Jinting Han people

Roshan's departure from the battlefield did indeed deceive everyone.

From the very beginning, Li Ju had been wary of the possibility that Luo Shang might escape the battlefield by taking a different route. Therefore, after arriving in Anhan, he had scouts scattered along the way to monitor Luo Shang's surroundings. However, as the situation changed, Li Ju had to withdraw the scouts. The reason was simple: his own forces were too few, while Luo Shang's forces were too many. Moreover, Luo Shang had launched such a fierce offensive from the front, and Li Ju simply did not have the spare capacity to continue monitoring him.

Moreover, Luo Shang's series of actions had indeed deceived him. After the victory at Tiantai Mountain, he released several captured soldiers to spy on the situation. They learned that Luo Shang was boosting morale in the army and had somehow obtained a cavalry's worth of provisions. Li Ju immediately concluded that Luo Shang's looting of provisions was a ruse, and his real intention was to launch a major offensive. He then realized that the enemy was indeed determined to fight him to the death.

But who could have imagined? Luo Shang truly deserves to be called a genius. He not only acted so convincingly, but he even fooled his own people. With Ning Guangjun's troops being used as bait, how could Li Ju possibly ignore the threat behind him and turn to pursue the enemy's main force?

The final result was as described: the Battle of Brazil began with Rochelle leading a massive offensive of 60,000 men, but ended with 20,000 casualties. However, he still managed to escape from Li Ju's elaborate trap.

Although Li Ju captured a large number of Jiangzhou soldiers, despite his overwhelming advantage, he ultimately lost the opportunity to advance south and seize Jiangzhou. He even failed to capture Dianjiang City.

However, Li Ju still achieved his initial tactical objective: to completely disrupt the Jiangzhou army's offensive. Having suffered such heavy losses, Luo Shang would not dare to launch another attack, at least not for the rest of the year.

It was this battle that made Li Ju famous. Although he had some experience in battles and had won some victories before, they were not particularly outstanding, mainly because his opponents did not have impressive resumes. But this time, his opponent was Luo Shang, one of the three heroes who destroyed Wu, and he was fighting with inferior forces against superior forces, yet he still managed to defeat his opponent and make him flee in disarray. This truly solidified Li Ju's reputation as a famous general.

However, Li Ju himself did not feel any sense of relief or relief. He was now thinking about what would happen after the war in Brazil ended.

According to Liu Xian's previous letter, after this battle, he only needed to handle the aftermath, then hand over responsibilities to others, and finally go to Luo County to take over the war effort. If things went wrong, he might even have to take over the entire Duke's mansion's power. This possibility put him under immense pressure, to the point that he didn't feel a real sense of victory.

But before that, he can at least get some rest.

After the battle ended, Li Ju ordered the warships to dock, then sat on the shore and watched his subordinates begin to count the prisoners and spoils. This task was handled by the chief clerk, Gou Yuan. Following previous practice, they first confiscated weapons, armor, and horses, and then dispersed the prisoners under guard, preparing to send them in batches to Langzhong, Xichong, Nanchong, Dangqu, and other places to do hard labor such as mining, iron forging, and land reclamation.

Somewhat bored, Li Ju began to gaze at the green waters of the riverbank. It was dusk, and the shimmering surface of the river, merging with the western sunset, seemed to form a golden road that could rise straight into the sky. A gentle breeze swept by, carrying away the stench of blood from the battlefield, leaving his mind somewhat blank. Then, amidst the endless ripples of the river, he seemed to see face after face—friendly, sinister, strangers, or admiring…

But to his subordinates, the governor of Brazil standing by the lake was like a still pool and a towering mountain, probably pondering some ingenious plan to change the situation!

While he was still in a daze, Guo Fang walked up to Li Ju and said to him, "Shi Hui, these prisoners are really difficult to deal with!"

Li Ju was startled at first, but after he came to his senses and saw that it was Guo Fang, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked with a smile, "What's wrong, brother-in-law? Is there a problem with these prisoners?"

Guo Fang held the preliminary list in his hand, flicked it with his finger, and then handed it to Li Ju, saying, "This time we captured 8,707 people. That's a lot, but the problem is that most of them are barbarians. It's very difficult for us to deal with them because we can't communicate with them!"

"Can't understand the language?" Li Ju asked, puzzled. He took the list, glanced at it quickly, and asked, "Where did these barbarians come from?"

Guo Fang said, "We questioned several prisoners, and it seems they were divided into two groups. One group was the Yue people from Guangzhou, and the other group was the Souyi people from Ningzhou. They couldn't understand each other's languages."

“Oh, so it’s the Ningzhou Army and the Guangzhou Army.” Li Ju had gathered intelligence beforehand and realized what was going on. He put down the list and smiled with relief, “No wonder Luo Shang gave up so readily; it turns out they weren’t his direct subordinates.”

Guo Fang shrugged indifferently and asked, "That's all irrelevant. The question is how we deal with them? As for these people, I'm afraid as long as they can manage themselves, once things are disrupted, many things will probably not be able to get done."

Li Ju said, "Then let's keep it detained for now. It's already August, and there's nothing important to do, so keeping it detained won't hurt."

"Why waste food?" Guo Fang waved his hand in the air at his neck and chuckled, "Anyway, they're not Han Chinese, so killing them all won't hurt. They come from such a far place, they can't go back even if we let them go, they'll just become bandits on the way, so we might as well just kill them and solve the problem once and for all."

Li Ju glared at him and said, "A wise man is cautious even when he is alone. Don't make decisions on your own in this matter. It's fine to wait until I've met with my elder brother and asked for his instructions before making a decision."

Guo Fang was somewhat dismissive. After all, Li Ju was Liu Xian's sworn brother and had the authority to act expediently; why should he need to ask for permission for such a matter? But Li Ju was extremely clear that at this crucial moment, he had to be careful and absolutely could not let others think he was abusing his power. Otherwise, if the situation truly came to the point of entrusting the young master to someone else, it was highly likely that he would be attacked by his colleagues, leading to unfortunate events.

He couldn't say these things aloud, so he changed the subject, asking, "How many doctors are among these prisoners? Have they all been identified?"

Guo Fangdao said, "There are a total of 28 military medical personnel, and they have all been selected."

Upon hearing this number, Li Ju was quite surprised and quickly asked, "There are so many?"

After all, military medical resources are always extremely limited, often less than two or three doctors per thousand soldiers. The reasons are simple: firstly, medicine is extremely difficult to learn, and without a renowned teacher, self-study is insufficient. Secondly, given the severity of injuries in the military, minor wounds don't require treatment, while major injuries are often incurable, making doctors largely useless. Therefore, usually only a few doctors are assigned to officers to ensure their daily health. The fact that twenty-eight doctors have been found among over eight thousand prisoners is truly astonishing.

Guo Fang explained, "It's mainly because there are many doctors in Ningzhou. It's said that there's a lot of miasma and poisonous things there, so there are more doctors available."

"I see." Hearing this, Li Ju felt a glimmer of hope. He waved his hand and said, "Call all these people over; I want to see them." Soon, a group of doctors gathered before Li Ju. To Li Ju's surprise, there was a veiled woman among them. Although she looked very young, her graceful figure stood out among the men. He turned to Guo Fang and asked, "Why is there a woman here?"

"I'm also puzzled, but everyone in the Southern Army says she's a physician, so I picked her out." Guo Fang said, raising an eyebrow and sneer, "Haha, actually, there's no need to worry too much. Maybe it's just a lie; perhaps someone in the rebel army couldn't resist the temptation!"

These words immediately enraged the girl. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she stepped out from the crowd, angrily retorting, "You shameless scoundrel! You have no taste in people! Who says women can't practice medicine?"

This woman was none other than Li Xiu. Upon surrendering, Mao Meng recalled Luo Shang's words before the battle and worried that Luo Shang's reputation would implicate Li Xiu, leading to her being mistreated by the Hanzhong army. Therefore, he lied, claiming she was a physician and that he was the leader of the Ningzhou army. Unexpectedly, the Hanzhong army desperately needed a physician and conscripted Li Xiu as well, leading to the scene just now.

Upon hearing Li Xiu's words, Guo Fang was about to fly into a rage, but was immediately stopped by Li Ju.

He first smiled at Guo Fang and said, "It was you who spoke rudely first, why bother arguing with a woman?" Then he bowed to Li Xiu and said, "Miss, we were impolite just now. My name is Li Ju. May I ask your surname?"

When Li Xiu heard that he was Li Ju, the prefect of Bazhou, she was inevitably surprised, firstly by his youth, and secondly by his humility. Her expression immediately improved, and she slowly replied, "Your Excellency is too polite. My surname is Mao, and I come from Wei County, Jianning."

"Oh, the surname Mao. So, young lady, you come from the Mao family of Wei County, one of the four surnames and five sons?"

The so-called "four surnames and five sons" actually refers to the nine major surnames mentioned in the south: Huo, Jiao, Yong, Lou, Cuan, Meng, Dong, Mao, and Li. These are the nine powerful families that Zhuge Liang personally supported after pacifying the southern regions, in order to better govern them.

Specifically, firstly, the government supported four major Han Chinese clans—Li, Cuan, Meng, and Jiao—allowing them to recruit followers and act as local rulers in the south, serving as intermediaries between the imperial court and the Yi chieftains. Secondly, it gathered able-bodied Yi people from the south and established five military commanderies, led by Han Chinese. These five military commanderies were originally led by the Governor of Yijiang and were known as the "Wudang Flying Army." However, after the Jin Dynasty, the five military commanderies became hereditary, each led by one of the five major clans: Huo, Dong, Mao, Lou, and Yong. Therefore, they were collectively referred to as the "Four Clans and Five Sons."

Li Xiu, pretending to be Mao Meng's sister, nodded and said, "Your Excellency is indeed learned and knowledgeable."

Li Ju then asked, "May I ask which renowned master you studied under, and what medical skills you possess?"

Li Xiu bowed slightly and then said, "I started learning medicine at the age of six, but it's all family knowledge and not something I can share with outsiders. If you ask me what diseases I can treat, as long as it's not smallpox, tuberculosis, leprosy, or hysteria, I can treat some of them to some extent."

"Really?" Seeing her speak so frankly, with the air of a master, and glancing around at the other doctors who seemed to respect Li Xiu and subtly regard her as their leader, Li Ju assumed that Li Xiu's medical skills were the most superb and began to believe her. He immediately pressed for an answer: "Can carbuncles also be cured?"

“Carbuncle…” Upon hearing this, Li Xiu couldn’t help but frown. She carefully said, “We need to see the patient before we can make a decision.”

Li Ju was overjoyed and immediately bowed again, solemnly promising, "Very well! Then I'll trouble you all to come with me on a long journey in a while. If you can cure the patient, Li Ju will surely reward you handsomely!"

After saying this, he immediately sent Li Xiu and the other doctors directly to a warship, instructing the soldiers to treat the doctors well and not to neglect them. Then he sent them to the prefectural government in Langzhong.

Next, Li Xiu and his entourage stayed at the Langzhong prefectural government office for more than ten days. The medical staff were treated very well, each with their own room and provided with good food and drink. The only drawback was that they had nothing to do all day, and their movements were monitored by guards, preventing them from freely entering or leaving the government office. This made them wonder if Li Ju had forgotten about them. Fortunately, on this day, Li Ju sent another messenger, saying that the day to set off had arrived.

Under the guard of the soldiers, Li Xiu followed the crowd out of the mansion and walked all the way to the ferry crossing in Langzhong. There, he saw a row of small boats moored. In front of the boats, Li Ju was talking with an old man. The two men sometimes laughed and sometimes sighed, and they seemed to be of equal status. After inquiring with the guards, Li Xiu learned that the old man was He Pan, his father's former comrade-in-arms. He had been ordered by the government to take over Li Ju's post as the prefect of Bazhou.

Li Xiu had long heard of He Pan's name, but this was the first time she had met him. Not wanting to reveal her identity, she could only observe him from a distance. After a while, the two parted ways, and Li Ju came over to greet them, saying, "You must have been waiting long, I'm so sorry. I've been dealing with affairs in the prefecture these past few days, and it's taken me a bit longer than I should have. Please forgive me."

Li Xiu did not speak, but gestured for another physician to step forward and ask, "May I ask, Your Highness, where are we going?"

"No need to ask any more questions, you'll find out when you get there."

Since Li Ju had made such a statement, the others dared not ask any further questions, and they immediately set sail by boat. Over the next few days, they first traveled by boat in the autumn wind for a day, and after reaching a crossroads, they changed direction and took an oxcart along mountain paths, spending two days crossing the undulating hills before entering the plains of Sichuan.

This route was clearly meticulously planned to conceal their movements. They didn't enter any city or village along the way, preferring to endure the elements rather than communicate with anyone. A special caravan delivered supplies daily. Li Xiu and the others had no idea where they were or where they were going.

The doctors were initially puzzled, but after a while, they realized that the high level of confidentiality required meant the patient was no ordinary person. Considering Li Ju's identity and the rumors circulating in Sichuan during this period, the patient's identity was pretty much obvious.

Thinking of this, everyone felt uneasy. After all, treating a king was the most difficult task throughout history, and how many doctors had died because they angered the king! Although this patient had not yet become a king, in the hearts of the people of Sichuan and even the people of southern China, he was already no different from an emperor.

Only Li Xiu remained calm. She had been puzzled at first, but now that she had figured it out, all that remained in her heart was curiosity: what kind of person was this long-established superstar, a descendant of the Han Dynasty, and an enemy of the Celestial Masters?

Of course, for Liu Xian, lying on his sickbed, he was currently just a patient. (End of Chapter)