Tiger Owl

Chapter 13 Seeking Aid in Yuzhang
Lu Su gave a wry smile and said, "If the general is considering using force, I suggest that we first learn about the situation in Yuzhang County. After all, we have just occupied Chaisang and know nothing about Yuzhang County. We cannot do many things based on assumptions."

Gan Ning agreed with Lu Su's suggestion and immediately summoned Yang Jing, a county official, for questioning. Yang Jing was about thirty years old. He was originally from Wei County. His father was appointed as the county magistrate of Chaisang by the imperial court, and he had come with him.

Although Yang Jing was of average talent, he had an official father. At the age of twenty-three, he was appointed as the granary clerk in the county government under his father's arrangement. He has been working there for ten years and is currently the most senior county official.

Yang Jing had no relatives left in his hometown of Wei County, except for one cousin who married Qiao Rui, a general under Yuan Shu, and whom he had not heard from in recent years.

Although Yang Jing is not a local, with the connections he and his father have built up over the past ten years, Yang Jing can be considered a true local bigwig.

As the saying goes, "the camp remains, but the soldiers come and go." As local strongmen, Yang Jing and other county officials didn't care who was in charge of Chaisang. The ruling class might change, but their core position as the county government would never change.

When the county magistrate asked him a question, Yang Jingjian immediately found a more detailed map.

"The county magistrate should not think that Yuzhang County is under the jurisdiction of Prefect Hua. In reality, he can only govern the area around the county seat of Nanchang. The counties of Haihun, Jianchang, Ai, and Chaisang to the north are occupied by Zhang Ying, a former subordinate of Liu Yao, and they do not obey Prefect Hua's orders at all."

"Wait a minute!"

Gan Ning interrupted him, "Are you saying that Chaisang County originally belonged to Zhang Ying?"

“Nominally under the jurisdiction of Yuzhang Commandery, but in reality, the taxes of Chaisang are all handed over to Zhang Ying. This is a tacit understanding between Zhang Ying and Prefect Hua Xin. In fact, not only Chaisang, but also Haihun County and Jianchang County are nominally under the jurisdiction of Yuzhang Commandery, but Yuzhang Commandery can only get a very small amount of taxes. All the taxes are taken by Zhang Ying.”

"Did Zhang Ying station troops in Chaisang?"

"Of course there are troops stationed there, with five hundred soldiers, but they were so frightened that they ran away when Huang Zu's army arrived."

Gan Ning sensed something was wrong. Once Zhang Ying found out that Huang Zu had been driven away, he would definitely lead his army back to kill him. Zhang Ying was his biggest threat!
"You go on."

Yang Jing continued, "The area east of Yuzhang Commandery, centered on Poyang County, was also occupied by Zuo Rong, who fled from Danyang Commandery, and they also did not obey Prefect Hua's orders."

Furthermore, Luling County in the south was occupied by Tongzhi, a powerful Yue chieftain. He seized control of the southern part of Yuzhang Commandery, renamed it Luling Commandery, and proclaimed himself the Prefect of Luling.

These are all the bitter fruits left behind by Liu Yao. Liu Yao died two years ago, appointing Hua Xin as the governor of Yuzhang, but he did not hand over military power to him. It is said that he wanted his eldest son, Liu Ji, to inherit Yuzhang. At the time, Liu Ji was only fifteen years old, so he wanted Hua Xin to serve as interim governor for a few years, but the result…”

Gan Ning nodded. It turned out that Yuzhang Commandery had been divided into four, and with his own forces, it was now divided into five. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Did Sun Ce attack Yuzhang Commandery before?"

"Does the county magistrate not know that Hua Xin has already surrendered to Sun Ce?"

Gan Ning and Lu Su looked at each other in bewilderment. Gan Ning asked urgently, "When did this happen?"

"The surrender happened last year. Sun Ce sent Yu Fan to persuade Hua Xin to surrender. Sun Ce's cousin, Sun Ben, led 10,000 troops to Nanchang County and was appointed as the Commandant of Yuzhang."

Gan Ning was speechless. Sun Ce's capture of Yuzhang County was such a big event, but if he didn't ask, these officials wouldn't mention it at all. They were a bunch of jack-of-all-trades officials who knew everything but said nothing.

Suppressing his dissatisfaction, Gan Ning continued to ask, "Did Sun Ben besiege Zhang Ying and Zuo Rong?"

Yang Jing also sensed the county magistrate's dissatisfaction with him, and he dared not deceive Gan Ning any longer, so he had no choice but to honestly confess everything.

"Of course there were encirclements and suppressions. Taishi Ci was in charge of encircling and suppressing Zhang Ying, Zhou Tai was in charge of encircling and suppressing Zuo Rong, and Sun Ben personally led troops to encircle and suppress Tong Zhi of Luling County. However, Liu Qing of Changsha County supported Zhang Ying and Tong Zhi from behind, and Zuo Rong had many followers, so the encirclement and suppression did not go smoothly."

In March of this year, Sun Ce led a large army to join forces with Chen Yu, the governor of Yangzhou, to attack Yuan Shu. Unexpectedly, Chen Yu led his troops in a surprise attack on Wu Commandery, forcing Sun Ce to retreat. Sun Ben, along with generals such as Taishi Ci and Zhou Tai, also rushed to assist in the battle. Hearing that Yuan Shu was dead, it is estimated that Sun Ben will return soon.

"Who is in charge of Nanchang County? How many troops are there now?"

"Sun Fu and Lü Fan should be in charge of Nanchang County. I don't know how many troops they have."

...........
Gan Ning paced back and forth in his office with his hands behind his back. The situation in Yuzhang County was much more complicated than he had thought. With Liu Yao dead, all sorts of wolves were eyeing this piece of fat meat, Yuzhang County.

Sun Ce seized Yuzhang Commandery first, but Chen Yu's rebellion prevented him from attending to it for the time being. He should send Sun Ben back soon.

There was also Huang Zu, but Huang Zu only occupied Chaisang and did not launch a large-scale invasion of Yuzhang Commandery. This should be related to Liu Biao, who also planned to send his nephew Liu Qing from Changsha Commandery to annex Yuzhang Commandery.

Perhaps Huang Zu and Liu Biao reached a division agreement, with Huang Zu wanting the northern part of Yuzhang Commandery and Liu Biao wanting the southern part.

Although this was just Gan Ning's guess, it was actually the case that Liu Biao and Huang Zu had a tacit understanding to divide up Yuzhang Commandery.

In fact, Sun Ce was not a great threat to him, and even Liu Biao and Huang Zu were not the most pressing issues. The real crisis that was imminent was Zhang Ying. Haihun County was only a little over a hundred miles away from Chaisang, and it was separated by Mount Lu. Chaisang was north of Mount Lu, and Haihun County was south of Mount Lu.

Once Zhang Ying learns that he has taken over Chaisang, how could he possibly let it go?

With few soldiers and generals, incomplete armor and weapons, and severely insufficient military supplies, how can we possibly withstand Zhang Ying's attack?

Time! Gan Ning felt that what he needed most right now was time.

He had to get a batch of soldiers, armor, and food before Zhang Yingbei invaded. Ezhou was too far away, and it would take at least half a month to make a round trip. After thinking it over, he could only think of Hua Xin.

If you don't enter the tiger's lair, you won the tiger.

Gan Ning then ordered Lu Su to guard Chaisang, with Shen Mi and Lou Fa each leading their own troops to assist him. That very night, Gan Ning, along with Wang Ping, Ding Feng, and three hundred brothers, sailed south.

Gan Ning led more than forty fast boats south along the Gan River. Three days later, the fleet arrived in Nanchang County. The dock was full of all kinds of merchant ships, and several miles away, dozens of warships, all of them large warships with a capacity of about 1,000 shi, were moored at the military dock.

Gan Ning seemed to see dozens of graceful women, and his eyes burned with desire. He only had a few dozen small sampans; how could he not be tempted by such regular warships?

Not only him, but all his men were envious. Wang Ping whispered, "General, take it!"

Gan Ning smiled slightly, "Don't rush, we'll talk about it when we leave!"

Gan Ning ordered Ding Feng to lead his troops to wait by the river outside the city, while he himself, along with Wang Ping and Zhang Xi, entered the city to pay respects to Prefect Hua Xin as the newly appointed magistrate of Chaisang.

Nanchang County was the seat of Yuzhang Commandery. It was a large city with a large population and a thriving commerce, somewhat resembling Xiangyang.

Upon arriving at the prefectural government office, Gan Ning took out his visiting card and said to the guards, "Please inform Prefect Hua that the newly appointed magistrate of Chaisang requests an audience!"

The gatekeeper quickly took the visiting card and ran inside. A short while later, a young boy came out and asked, "May I ask which one of you is the Chief of Chaisang?"

"I am!"

The boy was stunned for a moment. He thought the man was a scholar, but he didn't expect him to be so tall and imposing.

"The Prefect... the Prefect requests your presence. Please follow me!"

The boy stammered as he asked Gan Ning to follow him into the mansion.

Gan Ning gave Wang Ping a wink, telling him to wait outside with a few of his men, while he went into the prefectural government office alone.

Soon they arrived at the back hall, where they saw an official in his thirties standing in front of the steps. He had a long, thin face, a long beard, and a refined air.

He smiled slightly and said, "I am Hua Xin. When did General Gan become the magistrate of Chaisang?"

"This humble servant greets Envoy Hua. This is my letter of appointment!"

Gan Ning took out the imperial appointment letter and handed it to Hua Xin. Hua Xin recognized the official document at a glance and quickly said politely, "General Gan, please come in!"

The two entered the main hall and took their seats as host and guest, and a servant boy served them tea.

Hua Xin asked with a puzzled smile, "I know that General Gan went to Xiangyang to apply for a job before and had some unpleasant things happen with Prefect Liu. That was in May, and now it's late July. How come General Gan has received an appointment letter from the imperial court in just over two months?"

Gan Ning smiled faintly and said, "I went directly to Xuchang to see Cao Sikong."

Hua Xin let out an "Oh—", clearly having misunderstood the meaning, thinking that Gan Ning had become Cao Cao's subordinate.

"Chai Sang should be occupied by Huang Zu now!"

Gan Ning nodded, "That's absolutely right, which is why I've come to borrow troops from you, my lord!"

Hua Xin gave a bitter smile after a long while and said, "It's not that I'm unwilling to help General Gan, but I have no soldiers left under my command, and the defense of Nanchang County has been taken over by Sun Ce."

Now that things have come to this, I will not hide it from you, General. I am no longer the Prefect of Yuzhang. The current Prefect of Yuzhang is Sun Ben, who will soon take up his post. I will be transferred to Wu Commandery to assume another position.

Gan Ning pondered for a moment and said, "Since you can't send troops, give me some food and armor, and I'll recruit soldiers myself."

"This..." Hua Xin looked troubled. Gan Ning was an official appointed by Cao Cao, and he was willing to help him, but the consequences would be very troublesome!

Seeing Hua Xin hesitate, Gan Ning knew there was a chance, and he immediately said, "Doesn't Prefect Hua not yet have the authority to hand over the governorship?"

Hua Xin sighed, "General, you don't know this, but even if I were still the prefect, it wouldn't make a difference. I need General Lü Fan's approval. He has all the money and supplies in Nanchang, as well as the soldiers and armor!"

Gan Ning nodded slightly, "I can go and get it myself, I only ask that you show me the way!"

Even if I tell you, you might not be able to take it away!

Gan Ning said sincerely, "I will not hide it from you, Lord Hua. Cao Sikong is preparing to fight a major battle with Yuan Shao, but he is worried that Sun Ce will attack Xuchang from the rear. Guo Junshi suggested that Cao Sikong hold back Sun Ce in Yuzhang County or Lujiang County. Cao Sikong then sent me to Chaisang to hold back Sun Ce in Yuzhang County, so that Sun Ce would not have time to launch a northern expedition."

This concerns Cao Cao's grand plan. If you believe your future lies in Jiangdong, then I will leave now. If you believe your future lies with Cao Cao, then please help me.

This is the advantage of time travelers. Historically, Hua Xin tried every means to serve Cao Cao, and Sun Quan couldn't stop him.

Gan Ning's last sentence convinced Hua Xin, who had no doubt that Gan Ning was talking nonsense with a straight face.

Hua Xin closed the door and lowered her voice, saying, "The granary and armory are in the military camp inside the city, but there is a small armory next to the military camp outside the city. It used to be our naval armory and contains two thousand sets of armor. But General, be careful of the military camp outside the city. There are currently two thousand troops stationed there, and the commander is Han Dang. Tonight's password is 'heavenly treasures'!"

Gan Ning hesitated for a moment before asking, "Does the armory have a key?"

"The key is in Lü Fan's hands. The armory has an iron door, which you definitely can't break open. However, there is a small side door next to it, which is an emergency door that has never been opened. But it is a wooden door, and it is your only chance!"

(End of this chapter)