Chapter 79 Master Adou, we have arrived at Xiling!
Chapter 079: Master Adou, we have arrived in Xiling!
hum! ~
The bowstring was slowly pulled halfway, and the arrow, like a short spear, was now aimed at Gan Ning's head on the boat!

The two soldiers holding their bows felt a huge force suddenly pulling them from behind...

"Ouch!"

The two soldiers were directly pulled to the ground by the huge force of Liu Wu pulling the bowstring, and fell like a gourd.

Liu Wu frowned: "Add two more people."

Immediately, two more soldiers came over, and the four of them struggled to lift the giant bow!

Liu Wu stretched out his hand, but the bowstring was not even halfway drawn...

The four soldiers' arms were trembling slightly, sweat was pouring down their foreheads, and they felt a huge force pulling them, forcing them to retreat continuously!

Plop! ~
"what!"

There was a heavy fall.
Four screams,

The four people were once again dragged to the ground by Liu Wu's great strength and piled together.

Liu Wu remained calm and said, "Add more people."

……

On the river, the waves are getting faster and faster!
on board,

Gan Ning remained silent. This was his best chance to return to Jiangdong.

But he couldn't turn a blind eye to Liu Wu's kindness in letting him go twice...

ashore,

Sun Shangxiang looked at Gan Ning, who was still motionless, with her eyes becoming increasingly cold, and she withdrew her other hand to her lower abdomen.

……

On top of Xiling City,
Six soldiers gritted their teeth and lifted the huge bow.

Liu Wu saw Sun Shangxiang's new move, picked up an arrow that was like a short spear, and put it on the bowstring.

hum! ~
The bowstring was drawn again.

The six soldiers gritted their teeth, leaned forward, and tried their best to resist the huge force dragging from behind.

The bowstrings were pulled further and further, and this time the six soldiers did not fall down again.

……

On the deck, Gan Ning remained indifferent and silent.

He knew that he would be able to return to Jiangdong soon, but he remembered the scene of him kneeling at Liu Wu's feet yesterday, and the scene of the soldiers outside the tent yesterday...

On the shore, Lu Xun's right hand had already been placed in front of his lower abdomen.

His left hand was already wet, and Lu Xun knew that as long as he put his left hand on his lower abdomen, Zhou Yu and his men would have to take Gan Ning's body back to Jiangdong today!

Sun Shangxiang stared at Gan Ning on the boat and began to urge Lu Xun in a low voice: "Lu Boyan, what are you waiting for?!"

"Gan Xingba hasn't gotten off the boat yet. Don't you understand what he's thinking?"

Hot sweat flowed down Lu Xun's forehead into his eyes, and Lu Xun murmured: "Wait, wait a little longer..."

……

On top of the city!
Liu Wu pulled the huge bow to its full extent and waited.

Liu Wu was waiting for Lu Xun to put away his remaining hand. At that time, Liu Wu would be able to release the bowstring, and the big arrow like a short spear would fly to the riverside and smash Gan Ning's head!
He whispered to himself: "Gan Ning, it's time to make a decision..."

……

call! ~
The wind on the river was getting stronger and stronger.

The surging river water rises and falls, causing the boats on the east side of the river to rise and fall as well!

"Xingba!" Zhou Yu could no longer bear it: "What are you hesitating about? Could it be that Liu Zilie..."

"Gongjin! My brothers!" Gan Ning finally spoke: "I told you yesterday that General Zilie has been very kind to me and saved my life several times."

"I can't abandon him!"

Gan Ning finally made his own decision. How can a man go back on his word? !

He strode to the bow and leaped off.

Wow! ~
Gan Xingba waded across the river without stopping and reached the shore of Xiling without any hesitation.

He looked at Sun Shangxiang and Lu Xun on the shore, and said with more determination than ever before: "We have finished our business here, let's go back to Xiling."

Sun Shangxiang and Lu Xun finally let go of their worries. The three of them said nothing more, left the stunned Jiangdong generals on the boat, and turned around to head straight for Xiling.

……

On the top of Xiling City, Liu Wu looked at the three figures returning to the riverside and slowly released the bowstring in his hand.

Bang! ~
He casually threw the short spear and arrow on the ground. The bow and arrow were ultimately of no use.

At this moment,

The sun is rising in the east.

The bright golden morning sun swept through the gloom and shone on both sides of the river, on the three figures, and on Xiling City...

……

The red sun is high in the sky and the vast river is sparkling.

On the boat by the river, the Jiangdong generals stood at the bow, staring blankly at the three figures gradually disappearing on the shore.

Zhou Tai was bewildered. "Didn't we agree on this last night? Liu Zilie was also willing to release them, so why don't the three of them want to go back to Jiangdong?"

"What's so good about Xiling that makes them even abandon Jiangdong?"

No one could answer Zhou Tai's question because it was also the question of everyone on the ship.

I thought the biggest difficulty in coming to Xiling to ask for people would be Liu Zilie, but who would have thought that the biggest difficulty would be the three people who were asked to return to Jiangdong? !

Thinking about how the princess and her two companions jumped off the boat and landed one after another, it was really unbelievable.

But now that things have come to this, how should they deal with it?
The Marquis of Wu asked them to cross the river and bring the princess, Lu Xun and Gan Ning back to Jiangdong, but now they can't bring any of them back... How should they explain to the Marquis of Wu when they go back?
When they thought of this, the generals felt their scalps tingling.

Zhou Yu looked coldly at the shadow of Xiling City on the shore...

No wonder,
No wonder Liu Zilie agreed to release the people so readily last night. It turned out that he was waiting for them here!

Although the princess and the other two said that they were going back to Xiling and it had nothing to do with Liu Zilie, Zhou Gongjin would never believe that Liu Zilie was not behind what happened just now.

What a great old friend from Shentingling!
Even though he is now seriously injured and cannot mount a horse or draw a bow, he is still more difficult to deal with than he was on Shenting Ridge.

Zhou Yu's eyes flashed with worry...

Now that Liu Zilie is entrenched in Jiangbei, he can be a great help to Jiangdong.

If Cao Cao’s group were gone one day, Liu Zilie would become the biggest threat to Jiangdong!

"Gongjin." The old general Huang Gai looked at Zhou Yu with a worried look on his face. "The princess, Boyan, and Xingba all refused to return to Jiangdong. How should we report to the Marquis of Wu?"

"No problem!" Zhou Yu said coldly, "We will report the truth, and the Lord Wu will make the decision."

After saying this, Zhou Yu waved his sleeves and turned back into the cabin: "Untie the moorings and return to Jiangdong!"

...In the blink of an eye, several days have passed.

The deep winter gradually passed, and the warm sun shone on the top of Xiling City.

Liu Wu walked slowly with the support of Sun Shangxiang, followed closely by Lu Xun and Gan Ning.

"Your injuries haven't healed yet. The doctor said you'd better stay in bed and rest more." Sun Shangxiang supported Liu Wu, but was still worried that Liu Wu would walk too much and affect his injuries.

"It's okay..." Liu Wu said calmly, "I've been bored staying in the house all day, how can I talk about recuperating?"

As he said this, he looked at Wei Yan standing beside him and said, "Chang Wen, please continue."

Wei Yan, who had just returned from Jiangling, was reporting the situation in Jiangling to Liu Wu with excitement: "Zi Lie, Jiangling is indeed a big city!"

"Jiangling City controls four counties in the north of the Yangtze River, but those four counties are equivalent to eight counties in Xiling. It can be said that the country is prosperous and densely populated! I brought back a lot of Jiangling's land tax account books. Zilie will know after a while..."

"Let alone anything else, just the size of her mouth makes me envious!"

At this point, Wei Yan finally expressed his true thoughts: "Zi Lie, we now have Jiangling in the west and Hefei in the east. With such a large territory, only 20,000 or 30,000 troops may not be enough."

"Now that we have no shortage of population under our rule, we still need to recruit more soldiers!"

Recruiting soldiers is the greatest wish of every general, and Wei Yan is no exception.

Xiling City was besieged from the north twice, with an enemy force of nearly 100,000 soldiers, but there were only a few thousand soldiers in Xiling City who could fight. Each time, Liu Wu had to fight for his life in person and finally win the battle.

Wei Yan was really short of soldiers and was afraid.

The most important thing is, as Wei Yan said, there is really no shortage of people in Jiangling area.

Jiangling was originally the seat of Nanjun, which was the most fertile and prosperous place in the entire Jingzhou. The fact that Jiangling could become the seat of Nanjun showed its prosperity.

If he could recruit tens of thousands of soldiers in Jiangling, how great would it be for him, Wei Wenchang, to lead the troops to travel across the two banks and the nine counties of Jingxiang for his lord? !

In other words, I followed the right lord, which is why I can now rule a region on my own.

Thinking of this, Wei Yan seemed to see himself leading the army galloping across the battlefield, and for a moment even his breathing became rapid.

After all, I followed the right lord. If I were still under the command of that big-eared thief, let alone ruling a place on my own, it would be good enough if I wasn't framed and beheaded!

Liu Wu pondered for a moment and spoke slowly: "We need to recruit soldiers, but Jiangling and Hefei are easy to defend and difficult to attack, so 5,000 soldiers each will be enough..."

"Wen Chang can continue recruiting soldiers after he returns to Jiangling. I will also send a letter to General Gao Shun in Hefei, asking him to continue recruiting soldiers after he has recruited 5,000 soldiers. All the extra soldiers in your two places should be sent to Xiling."

"Here in Xiling, I want to add 30,000 new soldiers!"

"In this way, Jiangling and Hefei will each have 5,000 soldiers, and Jiangling will have 30,000 soldiers, a total of 40,000 soldiers and horses will be able to defend this thousand-mile territory!"

There are 30,000 troops stationed in Xiling!

call! ~
The cold wind was howling, causing the sleeves of people on the city walls to flutter.

Lu Xun and Gan Ning, who were following behind Liu Wu, were a little dazed standing in the strong wind. Originally, there were only six or seven thousand people in Xixiling City. Would it suddenly increase to thirty thousand?

Xiling is the gateway to Jiangdong. If one takes Xiling, one can go down the river and head straight to Jianye. Jiangdong has been thinking about Xiling for a long time.

Now that I'm here, it's impossible for Jiangdong to seize Xiling, but the land of Xiling is extremely important to Jiangdong, and Jiangdong will definitely keep an eye on Xiling all the time.

Having these 30,000 troops stationed here is a great deterrent to Jiangdong. At least it can make them think more clearly. In the future, Xiling and Jiangdong will inevitably have a lot of dealings. If the Marquis Wu is more stable, it will cause less trouble for Liu Wu.

Wei Yan looked solemn: "I will obey your orders!"

"Bo Yan, Xing Ba." Liu Wu suddenly turned around.

The two were startled and stepped forward to bow, "My Lord."

Liu Wu looked at Lu Xun and said, "Bo Yan will be responsible for coordinating the relevant food, fodder, equipment, and all training operations for the 30,000 new soldiers..."

"Xingba." Liu Wu turned his gaze to Wei Yan and said, "These 30,000 new soldiers will all be trained by you."

Liu... My Lord is going to hand over those 30,000 new soldiers to me? !
Gan Ning, who was standing by, suddenly looked up, his eyes full of shock.

That’s 30,000 soldiers!
I had only just joined Xiling not long ago, and I had even secretly passed on information for Jiangdong before. Even when I was on the Jiangdong delegation ship, I was still hesitating whether to leave or stay. My lord, are you going to let me be responsible for the training of 30,000 troops? !
Even though he had defected to Jiangdong and was strongly recommended to the Duke of Wu by Zhou Gongjin, and even though the Duke of Wu treated him as an old minister of Jiangdong.

But it was not until the Marquis of Wu listened to his advice and defeated Huang Zu that he allocated an army of more than a thousand men to him!

After comparing the two, Gan Ning finally understood why Lu Xun was so determined to defect to Xiling and why he repeatedly mentioned how much trust his lord had in him.

At this moment, Gan Ning suddenly felt his blood heating up.

Liu Wu's voice continued: "I will supervise and inspect the training from time to time, and you two must not slack off."

Lu Xun looked solemn and said, "I will definitely live up to your trust, my lord."

Gan Ning took a deep breath and said, "I am willing to die for my lord!"

"My lord, there is an important matter..." Lu Xun stepped forward quickly: "Now my lord's territory stretches across a thousand miles, and he is entrenched in the north of the Yangtze River. His foundation is already established!"

"However, the territories on both sides are blocked by the Dabie Mountains. It is extremely laborious to transport soldiers and food. I think my lord should take advantage of the great river and form a fleet!"

"In this way, we can transport soldiers and food along the river without wasting time and effort."

Jiangling, Xiling, and Hefei, these three cities can be said to support the skeleton of Liu Wu's current territorial territory. However, as Lu Xun said, the Dabie Mountains lie between them, making travel between Liu Wu's territories time-consuming, laborious, and extremely inconvenient.

Fortunately, Liu Wu's territories were all along the river, and boat transportation was extremely convenient. If he could build ships and form a navy, it would be of great help to Liu Wu, who was in urgent need of development at this time.

More importantly, this navy can do more than just help Liu Wu transport troops and food.

His gaze has never been limited to the three acres of land in front of him. How could he stand idly by in this Jingxiang area with beautiful mountains and rivers?
"Half a year." Liu Wu said slowly: "Within half a year, 30,000 new soldiers must be trained and the ship must be built."

"Then we will cross the river and head south, destroy Gong'an! Attack Jiangxia! Go south along the Xiang River and take all four counties in southern Jing!"

……

On the river,

The smoke is vast and the waves are rising and falling.

A fleet set out from Gong'an with its sails filled, sailed down the river and headed straight for Xiling.

On the leading ship, there was a general wearing a white helmet and white armor, holding a shiny silver spear in his hand and a green sword on his waist. He was none other than Liu Bei's general, Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong.

As far as Zhao Yun could see, the outline of a city was faintly visible in front of him. It was Xiling City.

"My lord, you are indeed generous and have great means..." Zhao Yun looked at the outline of Xiling City with complicated eyes.

A small city of Xiling resisted the nearly 100,000 troops of Cao Ren and Cao Cao, and even captured Cao Ren and Cao Cao alive!

Not only that, Xiling also found time to trick his own lord...

Who could have imagined that Xiling would actually lure Liu Huangshu to seize Jiangling City and let Liu Huangshu share Cao Cao's anger and military strength for him? !

Even after Cao's troops retreated, Xiling was recaptured without firing a single arrow.

What is even more unexpected is that the commander of Xiling, who betrayed his own lord, was actually his lord's eldest son, Liu Wu!
From Xiling to Hefei, the territory was a thousand miles long… no, it also included the Jiangling area! Almost in the blink of an eye, the eldest son Liu Wu became a local lord.

How long had it been since the snowy night when the eldest son fled to Gong'an City? How had the eldest son already established such a great foundation?
I think the lord has regretted it. If the lord had been willing to make the eldest son the crown prince, then...

Thinking of this, Zhao Zilong couldn't help but smile bitterly. What's the point of saying these now?

He looked back at the cabin and saw Adou inside.

This time, the lord said that he would send Adou to talk to the eldest son about brotherhood and resolve past grievances. However, it was because Adou and the eldest son competed for the position of the crown prince that the eldest son fled to Gong'an City in anger!
Where is the brotherhood between these two brothers?
This time, the lord sent Adou to see the eldest son, which might just add fuel to the fire.

Zhao Yun shook his head, suppressed his thoughts, turned around and lifted the boat curtain: "Master Adou, we have arrived at Xiling..."

(End of this chapter)