My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 426 Chen Lin's Second Letter to Cao Cao
After negotiating with Liu Qi the conditions of supporting his future succession to Liu Biao's power and providing military aid.

Starting from the next day, Zhuge Jin ordered Chen Dao to mobilize troops and raise military equipment.

It will take at least three to five days to complete the preparations for these military aids.

But Liu Qi was not in a hurry to leave anyway, and the ceremony of enshrining the tomb of King Xiao of Liang had not yet been completed, so the two-pronged operation would not cause any problems.

On the morning of the third day after the alliance banquet, Liu Bei set out from Pei County with Yuan Tan, Chen Lin, Liu Qi, Yi Ji, Zhang Song and other representatives of the princes, and brought 20,000 troops as personal guards, and first headed for Feng County further west.

Liu Bei and other important people stayed in Fengxian City for one night and went to bed early to rest up. But half of the accompanying guards had to be separated and continue southwest from Fengxian to the Mangdang Mountain area in advance to search and clear out the area along the way.

Newly grown grass and trees that were in the way on the mountain road had to be cut back, and all places that needed paving and repairing had to be repaved to ensure that the ceremony was foolproof and to gain face in front of the princes.

The next morning, Liu Bei and his companions got up at four o'clock in the morning, ate and drank their fill, packed up, and rode out of Fengxian County at five o'clock in the morning. They entered the Mangdang Mountain area shortly after dawn.

After walking another twenty or thirty miles of mountain roads, they arrived at the tomb of King Xiao of Liang before noon.

Liu Bei himself had actually come here to inspect in advance, so he was not unfamiliar or surprised by the scene before him.

But it was the first time for Yuan Tan, Liu Qi and others to come here, and the contrast between the scenes here still surprised them quite a bit.

It turned out that Liu Bei did not bury King Xiao of Liang's coffin directly on the spot, but moved it slightly to the side, reselected a hill that was said to have good feng shui, and rebuilt it.

After being dug up by Cao Cao, the ruins became a mess, but Liu Bei protected them and left them there as they were.

When Yuan Tan, Liu Qi and Chen Lin went to check, they also noticed that there was a lot of water in the pit. Zhuge Jin personally explained to these visitors: "Cao's 'Fa Qiu Zhonglang Jiang and Mo Jin Xiaowei' did not understand feng shui, and they dug deeper when they were robbing, always thinking that there were other treasures deeper below that had not been dug out.

As a result, because they dug too deep, they opened up the water veins below, causing the mountain springs to gush up, and the old tomb could no longer be repaired - anyone who knows a little about Feng Shui and geography knows that when digging a tomb, the positioning cannot be lower than the height of the compass stone in the middle of the cross tomb passage. Using brute force will only lead to bad consequences.

So, it’s not that our master didn’t want to restore the original site, it’s just that it’s damp and waterlogged, so for the sake of long-term safety, we have to relocate it. And after the Cao thieves excavated it, the remains were thrown into the wilderness, and no one collected them for several years. Now only a few rotten bones have been picked up. The new mausoleum is mainly a cenotaph for clothes and hats.”

Yuan Tan and Liu Qi were both indignant when they saw this, and they commented: "Cao's actions are no different from Dong Zhuo's! It's just a matter of scale and the amount of looting."

Zhuge Jin was very serious today. He usually twirled his fan when chatting with Liu Bei. But in such a solemn occasion today, he didn't even hold the fan. He just invited Chen Lin solemnly:
"I have long heard of Mr. Kong Zhang's literary reputation. The edict to Yuzhou written by Mr. Kong Zhang was written by Mr. Kong Zhang. Although Mr. Kong Zhang was defeated, today we, the rebel princes, have reunited to discuss plans and condemn Cao Cao. Mr. Kong Zhang witnessed this scene with his own eyes. Please continue the previous article to expose his crimes."

Before Chen Lin came, he had actually polished and written an article in advance.

But at this moment, he was deeply moved by the scene and felt that he could add an impromptu section to the end.

So Chen Lin bowed respectfully to Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin, indicating that he had come up with the idea immediately, and then he took out silk and a brush, found a stone table, had someone grind ink, and wrote carefully, adding a few paragraphs of scenery description and emotion at the end.

Liu Bei did not rush him, and took Liu Qi and others to perform the sacrifice and complete the process.

He also had a whale caught in Donghai County boiled in a newly cast giant bronze cauldron weighing several tons. Of course, the skin, fat, internal organs and blood had been cleaned off long ago.

Next to it is a much smaller traditional copper tripod, which is used to cook the Shaolao ritual of a whole sheep and a whole pig. Shaolao is a ritual for offering sacrifices to princes. When a whole cow is added, it becomes Tailao, which is used by the emperor. Liang Xiaowang was only a king during his lifetime, so even if Liu Bei wanted to be extravagant, he couldn't make mistakes in this regard.

He could cook another whale on the side and no one would care, but not a whole cow.

The meat was bubbling over there, and Liu Bei and others were going through the complicated ritual process. After an hour and a half, the food in the big cauldron was cooked, the process was completed, and Chen Lin's revised article was rewritten.

As he had plenty of time, Chen Lin considered it over and over again and felt that it was a bit inappropriate to put the description and condemnation in the last few paragraphs, so he asked for the silk again, reorganized the structure and order, and re-transcribed it.

The last part of the ceremony was that Chen Lin stood in front of the cauldron holding the article and read it.

Liu Bei and the others, led by him, were listening nearby.

The article begins by mainly condemning Cao Cao's crimes, and also recounts the difficulties that the righteous ministers across the country have faced in uniting and working together to fight against the rebellion over the past three or four years since the Yidaizhao incident.

When mentioning Yuan Shao, who was originally the leader of the rebellion, and made many contributions to the great cause, it was a pity that Yuan Shao "died young", which led to treacherous ministers such as Shen Pei and Feng Ji tampering with his will and colluding with Yuan Shao's rebellious son Yuan Shang, thus ruining the fortune of the Yuan family.

In these passages, Chen Lin naturally used the style of the Spring and Autumn Annals and avoided the important issues. In his writing, the defeat in the Battle of Guandu did not seem that serious, and the final collapse of the Yuan family was mainly due to Yuan Shao's death from illness and the mischief of those treacherous officials. Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan are both absolutely positive characters.

Anyway, Shen Pei, Feng Ji and others are all dead, so we can just put all the blame on them. Even Tian Feng has to bear a considerable part of the blame.

However, Chen Lin also knew that it was not enough to just excuse his former master, and that he could not get back on track. So he immediately changed the subject in the following text, saying that fortunately, General Chariot and Cavalry was a figure in the anti-rebel coalition army whose prestige was second only to General Yuan. Moreover, General Chariot and Cavalry was benevolent and righteous, and he spared no effort to rescue his allies, preserving the bloodline of the Yuan family's loyal ministers and filial sons.

This shows that the General of Chariots and Cavalry is the one who is destined by heaven, and he is entrusted with the important task of saving and reviving the Han Dynasty. After experiencing ups and downs and seeing this clear destiny, Yuan Qingzhou is willing to accept the General of Chariots and Cavalry as the leader of the alliance, and from then on he will obey the General's orders and unite to support the Han Dynasty.

The last few paragraphs describe how Liu Qi and other representatives of the Jingzhou governor, as well as those of the Yizhou governor, responded after joining in the great cause and seeing clearly Liu Bei's achievements in defeating Cao and the crimes of the thief Cao. They all respected Liu Bei as the leader of the anti-rebellion alliance.

Of course, Chen Lin’s words here are definitely exaggerated.

For example, there are some things that Zhang Song definitely did not say publicly, and he is not qualified to say them, and even if he did, they would not count. But Chen Lin wanted to write that Zhang Song said them, and he helped Zhang Song artistically process those fictitious words, making sure that the words were more gorgeous and beautiful, and the parallelism was catchy.

Judging from Chen Lin's writing style, after this new alliance manifesto was issued, even if Zhang Song did not say anything, he at least squeezed Liu Zhang into a position that offended Cao Cao.

After Zhang Song returned, he could of course explain to Liu Zhang: This has nothing to do with me, it was Chen Lin who wrote it nonsense, and I was powerless to stop it because I was under the eaves.

As for how cowardly Liu Zhang was and whether he would demote Zhang Song to appease Cao Cao's anger, it all depended on how powerful the pro-Cao faction or the so-called seclusion faction in Yizhou were.

Zhang Song's temporary position under Liu Zhang was not important. Even if Liu Zhang dismissed Zhang Song in the future, Liu Bei could give him a higher position, and Zhang Song and his people would not lose out in their careers.

Sometimes, being dismissed from office temporarily may become political capital in the future.

In any case, this was also to induce the contradictions within Yizhou to emerge. If Liu Zhang really believed the slander and did something that was not in line with the status of a vassal of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei would have a legitimate reason to ask Liu Zhang to correct it.

……

After everything was settled and Chen Lin's article was read.

Liu Bei then ordered his men to extinguish the flames under the cauldron, and then had the warriors hold horse-cutting swords to cut up the cooked whale, pig and mutton, sprinkle them with spices and dipping sauces, and have everyone share the food.

After such a long time, it was already late and everyone was hungry. Even if whale meat was not very delicious, it was still edible as long as it was spiced enough. Whale meat was also rich in fat and was very filling.

After eating, everyone rode down the mountain and returned to Fengxian to spend the night. It was already late at night when they entered the city.

It was just after he returned to the city and before all the princes and guests left that Generals Gao Shun and Zhou Tai suddenly came to ask for a meeting.

Liu Bei did not ask outsiders to avoid him, but let them speak frankly in front of the envoys of the princes.

Gao Shun then explained everything in detail: This afternoon, on the defense line of the valley on the west side of the Mangdang mountain area, Cao's army led by Zhang He suddenly launched an attack, but was easily repelled by the troops led by Gao Shun and Zhou Tai who were defending the dangerous area.

Cao's army retreated in defeat, leaving behind more than a thousand corpses and suffering even more minor casualties.

Gao Shun's troops did not pursue further, but they still captured hundreds of seriously wounded soldiers while cleaning up the battlefield.

For those who could not be saved, no more medicine was wasted and they were given a quick death. For those with minor injuries that would not cause serious disability, they were simply bandaged and taken back to the camp for further treatment.

While interrogating these lightly wounded prisoners, Gao Shun learned that the reason why they launched an attack today after their defeat in Lu State a while ago was entirely because they discovered that there were large-scale deployment changes on the part of Liu Bei's army.

A high-ranking strategist of Cao's army concluded that an important figure in Liu Bei's army would personally worship the tomb of King Xiao of Liang at Mount Mangdang today. Therefore, Cao's army wanted to take a gamble and disrupt the ceremony of Liu Bei's army. Even if they could not capture Liu Bei himself, they would take the opportunity to undermine Liu Bei's prestige.

To put it bluntly, he wanted to try to slap Liu Bei in the face again in front of the envoys of the princes and make him a laughing stock.

Unfortunately, Gao Shun and Zhou Tai led the mountain troops, mainly Danyang soldiers, and Zhuge Jin had warned them in advance to be on guard, so it was very likely that Cao's army would come to cause sabotage at this time.

Therefore, Zhang He's attempt hit a complete wall and had no effect at all. Instead, it made Cao's army even more embarrassed.

Liu Bei deliberately listened to Gao Shun's report in front of Yuan Tan, Liu Qi and Zhang Song in order to achieve better publicity effect.

After listening to this, Liu Bei waved his hand expressionlessly, signaling Gao Shun and Zhou Tai to leave, as if nothing had happened. Then he turned to Zhang Song and others and said casually:

"Zhongda has been making more and more fuss recently. He has to wait for a report late at night for such a small matter as repelling Cao's harassment and annihilating more than a thousand Cao's soldiers. I'm sorry to make you all laugh. You must be tired, so you should take a rest first. I think it's not too late to report this kind of thing tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)