders every year for the past few years, and the imperial court hasn't really intervened. Why is it suddenly going to be attacked?"

"The Xianbei have grown stronger over the years," Liu Quan said. "Tan Shihuai has established his court at Tanhan Mountain, and all the tribes in the east and west obey his orders. In the past, when the Xianbei raided the border, each tribe fought its own battles, and the court could still handle it. Now they have united as one, and the borders of You, Bing, and Liang provinces are raided by bandits every year. The court cannot sit idly by forever."

He knew in his heart that if history did not change, there would be a great war between the Han Dynasty and the Xianbei next year, which would end in a great defeat for the Han Dynasty.

The three armies were almost completely wiped out, with only a few thousand surviving cavalrymen escaping back to the Central Plains.

After this battle, the shadow of Xianbei harassment and plundering looted and pillaged even more heavily loomed over the border prefectures of the Han court.

It wasn't until after Tan Shihuai's death, when his sons fought amongst themselves, that the Xianbei's military alliance collapsed, and the threat the Xianbei posed to the Han border was slightly reduced.

But this was followed by the rise of the Wuhuan.

"Can we win?" Zhang Fei suddenly asked.

"I don't know." Liu Quan shook his head, but then added, "However, the Xianbei people are already making preparations even before the war has started. Hehe, this war will definitely be difficult."

He chuckled coldly twice.

"If the imperial court truly intends to attack the Xianbei," Liu Bei suddenly spoke, his voice lower than usual, "Youzhou will inevitably conscript soldiers. Perhaps we should enlist; it might be an opportunity..."

Liu Quan replied indifferently, "Let's think about it some more!"

…………

Luoyang, far away.

At this moment, they are engaged in a heated debate over Xia Yu's "Proposal to Attack the Xianbei".

In his memorial, Xia Yu wrote: "The Xianbei have been raiding our borders more than thirty times since spring. I request that troops from the various prefectures of Youzhou be summoned to attack them beyond the border. In one winter and two springs, we will surely be able to annihilate them."

The memorial was short, but every word revealed Xia Yu's determination.

Xia Yu was known for his bravery and fierceness among the border generals.

In the winter of the third year of the Xiping era, the Xianbei invaded the northern lands. Xia Yu, the then prefect, led the Xiu Tu Ge cavalry in pursuit and defeated them. For his meritorious service, he was promoted to Protector of the Wuhuan.

In recent years, he has fought dozens of battles, large and small, with the Xianbei people on the border of Youzhou, and has never suffered a loss, so he has confidence.

But his confidence was of little use in the imperial court.

After Xia Yu submitted his memorial, it remained unanswered for more than a month.

For Liu Hong, who was on the throne, this was a losing proposition, and he was already prepared to shelve the memorial.

But one person couldn't sit still any longer.

Tian Yan.

This man was originally the Protector of the Qiang, and he should have been severely punished for the crime, but he was given a lighter sentence and spared punishment.

From then on, Tian Yan stayed in the capital, trying every means to make a comeback.

Xia Yu's memorial to the throne gave him an opportunity.

Tian Yan was a rough man with no real power base in the court.

He couldn't reach those upright scholars; he couldn't get close to those powerful relatives and nobles.

There is only one path left for him to take.

eunuch.