My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 110: The people's support is clear

After Zhuge Jin explained the strategic guidelines for the second phase to his three generals, the Han army in Yuzhang and Danyang entered a relatively stable stage of digesting the results of the battle during the rest of late June.

After all, after a great battle, Liu Xun and Qiao Rui lost more than half of their troops, and the Han army also suffered many casualties, at least one or two thousand people.

The number of those killed in battle and those seriously wounded who died totaled about 600 to 700, and there were over a thousand people with minor injuries.

The dead needed compensation, the wounded needed treatment, the prisoners needed reform, the surrendered troops needed to be reorganized and identified, and the ships captured on the battlefield needed to be pulled back and repaired.

Each job can take at least ten days or half a month.

However, although Zhuge Jin did not make any new moves, a series of chain reactions occurred on the opposite side of Yuan Shu's territory.

First of all, Liu Xun and Qiao Rui did not realize the situation instantly after the defeat. They did not have the intelligence and awareness to do so.

Therefore, after the disastrous defeat in the decisive battle, they simply gave up the idea of "launching another decisive battle", but did not give up the idea of "still trying to control the Yangtze River."

They are still thinking in the old way, thinking that "as long as I give in and stop causing trouble for the Zhuge family, everything should be fine."

Although I cannot defeat you in a war, the navigation safety of the river sections around Wankou and Ruxukou should still be guarded by my Lujiang Army to maintain local order, right?

In response to this inappropriate idea, Zhuge Jin needed Gan Ning and Taishi Ci to use daily patrols to remind the enemy: times have changed. After the decisive battle that day, the strength of the two sides' water forces has been completely reversed. If they are not obedient, they will only die.

Within ten days, Gan Ning blocked the entrance of the Wan River and killed three batches of Liu Xun's small-scale fleets that dared to sail from the Wan River into the Yangtze River for a cruise.

Taishi Ci also intercepted and killed two small-scale Qiao Rui fleets that dared to sail into the Yangtze River from the Rushu River.

The loss of five patrol teams, ten warships, thirty or forty pleasure boats, and more than 1,700 sailors finally made Liu Xun and Qiao Rui wake up and realize that times had changed.

The Yangtze River is no longer a place where they can sail freely. They are only fit to sail in small ditches such as the Wanshui River, Rushu River, Feishui River, and Chaohu Lake.

Gan Ning was so excited about the killing that he even became arrogant. He got a piece of bright red Sichuan brocade and spread it out like a banner. He wrote eight big black characters on it: "Any Yuan soldier who dares to enter the Yangtze River will be killed." He then hung it on the top of the mast in a very ostentatious manner.

Then they patrolled the river mouth every day so that the people along the north bank of the river could see them. This greatly undermined the morale of Yuan’s army and made them completely cowardly.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about this kind of thing because the construction period of the navy is much longer than that of the army.

If you don’t have enough land forces, you can conscript men, but if you don’t have enough warships, you just can’t have enough. It’s like a math problem that you can’t solve, even if you’re extremely angry.

The tragic news of the defeat and the arrogance of the Han navy spread throughout Lujiang within just a few days.

After all, some of the operations here are extremely insulting, so they are highly contagious and a hot topic.

The ignorant farmers and fishermen might not care about these things, but the well-informed sons of scholars and people of insight have begun to worry about the future of Yuan Shu's forces.

He has only been emperor for a month and he is being pressed to the ground and rubbed like this. How can he have a future?
……

June 24th, Lujiang County, Juchao County.

Juchao County is the Chaohu City of later generations, located at the mouth of the river where Chaohu Lake flows into Rushu River.

In the Huainan region occupied by Yuan Shu, there was an important waterway connecting the Yangtze River and the Huai River. The northern end of the waterway connecting to the Huai River is Shouchun, where Yuan Shu built his capital.

The Fei River branches off from the Huai River at Shouchun, flows south into Shaobei (que bei), then flows into the Nanfei River through Hefei and into Chaohu Lake, then flows out of Chaohu Lake from Juchao County and into Rushu River, and finally into the Yangtze River at Rushukou.

Therefore, in history, Sun Quan fought so many times in Hefei in order to go north. (There is another connecting waterway between Jianghuai and Han River in the east, which is the Han Canal in Guangling County)

In fact, if any of the four nodes, Shouchun, Hefei, Juchao and Ruxukou, were blocked by the enemy, it would be enough to cut off the Yangtze-Huaihe waterway.

The disastrous defeat at Ruxukou a few days ago made things difficult for everyone in Lujiang County, and the pressure was first transmitted to Juchao.

Who knows that all the food needed for Ruxukou, if it is collected from the rear, has to pass through here as the last stop.

The current Juchao County Magistrate is a 23-year-old young man. He has a handsome face, sword-like eyebrows, and a handsome demeanor. He is even better than Zhuge Jin and second only to his younger brother Aliang.

That’s right, this person is Zhou Yu.

At this moment, another official document urging for grain sent by Qiao Rui in front made Zhou Yu frown. He felt that he could no longer do this task.

"Half a month ago, the military rations at Ruxukou were robbed by Gan Ning. Do we have to clean up the mess for him? Re-raise the money? We've already delivered the full amount and exhausted all the resources. Where can we get food for him?"

"The army has already lost more than half of its men and horses, yet they still need to raise food. Are they trying to stage a strong attack for Yuan Shu to see?"

Zhou Yu was so depressed that he wanted to quit his post and cross the river to join Sun Ce. But he was afraid that if he left too hastily, his old friends and followers would not be able to be settled and transferred together.

After all, Zhou Yu was from a prominent family. Both his grandfather and father had been Grand Marshals, so he could be considered "three officials in two generations". His uncle had also been the prefect of Danyang. His entire family had hundreds of troops in Lujiang, over a thousand private soldiers, and countless family members.

If he didn't want to give up these things, he had to make proper arrangements and test the waters before joining Sun Ce.

It was precisely because of these concerns that Zhou Yu did not dare to disobey Yuan Shu before Sun Ce and Yuan Shu officially turned against each other, for fear that he would delay Sun Ce's important plans and become the fuse between Yuan Shu and Sun Ce.

In fact, Zhou Yu surrendered to Sun Ce twice in history. The first time was more than two years ago, when Sun Ce crossed the river to attack Niuzhu and then conquered Danyang County. That time, Zhou Yu went to help Sun Ce in the capacity of "Sun Ce's colleague and Yuan Shu's subordinate" in a fair and impartial manner.

After Sun Ce conquered Danyang County, both of them were nominally still Yuan Shu's subordinates, so Yuan Shu transferred Zhou Yu back, and Zhou Yu could not resist and could only obey his orders.

The second surrender to Sun Ce in history was supposed to happen in the early spring of next year, but it obviously has not happened yet.

It was Qiao Rui's unexpected urgency that triggered a butterfly effect, causing Zhou Yu to be unable to hold back ahead of time.

He had never wanted to help Yuan Shu clean up the mess, and had been working without putting in any effort recently.

Fortunately, Zhou Yu's brain was still working well. After thinking it over, he finally came up with a plan:
"Why don't I find a nobody who has no official status and won't attract attention or cause Yuan Shu's wrath if he runs away, and cross the river first to find out what Bofu is thinking?"

Zhou Yu was young and energetic, and he was quick and decisive in doing things. When he thought of this, he immediately ordered his men to prepare horses and leave the city, heading straight for a manor in the east of the city.

……

Half an hour later, at the gate of a newly renovated manor in the east of Juchao City, Zhou Yu dismounted from his horse in a dashing manner and rushed straight into the door without asking anyone to announce his departure.

The guard at the door recognized him and, seeing that he was the county magistrate, did not stop him but simply trotted over to lead the way.

"Zijing! Is Zijing here? I have something important to tell you, so I came to visit you."

A tall, slightly fat, long-bearded young man in his twenties quickly appeared from the inner room. His surname was Lu, his name was Su, and his courtesy name was Zijing. He personally stepped forward to greet us:
"How come Gongjin has the time to visit my humble home today?"

Zhou Yu was thinking about Qiao Rui's orders, and couldn't help but say, "Hey, isn't it because of Qiao Gong's orders that we have to find ways to raise food... Even the food rations of my own troops have been requisitioned by the higher-ups, forcing us to raise food rations on our own."

Lu Su was not vague, and pointed to a granary outside the courtyard: "In this case, Gongjin can use the food in the east granary, and leave the food in the west granary for my people to eat." Zhou Yu was stunned. He was just talking casually, making an excuse first and then talking about the real business. Lu Su was too straightforward and agreed to his excuse, which made it difficult for him to expand.

Zhou Yu quickly rethought his plan and reorganized his words, and said, "Zi Jing is really a generous and righteous man. If he had been here thirty years earlier, he would have been one of the top eight chefs."

Several decades ago, during the Party-Fighting Period, it was popular to evaluate celebrities and conduct "Monthly Review". At that time, the celebrities evaluated included "Three Gentlemen, Eight Talents, Eight Gu, Eight Ji, Eight Chefs..."

A chef refers to a person who has no moral ability or virtue himself, but is generous and willing to help other moral gentlemen.

Lu Su gave away thousands of stones of grain with just a wave of his hand. He was so generous that he could not be considered a "cook".

However, Zhou Yu did not come here specifically to praise Lu Su, so after praising him, he immediately changed the subject: "Brother Zijing, since you are so generous and do not care about managing your business in Lujiang, I think you will not be content to stay here for long."

The only way Lu Su had money and food to help others in these years was by selling the farmland on his farm. He cashed in all his family property and was able to barely make ends meet.

The powerful people in the Han Dynasty generally had a strong desire to possess land. Once a person started selling land continuously, it would be like people in later generations gradually selling all their houses in Beijing and Shanghai. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that they were planning to move away.

After being pointed out by Zhou Yu, Lu Su no longer concealed it and admitted it openly: "Unfortunately, between Huaihe and Sihe, there was a man named Yuan Gonglu who did not care about the people's livelihood and fished all the fish in the pond. Every year, it is getting worse. I have sold all my land and have no worries. I have kept some floating wealth in my hands, just like a good bird choosing a tree to roost in.

Gongjin, you don't have to flatter me. I just think that in this chaotic world, making friends is more useful than hoarding wealth. A man is innocent but guilty of possessing a treasure. I am a local tycoon. If I lose my foundation and have no connections, I will be calculated by others even if I have money. It is better for me to be generous and give money to others and leave more connections."

"That's great! I like talking to smart people," Zhou Yu applauded Lu Su's open-mindedness.
"Then I won't beat around the bush, Zijing, you have helped me many times with money, so today I will show you a way forward. I can't say it's a way of repaying you, but at least we both get what we need.

I actually didn't want to stay under Yuan Shu for long, so I wanted to cross the river to join my sworn brother Sun Bofu. But Bofu had always been a member of Yuan Shu's army, and I was afraid of ruining his relationship with Yuan Shu and bringing disaster to him, so I didn't dare to move. I wanted to wait until he officially broke with Yuan Shu, and then I would try to escape.

Therefore, I also need someone to go to Danyang County to gather information for me. Once it is confirmed that Bo Fu has the intention to break with Yuan Shu, even if it has not been made public yet, it is better to inform me in advance so that I can be prepared to avoid being caught off guard when I leave. Brother Zijing does not hold an official position, and crossing the river will not arouse suspicion or attention. He is the best candidate.

As long as you are willing to go to Danyang, I will write you a letter based on my friendship with Brother Bofu, and you will be promoted immediately. What do you think, Brother Zijing?"

Zhou Yu's proposal was very sudden. Although Lu Su had already intended to leave, he was still waiting and had not decided where to go.

In Lu Su's opinion, going south to join Zhuge Xuan, or going southeast to join Sun Ce, or going east to join Liu Bei are all options to consider, and he needs to slowly observe the personalities of these people.

If you rashly agree to Zhou Yu's words, it will be equivalent to deciding your target of surrender, so you have to be cautious.

He hesitated for a few seconds and asked, "Although I have no official position, my clan has nearly a thousand people, including family members, servants, and guards. If I cross the river from Juchao, I must take the water route along the Ruxu River and exit from the Ruxukou. With such a big commotion, will the garrison commander let me go?"

Zhou Yu thought for a moment and said, "Although I am not completely sure, but today, Zijing, you pointed out the way for me, so I am 70% sure. Mr. Qiao asked me to raise an additional batch of military rations, which is not my job. If I protest, I can still have a verbal battle with him.

But today I have received several thousand shi of grain from you, so I will hold my temper for now and report to you first. I will naturally find a chance to talk to Mr. Qiao and ask him to turn a blind eye. At that time, the only thing to worry about is Liu Xun's patrol navy.

However, I heard that Yuzhang Gan Ning has been rampant in the Yangtze River recently, so Liu Xun's navy should not dare to wander around. As long as they leave Ruxukou, they should be safe. Gan Ning does not seem to intercept civilian ships. It should be that the Zhuge family is happy to see the people of Huainan fleeing south to Yuzhang, so they deliberately indulge them. "

After hearing this, Lu Su no longer had any doubts and said that he was ready to let his clansmen pack up and sell off the last houses and the last dozen hectares of land as soon as possible.

Finally, Lu Su added that after his family servants finished moving the food, if there was any food that they couldn't carry, it would belong to Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu was too embarrassed to take advantage of Lu Su again, so he just said that he would give him a discount of gold coins so that he could carry it easily.

……

After dealing with Lu Su, Zhou Yu headed south from Juchao County early the next morning and headed straight to Ruxu, where he went to the general's mansion to ask for a meeting with Qiao Rui.

When Qiao Rui heard that Zhou Yu had completed the new round of grain collection orders issued the day before yesterday so quickly, he attached great importance to it and immediately met Zhou Yu in the main hall of his house.

In fact, Qiao Rui didn't expect to succeed, he just wanted to pretend to be diligent.

He also knew that after the great defeat in Chungu County, the navy had suffered heavy losses and could no longer cover the army's new offensive.

The two men sat down in the main hall as host and guest. Qiao Rui ordered the maid to serve Zhou Yu some scallion, ginger and pepper tea to moisten his throat. Zhou Yu took two sips and then began to talk about business.

He first explained in detail how hard he worked to complete his mission, how difficult it was, and how he relied on the generous donation from the righteous man Lu Su.

Qiao Rui listened and echoed in praise.

Zhou Yu then changed the subject and went straight to the point, "Mr. Qiao is a reasonable man, so I won't hide anything from you. I'm sure you can understand that it's impossible for someone to donate a thousand dan of grain in a hurry without asking for anything in return.

The purpose of this young Lord Lu is nothing more than to feel that if he stays in Lujiang, his property will most likely be conspired and seized by others, so he wants to settle down in a peaceful place, so he donated his stored grain. I have received a gift from someone, so I should be loyal to him, so I will ask Mr. Qiao to issue some talismans to pass through Ruxukou and let him and his party cross the river. "

Qiao Rui was shocked: "Cross the river to surrender to the enemy?!"

Zhou Yu: "I am not surrendering to the enemy. I have made three agreements with Lord Lu, asking him to go to Wuhu and Niuzhu to look for Sun Bofu of Danyang. Lord Qiao, you and Bofu are also old friends, and Bofu is also an old subordinate of your majesty. If you go to his place to avoid the war, you are not considered a refugee, right?"

Qiao Rui was of course very familiar with Sun Ce. After hearing this, he hesitated and said, "If you can guarantee that you are going to join Sun Ce, then it's fine. But I'm afraid that Lu Su may not be so loyal and can remain committed. It takes more than a hundred miles to go to Wuhu, and you have to pass Chungu County guarded by the traitor Zhuge Jin. What if he wants to save trouble and directly join Zhuge?"

Zhou Yu saw that Qiao Rui was still afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, and he couldn't help but feel a little angry. He felt that the current plan could not be to beg weakly, so he changed his tone:

"Mr. Qiao has never met Mr. Lu, so how could he not trust me? I know him very well and I am willing to guarantee him. Besides, he has donated a thousand stones of military rations, so this request is not too much, right?
If we really want to be serious, Mr. Qiao, I know a little about naval warfare. Half a month ago, when the Ruxukou camp was robbed, your army pursued the enemy in the middle of the night, claiming to have killed and wounded 3,000 to 5,000 people. But according to my later observation of the wreckage of the water fort, your large ships were blocked in the Ruxu River at that time, and you could not go out to pursue.

According to the court's laws, the bows, crossbows and arrows equipped on your boats are probably not enough to achieve the goal of pursuing the enemy, right? Moreover, I see that your berth scheduling and mooring of the grain ships at the civilian berths on the river in advance are all laziness and violations of the law..."

Zhou Yu pointed out the mistakes made by Qiao Rui in his previous defeats and the doubts about his results, and then he revealed his true intentions:

"Mr. Qiao, you don't want those suspicious points to be noticed by others, right?"

Qiao Rui, who had always been afraid of taking responsibility and playing the role of a smooth talker, suddenly turned his head and stared at Zhou Yu with his pupils trembling. "Gongjin, do you know anything about naval warfare? If I had known this, I should have asked His Majesty to promote you so that you could help me in the battle."

Zhou Yu smiled, but didn't comment. If he wanted to show off, he would have done it long ago. Yuan Shu, who values family background, would not use the son of a family whose grandfather and father had both served as Grand Marshals?
It’s just that Zhou Yu kept a low profile and didn’t want to work for Yuan Shu.

Qiao Rui finally had to give up completely, and sat back on the couch dejectedly, saying that he would issue a talisman for Lu Su's clan to leave the river from Ruxukou.

Then he immediately asked someone to bring writing brush, ink and seal, and processed it in person for Zhou Yu.

After Zhou Yu received the pass, he bowed gracefully and left.

After Zhou Yu left, two little girls, about fourteen or fifteen years old, came from behind the screen in the main hall of the Qiao family. They had hands as soft as catkins, skin as white as cream, necks as white as cicadas, teeth as white as gourds, and their heads were raised and eyebrows were beautiful, with a lively look in their eyes.

They immediately supported the exhausted Qiao Rui and said angrily, "Father! Who was that man just now? He looked quite good, but I didn't expect him to be so vicious and even threatened father."

Qiao Rui waved his hands repeatedly, signaling him not to make a sound: "What do you know! From now on, you are not allowed to eavesdrop behind the screen when I have guests!"

……

After Zhou Yu left Qiao Mansion and got the talisman, he rushed back to Juchao County without stopping. He immediately sent the talisman to Lujiazhuang and handed it to Lu Su personally.

After a few days of cleaning up, Lu Su cashed in all that could be cashed in, and sent a written document to Zhou Yu for all that could not be cashed in, and then rolled up his valuables and took them directly.

(End of this chapter)