Chapter 29: Who Can Endure This?
At the very moment Gan Ning captured Wan County, Sun Ce’s special envoy Zhu Zhi also arrived at Shu County, bringing five full large ships of precious gifts: over a thousand pieces of gold and jewelry, three thousand bolts of silk, and ten thousand bolts of kudzu cloth, escorted by five hundred soldiers.
Liu Xun was overjoyed and warmly welcomed Zhu Zhi’s arrival.
In the main hall, Liu Xun invited Zhu Zhi to sit down. Zhu Zhi took out a personal letter from his lord Sun Ce and presented it. “This is a personal letter from my lord to Inspector Liu. Please have a look, Inspector.”
Liu Xun opened the letter, stroked his beard, and read it carefully. After a few words of pleasantries, Sun Ce got straight to the point: he was willing to join forces with Liu Xun to annihilate Gan Ning. Afterward, the population, grain, and property would all go to Liu Xun, while Sun Ce only wanted the land of Chaisang.
Liu Xun narrowed his eyes with a smile and asked, “With General Sun’s strength, capturing Chaisang should be a piece of cake! Why pull me into this?”
Zhu Zhi smiled and said, “It’s mainly because we just formed a marriage alliance with Cao Gong. If we annihilate Gan Ning, it would be a bit awkward on the surface.”
Liu Xun was stunned. “Gan Ning is Cao Gong’s man?”
“Not exactly. His Magistrate of Chaisang was indeed appointed by Cao Gong, but he traded the Imperial Seal for it!”
“What!”
Liu Xun suddenly widened his eyes. “The one who stole the Imperial Seal that night was Gan Ning?”
“Of course. Doesn’t Inspector Liu know?”
Liu Xun was speechless for a long while. He had always thought it was Sun Ce who sent people to steal the Imperial Seal. Although Zheng Bao and Gan Ning had a feud over a killed son, Liu Xun had never connected Gan Ning to the Imperial Seal.
Liu Xun slapped his forehead hard. “No wonder this Brocade Sail Bandit was just driven out by Liu Jingsheng, and in the blink of an eye became the court-appointed Magistrate of Chaisang. So he traded the Imperial Seal for it, which means he’s not related to Cao Gong! Then what does General Sun have to lose face over?”
Zhu Zhi said unhurriedly, “Although Gan Ning has little relation to Cao Gong, the Second Young Master greatly admires him. We actually want to give the Second Young Master some face.”
This was Zhu Zhi’s most confident move. Liu Xun had a deep personal friendship with Cao Cao and supported the third son Cao Zhi.
Zhu Zhi continued, “At the banquet at Grand Commandant Yang’s Manor three months ago, Gan Ning served as a guard for the Second Young Master Cao Pi. He thoroughly humiliated the Third Young Master Cao Zhi at the banquet, which greatly pleased Cao Pi and made him value Gan Ning highly.”
Liu Xun was somewhat swayed. If that was the case, then by taking action himself to eliminate Gan Ning, he would be venting the Third Young Master’s anger. This was indeed an opportunity.
But Liu Xun still had some concerns in his heart, fearing that Sun Ce would seize his Lujiang Commandery while he was away attacking Chaisang.
He pondered for a moment and said, “Alright! Military Advisor Zhu, wait a couple of days. Let me think it over.”
……..
Liu Xun found Liu Ye and said worriedly, “I really want to agree to Sun Ce, but I’m afraid he’ll take the opportunity to swallow Lujiang Commandery. Does my advisor have a good solution?”
Liu Ye smiled faintly. “Then pull in another force to make Sun Ce hesitate and not dare to act against Lujiang Commandery.”
Liu Xun hesitated and said, “You mean… Huang Zu?”
Liu Ye nodded. “Have you forgotten the purpose of your alliance?”
“To join forces against Jiangdong!”
Last year, after Sun Ce’s army occupied Nanchang County in Yuzhang Commandery, Liu Xun formed an alliance with the equally tense Huang Zu to counter Sun Ce’s eastward expansion.
“Sun Ce has delayed acting against Lujiang Commandery precisely because he fears your alliance with Huang Zu. Your combined strength makes him afraid to act rashly. So this time, pull in Huang Zu as well, and Sun Ce will have to think twice.”
Liu Xun nodded lightly. “That’s a good plan, but what if Huang Zu refuses to send troops?”
“Don’t worry, Inspector. His subordinate Hu Xian was killed by Gan Ning. Will Huang Zu let it rest?”
Liu Ye’s reminder made Liu Xun hesitate a bit. He realized the situation was becoming complicated. If Huang Zu also sent troops, given Huang Zu’s greed, he would take everything, and Liu Xun might exert effort only to end up with nothing.
At this moment, Liu Xun was a bit reluctant to involve Huang Zu anymore.
“Does my advisor have any other methods?”
Liu Ye had been waiting for this! He knew Liu Xun would never allow Huang Zu to join him in striking Chaisang—Huang Zu was too greedy and would make it not worth the cost.
Liu Ye smiled faintly. “Another method is for the Inspector to send half his troops and leave half to guard Lujiang, which would similarly make the Jiangdong Army wary.”
Liu Xun had never considered whether half his troops could deal with Gan Ning.
In his view, Gan Ning was just a river bandit who had recently made a fortune. Annihilating him would be easy.
Liu Xun nodded lightly. This was a good plan. He would take half his troops and leave half the troop strength to guard Shu County. If Sun Ce moved against Lujiang, he could fully return in time. There was no need to let Huang Zu come and take a share.
At that moment, a soldier came to report, “Report to the Inspector: urgent military intelligence from Wan County!”
Liu Xun took the express report sent by Liu Song and opened it. Inside was only one sentence: ‘Gan Ning led his army to capture Wan County yesterday and looted it clean.’
Liu Xun’s face instantly turned beet red, and rage boiled in his heart.
Gan Ning had burned Zongyang, deceived him out of military supplies, plundered Juchao County, and now looted Wan County. It was like shitting right on his head—unbearable! Liu Xun clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth. “Pass my order: prepare to send troops to Chaisang!”
At this moment, Liu Xun no longer hesitated. He had made up his mind.
……..
In the private room on the second floor of the Clear Wind Restaurant in Shu County, a lean, dark-skinned middle-aged scholar was drinking alone leisurely.
If Gan Ning saw this scholar, he would be greatly shocked. This man was none other than Jia Xu.
At that moment, the door opened, and Liu Ye brought in two great generals, who were none other than Chen Lan and Lei Bo, the trusted great generals of Yuan Shu back in the day.
The two had occupied Qian Mountain as bandits and looted Yuan Shu’s grain and supplies, but in the end, they couldn’t hold out, so they came down the mountain and surrendered to Liu Xun with their men.
They already had a good relationship with Liu Xun. After they earnestly expressed their loyalty, Liu Xun believed them and put them to heavy use, appointing both as Generals of the Middle Army, each commanding five thousand men.
Now that the situation had changed dramatically and Liu Xun could no longer hold Lujiang, the two naturally had ideas of their own. Earlier, they had secretly sent a letter to Cao Cao expressing their loyalty.
“Greetings, Strategist Jia!”
Jia Xu smiled and invited them to sit. “Cao Gong has long wanted to recruit you two generals but never had the chance. This time, he specially sent me south to invite you two to head north to Xuchang. I believe you two generals will have a better future. Cao Gong has already promised to enfeoff you as Marquis Within the Passes.”
Chen Lan and Lei Bo were overjoyed and together stated, “We are all willing to serve Cao Gong with utmost effort. Wherever you need us to exert ourselves, Strategist Jia, just give the orders!”
Jia Xu nodded and then slowly said, “There is indeed something right now that requires you two generals’ efforts. Chaisang is actually a chess piece that Cao Gong has placed in Jiangdong….”
At that moment, a burly and fierce-looking great general walked in, whispered a few words to Jia Xu, who nodded with a smile. Then he introduced them: “Let me introduce—this is Great General Yu Jin from Cao Gong’s service!”
……….
The next morning, Liu Xun sent out twelve thousand troops. The army was led by the great generals Chen Lan and Lei Bo, with a total of over a thousand warships large and small, three hundred thousand shi of grain, one hundred thousand strings of copper coins, and countless other supplies. He was also uneasy about Sun Ce, so he simply took all his household wealth with him.
At the same time, Liu Xun left his brother Liu Xun to lead ten thousand troops to guard Shu County.
At the dock, Liu Ye watched Liu Xun’s fleet sail away. He took out a letter and handed it to a trusted subordinate, instructing in a low voice, “Take two men, sail a fast boat to Chaisang, and deliver this letter to Lu Su.”
Liu Ye returned to the manor and said to his wife, “Pack our things immediately. We’re leaving Shu County for Xuchang!”
His wife hurriedly packed luggage with the maidservants.
Liu Ye then went to the guest room, where Jia Xu greeted him with a smile. “Has the news been sent to Gan Ning?”
Liu Ye nodded with a smile. “I’ve sent someone. With Cao Gong lending a hand this time, Gan Ning won’t lose.”
Jia Xu pondered and said, “Yu Jin discovered that Sun Ce has already hidden five hundred soldiers inside the city. Sun Ce is probably going to act tonight. Brother Liu, you must leave Shu County for Xuchang right now.”
Liu Ye was startled. “Won’t you come with me, Advisor Jia?”
Jia Xu nodded. “I have another matter entrusted by Cao Cao. I need to make a trip to Chaisang.”
This time, Cao Cao had given Jia Xu four tasks: first, to persuade Liu Ye to go to Xuchang; second, to assist Gan Ning; the third task was to bring Yuan Shu’s family back to Xuchang.
Especially Yuan Shu’s wife, daughter of Feng Fang, who had heavenly beauty and national grace. Though over thirty, her charm was undiminished, and Cao Cao, who liked collecting beauties, had long admired her.
Jia Xu’s trip south also had a fourth important task: to meet Sun Ben.
……
Meanwhile, Zhu Zhi also took his leave. Liu Xun’s entire mind was on Chaisang, so he completely failed to notice that Zhu Zhi had brought five hundred escort soldiers when he arrived.
When Zhu Zhi left, those five hundred soldiers were nowhere to be seen. Except for Jia Xu who noticed something amiss, no one else paid attention to the matter anymore.
The five hundred soldiers had hidden in Shu County’s Zhou residence the night before, led by Zhou Yu disguised as a soldier.
At this time, on the south bank of the Yangtze River, Sun Ce personally led thirty thousand troops and several thousand small boats, waiting for some time. It was currently a northwest wind, so large ships couldn’t cross the river; they could only use small boats to row across.
And at this moment, an unexpected envoy arrived in Chaisang who surprised Gan Ning greatly.
