Jinting Han people

At this time, nearly six months had passed since Luo Shang's defeat at Anhan in Jiangzhou.

For the past six months, he had been in a state of utter chaos. Although Luo Shang had managed to preserve his core troops and hold onto his territory in a near-desperate situation, which was, in theory, a considerable success, the Anhan Campaign should not have gone this way. After all, it was simply unacceptable to have an army of 50,000 men marching north to conquer a smaller force of less than 20,000 men in Bazhou, and to have such overwhelming naval superiority, only to be nearly annihilated by Li Ju.

Especially after Liu Xian released Wang Ji and other captured Guangzhou soldiers, Luo Shang's reputation plummeted further. Normally, as long as the truth remained hidden and his loyal followers kept quiet, everyone would simply say that he had mismanaged the troops and suffered a defeat. But after Wang Ji and the others returned, the truth could no longer be concealed.

Wang Ji, young and ambitious, had hoped to make a name for himself by defeating Liu Xian, which was why he persuaded his father and brothers to come to Bashu. However, he was betrayed and abandoned by Luo Shang in battle—a situation he couldn't accept. Upon his release, he immediately petitioned the court, demanding Luo Shang's dismissal for desertion. Luo Shang, on the other hand, politely escorted Wang Ji and his entourage out of the country while explaining to the court that he had his reasons. He claimed that a new band of rebels had appeared behind them, and under duress, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops. In short, it was a war of words.

The imperial court in Xuchang was too preoccupied with this. First, Hebei was besieging Zhang Fang, who was routed at Yecheng and escaped back to Guanzhong in the chaos. Then, the three heroes of Hebei began vying for credit and engaging in verbal battles in the court. Zu Ti was eager to resolve the matter peacefully, using them to restrain Wang Yan of Yanzhou. He paid little attention to Liangzhou, which was thousands of miles away, let alone the involvement of Liu Xian. It would be more practical to deal with Liu Baigen of Qingzhou.

However, this matter concerned the authority of the imperial court, so a formal response was still necessary. After careful consideration, Zu Ti ordered Liu Hong, the governor of Jingzhou, to investigate the matter and, incidentally, mediate the conflict between Jiaozhou and Liangzhou. After all, given Liu Hong's high moral character and prestige, his conclusions would surely be convincing. However, Liu Hong was already seriously ill at this time, confined to his bed, and even riding a horse was too strenuous for him; how could he possibly handle this matter? But to demonstrate his loyalty, Liu Hong still sent his eldest son, Liu Fan, to deal with it.

When Liu Fan arrived in Jiangzhou, Luo Shang received him with the highest honors. Although his current position did not entirely depend on the imperial court, he still needed its support. Therefore, he lavishly bribed Liu Fan and his entourage, sending them beautiful women, delicacies, gold, silver, silk, pepper, orchids, pearls, and jade without hesitation.

It can only be said that money always makes things easier, no matter the era. Liu Fan, having accepted bribes, was bound to be subservient, and in the end, he wrote a very respectable report claiming that it was all a misunderstanding and asked Luo Shang to pay Wang Ji another sum of money to settle the matter.

Liu Fan agreed with Luo Shang that he would compensate Wang Ji with five thousand gold pieces, and Luo Shang readily agreed. However, after gaining a favorable reputation in the court, Luo Shang became unwilling to spend such a sum. This was not because Luo Shang couldn't afford it, but because he felt it was unnecessary.

Guangzhou and Jiangzhou are so far apart, there's no need for him to waste money like this; anyway, the matter is officially over. He can simply say there was an accident on the way and make excuses. Furthermore, the Guangzhou governor, Wang Yi, was in poor health and passed away at the beginning of the year. The newly appointed governor, Wang Ju, seems to have contracted a serious illness. In time, the situation might change again. Wang Ji is not yet twenty; it's impossible for him to inherit the Guangzhou governorship at such a young age. Even if he did, he'd be too busy to handle everything.

Wang Ji, young and impetuous, could not tolerate this attitude. So the two sides started arguing again. The court couldn't and didn't bother to intervene, letting them keep sending each other letters until March of the fifth year of the Tai'an era, and it still wasn't over. In this chaotic era, it was truly a strange occurrence.

Overall, Luo Shang's situation remained difficult. While he had managed to weather the political storm, his disastrous military defeat at the hands of Li Ju was an undeniable fact. There was much criticism of him within the army, with many questioning his ability to win battles. Even if his past prestige ensured he wouldn't be forced to step down anytime soon, if things continued this way and he lost the support of the local literati, his downfall would only be a matter of time.

This former hero who had defeated three generals of Wu was now determined to win another victory and prove himself once again. And it was precisely at this moment that Li Xiong's letter of surrender arrived.

Chengdu was too large for Liu Xian to completely besiege, and he lacked a navy, making it particularly difficult to blockade the river. After Li Feng offered his advice to Li Xiong, Li Xiong immediately appointed Li Feng to handle the matter. Li Feng promptly found a small boat, sailed lightly across the Pi River, and under cover of night, rushed into the Yangtze River. Li Feng traveled downstream without stopping, covering more than 500 li a day, and arrived at Jiangzhou in four days to request reinforcements from Luo Shang.

Li Feng's idea was indeed unexpected, yet it made perfect sense.

Li Xiong, Luo Shang's old rival, had once caused Luo Shang considerable trouble, ultimately forcing him to flee Chengdu to Jiangzhou in disarray. Logically, the two should be sworn enemies, making an alliance impossible. However, there are no permanent enemies; as long as there is profit to be made, yesterday's enemy can become today's friend. Currently, Liu Xian is the strongest of the three forces in Bashu. Once Liu Xian eliminates Li Xiong, Luo Shang will find it difficult to contend with him alone—this is an undeniable fact. And now, this is the last chance to reverse this trend!
Li Feng claimed to Luo Shang that Li Te and his son Li Xiong were originally Jin officials who fled to Bashu with refugees from the six counties of Qin and Long, filled with loyalty. However, due to the framing of treacherous officials, they had some misunderstandings with Luo Shang, and the people elected him as their leader, leading to past conflicts and wars. But now, Li Xiong still remembers the benevolent policies of the court and is "gratitude and tears welling up in his eyes, and he has never stopped thinking of serving Jin and surrendering to the Ming." On the other hand, Liu Xian, the Duke of Anle, "has betrayed the emperor's grace, rebelled against Jin, and pretended to be a loyal minister, but in reality, he is a traitor." The reason why the world is in chaos is because this man "neglects politics, stirs up trouble, harms his relatives, and kills the virtuous and hides the truth." Now, Li Xiong has realized his mistake and wants to abandon the darkness and return to the light. Therefore, he requests Luo Shang to send troops to relieve the siege of Chengdu. He is willing to return to Luo Shang, and then the two armies will "jointly eliminate the powerful, pacify Bashu, uphold righteousness to secure the country, and bring rain to comfort the people."

The matter arose hastily. After meeting with Li Feng, Luo Shang hesitated all night, unable to make a decision. His confidant, Yao Shen, advised him to abandon the idea of ​​sending troops. Yao Shen said, "Liu Xian is currently besieging Li Xiong in Chengdu. If our army wants to get there, we will have to pass through Jianwei. This is going deep into enemy territory alone! If we fail and our entire army is wiped out, we won't even be able to hold Jiangzhou. Besides, even if we succeed, what then? Li Xiong's surrender is just a pretense. Do you really think he would hand over Chengdu to the magistrate? Li Xiong's words are flowery, but it's impossible for him to do so."

The next day, Luo Shang met with Qiao Deng, Luo Yu, Xiang Fen, Yao Shen, Li Xing, and others at the mansion to discuss the matter, while Li Feng waited for the outcome of the meeting in a side room.

After half a day of discussion, with opinions divided between caution and radicalism, Luo Shang finally made up his mind at noon, saying, "We still have to go and rescue them! If we don't go this time, Jiangzhou will be the next one to be surrounded! And then, who will come to my rescue?"

"Besides, Li Xiong is already severely weakened. As long as I defeat Liu Xian, even if I can't take Chengdu, can't I at least recover places like Jianwei and Baxi? From the perspective of profit, it makes sense."

“Most importantly, with Li Xiong and me joining forces, we still have eighty or ninety thousand men, enough to fight Liu Xian. Once Li Xiong is dead, Liu Xian will have more troops while I have fewer. How can we possibly confront him head-on? I'm afraid we'll have no chance left! Therefore, we must go! The court has entrusted me with this important task; I'm not here to watch from Jiangzhou!” Xiang Fen argued, “But if we do this, what are your chances of winning, my lord?”

Luo Shang laughed and said, "We still have our navy! Take all the remaining ships with us! Even if we can't win, with these ships, we can simply retreat, and they won't be able to catch up."

These words left everyone looking at each other in bewilderment. After all, the last time Luo Shang's navy suffered a fate far worse than he made it sound, and it had caused the army considerable trouble.

Luo Shang knew what everyone was worried about, so he was a little embarrassed. He forced a smile and said, "The last defeat was mainly due to faulty intelligence. We didn't know that Li Ju still had warships, which led to our ambush. But this time it's different. All the enemy's warships are anchored in Brazil, which is not connected to Chengdu by water. If they want to go to Shu County, they have to cross the Dianjiang River. Now that the Dianjiang River is still in our hands, all we need to do is lay an iron chain across the river, and Liu Xian will be helpless."

"In the past six months, I have rebuilt two hundred warships and five tower ships, making our navy stronger than ever before! Now it's almost April, and the heavy rains will start to fall, causing the river to rise. Our army will be able to rampage across the river, making the situation completely different from six months ago!"

Having said that, the army naturally had nothing to say. In terms of military experience, assuming Luo Shang didn't make any foolish mistakes, none of the generals could compare to him.

Of course, Luo Shang also knew that the opinions of the others were not very important. Most of these people were promoted by him, and without him, they were nothing. But the opinions of a few people were still worth trying to win over.

During lunch, Luo Shang left Qiao Deng alone in the mansion to continue their private conversation.

Luo Shang said earnestly to Qiao Deng, "Nephew, haven't you always wanted to avenge your father? I've already spoken with Li Feng. Once we arrive in Wuyang, Li Xiong will cut off Ma Tuo's head and give it to you. Ah, that will be enough to settle things with you, Brother Qiao! Next, you must serve the court. Your grandfather, Duke Yunnan, was a universally recognized loyal minister and virtuous man in Shu, often referred to as the Confucius of Shu. You must not let him down!"

Qiao Deng was, after all, the head of the Qiao clan of Brazil, inheriting the vast network of connections left by Qiao Zhou. Moreover, he was of excellent character and highly respected. Although Luo Shang's reputation had plummeted, as long as Qiao Deng supported Luo Shang, the others would naturally not object out of respect for the Qiao clan of Brazil.

To be honest, Qiao Deng didn't want to support Luo Shang. After wasting more than a year, he felt he had seen through Luo Shang. Luo Shang was greedy, ungrateful, and tyrannical. Although he had some military talent, he was hardly a virtuous man, and Qiao Deng didn't want to associate with him. But the problem was that, in the current situation, he had no one else to choose from.

Li Xiong rebelled, and his subordinate Ma Tuo was Qiao Deng's father's killer. As a filial son, Qiao Deng felt obligated to avenge his father. Furthermore, after Liu Xian led his troops into Shu, Qiao Deng also had reasons to oppose him.

It should be noted that his ancestor, Qiao Zhou, was the leader of the surrender faction in Shu Han. When Deng Ai secretly crossed Yinping, it was Qiao Zhou who strongly advocated surrender, and he even advised Liu Shan, the later ruler, saying, "If Your Majesty surrenders to Wei, and Wei does not grant Your Majesty any land, I, Qiao Zhou, will personally go to the capital to argue for it based on ancient principles." The final result, of course, is well-known: after Shu Han surrendered, the Chengdu Rebellion occurred, and the entire city of Chengdu was massacred. Qiao Zhou remained silent, claiming he was going to Luoyang to meet the emperor, but upon arriving in Hanzhong, he feigned illness, becoming a laughingstock. Although the Qiao family subsequently became leaders of the literati in Ba and Shu, they also suffered considerable criticism, with many mocking Qiao Zhou as a traitor to two dynasties, lacking any integrity.

Qiao Deng grew up amidst such criticism, constantly striving to clear his ancestors' name. Now that Liu Xian had entered Shu and his power was growing, if he were to betray the Jin dynasty and surrender to the Han dynasty, wouldn't that confirm the world's ridicule, labeling the Qiao family as unprincipled and immoral? Luo Shang grasped this point, deliberately emphasizing the family's reputation to Qiao Deng while also helping him seek revenge. After careful consideration, Qiao Deng finally agreed.

He said to Luo Shang, "Please rest assured, my lord, as a member of the Qiao family, I will never fail the court's great favor. If war breaks out, I will die to prove my loyalty!"

Luo Shang laughed loudly upon hearing this. He then summoned Li Feng and sternly threatened him, "Go back and tell Li Xiong to prepare Ma Tuo's head. I'm saving his life, but he shouldn't think he can get away with this! Whether he's truly surrendering or feigning surrender, he'll ultimately have to submit to the imperial court. If he tries to be disloyal again, he'll only end up being torn apart by five horses!"

Once the decision was made to go to Chengdu's aid, Luo Shang made no further delays. Time was precious, and no one knew how much longer Li Xiong could hold out. Luo Shang was truly determined this time. Although he verbally said he would retreat if they couldn't win, he understood that this was likely the final battle to determine the fate of Sichuan. Success or failure, it was all or nothing. If he lost, he probably wouldn't be able to maintain his foothold in Sichuan anymore.

Therefore, Luo Shang mobilized his entire force. Aside from leaving a thousand men to guard Dianjiang, he didn't even leave any troops at his main base in Jiangzhou. In early April, over 40,000 troops, along with the last remaining naval force from Shu, officially set sail for Chengdu at top speed. Moreover, the Jiangzhou army only carried a little over a month's worth of provisions; it was a do-or-die situation. At this point, the Jiangzhou army was like an arrow released from a bow, aimed directly at the battle for Chengdu.

A great war is imminent, and before the final outcome of this war is determined, no one and no force in the world can prevent this decisive battle from taking place. (End of Chapter)