My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 184 Zhuge Jin: Of course I have to charge you for helping someone quell a rebellion
On the other hand, let’s go back to the city of Wuhu at the end of February.

When Liu Bei received the good news that Bu Zhi and Lu Yi had defeated Sun Ce in central Fujian and forced him to retreat, his first reaction was naturally overjoyed, and he immediately sent someone to notify Zhuge Jin to share the joy.

Zhuge Jin came in a hurry. Before he even got off his horse, Liu Bei personally came to the gate of the shogunate to greet him. He grabbed Zhuge Jin and walked him inside. As he walked, he couldn't help but pat Zhuge Jin on the back of his hand:
"Zi Yu, you really have a keen eye for talent this time! I never thought that Zi Shan would go to Kuaiji and Minzhong for three months and finally achieve such a great feat, subdue Wang Lang and repel Sun Ce!

I had originally expected that he could slow down Sun Ce's progress for a few months, but he actually forced Sun Ce to retreat and give up the battle across the sea.

In my opinion, Sun Ce has lost several thousand men and more than two hundred warships. He will not be able to recover for at least half a year, so he dare not make any more moves."

Zhuge Jin listened quietly to Liu Bei's brief account of the situation, then smiled modestly: "It is indeed a cause for celebration that Zishan and Lu Yi forced Sun Ce to retreat, but how dare I take credit for it?

To be honest, when I recommended Zishan to work with Sun Ce and Wang Lang, I did have some selfish motives. At that time, I just felt that there were several people who could do this job well.

But Zi Jing was acquainted with Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, so letting him go would inevitably hurt their reputation and intensify the conflict. And Shi Yuan is ugly, and he is easily confident in battle and likes to lead the troops. I am afraid that he might make a mistake.

Zishan is good at mediating divisions, and he has suffered a lot, so he is not likely to be flamboyant and irritate others. In the end, I decided to recommend him. In fact, it was somewhat based on our friendship as classmates and nepotism. "

Zhuge Jin didn't need to show off in such an occasion, and he didn't have to show that he was also very good at employing and judging people. Liu Bei's superstition about him was already strong enough, so it wouldn't be bad to be modest in a proper way, to show that he had hit the jackpot and had a little selfish intention to help his classmates.

Let's be frank and talk it out.

Besides, Liu Bei had some selfish motives when it came to employing people, and he did not absolutely appoint people based on their merits.

For example, for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, although these two men were indeed worthy of ten thousand enemies, especially Guan Yu, who was a rare famous general in the world, Liu Bei's trust and importance in him obviously exceeded Guan Yu's talent itself.

So Liu Bei really didn't take Zhuge Jin's explanation seriously at all, and said as a matter of course:

"It is human nature to recommend people based on their relationship with others. Even if three people can be promoted for a single achievement, it is only natural to give priority to the one who is closer to you. Isn't that right? What's there to explain?
By the way, does Mancai have some unique military potential that I just haven't seen? Should I give him a chance in the future?"

As Liu Bei spoke, it seemed that his trust in the circle of "Zhuge Jin's classmates" greatly increased. He remembered that Yan Jun was also Zhuge Jin's classmate and had come to surrender with Bu Zhi.

Now that Bu Zhi had made a stunning debut and demonstrated his ability to pacify central Fujian, although Liu Bei felt that he did not see what Yan Jun was capable of, he could not help feeling guilty, wondering if it was because of his poor judgment.

Liu Bei, who was always known for his ability to identify and employ people, actually had a day when he lacked confidence in his judgment. It was really because Zhuge Jin created too many miracles.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin put the brakes on him in time: "Forget about Mancai. He is not suitable for military affairs. He has only studied classics in his life. If he is allowed to take care of civil affairs, he may be able to be honest and not greedy, and let the people live in peace and do nothing. But in terms of taking advantage of the situation and serving the people, he is still a little short of it.

In my opinion, Man's talents are better suited to supervising the administration of officials and rectifying the social atmosphere. For this position, it is enough for him to be aloof and stand out from the crowd, and to study the classics and laws, and be impartial and selfless, and he will be able to do a good job. "

Historically, Yan Jun was under Sun Quan. After Lu Su's death, Sun Quan wanted Yan Jun to take over. Yan Jun himself said that he was a waste in military affairs and begged with tears. Sun Quan finally rescinded his decision and replaced him with Lu Meng.

Although the lines of "debating with scholars" in the novel were written by Luo Guanzhong, Luo Guanzhong arranged for Yan Jun to ask Kong Ming "what classics have you studied in your life", which can be regarded as capturing the characteristics of the character. This is an old-fashioned man who has been studying classics all his life, but his character is okay, and he is neither a group nor a block.

Liu Bei listened to Zhuge Jin's serious words and gave up the idea of "continuing to explore the hidden attributes". He just said with a dull look:
"That's fine, but Zishan and Lu Yi have made such great contributions this time, how should we reward them? Ziyu, have you thought about your official positions?"

After all, Lu Yi was too young, only seventeen years old, and had not yet been given a name, so the name "Bo Yan" did not exist now. Liu Bei mentioned him many times and could only call him by his name.

Zhuge Jin also said, "My lord, Lu Yi is too young, he has not yet performed the ceremony of coming of age, nor has he taken a given name, so it is better not to rush.

What's more, most of the Lu family are still in Wu County. Judging from what Zishan said in the book, they still need Gu Yuantan's protection and protection. It would be better to postpone the reward to avoid alerting the enemy. Just let the envoy convey encouragement verbally and promise that after Wu County is recovered, they will naturally be promoted to prominent positions.

As for Zishan... since he is my classmate, it is inconvenient for me to get involved in his promotion, so the Lord can make the decision."

Liu Bei thought about it and decided: "Before Zishan became a Zhonglang official, he was only a county magistrate. So let him serve as a county magistrate for a few months to gain some local experience at the county level. He can keep his position in the general's office.

I heard that County Magistrate Yu Fan has always been with Wang Jingxing, and he is a loyal and righteous man. It is not easy for us to deprive Yu Zhongxiang of his power.

However, since Wang Jingxing has been promised permanent residence in Minzhong, I will present a petition to the court in the future, begging for the division of Kuaiji and Minzhong into two counties, with Wang Jingxing and Yu Zhongxiang remaining in Minzhong as the governor and county magistrate, and Zishan as the county magistrate of Kuaiji. When Wu County is pacified in the future, Zishan can be promoted to governor.

You can send a message back to Lu Yi. Now he will act in secret as a military commander. After pacifying Wu, he can be promoted to a captain. If he has more military merits in the subsequent pacification of Wu, he will be promoted and rewarded as appropriate. Gu Yuantan has a good reputation and can also be made a governor in Wu. "

Zhuge Jin did not raise any objections and directly thanked Liu Bei for the promotion on behalf of Bu Zhi.

After dealing with the rewards, Liu Bei thought of Sun Ce's recent setbacks, and became more and more eager. He even had an impulse to try to provoke Sun Ce to lose his composure and invade him, the governor of Yangzhou, and then create an opportunity to counterattack and destroy him.

Although Zhuge Jin had already planned for him to first attack Huang Zu and then get some money from Lu Bu, after all, the opportunity of heavy losses in the military forces of other princes was right in front of him, and it was impossible to say that he was not tempted at all.

Liu Bei continued to ask: "Zi Yu, Sun Ce has lost so many soldiers, money, food and warships. Do we have a chance to provoke Sun Ce to attack us first, and then counterattack and destroy him?"

Zhuge Jin listened, although he smiled bitterly, he could understand, so he had to advise Liu Bei to pay attention to his rhythm and not be disrupted by unexpected accidents:

"My lord, we should openly attack Huang Zu first to show the world that our army is loyal and righteous in obeying the imperial edict, and then secretly help Yuan Long to start a rebellion. Isn't this a strategy that has been discussed long ago? Last year, His Majesty mentioned these requirements in the decree that promoted you to General of Chariots and Cavalry. If you don't attack Huang Zu first, it will be a loss to obey the imperial edict.

Moreover, when our army pretended to support Yuan Long, everything was done hastily and on impulse, so we had to ensure that the main force of our army was contained in the direction of Xiakou, otherwise it would be difficult to explain to the court. "

These two points are old hat, and Liu Bei had actually heard them several times, so when Zhuge Jin brought them up again, he immediately calmed down.

Realizing that he was just shaken by the sudden surprise, he should still have the fortitude to follow the established pace. Zhuge Jin could see that although Liu Bei agreed, he still had a little hesitation and reluctance in his heart.

In order to thoroughly enlighten his mentality, Zhuge Jin decided to add some new details and new angles of argument that had not been mentioned before in addition to the old sayings.

After all, when this plan was made, it was only the end of October of the third year of Jian'an, and now it is the end of February of the fourth year of Jian'an.

The four-month rest and farming season has passed, and the external environment has undergone many new changes.

Some words that were not suitable to be mentioned four months ago, which could easily be regarded as charlatanism and lack of evidence, now seem more credible as more clues are exposed.

So Zhuge Jin sorted out his thoughts and said something new that he hadn't said four months ago:
"My lord, Sun Ce is right there. As long as we are fully prepared and seize an opportunity, we can destroy him at any time. Although Sun Ce has just suffered a setback, his foundation is not damaged. We don't need to disrupt ourselves just because of the loss of thousands of soldiers.

With the three counties of Wu and Hui under Sun Ce's control, it is still possible to gather 50,000 soldiers. After this loss, at least 40,000 can be gathered. If it is to defend the territory, the proportion that can be recruited is even higher, and it is not impossible to gather 70,000 or 80,000 troops for a desperate fight."

Zhuge Jin first analyzed the extent of the enemy's weakening and made Liu Bei understand that Sun Ce had not really changed a lot all of a sudden, and at most his combat strength had been reduced by less than 20%.

In history, before the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu asked Sun Quan to give him 50,000 elite soldiers. It can be seen that the number of troops that Dongwu could muster at that time must have been more than 50,000, and there could be even more if they were to defend the home.

Of course, before the Battle of Red Cliff, Sun Quan occupied one more large county, Yuzhang, than Sun Ce did today, and also owned part of Lujiang, plus the six Shanyue counties in the south of Danyang. But Zhuge Jin estimated that if Sun Ce exhausted all his war potential, he should be able to barely gather 50,000 soldiers, and at least 40,000 would be left after defeating Minzhong.

The population of Danyang County, which was occupied by Sun Ce, was 470,000, Wu County had 700,000, and Kuaiji County had 500,000, totaling more than 1.6 million people. And this number did not include the refugees who fled from the north to escape the war, who might have numbered more than 1.8 million.

Jiangdong did not suffer much damage from wars at the end of the Han Dynasty, and the area was vast and sparsely populated, so there was no contradiction between population and land. Compared with the population at its peak in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it only declined slightly. If the exiled northern scholars were counted, the area had increased instead of decreased.

As mentioned earlier, Liu Bei's camp currently controls about five counties (Jiujiang, Lujiang, Yuzhang, and Guangling, four whole counties, plus Danyang and Donghai, which only account for a small half), with a total population of more than 2.6 million.

2.6 million versus 1.8 million, Liu Bei did not achieve absolute crushing of Sun Ce's population size.

Judging from the number of troops, more than 70,000 field standing troops against more than 40,000 people is not an absolute crushing defeat, and the military-civilian ratio of Liu Bei's army is even higher - of course, if Sun Ce had not lost the Battle of Minzhong, he would still have 70,000 to 50,000, which is basically consistent with the population ratio of 260 to 180.

The ratio of soldiers and civilians on both sides is basically one soldier for every thirty-five people, including both men, women, old and young.

Zhuge Jin used simple mathematical statistics to help Liu Bei recalculate the account, which helped him to suppress his impulse and gain a more intuitive and quantitative perception, making him realize that it would be better to continue to accumulate strength, so that he would have a more overwhelming advantage once he took action in the future.

Anyway, Sun Ce's population of 1.8 million has already reached its peak and will not increase any further. However, Liu Bei's population of 260 still has room for improvement.

After doing the math, Zhuge Jin took the opportunity to throw out a new insight that has just emerged recently:
"Moreover, I persuaded you to attack Huang Zu with all your heart, not just for the 300,000 people and land of Jiangxia County. After communicating with the court for the past few months, you should have noticed that it is becoming more and more obvious that Cao Cao wants other forces behind the southern clan princes to check each other.

Therefore, Cao Cao will not only use Sun Ce to contain the lord, but will also most likely use some governors in Jingnan to contain Liu Biao in the future. If Cao Cao really has laid an ambush in Jingnan and has not yet done it, and we have not taken over the southern part of Jiangxia, then in the future we can only sit back and watch Liu Biao close the door and fight the dog when something happens in the north, block Jiangxia, and then put down the rebellion.

But if the southern part of Jiangxia is in our hands, we can go through the Yangtze River waterway, connect with Changsha County, and then contact other places in the four southern counties of Jing. If Cao Cao really has a backup plan in the future and makes a sudden move, we can help Liu Biao suppress the rebellion.

Therefore, Jiangxia is more important than just a county. We want the geographical advantage of Xiakou, the thoroughfare of the five states. As long as we control the mouth of the Jianghan River and are close to Dongting and Xiaoxiang, we can benefit from the entire South China Sea. My lord, please do not underestimate the importance of Jiangxia. "

Zhuge Jin really had a hard time saying these words.

Because he couldn't give a direct answer, he said, "I know that in history, Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha, was Cao Cao's man. In the future, he would start a rebellion behind Liu Biao during the Battle of Guandu to prevent Liu Biao from stabbing Cao Cao in the back and helping Yuan Shao."

But Zhuge Jin had already tried his best to make his words and deduced evidence point in that direction, and the only thing left was to mention Zhang Xian's name at the end.

After hearing this analysis, Liu Bei suddenly increased his level of attention.

Zhuge Jin had left him with too much strategic foresight.

Ziyu said that Cao Cao might have a backup plan, so he probably does. Our side can take advantage of the opportunity to leave an extra loophole to make some money, so why not?
In the future, it would definitely not be possible to attack Liu Biao directly. As long as Liu Biao did not support Huang Zu and acknowledged Liu Bei's crusade against Huang Zu, there would be no legal flaw in Liu Biao's rule, and Liu Bei could not rashly attack other relatives of the Han Dynasty.

However, if there are rebellious generals under Liu Biao in the future, there will be absolutely no problem for Liu Bei to help Liu Biao suppress the rebellion and then occupy the counties he has taken over and not return them.

Don’t you need to charge any labor fees for helping people quell a rebellion?

Moreover, Cao Cao's signs of arrogance are becoming more and more obvious. Liu Bei has already vaguely sensed that the time when Cao Cao completely turns into a traitor to the country may not be too far away.

By then, those rebels might even attack the loyal princes under the banner of supporting Cao Cao and the imperial court.

The situation seems to be becoming increasingly complicated.

Forget it, I don't want to think about anything else. As expected, it is most important to take Jiangxia, the thoroughfare of the five states, and everything else can be discussed later. There is no need for Sun Ce to take advantage of the situation, since the danger is not very obvious anyway.

　The map change is a bit laggy, so the update is a little late. Yesterday I wrote 12,000 words in one go and finished writing the map for the previous chapter.

　　I always feel that I need to sort out and review the running time a little bit after coming back, please don't think it's boring. Because I guess some book friends may have forgotten what was written at the end of the chapter on Wuhu four days ago. If I don't give a brief review, many people will forget and can't continue.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)