Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 340 Xu County, a County teeming with Talent

He didn't know how much time had passed when Han Hao suddenly woke up from his dream. His chest heaved violently, and the hair at his temples was already soaked with cold sweat, sticking wetly to his cheeks. His clothes clung tightly to his back, feeling icy cold.

He practically sat up abruptly, panting heavily on the makeshift wooden bed. Even with his eyes open, the horrific scene of the city's destruction, the deaths of its inhabitants, and the intertwining of blood and fire remained etched in his mind, impossible to shake off.

Even though he knew it was just a nightmare, the palpitations and helplessness he felt were so real that he couldn't calm down.

He wiped the cold sweat from his face, reached for a ceramic pot on the low cabinet beside him, and without even bothering to pour it out, poured several mouthfuls of cold water directly into the spout.

The cool liquid slid down his throat, slightly calming the thirst in his throat and the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

Then Han Hao poured some water into his palm and smeared it haphazardly on his face. The cool touch invigorated him slightly. He patted his cheeks hard, took a deep breath, and then got up and pushed open the creaking wooden door of the city gate tower.

Sunlight suddenly flooded into the dim room, so bright that he instinctively raised his arm to shield his eyes.

The sunlight wasn't actually strong; it was just that the eyes had difficulty adjusting after suddenly emerging from a long period of darkness.

Han Hao squinted at the busy figures moving on the city wall and the enemy camps that were faintly visible in the distance. A look of confusion crossed his face, and he muttered hoarsely, "How long have I been asleep?"

He clearly remembered that it was a similar morning before he closed his eyes, and at that time he had been holding on for two days and two nights without closing them.

"one day."

A slightly cold and hard voice sounded beside him.

Immediately afterwards, a warm touch was placed into his loosely clenched hand.

Han Hao lowered his head slightly and saw a slightly burnt flatbread. When he looked up again, he met Zhou Tai's calm, emotionless eyes.

"Eat," Zhou Tai whispered.

Han Hao nodded without saying anything more and took a big bite.

Upon taking a bite of the flatbread, I was slightly taken aback. After chewing a few times, I discovered that it was filled with fragrant beef filling.

Before Han Hao could ask a question, Zhou Tai seemed to have already sensed his doubts. Looking straight ahead, he added casually before Han Hao could even ask, "The Chen family of Yingchuan."

Upon hearing this, Han Hao glanced around and saw that most of the soldiers around him were holding plain flatbreads, and he immediately understood.

Even a powerful family like the Chen family of Yingchuan could provide manpower, food, weapons, and arrows when besieged in the city, but it was absolutely impossible to provide meat for three thousand soldiers.

These meat-filled flatbreads were clearly a special supply for officials.

However, the baked flatbreads were all oily, which shows how eager "Chen Zi" was to take this opportunity to curry favor and clear his name.

The object of his goodwill was naturally not a mere county magistrate like himself, but the Han family of Hanoi was a powerful clan that had produced officials for generations. Therefore, Han Hao had long heard about the old story between the current emperor and Chen Yuanfang. He just did not expect that this Lord Yuanfang would be so lucky.

First, there was Jia'er, who was trusted by the emperor, and then it just so happened that Xu County, a large county in the heart of the Central Plains, was besieged.

Han Hao shook his head slightly, suppressing the complex emotions in his heart. He did not make any pretentious excuses or shout that he would share weal and woe with the soldiers. He silently ate four meat pies and then tilted his head back to gulp down a large bowl of thick meat porridge until he let out a satisfying burp.

As the backbone of Xu County, maintaining his physical strength and mental clarity is his top priority right now. If he falls, the morale of the Xu County army will definitely suffer.

After finishing breakfast, his gaze fell on Zhou Tai, who had remained silent by his side the whole time.

Zhou Tai was not wearing armor at this moment, his upper body was bare, and his bronze skin was covered with old and new scars. His body, which already had many scars, had several more newly wrapped bandages, which were still stained with blood.

Clearly, another fierce battle broke out while he was asleep.

However, Zhou Tai's eyebrows didn't twitch at all. He just silently squatted in the shadows under the battlements, quietly eating his own portion of food.

Looking at this silent, stone-like man, Han Hao, who had disliked the elders' rules of "not speaking while eating or sleeping" since childhood, thought that Zhou Tai was probably the most well-behaved "good child" in the elders' eyes.

According to Jiang Qin, Zhou Tai has always been this way since childhood. He is very sparing with words and will not say even half a word to people he does not like to associate with, except for "kill" or "get out".

But who would have thought that this seemingly cold and aloof rough man harbored such a delicate heart? Zhou Tai knew that although Jiang Qin was all talk and no action, he genuinely treated him like a brother. He also understood that Han Hao had strongly urged them to accept the amnesty because he pitied their bravery. Furthermore, he knew that Han Hao had never treated him and Jiang Qin differently because they had been bandits in the Huai and Si regions. Therefore, Zhou Tai was also silently repaying Han Hao's kindness in his own way.

Han Hao naturally saw all of this.

If it weren't for the exceptional bravery of Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, who repeatedly repelled the rebel army that stormed the city walls, he would have had no confidence in defending Xu County.

After resting for a while, Zhou Tai got up without saying a word and strode towards the north gate he was responsible for guarding.

Han Hao brushed the dust off his trousers and got up to find County Magistrate Lou Gui to inquire about the details of yesterday's battle. (Note 1)

After walking a few steps, they saw a group of soldiers gathered together, with bursts of relaxed laughter coming from the middle.

Surrounded at the center was Lou Gui, who had only entered officialdom at the age of forty-four.

He loved to boast about his talents and often said to people, "A man living in this world should have tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of horses at his back!" He said this from his youth until he was nearly fifty years old, but those who heard him, whether scholars or commoners, all ridiculed him for his unrealistic ideas.

Only the soldiers who had witnessed Lou Gui's wisdom firsthand would truly believe that if this "old man" had entered officialdom twenty years earlier, he might have been able to realize his seemingly arrogant ambitions.

Unfortunately, Lou Gui was too arrogant in his youth. As a native of Nanyang County, the capital, his family was so wealthy that they could rival the wealth of a country, but he offended too many powerful and influential families in Nanyang County.

"Back then, I was hiding several fugitives who had killed for revenge for their friends. I was reported by another powerful family and thrown into death row. Just as I was about to be sent to the execution ground, I suddenly rammed past the jailer as he unlocked the lock and made my escape!" Lou Gui recounted the story with great enthusiasm, adding gestures and a laugh. "Those fools thought I was definitely running out, so they all chased after me! Heh, little did they know I had feinted, retreated to the innermost part of the prison, grabbed a jailer's uniform, put it on, and then swaggered into the group of servants chasing me. I joined them in shouting about catching a fugitive, and that's how I left the city openly and legitimately!"

"Later, the retired emperor ascended the throne and granted a general amnesty. I was pardoned and returned to my hometown. Even if those powerful and wealthy families still disliked me, they had to watch me walk triumphantly down the street."

As Lou Gui spoke, he put his hands on his hips and raised his head, looking just like a rooster strutting proudly on a field ridge, boasting to the soldiers around him about his "heroic deeds" back then, which drew a burst of good-natured laughter from the soldiers around him.

Someone asked curiously, "County Magistrate, your family is so wealthy and you have so many friends, why did you wait until you were this old to become an official?"

Many of the soldiers were county officials, so they naturally knew some of the unspoken rules of officialdom and were waiting for Lou Gui's answer.

Lou Gui, upon hearing this, felt no offense whatsoever. Instead, he stroked his not-so-long beard with a hint of pride and said, "I originally intended to repay the Emperor Emeritus's grace of granting a general amnesty, but the subsequent governors of Nanyang were all corrupt and despicable men, and eunuchs held sway in the court. How could I possibly associate with such scoundrels? Naturally, I was ostracized by them. So I simply decided to stay at home and live a carefree life as a wealthy old man, seeking peace and quiet!"

But then Lou Gui changed the subject, raised his voice, and said loudly, "Who would have thought that now that the Holy Emperor is on the throne, he has cleansed the court and swept away all the filth! That's why I've come out to serve the Emperor! What kind of eyes do you youngsters have? Don't believe me, if I really wanted to be an official, it would be very easy for me!"

"General Cao Cao, Cao Mengde, you know him, right? He's an old friend of mine! Last year he even wanted to invite me to his general's mansion as a military advisor! But I'm determined to earn my own future through my own abilities!"

Many county officials believed it, after all, they knew that the old county magistrate was not entirely bragging.

Han Hao also believed it.

Lou Gui indeed had a wide network of connections. Although his eccentric and unconventional behavior disliked some people, his talent also won over many truly discerning individuals who were willing to befriend him wholeheartedly.

He was one of those who were completely impressed by Lou Gui's talent.

Lou Gui had read a vast and diverse number of books, including classics, history, philosophy, military strategy, and even the arts of Mohism and craftsmen.

For example, to prevent the rebels from digging tunnels to breach the city, he suggested digging a deep well-like pit at intervals around the city, covering the pit opening with a thin leather covering, like a drumhead, and assigning soldiers with keen hearing to take turns sitting by the pit day and night to listen for underground sounds.

Even so, Lou Gui still felt it was not safe enough and strongly advocated digging a deep trench in advance within the city.

In this way, even if the enemy could actually dig down a section of the city wall foundation, the collapsed soil and rocks would fill the deep trench, forming a new temporary barrier that would prevent the enemy from pouring in on a large scale and expose them to crossfire from the defenders on both sides.

For Han Hao, who was only good at civil affairs and knew almost nothing about military battles, without Lou Gui's endless stream of ingenious ideas, he would probably have been completely clueless and would have had to rely on the lives of countless soldiers to painstakingly find a way to defend the city in the midst of bloody battles.

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Note 1: *Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 1, Book of Wei, Annals of Emperor Wu*: In September, the army advanced and crossed the Wei River. [The Biography of Cao Man states: At that time, whenever the Duke's army crossed the Wei River, they were constantly attacked by cavalrymen, preventing them from establishing camps. Furthermore, the terrain was mostly sandy, making it impossible to build fortifications. Lou Zibo advised the Duke, "Today it is cold; we can build a city wall from sand and flood it with water. It can be completed overnight." The Duke followed this advice, and many silk bags were made to transport water. The army crossed the river at night to build the city wall, and by dawn, the wall was completed. Thus, the Duke's army was able to cross the Wei River completely.]

(Some may doubt that it was September, and the water should not have frozen yet. Your servant Songzhi has checked the Book of Wei: The Duke's army arrived at Tongguan in August, and crossed the river to the north in the intercalary month. Therefore, it was the intercalary August of that year. By then, it should have been extremely cold!)

(End of this chapter)