Tiger Owl

Chapter 197 Unexpected News
As dawn broke, Gan Ning awoke from his deep sleep to find his beloved wife nowhere to be seen. He slowly sat up, got out of bed, and took a walk around.

Just then, he suddenly heard a sweet melody coming from outside. It was a tune from the Wu County area of ​​Jiangnan. It was Xu Wei's voice, and he could tell from the melody that she was very happy.

Gan Ning walked to the window, opened it, and a ray of warm sunlight streamed in, bathing the entire new house in gold.

Gan Ning saw Xu Wei, who had changed back into her usual clothes and was sitting under the eaves brewing tea for herself, humming a little tune, with a happy smile on her face.

Gan Ning coughed softly, and Xu Wei looked up and saw her husband standing by the window. She jumped up with joy, almost knocking over the teapot on the red clay stove. Like a happy little deer, she ran into the room, threw herself into Gan Ning's arms, hung on his neck, tilted her head and asked with a smile, "Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"

Gan Ning hugged her and laughed, "I can't sleep without you by my side!"

Xu Wei blushed, her heart filled with sweetness, and she said coquettishly, "Okay! Okay! How about I sleep with you a little longer?"

Gan Ning chuckled in her ear, "I don't need it anymore. But you, aren't you tired after all that trouble all night?"

Xu Wei's pretty face turned even redder, and she lowered her head shyly, saying, "My legs were shaking a little when I first got up, but they're fine now."

"That's good. Now help me wash up."

Xu Wei hurriedly helped her husband wash up, comb his hair and change his clothes, and finally brought him a bowl of freshly brewed ginseng soup. "This was specially instructed by my elder sister to make sure to brew a bowl of ginseng soup for my husband after I get up."

At that time, it was a custom in the South that the wife would cook a bowl of nourishing soup for her husband on the second day after the wedding. The ingredients varied from family to family. Wealthy families would drink ginseng soup, while ordinary families would go to the market to get a dog kidney.

Gan Ning drank the ginseng soup and ate breakfast, then got up and went to the official residence.
As soon as Gan Ning left, Xiao Qiao slipped over. Xiao Qiao is such a carefree person. If you say she's jealous, she is a little jealous; if you say she's wronged, she is wronged; if you say she's angry, she is angry. But as soon as it's light, she forgets all about the jealousy, grievances, and anger from last night and can't wait to find Xu Wei.

"Tell me quickly, what does it feel like?" Xiao Qiao asked with a beaming smile.

"What are you talking about?" Xu Wei asked, somewhat embarrassed.

"You know what I'm asking, dear sister, tell me!" Xiao Qiao said, pulling and shaking Xu Wei's arm.

Xu Wei had no choice but to stammer, "It hurt a little at first, but it was wonderful later."

How wonderful?

"Don't ask anymore. How can you just say such things? You'll figure it out for yourself later."

Xiao Qiao sighed, resting her chin on her hand. "Sigh! I don't know what's wrong with me. My sister won't give me any chance. I want to stay in the study, but she won't allow it. I know she's very biased."

"Don't look so gloomy, let me tell you something you like."

"What do you like? Tell me! Tell me!"

"You can start addressing me as 'husband' now, you can call me that."

Xiao Qiao's eyes lit up, but she asked with a hint of worry, "Can I do it?"

"Of course, we've already had a wedding ceremony, why can't we?" "You're right! We've already had a wedding ceremony, so he's my husband."

After tidying up, Xu Wei took Xiao Qiao to Da Qiao's courtyard.

Inside the government office, Gan Ning urgently convened an important meeting. They had just received news that Cao Ren had stationed 50,000 troops in Jingling County.

This intelligence came very suddenly. Although Wei Yan's navy was able to intercept them on the Han River, many things are unpredictable. Cao Cao's army may have crossed the Han River overnight.

Jiang Wan said, "General, Jingling County is the most important county along the Han River, and it is also the only place on the official road from Jiangxia Commandery to Nan Commandery. Cao Ren's stationing of heavy troops in Jingling County may not be to attack us. Perhaps he is just defending against us."

Xu Shu disagreed with Jiang Wan's idea, saying, "We have not shown any intention to attack Nan Commandery. Cao Ren suddenly stationed troops in Jingling County, claiming it was to defend against us. This is completely illogical."

Secondly, we have many routes to attack Nan Commandery, so there's no need to go through Jingling County. Jiangling County is a more likely route. Therefore, I believe Cao Ren's garrison in Jingling County was not for defense, but more likely an attempt to attack Jiangxia Commandery.

Jiang Wan still insisted on his opinion: "Cao Cao is still fighting in the north and has not returned. At this time, it is impossible for him to provoke a war with us in the south."

"Perhaps this was not Cao Cao's order, but Cao Ren's own initiative, a general's instinctive pursuit of war."

Xu Shu's last words were clearly very persuasive. Cao Ren was not a civil official, but a general. Once he took charge, he would think of expansion rather than management. However, Cao Cao also took this into consideration, which is why he put a lock on him and appointed Cheng Yu as his military advisor.

Cao Ren might be impulsive, but Cheng Yu wouldn't. Gan Ning pondered for a moment and said to Pang Tong, "Order the intelligence scouts in Xiangyang to find out Cheng Yu's movements."

Gan Ning thought for a moment, then added, "Order Wei Yan's troops to completely blockade the Han River."

After everyone else left, Lu Su stayed behind. Gan Ning asked, "What are your thoughts, strategist?"

Lu Su slowly said, "I think Cao Cao's army may know that our Yanyuan is in Jiangxia. Their target is not Jiangxia County, but Yanyuan."

"Does the strategist mean that Cao Ren's actions were not impulsive, but rather driven by a strong strategic objective?"

"Yes! Perhaps this really was Cheng Yu's plan to seize Jiangxia County and control our salt source."

Gan Ning pondered for a moment and slowly said, "The salt of Jiangxia County is our most important strategic resource. We must not lose it, at least not while we have sufficient reserves. We must send more troops to Jiangxia County."

Currently, the garrison in Jiangxia Commandery consists of 15,000 troops under Fu Tong and 5,000 troops guarding the salt fields, totaling 20,000 troops. If Cao Cao's 50,000 troops cross the Han River overnight and catch the Yuzhang army off guard, the salt fields may very well fall into Cao Cao's hands.

That afternoon, Gan Ning made arrangements, transferring Zhuge Jin back to Chaisang to serve as deputy commander, and Xu Shu concurrently serving as governor of Jiangxia Commandery, fully responsible for the defense of Jiangxia Commandery. At the same time, he transferred Huang Zhong's troops and Taishi Ci's troops to Jiangxia, bringing the total number of troops stationed in Jiangxia to 50,000.

On the other hand, efforts should be intensified to exploit salt mines in Anlu County.

Gan Ning had considered the long term. Right now, it was just Cao Ren's harassment. Once Cao Cao's army truly marched south, the Yuzhang Army would have to temporarily abandon Jiangbei. Therefore, before Cao Cao's army arrived, they had to store a large amount of salt from the mines in the south, enough to sustain their needs for at least ten years. Of course, they could continue to purchase sea salt from Jiangdong, but as a strategic reserve, they had to have enough salt for ten years.

With this in mind, Gan Ning issued another military order: the Jiangxia garrison should also participate in salt mining, and the soldiers would be given certain subsidies. They should spare no effort to triple the current salt mine output.

(End of this chapter)