SFS Chapter 517 All the Eastern Wu prisoners arrived in Jiangling
Chapter 517 All the Eastern Wu prisoners arrived in Jiangling
Are there any other options?
Cao Pi frowned and fell into deep thought, tragically realizing that he didn't seem to have many choices: either become emperor and indulge in the thrill of being one, only to be killed by Liu Bei.
He could either continue to rule as king and be killed by his arrogant and fierce generals and the Central Plains gentry in alliance with Emperor Liu Xie, or he could return power to the emperor and return to his hometown to live a quiet and honest life as a wealthy man.
The question is, will the emperor let him go after returning power to him?
Not only would he not die, but he would die even more miserably. He knew all too well what kind of person Emperor Liu Xie was.
Besides the three methods mentioned above, there is another option: to skip all the intermediate steps and surrender directly to the Big Ears bandits, and perhaps even get a new title.
But...
Putting aside the terrifying inhuman fighting prowess of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, Cao Wei's overall strength was still superior to Liu Bei's. In other words, Cao Wei was the stronger party and Liu Bei was the weaker party. Since ancient times, only the weak have surrendered to the strong, not the other way around.
If he surrenders to Liu Bei now, how will the world view him? How will history record him? And how will our ancestors speak of him a hundred years from now?
For how many years in history has Liu Shan been called "the incapable A Dou" because he surrendered to Deng Ai?
Although Liu Shan's surrender has not actually happened, the principle remains the same.
Liu Shan surrendered after losing Hanzhong and only having half of Yizhou left, and he has been cursed by later generations for thousands of years. Cao Pi, on the other hand, occupied the entire Central Plains. If he had surrendered without firing a single arrow, wouldn't he have become a pillar of shame and been ridiculed by later generations?
The thought of being condemned by posterity sent a chill down Cao Pi's spine. He instantly made up his mind and said firmly, "It will be done as you wish, gi..."
After saying that, he cracked his whip and sped off towards the capital.
Meanwhile, after several days of trekking, Cao Ren finally led his army back to Jiangbei and recalled Xiahou Shang, who was guarding against Liu Feng's eastward advance north of Jingshan. He ordered Xu Huang and Xiahou Shang to continue guarding Fancheng before leading a large army back to the capital with Cao Cao's remains.
……
The area outside Dangyang City was in ruins after the great battle. The combined number of dead soldiers from both the Han and Wei sides exceeded 50,000. Now it was September, and the last vestiges of the late summer heat were still lingering. If the situation was not dealt with quickly, it could lead to a plague and cause a major disaster.
Therefore, Guan Xing, who was in charge of cleaning up the battlefield, first had to collect the corpses and burn them, and then move all the wounded from both sides to Dangyang City for centralized treatment.
The task of clearing the bodies and transferring the wounded took two whole days, leaving the entire battlefield empty.
Liu Bei did not withdraw, but remained on the battlefield to rest and prepare for a counterattack by the Wei army. After four or five days, Zhang Bao finally returned on Zhao Yun's orders to report to Liu Bei that the Wei army had crossed the Han River.
Upon receiving the news, Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but exclaim to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, "Finally, we can take a break and catch our breath."
After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Liu Bei waged war everywhere without stopping. After many years, he had become somewhat weary of war and was eager to stop and rest.
Moreover, the Jiangnan region has just been recovered and is not yet stable, and with the supplies exhausted, there is really no energy left to fight.
Liu Bei selected 30,000 elite troops and entrusted them to Liao Hua, instructing Liao Hua to go north and join Zhao Yun to establish a defensive line north of the Yi River to prevent the Wei army from invading. At the same time, he was to speed up the construction of Xiangyang City. Liu Bei then personally led the main army back to Jiangling.
Guan Xing also didn't want to stay on the front line anymore, so he left the wounded soldiers to Li Gousheng, who had been promoted to captain, and followed Liu Bei back to the capital.
It's been almost a month since we left Jiangling. With so much time gone by, Lu Xun, Lü Dai, and other prisoners, as well as Sun Quan's family, should have arrived in Jiangling by now. His wife will definitely come too. Why stay on the front lines instead of going home to see his wife after the war is over?
Inside Jiangling City.
Zhuge Liang has been extremely busy lately. He has to coordinate and ensure the supply to the front lines, as well as reassign and adjust officials to ensure stability in the rear. Any one of these tasks would keep him incredibly busy.
Before these two tasks were even finished, the group of Jiangdong prisoners and their families captured by Guan Xing were all sent to Jiangling, including many of Sun Quan's wives and concubines and Liu Bei's wife, Sun Shangxiang.
Especially Sun Shangxiang, this lady is Liu Bei's lawfully wedded wife, so she cannot be neglected under any circumstances.
What gave Zhuge Liang an even bigger headache was that Wu Xian, another wife Liu Bei had married in Bashu, was also coming soon.
With the unification of Jiangnan and the stabilization of the political situation, the political center of Shu Han was gradually moving from Chengdu to Jiangling. A large number of people, including the Queen Consort Wu Xian and the Crown Prince Liu Shan, were going to come. However, there was not even a place to stay in Jiangling. What should be done?
With so many things piling up at once, even a brilliant strategist like Zhuge Liang was overwhelmed and couldn't handle it.
That noon, a massive procession of over a thousand people, including Lu Xun, Lü Dai, Sun Shangxiang, and Bu Lianshi, arrived at the gates of Jiangling City on time. Zhuge Liang led all the officials in the city to go out ten miles to greet them. Upon seeing the procession, he quickly stepped forward and bowed to Sun Shangxiang, who was surrounded by the crowd, saying, "Liang greets the Lady."
Sun Shangxiang gently lifted him up with both hands, and looked at Zhuge Liang with a complicated expression, sighing, "Shangxiang was too willful in the past, causing a lot of trouble for the strategist. I hope the strategist will forgive her."
She was only nineteen when she married Liu Bei. As the daughter of a military family, she was naturally willful and capricious. She was also seriously dissatisfied with Liu Bei's relationship with her, so she tried every means to torment Liu Bei and his subordinates. Now, she is over thirty years old and has experienced major changes and is gradually maturing. When she thinks back on the past, she feels ashamed. She really shouldn't have done that back then.
Zhuge Liang bowed again and said, "Madam, you flatter me. The matter is over. Moreover, you have made great contributions to helping the Second General stabilize Jiangdong, and His Majesty is very pleased with this. He originally wanted to go to Jianye to bring you home, but the war is urgent..."
These words fully affirmed Sun Shangxiang's contribution to Guan Yu's efforts to stabilize Jiangdong, allowing Sun Shangxiang to breathe a sigh of relief.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhuge Liang then greeted Sun Quan's wives, Lu Xun, Lü Dai, and others one by one, before finally bowing to Zhuge Jin and saying, "Brother, how have you been since we last met?"
Looking at Zhuge Liang, whose temples were already streaked with gray, Zhuge Jin's expression was extremely complicated. As the elder brother, he was meeting his younger brother as a prisoner, which made him feel somewhat ashamed.
So shameful.
Zhuge Jin sighed, "It's alright, it's alright. How has General Guan been lately?"
Mentioning Guan Xing at this time made Zhuge Jin grit his teeth in anger.
Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "He has gone on an expedition with the King and will be back in a while. A banquet has been prepared in the city. Let's go into the city and talk."
After speaking, he stepped back and gestured for Sun Shangxiang and the others to return to the city. Just as they reached the city gate, several fast horses galloped from inside the city and rushed onto the drawbridge, shouting from afar, "Strategist, a great victory has been achieved at the front! His Majesty has repelled the Wei army and will soon return in triumph."
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned. After a moment of astonishment, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Great! Jiangnan is finally stable."
After their initial shock, Lu Xun, Lü Dai, and the others had even more complicated expressions. Back when Sun Quan and Liu Bei formed an alliance to resist Cao Cao, they looked down on Liu Bei to some extent, thinking that defeating Cao Cao was entirely due to their Eastern Wu, and that Liu Bei, a mere weaver of mats and seller of sandals, was just someone trying to ride on Cao Cao's coattails.
After Liu Bei crossed the river in white robes, the officials of Jiangdong felt that his life was over and that restoring the Han Dynasty was just a dream.
But now, not long after Liu Bei crossed the river in white robes, he not only unified Jiangnan but also recovered Longxi and repelled Cao Cao's counterattack. What does this mean? It means that destiny is with Liu Bei.
It seems I can't let my mind wander anymore; I should just obediently follow the King of Hanzhong and help restore the Han Dynasty.
We are all Han officials, and it is our bounden duty to support the Han dynasty.
After mentally preparing himself, Lü Dai slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Great! The restoration of the Han Dynasty is in sight! Strategist, why don't we skip the city and go directly to Dangyang to welcome the King?"
Zhuge Liang: “…”
The ministers of Eastern Wu: "..."
You old fool, you're quick-witted! You just came from Jianye and now you're rushing to Dangyang. Aren't you afraid the journey will be too long and hurt your back?