Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 695: Advancing into Henan
The news that Liu Chan appointed Huo Jun as King of Qi spread quickly in Wuhan city.

Many idle high-ranking officials heard about this and submitted memorials to Liu Chan, hoping that Liu Chan would change his mind. However, Liu Chan stayed in the palace and refused to accept the memorials from the high-ranking officials.

Chen Zhen, the Minister of the Chancellery, was kind and honest. After receiving Zhuge Liang's letter of confirmation, he rushed to Taishan County with the imperial edict conferring the title of King of Qi. He set out from Jiangxia, turned along the Huai River, went up the Si River, and finally arrived at Taishan.

When Chen Zhen was ordered to march north, Huo Jun led his troops to march towards Taishan County.

Before leaving Linzi, Huo Jun left more than 20,000 soldiers with Huo Fan and 10,000 soldiers with Xu Sheng. However, in order to solve the problem in Qingqi area as soon as possible, Huo Jun allowed Xu Sheng and Huo Fan to recruit their own soldiers and absorb the surrendered soldiers of Wei army for their own use.

The army rested for more than a month, and the morale was greatly boosted by the rewards. Huo Jun divided his troops into three groups, aiming directly at Taishan County.

Huo Jun led 30,000 elite soldiers and horses to advance against the Zibo River and entered Taishan County from Jinyang Pass, one of the three passes of the Qi-Lu Great Wall.

The southern troops, Huo Du and Zhou Qian, led 30,000 soldiers to go north against the flow of water and entered Taishan County through the two cities of Fei and Bian.

Gao Xiang led the troops from the west, starting from Xia Pi, advancing along the Si River and attacking the counties west of Mount Tai.

Wang Ling's 50,000-strong army was originally stationed in the Zhishui Basin, intending to harass the Yi and Shu River valleys. Seeing that Huo Jun was entering Lu from Laiwu and had the tendency to attack his troops from both sides, he abandoned the Zhishui Basin. Because Wang Ling abandoned the Zhishui Basin, Huo Du and Zhou Cang entered it.

Huo Jun led his troops out of Laiwu, passed through Mou County and Ying County to Liangpu, and joined the southern army led by Huo Du and Zhou Cang.

In order to maintain connectivity with Qingqi along the way, Huo Jun appointed his nephew Huo Youzhi as the governor of Ying County, and led 5,000 troops to govern the eastern counties of Taishan County.

Taking into account the initial peace of Qingqi, it was already difficult to supply Generals Huo and Xu. It was difficult to transport food and grain across the Taiyi Mountains, so they still had to rely on the Yi and Shu River valleys for supplies.

After careful consideration, Huo Jun abandoned his march along the Wenshui River, a tributary of the Jishui River, and chose to march along the upper reaches of the Sishui River, capturing the cities along the banks of the Sishui River in order to meet up with Gao Xiang, who was marching from Xia Pi, at Lu Hu.

Huo Jun's attempt to open up the Sishui River Basin was seen through by Wang Ling and Lu Qian. Lu Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, guarded Pengcheng to stop Gao Xiang from marching northwards; Wang Ling led the Yuzhou troops to station in the north of Lu County (now Qufu) and camped at the foot of the mountain on the south bank of the Sishui River.

Huo Jun led his troops along the Si River and saw that Wang Ling occupied the steep south bank, so he led his troops to set up camp on the vast north bank.

The Han and Wei armies faced each other across the Si River. The Han army camped on the flat and vast north bank, while the Wei army camped on the steep and rugged south bank.

Inside the big tent, Jiang Ji and Zhou Cang sorted out the map of Taishan County, and based on the maps from various places, they tried their best to compile the maps of Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

Because of years of war and the large number of civilians who had crossed the Yangtze River to Yangzhou, the Han army had a good understanding of the topography of the Shandong Peninsula. Now, as the war progressed rapidly, the army penetrated deep into the territories of Yan and Yu, and the problem of not knowing the topography of mountains and rivers was fully exposed.

Yu Shao entered the tent carrying a bamboo tube with a map inside and said with a smile, "Commander-in-chief, Chief Secretary, the Kong family of Lu has sent someone to present the map of Lu."

"Oh?"

Jiang Ji's eyes lit up. He put down the old map in his hand, took the bamboo tube directly, and took out the map from the tube.

When he spread out the map presented by Kong, he saw that it was a brand new map, outlining the mountains and rivers of Lu clearly, which was much clearer than the map in Jiang Ji's hand.

"What does the Kong family want?" Huo Jun asked.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, Kong said that if our army can defeat the Wei army, we hope that we can treat the people of Lu well and not destroy the ancestral temple of the saint." Yu Shao said.

Hearing this, Huo Jun shook his head and laughed, saying, "In the past, Cao Cao killed Kong Rong, and Cao Pi conferred the title of Duke of Kong Xian. When our army arrived in Lu, Kong presented us with a map, which was very interesting!"

The Kong family of Lu is not the future Duke of Yansheng, but its lineage has been respected since the Han Dynasty. Kong Rong was killed by Cao Cao, which led to the Kong family of Lu being disliked by Cao Wei. It was not until Cao Pi came to power that he named Kong Xian as the Marquis of Zongsheng in order to win over the Kong family.

When the Han army arrived here, Kong, either out of a desire to submit or because of dissatisfaction with Cao Wei, presented the map to Huo Jun.

Jiang Ji smiled and said, "Since Kong has a heart for the country, how can the governor not follow his lead?"

"Gongli, where are the Kong family members?" Huo Jun asked.

Yu Shao replied, "The man dared not bother you, the governor. He just handed the bamboo tube to me and left with his men."

Huo Jun sighed and said, "Leaving the picture but not the name, the Kong family has a far-sighted vision!"

Huo Jun asked Jiang Ji to put away the map and said, "Although we have the map of Lu, the detailed terrain is not clear. Gongli needs to send scouts to explore it carefully."

"promise!"

Jiang Ji handed the map to Yu Shao and said, "General, if our army wants to enter Henan, we need to open the Sishui River. We can lead the boats from the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers to the Sishui River, then go to the Ji and He Rivers, plunder Chenliu and Jiyin counties, and join forces with Pang Tong and Ge Xiang in the capital."

"But if we want to open the Sishui River, we must defeat Wang Ling. His troops are stationed in the south of the Sishui River, occupying a dangerous position and commanding the people below. Now judging by how he uses his troops, it seems that he has no intention of fighting in the field. If Wang Ling stays there and does not come out, the situation will be unfavorable to our army!"

In the fight for the two states of Yan and Yu in Henan, Huo Jun did not plan to send troops from the Huai River to engage in a fierce battle with the Wei army, but planned to send troops from Taishan County to open up the Sishui River Basin. Sishui was occupied by the Han army, so Huo Jun could use troops from the He and Ji rivers to attack the counties of Yanzhou to the west. Yuzhou, which was between Yanzhou and Yangzhou, was cut off from Hebei by the Han army, so Huo Jun could send a separate army to adopt the method of both recruiting and suppressing.

The route of the Northern Expedition planned by Huo Jun was quite different from the route of the Northern Expedition planned by Xu Da and Liu Yu. Because of the existence of the Grand Canal, after Xu Da defeated the enemy forces in Shandong, he returned to Xiapi and Pengcheng, advanced along the Yellow River, broke through Bianliang, and directly surrounded Luoyang.

Now there is no Grand Canal connecting the Huai River and the Yellow River, so Huo Jun naturally cannot follow Xu Da's route of the Northern Expedition. Therefore, in the absence of the Grand Canal to transport food to the army, Huo Jun must find a new route to deploy troops.

After deep thought, Huo Jun decided to use the Si, He and Ji rivers to dredge the Yellow River and Huai River for the army and connect Qing and Xu rivers to transport food and fodder for the army.

Since Sishui was chosen as the route for the Northern Expedition, Huo Jun's route was naturally different from the other two. He swept westward from Taishan County, bypassing the Ru, Wo, and Ying River defense lines that Cao Rui had painstakingly built, and adopted a large-scale encirclement tactic to attack Luoyang directly.

Huo Jun's biggest problem right now is to defeat Wang Ling, the governor of Yanzhou, capture the cities in the Sishui River basin, gather his troops, advance westward along the He and Ji rivers, and meet Zhuge Liang in the capital.

"Not urgent!"

Huo Jun paced in front of the map and said, "Winter has arrived. Lu County is three or four hundred miles away from Kaiyang Road. Although it is connected by the Zhi River and the Si River, the rivers are dry and it is difficult to transport food and grass. Now we station troops here, first open up the food route, then defeat the enemy, and advance slowly."

Huo Jun didn't want to get through to Wang Ling as soon as possible, it was just that Wang Ling had no intention of fighting at the moment. The Han army was blocked in Lu County, so it would be better to ensure sufficient transportation of soldiers and food first, and then look for an opportunity to defeat the enemy. After all, fighting in winter was not the Han army's strong point.

After a pause, Huo Jun said, "According to the letter from Prime Minister Ge, General Zilong went out of Xiong'er to disturb Cao Rui, and Wei Yan attacked Chang'an along the Jing River. If what I predicted is correct, the Xianbei will raid Hebei in the south this winter. If the three parties report victory, or Wang Ling's troops waver, it will be a good opportunity for our army to defeat the enemy."

Jiang Ji nodded in agreement and said, "We cannot march directly to Pengcheng. Wang Ling is afraid of your prestige and dare not fight. It is better to control the transportation of grain and wait until the reserves are sufficient before advancing next year. Besides, the north is already cold and most of the three armies are from the south. We should not rush into a hasty battle!"

When Huo Jun was discussing the Northern Expedition plan with everyone, an attendant stepped into the tent and reported, "Report to the Grand Marshal, Wang Ling sent an envoy to see you, sir!"

"allow!"

Huo Jun smiled and said, "Let's see what Wang Ling's intention is!"

After a while, the envoy Pei Hui stepped into the tent and bowed to Huo Jun in greeting.

"Wei envoy Pei Hui pays homage to the Grand Marshal!"

Huo Jun sat upright on the couch and asked, "Why did you come to visit me today?"

As he spoke, Huo Jun looked at Pei Hui and asked, "Your surname is Pei, but are you a descendant of the Pei family of Wenxi?"

"Of course!"

Pei Hui showed admiration and said, "My elder brother Pei Qian and my younger brother Pei Jun both spoke of the Grand Marshal in their letters, and they all sighed with joy. I am very happy to see you now, sir!"

Because of Wang Can and Sima Zhi, Pei Qian and Huo Jun had socialized and became friends. When Cao Cao conquered Jingzhou in the south, Pei Qian surrendered to Cao Cao and is now a high-ranking official in the Wei Kingdom. Unlike his brothers, his second brother Pei Jun served in the Southern Han Dynasty and is now the governor of Lingling.

Pei Jun served as an official in the Han Dynasty mainly because of the chaos in the late Han Dynasty. Pei Jun sent his brother-in-law to Sichuan to serve as an official, but the road to Sichuan was cut off, so he stayed in Bashu. After Liu Bei defeated Liu Zhang, Pei Jun served the Han Dynasty.

Pei Jun and Guan Yu were both from Hedong, so they were from the same hometown. Guan Yu appreciated Pei Jun's talent and helped him. Even after Guan Yu's death, Pei Jun had a close relationship with Guan.

"Since you are an old friend and relative, please take a seat and serve tea!" Huo Jun greeted them.

Seeing Huo Jun's tone soften, Pei Hui said, "Ming Gong's military strategy is superior to others. Half of Han territory is under your control. However, your merits are not rewarded. You are only rewarded with the county of Jiangling. Hui is deeply angry."

Huo Jun narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "What do you mean? Please tell me clearly!"

Pei Hui tried his best to remain calm and said, "You have the ability to establish a foundation and a career. Your military strategy is unparalleled and no one can stop you. Why do you limit yourself and work hard for thousands or tens of thousands of fiefs? Why don't you lead the army to establish a country and become a three-pronged force with the Han and Wei dynasties?"

Huo Jun sneered a few times and said, "The reason why I am treating you with courtesy is not because you are an envoy from Wei, but because you are an old friend and relative. Now that you are advising me to rebel, have you forgotten what Jiang Gan did before?"

As he spoke, Huo Jun stood up from the couch and said in a deep voice: "Zhongzu entrusted the affairs of state to me, and Your Majesty sent your sons and nephews to serve me. The ancients said that those who ride in other people's carriages share their worries, and those who eat other people's salaries relieve their troubles. How can you forget righteousness for the sake of profit and ruin great things because of your selfish desires!"

"Someone, arrest him!"

Huo Jun ordered his attendants, saying: "You are an accomplice to the evil, and you should be killed. However, because your brother is serving in Han, you will be escorted to Wuhan and handed over to His Majesty for punishment."

Obviously, Wei State had given full consideration to the selection of envoys. Because of the complicated relationship of Pei family, Pei Hui would not be executed immediately if he failed to persuade him. Even if Huo Jun disregarded Pei Qian's feelings, he could not ignore Pei Jun's feelings.

"Ming Gong!"

Before Pei Hui could say anything, he was gagged by the warriors and escorted out of the tent.

(End of this chapter)