284 277. Second Expedition To Taiwan

If you want to read 15 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my Patreon!!!

Go to https://www.patreon.com/Tang12

___________________________

While it caused the ceremony to be longer than usual, Zhao Wei and Wang Shang ignored him and let the ceremony continue until it was done, Liu Zhang then was declared the Governor of Yi Province, where letters of the announcement were soon spread all across the land to inform of Liu Yan's passing away and Liu Zhang his youngest son succeed his position as the Governor of Yi Province.

When the announcement was known by major Lords such as Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, they just sneered because they knew about Liu Zhang's nature and that he would only become a puppet for the Nobles of Yi Province.

Liu Biao and Zhang Lu on the other hand see this as an opportunity, well for Liu Biao maybe it's not him who sees this as an opportunity but his retainers who see this as an opportunity to expand Liu Biao's domain.

On the other hand for Zhang Lu, this could become an opportunity for him to expand and also rebel against Liu Zhang, because in the past his family was taken by Liu Yan which caused him to swear loyalty to Liu Yan.

Now that Liu Yan is dead and Liu Zhang was the one who succeeded him, Zhang Lu feels that there's an opportunity he could exploit in the future, for now, he will need to prepare to wait for that opportunity to come.

As for Lie Fan, he has long known about the undercurrents in Yi Province and Liu Yan's sickness alongside the death of his two sons, but the news of his death and Liu Zhang's ascension was a surprise for him and Jia Xu.

He expected Liu Zhang's Ascension last year since according to the original timeline it should have been last year at 194 AD, so the year passed and nothing happened he thought it would be different and Liu Yan would continue to lead Yi Province as its Governor.

But now since it's going according to the original timeline, Yi Province will become as vulnerable and chaotic as it was in the original timeline and the Nanman Tribe will slowly be integrated under Meng Huo's rule which would become a tumor for whoever controls Yi Province.

The ascension of Liu Zhang as the Governor of Yi Province to replace his father caused Yi Province to not be taken seriously, especially by its neighbors.

Of course, Zhao Wei and Wang Shang knew this so they tried to push Lou Zhang to decide between the proposals they have proposed to him, to raise his prestige in front of the people and the neighboring Warlords.

Unfortunately, Liu Zhang's soft, kind, and timid nature caused him to lack decisiveness in choosing, especially with Zhao Wei and Wang Shang pressuring him from the side.

This slowly led to widespread resentment brewing from the people of Yi Province, since they felt that Liu Zhang was too lax and his control over the Nobles and Merchant Clans of Yi Province was too feeble.

In the future, this will become a powder keg for his rule over Yi Province if Liu Zhang doesn't change, and Zhao Wei and Wang Shang realize this so they need to come up with something to address this problem.

While the land was still processing the news of Liu Zhang's ascension as the Governor of Yi Province, a letter arrived at Xiapi where it came from Yang Hong & Yan Jun who informed Lie Fan that the settlement of Taipei was ready to be settled by commoners and the Nobilities.

There was also another piece of letter informing Lie Fan about the Tono Tribe and how they had established communications, and also slowly integrated them into their way of life after going through several skirmishes.

The content of the letter was then disclosed by Lie Fan to all of his advisors and Jiang Qin after calling them for an emergency meeting because they would also need to decide the matter of the second expedition which would bring people from all kinds of classes.

Lie Fan: "It looks like last year and this year were a great year for us, everything is going well and now our settlement in Taiwan is ready to be populated! Xun You since you were the one who handled the secret port at Huai'An, what do you think is the best time for us to send the people who have applied and now waiting for a new life in Taiwan?"

Xun You: "My Lord I think it sooner the better, the weather is in good condition now and everything has been prepared it just needs an order to be executed, Admiral Jiang Qin what do you think? You are the one who will lead this fleet with the additional transport ships."

Jiang Qin: "Just like Master Xun You had just said, The weather is in good condition which will allow a good voyage toward Taiwan, and if My Lord wants it to be started right away, I will head toward Huai'An and prepare the fleet for our voyage."

Lie Fan: "Marvelous! Since everything is ready and has been prepared, I want the expedition to start as soon as possible, since the ones who applied were the people of Xu Province, Jia Xu I want the Orioles to raise its security level and keep an eye on the people who will board the ship."

Jia Xu: "Yes My Lord, I will also order the Orioles to follow the hordes of people that will travel from each Town and village as it was the vulnerable point for spies to infiltrate."

Lie Fan: "Good, next Yi Ji write this order! Ji Ling and Gao Shun will lead a contingent of men to patrol the area around Huai'An, Chao Bao and Chao Bai patrol the northern Xu Province, while Hou Cheng, Song Xian, and Wei Xu patrol the western part, and lastly Cheng Lian and Cao Xing patrol the southern part."

Yi Ji: "Yes My Lord, at what time should they head out, and how many men should they take My Lord?"

Lie Fan: "Each of them takes 5,000 men and leaves for their assigned area as soon as possible, I want the area to be safe from bandits, thugs, and criminals so the people can go safely toward Huai'An."

After Lie Fan's announcement, Yi Ji cupped his hand and headed out from the hall heading toward his office to begin writing the order letters.

Since Lie Fan feels that everything is perfect and in place, Lie Fan notified everyone to not let this matter hinder Xiapi's Expansion Project before dismissing the meeting.

So Lie Fan's Force after winning its war against Liu Yao and then taking control of two counties in Qing Province and absorbing the entirety of Lu Bu's Force, its domestic engine began to start once again indicating they were entering a peace period.

With the preparation for Taiwan's second expedition and the Xiapi expansion project, Lie Fan sank in with many tasks causing Him to not return home and making him can't spend time with his family.

So Ying Yue, Diao Chan, or Cai Wenji took turns alongside their kids bringing him lunch while also at the same time spending time with him and informing him of news happening at home while Lie Fan can play with his kids.

They informed him about how Wannian had begun training in martial arts under Lu Lingqi, so they told Lie Fan to expect Lu Lingqi to visit him in case he stayed at the Governor's Castle too late, and that Sima Yi was always looking for him and when he returned late it's already not an appropriate time for him to meet Lie Fan.

Lie Fan nodded his head every time they informed him about all of this while playing with his kids, and told them every single time that he would handle that after finishing everything here as he wanted to elevate Xun You and Jia Xu's work for Xiapi's Expansion Project while they handled the Expedition matter.

While Lie Fan enjoys spending time with his family every day at lunchtime, his retainers are busy handling both projects, since the expedition matter was a short time-consuming project they handled this first while at the same time not abandoning Xiapi's Expansion Project.

After the meeting ended, Xun You began to coordinate all matters concerning the settlers while Jia Xu began to direct the Orioles stationed at Xu Province at full capacity, and Jiang Qin left for Huai'An secret port to prepare the fleet.

As, for Yi Ji he finished writing the order letters that were sent to the people who were appointed by Lie Fan, so Xiapi's populace saw Lie Fan's Generals leading 10,000 toward each direction of North, South, East, and West.

Flyers were also soon spread by Cai Yong to announce that the long awaited expedition to Taiwan had started and that anyone who had applied either individually or with their families, to report to the nearest government offices with their application proof and to head out to Huai'An.

So thanks to this, Xu Province saw a flock of people of all castes from all towns and villages making lines heading straight toward Huai'An, this, of course, attracted the attention of bandits, thugs, and criminals who smelled blood.

But thanks to Lie Fan already anticipated that and sent out Ji Ling, Gao Shun, Chao Bao, Chao Bai, Hou Cheng, Song Xian, Wei Xu, Cheng Lian, and Cao Xing with 5,000 men under each of his generals, he managed to minimize it and even purged many bandits camp and turning them into labor force for the Expansion Project.

When the people arrived at Huai'An, Sima Lang the Prefect of Huai'An welcomed them and prepared accommodations for the settlers who would leave for Taiwan outside of Huai'An where many encampments had been made, in which commoners stayed there.

As for Nobles and Merchants, they rented rooms in Inns inside Huai'An. Of course, small merchants who can't afford to stay in the inns due to the inflation of prices thanks to the sudden heavy traffic, choose to stay at the encampment outside.

At the secret port, Jiang Qin directed his fleet that docked here after the battle at the Yangtze River to join up with the new ships here, to sail toward Huai'An and anchor there so they could begin to let settlers board the ships.

Of course, Jiang Qin coordinated all of this with Sima Lang when he docked at Huai'An with his Treasure Ship, Sima Lang informed him that not all of the applicants had arrived so they needed to wait before they could let people on board, Jiang Qin agrees with him as he didn't want people to get seasick while waiting for others to come on board, and so they waited for all applicants to arrived for several weeks before they let everyone come onboard the ships.

_________________________

Name: Lie Fan

Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu

Age: 28 (195 AD)

Level: 16

Next Level: 2,462,000

Renown: 725

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)

SP: 1,071,700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 936 (+20)

VIT: 598 (+20)

AGI: 583 (+10)

INT: 587

CHR: 93

WIS: 509

WILL: 397

ATR Points: 0