I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 134 Swift and Decisive Action!

When Sun Ce appeared before Cheng Pu, Zhu Zhi and the others in full military attire, everyone's eyes lit up!
Huang Gai and Han Dang were even more emotional, their eyes reddening and swollen: "Seeing Bo Fu today is like seeing the old general alive again!"

After a year of mourning, Sun Ce became more composed.

After exchanging greetings with each of Sun Jian's former subordinates, Sun Ce said, "Now that Liu Yangzhou has ordered me to attack the fortified villages and estates privately established by the powerful families of Wu Commandery, I ask my uncles and elders to lend me a hand!"

"nature!"

Sun Ce stroked the mane of his warhorse, held the ancient sword left by Sun Jian at his waist, and suddenly let out a long sigh, looking up at the rising sun on the horizon.

That night in Fuchun, Zhou Yu did indeed talk a lot with Sun Ce.

Whenever Sun Ce had any doubts, Zhou Yu would answer them for him.

"Gongjin, will Liu Yangzhou still tolerate me now?"

“Bo Fu, to be honest, I always thought that the lord wouldn’t send me to find you.”

Sun Ce was huddled in the thatched hut, feeling the chill of the night.

"The foundation of our lord's forces now consists of Lu Zhongyi and the former subordinates of Marquis Wucheng."

"Lu Zhongyi's support for our lord was mainly in terms of money, supplies, connections, and reputation. On the other hand, the support from the former subordinates of Marquis Wucheng was mainly in terms of military affairs."

“A few days ago, Yuan Shu appointed your cousin Sun Ben as the governor of Danyang. This is clearly an attempt to sow discord between the former subordinates of the Marquis of Wucheng and our lord. Ideally, it would lead to a power struggle between the former subordinates of the Marquis of Wucheng and our lord in Jiangdong, resulting in armed conflict.”

“In this situation, as the son of the Marquis of Wucheng, once you return to the Lord’s command, you will surely give the Marquis of Wucheng’s former subordinates a leader. Not to mention that the whole world knows about my relationship with you, Bo Fu… If you are not convinced by the Lord, you may only need to raise your arms and shout, and at least half of the troops in Jiangdong will obey your command.”

Zhou Yu directly told Sun Ce all the things he was most worried about.

"So, you're worried that the lord won't tolerate you, and might even want to kill you. Is that what you're thinking, Bo Fu?"

Sun Ce only had a vague premonition; he didn't think as clearly as Zhou Yu.

So when Zhou Yu said those words, Sun Ce felt a chill run down his spine.

Sun Ce asked himself this question.

If I were in Liu Miao's position, I would definitely not accept myself, and I would even want to get rid of him as soon as possible!
Given this situation, Sun Ce felt increasingly gloomy about his future under Liu Miao...

"but……"

Zhou Yu then changed the subject.

"Our lord has come after all."

"And she came with me."

"Bo Fu, if our lord truly cannot tolerate you, do you think you will be able to see me and our lord today?"

Sun Ce was taken aback by Zhou Yu's unexpected turn of events and stared at him with wide eyes.

“Bo Fu, our lord is wise and insightful, good at planning, and listens to advice. He treats even those who are not under our command, like old friends. Even when scholars like Wang Lang and Yuan Huan offer their opinions, our lord accepts them with pleasure. He seems to have the character of a magnanimous person. Why do you worry that our lord will harm you out of fear?”

“When Bo Fu and I were young, we often sailed on the river. We should know that if we go with the current, we will quickly reach our destination; otherwise, if we ignore the current, we will only wander and struggle in the river. Isn’t that right?”

Finally, Zhou Yu asked Sun Ce a crucial question.

"Bo Fu, do you truly have the ambition to contend for the world now?"

Sun Ce was startled upon hearing this: "How could I have such thoughts? Gongjin, you can't say such things!"

Zhou Yu stared at Sun Ce, and seeing that Sun Ce's gaze never wavered, he nodded repeatedly: "I hope that Bo Fu will always remember what I said to him."

"What I said earlier, that if Bo Fu were to raise his arms and shout, perhaps half of his troops would surrender to you, is not the truth."

"The generals under Lord Cheng all uphold righteousness. Although our lord does not have the merit of defeating Dong Zhuo like the Marquis of Wucheng, his actions in Jiangdong have proven his ambition to save the people and restore the Han Dynasty! In addition, since they joined our lord, he has never been wary of them and often sends people to inquire about them and reward their families with money, grain and cloth. These people will absolutely not help you."

Even I…

Zhou Yu lightly punched Sun Ce in the chest: "My lord has been kind to me, and Bo Fu has been affectionate to me."

"I don't want to betray my lord, nor do I want to betray Bo Fu."

"If that day ever comes, I, Zhou Yu, have always been foolish and will find it difficult to have the best of both worlds. I will only commit suicide to appease the world."

"Bo Fu, have you kept my words in mind today?"

After a long silence, Sun Ce finally threw a punch, which landed heavily on Zhou Yu's chest!

……

At this moment, Sun Ce rode his warhorse, galloping freely.

The pain in his chest from Zhou Yu's punch finally subsided, and the boundless open space before him and the endless howling wind in his ears made Sun Ce feel exhilarated!
Dressed in fine clothes and riding spirited horses, they gallop across the battlefield!
Protect the borders and ensure the safety of the people; defend the nation's frontiers!
Isn't this what a young man seeks?

"Gongjin, you underestimate me far too much!"

Sun Ce suddenly pulled on the reins, looked up at the sky, and let out a soft whistle!
The young tiger roared in the valley, and all the beasts trembled in fear!
With the emergence of Sun Ce, this fierce tiger, the scholars of Wu Commandery immediately fell into a state of bewilderment.

In just three days, Sun Ce conquered ten farms and fortified villages, and wiped out Dantu, Piling, and Wuxi!
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's battle tactics seem to be of the same lineage, both emphasizing a fiery and aggressive style!
Upon arriving at each fortified village or estate, they would set up a battle formation at the entrance, giving the other side half an hour.

If the gates are not opened for half an hour, no matter who is inside, they will be attacked and plundered, their people and their wealth seized, without showing any mercy.

Sun Ce conducted a campaign of pacification around Taihu Lake, and soon swept away the fortified villages in Yangxian and other places, arriving near Wucheng County.

This is the very place where Yan Baihu is.

When he saw Sun Ce arrive, he hurriedly shouted, "I have a marriage alliance with Liu Yangzhou. How can I betray my promise now?"

Sun Ce spurred his horse forward, his spear pointing diagonally: "I am only ordered to accept the fortified villages and estates! I have nothing to do with anything else!"

Although Yan Baihu was frightened, he figured Sun Ce wouldn't dare to attack, so he didn't give up the fortified village.

But when he saw that Sun Ce was acting like a reckless fool, completely disregarding his relationship with Liu Miao, and directly ordering his soldiers to attack, Yan Baihu finally became anxious: "Don't attack! Don't attack!"

Yan Baihu clearly hadn't expected Sun Ce to be so assertive. In the end, he could only leave the city with a displeased expression and set up camp nearby. He also wrote a letter to Liu Miao, complaining about Sun Ce's behavior.

After receiving Yan Baihu's letter, Liu Miao immediately sent a letter rebuking Sun Ce, but it was all mild and innocuous, without even the slightest punishment. Instead, he even sent some meat to reward Sun Ce.

As for Yan Baihu, Liu Miao also specially invited him: "Why would you rather endure the wind and dew in the mountains than reunite with your family? Your daughter is pregnant now, and this is the time when she needs your care the most. Even for the sake of your grandson, you should come to Wu County, shouldn't you?"

Seeing that Liu Miao had taken away the place he depended on for survival, and with his wife already pregnant, Yan Baihu was finally forced to put aside his last remaining concerns.

"Now that the tiger's claws and teeth have been removed, how can it fight back?"

After months of back and forth, Yan Baihu finally led his troops back to Wu County. However, upon seeing Liu Miao, Yan Baihu still harbored some resentment: "Liu Yangzhou shouldn't have allowed a brat like Sun Ce to humiliate me like that!"

Liu Miao countered by asking Yan Baihu, "If it weren't for Sun Ce, would you, father-in-law, have come to Wu County to see me?"

"Although Sun Ce offended my father-in-law, he cleared up the misunderstanding between us. Isn't that something to be happy about?"

"The reason why there are still Yue people hiding in the mountains and causing trouble in Jiangdong is because these people, like you, father-in-law, do not understand me, Liu Miao! Now that you, father-in-law, are here to take charge of the overall situation, I believe that the Yue people in Jiangdong will soon be eliminated. When you are promoted to the rank of duke or marquis, wouldn't you want to enjoy the glory in the fortified village?"

Yan Baihu was pleased to hear Liu Miao say this.

He was willing to join Liu Miao because Liu Miao did not discriminate against him, nor did he discriminate against the Yue people.

The reason he avoided Liu Miao was because he was afraid that Liu Miao would prevent him from contacting the Shanyue people and would imprison him.

Now that Liu Miao has made it clear that he is willing to hand over the Shanyue problem to Yan Baihu, what else does he have to worry about?
Yan Baihu laughed loudly: "I have gained a worthy son-in-law! I really shouldn't have acted that way!"

Sun Ce's conquests continued.

However, the southwest of Wu Commandery is mountainous, so it took Sun Ce a long time to conquer this area. It took him a month to capture all the fortified villages and farms in the mountains and to station troops there.

Many scholars put pressure on Sun Ce, but Liu Miao intercepted them all, allowing Sun Ce to focus on cleaning up these rats one by one, carrying out a pest control campaign in the entire Wu Commandery, and completely rid Jiangdong of its reputation as a rat den.

With the "rat extermination" operation in the south of Wu Commandery concluded, Liu Miao's actual control area was now under his control, although there were still a few fortified villages around Wu Commandery.

These fortified villages belonged to the four prominent families of Wu County.

The Lu and Gu families had already handed over their fortified villages to the state under the orders of Lu Kang and Gu Yong.

Although some valuables were secretly transferred by members of both families, Liu Miao turned a blind eye, tacitly approving the actions of his own people.

The Zhu and Zhang families, however, were in a very difficult situation.

They certainly understood that Sun Ce's reason for clearing out the fortified villages and estates in a roundabout way, and choosing to eliminate Wu Commandery last, was to put pressure on them.

Liu Miao was truly ruthless!

Among the scholars that Sun Ce purged along the way were many descendants of high-ranking officials and sons of great Confucian scholars, but Sun Ce, this hothead, ignored them all and swiftly eliminated them all!

Even though the Zhu and Zhang families are still powerful clans, what are they compared to those fierce and ruthless armies?

Sun Ce's first stop was Zhu's fortified village.

As usual, only one hour is given.

The man in the fortified village was none other than Zhu Huan, who had previously led his troops to break away from Liu Yao and Xu Gong.

Zhu Huan peered over the wall of the fortified village and saw that Sun Ce's soldiers were in neat rows and full of morale, so he knew that he could not resist them.

"Liu Yangzhou's domineering nature is unprecedented."

Zhu Huan originally thought that his past actions of leaving Liu Yao and Xu Gong would at least prompt Liu Miao to come and recruit him personally, or at the very least, to persuade him with kind words.

Unexpectedly, Liu Miao was so decisive and domineering that he forbade anyone in Jiangdong to have a private army!
This was different from what Zhu Huan knew of any other feudal lord in the world.

"Our Governor Liu is determined to seize all military power for himself and not allow anyone else to have even a fraction of it!"

Zhu Huan could already sense Liu Miao's determination.

Liu Miao was willing to offend so many scholars in Wu Commandery in order to consolidate military power. If that's the case, then perhaps the Zhu family wouldn't be a problem either.

"Open the door."

However, after Zhu Huan opened the city gates, he did not surrender immediately. Instead, he wrote a letter to Sun Ce, or rather, to Liu Miao.

After reading the letter, Liu Miao laughed and scolded those around him, "I never imagined there were such interesting people in Jiangdong."

Zhu Huan's letter essentially stated that he was willing to submit to Liu Miao, relinquish his military power, and destroy the fortified villages, but he would absolutely not surrender to Sun Ce!
As for the reasons, Zhu Huan explained them very clearly—

“If it is Liu Yangzhou who comes, it is because I admire Liu Yangzhou and therefore surrender to him; but if it is only Sun Ce who comes and I open the city gates, wouldn’t that be telling the world that I, Zhu Huan, am inferior to Sun Ce and that I surrendered because I was defeated by Sun Ce?”

"I, Zhu Huan, am by nature protective of my principles and ashamed to be subservient to others! If Governor Liu insists on having Sun Ce attack us, then let's see who is more capable!"

Liu Miao also sighed, "This Zhu Huan is quite interesting. In that case, I'll go and meet him."

Liu Miao arrived at the fortified village and shouted loudly into the village, "Liu Miao is here! Please come out and see me, Xiu Mu!"

Zhu Huan soon emerged from the fortified village.

He was not wearing armor, but only a plain robe.

Upon meeting Liu Miao, Zhu Huan bowed to him and said, "Please do not blame me, Governor Liu."

"Unyielding and unyielding is a virtue of a general; how could I blame him?"

Liu Miao helped Zhu Huan up and did not pursue the matter of him refusing Sun Ce's troops entry into the city. Instead, he was quite impressed: "In that case, I will appoint you as the magistrate of Yuhang and send you to quell the bandits in the mountains. Are you willing to do such a thing?"

Zhu Huan was overjoyed that Liu Miao would promise him an official position to his face, and even appoint him as a superior, thus freeing him from taking orders from others.

"I assure Liu Yangzhou that we will be able to wipe out the bandits around Yuhang within a few years!"

At the same time, Zhu Huan volunteered for battle: "There are still bandits who do not submit to our lord. I am willing to clear away the obstacles for our lord!"

Liu Miao naturally knew that Zhu Huan was referring to the Zhang family's fortified villages.

Upon hearing that Zhu Huan had volunteered for battle and wanted to offer Liu Miao a token of his loyalty, Liu Miao clearly had no reason to refuse.

"In that case, the safety of Wu County is entirely in Xiu Mu's hands!"

Subsequently, Sun Ce's army entered the Zhu family's fortified village to rest, while Zhu Huan led his troops to the Zhang family's fortified village.

"Zhu Huan! My family and your family have been on good terms for generations. How could you lead troops to attack us?"

"I, Zhu Huan, am loyal to the country. Since you are all traitors, I can no longer care about past relationships!"

Zhu Huan did indeed have the potential to be a good general. After only a few days of siege, he broke through the Zhang family's fortified village, captured all the clansmen, and sent them to Liu Miao.

At this point, not only were four of the four powerful families in Wu Commandery gone, but there were also no private armed groups left in Danyang and Wu Commandery, which were under Liu Miao's actual control. All real power was transferred to the central government!

Don’t say anything else.

At least in a place like Jiangdong, a scenario like Cao Cao's, where someone could be betrayed by his own men, would not happen.

(End of this chapter)