Taiheiki

Chapter 155 Solution
"Master!" the confidant said, "Although hawksbill turtle shells are rare treasures from Jiaozhou, they may not necessarily have been robbed from merchant caravans from Jiaozhou. They may have come from other sources!"

Lu Ping sneered, "He just said that these treasures came from the Gan River. What else could it be but robbing a caravan? Did you get some benefits from him, so you're defending him?"

"I deserve to die, please forgive me, Master!" The confidant hurriedly prostrated himself to apologize. Lu Ping stared at the confidant coldly for a long time before coldly saying, "Step down!"

After the trusted confidant left, Lu Ping summoned his men and ordered them to inquire whether Jiao He had recently robbed a merchant caravan from Jiaozhou on the Gan River. Half a day later, a reply was received.

"That's true. Five days ago, General Jiao's men intercepted three ships from Jiaozhou on the Gan River, forty li from Xinjian County. The Jiaozhou people claimed to be men of Wei Cong, the Commandant of the Expeditionary Forces, and refused to obey orders, so a fight broke out. Although General Jiao's men and ships far outnumbered the Jiaozhou people, the Jiaozhou soldiers were well-equipped and had excellent bows and crossbows. Many of our men died, and we finally managed to intercept the three ships. We found a lot of money and valuable goods on board. Those bastards took some of it and presented it to General Jiao!"

"What General Jiao? He's just a bandit leader!" Lu Ping roared. "Robbing passing caravans on his own turf, is this the way to achieve great things? Go and check again how many Jiaozhou people on the ships are still alive?"

"Here!"

Having confirmed her suspicions, Lu Ping's expression grew increasingly grim. To be honest, she didn't believe this matter would drive Wei Cong to the Eastern Han government. Based on her understanding of this man's past, he was a very shrewd and opinionated person, and once he made up his mind, he would never easily change it.

Back then, even with over 100,000 followers, four prefectures, and his own seduction, he hadn't been swayed by this man. This caravan robbery wouldn't make him lose his mind either. Ultimately, anyone with eyes could see that the "Moth Bandits," who had spread throughout the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, had cut off the route from the Central Plains to Jiaozhou. This was the prerequisite for Wei Cong's expansion in Jiaozhou. Even if Wei Cong had conquered all of Jiaozhou, let alone just five prefectures, he wouldn't allow Luoyang to easily quell the current chaos and spare the resources to deal with him.

However, Wei Cong's reluctance to change his stance does not mean he will swallow the bitter pill as if nothing happened. He has too many ways to retaliate, such as stopping arms trade, sending troops to retaliate, or using assassins. What I should do is tell Wei Cong the whole story before he takes action, kill the perpetrator, pay compensation to express my apology, and mend the relationship between the two parties.

Should Jiao He hand over the subordinate who attacked Wei Cong's fleet? Lu Ping shook her head. This arrogant man would definitely not accept it. Even if he was forced to agree in the end, it would cause endless trouble. Since that was the case, the only option was to send his head to Wei Cong as well. It just so happened that his strength had become too inflated during this period, and he even posed a threat to her. This would kill two birds with one stone.

Having made up her mind, Lu Ping coughed and beckoned to the maidservant serving outside. She said in a deep voice, "Go to General Jiao and pass on a message for me. Tell him that five days from now is an auspicious day, and I am going to Nanshan to worship the mountain god. If he is free, please ask him to accompany me!"

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When he heard the sound of horses' hooves, Yuan Tian was searching for things that the owner had hidden in the empty house.

He froze instantly, like a stone, clutching the pickled fish he had just found. Who was this person? Mountain bandits or thieves? Why were they discovered when he thought he had escaped? Damn it, this isn't fair!
He slowly straightened up, carefully walking around the cracked and rotten parts of the floor to avoid making a sound. Judging from the sound of hooves, there should be at least three or four horses. If he struck first, he might be able to kill these guys and get the horses. Thinking of this, Yuan Tian suddenly became happy.

He tiptoed out the back door, hid behind the old willow tree behind the house, knelt on one knee using the tangled branches as cover, and looked out, silently praying, "I hope there aren't more than four people! Closer still, so I can rush in and finish them off with my ring-pommel sword!"

The spirit did not hear Yuan Tian's prayer. He saw a man on horseback behind the fence at the village entrance, with nine spears neatly arranged behind him—the spearmen were hidden by the fence. Yuan Tian held his breath and crouched down—no one could use a ring-pommel sword against nine spears. Before he could close the distance to his opponent with the sword, he would probably already have six or seven wounds, any one of which could kill him.

"Footprints, did you see that? Fresh footprints! There's someone in this house!" a loud voice shouted. Damn it, Yuan Tian cursed under his breath, not knowing who to curse—himself who left the footprints or that sharp-eyed guy. Almost the next second, hurried footsteps mixed with dog barks came towards him—there were dogs too? Yuan Tian was about to run away when the urgent barking rang out—Yuan Tian had been discovered.

"Stand up, you hiding behind the fence!" someone shouted. "Or you'll be eating crossbow bolts!" Immediately, Yuan Tian heard the sound of a crossbow being pulled back. He hesitated for a moment, then stood up: "Who are you people?"

The man on horseback was very tall, half a head taller than Yuan Tian. He had a ring-pommel sword on his belt and wore a deerskin hooded cloak with several patches, but it looked very warm. Beside him were four crossbowmen, their crossbows aimed at Yuan Tian, ​​the sharp arrows gleaming with a bloodthirsty light.

"Drop what you're holding on the ground!" the man on horseback said to Yuan Tian. "Don't do anything stupid, or my men will pin your feet to the ground three times before you can charge at us."

Yuan Tian hesitated whether to obey, when the man impatiently waved his arm, signaling the spearmen to surround him. This gesture caused his cloak to unfurl, revealing his lamellar armor. Yuan Tian's eyes lit up: "Are you General Crimson Robe's men?"

"Not bad?" The man immediately frowned. "What's wrong?"

Yuan Tian tossed his ring-pommel sword to the ground: "My name is Yuan Tian, ​​and I am a captain under the general. I followed him south to Jiaozhou. This time, I have been ordered to return to Yuzhang!"

"Lord Yuan?" The man on horseback looked Yuan Tian up and down suspiciously. "You said you were ordered to return to Yuzhang, so why are you alone?"

"Something unexpected happened on the way!" Yuan Tian tore open his coat, took out his waist token, and threw it over: "You must escort me back to Yuhan County immediately. I have important business to attend to!"

The man on horseback checked Yuan Tian's waist tag, and after confirming that it was correct, he quickly dismounted and said, "Uncle Du, please mount your horse. I will escort you back to Yuhan County immediately."

Yuan Tian didn't mount his horse immediately. He first retrieved the small wooden box before mounting himself. He learned from the man that his sense of direction was correct; this village was already on the southwestern border of Yuhan County. Regarding the deserted village, the man explained, "There's no other way. There's war everywhere in Yuzhang County. There are bandits, militia, and of course, mostly robbers. They steal everything they can, and burn what they can't take. Really, life is unbearable!"

"A righteous army?" Yuan Tian asked, puzzled.

"They were the powerful local magnates who supported the government. After the bandits captured Nanchang, the capital of Yuzhang County, the prefect was killed. Some of the remaining local magnates in the counties surrendered to the bandits, while the rest raised troops and built strongholds to defend themselves. Anyway, they were all the same; they were all murderers and thieves!"

"What about Yuhan County?" "Yuhan County is better off! With Commandant Yang's troops, the local strongmen are more united and obedient. The bandits haven't launched a large-scale invasion, only occasional small-scale harassment, which is difficult to deal with. Therefore, Commandant Yang has ordered the population of villages near the county border to relocate inwards, making them easier to protect!"

"Hmm, so you're the patrol team?"

"Yes, this way we can crack down on small groups of thieves, and at least we won't be caught until we're right outside the county town!"

Hearing the words of the leading man, Yuan Tian turned around and looked at the spearmen and archers following behind him. It was not hard to see that most of the members of this small patrol team were fourteen or fifteen-year-old children, and a few elderly people with gray hair. Obviously, this was because most of the able-bodied men in the county had gone to Jiaozhou with Wei Cong, leaving only the children and the elderly behind.

"It seems I should report this matter to Yang Zheng before making a decision!" Yuan Tian thought to himself. He looked at the distant sky and muttered to himself, "Hopefully, it's not too late!"

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Yuhan County.

When Yuan Tian arrived in Yuhan County, it was already the afternoon of the next day, and he immediately met Yang Zheng.

"What happened to you? Where are the others? You can't be the only one, can you?" Yang Zheng looked at Yuan Tian in surprise. The man in front of him looked haggard and thin, like a frail shadow compared to his former self.

“When we set off, there were two hundred people and three boats, but now I’m the only one left!” Yuan Tian recounted his experience of being attacked on the Gan River in detail, and concluded, “Guo Kui let me escape. The number of people and boats that besieged them was at least four times that of them!”

"What a true hero!" Yang Zheng sighed. "If we go by your logic, it must have been the Moth Thieves who did it!"

"The Moth Thieves?" Yuan Tian asked. "I remember we used to have a pretty good relationship with them, right? They got so many weapons from us, how could they do something like this?"

“There’s nothing we can do. The Moth Thieves have grown in power and their origins have become more complex! Many of them are just using a title; they only obey orders from the Great Teacher of Virtue. Otherwise, they act on their own. I reckon the group that attacked your ship didn’t even know who you were. They just saw that your ship was drafted deep and carrying a large number of people and goods, and they came to make a quick buck!” Yang Zheng sighed.

“But we already mentioned Lord Wei’s name! And the armor and weapons on the ship are so exquisite, it’s obvious that it’s not an ordinary merchant’s vessel!” Yuan Tian said, “Could there be another possibility?”

"What's possible?"

"The Moth Thieves are planning to break ties with us!" Yuan Tian said. "Instead of buying from us, wouldn't it be better to just swallow up Yuhan County and build it ourselves?"

"This—" Yang Zheng's expression changed drastically: "It shouldn't be, right? Those bandits should have heard about Lord Wei's victory in Jiaozhou. They annexed Yuhan County, how could Lord Wei let them get away with it?"

"Perhaps the bandits think they are now strong enough to not be afraid of Duke Wei, or perhaps they feel that the weapons and armor here are more important than their relationship with Duke Wei. Who can truly understand the thoughts of bandits? In the end, the fact remains that they openly attacked our ships on the river. We can't just do nothing, can we?"

"You're right!" Yang Zheng nodded solemnly. "Here's what we'll do! I'll immediately send an envoy to Jiaozhou to report the attack on the ships to Lord Wei. As for Yuhan County, the bandits have a batch of weapons and crossbows to deliver in five days. I'll seize them all, then gather all the able-bodied men in the county for training to prepare for battle!"

“When I arrived, I saw that the patrol team consisted mostly of elderly people and children, with very few able-bodied men. If you continue to train and exert yourself like this, won’t the powerful and wealthy families in the county object?”

“There’s nothing we can do about it. Most of the young men have gone to Jiaozhou with Lord Wei!” Yang Zheng sneered. “As for the powerful families in the county, they’re fine. The Moth Bandits are about to attack. Even if there are only women left, they’ll have to put on armor and take up arms. If they still don’t understand this, then I have ways to make them understand!”

"This guy used to be as soft as dough, but I didn't expect him to have developed some skills in just a few months!" Yuan Tian thought to himself, but said aloud, "Alright, then prepare a fast boat for me!"

"You're going back to Jiaozhou? There's no need to rush!" Yang Zheng was taken aback. "I can leave the task of delivering the message to Lord Wei to someone else. You can rest here with me for a few days and lend me a hand!"

“I’m not going back to Jiaozhou!” Yuan Tian pointed to the small wooden box next to him: “I have another business to attend to in Yuzhang this time. I’m not just here with you. I also need to go to Chaisang to see Young Master Sheng.”

"I understand!" Yang Zheng nodded. "Alright, I'll send someone to prepare immediately. You can rest here for the night and set off first thing tomorrow morning!"

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A chilling wind blew across the lake, and Yuan Tian found his breath instantly condensing into white mist. He suddenly realized that this place was a completely different world from Lingnan, filled with cold, bloodshed, and terror. Yes, there was war in Lingnan too, but it ended after Wei Cong's victory in Gaoyao. He pardoned the former rebels, allowing them to return to their hometowns, and dispatched messengers to various prefectures to capture the fleeing soldiers and bandits who had escaped into the mountains. They were put on trial; those convicted of serious crimes were hanged, while those guilty of minor offenses were sent to work on construction sites.

(End of this chapter)