Chapter 161 Gan Ning's Plan
The Shuxian group lost more than 300 people and brought back more than 200 people, but Gan Ning felt it was worth it!
Facing the more than 200 remnants of the defeated soldiers, Lu Kang was instantly overwhelmed with emotions such as excitement, shame, and self-blame. As a governor, he bowed deeply to the group of soldiers: "Kang, thank you all!"
"General, how could this be possible?" Upon hearing this, the defeated soldiers hurriedly said with fear and emotion on their faces.
After Lu Kang bowed solemnly, he continued, "In order to fulfill my personal virtue, I put you all to death. This is my fault."
After waking up, Lu Kang understood what had happened. After experiencing life and death, he had already let go of it. Fame was like a floating cloud. He had done his best for the Han Dynasty, and there was no need to harm the lives of others for it.
The fall of Lujiang is a foregone conclusion!
He, the prefect of Lujiang, can now let go.
"General Gan, I have an unreasonable request." Lu Kang looked at Gan Ning, whose armor was stained with blood, and said solemnly.
"Mr. Ji Ning, please speak."
"Can these people be allowed to return home?" Lu Kang asked.
He knew that this request was quite presumptuous, but he still asked it. He owed too much to this group of people, and he really couldn't bear to see them being coerced again.
"Haha, Lord Ji Ning underestimated me, Gan Xingba." Gan Ning laughed heartily.
"I saved people not for these few people, but because I respect the loyalty of these heroes. How could I force them? You can go wherever you want, I will never stop you."
"Thank you!" Lu Kang bowed.
Then he calmly drew the sword from his waist and was about to commit suicide to thank the world.
The two hundred or so brave men all had expressions of fear and sadness in their eyes. They had not expected Lu Kang to be so stubborn. It was too late to stop him.
However, Gan Ning, who was well prepared, knocked the sword away with one strike, leaving only a small wound on Lu Kang's neck.
"Lord Ji Ning, I agreed to your request. But you want to leave before paying the debt. Isn't that a bit too unfair?" Gan Ning said jokingly.
Gan Ning admired Lu Kang's character very much. He was a truly capable minister who could govern the country.
But in this case, Gan Ning was even more unwilling to see him die.
Under Tian Ze's command, Gan Ning's horizons were broadened a lot. He admired Lu Kang's decision to die to show his determination, but he did not agree with it. Compared to death, there are more important things for him to do.
"I am old and only have this broken body left. I am afraid I won't live long, but I don't know what I can do." Lu Kang said with a wry smile.
In order to defend the city, he had used his talent intermittently for half a year, and his already weak body had long been worn out. Even if he survived now, he probably wouldn't live for many more years.
"Lord Jining, my Lord once said that as long as you are alive, there is hope! This world is so big, I'm afraid you haven't fully understood it yet, and there are still many things worth doing. It would be a pity to die like this."
"In exchange, I don't ask for anything from you. Just follow me to Youzhou. If you want to commit suicide again, I will never stop you."
Gan Ning knew that Lu Kang was a great scholar with a noble status and outstanding ability, and there was a place for him to use his talents. Tian Ze had a way to prolong his life, so as long as he was sent to Youzhou, his physical problems could be solved, and there was also a way to keep him.
Hearing this, Lu Kang fell silent. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Well, I will go with you."
Gan Ning smiled slightly.
Very good, the people of Lujiang got it!
Lujiang cannot be defended, but if we can trick Lu Kang into taking over, it should not be a problem to take away most of the people of Lujiang.
With Lu Kang's reputation, everyone in Yangzhou respects him. Compared with Yuan Shu's notoriety, there must be many people willing to follow him to Youzhou.
This deal is worth doing.
Tian Hu, who had been with Gan Ning for a long time and had a vague understanding of his temperament and style of doing things, quickly figured out Gan Ning's thoughts and couldn't help but show admiration.
He is now completely convinced. Otherwise, how could he be trusted by the lord and be given an extraordinary position?
Not only was he good at fighting, but his tactics were also very good. He won several goals with one battle. Not only did he save Lu Kang and win the hearts of the people, but most of the two hundred brave men in front of him would probably fall into Gan Ning's hands willingly in the end.
This skill of settling accounts is really unique!
Gan Ning returned with a full load, and Sun Ce also completed the military order he had issued and went to report to Yuan Shu.
When Yuan Shu learned that Lujiang had been captured, he was overjoyed.
In this way, the Jianghuai area would be completely under his control, and he would finally have a relatively stable rear base.
Although Yuan Shu was arrogant, he was not ignorant. He could see the problems in his own territory.
On the surface, he had control over the two large counties of Nanyang and Runan, which were as wealthy as a state. Together with the Jianghuai region, they were all core and prosperous areas of the world.
His strength exceeds that of the ordinary two states and he stands out from the crowd.
But in fact, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, and Cao Cao all had their eyes on these two pieces of fat meat, and none of these three people were easy to deal with. These two counties were also easy to attack but difficult to defend, and Yuan Shu always felt a little uneasy.
After taking over the Jianghuai area, he had a relatively stable rear.
Although it is still easy to attack but difficult to defend, Tao Qian and Liu Yao are not difficult to deal with, and Liu Biao generally does not extend his hand to Jingzhou, so there is no pressure.
At the celebration banquet, Yuan Shu praised Sun Ce highly and again proposed the idea of adopting him as his adopted son.
Yuan Shu was not stupid. Apart from Ji Ling, the most capable fighter under his command was from Sun Jian's lineage, so naturally he wanted to win them over.
In fact, Yuan Shu felt that he had been kind enough to Sun Ce.
You should know that after Sun Jian's death, Yuan Shu did not annex his troops, but handed them over to Sun Jian's nephew and Sun Ce's cousin Sun Ben, because Sun Ce was still young at the time and was not suitable to inherit Sun's troops.
Yuan Shu supported Sun Ce purely because he appreciated his talent and wanted to cultivate him. However, Sun Ce held the imperial seal and his desire to establish himself had never ceased.
It’s not that Yuan Shu couldn’t see it, but he really liked this little tyrant who was as handsome and loyal as himself, so he always wanted to influence him.
But after what Lu Bu did, Sun Ce just felt that Yuan Shu was cursing him. Moreover, Sun Jian's death and his current predicament had a lot to do with Yuan Shu, so how could he be willing?
Therefore, Sun Ce decisively refused.
Seeing Sun Ce's reaction, the arrogant Yuan Shu was unhappy. He did not mention the matter of Lujiang prefect at all and once again regretted his promise to Sun Ce.
Yuan Shu felt that Sun Ce's attack on Lujiang was not smooth, but had been struggling for nearly half a year, consuming a large amount of manpower and food, and his achievement was not great. He also let Lu Kang go, so he should not have been appointed as the prefect of Lujiang.
Yuan Shu's behavior completely disappointed Sun Ce.
That night, Sun Ce visited Zhou Yu.
"Gongjin, just as you expected, Lujiang should not be attacked, Yuan Shu broke his promise." Sun Ce sighed.
Zhou Yu, who was handsome and elegant, smiled and said, "Although Yuan Gonglu has some chivalrous spirit, he does not look like a leader. He is not good at military affairs, stubborn and short-sighted. It is inevitable that he will break his promise."
"However, he broke his promise twice, and this time he broke it when you, Bofu, had made great contributions. He must feel guilty. The time has come."
"Bofu, are you willing to give up the imperial seal?" Zhou Yu looked at Sun Ce solemnly.
Sun Ce took out the jade seal and sighed softly: "It's just a piece of stone. My father died because of it, so I didn't want to hand it over before."
"But this is the only solution for now. I believe my father's spirit in heaven will support me in doing this."
Zhou Yu heard this and smiled confidently: "Yes. A jade seal in exchange for the land of Jiangdong is worth it!"
"The current situation in the world is unpredictable, and the princes are all competing for development. We don't have much time and opportunity left. We must take Yangzhou as soon as possible, so that we can have the capital to conquer the world."
Of the thirteen provinces in the world, only Sili, Bingzhou and Yangzhou were barely ownerless; the rest had been divided up by various princes, forcing Zhou Yu to become anxious.
If we don't act now, once Yuan Shu or Liu Biao takes control of Yangzhou, we will have no chance.
(End of this chapter)
