Chapter 292 Get out!

Chapter 292 Get out!
King Sima Que of Xincai stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the tens of thousands of troops camped in the distance.

According to reports from government officials who went to entertain the troops, there were approximately seven or eight thousand combat soldiers, as well as nearly ten thousand convicts temporarily conscripted from Yingchuan County.

It’s so powerful, so powerful!

Sima Que did not go to visit the camp because he was ill.

He is not a courageous man.

In the "turn-based game" in Yecheng three years ago, his father Sima Teng fled on horseback but was killed by Li Feng, a general under Jisang.

The eldest brother Sima Yu was known for his bravery. Upon hearing that his father had been murdered, he immediately led his men back. He happened to meet Li Feng and killed his entourage. Li Feng was forced to jump into the water and die.

But on the way back, my brother and his entourage encountered Li Feng's troops and were surrounded and killed by them.

In the end, he was the only one who escaped, as his three brothers all died, so the title of King of Xincai fell to him, the illegitimate son.

The past scenes are still deeply engraved in his mind, making him shudder. When he gets up in the middle of the night, he often sweats through his clothes and falls into pessimism.

He knew that he was incapable of integrating the military forces of Yuzhou. After taking office for so long, he mainly relied on the remaining old subordinates of his father to recruit and train new soldiers. He really didn't understand what they said.

But he couldn't refuse the appointment.

There are not many people left in the line of the King of the East Sea. Even for my own sake, I have to try my best to hold on.

It’s really difficult!
"Governor, Li Hong refused to go to Chenliu and went towards Nandun and Xincai." The general ran upstairs and reported breathlessly.

"How dare you, you brat!" Sima Que angrily slapped the parapet and cursed.

Li Hong was the leader of the refugees from Pingyang, with several thousand men. After arriving in Henan County, he heard that the Xiongnu had arrived and wanted to go south to Xiangcheng, but the city was blocked by three passes. As a last resort, he took the risk of taking a detour through Chenggao and marched to Xingyang before the Xiongnu.

The commander of the fort, Li Ju, summoned him, but he refused and went south to Yingchuan again.

Sima Que sent people with money and food to summon him, and ordered him to go north to Chenliu to block Wang Mi who might go south.

Li Hong accepted the money, food and weapons, but refused to die, so he left Xuchang overnight and headed south to Xincai State, the fief of Sima Que.

He knew very well what the refugee army was like.

He knew very well how empty Xincai, Nandun and Runan were.

So I am very angry.

"Gather the troops immediately and 'escort' Li Hong out of the country. I have no right to care where he wants to go. But don't let him hang around Xincai." Sima Que gave the order.

"Yes." The general responded, but did not leave.

"Anything else?" Sima Ke knew that this personal soldier general who was originally a servant was always sensible and would not meddle in other people's business, so he asked.

"Commander-in-chief, there are many refugees in Yuzhou, and it is not just Li Hong's family's problem." The general reminded him, "There are refugees in Pei, Lu, Liang, Qiao, Chen, Ru, and Ying counties. Most of them are remnants of Wang Mi's bandits. Later, there were more refugees from Pingyang, Hedong, and even Guanzhong. There are tens of thousands of families. Although they have picked up wasteland and reclaimed it, the bandits are hard to change. They plunder everywhere during the slack season, and the residents suffer a lot."

"What do you want to say?" Sima Que looked at him puzzledly.

He was a little suspicious whether the servant had received money and deliberately brought up this matter in front of him.

"I think we can report this to the court and order them to return to their respective counties to avoid any disaster." The general replied.

Sima Que's doubts were slightly relieved.

He knew that what his general said made sense.

The conflict between residents and refugees is not a matter of one or two years, nor is it a matter of one state or one county.

Some refugees can be used. For example, Liu Hong, the former governor of Jingzhou, gathered a large number of refugees from the north, divided up unowned land in the counties of Jingzhou, and ordered them to settle down and cultivate the land and become residents.

But some refugees cannot use it.

For example, the remnants of Wang Mi scattered in the counties of Yuzhou were very restless. Last year, there was a severe drought, and the land was barren for thousands of miles. The refugees and residents fought for water, attacking and killing each other, and countless people died.

As it stands, the relationship between Yuzhou residents and refugees has become extremely tense.

The residents have official support and the backing of wealthy and powerful families, while the refugees stick together and fight each other bravely. The two sides have been hostile to each other for a long time and have deep hatred. It seems that as long as there is a spark, the long-pile of firewood can be quickly ignited.

"Commander-in-chief, some time ago, the cavalry captured spies who came south from Chenliu. They were all sent by Wang Mi, trying to incite the refugees to revolt, capture cities, kill officials, and plunder people and money and food before heading north to join him." The general added, "If Wang Mi succeeds, Yuzhou will be in chaos. Compared to this, Li Hong is nothing."

Sima Que's expression suddenly became solemn.

This was a real threat that had to be taken seriously. His position as governor of Xuchang was just a figurehead. There were only a few thousand so-called veterans who had been trained for more than a year, and the more than 10,000 newly recruited soldiers had been trained for no more than two months and had little combat effectiveness.

Moreover, the equipment is not very complete. The craftsmen are working day and night to make it. I don’t know whether they can equip them with the guns, bows, swords, shields, armor and crossbows needed for fighting in the battlefield before the end of the year.

In recent years, the Xuchang Governorate has suffered repeated bloodshed and the losses have been really great.

"Why didn't Wang Mi go south himself and command these refugees to rebel?" Sima Que suddenly thought of this question.

The general pointed to the army camped in the distance and said, "Commander-in-chief, the Marquis of Chen is in Xuchang. Wang Mi should not dare to go south."

"Is he scared?"

"He's scared."

Sima Que suddenly felt a little envious.

A military strategist who can fight to the point where an enemy general is terrified and walks around him should be proud of himself, right? Wang Mi is also a coward, not daring to confront Shao Xun head-on, and is unworthy of the title of "Flying Leopard".

Well, this statement is also problematic. If Wang Mi is a coward, then what are they?
Sima Que shook his head, deciding not to dwell on this question anymore, and asked, "You mentioned submitting a memorial to the court just now, what does that mean?"

"The governor may want to talk to Jingzhou." The general suggested, "Many refugees from Guanzhong have moved to Jingxiang and Nanyang, with as many as 50,000 families. I'm sure Wang and Shan are also having a headache. If they can jointly submit a petition with the governor and order the refugees from various states to return home, and the governors of Yong, Xu, Qing, and Yan states send people to take them back, then the problem will be solved. Isn't that wonderful?"

"You have some truth in what you said." Sima Que smiled and said, "Well, I will send someone to Xiangyang and Wancheng in a few days to talk to Shan Jian and Wang Cheng."

"As for Li Hong, send troops to expel him first. My kingdom cannot be in chaos." At this point, Sima Que's face showed a bit of ruthlessness, and he said, "I always wonder if I was too weak before, which made Li Hong think that I was easy to bully. This time, I will show him some strength."

"Yes." The general responded.

Seeing that Sima had nothing else to order, he took his leave.

Sima Que turned around again and looked at the camp in the distance.

Representatives of the Yingchuan gentry should all be here. Shao Xun looks very impressive.

******
On the second day of March, Shao Xun arrived in Yanling.

This is also a famous historical city.

Duke Zheng defeated Duan at Yan, and Jin and Chu fought at Yanling, etc.

Yanling was not originally on the marching route. The main reason for coming here was to visit the base camp of Xia Yu family and at the same time move north to intimidate Wang Mi who was ready to make a move.

Wang Mi was in Bai Ma, collecting a large amount of food, fodder, money and silk, and transporting them northwards via two temporary floating bridges that he supervised the construction of.

Early in the morning on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Wang Sang hurried to the ferry clutching a piece of yellow paper. He saw Wang Mi training new recruits, grunting and not daring to speak for a long time.

"What's the matter?" Wang Mi glanced at him.

Wang Sang looked at the paper in his hand, almost sweating, and did not dare to speak.

"Give it here!" Wang Mi stretched out his hand and said.

Wang Sang sighed and said, "Brother, don't be angry. This must be Shao the thief's trick to provoke me."

Wang Mi snatched it away, unfolded it, and immediately felt dizzy.

There was only one word written on the yellow paper: "Get lost!"

"I told you not to look at it." Wang Sang glanced at Wang Mi and sighed.

Wang Mi didn't speak for a long time, but his expression changed like magic, showing various expressions such as shame, anger, sadness and even fear. He can be called a master of face changing.

Seeing his brother like this, Wang Sang felt ashamed and said, "Brother, it's not a good idea to keep avoiding me. I have finally figured it out. I have to get up from where I fell. If I don't defeat Shao Ze once, I won't be able to get over this hurdle."

Wang Mi still didn't speak.

Seeing this, Wang Sang thought Wang Mi had acquiesced, so he said, "Brother, our army has more than 30,000 infantry and cavalry, which is much more than Shao the thief. Let's do this and deal with him. There are many old brothers scattered in various counties in Yuzhou. I will send people to mobilize them and make Shao the thief's backyard a fire, so that he will panic and destroy his Yuzhou."

Having said that, he turned and left.

Wang Mi grabbed his cousin and asked in a low voice, "How did you get this paper?"

Wang Sang was furious when he mentioned this matter. He said, "It was Liu Ling! He led his men to capture our firewood collectors and sent him back with a letter. After many twists and turns, it was finally delivered to me."

"That is to say, not many people know about it?" Wang Mi asked.

"Brother—you!" Wang Sang was a little surprised.

Wang Mi waved his hands and said, "You think too much. Shao the thief insulted me like this, and I am also a man of blood. How can I swallow this breath? So, you kill the people who know about this..."

Wang Sang looked at his brother's expression and understood, so he whispered back, "I'll do it in a minute, and I'll make sure my hands and feet are clean."

Wang Mi nodded and said, "Please invite Shi Le over. He has more than 20,000 cavalrymen under his command. Without these cavalrymen, we can't defeat the Shao bandits. The King of Quyang ordered us to cross the river to the south, originally to plunder the counties around Luoyang and cut off their grain transport. Shi Le is a slippery man and doesn't want to go south. We should go and 'explain the righteousness' to him, and he will come."

Yes, this is the strategic intention of the Huns that Shao Xun had been guessing.

They have discovered that attacking Luoyang by force is not worth the cost, and the possibility of taking it by force is too small. It is better to attack the periphery of Luoyang first. Even if it cannot be taken, it must be destroyed. It is best to cut off the grain transport so that the money and grain from other states cannot be smoothly imported into Luoyang, so that it will collapse without a fight.

In order to cut off the canal transportation, one of Xingyang and Chenliu must be attacked, and it would be best to take both.

"Okay." Wang Sang nodded blankly, and then asked, "What about those old brothers in Yuzhou?"

"Don't act rashly." Wang Mi said, "Weijun has the elite Xiongnu cavalry led by King Quyang, as well as Zhao Gu's troops. It's best to wait until they all arrive, and then attack together. We will definitely make Shao suffer a great loss."

"Brother is really thoughtful." Wang Sang said with a smile.

"There won't be any reinforcements from Luoyang, right?" Wang Mi suddenly became a little worried and asked uncertainly.

"Probably - no." Wang Sang said hesitantly.

"You go and do your business first." Wang Mi waved his hand and said.

"Okay." Wang Sang left happily.

(End of this chapter)