webnovelfull Chapter 619 Mi Fang and Mi Wei, Uncle and Nephew, Meet
Chapter 619 Mi Fang and Mi Wei, Uncle and Nephew, Meet
With the Lunar New Year approaching, the people of Jiangling, who have finally achieved unification and stability after years of war, have taken to the streets to buy New Year's goods, adding a strong festive atmosphere to this former capital of the Han Dynasty.
While officials in various parts of Jiangnan were busy celebrating the New Year, Lü Dai, far away in Jiaozhou, was not so lucky and was still tragically leading troops to quell a rebellion.
Before Sun Quan surrendered, Lü Dai was the governor of Jiaozhou. He knew Jiaozhou's terrain and the distribution of power like the back of his hand. Moreover, he had previously been ordered by Sun Quan to lead a large army north by sea to attack Guan Xing, so he was not short of troops.
The Jiaozhou troops led by Lü Dai in his campaign against Guan Xing were mostly captured by Guan Xing. This time, not only were they all returned, but they were also given new equipment in Wushang, greatly increasing their combat strength.
In light of this, Lü Dai devised a plan to quell the rebellion on his way back to Jiaozhou, and immediately launched an attack upon returning.
Lü Dai's abilities far surpassed Shi Hui's, and he was also a local strongman in Jiaozhou. Shi Hui had no advantage over him and was almost routed as soon as they made contact. After several defeats, he led his remaining troops to retreat into Funan (Cambodia).
A few years ago, a coup occurred in Funan, where Fan Shiman, a general of the Hun Dynasty, rebelled, seized the throne, and established the Fan Dynasty.
Fan Shiman is a brave and resourceful man. Since usurping the throne, he has built large ships to cross the Zhanghai (an ancient name for the South China Sea), attacked more than ten countries including Qudukun (the Malay Peninsula), Jiuzhi, and Diansun, and expanded his territory by five or six thousand miles. Recently, he has set his sights on Linyi, forcing the King of Linyi, Qu Lian, to seek help from Mi Fang.
Although Mi Fang taught Fan Shiman a lesson, he did not hurt him enough. Fan Shiman was still arrogant. When Shi Hui came to join him, he readily accepted him and clamored to wipe out the Han army to teach the Han Dynasty a lesson, so as to avenge the beating he received from Mi Fang.
Could Lü Dai tolerate this? Lü Dai decisively led his army deep into Funan territory and ordered Mi Fang to lead the Linyi army north to join him in attacking Fan Shiman and Shi Hui.
Although Mi Fang was now willing to lie down and live a peaceful life, he dared not disobey Lü Dai's orders. Helpless, he had no choice but to separate himself from his newlywed wife and unborn son, and together with Qu Lian, lead the army to attack Funan. He vented all his anger at being forced to separate from his wife and children on Fan Shiman and Shi Hui.
Upon receiving the news, Fan Shiman also reacted, ordering Shi Hui to resist Mi Fang, while he personally led a large army to deal with Lü Dai.
The meaning of this arrangement is very clear: you, Shi Hui, may not be able to beat Lü Dai, but you should be able to beat Mi Fang, right?
It turns out there was a problem, a huge problem. Even if Mi Fang was weak, he had still fought against those famous generals in the Central Plains who had explosive combat power. Although he was often on the receiving end of beatings, he had accumulated a lot of experience and learned a lot. Shi Hui, although a Han Chinese, was a pure native of Jiaozhou, born and raised there. He was leading a defeated army that had been decimated by Lü Dai. How could he possibly be a match for Mi Fang?
After several fierce battles and elaborate schemes, Mi Fang finally managed to surround Shi Hui.
That noon, Mi Fang stood on an unnamed hill, looking down at the battlefield below, and said with a sense of pride, "I never thought that I, Mi Zifang, would have the potential to become a great general. Speaking of which, fighting is not difficult, so why does it feel so difficult in the Central Plains? Father-in-law, why do you think that is?"
Qu Lian rolled his eyes. "Why do you say that? Are you people from the Central Plains normal?"
There's a saying that goes something like this: the first-rate generals of the Han Dynasty fight civil wars, the second-rate generals quell rebellions, and the third-rate generals secure the borders. Compared to your Han generals, we Southern Barbarians are as naive as three-year-old children.
Qu Lian didn't respond, but instead changed the subject, saying, "It's about time, shall we launch an attack?"
Mi Fang nodded and said, "Okay."
Qu Lian immediately summoned his men and ordered, "Pass on my order to launch a final all-out attack on Shi Hui. We must annihilate Shi Hui's remaining troops here and show Lord Lü Dai the strength of our Lin Yi."
Qu Lian himself felt guilty saying this. The recent battle between Mi Fang and Shi Hui was incredibly thrilling. He had been watching the whole thing and his heart was pounding. He was more than once grateful that he had such a good son-in-law as Mi Fang. Otherwise, if he had been fighting Shi Hui himself, Lin Yi might have already been destroyed.
This is the strength of the Han Dynasty. Any good-for-nothing who can't make it in the Han Dynasty can easily crush them.
With extremely mixed feelings, Qu Lian issued the order for a general offensive. Upon receiving the order, the Linyi soldiers immediately launched a general offensive against Shi Hui's remaining troops. After nearly three hours of fierce fighting, they finally defeated Shi Hui's remaining troops and captured Shi Hui and all his generals.
Upon receiving the news, Mi Fang immediately said, "Father-in-law, let's go and greet General Shi Hui."
Qu Lian said in surprise, "That's not right. We're the victors, shouldn't they be the ones coming to pay their respects to us?"
Mi Fang explained, “Father-in-law, you are mistaken. Shi Hui is, after all, Shi Xie’s son. Shi Xie is currently a high-ranking official with great power and influence. Even if his son rebels, he may not be executed. Even if he is executed, His Majesty’s benevolence will not implicate innocent people. In other words, even if Shi Hui dies, the Shi family’s power will not be affected. Therefore, we need to be careful in how we treat Shi Hui. If we do the Shi family a favor at this time, they will definitely give us the reward we deserve in the future. But if we offend the Shi family, with Shi Xie’s decades of experience in Jiaozhou, dealing with our Linyi will be a piece of cake.”
Qu Lian instantly understood the key point and immediately gave a thumbs up, saying, "My son-in-law is wise. Let's go see General Shi Hui."
The father-in-law and son-in-law immediately put on a smile like weasels paying respects to chickens and walked down the hill toward the battlefield. Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the center of the battlefield, they saw a familiar figure among the prisoners.
Mi Fang's eyes widened suddenly, and she quickly stepped forward, asking incredulously, "Mi Wei, what are you doing here? Has our Mi family rebelled with Shi Hui?"
The word "rebelled" trembled in her voice, and Mi Fang was so frightened by her own words that she broke out in a cold sweat and her legs cramped.
Rebellion is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family, and it doesn't matter that the Mi family is related to Liu Bei by marriage.
It's somewhat strange that these words came from Mi Fang's mouth, but then again, although Mi Fang betrayed Guan Yu, Liu Bei had not yet declared himself emperor at that time, and they were both Han officials. So, his sophistry could be explained by their colleague relationship.
Furthermore, at that time, the three families of Cao, Liu, and Sun were in a chaotic war, and if someone betrayed another, they could simply seek the protection of the other two. But now it's different. Liu Bei has become emperor, and they have completely become Liu Bei's subjects. If they rebel, they will be treated as treason.
Moreover, the success rate of rebellion is too low now. Guan Yu turned the tide even with such favorable conditions for betrayal back then. Now that Jiangnan has been unified, rebelling is not a matter of loyalty, but rather a matter of being mentally unstable.
More importantly, Mi Fang now has a child and dares not take such a gamble as she did back then. Thinking of the consequences of the Mi family's rebellion, Mi Fang was so scared that her legs went weak.
Mi Wei hadn't expected to see Mi Fang here. After a moment of astonishment, he cried out in a wronged tone, "Second Uncle, it's so good to see you! I've missed you so much!"
Mi Fang quickly took a half step back, making a gesture to distance herself from him, and asked, "Wait a minute, tell me first why you're hanging out with Shi Hui?"
This issue must be clarified. If it is true that the Mi family and Shi Hui have joined forces to rebel, he will immediately take his wife and children and flee overseas, find a remote island to live in seclusion, and never return.
He had already tasted the bitter fruit of rebellion once, and he had no desire to experience it a second time.