153. The Year Of 190 AD

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Chen Qun as Lie Fan's Political Advisor then analyzed the map again, Lie Fan's current political situation improved with Zhang Chao joining him as Xu Province didn't have an internal problem. He thinks it's best to ally with Cao Cao, who has the power and mind to become the controller of Yan Province.

Chen Qun said his thoughts to Lie Fan and the others, explaining that they need at least one ally to not become isolated in the central plain. Jia Xu and Xun You soon supported Chen Qun's suggestion, as what Chen Qun said held some merit and Cao Cao was the reliable choice than the others.

Lie Fan stayed silent watching the map, he could see the movement of each force's army. Cao Cao is back at Chenliu, amassing more power for him and later Yan Province Yellow Turban will Kill Liu Dai, at that time Bao Xin will ask Cao Cao to replace him.

Yan Province Yellow Turban remnants are also many, Cao Cao's famous Qing Infantry was gotten from there. Liu Yao and Yuan Shu automatically blaclisted from his choice for ally, as the first one is unreliable and the second one is an idiot.

Allying with Cao Cao is the best choice, as Cao Cao now is still weak and he has the upper hand in the alliance. So Lie Fan agreed with Chen Qun's proposal, and he appointed Chen Qun and Sun Qian to become the diplomats to make this alliance happen.

Jia Xu proposed for them to also enter some kind of agreement with Kong Rong, maybe a nonaggression treaty or some kind of pact that they would not attack each other.

Kong Rong would surely agree with the pact, as he was also surrounded by enemies from all sides and the weaker power right now. Xun You agree with this, as militarily they can put more soldiers toward the other frontiers and let the north defend with a small army.

Lie Fan then asks Xun You, how many troops he has under him right now. Xun You replied that according to his calculation, they have 106,000 troops right now, where 5,000 of it is Lie Fan's guard battalion his personal unit.

This amount has also been included with the Yellow Turbans and Xiliang Cavalry under Fan Chou. As Lie Fan's unit, the Guard Battalion will stay in Xiapi alongside Lie Fan, which leaves them with 101,000 men.

This amount may look much, but it needs to be separated into 4 frontiers, fortunately, Zhang Chao has his own army numbering around 4,000 men which given 26,000 more will be 30,000 in total.

The remaining 75,000 will be separated into 3 frontiers, 30,000 on the southwest bordering Yuan Shu, 30,000 on the west bordering Cao Cao-Liu Dai-Bao Xin, and 15,000 on the north bordering with Kong Rong.

After placing the number of troops on each front, Lie Fan asked his advisors who would become the Commander of each army. For the south army, Zhang Chao will become its head general with Zang Hong as his advisor.

Bu Zhi suggested that Taishi Ci become the head general of the north army, as he knew Kong Rong the best and was familiar with the frontier, also reducing the chance of Kong Rong attacking as he had to consider his face.

Jia Xu and Xun You agree with this, they then suggest that Bu Zhi become the advisor for Taishi Ci. Lie Fan agrees with this combination, so Taishi Ci and Bu Zhi will become the duo who defend the broth frontier.

Next, Xun You suggested Huang Zhong at the west and Dian Wei at the southwest frontier, both of them are famous in the world right now, and their name can become a deterrent for their neighbor to not attack them.

Everyone agrees with this, as their west and southwest neighbors are the strongest threat right now. Jia Xu proposed for Chen Deng to be with Dian Wei, while Xun You to be with Huang Zhong. Lie Fan immediately after with this combination, putting Huang Zhong and Xun You assured that the west frontier would be very secure.

Lie Fan: "As Xun You, Bu Zhi, and Chen Deng will leave Xiapi for their new assignment, I hope that everyone can work together to do the task they left behind. The three of them will come back to Xiapi every 3 months, which means 4 times a year."

Everyone: "Yes My Lord!"

Lie Fan: "As Zhang Chao's frontier doesn't have a main general, Fang Yue will be assigned there to help in the battle."

Zhang Chao: "Thank You, My Lord, this helped me and Zang Hong as even though we can lead our troops, in terms of martial prowess we are still insufficient."

Lie Fan: "Okay that's great, then next we would need to increase the number of soldiers we have, at least to 150,000. Chen Gui, the 5,000 Mongolian horses that I bought have arrived right?"

Chen Gui: "Yes it has arrived My Lord, how could you buy so many war horses, my Lord?"

Lie Fan explained to them that he in the past when in Ji Province fighting against the Yellow Turbans, saved a horse merchant from being killed, and to repay his favor he sold 5,000 Mongolian horses to him at a cheap price.

Such coincidence makes the other amazed, having 5,000 war horses to sell means that he has a large horse farm. Lie Fan ordered to take 500 studs and 500 mares to be bred, having their own horse farm here in the central plains.

As for the rest of the horses, they will be used by the Guard Battalion and the former horses of the Guard Battalion will be used to expand the number of Guard Battalion.

Mi Zhu volunteered to handle the horse farm project, bringing Wang Lang alongside him to handle this project. Such a project needed vast plains, so the farm would be built between Xiapi and Xiaopei where Chen Ji the Governor of Xiaopei would also help with this project.

After a long meeting, Lie Fan finally ended the meeting. The appointment of his generals and army will be done tomorrow as for now Lie Fan decided to return home.

Zhang Chao and Zang Hong stayed at Serenity Inn, which Lie Fan has upgraded to not only a restaurant but also an inn. Lie Fan bought the building next to Serenity Inn and expanded Xiapi's Serenity Inn two times its original size.

When Lie Fan arrives at Lie Clan Residence it's already in the late afternoon, and his family alongside Sima Yi and Sima Lang is waiting for him at the entrance of the mansion.

Wannian is 12 years old this year, and she still acts like a small child when she sees her big brother. Lie Fan hugged the running Wanniang into his arms, reprimanding her for not behaving like a noble lady should be, Cai Wenji also joined in reprimanding Wannian.

Wannian doesn't care about being reprimanded, she just giggles happily as her big brother is back safe and sound. Growing up she realizes that her big brother had the most dangerous job, being the Lord of a province and a general fighting on the battlefield.

Since knowing that, she began to study seriously under Cai Wenji's tutoring, even sometimes joining Sima Yi's class in which Jia Xu, Xun You, Sun Qian, and Chen Qun welcomed as Wannian studying diligently.

Sima Yi was confused by Wannian sudden change in her personality, he asked her about it, and after knowing that she became like this to make her big brother happy and not worry about her on the battlefield, Sima Yi changed his perception of Wannian since then and they studied together.

Wannian only acted like this to her big brother, after putting down Wannian, Lie Fan turned his attention to his three beautiful wives. Lie Fan hugged Ying Yue first, holding her tightly and kissing her on the lips, making Ying Yue yell in embarrassment.

Diao Chan and Cai Wenji giggle seeing Ying Yue's reaction, Lie Fan then changes his target to Diao Chan doing the exact same thing to her and then next to Cai Wenji. It's almost 6 months since they haven't seen each other, so Lie Fan is happy to be back home.

The next day, he visited Xu Rong who is in prison. Xu Rong was very calm when Lie Fan visited, he knew Lie Fan's purpose for capturing him and saying that while he was loyal to Dong Zhuo, he condemned what Dong Zuo had done.

He only asked Lie Fan if he wanted him to serve him, for his family in Chang'An to be escorted here to Xiapi. When Dong Zhuo knew that he betrayed him, his family would be in danger. Lie Fan agreed with this condition, saying to him that Fan Chou also stated the same condition for agreeing to serve him.

Xu Rong was surprised that Fan Chou was also captured and agreed to serve Lie Fan, he feels that at least he had a friend amongst the new acquaintances.

3 months passed by in the blink of an eye since Lie Fan's return to Xiapi, they entered the year 190 AD when the land was in Chaos. Since the coalition dissolution, all the Coalition Lords returned to their territory, doing their own agenda in amassing more power.

Dong Zhuo who heard the dissolution of the Coalition laughed out loud in Chang'An, like Li Ru said the Coalition is only based on interest and they only need to wait before it dissolves by itself.

Knowing that no one could face him now, Dong Zhuo began to act more tyrannically. A large banquet was held every day, using the wealth he had gained from Luoyang.

Even though he has lost Fan Chou and the last batch of the treasures, Dong Zhuo doesn't care about this, and after giving Fan Chou's family compensation, he doesn't realize that after the compensation Fan Chou's family disappears from Chang'An.

Lu Bu's credibility was smashed after his defeat at Hulao Pass, causing him to lose some favor with Dong Zhuo which caused some strain on the relationship.

Lu Lingqi, Lu Bu's daughter on the other hand has been paying attention to the news about Lie Fan since their duel, she doesn't know why but she was a bit interested in this man who is 5 years older than her.

To accomplish such a feat at a young age, and having such martial prowess at that age, stronger than her Father when he is the same age as Lie Fan. She hoped to duel Lie Fan again and defeat him, as she was diligently training her martial arts in hiding to face against him once more.

While Dong Zhuo and his force are partying at the expense of the people, on the North Gongsun Zan seized Liu Yun's territory leaving him with only one county. Yuan Shao who controlled Bohai and some of Pingyuan, allied himself with Gongsun Zan to attack Han Fu splitting his territory.

Han Fu resisted the attack of the two warlords, making the north of China enter a period of bloody war. Yuan Shu who was the Administrator of Nanyang controlled more than half of Yu Province and concentrated his force on shouchun as it's border with Lie Fan's Xu Province.

Gongsun Du who was appointed to become Governor of Liaodong, under Dong Zhuo's Imperial edict ordered continued expansion of Han Empire territory by attacking the Korean Peninsula.

Cao Cao controlled Chenliu, Hulao Pass, and Luoyang, receiving supplies and help from Liu Dai and Bao Xin to feed the people who stayed in Luoyang. In Yan Province itself, a group of Yellow Turban remnants rose in rebellion, making Liu Dai and Bao Xin enter a subjugation war against them.

In Jing Province, Sun Jian due to Lie Fan's caution to him, managed to survive the ambush led by Huang Zu under Liu Biao's order when returning to Changsha crossing Liu Biao's territory.

While surviving the ambush, Sun Jian lost his feet in the ambush. Sun Jian was forced to retire from the frontline, and this caused some resentment in Sun Jian's heart for Liu Biao. He vowed to repay the blood debt that Liu Biao caused, as Changsha will separate himself from Jing Province.

In just 3 months all of this news comes into Lie Fan's desk, for Lie Fan, this is all going more or less the same as his plan. Sun Jiam surviving the ambush surprised him, but after he thought about it, it was better for Sun Jian and Sun Ce to lead the Sun Clan, they are more honorable and less scheming than Sun Quan so they are easier to handle.

[AT: I updated a new map for everyone to see! You can find it in the auxiliary chapters!]

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu

Age: 22 Years Old (189 AD) -> 23 (190 AD)

Level: 15

Next Level: 1.588.000

Renown: 600

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 8)

SP: 656.700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 864 (+20)

VIT: 420 (+20)

AGI: 408 (+10)

INT: 415

CHR: 93

WIS: 339

WILL: 237

ATR Points: 0