Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 489: Mission
The news of the battle in Badong spread back to Jinling, back to Chengdu, and spread to all directions...
The Chu State, which had been dormant, brazenly sent troops to Yizhou because of the Hanzhong incident. It took less than a month from mobilization to dispatch of troops, one month from dispatch of troops to the start of the war, and only three months from the start of the war to the announcement of the establishment of Badong County!
At the beginning of the year, Bai Tu responded to the people's petition in Jinling. Half a year later, a county of Chu State appeared in Yizhou...
Moreover, the establishment of a county by dividing five counties was entirely announced by the State of Chu itself. After Zhao Yun announced the establishment of Badong County with the privilege of governing and pacifying the country, Jinling immediately responded with "valid".
In the past, even if the counties under the jurisdiction of the princes themselves needed to be re-divided, they would nominally report it to the court first - although the local government offices would certainly have already re-divided the counties when the report was submitted, the official announcement would only be made after the court's response.
However, this time Jinling directly announced that "Chu Badong County" was valid, and had no intention of sending an envoy to Chang'an...
As for the reason why Chu sent troops, although the reasons promoted by Chu itself were ridiculous, it did point out the key - Hanzhong.
The idea that the Marquis of Shu intended to pacify Hanzhong and then accomplish the feat of "annihilating Chu" is definitely nonsense. However, regardless of the reasons behind Chu's dispatch of troops, the direct reason was obviously that Zhang Lu's title of "Marquis of Hanning" was rejected by the court!
Although the Chu army only occupies Badong now, due to objective factors such as logistical difficulties and rugged roads, Yizhou Prefecture should be confident that it can control the war situation in Ba County, but no one dares to guarantee it.
What if the State of Chu mobilizes its entire nation and sends an army of 100,000 to the west?
For the State of Chu, it will certainly be a huge cost and even overdraw the people, but will Yizhou really be able to hold back the State of Chu by then?
No matter whether others have confidence or not, Liu Zhang does not have it!
After learning about the military situation in Badong, Liu Zhang went from being furious at the inability of the Chu army to shrinking in fear after the establishment of Badong County...
On the one hand, he sent envoys to Chang'an, and on the other hand, he sent envoys to Jiangzhou and Jinling.
The one who went to the court was Zhang Song, and the one who went to Jinling was Qin Mi.
Liu Zhang was originally dissatisfied with Zhang Song because he had recently frequently accused him of dereliction of duty and often warned him that the flattery from the State of Chu was all "stone bullets". However, Zhang Song's repeated emphasis on the war situation made Liu Zhang trust him even more when the war situation was unfavorable!
The reason is simple. Although Liu Zhang also has a stubborn side, he lacks domineering power, or is too cowardly, which is the opposite of Yuan Shao.
Historically, after Yuan Shao was defeated, the first thing he did was to order the killing of Tian Feng, who predicted his failure, because Yuan Shao could not stand Tian Feng's mockery of him in the future. If it were Liu Zhang, he would definitely go to Tian Feng to curry favor with him first - since you know I will lose, you should also know how to make me win, right?
Based on this mentality, Liu Zhang entrusted Zhang Song with an important task...
However, Zhang Song was very disdainful of this important task - Liu Zhang ordered him to go to the court in Chang'an to persuade the emperor and his ministers to put the overall situation first and confer the title of Marquis of Hanning on Zhang Lu.
After this incident, I’m afraid everyone in the court will know how cowardly the Marquis of Shu is.
Along the way, Zhang Song repeated "I am Yan Zi" and "I am not angry" countless times...
Qin Mi was the governor of Yizhou and a native of Guanghan, Yizhou. When Liu Yan was in charge of Yizhou, he summoned him several times, but he declined each time. At the same time, he also recommended other talents to Liu Yan. Later, after Liu Yan passed away and Liu Zhang succeeded him, Qin Mi accepted the summons.
Qin Mi was good at debate. On the one hand, he went to Jiangzhou to inform Yan Yan not to overreact. On the other hand, he also wanted to go deep into Badong County of Chu, go down the river to Jinling, appease Zhao Yun who was in Badong County of Chu, and go to Jinling to negotiate peace ...
Qin Mi was not worried about his own safety. As a debater, how could he not be courageous?
As the thing that is cooked the most besides food and medicine...a debater must be able to speak clearly and articulately under the hot steam of boiling water!
Moreover, given the reputation of the Chu State, it is very likely that they would not do anything excessive to the "envoy".
However, Qin Mi felt a little frustrated about the purpose of this trip.
Half of the county had already been conquered by the State of Chu, and yet they wanted him to travel thousands of miles to negotiate peace?
Qin Mi therefore advised Liu Zhang: "My lord, it is easy to negotiate peace, but it is difficult to beg for mercy! If we cannot first make Chu feel fearful, how can we beg for peace?"
"I can reopen the Jing-Yi trade route." Liu Zhang said righteously.
Qin Mi: ...
Qin Mi had never thought that her master could be so weak - do you have any shame? I said you begged for mercy! You didn't even refute it? Are you really answering me seriously?
Qin Mi felt very tired and just wanted to regard this diplomatic mission as the last thing he did for Yizhou Prefecture. He made up his mind that after returning, he would resign from his post and go home to write books with peace of mind!
When Yan Yan was staying in Jiangzhou until July, he met the envoy of Yizhou Prefecture again. This time the envoy was Qin Mi, the governor of Yizhou, and it was obvious that he had important instructions.
Yan Yan felt inexplicably nervous about this.
After hearing the intention of Yizhou Prefecture conveyed by Qin Mi, Yan Yan was stunned for a moment, then he let out a long sigh!
"Is Governor Yan okay? My lord... also has his own plans!" Qin Mi was an honest man. He still faithfully performed his duties as an envoy, trying to appease Yan Yan.
"Don't worry, Qin Zhizhong. Yan naturally knows the seriousness of the matter. I was just relieved to know that our lord... ahem, our lord is in good health." Yan Yan forced an explanation.
In fact, Yan Yan was indeed "relieved" because they were so close to the Wancheng 1st Division and the Xinye 1st Division, and even Yan Yan almost believed their lies!
Now it seems... the lord is still the familiar lord, still so cowardly, and all the rumors before were true.
Qin Mi looked at Yan Yan strangely and wanted to complain, "At your old age, you don't need to worry about the lord's health, right?"
However, due to his temperament, Qin Mi considered himself a moral gentleman, and his friendship with his friends was as light as water. Towards Yan Yan, a military man, his friendship was just that of an ordinary colleague, and he did not delve into the meaning of the matter.
After realizing that Yan Yan had understood Liu Zhang's intention very well, Qin Mi went to Badong, and Yan Yan also sent a team of soldiers to protect him.
As expected, after learning that Qin Mi was an envoy from Yizhou, the garrisons along the way did not make things difficult for him. They simply limited his ceremonial procession to less than a hundred people, and then assigned someone to "escort" him to Pingdu County to meet Zhao Yun, the commander of the Wancheng 1st Division!
Now, Zhao Yun is in charge of Badong affairs...
Zhao Yun also understood the tactics of these envoys. As soon as they met, he took the initiative to list Liu Zhang's crimes and explained the self-defense position of the Chu State.
Although Qin Mi was disdainful of this, he could not make much excuses. After all... Liu Zhang's bottom line was too cowardly. The eloquence of the envoy was important, but the support behind was more important!
Moreover, most lobbyists would start by saying "I'm here to save you" and look like they are analyzing from the other person's perspective. However, Qin Mi didn't dare to say that, otherwise it would be obvious...
If he said that he "came to save the State of Chu", the other party would definitely immediately insist that "Yizhou is determined to destroy the State of Chu"!
They took advantage of the situation and promoted this as a threat to Yizhou...
