Zhuge Liang left in a hurry by boat, and the yamen in Guangzhou gradually returned to peace. However, war was about to break out from the northwest to the southeast, and Lantian was also making intensive arrangements.
Jiaozhou was in a stage of vigorous development and could not allocate soldiers, horses, money and food from Jiaozhou to support Guan Yu's Northern Expedition. However, the Lantian Secret Order Army Workshop rushed to produce winter clothes, armor, and weapons to prepare equipment for the Northern Expedition in advance.
In addition, Lantian also urgently summoned three prefects, Mi Fang, Hao Pu, and Xi Zhen, and asked them to be ready for battle at any time, and asked each county to form a water transport fleet. As soon as the war broke out in the north, each county would go to Xiangyang as planned. Transport food.
As soon as the three prefects left, Lantian appointed Zhonglang General Wu Ban as the commander-in-chief of the Dian Army, and asked him and several generals of Bingcao to secretly go to Changsha, Lingling, and Guiyang to recruit and disperse reserve personnel for the upcoming war. Participate in the autumn harvest and train in each county.
At the end of July, Shi Zhi was ordered to go to Hepu and Jiuzhen as envoys to convey Lantian's decision to replace the prefect in person. The current "courtesy first and then soldiers" was to pave the way for the "enforcement" later.
In early August, while Zhuge Liang was still on his way back to Chengdu, Liu Bei's envoy Yi Ji came to Guangzhou again. Yi Ji sent a reward for the recovery of Rinan County.
Gao Shun was made General of Pingnan and given the title of Marquis of Gaoliangting; Samoko was made General of Danglu and given the title of Marquis of Xianglinting; Lanyuan was made General of Jingnan; Li Yi was made General of Yamen; Chu Qing was made partial general; Ling is the brave Zhonglang general...
General Pingnan's military rank on the Shuhan side was higher than that of the Four Expeditions Generals Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, Pang De, and Meng Da, and second only to the Four Directions Generals such as Lan Tian and others. (Note: The order of the four generals of the Shu Han and Cao Wei is different. Cao Wei's order from high to low is to conquer Anping, while the Shu Han's order from high to low is to conquer Anping)
Liu Bei gave Gao Shun the title of general and made him a marquis. In addition to acknowledging Gao Shun's leadership of the southern expeditionary army to regain Rinan, it was also a reward for the help he had given him over the years by leading the trapped army.
Gao Shun had resigned from military power at this time, and General Pingnan could only be regarded as an honorary title. Under Lan Tian's clever persuasion, Gao Shun finally accepted Liu Bei's affirmation of himself and was temporarily ranked first among the generals in the Quartet.
The barbarian general Shamoko was the second general in the Southern Expedition to be awarded the title of marquis due to his outstanding military exploits. His reward was even higher than that of the consort Lan Yuan. Liu Bei's move set a strong example, and he wanted to tell As long as the civil servants and generals under his command are willing to work hard for the country, even if they are from foreign races, they will be reused and rewarded generously.
When Yi Ji arrived in Guangzhou with his seal, ribbon, and rewards, Shi Zhi and Shi Yi went to Longbian Prefecture together.
Shi Xie, who had been ill in bed for a long time, suddenly appeared in good spirits. In the hall, there were also Shi Xie, the prefect of Jiuzhen, Shi Hui, who had sores on his back, as well as Shi Qian, Shi Song, Shi Kuang and other descendants of the scholar family.
The Shi family recalled the last time they got together neatly. At that time, Lan Tian was the governor of Lingling and secretly supported Lai Gong and Sun Quan's people in the fight. At that time, the Shi family was wavering and finally chose to lick both sides.
"Brother, your face is full of joy. It seems that you are having a good time in Guangzhou. I heard that you are here to win over my second uncle's position as the Hepu Governor? I'm afraid you have forgotten your surname, Shi?" Shi Hui was the first to break the dullness in the palace.
Because Shi Zhi was a commoner, he had always felt inferior in front of Shi Hui. He found the value of his life while in Guangzhou, so he worked diligently as the head of the Trade and Commerce Department.
"Third brother, why do you need to tease me? If you really forget your roots, you don't have to do this. You can just follow the army and take office when the time comes." With confidence, Shizhi is no longer as weak as before.
"Humph, brother is so domineering. He has learned how to threaten the elders. What else is there to say about filial piety? You were a hostage in Guangzhou and you actually got the governor of Hepu for yourself. This is really admirable. What did Lantian eat from you? Medicine?" Shi Hui snorted coldly.
Shi Zhi raised his eyes and argued: "I went to Guangzhou as a hostage for the Shi family, and everything I did was done with no regrets. My third brother has repeatedly despised me as a brother. How can you talk about filial piety?"
"you..."
Shi Hui continued to argue, but was interrupted by Shi Xie domineeringly. He scolded the two of them angrily: "You guys can put the war of words to rest. What's the etiquette of arguing in front of two uncles and brothers?"
"Brother, Lantian is so aggressive, why don't we just rebel? Anyway, my nephew has returned to Jiaozhi, and our three counties can organize 30,000 to 40,000 troops..." Shi 1 suggested, stroking his beard.
Shi Xie frowned and asked Shi Zhi in a deep voice: "Zhi'er has been in Guangzhou these years, so he should know Lantian's reality best. What do you think of the second uncle's suggestion?"
"My father and two uncles should have read the recent Lingnan Newspaper. It was said that four cities were conquered in two days and the country was destroyed in fifteen days. This sentence is not false. There were more than 20,000 soldiers in Linyi Kingdom, but Gao Shun only led five Thousands of Wuxi barbarians, five thousand trapped troops..." Shi Zhi didn't make it clear. He meant you should not have any wild ideas.
Shi 1 continued to ask: "After Gao Shun's expedition to Linyi ended, he has returned to Guangzhou with his trapped troops. That means there are only some barbarians left in Rinan County. The worst we can do is expand to the south. It is not easy for Lantian to organize an expedition."
"Don't do it." Jiuzhen Taishou waved his hand and explained with a sad face: "Although the trapped army has returned to Guangzhou, the Wuxi barbarians are not easy to mess with, especially the leader Samoko is a ruthless character. He once killed Fan Shanhu, the strongest warrior of the Cham tribe, in one instant. Recently, he has incorporated the Cham tribe’s war elephant army and often drives the war elephants to the north of Hengshan Pass to graze..."
"Driving the elephants to the north of Hengshanguan, just to eat grass? Has all the grass in Rinan County been eaten?" Shisong, the youngest son, showed a confused expression.
"Shut up." Shi Hui shouted angrily, thinking that you were stupid enough.
Shi 1 furrowed his brows and said nothing. Shi Zhi continued: "The 10,000 troops stationed in Guangzhou have defeated Sun Quan and Cao Cao head-on. They are truly the best in the world. In addition, General Lan has asked General Li to expand the Jiaozhou navy. It has expanded to ten thousand people, and now the navy is stationed on Zhuya Island. Its purpose is self-evident..."
"It seems that Lantian doesn't want to wait anymore. Brother, why hasn't the news been sent back from Jiangdong? Has Sun Quan seen through your plan?" Shi 1 asked dejectedly.
"How can I know if we are too far away? Do you know any news?" Shi Xie has never relied on Shi Zhi as much as he does now.
Shi Zhi frowned and replied: "I just heard that there is a war in Huainan. General Lan summoned the governors of Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling a few days ago, as if to prepare them for war. Guan Yu may send troops to attack Wei at any time, probably for Support ally Sun Quan."
"When did Guan Yu become so generous? Did he forget that Sun Quan launched a large-scale sneak attack on Jingzhou three years ago?" This time it was Shi Hui's turn to say something stupid.
Shi Xie shook his head gently: "Where did you see such generosity? It's just that Guan Yu learned that Cao and Sun were at odds with each other and wanted to find an opportunity to take advantage of it. No wonder Sun Quan didn't react. It turns out he was too busy taking care of himself. Our situation is difficult..."
"Brother, why don't we just rely on Lan Tian for the time being? Our arms can't twist our thighs..." Shi?? gave in. He felt that if he was so worried, he might as well retire and return home, where he could at least become a rich man.
