Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Liu Shan led 10,000 troops back to Chengdu from Zitong County. Along the way, he passed through Mianyang, Luocheng, Guangdu and many other places. When he arrived at the outer city of Chengdu, the scenes he saw were almost the same, all in the same style.

The villages near the official road were completely deserted. The people either fled to the mountains, were required to live in the city by local officials, or were conscripted to perform corvée labor, serve as auxiliary soldiers, or be laborers.

Chengdu is the premier city in Sichuan. The inner city, outer city, and the vast area beyond the outer city walls are usually bustling with people. But now it has become a huge construction site. Camps have been set up around the city gates, loggers come and go, and there are convoys transporting grain from other places to Chengdu. There is no livelihood at all.

As Liu Shan's carriage sped along the official road, he lifted the curtain and saw the faces of the laborers by the roadside filled with panic and fear. He wondered how vicious the officials supervising them must be on a normal day.

Even in a politically stable country like Shu, the suffering of the people will not be any less when war comes.

Of course, the Wei state bore the heavy responsibility of leading an army of 200,000 on a long expedition of thousands of miles, which would have required far more manpower than the Shu army. However, due to the difference in the size of the states, the corvée labor distributed among the people of each state was much lighter on average. In addition, the court explained the greater good to the people when conscripting corvée labor, which garnered widespread support and endorsement from the populace.

This talk of 'righteousness' and 'support' naturally came from the officials' reports. But from the perspective of the people of Wei, the court's taxes have been decreasing for the past ten years, from 40% to 50% to 35% and then to 30%, and it is said that after the conquest of Shu, it will decrease to 25%.

The imperial court had gained the trust of the people through previous tax reductions, and its promise of further tax reductions would naturally garner positive feedback. Of course, the daily income of five coins per person from the copper mines in Jiangnan was also an important source of public support.

Jiang Wan, who was stationed in Chengdu, had already sent a letter to Liu Shan asking for instructions. In order to avoid excessive panic among the people, he requested to welcome Zhuge Liang inside the city rather than outside, and to hold a small-scale funeral for Prime Minister Zhuge Liang inside the city to avoid public announcement. Liu Shan agreed to this.

During the few days of marching, Jiang Wan also fully understood Fei Yi's important tasks and responsibilities in Fucheng.

When Liu Shan arrived at the inner city and met with Jiang Wan, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, he heard an even more worrying question from Jiang Wan.

"The Wei army actually captured Wuyang?!" Liu Shan asked in disbelief, his eyes wide.

Jiang Wan took a deep breath and slowly nodded: "I knew about this matter yesterday. Knowing that Your Majesty is returning to Chengdu today, I did not send an envoy to inform you."

Wuyang was the capital of Jianwei Commandery, located south of Chengdu, and served as the southern gateway to Chengdu. If Wuyang were lost, the Wei army could march unimpeded to Guangdu, a city nearby to the south of Chengdu, and thus advance on Chengdu.

This is not an outcome that Liu Shan can accept.

"No, where did the Wei army come from?" Liu Shan swallowed hard. "Where is Commander Ma who was guarding Jiangyang? Where is Colonel Lu who was guarding Wuyang? Where did all these people go?! There were three thousand soldiers stationed in Wuyang, right? How many days did it take the Wei army to capture it?"

Faced with Liu Shan's barrage of questions, Jiang Wan steadied herself and slowly began to explain to Liu Shan.

It wasn't that Jiang Wan was deliberately trying to act cautiously, but as the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat of the Shu Han court and the military commander of Chengdu, Shu Commandery, and Jianwei Commandery, if even he panicked, then the court would truly have no hope.

As Liu Shan listened to Jiang Wan's words, his face turned deathly pale, almost bloodless.

Jiangyang Ma Zhong surrendered to the Wei army, and Lu Zun, the Yueqi Colonel who was guarding Wuyang, surrendered after two days in the city. The Wei army marched straight into the southern part of Shu, and even the news of Sun Deng's troops disappeared... One piece of news after another made Liu Shan completely despair.

"My lord," Liu Shan said urgently, grasping Jiang Wan's hands, "Fei Wenwei is stationed in Fuxian, and the affairs of Chengdu are under your command. Please give me a definite answer: can Chengdu be defended or not?" Jiang Wan gently withdrew his hands from Liu Shan's, "Your Majesty, please do not worry too much. An emperor should be composed and calm. We will meet force with force, and we can certainly defend it. Chengdu is a great city..."

To be precise, Jiang Wan at this point was already resembling Fei Yi.

Was it for the sake of the Han Dynasty?

Those who lived through the chaos of the late Han Dynasty didn't care about the Han Dynasty, let alone someone like Jiang Wan, a high-ranking official of the Shu Han Dynasty. Whether it was Han or not was really irrelevant to him.

Was it for the Liu family? Was it for the Prime Minister?
That's certainly one of the reasons, but it's hard to say what proportion it accounts for.

If we were to give a completely appropriate definition, Jiang Wan and Fei Yi's current mindset and situation are more like their unwillingness to betray the countless moments and years of hard work they had devoted as subordinates, ministers, and important officials to the late emperor and prime minister over the past twenty years in order to establish their achievements.

One must be true to one's conscience. Having made this decision, Jiang Wan was determined to put Liu Shan's mind at ease, even if it differed greatly from the truth. Whatever lies ahead, face it calmly; why panic?
When Liu Shan arrived in Chengdu, Lü Yi, the governor of Guanghan who had escorted him through the prefecture's territory, also returned to his capital, Luocheng.

Upon arriving in Luocheng, Lü Yi received news that Wei scouts were active north of Mianzhu.

"Your Excellency, this is the situation regarding the military in Mianzhu." Magistrate Du Xiong of Luo County carefully reported the military situation he knew, and then cautiously asked, "Your Excellency has just returned to Chengdu from the funeral of His Majesty and the Prime Minister. I wonder what the current military situation is like? I am of low rank and do not know many important national affairs."

Lu Yi gave a bitter smile, knelt down beside the table in the hall, shook his head and said, "There's no hope, no hope at all."

“Bo Xiu, do you know what the situation is now? The Wei army has already besieged Fuxian, and I heard that there are as many as 60 or 70,000 men. What can Fei Gong do with less than 10,000 troops in Fuxian? Can't you see it now? Wei scouts have already reached Mianzhu! It is clear that they will attack soon!”

Du Xiong and Lü Yi were very close. After looking around and seeing that no one else was around, he crawled to Lü Yi's side and slowly said, "My lord, my family has lived in Chengdu for generations. More than twenty years ago, when I was just over ten years old, I witnessed the scene of the late emperor breaking through the city and the surrender of the former governor Liu Fangbo in Chengdu."

"After the late emperor arrived in Chengdu, he opened the treasury to reward the generals, emptying the city's decades of accumulated wealth. Then came the reform of the currency system, the struggle for Hanzhong, the great defeat at Xiaoting... Before things had improved for more than a few years, Hanzhong was lost again, and after that all we heard were news of Wei conquering cities and seizing territories."

“My lord, you are from Nanyang, not Shu, and besides, you are acquainted with Lord Li…”

“Lord Li?” Lü Yi frowned.

Du Xiong nodded: "Li Gongzhengfang, isn't he from your hometown of Nanyang? I heard he served as the Grand Secretary of the State of Wei and is highly respected!"

Lü Yi sighed softly, "I understand what you mean. At this point, if we have to fight, we'll only be wasting our lives. I won't say anything more to you. You go about your business in Luocheng, and I, as the prefect, will go to Mianzhu to oversee the battle!"

"If you hear my message, you'll naturally know what to do. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Your subordinate understands." Du Xiong nodded repeatedly. (End of this chapter)