Three Kingdoms Sugar King - Chapter 661

661. Then I guess I should prepare too.

Somewhere in Pyeongwon-gun, Cheongju.

Chaeong walked slowly along the road, holding a cane. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and called out to the soldier who was leading the way.

“Look. “Go slowly.”

At those words, the soldier looked embarrassed and stopped walking. Then, Han-ho and Han-hu, who were following behind Chaeong as escorts, stopped for a moment, shared a drink of water, and took a breather.

“oh my. “It’s still winter and I don’t know why the day is so hot.”

“I know. “I heard it’s cold in the north, so I wore thick clothes, but since it’s this hot, it’s like an annoying burden.”

The two people who were talking among themselves soon looked at Chaeong and asked.

“Hey, old man. “Is it still far away from where the prisoner general’s camp is?”

At that question, Chaeong frowned and raised his hand and pointed north.

“There is a pavilion in front of me. It’s a ruin now, but if you go over there, you’ll find Tapeum County. “The captive general’s army is staying there.”

“Is that so? It’s closer than you think. I heard that General Poro is stationed in Pyeongwon-gun to mediate the fight between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan. “I thought it might be much further north.”

“Originally, the place where Yeongchae was located was further north. “It was a place called Andeok (安德) beyond the Yellow River.”

“yes? “Then why did you move Yeongchae to the south?”

When Han Ho asked with a puzzled look, Chaeong pointed to the east with his hand.

“Just east of here is Jinan, and Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were fighting over it, each trying to take over it.”

“You said they fought over Jinan? “Wasn’t that place originally occupied by Gongsun Zan?”

“no. Like the plains here, the Yellow Turban enemy has been active in the area for a long time, so it has been ruined to the point where there are no healthy villages. “Only a few counties in the eastern end of Jinan are safe, but other than that, all the castles are in ruins.”

“hmm. okay. So, Gongsun Zan’s subordinate, Cheongjujasa Jeon Hae, is in the empire to the east of Jinan.”

Chaeong nodded at Han Hu’s words.

“okay. Currently, four forces are gathered together in Cheongju. The army sent by the Governor of Liaodong occupied Dongnae County at the eastern end of the sea. “The North Sea Kingdom to the west is ruled by Gong Yong, the governor of the North Sea.”

“Then the empire just west of the North Sea is occupied by Jeonhae of Cheongju, so the other one is Yuan Shao?”

“That’s right. Yuan Shao appointed a man named Jang Hong as governor of Cheongju. And secretly, he assigned a separate group of workers to go through the southern part of Pyeongwon-gun to Jinam and find a place to use as a base, but they were caught by the prisoner general on the way.”

“ah! So, you moved Yeongchae to Tapeumhyeon at that time? So that Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan will not fight over Jinan again.”

When Hanho, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, intervened, Chaeong opened his mouth with a frown on his face, as if he was remembering what happened then.

“The captive general said that if we continue to stay in Andeok, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan will soon fight over Jinan. Elsewhere, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were already in a sharp confrontation and the army was deployed to a place that was easy to protect, so they said a fight would not break out right away.”

“So, they crossed the Yellow River and rebuilt Yeongchae at a place called Tapeum.”

“yes. Originally, Andeok, where Yeongchae was located, was divided into six counties by Yuan Shao and Gongsun Chan to the east and west, so they only had to leave a small number of troops. In any case, Ande and the surrounding counties, like Jinan, were ruined by the Yellow Turban Red Army, so there was no reason for Yuan Shao or Gongsun Zan to take over.”

Chaeong, who told the story of the background of Hwangchung’s Yeongchae moving to Tapeumhyeon, regained some vitality in his tired body and walked forward again, holding on to his cane.

“You seem to be well rested, so let’s keep going.”

“yes.”

* * *

Some time after that.

Chaeong and his party continued along the road leading north and finally arrived at the location of Tapeumhyeon Fortress.

“what? Baekgae. Is that right there? “The fortress is in ruins?”

When Han Ho pointed with his hand at Hyeonseong, which had collapsed on one side of the castle wall and was no longer useful as a castle, Chaeong shook his head.

“The prisoner general’s camp is behind the fortress.”

“You mean the one you see near the flowing river over there?”

When the bright-eyed Hanhu opened his eyes and pointed to something whitish in the distance, Chaeong walked forward again with strength and said,

“That’s right. “The river you see to the north of the fortress is Tapsu, and Yeongchae is right nearby.”

Chaeong said that and took his group past the half-destroyed Hyeonseong Fortress and headed toward Yeongchae.

When the party arrived in front of the Yeongmun Gate, the entrance to the Yeongchae, an official from the vegetable garden near the Yeongmun Gate approached them.

“oh! Baekgae. Are you coming now?”

Chaeong smiled and greeted the official, as if he was familiar with him.

“Someone said it was Jaheon (子憲). Have you gotten used to the General Department’s job now?”

The official called Jaheon scratched his head and answered those words.

“oh my. Is there such a thing as grandiose adaptation? “I’m just a soldier under the general’s command, so all I can do is do miscellaneous things.”

Sain referred to a kind of personal wealth that a high-ranking official used his own money to manage.

“Still, the general gives us generous bonuses.”

The official smiled heartily at those words.

“They certainly take great care of us, but would we have come to such a dangerous place after seeing that? “We all came to learn from Baekgae, who is famous throughout the world for his scholarship.”

“Hehehe. “It’s just a vain reputation. I don’t know what you want to learn from me.”

As Chaeong shook his head excitedly, the official said with an embarrassed expression.

“What a vain reputation. When General Poro was gathering people in Giju saying he needed a subordinate to help with military administration, why did he make such a fuss by asking everyone to come in? “Not only scholars who were interested in learning, but even those who were not interested in learning rushed to get at least one of Baekgae’s writings or paintings.”

As the two continued to talk, Hanho, who had been listening with a bored expression in the background, joined in.

“Hey, Baekgae. Wouldn’t it be better to quickly convey our general’s words to the captive general?”

“this. I’m sorry. I forgot. Look Jaheon. “Let’s talk about the rest later and guide the general.”

“yes. Of course. “I will take the lead.”

At Chaeong’s request, the official took the lead without hesitation and guided the group to the tent where Hwangchung was located.

Upon arriving in front of the tent, the official quickly spoke to the soldier guarding the entrance and delivered the news. Not long after the soldier went inside, Hwang Chong’s loud voice was heard from inside.

“Baekgae came? “Bring her inside quickly.”

Hearing a shout from inside, Chaeong took Hanho and Hanhu into the tent.

When I went inside, Hwang Chong sat down with a tired face and then got up.

“Baekgae. I am so relieved to see you again. “Baekgae’s return means that General Yongyang is willing to help me.”

Chaeong sighed and answered those words.

“Whew. Thanks to the general, General Yongyang postponed his wedding with my daughter.”

“yes? No, why? “If you’re married, you can upload it at any time, right?”

After saying that, Hwang Chung offered Chaeong a seat, and Chaeong sat down on the cushion and grumbled.

“When General Yongyang gets married, he wants to be congratulated by you. So what can I do? “I just put it off.”

“Did General Yongyang really say that?”

“That’s right. “He said he really needed to receive a congratulatory drink from you.”

“ha ha ha. okay. “Once upon a time, when General Yongyang was young, he was not allowed to drink alcohol at a banquet because he was still young. It seems he was holding a grudge against him at that time.”

When Hwang Chong jokingly brought up an old incident, Chaeong remembered something and hit his forehead with his palm.

“ah! right. “I forgot about that.”

“yes? You forgot. “What do you mean?”

“It’s about your son. Not long ago, General Yongyang called a member of the National Assembly named Jang Gi from Jingzhou and had him check on his subordinates and family. “In the meantime, I also checked on your family and found out that your son was suffering from a serious illness, so we treated him.”

When the topic of his only son came up, Hwang Chung asked with an urgent look on his face.

“So what happened to my son?”

“At ease. “Because you’re safe.”

“Is that so?”

“okay. That lawmaker called Janggi is amazing. Originally, I thought your son wasn’t sick because he looked fine on the outside, but when I made him a bowl of decoction and gave him some, he immediately collapsed. “And after being sick for more than 15 days, he woke up feeling refreshed.”

“… … .”

Hearing Chaeong’s story, Hwang Chung was unable to say anything for a while, probably because he was shocked that he had almost lost his son.

“Anyway, I’m really glad. “I heard that your son will be old enough to attend the ceremony next year. If you had gone now, your fortune would have been ruined.”

“yes. Probably so. “I’m already exhausted from many things right now, so if I heard news like that, I would have lost my mind.”

Hwang Chung, who was looking up at the ceiling with sad eyes while thinking of his son, soon calmed down and put on a cool expression again.

“Let’s stop talking about my son. “There are countless people here now who have lost family members or relatives.”

At those words, Chaeong nodded with a frown on his face.

“yes. Because most of your soldiers are from Western Zhou. After hearing what Cao Cao did in Western Zhou, everyone rolled their eyes and it was good that he didn’t desert until now. Well, that also means you did a good job controlling the soldiers.”

When Huang Chong heard those words, he shook his head.

“no. And that only lasted a moment. After Baekgae went to Xuzhou, deserters began to appear. I’ve managed to prevent it so far, but now even that is reaching its limits. “If Baekgae had come just a few days later, the entire county might have collapsed.”

“Huh. “Is the situation that serious?”

“yes. I’m really glad that Baekgae came before it was too late. Now that they have seen that Baekgae has returned, the soldiers’ agitation will calm down. Well, it won’t last long, so I hope I can tell you some good news.”

In response to Hwang Chung’s earnest words, Chaeong immediately told him his message.

“General Yongyang is currently in Taesan County with a large army.”

“hmm. okay. Taesan-gun is close to here, so you will be able to receive help soon. However, one thing I am worried about is whether the people around us will stand by and watch as General Yongyang takes over Taesan County.”

When Hwang Chung said that, Chaeong smiled and answered.

“ha ha ha. Don’t worry about that. I don’t even know what kind of person my son-in-law is. “From what I heard, he had already dealt with Cao Cao and planned a plan against Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan.”

“Is that so? Well, there are three excellent advisors under General Yongyang, so you don’t have to worry about that. Then let me ask you. When did General Yongyang’s army come here?”

In response to Hwang Chung’s question, Chaeong put his right hand forward and stretched out his index, middle, and ring fingers.

“You said three days later.”

“Three days? “Then I guess I should prepare too.”

Huang Chong’s eyes lit up at the faster-than-expected schedule, and he pondered how he could go south to avoid Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan’s forces nearby.

Episode 662