Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 36: Decide the world

Seeing Wu Yuan had such a good idea, Fang Yong said quickly:

"Please teach me quickly, sir!"

Wu Yuan stroked his beard and uttered four words softly:

"Abandon the city and save the land!"

Fang Yong was shocked when he heard this. He thought of something and said impatiently, "Please explain it in detail, sir."

Wu Yuan said: "General, please bring the map."

Fang Yong then ordered his men to bring a map.

Wu Yuan asked Fang Yong to send his attendants away.

Fang Yong did as he was told.

When only Wu Yuan and Fang Yong were left in the room, Wu Yuan, with his hands behind his back, walked to the map room, pointed to Huaizhou, and said:
"General, please look, the rebellious army led by Shan Guogong is coming from Shandong. Although it passes through Huaizhou, its goal is to lift the siege of Chuzhou."

"If the general insists on defending Huaizhou, he will inevitably encounter the army of the Duke of Shan. If he resists the army of the Duke of Shan, it is not the best strategy, but will only make things easier for others."

Fang Yong nodded in approval.

Wu Yuan continued:
"If the general can give up the city of Huaizhou and only occupy the surrounding counties, the Duke of Shan will see that the general is only defending the corners of the counties and towns, and will definitely regard it as a minor disturbance. The Southern King wants to take Chuzhou and go north, which is a great threat to the country. This is the way to prioritize. The Duke of Shan will definitely attack the Southern King first and then the general."

Fang Yong's eyes gradually brightened.

Wu Yuan confidently moved his hand from Huaizhou to the nearby Yancheng and Yangzhou, pointed out two routes, and continued:

"Then you can gather your strength and wait for the Duke of Shan to fight with the King of the South. You can then move eastward along this route to capture Yancheng and southward to occupy Yangzhou. In this way, the prosperity of the Huai River and Huai River will be in your hands."

"This year, there has been heavy snow in Shanxi and Liaodong for several days, which has become a snow disaster. The incompetent ruler has done nothing to help the disaster, and there will be chaos in the future. Countless cattle and sheep on the grassland have frozen to death, and the Jurchens have invaded the border, which is a foregone conclusion!"

"At this time when heroes of the world are rising up, the imperial court has no time to respond. General, you can train soldiers and store up food and grass. Go south to occupy the land south of the Yangtze River, and go north to take the capital directly to pacify the world!"

After Wu Yuan finished speaking, he bowed!
Although Fang Yong looked calm on the surface, he was extremely shocked in his heart.

What a great talent!
Retreat to advance, relieve danger, understand the situation in Kyushu, and plan and determine the overall strategy for the world!
With just a few words, he directly resolved the predicament he was currently facing!
If he wasn't too old, his role would probably be no less than that of Kong Ming of Shu and Wen Ruo of Wei!
There was only one thing Fang Yong couldn't understand. If there was such a great talent under the command of Southern King Feng Tai, why was he still trapped in Chuzhou? And now he took the initiative to send the great talent to him.

This……

Wu Yuan, who was standing by, saw that Fang Yong had not moved for a long time, and mistakenly thought that Fang Yong was reluctant to give up Huaizhou, which he had conquered with great difficulty, so he quickly persuaded him:
"General, are you not attached to Huaizhou? The ancients said: A gentleman hides his talents and waits for the right time to act. Huaizhou is like a bird hitting a net at this moment. The more it struggles, the more it is bound. Therefore, giving up the idea this time is not cowardice, but wisdom. Giving up the idea temporarily is not a loss, but a gain. I hope the general will not lose the long-term plan because of a momentary thought."

After Wu Yuan finished speaking, he bowed deeply again.

Upon seeing this, Fang Yong knew that Wu Yuan had misunderstood, and hurried forward to help Wu Yuan up.

"Don't worry, sir. It's not that I don't want to follow your advice. It's just that your plan is ingenious and I admire it very much. I'm thinking about it and want to appoint you as my military advisor. But I don't know how old you are now and whether you can still join the army to fight.
Wu Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this and said:

"Thank you for your letter, General. To be honest, I am seventy-six years old. Although I am a little old, I am still in good health. Please rest assured, General."

Seventy-six years old?

This is called slightly higher!

Fang Yong's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Wu Yuan, feeling a little hesitant.

Seventy-six years old is too old.

Even in modern times, seventy-six years old can be considered old and frail, not to mention in this day and age, when seventy-six years old can be considered as the twilight years and half-dead.

If I join the army at this age, I might die of old age soon...

After hesitating for a moment, Fang Yong said:
"Sir, you are so old, I am afraid it will be inconvenient for you to follow the army to fight everywhere. It would be better for you to serve in the rear, so that you can make plans for me. What do you think?"

Wu Yuan's smile gradually disappeared when he heard this. He looked at Fang Yong and said directly:

"General, do you think I'm too old?"

Fang Yong was a little embarrassed: "This, I have never..."

Wu Yuan interrupted:
"I am seventy-six years old now. I am indeed very old. Why should the general hide this?"

"If you want me to join the army in the battles and draw arrows to fend off the enemy, I am indeed too old to be of any use. But if you want me to give advice, I am four years younger than Jiang Shang and Jiang Ziya, who helped King Wen of Zhou conquer the world!"

Hearing Wu Yuan's somewhat angry words, Fang Yong was stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help laughing at himself.

That's right, since I already know that the other party is talented, why should I be obsessed with age? If that's the case, what's the difference between me and Feng Tai!
"Sir, your words are very inspiring. It is my fault, please do not blame me. I will gather all the generals and appoint you as my military advisor!"

Wu Yuan couldn't help feeling a little warm in his heart when he saw Fang Yong's sincere apology.

Just by saying "It's my fault", Fang Yong has surpassed countless monarchs.

Wu Yuanhao had been wandering for most of his life, and this time he finally found a wise master!
Fang Yong did what he said and immediately started to prepare.

Trust the people you employ, and don't employ people you don't trust. Since he has already confirmed the other party's ability and the strategy he offers is in line with his expectations, Fang Yong has no intention of procrastinating any further.

Soon, Fang Yong called all the main figures under his current command over.

Actually, there are not many people.

Xue Dacuizi took Li Ni to Beijing to buy cannons.

Gan Ba is in Hongze Water Fort.

Niu Jin led his troops to guard Siyang County.

So the only ones left were Ma Laohei, Jia Yucun, Li Sheng, and a half-grown boy named Li Chou who was outside to guard the door.

Fang Yong introduced Wu Yuan to several people, and informed everyone of part of Wu Yuan's plan to abandon the city, and asked everyone to go down and prepare.

Ma Laohei was very resistant to this plan, but due to Fang Yong's order, he had no choice but to obey orders and make preparations.

Fang Yong could understand Ma Laohei's feelings. After all, he had led his troops to fight for a long time to capture Huaizhou City, and several thousand of his brothers had sacrificed for it. Now he was going to abandon it in vain, which was naturally hard for him to accept.

Afterwards, Fang Yong persuaded Ma Laohei privately. Fang Yong still valued this general who had defected to him a long time ago.

Ma Laohei was deeply touched that Fang Yong was willing to humble himself and personally persuade him, and the grudge in his heart was eliminated.

Oh, there is one more small thing.

Wu Yuan also said that he brought him a pair of stunning sisters.

Fang Yong didn't care too much about it. No matter how beautiful she was, could she be as pretty as Daiyu and Baochai? Now that the Duke of Shan Guo was coming, he didn't have time to visit any of the sisters, so he arranged for someone to send the sisters back to the water stronghold and use them later.

In Huaizhou City, Fang Yong was making intensive preparations for the retreat.

During this period, Wu Yuan offered another plan, which laid the groundwork for Fang Yong to return to Huaizhou in the future.

In Huaizhou City, there are four major families that check and balance each other.

Among them, the Guo family and the Yang family are rivals.

Someone from the Yang family held the position of Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate in the court. In their early years, they had friction with the Guo family. Since then, the two families have been at odds with each other and have often fought openly and secretly.

After Wu Yuan found out about this situation, he quickly arranged for people to set a trap for the two families.

After a few provocations, Wu Yuan quickly brought out the conflict between the two families.

One day, Guo Yu, the third son of the Guo family, went out of the city for a walk.

Wu Yuan sent people pretending to be members of the Yang family to kill Guo Yu and his group, except for sparing Guo Yu who was seriously injured and pretending to be dead.

Afterwards, Guo Yu dragged his seriously injured body and crawled back to Huaizhou City with difficulty, where he was discovered by Fang Yong's men.

Then Fang Yong learned about this, stood up for the Guo family, destroyed the Yang family, and obtained a lot of money.

Afterwards, Fang Yong sold all of the Yang family's real estate to the Guo family at a low price.

This was an open conspiracy, and the Guo family could only accept the properties with tears.

There is no way. The houses and shops in prime locations are being sold at a 30% discount. Who can resist this?

Anyway, the head of the Guo family couldn't help it.

Then, not long after, news came that Duke Shanguo was coming.

Fang Yong hurriedly led his men to evacuate Huaizhou.

Before leaving, Fang Yong took Guo Yu with him. This kid had read some books, so Fang Yong appointed him as a military adviser.

(End of this chapter)