Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 690 Political Show
Sun Quan fled to Anqiu with more than a thousand cavalrymen. Fearing pursuit by Huo Jun, he fled to Pingshou, the capital of Beihai County.

In Pingshou, Sun Quan met Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Hui who were evacuating from Gaomi, and contacted Sun Yu who was retreating from Muling Pass.

Seeing Sun Quan leading his army to flee in defeat, Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Hui came out of their tent to greet them and invited Sun Quan into the camp.

Inside the big tent, Sun Quan tightly grasped Xiahou Ba's hand and sighed, "I left Sun Li to guard the rear, but we were defeated half a day later. The enemy raised their main force to surround me and attacked from all sides. I was afraid that the whole army would be annihilated, so I led the cavalry to flee. Fortunately, the general came to meet me, and I will entrust you with the military affairs!"

Handing over the military power of Qi to Xiahou Ba was Sun Quan's move to retreat in order to advance, so that Xiahou Ba would voluntarily hand over the current military command to him.

"Don't dare!"

Xiahou Ba did not dare to accept it, and said, "Your Majesty has ordered Sun Jun to be the governor of Qingqi and the commander of the country. I am only an assistant general, so I dare not accept it."

Sun Quan sighed and said with guilt: "I feel so ashamed of your majesty's kindness. I was defeated by Huo Jun's pursuit, and my main force was lost. Qingqi is in turmoil. How can I resist the enemy now?"

Xiahou Hui advised: "We still have 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers in our army, and there are still several thousand soldiers in Muling. Now we can spend the money in the treasury to recruit citizens of Qi County, and perhaps get several thousand more soldiers and horses, a total of 20,000 soldiers. If we occupy the strong city of Linzi and get the support of Your Majesty, we should be able to stop the enemy in Qi County."

Seeing Sun Quan ashamed of the defeat, Xiahou Ba said, "I feel ashamed of the general's instructions. I led the troops to pacify Qidong, but was defeated by Huo Fan. Huo Fan occupied Qidong, and I was unable to stop him from robbing food, forcing the general to withdraw. I feel deeply sorry for the general's trust!"

As he spoke, Xiahou Ba invited Sun Quan to the main seat and said, "I would like to ask the General of Chariots and Cavalry to take charge and mobilize the troops from all the counties!"

"That's it!"

Sun Quan seemed to cheer up and said in a deep voice: "I should submit a petition to Your Majesty to apologize for today's defeat. However, with the enemy at hand and Your Majesty's edict not yet arriving, I dare not refuse. I hope you can lend me a helping hand."

"We are willing to obey the general's orders!" Everyone bowed in response.

Just as Sun Quan was about to discuss the matter in depth, a scout entered the tent and reported: "Urgent news from Le'an County: Liu Shu of Shouguang has started a rebellion, killed senior officials, gathered a crowd to rebel, and called himself the General of the Han Family."

When Sun Quan's army was there, the local tyrants did not dare to move. Now that Sun Quan's army was defeated, when the news spread, naturally many ambitious people wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to start a rebellion and build their reputation.

"Where is Shouguang?" Sun Quan asked.

"It's located downstream of the Jumei River, adjacent to the Judian Lake, and more than a hundred miles away from Pingshou. The people around are uneasy and are now bewitched by Liu Shu, so they have risen up in rebellion!" said the cavalry.

"Now that Liu the bandit is causing chaos and Huo Jun's army is pursuing us, what should we do?" said the cowardly man worriedly.

"Anle County cannot be saved!"

"The only strategy now is to hold on to Linzi and wait for help!"

The defeat of the army and the rebellion made many people panic.

Sun Quan looked around at the expressions of the people and probably guessed that the morale of the people was already low. It was similar to the situation before he surrendered to the two Lius. The reason why he did not dare to surrender to the enemy was only because he and Xiahou Ba were here.

After all, the Xiahou family was considered the backbone of Cao Wei, and Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Hui served in local positions, which was equivalent to supervising the state and county officials on behalf of the emperor.

Looking at the chaos in the tent, Sun Quan was powerless and the thought of fleeing to Pingzhou came to his mind again.

"quiet!"

Sun Quan coughed a few times and said unhappily, "It is not proper for you to be frightened by a mere bandit!"

As he spoke, Sun Quan drew his sword and walked away, saying: "Now our Great Wei still has the territories of many Chinese states. A temporary defeat will not harm the foundation of China, let alone a mere thief from Shouguang!"

"Where are Zhongquan and Zhiquan?"

"The general is here!"

Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Hui stepped out of the line.

Sun Quan said in a deep voice: "The two of you will lead your troops to Linzi to defend it first, and I will lead the troops of Muling to suppress the bandits in Shouguang. After that, I will guard Anle and Bochang, and the two of you will guard Qi County and Linzi. The two armies will support each other and jointly protect Qingqi. We will get the soldiers from Hebei to occupy Huojun!"

"General, why don't you go with Ba Qian to guard Linzi?" Xiahou Ba asked doubtfully.

Sun Quan paced and analyzed, and said: "It is not a good idea to hold the city. You defend Linzi and I defend Bochang. Although the two armies are separated, they can divide Huo Jun's troops. If the enemy attacks Bochang, you will go to Linzi; if the enemy surrounds Linzi, I will go to Bochang. The two cities will be in a pincer attack, so we can protect ourselves and repel the enemy!"

"promise!"

Xiahou Ba had no doubts and immediately followed the order with his brother Xiahou Hui.

After Xiahou Ba and his generals left, Liu Ye stepped forward and grabbed Sun Quan, asking, "I'm afraid that you are not sincere in leading the troops to suppress the bandits. Are you planning to betray the country and flee to Pingzhou?"

Seeing that Liu Ye had seen through his actions, Sun Quan was neither anxious nor angry, but sat on the chair and said, "Since the main force of my army was destroyed, it has been difficult for our army to defend Linzi. And what can we do if we defend Linzi? There are no more soldiers left in the country!"

"If Huo Jun leads his troops to encircle Linzi, will Wang Ling dare to come to its aid?" Sun Quan said calmly, "Linzi is not a strong city. The food and grass in the warehouse are only enough for half a year. Once the food runs out and there is no reinforcement, you will be captured if the city is broken."

"You are a descendant of Emperor Guangwu's bloodline. You have assisted the Cao family for more than 20 years and have been loyal to the country. If you are captured, how can the Han people tolerate you?"

"If you lead the people to flee, you and I will be guilty of losing our army and our land. Your Majesty will not tolerate it!"

Liu Ye grabbed Sun Quan's sleeve and said urgently: "We still have more than 10,000 soldiers. If we use the money and food in the government to recruit soldiers, we can gather 10,000 citizens, a total of more than 20,000 people. Why should we worry that we can't capture the city and defeat the enemy!"

"I can defend it for a while, but I can't defend it for a year!"

"Zhang He's defeat at Laokou and our defeat at Zhucheng show that the Wei Dynasty has declined. Yuan Benchu's defeat at Guandu showed that the situation was hopeless. Even if he led his troops to fight at Cangting, he would only bring disgrace upon himself."

Sun Quan laughed at himself and said, "Although I have defeated Huo Jun several times, I know some strategies. Our army is firmly defending Linzi. If Huo Jun does not take Linzi, and instead uses his elite troops of more than 100,000 to march out of the Central Plains, what army in the country can stop him?"

Sun Quan may not be good at tactics, but he has a thorough understanding of the grand strategy. Although Huo Jun is currently confined to Qingqi, his 100,000 elite soldiers have not been deployed and have been deployed along the Xuhuai line. If Linzi is not easy to fight, Huo Jun can completely seek the Central Plains to open up other battlefields. Since his army was annihilated, Huo Jun is no longer bound, and he can roam thousands of miles in the Central Plains, while Wei can only defend and dare not fight.

Liu Ye sighed but could not answer!

What Sun Quan said was about the current battlefield situation. Sun Quan and Wang Ling had a combined army of more than 100,000 to contain Huo Jun's troops. With the defeat of Sun Quan's main force, Wang Ling alone was destined to be unable to contain Huo Jun.

"You are fleeing to Pingzhou, aren't you afraid of His Majesty's punishment?" Liu Ye retorted.

Sun Quan smiled sadly and said, "My cousin Sun Huan is the governor of Liaodong. I will take a boat to Liaodong and borrow his troops. I can conquer Lelang, Xuantu, Daifang and Changli. If I control Pingzhou and other counties, the Central Plains will be in turmoil. Your Majesty, how dare you punish me!"

Sun Quan was a monarch for a short period of time, and he knew that worthless people were most likely to be abandoned, while valuable people could be won over. Even if the person involved was guilty, the monarch would not dare to act rashly for the sake of united front values, and could only choose political compromise.

If Sun Quan returned as a defeated general, he would undoubtedly be punished by Cao Rui. But if he returned as the commander of Pingzhou, as long as he gave Cao Rui a way out, Sun Quan would not only not be punished, but would be given another position.

"Have you thought about the future?" Liu Ye asked.

Sun Quan poured himself a cup of tea and said with a smile: "It's nothing more than imitating the deeds of Gongsun and Zhao Tuo!"

"I came to Pingzhou, and I was submissive to China and made friends with the barbarians. If the Wei Kingdom was destroyed, I would send people to submit to the Han Dynasty and become a vassal guest and a servant of the Han Dynasty. When the Han Dynasty first pacified the world, it should have made subjugating China its first priority. How could it raise a large army to attack me?"

"If the Han Dynasty wants to destroy us, they should make friends with the Xianbei and use them as external aid. Liaodong has the dangerous Liaoze, and it is difficult to get food a thousand miles away from the border. We can station our troops in the Liaoze, and the Xianbei can attack them from behind, which will be enough to defeat their troops and give us decades of peace."

Sun Quan looked at Liu Ye and said, "I have prepared a boat on the Anle coast. I wonder if you are willing to follow me to Liaodong to avoid the chaos in the Central Plains."

When Cao Wei conquered Liaodong, Sun Quan was good at naval warfare, so he was appointed as the General of the Sea, and he cooperated with Cao Zhang to conquer Liaodong by sea. Now Sun Quan is also the governor of Qingzhou, and the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of Qingzhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou. Naturally, he has a group of naval forces under his command. Although they are not as strong as those of Southern Han, they are more than enough for crossing the sea.

Liu Ye listened to the noise outside the tent and sighed, "How can I not obey the general in the current situation? I wonder what will happen to my family in Luoyang?"

Liu Ye's words have two meanings, one is the situation that nothing can be done, the other is Sun Quan's attendant holding a sword outside. After all, Liu Ye has been with Sun Quan for too long. If Liu Ye does not accompany him to Liaodong, Sun Quan will not let Liu Ye go, so he has no choice but to get rid of him.

Sun Quan put down the wine jar in his hand and said, "I will send someone to Luoyang immediately to have you and my family disguised and leave the city, go to Bohai by land, and then sail to Liaodong by sea."

Seeing that Sun Quan was well prepared, Liu Ye had nothing to say. He cupped his hands and said, "I will obey the general's orders!"

"good!"

Not to mention that Sun Quan and Sun Yu went to suppress the Shouguang bandits in the name of suppressing the rebels, but in fact they sailed across the sea to Liaodong to establish their own regime.

In order to appease the Qingqi scholars, Huo Jun arranged the tasks of each department, and then went to Zheng Xuan's tomb to pay homage with Xu Sheng and Jiang Ji.

Zheng Xuan's tomb is located at the foot of Liuzong Mountain, 50 miles northwest of Gaomi. Huo Jun led the civil and military officials of the Han army to pay tribute to him with marquis rites.

In front of Zheng Xuan’s tomb, Jiang Ji personally read the eulogy, and Huo Jun took the lead in paying homage!

After the worship, Zheng Xiaotong brought two old men to see Huo Jun, and the old men offered wine and meat to Huo Jun.

"Grand Marshal, the elders have heard that the heavenly soldiers have arrived, and they deeply admire your reputation for assisting in governing the country, so they specially offer you wine and meat!" Zheng Xiaotong said.

Huo Jun helped the two old men up and said, "I am leading the army to the north and the soldiers are disturbing your hometown. I am worried, how dare I accept the wine and food now?"

"otherwise!"

The old man with white hair said, "The rebellious Wei Dynasty levied heavy taxes and levied heavy taxes, and the people were all resentful. The Grand Marshal raised a benevolent army to the north to comfort the people and punish the criminals, and brought Qi back to Han and civilized the people of Qi. All of this is the work of the Grand Marshal!"

"I hope you will drink this cup to the full!"

Seeing that the old man insisted on toasting, Huo Jun restrained his expression and wanted to reach out to take the wine bottle.

But Jiang Ji came over and whispered: "The governor is the hope of the Han Dynasty, so you can't drink alcohol carelessly now!"

Huo Jun glanced at Zheng Xiaotong who had surrendered not long ago, and holding the wine jar, he said solemnly: "I live in a reed village, but I have heard of Master Zheng's teachings. Now I have come to Gaomi, and finally I can worship Master Zheng. I present this jar on behalf of the late emperor and the Han scholars to thank Master Zheng for his contribution to the establishment of his teachings!"

As he spoke, Huo Jun waved his arm and sprinkled the wine all over the ground, then bowed solemnly at Zheng Xuan's tomb.

Then, Huo Jun handed the wine bottle to the old man and said with a smile: "I deeply appreciate your kindness. However, I have military orders that when the army enters Qingqi, it is not allowed to take property without permission, disturb the countryside, or take livestock without permission."

The old man bowed in admiration and said, "The military discipline is strict, and the heavenly soldiers will punish the criminals. There is no worry that they will not be defeated!"

"Ha ha!"

Huo Jun smiled happily and said, "Come here, repair the tomb for Duke Zheng and bury him with the ceremony of a marquis. I will pay for it."

"Thank you, Sima!" Zheng Xiaotong bowed happily.

In this political show, the Han Dynasty won the hearts of the people of Qingqi, Huo Jun gained the reputation of a scholar, and Zheng Xuan received posthumous honor. It was a win-win-win situation for all three sides.

"Sir, the scouts are reporting!"

Huo Fan came over and asked in a low voice, "Xiahou Ba led his army to retreat to Linzi, and Sun Quan went to Anle to suppress the rebellion. How should we advance now?"

Huo Jun restrained his expression and thought, then said, "Linzi is the center of Qi territory. If we can take it, the four counties of Pingyuan, Jinan, Qi, and Le'an will hear the news and surrender."

"For now, leave Sun Quan alone and march straight to Linzi!"

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)