Chapter 1107 Climbing high

Chapter 1107 Climbing high

Chapter 1107 Climbing high
The first month of the fifth year of Kaiping (331) arrived unexpectedly.

The New Year's Day celebration ceremony was solemn and dignified. Envoys from all provinces and tribes in the world came to the capital to present various tributes and congratulate the Emperor of Daliang on his longevity.

Everything seems to be thriving and everything is getting better and better. This is the atmosphere of a prosperous and glorious future.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, all the wise men gather for a climbing meeting at Mount Mang.

At this time, a report came from the Jingzhou army: Shao Shen, the Prince of Julu, defeated the Jin army under the city of Yidu and beheaded more than a thousand people. The Yiling nobles, in desperation, killed the prefect and surrendered.

It’s half a month later than the previous guarantee, but it’s not bad.

Badong, Jianping, and Yidu are all counties that span both sides of the Yangtze River, but coincidentally, their county seats are all in the north of the Yangtze River. After taking them, we can even appoint a governor.

In addition, the Cheng State army has also arrived in Badong.

Their navy sailed downstream and first reached Nanpu. Guanqiu Yin led more than 2,000 people to hold out there. Chengbing let go of some of his men, but after failing to persuade them to surrender, he became angry and began to besiege.

However, their main force still went to Yufu.

Shao Shen's envoys traveled through the mountains of the three counties, recruiting various barbarian chiefs and cave masters, and tried their best to persuade them to send troops and food to reinforce Badong.

After reading it, Shao Xun was quite satisfied and announced it publicly at the climbing meeting.

For a moment, the sound of congratulations was so deafening that people almost wondered if it had awakened the new and old ghosts under their feet.

The highlight of the summit meeting was of course the selection of a husband for Princess Xiangyang Shao Zhen. This was something that no one would say out loud, and they had to pretend not to know, but everyone knew it very well - Shao Zhen was initially named Princess Hongnong, and later changed to Princess Xiangyang.

The second princess - no one would be stupid enough to call her the third princess in public - her biological mother is Empress Yu. Among common people, she would be a legitimate daughter, so needless to say, her status is very noble.

Young talents from all walks of life pretended to know nothing while performing at their best in poetry, calligraphy, etiquette, and even horse riding and archery, trying to compete with others. The competition was extremely fierce.

Princess Xiangyang was quiet and even a little shy. She had been studying since she was young and was well-educated. This life experience made her a complete "face control". She liked handsome boys and didn't care much about their abilities or family background.

In the end, she actually chose a martial arts student from Jinyang Martial Arts School.

This man's name was Fang Lun, from Pingyang, with almost no family background, and was the same age as Shao Zhen.

This year is his last year of studying martial arts in Jinyang. Due to his hard work and outstanding skills, he was awarded the position of team leader. He will wait for the Silver Spear Left Camp to return and join the army as a supplementary soldier officer. If a martial arts student of eighteen or nineteen is not outstanding, he is obviously not qualified to come to Mangshan.

When the news spread, the sons of the nobles in Luoyang were in an uproar.

Although the martial arts students were also jealous of this boy being able to marry Master Shao's daughter, they united to face the enemy at this time. Some of the smarter ones had already started thinking about how to make friends with Fang Lun as a classmate and improve their prospects in the imperial guards.

Of course, they were not smart enough. Anyone with a discerning eye knew that Fang Lun would not go to the Silver Spear Left Camp. How could the emperor's son-in-law still be the team leader? Whose face would be lost?
Fang Lun might eventually return to the Silver Spear Left Camp and control the imperial guards for the emperor, but certainly not now.

But no matter where he went, as the number one topic of conversation in the first month of the fifth year of Kaiping, Fang Lun was bound to be talked about by many people, because he was too topical - is it possible that someone could rise to the top overnight with just a face?

After the summit meeting, Shao Xun returned to Luoyang. Before leaving, he sent an envoy to Pingcheng again to ask when Duke Dai would be able to come to Luoyang.
******
Compared with Luoyang, the atmosphere in Wuchang in the first month of the year was somewhat uneasy.

After the news of the fall of Badong, Jianping and Yidu counties came back, the morale of the shogunate dropped visibly.

The navy was probably the last psychological defense line of Wuchang. After the land army was defeated and thousands of soldiers were lost, they rushed to the vicinity of Jiangling, captured two patrol boats of the Liang navy, sank one and captured one, which slightly restored the morale.

But they had no way to do anything on land and could only watch the Liang people take over all the lands north of the Yangtze River in the three counties.

Things have come to this point, and everything seems to be clear...

"But I can't do this!" In the Governor's Mansion, Zhuge Hui sighed to his second son Zhuge Shu: "The officials in the court can't see that the king's army is weak. They just think that we have lost troops and territory again."

"So father is going to send troops north?" Zhuge Wei asked.

"That's right." Zhuge Hui nodded and said, "Send some barbarian soldiers to the north to plunder. Even if they fail, it won't matter. The Jingzhou hereditary soldiers have just been expanded, so they really can't be used now."

Zhuge Liang understood.

My father really didn't want to fight, but he had no choice, so he could only deal with it. If the court was not happy, according to the current situation, it would only be a minor defeat, and it would not be possible to punish him severely. At most, he would be dismissed from office.

Is this really a bad thing? At least Zhuge Wei doesn't think so.

In fact, he was puzzled that his father's generation still insisted on being buried alive with the Sima family. At this time, you still want to fight back desperately, what's the point?

Of course, he also knew that some things were not that simple. If a person only considered seeking benefits and avoiding harm, that would be terrible. In short, he was helpless, but he would not openly oppose every step his father took.

"Grandpa!" A crisp voice came from outside the door.

Zhuge Hui and his son looked in the direction of the voice and saw the second daughter, Zhuge Wenbao, walking towards them with a wine jug in one hand and her sister Wenxiong's hand in the other.

His wife, Mrs. Kong, was directing the servants to sweep the yard. She would turn around from time to time to glance at her husband, her eyes full of concern.

Zhuge Hui and his son looked at each other, put away the worry on their faces and smiled slightly.

"Grandpa, we're having minced meat today." Before Wenbao could say anything, the five-year-old Wenxiong started yelling.

Both father and son laughed.

Zhuge Hui stood up and walked over, picked up his little daughter, and asked, "Do you like minced meat?"

"I like it." Zhuge Wenxiong nodded seriously, then pointed to the ladder outside and said, "Grandpa and my second brother want to climb up to eat minced meat." Zhuge Hui laughed and said, "Grandpa is the governor of four states, how can he do such a reckless thing? It's inappropriate."

Zhuge Wei took a celadon two-handled pot from his second sister. The pot was still warm, and inside was the pepper and cypress wine made in the twelfth month of last year. Drinking it on New Year's Day was an old custom in the Han Dynasty. There was not much left now, so it was just right to finish it today.

"Have your meal in the study." Zhuge Hui put his little daughter down and instructed.

Zhuge Wenbao responded and carefully checked the incense in the copper furnace. Seeing that it was almost burned out, he told the maid to bring some new ones.

"It was the eldest sister who did all these things back then, and now it's the second sister's turn to be in charge." Zhuge Wei said with a smile.

Zhuge Wenbao smiled, then said with some melancholy: "I wonder what my elder sister is doing now?"

"Do you miss her?" Zhuge Wei cleared the clutter on the table, put down two wine bowls, poured half a bowl of wine for his father, and asked casually.

"Yeah." Zhuge Wenbao said, "My elder sister and I have never been apart for so long. I miss her very much."

Zhuge Wei poured himself half a bowl of wine, then sat down and sighed, "My eldest sister is in Jianye, so she should be fine. But my third brother is in Pingyang, so I'm afraid his situation will be much more difficult."

"Didn't third brother just ask someone to send a letter back?" Zhuge Wenbao asked curiously.

When this letter was mentioned, the faces of Zhuge Hui and Zhuge Wei, father and son, darkened again.

However, Zhuge Hui had been through a lot, so he quickly changed the subject. He looked at his second daughter and said jokingly, "Wenbao will be fourteen this year. Taifu Yang has a beautiful daughter and wants to marry you. What do you think?"

Zhuge Wenbao blushed and said, "I want to accompany my parents."

Zhuge Wei pretended to be displeased.

"I also have to accompany my second brother." Zhuge Wenbao said again.

Zhuge Wei "turned his anger into joy" and said with a smile: "It's worth it that my brother brought you so many rare treasures. Once the war starts, I don't know when it will end. Others can't buy them even if they want to. In the future, it will be more than enough for your dowry."

Zhuge Wenbao was finally defeated and walked out with a red face.

Zhuge Wenxiong ran after her, but halfway through, he turned back and lingered beside his brother Zhuge Wei.

Zhuge Hu held his sister on his lap and said to Zhuge Hui: "Grandpa, it is a good thing to marry into the Yang family, but it may not end up in the Yang Wei family. There is also the Yang family in the north——"

Zhuge Hui stretched out his hand to stop his son from speaking, and said, "It's too urgent, wait a moment."

Zhuge Liang understood.

The Zhuge family had actively intermarried with the Yang and Deng families over the past two generations, so there was nothing wrong with marrying the second daughter into the Yang family, but this could not be done now.

The third son, Zhuge Heng, went to Pingyang and married a daughter of the Deng family. He has been living in the Deng family ever since. He rarely goes out and rarely interacts with others except for acting as a liaison to avoid being known.

After all, he is the governor of the Jin Dynasty and has to pay attention to the impact.

"Just now you mentioned the business of commerce..." Zhuge Hui said, "Let's stop talking about the north for now and talk about it after the war is over. During this period of time, you should study at home. You will have to be an official in the future. This family cannot rely on your father and your elder brother alone. You have to share the burden."

"Yes." Zhuge Wei bowed his head to accept the instruction.

"After the first month of the lunar year, you should go to Changsha." Zhuge Hui added, "Your father will mobilize troops against Ningzhou after the new year. This battle mainly relies on persuasion. The leaders of the Cuan people have sent their sons and nephews to Changsha to trade. We should try to make contact with them."

"Grandpa, are you really going to listen to Wang Yan?" Zhuge Wei was a little surprised.

"I have to save some face." Zhuge Hui sighed, "Otherwise, even my old friends in the court won't be able to help me."

Zhuge Wei was speechless, and then couldn't help asking: "What if the Liang people take the opportunity to go south?"

"With the navy here, they can't get over. Besides, my father won't send a large army south. This war will use both suppression and appeasement, and the main thing is to rely on appeasement." Zhuge Hui paused after he finished speaking, then looked at the distant sky outside the window and said, "If this is true, then it is God's will. God wants to destroy Jin."

Zhuge Wei nodded, thinking that the Jin Dynasty's chariot and cavalry generals were in such a state that its demise was only a matter of time.

Xuan asked again: "Grandpa, do you think the Liang people can hold Badong? If they can't transport food and grain by river, they can only rely on land transportation. It would be good if they can get one or two out of ten carts of food. The roads are all dangerous and arduous."

Zhuge Hui did not answer. After taking a sip of wine, he said, "My father cannot take back Badong, and Cheng Zi is just wishful thinking. In Yufu, a dangerous place, Luo Xian held on for half a year with only 2,000 men. How could Cheng Zi take it down? I have known Guanqiu Zongkuang for a long time. He is a calculating and greedy person. Since he has surrendered to Liang, he must have thought it through and will definitely not surrender. Besides, Liang has sent reinforcements, which makes it even more difficult to fight. With Badong in hand, it will not be so difficult to enter Shu..."

What is the difficulty in entering Shu from Jingzhou? The difficulty lies in the Three Gorges.

Where is the Three Gorges? Behind Badong.

As long as you hold Badong, there will be no more dangerous passes from the Yangtze River into Sichuan, and it will be a smooth journey, provided that you can defeat the enemy's navy.

Zhuge Hui was not so pessimistic and disappointed at the beginning.

Things develop step by step.

In his opinion, the newly built Liang navy was no match for the Shu people, and they could not go upstream and attack Shu for the time being. But the Cheng thieves' navy was not much stronger, and they might be defeated by the Liang people one day.

Li Cheng might even perish before the Jin Dynasty...

(End of this chapter)