Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Became the Eldest Son of Sun Ce - Chapter 169



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Episode 169. Aftermath (5)

October 208.

Near Poyang Lake on the Yangtze River.

Dozens of warships were lined up tightly on the river, and the flags of the Zhou army were fluttering on them.

There was only one reason why the Zhou army guarded the waterway of Pa-yang so tightly: to send back all suspicious soldiers.

But this was just a matter of sending back troops, and I had some idea who they were targeting.

‘I’m doing this because I’m worried that the Grand Duke who took over Hyungju will do something foolish. But why would such a filial Grand Duke attack his lord?’

This was the general thinking of the troops stationed at Pa Yang Lake. But if the higher-ups criticize, aren’t the lower-ranking ones the ones who criticize?

The naval forces were also secretly dissatisfied, but they followed them thoroughly because they were under the command of their lord, Sun Ce, and because Zhou Yu, who actually managed them, permitted them to do so.

That was when.

Five warships were slowly approaching from the west. When Zhou Yu saw him, his eyes narrowed like blades. Then he shouted loudly.

“Allies, stop and state your affiliations!”

Then a man’s rough voice was heard from the approaching warship.

“You guys! It’s been a while! Who do you belong to?”

A man’s voice that felt somehow familiar.

Joo Yoo-jun, who had been hesitating, answered smoothly without realizing it. He didn’t know exactly, but he felt he had to do it in front of this man’s voice, and he was afraid of the consequences if he didn’t.

“…We are the naval forces directly under the Admiral! Who are you….”

“Aha? I guess today is the day that the Lord Admiral himself will be inspecting. This is perfect timing! Tell the Lord Admiral that I have come!”

At that moment, a thunderous roar echoed through Zhou Yujun’s head.

“If it’s a woman’s name…. Yes, yes, your Majesty!”

“Oh, it’s been a while since I left here, and my name still remains! Well, I’ve made great achievements, so it won’t be easy to forget them. Right, don’t just sit still, go and tell the Lord Admiral that a woman’s name has arrived!”

“Yes, yes, yes, sir!”

Not only was martial arts a skill, but in the past, Yeo Meng was notorious for his ignorant behavior within the Zhou army.

The soldiers of Zhou Yu’s army, who remembered this, quickly ran inside the warship to report to Zhou Yu.

‘What is that ignorant person doing here?’

***

Payangho.

Inside the Zhou Yuan army ship.

Zhou Yu was in deep thought.

‘Did Uncle really think that Baekso would attack him?’

Who is Sun Zhao? In private, he is like Zhou Yu’s nephew, and in public, he is the obvious successor to Sun Ce.

He was a successor who possessed the keen talents of a warlord: extreme filial piety, wondrous insight that seemed to read the future, and even foresight to see the talents of others.

Why would such a person try to eat his own flesh? It is only natural that he would be next after Sun Ce.

Even if Sun Ce had absolutely no political sense, he knew better than anyone that Sun Zhao would not attack Sun Ce without any reason. Unless Sun Ce suddenly became mad and wanted to expel Sun Zhao.

But in the past, Sun Ce prepared for this… .

Zhou Yu let out a small sigh. The more he tried to predict the future, the more ominous the future became in his mind.

‘… If you still want to remove Baekso from the position of successor even after I explained it to you in such a way… I won’t stand by and watch any longer, Uncle.’

At that moment, the door opened wide and an officer fell to his knees and shouted.

“Admiral Zhou, Lady, Lady Dowager has appeared. What should we do?”

At the word “Yeo-mong,” Zhou Yu tightly closed his eyes.

As expected, it was a precise movement typical of Son So-da.

Judging from the fact that he had already sent Yeomong to Payangho, he must have been preparing something.

I supported Son So-won, knowing that something like this could happen, but it was disappointing to see things turn out this way.

Joo-yu answered in a deep voice.

“…Come in.”

***

Juyu and Yeomong.

These two people were facing each other.

Yeomong, who had been staring at the gas station for a moment, smiled rudely and said.

“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty. How have you been?”

Then, Joo-yu looked at Yeo-mong with a look of surprise.

The word ‘Muyang’ (無恙) was not a word that could be used in any academic field.

“…You must have read the Records of the Grand Historian and the Strategies of the Warring States—a collection of prose from the Han Dynasty. You are completely different from your past self. If I think about your past self, I will be ashamed.”

Yeomong smiled roughly.

“Hahaha, how could I shame the Lord Admiral with my humble talents? I am just trying to live up to his expectations.”

“…So there must be a reason why you came here yourself. What is it?”

Finally, Yeomong opened his mouth with a dreary look in his eyes.

“I would like to build several military camps near Geonup.”

Then, Joo-yu looked at Yeo-mong with calm, seemingly indifferent eyes.

“It’s true that I support Baekso. However, I didn’t support it because the rich fight with each other. But… Baekso’s intentions seem to go further than that?”

Yeomong flinched for a moment, but gritted his teeth and continued his explanation.

“…My lord is still a loyal subject of Sun Ga. However, as you know, there are many disloyal people in the vicinity of Jianye.

After the lord stepped down from the position of governor of Sinan, the number of troops operating in Yangju decreased significantly. Of course, the general ordered the reduction of the private armies of the aristocrats, but the private armies of the aristocrats are still abundant in Jianye.

“Your Majesty, in preparation for this, is planning to gradually deploy your troops.”

In Yangju, Son So’s personal forces were extremely small. This was because they had all gone to Hyeongju.

Moreover, Sun Ce was extremely wary of Sun Zhao’s troops entering Yangzhou, so if by any chance he were to go to Yangzhou, Sun Zhao would inevitably worry about his own safety.

At that moment, a ray of light flashed in Zhou Yu’s mind.

‘… Or was this what Uncle had been aiming for from the beginning? Since Baekso’s forces are extremely small, is he planning to do something?’

Joo-yu, who had been thinking hard, spoke with determined eyes.

“Since Baekso’s concerns are justified, I will give him the flag. However, I will tell him that it is absolutely unacceptable to allow direct conflict between father and son to diminish Songa’s power. Do you understand?”

“…Of course, Your Majesty.”

After a while, unidentified troops began to set up camp near Danyang County.

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Since the number of troops in the camp was only a few hundred, there was no major problem in defending Jianye.

That would be the case, since tens of thousands of troops were stationed in Geonup at all times.

The sudden appearance of a force of spirit. There were some who doubted their identity.

But those who were suspicious quickly retreated when they saw the flag fluttering in the strong wind.

The flag clearly had the character “周” (Zhou), which means “Zhou Army”, written on it.

No one was foolish enough to question him.

***

Yangju Danyang-gun Geonup-hyeon.

The headquarters of the General Staff.

Sun Ce laughed like crazy when he saw the hideous head in front of him. It was Huang Zu’s head.

“Hahahaha! You should have died a long time ago! It was brave of you to have survived until now!”

The feeling of fear and the salt-pickled head made it possible to imagine the tragedy of that time. For a moment, Guang Xiao also frowned, and Sun Ce wrinkled the corners of his mouth.

Avenging my dead father, Sun Jian. So far so good.

But among all those generals, why did a general under Sun Zhao kill Huang Zu? What on earth did the senior generals of Sun Ce’s army do?

‘I was pushed back by the general of Sonso… . … Now I’m old and it seems I don’t have the strength to swing a weapon.’

Sun Ce, who had been grumbling for a moment, opened his mouth absentmindedly.

“So, what kind of reward should we give to Heungpae, who killed the emperor?”

In some ways, it may seem like Sun Ce is doing a great favor, but originally, this was legal.

Wow, Gan Ning had avenged his father’s grudge. This was something that deserved a great reward.

Then the place asked.

“…What kind of reward would you like to give, my lord?”

“Shouldn’t we also grant a fief to the Marquis?”

“That seems appropriate, too.”

The place looked at Sun Ce with an unexpected gaze. Judging from his usual behavior, he thought that he would treat Sun Zhao’s general poorly.

‘…Has your thinking changed a little?’

Unfortunately, the location turned out to be exactly what I had initially guessed. Sun Ce did not want to hand over his jurisdiction to Sun Zhao’s subordinates.

If it weren’t for my father’s chieftains, why should I hand over my jurisdiction to someone like Son So’s subordinate? I couldn’t give even a single inch of land in Yangju to someone like that.

Sun Ce, who had been frowning and thinking hard, smiled brightly as if a good idea had occurred to him.

“Since Xingbai is currently stationed in Xingzhou, I will grant him 500 households in Xingzhou as a fief. Bai Su will choose one of the commanderies and counties in Xingzhou and appoint Xingbai as the marquis!”

Son, the faces of the officials present changed strangely at the sight of Sun Ce’s ugly appearance, who was being rewarded under Sun Zhao’s jurisdiction.

Of course, if I had any expectations of Sun Ce, I would have advised him something… .

Now, no one had high expectations of Sun Ce enough to point this out. Most officials had also become disillusioned with Sun Ce.

“…Yes, my lord.”

When everyone bowed their heads in silence, Sun Ce finally burst into a satisfied laugh.

A state where no one disagrees with what he says.

This was the world he had been hoping for, and the appearance of Hansil.

***

Hyungju Namgun Yangyangseong.

After reading Sun Ce’s letter, I was momentarily dumbfounded.

So I asked the lion back.

“…Should the rewards for success and failure be given in Xingzhou?”

Then the lion began to stammer and make excuses.

“Yes, that’s right. The general said that since the commander-in-chief was stationed in Jingzhou, it would be right to give him up from Jingzhou….”

Yangju, Hyeongju, Yeju, Cheongju, and Seoju. These are the states that our army occupied.

Of course, the area of ​​Yeju occupied by the Allied Forces was only half, but the Allied Forces’ territory was still vast.

But why are you asking me to give it to my jurisdiction?

‘… Sun Ce, you punk. I guess you didn’t want to split up your land because Gan Ning was your subordinate.’

Of course, formally, Jing Province was under Sun Ce’s command, so there was no procedural problem. However, the problem was that it was the country that actually took over and ruled Jing Province.

But it was already decided, so it wasn’t my place to interfere.

Of course, I’m not actually handing over the taxes for that area to Gan Ning. I’m just granting him about half of the taxes for the fiefs he chose under my jurisdiction.

Besides, in Xingbei, Zhuge Liang was in charge of internal affairs, and in Xingnan, Sim Yu was in charge of internal affairs, so having 500 households was not a burden.

However, Sun Ce secretly passed the reward that he should have given me on to me. This was just unpleasant.

‘… Rather, how could the ministers of Jianye not have said anything? If Sun Jian’s revenge is given to my generals and the rewards are given under my jurisdiction… .

In fact, what contribution did Sun Ce make to Sun Jian’s revenge? Later on, there may be a lot of gossip, but Jianye’s ministers just stood by and watched this happen?’

The moment a question crosses your mind.

“My lord! Where is my lord?”

For some reason, the official who was supposed to be in charge of Hyungnam’s internal affairs was approaching him, grumbling.

It was Sim Woo. He opened his mouth with a dumbfounded expression.

“My lord, what on earth are you planning?”

But the absurd one was me.

How important and difficult is Hyungnam’s internal affairs? Why did he abandon it for several days and come here?

I said, slightly crinkling my eyes.

“What do you mean?”

Then, Sim Woo seemed taken aback and laughed and said,

“Troops, troop numbers! Troop numbers throughout Xingzhou are dwindling! Do you think I wouldn’t notice if you kept moving with small numbers of troops?”

“…Since when did you know that?”

When I admitted it obediently, Sim Woo answered with a look that seemed to indicate something absurd.

“Recently, the number of troops has been decreasing, so I checked the documents and…. They have all transferred their military registers to Yangju! And they are part of the Zhou army! Do you have anything to say to the officer?”

I ordered you to move it with care, but you noticed it. As expected, Sim-woo. When it comes to internal affairs, he is first-class, no, he can be called super first-class.

But that great talent is only meaningful if it is directed towards me. What use is it if I am loyal to a country that is about to fall?

I looked into Sim Woo’s eyes, which were filled with a sense of betrayal. Then I asked him softly with a smile.

“Why, I didn’t tell you the truth… Is that what you mean? Then, before asking that question, let me ask you one thing. Shim Chi-jung, do you really intend to devote yourself to a person like me?”

Then, Sim Woo’s demeanor, which had been vaguely resentful, became as calm as the calm sea.

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