ushernet Chapter 142 Forgive and Forget
Chapter 142 Forgive and Forget
Although he accepted Tao Qian's dying gift, Chen Er was not in a good mood. He never expected that he would be entrusted with the care of his child. Although it was nothing, Chen Er did not want to be a caregiver.
Especially the descendants of people like Tao Qian, but he couldn't resist the temptation of two counties and the seal of the governor of Xuzhou. These were all legitimate things, unlike some places that had previously refused to leave.
"My lord, are you still feeling down?" Guo Jia asked Chen Er with a smile as he returned to Yuyang.
Chen Er said irritably, "Nonsense, it's weird to be entrusted with someone's care for no reason."
"My lord, this shows that your reputation is quite good. Otherwise, who would entrust their descendants to you?" Guo Jia said.
“That’s true,” Chen Er said happily. Guo Jia’s words made him feel trusted, but he quickly realized what he was doing and said to Guo Jia, “Have you been bewitched or taken advantage of? You’re actually speaking up for Tao Qian.”
"No, no," Guo Jia quickly waved his hand and said, "I just feel sorry for Tao Gong. We won't comment on his later years, but at least when he served as a local official, he did real things for the local people."
"Sigh, you." Chen Er shook his head helplessly. He understood what Guo Jia meant. It was nothing more than that although he had taken on two burdens, he could get more. Chen Er could only shake his head helplessly. Entrusting others with care was not a good thing, but it was impossible for him to give up what he had already obtained.
"He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding; he who takes another's money is bound to do his bidding." Chen Er said to Guo Jia, "Since it has come to this, let Gongda find a mansion for the Tao brothers, Tao Shang and Tao Ying, in Yuyang. Once they arrive in Yuyang, if they have the talent to pursue politics or business, I will provide them with certain support. However, everything must comply with the laws of our autonomous region."
"Understood!" Guo Jia said, cupping his hands. He had finally completed the task Chen Deng had entrusted to him. As for what would happen to the Tao brothers, Tao Shang and Tao Ying, that was no longer Guo Jia's concern.
Fortunately, Xuzhou is also a relatively developed commercial region. For an autonomous region that values commerce, most families that are primarily engaged in commerce are very happy for Chen Er to take over Xuzhou, since the autonomous region provides substantial support for commerce.
"My lord, according to General Ji Ling's report from the front lines in Xuzhou, Tao Qian died of illness while fleeing to Xiapi."
In Shouchun, Jin Shang was reporting the latest battle situation to Yuan Shu. Tao Qian was dead, which was a great opportunity for Yuan Shu to conquer Xuzhou. Yuan Shu was very happy and said to Jin Shang, "Then send a message to Ji Ling and tell him to issue an ultimatum to those people in Xuzhou, telling them to surrender immediately. As long as they surrender voluntarily, I will not hold them accountable for their past actions."
Yuan Shu, unusually generous, issued the order to surrender. However, Jin Shang's next words enraged Yuan Shu, leading him to do something he would later regret, though he would never admit to regretting it.
"My lord, General Ji Ling reported that after the army captured Pengcheng, they rested for a week. During this week, a group of people from Tao Qian's former forces, led by Chen Deng, Tao Shang, and Tao Ying, all defected to Chen Er. This happened several days ago. At this time, Gao Shun's troops stationed in Qingzhou under Chen Er's command may have already moved south and occupied places like Xiapi," Jin Shang said.
Upon hearing Jin Shang's words, Yuan Shu was furious: "Chen Mingde has gone too far. He broke my alliance with Yuan Shao first. Although I don't like Yuan Shao, he is still a member of my Yuan family."
"At the time, the war was urgent, and I didn't have the energy to teach him a lesson. Now he's actually bullying us at our doorstep. This is going too far and we absolutely cannot tolerate it!"
Chen Mingde was the pseudonym of Chen Er.
Yuan Shu said to Jin Shang, "Immediately send a message to Ji Ling, instructing him to march his troops to Xiapi. I want to see if Chen Mingde's army is truly as invincible as the legends say!"
"My lord, shouldn't we reconsider?" Jin Shang cautiously asked Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu was furious and wouldn't listen to Jin Shang. He roared at Jin Shang, "Just go! Do you think my army of over 100,000 can't even take Xiapi?"
Upon hearing Yuan Shu's words, Jin Shang remained silent. The location of Xiapi was indeed very important, directly threatening the safety of Pengcheng, whether for Yuan Shu's sake or for the stability of the already occupied territories.
It was indeed necessary to try to capture Xiapi. For strategic reasons, Jin Shang chose not to continue arguing with Yuan Shu. Although Jin Shang always felt that the Autonomous Region was very powerful, after such a long period of development, Yuan Shu was also very powerful, with an army of more than 300,000 and the ability to recruit more than 200,000 more at any time. Such strength was enough to contend with the Autonomous Region.
The autonomous region still has a large number of border areas to guard and a large number of nomads to suppress. Jin Shang felt that this was a good opportunity to test Chen Er's bottom line.
However, Jin Shang never imagined that the weapons and equipment of the autonomous region's army were not even in the same league as those of Yuan Shu's army.
Yuan Shu's army's weaponry was generally at the same level as the imperial army that Chen Er used to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion, except that they had more powerful cannons.
Even after Yuan Shu's complete defeat, people around the world couldn't understand why he never equipped his army with flintlock muskets until his death, considering that the technology for manufacturing flintlock muskets was an open secret.
However, Yuan Shu refused to equip his army with flintlock muskets. Although Yuan Shu's army appeared to have more than 200,000 firearm troops, they were all equipped with matchlock muskets, making their firepower far inferior to other forces equipped with flintlock muskets, not to mention the more advanced autonomous region armies.
"General, intelligence reports that Yuan Shu intends to attack Xiapi."
In early March, Gao Shun had only recently taken over Xiapi when he received an intelligence report from the intelligence department that Yuan Shu was furious after the remaining forces of Xuzhou defected to the autonomous region and ordered Ji Ling's 130,000-strong army, which was resting in Pengcheng, to attack and capture Xiapi.
Although intelligence reports indicated that Yuan Shu was enraged, Gao Shun was still able to see the strategic intent behind Yuan Shu's army's capture of Xiapi: to secure the safety of Pengcheng.
Although he didn't know why Ji Ling didn't occupy Xiapi immediately, that was no longer a problem for Gao Shun to think about. For Gao Shun, what he needed to do was figure out how to defeat Ji Ling's forces at the lowest possible cost.