Inside Taiji Hall, Cao Mao sat solemnly in the seat of honor, numerous memorials spread before him, yet his gaze was somewhat unfocused.
His attention was not on the memorials before him.
His heart was in utter turmoil.
Ever since he had outlasted Sima Shi, Cao Mao had not felt such fear in a very long time.
The great hall was empty. Occasionally, footsteps sounded outside-the Imperial Guards and Yellow Gate attendants changing shifts.
His thoughts felt jumbled. Cao Mao picked up the memorial before him and looked it over again.
It was a battle report sent by Guanqiu Jian.
Ever since General Guanqiu Jian had defeated the Wu Kingdom's navy in a head-on engagement on the river, he had devoted himself to developing his navy, preparing to capture Jianye.
He had established an enormous shipyard in Huainan and spent lavishly to recruit many excellent shipwrights, some of whom had even been brought over from the Wu Kingdom.
The Wu Kingdom's seafaring endeavors really were developing quite well.
All the credit went to Sun Great Emperor.
Back then, Gongsun Yuan had sent men to the Wu Kingdom to present horses. Disregarding his ministers' objections, Sun Great Emperor had happily invested Gongsun Yuan as Prince of Yan, while sending ten thousand men bearing gold, silver, jewels, and other valuables to escort Gongsun Yuan's envoys back to Liaodong by ship.
But after these men reached Liaodong, their chief envoys were beheaded and their heads sent to Cao Wei. The others were used to bolster the local population, and their wealth was confiscated.
Some of them escaped and happened to reach Goguryeo, thus establishing diplomatic contact with them.
In the second year of Yellow Dragon, Sun Great Emperor again sent Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi to lead ten thousand armored soldiers out to