Chapter 248: Casting Aside Past Grudges
The negotiations between Lu Su and Lv Fan ultimately ended without result. Although Lv Fan’s attitude was very sincere and serious, the negotiation itself was inherently flawed from the start. Sun Quan’s attitude wavered, and he did not allow the Western Chu Army to station in Danyang Commandery, which doomed this to have no outcome.
Lv Fan departed dejectedly, but on the day before leaving, Gan Ning received Lv Fan, and Lv Fan’s attitude and sincerity moved Gan Ning.
“Lv Fan pays respects to the Marquis of Chu!”
Lv Fan bowed in salute, with Lu Su accompanying him at the side.
Gan Ning smiled and said, “Chief Clerk Lu, please sit!”
Lv Fan sat down, and Gan Ning smiled again, saying, “Does Chief Clerk Lu still hold a grudge about that incident from back then? I raided the armory in Nanchang right under Chief Clerk Lu’s nose, making Chief Clerk Lu lose face!”
Lv Fan shook his head. “I was a bit annoyed at the time, but that was a minor matter. After so many years, I had long forgotten it.”
“Actually, Chief Clerk Lu doesn’t know the truth. If Chief Clerk Lu wants to know, I can talk about it.”
“The truth?”
Lv Fan was stunned for a moment. He did indeed harbor some doubts in his heart: how did Gan Ning know there were weapons inside, when the token there indicated a grain warehouse; and how did Gan Ning know there was a secret small door there, a door even he didn’t know about.
“Marquis of Chu, I am all ears!”
Gan Ning then smiled faintly and said, “I was the County Chief of Chaisang County appointed by the Imperial Court. The Prefect of Yuzhang Commandery at the time was Hua Xin, so of course I went to see the Prefect.”
“Ah! It was Hua Xin.” Lv Fan suddenly realized.
Gan Ning nodded with a smile. “He had already secretly pledged loyalty to Cao Cao. He knew I was also a County Chief appointed by Cao Cao and wanted to help me, but at the time he was only a nominal Prefect with no power in hand, so he could only point out a clear path for me.”
“I understand. So it was Hua Xin. No wonder…”
Lv Fan finally felt relieved in his heart. He had always regarded that warehouse incident as a shameful mark of his own incompetence. Although many years had passed and the feeling of shame had faded, the mark remained. Now Gan Ning’s explanation let him finally understand the truth—with Hua Xin’s help, it was no longer a shame.
“Thank you, Marquis of Chu, for telling me the truth and letting me finally feel relieved!”
Gan Ning smiled. “I told you the truth with intention.”
“What intention?” Lv Fan’s heart tightened slightly again.
“I want to tell Lord Lu that if one day Jiangdong is destroyed, my gates here will always be open to Lord Lu. This place will forever be Lord Lu’s retreat.”
Lv Fan stared dazedly into Gan Ning’s eyes. Gan Ning’s eyes were filled with sincerity and expectation. Lv Fan suddenly felt a touch of emotion in his heart. He nodded lightly. “Thank you for your kindness, Marquis of Chu!”
Lv Fan rose to take his leave. Gan Ning escorted him out of the General’s Mansion gate. Lv Fan departed. He did not return to the Guest House but went straight to the dock, where his subordinates were already waiting for him.
Lu Su saw him all the way to the ship. Lv Fan pondered for a moment and said, “Please tell the Marquis of Chu on my behalf to prepare for the worst. Build fortifications at all passes and passages between Yuzhang Commandery and Danyang Commandery, deploy heavy troops, and take preventive measures.”
“I understand!”
Lu Su nodded lightly. Both Lv Fan and Lu Su understood in their hearts that the surrender faction in Jiangdong was too strong, and the voices of their Anti-Cao Faction had become insignificant.
The ship gradually moved away. Lv Fan stood at the stern waving to Lu Su, gazing at Chaisang’s tall city walls and Lu Su’s upright figure. At this moment, Lv Fan suddenly somewhat understood why Bu Zhi had surrendered to Gan Ning.
At the border between Jiujiang Commandery and Lujiang Commandery, a Cao Army force of 30,000 was marching rapidly along the official road, followed by several thousand carts fully loaded with grain and fodder.
The commander of this army was none other than Zhang Liao. They crossed the border between the two commanderies and headed straight for Shu County, fifty li away.
The battle north of the River finally slowly began. Cao Ren formulated a three-step plan: first take Shu County, then use Shu County as a springboard to capture the entire Lujiang Commandery, and then rely on the entire Lujiang Commandery to seize Jiangxia Commandery. The entire three-step battle plan would take two months. Cao Ren had learned his lesson; this time he was determined to proceed steadily, consolidating control over each occupied area before moving to the next step.
This plan received Zhang Liao’s full support. The previous defeat at Jiangxia was because they had advanced too hastily.
Three days later, the 30,000 Cao Army arrived at Shu County. Zhang Liao encountered no resistance along the way and saw very few citizens. Zhang Liao of course knew the reason: most of the citizens had been withdrawn to Jiangnan.
The 30,000 Cao Army arrived under the city walls. The city gate of Shu County opened, and County Commandant Lin Fang led several officials out of the city to surrender. Gan Ning had given all officials freedom of choice: if they wanted to go to Jiangnan, they could migrate south by ship; if not, they could stay and continue their posts. Moreover, as long as they treated the citizens well and maintained order, they would not be held accountable when Lujiang Commandery was recovered in the future.
County Commandant Lin Fang was a local. He chose to stay and smoothly got his wish. Zhang Liao immediately appointed him as acting County Magistrate to continue maintaining order in the county town.
Zhang Liao led his army into the city. Despite being mentally prepared, the scene before him still stunned him. The main street of the county town was empty, with no one in sight. Every house was shut tight, and the shops were all empty, like a ghost city.
“Where are the people?” Zhang Liao asked in astonishment.
“They’ve all gone, almost all of them!” Lin Fang sighed and added, “There were originally sixty to seventy thousand people; now fewer than five thousand remain, all immobile elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.”
This result was beyond Zhang Liao’s expectations. He frowned deeply. “How could this be?”
“General, the citizens of Lujiang Commandery have changed several times over. The citizens here in Shu County almost all came from Xuzhou—they were refugees from when Chancellor Cao massacred Xuzhou back then.”
“What?”
Zhang Liao’s heart stalled. Back then, the Chancellor had led a great army into Xuzhou to avenge his father, killing countless people and slaughtering countless cities. Most of Shu County’s citizens had fled from Xuzhou—no wonder!
Lin Fang said bitterly, “Immigration officials preached everywhere about Chancellor Cao’s record of city massacres back then. This side is the first city the Cao Army will hit coming from Hefei, so it will inevitably be massacred. The citizens were terrified and fled almost clean in just a few days.”
Zhang Liao let out a long sigh. He knew full well that even if the Cao Army didn’t massacre the city, to mobilize the citizens to migrate, Gan Ning must have made up all sorts of stories to scare them. These common folk couldn’t withstand such frightening.
“Order the army into the city!”
Zhang Liao’s army stationed inside the city.
But there was no grain inside the city, no supplies; the warehouses were empty. The grain they carried could only support the 30,000-strong army for half a month, and Zhang Liao still had to provide relief to the starving people.
Zhang Liao ordered a census. The result was over three thousand households remaining: two thousand inside the city and eleven hundred in the rural areas outside. The citizens were all extremely short of grain.
With no other choice, Zhang Liao wrote to Cao Ren, requesting him to immediately send grain and fodder.
The news of the Cao Army occupying Shu County also flew toward Chaisang via a carrier pigeon hidden in the rural area outside the city.
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Asking everyone for one more leave update. My mom is eighty years old and has a tumor under her armpit; I’m preparing to have it minimally invasively removed. Things are a bit busy these few days, sorry about that. Normal update this afternoon.
