Chapter 639
Chapter 639
Liu Mang continued to beat up the messenger until Xu Shu tried to stop him.
“Milord. Don’t hit him anymore!”
“Inner Minister. There is no need to be anxious. Just beat him up! Cao Cao is not a good person and this is a nobody. There is no need for Yangzhou to fear him!” Guan Hai said as he stopped Xu Shu. They still had not retaliated from when Xudou dispatched troops to Yuzhou.
“That’s not it!” Xu Shu also did not want to stop Liu Mang. However, if he were to continue, the Heaven’s Messenger would really ascend to heaven.
“Phew.” Liu Mang took a deep breath after venting his anger.
“You! You!” The messenger said while his face was covered in blood and snivel.
“Why? Do you still want to get beaten up?” Liu Mang asked. The messenger trembled with fear before fainting.
“Hm?” Liu Mang furrowed his brows. He was also afraid that he killed the man. Though he did not fear Cao Cao, he might provoke a war if he did not give Cao Cao any face.
Fortunately, Zhou Cang went over and checked to find that the man was still alive.
“Well then. How about you tell us why Cao Cao is sending us a letter?” Liu Mang turned to the messenger’s assistant and asked with a smile. To that man, this looked like the smile of a demon.
The trembling assistant picked up the red letter from the floor. As the Han’s color of prosperity was red, the important things aside from the Emperor’s clothes were also red.
“Ac… Accept the Mandate of Heaven. The Emperor says that…” The assistant spoke until he finished reading the Imperial edict.
“I got promoted?” Liu Mang asked. His title of East General (General that Suppresses the East) is gone. And he was now a General of Agile Cavalry. His own father-in-law became a Bulwark General. Both titles were of very high rank. The next rank would be the title of Grand General.
“Since when did Cao Cao become so good?” Liu Mang was skeptical and started to feel a little guilty towards the Heaven’s Messenger since he got beaten up for delivering a promotion letter. Even Liu Mang should not repay favors with violence. Just as Liu Mang was about to misunderstand, Xu Shu turned gloomy.
“Men! Come and send these men away to take a rest!” Xu Shu took matters into his own hands and called for the guards. Soon the guards took away the two men.
“Yuanzhi. What’s wrong?” Liu Mang noticed that Xu Shu was gloomy.
Xu Shu gritted his teeth and exclaimed. “This was a good scheme. They secretly put you down as they raise you up. Now Yangzhou does not have any righteousness.”
“Yuanzhi. What do you mean? Did Cao Cao give me a promotion to reconcile?” Liu Mang asked. To him, righteousness was no match for strength. So he did not understand these things.
“Milord. Cao Cao has no intentions of reconciling with Yangzhou. In fact, he wants to ruin our army’s plans.” Xu Shu explained.
“Milord. As a East General, you may not have a high position but you have authority to manage Jingchu and Shu River. That is why we have righteousness when we go on expeditions. Even Liu Biao can be considered your subordinate. However, it is different if you are a General of Agile Cavalry. Cao Cao intends on making you a Marquis of Champion!”
The most outstanding General of Agile Cavalry was Emperor Wu’s subordinate, Huo Qubing. Huo Qubing helped the Emperor defeat the Xiongnu. Huo Qibing was a very distinguished general with lots of authority.
The General of Agile Cavalry position was introduced for Huo Qubing as he could not gain any more promotions. Emperor Wu initially to take away Huo Qubing’s military power by giving him an official position yet he could not do that as Huo Qubing had already done so much for the Emperor. There were also remnants of Xiongnu left. That was how the Huo Qubing became General of Agile Cavalry.
This position sounded very awe inspiring. It truly was so during Emperor Wu’s reign but it was also deceptive. The point here is that this held no military authority. Though he would be called a general, there would be no soldiers and his job would be to accompany the Emperor. In other words, he is just the chief of the Imperial bodyguards.
That was why it was a joke that Liu Mang received this position.
“What about Bulwark General?” Liu Mang furrowed his brows.
“Hmph! It would be good if it was under Cao Cao! It can be said that he could be the deputy commander of the Cao Army! But do you think Marquis Wen would become Cao Cao’s subordinate? Without his position as Lord of Yangzhou, he would not even have the right to attack Jiangdong!”
Without this position, Liu Mang could not attack one because nobody cares about his circumstances. The same will apply to Lu Bu since the most prosperous area in Jiangdong was around Yangzhou. Other places were like the land of savages.
Cao Cao’s strategy was good. The Imperial edict immediately caused Yangzhou to be unable to attack others.
“Inner Minister. We have already interrogated him.” The report came after Xu Shu finished explaining about the Imperial edict to Liu Mang. “This is his statement.” Xu Shu’s subordinate said as he gave a letter dyed in blood to Xu Shu.
Xu Shu read it. The more he read, the more his brows furrowed. “As expected of Guo Fengxiao. Truly deserving of his reputation!”
“Milord. This is the assistant messenger’s statement.” Xu Shu said to Liu Mang.
“Assistant messenger?” Liu Mang muttered as he took the letter. Written in it was the name of the messenger, their position in the Cao Army, and Cao Cao’s instructions. Liu Mang sighed at Xu Shu’s effectiveness. It was clear that this statement was not given by the assistant messenger’s own initiative. Xu Shu must have done something.
In actual fact, Liu Mang himself was the one who contributed the most in getting the man’s confession. Him beating up the Heaven’s Messenger till unconsciousness helped make this assistant more cooperative. He spoke easily to preserve his own life.
“Have Sun Ce ally himself with Liu Biao?” Liu Mang was astonished as his previous position of East General was given to Liu Biao by Cao Cao. Meanwhile, Jiangdong has the position of East Expedition General even though Sun Ce was not the Lord of Yangzhou.
Normally, the East Expedition General was the subordinate of the East General. So it was like Cao Cao attempting to make the two allies.
“But will Sun Ce agree?” Liu Mang could not understand. Sun Ce and Liu Biao were mortal enemies yet Cao Cao was relying on official titles to get the two to become allies?
Though people said that benefits there were no eternal enemies, only eternal benefits. This was different for Sun Ce. He conquered his own lands and conducted himself honestly. On top of that, it was Liu Biao who killed his father. So Sun Ce was someone willing to surrender to anybody except Liu Biao.
“If Sun Ce would not agree, he would not have his brother congratulate Cao Cao’s wife.” Xu Shu explained. He did not know much about Sun Ce as he had been busy with Yangzhou’s affairs and their enemy was Liu Bei. Lu Bu and Chen Gong were the ones dealing with Sun Ce. If Chen Gong was here, he would tell Liu Mang that Sun Ce would definitely not ally himself with Liu Biao.
“His brother? Sun Quan?” Liu Mang suddenly remembered.
“Yes. The assistant messenger said that Jiangdong’s Second Lord, Sun Quan, had given the lady a congratulatory gift.” Xu Shu said. How else could this have happened if Sun Ce did not allow it?
“No!” Liu Mang shook his head. Something was wrong. If Sun Ce wanted to be friendly with Cao Cao, why would he borrow his brother’s name?
“Milord. There is no time to waste. We should attack Jiangdong immediately!” Xu Shu said to Liu Mang. Cao Cao making Liu Biao the East General was not a problem since Yangzhou did not want to attack Jingzhou yet. However, it was different in Jiangdong’s case.
Jiangdong had lots of soldiers while Jingzhou is rich. The two cannot be allowed to form an alliance. They had to attack before the messengers reached Jiangdong. Once Jiangdong has fallen, Jingzhou would not be able to ally with anyone.
“Something is wrong! Yuanzhi, let us wait first!” Liu Mang shook his head.
“Milord, we cannot wait any longer. Kongming spent a lot of effort to sink Jiangdong’s navy. If we wait any longer, it would be difficult to deal with Jiangdong!” Xu Shu advised. They haven’t attacked Jiangdong yet because the place was poor. Even if they win, they would not gain much profits. Besides that, Lu Xun and Zhuge Liang were using the troops to seize the prosperous Jiangling.
Jiangdong was on death’s door. Even if they wanted to recruit more troops, they did not have the money. Besides that, Jiangdong’s every battle against Yangzhou only met with defeat so they were unable to make ends meet.
So Jiangdong would not be able to recruit troops. However, it was a different story if Jingzhou allied themselves with Jiangdong. With Jingzhou’s wealth, Jiangdong would be able to arm eighty thousand men. Since Jiangdong’s people were all formidable, they could easily form elites with them and create a war of attrition.
Liu Mang was also hesitating on whether he wanted to attack Jiangdong or not because it was poor. Capturing it would only cause Liu Mang to lose money. It may also cause problems with Yangzhou’s shipbuilding plan. He did not want to use troops against Jiangdong and wanted to force Jiangdong to surrender instead.
Jiangdong was poor while Jingzhou was rich enough to eat their fill even after defeat. However, Sun Ce was someone who willingly used food money to go to war so getting defeated was fatal. Liu Mang would not need to attack for the nobles and the citizens to push Sun Ce off. With Yangzhou’s business flourishing because of the cement and their armors, the money from Jiangdong flowed into Yangzhou, exhausting them even more. If one were to push Jiangdong even further, they may fight like a cornered rat. Liu Mang did not want to waste the lives of his elites like this.
“Zhou Cang!” Liu Mang suddenly turned to Zhou Cang. “Go and call Minister Lu!”
“Zijing?” Xu Shu was confused.
“Understood!” Zhou Cang accepted the order and soon, Lu Su was brought over.
“Lu Su greets the Lord!” Lu Su thought it was strange to be called so late at night. He was about to sleep when Zhou Cang called.
“Zijing. What do you know about Sun Quan?” Liu Mang immediately asked.
“The Second Lord?” Lu Su did not know why he was asked this at this hour and subconsciously called Sun Quan that way.
“Milord. This servant is now the Lord’s subordinate! This servant will not miss the old Master!” Lu Su cupped his fist and replied, thinking that Liu Mang suspected him due to his previous conection.
“Milord. This servant is incapable, please remove him from his position as Minister of Appointments.” Lu Su added. While he wanted to show his talents in this era, being called this late at night showed that Liu Mang suspected him.
“Remove you from your position?” Liu Mang smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Zijing. What nonsense are you talking about? If you leave, where will I find another talented and honest person to replace you?”
“Is this not Milord’s intentions for summoning me so late at night?” Lu Su asked skeptically.
Liu Mang then realized that Lu Su had misunderstood him because he had asked about Lu Su’s old master, Sun Quan. If Liu Mang had asked about Sun Ce instead, Lu Su would not have come to his misunderstanding.
“I just want to ask you about Sun Quan to know more about the Second Lord of Jiangdong!” Liu Mang explained.
“Don’t worry Zijing. Our Lord only uses people he does not suspect and will not suspect the ones he uses.” Xu Shu also added with a smile.
“I know him like I know myself.” Lu Su said to describe his understanding of Sun Quan. Lu Su understood Sun Quan the most. In fact, he might know Sun Quan more than Sun Quan knows himself as Lu Su was an outsider who could see things clearer. The two of them had hit it off the first time they met.
All of Sun Quan’s actions in Jiangdong was met with approval by Lu Su. This is because Sun Quan possessed the qualities of a good Lord. He could make friends with the nobles, he could make plans, and even understand military law. He was also handsome.
However, Lu Su never expected that having an excellent brother on top would cause Sun Quan to lose his wisdom. Sun Quan was unable to see what his brother did for him and the Sun Family. All he saw was that his brother was in front of him, blocking his brilliance.
At the battle of Linhuai, Lu Su could have won or at the very least fought the battle to a draw. However, Sun Quan was shortsighted. In order to obtain military power from Ling Cao and Lu Meng and become independent, he tried to prove himself and ignored Lu Su’s advice. As a result, he was captured.
One of the reasons Lu Su defected was because of Sun Quan. In order to live, he only thought of himself and did not concern himself with Lu Su. This caused Lu Su to become discouraged.
“Does Sun Quan have big ambitions?” Liu Mang asked.
“The Second Lord!” Lu Su originally did not want to say this. Sun Quan was just a subject in Jiangdong. His brother was the Lord of Jiangdong. He would not achieve anything with big ambitions unless his brother is dead. Yet, when Lu Su looked at Liu Mang, he could only nod and say. “Yes.”
“Zijing. Did you know that Jiangdong’s ruler, Sun Ce, had unexpectedly sent a letter to Cao Cao, pleading for Cao Cao to help him form an alliance with Jingzhou. Allowing Liu Biao to be lead the attack on Yangzhou.” Liu Mang said to Lu Su.
“Impossible!” Lu Su immediately replied. “Milord. From where did you get this information? Sun Ce would definitely not ally himself with Jingzhou!” Lu Su understood Sun Ce’s character. With Sun Ce’s character, restraining himself from killing Liu Biao was the best he could do. Pleading to Cao Cao and allowing Liu Biao to take the lead? Not possible.
If Sun Ce was defeated and surrendered to Yangzhou, he could still take revenge on Liu Biao. On the other hand, if he were to ally himself under Liu Biao, he would remain Liu Biao’s subject for as long as Yangzhou is not defeated. How could Sun Ce be willing to serve his father’s killer? How would he face his father in the afterlife? His entire foundation and achievements was made for his family and to take revenge for his father. It was simply not possible for him to set aside his hatred and ally himself with his mortal enemy. Where would he put his face?
“If it is not Jiangdong’s Little Conqueror, then who can order the Second Lord, Sun Quan, to go to Xudou and congratulated Cao Cao’s wife?” Liu Mang asked with a smile.
“Of course that is…” Lu Su was about to reply and then paused as though thinking about something. He then smiled bitterly and said, “Milord. There is no need to test me about this.”
“It must be Sun Quan himself that did this.” Liu Mang helped Lu Su give an answer. The only other person that could move Sun Quan was Sun Quan himself.
Since this was Sun Quan’s own arbitrary action, then the question would become Sun Quan’s motives. The fact that he had high ambitions only made him suspicious.
“Could it be…?” Lu Su’s eyes grew wide. “Second Lord. Do you really intend to do that?”
“Guo Jia Guo Fengxiao! I should have anticipated this!” Liu Mang mumbled to himself.
“Milord. Why do you know that Sun Quan was doing things behind his brother’s back?” Xu Shu asked.
“Haha. It is not that I have great foresight. It is Cao Sikong’s trusted advisor that gave me this information!” Liu Mang replied.
“Cao Cao’s trusted advisor? Guo Jia Guo Fengxiao?” Xu Shu was confused. Guo Jia clearly wanted Liu Mang dead so why would he give Liu Mang information?
“That is because Guo Jia has evaluated Sun Ce before.” Liu Mang replied. Xu Shu and Lu Su listened attentively. “Sun Ce is overconfident and unprepared. He may have thousands of troops but he conquered the Central Plains alone. If he encounters assassins, he would have to deal with them by himself. He will eventually die at the hands of common men.”
Xu Shu and Lu Su’s eyes grew wide upon hearing this. “Assassinate Sun Ce?” Xu Shu and Lu Su exchanged a glance as they acknowledged Guo Jia’s skills for being able to see what others could not. Even if the others could tell that Sun Ce had a lot of self-confidence, no one would have thought of assassins because of Sun Ce’s strength.
Many would not entertain the thought of assassinating Sun Ce but they forgot that even good swimmers can drown from carelessness. All those that cannot fight could simply bring guards with them. A person that could fight would not care because they were confident in their own skills.
“Congratulations Milord! Jiangdong now belongs to you!” Lu Su cupped his fist while shaking his head.
“Zijing. Are you not happy?”
“I am both happy and unhappy.” Lu Su shook his head. He was happy because he could return home when Jiangdong surrenders. At the same time, he was unhappy because the one involved was his good friend. If it wasn’t because of the war, he and Sun Quan would have been inseparable.
***
Jiangdong’s capital Jianye, was its economic center. Yet it was desolate. Few people walked the streets while the rest had blank expressions.
There were also many in mourning as ultimately, Jiangdong was defeated at the Yangtze River despite it being their strongest area. An army of seventy thousand was wiped out. This also meant that seventy thousand families lost a family member. Such is the cruelty of war.
“Milord. That is enough.” At the Wu residence, Lu Meng was advising Sun Ce from drinking more wine.
“Lu Meng! Get out of the way. Don’t stop me from drinking!” Sun Ce responded.
Lu Men’s subordinates were all old and weak. The strong ones had already perished at the Yangtze River. The long river was filled with burnt corpses. The smell reaching all the way downstream. What was the point of reserve troops now? So Lu Meng simply returned to the city and took up the post of a bodyguard.
He initially thought that Sun Ce would be able to pull himself together and build a new army. Yet Sun Ce simply got himself drunk every day.
“Milord. You must not drink anymore!” Lu Meng said bitterly. The jugs of wine had already piled up to a mountain. “Milord. The army is waiting for you to recruit more troops and prepare for war!”
“Army? What army? Does Jiangdong still have twenty thousand men?” Sun Ce said self mockingly. At its prime, Jiangdong had ninety thousand elite troops and countless more inferior ones. Yet now it was a luxury to even find twenty thousand men. Sun Quan lost twenty thousand. Jiang Qin lost thirty thousand and Sun Ce himself lost hundreds of thousands, including his foundation.
“Milord. We can still recruit more!” Lu Meng persuaded.
“Recruit? Hahaha. Recruit with what?” Sun Ce said bitterly. If they wanted to recruit more troops, they needed money and provisions. However, Jiangdong’s treasury was empty. Most of their wealth had gone to Jiujiang and yet Jiujiang now belonged to Yangzhou. He could not even afford to pay military compensation for the dead.
“We can collect funds from the nobles!” Lu Meng continued.
“Haha! Them?” Sun Ce sneered. “These nobles wish I died so that they can find another to serve!” Jiangdong’s nobles also no longer want to fight as they were now broke. They initially thought of dividing Yangzhou up but never expected this outcome. The nobles did not want to die with Sun Ce so it was unlikely for them to provide Sun Ce with more money.
“Milord! Stop drinking!” Lu Meng did not know how to persuade Sun Ce and could only try to prevent Sun Ce from drinking. He wanted to seize the wine from Sun Ce.
“Lu Meng! You dare!” Sun Ce glared. “If you don’t want to let me drink, then get lost!”
“I…” Lu Meng felt resentful but still refused to abandon his Lord. Lu Meng was pretty much raised by Sun Ce so he was also grateful to Sun Ce.
“Lu Meng. Let him drink.” A calm voice resounded while Lu Meng was feeling troubled.
Lu Meng became overjoyed as he recognized the owner of that voice.
“Hm?” Sun Ce furrowed his brows.
“Grand Governor!” Lu Meng cupped his fist and yelled. “Come and persuade the Lord!”
The man that arrived was Zhou Yu. Originally, he should have gone to the Qiao Family to marry a wife as agreed. He even sent over the betrothal gift already. Yet no one was in the mood for marriage now since the streets of Jianye was filled with people mourning the dead. Lu Meng thought that Zhou Yu would persuade Sun Ce to stop drinking but instead, he simply sat on the ground and opened another bottle.
“Good wine!” Zhou Yu shouted after drinking a cup.
“Now that’s better!” Sun Ce had thought that Zhou Yu would stop him but instead, Zhou Yu was accompanying him.
“Come! Lu Meng, you sit down too! Let us drink together!” Zhou Yu invited. Lu Meng gritted his teeth and sat down.
“Come let us drink a cup together! Tonight, we will not go home until drunk!”
“Yes! How could men not drink? Today, we shall drink to send off the Lord!” Zhou Yu suddenly said to Sun Ce and Lu Meng.
“Send off?” Lu Meng was shocked. Even Sun Ce stopped drinking.
“Yes. We send off the Lord and afterwards, Jiangdong would be without a Lord. From now onwards, you, the Lord and I, the subject will go separate ways. From today onwards, our friendship will end!” The more Zhou Yu spoke, the darker Sun Ce’s expression became. He even put down his cup.
“Come! Let’s drink!”
At that moment, the bottle of wine fell to the ground with a resounding clang.