My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 100 Sun Ce's Five-Level Response Game

June 19th, the second year of Jian'an, was also the third day after Guan Yu captured Wuhu.

Moling was the former Yangzhou governor's office.

A twenty-three-year-old young man, eight feet tall, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, dressed in black armor, with his hand on a sword, has a solemn expression and a face full of fatigue.

He is none other than Sun Ce, the current lord of Danyang and Wujun. He has just taken over half of Kuaiji County and is in the midst of a fierce battle with Yan Baihu.

However, the news that Guan Yu had joined forces with Taishi Ci and captured Wuhu in one fell swoop forced him to put aside his fight with Yan Baihu and rush back to his old nest Moling to gather his ministers to discuss countermeasures.

The 600 cavalrymen he led personally, as well as thousands of veteran soldiers who had served the Sun family for two generations, also marched back to Moling. There were also more than 10,000 rear troops, who were still on the way, rushing back at a speed of 80 miles a day.

After the meeting began, everyone had a very unified understanding on the point that "we should immediately draw a clear line with Yuan Shu and clear ourselves of suspicion of treason", and there was nothing much to say.

If it is delayed any further, who knows how Liu Bei or the Zhuge family will take advantage of this and continue to make a big fuss about it.

However, after being cleared of suspicion of treason, the main staff and generals still had differences on how to make an offer to the court, how to treat Liu Bei and the Zhuge family, and how to treat Wang Lang.

Therefore, before officially sending an envoy to Xu Du, Sun Ce had to sort out these attitude issues.

Today, Sun Ce has four major advisers under his command: Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Chen Duan, and Qin Song.

There were also several old and important officials who were at the level of prefects and could take charge of their own affairs, including Xu Kun, the prefect of Danyang, Zhu Zhi, the prefect of Wujun, and Wu Jing, the nominal prefect of Guangling.

These governors were either relatives or seniors of Sun Ce, or important officials left by Sun Jian. For example, Xu Kun was his cousin, Wu Jing was his uncle, and Zhu Zhi was a Sima of another army under Sun Jian.

Among them, Xu Kun and Zhu Zhi had their own actual ruling areas, while Wu Jing was now only a nominal figure. His position as Guangling prefect was originally recommended by Yuan Shu, but later the territory was taken back by Liu Bei.

Historically, after Sun Ce officially broke with Yuan Shu, there was no need for his uncle to continue holding the empty position of Yuan Shu, so he moved Wu Jing back to Moling to replace Xu Kun as the governor of Danyang, and let Xu Kun serve as the General of the Central Army to lead the troops to fight.

But he hasn't broken up with Yuan Shu yet, so all this has not happened yet, and Sun Ce still retains the last bit of overt "respect" for Yuan Shu.

At this moment, Sun Ce consulted a group of important officials and advisers for their opinions.

Xu Kun was the party whose interests were most severely damaged. After all, the captured Wuhu was under his jurisdiction, and Xu Kun was the youngest and most energetic among the three important ministers. So he firmly suggested sending envoys to Xudu not only to ask for a status from the court, but also to add fuel to the fire, expose the ambitions of Liu Bei and Zhuge Xuan, and throw dirty water on those two families.

The counselors Zhang Zhao and Qin Song both hinted that since Liu Bei and Zhuge Xuan could use the imperial decree as a backing for their actions, it would be better to do less than more.

But Xu Kun still added angrily: "Even so, we can also let the envoy tell Cao Cao that Liu Bei and Zhuge Xuan have other ambitions. Their conflict with our family is definitely not just to serve Cao Cao, but to use the king's order to expand their own power!

Isn't it easy to find some evidence that Liu Bei pretended to obey Cao Cao but secretly disobeyed him? Even if we can't find it, we can just make up some stories. Cao Cao is suspicious and will definitely believe it. Then, in order to check and balance Liu Bei and Zhuge Xuan, Cao Cao will pay more attention to our family and give Bo Fu a higher official title to win him over. "

Sun Ce was also angry with Liu Bei and Zhuge Xuan, so after listening to his cousin's words, he tended to agree. As for Zhang Zhao and Qin Song's dissuasion, in his opinion, it was nothing, these staff members were just giving suggestions and had no executive power at all.

Sun Ce then turned to Wu Jing and Zhu Zhi and asked them what they thought. If they agreed, the decision would be finalized.

However, Wu Jing was mature and tolerant, and Zhu Zhi was relatively cautious, and they both seemed unwilling to see Sun Ce take revenge.

Wu Jing had seen many ups and downs, and he sighed, "It has been three days since Guan Yu captured Wuhu, but he has not taken any further action. Liu Bei probably doesn't want to fight us to the death, right?
We have Yan Baihu and Wang Lang yet to be extinguished, why do we have to make more enemies now? I am not saying that we should be on good terms with Liu Bei, but if we can pretend to be friendly with him for a year or two, or even just a few months, and wait until we have extinguished Yan Baihu and Wang Lang, and have completely freed up our hands, then we can turn against Liu Bei, wouldn’t that be safer?”

There is some truth in what he said. Besides, since it was said by his own uncle, Sun Ce couldn't help but think about it.

Moreover, Wu Jing's words have an extra weight, which is that they can influence Sun Ce's mother, Mrs. Wu.

After all, Sun Ce was a filial son, and he would usually listen to his mother's advice. Wu Jing also used this relationship several times, often telling his sister about outside news. After his sister learned about it, she would decisively persuade her son if she felt it was necessary.

Once, Sun Ce's general Wei Teng failed to perform his duties and refused to carry out Sun Ce's reward and punishment orders. Sun Ce was furious and wanted to kill him.

After Wu Jing secretly told her sister, Madam Wu ran to the well and said she was going to jump into the well, and asked someone to find Sun Ce. Then she said, "You killed those who dared to remonstrate with you today, and you will be deserted by your friends and relatives tomorrow. Rather than living to see you deserted by your friends and relatives, I would rather commit suicide now to avoid being humiliated in the future." Sun Ce had no choice but to quickly say that he would not kill her and persuaded his mother to come back.

At this moment, Sun Ce certainly knew that his uncle was doing this for his own good and was seeking stability. But after thinking it over again and again, he still felt that it was not safe, so he raised a question:
“It is true that Guan Yu did not make any further moves for three days after he took Wuhu, but who knows if he was resting his troops and transporting food and grass from the rear in preparation for another battle?
We are sending envoys to the imperial court, but we cannot send people every other day. If we do not expose Liu Bei this time, and Liu Bei is still hostile to us, won’t we have to endure a year or two before we can expose Liu Bei again? "

Wu Jing was speechless for this question. He was just mature and prudent, not good at wisdom. Guan Yu stopped, but whether it was a temporary stop or a long-term stop, he did not dare to judge, nor could he analyze it.

When Wu Jing was confused, he couldn't help but glance at the four counselors beside him. It was obvious that he also wanted to solve the problem.

When his eyes fell on Zhang Hong, Zhang Hong also saw his sincerity in seeking advice, so he stepped out and said, "General, I think Guan Yu is sincere in not advancing this time. Liu Bei just wants to warn us and force us to express our stance immediately so that we can no longer join forces with Yuan Shu to attack him.

Because Wuhu was already stocked with food, and now that all the food had been taken by Guan Yu, if he wanted to fight again, he didn't need to transport food from the rear, he could just rely on the Wuhu stockpile. Moreover, Wuhu was taken in one day, and there was no fierce fighting at all. Guan Yu's troops had won a great victory, so there was no need to rest.

He stopped here this time. In my opinion, he wanted to obtain a port in Danyang to block the threat of Yuan Shu's Lujiang Army to Guangling. There may even be a deeper consideration...

For example, if our army really breaks with Yuan Shu in the future, Liu Bei and Guan Yu hope to use Wuhu as a thorn to block our chance to cross the Yangtze River from Danyang and seize Lujiang. Once Yuan Shu really falls into a weak position and is besieged by the surrounding rebellious princes, Liu Bei will be able to successfully seize Lujiang. "

Sun Ce felt that Zhang Hong's words made a lot of sense and were a very thorough analysis.

But his mood was ruined again by Zhang Hong - every word Zhang Hong said reminded him of the losses he had suffered and the tragedy of the defeat, either "a large amount of stored grain was seized" or "the city was captured almost without bloodshed."

The truth hurts!
The problem is, as soon as Zhang Hong finished speaking, Wu Jing seemed to have found a basis for his speech, and quickly said, "That's what I thought just now, but I'm not as smart and eloquent as Zhang Changshi, so I can't express his detailed reasoning."

Zhu Zhi seemed to be persuaded by Zhang Hong and expressed his agreement with Wu Jing.

The three great governors under Sun Ce, Wu Jing, Zhu Zhi and Xu Kun, were outnumbered two to one. The forces that suggested not to break off relations with Liu Bei for the time being and to swallow their anger gained the upper hand again.

Sun Ce was so depressed. After pondering for a long time, he finally figured out another question from Zhang Hong's words and asked quickly:

"If that's the case, Liu Bei and Guan Yu won't pose a greater threat to us for the time being. But Zhang Changshi said that Liu Bei's move may have a deeper meaning, that is, he doesn't want us to get involved in the division of Yuan Shu's territory when Yuan Shu is defeated in the future, and force us out! This is also unbearable, right?
Moreover, if we do not criticize Liu Bei's ambitions to Cao Cao and do not attack other former governors in Jiangnan who are friendly to Liu Bei, we will be tied up in the future, and I am afraid that we will not even be able to fight Wang Lang! If Wang Lang also shows goodwill to Liu Bei and is willing to submit to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei also occupies the righteousness, where can we expand? Isn't that just tying our hands and watching others expand in vain? "

When this new question was raised, Zhang Hong did not react for a while and still needed to think of a solution. Fortunately, Zhang Zhao, who was watching from the sidelines, had calmed down and quickly said:

"General, you don't have to worry too much about this. I think that when we go to Xudu this time, we should mention Liu Bei less and even try not to mention Wang Lang.

First, if we mention Liu Bei and Cao Cao still does not guard against him, Liu Bei will definitely become the governor of Yangzhou, and Wang Lang will definitely formally join Liu Bei. When Liu Bei is ordered to attack Yuan Shu, we will fight with them again. Even if we do not join the rebellion, we will be considered as joining the rebellion, which will damage our righteousness.

Secondly, if we mentioned Liu Bei and Cao Cao was indeed afraid of Liu Bei, then Cao Cao would definitely be wary of Wang Lang being recruited by Liu Bei. At that time, he would issue another decree to confirm Wang Lang's official position, or give Wang Lang another title of general and let him stay in a safe place.

Wang Lang's current position was conferred by the emperor three years ago when he was still in Chang'an. At that time, the general came to Jiangdong under the order of Yuan Shu, and his righteous reputation was that "the official positions conferred by the emperor in Chang'an were all issued by the dog thieves of Xiliang under their control, and were not the emperor's original intention." Therefore, the general was able to triumph all the way and drive out the governor appointed by Chang'an.

This was also based on the fact that when the Chang'an court sent Ma Ritian to tour Guandong and recruit princes, Yuan Shu dared to directly arrest Ma Ritian and take the emperor's tour seal to convey his own orders.

Therefore, as long as the emperor did not re-propose the appointment of Wang Lang after his return to the east, Wang Lang's status could still be disputed in the future. If the emperor mentioned Wang Lang's official position again after his return to the east, it would be equivalent to posthumously recognizing his previous position. At that time, what reason do we have to say that Wang Lang was appointed by the chaotic order of Chang'an?
Therefore, we must do everything we can to make the court and the emperor forget about Wang Lang, and never recognize the previous order, and never mention it at all."

Zhang Zhao's words finally woke Sun Ce up and made him realize that he was indeed a bit reckless in politics. When it comes to grasping the righteous cause, the two Zhangs were much more mature than him.

The initial political basis for him to wreak havoc in Jiangdong under Yuan Shu's orders was that the Guandong scholars of the Eastern Han Dynasty generally believed that the people of Xiliang were not even human beings, but just a group of beasts. Therefore, the imperial edicts issued by Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si when they controlled the emperor were all waste paper.

But Li Jue was a traitor to the country, while Cao Cao was not yet a traitor to the country. After Liu Xie moved east, there was a brief recovery of the effectiveness and reputation of the imperial edicts for two or three years.

In other words, if we look at it from the perspective of later generations, the imperial edicts issued from 196 to 198 were much more famous and effective than those issued from 192 to 194. Later, after the outbreak of the Yidaizhao, the effectiveness of the imperial edicts of the Xudu court fell back to the period of Chang'an, and they could no longer command local governors.

You can't remind the emperor to think of Wang Lang during the period when the imperial edict's effectiveness is recovering! At this time, you should try to make Wang Lang a transparent person.

Otherwise, Wang Lang would only have a printed will with no witnesses, but you would have to remind the testator to change it to a notarized will. Wouldn't the other party who is suing Wang Lang be making things difficult for themselves?
"Damn it! Why did Liu Bei and Guan Yu just take advantage of me a little bit, and then stop there and call it a day. Could it be that Zhuge Liang had even calculated this? It shouldn't be possible for such a young boy, right? Or is it just that he was lucky?!" Sun Ce was extremely unwilling, but there was nothing he could do.

Wu Jing quickly acted as a peacemaker and comforted Sun Ce: "That kid is just lucky. I think Zhuge Liang is just a young man who has achieved success and does not know the importance of advancing and retreating. I heard that the Xudu court appointed Zhuge Jin as the governor of Danyang and Zhuge Liang as the prefect of Danyang.

Zhuge Liang must have wanted to act on his own initiative and instigate Guan Yu to kill first and report later, so that if he could capture Wuhu, he could use Wuhu as his seat of government and actually take office. His elder brother Zhuge Jin could also officially take office.

After all, the Zhuge family just happened to conquer the six counties in Zulang's mountainous area. It would be difficult for him to be called the governor of Danyang in the territory of the Shanyue people, right? And Wuhu was the first county in Danyang County, which was rich and inhabited by Han people. They wanted to use Wuhu to decorate their facade, which was completely a youthful mentality. "

After being persuaded by his uncle, Sun Ce calmed down a little when he learned that Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang were just young and arrogant, not shrewd and cunning.

Damn it, don’t bother with those ignorant brats who don’t know how to hold back!
On the other side, Wu Jing and Zhang Zhao had finished what they needed to say, and Zhang Hong finally calmed down. He organized a plan for subsequent development and also said:
“General, as long as we try not to touch Liu Bei when we send envoys to the capital this time, and don’t remind His Majesty to think of Wang Lang, then even if Liu Bei tries to stop us from dismembering Yuan Shu later, we will still have some room for development.

First of all, although Wang Lang was a Han minister, Yan Baihu was not. Yan Baihu was a complete Shanyue bandit. Anyone who beat Yan Baihu would be acting in the name of justice and anyone could kill him.

Now our army's primary goal is to deal with Yan Baihu, so in the next six months, whether Liu Bei and Wang Lang are righteous or not will not affect our actions. If Yan Baihu is completely pacified within six months, then our army will definitely be exhausted. After years of fighting, what does it matter if we rest for a year or two?

By then, Wang Lang will be in a remote corner of the sea, and we can slowly collect excuses to start a war. For example, when that day really comes, we can find that the remnants of Yan Baihu have surrendered to Wang Lang, and Wang Lang has accepted their surrender.

We can even make up an excuse for the Shanyue in Wujun to cause a rebellion and frame Wang Lang, saying that the Shanyue bandits in Wujun were instructed by the Shanyue bandits in Kuaiji to cause the rebellion. When the time comes to defeat Wang Lang, how can we have no excuse? And if Liu Bei wants to dismember Yuan Shu, he will definitely not be able to do it by then. We should completely clear the rear and then we can break off relations with Liu Bei!"

Sun Ce's eyes finally brightened. Zhang Hong helped him find an excuse to not be bound by the righteousness of the court and to continue to unify other Jiangdong forces except Liu Bei.

In this case, he might consider picking the weak ones first.

"Okay, then it's decided! I will temporarily endure the conspiracy against me by Liu Bei and the Zhuge family, and I won't mention it when I go to Xudu! I hope the emperor won't remember Wang Lang's existence!

As long as we clarify that our Sun family is also a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, and that we previously obeyed Yuan Shu only because the emperor was held hostage by Li Jue and Guo Si, we only oppose the beasts of Xiliang, not other loyal ministers of the court! After explaining this, Cao Cao can give you as high an official as he is willing to give you - who is willing to be an envoy?"

As soon as Sun Ce asked the question, the two Zhangs looked at each other, and Zhang Hong immediately volunteered: "I am willing to share the general's worries!"

Zhang Hong was a subordinate of Sun Ce and was good at diplomacy. Historically, he had also been an envoy to the Xudu court on behalf of Sun Ce.

However, his request this time was slightly dissuaded by the experienced Wu Jing and Zhu Zhi.

Wu Jing and others were not worried about Zhang Hong's ability and loyalty, but were only worried about his safety, so they pointed out:

"Zi Gang's talent and eloquence are naturally not a problem, but now Liu Bei is aggressive, and the Zhuge family is said to be trusted by Cao Cao. If there are ministers in the court who have a good relationship with them, Zi Gang, who has a low reputation and a low position, will be in danger.

After all, our army still bears the bad reputation of being a traitor to Yuan Shu. This is the first time we send an envoy to pay tribute. The ability of debate is secondary. The key is to find a famous person who is famous all over the world, so that Liu Bei and Zhuge family will not be able to obstruct us. "

Sun Ce thought about it and it made sense. In the current situation, the reputation of the envoy was indeed more important than his real ability and capability. Once the bridge of communication was built, the talent would come first.

Sun Ce asked casually: "Who do you think is suitable, uncle?"

Wu Jing: "Why not invite Hua Xin Hua Ziyu who now lives in Danyang? Hua Ziyu is a famous scholar in the world, who doesn't admire him? Liu Bei and Zhuge family dare not attack Hua Ziyu even if they have evil intentions. And I heard that after Zhu Hao died, the court hesitated whether to let Hua Ziyu take over as governor of Yuzhang.

Later, Zhuge Jin suddenly appeared, cleared the name of his uncle, and forcibly replaced Hua Ziyu. Hua Ziyu must have resented Zhuge Xuan for blocking his future, so he would work hard for us. "

Sun Ce nodded: "Hua Ziyu's reputation is indeed good enough, but I am worried that Hua Ziyu is greedy for nobility. If he goes to the capital this time, what if Cao Cao grants him an official position and he stays in the capital and does not return to Jiangdong to serve me? If I let Zigang go, Zigang has a heart as strong as stone and will definitely come back."

Wu Jing had no answer to this question.

Finally, Sun Ce could not make up his mind and summoned Hua Xin in person. When Hua Xin was asked, he answered frankly: "Even if I stay in Beijing, I can contribute as much to you as if I stay in Jiangdong. If someone in Xudu attacks you, I can defend you."

After Sun Ce heard this, he made up his mind. It seemed that Hua Xin wanted the opportunity to serve as a noble official in the imperial court, and was also willing to accept the benefits and mission of being the director of the Sun family's Beijing office in private.

If that’s the case, then it’s fine. Perhaps this is how famous people use it.

Sun Ce gritted his teeth, asked Zhang Hong to write the memorial, and then asked Hua Xin to set off.

(End of this chapter)