Chapter 405

The clear river is distinct with Hanyang trees, the fragrant grass is lush on Parrot Island.

This poem by Cui Hao on Yellow Crane Tower is unparalleled through the ages, but many people don't know that this poem sings of the beauty of Wuhan. (This is not urgent, the later text will specifically restore the geographical situation of Wuhan at that time)

Wuhan is a famous city and metropolis, a heavy town since ancient times, now named Xiakou.

At this time, outside Xiakou city, flags are moving, masts and oars are coming and going, and war clouds are dense.

Inside Xiakou city, in the Jian'an Prince's mansion, a fourteen-year-old boy is standing on a table, holding a sword with both hands—

The sword edge is pressed against his own neck, trembling slightly.

"Don't come over! Absolutely don't come over!!"

The servants knelt in a room, anxious but afraid to come forward, and could only beg repeatedly:

"Prince, be careful! Prince, you must be careful!"

"Prince, move it away! You must move it away!"

"I beg the Prince to put down the sword! The Prince is a dragon's son and heaven's grandson, you must not joke with your own life!"

Jian'an Prince Xiao Zizhen is the ninth among the imperial princes, nicknamed Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Xiao Jiu's body was already thin and weak, and his neck was very thin. Now that the big sword is horizontal, his head looks even bigger.

"Don't come over! Whoever comes over, I will slit my throat! Where is Kong Xiuzhi? Why hasn't Kong Xiuzhi come yet!"

"Lord Kong will be here soon! Prince, loosen the sword first, don't hurt yourself!"

"Hurting myself is nothing! If I can't handle it today, I'll die here! Kong Xiuzhi refuses to come, right? Fine, if he refuses to come, then I, then I—"

Xiao Xiao Jiu took a deep breath as if to cheer himself up. The sword blade moved with his breath, scaring the whole room out of their wits! Crying and howling!

Just in the midst of the chaos, a steady sound of armor suddenly came from outside the house. Yingzhou Chief Clerk and Jiangxia Internal Historian Kong Xiuzhi, in full military uniform, stepped over the threshold.

(At that time, Internal Historian and Prefect were synonymous. The official of a commandery with a prince was an Internal Historian. Now there is a Jiangxia Prince (see Chapter 10), so he is called Jiangxia Internal Historian. Since the current enfeoffed princes only have tax revenue and no actual land, there is no difference between Internal Historian and Prefect, just different names.

The first commandery under Yingzhou is Jiangxia Commandery, and the first city under Jiangxia Commandery is Xiakou, so Xiakou is to Yingzhou Jiangxia Commandery as Jiangling is to Jingzhou Nanjun. Kong Xiuzhi leading Jiangxia Commandery as Chief Clerk and Liu Yin leading Nanjun Prefect as Jingzhou Chief Clerk are both customary. See the chapter notes in Chapter 161. But Kong's actual power is greater than Liu's, because the Prince Prefect is not an adult, so he acts on behalf of the state government.)

When the servants saw Kong Xiuzhi coming, they suddenly dared not make a sound. As soon as Xiao Xiao Jiu saw Kong Xiuzhi's armor, his face twitched, and his whole person was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, shouting in exasperation:

"Fine! You don't even pretend anymore! You completely—"

Kong Xiuzhi took a step forward, Xiao Xiao Jiu shrank back suddenly, the table shook, and he almost didn't stand firm, his voice rising a few degrees:

"You you you—don't come over! Kong Xiuzhi! Don't come over! If you come over, I will... I will die! I'm really dying! I'm not joking!"

Kong Xiuzhi did not intend to take any other action, but just bowed to Xiao Xiao Jiu in a solemn and respectful manner, and then asked:

"What is the Prince doing?"

Seeing Kong Xiuzhi ask this, Xiao Xiao Jiu was even more angry, his eyes turned red, and his lips trembled as he shouted:

"Don't think I don't know anything! Do you think I'm a fool? Do you think I'm stupid?! I tell you! I know everything! I know everything! They are about to attack, right?! I'll ask you! Are they about to—"

"Yes," Kong Xiuzhi answered calmly.

Xiao Xiao Jiu was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect the other party to answer so simply, and then became extremely flustered:

"You you you you you... you admitted it?! You finally admitted it, didn't you—"

"Yes."

Kong Xiuzhi gave an affirmative answer again mercilessly.

The last glimmer of hope that Xiao Xiao Jiu was holding onto tightly vanished, his whole body stiffened, and even his breathing stopped for a moment!

He didn't care about holding the sword steady, pulled his left hand out from the hilt, pointed at Kong Xiuzhi, and shouted, each sound higher and more trembling than the last:

"Fine! Fine!... Fine! You really are... really are... are..."

Xiao Xiao Jiu was burning with anger and fear, the words he wanted to say were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't remember them no matter what.

Kong Xiuzhi pondered for a moment and reminded him:

"Harboring evil intentions?"

"Right right right! That's harboring evil intentions! You harbor evil intentions, you!"

Xiao Xiao Jiu was happy that he finally found the words, but this one percent of joy was quickly drowned out by ninety-nine percent of grief and indignation.

Kong Xiuzhi remained calm:

"May I ask the Prince, what is my evil intention?"

"You want to harm me!!!"

Xiao Xiao Jiu almost roared it out.

Kong Xiuzhi's voice was unhurried:

"If the subordinate wanted to harm the Prince, I should have tied the Prince up and sent him to the Prince of Badong's ship."

Xiao Xiao Jiu's face turned pale, as if he was frightened by this possibility. But he soon realized that this possibility did not exist. Otherwise, Kong Xiuzhi wouldn't have to do so many things, and wouldn't have to talk to him now.

Of course, the so-called non-existence is only non-existent now. As for the future, who can say?

He shouted with his neck stiff. Under this action, the cold, shining big sword looked even heavier, as if he was about to lose his grip:

"Do you think this isn't harming me? You are harming me even more! He will beat me to death! You don't know how hard he beats people! He will beat me to death with his own hands!!!"

The more Xiao Xiao Jiu said, the more afraid he became, even his voice changed, tears gushed from his eyes, as if he had already seen his little face beaten to pieces by his elder brother.

Seeing that Xiao Zizhen was even crying out snot, Kong Xiuzhi's voice softened a bit:

"A king should be steady and keep his heart, with a quality like pine and cypress, and should not imitate the state of a woman and weep lightly—"

"I will weep! I will weep!! I am about to die! Can't I cry! You manage the sky and the earth, and you still manage my crying?!"

Xiao Xiao Jiu stomped his feet excitedly. The sword bobbed on his neck with the rhythm of his stomping. Even though Kong Xiuzhi's heart was as hard as iron, he was startled, fearing that he would slit his throat by mistake.

Fearing that he would stimulate the brat again, Kong Xiuzhi deliberately changed the subject, bowed solemnly, and asked:

"May I ask the Prince, do you want to tie yourself up and surrender?"

"Tie myself?"

Xiao Xiao Jiu thought for a while before he realized which words they were. He hesitated for a moment and shook his head:

"Even if I surrender, I will die—"

Even if I don't die, can you let me surrender? I'm afraid that as soon as I say surrender, you will tie me up...

"—Xiao Zixiang is a madman, maybe he will torture me—"

Do you think he is the only madman? You should have some self-awareness! You are also a madman!

You madmen are all good at torturing me!!!

"—No matter what, I can't be a rebellious minister and thief like him—"

Mainly because I don't have that ability, and I don't have that interest.

Hearing this, Kong Xiuzhi felt that "the child can be taught" and nodded.

Being timid is human nature. But as long as the great righteousness is not—

Xiao Xiao Jiu took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, his voice firm:

"You let these people move away immediately! And prepare a small boat for me! The fastest one! Send more guards..."

Kong Xiuzhi's nodding stopped.

Xiao Xiao Jiu swore:

"Don't worry, after I go back, I will definitely speak well of you! Sacrifice my life to serve the country, look at death as returning home..."

Kong Xiuzhi frowned:

"Prince—"

As soon as Xiao Xiao Jiu saw Kong Xiuzhi's expression, he knew it was bad and snatched the words:

"I won't stop you if you want to fight. You are all famous generals, I admire you! I won't drag you down. I'll go back and report to you, that's fine!"

Kong Xiuzhi's face was cold:

"Abandoning the city in the face of the enemy and leaving one's post without authorization is a great crime."

Xiao Xiao Jiu hurriedly spoke, fearing that Kong Xiuzhi would not understand:

"It's okay! Let the Emperor punish me however he wants! I'll accept it even if my title is stripped! It's better than being beaten to death! I've made up my mind, you don't need to say more, prepare the boat for me immediately! Otherwise, I'll die now!"

As he said this, he pressed the sword against his neck again.

Kong Xiuzhi looked at him for a moment and turned to order the servants:

"You go down first, I will talk to the Prince alone."

The servants were about to get up, but Xiao Xiao Jiu screamed suddenly:

"No one is allowed to leave! No one is allowed to leave! Whatever you have to say, say it here! Say it in front of everyone!"

Kong Xiuzhi said:

"Fine, then I will ask someone to invite Li Dianqian."

Xiao Xiao Jiu's face changed suddenly:

"Hey, why are you looking for him! It's useless for him to come! I'm leaving today, otherwise I'll die here! It's useless whoever comes!"

He shouted a few times aggressively, but still let the servants go out first.

Everyone exited, leaving only two people in the room.

One stood on the table, sword across his neck; one stood in the hall, armor cold.

"Say whatever you have to say!"

Xiao Xiao Jiu was tired of holding the sword and didn't want to take it down, so he could only pile it obliquely on his shoulder.

"The Prince's position is to hold the festival, supervise the military affairs of Ying and Si two states, General of the West, and Yingzhou Prefect—"

Xiao Xiao Jiu rolled his eyes and interrupted:

"Don't say these scene words. If I were really a Prefect, could I not leave now?"

"These are not scene words. Although the Prince has not personally managed the affairs, the name and position have been set, and the seal and festival are on your body. The scholars and people of the state look up to the Prince's mansion; the soldiers of the three armies look at the flags. If the Prince abandons the city and leaves, the hearts of the people will be lost. How can you fight against Jingzhou again?"

Xiao Xiao Jiu stared in disbelief:

"Fight against Jingzhou? Are you tired and sick? Do you want to hear what you are saying? When could Yingzhou fight against Jingzhou??? Even if I don't leave, can I fight against Jingzhou? Do you take me for Liu Shilong? Or do you take yourself for Liu Shilong? Even Liu Shilong has the Emperor supporting him from behind! Now there is nothing, and you want to fight hard. By the time the court reinforcements arrive, the grass on our graves will—"

"The subordinate does not dare to compare himself to Duke Liu, but the heart to serve the country is the same as the Duke's. Yingzhou controls Jing and Xiang, and collars Jiang and Han. The mountains of the north and south surround it as a barrier; the rivers and marshes of eastern E are crisscrossed, which is not conducive to vehicles and horses. The government offices of the state and commandery are all along the river bank. The beacon fires are connected, all as ramparts! Therefore, it can lock Jingchu and choke the east and west!

In the past, during the rebellion of Shen Youzhi, the Emperor told Duke Liu: 'Once Youzhi changes, burn the ships of Xiakou and go east along the flow, it cannot be controlled.' Now the Jiangzhou military government has been abolished (abolished in the second year of Yongming), the downstream is empty, and the danger of the situation is worse than that year! If we abandon Xiakou and leave, the Prince of Badong will go downstream, and the poison will flow for thousands of miles! This is to entrust the entire power of Chu to the enemy! The river road is wide open, and the southeast is shaken! The affairs of the world cannot be known!"

(Insert a picture)

Selected from the fourth volume of the *Atlas of Chinese History*, the red line is Jingzhou, the blue line is Yingzhou, and the yellow line above is the Yingzhou state government Xiakou. The line is not fully drawn.

Xiao Xiao Jiu was so anxious:

"Who said it wasn't! So I didn't ask you to leave! You stay and choke the east and west! I didn't stop you! Uncle Kong, can I call you Uncle? You let me go, I will thank you for the rest of my life..."

Kong Xiuzhi:...

——————

Note: In December of last year, there was already an edict for Xiao Xiao Jiu to be the Yingzhou Prefect. In the first month of this year, Shen Wenji was recalled to the capital, and now he is the General of the Leading Army and concurrently the Regular Attendant of the Palace. Messages are delayed, and it is even later when it reaches Jingzhou. So when Yue Yue Xiao Pang introduced Shen Wenji to Wang Yang in Chapter 24, *Three Beauties of the Imperial Capital*, he said he was the Yingzhou Prefect. It was April at the time. Given the Jingzhou region and Yue Yue Xiao Pang's status, he did not yet know that Shen Wenji had been transferred.

*Book of Southern Qi, Biography of Wang Huan*: "In the second year of Yongming, he was transferred to Regular Attendant and Jiangzhou Prefect. Initially, the Jiangzhou military government was abolished."