dognovel Chapter 741 Jiangxia Situation
Chapter 741 Jiangxia Situation
In Tian Yu's view, Li Geng, this spy, was only capable of causing trouble in the shadows and was not a threat, but Sun Lang's 20,000-strong army was different; it was capable of conquering cities and seizing territories.
Especially since Sun Lang's retreat direction was still towards the Wei army's front line, if he coordinated with the Han army on the opposite bank, the front line would surely collapse.
Xiahou Chong also realized the seriousness of the problem and pondered, "General Tian is right. Then let's split our forces into two groups. I'll leave these 5,000 troops to you. You take them and continue to pursue Sun Lang. I'll immediately return to Xuchang to deal with our internal problems. At the same time, I'll quickly send someone to Wen Ping, the governor of Jiangxia, to warn him to be careful and not let Sun Lang and the main force of the Han army on the other side take advantage of any openings."
Compared to Sun Lang, the safety of Xudu is more important. Don't forget that Xudu is Cao Wei's secondary capital. If it falls into chaos or is lost, it will directly lead to the collapse of morale of the troops at the front.
Xiahou Chong was also the garrison general of Xudu, and he was the person primarily responsible for whatever happened in Xudu. Under such circumstances, how could he dare to stay on the front line?
Tian Yu knew the importance of Xudu, so he didn't dare to object and immediately nodded in agreement. After a brief exchange, Xiahou Chonghuo led more than a hundred personal guards back to Xudu.
Tian Yu then tragically sent men to cut down trees and logs, waiting for the fire on the bridge to be extinguished before rebuilding the bridge and crossing the river to pursue Sun Lang.
We had no choice but to build a bridge. As the second largest tributary of the Huai River, the Ru River is over 100 meters wide, making it impossible to cross by walking on the water. In addition, Tian Yu destroyed all the boats that could be found nearby to prevent Sun Lang from crossing the river, completely blocking the way to cross by boat. What other option was there but to build a bridge?
While Tian Yu was tragically building the bridge, Li Gousheng successfully returned to Xudu. The first thing he did upon returning to Xudu was to order his teammates who had not yet shown themselves to go into deep hiding, and to order his teammates who had already shown themselves to evacuate immediately.
He simply planted bamboo skewers along Xiahou Chong's likely route, so theoretically the chances of being exposed were slim. Therefore, on his way back to Xudu from Dingying, Li Gousheng was constantly torn about whether or not to evacuate.
Li Gousheng really wanted to gamble again, but at the crucial moment he remembered Guan Xing's reminder: the enemy's rear is not the front line, and we cannot have any wishful thinking. We must not be reluctant to part with our belongings. If anything seems wrong, we must evacuate immediately. Safety comes first.
Li Gousheng had an almost blind, almost religious, adoration for Guan Xing. Therefore, after recalling Guan Xing's instructions, he did not hesitate and immediately ordered an evacuation upon returning to Xudu.
When Xiahou Chong returned to Xudu, issued an arrest warrant, and ordered a city-wide manhunt, Li Gousheng realized how wise his choice had been.
Meanwhile, Sun Lang, after crossing the river, did not stop and fled at top speed, his destination being Xinxi County, which is located at the border of Runan Commandery and Jiangxia Commandery.
……
Wen Ping, the governor of Jiangxia Commandery, was originally a general under Liu Biao. After the Battle of Red Cliffs, he surrendered to Cao Cao and was entrusted with the important task of governorship, where he remained for more than ten years.
Cao Cao appointed Wen Ping to garrison Jiangxia for an extended period because of Wen Ping's abilities. After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Jiangxia became the border area between Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan. It had to guard against both Wu army raids and attacks from Guan Yu stationed in Jingzhou. The pressure was immense, and without a capable general, the situation could not be stabilized.
Wen Ping did not disappoint Cao Cao. During his tenure, he not only blocked the Wu army's invasion many times, but also joined forces with Yue Jin to fight Guan Yu at Xunkou. For his merits, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Yanshou. He also captured Guan Yu's supplies at Hanjin and burned Guan Yu's warships at Jingcheng, leaving Guan Yu utterly exasperated.
Wen Ping has now served as the governor of Jiangxia for fourteen years, and has long since turned Jiangxia into an impregnable fortress, a place that commands respect from all sides and deters thieves from invading.
But Wen Ping is having some trouble lately because Jiangnan has been unified, and his opponent Zhou Tai, who is stationed in Chaisang, has been replaced by the previously unknown Shen Yi.
Wen Ping held Shen Yi in contempt. He thought, "When I was fighting, you were still peeing and playing in the mud. What right do you have to be my opponent? Liu Bei sent you to fight against me. Isn't that a bit too insulting?"
Therefore, when Shen Yi first arrived in Chaisang, Wen Ping took the initiative to make a few moves, both to teach Shen Yi a lesson and to test Shen Yi's abilities.
Unexpectedly, after several attempts, Wen Ping discovered to his dismay that Shen Yi was far more difficult to deal with than he had imagined. Despite his repeated attempts, he gained no advantage whatsoever. Eventually, Wen Ping resigned himself to his fate and obediently stood on the other side of the river with Shen Yi, refusing to interfere with each other.
However, Wen Ping, who came from a prestigious family, was unwilling to be suppressed by Shen Yi, an unknown junior. He was also afraid that the young man would not play by the rules of the old man and would use some new tricks to trap him. So he began to strengthen the Yangtze River defense line and built outposts and forts on the banks of the Yangtze River. There was an outpost every five miles and a fort every ten miles, giving Shen Yi no chance to launch a sneak attack from the north.
But Wen Ping, who was only focused on defending the south, never dreamed that an enemy named Sun Lang would attack from behind.
Jiangxia Prefecture was located in Xiling, but after Shen Yi took over Zhou Tai's post in Chaisang, Wen Ping left Xiling and moved to Zhu County on the banks of the Yangtze River.
In order to keep Wenpin company for a long time, Shen Yi also traveled upstream from Chaisang to E County, which is opposite Zhu County. The two were separated by the Yangtze River, and they could meet as long as they crossed the river.
The two of them would drink and chat happily across the river every day, leaving the county seat of Xiling City empty, which gave certain people an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
As the border area between the Han and Wei dynasties, Jiangxia was naturally a key area for Guan Xing's infiltration, and the infiltrators were certainly carefully selected.
The spy chief lurking in Jiangxia was named Guan Yan. He was the human slave promoted by Guan Xing from the Jianye prison at the beginning of Guan Yu's surprise attack on Jianye.
Even if innocent, a human trafficker like Guan Yan should be killed. He may not have any other skills, but he is excellent at reading people and bullying the weak. You really can't do this hated job if you don't have a keen eye.
Therefore, after Guan Yan infiltrated Xiling City, he did not take the path of the upper class like Li Gousheng, but instead returned to his old profession and continued to deal with brothels.
For Guan Yan, the brothel was no different from home. In addition, Guan Yan was now rich and generous, and he was also trained to fight. Therefore, he quickly gained a foothold in Xunhuan Pavilion, the largest brothel in Xiling City, and became the head of Xunhuan Pavilion's henchmen. He handled some matters that required the use of force for Xunhuan Pavilion, such as dealing with disobedient girls or suppressing troublesome customers.
While committing evil deeds in the brothel, Guan Yan naturally did not forget his mission. Every day, he would contact customers under various pretexts to test their attitudes toward the Han Dynasty and Cao Wei, and see if there was any possibility of winning them over.
It should be noted that the customers of brothels were not the wealthy playboys that ordinary people might imagine, but rather poor young men and merchants.
It's not that wealthy playboys are averse to women, but rather that they don't need to go to brothels for pleasure. They are rich and powerful, and if they fancy a girl, they can simply take her home as a concubine or buy her a house in the city to keep her. Why would they need to go to brothels?
Only those poor young men with a little spare money and a restless heart, but not enough money to support taking a concubine, or merchants traveling abroad, would come to brothels to seek pleasure.
These people from humble backgrounds and merchants were precisely the target group that Guan Yan wanted to win over, so he paid great attention to them.
Just as the sun was setting, Guan Yan received a regular customer. He invited him into a private room on the third floor and was about to invite a girl in to serve him when the customer sighed with a worried look on his face, "Brother Zhao, don't call me. I just want to have a drink and vent my troubles to you today."
When traveling, one naturally needs to use an alias, and Guan Yan's alias is Zhao Yan.
The regular customer was named Luo Feng. He was a local from Xiling. His family owned about ten acres of land, which allowed them to be self-sufficient and also afford to send him to school. He was considered to be quite wealthy.
Guan Yan didn't insist upon hearing this, but instead poured him a glass of wine and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"
Luo Feng sighed, both resentful and helpless, "My quota for the civil service examination was snatched away by Kong Ju."
Guan Yan asked in surprise, "He's Kong Yu's grandson, and supposedly a descendant of Confucius?"
Why did Confucius' descendants come to Jiangxia instead of Qingzhou? Well, that's a long story. Kong Ju's grandfather, Kong Yu, was a member of the Eight Talents of Jingxiang, just like Liu Biao, also known as the Eight Talents of Jiangxia.
During the reign of Emperor Ling, a group of prominent scholars, including Liu Biao and Kong Yu, challenged the eunuchs, greatly exacerbating the disaster of the partisan purge.