Chapter 160: Uncle and nephew Guan Yu and Liu Wu meet again: Cao Mengde asked me to bring you a message...

Chapter 160: Uncle Guan Yu and nephew Liu Wu meet again: Cao Mengde asked me to bring you a message...

Jiangbei, Xiling City.

"Report! The Han River burst its banks, causing a major flood in Xiangfan!"

"My Lord has the Marquis of Wu tricking Xiangyang into surrendering. Cao Ren, Yu Jin, Man Chong, and Lu Chang have all surrendered. Xiangfan has already been taken!"

"Report! Xu Huang led 20,000 troops to support Xiangfan. He defeated the lord and captured 20,000 Cao soldiers. Xu Huang fled..."

"The Lord sent General Zhao Zilong to capture Xu Huang alive..."

"My lord, conquer Wancheng and take Nanyang..."

These days, a large number of scouts have been coming and going in the Xiling County Governor's Mansion like a revolving lantern, bringing back battle reports about Liu Wu to Xiling.

Go to Xiangfan!
Captured Cao Ren, Yu Jin and other generals under Cao Cao!

Defeat Xu Huang,
Take Wancheng,
Conquer Nanyang...

Wow! ~
At the head of the hall, Lu Xun held a scroll of bamboo slips, his hands shaking uncontrollably. This was the news that had just been delivered...

"My lord, you have already taken all the counties under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang, Zhangling and Xiangyang counties, and northern Jing has been pacified!" Lu Xun stared at the bamboo slips, reading them over and over again.

His breathing was rapid, his whole body was hot, and his eyes were filled with uncontrollable heat as he looked at the bamboo slips...

Jingbei is the core area of ​​Jingzhou, especially Nanyang County in Jingbei, which is known as the largest county in the world. When it was at its peak, Nanyang had a population of more than 2.5 million.

Even after so many years of war, it still has a population of nearly one million, making it a truly prosperous place.

With these people, the lord will have a large amount of taxes, soldiers, and food!
My lord, what do you rely on to achieve great things?
It all depends on soldiers, money and food!

Most importantly,

Taking Xiangfan means taking the gateway to the Central Plains.

If we capture Nanyang, our lord's troops will be only three or four hundred miles away from Xuchang!
Gulp! ~
Lu Xun swallowed subconsciously, his eyes filled with uncontrollable excitement. If so, the lord only needed to lead a large army...

"Mr. Boyan!" A soldier hurried into the hall. "This is a handwritten letter from the lord sent from Wancheng, and I have specially ordered you to open it in person!"

A personal letter from the lord to himself?
Lu Xun strode forward: “Bring it here quickly.”

He took the brocade bag from the soldier, took out the silk letter and read it:

[Bo Yan read the letter as if he had met you: Now the counties of Xiangfan and Nanyang have been taken, and all of northern Jing is ours. We have won several battles and captured 70,000 northern army prisoners. Mr. Fengchu will lead 15,000 naval forces to escort the prisoners back to the south soon...]

[I will be heading north soon. My soldiers are tired and need to rest. Boyan, please send more troops north to help me...]

Lead the troops north!

Lu Xun suddenly stood up from behind the desk. He had finally waited for this day...

After conquering the four counties in southern Jing, it was no longer a secret that Liu Wu was going to lead 10,000 troops north to pay homage to the emperor.

But at that time, Xiangfan was still heavily guarded, and Xu Huang also had 20,000 troops in Nanyang.

Whether the lord can lead his troops north is still unclear.

But things are different now. The situation in Jingbei has changed, and the overall situation is in the hands of the lord!

Last time, the lord sent a letter to Cao Cao, asking him to take 10,000 soldiers northward, but the other party refused. Now no one can stop the lord from going northward, but the soldiers he brought with him cannot be just those 10,000...

Thinking of this, eight words suddenly flashed through Lu Xun's mind.

Aim for the Central Plains!

Compete in the world!

Lu Xun looked outside the hall suddenly: "Someone come!"

Immediately, a captain on duty came in and said, "Mr. Boyan."

Lu Xun sat back at the table, took two blank bamboo scrolls, wrote quickly, and called the captain forward: "Take my order and transfer 5,000 troops from Xiling and Xiakou..."

"Go to Jiangling and Gong'an, transfer 15,000 troops, a total of 20,000 troops, and quickly head north to Xiangfan to support the lord!"

The captain took the bamboo slip and respectfully said, "Yes!"

Looking at the captain's receding back, Lu Xun breathed a sigh of relief. His lord trusted him and entrusted all matters on both sides of the river to him.

Now that my lord is facing a major event, I must not hold him back no matter what.

There are still 20,000 soldiers in Gong'an and Jiangling, and there are no major enemies around, so it is enough to leave only 5,000 soldiers to guard the city.

As for Xiling and Xiakou, there are still those Jiangdong rats eyeing them covetously. The most important thing is that Liu Xuande is in Jiangdong now.

Once he learned that the garrisons in Xiling and Xiakou were empty, he would certainly encourage Sun Shao to go up the river to attack!

He absolutely could not take such a risk. Pulling out 5,000 of the 15,000 defenders in Xiling and Xiakou was already the limit.

"It's still a little short..." Lu Xun shook his head, but he had no other options now. "Let's wait for Mr. Fengchu to lead the Jingzhou navy to bring back the prisoners. With the navy sailing on the Yangtze River, we will surely be able to intimidate the Jiangdong rats!"

"When that time comes, we will send the remaining 15,000 soldiers to Jingbei, and that will be the best solution."

Lu Xun finally breathed a sigh of relief after everything was arranged.

At this moment,

Another scout hurried into the hall: "Sir, there's a letter from General Huang Hansheng of Jingnan!"

A letter from Huang Hansheng?
I just received a letter from Jingbei, and now I’ve received a letter from Jingnan as well?

Lu Xun took the bamboo slips and unfolded them: [A letter from Boyan himself. When Boyan read the letter, Huang Zhong had already led his troops into Yuzhang and captured nine counties...]

Huang Hansheng has seized nine counties in Yuzhang?!
Lu Xun was stunned, with a strange look on his face: "This old General Huang is really as strong as Lian Po..."

Ever since Liu Wu let Huang Zhong lead the three counties of Guiyang, Changsha and Lingling, the old general has never had a moment of peace.

Not long after taking office, Huang Zhong set his sights on Cangwu County.

South of Lingling County is Cangwu County, which belongs to Jiaozhou.

But when Liu Biao ruled Jingzhou, Jingzhou was more powerful than Jiaozhou. After the previous prefect of Cangwu died, Liu Biao actually submitted a petition to the court in his capacity as the governor of Jingzhou, appointing Wu Ju, a native of Changsha, as the prefect of Cangwu.

After Liu Biao's death, Jingzhou fell into chaos, with Liu Qi, Liu Cong, the Jingzhou nobles and Liu Xuande fighting endlessly.

Wu Ju looked down on the weak Liu Qi, and even more so on Liu Xuande who was trying to usurp the throne, so he simply established his own regime in Cangwu.

But it didn't take long for him to establish his own regime, as Liu Wu took over southern Jing.

Huang Zhong accepted Liu Wu's appointment, and the first thing he did after returning to Jingnan was to contact this former "colleague". Huang Zhong did not hide anything and went straight to the point...

Liu Qi is weak, and you, Liu Bei, look down on him. Now the new governor of Jingzhou, Liu Zilie, is ambitious. Even Cao Mengde was once captured by him. With such a heroic ruler, why do you, Wu Ju, want to submit to him now? Do you really have to wait for Liu Zilie’s army to attack us?
Wu Ju surrendered to Huang Zhong without much hesitation, and even handed over all his 5,000 soldiers and horses to the other side.

Huang Zhong was not satisfied with the addition of an extra county to Liu Wu. When he was under Han Xuan's command, he was put on the shelf for several years because of his age.

Now working for Liu Wu, Huang Zhong doesn't want to be neglected anymore, but his age also makes him unable to withstand being neglected any longer.

Huang Hansheng couldn't wait to make a contribution, he wanted to let Liu Wu see his own value!
Not long ago, he received news from Lu Xun that Liu Bei supported Sun Shao, which led to civil strife in Jiangdong.

Old Huang Zhong was overjoyed. He had another chance to make military achievements...

Changsha County was connected to Yuzhang County under Jiangdong.

When Huang Zhong first arrived in Changsha, he was stationed in You County with Liu Biao's nephew Liu Pan. The two of them had attacked Ai County and Xi'an County in Yuzhang many times.

Sun Ce, who was in charge of Jiangdong at that time, sent his general Taishi Ci to lead troops to fight the two men.

Huang Zhong was indeed brave, and Liu Pan was famous for his valor in Jingzhou, but Taishi Ci was stronger than both of them.

The two sides fought several times in Yuzhang County. Taishi Ci defeated Huang Zhong and Liu Pan. The two fought again and again, but they were defeated again and again, and their soldiers suffered heavy losses.

In the end, they could no longer hold on and had to retreat to Changsha in disgrace.

Huang Zhong had always been brooding over the defeat at Yuzhang. He had tried countless times to avenge himself, but since Sun Quan ascended the throne, Yuzhang's defense had become tighter, and he had no chance at all.

But now, the opportunity has come.

The new Liu Jingzhou asked him to take charge of the three counties in southern Jing. Now he has taken over Cangwu County and got back Yuzhang County... three counties have become five counties!

Let Liu Jingzhou see, old Huang Zhong only has old hair and beard, but the sword in his hand is not old!
[…Jiangdong is in civil strife, and the defenders of Yuzhang are at a loss as to how to advance or retreat. Wherever our army goes, all the counties surrender. I think it won’t be long before Jingnan gains another county.]

After reading the silk letter, Lu Xun burst out laughing.

Of course he understood what Huang Zhong was planning, but as long as Huang Zhong could keep Jingnan intact, adding more counties for his lord would always be a good thing. Which prince in the world would complain that he had too much land?

Lu Xun pulled out a piece of snow-white silk and wrote back to Huang Zhong:

[Lu Xun wrote to General Huang Lao in front of his tent: I have received your letter...]

[General Huang Lao is stationed in Jingnan at the order of the lord. How dare Lu Xun interfere and make irresponsible comments? ]

[The old general is a veteran with many years of military experience. He can make his own decisions on the affairs of the Jingnan Army. There is no need to write to Xiling for everything...]

[Also, the lord has already conquered Xiangfan, taken Nanyang, and captured Cao Ren, Yu Jin, Xu Huang and other generals. Soon he will go north with the Marquis of Wu to pay homage to the emperor...]

...in Yuzhang.

Rumble~
In the distance, dust was flying and yellow smoke was billowing.

A massive black army, with distinctive armor, rushed forward, sweeping up the yellow dust.

Murderous,
Iron-blooded and fierce!

It's like a huge wave breaking through a dam and rushing forward!
"Drive! Drive!"

The leading general, carrying two halberds and riding a horse, was Taishi Ci.

"General Ziyi!" A general came on horseback and said, "Ai County is just ahead."

Ai County...

Taishi Ci looked at the looming city wall in front of him with a complicated expression.

When the former lord Gongsun Bofu was still alive, the old thief Huang Zhong and Liu Pan invaded Ai County and Xi'an County. Under the order of General Bofu, I fought several battles with the two men in Yuzhang County before driving them back to Changsha.

I didn’t expect that after so many years, Huang Hansheng would come back again?
It even occupied nine counties in Yuzhang!

Nine counties!

Taishi Ci gritted his teeth. How come this damn Sun Shao didn't inherit any of his father's heroic spirit and lost most of Yuzhang so easily?
Since the day Taishi Ci was imprisoned for being dissatisfied with Sun Shao's accession to the throne, no matter how Liu Xuande and Sun Shao sent people to persuade him, Taishi Ci was always unwilling to be released from prison.

He had already made up his mind that as long as Sun Shao was in power, he would stay in prison for one day. He would rather die in prison than work for Sun Shao...

But now Taishi Ci had to come out. He couldn't just watch the foundation built by Sun Ce being occupied by foreign enemies...

As they were talking, the army had already arrived at the city of Ai County.

The city gates were tightly closed, and soldiers were crowded on the city walls like a forest. Their spears, halberds and daggers emitted a biting chill under the sunlight.

Taishi Ci raised his hand and was about to order a retreat and set up camp.

boom! ~
The tightly closed city gate burst open.

Da da da! ~
An old general with white beard,

The knife in his hand shone with a chilling light.

The horse under his crotch neighed and growled, and the lone rider rushed out of the city gate corridor like a tiger rushing down the mountain! It was the veteran general Huang Zhong.

Xilulu! ~
Huang Hansheng reined in his horse and stood, laughing: "Taishi Ziyi, are you well?"

"Huang Hansheng..." Taishi Ci stopped his horse and looked coldly at his old rival in front of him: "I never thought that you, who was defeated by me back then, would come back to kill me after so many years."

"How can we allow an outsider like you to trample on the foundation of the Sun family?!"

"Sun's foundation?" Huang Zhong sneered, "I'm afraid they have changed their surname to Liu now, right?"

Huang Zhong's words were like a sharp thorn that instantly pierced Taishi Ci's heart. He recalled the scene in the Jiangdong Council Hall that day when Liu Bei led his troops to support Sun Shao to take the throne of Wu Hou...

Taishi Ci's face suddenly turned ugly.

Huang Hansheng kept talking: "Although your new leader of Jiangdong is a descendant of Sun Bofu, he doesn't have any heroic spirit of Sun Bofu. How could he be so willing to be Liu Xuande's puppet?"

"You, Taishi Ziyi, are a real man of the time, but are you really willing to support a weak puppet like Sun Shao?!"

"Although Sun Quan cannot be compared with Sun Bofu, he is also a rare hero in this world..."

"At the Battle of Red Cliff, Sun Zhongmou led Cao Cao, fought against a large force with a small force, and appointed Zhou Yu as the main general. He burned Cao Cao's 800,000-man army with a big fire. How heroic..."

Before his death, when Sun Ce passed the throne to Sun Quan, he said: "Gather the people of Jiangdong, decide the outcome between the two battles, and compete with the world. You are not as good as me..."

Over the years, Sun Quan did not achieve any great achievements in expanding territory.

But he also never lost an inch of the Jiangdong foundation of three generations, and even buried the invading army of powerful enemies like Cao Cao in the river!
When Sun Zhongmou was in charge of Jiangdong, did he ever do something stupid like losing half of a county?!

Taishi Ci remained silent.
Huang Zhong continued to talk, and continued to increase his intensity: "I guess you don't know what's going on in Xiangfan?"

"My master has already taken all of Xiangfan..."

Liu Zilie took Xiangfan?!

Taishi Ci looked up in shock, almost unable to believe his ears. How could this be possible?

Huang Zhong: "Sun Zhongmou and my master have joined forces to capture Man Chong alive..."

"He also took Xiangyang by force and tricked Lü Chang into opening the gates of Xiangyang..."

"On the surging Han River, Sun Zhongmou and my master surrounded Xu Huang, frightening him so much that he abandoned his 20,000 soldiers and fled north in panic!"

"Now, my master will go north with Sun Zhongmou to meet the emperor soon..."

Capture Man Chong alive,

Capture Xiangyang with wisdom,

Together with Liu Wu, he defeated Xu Huang.
Go north to meet the emperor!

Is this still the Duke of Wu who knows nothing about military affairs in my impression?

Taishi Ci was stunned and confused. He subconsciously had doubts in his heart. Are these things true? Who knows if Huang Zhong is lying to him?
But he quickly dismissed this doubt, thinking it was impossible.

This kind of thing will soon spread all over the world. If I send someone to investigate, I will get the news soon. There is no point in Huang Hansheng lying to me.

If he didn't lie to me, then that meant that Wu Hou really took it seriously...

Taishi Ci's breathing began to become heavy...

"Taishi Ziyi!" Huang Zhong suddenly raised his voice: "A real man born in this world should hold a three-foot sword and accomplish unparalleled feats! Now you are serving Sun Shao, a weak and incompetent man, and can only decay like grass and trees!"

"Are you really willing?"

Working for a weak and incompetent person like Sun Shao will only lead to decaying like grass and trees!
Huang Zhong's words directly revealed the bloody reality that Taishi Ci was about to face.

Sun Shao was just a puppet supported by Liu Xuande.

He was unwilling to work for him in the first place, otherwise he would not have been thrown into prison that day. Now he was released from prison to lead the troops only because he could not bear to see the three generations of the Sun family's foundation destroyed by that kid.

How could he be willing to support this puppet boy?
Sun Zhongmou and Liu Wu joined forces to attack Xiangfan and defeated Xu Huang. Now they are going north to meet the emperor. His heroic spirit is almost as good as that of Sun Ce.

This is the real Marquis Wu!

This is the real lord of Jiangdong!

This is the master that Taishi Ci should be loyal to! !

Looking at Taishi Ci's changing expression, Huang Zhong smiled: "Sun Zhongmou will return to Jiangdong sooner or later, Ziyi should also make preparations early..."

……

Wow! ~
On the top of Wancheng City, a large banner with the word "Liu" was fluttering.

Far outside the city,

A man and a horse galloped, stirring up a trail of yellow dust and heading straight for the city of Wancheng.

"who?"

"He who comes is stopped!"

Dozens of large bows were drawn on the top of the city wall, and the gleaming arrows were aimed at the people coming down the city.

Xilulu! ~
The horse stood with its hooves raised, like a ball of running fire.

The man on horseback has a face as red as a date.

Phoenix eye and silkworm,

Beautiful beard,
Holding a Green Dragon Crescent Blade and looking awe-inspiring, it was none other than Guan Yu.

Guan Yu shouted: "Hurry and tell your governor of Jingzhou that an old friend from Gong'an is visiting!"

In a moment,

boom! ~
The gates of Wancheng were wide open.

Da da da! ~
A young figure rode out slowly, looking at the complex face in front of him, and bowed slowly: "Uncle, I haven't seen you for a long time. Are you in good health?"

He was still so young, and seemed no different from when he ran away on that snowy night.

But Guan Yu understood very well.
This nephew is no longer the insignificant young man he once was in Gong'an City.

After a brief silence,

Master Guan spoke slowly: "Cao Mengde asked me to bring you a message..."

　There is one more chapter, around half past twelve, before one o'clock.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)