The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 324 Volume Dilemma
Once the imperial court begins preparing for war, the movements cannot be concealed at all.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Sun Ce, and even Shi Xie of Jiaozhou, all got the news at the first opportunity.

For a moment, everyone was facing a formidable enemy!

Jiangdong and Wuxian.

Even though Sun Ce and Zhou Yu both knew that the imperial court's massive military deployment would definitely not be directed at them, the two still sat together to discuss countermeasures.

"Gongjin, what do you think I should do?"

"..."

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were sitting in the hall with a small stove in front of them, brewing some fragrant tea.

This tea comes from Yizhou.

When Zhou Yu tasted it for the first time, he was certain that tea would become popular all over the world in the future and would have huge economic value!
If tea could be grown in Jiangdong, it would definitely bring a huge amount of financial income to Jiangdong.

But Jiangdong must be a small place with tired people... and because of the aristocratic families in Jiangdong, the land retained in Sun Ce's hands is actually very small, and there is no luxury to grow such cash crops.

This has led to Zhou Yu's extremely strong desire for land.

Especially... the rich Jingzhou! The fertile Jianghan Plain!

"Bofu, it would be best if we send troops to take all of Jingzhou. At least we need to take Jiangling and open up the waterway to Bashu. Only after we have taken over Yangzhou, Jingzhou, and Yizhou, will we be truly qualified to gain a foothold in this chaotic world."

Compared with the imperial court and Yuan Shao, Sun Ce was still too weak.

On the surface, the world was divided into three parts, but in reality, Sun Ce's size could not be compared with the other two.

Not to mention Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao, who occupied the Central Plains, could easily defeat Sun Ce...

That's why Sun Ce urgently needs to fight for territory and strengthen himself.

"Attack Jingzhou?"

Sun Ce sat there, holding his fist to his face in distress.

"The Wen Pin guarding Jiangling is definitely not an ordinary person. Even Gan Ning, who leads the navy in southern Jing, is extremely fierce... Not to mention Liu Bei and Guan Yu in the north. Can I really take Jingzhou?"

"How about heading north to attack Cao Cao? If we can capture Xuzhou, we can also emulate the power of the former overlord Xiang Yu and achieve hegemony!"

"..."

After sipping the tea, Zhou Yu frowned slightly.

"Bofu, how can you really be afraid of Wen Ping and Gan Ning?"

"If we talk about the degree of difficulty, Chen Deng who is currently stationed in Guangling County is the one who is really difficult to deal with!"

After Cao Cao captured Xuzhou, he appointed Chen Deng, who came from a wealthy family in Xuzhou, as the prefect of Guangling to guard against Jiangdong.

Sun Ce had indeed sent troops to test Chen Deng before, but they were all resolved by Chen Deng's wit. This also made Sun Ce realize how powerful Chen Deng was and gave up the idea of ​​attacking Xuzhou.

Compared with Wen Pin who was guarding Jiangling, Chen Deng was no pushover either. How could Sun Ce be so sure that he could capture Xuzhou?
So Zhou Yu knew that what Sun Ce was worried about was not Wen Pin, but the imperial court and the emperor behind him.

"Is Bofu worried about your mother?"

Hearing that Zhou Yu had guessed his thoughts, Sun Ce sighed and no longer concealed it.

"Exactly."

"My mother, my sister, my brother, and the families of Madam Sun and Madam Wu are all in the court. How dare I easily send troops to Jingzhou?"

Sun Ce's tone became increasingly agitated, and he slammed his fist on the table.

"If I had known this, I shouldn't have agreed to the emperor! Who would have thought that I would be controlled by others like this now!"

……

Sending all family members to the emperor is indeed a bad move.

But this was a bad move, but it was a condition that Sun Ce had to agree to in the first place.

If Sun Ce did not hand over his family to the emperor, how could the court allow Sun Ce to seize Jiangdong?

If Sun Ce had not made this bad move, how could he have become the current lord of Jiangdong?

"Ugh."

Everything in the world happens in a blink of an eye.

Whatever you gain, you always have to give up.

Zhou Yu felt a little uncomfortable seeing Sun Ce in such a difficult situation.

However, Zhou Yu still advised: "Bofu, even if the emperor uses troops to attack Jingzhou, it does not mean that the emperor will definitely take action against your mother."

"The emperor is actually quite benevolent and would not vent his anger on Bo Fu's family..."

When Zhou Yu said this, he was actually a little unsure.

But Sun Ce seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, and his eyes lit up: "Gongjin is saying that even if we use troops in Jingzhou, my mother will be safe?"

Zhou Yu gritted his teeth and said, "That should be the case... As long as we write to the court and say that Wen Pin is suspected of treason, we are fighting for the country. If we fight quickly and decisively without giving others gossip, we may be able to achieve our wish."

"Once we have pacified Jingzhou before the war in the north ends, we can quickly submit a petition to the imperial court, requesting that you, Bofu, be appointed as the governor of Jingzhou. By then, the imperial court will certainly be wary of fighting on two fronts... In this way, your mother's life can naturally be saved."

"After that, we just have to wait and see what happens, and watch the two northern tigers fight each other."

"If Yuan Shao wins and the imperial court returns without success, the imperial court will certainly not dare to pursue the matter. They may even release Bofu's family and make peace with us."

Sun Ce became happier the more he listened, but he still asked, "What if the imperial court wins?"

Zhou Yu: ...

If the imperial court wins, it will surely completely eliminate Yuan Shao and Cao Cao and quickly unify the north!
By that time, even with the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, the small corner of Jiangdong would be unable to recover.

But Sun Ce was delighted when he heard that Zhou Yu seemed to have a way to seize Jingzhou without endangering his mother's life. He led 10,000 naval forces from Wu County with high spirits.

On the way, some intelligence about Jingzhou was also sent by Taishi Ci who was guarding Jiangxia and gathered in Sun Ce's hands.

Northern Jingzhou.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu and others have left Xiangyang and are gradually heading towards Cao Cao's Xuchang.

Now stationed in Jingzhou are only 5,000 infantry under Wen Pin and 3,000 naval forces under Gan Ning.

But at the same time, Taishi Ci also reminded Sun Ce not to be careless.

There was inaccurate intelligence that the Yizhou governor Wu Yi had led generals such as Zhang Ren, Wang Ping, Huang Quan, and Yan Yan, and stationed a 20,000-strong naval and land army in Yong'an.

It can be expected that once Sun Ce launched an attack on Jingzhou, the Yizhou army would immediately go downstream and quickly arrive in Jingzhou to help Wen Pin guard Jiangling.

"The imperial court really has a backup plan to guard against us."

The armies of Liu Bei and Guan Yu in the north of Jingzhou have been transferred to the Central Plains to confront Cao Cao.

In this way, the army of Yizhou was transferred and ready to support Jingzhou at any time.

"But how can a few nameless people resist me, Sun Bofu?"

Sun Ce didn't care about the troops in Yizhou.

They are just some unknown people.

Moreover, the battle of Jingzhou is destined to be dominated by the navy.

When it comes to naval strength, Sun Ce is confident that even the imperial court and Yuan Shao cannot compare to Jiangdong!

All the way to E County, just when Sun Ce was preparing to test the attack on Jiangling, a letter was hurriedly delivered from the rear.

It was sent by Sun Quan who stayed behind.

But the owner of the letter was not Sun Quan, but Mrs. Wu who was far away in Chang'an.

Mrs. Wu's letter began as gentle as ever, expressing her concern for Sun Ce and Sun Quan's food, clothing, housing and transportation.

But in the second half, he went against his usual behavior and severely criticized Sun Ce for deceiving the court and the emperor.

Especially the sentence "If Bofu dares to attack Jingzhou, I will commit suicide and never recognize you as my heir" frightened Sun Quan, so Sun Quan hurriedly delivered the letter to Sun Ce.

Sun Ce had already made preparations to attack Jiangling.

But as soon as he saw the letter, Sun Ce's face suddenly became extremely interesting.

He hurriedly called Zhou Yu, and Zhou Yu's face turned extremely ugly after reading the letter!
"Bo Fu, is this your mother's handwriting?"

"Gongjin, how could I not recognize my mother's handwriting? This is definitely my mother's handwriting."

……

Got it!

Attack the damn Jingzhou!
If Madam Wu really committed suicide because of Sun Ce's attack on Jingzhou, then Sun Ce would have to wait to be stabbed in the back for the rest of his life!
By then, the aristocratic families and scholars in Jiangdong might be very excited and start to suppress the rebellion by accusing Sun Ce of being "immoral and unfilial". If that really happens, I'm afraid everything will be over!
"I thought the emperor was benevolent, but I didn't expect that he would force my mother to write such a letter. It's really shameful!"

Sun Ce thought that Liu Xie forced Mrs. Wu to write such a letter, so he was quite angry.

"Bofu, what should we do now?"

"What else can we do? Of course we can only withdraw our troops! Otherwise, are we really going to sit back and watch our mother die?"

In response to this, Zhou Yu's sigh became even heavier.

He knew that if he didn't take Jingzhou this time, Sun Ce would never have the chance to get involved in Jingzhou in the future.

As the war between the imperial court and Yuan Shao ends in the future, there will be only two possible outcomes.

Either the imperial court will win in one fell swoop and emulate Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty to revive the Han Dynasty and completely recover the homeland.

By that time, the power of the imperial court will have greatly increased. If Sun Ce still wants to take over Jingzhou, he will undoubtedly be seeking death.

Either Yuan Shao successfully resists the imperial court, causing the situation in the entire world to fall into a stalemate.

By that time, the imperial court would certainly be more cautious and would not waste too much strength, and Sun Ce would also have no chance to seize Jingzhou.

Jingzhou, I’m afraid I’ll have no chance of ever getting to Jiangdong!

Zhou Yu was extremely unwilling, but there was nothing he could do.

"Bofu is still loyal and righteous after all, unlike Yuan Shao who is so ruthless."

Yuan Shao lost his father at an early age, and was adopted by his uncle Yuan Kui, where he was loved and cared for.

But after Yuan Shao defected from Luoyang, he immediately summoned the princes of Guandong to attack Dong Zhuo. Yuan Kui, who treated him like his own son, and Yuan Ji, the eldest son of the Runan Yuan family and Yuan Shu's elder brother, who remained in Luoyang, were not taken care of at all, and were executed by Dong Zhuo. (Note 1)

Compared with Yuan Shao's unscrupulous means, Sun Ce was undoubtedly too immature.

But Zhou Yu felt helpless but also somewhat happy.

If Sun Ce really followed Yuan Shao's example and insisted on attacking the imperial court regardless of the lives of the elders who raised him, that would be truly incomprehensible.

The Sun Ce at the moment is the loyal and righteous Sun Ce that Zhou Yu knows.

"In that case, withdraw your troops."

"By the way, we should also send envoys to the imperial court to present tribute and gifts, so that the emperor and your mother can rest assured!"

------

Note 1:

Yuan Shao was born an orphan. His father died when Shao was born, and the two dukes loved him. ——"Heroes' Records" by Wang Can.

(End of this chapter)