The Battle of the Jade Seal (IV)
Sun Jian surrendered to Jin Xuan, and Jin Xuan's power increased greatly. Sun Ce, Han Dang, Huang Gai, Cheng Pu, Sun Quan, Sun Yi, Sun Lang, Sun Jing and Zhu Zhi, who were originally under Sun Jian, were all famous people in later generations. Moreover, they had 70,000 elite soldiers, so that Jin Xuan's troops had reached 800,000.
On the second day, Jin Xuan gathered all the civil and military officials of Jianye to discuss the matter of the jade seal. All the generals talked about it, but Zhuge Liang smiled and did not say anything. "Why didn't Zhuge Liang say anything?" asked Jin Xuan with a smile.”Zhuge Liang replied,"My lord has already made a plan. What else do you have to say?"”"Kong Ming knows my heart," said Jin Xuan with a laugh.”
"The jade seal is a dead object," Jin Xuan said to the crowd."Whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world." I want to give this to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu is greedy and will not hand it over. In this way, the Central Plains will be in chaos again. I want to take the opportunity to attack Xichuan." "My lord is wise," said the civil and military officials.
A few days later, Jin Xuan sent Guan Yu to the capital with a small number of soldiers through Shouchun to present the imperial seal and ordered him to do so. Yuan Shu received a reply and sent Ji Ling with 30,000 troops to seize the city. Seeing Ji Ling arrive, Guan Yu urged his horse forward and asked,""General Ji, what do you want with your troops?”"My lord is afraid that the jade seal will be lost on the road, so he sent Ji Ling to retrieve it and then heavily escort it."”"In that case, General Ji, please give me a loan slip stating that you will escort the jade seal to the capital." I don't want to be locked up in a rush." Ji Ling was very happy. He wrote a letter in front of the army and took the jade seal back to Shouchun.
When Yuan Yin heard of this, he hurried to Yuan Shu's place and said,"I heard that my lord has obtained the jade seal. May I ask what my lord means?”"This is the treasure," said Yuan Shu."I want to keep it."”"If that's the case," said Yuan Yin,"the lord has fallen into a trap. The King of Changsha is a man of both civil and martial arts. His subordinates are as many as clouds. If he really wants to present the seal to the capital, he will definitely send a large number of troops. He will send a few soldiers to escort him. Moreover, he will pass by Shouchun. It is calculated that the Lord will definitely snatch it. If the Lord hides it, the vassals of the world will certainly rise up and attack it, which will be Sun Jian's retreat.”
Yuan Shu saw that his words were reasonable and wanted to send the seal to the capital, but he could not give it up in his heart. In the end, he did not listen to Yuan Yin's words. Yuan Yin saw that Yuan Shu was determined and sighed in his heart,""We have no burial ground." He wanted to wait until he fled, so he followed him for a long time and couldn't bear to abandon him.
When Jin Xuan saw Guan Yu return and Yuan Shu fall into his trap, he reported the matter and sent an envoy to Luoyang with Ji Ling's handwritten letter.
The emperor saw Jin Xuan's memorial and learned that the jade seal had been escorted to the capital by Yuan Shu. He was very happy. Cao Cao said,"Yuan Shu has led his army to rob the seal. He may have intended to keep it for himself. Your Majesty can send messengers to ask for it. You will know the result.”The emperor sent messengers to Shouchun and then rewarded the messengers of Jinxuan.
At this time, Jin Xuan had quietly adjusted the battle situation, intending to annex Sichuan. At that time, Jin Xuan had 800,000 troops. Each county has 5,000 guards, totaling 60,000. Jin Xuan had 60,000 personal guards, 10,000 of which were led by Zhao Yun to stay in Chang 'an. The remaining troops were distributed as follows: The 1st legion was led by Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Huang Gai, Sun Quan, and Xing Daorong, with a total of 100,000 soldiers stationed in Jianye. Pang Tong, Zhang Liao, Han Dang, Ling Cao, and Sun Yi led a total of 100,000 troops stationed in Wuling. The third legion was Xu Shu, Huang Zhong, Jiang Qin, Chen Wu, and Cheng Pu, with a total of 100,000 troops stationed in Changsha. The 4th Corps consisted of Jia Xu, Sun Ce, Li Yi, Han Hao, and Zhou Tai, with a total of 100,000 soldiers stationed in Lujiang. The rest of the army was led by Jin Xuan himself, with Zhou Yu as the military adviser, Lu Bu, Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci, Wei Yan, Gan Ning, Gao Shun, Sun Lang, Sun Jing and Zhu Zhi as the western expedition army with a total of 280,000 troops.
At this time, news came from Chang 'an that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had summoned all the vassals to attack Yuan Shu because Yuan Shu had swallowed the jade seal. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao each sent 100,000 troops. Kong You, Governor of Qiaocheng, Liu Dai, Governor of Puyang, Han Fu, Governor of Yecheng, Zhang Miao, Governor of Chenliu, Kong Rong, Governor of Beihai, and Tao Qian, Governor of Xuzhou, each sent 30,000 troops. The allied forces numbered 380,000. King Jinxuan of Changsha, King Liu Biao of Jingzhou and King Liu Qi of Xichuan all pleaded not to send troops. However, Jin Xuan had a secret letter for Cao Cao.
When Yuan Shu heard the news, he was very anxious and summoned all the civil and military officials to discuss it. Yuan Yin replied,"Our army has 240,000 men, 100,000 in Runan and 140,000 in Shouchun. The allied forces had a total of 380,000 troops. Apart from Cao Cao and Yuan Shao's elite troops, the other 180,000 vassals were not to be feared. However, if the allied forces concentrate on attacking Runan, our army will certainly send heavy troops to reinforce it, and Shouchun will face Zhuge Liang and Jia Xu of Changsha King in the south. If they take advantage of the weakness to attack, our army will be in danger.”
"When I was in Poyang," said Yuan Shu,"I had a long conversation with Guo Jia, a confidant of the King of Changsha. I fear that Jin Xuan's intentions are not in Shouchun. Jin Xuan sent someone to inform me that he intends to send troops to Sichuan to avenge the two kings 'previous joint attack. If Jin Xuan sent troops to Sichuan, the king of Jingzhou would certainly send troops to help, or attack one of the three prefectures of Wuling, Changsha and Lujiang, so Jia Xu's troops would not dare to move. Zhuge Liang stationed his troops in Jianye, the gateway to Jiangdong, and Xiapi in the east, so he did not dare to make a move. Moreover, Zhuge Liang had a total of 100,000 troops. If he attacked, he could only send 60,000 troops at most, leaving 40,000 troops to guard Shouchun. Be careful and be on guard. There would be no danger.”
After the plan was put forward, there was no difference between the people. Yuan Shu found out that the troops of the vassals had moved, so he led 100,000 troops to reinforce Runan, leaving Lei Bo to lead 40,000 troops to defend Shouchun.
Just as the vassals were making military arrangements around Runan, Jin Xuan's western expedition army attacked like lightning and captured the important town of Yong 'an, the gateway of Xichuan. There were 80,000 defenders in Yong' an, and more than 10,000 died. The rest surrendered.
Liu Qi was shocked and sent an envoy to ask Liu Biao to send troops for help. He also sent his eldest son Liu Yan to lead 100,000 troops to reinforce the important town of Jiangcheng.
When Liu Biao received the letter, he knew that the lips were gone and the teeth were cold. He gathered 200,000 troops to attack Changsha. The garrison stationed in Changsha was the 3rd Legion led by Xu Shu and Huang Zhong. There were 100,000 regular soldiers, 10,000 Jin Xuan Personal Guards, and 20,000 militia. Liu Biao's intention was not to attack Changsha by force, but to camp outside the city and hold a stalemate with Xu Shu.
Pang Tong's troops, who were stationed at the Wu Ling area, suddenly attacked Jiangling. Jia Xu also sent troops to attack Jiangxia. For a time, the southwest was in chaos.
Yuan Shu's army was currently fighting the allied forces in Runan, with both sides winning and losing. Because Yuan Shu's army knew that the battle would determine their survival, the generals were united. Although the alliance army was large, the fighting power of the vassals was not high. Moreover, the vassals were selfish, so although the difference in strength was large, the situation was not very clear.
Cao Cao saw that the battle of Runan was delayed, so he went to Runan in person to command the battle. Cao Cao's arrival immediately changed the situation. When the alliance army saw Cao Cao personally come, their morale rose. When the vassals saw Cao Cao personally come, they all put away their selfish desires.
After a few defeats, Yuan Shu finally had fear in his heart and sent Yuan Yin to deliver the jade seal to ask for peace. Cao Cao took the jade seal and sent it to Chang 'an. However, he did not allow Yuan Shu to sue for peace. Instead, he imprisoned Yuan Yin in the army and wanted to use the troops of the vassals to kill Yuan Shu.
It turned out that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were already on bad terms. Yuan Shao had basically controlled the counties in the east of the river. Except for Gongsun Zan who occupied Beiping and Xiangping, Dai County, Nanpi, Jinyang, Pingyuan and Yecheng had become Yuan Shao's sphere of influence. On the other hand, Cao Cao controlled Xuchang, Wancheng, Luoyang, Hongnong, Chenliu and Qiaocheng. Xuzhou, Puyang, Beihai, and other counties remained neutral. --
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