The passing cavalry, representing the most urgent situation, rushed straight towards the central army.
"Your Majesty, urgent report from the front: General Sun was attacked by thieves at the foot of the mountain, all the attacking tools were burned, and General Sun died in battle!"
"What!"
When Sun Quan heard the news, he was suddenly struck by thunder. He staggered and almost fell down.
"My fourth brother died young. Not only could I not take care of my nephew, but I actually caused my nephew to die in front of the battle. How should I face my fourth brother under the yellow soil?"
Sun Tai was a real royal clan member of the Wu Kingdom. Before the official attack on the city, a royal clan member died, and all the siege equipment was burned.
This was undoubtedly a huge blow to Wu Jun.
Sun Quan drew his sword in grief and shouted:
"I and the Wei thieves have an unequal hatred. I will not return to our army until Hefei is destroyed this time!"
After the oath, he immediately ordered Lu Xun, who had just arrived in Wancheng, to lead his army to Xiaoyaojin to protect the army's retreat, while he ordered the entire army to break camp and rush to Hefei.
Lu Xun received the edict and said to Zhuge Jin:
"Your Majesty is moving his army to the north because it is expected that most of Wei's troops will be attracted by Shu and will not be able to assist Hefei."
"It's just that in my opinion, if Wei loses the pass, it can still retreat to Wanluo, but if it loses Hefei again, the Central Plains will be difficult to stabilize."
"Currently, Wei Guo Guanzhong is in danger of being lost, so it is very likely that Hefei will be defended."
"In this Northern Expedition, Da Wu has lost the opportunity. Your Majesty has been a little too impatient this time."
Postponing the dispatch of troops was originally a decision made by Lu Xun and Sun Quan after discussion.
Over the years, the Shu Kingdom has won many battles against the Wei Kingdom, and it can be said that it has an elite army.
However, the state of Wei accounts for three-thirds of the world, and it can be said that the country is the strongest.
Therefore, the struggle between Wei and Shu in Guanzhong should logically be protracted, and it is best to be protracted.
No matter which side wins in the end, a lot of national power will be lost.
At the same time, this is also what Wu Guo wants to see most.
In the end, whether Shu retreats or Wei is defeated, Wu can take advantage of the stalemate between the two countries to move north.
Either Xiangyang or Hefei, not to mention all of them, even if you only win one, it will be considered a big profit.
It's just that God is not as good as man. No one thought that the situation in Guanzhong would change so quickly.
Coupled with the inconvenience of information exchange, by the time Wu State reacts, Shu State will not only be close to conquering Guanzhong, but it seems that even Bingzhou and Hedong may be included in it.
In the current situation, not to mention Sun Quan who was anxious, even Lu Xun was a little disappointed with his miscalculation.
Zhuge Jin asked: "What should Yi Boyan think?"
Lu Xun sighed: "Wei's situation in Guanzhong is unfavorable. Feng Mingwen has occupied Hedong and may threaten Tongguan at any time."
"Now the Wei State is sending troops from Jingzhou and Wancheng to go to Wuguan to reinforce Guanzhong. Wu should pretend to attack Hefei, but in fact it is better to wait for an opportunity to attack Xiangyang."
"The great power of Wu lies in the boats. Whether it is Jiangling or Jiangxia, there are rivers connecting Xiangyang. This just takes advantage of the boats."
"As long as Wu takes Xiangyang, even if Shu takes Guanzhong, if they want to send troops to the east in the future, they will most likely go through Hedong or Tongguan instead of Wuguan."
To put it bluntly, as long as Da Wu can capture Xiangyang, even if the Shu soldiers really dare to come out of Wuguan, facing Wancheng with the Wei army in the east and Xiangyang with the Wu army in the south, will they dare to march eastward with confidence?
When Da Wu went north from Xiangyang, there was no danger to defend Wancheng. It was much more convenient than the Shu army going through Wuguan.
When Guan Yu came to Xiangfan, he was able to force Cao Cao to consider moving the capital. After Wu captured Xiangyang, sooner or later, Wancheng would also be included in his pocket.
The only drawback of this plan is that if the army suddenly gathers in Jingzhou, it will cause an overreaction from Shu.
But it's not a big problem.
After all, most of Shu's troops are now in Guanzhong, and Yong'an's troops cannot threaten Jingzhou's army.
In addition, as long as the army really attacks Xiangyang, Shu will understand Wu's intentions.
At worst, your Majesty will write a letter and explain to the Lord of Shu afterwards, and the two countries will be in peace.
I just didn't expect that Your Majesty would be so anxious to capture Hefei after learning that Shu had gained in Guanzhong.
Zhuge Jin comforted:
"As the saying goes, if you lose the east corner, you will gain the mulberry tree. Even if you cannot capture Xiangyang, it will be the same if you capture Hefei."
Lu Xun hesitated to speak, but finally nodded: "That's right."
When attacking Xiangyang, there are boat divisions to help isolate reinforcements, and they can even rely on the Shu people's momentum in Hanzhong.
Can Hefei be the same?
Attacking Hefei will be much more difficult than attacking Xiangyang!
It's just that the matter has reached this point, no matter how much you say, it's useless.
It's better to act according to His Majesty's instructions first.
Just when the Wu State was gathering troops in Hefei, on the south bank of the river outside Jianye City, two medium-sized ships were being untied and roped up. It seemed that they were preparing to cross to the north bank.
Most of the people on the boat were young men in their teens or 20s. Everyone looked excited and nervous, and some were busy making preparations for departure.
Sergeant Wu, who was usually stationed at Jinkou, was standing not far away at this time, watching these novices making mistakes from time to time, and then burst into bursts of uncontrollable laughter.
"Mr. Ma, do you really don't need our help?"
Lu Yi also had a kind smile on his face, looked at the young men from Shu, and asked Ma Su.
It's just that he is not a kind person to begin with, so this kind smile looks more like a gloomy sneer.
"No, no, no," Ma Su said quickly, "I have been here for several months. No matter how many people talk about this boat-managing skill, it is just lip service."
"After all, you have to do it yourself to learn the skills, and let them do it."
Lu Yi did not force it. Anyway, this matter was an internal decision of the Shu people and was beyond his control.
All he could do was to give a few more warnings, which would be considered as fulfilling his intention:
"This Jinkou can only ferry one or two thousand people. It is not considered a big Jinkou, so it is not used by the army on weekdays."
"During His Majesty's Northern Expedition, if Mr. Ma and you gentlemen want to practice boating here, it would be convenient."
Ma Su raised his hand and said:
"It's really helpful of Mr. Lu to help us find a place like this. I would like to thank you on behalf of all the students in the college."
At the moment, everything revolves around the Emperor Wu's crossing the Yangtze River and his Northern Expedition. The students he brought over from the Han Dynasty to study are considered guests of the Wu Kingdom and have not yet mastered the art of water warfare.
So I could only stay behind with nothing to do.
"Hey!" Lu Yi waved his hand quickly, "Mr. Ma, you are too polite. If it is convenient for others, it is convenient for yourself!"
As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced at the boats on the shore, and then lowered his voice:
"I heard that among the students who came this time, there were also disciples of Feng Junhou?"
Ma Su nodded: "That's right."
Lu Yi gave a high-five and his face lit up with joy:
"That's right. When I went to Liangzhou, I had a very pleasant conversation with Feng Junhou and had a close friendship. How can I not be convenient for his disciples to come to Jiangdong this time?"
When Ma Su heard this, a knowing look appeared on his face:
"That's it! In fact, Junhou attaches great importance to Luo Langjun and Fu Langjun. If Junhou Feng knows that School Lu takes care of these two gentlemen like this, he must be grateful."
"It's a secret, it's a secret! Why should Lu and Feng Junhou be so secretive?"
Lu Yi said "Seeing others", but a satisfied smile appeared on his face uncontrollably.
That's what he was waiting for.
As the cooperation between Wu and Shu deepens, more and more jaggery is shipped from Jingzhou to Shu every year.
Brown sugar, wine, woolen materials from Shu, and even war horses from Liangzhou were also continuously sent to Wu.
The school office is now not only involved in the business of brown sugar and wool, but also occupies a large share of it.
Why has the school affairs office tried every means to set up checkpoints and collect taxes over the years?
Isn't it just to raise money, food and supplies for His Majesty?
If the school affairs office had the Xinghanhui channel before, why would it cause local complaints just to get something like that?
It can be said that Lu Yi's trip to Liangzhou greatly resolved the crisis in the School Affairs Office and allowed the School Affairs Office to regain Sun Quan's trust.
But there is no doubt that if you don’t have long-term worries, you will have immediate worries. If you were lucky enough to escape this time, who can guarantee that you will be so lucky next time?
In Lu Yi's view, he still needs to find ways to consolidate the status of the school affairs office in His Majesty's heart.
The things that the School Affairs Office can do for His Majesty are, first, to monitor officials at all levels and state and county clerks, and second, to raise money, food and materials for Your Majesty.
Needless to say, there is no need to mention the officials and officials of the school. After all, how can a perfect person be found in this world?
No one is perfect, and as long as you work hard, you can always catch something you missed.
Even if you can't catch the other party's omissions, as long as you have the mouth and the ears to tell the story, it's still possible.
But the money and supplies are different.
After all, the school office can make things happen out of thin air, but it can't create money, food and materials out of thin air, right?
Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a good relationship with the leader of the Xinghan Association.
Ma Di was originally from a wealthy family in Jingzhou, so his treatment of people was not bad.
Coupled with these years of experience, he can now be regarded as a clear-eyed person. At the moment, he was holding Lu Yi's hand affectionately:
"Yes, yes, I was too polite."
Lu Yi felt a few things being stuffed into his hand. He looked down slightly and saw that the exposed corner of the paper was very familiar. It was the unique paper of the banknotes.
Then I heard Ma Su say something meaningful:
"I'm not polite. Then, Schoolmaster Lu, don't be polite to us in the future."
It was a pun, and Lu Yi understood it.
He tucked the bills into his wide sleeves without leaving a trace.
But when Ma Su reached into his arms again, took out a few bills, and deliberately said loudly:
"We borrowed the treasure land and got the help of Principal Lu and the soldiers. It's just a small gift, but it's not respectful. We asked Principal Lu to use it to treat the soldiers to a meal of wine and meat."
This time, Lu Yi openly saw the number on the ticket: 100 pieces of fine wool.
Turn to the next page: Ten Jars of Mead.
Turn over another page: Ten pounds of brown sugar.
Lu Yi's eyes widened: These Shu people were so generous to his mother that they could actually give out such things to those dead soldiers!
He was greedy and ignorant, but Ma Di took it out in public, so he could only swallow his saliva and forcefully smile with some distress:
"Mr. Ma is really thoughtful. On behalf of my officers and men, I would like to thank you for your generous gift."
He subconsciously touched his cuffs and saw that the money he just took was a lot more. This time he wanted to do a favor, but he didn't expect to make a fortune.
Unable to part with the deal, Lu Yi simply made a favor and passed the news on to the defenders on the spot.
After learning about this, Sergeant Wu, who had been watching the joke from a distance, suddenly cheered.
Here in Jiangdong, money is not well known to most people, and it is only popular among the upper-class dignitaries who have caravans with Shu.
But these things like wool, brown sugar, etc., although these low-level soldiers are not qualified to see, they have been famous for a long time.
Even if what you get in the end is not these rare items, but converted into food or cloth, it is enough to make people excited.
Some who were impatient even ran to the waterside and began to give enthusiastic instructions to the students.
They have been guarding Jinkou for a long time, and even though they don't know how to command water battles, they are very familiar with boat matters.
With their help and guidance, the students went much smoother.
Before leaving, Lu Yi handed another talisman to Ma Su:
"Mr. Ma, although the army has now entered Chaohu Lake, there are still many patrol boats in the river."
"If you are questioned, just say that the school administration is inspecting the tax checkpoints under His Majesty's orders. As long as you don't stray into a military important area, you will be fine."
As the secretary in charge of the school affairs office, Lu Yi is far more informed than others.
His Majesty just received news from the front the day before yesterday, asking about the situation of the war horse trade between the school affairs office and the Shu people.
Although he didn’t know what was happening ahead, Lu Yi, who knew Sun Quan’s thoughts well, knew:
Your Majesty asked about this specifically, and most likely he wanted to get more war horses from the Shu people.
These people coming to Jiangdong are part of the Shu-Wu war horse trade agreement. It will never go wrong to put more effort into them.
"Don't worry, Principal Lu. I just plan to let them go around the river a few times to get familiar with how to operate the boat. Even if they get to the north bank, they will never get close to Chao Lake."
"Then I wish you all the best."
"Thank you."
"!"
…
On the second day, the two medium-sized warships of the Wu army guarding Jinkou came back carrying the young men of Shu, and some people greeted them warmly:
"came back?"
"came back."
"Oh, the water is floating so much that some people feel uncomfortable even after sleeping on the boat for one night."
"I'm afraid I've never spent the night on a boat before. I'll get used to it if I sleep a few more times in the future."
"Hahaha, isn't that why you brought them out this time?"
"Mr. Ma is right, he is right."
Everyone knew that these young gentlemen were guests invited by His Majesty, and they received many benefits. Instead of laughing at them, the defenders agreed with them.
"I will take them back to rest now and come back tomorrow. Please help me take care of these two boats."
"It should, it should!"
In this way, when Wu State was busy with the Northern Expedition, Ma Di led a group of students to practice on their own.
A few days passed.
"Mr. Ma is here again?"
"yes!"
"Come on, come and help me!"
"No, no, no, no need to bother the soldiers this time, just let them do it themselves."
Ma Su quickly stopped him.
"Oh, listen to Mr. Ma."
"I've already asked someone to bring some food and wine over, and I'll be here soon. Come on, come on, we'll go pick them up."
Ma Su took the general of Wu army and left.
"Food and drinks?"
The general swallowed.
As a low-level officer, he didn't have many opportunities to eat meat, let alone drink.
He glanced at the young men with some hesitation, "Is this okay?"
"Why not? Schoolmaster Lu has told me a long time ago that this is just a small port, and there is nothing going on on weekdays, so we are allowed to come here to practice boating."
Ma Su said nonchalantly, "Besides, there are only two boats. No matter how you look at them, you can't see any flowers. Come on, let me invite you all in the army to have a drink."
Officer Wu Jun thought for a while and realized that this was true.
"Then sir, won't you follow us on board?"
"Just let them go to the river alone and have a look, and I will follow them all the time. What kind of experience is that?"
"Yes, please sir first."
"Okay, let's go!"
Knowing that the Shu people had actually invited people to bring food and wine this time, the two hundred soldiers stationed at Jinkou cheered.
Seeing that Wu Jun didn't even notice this, the temporary captain Luo Xian shouted to Fu Qian on the other boat:
"Are you ready?"
"Not yet, wait a moment."
Fu Qian replied in his mouth, but something he was holding in his hand became unstable and fell into the water.
"Oh, that's too bad!"
As he spoke, he took off his robe and jumped directly into the water.
The students on the same boat were also in a panic, and two others also jumped into the water.
After a while, the three people finally surfaced, and the people on the boat hurriedly pulled them up.
After this little accident, Fu Qian finally shouted:
"Okay, let's sail!"
The two warships began to row slowly toward the river.
Other than this little accident, it looked the same as the previous times.
No one knows that a foot below the water, invisible to the naked eye, there is a specially treated tough thin line, one end of which is tied to a nailed underwater wooden stake.
If you keep following this line, you will find that at the other end of it is the warship where Shu students practice their operations...
