Volu Piece (1/2)

Volu Piece¹

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Lu Can hailed froitimate heir of the Marquis Who Suppresses Distant Lands His paternal grandfather, na, served as Grand General in the time of Emperor Wu and was famous for his loyalty and bravery His father, naxia for twenty years, supremely loyal and respected by all levels of society The Duke lost his e and followed his father into the e of ten, he could draw a three-picul² bow He had divine strength In a hundred battles, warriors couldn’t defeat him Xin more or less said every time, “My son’s exploits are better than mine”

The Duke was skilled in martial arts and detested literature since childhood, because the State esteemed literature and looked down on the military Xin fretted about this and invited a teacher to instruct him The Duke was stubborn and disobedient by nature and drove away tutors In the eleventh year of Xiande, Xin hired Jiang Zhe of Jiaxing as the family tutor At the time, Zhe was barely fifteen Xin was concerned the Duke would feel uneasy, but the Duke changed his attitude and acted with utmost courtesy and respect

In the twenty-second year of Xiande, Zhe was carried off to Yong and surrendered Many years later, the Yong Emperor enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Chu of the fourth rank andWhen the people of Chu heard this, they were incensed All forues and friends vilified him Only the Duke was silent, so some criticized the Duke The Duke said, “A teacher for a day is a father for life How could I sever ties because of a forced choice? Listen, denouncers, and retreat in sharaphy of the Duke of Loyal Courage</ehth , an endless strea from Hai Prefecture³ to Xuzhou on foot A stor heat Wind blowing in fronificently fresh air

In the distance, dust billowed The ruh the air, and an unbroken line of baggage wagons trundled toward Hai Prefecture under the protection of Yong troops The merchants and travelers on the road all made way to the side of the road This kind of scenario would happen nearly every ten to fifteen days, so they didn’t need the troops to order them aside and voluntarilyand Southern Chu had been warring forcountless food, fodder, and supplies Although the Yong military had also reclaimed farmland and trained troops in the area, they still required ions Great Yong controlled And the food and grain shi+pped froh the Yuntai Port in Hai Prefecture en route to Xuzhou

In this vast and ed his horse slowly forward He was Huo Cong Two days ago, he landed at Yuntai and was supposed to ride hard to Xuzhou, but after he got ashore, dread rose inside him, and he deliberately delayed his journey He set out with the caravan delivering provisions, noer Guard protecting him saw into his mind, they couldn’t bear to expose hiether for years, the caeneral escorting the provisions and supplies ordered the whole colueneral walked over and said, “Young eneral oftenmay have been concerned, but he wouldn’t show any of it on his face The officer was trying to be friendly Huo Cong wouldn’t decline this, so said with a seneral’s kindness embarrasses this one” Then he vaulted off his horse and walked to the inn with the general while bantering

The four Stalwart Tiger Guards autoate the inn With Huo Cong leaving Dinghai, the Stalwart Tiger Guards who’d followed Huo Cong to Dinghai should have had no reason to stay in Dinghai anymore, but a vast majority of them had served in the Eastern Sea Navy, and enerals or other important posts If they pulled out all at once, it would unavoidably impact the combat effectiveness of the Eastern Sea Navy As a result, before Jiang Zhe su eht as well transfer those iuards into the Eastern Sea Navy to hold posts Outside of the four Stalwart Tiger Guards who’d been by Huo Cong’s side over the years, the bodyguards all stayed in Dinghai

Although the general escorting the baggage wasn’t sure about Huo Cong’s identity, when he saw the younghi had an important status As such, he was reverent and respectful the whole journey and extre took the opportunity to ask a great deal about the state of affairs in Xuzhou

Ever since the Jiangnan Cohth year of Longsheng, the hundreds of thousands of reinforcenable fortress After nue battles in three years, rivers of blood ran through Jianghuai Generals on both sides had exhausted their ingenuity Beyond the battlefields, secret agents traveled north and south without end on the roads Even in Xuzhou, it was difficult to prevent Southern Chu secret agents and And the Prince of Qi, Li Xian, and Crown Prince Li Jun were overseeing Xuzhou, so assassins sprang up one after another As a result, Xuzhou had long ago been placed under uarded

But whatZhe, was not in Xuzhou at the nan Command Post Adviser, he didn’t seem to care much about important military matters In the past three years, not only had he returnedcapital, he also spentacross theand Huaibei Or he was rowing a boat on Weishan Lake, or cliering on Mount Xian by the Han River He rarely showed an interest ine Zhe was unprecedented Not only did he not conde Zhe was now honored as the Marquis of Chu of the imperial rank This h Huo Cong knew Jiang Zhe was rising through the nobility due to his extraordinary feats in the eighth year of Longsheng, Jiang Zhe’s self-indulgence rather puzzled hi his respected teacher would do

Huo Cong’s , but his face was expressionless He chatted eneral as they walked into the spacious and clean roadside inn Lifting the curtain and entering through the inn’s entrance, the general was about to yell to greet the innkeeper when he caught sight of so hieneral’s behavior But his line of sight was blocked by the general’s body, so he couldn’t see rong inside the inn Yet he took an unconscious step back The two Stalwart Tiger Guards behind hiht up and took a protective stance around hi unexpected happened inside the inn, the two Stalwart Tiger Guards who’d gone in first would’ve found out and sounded the alar eyes At this eneral took a couple hasty steps forward, prostrated, and said, “This general, Xue Quanzhong, kos to Your Lordshi+p, the Marquis I didn’t know Your Lordshi+p would be here Please forgive this general for trespassing”

Huo Cong heard an explosion go off inside his head when he heard the words He went stiff as his gaze traveled past the prostrate general He looked in and sao people he was beyond fa at the table in the center of the inn One was a young h his face pure as snow had changed slightly in three years Wasn’t he the servant who never left his master’s side for a moment, De black robes that reached the ground, with gray hair, hoary teh his eyes were even gentler and deeper Wasn’t he his respected master he’d been separated from for esture to indicate the general rise, then turned his gaze outside the inn He said with a s’er, after an absence of three years, you can’t have forgotten your teacher, right? What a waste of your teacher’s kindness to personally co into the deep eyes full of ad felt the fear that had been pestering him for many days melt and disappear without a trace like ice and snow encountering the scorching sun Unable to prevent the rush of e, and choked out, “This disciple kos to respected teacher How has respected teacher been?” Before he finished, tears began falling to the dirt

Seeing Huo Cong’s shoulders tre softly as he forced himself to hold his passion in check, I was quiteof how I’d purposely wronged my beloved disciple over the past few years and of how he had to endure such stress at such a young age, I’d trulyhim by the arm, and pulled hiht Although I made you suffer for the past few years, it would be difficult for a nor a county at such a young age like you have Haitao sent letters saying you’d helped hireat effectiveness You also racked your brains to govern Putuo, and he recommended you be appointed officially However, I declined in your stead These past few years were just for you to gain experience and faeneral affairs There’s no need to become an official Stay with me and learn for several years By then, you’ll be able to directly assist His Iot a post now, it’d be troublesouidance, Huo Cong’s hidden uneasiness faded away Wiping away his tears, he just realized only Jiang Zhe, Li Shun, and him remained in the inn The uninvolved people had silently withdrawn, leaving an independent space for the teacher and disciple to talk As for Li Shun, Huo Cong knew the man was attached at the hip to his respected teacher Hi down, Huo Cong asked a long harbored question “Sir, this disciple often had doubts when reading war dispatches in Dinghai Sun Tzu said, ‘The art of war is of vital irounds of life and death, a road to either safety or to ruin It cannot be left unexamined’ Sir deeply understands the Art of War, so should know that a stalemate in warfare harms the people and society If one can win, one should win quickly If one cannot win, one should cease all military activities, make preparations for war, and wait for an opportune hly of Sir, so why not do your utmost, or advise the Emperor to end the war, or pacify Southern Chu in one fell swoop?”

I s’er, experienced and knowledgeable people in the world say Southern Chu is ignorant and weak, so why can’t Great Yong trample all over it? Do you know the reason why?”

“Southerners randeur and have no desire to capture the Central Plains,” Huo Cong said with a stern face “If considering the strength of the two countries, outside of Grand General Lu Can’s subordinates,Our military’s elite soldiers are each worth ten ainst Great Yong The current Southern Chu is ignorant and weak Although this is the case, Jiangnan is rich and populous and has a vast expanse of fertile land And it has Jianghuai as a barrier to northern heavy cavalry, as well as Sichuan guarding the Yangtze River upstrea defendable since ancient tinan from the fallen half of the country are too nu has popular support, steadily defends the natural barriers of Jianghuai, and gets another couple faic locations, and with a united tze and sigh Southern Chu has occupied Jiangnan for decades, and though powerful ministers now hold power, the political situation can still be said to be stable The taxes levied aren’t heavy, and the coe to live in peace The populace is still supportive, and with a fa oursouth, the war has been stuck in a rut for years Conquest is not possible”

I nodded silently Huo Cong had indeed grown greatly over the last few years I asked, “Since this is the case, what is your opinion of the current state of affairs? Which of the two sides has the upper hand?”

Huo Cong had thought this question through a long ti is in our army’s hands, and the Southern Chu xiang to invade Nanyang and threaten Guanzhong Xuzhou is inan ar Province and Xuzhou The majority of Sichuan has fallen in our hands The Southern Chu military must rely on Ba Prefecture and Kuizhou to defend themselves The Southern Chu military can only defend passively now The side with the upper hand is self-evident It’s just that the Southern Chu military can still protect itself, and their forces have been honing themselves for the past few years The Southern Chu radually increased If delays continue, one side waxing and the other side waning, it ht be possible for the upper hand to flip to the Southern Chu rasp of this point shows you truly haven’t wasted your tiht now, Southern Chu seeh ourbut is weak in reality Lu Can is not one to rest on his laurels Three years ago, he seized an opening when our aret timely reinforcements to assault Chuzhou and Sizhou If not for our hai, I fear he would’ve seized the chance to capture the e the rancor within the defending general of Xiangyang, Rong Yuan, to capture Xiangyang and reverse the fortunes a little, Lu Can’s great ah Southern Chu is currently on the back foot, Lu Can has taken advantage of successive years of hard fighting to seize allan elite force no worse than our ued, he’ll suddenly a all of Great Yong’s hard work in conquering Southern Chu go up in smoke”