amaotonovel Chapter 455 Guan Yu's Terrifying Prestige in Jingzhou
Chapter 455 Guan Yu's Terrifying Prestige in Jingzhou
The terrain on both sides of the Yangtze River is uneven, with potholes and undulating terrain, and is covered with lush vegetation, which poses a great obstacle to the charge of both armies.
Guan Xing stumbled and staggered to Zhu Yi's flank, brandishing his sword as he charged at the nearest enemy soldier, shouting, "Fellow countrymen of Jingzhou, I, Guan Anguo, am back! Have you missed me after so long?"
Unlike the unfamiliar Jiangdong, Jingzhou was the Guan family's stronghold. Guan Xing had lived in Jiangling for more than ten years, and who in the entire Jingxiang Nine Counties had not heard of the name of the Second Young Master Guan?
Seeing Guan Xing swing his sword at them, the enemy soldiers in front knew they were no match and did not dare to fight back. They decisively raised their hands and begged for mercy, saying, "Second Young Master, spare our lives! We are Huang family private soldiers. When we were ten years old, you greeted us with a leather whip. Don't you remember?"
The enemy soldier in front of him was well aware of the difference in strength between himself and Guan Xing, and knew that if Guan Xing's sword came down, he would be half-crippled if he didn't die. So he decisively chose to beg for mercy.
Of course, the more important point is that Guan Xing is not an enemy soldier but the second son of Jingzhou, the eldest son of General Guan. Wouldn't attacking Guan Xing be tantamount to rebelling against General Guan?
General Guan was so good to the common people in the past. To oppose General Guan would be heartless.
Therefore, the soldiers in front of them decisively chose to surrender, fearing that if they were too slow to shout, they would be accidentally injured by Guan Xing.
Guan Xing's hand holding the sword suddenly paused, then he quickly sheathed the sword and kicked the man to the ground, saying, "So it's your childhood friend. That makes things easier. Shout out loud and tell your brothers to surrender. As people from Jingzhou, why should we risk our lives for Zhu Yi and the Wei army, who are outsiders? How much money will the Wei army give you, right?"
Although Huang Chengyan and his son chose to surrender to Wei, these private soldiers drawn from the lower-level tenant farmers might not be willing to surrender to Wei or even move their entire families to Cao Wei. It would be a miracle if they were willing to risk their lives for the Wei army.
More importantly, Guan Yu had such high prestige in Jingzhou and treated the common people so well. These aristocratic tenant farmers, who also came from humble backgrounds, had all received favors from Guan Yu and still felt grateful to him. The fact that they called him "Second Young Master Guan Xing" is the best proof of this.
Unfortunately, these private soldiers were insignificant and powerless. After Guan Yu's defeat at Maicheng, they were powerless to resist and could only follow their master and drift along with the tide. But now that the second young master has returned, they naturally want to align themselves with him.
In short, as Huang family private soldiers, they had no problem fighting the Wei and Wu armies when the patriarch ordered them to fight the Guan family father and son, but few of the private soldiers from the gentry in Jingzhou were willing to fight them. If they were forced to the front lines, they would hold back even if they did not surrender.
The private soldiers in front of them were the best example. Upon hearing this, they hurriedly said, "Second Young Master, just you wait and see."
After saying that, he turned around decisively and raised his hand to make a megaphone shape, shouting loudly to his comrades behind him: "Put down your weapons! It's Young Master Guan Xing, not an enemy. How can we attack him? Do you have any conscience?"
Upon hearing this, the nearby private soldiers were stunned for a moment and then chose to surrender. At the same time, they relayed the message to their comrades, calling on more people to surrender.
Although Zhu Yi had a large army, he only brought eight hundred trusted retainers from Jiangdong. The rest of his troops were private soldiers from the Jingzhou gentry who were temporarily borrowed. This group was only good at fighting Sun Huan, so how could they possibly fight Guan Xing, the former second young master?
Upon hearing the shout, the private soldiers immediately threw down their weapons and surrendered so quickly that Guan Xing was completely stunned.
No, does Lao Guan really have such a high level of popular support in Jingzhou?
Guan Xing, regaining his senses, was overjoyed and shouted impatiently, "Why are you all throwing down your weapons? Pick up your weapons and go kill Zhu Yi! No matter who you are, no matter your status or position, as long as you kill Zhu Yi, those below the rank of captain will be promoted to lieutenant general, and those above the rank of captain will be promoted three ranks."
Upon hearing this, the morale of Huang's private soldiers soared, and they decisively picked up their weapons and turned to charge at Zhu Yi, leaving Guan Xing completely dumbfounded.
He now understood why the gentry of Jingzhou had collectively betrayed Guan Yu; that damned Guan Yu had uprooted the very foundation of the gentry.
If Guan Yu had stayed in Jingzhou for a few more years, these aristocratic private soldiers would have been more than capable of fighting the armies of Wei and Wu; they probably wouldn't have hesitated even if Guan Yu ordered them to kill their own patriarchs.
Seeing that Huang's private soldiers were charging even more fiercely than he was, Guan Xing quickly stopped the Huang family private soldier, whom he had almost killed earlier and who was now also preparing to charge, and asked, "What's your name? From now on, you'll be my personal guard."
The private soldier was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "This humble one, Huang Feng, thanks Second Young Master for taking me in. Please wait a moment, Second Young Master, and I will come to report to you after I have killed Zhu Yi."
After saying that, he shook off Guan Xing's hand and charged towards Zhu Yi, his morale soaring higher than when he fought Guan Xing.
The Huang family's private soldiers collectively rebelled, charging towards Zhu Yi while shouting for others to join them, causing the rebel force to grow larger and larger. Even Huang Yi, the Huang family's direct descendant who commanded the private soldiers, was terrified.
Huang Yi, Huang Chengyan's nephew and the commander of this private army, was stunned when he saw his soldiers charging towards him. He roared angrily, "What are you doing? Are you trying to rebel?"
Upon hearing this, the private soldiers who rushed over shouted in unison, "General Guan is the true master of Jingzhou! Kill Huang Yi and welcome General Guan!"
"That's right, that's right. What kind of life have we been living since General Guan left? We must wipe out the Huang family and welcome the old general back."
Without comparison, there is no harm. For the people of Jingzhou, the contrast between Guan Yu's presence and absence is too strong, so strong that they dream of Guan Yu's triumphant return.
This story begins with Liu Biao, the former governor of Jingzhou. When Liu Biao entered Jingzhou alone, he quickly gained control of the nine commanderies of Jingxiang, earning him a great reputation. However, he also paid a heavy price, making too many compromises to the gentry of Jingzhou.
Liu Biao entered Jingzhou alone, without any foundation or power. To stabilize Jingzhou, he had to promise the gentry great benefits. The question was, where would these benefits come from? Surely Liu Biao couldn't just pay for them himself.
Of course not. It was distributed among all the people of Jingzhou. During the years when Liu Biao ruled Jingzhou, the four great families of Kuai, Cai, Pang, and Huang were like four mountains weighing down on the people of Jingzhou.
This oppression continued until the Battle of Red Cliffs. After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Jingzhou came under Liu Bei's control. Liu Bei was not an empty figurehead like Liu Biao, but a powerful general who held a large army. Naturally, he would no longer indulge these aristocratic families.
Later, when Liu Bei entered Shu, Guan Yu took charge of Jingzhou. Guan Yu's attitude towards the gentry was even more radical than Liu Bei's. He not only abolished all the privileges of the gentry during Liu Biao's reign, but also squeezed a lot of benefits out of the gentry to benefit the people. Otherwise, how could he have been betrayed by the gentry of Jingzhou?
After crossing the Yangtze River in white robes, Sun Quan seized Jiangling. In order to quickly stabilize Jingzhou, he returned the privileges of the gentry that Guan Yu had taken away to them, which made the lives of these private soldiers from the lower classes who were tenant farmers much worse than before.
After comparing several options, the people of Jingzhou tragically discovered that Guan Yu was still the best to them, the common folk.
This is like a scumbag boyfriend or girlfriend who always thinks they can find someone better and abandons their original partner to join someone else's arms, only to find out after going around in circles that their original partner was still the best.
In this situation, the private soldiers of the aristocratic families naturally outweighed their loyalty to their families in their expectation of Guan Yu's return, and it was without any pressure for them to swing their swords at their commander Huang Yi, who often beat them.
Huang Yi killed several of his private soldiers, but instead of stopping the rebellion, he aroused public anger. Terrified, he immediately turned and fled, shouting to Zhu Yi in the distance, "General Zhu, retreat quickly! My soldiers have all rebelled. It will be too late if we don't run now!"
Zhu Yi had already turned to retreat upon hearing Guan Xing's name, but Sun Huan's relentless pursuit forced him to fight his way back without being able to retreat fully. When he heard Huang Yi's shout, he turned around and was immediately stunned. He asked incredulously, "What's going on? How come you can't even control your own private troops?"
Huang Yi said with a bitter expression, "It would be fine if it were anyone else, but it's Guan Xing. Don't forget how many years Guan Yu has been stationed in Jingzhou. The private soldiers of various ethnic groups in Jingzhou worship Guan Yu more than they are loyal to their families."
Zhu Yi couldn't understand the feelings the people of Jingzhou had for Guan Yu, and roared in grief and anger, "I f***ing..."