SFS Chapter 246 Busy Guan Xing
Chapter 246 Busy Guan Xing
Having successfully returned to Kuaiji County, Guan Xing felt a sense of déjà vu upon seeing familiar faces such as Xie Chong and Ji Jie.
He was only gone for a few days, and when he came back, he was already married.
Cultivating oneself, regulating one's family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world—the family is both a man's weakness and his armor. Thinking of Sun Luyu's tenderness, Guan Xing silently vowed in his heart: "Jiangdong is mine, and no one can take it from me again, nor can anyone destroy my family."
That being said, Guan Xing knew how difficult it was to protect Jiangdong and his family. Now that Cao Ren had marched south, a major battle was imminent.
Sun Quan and the Jiangdong gentry, who had retreated to Jiangling, were certainly unwilling to let Jiangdong be taken away. They would definitely take advantage of the chaos while Guan Yu was fighting Cao Ren and send Wu troops to sneak around and take advantage of the situation.
However, given the nature of Wu Jun, he certainly wouldn't dare to get involved in the great battle between Guan Yu and Cao Ren. He would only hide in the shadows and launch sneak attacks, like when he crossed the river in white robes, or take advantage of the fact that Guan Yu and Cao Ren were both too busy to do anything else to pick on the weak.
Looking across Jiangdong, is there any easier target than yourself?
Therefore, Wu Jun's next target must be the Jinqu Basin where he is located. Sun Quan may already be holding a war meeting and even mobilizing troops.
Thinking of this, Guan Xing felt a surge of anxiety and turned to ask, "Old Xie, how's things going here? Is everything going smoothly?"
Xie Chong smiled broadly and said, "It went very smoothly. As soon as the news of the surrender of Chunyu Shi, the governor of Kuaiji, spread, the magistrates of Shangyu, Yuyao, and Gouzhang counties along the coast led their local gentry to Shanyin to surrender and offered up their land, manors, mines, ferry crossings, docks, and even large ships over ten feet long."
"Now all the wealth of Kuaiji Commandery is in our hands, but I have learned from the side that these county magistrates and gentry are only superficially submissive. In private, they all hope that Sun Quan will take back Kuaiji and recover Jiangdong. Some of them have even secretly gone to Jiangling to report to Sun Quan."
Guan Xing laughed and said, "That's for sure. Life was so good under Sun Quan. He annexed land, bullied men and women, and did whatever he wanted. But under us, we live like lowly commoners whom they despise. You're a member of the gentry, so who are you on your side?"
"To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. If we can defeat the Wu army again, these gentry will have to hold their noses and obediently become compliant subjects, no matter how unwilling they are. On the contrary, if we are defeated by the Wu army, these gentry who look more docile than cats will immediately turn into a returning home group."
Xie Chong asked blankly, "General, what is the Homecoming Corps?"
"Uh..." Guan Xing didn't know how to explain, so he changed the subject and asked, "How are things going? Has there been any movement from Jiangling lately?"
Xie Chong replied, "There is indeed something worth noting. After Lü Meng was verbally abused to death by Yu Fan, Yu Fan was collectively attacked by the generals of Eastern Wu. In addition, Yu Fan's foul mouth offended too many people, so no one spoke up for him at the critical moment. Therefore, Sun Quan was forced to demote him to the position of Prefect of Yuzhang, making him our neighbor. Yu Fan has now taken office in Nanchang."
Upon hearing this, Guan Xing's expression instantly turned strange; he remembered something interesting.
Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, three foul-mouthed trolls have emerged in the world. The most famous is Mi Heng, who cursed Kong Rong, Cao Cao, and Liu Biao. These three were magnanimous and did not hold it against him. However, Mi Heng should not have cursed the ruthless Huang Zu. In the end, he was chopped up by Huang Zu.
Secondly, there was Zhang Song, an official under Liu Zhang, the governor of Yi Province. This guy was eating Liu Zhang's food but smashing Liu Zhang's pot. He took the map of Ba and Shu to surrender to Cao Cao. Cao Cao refused to accept him because he was ugly. Zhang Song was so angry that he pointed at Cao Cao's nose and scolded him. He also exposed Cao Cao's shortcomings and scolded Cao Cao so badly that Cao Cao almost became depressed.
Nevertheless, His Highness the King of Wei was magnanimous and did not make things difficult for him, but instead politely escorted him out of the country. However, Zhang Song did not settle down after returning to Bashu. He failed to join Cao Cao and instead colluded with Liu Bei. In the end, he was killed by the furious Liu Zhang.
I don't know what grudge Zhang Song had against Liu Zhang, but he insisted on trying to kill Liu Zhang, and ended up killing himself.
Finally, there's Yu Fan, known for his foul mouth. He criticizes everyone from heaven and earth to the very air. Sun Quan, Zhang Zhao, Yu Jin, Mi Fang—anyone he doesn't like, he'll point his finger at and curse them, regardless of whether they're superiors or relatives. In modern terms, he vents his anger on the spot and never wastes his energy on internal conflicts.
But this old fellow didn't have a good ending either. He insulted Sun Quan many times in history. Eventually, Sun Quan got so angry that he exiled him to Jiaozhou and never recalled him. Yu Fan eventually died of depression in Jiaozhou at the age of seventy.
Now that Yu Fan has been demoted by Sun Quan to the position of Prefect of Yuzhang, this is going to be quite amusing.
Guan Xing pondered, "If the Wu army attacks us again, they will definitely have to pass through Yuzhang County. Yu Zhang's governor, Yu Fan, has a grudge against the Eastern Wu military because of Lü Meng's death. What do you think would happen if, while we are fighting, Yu Fan started fighting with the Eastern Wu generals?"
Xie Chong's eyes lit up excitedly, and he said, "Does the general mean to use a divisive tactic?"
Guan Xing shook his head and said, "I only have this idea. Whether it can be implemented depends on the actual situation. Let's keep it as a backup plan for now."
As he spoke, Guan Xing came up with dozens of ideas to sow discord between Yu Fan and the Eastern Wu military. Eastern Wu was good at internal strife, so this was a very promising opportunity.
Guan Xing continued, "This time we have to put the battlefield in Yuzhang, not in the Jinqu Basin anymore. Jinqu has finally settled down, and I'm counting on it for supplies. We can't let it be destroyed by war. Let's go, we don't have much time left, we must act quickly."
Xie Chong nodded and led Guan Xing and Zhou Xun straight to Shanyin.
In the following days, Guan Xing met with county officials and elders of major clans in Shanyin, assuring them that he would not cause trouble for the clans as long as they did not cause any trouble.
The gentry actively expressed their support, stating that they would fully cooperate with Guan Xing's reforms in Kuaiji.
There's no other way; I'll die if I don't cooperate.
After appeasing the gentry and announcing Guan Yu's appointments of Xie Chong and Zhou Xun, Guan Xing handed over the administration to Xie Chong and led an army of five thousand on another expedition.
He first rushed back to Wushang to inspect the steel mill and textile factory, and instructed blacksmith Feng to speed up the forging of weapons and armor before hurrying off to Damu.
Da Mo was the front line between the Han and Wu armies, and this time he was going to teach the Wu army an unforgettable lesson.
The one left to guard Damo was Shen Yi. Upon receiving the news, he went out of the city to welcome Guan Xing and ran up to him with a smile, saying, "General, you've finally returned! I thought you had forgotten about me."
Guan Xing patted his shoulder and laughed loudly, "Are you complaining that I left you at the bottom? Don't worry, you'll be a key player in the upcoming battle."
Shen Yi was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly said with a smile, "General, you said it yourself, I took it seriously."
These days, the fighting in Wushang and Zhuji is in full swing, but he hasn't seen a single Wu soldier in Damu. He finally waited for Quan Cong to attack Damu, but before Quan Cong could even cross the Zhe River, he was defeated by Guan Xing's army, which prevented him from even touching the Wu army.
Guan Xing captured Zhang Cheng twice, and all the other generals had outstanding military achievements, but Shen Yi still had zero victories. How could he not be anxious?
Guan Xing laughed and said, "You have to take it seriously. Not only do you have to take it seriously, but you also have to pay attention. You know the environment of Da Mo better than anyone else. If you don't take the lead, who will? Tell me about the situation in Da Mo. How is the reform of the prisoners going?"
After defeating Quan Cong that day, they gathered tens of thousands of prisoners. These prisoners were all left in Da Mo to undergo reform. After so long of reform, the results should be in by now.
Shen Yi laughed and said, "General, don't worry. The surrendered soldiers haven't been idle. I've been bored lately, so I led my soldiers and prisoners to build another wall around the outer wall of Da Mo City with the new farm tools from the steel mill. This time, I made the wall two zhang high, built a barbican, and diverted the valley water to the city to fill the moat. If the Wu army doesn't come, fine, but if they do, they'll definitely have their teeth knocked out by the new wall."
Guan Xing immediately became interested and said, "Really? Take me to see it."