Chapter 1099 2 Hard Choices

Chapter 1099 2 Hard Choices

Chapter 1099 Dilemma
Huan Wen did not stay in Yangkou for long.

After the princess's household official Liu Miao and fifty Jingfuyuan soldiers unloaded all the goods, he boarded the ship with a thousand transport soldiers and five hundred sons of the Right Cavalry Guard, and set sail on the 23rd, heading west.

It seems that because it is the flood season, the Yangshui River is slightly turbid and has a bit of yellowish earth color.

Don't underestimate this turbid river water. Without it, the underwater delta will not appear, and there will be no chance for the delta to rise year by year and gradually emerge from the water to form land.

The Yunmeng Lake was able to gradually recede and form many lands, and these rivers carrying large amounts of silt played an indispensable role.

Huan Wen went outside the cabin to get some fresh air.

Seeing him coming out, the boatmen were cheered up. Just at this time, the boat reached a bend and the current was a bit fast. The boatmen were either calm and composed or tried their best to adjust the course. Under their operation, the boat tilted only slightly and continued to move forward steadily.

A south wind blew from the river bank, carrying with it a hint of rice fragrance.

Huan Wen's nose twitched slightly, and when he looked again, he saw a large flag appeared in the south with the word "Sima" written on it.

Hmm? Sima?

The boat continued to move forward, and soon there was another big "Sima" flag. Some people with disheveled hair were huddled in front of their own thatched huts, carefully cooking corn porridge.

Some warriors holding swords and bows stood on high places, wiping their sweat and looking at the people below.

The muddy ground by the riverbank was trampled terribly. Some Qiang people who had eaten—Huan Wen was not sure, but it looked like it—were using simple wooden farm tools to dig the soil by the riverbank. Perhaps it was too hot, they had almost taken off all their clothes, with only a calf-nose trousers as a loincloth, their bodies were covered in mud, and their faces were numb.

Swamps, woods, rivers, smoke from cooking, shacks, farmers and rising mist together form this slightly poetic yet cruel picture.

On the 25th, the fleet anchored near Huarong County and rested there for two days.

They had to rest, because the five hundred young men from Luoyang who came on the ship were not feeling well.

The weather is too hot, and people have been stuck in the cabin all day long. The surrounding environment is so unfriendly that many people have fallen ill.

Huan Wen was okay. Although he was from the north, he grew up in the south of the Yangtze River and seemed to be much more adaptable than these people.

But his transport troops were also sick, after all, a considerable number of them were old subordinates he recruited in Qinzhou and Hezhou. They were accustomed to the cool and dry climate there, and even with the experience of adapting to the transitional zone of Xiangyang, it was still difficult.

All the sick people were roughly divided into two groups, with those with milder symptoms concentrated on some ships and those with more serious symptoms concentrated on other ships.

To be honest, it's a bit cruel, but it's the most "gentle" way to deal with it. During the Age of Discovery, sick crew members were very likely to be thrown into the sea because the captain had to ensure that others were in good health.

After arriving in Huarong County, the patient was accommodated on the spot and would go to Jiangling after his condition improved.

Huan Wen looked around the city.

The traces of the last war are still clearly visible, and you can even find broken arrows and spears in the fields near the city.

The city was in a dilapidated state, and the parts destroyed during the siege had not been repaired.

Huarong City didn't even have a proper garrison, and the newly appointed county magistrate could only beg the local wealthy families to take turns sending troops to help defend the city. After all, this place was considered an important town during the Eastern Wu period, and it was well developed and had some foundation.

The Hu family's manor west of Huarong City has changed its owner.

The Hu family was the largest local family, but they suffered a heavy loss because of a wrong choice. Except for a few children who moved to Wuchang and Jianye, the family was almost destroyed, and even the manor changed hands.

More than 600 hectares of fertile land where rice had been grown for many years were divided among the four families of Wang, Yu, Pei, and Yang, and enough open space was left around them, so the four families could expand and reclaim the wasteland.

They have already sent people to take over. With fertile land that has been managed for years, ready-made farm tools and farmhands, profits can be generated from the first day of taking over. Who wouldn't like that?

The fields of the Huang and Zhang families in Jiangxia were also divided up.

The former was slightly larger and was awarded to Wang Que'er, Jin Zheng and Hou Feihu, while the latter was slightly smaller and was given to Li Zhong and Shao Shen. They could also expand to the surrounding swamps without restrictions.

Judging from these rewards, the emperor was very generous, and those who followed him to conquer the world received continuous benefits.

The emperor was also serious about the reclamation of the three southern counties. He tried every possible means to allow more people to enter the wilderness and slowly change the environment.

This may be one of the most important things in the emperor's later life.

******
On the 27th, the fleet arrived in Jiangling and settled in the water city east of the city.

In fact, there is water but no city.

After Huan Wen got to the shore, he looked around and found many boats anchored on the lake, dumping yellow mud into the water. Occasionally, stones of different sizes were pulled in and filled into the shallows under the water, compacting and raising the surface bit by bit.

Part of the wall had indeed been built, mainly on land to the east of the city.

A water gate was even specially opened in the East City of Jiangling, so that ships anchored in the water city can enter Jiangling City through this gate in the future.

Correspondingly, the river channel also needs to be dredged and excavated, which is a huge project overall. It requires a lot of people and a lot of money.

Shao Shen, the commander-in-chief of the six counties, was outside the east gate. When he saw Huan Wen, he nodded slightly. Huan Wen stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Greetings, commander-in-chief."

Shao Shen then extended his hand in return of the salute and said, "Yuanzi, have you brought the soldiers?"

After saying that, he pointed to the young men who were getting off the boat not far away.

"That's right. There are 420 people in total, all of them are here." Huan Wen said, "There are also dozens of people who are unable to walk, so they are temporarily staying in Huarong."

Shao Shen nodded and said no more.

However, just as he was about to turn around and leave, he hesitated and asked, "Did Lord Le of Xiangyang ask you to bring a message?"

"Never."

Shao Shen nodded and went straight back to the city.

"Yuanzi." Deng Yue, who was originally standing behind Shao Shen, walked over and bowed to get closer to him.

He and Huan Wen had met several times in Xiangyang.

Huan Wen was surprised when he saw her and said, "I went back to Luoyang and didn't see you again. But I didn't expect to come to Jiangling."

"I have been appointed as the magistrate of Jiangling." Deng Yue said, "My main task now is to collect food, grass, men, and money for the Prince of Julu, and to provide for the recruitment and training of the navy."

"Oh? Where is the navy?" Huan Wen looked at the water city and asked.

"Let's go to the river to learn martial arts." Deng Yue said, "You can't practice it hiding in the water city."

"How capable are you? The navy suffered heavy losses a few months ago." Huan Wen said.

"Governor Yang has transferred the navy from Heyang and Shahai and recruited some more people. Now he has dozens of warships and 6,000 soldiers." Deng Yue said, "In July, two ships came from Baling. Most of them were descendants of the Shen family in Wuxing. They brought dozens of people to join the army. Governor Yang tested their abilities and was very pleased. He gave them all official positions."

"The Shen family's children have come at a good time." Huan Wen said with emotion.

In this world, generally speaking, promotion is slow. But there are a few special situations that can turn you from a penniless state directly into an official who can order people around, and one of them is the formation of a navy.

"Someone from the Shen family escaped, but Zhuge Daoming did not pursue the matter, and only tightened the watch." Deng Yue said, "Given the situation in the south, I think Wuchang and Xiakou will be lost sooner or later. Back then, I thought that relying on the strong city of Xiangyang, the important town of Jiangling, and the skilled navy, we could stop the Daliang army. Now it seems——"

At this point, he shook his head and said, "Under the situation of civil peace and military playfulness, even Wuchang will be hard to defend. Now he is a descendant of the Shen family, but in the future he will be a serious navy of Jingzhou."

"Does Boshan know what's going on in Badong?" Huan Wen asked again.

"Why? Yuanzi, do you want to go?" Deng Yue looked at him with a smile and said, "You can't go. The Prince of Julu doesn't want anything to happen to his brother-in-law."

Huan Wen was helpless.

Some things are really hard to tell to outsiders. He even doubted that if he really made achievements and got promoted in the future, outsiders would all say that he relied on the princess.

He is destined to be unable to get rid of these rumors for the rest of his life.

"I would like to go, but I don't have the chance." Deng Yue added, "The Prince of Julu County doesn't want me to lead my troops to Badong. He's probably worried that the incident with the Shouchun Zushi Shaobu will happen again."

Huan Wen understood what he meant.

At that time, there were several thousand soldiers who surrendered in the two cities of Xiangfan. As far as he knew, they had now been divided into several groups and settled in Jingling, Nanjun, Xiangyang and Jiangxia.

Because most of the soldiers' families were in Wuchang, it was difficult to trust them. The court was worried that they would defect every few days like Zu Yue's tribe, so they would rather not use them.

After all, the Prince of Julu might really be worried that once the surrendered soldiers from Xiangyang went to Badong, they would directly stir up trouble, kidnap Deng Yue, Guanqiu Ao and others, and send a quick report to Wuchang, asking the navy to come to support them - to be honest, the possibility is still very high.

At this time, Huan Wen suddenly realized a problem: Shao Du seemed to be planning to take over Badong.

On the way here, he had been thinking that if he took over Badong, the Jiangbei part of Jianping and Yidu counties would probably also have to be captured.

Yidu has some troops, but Jianping and Badong are both empty. Maybe they can take it down in one go, and then advance east and west to take Yidu. But if they do that, Zhuge Hui will be embarrassed. Will he get angry and destroy the current relatively stable situation? If he sends troops to retaliate, then the war in the south will start again.

But from another perspective, the temptation of Badong County is too great!
If you want to attack Shuzhong, it is too difficult to go south from Hanzhong. First of all, the food and grass supply can drag down the turbulent Guanzhong. Secondly, there are so many dangerous passes along the way. Do you have to take them one by one? Li Cheng is not in civil strife now. They are even in a state of expansion. The overall national situation is going up. Those passes are not easy to take.

But if you go upstream from Badong, it will be much easier.

If Li Cheng didn't covet Badong, then we could live in peace, but how could things in the world always go as you wish? You are just daydreaming.

If Li Cheng comes for the second time, Badong will certainly not be able to be defended, and sending reinforcements will be inevitable.

This is a dilemma, but it seems that Prince Julu has made his decision.

(End of this chapter)