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

Chapter 230 Kasuga Society Festival
Jiang Wei certainly had reason to suspect Deng Ai.

After all, the other party was a Wei official who had surrendered less than half a year ago.

He was neither a famous local scholar nor a nobleman.

If it drops, it drops; if it reverses, it reverses.

It's not worth mentioning.

Not to mention that the other party was someone he had defeated.

If Mi Wei hadn't valued him so much, Jiang Wei wouldn't have even considered addressing him by his courtesy name.

Upon hearing this, Kou Feng lightly stamped his foot and said:

“I had the same doubts! I even argued with him for a long time before I came here.”

"In your opinion, should we report this matter to Lord Mi?"

Compared to the two generals who acted with great urgency, Ma Zhong was much more composed and asked:

"Did Deng Shizai explain why he pursued the rapid completion of the tunnel? Or did Governor Mi have other plans?"

"That's definitely not the case!" Kou Feng shook his head.

"If it's Lord Mi's arrangement, even if it's just a single command, I'll follow it. Why waste my breath arguing with him?"

"He acted on his own initiative!"

"They say that Lord Mi's military order was to repel the Wei army, and that building the tunnel was just a means, not an end."

"It is also said that Xiahou Ba has become an arrogant soldier and is burdened with the hatred of his father, so he will not easily withdraw."

“If we don’t leave, we will be in danger. If we are in danger, Cao Hong will definitely come back to save us. Therefore, we should hurry up and not be slow in repairing the tunnel… In short, Deng Shizai’s words seem very reasonable, but they are all based on conjecture!”

Kou Feng became increasingly angry as he spoke.

But when Jiang Wei and Ma Zhong heard the final words, they did not agree.

Instead, they both looked on with surprise.

Jiang Wei pondered for a long while before sighing with a complex expression:
"Now I know why Lord Deer wanted to give him such an important position."

Ma Zhong deeply agreed:

"This man was stationed far in the rear, yet he could deduce the enemy's intentions from afar based on what his scouts had discovered, as if he had seen it with his own eyes... With such ability, how could he be just a minor official guarding rice fields in the State of Wei?"

"It's fortunate that Boyue captured him, and that Lord Mi had the discerning eye to recognize a hero! Otherwise, if this man were to be employed by Cao Wei, wouldn't he be a great enemy of our Han Dynasty?"

Kou Feng, standing nearby, was completely dumbfounded:
"Wait a minute! Do you two also agree with Deng Shizai's statement?"

Jiang Wei did not explain, but instead turned to Ma Zhong and said:

"Our troops are all cavalry, capable of flanking, but not sufficient to besiege a city."

Ma Zhong immediately responded:
"I'm here to besiege the city!"

"good!"

Jiang Wei's expression brightened, and he turned and pulled Kou Feng toward the stables, clearly preparing to leave the camp for battle.

The latter, being weaker than him, was forced to follow and shouted:

"Jiang Boyue! Tell me clearly, which city are you going to besiege?"

Jiang Wei: "Of course, it's Kunyang City!"

Kou Feng was dumbfounded: "Isn't this city still in our hands? Xiahou Ba is the one who besieged the city!"

Jiang Wei leaped onto his horse, raised his whip, and pointed it towards the gate:
"Then we'll surround Xiahou Ba!"

……

Two days later, Deng Ai led a large number of auxiliary troops from the prefectures and counties to the Han army camp outside Kunyang City and met Ma Zhong.

Then, outside Kunyang City, there were layers of fortifications that looked like sleeves.

The innermost layer is Kunyang City, which is defended by Wang Ping.

Outside the city, not counting the Zhi River that Kunyang backs onto.

Of the remaining three sides, two were Wei army camps bearing the "Xiahou" banner.

On one side was the high slope where Jiang Wei's troops were based.

Beyond these three sides lay the military camp of Ma Zhong's troops.

On both sides of the military camp, there were also antler-shaped passageways extending outwards, completely enclosing the Wei army and the entire city of Kunyang.

Those antlers were clearly the batch he had previously instructed Kou Feng to urgently transport.

Clearly, his idea received the full support of Ma Zhong and others, and was immediately implemented.

Otherwise, given Kou Feng's previous attitude, he certainly wouldn't have been so obedient.

Deng Ai breathed a sigh of relief and went into the camp to see Ma Zhong.

The two exchanged some military intelligence, and Deng Ai suddenly said:

"Ai, after entering the camp, I saw no cavalry, no knights. No, I don't know where Kou, Jiang, and the other two generals are?"

Ma Zhong laughed and said:

"The two men went to the upper and lower reaches of the Zhi River two days ago to burn down the pontoon bridges and seize the sandbars that were easy to cross the river." "Now they are probably busy setting up barricades on the sandbars to delay the enemy cavalry from crossing the river."

Upon hearing this, Deng Ai finally relaxed completely.

At the same time, he thought to himself that Kou Feng was just a brave fighting general and not worth mentioning.

However, Jiang Wei and Ma Zhong were quite knowledgeable in military strategy and had great courage.

If Mi Wei's subordinates were all such talented individuals, and they worked diligently together, his future achievements would surely rival those of Guan Yu, and he would become a pillar of the Han Dynasty.

Especially Jiang Wei, who was both intelligent and brave at a young age.

Given time, his future is limitless.

One can only say that the younger generation is truly formidable.

If you want to rise to a higher level, you must not slack off at this time.

He then secretly gathered his strength and said to Ma Zhong:

“Ai will be in charge of the construction.”

"Dexin, you must hurry to Dingling. Do not allow the enemy cavalry to bypass the downstream area and come to our rescue!"

Ma Zhong clapped his hands and said:
"That's what I meant!"

……

The ancients revered heaven and earth, so they offered sacrifices to them.

Those who perform sacrifices pray for favorable weather and a bountiful harvest.

As a personification of the earth, the "She Shen" (God of the Land) has been one of the main objects of the ancient people's suburban sacrifices in the four seasons since the pre-Qin period.

Among these, the spring festival is the most solemn, also known as the "Spring Festival".

After all, the year's plan starts in spring.

In the Han Dynasty, in addition to the common folk custom of "Spring Festival", there were also official sacrificial rites.

For example, last autumn and winter, Liu Bei ordered Sikong Mi Zhu to build an altar outside Chengdu for use in seasonal suburban sacrifices.

At present, there is no large-scale construction of rammed earth altars in Nanyang.

But as the governor of Jingzhou, Guan Yu would naturally not disregard this tradition.

He had long ago instructed Chief Secretary Yang Yi to set up a temporary altar by the Yu River in preparation for this year's Spring Festival.

On this day, Guan Yu personally presided over the ceremony, with Mi Wei serving as the deputy officiant.

The chief officials of all the prefectures in Jingzhou, as well as local worthies and prominent figures from the gentry, were all present.

However, just as the elaborate ceremony ended and the feast began...

Suddenly, Mi Wei led a handsome middle-aged scholar to the center of the room, personally offering wine in worship, showing great respect.

Most of the scholars present, especially those from Miannan, did not recognize him and merely observed him from the sidelines.

However, people in Mianbei, especially in the Wancheng area, exclaimed in surprise at the name "Lord Yang".

But the current governor of Nanyang is clearly the deputy general Kou Feng.

Where did this "Lord Yang" come from?
After inquiring around, they learned that this man was none other than Yang Jun, also known as Yang Jicai, who had been appointed by Cao Pi as the Prefect of Nanyang earlier.

The whole audience suddenly went wild.

Because most people had never met Yang Jun.

However, they were somewhat familiar with the disciple of this great Confucian scholar Bian Rang.

In fact, Yang Jun had already served as the governor of Nanyang during Cao Cao's time.

Later, he was implicated in the Wei Feng Rebellion and was demoted and exiled to another place.

He was not reinstated to his original position until Cao Pi became emperor.

Such a figure actually managed to subdue Guan Yu's arrogance.

The thought of the rumors that had been circulating before the Spring Festival made the Jingzhou gentry, who were eager to cause trouble, feel uneasy.

But Miwei, who was at the eye of the storm, seemed oblivious.

Instead, he took the initiative to introduce Yang Jun to everyone, saying that Guan Yu had recruited him as the chief priest of Jingzhou, in charge of all the school officials, and in charge of all matters related to the state and county schools.

Considering that under the new system of employing officials in the Ji Han dynasty, the chief officials of the prefectural and county schools possessed some of the evaluation functions of the officials in the Cao Wei dynasty.

The newly appointed Chief Minister Yang has clearly grasped the path for the scholars of Jingzhou to "advance" in the future.

So, regardless of whether they knew each other or not, the Jingzhou soldiers all stepped forward to offer wine, hoping to become acquainted with each other.

After several rounds of drinks and the atmosphere had become more relaxed, Mi Wei suddenly said to Yang Jun:
"Yang Gong once served in the Cao Wei state."

"I wonder which dynasty, ours or Cao Wei, is more fair in its selection of officials, and which dynasty wins the hearts of the people more?"

Upon hearing this, everyone, including Yang Jun, fell silent.

Guan Yu, however, remained as carefree as ever, stroking his beard and sipping wine in the main seat.

(End of this chapter)