jdhmnovel Chapter 729 What will we use to win?
Chapter 729 What will we use to win?
Pingyu City, Prefectural Governor's Residence.
The newly appointed governor of Runan Commandery, Tian Yu, and the outgoing governor of Yingchuan Commandery, Gao Rou, sat across the table from each other.
Tian Yu frowned in deep thought, while Gao Rou looked worried, creating an unusually silent atmosphere.
Finally, Gao Rou broke the silence, sighing, "General Tian, please say something. How should this be handled?"
Gao Rou has been unable to eat or sleep well lately because of the kidnapping incident in Wuyang. She is afraid that she will wake up to hear that Sun Lang has kidnapped someone again, but she is even more afraid that there will be no news of Sun Lang.
Sun Lang's continued robberies were still traceable; one could follow his footsteps to track him down. In short, it meant knowing what to do and having a place to use one's strength.
But now Sun Lang has vanished into thin air. We don't know where he went, or whether he's still in Runan or even Yuzhou. This kind of unknown is the most frustrating thing, because there's no way to defend against him, and you have nowhere to use your strength.
Tian Yu pondered, “I understand Brother Gao’s feelings, but we can’t just focus on Sun Lang. We need to approach this from other angles.”
Gao Rou asked instinctively, "What do you mean?"
Tian Yu replied, "On the way to Runan, I heard that Guan Xing trained three thousand spies and sent them into our Great Wei territory. Sun Lang is just one of them. Although there are many of these three thousand spies, they all have one thing in common: they all crossed the river and infiltrated Great Wei territory after the New Year. This makes things easier. Order all the outposts and local governments to strictly investigate any strangers who appear after the New Year. If anyone is suspected, arrest and interrogate them immediately..."
"I suspect that Guan Xing's three thousand spies must be connected. If we capture one, we can follow the clues to find the others. The more we find, the more we will know, and the more we know, the greater our chance of finding Sun Lang. Not only that, we might even find the leader of the three thousand spies. I don't believe that these three thousand people acted alone without unified command. There must be one or more superiors above Sun Lang."
Gao Rou slapped his thigh and said, "General, you're brilliant! If we can find one of them and then follow the clues to uproot all three thousand spies, we'll have made a great contribution. General, what do you suggest? I'll cooperate fully."
Gao Rou's recent inability to eat or sleep is not because he is so afraid of Sun Lang, but because Sun Lang's plundering has seriously affected his career. However, if, as Tian Yu said, the three thousand pseudo-Han spies are eradicated, then the small mistake of being robbed in Wuyang will be nothing.
Therefore, he immediately decided to cooperate with Tian Yu to make a big splash.
The reason he didn't take the lead himself was because Tian Yu, in addition to being the Prefect of Runan, also held the title of General Tianyi, which was a higher official rank than his.
Tian Yu stroked his beard and said, "Although this move may catch the spies of the false Han, there is a problem that it costs money. We need to recruit and train experts who are good at solving cases and tracking, issue huge rewards to encourage the people to actively report, and send troops to suppress them. Money is needed for every part of it."
When the word "money" was mentioned, Gao Rou scratched her head in worry, but gritted her teeth and said, "I will go to the major clans to raise funds. I believe that the major clans do not want to be like the Wuyang clan, whose mansions were breached by Sun Lang. They will give away all the money they have worked so hard to accumulate to the people."
Tian Yu laughed and said, "That makes things easier. Let's split up. You go and make the money, and I'll go and arrest the people."
When it comes to making money, Gao Rou has an advantage that Tian Yu can hardly match. After all, Gao Rou has been the governor of Yingchuan for several years and is very familiar with the various ethnic groups in Yuzhou. Tian Yu, on the other hand, is an outsider who just came from Youzhou and doesn't even know everyone. Who would give him money?
The two discussed the details and then parted ways. Tian Yu immediately took action, first ordering all the clerks and runners in each county who were good at solving cases and tracking to be sent to Pingyu, and then ordering the county governments to issue rewards for reporting strangers who entered Yuzhou after the New Year. He wanted to catch a few spies first and find a breakthrough.
This process involves a huge amount of work, and since Dahan doesn't have a radio network, all the work is done manually, which makes the workload even greater.
But it was indeed effective. In just half a month, Tian Yu caught two spies who were actually Han Chinese in Shangcai County by screening the migrant population. One of them was unfortunately killed while trying to escape, and the other was sent to Pingyu City overnight.
Upon receiving the news, Tian Yu immediately ordered his subordinates to bring the person to the main hall of the government office, and then rushed there.
As Tian Yu entered the hall and saw the young man standing ramrod straight despite his shackles, a hint of admiration appeared in his eyes. He smiled at the young man and asked, "What is your name, sir?"
Instead of answering, the young man asked, "You must be General Tian Yu. General Tian is indeed extraordinary; you captured me in one fell swoop."
Tian Yu laughed and said, "It seems that your secret agents are very well-informed. Since you know me, let's not waste any more time and get straight to the point."
The young man smiled and said, "My name is Wu Qi. I originally served under Grand Commander Lü Meng. Later, I was transferred to General Zhang Cheng's command to fight against Marquis Shence. When Marquis Shence captured Zhang Cheng twice, I joined Marquis Shence's command."
"When I was under Lü Meng's command, my family was just tenant farmers. But after the Marquis of Shence took control of Jiangdong, my family was allocated ten acres of fertile land, my younger brother was assigned to work as a supervisor in a paper mill, my wife got a job at Miss Sun Luban's textile factory with two strings of cash a month, and my son was even sent to Jianye Elementary School established by Lord Wangfu. He always ranked first in his class in every exam. Even my father's tuberculosis was cured for free. Compared to when Lü Meng was in charge, my family's life has undergone earth-shattering changes. So, General Tian, what makes you think I would betray His Majesty, betray the Marquis of Shence, and betray my brothers in the special forces?"
Tian Yu was stumped by the question and was momentarily speechless.
He realized that compared to the treatment this person received in Jiangnan, any promises he made seemed pale and powerless.
Wu Qi continued, "This humble subject would like to offer a word of advice to the general. You were once His Majesty's subordinate. Although this humble subject does not know why you betrayed His Majesty, His Majesty has now unified Jiangnan and it is only a matter of time before he leads his army north to recover the Central Plains. General, you should follow the will of Heaven and not go against the tide and do something futile. Otherwise, even if His Majesty is willing to spare you in the future because of our past friendship, the people of the world will not let you go."
"I've finished speaking. By the way, I was an illiterate before I followed Marquis Shence, but I think I spoke very well just now. Goodbye, General Tian. If I ever have the chance to meet Marquis Shence in the future, please tell him that I, Wu Qi, have not disgraced him."
After saying that, he struck the soldier guarding him on the left in the abdomen with an elbow, forcing him to bend over and clutch his stomach. At the same time, he suddenly turned around and struck the soldier on the right in the abdomen with a knee. Then, while the two were clutching their stomachs to relieve their pain, he suddenly pulled out the sword from the soldier's waist and slashed it down on his own neck.
"No...stop him quickly..."
Tian Yu's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly spoke and rushed forward, but he was too far away and there was no time to spare. By the time he reached Wu Qi's side, Wu Qi had already collapsed, powerless.
The moment he fell to the ground, Tian Yu abruptly stopped, staring at Wu Qi with a look of astonishment.
Wu Qi was also looking at him, a smile creeping onto his blood-spitting lips, his determined eyes full of smugness.
I'm willing to risk my life, what can you do to me?
A moment later, Wu Qi closed his eyes and passed away peacefully. Tian Yu, however, stood there stunned as if struck by a heavy blow. He had not expected this spy to be so fierce, not even giving him a chance to negotiate.
Thinking back to that spy who would rather die than be captured, Tian Yu began to doubt his own stance for the first time.
If the pseudo-Han people were all such brave warriors, how could Cao Wei possibly win?