Chapter 100 Arrival in Shouchun Perhaps no one on either the Wei or Wu side could have imagined at that time that Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou who was inspecting a state, was now hiding on a low hill in Huainan, with only a hundred archers around him. What made the governor of a state wait and see for an hour was just a Wu army of about a hundred infantrymen. Jia Kui understood that if the Wu army came closer and arrived near this low mountain, they might discover that Wu Qiangkou had built a camp here. If the Wu army generals were to discover the scale of such a large camp, it might affect the course of the war. After all, this group of Wu soldiers did not come over. They circled around the place where rivers and lakes intersected in front for a long time and then went back to the east. At this time, Jia Kui was at Wuqiangkou, and Chaohu Lake was a hundred miles northeast of it. Chaohu Lake flows southeast to the Yangtze River through Rushu River. The famous Rushu Fort, which was attacked many times by Cao's army but still could not be captured, is located at the junction of Chaohu Lake and Rushu River. If you count, Ruxuwu is nearly 200 miles away from Wuqiangkou. The Wu army just now had only a hundred people. It is impossible for the Wu army general to send only a hundred people to go such a long distance to investigate. There may be 500 or even 1,000 people following behind. Could it be that Wu’s soldiers have begun to gather? Although Yuzhou, where Jia Kui usually lived, was blocked by the Dabie Mountains in the south and thus did not directly border the State of Wu, Yuzhou was an important support force. It could assist Cao Xiu in Yangzhou to the east and Chen Qun in Jingzhou to the west.
Jia Kui not only knows about military affairs, but also knows the daily deployment of the troops of the Eastern Wu. If we compare it with usual times, doubts will arise. Wu sent troops from Ruxu for nearly 200 miles, and by chance they had already reached Wuqiangkou, which means that Zhu Huan, the garrison commander of Wu in Ruxu, believed that a war might break out there. If nothing happened, Zhu Huan would not have gone to such a remote place as Wuqiangkou to investigate. If the Wankou where the Wanshui River flows into the Yangtze River is taken as the base point, Zhou Cang's Poyang is the upper reaches, and Zhu Huan's Ruxu is the lower reaches. Zhou Cang in the upper reaches wanted to surrender, but Zhu Huan in the lower reaches knew about it ten days in advance, even though they were more than 800 miles apart? Zhu Huan is not a god! The only possible result is that Zhu Huan already knew about Zhou Cang's false surrender, and perhaps Wu's soldiers have already begun to move troops to Wankou and Wancheng. And there was no messenger reporting the situation from Wancheng, so it must be near Wankou! It has to be said that there are always some outstanding generals with keen intuition who can figure out the truth of the matter based on some slight movements on the battlefield and bold and reasonable inferences. Although Jia Kui did not know that Zhu Huan was in Wuchang at that time, nor did he know that the new governor of Ruxu was Luo Tong, this did not affect Jia Kui's actions. Jia Kui did not hesitate any longer. He mounted his horse and returned the same way. He went to his tent and wrote two documents. A letter was sent to Shouchun, 350 miles to the north, detailing the situation he had discovered and his guesses, and the letter was handed directly to the emperor. Another letter was sent to Wancheng, 180 miles southwest of the capital, instructing the defenders to guard the city carefully and not to explore elsewhere. There was a reason why Jia Kui informed the emperor while asking Wancheng not to investigate. Jia Kui had reason to believe that Sun Quan's Wu army had already begun to march towards the meeting point agreed upon by Zhou Yu at Wankou. If Sun Quan did so, he must have been prepared to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out or even to ambush and attack. Jia Kui was afraid that if the Wancheng defenders went out to investigate, they would be caught by the Wu army and even change their plans, which might lead to changes. Jia Kui wrote the letter carefully, blew away the ink, sealed it with wax, and then sent messengers in two directions. After that, Jia Kui sat in the tent and thought for a long time. Jia Kui actually looked down on Cao Xiu. It was not that Cao Xiu was not brave enough or was afraid of death, but Jia Kui thought Cao Xiu was not a good general at all. In Jia Kui's eyes, Cao Xiu could lead 10,000 people into battle personally, and he could do a better job than anyone else. He had both fighting will and tactical skills. After all, he had fought with the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry of Emperor Wu of Cao Cao for more than ten years. However, Cao Xiu really did not have the ability to command more than 100,000 people as the commander-in-chief. When the late Emperor Cao Pi was still alive, he launched three attacks on Wu. In the last two attacks, the late Emperor personally led the army to Guangling. During the first attack on Wu, Cao Xiu led 80,000 troops to attack the eastern front, and Jia Kui was in Cao Xiu's army at the time. Cao Xiu's record of killing thousands of people from Lü Fan's army in the Eastern Wu was only because of the weather, Lü Fan's ships were blown to the north bank of the river, and Cao Xiu took advantage of the opportunity. Cao Xiu even presented a petition to the late emperor in front of all the generals, saying that he would "lead the army across the river immediately to obtain supplies from the enemy, and if I died, please do not worry about me." What kind of talk is that! If you cross the river again, can you bring 80,000 people across at the same time? Even if you squeeze all the counties in Wu dry, you may not be able to gather enough food and rations for 80,000 people. Moreover, you, Cao Xiu, are the commander-in-chief. Why are you willing to risk your life and seek death? If you die, what will happen to this army of 80,000 people? After hearing what Cao Xiu said, Jia Kui did not say anything. He turned around and returned to his own camp. Without even taking a break, he immediately submitted a petition to Cao Pi to impeach Cao Xiu.
From then on, Cao Xiu and Jia Kui began to confront each other. Jia Kui always looked down on Cao Xiu. Even when Cao Xiu became the Grand Marshal, Jia Kui only thought that Cao Xiu was a relative of the emperor. If Cao Xiu was not capable of commanding an army of more than 100,000, who else could? I heard that the emperor sent General Cao Zhen to lead the central army to Shouchun. Could it be that he was going to use Cao Zhen? Would Cao Xiu be convinced? …… Cao Rui and his party arrived in Qiao County at noon on December 20th. Even though the local governors and officials offered wine and food, the group of 5,000 to 6,000 people did not stop, but continued to head south to Shouchun. Previously, Cao Cao and Cao Pi had always taken a boat from Qiao County to Shouchun. However, since the 5,000 cavalry led by Cao Rui were the last group to come from Henan, there were no extra boats for people to take. Cao Rui had no complaints. The entire country belonged to him, and the ships were used to transport food and fodder for his own benefit. What else was there to say? At a speed of 80 miles a day, Cao Rui, Cao Hong and Xu Chu led the last 5,000 central troops and arrived at the outskirts of Shouchun on December 25th. Shouchun City was built along the Huai River. As a transportation hub between the north and the south, there were no less than ten docks near Shouchun City. The troops assembled here from Henan, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Qingzhou, and Xuzhou had camps densely packed along the Huai River, stretching for no less than fifty miles. Cao Zhen had already arrived in Shouchun. Hearing from the messenger that the emperor would arrive outside the city this afternoon, Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen led a group of civil and military officials to line up to welcome him five miles north of the ferry on the north bank of the Huai River. Although it is located near the Huai River, the temperature in winter is still quite cold. But when they heard that the emperor was coming, none of the officials complained. Actually, most of these provincial governors, generals, and prefects stationed in various places had never met the emperor. Who would dare to neglect him in the first audience? Just as everyone was eagerly waiting, the thousand cavalrymen who had led the way came over to guard the way, and the large group of people and horses following behind also came over one after another. Everyone looked up and saw a man in the lead riding an extremely majestic white horse, wearing a golden helmet and golden armor, his face unable to be seen clearly due to the dazzle of the sunlight. Who else but the emperor would dare to dress like this? The emperor was getting closer and closer, and a group of civil and military officials knelt down to greet him under the command of Cao Xiu. The sound of horse hooves gradually approached, and then slowly stopped. "Everyone, please stand up. After you follow me into the city, I will get to know you better." Except for Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen and a few generals from the central army, most people stared at Cao Rui sitting on the horse and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Cao Rui was no longer surprised. These people couldn't take their eyes off him, wasn't it because of his appearance? Cao Rui smiled as he sat on his horse and said, "Many of you are seeing me for the first time, right? If it is your first time seeing me, you should take a few more glances. You should remember my appearance." Some of the people grinned, while others laughed a few times in response. Cao Rui looked at everyone and nodded: "In that case, let's all get on our horses. I will discuss this with you in detail when we get to Shouchun City." Cao Rui then looked at Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen standing beside him and said, "Grand Marshal and General, you have worked hard. Would you like to ride with me?" Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen naturally agreed. Then the group marched southward in a mighty manner. Apart from the 1,000 cavalrymen who led the way, the three people in the front were Emperor Cao Rui, Grand Marshal Cao Xiu and General Cao Zhen. Sikong Sima Yi, four attendants and other eunuchs followed behind him. The ministers who had just greeted him could only line up at the back. After the grand court meeting in Luoyang in early December, General Cao Zhen led 45,000 troops southwards. Grand Marshal Cao Xiu returned to Shouchun in August. Cao Rui and Cao Xiu had not seen each other for four months. Cao Xiu rode his horse to the right of Cao Rui and said with a smile, "This is the first time I have seen Your Majesty wearing golden armor. I am impressed by your heroic spirit." Cao Rui looked at Cao Xiu and said, "Grand Marshal, do you think my armor looks familiar?" Cao Xiu was puzzled. "Your Majesty, this is a golden helmet and golden armor. I have never seen such armor before. But I heard Emperor Wu say at a banquet a few years ago that when Emperor Wu was the commander of the army in Xiyuan, Luoyang, he saw Emperor Ling wearing a golden helmet and golden armor during a military parade."
Cao Rui smiled and shook his head: "It's the same golden helmet and golden armor. When I wear it, I can drive the tiger and wolf army to the south. When Emperor Ling wears it, he can only struggle before his death." Cao Xiu knew he had said something wrong: "I have spoken out of turn. Your Majesty, please punish me." Cao Rui glanced at Cao Xiu and said with a smile, "What crime? I am not that petty, Grand Marshal, please feel free to speak. But do you really have no impression of this armor?" Cao Xiu squinted his eyes and looked at it for a moment: "Your Majesty, judging from the shape of this armor, it does look familiar to me. Could it be..." Cao Rui nodded and said, "I ordered people to make this set of armor based on Emperor Wu's armor. The shape is exactly the same, except that the armor is covered with a layer of gold, and the size is just a little bigger." Cao Xiu smiled and said, "No wonder. When I compare the shape of this set of armor with the current ones, there are still many subtle differences." (End of this chapter)