I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 627 Another Year in Nanzhong

Just as Zhang Fei was missing Liu Bei, Liu Bei, who had been in Nanzhong for another year, was also looking north.

Time passed, and Liu Bei had been in Nanzhong for more than four years.

"What is Lord Xuande thinking about?"

Hearing this, Liu Bei turned around and saw that it was Zhuge Xuan. He smiled and replied, "The end of the year is approaching, and I am thinking of my long-lost friend."

Originally, he had the opportunity to return to Luoyang to meet Guan Yu and Zhang Fei last year. Unfortunately, the situation in Nanzhong was unstable, so he ended up staying in Guanghan County, Yizhou, and waited and see. In the end, he did not even change his official position as General Anxi and returned to Nanzhong again.

This also evoked Zhuge Xuan's homesickness. These days, the Chinese New Year has long been a time for family reunions, and he also thought of his nephews.

Seeing this, Liu Bei suggested, "We have nothing to do today, why don't we have a few drinks together?"

"good!"

Soon, Liu Bei ordered people to serve wine and food, and the two men started chatting while drinking - since coming to Nanzhong, the two have been working together to govern Nanzhong, and they have also established a deep friendship with each other.

After three rounds of drinking, Zhuge Xuan mentioned: "Last year Lord Xuande had a chance to return to the court, but he stayed in Yizhou because of the unrest in the south. This year, the south is stable, and most of the disloyal clans and barbarians in the south have been eliminated. I think the day when Lord Xuande returns to the court is not far away."

Liu Bei took a sip of wine and said, "Not necessarily... Although there was no real chaos in Nanzhong last year under the leadership of Meng Huo and others, how can we know whether those big families with ulterior motives are lurking in the dark with dissatisfaction."

"In the past, because there were not enough Han people in the counties of Nanzhong, the barbarian population had nothing to do with the number of filial and honest officials, and the local big families only wanted to make profits in the local area... But now, once the barbarians are registered as citizens, the number of filial and honest officials that Nanzhong can select every year will definitely double, and the people of its big families will also have a better future abroad. It's a pity that some people are short-sighted and don't know the benefits of this."

Zhuge Xuan replied: "It's not necessarily that they can't see it, but they are blinded by the immediate benefits and lose their minds... They don't think that the strategy of managing the South China is a national strategy. How can it change because of their resistance? It's just like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

Just as the two were looking forward to the future, complaining about the past and drinking happily, suddenly a soldier brought urgent news - something happened in Qiongdu County.

Qiongdu County was the county seat of Yueshi County, one of the four counties in Nanzhong. Although Yueshi County was located in the northwest of the four counties in Nanzhong and adjacent to Qianwei County, one of the three counties, and Shu County, the number of Han people in Yueshi County was smaller and there were relatively fewer large clans than in the other three counties in Nanzhong.

But this does not mean that Yuexi County has no big problems - especially in the Nanshan Mountains of Qiongdu County, where there is a copper mine that is being mined.

Upon hearing about the incident, Liu Bei and Zhuge Xuan stopped drinking and asked for details - Nanzhong has been consuming the grain and manpower of Bashu in recent years, and the various copper and iron mines that the counties can participate in mining have become rare return profits in Nanzhong.

Copper mines, in particular, are particularly important.

While the two were concerned, Gan Ning, who was leading his troops to garrison Yuexi County, was at the forefront of the conflict.

As early as the Qin Dynasty, there was a post road starting from Chengdu and connecting Yuexi County and Yongchang County, which was called Maoniu Road.

If the Maoniu Road continued to go further, it could also lead to Tibet and Central Asia. However, since the Zhongping period, the country was in chaos, the Han Dynasty declined, and the Han barbarians in the south refused to obey the rules, so the Maoniu Road was often cut off. For this reason, the officials of the prefectures and counties could only be lenient and tolerant to the big families and heroes in the army of Yuexi County.

It was not until Liu Bei led a large army to station in Nanzhong that the King of Maoniu Yi in Yuexi County, who guarded the Maoniu Road, became truly obedient. The copper mined in Qiongdu County also needed to be transported to Chengdu via the Maoniu Road.

But on this day, the Maoniu Road was blocked.

When Yan Liang led his troops to arrive, he happened to meet the person blocking the road - Dong Feng, the son-in-law of the current Maoniu Yi King Langlu, who had more than 2,000 households under his rule.

"Where is the person who delivered the copper? Hand him over quickly! And keep the copper you stole. Do it immediately, and I will forgive your sins!" Gan Ning ordered bluntly. He did not treat Dong Feng politely because of his identity. Dong Feng knew Gan Ning's reputation, but since he dared to do this, he must have the confidence in his heart - if Gan Ning dared to take action against him, Langlu would definitely take action. Gan Ning could not afford the sin of interrupting Maoniu Road!

This was what Dong Qiu, a famous scholar from the Yuexi clan who was on good terms with him, had said to him swearing to heaven, and he thought it made a lot of sense.

Therefore, facing Gan Ning's unyielding attitude, Dong Feng responded even more firmly: "There is no copper, and I killed all the people! I tell you, from now on, half of the copper mined in Nanshan must belong to us Yi people, otherwise, those..."

Dong Feng was just about to discuss the terms with Gan Ning and hadn't even uttered a threatening word when he saw Gan Ning riding towards him alone, rushing straight towards him without even drawing the long sword at his waist.

——He must be scaring me!

Dong Feng thought so, and then he continued: "Those dead people are your future!"

"Stop, do you dare to be my enemy?"

"Can you afford the price of offending me?"

Gan Ning turned a deaf ear to Dong Feng's questioning. On the other hand, as Gan Ning got closer and closer, Dong Feng could already see the anger in Gan Ning's eyes. At this moment, he finally felt a little worried, but Gan Ning still did not draw his sword.

Dong Feng looked around. There were so many people around him. No matter how brave Gan Ning was, what could you do to me?

Dong Feng immediately ordered: "If Gan Ning really dares to come over, just chop him to death!"

Everyone on both sides agreed readily, but they were very relaxed after they drew their swords. After all, they didn't quite believe that Gan Ning would really dare to do this. There were so many people here, they were not just for show!
Then... they watched Gan Ning ride over, drag their chief Dong Feng onto his horse, and ride away again.

Dong Feng felt dizzy and then was thrown onto Gan Ning's horse.

Dong Feng's entourage were very surprised... They looked at each other, not understanding for a moment how Gan Ning dared to come.

However, the few people close to Dong Feng actually reacted, but just as they were about to attack, they were chopped down by Gan Ning's sword.

Do you want to chase after it?

No one spoke.

Then, after Gan Ning rode his horse for more than ten steps, no one dared to act rashly because Dong Feng was at the enemy's disposal.

Gan Ning ran twenty or thirty steps with Dong Feng, whom he had captured alive. Seeing that the barbarians were intimidated by him and no one dared to chase him, he stopped running and called the soldiers who followed him to come over, then turned around and rode his horse, as if he was going to charge into the battle with Dong Feng.

As early as he heard that Dong Feng and the barbarians had robbed the copper that was to be sent to Chengdu, he had already prepared for a battle.

Afterwards, under the attack led by Gan Ning, Dong Feng's troops were defeated at the first blow.

But Gan Ning understood that things were far from over and Dong Feng couldn't have appeared here for no reason.

(End of this chapter)