Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 602: Take it Back
Most of the elite naval forces who had no missions at the moment returned to Nanjing in the winter.
The people of Jinling showed great admiration for this navy that had returned from a long voyage, defeated the State of Wei, moved the hearts of countless people in the State of Chu, and now finally returned victorious.
Not only was Jinling Harbor filled with representatives from all walks of life and ordinary people who came to welcome the triumphant navy when they returned, Bai Tu also personally went to the navy water fort to express his condolences after the New Year holiday, and promised everyone that the long-distance voyage plan would be restarted within a year, and that their "comrades-in-arms" would be brought back then.
Since Gan Ning had returned, there was no need for the State of Chu to hide the news any longer and the State of Chu simply exaggerated the difficulties encountered by the navy.
As a result, the people of Chu were also very active and wanted to welcome back other "heroes".
Of course, when we go to the Golden State again, we only need a part of the experienced elite troops and another part of the navy.
After all, this is a fight with nature, and the more people the better is not the case. Due to the current war situation, the State of Chu will also retain as much combat power as possible!
Gan Ning also fell into boredom because of this, and because Gan Ning returned to Jinling again and was very close to his goddaughter, he was very unhappy with Xiahou Yuan!
After discovering that his goddaughter's ship model had been "confiscated", Gan Ning pretended not to care and gave Bai Ningning several more models and toy soldiers, which made Xiahou Yuan so angry that he blew his beard and glared...
"You are worthy of being my goddaughter! When you grow up, you will definitely be a powerful general in the navy! Hahaha." Gan Ning looked at his daughter .
Indeed, Bai Ningning, who had just learned to speak, was very interested in the fleet toys. On the contrary, Bai Ningning was not interested in the rag dolls that the girls in Jinling liked more...
Xiahou Juan didn't want to reject Gan Ning's good intention, but he also complained to Bai Tu, so Bai Tu was also present today.
"Ningning, look what daddy has prepared for you? Ahem... I'm calling my daughter." Bai Tu called out first.
Upon hearing this, Gan Ning glanced over with a look that said, "Are you taking advantage of me on purpose?"
What Bai Tu was holding in his hand was... a custom-made wooden figure of Xiahou Yuan!
The reason why it is a customized version is that what is popular in the Chu State are basically its own generals. Even some unknown gilded generals will be popular because their armor just touches the "cute points" of some people. However...it is obvious that foreign generals are not issued in large quantities and are not deliberately vilified!
However, in order to take into account Xiahou Yuan's fragile heart, Bai Tu specially customized this model.
Ningning was obviously at the age of being fickle-minded. When she saw the majestic figurine, she immediately fell in love with it. Gan Ning, who was standing next to her, also curled his lips.
In fact, Gan Ning’s gold and jade armor, although too fancy, is not the most popular “heroic form”. Among the more than 30 gold and jade generals of the Chu State, even with Gan Ning’s idol bonus as the governor of the navy, it can only be barely ranked in the top ten. However... the figure of the god general Gan Ning can definitely be ranked in the top five!
After all, there are only five divine generals in the State of Chu, and among them, Sun Ce’s figure... has wings that break easily, so it is the least popular.
Before it was exposed, Gan Ning had not actively publicized it for the sake of the overall situation. But now that it has been exposed, when Gan Ning just returned to Chu State, he specially found the "God General Factory" and entered the information of the Shenwei mode...
To Gan Ning, the sales commission was insignificant, but how could he miss such an opportunity to show off his superiority?
Naturally, the so-called "God General Factory" is Bai Tu's private property. Of course, in theory, they have all been authorized by the generals, and it is not directly using the power of the King of Chu... Apart from this, who else can get the authorization of so many generals?
"My godfather's action figure will be out in a few days, and I'll give you a limited edition!" Gan Ning said generously.
Bai Tu thought the problem had been solved. At least playing with action figures was less stressful than playing with models - it saved Xiahou Yuan's worry and saved him the heartache!
However, two days later, Bai Tu took advantage of Xiahou Yuan's absence to look for Xiahou Juan and found that Ningning was in a bad mood again. It sounded like... Xiahou Juan had confiscated the figurine as well?
"What's wrong? The figurine also hurts my heart... ahem, the figurine also offends Uncle Xiahou?" Bai Tu was still very polite in front of Xiahou Juan and called him Uncle Xiahou, but he actually never really called Xiahou Yuan that.
Especially now, one basically has to "hide" from Xiahou Yuan to avoid embarrassment.
"Can you tell me about Gan Ning? What did he teach Ningning?" Xiahou Juan said dissatisfiedly.
"You're not going to teach Ningning how to put on makeup, are you?" Bai Tu also became nervous when he heard that.
"Wow, Daddy, Ningning wants to play the Battle of Generals!" Ningning said crying.
"What war?" Bai Tu didn't quite understand.
Upon hearing this, Xiahou Juan simply took out the toys that had been confiscated before, only to see... Bai Ningning picked up "Xiahou Yuan" in one hand and "Explorer" in the other, and they started to collide with each other with a sound of Duang, Duang, Duang!
He was making meaningless sounds like "Ah! Huh! Biu, Biu, Biu! Boom!"
Xiahou Juan also said helplessly: "After all, my uncle did not surrender to Chu. I also know that it is not good to 'slander' General Gan behind his back for my uncle, but I can't teach Ningning like this! Today, my uncle wanted to have lunch together, but after seeing Ningning's 'game', he almost cried!"
"Ahem, I'll talk to him about it later." Bai Tu agreed awkwardly.
Bai Tu thought for a moment, then asked Xiahou Juan, "Please also pay attention to Xingba's marriage for me! Xingba is already thirty years old, and was delayed by navy matters before. I guess that's why he dotes on his 'daughter' so much."
That’s right, Bai Tu suspected that Gan Ning was deliberately competing for favor with Xiahou Yuan.
Speaking of Gan Ning, recently another "enemy" who did not have a very good relationship with him is going back to Jinling, and that is Hua Xin, who should now be serving in the Han Dynasty court!
Originally, Hua Xin entered the court to perform the return of the imperial seal to the "Chu State", which was still the General's Mansion at that time, and also to stay in the Xudu court at that time to promote the "Chu State"...
Later, when the Xu Du Incident occurred and the imperial court moved westward, Hua Xin decisively judged that moving with the imperial court would be of greater help to the "State of Chu", so he also accompanied the court as a court official.
When he was in the court in Chang'an, Hua Xin was always regarded as the spokesperson of the "Chu State". At the beginning, Liu Xie wanted to completely convince Hua Xin under the persuasion of Liu Ai and others, but Hua Xin simply refused to respond.
Of course, because Hua Xin was still a Han minister in name, and had made great contributions by offering the seal to the emperor, the Han Dynasty did not treat him unfairly on the surface , and even wanted to help him remarry in Chang'an...
It was also because of Hua Xin's existence that there were indeed a group of supporters of Chu School in the Chang'an court - some were hidden, and some... nominally "only supported Chu School, not the Chu State, and still supported the Han Dynasty."
It can be said that Hua Xin continued to play the role of half Cao Pi in Chang'an and even in Guanzhong, but he did not have the effect of Cao Pi's ridicule and slapping in the face. In winning over the Guanzhong gentry, the effect was the same!
Now that the war in Chu State has broken out again and it may even go to war with the Han Dynasty at any time, Bai Tu naturally prepares to bring Hua Xin back.
For the sake of safety, Bai Tu has even directly ordered the Fengbuwei lurking in Chang'an to take advantage of the mixed crowd in the city during the New Year holidays to fully organize and assist Hua Xin in evacuating secretly!
In fact, if Hua Xin had resigned openly, the Han Dynasty might not have detained him - after all, Hua Xin's virtue and reputation were there, and he had many students and old friends in Chang'an.
The most important thing is that although Hua Xin was a "key figure" in the State of Chu, he was not "key" on the battlefield!
Detaining Hua Xin would not have any negative impact on the Chu State's combat effectiveness...
After all, Hua Xin was not a senior general of the Chu State, and his prestige in the Chu State was not so high that "people would be in chaos without him." On the contrary, if Hua Xin was detained, it would make the Chu State's military and civilians even more angry!
However, this is only a theoretical analysis after all. Bai Tu does not think that Liu is very rational.
More importantly, there is no need to "detain" him. Even if Hua Xin said he wanted to retire, Liu Xie could have retained him. If things developed to this point, it would have been even more difficult to get Hua Xin out!
Therefore, Bai Tu ignored Hua Xin's own opinion and resolutely notified Bufengwei to bring people directly.
After all, if it was Hua Xin's own decision, he would definitely take a gamble - if Liu Xie approved his return to Chu, then the trip would be a complete success; if he did not approve... Chu would also be able to gain a lot in public opinion.
Firstly, Hua Xin was not too worried about his safety. Even if Liu Xie made a mistake, it would not be so that no one was sober from top to bottom. Moreover, weren't there supporters of Chu School in the court now?
As for the situation where the enemy really comes to the gates... after all, that is something that will happen in the future. It is not certain whether Hua Xin can live to that time due to the normal cycle of life, aging , sickness and death.
Secondly, Hua Xin was already quite old, and whether from the perspective of protecting his descendants or contributing to the State of Chu, he hoped to complete his mission "perfectly".
Otherwise, if he suddenly "disappeared", wouldn't that give the Han court an opportunity to morally blame him?
However, Bai Tu obviously did not think so. Having dedicated so many old ministers to the State of Chu, it would be truly imperfect if there was no opportunity to bring them back for retirement.
Soon, Bai Tu will be "gratified" by his own judgment, because an unexpected event really happened during the New Year Festival in Chang'an this year!
Although it was not aimed at Hua Xin, if the Fengbuwei had not been prepared and taken Hua Xin out of the city, he might have been implicated...
Liu Bei, who was "caught off guard" by the events in Longyou, finally chose to go to Chang'an to explain to Liu Xie.
Thanks to the persuasion of Liu Ai and others, Liu Xie did not immediately declare the Duke of Qi a "rebel".
Of course, Liu Bei's intention to enter the capital by "taking the opportunity to attack the enemy" and waiting for an opportunity to seize power was obviously not what Jia Xu had assumed, otherwise he should have sent troops before the news from Longyou came out.
In order to show his magnanimity, Liu Bei only brought a few hundred personal soldiers and did not enter the city, otherwise Liu Xie would not have allowed him to enter the capital.
However, on New Year's Eve, the city of Chang'an was in chaos...
