My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 297 Talking about Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrives

A few days later, it was late spring in March and the grass was growing tall in the south of the Yangtze River.

In the far suburbs west of Qiantang County, Wujun, there is a newly built mausoleum.

Zhou Yu came to the tomb with a guilty conscience and asked his servants to carry a few jars of wine and a sheep. He poured the wine into a large bronze cup, killed the sheep in front of the tomb, bled it as a sacrifice, and then asked someone to bring a small bronze tripod to boil the sheep that had just been bled.

After doing all this, Zhou Yu dared to take a peek at the words on the tombstone. It read "Tomb of the General Who Suppressed Rebellion in the Han Dynasty". This evaluation made him feel a little relieved. Seeing that the materials used were also of high quality, he raised his wine cup and said in a toast:

"Bofu, I'm sorry for you. I said I wanted to retire overseas, but I still surrendered to Liu Bei. But Liu Bei didn't make things difficult for your mother and uncle. Zhongmou and A Shao should have arrived at the coast of Qingzhou by ship.

In order to stop Zhuge Jin from hunting Zhongmou, I had no choice but to make an agreement with him. You and I had no intention of joining Cao, but we failed in our fight for the world, so we had to settle for the next best thing, and ended up like this. It can be said that if you seek the best, you get the middle, and if you seek the middle, you get the worst. Fate is everything, and nothing can be decided by us.

Among the princes of the world, you are not as strong as Yuan and Cao in terms of military power, and you are not as good as Liu Bei and Liu Biao in terms of righteousness and reputation. In the past, when I was in Huaishui, I discussed with Zi Jing the way to fame in troubled times. Zi Jing once told me that if having strong military power is not enough to be a hero of the world, you can still seek to eliminate the remnants and filth for the Han family, avenge the Han family and take over the world.

Unfortunately, Cao Cao took advantage of the emperor and had a strong army. This righteous reputation has been occupied by Liu Bei and Yuan Shao. Now that Yuan Shao has retreated, Liu Bei has taken all the righteousness. You are not as good as Cao Cao in terms of troops and territory, and you are not as good as Liu Bei in avenging the Han Dynasty. It can be said that the current situation is playing tricks on you.

If it weren't for the struggle for supremacy, I wouldn't have wanted you to quit when you started to show signs of decline. However, in your life, you have also earned the reputation of being a great hero. I will take care of your mother and uncle, alas."

Zhou Yu talked a lot, which helped him to relieve his worries. Then he poured the wine and cut off a head and two hooves of the cooked sheep and placed them in front of the tomb before leaving.

……

Two hours later, also in the western suburbs of Qiantang County, at the edge of a deserted swamp.

General Zhuge Jin, under the protection of his guards, was leisurely fishing. He had been fishing for the whole morning, but still had no catch. Perhaps he was about to have his first air force since his time travel.

He has also recently been inspecting Qiantang County. In a few days he will cross the river to Zhejiang and visit Shanyin to make himself familiar to the local gentry and establish his authority.

As a frontier official authorized by Liu Bei to "take charge of Yangzhou Mufu affairs", Zhuge Jin could of course hide in Moling City and handle government affairs without leaving his house. But Wuhui had just been pacified, so he still had to inspect the major cities. Especially Shanyin, as the county seat of Kuaiji County, he had to go there at least once.

Zhuge Jin also arranged to meet with Wang Lang, the governor of Kuaiji, in Shanyin County five days later, to test Wang Lang's abilities and give him a warning, to ensure that Wang Lang recognized the new situation and would obey his orders in the future and not regard himself as a vassal.

Since he was going to Shanyin, he should also visit Qiantang on the way, and finally make a detour to Juzhang. As for the small counties in the coastal valleys further south, he would not go there in person.

Zhuge Jin had also visited Sun Ce's mausoleum a few days ago, as a routine matter to win people's hearts and minds, so that when the leaders of other local tyrants and small separatist forces surrender in the future, they will have less psychological pressure.

Treating the surrendered and the dead well is never for the surrendered and the dead themselves, but for the sake of those who come after them. This is the law of nature.

The attendants beside him were afraid that General Fu Bo would be in a bad mood because he had not gained anything, so they did not dare to disturb him. It was not until his old classmate Bu Zhi appeared that he broke the awkward silence.

"Ziyu, Zhou Yu has already paid tribute to Sun Ce. I think he seemed to be in better spirits when he returned. Do you want to submit a petition to the Lord and arrange an official position for Zhou Yu in the near future?"

It turned out that Bu Zhi had sent people to keep an eye on Zhou Yu this morning, so as soon as Zhou Yu finished his worship, he came to report the first-hand situation.

Zhuge Jin was interrupted by Bu Zhi, so he took advantage of the situation and threw away the fishing hook and put away the rod:
"Don't worry. It's only been two months since Sun Ce's death. Even if Zhou Yu seems relieved on the surface, he must still have some grudges in his heart. Besides, Jiangdong has been pacified, and there is no other place in the south that is in a hurry to organize troops for naval battles. There is no need to rush to use him now.

Just like Gu Yong, let him rest this year to calm down, and then give him an official position next year, which will save face. For the lord, the biggest use of Zhou Yu is to prevent him from being used by Cao thieves, and everything else is secondary. "

After explaining the main business, Zhuge Jin paused for a moment and spat at the dilapidated swamp in front of him: "This salt marsh is abandoned. River fish can't survive and sea fish can't get in. I wasted my whole afternoon. This is the first time in my life that I have caught nothing."

Bu Zhi saw Zhuge Jin scolding him, and knew that Zhuge Jin no longer minded, so he said in a humorous way: "Zi Yu has always been open-minded and cheerful. Since you have such a refined taste, why don't you go to the south of the city and fish in the Zhejiang River instead of coming to this salt marsh to stay there.

I told you long ago that the water in Qiantang County is salty and the soil is alkaline, and there are not many good farmlands. Could it be that Ziyu plans to learn from the method of managing Sheyang Lake in Guangling and manage the salt marsh in Wu County in the future?
In my opinion, Wu County is more sparsely populated than Guangling. The fertile land around Zhenze is enough for the people to cultivate. The population of Qiantang, Yuhang and other counties is less than 10,000 households, so they don’t need so much land.”

"I didn't think too much about it. I was just fishing casually. Who can tell what will happen in the future?" Zhuge Jin was too lazy to explain more, so he just made up an excuse to stop Bu Zhi from thinking too much.

There was no deep meaning for him to come here to fish, except that a thousand years later, this place would be regarded as the world-famous West Lake.

Before he traveled through time, he was a student and teacher in the provincial capital, and he was a frequent visitor to the lake. After traveling through time, he revisited the place five years later, but he could not find any traces to pay tribute to.

I didn't expect that the West Lake in the late Han Dynasty was still a filthy, shallow, and nameless salt marsh to the west of Qiantang City, which couldn't even support a live fish. It was really lamentable. After the attendants helped him pack up the fishing rods and fishing nets, Zhuge Jin didn't get in the car, but walked back to the city with Bu Zhi.

Along the way, Bu Zhi reported to him some of the latest news of the past two days to synchronize the information.

Bu Zhi asked, "By the way, I wonder if the lord has responded to my recommendation for the meritorious officials of Wu Hui?"

Zhuge Jin: "No reply yet, but it will be soon, probably in the next few days - why? Are you in such a hurry to take office? The lord never rejects my suggestions, not even for adjustments."

Bu Zhi hastily denied: "Why would I be in such a hurry to take up the post? It's just that if the name is not right, then the words will not flow. General Guan also came to me yesterday and entrusted me with some military affairs. He said that he would prepare to lead his troops back to Xiapi today, and Zhang Liao and other troops would also be brought back to Xuzhou.

Regarding the matter of taking over the counties in the southern mountainous area of Kuaiji, he asked me to assist General Zhao to finish it temporarily. He also said that he knew his brother had been appointed as the prefect of Kuaiji County, and it was appropriate for me to take over this matter. That’s why I asked casually whether the appointment of the prefect of Kuaiji County had been officially issued. "

Bu Zhi had previously assisted Wang Lang, Yu Fan, and He Qi in defending Minzhong, and had made contributions, but because he was in the underground front, it was difficult for him to be promoted immediately. This promotion to the position of the prefect of Kuaiji County was considered too little.

Because Wang Lang was appointed as the governor of Kuaiji when the emperor was not held hostage, Liu Bei could not change him arbitrarily, so Bu Zhi, the county magistrate, actually exercised the power of the governor. Although Wang Lang could return to Shanyin in the future, he would still be half-empty.

In this way, after another year or two, the situation will have transitioned to a stable state and the agricultural development in the south will be arranged step by step. Zhuge Jin will then transfer Bu Zhi to another large county and make him the prefect in a legitimate manner.

At this moment, Zhuge Jin didn't care about what Bu Zhi mentioned. He just keenly grasped a piece of information: Guan Yu was in a hurry to return to Xia Pi. This really surprised Zhuge Jin, so he couldn't help asking:

"Could it be that I have been idle and fishing these past two days, and something big has happened outside? Did Yunchang hear anything?"

Bu Zhi: "General Guan received an urgent report from Tian Yu of Xuzhou, saying that Cao's army was gathered in Pengcheng, and there were various rumors. Counting the days, it has been more than three months since Cao Cao won the Battle of Guandu. Could it be that Cao Cao has rested and recovered his army's morale, and wants to attack our army in Huaibei?

Cao's army between Chen and Qiao is very quiet, and it doesn't look like they want to attack Shouchun, so General Zhao doesn't need to return to the army for the time being. So it seems that Cao's army may want to flatten our Huaihe River defense line and take over a half-county in the north of the Huai River? In this way, we can cut off our land communication with Yuan Shao. "

Zhuge Jin was a little anxious after hearing this. He fanned his folding fan a few times to calm down, flicked the fan bone and denied:

"Impossible. Cao Cao hadn't completely destroyed Yuan Shao yet, so why would he be distracted and look southward, making more enemies? With Xun You and Xun Yu's wisdom, they would never let Cao Cao do such a short-sighted thing.

However, Yunchang heard the news and returned to defend, which was not wrong. It is better to be safe than sorry. Just don't occupy too many troops and don't affect the busy farming production of the people in Xiapi and Donghai.

Our army fought throughout the year last year, and consumed a lot of food and grass. The harvest in Wuhui and Jingnan last year was at least 20% to 30%. This year we must rest and recuperate, store food and grain, and restore our vitality first.

I guess, Cao Cao is spreading this rumor, is it to seduce Yuan Shao again? To make Yuan Shao underestimate the enemy and advance rashly after last year's disastrous defeat, and then to strike Yuan Shao hard again?"

Zhuge Jin had such insight, on the one hand because he was far-sighted, and on the other hand, because he still had some historical answers to these kinds of questions that he could draw on.

In history, after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, he immediately wanted to turn back and attack Liu Biao to eliminate Liu Biao's threat to Wancheng or Nanyang County. However, Xun You urged him to see things through, so Cao Cao temporarily gave up the idea, and then there was the second decisive battle with Yuan Shao, the "Battle of Cangting".

Therefore, Zhuge Jin firmly believed that based on the current situation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Cao Cao would never dare to turn around and go to the south to provoke more princes and set a second trap.

If Cao's army was really bluffing in Huaibei, then it was definitely Cao Cao pretending to be attacked from all sides in order to lure Yuan Shao!

As for how to seduce her specifically, Zhuge Jin couldn't guess.

Bu Zhi was somewhat enlightened after hearing his words, but then he also thought of something unusual: "But if Cao Cao wanted to show weakness to lure Yuan Shao, he shouldn't create tension here in Xia Pi. Liu Biao's progress in Wancheng is a greater threat to Cao Cao's heartland.

Wouldn't it be more realistic if Cao Cao showed a heavy attack on Wancheng? And Yuan Shao had already been defeated, would he really fall for such a trick?"

Zhuge Jin: "I don't know whether Yuan Shao will fall into the trap, but I know that Yuan Shao cannot bear to suffer a loss. If he suffers a loss, he will seek revenge.

As for Nanyang, maybe Cao Cao has already made some unusual moves, but we are thousands of miles away and we don’t know about it.

I will write another memorial to my lord, telling him about Xu Yang's affairs, reporting on the subsequent governance plan for Yangzhou, and asking Kong Ming for any military information he has. "

(End of this chapter)