Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 82 77. Wei and Wu are surprised, Zhuge Jin visits again (1010)

"King Wu! King Wu! Something terrible is happening!"

Chaisang, the temporary palace of King Wu of Wei. A messenger from the front line hurriedly walked through the luxurious palace, but what he shouted were not nice words.

"What happened? Read it out quickly!"

Sun Quan and others who had been waiting for the battle report from the front line were like ants on a hot pan at this moment. They hurriedly urged the messenger, but they were also very nervous, fearing that the bad news would exceed their psychological expectations.

"Yes... yes. Lord Sun Huan from Jiangling reported that according to General Ding Feng and the scattered defeated troops who escaped from the Yiling area, our army... our army was defeated in Yiling.

Only one in ten of the soldiers who escaped survived. At the same time, except for General Zhou Tai, whose whereabouts are unknown, and General Ding Feng, who managed to escape, all the other generals who participated in the Battle of Yiling were killed in battle or captured alive by the Shu army, starting from the Grand Commander Lu Xun..."

The messenger read the new battle report from the front line tremblingly. Not to mention Sun Quan, the messenger as a person who often comes into contact with military intelligence couldn't help but sweat a few drops after reading it.

"It's all... all over?"

Sun Quan was somewhat incredulous. He sat blankly in the chair, looking at the messenger with lifeless eyes.

"Grand Commander Lu Xun, my tens of thousands of troops, and the capable officials and generals of the Eastern Wu are all gone? Why is this happening?"

"Your Majesty, yes, yes. In addition, General Sun Huan also said that General Ding Feng is expected to return to Chaisang as soon as possible to report to Your Majesty in person. General Sun Huan still has some remnants of Guan Yu who can be used. We hope that they can hold the city and save Jiangling. I hope Your Majesty can send troops to assist in the defense as soon as possible."

Sun Quan nodded mechanically. At this moment he was totally at a loss as to what to do.

"Your Majesty, I hope you can cheer up. We still have Generals Xu Sheng and Ling Tong with tens of thousands of troops to guard against Cao Wei. In Jiaozhou in the south, we also have Generals Lü Dai and Bu Zhi to intimidate Jiaozhou's troops, and General He Qi to suppress the Shanyue army. Jiangdong is not at the end of its rope yet."

Gu Yong, who was standing by, was the first to step forward and encourage Sun Quan after a brief surprise.

"In your opinion, what is the current situation like? What is the current situation like?"

When Sun Quan saw Gu Yong come out to give advice, he felt like he had found a life-saving straw and asked Gu Yong for advice without thinking twice.

"Well... Your Majesty, first we have to shrink our sphere of influence. General Lu Dai's troops may have to be recalled, and General Lu Dai will be replaced by Generals Xu Sheng and Ling Tong. Then Generals Xu and Ling will lead the troops to defend the Xiangjiang River and Dongting Lake."

Gu Yong's mind raced, and this was the only method he could think of in a hurry.

"What about Jiaozhou and Shanyue?"

Sun Quan asked again. If Lü Dai and He Qi left, Jiaozhou and Shanyue would be like wild horses that had broken free from their reins. They would probably start attacking the surrounding counties and plunder supplies, and cause chaos.

"This... I'm afraid we can't do anything about it. We can only ask the surrounding counties to strengthen their defenses and handle it on their own..."

Gu Yong didn't have a good solution. Now that the army of Jingzhou in the Eastern Wu was completely annihilated, the Eastern Wu's military strength was stretched to the limit for a while, and they could only tear down the east wall to repair the west wall. How could they possibly take care of everything?
"In addition, I ask for permission to go and negotiate surrender with the Han Emperor. Now that the Han Emperor has taken revenge, Pan Zhang, Ma Zhong and other generals have been killed by him. We no longer have any grudges with Shu Han, so I ask the king to order us to return Jingzhou to the Han Emperor. Then the Han Emperor will be satisfied and our army will have a chance to breathe."

Zhuge Jin stepped out and spoke.

"Yes, it is approved. Ziyu, please remember that I am willing to return the land west of Dongting Lake and Xiangjiang River to the Han Emperor. This is the biggest concession."

Sun Quan still had some thoughts at this moment. After all, the Eastern Wu was good at naval battles. If Dongting Lake and Xiangjiang River were used as a barrier, Sun Quan was confident that even if Liu Bei came in person, he would not be able to cross the line for a while.

"...I obey your command."

Seeing that Sun Quan was still so stingy and greedy, Zhuge Jin couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He could only agree and step back.

"And where are Kan Ze and Kan Derun? Didn't they pledge their entire family's lives as a guarantee? Where are they today?"

After Sun Quan dealt with the military and national affairs, he also remembered that Kan Ze had promised to recommend Lu Xun.

Now, let alone sharing his worries, Lu Xun himself has been involved. How could a petty person like Sun Quan let go of Kan Ze, the person who recommended him?

"..."

All the ministers were silent; they didn't know where Kan Ze had gone.

"What a thief! Could it be that Kan Derun got the news in advance and fled with his family?! Guards! Search the whole city for Kan Ze's family!"

Seeing that the ministers had no reaction, Sun Quan could not help but guess the worst and ordered people to find Kan Ze immediately to question him.

"Your Majesty, Kan Derun is not a two-faced person. He may be ill and unable to come..."

Yu Fan on the side stood up and said a few words for Kan Ze. After all, Yu Fan was also an old minister, so Sun Quan couldn't get angry and just snorted coldly.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I've found... found Master Kan Ze!"

The guards who were sent out came back in a hurry to report not long after.

"Where is Kan Derun now? Why doesn't he come to see me?"

Sun Quan was displeased when he saw that only the guard came back, thinking that Kan Ze was putting on airs or doing something strange.

"That... Your Majesty, after Lord Kan Ze learned about the defeat and death of the Grand Commander, he and his entire family took poison. We have checked and found that none of the thirteen members of his family survived..."

The guard knelt on the ground and reported word by word, which made the officials of Wu feel sad. Kan Ze was also a loyal and meritorious official. If it weren't for Kan Ze's clever words to deceive Cao Cao in the Battle of Red Cliff, it would be unknown whether the fire attack plan could be successfully implemented.

Now, Kan Ze and his entire family committed suicide by taking poison because of a military order, which makes people sigh.

"Ah...?! Alas... Why did Derun have to do this... I won't really punish your entire family... Alas, I will order someone to give Derun's entire family a grand funeral."

When Sun Quan heard that Kan Ze had already apologized for his crime by dying, he also pretended not to ask for punishment in order to comfort the court officials. But everyone was not stupid. Who didn't see the expression on Sun Quan's face just now, which showed that he wanted to eat Kan Ze?
Many people are already secretly thinking about a way out.

……

"Report! Your Majesty, the spy sent back the latest intelligence on the war between the Pseudo-Han and Eastern Wu!"

In the court of Xudu, Cao Pi looked at the officials with great interest.

"What do you think? As expected, within less than a month, the latest battle report has arrived. It seems that the Shu and Wu have already been separated. If my prediction is correct, it should be a great victory for the Eastern Wu."

Cao Pi spoke proudly, and his ministers flattered him continuously.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, according to the spies, the Eastern Wu did launch a fire attack, but they were badly defeated by the Shu army during the attack on the camp. Even the Eastern Wu commander-in-chief Lu Xun was unable to escape. He was captured alive by the Shu army and then executed..."

The military officer who came to report seemed a little unromantic and interrupted Cao Pi's pride when he was happy.

"What?" The ministers who were praising Cao Pi and the complacent Cao Pi were all stunned.

"Your Majesty, the spy has recorded everything he knows about the Battle of Yiling in this book. It says that the Shu army has won a great victory and the Wu army has been completely annihilated."

The military officer was afraid that Cao Pi didn't hear it clearly, so he repeated it again.

"How is it possible! Setting up camp in the forest, even if the Eastern Wu is a bunch of pigs, they can still win by setting a fire! How can they lose to the Shu army! Submit the secret report!"

Cao Pi couldn't believe it and shouted hysterically a few times. Then he asked his attendants to bring him the secret report quickly, saying that he wanted to see how the Han army won the battle.

The attendant did not dare to delay and immediately went down to take the secret report and handed it to Cao Pi.

Cao Pi read the secret report quickly, and his expression changed from being astonished at the beginning to being slightly hesitant in the middle, and then to being shocked at the end. He was deeply shocked.

"Read it out loud so that all the adults can hear it."

Cao Pi pointed to the secret report and asked the attendant to read it to the court officials.

The attendant picked it up and read it aloud. The expressions of the ministers were almost the same as Cao Pi's, just like the old actors performing face-changing on the stage, changing every now and then.

The content of this secret report was almost like this: Dongwu launched a challenge; Dongwu set fire; Dongwu's entire army pressed forward; Dongwu issued a declaration of victory; Dongwu's entire army was wiped out.

"Have you found out why the Eastern Wu army was completely annihilated in the Shu army's main camp?"

Cao Pi rubbed his forehead and asked the military officer.

"still uncertain……"

The military attaché certainly didn’t know, and the spy didn’t write it either.

"Please investigate again and report back. This is bizarre. Could it be that the Shu army really has some magic? No matter how you look at it, the Wu army's fire attack was successful. They actually broke into the Shu camp and were defeated by the Shu army."

Cao Pi was speechless, and his originally excited mood became a little boring. He waved his hand and told the military officer to get out.

There were only two people in the court who seemed to be thinking about something. One of them was Sima Yi. His eyes were shining brightly and his eyeballs kept rolling around. It was obvious that he had no good ideas.

The other was Xu Shu, Xu Yuanzhi, who was worried about Liu Bei at the time. When Xu Shu first heard that Liu Bei had set up camp in the forest, he was also disappointed. He thought he would hear bad news today, but he didn't expect Liu Bei to turn defeat into victory, which also made him feel relieved.

"It seems that God has not abandoned our Han Dynasty. Lord Xuande was able to turn defeat into victory despite such a disadvantage."

In his heart, Xu Shu was still quite happy for Liu Bei's victory, but his face remained calm. He stood among the crowd like a wooden statue, showing neither sadness nor joy.

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is not to dwell on why the Wu army was defeated, but how we should deal with it. Now that the Wu army has been defeated, the main force has been lost, and there are no more troops available in Jingzhou, Your Majesty should order General Cao Ren to advance south and recapture Fancheng and Xiangyang first.

At the same time, our army can also test the defenses of Hanzhong and Yangzhou, so that neither the Pseudo-Han nor the Eastern Wu can destroy the other with peace of mind. "

Sima Yi saw that all the ministers and Emperor Cao Pi of Wei had basically calmed down, so he stepped out and started to speak.

Cao Pi glanced at Sima Yi and said nothing, but his eyes were full of fear and suspicion. However, Sima Yi's words were not without reason. At this time, the battle between Han and Wu had already been decided, so it was time for Cao Wei to end the battle.

"Order Cao Xiu of Hefei to make a tentative attack on Lujiang County, Zhang He of Guanzhong to attack Hanzhong, Cao Ren to attack Shangyong, and leave Jingzhou to fight with Shu and Wu."

In the end, Cao Pi did not fully listen to Sima Yi's advice and let Cao Ren return to Jingzhou, but instead went to attack Shangyong.

Cao Pi thought that even if the main force of the Eastern Wu army was completely defeated, there were still county soldiers and remnant soldiers available. Relying on large and strong cities such as Nanjun and Jiangling, it should not be a problem to engage in a tug-of-war with the Han army. He should not go to Xiangyang for no reason to cause hatred.

"..."

Sima Yi could also sense Cao Pi's distrust. Apart from cursing in his heart the bastard who spread rumors about him, he had no other choice but to bow respectfully and return to his seat.

Messengers rushed out of Xu Du and delivered the Emperor of Wei's orders to the generals stationed at the border and commanding heavy troops.

On the Han army side, they also welcomed an old acquaintance, Zhuge Jin, the brother of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang.

"Your Majesty, have killed Pan Zhang, Ma Zhong and other enemies, and also forced to death our new Grand Commander Lu Xun of Jiangdong. Has your wrath subsided?"

Although Zhuge Jin was polite, his words and actions did reveal a sense of resentment like a nagging woman.

"Xiu Yuan, I am quite tired. Please talk to Mr. Zi Yu for a while."

Liu Bei shook the bandage on his arm and leaned back in his chair, clearly not wanting to waste time talking to Zhuge Jin.

"Your Majesty, this..."

Zhuge Jin was a little dumbfounded. Why was Liu Bei too lazy to even pay attention to him now?

"What Lord Ziyu said just now is wrong. The capture of Ma Zhong, the beheading of Pan Zhang, and the capture of Lu Xun alive are all the achievements of our soldiers' hard work. What has your Dongwu got to do with it? Could it be that you Dongwu sent these three people to our camp? Now that the King of Wei sees that our army is strong, he wants to get something for nothing. Isn't that ridiculous?"

Feng Xi gave Zhuge Jin no face at all and slapped him in the face with just a few words.

"General Feng, you are joking. How could my lord let me come here empty-handed? To show the deep friendship between our two countries, my lord is willing to hand over the land west of the Xiang River to the Han Emperor for management. Is this a sincere gesture?"

Liu Bei had been tapping the handrail slowly with his eyes closed, but he paused unconsciously when he heard Zhuge Jin's words. The west of the Xiangjiang River was basically the entire territory of Jingzhou, which made Liu Bei somewhat tempted.

"Haha, your army's commander-in-chief Lu Xun almost killed your majesty with a big fire and a few cold arrows. Now the King of Wu wants Lord Zi Yu to take Jingzhou, which is already within our army's grasp, as a token of sincerity? I'm afraid the King of Wu is still hoping for a lucky break, right?"

Feng Xi sneered twice. Jingzhou was now like a leaky house. He could conquer it in less than half a year with the current Eastern Expedition Army. Why did he still need the King of Wu to "hand it over to him for custody"?
This is just like someone taking the money that should have been returned to you and saying it is also money for your share of the debt. It is just a way of being clever and taking others for fools.

"General Feng, please don't exaggerate! We in the Great Wu still have tens of thousands of armored soldiers and hundreds of generals. If the Emperor of Han presses us too hard, we in Jiangdong can also surrender to the Emperor of Wei."

Zhuge Jin looked fierce on the outside but weak on the inside, which made Feng Xi sneer.

"I heard that you are the Prime Minister's brother. I thought you were a man of high moral character. I didn't expect you to say something so unkind and unjust as surrendering to Cao Wei, which is fatherless and motherless. I was really wrong.

Cao Pi forced the Han Emperor to abdicate, and the King of Wu's acceptance of his throne was already despised by the world. Now he wants to give Jiangdong to the Han thieves, which means he is irreconcilable with the Han Dynasty.

If the two families continue to fight, we will not force them too much because we are allies. If Jiangdong surrenders to Wei, there will no longer be Jiangdong, but soldiers and generals of Cao Wei. At that time, we will not hold back and swear to be irreconcilable with the Han thieves. I hope you will think twice before making any decisions about the gains and losses."

Feng Xi's words were so powerful that Zhuge Jin couldn't help but hesitate.

　The order of this chapter has been adjusted because I have an obsessive-compulsive disorder in sorting, so it was adjusted from 9/10 to 10/10 (

　　
　
(End of this chapter)