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

Chapter 179 A False Battle Report

Since the Han Dynasty, the concept of "interaction between Heaven and man" has been deeply rooted in people's hearts.

As the saying goes: When the emperor loses virtue and is immoral, Heaven sends down calamities to warn the world.

A solar eclipse is recognized worldwide as one of the "disasters and anomalies".

According to the old precedent of the Han Dynasty, a high-ranking official of the Three Dukes level would have to be dismissed to appease the divine retribution.

After all, the emperor couldn't dismiss himself.

But then again, isn't that the old rule?
Back in March of last year, before Liu Bei had even declared himself emperor, a solar eclipse had occurred.

At that time, Cao Pi publicly issued an edict, declaring that in the future, if there were any natural disasters or anomalies, the officials would not use this as grounds to impeach the Three Dukes.

Although Cao Pi's move continued his consistent policy of appeasing the gentry, it also shows that times have changed.

If the country is at peace and the government is efficient and the people are harmonious, such a dismissal might help the emperor maintain a balance in the court.

But isn't this still in the stage of conquering the world?
Removing important officials at the drop of a hat is detrimental to the stability of the court.

Therefore, Mi Wei did not believe that Liu Bei intended to stick to the old ways.

Why is that?

After a moment's thought, Mi Wei suddenly realized something and said:

"How absurd are the words of this pedantic scholar!"

"Your Majesty is now the legitimate ruler of the Han Dynasty, but Cao Pi usurped the throne and declared himself emperor, while Sun Quan has carved out Jiangdong and refuses to submit to you."

"If Heaven has issued a proclamation, the one who has been punished is not Your Majesty, but Wei and Wu!"

"If there is any impeachment, please remove the emperor and king of this false dynasty!"

This is the advantage of having two or even three emperors at the same time.

Anyway, Heaven won't openly tell the world who to condemn.

How do you explain it? Isn't it up to you to improvise?

If you're not convinced, then don't call yourself emperor!
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei indeed laughed and said:

"Your words are very much to my liking. I will have several scholars write an article explaining the cause of the divine punishment."

"I mentioned this matter to you in the hope that this article will be copied onto new paper and widely circulated throughout the counties to set the record straight!"

"After all, solar eclipses happen from time to time. If people are always frightened and panicked because of this, it will inevitably lead to some losses."

Miwei immediately understood.

It seems that Lao Liu is still very clear about the advantages of paper in communication.

But thinking about it this way, I realized it was even more necessary for me to create the printing plates.

Although woodblock printing is not suitable for writing daily official documents and reports.

However, it is more efficient than handwriting for printing books and these "customized documents".

While he was pondering, a palace eunuch came to report that Prime Minister Zhuge Liang and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Ma Liang had urgent business to discuss with him.

Mi Wei dared not delay and immediately summoned the imperial carriage to escort Liu Bei to the Ministry of Personnel.

A moment later, at the Imperial Secretariat.

"Sun Quan wants to be called the Eastern and Western Emperors alongside me?"

"What virtue or ability does this brat possess to dare call himself emperor?!"

Liu Bei's expression darkened, and the assembled officials fell silent.

But it wasn't just because Liu Bei was angry.

Because this is an extremely serious political issue.

Not to mention, there are even more serious military issues behind this.

Let’s talk about it.

Just as Miwei lost his first set of woodblock prints due to the solar eclipse.

Three thousand miles away on the Huainan battlefield, a highly dramatic scene unfolded during the great battle between Wei and Wu.

It is said that Cao Xiu, the General Who Conquers the East of Cao Wei, fell into Sun Quan's trap of luring the enemy deep into his territory and suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Wan.

They were then pursued by Wu's army to the Shiting area and completely defeated.

When Mi Wei heard this, he subconsciously recalled the "Battle of Shiting" from his previous life.

Aside from the time and some characters not matching up, the locations are almost identical.

Interestingly, in history, Cao Xiu's defeat was due to a nighttime panic among his troops.

This time, although a riot also occurred, it was due to a sudden solar eclipse during the day.

Of course, the root cause of such incidents lies in people's hearts and in the disorder of command.

Whether it's nighttime or a solar eclipse, they are merely triggers. Considering the instinctive fear of "disasters" among people in this era, a solar eclipse might even be more effective than a nighttime one.

However, this alone would not have been enough to inflate Sun Quan's confidence to this extent.

It turned out that just as Cao Xiu's camp had completely collapsed, he led a small number of his personal guards north.

Zhu Huan, the governor of Ruxu, led a group of men westward and happened to run into Cao Xiu.

Then, without any suspense, Zhu Huan captured Cao Xiu alive!
in short.

In this battle, Sun Quan not only annihilated a large army of Cao Wei deployed in Yangzhou, but also captured the highest military commander of Yangzhou alive!
He might even be one of the top two generals from the Cao Wei imperial family, including those with the surname Xiahou, after Cao Ren's generation!
Anyone would get a little cocky in this situation.
Of course, these claims all came from Zheng Quan, an envoy sent by Sun Quan and an old acquaintance of Liu Bei from Chenjun.

The truth of the matter remains to be verified.

For example, Zheng Quan claimed that this battle annihilated 100,000 Wei troops in the direction of Yangzhou.

How much of this is actually just hype?

Was the person who supposedly captured Cao Xiu the real Cao Xiu, or just a stand-in?
To put it even more bluntly, if Sun Quan had truly annihilated 100,000 Wei soldiers in a single battle...

Then wouldn't the remaining strategic locations in Yangzhou, such as Lu'an, Hefei, and Shouchun, become easy prey for him?

Whether they will be called the Eastern and Western Emperors if that day ever comes is still debatable.

However, taking advantage of Cao Wei's weakness, launching a northern expedition immediately was imperative.

Because if Sun Quan conquers Shouchun...

Wu Jun could send troops out of the Central Plains at any time, forming a coordinated force with Guan Yu in the direction of Nanyang.

If we can take advantage of Sun Quan's momentum to seize the entire Nanyang Basin in one fell swoop, it would be worthwhile even if we slightly postponed the progress in the Guanzhong direction!
The unification of the East and West is not out of the question!

It comes down to it.

Compared to actual territorial expansion, fame and status can be temporarily set aside.

So after Liu Bei calmed down, he stopped cursing.

They even asked Miwei to temporarily stop spreading that short essay that redefined divine retribution.

Meanwhile, Ma Liang and the others continued to appease Sun Quan's envoy.

Meanwhile, additional scouts were dispatched eastward to the Yangtze River to gather intelligence on the military situation.

At the same time, he sent a letter to Guan Yu, instructing him that after capturing the Danshui Pass in Nanxiang, he no longer needed to worry about Guanzhong and could launch an attack towards Wancheng when the opportunity arose.

This was to test whether the Huainan battlefield had truly achieved a decisive victory as Sun Quan had claimed.

As spring approached, it was the first month of the third year of Zhangwu.

The various reports have finally come together.

It is certain that Sun Quan's side won the Battle of Huainan.

It can even be further confirmed that the initial idea for this battle was proposed by Lu Xun, the deputy governor of Wu, with Zhu Ran, the grand governor, in charge of coordinating it.

The largest peach, however, was picked by Zhu Huan, the governor of Ruxu, who had struck it lucky.

Yes, Cao Xiu was also captured alive.

They even gave away Xue Qiao, a cavalry captain, for free.

Of course, there's definitely some moisture in it.

For example, because Cao Xiu launched a light cavalry raid, the main force he actually brought to the city of Wan was not 100,000, but less than 30,000.

Even if we include the troops who retreated to Shiting, the number would be at most 50,000, far less than 100,000.

This is not to say that Cao Wei could not afford to support 100,000 soldiers.

Rather, it was because the "outer army" deployed by Cao Wei in the Yangxu direction, apart from Cao Xiu's main force, was not included.

There were also generals such as Zhang Liao stationed at the front line in Hefei.

Zhang Liao's orders before the battle were to contain the Wu army in the direction of Ruxu, and he never actually set out.

It was precisely because Zhang Liao held back his troops that Zhu Huan was able to find an opportunity to sneak out and do something that shocked the world.

As for Cao Wei's General Who Guards the East, Zang Ba, because Cao Xiu was defeated too quickly and the Zhongdu River was frozen during the advance, he did not even have time to reach Guangling.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

In this battle, Sun Quan's side indeed achieved commendable results.

It is said that Sun Quan has personally led his troops north to Ruxu Dock, intending to launch a formal northern expedition against Huainan after the spring and summer when the waters are plentiful.

After careful consideration, the rulers and ministers of Shu Han finally decided to publicly respond to Sun Quan's proposal.

On the premise of a joint northern expedition from both Jing and Yang directions, we temporarily accept Sun Quan's title of "Emperor of Wu".

Once the decision was made, Liu Bei immediately appointed an envoy.

Attendant-in-Ordinary, General Zhao Han, Left Commander of the Army Mi Wei, was granted the imperial insignia and sent as an envoy to Jiangdong.

(End of this chapter)