My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 121 Everyone gets promoted, everyone has a war to fight

Zhang Fei didn't have high hopes for this plea at the welcoming banquet.

The main thing is that he can drink a lot even if no one respects him. Now he also expressed his sincerity in seeking a fight, which is not a loss at all.

As a result, Zhuge Jin really gave him face and said that there was a battle for him to fight. Zhang Fei was overjoyed and quickly pulled him aside to explain in detail.

Zhuge Jin saw that there were many people at the welcoming banquet and that some details of his thoughts were not convenient to express in public.

He then pulled Zhang Fei and Liu Bei, who came to persuade them, and whispered a few words:
"I also thought of this on the way here. Now the two enclaves of Guangling and Yuzhang are difficult to connect across the river. In the past, although there were heavy guards and no Sun Ce to intercept them, it was not a long-term solution.

I have calculated that Cao Cao and Yuan Shu are now at a stalemate. If they want to force Qiao Rui and Li Feng to collapse by cutting off their food supply, it will take at least until the cold winter. Our army must wait until Yuan Shu's main force is completely weakened before taking action. We must also prevent the people's livelihood in the captured Lujiang County from withering, so we have to take action after the spring plowing next year.

During the past six months, we must also be on guard against Sun Ce destroying the communication between our two armies on the river, or secretly communicating with Yuan Shu. So for now, we can first take Tangyi and Chuxian, so that Guangling and Wuhu can border each other as much as possible. "

Liu Bei nodded slightly and asked softly, "Although Chu County is easy to capture, if this further angers Yuan Shu and causes him to station more troops on the eastern front, wouldn't that cause trouble for our advancement next year?"

Liu Bei was very familiar with the surrounding geography and knew where Tangyi and Chuxian were without looking at a map.

That place roughly corresponds to Chuzhou in Anhui Province in later times, and the part of Nanjing on the north bank of the Yangtze River (now Pukou District and Liuhe District).

In other words, Zhuge Jin suggested that Liu Bei occupy all the land along the river on the other side of Moling (Nanjing), so that in the future, when the two sides had fleet exchanges, they could stay on the north bank the entire way without having to worry about both sides of the river being the territories of other forces and making navigation unsafe.

If the plan is realized, between Zhuge Jin's Wuhu and Liu Bei's direct territory, there will only be Yuan Shu's Wujiang County (He County) left in Jiangxi, and there will only be Sun Ce's Niuzhu (Ma'anshan) left in Jiangdong.

Although we still hadn't completely connected, the journey only took half a night, unlike now when it takes two days and two nights to go downstream and three days and three nights to go upstream.

Liu Bei was well aware of the benefits of this for territorial integration, and he was only worried about the risks.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin quickly gave an analysis:

"Our army has now captured Chu County and Tangyi, so it is unlikely to anger Yuan Shu, who can no longer care about these minor details.

First of all, Chu County is geographically more closely connected with Guangling and Danyang. Chu County is surrounded by mountains, with only one river, the Tushui River (Chu River), flowing through the valleys and finally flowing into the Yangtze River in Tangyi.

There was no way out in the rest of Chu County. Even though it was only a hundred miles away from Hefei, it could not threaten Hefei due to the steep mountains. A small county cut off by mountains and only accessible by water, if Yuan Shu lacked naval forces, it would be lost.

Secondly, our army originally confronted Yuan Shu in Guangling and Huaiyin, relying on the Han Canal. Now the situation has changed. In the north, along the Huaihe River, we have already taken Xuyi, and in the south, along the river, Chuxian has been surrounded by us on both sides. Our army can flatten this salient and pull the Jianghuai defense line forward as a whole, which can also save Yuan Shu's garrison troops.

Finally, I can also find a fig leaf for Yuan Shu, so that he will not hate us for losing the territory, but hate Sun Ce instead - but the details are not suitable to be discussed after drinking. I will explain it clearly before Yide sends troops.

In addition, the victory report of the capture of Tangyi and Chuxian can also be included in the memorial to claim merit, and it can be regarded as Yide’s merit. Although the merit may not be completed when the memorial is sent, there is still more than half a month on the road. "

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, and then he felt vaguely refreshed.

The familiar feeling of having all the strategic plans laid out clearly is just wonderful.

Tzuyu is so confident.

……

At the welcoming banquet, Zhuge Jin did not want to talk too much about military details. Some details of his ideas also needed to be polished slowly later.

After sending Liu Bei and Zhang Fei away, Zhuge Jin was quickly stopped by Zhao Yun, who, holding a cup of wine, sincerely thanked him:

"Sir, you are so kind, I have long admired you. Although we just met today, you were able to guess Izumo's intentions from a distance of thousands of miles away. I really don't know how to thank you for asking you to send Xianhe to Hebei to visit me and fulfill your loyalty to Izumo in times of trouble.

"Mr. Liu is a master of strategy, a master of strategizing, and a master of insight into people's hearts. He is better than Liu Hou in every aspect! I bow down to him!"

Zhuge Jin tried to dissuade him, and even said jokingly: "General Zhao, although we just met, I have heard that you are dignified and taciturn, and your words are always right..."

Zhao Yun was a little embarrassed: "Sir, you will know in the future that I am not usually like this! Today I am so grateful and respectful that I can't help myself."

Seeing that he was feeling awkward, Zhuge Jin became interested in observing him carefully. There were too many guests at the reception today, and he had not had time to observe Zhao Yun before.

Zhao Yun is not the pretty boy as portrayed in acting, but he still deserves the description of being handsome and heroic.

He was over eight feet tall, with an angular face, but as a valiant warrior, his skin was rough and weathered, which was inevitable.

Zhuge Jin suddenly remembered something and asked casually, "How old is Zilong? Is he married?"

Zhao Yun didn't know what the other party meant, so he answered honestly, "I'm twenty-seven. When I was in Changshan, I did get married, but later I was separated from my wife because of war."

Zhuge Jin: "Now that you have come south, you will naturally have to marry again? Yunchang and Yide both have families."

Zhao Yun: "This... A real man has no problem finding a wife, but he is afraid of not having accomplished anything!"

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin did not press him any further, and only said, "In that case, come to my house tomorrow at noon and sit down. It's nothing serious."

Zhuge Jin actually brought his sister with him to Guangling this time. The Zhuge family was the only one in Yuzhang and Danyang, and no one was worthy of marrying into the Zhuge family. People like Pang Tong were too ugly.

He himself was still unmarried at the age of 22, and his two younger sisters were 20 and 18 respectively. Zhuge Lan could still hold out a little longer, but Zhuge Zhi could not wait until she was 20, and Zhuge Jin wanted to solve the problem of his eldest sister this year.

But he still said that he would not make any decisions for his sister. For all decisions, his sister had to secretly look at the other party's appearance first, and only when she nodded in satisfaction would Zhuge Jin push forward.

As long as my sister is not satisfied with the man's appearance, he will be excluded. This is a one-vote veto system. The Zhuge family is so domineering in choosing people.

Zhao Yun was unaware of the other party's plan, so he could only agree: "Mr. Meng, I will be inconvenienced tomorrow."

……

The next morning, Liu Bei first finalized the contents of the memorial to be sent to Xu Du with brothers Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang.

He had clearly sorted out what official positions he wanted to give to his generals, and whether Cao Cao would approve it was up to Cao Cao.

Under normal circumstances, Cao Cao would at most limit the official advancement of the princes themselves, but he would not be so strict with the people below him.

Unless there is a conflict in the official position itself and someone from other camp has taken it first, there is nothing that can be done.

Guan Yu had the greatest contribution and was originally at the rank of colonel, so Liu Bei wanted to give him the lowest rank of general this time - but Zhuge Jin advised him to finally decide on the rank of lieutenant general, and said that he vaguely remembered that this position was still vacant, so as to avoid any complications.

Zhuge Jin remembered that in history, after Guan Yu killed Yan Liang, he was also promoted to Lieutenant General. Now it was appropriate to promote him for defeating Liu Xun and Qiao Rui in the Chungu Water Battle.

Especially since Qiao Rui is now surrounded by Cao Cao in Chen County, he is a "hot spot". Cao Cao thinks that although Qiao Rui is not good at fighting, he is a tough nut to crack if he defends the city. If Yun Chang hadn't weakened Qiao Rui first...

Thinking about it this way, I estimate that there is a high probability that it will pass.

The other Zhuge brothers and Taishi Ci shared the credit for eliminating Zu Lang. Zhuge Jin was considered the first to achieve this. He was in his own position and was promoted to General Fubo (now General Pingyue).

Generally, the title of Fubo General in the Eastern Han Dynasty was given to generals who pacified the southern barbarians. For example, the earliest Fubo General Ma Yuan pacified the Wuxi barbarians and Jiaozhi Nanman. Zhuge Jin destroyed the largest group of Shanyue, which was appropriate. Cao Cao was also happy to see that he was a little arrogant in his attitude towards competing for credit.

Taishi Ci was originally a captain under Liu Yao, and Zhuge Jin asked for a promotion for him to a colonel. Zhuge Liang's official position was not important, because in addition to the promotion by the court, Liu Bei also planned to recruit him as the "Chief Clerk of the General of the Southern Expedition."

It was only because when the Zhuge brothers discussed with Liu Bei, they suggested that Liu Bei send an envoy to Xu Du while sending someone to Yuan Shao, so as to indirectly put pressure on Cao Cao through Yuan Shao.

Zhuge Jin said: "Cao Cao does not want you to be the governor of Yangzhou, and wants to use Sun Ce to contain you. This is very likely. So the pressure on Lu Bu may not be enough at the moment, it is best to add fuel to the fire through Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao certainly did not want to see Cao Cao's use of Yuan Shu's claim to the throne to implicate his distant relatives in the Yang Biao case. However, Yuan Shao's status made it difficult for him to openly oppose it, otherwise he would be suspected of speaking for Yuan Shu, and he needed to avoid this suspicion.

In this way, our army can present our memorial as a gesture of helping Cao Cao and Lu Bu to make peace, and take credit for our achievements. At the same time, we will send someone to Yuan Shao to remind him that we have done something that he wanted to do but was not convenient to do, and we hope that Yuan Shao will send a private letter to Cao Cao to put pressure on him and force him to approve our memorial.

Liu Bei also agreed to this suggestion at the time, so he privately recruited Zhuge Liang as the chief secretary of the General of the Southern Expedition. Taking advantage of the fact that Zhuge Liang was still unknown outside, he also sent Zhuge Liang out to gain some experience in foreign affairs.

There is no conflict between local positions and positions in the General's Office, just like in history Liu Bei himself also held the title of "Left General, Governor of Yuzhou".

After Zhuge Liang was recruited as the Chief Clerk of the General's Office, his original position in the local civil service system was still retained, but he just did two jobs and received two salaries.

During Zhuge Liang's absence, Liu Bei had no choice but to once again use Zhuge Jin as his strategist to handle central government affairs. Anyway, Liu Bei could basically ensure that at least one of the Zhuge brothers stayed inside and one could be sent away.

In addition, Liu Bei also attached great importance to the safety of Zhuge Liang's mission. First of all, Zhuge Liang himself was the first to use the chain mail armor that he had just trial-produced.

He also planned to send Zhao Yun, who was familiar with the situation in Hebei, with a ship of elite Bai Li soldiers to escort the delegation.

Moreover, there is another advantage to using Zhuge Liang's rare diplomatic opportunity on Yuan Shao - Yuan Shao and Liu Biao are the princes in the world who are most fond of treating celebrities well. These two people cherish their reputation and face, and it is safest for celebrities to go to them.

Compared to Liu Biao, Yuan Shao has another weakness, which is that he is a super face-obsessed person.

The reason why he preferred Yuan Shang and disliked Yuan Tan was because Yuan Shang was "similar to himself" and his appearance made him feel comfortable. Moreover, many of the people who were valued by Yuan Shao were people who were later described as "having good manners" in Shishuo Xinyu, such as Cui Yan.

Zhuge Liang's handsomeness also gives him a lot of extra convenience in this task. After all, he is a man who is specially emphasized in the official history as having a "very handsome appearance".

……

After arranging all the things listed above, it was already afternoon before I knew it.

The work was too busy and Zhuge Jin didn't want to stay late.

When he returned to his house, he remembered that Zhao Yun had been waiting in the main hall for a long time - Zhuge Jin originally asked Zhao Yun to come for lunch today, and it was already afternoon.

When Zhuge Jin saw Zhao Yun, he was about to explain politely, but he saw that his sister Zhuge Zhi was already there entertaining the guests.

There was no strict separation between men and women in the Han Dynasty, and women would not be criticized for receiving foreign guests.

Zhuge Jin had originally planned to let his sister take a few secret peeks from behind the screen when he was entertaining guests, and then ask his sister for her opinion after the banquet. But when he saw this scene, he realized that his preparations had been in vain.

Well, let’s just eat, send her off after eating, and then ask my sister for her opinion directly.

Zhuge Jin shook his head helplessly, apologized to Zhao Yun, and scolded his sister: "You are so good. When I am not here, you do everything on your own."

Zhuge Zhi was in a good mood and rolled her eyes at her elder brother: "Brother, you made an appointment with someone at noon, but you didn't come back at noon. How can this be considered a proper way to entertain guests? I am helping you avoid being rude."

Zhuge Jin couldn't argue with her, so he ordered her to serve the dishes quickly.

Zhao Yun bowed and thanked him. After three rounds of drinks, he asked about today's invitation, as he had other matters to discuss.

Zhuge Jin had a lot of excuses to use, and he immediately threw one out without hesitation: "I am indeed busy. In a few days, I may have to trouble Zilong to go back to Hebei to protect the envoy sent by the envoy to Yuan Shao."

Zhao Yun quickly put down his dagger and chopsticks, saying that this was all part of his job, and as long as his lord gave the formal order, he would certainly ensure everything was in place.

Zhuge Jin was very satisfied with this attitude and gave him two additional words of advice: "Safety comes first. There will be endless things to do in Hebei. Once you complete your main mission, you can act accordingly. If the situation gets tense, you can just react accordingly."

After Zhuge Jin finished speaking, he turned around and told his sister, "Azhi, bring me a set of chain mail that Aliang made the day before yesterday."

Zhuge Zhi could not eat at the same table with Zhao Yun and was very unhappy about being ordered around by his elder brother. After rummaging around for a while, he took out the armor with a depressed expression and placed it in front of Zhao Yun.

This was the first time Zhao Yun had seen this thing, and he couldn't help but be curious. As a military commander, he was of course interested in new armor.

Zhuge Jin pointed and said, "This armor is given to Zilong. It may not be as useful as the black armor in battle, but it can cover the whole body, even the hands and feet, so it won't be inconvenient to move. There is no clue to the outer robe, it just makes the body look a little stronger.

I have had people try it out. Chain mail is not as good as lamellar armor against arrows, but it is comparable to lamellar armor against spears. When lamellar armor is pierced by a spear, it will eventually slip through the seams of the armor, and relying on the braided armor ropes to withstand the huge force of the stabbing is not as good as chain mail in dispersing the force.

As the bow and arrow do not have a continuous force, they will not slide into the seams of the lamellar armor and penetrate it, so the lamellar armor is still stronger than the chain mail against bows and arrows. But for indoor swords and slashes, this armor is more than enough. "

Zhao Yun originally thought that Zhuge Jin wanted to discuss something else with him, and felt uneasy. But when he finally saw Zhuge Jin take out the new armor, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was filled with gratitude and thanked Zhuge Jin for the reward.

After the two finished their meal, Zhuge Jin saw Zhao Yun out, chatted with him for a few more words, and then turned back home.

As soon as he entered the door, Zhuge Zhi stopped him and put on a casual attitude that was completely unrefined: "Brother, did you invite Captain Zhao here today just to send him armor? To tell him about official business?"

Zhuge Jin pretended to be dignified: "Why, you want to take charge of my official business too? Your uncle must have spoiled you in the past few years."

Zhuge Zhi: "No! I'm just asking casually!"

Zhuge Jin then pretended to smile and said, "So what do you think of Captain Zhao's appearance?"

Zhuge Zhi: "…Why are you asking this?"

Zhuge Jin: "Not satisfied? Then forget it."

Zhuge Zhi: "Eh? What's the point of being satisfied or dissatisfied? Everyone has their own looks. How can I be dissatisfied?"

Zhuge Jin: "So you are satisfied?"

　Yesterday, someone questioned whether Yuan Shao was happy to see the Yang Biao case happen. Let me clarify and analyze it. I think this is all the result of Cao fans whitewashing Cao Cao.

　　Because when analyzing history, first-hand information, that is, the articles written by people at that time, are always the most authoritative.

　　The most authoritative source for the Yang Biao case is obviously Chen Lin's "On behalf of Yuan Shao to Yuzhou". When studying Cao Cao's crimes, considering that Cao Cao did not deny Chen Lin's letter later, but only said that Chen Lin should not insult his father and grandfather, as well as Cao Cao's other words, we can roughly infer a conclusion:
　　In terms of objective facts, that is, what Cao Cao had done, Chen Lin did not slander Cao Cao. Otherwise, it would not be "insult" but "slander", and Cao Cao's rebuttal to him would not be the kind of rhetoric recorded in history books.

　　If Chen Lin wants to slander others, he does so based on "value judgment" rather than "factual judgment", which means that his colleagues have different interpretations.

　　Secondly, it is basically impossible that Yuan Shao also had some negative information about what Chen Lin wrote. Because it is conceivable that there are at least twenty pieces of negative information about Cao Cao in the whole article, and Chen Lin did not add any more or less. And Yuan Shao is Chen Lin's boss. When a secretary was preparing materials, how could he write about "his boss might also be involved and have some negative information"? His manifesto had to be shown to Yuan Shao first before it was sent out.

　　If Yuan Shao had any dirt on this matter, Chen Lin would have become Yin Yang's own leader. What would Yuan Shao think? Cao Cao had so much dirt on him, and this one was not the only one.

　　Would a secretary of Chen Lin's level make such a low-level mistake of "yin and yang leading themselves"?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)