The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 438 Qin Hui's Ingenious Plan

Just as Li Bao was taking Yang Tian for a stroll on the sea...

Xu Wen, a general of the Southern Song Dynasty navy, was at a crossroads in his life.

Xu Wen was from Yexian County, Laizhou (now Laizhou, Shandong). He later moved to Jiaoshui County. As a young man, he made a living by selling smuggled salt. He was brave and spirited and was highly respected among his peers.

When the Jin army invaded the south, Xu Wen refused to surrender and led the Jiaodong navy south to join the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhao Gou initially valued him highly, appointing him as a reserve general in the Privy Council. His troops were reorganized into the Imperial Loyal and Elite Army, becoming the Southern Song's imperial guard. During the suppression of the "Miao-Liu Rebellion," Xu Wen captured Miao Fu and Han Shiji, and was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Huaidong, Zhejiang West, and coastal naval forces.

but……

In recent years, things have become increasingly difficult for him.

Not for any other reason than that he is from Jiaodong.

The name Jiaodong was originally harmless, but ever since the seventeenth prince Zhao Shi declared himself emperor on the Jiaodong Peninsula, Jiaodong has become a very sensitive place.

You know!
It was impossible for a general like Xu Wen, who came from Jiaodong, not to be suspected.

Moreover, he had a sworn enemy in the military with whom he had a long-standing bad relationship.

This person's name is Yan Gao. (He has appeared in earlier chapters of this book, such as 209, 214, 218, etc.)

When Yan Gao took office as the prefect of Weizhou, he was neighbors with Gong Erniangzi, who was stationed in Jiaoshui County. Although the two forces did not fight, their relationship was not good. Many people from Weizhou fled to Jiaoshui County, causing Yan Gao to "lose many lives," which made him very unhappy with the Jiaodong rebels, and also with the people of Jiaodong.

At the morning court session that day, Yan Gao stepped forward and reported: "Your Majesty! Yesterday, some soldiers said that Xu Wen, a general from Jiaodong, has the intention to return north."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Gou flew into a rage. The words "Jiaodong" were now forbidden to be mentioned to him, and the people from Jiaodong were even more unwilling to hear them: "Xu Wen wants to return north? To whom does he want to return?"

Yan Gao said sarcastically, "Of course, he wants to go and submit to the puppet Song dynasty."

Zhao Gou was furious...

But after his anger subsided, he still retained a sliver of rationality. He couldn't just start punishing people based on a few rumors, so he turned to the other officials and asked, "What do you all think of this matter? Is this rumor credible?"

The entire hall, filled with both civil and military officials, was at a loss for what to do and was momentarily stunned.

Qin Hui, however, darted around in the crowd, and suddenly an idea came to him. He stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, I believe that flies don’t land on eggs without cracks, and flowers without honey won’t attract butterflies. Since General Yan has heard the news, Xu Wen must have some problems.”

The other ministers were quite disdainful of his words, thinking to themselves: What kind of nonsense is this?

But if you really want to nitpick, you can't find fault with what he said!
Zhao Gou was immediately convinced and slammed his hand on the imperial desk: "Order Zhu Shimin to arrest Xu Wen and bring him to justice, and give him a proper trial."

Court adjourned!

Qin Hui immediately strode out of the official residence, summoned his close attendants as quickly as possible, retrieved writing materials, and wrote a secret letter in just a few dozen seconds. He handed it to his attendants, saying, "Send this to General Xu Wen immediately. Be careful to keep it secret; do not let anyone see you. Hurry, it's extremely urgent. After delivering the letter, do not return the same way you came. Jump into the sea, swim to a distant shore, and travel around for ten days or half a month before slowly returning."

The attendant understood and immediately put on a raincoat and a bamboo hat to cover his face, and headed quickly toward Xu Wen's naval camp.

Before long, the secret letter was delivered to Xu Wen.

Xu Wen opened the letter and read: "General Xu Wen, Yan Gao has falsely accused you of wanting to return to the puppet Song Dynasty. Traitors in the court are echoing this, and the Emperor has become suspicious of you. He has sent Zhu Shimin to arrest you. Escape immediately! If you have nowhere to go, take this letter to the puppet Song Dynasty and find Young Master Yue. He will surely take you in." It was signed: "An upright minister who longs for the reunification of the two Song Dynasties."

Xu Wen couldn't recognize Qin Hui's handwriting. Besides, Qin Hui had deliberately switched hands when writing the letter to hide his handwriting. How could he know who wrote it? But he thought to himself: An upright minister? Could it be that Mr. Li Gang saved me?
Oh dear! Should I believe it or not?
As he hesitated, his soldiers reported, "Zhu Shimin has led his troops over in a hurry. We don't know what he's up to, but he looks very menacing."

"Fuck me!"

Xu Wen jumped up suddenly, took only his five hundred most trusted men, boarded ten ships, and set sail.

Zhu Shimin had just entered the naval camp when he asked the sailors, "Where is Xu Wen?"

Sailors: "In the main tent... Huh? Why is a ship moving?"

Zhu Shimin turned his head and saw ten ships leaving the port. He was furious: "That son of a bitch Xu Wen has fled to avoid punishment! Men, send ships to chase him immediately!"

By the time Zhu Shimin's men had prepared their boats and set off in pursuit, Xu Wen's boats had already traveled a mile or two.

And so the two fleets began to chase each other on the sea...
-
"Stop shaking, damn it, stop shaking!"

A strong wind rose at sea, causing the surface of the sea to sway violently. Although the Spanish galleons appeared large to humans, they looked like small leaves in the sea, swaying back and forth with the waves.

Manichaean sailors had never experienced this level of rocking on the river.

Everyone was utterly astonished!

Someone clung to the mast and shouted, "Stop shaking, God, I beg you!"

Some people tied their waists with ropes, muttering, "Brahma, my broken body, the mighty sacred fire..."

Even the two highly skilled leaders, Yang Tian and Yang Xiao, were finding it difficult to keep up. However, they couldn't show it in front of their subordinates. They stood calmly on the deck, putting on an expression of nonchalance and fearlessness. But they had already done their best to maintain their expressions and couldn't say anything more.

At this time, Li Bao was incredibly awesome.

He launched into a tirade of laughter at the Manichaean sailors: "Hahahaha! New recruits, take note, this is the first lesson the sea will teach you."

He himself looked uglier than the Manichaean sailors when he first went to sea, but of course he pretended not to remember.

Yang Tian looked up at the sailor sitting at the top of the mast and couldn't help but admire him: "This mast is swaying more violently in the wind and waves than the deck, yet he sits there calmly. That's amazing."

Li Bao laughed: "He cried harder than anyone else when he first sat down, hahaha."

Just as the two were talking, the lookout suddenly shouted down to the deck below: "Boss, a fleet is coming from the south, it's a Song fleet, two of them, one is fleeing, and the other is chasing. I don't know what's going on, it seems like the Southern Song people are chasing their own people?"

Li Bao: "Huh? You didn't see wrong? Are you really chasing them? Maybe it's just the forwards and defenders?"

Lookout: "They're really chasing us! You can tell by how desperately they're maneuvering their sails. In this strong wind, a fully open stiff sail is very easy to break, but those fleeing ahead don't dare to lower their sails, which means they're running for their lives."

(End of this chapter)