My Sims of the Eastern Jin Dynasty

Sikou, the main camp of the Northern Army.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the gate had just been opened.

The passenger ship that was specially separated from the southward-bound fleet yesterday had been docked at the pier overnight.

Xu Lin, dressed in a slightly worn dark blue official robe, was waiting outside the camp gate before dawn, accompanied by an old servant.

With the seal of a county magistrate and the name card of "Xu Family of Donghai", he did not have to wait long before being led by a sentry captain through the continuous camps and headed towards the central army.

Along the way, the military formations were impeccable, a stark contrast to the hastily assembled camps in Tan County.

Xu Lin sighed inwardly, realizing that this was the true foundation of a royal army capable of influencing the fate of the nation.

The Chief Clerk's Camp.

Yin Zhongkan had been up for some time and was reviewing the documents submitted by various camps at his desk.

The guards entered to report that Xu Lin, the magistrate of Tan County in Donghai, was requesting an audience, claiming to be acting on the orders of Supervisor Xiao Heng to deliver an urgent military report.

"Xiao Heng?"

Yin Zhongkan put down the bamboo slips in his hand.

"The Xu family of Donghai...please come in."

The curtain was lifted, and Xu Lin stepped in. Although he was travel-worn, he still carried the composed demeanor of a scholar-official.

"No need for such formalities, Magistrate Xu."

Yin Zhongkan, also a renowned scholar, rose to help him up, speaking in a calm tone.

"The journey to the East Sea is long, and you must be tired, Lord Xu. Have you come to report on Commander Xiao's army?"

"Exactly!"

Xu Lin carefully took out the letter.

"Commander Xiao ordered me to personally deliver this report, stating that it concerns the enemy's movements in Huaibei and I dare not entrust it to anyone else!"

Yin Zhongkan did not open the book immediately. Instead, he gestured for Xu Lin to sit down and ordered someone to serve him hot soup.

"Lord Xu has come a long way and must be tired. Please have some soup to warm him up. Commander Xiao... is he doing well in the East Sea? In his previous letter, he mentioned retreating to Tan County and then intending to head east again. What is the situation? Are his troops and provisions still in good condition?"

Xu Lin felt a sense of unease. Having spent a long time in the local area and was used to dealing with people in officialdom, he knew that such seemingly casual questions often concealed hidden meanings.

He picked up the ceramic bowl, and while warming his hands, he hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Thank you for your concern, Chief Secretary. Commander Xiao... has truly had a difficult time."

"When I met the Commander, his troops had just fought a fierce battle, defeating a Qin cavalry unit. However, they had also suffered heavy losses and were exhausted. The Commander had intended to regroup in Tan County in order to join forces with Commander Sun, but alas..."

Yin Zhongkan listened quietly.

"Oh? I heard the Xianbei cavalry have reached the East Sea. Did you see it clearly, Lord Xu? What is their strength? What are their movements?"

Xu Lin answered cautiously, these were things that Xiao Heng had explicitly said he could reveal, but he understood what the Chief Secretary meant.

"I saw it clearly. The Xianbei cavalry force is probably no less than five thousand, all of them elite troops. Their movements... seem to be heading south. Their scouts are roaming in all directions, and their banners have already been seen near the East Sea!"

"How many soldiers does the Commander-in-Chief have left to fight? Where will his provisions come from?"

Yin Zhongkan pressed for answers, completely ignoring the Qin army.

"Well... when I saw them, there were about several hundred soldiers and over a thousand civilian laborers and auxiliary troops. As for provisions..."

Xu Lin looked ashamed.

"The granaries in Tan County are empty. I have done my best to raise some funds for the troops, but it is only a drop in the ocean. The governor once said that it might be possible to raise funds from the coast to alleviate the immediate crisis."

The tent was quiet for a moment.

Yin Zhongkan sized up Xu Lin. The old county magistrate spoke respectfully, but he always felt that the truth was not so.

Last time, he and Governor Xie had each been equally culpable, but now, seeing the words of this local official before him, his feelings towards Xiao Heng became even more complicated.

This young man not only gained the protection of fierce generals in the army, but also had local gentry speak on his behalf...

Yin Zhongkan's expression softened slightly, knowing that asking any further questions would yield no results.

"Lord Xu has come a long way and must be tired. Please return to the post station to rest first. I will immediately send this report to the Governor. Someone in the camp will also contact Lord Xu regarding the resettlement of the people from the East Sea who are migrating south."

This is how you see your guests off.

Xu Lin, knowing better, said no more and got up to take his leave.

He stepped out of the tent and was led out of the camp by a military officer.

He only let out a long sigh of relief after walking quite a distance from the gate.

He glanced back at the heavily fortified Northern Army camp, his expression complex.

"The turmoil of officialdom and the entanglements of military affairs are inherently like this. Since Erlang has already chosen to follow Commander Xiao... my words today have already made my stance clear. I only hope that Commander Xiao... can truly make a name for himself in that land of the East Sea, just as he has said."

Inside the tent, Yin Zhongkan picked up Xiao Heng's military report, opened it, and read it carefully.

The letter was short, but its structure was clear.

It is said that a crucial piece of information was extracted from the prisoners: the Qin army in the Xiangyang direction will soon dispatch tens of thousands of troops to reinforce the Huaibei battlefield, intending to strengthen Peng Chao and Junan's forces and put greater pressure on Sikou.

The letter advised Xie Xuan to take precautions early, and stated that although his forces were small, he would do his best to maneuver and contain the enemy along the line from Donghai to Sikou, and harass their flanks and rear.

Finally, he added a sentence in a slightly hurried hand: "If things cannot be accomplished, Commander Heng may temporarily retreat to the sea to preserve his strength and wait for an opportunity to act."

After reading it, Yin Zhongkan gently tossed the letter onto the table and walked over to the huge map hanging in the sky with his hands behind his back.

"Reinforcements from Xiangyang? Tens of thousands?"

He muttered to himself, his gaze falling between Xiangyang and Pengcheng, and shook his head.

"Peng Chao has just captured Pengcheng, and his morale is high. Why is he in such a hurry to seek reinforcements? Even if reinforcements were available, how could the transport of supplies take more than ten days? This man... has he taken the prisoners' empty threats as a treasure and is now hiding at sea? He's certainly playing a clever game, intending to stay out of it and observe the outcome before making his move?"

After pausing for a moment, his gaze involuntarily moved northeast, passing through Lanling, which had been marked as an area of ​​Qin army activity, and arriving at the region of Donghai County.

His gaze lingered briefly on Tan County before settling on Qu County, a small dot further east, right next to the coast.

"Qi County..."

Yin Zhongkan narrowed his eyes, recalling Xu Lin's vague "coastal fundraising" and Xiao Heng's letter about "temporarily taking refuge at sea" as a way out.

Why is this tiny, remote town, far from the main battlefield and situated in a secluded corner of the sea, being mentioned so frequently? Is it truly just a last resort out of desperation? Or... is there another motive?

He didn't take some crude and uncouth men seriously, but he had to be wary of those who came from the same prominent families.

Suddenly, Yin Zhongkan seemed to have thought of something. He stroked his beard and nodded as if he was thinking, a smile even appearing on his face.

He suddenly turned around, returned to his desk, picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and almost without thinking, began to write with lightning speed.

After writing it down, he took out his personal seal, stamped it heavily, and summoned a trusted low-ranking advisor. The advisor sealed the letter with wax and whispered, "Depart immediately and send it to Guangling by fast horse. Deliver it to this person in person. Do not stop along the way, and do not mention this matter to anyone."

The clerk accepted the order, hid the letter close to his body, and left silently.

After doing all this, Yin Zhongkan put Xiao Heng's original letter together with several other daily documents, his expression returning to its usual solemnity.

Regardless of whether Xiao Heng's intelligence was true or false, it ultimately concerned the enemy's movements and had to be reported.

The previous incident with Sun Wuzhong had already displeased the governor.

......