Wei and Jin did not submit to Zhou

Chapter 142 On the verge of breaking out

Shi Shouxin originally thought that Zhong Hui would put on a show after entering Chengdu. Even if he was preparing for a mutiny, it couldn't be done overnight; he should adjust gradually.

After all, there is still plenty of time.

Unexpectedly, this Grand Commander was very direct and didn't want to pretend at all.

Not long after he entered the city and took control of the palace, he appointed Jiang Wei as the Protector of the Army, giving him control of the defenses of the Chengdu palace.

Furthermore, from the moment Jiang Wei took office, he began recruiting a new army locally, with a quota of five thousand men. In just three days, more than two thousand men arrived, all of whom were Jiang Wei's old subordinates.

The people appear to be the same, but their identities have been "whitewashed." They are no longer surrendered soldiers, but rather "legitimate" elite Wei troops!

This move did not provoke discontent among the Wei generals, or rather, no one openly opposed it for the time being. Everyone was watching to see what Zhong Hui would do next.

Immediately afterwards, Zhong Hui appointed Shi Shouxin as the Military Grain Censor, who took over the Chengdu armory and granaries, and was responsible for the distribution and collection of weapons, daily grain rations, and grain requisition.

Shi Shouxin's main force entered Chengdu and split into two parts, which were stationed in the granary and the armory respectively, with less than two thousand soldiers stationed at each location.

Shi Shouxin was in charge of logistics, holding a high position with great power and influence, and was extremely lucrative.

However, to discerning people, Zhong Hui's trust in Shi Shouxin was not absolute, at least not as much as that in Jiang Wei.

Subsequently, Zhong Hui appointed his confidant Qiu Jian as military supervisor, responsible for patrolling various parts of Chengdu, enforcing daily curfews, arresting thieves, and so on.

Finally, regarding the defenses outside Chengdu, Zhong Hui divided the more than 100,000 Wei troops into four divisions, each commanded by Hu Lie, Li Fu, Shi Zuan, and Xiahou Xian. Tian Xu, Pang Hui, Li Bao, and Qian Hong served as deputy generals.

Simply put, the Wei army camp was divided into four, with the four armies set up in four camps, deployed in the southeast, northwest and southwest of Chengdu respectively, with one army stationed in each direction.

Each army unit was to select one thousand men daily to patrol one section of the city wall and gate. Daily rotations were to be conducted by different commanders. Any unauthorized movement of troops without orders would be considered treason.

Military officers worked like they were going to work; they would go to the barracks outside the city for business and rest inside the city when they returned. They did not eat or live with their troops.

At the same time, a large number of former officials of the Shu Kingdom were forced to move out of Chengdu and settle in farms on the outskirts of Chengdu.

The residences within the city became resting places for Wei generals, and the extra residences were used to garrison troops and house the generals' personal guards.

One bomb after another was secretly planted by Zhong Hui. Throughout Chengdu, the number of troops was rapidly increasing, and the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense.

Everyone seemed to be aware of what might happen, but they weren't sure when or how it would happen.

Thick, dark clouds, accompanied by increasingly cold weather, gradually enveloped everyone's hearts.

As night fell, Shi Shouxin, who was checking accounts in the signing room of the Chengdu Grain Depot, yawned. He had finally figured out the total inventory and trends of the Chengdu Grain Depot in recent years.

No wonder Deng Ai was able to win; it was because the Shu army consumed a huge amount of military rations, while the amount of military rations received decreased year by year.

The number of Shu Han's standing army also decreased from 200,000 to 100,000, and then to 50,000 standing army plus 50,000 conscripts.

The amount of military rations supplied each year was decreasing, which clearly indicated that the Shu Han government was no longer able to collect grain from the wealthy households in Shu.

This demonstrates that people like Qiao Zhou had deep political connections in Shu. He wasn't fighting alone; he had a group of incredibly powerful people behind him!
However, all of that is in the past, and Shi Shouxin was merely watching the show. The problem is that Chengdu's grain reserves are not enough. Even including the new grain harvested in autumn, it won't last until next autumn's harvest. It is estimated that the grain will run out by March or April next year.

Simply put, it's what's known as a "gap in the generational gap."

Shi Shouxin seemed to understand why Qiao Zhou had brought a "pledge of allegiance" to jump ship. He didn't need to look at anything else; he only needed to know that there wasn't enough food.

Chaos is inevitable; Shu cannot support Zhong Hui's 200,000 troops! Chaos will break out before everyone starves to death.

"Supervisor Shi, the Grand Commander requests your presence."

As Shi Shouxin was deep in thought, a familiar voice sounded behind him. Turning around, he saw that the speaker was none other than Chen Shou.

"I'll go right away."

Shi Shouxin got up and left without saying a word. The situation in Chengdu was becoming increasingly tense, and he was always careful with his words, avoiding speaking whenever possible to prevent trouble from arising from his speech.

He went alone to the Imperial Study in the palace, where Zhong Hui was writing military orders. Seeing that Shi Shouxin had already entered, Zhong Hui quickly invited him to sit down.

"check it out."

Zhong Hui handed a very familiar note to Shi Shouxin and said.

"this is……"

Shi Shouxin feigned ignorance and asked with some doubt.

"It's suspected to be a secret letter from Jiang Wei to Liu Shan, but it could also be a frame-up. If it's a frame-up, who do you think is most likely to be responsible?"

Zhong Hui looked at Shi Shouxin and asked, his expression calm, seemingly lost in thought.

He stood up and paced around the room. Shi Shouxin had no choice but to stand up as well, but he couldn't follow behind Zhong Hui.

Because if you follow Zhong Hui, you'll look like a baby duck following step by step.

"Grand Commander, the forces in Shu are diverse. As far as I know, there is the old ministers' faction led by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the Jingzhou faction led by Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wan, and Fei Yi, the Dongzhou faction led by Li Yan and Fa Zheng, and the Yizhou faction led by Huang Quan, Ma Zhong, and Wang Ping."

Jiang Wei was not close to any faction, but he could win over the old ministers and the Jingzhou faction.

The Yizhou faction viewed Jiang Wei as an enemy. If someone truly framed him and had the ability to devise such a scheme, it could only have been done by someone from the Yizhou faction.

Shi Shouxin gave a roundabout explanation, which seemed to cover a lot of ground, but it was all just fluff and no substance whatsoever.

If we're going to get to the point, the simple statement "It was Jiang Wei who did it" is enough to explain everything.

Zhong Hui had not expected that Shi Shouxin could describe the distribution of political power in Shu so clearly, as if he knew it by heart.

Based on this analytical ability alone, it's clear that this person is no ordinary individual!
"Alright, just remember these things yourself, there's no need to go on and on about them."

Zhong Hui waved his hand impatiently and continued, "Jiang Wei's thoughts are unpredictable, so we still need to be wary of him."

I never expected him to say something like that. Shi Shouxin understood; many things, even if they cannot be proven, have already left an imprint on one's mind.

"So, what the Grand Commander means is..."

Shi Shouxin paused, pretending to be a complete novice who knew nothing, and stopped halfway through his question.

"In that case, I've heard that you are acquainted with Qian Hong, so it won't be a problem to relay military orders."

I'm issuing you a secret military order: Qian Hong and Tian Xu, formerly under Deng Ai's command, will be under your control.

Those former officials of Shu who are routinely monitored in the suburbs should not be spared any disturbances.

However, these two men's troops could not enter Chengdu.

Immediately, Zhong Hui sat down at the table and issued a secret military order to Shi Shouxin, affixing his seal on it.

"Keep a low profile and keep a low profile in daily life. Just monitor, don't close in."

Zhong Hui looked at Shi Shouxin and solemnly gave his instructions.

After receiving the military order and tucking it into his sleeve, Shi Shouxin bowed to Zhong Hui, everything understood without a word.

"By the way, what's the situation with the granary and armory?"

Zhong Hui asked again.

Shi Shouxin spoke frankly: "The armory is enough to arm another 100,000 troops, but the food supply is running low. We can only last until March or April next year at the latest."

Hearing this, Zhong Hui visibly breathed a sigh of relief. By March or April of next year, many things would have been settled.

Having won, they must have already broken out of Shu (Sichuan), needless to say.

If they lost, they're probably already dead and gone, so there's no need to say anything more.

The situation that Zhong Hui was most worried about did not occur, which he considered a blessing from heaven.

"Go ahead, your main responsibility is to distribute military rations and replace military equipment."

The task of monitoring former officials of Shu was entrusted to Qian Hong, Tian Xu, and others.

"You don't need to worry about the situation inside the city; that's Qiu Jian's job."

Zhong Hui subtly nudged Shi Shouxin, reminding him not to overstep his bounds in his actions.

"Then I shall take my leave."

Shi Shouxin bowed and left the imperial study, but his heart was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

After returning home, he didn't even have time to play fun games with the little princess of Shu in bed. He went straight to Li Liang to discuss important matters.

In the study, Shi Shouxin told Li Liang everything about his secret conversation with Zhong Hui in the palace that night, and then handed him the military order to review.

Li Liang's younger sister, Li Qiu, is already pregnant, so there is no problem with her loyalty. Shi Shouxin has already been grooming her as a confidant.

"Zhong Hui wanted Jiang Wei to suppress the Wei generals, but he also didn't want Jiang Wei to be too strong and turn against him after eliminating those Wei generals."

After seeing the note, Zhong Hui felt that Jiang Wei might turn against him later, so he hoped that Supervisor Shi would have more cards to play.

Li Liang said thoughtfully.

Shi Shouxin sighed and nodded:

"If things were that simple, there would be no need to say anything more."

The main responsibility for the defense of the palace is currently under Jiang Wei's control, and the troops are his former subordinates. Our troops are stationed in the armory and granary, and cannot reach the palace to take control immediately.

Clearly, it's impossible to strike first.

These words hit the nail on the head, and Li Liang shook his head helplessly. Everything has its priorities and order; often, losing the initiative means falling behind at every step, and you'll always be led by the nose by your opponent.

Zhong Hui's killer move was to use Jiang Wei's troops to control the Wei generals before proceeding with the next step. When and how this step would be initiated was entirely planned and decided by Zhong Hui and Jiang Wei.

Shi Shouxin could not have known in advance.

"If striking first doesn't work, then we can only strike second."

Li Liang said something that surprised Shi Shouxin.

"To strike back and gain the upper hand?"

Shi Shouxin pondered the meaning of those words in secret.

"You mean, after Zhong Hui's successful coup, there would inevitably be Jiang Wei... and our two teams."

So we don't need to act for now. We'll wait until Zhong Hui finishes his business before we make our move, right?

He seemed to understand a little.

Li Liang continued, "Yes, Zhong Hui is trying to balance things out, making sure both sides remain level so as not to tip over. If Jiang Wei has troops he can command, then you, Supervisor Shi, must also have troops you can command. Otherwise, wouldn't Jiang Wei turn against Zhong Hui?"

No matter how a master of balance operates, he must maintain a balance of power. Li Liang put it very clearly: play it safe and don't try to win right from the start.

"It would be great if we could just kill all these people directly. This fighting is really annoying."

Shi Shouxin couldn't help but complain.

(End of this chapter)