Chapter 43: The Reverse Stratagem
Half a shichen later, General Gan led the army to arrive at Liling County. Seeing that Xu Sheng had already withdrawn, he immediately wrote a letter and handed it to a personal guard, saying: “Quickly go to Haihun County via the small path on horseback and deliver this letter to County Assistant Li!”
The personal guard immediately took the small path on horseback to rush to Haihun County.
County Assistant Li was none other than Li Dai, appointed by General Gan as the County Assistant of Haihun County. Although the Jiangdong Army later occupied Haihun County, Li Dai came from a great clan in Haihun County, and since he had betrayed Zhang Ying, he was allowed to continue in his position.
Li Dai received General Gan’s letter, pondered for a moment, then hurried to find He Qi.
“General He, this subordinate has several household servants who took a small path to escape back from Liling County. They say Liling County has already fallen.”
“Is this true?”
He Qi sat up abruptly. He knew Xu Sheng would be defeated, but he hadn’t expected it so soon.
“Liling County has indeed fallen. The household servants heard that cavalry shot an arrow letter to General Xu, after which General Xu immediately withdrew.”
“Arrow letter?”
“This subordinate’s household servants only heard about it; they didn’t see it with their own eyes.”
He Qi nodded. “I understand. Thank you, County Assistant, for informing me.”
He immediately sent someone to summon advisor Li Quan. After hearing this, Li Quan rolled his eyes and said: “This letter is very important. If handled well, it’s a sharp weapon against the Xu Family!”
“What do you mean by that?”
Li Quan chuckled and said: “General Sun Ben has always been in a covert struggle with the Xu Family. If there’s evidence proving that Xu Family disciples colluded with General Gan, the Xu Family will hardly escape blame. This isn’t just about dealing with Xu Sheng—it’s about dealing with the entire Xu Family.”
“But without killing Xu Sheng, it’s hard for me to swallow this anger!” He Qi said hatefully.
Li Quan advised: “He is a key figure. If he is killed, the persuasiveness of this letter will be diminished. This concerns the struggle between General Sun Ben and the Xu Family—what’s a bit of your anger, General He? If you want to vent your anger, directly demote him to a soldier. Wouldn’t that kind of humiliation be more satisfying than killing him?”
He Qi nodded. “I’ll follow your advice, sir!”
At this moment, a soldier came to report: “General Xu Sheng has retreated back!”
Li Quan hurriedly said: “First, let’s hear what Hou Ping says to confirm if there’s this letter.”
He Qi immediately sent someone to bring Hou Ping for questioning.
Soon, Hou Ping hurried over, knelt on one knee, and saluted: “This subordinate pays respects to the general!”
“Let me ask you: did Xu Sheng receive a letter from General Gan?”
“This subordinate was just about to report to the general: Xu Sheng did receive General Gan’s letter, and he read it several times.”
“Tell me, did the two of them collude?”
Hou Ping understood the implication, rolled his eyes, and immediately said: “Xu Sheng did say that he greatly admired General Gan and only regretted that he couldn’t serve under him.”
He Qi nodded in satisfaction and said to him: “When the Marquis of Wu questions you later, answer just like that. Afterward, I’ll promote you to company commander!”
Hou Ping was overjoyed. “This subordinate will certainly not disappoint the general!”
He Qi immediately ordered: “Pass my command: beat the drums and raise the tent!”
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
The drum sound rang out, and all commanders at battalion commander level and above hurried to the tent. Xu Sheng also rushed over.
“Saluting General He!”
He Qi nodded and sternly said: “Men, take Xu Sheng down!”
Over a dozen personal guards rushed forward, pinned Xu Sheng down, and bound him.
Xu Sheng shouted loudly: “This subordinate general is innocent!”
“Hmph! Still stubborn. You fled without fighting and lost Liling County—how do you explain that?”
Xu Sheng urgently said: “General, General Gan personally led ten thousand army soldiers to kill their way here. This subordinate general had only five hundred soldiers—how could he defend the city? Rather than having all five hundred soldiers perish, it was better to withdraw and preserve everyone’s lives. Where did this subordinate general go wrong?”
At this time, a personal guard stepped forward and handed a letter to He Qi. This was found in Xu Sheng’s luggage—it was precisely the letter General Gan had written to Xu Sheng.
He Qi read it once, then sneered coldly: “This is evidence of your collusion with General Gan—colluding with the enemy army and betraying Liling County. Your crime is unforgivable. Take him out and behead him!”
The personal guards pushed Xu Sheng out. Xu Sheng cursed loudly: “He the turtle, if you want to kill me, just kill me directly. What kind of skill is slandering me with false charges? Even as a ghost, I won’t spare you!”
The crowd all knelt down to plead: “General, Xu Sheng is young and immature. General, spare his life!”
He Qi and Li Quan exchanged a glance. He Qi nodded. “Bring him back!”
Moments later, Xu Sheng was pushed back. He Qi stared at him coldly and said: “For the sake of the generals’ pleas, I will spare you for now. But your crime is inexcusable. From this moment, you are stripped of all military positions and demoted to a soldier!”
He then ordered his men: “Imprison him and hand him over to the Marquis of Wu for judgment!”
Xu Sheng stared at He Qi with fire in his eyes, remaining utterly silent from start to finish.
The next day at noon, General Gan led ten thousand army soldiers to kill their way to Haihun County. He Qi was shocked and pale, hurriedly sending someone to Nanchang to seek aid from Sun Fu.
General Gan set up the barracks three li outside the city, adopting a posture ready for a prolonged siege.
Around the afternoon wushi, the City God Temple near the North City Gate suddenly caught fire. The flames were fierce, with thick smoke billowing straight into the sky.
He Qi was startled and hurriedly sent men to extinguish the fire. Soldiers and yamen runners cooperated together and soon put out the fire.
Li Dai hurried over to report: “This subordinate has investigated. It was beggars warming themselves who accidentally ignited straw and caused the fire—it’s not a big problem!”
He Qi’s heart settled. With the cold weather, it was indeed easy to have fires from warming.
General Gan stood in front of the barracks, watching the thick smoke rolling over the north city sky. It was exactly wushi, the time agreed in the letter. Li Dai had used this method to tell him that Xu Sheng had been imprisoned—his counter-espionage plan had succeeded. By exploiting the contradiction between Sun Ben and the Xu Family, he had pushed Xu Sheng to a desperate situation. Now it just needed one final push, depending on whether Li Dai could claim merit for him.
Li Dai found military officer Zhang Tai. Zhang Tai was Xu Sheng’s fellow townsman and good friend, who had come to Wu Commandery with Xu Sheng and enlisted together. Zhang Tai had a hundred men under him—they were Xu Sheng’s direct subordinates.
Li Dai had previously received some news that Xu Sheng had been sent to attack Liling County because someone had filed a complaint against him, and He Qi had given him a hard time. But Li Dai didn’t know who had filed the complaint, so he could only trust Zhang Tai.
“Why is County Assistant Li helping my family general?”
“It’s not that I want to help you—it’s that General Gan wants to help General Xu. He entrusted me, so of course I must do my utmost!”
“Is County Assistant Li a man of General Gan?”
Li Dai nodded slightly. “He appointed me as this county assistant.”
So that’s how it was. Zhang Tai gritted his teeth and said: “It was Hou Ping who betrayed General Xu. I’ve investigated—it was he who informed He Qi, so he’s now been appointed company commander in place of General Xu!”
“Bring your subordinates and follow me to the prison to rescue General Xu!”
Xu Sheng was imprisoned in the county yamen prison, in the deepest level of the dungeon. All the death row prisoners had been transferred out, leaving only Xu Sheng alone, guarded by fifty of He Qi’s personal guards.
The county magistrate of Haihun County was concurrently held by He Qi—this was the rule. The commander of one side concurrently held the chief government affairs official. Sun Ben served as Prefect of Yuzhang Commandery, General Gan as Magistrate of Chaisang, and Zhou Tai as County Magistrate of Poyang County—all the same. Thus, the Haihun County Magistrate also had to be concurrently held by He Qi.
However, He Qi never interfered in county yamen affairs, so Li Dai was nominally the county assistant but actually functioned as the county magistrate.
Li Dai ordered the jailer to close the prison gate. Zhang Tai led a hundred soldiers with crossbow bolts down to the death cell, while Li Dai waited above.
Faint cries of agony came from below, followed by silence. Soon, Zhang Tai brought up Xu Sheng, who was dressed in prisoner clothes.
Xu Sheng looked at Li Dai and asked: “Was it General Gan who had you rescue me?”
Li Dai slowly said: “General Gan admires you greatly. Knowing that the general had met with disaster, how could he not save you?”
Xu Sheng’s face was expressionless, but his eyes burst with profound flames of hatred.
“Where is that dog bastard Hou Ping?”
