In April of the sixth year of Jianxing, Lu Xun, the governor of Soochow, returned to Jianye by water and inspected the counties and counties along the way.
When they arrived at Chaisang, officials from all over the country came to pay their respects. Only Zhou Li, the prefect of Poyang County, sent someone to tell him that although Peng Qi, the bandit commander, was captured last year, there were still some remnants who raised his banner to rebel. He had to lead troops to encircle and suppress him and could not arrive.
When Lu Xun learned of this, he rushed from Chaisang to Poyang County to see the military situation.
When they arrived in Pengze County, someone secretly reported to Lu Xun, saying that Zhou Li did not go to encircle and suppress the rebels at all, but because he thought the journey to Chaisang was too far and did not want to flatter Lu Xun, so he took advantage of the rebellion.
Lu Xun was suspicious but did not believe it. However, after entering Poyang County, he kept an extra eye and deliberately understood the people's sentiments in various places in Poyang County.
Lu Xun originally didn't mind whether Zhou Li came to Chaisang to see him, but with his deliberate understanding, he became furious when he learned that Zhou Li had secretly used the new fields reclaimed the year before to grow sugar cane.
The year before last, he had written to Sun Quan, King of Wu, to order the generals to expand their fields due to the prolonged war, which had caused the people to leave their farms and many fathers, sons and couples to be separated.
At the same time, this was also the beginning of the official farming of Wu State.
Not only did the king agree to his proposal, he even took over the land himself and changed the eight oxen he drove to four pairs of oxen to show that everyone worked equally.
Unexpectedly, just over two years later, Zhou Li not only dared to occupy the farmland privately, but even used it for other purposes.
Seeing his hard work being wasted like this, why didn't Lu Xun become furious?
He immediately summoned Zhou Li and scolded him in public, "A dog knows how to protect his family, but you are so greedy and greedy, and you are as good as a dog!"
Not only did he order Zhou Li to return to the occupied farmland, but he was still angry and repeatedly said that he would take a copy of him in front of the King of Wu.
Zhou Li was scolded horrendously, and was caught by Lu Xun. He didn't dare to refute, he fell to the ground sweating, and begged for mercy.
In the end, Lu Xun let Zhou Yi go because he was in Wujun's favor.
Zhou Li lost all face in front of Poyang County officials and felt ashamed and ashamed.
When he returned to his house, a servant brought him some food. He took a bite and felt that the food was not tasty. He slammed his chopsticks and cursed loudly, "You dare to bully me!"
He was already very angry at Lu Xun, and he believed that his colleagues would definitely use this matter to ridicule him in the future.
Now that he returned to his own house, he felt that the food was much worse than before. He became furious and ordered the cook to be tied up.
After the fight, Zhou Li cursed Lu Xun in his own house: "It's just because I am the son-in-law of the Sun family. If Shu Ru shows off his power like this, sooner or later I will make you look good!"
The cook suffered a terrible disaster and felt resentful. He escaped from the house at night, chased Lu Xun all the way east, and told him exactly what Zhou Li said.
When Lu Xun heard about it, he was so angry that he almost burst into smoke. After returning to Jianye, he told Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, all what Zhou Li had done in Poyang County.
Sun Quan ordered his officials to go to Poyang and question Poyang County about various matters.
On this day, Zhou Li was drinking in the mansion, when he saw Bu Qu flying in and shouting loudly, "General, it's bad, the king has sent Shangshu Lang here, saying that he wants to check the farmland."
When Zhou Li heard this, he dropped the earcup in his hand and turned pale, "You came so quickly!"
Then he suddenly remembered something, and said angrily, "Lu Xun, didn't you say you won't pursue this matter? You went back on your word, and you think you are not the son of man!"
No matter how Zhou Li scolded Lu Xun, the Lang Guan sent by Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, rushed straight to the Poyang Prefect's Mansion without stopping.
Before Zhou Li had time to prepare, Jianye came to envoy Jianye and ordered the king of Wu to move them out and count them in public.
At the same time, manpower was dispatched to conduct on-the-spot inspections of farmland in various counties.
Before the investigation of the farmland was completed, a second group of officials came from Jianye to inquire about the people's situation in various counties.
After waiting for two days, the third wave of Langguan arrived again...
For a time, Poyang County was in a state of panic and everyone was in danger.
Zhou Li knew that these officials were obviously here for him, so he stayed at his house these days and did not dare to go anywhere.
Although no one restricted his freedom, he felt like a prisoner who had been captured and imprisoned.
Because Lang Guan came to his house at any time and asked about various things.
Although these officials would not do anything to him until King Wu convicted him, their superior demeanor and sneer in their eyes had already made everyone in the Zhou family fearful.
At this time, Han Zong, who took his mother and his tribe to the north the year before last, saved him.
Han Zong, the son of Han Dang, gave all his maids, concubines, relatives and aunts to his generals the year before last. Then he led thousands of his troops to defect to the north and was named Marquis of Guangyang by Cao Wei.
Over the past year or so, Han Zong, in order to show his loyalty, relied on his familiarity with the population distribution of Wu, invaded the Wu territory several times, and brutalized the officials and people of Eastern Wu, much to the dismay of Sun Quan.
Just when Jianye kept sending Lang Guan to explore Poyang, Han Zong once again led his army to invade Lujiang County.
When Zhou Li heard the news, his spirits perked up.
After thinking about it, he finally stepped out of the house for the first time.
Although no one stopped him from leaving the house, he knew very well that there were many eyes staring at him at this time.
Those eyes were not just staring at his face or his back, but directly staring at his heart, making him feel extremely heavy.
Under scorching eyes, he finally arrived in front of the Poyang County Mansion.
First he glanced to the left, then to the right, and then tentatively entered the door. He only took two or three steps and stopped again, as if he no longer had the strength to lift his legs and feet.
At this time, he was still the titular governor and the master of the governor's mansion, but in the eyes of others, he looked inside with some hesitation, as if he didn't know what to do.
"Hey, isn't this Governor Zhou? What? Are you finally free to come on duty today?"
An officer with sharp eyes saw Zhou Li standing at the gate and came towards him with a smile, "I'm sorry, Prefect Zhou, I guess you will have to stay in your own house for a few more days. Things in this prefect's house are not yet open." I’m not done yet.”
Zhou Li gritted his teeth and suddenly pulled out a dagger.
Lang Guan was so frightened that he quickly backed away and exclaimed, "What do you want, Zhou Yi?"
Zhou Li didn't answer. He raised the dagger and cut off his head, cutting off a lot of hair.
Zhou Li was seen holding a dagger in one hand and holding his hair in the other, with a sad face, "Dear officials, since I promoted Xiaolian, I have successively served as county magistrate, general commander Shi, and western captain. I killed Peng Shi and captured Peng Qi."
"It's really unbearable to be humiliated when you offend a villain and be bullied like this! But please report back to the King of Wu. The matter of the farmland is indeed a temporary confusion of the bream. However, the King of Wu has reduced the punishment, and the breams are willing to admit their guilt."
"I just ask you, for the sake of being an official in the same dynasty, please don't humiliate me like this again. If you can humiliate me today, how do you know that I won't be able to humiliate you tomorrow?"
"Four years ago, Ji Yan only used personal love and hate, acted without reason, and dismissed many officials. If someone hadn't stood up to resist, how many of you would still be standing here?"
"The same is true today. If you allow the villain to deceive the king, not only will you not stop it, but you will help him to do evil. How can you know that Zhou Li's matter will not fall on you in the future? Who will speak for you then?"
Zhou Li's words of grief and anger shocked the officials who originally wanted to see a joke.
They are either the descendants of the Sun family's veteran heroes, or they come from the Jiangdong family. In their view, occupying some land is not really a big deal.
Whose family doesn’t have fertile land?
Whose family is not full of slaves and maids?
How did fertile land come about?
How did the slave come?
If it was really because of this incident that he was so humiliated, it would indeed be a bit much.
"Now the Cao thieves are invading the Lujiang River. Poyang across the river, instead of being able to help, is falling into chaos. This is really wrong. This is all Zhou Li's fault."
"I also ask you to take national affairs as your top priority and don't let the officials and people of Poyang County panic because of Zhou Li's fault."
Seeing the silence of the ministers, Zhou Li felt happy, and added to his anger, he bowed deeply to them.
Seeing Zhou Li's continuous apology, and hearing his words, and indeed no other illegal activities of Zhou Li were found these days, the officials felt some sympathy in their hearts.
In the days that followed, Zhou Li was treated more leniently. At the same time, some people returned to Jianye by boat to report to King Wu.
At the same time, in a village in Lujiang County, bandits from the north had just left.
The sky above the village was filled with smoke. This was not the smoke coming out of the chimneys when women were cooking dinner, but the thick smoke from the fire. It also carried the oily smell of burnt human flesh, which was pungent and unpleasant.
The peaceful village in the past has become dilapidated and desolate. Only the burned-blackened ruins suggest that people lived here before.
I don’t know whose wall the wall collapsed, and whose hall was burnt black. Could the blackened wood be the beams of the roof?
The sky was clear and clear, but a gust of wind blew up the dust, making it seem that the clouds suddenly became thicker and the sun became darker, dull and dull.
Han Zong is leading the troops and is retreating towards the north.
Many of them were riding horses, with women straddling them in front of them and behind them.
Some people even put their hands into the woman's clothes, with an indescribable smile on their faces.
Almost every woman on horseback had disheveled clothes, wet tears on her face, and numb eyes. She seemed unaware that anything was wrong with her.
Everyone was carrying baggage, which was full of gold and silver, the harvest of looting from the south these days.
In the past, in Soochow, the most you could do was stealthily rob business travelers in private, and you had to worry about being discovered by others. How could you rob openly and openly like now?
After confirming that Wu Jun had not caught up, Han Zong ordered the pots to be cooked and prepared to eat before heading out.
"Your Majesty, a spy has been caught!"
The vigilant scouts scattered around brought a man over to report.
"Oh?" Han Zong glanced over with sinister eyes and said calmly, "Just kill him, why bring him here?"
"Reporting to the Lord, he said that he has extremely important matters and wants to tell the Lord in person."
Han Zong then looked directly at the plain-faced Xizuo, waved his hand to let the scout go down, and then raised his sword and asked, "Who are you?"
Xizuo, who had been silent, glanced at the people around Han Zong and then lowered his head.
Han Zong's heart moved and he looked at the captain next to him.
The captain nodded slightly, and then Han Zong asked his people to disperse further to prevent them from hearing the conversation.
"Tell me, who sent you?"
Hosaku looked at the captain next to him again.
Han Zong was not so good-tempered this time. He pulled out his sword with a clang, pointed at Xi Zuo, and shouted sternly, "How dare you pretend to be so mysterious! Do you think I can't really kill you?"
With that said, he stepped forward and was about to stab him with his sword.
Xizuo saw that Han Zong's sword didn't look like a fake, so he immediately said, "General Han, I have important matters, so I can only talk to the general."
Han Zong's sword drew a thin red line on Xizuo's neck, and he could only hear him sneer, "I have nothing to say to anyone, so tell me quickly!"
When Hosaku heard this, his lips moved, then he closed his eyes and remained silent.
Han Zong exerted more force on his hand, and bright red blood began to flow onto the sword, but the delicate work remained motionless.
Han Zong looked at the captain next to him with questioning eyes.
The captain nodded again, turned and left.
"Okay, you can talk now."
Hosaku opened his eyes and made sure that no one around could hear their conversation, then he said, "Does General Han remember General Zhou Li?"
"Zhou Li?" Han Zong frowned, "Of course I remember. Could it be that you were sent here by Zhou Li?"
He defected to Cao Wei. In order to show his loyalty, he even took the initiative to lead troops south to plunder Soochow. Naturally, he did not want to have any contact with the people in Jiangdong.
"If Zhou Li sent you to persuade me, he made the wrong idea. No way, I'm going to lend you your head."
Han Zong said with a hideous smile, but the hand holding the sword became harder and harder.
Hearing this, Xi Zuo had a sneer on his face, "General Han is making arrogant guesses before the villain has even explained his purpose. Aren't you afraid that he will become a villain in vain?"
When Han Zong heard this, his anger rushed from the bottom of his feet to the top door, his eyes glowed red, and he couldn't hold back the raging anger, so he wanted to kill the guy in front of him who dared to mock him with a sword!
But he knew that there was someone watching from a distance. If he killed this person like this, some things might not be explained clearly.
At that moment, he had no choice but to forcefully suppress the urge to break Xia Zuo's neck, and gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll let you state your intention first. If you can't tell me one, two, three, then I'll cut off your tongue!"
Xi Zuo then raised his hand and said, "General, please listen to this villain: General Zhou wants to follow the general's lead and return to the north of Yi. I would like to ask the general to be the introducer."
Xi Zuo's voice was not loud, but it was like thunder, making Han Zong's ears explode with a rumble.
"What did you say?"
Han Zong couldn't believe his ears and asked again.
The sound was so loud that the captain in the distance couldn't help but look sideways.
Han Zong's second reaction was disbelief: "Zhou Li is a prefect of a county and has a long history of military exploits. Furthermore, his ancestral home is in Wu Commandery. How could he rebel and come here? Could it be that you are lying to me?" ?”
Sezuo sneered and said, "General Han attacked Old General Han's title and his future is limitless. Why did he suddenly defect to the North again?"
This sentence simply opened up Han Zong's scars, and then poured salt on it.
His face immediately turned red, his teeth were chattering, and he wished he could poke a transparent hole into the sharp-toothed creature in front of him!
"Sun Quan cannot tolerate others, how can I wait to die?"
This was originally his excuse, but Xizuo actually nodded in agreement, "This is the truth! Sun Quan is narrow-minded, and he would like to be killed if he rebels against him at the slightest moment."
"General Zhou made some minor mistakes a few days ago, and Sun Quan even sent a lieutenant to question him. General Zhou was forced to apologize in public, and he was lucky enough to escape."
"Now General Zhou has lost all face in Jiangdong and has become the laughing stock of everyone. Although he is full of sorrow and hatred, it is not enough to explain the resentment in General Zhou's heart. Therefore, General Zhou wants to surrender the county and hopes that General Han will see the disgrace of his former colleagues. For the sake of friendship, I will introduce you to you."
When Han Zong heard that the other party was actually scolding Sun Quan, he couldn't help but feel a sense of confidant in his heart.
Then when I heard about Zhou Li, although I didn't believe it immediately, I felt excited in my heart: It was the best thing for Sun Quan to betray his relatives and leave his relatives. It showed that his choice was right.
"How do I know you weren't sent here by Zhou Li to pretend to surrender?"
When Xi Zuo heard this, he became furious and gnashed his teeth on the spot. He pointed at Han Zong and said sternly, "The hair and skin of the body are inherited by the parents. General Zhou was forced by Sun Quan to cut off his hair in public. Is it still fake?"
"Jiang Dong is afraid that everyone will soon know about this. If you don't believe it, go and ask about it yourself and you will know the truth!"
