Tiger Owl

Chapter 115 Building an Intelligence Network
Liling County is a medium-sized county in the eastern part of Changsha Commandery. Because it does not rely on the Xiang River, its economic and social status in Changsha Commandery is not high. However, it has great military value. Especially in the late Eastern Han Dynasty when there were many warlords, Liling County was the eastern gateway of Changsha Commandery and the first stop for Yuzhang Commandery to enter Changsha Commandery.

For this reason, Liu Xin rebuilt Liling County before going there, constructing it according to the standards of a strategic military city. The city wall was three zhang high and two zhang wide, and the moat was widened to twenty zhang. Since the city wall was several zhang away from the moat, this ensured that the enemy could not attack it even by boat.

Liling County is located next to the Lushui River, a tributary of the Xiang River. The Lushui River flows through the city, and the water intake forms a moat and an inner river. There are two water gates, one on the east and one on the west, through which boats from the Xiang River can sail directly into the city.

The county seat of Liling County is about 20 li in circumference, and the entire county has a population of only over 3,000 households. However, if the people in the surrounding countryside are included, the population of Liling County is over 8,000 households, which is considered a medium-sized county in Changsha Prefecture.

The county town had only two main streets, the East-West Street and the North-South Street, with four city gates at the end. In fact, most county towns were laid out like this. The entire county town was divided into four parts by the two main streets. One part was occupied by government offices such as the county government, warehouses, and military camps, while the other part was the residential area for middle and upper-class families. The remaining two parts in the south were the residential areas for the lower-class people. The rich and poor, noble and lowly, were clearly distinguished.

South Street was lined with all sorts of shops: grain stores, cloth stores, butcher shops, pickle shops, general stores, taverns, inns, and so on. There was an inn called Chunlai Inn, which covered an area of ​​five acres and could accommodate up to two hundred people at the same time. It was an old inn that had been in business for more than 20 years, but its business was always just so-so.

The owner of Chunlai Inn is surnamed Luo, who is also the manager, and the staff are all his nephews and nieces.

That morning, several guests arrived at the shop. A middle-aged man led a group of young people. Manager Luo greeted them, "Welcome, distinguished guests, to stay at our inn!"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "I heard the innkeeper wants to transfer ownership of the inn?"

Manager Luo's eyes lit up. He had wanted to sell the property for a long time, but no one had shown any interest.

"Sir, would you like my shop?"

The middle-aged man nodded. "Let's talk!"

"Please come inside and have a seat!"

Manager Luo quickly invited the middle-aged man to his room and poured him a bowl of rich fermented rice wine. "This is homemade. Please have a taste!"

The middle-aged man picked up the bowl, took a bite, and exclaimed, "Not bad! The taste is authentic!"

"May I ask your surname, sir?"

"My surname is Du, and I am also in business."

"So it's Lord Du. Judging from Lord Du's accent, he must be from the southern part of Yuzhang Prefecture!"

"The shopkeeper can tell?"

Manager Luo chuckled, "I run an inn, after all! I've seen people from all over the place."

“My ancestral home is Liling County, but I have always lived in Luling County, Yuzhang Prefecture. Now that I am getting old, I want to return to my ancestral home and settle down.”

"I see!"

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two got down to business. The middle-aged man said, "I'm planning to buy an inn. I've looked at several in Liling County, and your inn is quite large, which is what I like about it."

"If Mr. Du is interested, I can transfer the business, but the price needs to be discussed."

The middle-aged man nodded. "I heard that the large house behind the inn is also yours?"

Manager Luo nodded. "That old house also occupies five acres. My inn was converted from half of the old house. If you want it, you can transfer it as well."

"I really want it, shopkeeper, let's give each other a total price!" Shopkeeper Luo took out a cloth, covered his hand with it, and the two bargained under the cloth. Finally, they laughed and made a deal.

The middle-aged man took out a bag of silver and pushed it to the shopkeeper. "Shopkeeper, just give me the deed. I'll go to the county office to transfer the property myself. I need it urgently, so I hope you can complete the transaction today. Please also take the clerk with you."

That afternoon, Manager Luo dismissed his employees, packed his things, and left.

The middle-aged man was named Du Jin. He was a military advisor in the intelligence battalion of the Yuzhang Army's military advisor's office. He was ordered to come to Liling County to lie in wait, establish an intelligence network, and store weapons and armor, in preparation for the capture of Liling County.

Du Jin arrived in Liling County four days ago and observed the town for three days before choosing Chunlai Inn. The inn is located opposite the inner city moat, only a dozen steps away, allowing supplies to be transported to the inn by small boat.

In addition, the inn is not only large, covering an area of ​​five acres, but the large house next door also belongs to it. It can be bought together and used to store weapons and ambushe soldiers in the future.

That very night, Du Jin led several of his men to renovate the inn. They knocked down the wall next door and built a small gate, allowing the inn to operate normally in the front yard while locking up the back yard.

Then, he kept a few carrier pigeons in the neighboring mansion so that he could send intelligence to Yichun County in Yuzhang Prefecture, 300 miles away, at any time.

The next day, a small boat brought dozens of large boxes filled with armor. This was the first batch of armor. Du Jin and his men carried the boxes to the neighboring mansion to hide them.

After settling in, Du Jin began to observe and inquire about the garrison in the city. He quickly found out that there were 3,000 troops stationed in the city, and the commander was named Yang Ling, a captain. He had an average reputation and average martial arts skills. He was just a mediocre general. Du Jin himself had experienced that as long as you paid money to enter the city, the goods were not inspected at all.

At the same time that the intelligence point was established in Liling County, intelligence points were also established in Linxiang County, the seat of Changsha Prefecture, and Baling Town on the shore of Dongting Lake. The leaders of the two intelligence points were Wei Kan and Xi Ping, who had been transferred from Wan County.

Wei Kan is the manager of a restaurant in Linxiang County, responsible for collecting intelligence on Linxiang County. Xi Ping runs a fisherman's restaurant in Baling Town. The advantage of running a fisherman's restaurant is that he can learn about the situation of the nearby navy through fishermen and soldiers. Next to Baling Town is a large naval camp with 5,000 naval soldiers and hundreds of warships of various sizes.

On holidays, naval soldiers would flock to Baling Town to eat, drink, gamble, and whore, bringing copper coins and all sorts of intelligence with them.

That morning, Lu Su arrived at Gan Ning's official residence and presented him with the latest intelligence report on Changsha Prefecture.

"These are the latest intelligence reports. I have compiled them and would like to present them to you, my lord."

Gan Ning opened the intelligence report and read it carefully. The report, consisting of several hundred words, presented the basic situation of Changsha Prefecture.

Prefect Liu Xin commanded an army of over 23,000 men, including 10,000 troops stationed in Linxiang County, commanded by Liu Xin and Huang Zhong; 5,000 naval troops stationed in Baling Town, commanded by Naval Captain Cai Zan; and 3,000 troops stationed in Liling County, commanded by Yang Ling.

In addition, five thousand soldiers were stationed in Xiangnan County, under the command of Han Xuan, the Prefectural Magistrate.

Gan Ning asked, somewhat puzzled, "How could Xiangnan County have 5,000 troops stationed there?"

Lu Su bowed and said, "I have received some news, which has not yet been confirmed. It is said that Liu Biao did not completely occupy Changsha Commandery. Two years ago, Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha, joined forces with the three commanderies of Jingnan to rebel. Liu Biao sent Liu Xin to lead an army to suppress Zhang Xian. Soon after, Zhang Xian was defeated and died of illness. His son Zhang Yi continued to lead the remaining troops to resist Liu Biao."

Zhang Yi, based in Ling County to the south, controlled more than a dozen counties in the southern part of Changsha Commandery, Guiyang Commandery, and the northern part of Lingling Commandery, with an army of more than 10,000 men.

I believe this rumor is true; the 5,000 men in Xiangnan County were indeed deployed to deal with Zhang Yi.

Gan Ning pondered for a moment and said, "If that's the case, then Zhang Yi is a good piece of chess. If we can use him, it will be of great benefit to us in taking over the four counties of Jingnan."

"I'm afraid Zhang Yi is too ambitious. If we use him, he will become the second Huang Zu, nominally submitting but actually independent. My lord, this is a double-edged sword. We must not make a hasty decision."

(End of this chapter)