sovbooks Chapter 6 Amidst Chaos
Chapter 6 Amidst Chaos
The horses' hooves pounded the mountain paths in late summer and early autumn, rustling the withered yellow grass. They galloped westward for nearly a hundred miles until the sun began to set and they could no longer hear the sounds of pursuers behind them. Only then did Liu Yao rein in the horses and signal the group to stop and rest in a sheltered mountain hollow.
The soldiers quickly dispersed, some to stand guard around the perimeter, others to gather dry branches to start a fire. Soon, an orange-red bonfire blazed in the mountain valley, dispelling the autumn chill in the mountains.
Liu Yao squatted by the campfire, whittling wooden skewers with a short knife, glancing around every now and then, his vigilance never wavering. He was relatively polite to Gao Zidan, but he didn't take the down-on-his-luck retainer he had picked up seriously, treating him as just another mouth to feed and paying him no heed.
This gave Gao Zidan the perfect opportunity.
He pulled Han Xin to a sheltered rock a little distance from the campfire, first bowing to Han Xin, his tone still filled with undisguised warmth: "Sir, it is all thanks to Captain Murong that you were rescued today. It is my fault that you have suffered so much."
Han Xin quickly stepped aside, then bowed respectfully to him, and said timidly, "Young Master, you flatter me. I am but an insignificant retainer of the Gao family. I only have food to eat because the late Lord took me in. When the Gao family suffered misfortune, I was unable to do anything to help them. I deserve to die. How could I dare to accept such a courtesy from you, Young Master?"
He remained timid and reserved, his head slightly lowered, not daring to meet Gao Zidan's gaze, just like a naive and unsophisticated young retainer.
But in Gao Zidan's eyes, this was all the military genius's forbearance and humility! He quickly helped Han Xin up and, taking advantage of a pre-prepared excuse, asked his question: "Sir, there's no need for such formality. I suffered a massacre of my entire family and fled all the way. My mind was traumatized, and everything I heard before is now a jumbled mess. I've forgotten many things I should remember. Could you help me sort it out? After the Liao Duke's uprising, what was the reaction in various prefectures and counties? How many people echoed his call?"
Upon hearing this, Han Xin had no doubt whatsoever, assuming that Gao Zidan had truly suffered a shock and lost her memory. He quickly nodded, lowered his voice, and recounted the situation, which was known to everyone in the world, in detail.
"As you know, our Great Song Dynasty was seized from the Li family by Emperor Taizu Zhao Sheng. It has been in the hands of the current Emperor Zhao Ren for twenty-four years. Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, there has been no end to the wars. The exorbitant taxes and levies have been increasing year by year, and the people have long been suffering."
He paused, then continued following Gao Zidan's question, his tone filled with barely concealed shock: "At the end of this summer, the Emperor mobilized 600,000 troops to personally lead an expedition against Goguryeo. Our Youzhou and Yingzhou regions along the route were responsible for all the grain and fodder supplies, and the manpower was already exhausted. Just last month, Governor Liu Bang of Yingzhou could no longer tolerate it and directly raised the banner of rebellion, burning the Liaoxi grain route and cutting off the retreat of the 600,000 troops! He even proclaimed himself Duke of Liao and shouted, 'If the Zhao family can be emperor, why can't I?' This incident caused an uproar throughout the land."
"After autumn arrived, Liaodong got cold quickly, and the 600,000-strong army ran out of food and supplies. Goguryeo took the opportunity to launch a full-scale counterattack, and the army was routed, almost completely wiped out. Less than 30,000 people escaped. When the news of the defeat reached the capital, the court and the public were shocked. The emperor was furious for days and summoned his ministers to call for another military campaign. However, the prefectures and counties in various places had long been paying lip service to the plan, and no one was willing to actually put in the effort."
Gao Zidan was deeply moved. He had only heard bits and pieces from Liu Yao and Murong Baiyao before, and now he finally understood the whole story.
He suppressed his inner turmoil and continued to press, "Who were the people who responded to the Duke of Liao?"
"Lord Liao was originally a collateral branch of the Liu imperial family of the previous dynasty. This time, the first to respond to the uprising were the Liu clan members in various places." Han Xin quickly responded, counting them off on his fingers, "Liu Xiu, the governor of Dengzhou; Liu Bei, the governor of Qingzhou; Liu Che, the governor of Yuezhou; Liu Yu, the governor of Ruzhou. The Liu clan of Pengcheng has many branches and has been operating in the local area for many years. Their power was not small. This time, they all echoed Lord Liao's banner and raised the banner of rebellion. Half of the Central Plains followed suit."
Gao Zidan's mind went blank—Liu Xiu, Liu Bei, Liu Che, Liu Yu—all historically renowned emperors surnamed Liu, were now all relatives of Liu Bang in this world. Wait, no, they were all originally members of the Liu clan, just from different periods.
He composed himself and asked again, "What about the other prefectures and counties? Isn't anyone in charge of them?"
"The imperial family of the previous dynasty, the Li clan, had long been dissatisfied with the Zhao family's usurpation of the throne, and this was a perfect opportunity for them to rebel." Han Xin sighed and continued, "Li Shimin, the governor of Ningzhou, Li Cunxu, the prefect of Luzhou, Li Longji, the governor of Yunzhou, and Wu Zetian, the prefect of Yangzhou, all used the pretext of the Zhao family's usurpation and the chaos they brought to the world to directly declare that they would not obey the court's orders and would establish themselves as independent."
"As for Xiang Yu, the governor of Youzhou, he is a brave and valiant border general known throughout the land. He commands 50,000 border troops in Youzhou and guards the northern border. Which of the Khitan, Jurchen, Xiongnu, or Rouran is not afraid of him? He and Liu Bang, the Duke of Liao, have an irreconcilable personal feud that has lasted for many years. Everyone in the world knows this. This time, he took advantage of the Duke of Liao's uprising to slaughter our entire Gao family, just to cut off the Duke of Liao's arm in Youzhou."
"Nowadays, apart from a few states around the capital, there are hardly any places left that are willing to obey the Zhao family's orders. Anyone with eyes can see that the world is about to descend into chaos."
After Han Xin finished speaking, Gao Zidan froze on the spot.
He finally understood this world completely—it wasn't any dynasty he was familiar with at all; it was a chaotic world where emperors and warlords from all dynasties had been woven together, and any one of them could be a historically renowned figure.
After a period of great confusion, Gao Zidan actually gained even more confidence.
What are you afraid of?
Others have Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, and Li Shimin, but I have the military genius Han Xin!
No matter how powerful these people are, can they defeat a peerless military genius?
He glanced at the reserved and timid Han Xin beside him, his eyes burning with even more enthusiasm, and quickly asked, "Sir, the world is in such chaos now, in your opinion, what should we do next?"
He eagerly anticipated hearing the military genius's astonishing strategies, but upon hearing this, Han Xin quickly waved his hand, lowered his head even further, and said in a tone full of fear: "Young Master, you flatter me! I am just a naive retainer who has never seen the world, how could I know about the affairs of the world, military campaigns and battles? My life was saved by you, Young Master, and I will go wherever you command me without the slightest complaint."
Upon hearing this, Gao Zidan was not disappointed at all. Instead, he secretly sighed in his heart: He really is a military genius! He is so good at hiding his true abilities! He immediately thought of the story of Han Xin suffering the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs in the historical records. A true strategist knows how to be patient and bide his time, and he will never show his talent until the critical moment. His current timid and reserved appearance is just a protective color. He is indeed the kind of person who will achieve great things!
Just as he was about to say a few more words of advice, Liu Yao's rough voice came from the campfire: "Kid! Enough rest! Time to hit the road! We have to get into the mountains before dark, otherwise we'll be in big trouble if we run into bandits or wolves at night!"
Gao Zidan could only swallow back the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She patted Han Xin on the shoulder and said firmly, "Don't worry, sir. With me here, I will definitely not let you suffer any more injustices. Let's go back to Yongming tribe first. In this chaotic world, there will always be a place for us to stand."
Han Xin quickly bowed in agreement, still maintaining his reserved demeanor.
The group mounted their horses and galloped off again toward the western mountains.