Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1275 March
Bu Zhi looked at the fleet going away and finally felt relieved.

Although Bu Lianshi followed Yuan Xi to fight, which was somewhat dangerous, Bu Zhi was very confident. After all, Yuan Xi had never lost in the battles for Jiangdong over the years. This time, the troops were more like a funeral for the State of Wu.

Bu Lianshi's destination finally had been settled. She had long passed the age for marriage, but Bu Zhi guessed that if Yuan Xi had not come in the past few years, Bu Lianshi would have continued to wait. Now that Yuan Xi had spoken, it was natural for Bu Zhi to fulfill his brother's entrustment.

The fleet hoisted its sails and headed towards Wujun at full speed. At that time, Huang Zhong was on the water and Wei Yan was on land. They had launched a full-scale attack on Danyang occupied by Wu. This was Wu's largest source of troops. If it was captured, Wu would no longer have the power to resist.

In this expedition, Yuan Xi was actually not well prepared, and the same was true for Sun Quan. Yuan Xi did not expect Zhang Fei to be assassinated, and Sun Quan did not expect Liu Bei to retaliate with the whole country's strength. Originally, Sun Quan and Liu Bei were evenly matched, but now with the entry of the Jin army, this balance was broken.

When the fleet approached Wujun, fragments of ships and corpses had already begun to float down from upstream. The further west they went, the more corpses there were on the river. Seeing this scene, Yuan Xi couldn't help but shake his head, thinking that the weather was getting hotter, and the large number of corpses in the river water would easily cause infectious diseases to the residents along the river after drinking it.

During this period in later generations, many large-scale epidemics broke out in the Jingchu region where Wei, Shu and Wu were at war. It was also during this period that the famous doctor Zhang Zhongjing encountered a city-wide epidemic, which caused seven or eight out of ten members of his family to die of the disease. The painful experience prompted Zhang Zhongjing to write Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Disorders.

In this life, Zhang Zhongjing was in Changsha, and Hua Tuo had already met him to discuss medicine. The two people, who originally did not have much interaction, had a very pleasant conversation because Hua Tuo's Qing Nang book contained Yuan Xi's knowledge of infectious diseases in later generations, which inspired Zhang Zhongjing a lot. This greatly promoted Zhang Zhongjing's understanding of epidemics.

So Yuan Xi knew that Zhang Zhongjing was now working for Liu Bei, so he was not too worried that Liu Bei's army would be greatly affected by the epidemic. But it might be different on Sun Quan's side. The epidemic might be spread because of this. If the Jin army joined the war, it might also be infected and affected by the Wu army.

Yuan Xi had a deep understanding of this. During all these years when he fought in many places, there had been several outbreaks of illnesses of varying degrees in the army, all of which were related to the spread of epidemic diseases, especially the battle in which Cao Cao captured Yecheng, when the armies of both sides were infected with the epidemic.

At that time, Yuan Xi's condition was more serious, and he survived a near-death experience. Although Cao Cao's condition was mild, Yuan Xi guessed that he also had sequelae, otherwise Cao Cao's health would not have collapsed so quickly later.

Nowadays, corpses are constantly floating on the river, and many of them have been swollen and rotten, while the people on both sides of the river are still taking water to drink as if nothing had happened. Yuan Xi couldn't help shaking his head when he saw this, but he had no way to deal with it. After all, the people rely on river water for their daily lives, and boiling water is even more unrealistic. There are not many trees suitable for living on both sides of the river bank, and the residents often still eat raw food, let alone drink hot water.

So many times, it’s not that there is no way to deal with the epidemic, but that objective conditions do not allow it.

Yuan Xi immediately sent a messenger ashore to notify officials in Jin State to nip the signs of the epidemic in the bud. At the same time, he ordered the warships to approach the north bank and take water from the tributaries or streams flowing into the Yangtze River on the north bank. Soldiers were not allowed to take water from the river and the water sources on the south bank without permission.

Seeing the puzzled look on Bu Lianshi's face, he explained a few words. Bu Lianshi finally understood and said with lingering fear: "When I followed my uncle to wander around Jiangzuo, I also saw the tragic scene of the epidemic. Almost all the people in the village died. Everyone didn't know why, so they just stayed away from it."

"After walking for two months, the disease finally stopped when we arrived at the destination. Now, after listening to what the king said, I know that it was because we were walking all the time and had little contact with sick people that we escaped."

"I heard that the king was also ill, and although he recovered later, his condition was quite serious at the time?"

Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "Indeed, that was the closest I've been to death in the past ten years. For several days, I even felt like I was beyond help."

"No matter how invincible you are, or how powerful you are, when the epidemic comes, everyone is equal. Many times, you can only rely on your body to fight. I was able to survive that time because of Mr. Yuanhua's treatment, but there was also some luck involved."

"Otherwise, I'm afraid we wouldn't be standing here talking like this."

Master Bu Lian lowered her head and said softly, "Your Majesty is blessed by heaven, nothing will happen to you."

Yuan Xi looked at the sky and said leisurely: "Sometimes fate is really amazing. At that time, Jiangdong and I fought several battles. Although Sun Quan was defeated by me many times, he still refused to give up."

"At that time, Mr. Fengxiao wanted to stop the war between the two countries, so he persuaded Mrs. Wu to take Mr. Yuanhua back to Jiangdong to treat Zhou Yu who was injured in the Battle of Chaohu."

"After Mr. Yuanhua cured Zhou Yu with his miraculous hands, Sun Quan put him under house arrest, declaring the failure of the negotiations between the two sides."

"Later, I fell ill during the battle in Jizhou. It was Madam Wu who heard the news and secretly released Mr. Yuanhua. She rushed to Jizhou and saved me from death."

"Mrs. Wu's efforts have all failed. I no longer expect anything from Sun Quan. He has repeatedly broken his promises. I have no choice but to act like a foster father and make him give up all his fantasies."

Bu Lianshi couldn't help but cover her mouth and laughed, "The story of the king and Madam Wu is the most talked about topic among the women of the Jiangdong noble families in private."

"Compared to the king's other wives, Mrs. Wu is legendary in terms of both status and experience, and the fact that she can be with the king is legendary."

Yuan Xi was a little embarrassed after hearing this, "Huh?"

"I thought Madam Wu's affairs were well concealed. Has the news spread?"

"Tell me, what have you heard?"

Bu Lianshi told Yuan Xi the rumors she had heard from the women of Xuzhou noble families. Yuan Xi was surprised to find that what she had said was almost true. He couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. It seems that I have really deceived myself." "I am like this, not to mention Sun Quan. He is now blinded by hatred and interests and is determined to go his own way. For Madam Wu's sake, I can only take it one step at a time and try to save his life."

Bu Lianshi murmured, "The king is a very loyal person."

She suddenly couldn't help but chuckle again, "Your Majesty, you really look like King Wu's father. Obviously, Your Majesty is about the same age as him."

Yuan Xi thought to himself that if you say this in front of Sun Quan, he will probably be angry to death on the spot. He was about to speak when he saw a fleet coming towards him.

When the two sides got closer and recognized each other, Yuan Xi realized that it was Huang Zhong who came to greet him personally, so he moved the boat closer to Huang Zhong's boat and put up planks on both sides. Huang Zhong then walked over and bowed to Yuan Xi, saying, "I am here to see you, Your Majesty."

Yuan Xi helped Huang Zhong up and said, "Military affairs are of the utmost importance. Old General, there is no need to be polite. Tell me how the battle went."

After hearing this, Huang Zhong quickly reported the battle situation. Yuan Xi then realized that Wei Yan had cooperated with the Shanyue people on land and had already captured several cities in Danyang.

Huang Zhong mainly attacked the cities and water forts along the river from the river to ensure the logistics of Wei Yan's army, and at the same time blocked the river surface to prevent the Wu army from transporting troops across the river.

Naturally, the Wu army was unwilling to be outdone, and also sent out almost all of its navy to fight. In the past half month, it had fought with Huang Zhong five or six times. The fighting on both sides was extremely brutal, and Huang Zhong's 10,000-plus navy had suffered more than 2,000 casualties.

The Wu army was in an even worse situation, with casualties several times greater than those of Huang Zhong's side. However, the other side was now desperate to fill in the gaps, so they did not care about the lives of these thousands of people at all.

The news from Wancheng was that Lu Xun was leading Lu Su and Jiang Qin to counterattack Wu's navy that was approaching Ruxukou. The enemy was led by Xu Sheng and Ding Feng respectively, and had been driven to the south bank of the Yangtze River by Lu Xun and Gan Ning on the flank, and was forced to build a water fort on the shore for defense.

After hearing this, Yuan Xi was surprised and asked, "Lu Su and Jiang Qin?"

"Did they attack on their own initiative, or were they ordered to join the battle by Boyan?"

Huang Zhong said, "The letter didn't say that, but I guess that he should take the initiative to fight, right?"

Yuan Xi thought about it. He didn't expect Lu Su and Jiang Qin to take the initiative to attack and destroy Jiangdong. However, Lu Xun should do something uncertain at this time. In this case, let them do what they want.

He said to Huang Zhong: "Let's ignore Yuzhang for now and take down Danyang County first."

"Send a message to Wen Chang on the shore, and have him march towards the river bank. We will attack the cities one by one, and first occupy the docks and water forts on the south bank of the Yangtze River, leaving the Wu navy with no place to use their skills."

"I also brought 10,000 Jianghuai naval forces with me this time, and I will leave them all to the old general to mobilize."

Huang Zhong immediately took orders and led his army forward. Yuan Xi was in charge of the central army. Less than half an hour after they marched, a Wu navy appeared in front of them and the two sides immediately engaged in battle.

Arrows were continuously fired from both sides. When the Wu navy saw the flag on Yuan Xi's ship, they immediately sent dozens of warships to attack. The Jin army ships also surrounded them to stop the fighting. Arrows kept hitting the bows. Seeing this, Yuan Xi said to Bu Lianshi, "Go into the cabin and hide."

Master Bu Lian asked, "What about the king?"

Yuan Xi pushed her into the house and said, "If I am at the bow, the morale of the soldiers will be higher, and fewer people will die."

"You don't know martial arts, just protect yourself."

Bu Lianshi had no choice but to close the cabin door and listened to the sounds of fighting coming from outside. She thought to herself that she was really useless. If she had half of Madam Lu's ability, she wouldn't have to hide here.

In the following days, battles of all sizes continued, but the Jin army, relying on its superiority in manpower and weaponry, defeated the Wu navy, forcing it to retreat step by step and was about to retreat to Yuzhang.

The Wu navy on the border of Yuzhang and Danyang was led by Lu Ji himself. After he received the news, he became even more worried. All the generals of Jiangdong were sent to Ruxukou to fight against Lu Xun. Now the Jin army was attacking from the rear. Where would he find any useful men?

He suddenly remembered that some time ago a general had defected to Sun Quan and was sent under his command. This man was quite good at fighting and was no weaker than the generals of Jiangdong, but his reputation was very bad. Lu Ji had never wanted to use him, so he let him guard the city on the shore.

But now we are short of manpower, so it seems we have to send this person.

(End of this chapter)