The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 173 Letter of Surrender
Yangzhou, Shouchun.

General Wei Zhengdong and Governor of Yangzhou, Cao Xiu, neither went to the military camp to inspect the soldiers' training today, nor did he climb Beishan Mountain across the Fei River to enjoy the late autumn scenery.

Instead, he took the local agricultural officer with him to inspect the military settlements.

This was certainly not because Cao Xiu suddenly had the idea of ​​turning swords into plowshares.

Or perhaps it was because after Sun Quan submitted to the north, there were no major battles in the Yangzhou region, leaving him with nothing to do but feel restless.

On the contrary, Cao Xiu firmly believed that a major war between Wei and Wu would break out again sooner or later.

And I will surely be able to use this great battle as a stepping stone to establish immortal achievements.

Who knows, he might even have a chance to become the top general of the imperial clan, or something like a Grand General or Grand Marshal?

after all.

The current General Cao Ren is not only old, but also lost all his vigor in the defeat at Xiangfan two years ago.

The well-known skeletons in the tomb.

As for Cao Zhen, who was originally firmly in control of him.

Recently, I suffered a minor setback in Guanzhong, which has led to an endless struggle against bandits... There is no possibility of making a great contribution in the short term.

Based on this calculation, the various towns and villages are all included.

It seems that only Xiahou Shang, who governs Nanyang, still has a chance to compete with me.
But Xiahou Shang's surname was Xiahou, not Cao.

In other words, regardless of subjective feelings or objective facts, Cao Xiu was within reach of becoming the top general among the imperial clan.

How could he resist the urge to fight back?
While pondering, the group arrived near a large lake called "Shaobei".

Since the pre-Qin period, insightful people throughout history have repaired and maintained the Shaopi Reservoir to irrigate farmland, making it an important water conservancy project in the Huainan region.

Even during the most turbulent Jian'an period, there were two systematic repairs.

The most recent one was personally presided over by Cao Cao.

Cao Xiu was a member of the imperial clan personally trained by Cao Cao.

Naturally, the development here will not be overlooked.

However, just as he was inspecting a field of newly sown wheat...

But then they saw a minor official in black robes fiddling with a twig on the ground, looking very focused.

Cao Xiu initially thought the other party was doing math, so he told his men to stay behind and quietly went forward to check.

But after looking at it from all angles for a while, it didn't seem like counting rods.

On the contrary, it has a hint of strategic deployment.

Intrigued, he walked up to the other person.

The minor official in black robes then realized someone was approaching, jumped up in a start, and immediately saw Cao Xiu, who was wearing gold and purple robes.

Her face flushed red, and she stammered:
"This lowly official greets you, General!"

Cao Xiu assumed the other person was just nervous and pointed to the ground, asking:

"Is this a military formation?"

The minor official nodded repeatedly.

Cao Xiu found this amusing and asked, "You understand military strategy?"

The minor official said, "I know a little. I read it before, at home."

Cao Xiu: "Have you ever joined the army?"

The minor official replied, "No, never."

Cao Xiu realized that the man wasn't nervous; he simply had a natural stutter.

After chatting for a while, they learned that the other party was a member of the prominent Deng family from the Xinye and Jiyang areas of Nanyang.

After Liu Cong surrendered in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, he moved north with his relatives to Runan to participate in military settlements.

Now he's a caretaker of rice paddies and weeds.

At this point, Cao Xiu had actually lost interest in continuing the conversation.

After all, the two sides were of vastly different statuses, and the other party was a stutterer, making it difficult to understand him.

But the minor official, perhaps unwilling to miss this rare opportunity for advancement, suddenly said:

"General, is it...is it time to attack Wu?"

Cao Xiu's gaze sharpened:
"Who told you that?"

The minor official said:
"Guess."

Seeing that Cao Xiu remained silent, he knew that his opportunity had come.

Taking a slight inhale, I surprisingly became fluent:

"Although Sun Quan has submitted to the emperor, he is not sincere and will surely bring disaster sooner or later."

"The imperial court has always been wary of the Sun-Liu alliance. As the general of Yangzhou, how could you not share the court's burdens?"

Cao Xiu relaxed immediately when he saw that the other party had indeed guessed correctly.

Just as he was about to offer a few words of encouragement, the accompanying agricultural officer suddenly stepped forward, pointed at the minor official, and cursed:
"Have you finished settling your accounts for today? Have you cleared the weeds?" "You haven't done what you were supposed to do, so why are you so smug?"

He then said to Cao Xiu:
"Once, when Marquis Zhao of Han was drunk, the official in charge of his hat and robes worried that he would get cold, so he added clothes for him. When Marquis Zhao of Han woke up, he punished both the official in charge of his hat and the official in charge of his robes."

"This is because the clothing clerk did not do his job properly, while the headwear clerk encroached on the clothing clerk's authority."

"It is clear that the harm caused by trespassing on official business is more terrible than being frozen."

"Today, the general came to inquire about agriculture and sericulture, yet he spoke of military affairs with a derelict agricultural official. Isn't this encouraging officials to neglect their duties and disrupt the laws of the court?"

Cao Xiu felt that the other party was making a mountain out of a molehill.

I was just chatting casually on a whim, why would anyone quote scriptures to criticize me?

But it should be said or not.

The methods of Shen Buhai and Han Fei were favored by the founding emperor of this dynasty.

This story, which comes from "Han Feizi," is a classic among classics.

It could potentially damage one's reputation and career.

How could Cao Xiu allow such trivial matters involving insignificant people to affect his lofty ideals?

He immediately pretended to humbly accept advice, then quickly left under the pretext of needing to attend to military affairs.

They didn't even bother to inquire about the minor official's name.

……

Leaving aside how distraught the minor official surnamed Deng was.

As soon as Cao Xiu returned to the military camp, an officer delivered two urgent letters to him.

He first opened the letter that had the "General's Seal" on it.

After only a few breaths, he sighed:
"Why is it Zhang Wenyuan who is critically ill, and not the bandit chief of Jiangdong!"

"If General Wen Yuan were as agile as before, why would we need to mobilize so many troops? Eight hundred elite cavalry would be enough to break through Jianye and capture Sun Quan!"

He then instructed his men to continue monitoring the situation in the Hefei area and to be sure to find out Zhang Liao's condition as soon as possible.

Then he opened the second letter.

It took me a long time to suppress this.

Those around him were puzzled and asked him questions.

Cao Xiu's lips curled slightly as he said:

"I thought that the Sun family had occupied Jiangdong for three generations and that the people all depended on them."

"Only today do I realize that he has an empty reputation, but may not have any real substance!"

He then displayed the letter and said smugly to those around him:
"This is the seventh letter of surrender received this month!"

……

"Boyan, it's just the two of us here. Tell me the truth."

"Are you absolutely certain of success with this plan?"

Outside Stone City, Zhuge Jin looked at Lu Xun, who was seeing him off, and couldn't help but ask what was on his mind.

Lu Xun held Zhuge Jin in high regard and did not conceal anything:
There is no perfect solution in the world.

"Back then, Zhou Yu and Huang Gongfu burned the northerners' warships. Huang Gongfu feigned surrender to the enemy. Didn't he ever think that Cao Cao would see through his deception?"

"It's just that after careful consideration, the odds of winning outweigh the odds of losing, so we'll give it our all."

Zhuge Jin remained silent for a few breaths, then said:
"I understand."

“You did not actually pin your hopes on Cao Xiu’s gullibility in believing your surrender, even though you wrote several letters of surrender for this reason.”

"Of course," Lu Xun said with a light laugh, his hands behind his back.

"Cao Xiu followed Cao Cao in his campaigns since childhood and was a veteran general."

"He preferred to believe what he saw and heard with his own eyes rather than what was written in the letter."

Zhuge Jin suddenly realized:
"So that's why you had the King 'exile' me to E County? To prove that the King doesn't like you?"

“That’s one point,” Lu Xun nodded.

"In addition, the Grand Commander (Zhu Ran) stationed troops in Wancheng in the north, and the Commander of Ruxu (Zhu Huan) increased the number of households in his fief, all for this purpose."

"After all, if you and I don't succeed, then someone else has to succeed, right?"

"Moreover, although the Grand Commander's plan is slow, it is the safest approach."

"If Cao Xiu intended to launch a southern expedition, how could he tolerate the Grand Commander's leisurely construction and land reclamation in Wancheng? This is a strategy to attack what the enemy must defend."

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Jin was finally relieved.

Then he couldn't help but feel regretful:

"With Boyan's talent, he is more than qualified to be the Grand Commander of the Three Armies, but now he can only submit to others."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xun smiled but did not reply, and bowed to Zhuge Jin in farewell.

(End of this chapter)