I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 147 can be replaced!
Jinling, the Stone City.

Sun Ben, who had been appointed by Yuan Shu as the governor of Danyang, never took up his post in the governor's office in the city. Instead, after the Stone City in the northwest of Jinling was built, he led his soldiers to train there day and night.

That day, after training his soldiers, checking the treasury, and maintaining the military equipment as usual, Sun Ben returned to the city, only to be told that an old friend had come to visit.

"An old friend? What old friend?"

As early as when Sun Jian raised his army in Changsha, Sun Ben chose to resign his official post and follow him. Now, most of his old friends are soldiers. Where else can he find old friends in other places?
However, when Sun Ben saw the person who came, he found that it was indeed an old friend.

"why you?"

The visitor was a Sima who had once served under Sun Jian, and he was indeed acquainted with Sun Ben.

But Sun Ben remembered that the other party had directly surrendered to Yuan Shu after Sun Jian's death in battle, so how could he be here now?

"General Sun, how have you been?"

Sima bowed to Sun Ben, but Sun Ben remained wary: "Are you still serving under Yuan Shu?"

"To be honest, after His Majesty followed the Mandate of Heaven, he appointed me as a Lieutenant General."

Sima was somewhat pleased with himself.

"I heard that you are still a military officer with the rank of captain, and even the position of governor of Danyang was appointed by His Majesty, right?"

"Boyang, as the nephew of the Marquis of Wucheng, are you truly willing to be treated like this by Liu Miao?"

Sun Ben immediately sneered: "So you're here as a lobbyist?"

Before the other party could reply, Sun Ben immediately ordered his personal guards to throw Sima out!
"Considering our past relationship, I will not report you to the Lord. You may leave on your own! If there is a next time, don't blame me for disregarding our past service under my uncle!"

Sima hadn't expected Sun Ben to be so decisive. Taking advantage of the moment when his personal guards were holding him back, he quickly shouted at Sun Ben, "Boyang! Think about it carefully! Jiangdong should have always belonged to your Sun family! What ability does Liu Miao have? If it weren't for your help back then, how could he have conquered Jiangdong? Now that Liu Miao has rebelled, you or Bofu can become the ruler of Jiangdong and become His Majesty's right-hand man. Wouldn't that be more comfortable than being confined to this small Stone City?"

Sun Ben grew tired of listening and ordered his personal guards to gag Sima and throw him out of the city.

This scene was witnessed by Sun Fu, who arrived shortly afterward. Upon hearing that the other party was sent by Yuan Shu, Sun Fu was overjoyed!
He immediately dismissed the others and went alone to Sun Ben—

"Brother! The time for wealth and honor for the Sun family has come!"

Sun Fu's eyes were bright and piercing!

"Now Liu Miao and Zhou Yu are leading 30,000 troops to Wan County, and another 10,000 followed Taishi Ci to Yuzhang... The majority of Jiangdong's remaining forces are in our hands! As long as we launch an uprising, Jiangdong will surely be taken in one fell swoop!"

Sun Ben was terrified upon hearing this: "How could you say such a thing!"

"Brother! I'm not doing this for myself!"

Sun Fu and Sun Ben had relied on each other since childhood, and there was absolutely nothing between the brothers to hide.

"Brother! As long as we conquer Jiangdong, you can recommend Bofu as the ruler of Jiangdong!"

To demonstrate his sincerity, Sun Fu directly unbuttoned his clothes, revealing his chest.

“Brother! We’ve been in Jinling for a while now, and it’s clear that Liu Miao is utterly worthless! If it weren’t for his Liu bloodline, how could he be qualified to be a regional lord?”

"When it comes to military affairs, it's the veterans under his uncles, like Zhou Yu and Cheng Gong, who are fighting for him; when it comes to government affairs, it's the renowned scholars like Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong who are managing things. I, for one, don't see anything special about Liu Miao!"

"Moreover, if it weren't for the help of my elder brother and Lord Cheng, Liu Miao probably wouldn't have been able to cross the Yangtze River at all, let alone accomplish such a major feat as defeating Zhou Xin and killing Xu Gong!"

"But what happened in the end? Liu Miao wouldn't even give you and Lord Cheng the position of General of the Household! Instead, he ranked a junior like Zhou Yu before them. What else could this be but fear and precaution?"

"I've inquired. It seems that Liu Miao and Zhou Yu are planning some kind of feint to take all their troops away! Apart from my brother's place, the only other people in Jiangdong are Xu Huang and Huang Zhong, two unknown figures, plus Zhu Huan from Wu Commandery who still have some troops! If you seize this opportunity to start a rebellion, besiege Jinling, and defeat those three, Jiangdong will change hands!"

"At that time, we will join forces with Yuan Shu to attack from the north and south, and we can easily defeat Liu Miao! In this way, the Sun family will be able to completely occupy Jiangdong and be invincible!"

Sun Ben was ashamed and angry at his younger brother's words: "Our lord has treated me well! How could I treat him like this?"

"Brother!"

Sun Fu panicked!

"What do you mean Liu Miao treated you well? Don't forget that even your title of Prefect of Danyang was given to you by Yuan Shu!"

"Brother! What's wrong with risking everything just this once for the sake of the Sun clan?"

Sun Ben was annoyed and waved his hand to send Sun Fu out as well: "Don't mention this matter again!"

"..."

Seeing that he could not persuade Sun Ben, Sun Fu became discouraged.

When he came out of Sun Ben's place, he found that the Sima from before was still there!

"General Sun, is Boyang still stubbornly clinging to his own opinions?"

"Ugh."

Sun Fu didn't reply, but anyone could see the dejection in his expression.

The other party suddenly smiled mysteriously and directly placed a seal into Sun Ben's hand. "General Sun, how can someone who is doing great things delay like this?"

"In my opinion, it would be better if you sent troops to blockade Jinling first, forcing Boyang to act in your favor... Wouldn't that lead to success?"

Sun Fu hesitated for a moment: "Is this alright?"

"Why not?"

The other party's words were extremely seductive.

"As long as you lead your troops to blockade Jinling, Boyang will follow you no matter what, won't he?"

"Think about it, how could such a rich land as Jiangdong fall into the hands of an incompetent man like Liu Miao?"

"Now that the time and place are both in your favor, General, what are you still hesitating about?"

"..."

Sun Fu made a snap decision!
It's done!

Upon returning to his camp, he immediately ordered his soldiers to go to various parts of Jinling and seal off the city gates!
Afterwards, Sun Fu took off his upper garments and came before Sun Ben—

"Brother, what I'm doing now can be called treason! If Liu Miao returns, he will definitely not spare me! Now, brother, you either help me or kill me and give my head to Liu Miao!"

"You, you, how could you be so foolish!"

Sun Ben drew his long sword from his waist, his eyes blazing with fury!
However, Sun Ben had raised Sun Fu from infancy, and their bond had long surpassed that of ordinary brothers. Even if Sun Ben drew his sword, he still could not bring himself to stab him.

Sun Ben could only weep, saying, "I'm afraid my Sun clan is about to face calamity!"

Sun Fu comforted him, saying, "This is not a calamity! It is wealth and honor!"

"I urge you, elder brother, to immediately go and kill Xu Huang and Huang Zhong, and then join His Majesty in a pincer attack on Liu Miao from the north and south! With this, the great undertaking will surely be accomplished!"

------

Liu Miao, Zhou Yu, and others had already traveled from the Yangtze River to the city of Wan County via the Wan River.

Wan County was no different from other cities in Huainan; it was severely dilapidated and decayed. No one knew how many times Yuan Shu had exploited it, but it was devoid of any vitality.

At the same time, the terrain of Wan County is also breathtaking.

The city was built in accordance with the terrain of the north bank of the Yangtze River, which is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. It can easily defend against attacks from the north from a high vantage point, making the most of its geographical advantages.

Liu Miao clicked his tongue: "Fortunately, we don't have to actually attack this city. Otherwise, unless we besiege it for two or three years, there really wouldn't be a way to break through such a fortified city."

At this time, Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were beside Liu Miao, and they agreed with what Liu Miao said.

It's best to avoid tackling such tough challenges if possible.

Moreover, although Wan County can be directly connected to the Yangtze River via the Wan River, it does not have any waterways connecting to the north. For Jiangdong, the defensive significance of this place is obviously greater than its offensive significance, so it is not an object that needs to be captured urgently.

"Once Yuan Shu's army arrives, we will immediately use the river to leave and head to Chaoxian via the Yangtze River. When Yuan Shu mobilizes his troops to Chaoxian, we can then return to Wanxian."

In any case, Liu Miao could easily move between these two locations by relying on the convenience of his navy. Meanwhile, Yuan's army on land could only rely on their own two feet... If this happened several times, even if Yuan's soldiers had legs of iron, they would be worn out! At that point, the exhausted army would lack morale, which would naturally be Liu Miao's opportunity to counterattack!
Just three days after Liu Miao arrived in Wan County, scouts from the direction of Shiting reported that they had spotted Yuan Shu's army.

"Who is this person? Zhang Xun? Qiao Rui? Or our old acquaintance, General Ji Ling?"

"It's Yuan Shu!"

"..."

Liu Miao, who had been calmly sitting by the fire in the camp, immediately perked up upon hearing that it was Yuan Shu, exclaiming, "Really?"

"Among Yuan's troops, there are the emperor's imperial procession and the Tiger Guards carrying ceremonial weapons; there must be no mistake about that."

He even brings the emperor's regalia when he goes out to fight, and even makes his soldiers carry ceremonial objects to show off. This is indeed Yuan Shu!
"General Hou truly loves me! He actually chose to come in person!"

Liu Miao's original plan was to flee as soon as he saw any trace of Yuan's army, but upon hearing that Yuan Shu was personally leading the expedition, he immediately changed his mind.

"General Hou is my benefactor. I cannot rest easy in my conscience if I do not see him with my own eyes!"

When Yuan Shu entered the city, Liu Miao specifically chose to go to a high place to watch Yuan Shu's imperial procession.

It can only be said that Yuan Shu truly lived up to his noble lineage! His attention to detail was impeccable!

Even when accompanying the army on campaign, the imperial procession still employed a grand ceremonial regalia. The procession featured a central carriage with red-lacquered bridles, double-wheeled wheels, two axles, and golden dragons adorning the chariot's saddle. A tiger-shaped chariot, with dragon heads holding the yoke, flanked by auspicious bamboo poles and phoenixes standing on the crossbars, was positioned in the center. Five secondary carriages, each decorated according to the five elements, were also present. Among the ceremonial vehicles were a south-pointing chariot, a mileage-measuring drum chariot, a white egret chariot, and a phoenix-flag chariot. Five rows of soldiers on the outer perimeter provided protection with large shields (lu), while those on the inner perimeter carried ceremonial weapons such as ceremonial swords, bows and arrows, leopard-tail spears, halberds, and maces. Musical instruments, including large and small bronze horns and golden horns, played prelude and ceremonial music. The accompanying officials were all uniformly dressed in green satin robes embroidered with lions and black felt hats adorned with red feathers, exuding an air of majesty!
"It's truly just like the emperor's procession!"

Liu Miao suddenly understood the thoughts of his ancestors Liu Bang and Xiang Yu: "No wonder they both wanted to usurp the throne when they saw the First Emperor's carriage! Who wouldn't be confused by this scene?"

"But something's a bit strange."

"Why did Yuan Shu bring so few men? At most, there are only about 20,000... Could it be that the General of the Rear is looking down on me?"

　Happy Children's Day everyone!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)