Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

The day before yesterday, that is, November 5th, the Wu army set out from Yuliangzhou early in the morning and headed south.

According to Sun Quan's arrangement, before loading soldiers and supplies, the empty ships would go to the middle of the Han River waterway between Xiangyang and Fancheng, beat drums and sound gongs to show off their troops, and then go to the dock south of Yuliangzhou to wait for orders before sailing downstream along the Han River.

Going downstream is the city of Wuchang, the capital of the State of Wu.

Zhao Yan, Guanqiu Jian, Niu Jin, Yin Fan and others in Xiangyang City did not know what was going on, but Xu Shu and other generals in Fancheng in the north thought that the letter written by the emperor himself had worked, and they were excited for a while, and even the soldiers near Fancheng cheered together.

War is like this, both sides can find some credit for themselves. Even if the territories of Wei and Wu did not change much after this battle, the Wu army could claim to have defeated the Wei army, but the Wei army could also claim to have successfully defended the city and forced the Wu army to retreat with a weak force!
Just when everyone was staring at Xu Shu, expecting him to start praising everyone's merits, Xu Shu ordered the Wuwei Army and Wendai's troops, totaling nearly 20,000 people, to go to Yukouwu to try their luck. However, this move suspended the evacuation of Sun Huan's troops. It was not until nightfall when Xu Shu returned to the city that Sun Huan's troops crossed the Han River along the pontoon bridge at night and arrived at Yuliangzhou. They were able to withdraw the next day.

What can stop an army is never a big river or a high mountain, but only another army. Guanqiu Jian sent light cavalry to follow the Wu navy along the river for nearly a hundred miles. After confirming that all the Wu ships had evacuated, in less than an hour, Xiangyang City assembled a floating bridge with the tools that had been prepared long ago. Xiangyang and Fancheng, which had been isolated for two months, finally connected.

The 8,000 cavalrymen under Guanqiu Jian were the first to cross the Han River and return to Fancheng. Following Guanqiu Jian's army were Zhao Yan, the governor of Jingzhou, and Yin Fan, while Niu Jin was left in Xiangyang. Of course, Niu Jin wanted to come, but the system was such that he could not leave the city unguarded.

"Thank you for your hard work, Zhao Dujian and Zhong Gong." Xu Shu had already brought Cao Tai, Shen Dan, Wen Dai, Lu Shi and other generals to meet them on this side of the pontoon bridge.

"General Xu has commanded with confidence and made great contributions. The siege of Xiangfan was lifted today, thanks to your efforts." Zhao Yan's delighted face gradually became serious, and he bowed and said, "Please accept my greeting, General Xu!"

Xu Shu did not want to be arrogant, so he quickly stepped forward and helped Zhao Yan up, not daring to let Zhao Yan bow down to the ground: "This retreat is all thanks to the great blessing of the emperor, the planning of the court officials, the dedication of the generals and soldiers, how could it be the work of one person? Let's go into the city quickly, I have asked people to prepare wine and food in the city, and you will not leave until you are drunk today!"

"Very good." Zhao Yan smiled and nodded: "General Xu, please go first."

Xu Shu wanted to decline, but after glancing at Cao Tai, Shen Dan, Wen Dai, Lu Shi and the others, he nodded and said, "Okay."

After the people from Xiangyang and Fancheng joined together, the first important thing was to sort out the detailed records of the battles in the past two months and prepare to send them to the Privy Council by express horse. This was a new system since the second year of Taihe, and Zhao Yan and Xu Shu did not dare to violate it in the slightest.

After Zhao Yan and Xu Shu led the military officers, chief clerks and clerks to sort out the past two months, they arrived at the banquet. It was almost midnight. However, no one complained. After the two entered the hall, they all stood up and saluted.

"General Xu led the troops to repel the enemy, so he should sit up high." Zhao Yan smiled and took Xu Shu's arm, leading him to the first seat at the banquet.

Xu Shu said calmly, "In terms of position, Lord Zhao is higher than me. In terms of seniority, Lord Zhao is older than me. In terms of origin, Lord Zhao is my fellow villager and elder. We are both from Yingchuan. How can I be the one to sit here?"

"Everyone, don't you agree?"

The atmosphere gradually became heated, and everyone started to make a noise. Zhao Yan couldn't resist the enthusiasm of the crowd, and reluctantly sat at the head of the table.

The pressure of the past two months was gone, so everyone was laughing. The banquet started with the same routine, congratulating His Majesty, the court, and Wei. After three cups of wine, it was time for everyone to drink to their heart's content.

When Zhao Yan mentioned the merit evaluation, Xu Shu slowly said, "Lord Zhao has been a garrison commander for a long time, so he may not know the situation during your majesty's expeditions. Take the Liaodong war as an example. Your majesty said that the merit of General Man in leading the entire army should be evaluated last, but Liu Ziyang, Wen Zhongruo, and Xin Zuozhi were evaluated first in order. The rest of the generals were carefully evaluated by the Privy Council in Yecheng."

"Everyone, Lord Zhao, the officials and I have been delayed for so long just now because we have been verifying the records and confirming the military achievements for you! The two of us are here to have a feast with you, but those military officers and clerks will probably have to write until dawn tonight."

"Tomorrow morning, all documents will be sent to the court in Xuchang by express horse, and it will arrive in three days. According to my estimation, the court will send an envoy here within ten days to confirm the order of merit for you all." "You and the common people are lucky to meet the Holy Lord. Come, everyone, congratulate His Majesty for a long time! Raise your hands!"

"Raise your glass!" Everyone drank it all in one gulp.

As Xu Shu was drinking, he looked at the person sitting next to Guanqiu Jian and asked:
"You must be Yin Shuping, right? I was in a hurry during the day, and I only heard Zhonggong introduce your name, but I don't know what your official rank is?"

"Mr. Xu," Yin Fan smiled and stood up, clasping his hands and saying, "I don't have a position."

Seeing Xu Shu's slight doubt, Guanqiu Jian smiled and stood up to stand beside Yin Fan, holding the wine jar in his left hand and wrapping his arm around Yin Fan's shoulder with his right hand, and said to everyone with a heroic smile:
"As for Shu Ping's position, I can only mention one now, that is, he is the emperor's disciple! General Xu, everyone, you may not know how much Shu Ping has done in the Wu Kingdom at such a young age!"

Yin Fan bowed his head slightly and imitated the words of the people in front of him: "How dare I take credit for it? It is all thanks to your majesty's blessing."

Guanqiu Jian said: "You don't know that several months ago, Shuping received a secret order from the Minister of Defense and came to Wuchang alone. He played the officials of Wu and Sun Quan in the palm of his hand, and finally escaped by faking his death. It was even more brilliant!"

Zhao Yan was in high spirits, so he stood up and said with a smile, "This story started in Xiangyang. One day, I heard from a military officer in Xiangyang that someone claimed to have received the order of the Minister of Defense..."

The generals in the hall were not afraid of leading troops into battle, but after hearing about this move of going deep into the capital of Wu, they all exclaimed it was wonderful.

Yin Fan was flattered by everyone and even felt a little shy: "Please don't force me to drink anymore. Tomorrow morning, I have to go to Xuchang with the envoy who is delivering the document. It's not that I am disrespectful."

"No problem, no problem." Guanqiu Jian smiled and blocked the wine for Yin Fan: "Come, let me drink with you!"

There was laughter in the hall.

The next morning, Yin Fan and ten knights who were responsible for delivering confidential messages, each riding three horses, galloped north towards Xuchang.

On the afternoon of October 10, Cao Rui, who had just finished practicing sword skills with Jiang Wei, Cao Shuang, and Cao Zhao in the martial arts arena, saw the attendant Pei Qian who came hurriedly before he even left the arena.

"Your Majesty, Sun Quan withdrew his troops from Xiangfan on October 6. The Central Commander sent cavalry to investigate and found no danger. The military report signed by Zhao Boren and Xu Yuanzhi has been delivered. In addition, there is a man called Yin Fan Yin Shuping who also returned from Xiangfan. He claims that he has fulfilled his mission."

Pei Qian didn't know this person, but Cao Rui's eyes lit up when he heard Yin Fan's name.

"Mr. Pei, send someone to find a place to settle Yin Fan. I will see him in the study later. Then call the two Privy Councilors Liu and Wang to the study, and also have Minister Lu come over. I will be there shortly."

"As you wish." Pei Qian responded, then turned around and left.

"The Wu army in Xiangfan has retreated. We congratulate Your Majesty!" Cao Shuang, Jiang Wei, and Cao Zhao bowed at the same time.

Cao Rui smiled and said, "I didn't tell you that I received a letter from the general a few days ago. Li Yan and Li Zhengfang of Shu took the initiative to surrender to Zhang Zhengxi. Today, Yin Shuping returned from Wu. I didn't expect that these things would happen in pairs." (End of this chapter)