After Being Abducted by the General Chapter 166

Chapter 166

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As a mentor, Ouyang Ting’s request for help from his disciple, Yuan Li, was enough to show that the situation in Xuzhou was already at a critical level. 

The letter stated that Xuzhou had been experiencing continuous rainfall since July, and during the summer floods, many cities were submerged, leading to numerous casualties and displaced civilians.

Ouyang Ting had sent requests for help to the court and surrounding provinces, but received no response. If it hadn’t reached a life-and-death situation, Ouyang Ting would never have sought help from his disciple.

After reading the letter, Yuan Li made a decision – he would personally go to Xuzhou. 

Ouyang Ting was his mentor, and when a mentor sought help, it was only natural for the disciple to do everything in their power to assist. Moreover, Xuzhou was located to the north of Yangzhou, historically a contested strategic location. Any mishap there would be unacceptable. By going in person, Yuan Li could also be flexible in handling the situation, and perhaps even take the opportunity to secure control of Xuzhou and make it part of his territory.

He informed his subordinates of his decision, and Liu Jixin and the others didn’t object. They only asked, “My lord, who do you plan to take with you to Xuzhou?”

Yuan Li pondered for a moment and said, “I plan to go by water. Who among you does not get seasick?”

The several men looked at each other.

In the end, among the advisors, only Guo Mao and Zhou Gongdan stepped forward. 

Zhou Gongdan’s hometown was in Jingzhou, with numerous waterways, so he had experience with boats. Guo Mao had traveled to all thirteen provinces during his study abroad and was familiar with boats as well.

As for the military commanders, Yuan Li initially wanted to bring Jia Qing, Wu Kai, and Wang Er, but Wang Er had escaped on a boat before and suffered from severe seasickness, nearly losing his life. So Yuan Li left him in Jizhou to guard its safety and only took Jia Qing and Wu Kai.

Xuzhou was in dire straits, and Yuan Li didn’t want to delay any further. He planned to leave for the Bohai Sea immediately, bringing the navy and their warships south.

He didn’t even ask Chu Hechao if he wanted to go or not. He simply instructed the servants to prepare their belongings.

When Chu Hechao returned that evening, Yuan Li told him directly, “Check if there is anything you haven’t packed. We will depart early tomorrow morning. First, we will go to the Bohai Sea to see how Gu Yue and Kong Ran’s navy is doing and check the progress of our shipbuilding. Then, we will take a boat from the Bohai Sea to Xuzhou.”

Chu Hechao raised an eyebrow as he looked at his luggage. “When did I agree to go with you?”

Yuan Li was even more surprised and turned to look at him. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

“…” Chu Hechao said, “I’ll go.”

Early the next morning, they set off for the Bohai Sea with their guards.

After a major disaster, a major epidemic was sure to follow. To guard against any outbreaks in Xuzhou, Yuan Li had brought along a contingent of medical professionals.

Carriages of food and medicinal materials had been sent to the Bohai Sea in advance. The advantage of having such a vast territory became evident at this time. Yuan Li only needed to requisition food from nearby counties along the Bohai Sea, saving a lot of manpower for food transportation.

When they arrived at the military base by the Bohai Sea, they saw the navy loading the food and medicinal materials onto the ships.

The sea was vast and cloudless. Waves rolled, and the salty sea breeze brushed against their faces.

People who had never seen the sea before looked up in awe, gazing into the distance.

Seagulls circled and cried as massive ships lined the coastline, arranged neatly and exuding a magnificent spectacle that left people awestruck.

Upon learning of their arrival, Gu Yue and Kong Ran hurried over to greet them.

Haven’t seen them for awhile, they had changed a lot from before – darker, stronger, and more confident when speaking. Their eyes were bright, indicating that they had been doing well these past years.

After greeting each other, Gu Yue said, “My lord, would you and the General want to visit the navy camp?”

Seeing the two of them nervously clenching their hands with anticipation, Yuan Li and Chu Hechao exchanged a glance and nodded, “Sure, let’s take a look.”

Gu Yue and Kong Ran led them on a tour along the Bohai Sea. They visited the shipyards, the navy training grounds, the grain bureaus, and the place where fine salt was being refined. Yuan Li observed the abilities and condition of the soldiers and nodded with satisfaction.

The two of them had done an excellent job; in every aspect, the navy was becoming more and more formidable.

After the tour, Yuan Li praised them wholeheartedly, only stopping when their faces turned red with shyness. He then asked, “When can the ships set sail?”

Kong Ran replied apologetically, “My lord, due to the large amount of food and medicinal supplies we are carrying, it will take some time to load and prepare. It should be ready to set sail in five days.”

Yuan Li nodded slightly, “And when can we reach Xuzhou?”

“Fear not, my lord. The winds are favorable, and our ships are fast. We should reach the eastern coast of Xuzhou within a month.”

Yuan Li sighed inwardly; he knew this was the fastest they could go. 

However, he trusted Ouyang Ting. When Ouyang Ting wrote the letter, he would have taken into account the time it would take for the letter to reach Yuan Li and for the relief supplies to be transported to Xuzhou. Yuan Li believed they would arrive even faster than Ouyang Ting had anticipated.

It was still early in the day, and Gu Yue looked at the sky and wind direction, then said, “My lord, would you like to take a boat trip on the sea?”

Yuan Li glanced around and saw his subordinates eagerly looking at him, clearly eager to go. Chu Hechao also signaled to him with his eyes, expressing his desire to go.

Yuan Li waved his hand, “Let’s go! I want to see who will get seasick.”

They boarded a slightly smaller sailboat. The navy on the ship was busy, moving around like they were walking on level ground. Yuan Li had never been seasick in his previous life and was confident he wouldn’t get seasick in this life either. As expected, he didn’t feel any discomfort after boarding the ship.

He was more concerned about Chu Hechao and the others who had never been on a boat before.

As the boat started moving, Chu Hechao stumbled a bit but quickly grabbed hold of a nearby pillar to steady himself. Yuan Li noticed the change in his pale face and asked, “Are you feeling nauseous?”

Chu Hechao raised a hand to stop him from coming over and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he said sternly, “Don’t move, hold onto the rope beside you and don’t walk around.”

But Yuan Li didn’t listen. He walked over in three strides and held onto the pillar next to Chu Hechao, also helping Yuan Congyun, who had nearly stumbled, back up. He then patted Chu Hechao’s back.

Chu Hechao’s forehead bulged with anger, “Stop patting me. Hold onto the pillar with both hands!”

“It’s okay,” Yuan Li remained confident, “I can manage with just one hand.”

The others sat by the side of the boat, holding on tightly to the edges. The swaying sensation while sitting was much less than when standing. Yuan Li looked out at the deep and dark sea, which seemed quite intimidating. As they moved deeper into the sea, the waves grew larger. Today, there were no clouds, but there was wind. The wooden structure of the boat was not as heavy as iron ships, and this boat was not very large either. Even Yuan Li, after standing for a long time, felt a slight dizziness.

He looked around and saw that everyone, except for Chu Hechao who stubbornly clung to the pillar, had already sat down by the boat’s side.

Chu Hechao’s face was pale, but he looked more stable than before. Yuan Li was about to ask him how he was feeling when Gu Yue suddenly shouted, “Big waves are coming, everyone hold on!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a big wave rocked the boat from side to side. Yuan Li grabbed the pillar in his hand and was about to hold onto Chu Hechao, but Chu Hechao’s hand had already grasped Yuan Li’s arm, holding onto him tightly, afraid that Yuan Li would fall.

They sailed on the sea for about half an hour, during which Chu Hechao gradually adapted to the rocking of the boat. The others also adjusted well, except for Wu Kai, who looked pale and exhausted from seasickness. When they landed, his legs gave way, nearly tripping himself.

Seeing his condition, Yuan Li knew he couldn’t take Wu Kai on the water route.

Wu Kai also knew that he probably couldn’t accompany them. He felt anxious but didn’t know what to say, “My lord, I can handle it. Bigger boats are more stable, and I’ll try my best to overcome it. If it’s impossible, I can just lie in bed until we reach Xuzhou.”

Yuan Li sighed and reprimanded, “How can you do that? You’re severely seasick. If you keep vomiting on the boat for a month, you’ll be half dead. Listen to me, don’t take this water route.”

Wu Kai’s expression dimmed, “Yes.”

It was all his fault for being so useless…

Yuan Li looked at Wu Kai’s self-reproachful expression and suddenly smiled, “However, you can take the land route.”

Wu Kai raised his head abruptly, surprised as he looked at Yuan Li.

Yuan Li continued, “I had planned to send troops to garrison Xuzhou after the disaster there settled down… Your seasickness may actually be a good thing. We’ll take the water route to deliver the supplies first, and you can lead twenty thousand soldiers from Youzhou to Xuzhou by land. It may take you two to three months longer, but by the time you arrive, Xuzhou should have stabilized, and we’ll have saved the time needed to deploy troops from the north.”

Wu Kai’s eyes brightened slowly, and he immediately stood up and bowed, “I will follow your orders.”

Yuan Li nodded, “Go.”

Wu Kai didn’t show any signs of recent discomfort, and he excitedly left the place.

Five days later, after loading the food and supplies onto the ships, Yuan Li set sail with ten boats of his ten thousand-strong navy and twenty boats carrying relief food. They embarked on their journey towards Xuzhou.

Xuzhou, the office of the Governor.

In recent days, Ouyang Ting’s hair had turned white from the flood disaster, making him seem like he had aged by more than ten years.

During the day, he worked tirelessly to resettle the victims. At night, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Before dawn, he would dress and continue dealing with the affairs of the various counties.

It was only during breakfast time that he hurriedly came out of his study.

Breakfast in their household was extremely simple, with each person having only a bowl of porridge. In the middle of the table, there was a pile of pickled vegetables. Only Ouyang Ting’s grandson and granddaughter had half an egg in their bowls.

The two children, aged five or six, had been eating rice porridge for over a month and seemed tired of it. The little girl finished her egg and pushed the bowl towards Lady Lu, asking expectantly, “Grandmother, can you sprinkle some sugar that Uncle Le Jun sent for me?”

Lady Lu smiled kindly, “Of course, I can sprinkle some for you.”

The little boy also brightened his eyes, “Sheng Er wants some too!”

Lady Lu had the servants bring the sugar jar and sprinkled some in both children’s bowls. She also dipped a chopstick into the sugar and put it directly into their mouths.

The two children happily closed their eyes and began to drink their porridge contentedly.

This family’s meals were incredibly simple and didn’t look like what should be served in the Governor’s household. Ouyang Ting felt bitter in his heart, and even the food tasted bland. He whispered to Lady Lu, “It’s all because of me that I’ve burdened all of you.”

The household’s grain had all been used to provide relief to the people, leaving their family with little stock.

Lady Lu looked at him with a smile and also dipped a chopstick into the sugar, feeding it to him, “Have something sweet and don’t think about so many troubles. You’ve already sent a letter to Le Jun, and he will definitely support Xuzhou.”

The sweetness of the sugar alleviated some of the bitterness, and Ouyang Ting sighed, “Youzhou and Bingzhou are remote and desolate, and Jizhou has only recently come under Le Jun’s control. Although he told me that the three northern provinces have already undergone great changes, I’m still afraid that he’s not reporting all the troubles. Xuzhou is now mostly flooded, with thousands of disaster victims, and it requires tens of thousands of shi of grain. I fear that my letter will only increase Le Jun’s pressure, and I worry that he might not have enough food either.”

But now that things had come to this point, Ouyang Ting was at a loss, and he didn’t know who else to turn to for help except for his disciple Yuan Li.

Lady Lu comforted him for a while, but Ouyang Ting’s brow remained furrowed. After breakfast, he led the officials of the Governor’s office to go out and visit the disaster victims.

The streets were filled with mud and dirt. Injured people wrapped in coarse cloth either laid or sat at the side of the street, numb and lifeless, with the sound of mourning lingering in the air. Children cried out for food and warmth, while women hugged their children and wept.

One formerly strong man had broken both legs due to the flood, and a woman who had just given birth to a baby had no milk to feed the child and could only silently shed tears. Broken walls and ruins stretched as far as the eye could see, devoid of any signs of life.

The more Ouyang Ting saw, the more bitter and heavy his heart became.

He walked with difficulty to the place where the porridge was being distributed and saw the refugees in line, crying and begging for more thin porridge. It was heart-wrenching. He turned to ask, “How long can our food supply last?”

The official distributing the porridge replied hoarsely, “Sir, if we distribute porridge once a day, it can last for another month.”

Ouyang Ting closed his eyes deeply.

If the situation in Xia Pi was already like this, how difficult must it be in other places?

Ouyang Ting felt deeply saddened.

As soon as the flood appeared, he began to find ways to address it, sending letters to the surrounding prefectures, but received no response, as they dismissed him due to their insufficient food reserves. He sent letters to the court and to Chen Wang, but even Chen Wang refused to provide him, a long-standing opponent, with any food and acted as if he hadn’t heard anything.

Despite his efforts, Ouyang Ting found that the local powerful families and clans in Xuzhou were not willing to provide any grain. In the face of the disaster, everyone could only focus on their own survival, and the high-ranking aristocrats had no interest in caring for the helpless refugees.

Their response was a callous “everyone has their own fate.”

Everyone has their own fate… How did the world become like this?

Xuzhou had turned into an island about to be swallowed by water in an instant, leaving Ouyang Ting isolated and helpless. Now, he could only place all his hopes on Yuan Li’s shoulders.

The official distributing porridge asked in a low voice, “Sir, should we continue distributing the porridge?”

“Continue,” Ouyang Ting opened his eyes, concealing the uncertainty in his heart and speaking firmly, “Continue distributing! In a month’s time, relief grain will arrive.”

He was telling the soldiers, but he was also telling himself.

It will definitely come; his disciple will surely come to assist him.

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