Chapter 221: Gan Ning's Return, the Way to Defeat In a sense, Gan Ning was a very pragmatic person. When he was young, he wore brocade clothes everywhere in order to show his luxury. Later he felt that this was not going to work, so he gave up his military career and turned to literature, studying the teachings of various schools of thought, and rose from a minor official to the position of county magistrate. The reason he rebelled later was because he felt his ambitions were not being realized. The same is true now. He does not have much conflict with Huang She. He was angry just now because Huang She did not take him seriously enough. But now, Qin Zhen paid enough attention to him, making him feel like he had met a mentor! Seeing that Qin Zhen promised to take the position of deputy commander of the navy, Gan Ning felt excited and no longer depressed. He grabbed Qin Zhen's hand and said: "Sir, are you serious? Can your army really grant me the position of commander-in-chief?" Seeing how excited he was, Qin Zhen grabbed his hand and said with a smile: "Xingba is only afraid that our army will deceive us. In fact, I am also afraid that Xingba is unwilling to go. In my opinion, the deputy governor is a waste of talent!" "But we are worried that our navy is just beginning to form and we don't have many soldiers and horses!"

"When we have more soldiers in the future, we can let Xingba be the commander of the navy and let him roam the river. What's the harm?" "But let me make it clear first. Our military rules are very strict. We don't need to take Jingzhou. Disobeying military orders is a serious crime!" "You must know that if you are appointed as a commander-in-chief, the lives of all the soldiers are in your hands. You must not treat them lightly. I wonder if Xingba has any objection?" When Gan Ning heard this, he smiled widely and said: "I also know the art of war. Your command of the army is well known to the world. I will never dare to violate it!" What a joke! As long as he can be given important positions and allowed to make achievements, he would be willing to accept no salary, let alone stricter military regulations! But as he was smiling like this, Qin Zhen turned his face and said: "In that case, Xingba, follow me now to apologize to the Lord!" "Not to mention that the Lord is my friend, the Lord also contributed a lot to my mission to Jingzhou this time." "Now our army still needs to borrow the power of Jingzhou to attack Jiangdong." "If Xingba becomes the admiral of the navy in the future, we will have to interact with him and we must not make things difficult for him!" When Gan Ning saw his face turn cold, his heart trembled suddenly, and he couldn't help but think that Qin Zhen changed his expression so quickly! Although he had decided to join Liu Bei's army, he still found it difficult to accept being asked to apologize to Huang She. But while he was hesitating, Qin Zhen reminded him earnestly: "If we are enemies, Xingba will draw his sword and I will not say anything." "But when we are friends, we should be sincere to each other!" "A true man is born in this world and is not afraid of death, so why should he be afraid of a word?" "A general is one who can bend and stretch. If one only knows how to be upright and show off one's bravery, how can he be in charge of a great mission?" After hearing this, Gan Ning saw Qin Zhen's earnest teaching and couldn't help but sigh: "I have heard of your great name for a long time, but I have never seen you in person. Now I see that you are a military advisor and a role model for our generation!"

When ordinary people serve as military advisors, they are usually responsible for making suggestions and plans, but Qin Zhen is different, he is truly the advisor of an army! When I give him advice now, it doesn't seem like an outsider is giving him advice, but rather like an elder giving advice to a younger person. This kind of behavior not only did not disgust him, but instead made him feel like he had found his organization! After thinking for a while, he finally lowered his head and said sincerely: "Since you have advised me in this way, I am not the kind of person who would ignore your kindness. However, I was disrespectful in my words just now. Even if I was wrong, you will not forgive me easily!" The question now is not whether he is willing to apologize, but whether Huang She is willing to forgive. After all, he was the one who started the attack first, and Huang She might not tolerate his words. However, when Qin Zhen heard this, he smiled seriously and said: "As the saying goes, there is no greater virtue than to admit one's mistakes and correct them. Your Excellency is not a petty person, but since Xingba made a mistake, why can't you forgive him?" "Well, come back with me first, and I'll talk to the Lord of the Mansion!" As he said this, he took Gan Ning back to the team, and took Huang She aside to talk in private for a while. The general meaning is that Gan Ning has realized his mistake and wants to apologize, but is afraid that you will not tolerate him. Huang She was surprised to see that the unruly Gan Ning was actually persuaded to apologize by Qin Zhen's words. "I have heard that you are a great debater, and now I see it for sure!" After thinking for a while, he said that there was no need to apologize, and he didn't want to get too entangled with Gan Ning. Anyway, Gan Ning is now in your hands, so just follow your team. Faced with this situation, Qin Zhen naturally praised Huang She for his magnanimity, and then told Gan Ning what Huang She had said. When Gan Ning heard that Huang She didn't let him apologize, he felt a little guilty for a moment. He gritted his teeth and walked up to Huang She, bowed, and then joined Qin Zhen's team. He had a total of more than 800 soldiers under his command, and they also joined Qin Zhen's army along with Gan Ning. At this point, Qin Zhen's team became increasingly bloated. When he came, there were only Kong Ming, Chen Dao, five hundred elite soldiers, and two servants accompanying him. Now, with the addition of Wei Yan, Wang Can, Pei Qian and Gan Ning, the army has expanded to more than 1,300 people. Fortunately, the food and fodder can be shared with Huang She, otherwise Qin Zhen really doesn’t know what to do with it. Here he introduced Gan Ning to everyone, and then asked his subordinates to follow him and head south with the 3,000 soldiers brought by Huang She. On the way, Huang She naturally asked Qin Zhen if he had any new works, and Qin Zhen handed over "Wang Jingshan" which he copied in Xiangyang. When Huang She got this work, he stroked his beard and said to Qin Zhen with a smile: "I have also heard of your work. Although it is a new sound, it is too sad." "It is not as elegant as 'Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely appearing in the southern mountains'!" Seeing that he was still not satisfied, Qin Zhen couldn't help but secretly think that this kid was difficult to deal with. He glanced at the river and came up with an idea: "Speaking of which, this place is close to the Xiang River. In the past, I wrote a poem for Xiang Jun when I was in Lujiang." "Now that I know Jingzhou, I have heard from the villagers that there is an essay saying: In the first year of Hanjia, the people of Wuling made a living by fishing."

As he spoke, he recited a piece of Peach Blossom Spring. Of course, there were some changes in it, but it was not as troublesome as Xiangjun Fu. As everyone listened to the article, they were entranced and the beautiful scenery of Peach Blossom Spring appeared in their minds. Huang She was very excited when he heard this. He quickly ordered the soldiers to bring silk. As Qin Zhen talked, he wrote. When Qin Zhen finished, he looked at the beautiful article in his hand and exclaimed: "Sir, you are a man of talent. Although this is a miscellaneous article, it is also full of literary talent. It is really beyond the reach of ordinary people!" Wang Can, Pei Qian and others were also amazed and asked Qin Zhen where he heard of such a story. Only Zhuge Liang was listening at the side, his face full of confusion, thinking that he had been with Qin Zhen all day long, but he had never seen Qin Zhen recite poetry or compose essays! How come now when Huang She is asked, he can speak out a beautiful article! Is there really such a person in this world who can speak eloquently? Qin Zhen had no idea what Zhuge Liang was thinking. If he knew, he would definitely laugh at this. He could speak eloquently, but that was fake. But a few hundred years later, there was a poet named Li who could speak eloquently, and every poem he wrote was a classic. In short, Qin Zhen and Huang She discussed poems and essays along the way. After a day of traveling, they finally boarded the boat and headed towards Jiangxia. After arriving in Jiangxia, he met Huang Zu again as usual. He found that Huang Zu was about the same age as Liu Biao, about fifty years old. Compared with the elegant Huang She, Huang Zu appears burly and rough, with a square face and a beard. In addition, he has been living a life of luxury for many years, has a pot belly, and is quite arrogant. Although he had received Liu Biao's transfer order, he still looked at Qin Zhen and said sarcastically: "Liu Yuzhou has more than 100,000 soldiers. How could he not be able to defeat the Jiangdong navy? Why is he asking for help from our army?" Seeing this, Qin Zhen smiled modestly and said: "It is because the Jiangdong navy is strong and cannot be defeated by mediocre soldiers. Our army alone cannot support it, so we need your army's help." "Except for our two families joining forces, no one else can defeat us independently." When Huang Zu heard him praising the Jiangdong navy, he stroked his beard and sneered: "Sir, please don't provoke me. My Jingzhou navy is strong and unrivaled in the world. How can Jiangdong compare with my army?" He then took Qin Zhen back into the water fort to inspect his troops. He saw that although the ships in the water fort were large, most of them were old. There were more than 9,000 naval troops, but most of them were weak and not even as strong as the naval troops under Liu Xun's command. Seeing this, Qin Zhen thought to himself that in the original process, when Gan Ning defected to Sun Quan, he directly stated that Huang Zu was old, his generals withheld food and fodder, and the ships were in disrepair. Now it seems to be true. No wonder in the original process, Sun Ce defeated Huang Zu's army as soon as he attacked! It would be strange if they could win with such an army. Why does Huang Zu turn a blind eye to it and still be so confident? While he was thinking, Huang Zu swept the navy in the water fort and said to Qin Zhen with a smile: "Sir, please take a look at my navy. Is it stronger than Jiangdong's navy?" Qin Zhen frowned when he saw him squinting his eyes, wondering if this old man's eyesight was really blurry and he couldn't see the abnormality among his subordinates? Seeing that Huang Zu wanted to show off his military strength, he forced a smile and said: "The Jiangxia navy is indeed rare in the world, but I am the one who is short-sighted!" "Now that Envoy Liu has ordered the troops to be dispatched, I wonder when Master Huang will take action?" Huang Zu was very pleased with his compliments, and his beard was full of satisfaction. When he saw him asking about sending troops, he smiled and said: "There is no rush. Let's wait for our army to prepare food and grass. Wait for half a month and find a clear day before we go out!" Seeing that he would have to delay for another half a month, Qin Zhen frowned for a moment.

But seeing Huang Zu's look, he knew that he was a soft-hearted person, so he had to keep silent. When he finished his meal in the evening, he called Huang She over and said: "Brother Gongli, now that we have been ordered to come here, we must know the direction of Jiangdong." "When it comes to sending troops, it's better to do it sooner rather than later. If you do it later, things will change!" "You and I have a deep friendship. You should know that Zhen has no bad intentions. You can go and persuade Mr. Huang to send troops as soon as possible, otherwise Sun Ce will not sit still and wait for death!" When Huang She heard this, he knew that Qin Zhen's words were always reliable, so he nodded and went back to the mansion to persuade him. After much persuasion, Huang Zu was finally persuaded to send out troops five days later. Qin Zhen received the confirmation, but he had a bad feeling, so he called everyone to discuss: "Counting the time, my mission has lasted for more than a month. Even if Sun Ce is not very smart, he should know that my army will join forces with the navy of Jingzhou!" "But now Sun Ce has made no move, and Huang Zu is so lax. This is a recipe for defeat." "For now, I want to send one person to the north to contact the lord to go south, and send someone to Lujiang to inform Qiao Rui to monitor Sun Ce's movements. I wonder who is willing to do these two things?" Hearing Qin Zhen's concern about Sun Ce's movements, Gan Ning couldn't help but wonder: "Military Advisor, do you mean that the Jiangdong navy might take the initiative to attack Jiangxia?" Although he also looked down on the Jingzhou navy, they were now in Shaxian, which was the heartland of Jiangxia. Even if Sun Ce's army sent troops, they would not dare to attack Shaxian! But when Qin Zhen heard this, he said with a serious expression: "Although this is a move to go deep behind enemy lines, it is something Zhou Yu is willing to do!" "Zhou Yu's military tactics cannot be judged by common sense!" "Once you let your guard down, someone will take advantage of you!" He had dealt with Zhou Yu twice before and knew Zhou Yu's ability in commanding troops, so he naturally would not let his guard down. Moreover, in the original course of the Battle of Red Cliffs, the Jiangdong troops took the initiative to attack, and they fought their way from Jiangxia through Sanjiangkou and directly to the edge of Jiangling. Although the situation is different now, we cannot rule out the possibility that Zhou Yu will take the initiative to come. Gan Ning nodded secretly after hearing this, and his blood boiled in his heart. Seeing this, Zhuge Liang said to Qin Zhen: "If we follow your advice, we must be prepared. Since you came, I have not achieved any success." "I will now share your worries, sir, and I am willing to go to Lujiang to provide support!" Wang Can and Pei Qian looked at each other and said to Qin Zhen: "We are willing to go to Shouchun to tell you the news!" Seeing the others like this, Qin Zhen nodded and smiled: "In that case, Kong Ming, you should go to Lujiang. I'm afraid Zilong and Wen Xiang should have received the order and are waiting for you!" "Zhongxuan will head to Shouchun to inform the lord that the entire army is heading south." "Wenxing will stay with me for the time being and wait and see what happens. This time I will let Shuzhi lead the troops to escort you!" "I hope you can act quickly and don't delay!" When everyone heard this, they immediately took orders and left. Wang Can, Zhuge Liang and Chen Dao divided their troops into more than 300 people and marched towards Lujiang.

Qin Zhen continued to stay in Shaxian with Pei Qian, Wei Yan and Gan Ning. While Qin Zhen was making arrangements here, a navy was marching towards Jiangxia on the vast river. (End of this chapter)