Chapter 298: Preparing For The Southern Campaign
Lv Fan did not become the accountant at the wine shop, but the intelligence station supervisor was inspired and spent three hundred strings of cash to buy Lv Fan the title of county clerk, and he took the alias Liu Zheng.
An important advantage here is that no one in Xuchang knows Lv Fan, and the portrait on the wanted poster has blurry facial features, with the most prominent feature being a neatly trimmed one-foot-long beard.
Beautiful Bearded Duke has always been Lv Fan’s identifier, but after Lv Fan shaved off his long beard and his skin became dark, he was completely a different person, even the several School Affairs Office Guards who had once surveilled him could not recognize him.
Although Lv Fan could disguise himself and leave directly, the journey from Xuchang to Chaisang City still passes through a large area of Cao Cao’s base, with checkpoints everywhere, and without a legal identity, it is indeed quite dangerous; a slight carelessness could lead to suspicion and detention.
With a legal official identity as cover, no matter what inspections he encounters along the way, he can handle them normally and pass through.
Ten days later, Lv Fan, who was posing as Liu Zheng, the Gong Cao clerk of Xuchang County, led several bailiff subordinates and leisurely passed through one checkpoint after another.
Finally, he boarded the passenger ship prepared in advance by the intelligence station. This time, he used the excuse of his father being seriously ill to return home to visit family. Lv Fan bid farewell to the several confused bailiff subordinates who had escorted him onto the ship, and the passenger ship set sail southward.
………..
The weather gradually turned cold. In mid-November, a light snow fell fluttering down, the first snow of winter in Chaisang City.
These past few days, another piece of good news came from Gan Ning’s residence: Xu Wei was pregnant. This news made everyone in Gan Ning’s residence busy.
But at this time, the situation in the south underwent some subtle changes. Xiahou Yuan led an army of 150,000 to arrive at She County. This move by Xiahou Yuan was like throwing a stone into a stagnant lake surface—not only did ripples appear on the water, but some unknown changes also occurred underwater. Gan Ning decided to go personally to Nanchang to welcome this impending storm.
In the rear residence, Da Qiao was packing luggage for her husband. Tomorrow, her husband would set off for Nanchang County.
“Husband, how long will this trip take?” Da Qiao asked softly.
“About a month! Perhaps even faster.”
Gan Ning was going this time to personally command the battle, so he was not certain about the timing either, but with Strategist Pang Tong there, he could return early, as he was also indispensable in Chaisang.
“How about having A Yu go with you? She can take care of your daily needs, and I would feel more at ease.”
Gan Ning thought about it and agreed. He did indeed need someone to take care of him.
“Yun Qing will be in your care.”
“Don’t worry! I will take good care of her, and Shang Xiang will help me too. You don’t need to worry.”
Thinking of Sun Shangxiang, Gan Ning nodded. “I will try to return before the end of the year.”
The next morning, Gan Ning took Xiao Qiao aboard his exclusive 40,000-shi passenger ship, accompanied by five hundred large mengchong warships and 15,000 soldiers—this was Wang Ping’s army.
Grain and supplies had long been transported to Nanchang. Now Gan Ning was reinforcing troops, bringing Nanchang’s total troop strength to 100,000 to counter the two-pronged attack from Xiahou Yuan and Sun Ben.
The large ship swayed gently, set sail, and steadily headed toward the Pengli Marsh estuary dozens of li away, with large mengchong warships providing tight escort both ahead and behind.
Gan Ning’s 40,000-shi large ship was a tower ship with four decks above and four below. The warehouse, shiphands, cabins, kitchen, stables, and so on were all below deck, while the four upper decks housed the council cabin, staff cabin, luggage cabin, guard cabin, and so forth.
Gan Ning and Xiao Qiao lived on the third deck, which besides the two of them also had three personal maidservants and two personal female guards.
The large ship sailed quietly on the river surface. Gan Ning stood before the sand table, quietly looking at the two east-west passages in the southern part of Yuzhang Commandery, pondering potential flaws in the pre-planned countermeasures in his mind.
At this moment, Xiao Qiao came in carrying a cup of tea. Over the past two years, as she grew older, she had gradually matured and become sensible. The previous playful and willful personality was completely gone, but her enthusiastic and outgoing nature remained unchanged, and her occasional mischievousness only made her more endearing.
“This is the lotus root starch paste I just developed. Husband, have a taste!”
Xiao Qiao’s greatest hobby was researching and making various delicacies. She always got inspiration from her husband and then tried repeatedly. She had specially set aside a room in her courtyard called the gourmet workshop, equipped with various tools—five grinders of different sizes alone—and two strong maidservants specifically responsible for rough processing for her.
Lotus root starch was something Gan Ning had taught her: wash fresh lotus root clean and dry it in the sun, then grind it into fine powder, steep it in boiling water to form a gel, and mix with various seasonings to create different flavors.
These days, Xiao Qiao had been tirelessly researching lotus root starch.
Gan Ning took the small jade bowl and scooped some with a small spoon to taste. Xiao Qiao blinked her big eyes, looking at her husband expectantly.
“Not bad, very fine and tasty, just a bit short on sweetness.”
“Still not sweet enough!”
Sweetness was Xiao Qiao’s perennial problem with her foods. She looked distressed. “I’ve tried maltose and honey. Husband, is there a better way?”
“Of course!”
Gan Ning put his arm around her and smiled. “Aren’t various melons and fruits very sweet? You can juice them to mix with your foods.”
Xiao Qiao’s eyes lit up with unconcealed delight. “That’s a great idea!”
Seeing her husband hesitate as if holding back, she understood immediately, grabbed her husband’s hand, and coquettishly said, “Husband must have an even better way. Tell me quickly!”
Gan Ning smiled and nodded. “Indeed, there is a better way. When we return, I will teach you how to boil sugar.”
What Gan Ning meant was boiling sugar from sugarcane. Jiaozhou produced abundant sugarcane, which had long been tribute to the imperial palace and a delicacy at noble banquets, but sugar boiling had not yet appeared. It was not until the early Tang Dynasty, after Wang Xuance conquered Tianzhu and brought back the sugar-boiling method from Tianzhu, that sucrose gradually replaced maltose and honey.
Several days later, the fleet arrived at Nanchang. Strategist Pang Tong, who had arrived earlier, along with Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, Ding Feng, and other great generals, came to the dock to welcome them.
Gan Ning did not rest. He first settled Xiao Qiao in their separate residence, then immediately summoned the generals for a meeting in the barracks.
“What is the latest intelligence?” Gan Ning asked.
Pang Tong pointed at She County on the sand table with a wooden rod. “Thousands of civilian ships fully loaded with grain and supplies have arrived at She County. We keep spotting Cao Army scouts, likely sent by Xiahou Yuan.”
“Has Xiahou Yuan already sent out troops?”
“Not yet. They seem to be waiting for something. This subordinate estimates it is news from Sun Ben.”
“What about Sun Ben’s side?” Gan Ning asked again.
“No movement from Sun Ben’s side for now. It is still the same as before. Sun Quan is still watching Xiahou Yuan.”
Gan Ning pondered for a moment and asked, “Why did Xiahou Yuan suddenly advance into She County? According to their tacit understanding, should not Sun Ben act first?”
Pang Tong shook his head. “This subordinate does not know, but something we are unaware of must have happened behind the scenes.”
Gan Ning paced a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked again, “How is contact between Yu County and Damo County? Any carrier pigeon letters?”
“None!”
Pang Tong shook his head. “They have not had time to establish carrier pigeon contact yet. They are still using messengers to send letters.”
Gan Ning pondered deeply for a long time and finally made up his mind. “Xiahou Yuan has already sent out troops. Cao Cao will not allow Sun Ben to sit idly by. He may suddenly send out troops. We cannot wait any longer. Proceed with the original plan immediately!”
