Chapter 76, Part 7: Escape
Liu Shu was Liu Yu's youngest son. Liu Jun was not familiar with him before, but after chatting for a while, he felt that the boy was upright, steady, studious and intelligent, and was a rare and promising talent.
Liu Jun had mixed feelings about the matter of imperial relatives. In the chaotic world of conquering the country, imperial relatives were extremely important. For example, when Emperor Wu first established his empire, he relied heavily on the Cao and Xiahou clans. Later, Emperor Wen and Emperor Ming were wary of the imperial relatives and suppressed them, which gave the Sima clan an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. After Cao Shuang's defeat, there were no powerful imperial relatives to oppose the Sima clan.
Later, the Sima clan continued to elevate the imperial family, granting fiefdoms and allowing the princes to recruit officials and build armies. Eventually, each prince became powerful and uncontrollable, leading to the War of the Eight Princes.
Looking back now, the imperial clan had to be used, but also had to be guarded against. Perhaps the system of the Qin and Han dynasties could be a better reference.
Liu Jun pulled his wandering thoughts back and listened helplessly as Liu Shu reported on everything in Qin Prefecture in great detail, as if he wanted to report on how much fodder the warhorses had eaten in a year.
It was rare to see someone handle things so properly and meticulously, and Liu Jun didn't want to discourage him, so he nodded in approval from time to time, though his mind was already wandering far away.
"Report!" a scout came to report, "A small group of Di people are harassing us."
Liu Jun frowned. "Has it been like this every day for the past few days?"
"Indeed, it has made it impossible for the people to farm in peace, and the soldiers are all exhausted and suffering terribly." Liu Shu shook his head and sighed.
The information corroborated the previous official report. Liu Jun nodded, "Alright, you all go and deal with it. I'll take another look at the case file."
Wei Xiong and Liu Shu resigned one after another. Liu Jun casually flipped through the files, especially the battle reports left by Jia Pi. When he saw something interesting, he would occasionally applaud and feel that he had benefited a lot.
They watched until dusk fell, but Wei Xiong and Liu Shu still hadn't returned. Liu Jun looked up at the sun, walked out of the government office, and saw the soldiers training as usual, but for some reason, his unease grew stronger.
"Send scouts to investigate," Liu Jun finally couldn't help but give the order.
Half an hour later, it was completely dark. The worst news came: Liu Shu and his men were surrounded by the Di tribe, and nearly a thousand people were trapped, their fate unknown.
Liu Jun closed his eyes briefly and summoned Wei Xiong. "I'm going to rescue Liu Shu, but it could be an enemy plot. You will guard this place. No matter what news comes, you must not leave." Wei Xiong asked urgently, "Does Your Excellency have enough troops? Should we allocate more?"
"The intelligence is clear: the rebels number no more than five thousand. I have a thousand elite soldiers, and Liu Shu himself has brought a thousand. That's enough," Liu Jun said, then donned his armor and mounted his horse.
When he arrived with his troops, he was shocked to find that the enemy numbered more than five thousand, and they stretched across the mountains and fields as far as the eye could see. What was even more terrifying was that these supposedly barbarians were well-organized and their movements were quite disciplined, unlike a rabble.
He was tall and had good eyesight. He could spot a small group of infantrymen surrounded by cavalry three or four miles away. Judging from their uniforms, his youngest brother, Liu Shu, was standing in the center, holding a short sword. His expression was not visible.
"Brother, run!" When Liu Shu saw Liu Jun arrive, he was not happy at all, but instead filled with fear. The soldiers beside him, however, seemed to see a glimmer of hope for survival and cheered loudly.
Liu Jun's heart sank, knowing that things would not end well today. He looked back at the soldiers he had brought and said coldly, "Today we are here only to save people. Listen to my orders, and do not linger in battle."
He carefully examined the enemy formation for a long time, then pointed his whip at a certain spot and shouted, "Everyone, charge straight at the weakest point! Kill!"
Having said that, he took the lead and rode down the hillside. The soldiers behind him were stunned at first, then shouted, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The voices of a thousand men were no less powerful than those of ten thousand enemy soldiers. Liu Jun knew that morale could not offset the disparity in troop strength. The only thing he could do now was to take advantage of the chaos to rescue the people and then quickly escape back to the camp. Therefore, he dared not delay at all. His horse was whipped and neighed loudly as it charged forward fiercely.
As they charged in, the enemy leader roared, and they finally remembered to fight back. But Liu Jun had already led his men to the front and shouted at Liu Shu and the others, "Aren't you going to fight back? Are you just waiting for them to chop off your heads!"
As he spoke, he used his lance to send a Di man flying, crashing to the ground, vomiting blood, and then having his head crushed by a horse's hooves.
Seeing this bloody scene for the first time, Liu Shu suppressed his nausea and desperately swung his sword to kill the enemy. The small group of troops finally rejoined the main force.
"Rear guard to front guard, retreat!" Liu Jun shouted again.
At his command, the army he brought immediately changed formation. Liu Jun personally covered the rear, and the men desperately broke through the encirclement and charged outwards.
Fortunately, he brought cavalry, who were faster on foot, while Liu Shu's original infantry could only leave their fate to chance.
Suddenly, Liu Jun's ears twitched slightly—a sound of something cutting through the air could be heard faintly.
"Hurry up, watch out for arrows!" Before Liu Jun finished speaking, someone fell off his horse in response. The horse, now without its owner, followed the group forward helplessly.
Arrows rained down, and Liu Jun looked at them with growing suspicion—these arrows were exquisitely crafted, clearly not something the Di people could make, suggesting there was more to this battle than met the eye.
Just as he realized what was happening, Liu Jun suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back and almost cried out. Lu Jing, who was beside him, also noticed something was wrong, but seeing Liu Jun sweating profusely and enduring the pain without making a sound, he was worried but dared not check on him.
Thus, when the group returned to Qinzhou, only about two hundred of the more than a thousand men they had brought with them remained. When Liu Jun arrived at the camp, he fell off his horse and lost consciousness.
Everyone was shocked. They helped him up and saw that his back was covered in blood. An arrow had pierced through his cloak and was almost through him.
"Are there any good doctors here?" Lu Jing asked Liu Shu without much hope.
Liu Shu felt both guilty and frightened, and cried out, "I only have a physician who can barely treat sprains and bruises."
Lu Jing acted decisively, not daring to delay any longer. He immediately ordered the physician to treat the wound and then found a carriage to send the person back to Chang'an.
During the move, Liu Jun woke up once and said, "Have Wei Xiong hold the line. Also, find out who that black-clad Di leader is."
After he finished explaining, he completely fainted.
Before he even arrived in Chang'an, news of Yin Xiaocheng had already reached him. The man who had defeated Liu Jun was named Pu Hong, a chieftain of the Di tribe in Linwei, Lueyang. He had succeeded his father at the age of twelve, and his clansmen respected him greatly. During the Yongjia Rebellion, he had gathered 100,000 refugees, greatly increasing his power. Just recently, he had submitted to Liu Yao of Han Zhao and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Shuaiyi.
But no one in Chang'an cared whether Pu Hong was a hero or not, because Liu Jun, the youngest and most undefeated general of the Great Jin Dynasty, was lying on his deathbed, barely breathing.
From Emperor Sima Ye to Liu Kun, the Minister of Works in Bingzhou, and down to the common people of Guanzhong and Hanzhong, everyone was deeply concerned.
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