Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 223 Abandonment
"Ah! Dad, why are you here? Uncle was just looking for you..." Huang Yueying was blocked by Huang Chengyan as soon as she returned to Echeng.
Although Huang Chengyan was in his fifties, he looked only slightly middle-aged, with only his hair a little dry and yellow. He was thin and looked very energetic.
However... the staring look in his eyes makes people feel energetic, but also makes people instinctively feel that this old man must be a difficult person to deal with!
"Then let him look for it. Now I'm the one looking for you." Huang Chengyan was unmoved.
Huang Yueying curled her lips and said, "Dad, how did you know I was here?"
"I wasn't sure at first, but then I found out that those workshops in Echeng were actually accepting orders for featherless wooden arrows..." said Huang Chengyan.
Echeng did not have the foundation for assembly line production, and Huang Zu did not want the method of making crossbows to circulate among the people, but he forced the production of crossbows to be assigned to private workshops.
When using a crossbow to shoot arrows, thin bamboo strips are generally needed to make "arrow feathers", or no feathers are used. The former has a high process cost, and the latter causes unstable trajectory and affects the range.
As for Huang Yueying's repeating crossbow, because she had to press several crossbow arrows into the receiver at the same time, she had to use bare wooden arrows without "feathers". Moreover, the shape of the arrows was shorter than that of ordinary crossbow arrows, making it highly recognizable. Therefore, Huang Chengyan recognized it at a glance.
Even Huang Yueying didn't know before that there was another folk workshop in Echeng whose boss was Huang Chengyan, so he was the first to get the news.
"Stupid! Do you think you can change the situation with your little cleverness ?" Huang Chengyan scolded.
"But Sun Ce came here this time to avenge his uncle..." Huang Yueying obviously didn't want to help Jiangxia or Jingzhou, she just didn't want her uncle to be defeated.
As long as the others were defeated and did not die on the spot, they would most likely have a chance to survive. However, Sun Ce, who came for revenge, would not give Huang Zu any chance to live.
"He should have had this awareness since he intercepted Sun Jian... no, it should be said that since he stepped forward in the chaotic times and became the prefect of Jiangxia and established his own regime." Huang Chengyan shook his head.
"Okay, this is the path he chose. You don't need to get involved. Just follow your father back to Nanyang." Huang Chengyan continued.
"No." Huang Yueying refused without much struggle.
"You... don't be willful. This time, your father has found a rare talent from Pang Degong, who will definitely be worthy of you." Huang Chengyan said with some complacency.
"Let's talk about it later. I don't want to go back for the time being." Huang Yueying said nonchalantly.
"Your father has never forced you to do anything. At least go back and take a look. Besides... it's not good to stay in Jiangxia." Huang Chengyan said. The two tall and strong retainers behind him showed helpless and flattering looks to Huang Yueying and took two steps forward.
Huang Yueying rolled up her sleeves without saying anything...
Huang Yueying was seen wearing some kind of "arm guard" made of a mixture of metal and wood, and with the sound of a mechanism, crossbow arms popped out from both sides of the arm guard, and even... the tip of an arrow was exposed in front, as if she was saying "I'm just moving my wrist".
Seeing this, the two family generals looked around and retreated.
"It was a mistake for your father to let you read those Mohist works since you were young." Huang Chengyan said angrily.
"No, it was my aunt who showed it to me. You were never at home when I was a child!" Huang Yueying exposed mercilessly.
"Ahem...Okay, do whatever you want!" Huang Chengyan left in a hurry.
But as she turned around, a smile appeared on her lips. The general beside her whispered, "Miss Yueying's temper is really similar to yours when you were young."
Huang Chengyan glanced at him and ignored the guard who had just fled.
…
On the other hand, after the news of the Jiangxia navy's defeat spread, the first thing Liu Biao thought of was not to provide assistance, but to... send Cai Mao and Wen Pin to take over Xiling!
Xiling is a large county in the northern part of Jiangxia, located north of the Yangtze River. If Miankou and Xiakou, where the Han River and the Yangtze River meet, are the east-west barriers of Jiangxia, then Xiling is the north-south division of Jiangxia.
In history, Lu Xun and his son Lu Kang had both been stationed here to guard against Cao Wei, which had already taken control of Nanjun and Nanyang.
At this time, Liu Biao sent Cai Mao and Wen Pin first, and his purpose was obvious - as long as Xiling was defended, even if Jiangxia's natural barrier of the Yangtze River was gone and the southern part was occupied, the offensive of the General's Mansion to the north could be curbed and Nanjun could be saved.
In fact, it was just as Huang Zu expected...
As for the representatives of the Nanjun families, Liu Biao had always had a tacit "cooperation" with them, and Huang Zu had always obeyed orders rather than announcements.
If Huang Zu could fight Sun Ce back and forth, Liu Biao might cause trouble . If Huang Zu was at a disadvantage, Liu Biao would definitely provide support, but...
Once Huang Zu's power was exhausted, Liu Biao would simply abandon him, just like now... directly taking back the northern part of Jiangxia, and not worrying about, or not caring about, Huang Zu's dissatisfaction.
Without the Jiangxia navy, Huang Zu would be just a "predecessor" with no use value.
Cai Mao was Liu Biao 's brother-in-law, that is, the son of Cai Feng and the younger brother of Cai Shuang. At this time, Cai Mao was less than 30 years old. Even though his martial arts skills were average, his appearance did not look greasy.
Wen Pin was a young and vigorous member of the Jingzhou army. He had a close relationship with the Cai family and was very talented. Five years ago, when gilded armor was not as common as it is now, he had already achieved gilding.
Now Cai Shuang has given birth to a young son for Liu Biao, named Cong. Although he is only six years old, everyone knows that as long as Cai Shuang is alive, she will be an important bond of unity between the Nanjun gentry and Liu Biao, and the Nanjun gentry will also fully support Liu Cong.
With Cai Shuang at home and the Nanjun gentry outside, even though Liu Cong was only six years old, he still made his brother Liu Qi feel very threatened!
After all, Liu Qi's mother died early, and Cai Shuang was Liu Biao's second wife, so she was naturally the legal wife, and Liu Cong was also the legitimate son.
Others did not know during this period, but when Bai Tu saw the basic situation of Jingzhou, he knew the section about Liu Cong. Obviously, the situation in Cheng Ji's world is closer to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Because in history, Liu Cong was not the son of Lady Cai, but because he married Lady Cai's niece, he became close to Lady Cai and the Nanjun gentry and gained their support. He was much older than in the romance and was not a child.
When Huang Zu learned that the Xiling area had been occupied by Cai Mao, he was also angry. The Cai family was undoubtedly the branch of the Nanjun nobles that was closest to Liu Biao...
Moreover, because of Huang Chengyan, the relationship between the Cai and Huang families became much more distant, especially Cai Mao... He always believed that his eldest sister's early death was due to Huang Jun's absence, and attributed it to the discord between the brothers Huang Zu and Huang Jun.
However, Cai Mao still followed the "rules" among the gentry. After taking over Xiling, he took the initiative to send a message to Echeng, informing Huang Zu that they would take good care of the Huang family in Nanjun, and also told Huang Zu that he could recommend Huang She to be a chief clerk in the Nanjun prefectural government.
Huang Zu himself was not mentioned. Obviously, not only Liu Biao, but even the gentry of Nanjun had abandoned him. After reading the letter, Huang Zu almost fainted from anger, but he still called Huang She over.
On the other hand, after holding the Miankou, Sun Ce captured the Xiakou on the opposite bank, and then a number of cargo ships carrying the "Baigong Cannon" arrived in Jiangxia...
