Chapter 352

In Yangzhou, Kuaiji, within the Wu King's Palace,

The various noble clans of Yangzhou also met with Liu Biao together, inciting and advising Liu Biao to declare himself Emperor.

Liu Biao did not think much and agreed to it.

Su Xuan, far away in Jingzhou, soon learned of the choices of Liu Zhang, Liu Yu, and Liu Biao through his secret guards.

He couldn't help but laugh: "Hehe! Everyone, look! Sure enough, once the Son of Heaven dies, these Han royal lords can no longer restrain themselves and are all preparing to declare themselves Emperor!"

"They are even preparing to send envoys to invite the various lords to attend their ascension ceremonies;"

"By then, there will be three more Han Emperors. What do you all think, should I send someone to attend?"

As he spoke, Su Xuan handed the intelligence in his hand to Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, and the others to read one by one.

Tian Feng spoke directly: "I believe, my lord, you should not attend; it is better to refuse them all;"

"Since the legitimate Son of Heaven of the Great Han has passed away, there is no one left above you, not even in name;"

"There is absolutely no need for you to arrange three superiors above your head!"

"Otherwise, if they want to crusade against us in the future, or have some imperial edicts, are we supposed to follow them?"

"We can completely refuse to acknowledge their titles as Son of Heaven of the Great Han;"

"In this way, after you unify the world in the future, declaring yourself Emperor will naturally be logical and legitimate!"

"I believe the other lords will likely have the same thoughts and choices."

They are merely Liu family lords who occupy a single province; what qualifications do they have to declare themselves Emperor?

"Correct!"

"Agreed!"

"Just drive them away!"

Guo Jia and the others also echoed.

As for whether doing this would offend these three lords?

Hehe! They already want you to bow down and submit; what difference does it make whether you offend them or not?

It's all the same anyway.

Moreover, they believed that other lords would likely make the same choice and ignore these three Liu family lords.

They believed that the attitude of the many lords would tell Liu Yu and the others how to make their choice.

"Hmm!"

Su Xuan nodded with satisfaction: "That is what I think too! Let's do it that way!"

As he spoke, he looked at Jia San beside him and ordered: "You have heard everything! After the envoys from Liu Yu and the others arrive in Xiangyang County, there is no need to bring them to see me; just drive them away."

"Understood!"

Jia San immediately bowed and accepted the order.

Meanwhile, the Profound Armor Army led by Huang Zhong and the Green Dragon Battalion led by Zhao Yun, with the assistance of the Jiangxia Navy, invaded the two commanderies of Lujiang and Jiujiang respectively.

On the Jiujiang side, because Sun Ce had led most of his main force to attack Lujiang, it was relatively empty.

Coupled with the terrifying combat power of the Green Dragon Battalion and the regular Jiangxia Navy.

The advance was like a hot knife through butter, unstoppable.

In just two days, Zhao Yun and the others captured seven cities in a row, occupying nearly half of Jiujiang.

Afterward, Zhao Yun and the others had no intention of stopping and continued to capture territory in Jiujiang.

Huang Zhong's side was also very smooth; in less than a day, they had attacked to the outskirts of Wanxian, just in time to run into Sun Ce's army, which was attacking Wanxian, forming a standoff.

"Damn it! This is Su Xuan's Profound Armor Army? How could they appear here at this time?"

"Could it be that he also wants to take Lujiang Commandery?"

Sun Ce said with a look of hatred.

Originally, he was about to take Wanxian, but now that the Profound Armor Army had appeared, did he still have a chance to take Wanxian?

It was probably difficult!

The troops he brought out this time were only 40, 00.

Furthermore, he knew very well that compared to the combat power of Su Xuan's Profound Armor Army, his troops were likely far inferior and had no chance of winning.

"Retreat!!!"

Thinking of this, Sun Ce ordered an emergency retreat without hesitation.

"Father, should we pursue?"

Huang Xu, who was beside him, asked hurriedly.

He had long heard of Sun Ce's reputation as the Little Conqueror and really wanted to see how he fared in battle.

Su Zhan, who was beside him, was also eager to try.

Seeing the two of them full of fighting spirit, Huang Zhong shook his head with a smile and said: "Alright! Don't even think about pursuing!"

"Our main goal this time is to take the two commanderies of Lujiang and Jiujiang;"

"As for that Sun Ce, the lord intends to spare him, drive him toward Wujun, and let him contend with Liu Biao, so don't pursue this time!"

"First take Wanxian, and then gradually take the entire territory of Lujiang!"

He knew the plans of his lord and the various military advisors.

They wanted to use Sun Ce, this fierce tiger, to stir up the situation in Yangzhou and let Sun Ce purge the noble clans and powerful families in the commanderies south of the Yangtze River in Yangzhou.

Preparing for the lord to take this Jiangdong land in the future.

Keeping this person was still useful, so naturally, he could not be killed.

"Is that so! What a pity!"

Huang Xu and Su Zhan were both full of regret upon hearing this.

"Haha!"

Seeing this, Huang Zhong couldn't help but laugh loudly: "What is there to regret? If you want to fight Sun Ce, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future! Just wait patiently!"

"Besides, you are still young; are you afraid there won't be any battles to fight in the future?"

"Let's go! Go to the foot of Wanxian city and call out to see if we can persuade the Lujiang Administrator, Lu Kang, to submit to the lord!"

As he spoke, Huang Zhong led his army to within an arrow's shot of the city and sent someone to call out to the city: "My general is Huang Zhong, Huang Huang Hansheng, a general of the Profound Armor Army under the King of Zou Qian. Is Administrator Lu Kang in the city? My general invites you for a chat."

"Hmm?"

Lu Kang, on the city tower, was still leading his troops to resist the fierce attack of Sun Ce's army.

As a result, a reinforcement suddenly arrived, easily repelling and scaring away Sun Ce's army.

Lu Kang initially thought it was Sun Ce's trick, but soon determined it was not.

The arrivals were the troops of the King of Zou Qian, Su Xuan.

For a time, Lu Kang's mood became complex.

The fact that the King of Zou Qian's troops appeared in Lujiang at this time meant they certainly weren't here for sightseeing.

That must also be for this Lujiang Commandery.

But regarding Su Xuan, Lu Kang's thoughts were also quite complex.

Hostile and hateful? Not quite.

After all, Su Xuan had indeed brought a good life to the local people in Jingzhou.

For an official like Lu Kang who was dedicated to the welfare of the people, he admired Su Xuan and felt a resonance.

But Su Xuan's New Policy harmed the interests of many noble clans, feeling as if it were targeting the noble clans, and his Lu family was also a major noble clan!

Naturally, this made Lu Kang dislike Su Xuan again.

However, now was not the time to think about these things; he didn't seem to have much choice.

He had heard the shouting outside the city, and the other party was clearly prepared to use soft tactics before hard ones; he could not help but respond.

He immediately replied: "I am the Lujiang Administrator, Lu Kang. I accept your general's invitation!"

"However, please go back and tell your general to first retreat five miles, and I will naturally leave the city for a chat."

"Good! I will pass on the message!"

The messenger immediately responded and rode back to inform Huang Zhong of the situation.

In fact, with Huang Zhong's hearing, he had easily heard Lu Kang's words.

But he still waited for the messenger to finish speaking before waving his hand: "In that case, pass my order to have the army retreat five miles. Su Zhan, you stay and join me in meeting this Lujiang Administrator, Lu Kang!"

"Understood!"

Immediately, Huang Zhong led his army to retreat, while Huang Zhong and Su Zhan stayed in place to wait.

When Lu Kang saw the army outside the city retreat five miles, he nodded with satisfaction, took two personal guards out of the city, and soon arrived opposite Huang Zhong and Su Zhan.

He cupped his hands toward them and said: "Lujiang Administrator Lu Kang, greets General Huang! I wonder what business you have in inviting me here?"

Huang Zhong smiled faintly and said: "Administrator Lu is too polite! I am a soldier, and I like to speak directly, so I won't beat around the bush!"

"I imagine that with your wisdom, Administrator Lu, you can guess that our Profound Armor Army has come here for Lujiang as well;"

"I wonder if Administrator Lu is willing to submit to my lord?"

Dealing with such a smart person, Huang Zhong knew that relying on schemes was meaningless.

It was better to be direct, which also showed more sincerity, right?

"This..."

Lu Kang was indeed stunned; clearly, he did not expect Huang Zhong to come straight to the point.

This caught him off guard, but fortunately, his mentality was very stable. He quickly adjusted and immediately bowed: "General Huang is joking! Both I and the King of Zou Qian are subjects of the Great Han; isn't it a bit much to talk about submission?"

"Hehe!"

Huang Zhong shook his head with a smile: "Administrator Lu is not being honest! Could it be that you are trying to deceive me?"

"Nowadays, in Changancheng, the Son of Heaven has passed away. In this world, there is no longer a Son of Heaven, and the Great Han has officially entered the era of kings and lords!"

"It is not yet known into whose hands the world will fall in the future, but don't you think it is self-deception to say that everyone is a subject of the Great Han?"

"Does Sun Ce consider you and him to be subjects of the Great Han?"

"Does Lord Yuan Shu consider you and him to be subjects of the Great Han?"

"The times have changed! I am not here to persuade you, nor do I think I have the eloquence to persuade you!"

"I am just laying out our position. If you, Administrator Lu, agree to submit to my lord, not only can Lujiang be spared from a war, allowing the many people of Lujiang to avoid the suffering of war;"

"At the same time, my lord will certainly not treat you or the Lu family behind you unfairly. Please consider it carefully, Administrator Lu, and give me an accurate answer as soon as possible!"

"Whether to fight or to make peace, it is all up to you!"

Unless he was senile or truly not very bright, he did not believe that Lu Kang could not understand that the Son of Heaven no longer belonged to the Great Han.

Lu Kang was clearly not stupid.

Hearing Huang Zhong's blunt words, his face looked a bit unpleasant.

Clearly, Huang Zhong's direct style made him very uncomfortable.

But he understood that Huang Zhong's words had already stated his entire position.

Fight?

To be honest, he could barely resist Sun Ce, let alone the Profound Armor Army, which was clearly more terrifying at a glance.

It seemed that the Profound Armor Army only had 15, 00 men, and even with the few thousand Jiangxia naval forces, it was only 20, 00 people.

But the combat power was completely different from Sun Ce's army!