Chapter 91

Chapter 90

The days passed one by one, and before they knew it, it was already late October.

During these ten or so days, Zhao Hongrun was not idle. Although it seemed like he did nothing every day, in reality, he was closely monitoring the situation in Yanling and the movements of the Chu army across the Yan River.

At the same time, he was also evaluating the six civil and military officials who were currently in charge of the major and minor affairs of Yanling.

The current Yanling was managed by the county magistrate Pei Zhan, the former Linying county magistrate Zhao Zhun, and the former Xihua county magistrate Xu Youzhi. In terms of military affairs, the Yanling military officer Chen Shi served as the "commander," with the former Linying military officer Wang Shu and the former Xihua military officer Ma Zhang serving as his deputies.

Without exaggeration, the current Yanling was like a place that had absorbed the civil and military officials from Linying and Xihua. Therefore, even though tens of thousands of refugees had poured into Yanling, the officials from these three counties could still handle various affairs.

Because of this, the results of Zhao Hongrun's ten-day observation made him feel somewhat impressed: The appointment of civil and military officials by the Wei Dynasty indeed had its unique aspects. Any official who could sit in the position of a county magistrate or military officer indeed had some ability.

For example, County Magistrate Pei Zhan had arranged the current Yanling in an orderly manner, and the work of comforting the refugees was done very promptly, without causing any conflicts between the refugees and the local residents.

In comparison, the more outstanding one was probably the Yanling military officer Chen Shi.

After careful observation, Zhao Hongrun found that Chen Shi might not be a skilled general in battle, although he was said to have good martial arts skills.

However, Chen Shi excelled in being very meticulous. He had arranged detailed surveillance forces on the south bank of the Yan River, especially at night, to prevent the Chu army from crossing the river under the cover of darkness.

More commendable was that the army in Yanling was implementing a "no unarmored soldiers" policy, always ready to rush out of the city to support the defense line on the Yan River. This was why, despite the Chu army's superior numbers, they had not gained any significant advantages.

To be fair, during these ten days, the Chu army had once attempted to build a bridge and cross the Yan River, but under the resistance led by Chen Shi, Wang Shu, and Ma Zhang, they failed to successfully build the bridge and suffered significant losses.

Of course, during his observations, Zhao Hongrun also noticed the weaknesses or shortcomings of Chen Shi. This person had never thought about counterattacking and was only passively defending, which Zhao Hongrun found unacceptable.

As the saying goes, prolonged defense will inevitably lead to failure. With only ten thousand soldiers, how long could Yanling hold out against the six thousand Chu army vanguard across the Yan River?

Once the Chu army finished plundering the wealth of the Wei cities and villages south of the Yan River and launched a formal attack on Yanling, the current harmonious situation would likely not last.

Even in defense, one must always be ready to seize the opportunity for a counterattack. This was the defensive strategy Zhao Hongrun consistently followed.

However, even though Chen Shi could not fully satisfy Zhao Hongrun, he did not give up on recruiting or convincing him to trust him.

Unfortunately, due to his young age, Chen Shi always held a somewhat distrustful attitude towards him. Even when Zhao Hongrun subtly mentioned the transfer of military authority a few times, Chen Shi pretended not to hear.

After a few attempts, Zhao Hongrun simply stopped trying. After all, he had the emperor's promise, which gave him three opportunities to unconditionally command local officials to act according to his instructions, and he still had two left.

On the 20th of October in the 16th year of Hongde, Zhao Hongrun called the six officials—Pei Zhan, Zhao Zhun, Xu Youzhi, Chen Shi, Wang Shu, and Ma Zhang—who were currently in charge of the major and minor affairs of Yanling, to the house where he was temporarily staying.

Firstly, Zhao Hongrun estimated that the Five Camps General Baili Ba and his Jun River camp should have completed the construction of the dam on the Cai River and were on their way to Yanling. Secondly, the Chu army, temporarily blocked by the Yan River, had begun to invade the areas upstream and downstream of the river.

Upstream was Linying, and downstream was Xihua. Although the county magistrates and military officers of these two places had already moved the residents of the cities to Yanling, the problem was that not all the residents lived in the cities. Many still lived in their villages for various reasons, and now they were suffering at the hands of the Chu army.

Therefore, Zhao Hongrun needed to find a way to make the Chu army across the Yan River focus their attention back on Yanling.

"Your Highness, the six officials have arrived."

Zongwei Shen Yu whispered a reminder in Zhao Hongrun's ear.

Zhao Hongrun lifted his head and saw Pei Zhan, Zhao Zhun, Xu Youzhi, Chen Shi, Wang Shu, and Ma Zhang walk into the room.

"Please, all of you, take a seat."

Zhao Hongrun invited them to sit down.

Pei Zhan, Zhao Zhun, Xu Youzhi, Chen Shi, Wang Shu, and Ma Zhang exchanged glances and silently sat down on the chairs in the room, but none of them spoke.

They were unsure of Zhao Hongrun's intentions for this meeting, and they also knew that Zhao Hongrun had hinted a few times for Chen Shi to hand over military authority, but Chen Shi had ignored it.

Seemingly noticing the solemn expressions on their faces, Zhao Hongrun smiled and said, "Gentlemen, there's no need to be so formal. In fact, you have all done an excellent job these past few days, and I will report this to the court. The court will certainly reward you."

Pei Zhan, as the county magistrate of Yanling, the de facto head of the region, took the initiative to respond to Zhao Hongrun's words, as he could not let the Prince of Su coldly sit there.

"Your Highness, we are officials of the Wei Dynasty, and it is our duty to alleviate the worries of the state and the emperor... May I ask, what is the purpose of your summoning us today?"

"Only one thing," Zhao Hongrun looked around at everyone and said calmly, "From today, I will take over Yanling!"

His words made the six civil and military officials change their expressions.

This Prince of Su... is finally going to seize power?

They were secretly shocked.

Before Chen Shi, who was frowning, could speak, County Magistrate Pei Zhan spoke first, saying tactfully, "Your Highness, according to the document issued by the court... Your Highness cannot do this."

"The court?" Zhao Hongrun smiled slightly and took out the imperial edict written by the emperor, saying calmly, "I have my father's permission!"

Pei Zhan's expression tightened, and he quickly stood up, respectfully took the edict from Zhao Hongrun, and carefully examined it.

Indeed, the edict clearly stated that the Prince of Su, Zhao Hongrun, had three opportunities to unconditionally command local officials and the Wei army, and it was clearly stamped with the emperor's private seal and the national seal.

The six of them gathered around, staring at the edict for a while, their expressions all somewhat dejected, especially the Yanling military officer Chen Shi.

He had thought that as long as he did not voluntarily hand over military authority, Zhao Hongrun could not do anything. However, the current situation proved that if Zhao Hongrun wanted to seize power in Yanling, he could do so at any time.

"Your Highness... What do you want us to do?"

Pei Zhan respectfully returned the edict to Zhao Hongrun and asked somewhat bitterly.

In fact, it was not just Chen Shi; the other few people present were also afraid that the 14-year-old Zhao Hongrun would do something unwise and push Yanling into a crisis, so they secretly supported Chen Shi's refusal to hand over military authority.

However, they could not do so now. With the emperor's personal edict, if they ignored Zhao Hongrun's demands, it would be considered insubordination. Zhao Hongrun had the right to arrest and even execute them on the spot.

Hearing Pei Zhan's words, Zhao Hongrun secretly found it amusing.

The emperor had not specified what the three things were in the edict, so Zhao Hongrun took advantage of this loophole and proposed taking over Yanling. Strictly speaking, this was one of the three things, but it clearly did not align with the emperor's original intentions.

However, who among those present would know?

Taking out a golden token from his pocket and tossing it to Pei Zhan, Zhao Hongrun, suppressing his amusement, said seriously, "First, build a dam upstream on the Yan River."

County Magistrate Pei Zhan was puzzled and asked in surprise, "Your Highness, are you planning to use water to attack the Chu army?... I'm afraid that won't work."

"Why not?"

Pei Zhan bowed and said seriously, "It is already winter, and the water level of the Yan River has significantly decreased. Even if we store water for a few days, it won't have much impact... Furthermore, the Chu army will not stand idly by. They will certainly send troops upstream to obstruct our dam construction."

"Then send a large force to protect the construction upstream," Zhao Hongrun said with a smile.

Yanling military officer Chen Shi's expression changed drastically, and he quickly stood up, saying, "Your Highness, this is absolutely not advisable!... Our army in Yanling is already insufficient to resist the Chu army across the river. If you divide our forces to go upstream, and the Chu army learns of this, they will immediately cross the Yan River and attack Yanling..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the two military officers, Wang Shu and Ma Zhang, also stood up and tried to persuade him.

"Indeed, Your Highness, we cannot divide our forces at this time!"

"Your Highness, if we divide our forces now, Yanling will surely be in danger!"

Faced with their persuasion, Zhao Hongrun's expression darkened, and he coldly said, "I have made my decision, and you need not say more!... Chen Shi, this task is yours!"

"..." Chen Shi opened his mouth, almost unable to believe it.

Seeing this, military officer Wang Shu quickly said, "Your Highness, the reason Yanling has been spared so far is due to the efforts of Military Officer Chen Shi in dealing with the Chu army. He cannot leave Yanling lightly... I am willing to go upstream to build the dam."

However, Wang Shu's plea did not change Zhao Hongrun's mind: "No, this task must be given to Chen Shi!"

Is the Prince of Su... blaming me for not being cooperative and refusing to hand over military authority?

Military Officer Chen Shi silently glanced at Zhao Hongrun, sighed deeply, and accepted the task.

"Your subordinate... obeys the order!"

The six of them left the room, their hearts heavy.

As they left, their faces showed various emotions—some were indignant, some were helpless, and some were disheartened.

Zhao Hongrun did not pay attention to them. He stood up, walked to the window, and silently looked out at the garden outside.

Xiong Hu, the Chu army's vanguard on the Ying River, whom the Marquis of Chu Yang, Xiong Tuo, has placed great hopes on, I hope you are wise enough. Otherwise, my plans will be more complicated...

Zhao Hongrun silently thought to himself.

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End of Chapter 90

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