The Shu army withdrew from the Wuchuan Valley at the end of February, and the new Shu envoy, Yuzhou Sima Cao Qian, arrived in Jinling again on March 16 in accordance with the order of the Shu Lord Wang Jian.
It was March in Yangchun, and the spring light was bright. Cao Gan, a thin man wearing a long gown, stood on an official ship and looked at the incomplete outer walls of Jinling City in the distance.
Compared with when he left Jinling, there was basically no progress in the repairs of the walls outside Jinling City. He thought to himself that it seemed that in order to prepare for the offensive against Chaozhou, Chu State had completely stopped repairing Jinling City.
It's just that the Chu army has already assembled in Shuzhou and along the south bank of the Yangtze River, but it has been delayed until now in a large-scale attack on Chaozhou. Cao Gan is also puzzled in his heart, and he doesn't understand what kind of conflicts and entanglements within the Chu country are still unresolved. open.
Of course, Cao Qian could not guess that all this was caused by Emperor Chu's suspicion of Xuzhou.
Since it was the Shu army that took the initiative to provoke the war, the official ships of the Shu envoys were strictly prohibited from directly entering the Yupu Bridge dock in the outer city wall through the water pass this time. Instead, they were ordered to dock outside the West City via the Yangtze River waterway via Xiaotang River. The Shen Family Collection.
The Ministry of Rites of Dachu and Honglu Temple each sent one chief to lead six or seven miscellaneous officials to Shenjiaji to take charge of reception matters.
What is slightly more beautiful is that the imprisonment of Wei Qun, the envoy of Shu, was finally lifted.
Wei Qun has been imprisoned in Dutingyi for more than four months. He seems to have no worries about food and clothing, but his life is really difficult.
As the minister of Honglu Temple in Shu, his rank was naturally higher than that of Sima Cao Qian in Yuzhou. However, when he heard that Cao Qian came to Jinling with Wang Jian, the Lord of Shu, with a new decree, he rushed to Shenjiaji early to meet Cao Qian.
Besides, he and his ten-strong retinue were "invited" out of Duting Post by the Ministry of Rites of the Great Chu today. He did not go out of the city to join Cao Qian, and he had no place to stay in Jinling City for the time being.
Officials from the Ministry of Rites of Dachu and Honglu Temple naturally did not have a good attitude towards the arrival of the Shu envoy. They received the credentials submitted by Cao Gan and designated an inn for them to stay in and wait for the news. The post didn't even make any arrangements for them, so they went back to the city early.
Cao Gan didn't take it seriously. After all, the two countries were still at war. Whether to accept Shu's peace negotiation and when to enter the peace negotiation process, the kings and ministers of Chu had to weigh it first.
The officials of the imperial court wanted to show the majesty of the Great Chu Kingdom this time and put on a proud and cold face, but the officials in the county did not dare to be too careless.
In addition to clearing out an inn in Shenjiaji early for Wei Qun and Cao Gan to move in with his entourage, the county also sent dozens of county officials to disperse inside and outside Shenjiaji. On the one hand, they were responsible for keeping an eye on the Shu envoys. Attachment, prevent them from entering and exiting the place at will, and also prevent river bandits from escaping.
If there were any personal losses caused by the Shu envoys in Shenjiaji, the local government would never be able to bear this responsibility.
"Why did the ruler of the country rashly decide to send troops to occupy the Wuchuan Valley?"
The settlement was left to the retinue. Wei Qun, who had been under house arrest for more than four months and whose contact with the outside world was completely cut off, couldn't wait to pull Cao Gan into a quiet room in the inn and ask about the Kingdom of Shu during this period. Many things happened.
He also ignored the fact that Cao Qian was a close associate of the Marquis of Changxiang, Wang Yong, and he really had no friendship with him.
The quiet room is located on the second floor of the inn. When you open the window, you can see the open water of Xiaotang River behind the window.
Although the repairs of Jinling City have been completely interrupted, the prosperity of Jiangnan has not been seriously affected. From the boats parked in Shenjiaji, it can be seen that after a year of recuperation in and around Jinling City, it has gradually recovered.
Facing Wei Qun's question, Cao Qian certainly would not give an honest answer.
Before submitting his credentials to the officials of the Ministry of Rites of Dachu and Honglu Temple, Cao Qian also showed his credentials to Wei Qun.
Cao Gan came to seek peace this time, and the letter of credence he submitted to Da Chu naturally explained and explained the military provocation and the subsequent internal handling of Shu.
At this time, Cao Qian generally followed the letter of credence and told Wei Qun some details about what happened in Shu during this period.
In the Shu Kingdom, those who had strongly advocated sending troops to retake the Wuchuan Valley from the beginning and waiting for an opportunity to control the Qianjiang River Channel were Huang Zongcheng, the Minister of War, and Wang Xiaoxian, the Marquis of Wei. Their reasons were also very high-sounding.
Wuchuan has always been an old county affiliated to Bajun and Jiannan Road. As a branch of the Shanliao people, the Wuchuan people have been subjects of the local government of Bashu for a long time. There have been some voices for a long time, wanting to conquer Wuchuan.
Sichuan regained the past.
However, this voice was not strong enough at first to cover up the overall situation of the Shu-Chu alliance.
A large-scale civil unrest broke out in Sizhou, and at the same time there was news that many salt brine springs were newly discovered in the mountains on both sides of the Wuchuan Valley. At that time, Sizhou's defense in the Wuchuan Valley seemed to be in vain. It was considered that once the Wuliao people regrouped, they could retake Wuchuan.
The river valley will directly affect the Shu army's suppression of the Shanliao people in southern Sichuan. With Huang Zongcheng and Weihou Wang Xiaoxian taking the lead, voices within the Shu Kingdom supporting sending troops to occupy the Wuchuan Valley suddenly became louder.
At that time, it was also expected that Chu's domestic and foreign troubles would not be solved, and Chu's interests along the Qianjiang River were far less than those of Shu. As long as the Shu army sent troops decisively, it could eventually force Chu to compromise.
However, the Chu court recruited a new group of rebel bandits to attack the Wuchuan Valley, and the Wu Liao people frequently launched attacks on both sides of the Qianjiang River, which were unexpected by the Shu army.
Taking into account the signs that the Liang army was gathering in Guanzhong, King Wang Jian finally decided to cut off the brave men and ordered the Shu army to withdraw from the Wuchuan Valley, which suffered heavy casualties, and restart peace talks with the Chu state.
"Is there really a new salt spring discovered in Wuchuan?" Wei Qun knew that Cao Gan would not be able to tell him the truth, but he couldn't help but want to ask in more detail.
"However, two salty springs were discovered in the mountains near the Wuchuan Valley, but the amount of brine produced was not as much as the two existing salt wells in Wuchuan." Cao Gan said.
"Why go through all this trouble!" Wei Qun couldn't help shaking his head and said bitterly.
At present, the Shu Kingdom has nearly 400 salt wells that can produce salt brine, with an annual output of more than 400,000 tons of salt. If a large-scale salt brine is discovered in the deep mountains of Wuchuan, considering that Wuchuan may fall into the hands of the Wuliao people again, it should indeed be considered
Send troops to occupy.
Wei Qun believed that when the army occupied the Wuchuan Valley, they should have carefully surveyed the mountains on the left and right. In the end, only two salty springs were found. This effort was really not worth the gain.
Even if Wuchuan ends up with five or six brine-producing salt wells, and even if it can boil five or six thousand tons of well salt every year, the scale will still be far less than that of the Banan area, which has more than 30 salt wells now, and it will only be enough to supply one county.
It is only consumed by humans and animals.
"Yes, after all this trouble, the grievances of the kings and ministers of the Chu Kingdom will not go away, and I don't know if this trip will have a good result!" Cao Gan also sighed with emotion.
Cao Gan will never admit that after this incident, not only the prince's power in the court of Qingjiang Marquis Wang Hongyi was severely damaged, but not only the prince's power in Zuo Qingjiang's army was severely damaged, they were also able to follow up on the responsibility for the failure of the war.
Eliminate the prince's trusted generals from Zuo Qingjiang's army.
In order to be able to explain to the Chu State, the leader of the country, Wang Jian, decided to remove Huang Zongcheng, the Minister of War, and Wang Xiaoxian, the Marquis of Wei, from their official titles, and demoted them to the Liangzhou Army to wait for their service.
Regardless of whether the relationship between Shu and Chu can be restored this time, the anger in the hearts of the two countries' troops stationed in Qianjiang is difficult to eliminate. Considering the threat of the Wu Liao people's comeback, Changxiang Hou Wang Yong naturally needs to continue to stay.
He was stationed in Yuzhou, but he was unexpectedly transferred to Liangzhou.
"The Chu army will probably officially launch an offensive against Chaozhou in the next few days, and they will probably use the stairs to descend." Wei Qun said.
He was about to ask about other recent events in Shu, but he saw that Cao Qian's attention seemed to be attracted by things outside the window at this moment, and asked curiously: "What is it that Master Cao is so fascinated by?"
Wei Qun turned his head and looked in the direction where Cao Gan was looking, and saw a three-masted sailing ship with an estimated carrying capacity of about three thousand stones, slowly heading towards the Shenjiaji Pier, and seemed to be docking at the Shenjiaji Pier.
set.
"This three-masted sailing ship was probably built in Xuzhou," Cao Gan said.
Hearing what Cao Gan said, Wei Qun understood why Cao Gan was distracted.
He looked over carefully and noticed that the mast of this large ship was slightly shorter, but very wide horizontally. It was indeed a soft square sail unique to Xuzhou.
The large ships currently built in Xuzhou are mainly supplied to the navy in Yueyang and Jinling, as well as to internal Xuzhou, clan clans, shipping gangs, merchant gangs in other places, and even local governments are temporarily unable to directly ship from Xuzhou.
Purchase a large ship.
After all, the production capacity of the Xuzhou Shipbuilding Yard is also limited. Previously, priority was given to building large warships to supply the military.
The appearance of such a large three-masted sailing ship on the river outside Jinling City means that it is most likely a civilian merchant ship sailing directly from Xuzhou.
Wei Qun said with emotion: "I was imprisoned in Jinling. Listening to the discussions of the petty officials of Chu State, Jinling seemed to suspect that Han Qian had colluded with Shu, and also suspected that the civil unrest in Sizhou was secretly instigated by Han Qian. However, both sides
After the fierce battle in the Wuchuan Valley a few days ago, Han Qian probably doesn't need to worry about being suspected anymore, so that's why the merchant ships from Xuzhou sailed directly to Jinling to make profits, right?"
At present, except for those who really know the details or have comprehensive information about Chu and Shu, no one else can doubt the collusion between Han Qian and the Shu army from any aspect.
No matter how you look at it, the monarchs and ministers of the Shu Kingdom saw the outbreak of civil unrest in Sizhou and saw the opportunity to completely control the Qianjiang River Passage. They also mistakenly believed that Chu State would not particularly care about the gains and losses of the Qianjiang River Passage due to the unresolved internal and external troubles.
a military adventure.
If there was no collusion between Xuzhou and the Shu army, it would be difficult to doubt that the civil unrest in Sizhou was secretly instigated by Xuzhou. After all, before the Shu army invaded the Wuchuan Valley, Xuzhou maintained great restraint against the situation in Sizhou.
"Maybe so." Cao Gan said perfunctorily to Wei Qun, but he who really knew the inside story knew that the Xuzhou cargo ship entering Jinling was not as simple as Wei Qun said.
It should be that Han Qian, the Marquis of Qianyang, wanted to reach back to the center of Da Chu after forbearing for a period of time, right?
Cao Gan also didn't know who Xuzhou would send to Jinling this time, and whether he would take the initiative to contact him or find a way to contact Princess Qingyang...
