mesbooks Chapter 526 Joint Trial of Guan Xing
Chapter 526 Joint Trial of Guan Xing
The welcoming party for Shi Xie returned safely to Jiangling, and then everyone went back to their own business.
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang went to settle the group of people from Jiaozhou, while Guan Xing took the ingredients home to be with his wife. He then divided the ingredients into three portions, sending one portion to his mother-in-law's family and another to his aunt, Sun Shangxiang. As for Zhang Fei, apart from Zhang Bao, his other family members were still in Chengdu, so he didn't get any.
The next morning, Guan Xing first went to inspect the brick and tile factory, and then returned to the city to gather craftsmen and manpower to start building houses.
There are too many people in the city and too many houses have been built. The current bricks, tiles and timber are clearly not enough. Let Shu Ma Zhong continue to burn bricks and tiles, and let Jiang Wei lead people back to Wushan to cut timber.
Guan Xing only does any job once, then teaches his subordinates more efficient methods and then leaves it to them. The same goes for logging. Jiang Wei followed him once and already understood how to build and use saw blades, axes, simple cranes, and timber rails. He was completely capable of doing it on his own and no longer needed Guan Xing's personal supervision.
As for Guan Xing himself, he stayed in Jiangling to gather blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, and laborers to begin construction within the city.
Jiangling was a large city, with hundreds of thousands of people, including civilians and soldiers, involved in the construction. Guan Xing organized these people into the Tunqu Camp according to the military structure, and arranged them in an orderly manner without any mistakes.
After a busy two weeks, all the work was finally on track, and Guan Xing was able to relax and become a hands-off manager. He only needed to coordinate with various departments and handle the problems reported by his subordinates. He no longer had to teach them step by step like he did at the beginning.
Meanwhile, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang had finished their business and finally had time to do other things.
That evening, just as the sun was setting, Liu Bei ordered Guan Xing to come to the royal tent for an audience.
Guan Xing dared not delay and rushed over. When he arrived at the king's tent, he was taken aback. He saw that Chen Dao, the commander of Liu Bei's personal guards, was personally leading the White Feather Soldiers to guard twenty paces away from the king's tent, obviously to prevent outsiders from getting close or even eavesdropping.
Seeing Guan Xing approach, Chen Dao called out from afar, "Young General, the King said that you can go straight in once you arrive, without needing to announce your arrival."
Seeing this, Guan Xing instantly guessed Liu Bei's purpose. He composed himself, straightened his back, and strode in.
As soon as Guan Xing entered the king's tent, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were standing on either side of the tent door, personally closed the tent door and stood at the door to prevent Guan Xing from escaping.
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang sat at the head of the table, staring at Guan Xing with unprecedented solemnity.
It's obvious that Zhuge Liang told Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei that he was a time traveler, and the three of them have come today to confront him.
Having figured this out, Guan Xing relaxed, unfastened his sword from his waist and tossed it aside, then turned to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and laughed, "No need to be so wary, which of the four of you can I defeat?"
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei's martial prowess goes without saying, and Zhuge Liang was also a proper scholar who was proficient in the Six Arts. In a real fight, even three or five ordinary strong men would not be able to get close to them, so it was really unnecessary for them to be so wary of themselves.
Guan Yu didn't respond. Instead, he gripped his sword hilt, stared at Guan Xing, and said with an extremely complicated expression, "You really aren't my Anguo boy?"
When Guan Yu learned of this news from Zhuge Liang, he was extremely shocked and even stunned. He couldn't believe that such an outrageous thing would happen to his own family.
But he couldn't really pinpoint the difference between Guan Xing before and after, mainly because he was such a terrible father, knowing his son less well than Mi Fang did, so...
Guan Xing opened his mouth but before he could answer, Liu Bei said, "Second brother, third brother, come and sit down. I believe Anguo will not run away."
After saying that, he pointed to the chair in the middle of the tent and said, "Anguo, you may sit here as well."
Guan Xing sat down in front of the chair, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei sat at the tables on either side.
In this way, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, and Guan Xing sat facing each other in the tent. The four of them faced Guan Xing together, which looked like a joint trial.
The two stared at each other for a long time, neither knowing how to begin, and the atmosphere instantly became incredibly heavy.
After a long silence, Guan Xing broke the silence first, sighing and saying, "Just ask whatever you want to ask."
Liu Bei raised his hand to stop the other three from speaking, and after a moment's consideration, asked first, "Is my nephew Anguo dead?"
Guan Xing shook his head and said, "I don't know. Maybe he died, or maybe my soul and his were swapped and he became me a thousand or eight hundred years later, receiving my salary and living in my house. Fortunately, I didn't get married in my later life."
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang: "..."
That's possible. I wonder what life will be like a thousand or eight hundred years from now. It's really something to look forward to.
Liu Bei continued, "Since you are from the future, you should know very well... Your Excellency..."
He suddenly forgot his words halfway through and looked helplessly at Zhuge Liang, who then continued, "From 219 AD to 2025 AD."
“That’s right…” Liu Bei asked, “You should be familiar with everything that happened during this period, right?”
Guan Xing said, "I only know the general outline, not the specific details. In my later life, I was just a small police officer who solved cases, that is, a constable. I am not a historian, so I don't know much about history."
Liu Bei didn't care about these details, but asked the question that concerned him most.
"Did I, in the original historical account, successfully restore the Han Dynasty?"
As he asked the question, Liu Bei stared intently at Guan Xing, for this was the question he cared about most and the obsession he had carried throughout his life.
Guan Xing shook his head and said, "No, neither you nor Cao Cao and Sun Quan succeeded. Cao Wei was usurped by Sima Yi, and the Three Kingdoms were unified under the Jin Dynasty."
"Hiss..." Liu Bei and Guan Yu gasped simultaneously, while Zhang Fei slammed his fist on the table in anger, saying, "What the hell? Does Sima Yi even deserve to be called one?"
He had no problem losing to Cao Cao, and he could barely accept losing to Sun Quan, but what about losing to Sima Yi?
So all that fighting among the three families their whole lives only benefited Sima Yi in the end?
Why?
Liu Bei closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time before calming down. He raised his hand to stop Zhang Fei and said, "Third brother, stop making noise. Do you want everyone outside to hear?"
Zhang Fei's voice was so loud that if he continued to shout, everyone in the city would probably know before nightfall.
After stopping Zhang Fei, Liu Bei said, "I won't ask anymore, just tell me. Let's start from when my second brother was defeated at Maicheng."
Guan Xing nodded and said, "In my original history, after General Guan was defeated at Maicheng, he retreated to Linju and was ambushed by Lü Meng and became a prisoner. He was then killed by Lü Meng. As for whether Lü Meng killed him on his own initiative or Sun Quan ordered him to be killed, this matter is controversial in history and has been debated for thousands of years without a result."
The four people in the tent instantly turned extremely ugly. They never expected that the true history was like this. Lü Meng deserved to die, and Sun Quan also deserved to die.
Before Guan Xing could ask any questions, he continued, "After General Guan died, Sun Quan sent General Guan's head to Luoyang to present to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was frightened by General Guan's angry eyes and died a few days later. Cao Pi then began to usurp the throne."
"When the news reached Chengdu and Your Majesty, the people of Bashu split into two factions. One faction advocated negotiating peace with Sun Quan and taking advantage of Cao Pi's usurpation to march north and attack Wei. The other faction advocated an eastern expedition to avenge General Guan Yu. Your Majesty overruled the objections and led the entire nation's army eastward to attack Sun Quan. Unfortunately..."
Upon hearing the word "regret," the four people in the tent felt their hearts leap into their throats, but wisely refrained from interrupting and waited for what was to come.
Guan Xing said, "Unfortunately, before the army could set off, General Zhang Fei was punished for beating soldiers while drunk and for forcing his subordinates to prepare white mourning clothes and armor for the entire army within three days, an impossible task. Fearing punishment for failing to complete the task, his subordinates decided to go all out and cut off General Zhang's head while he was fast asleep at night and surrendered to Eastern Wu."