My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 32: Mission to Lü Bu (New Week, Please Vote, Collect, Follow and Comment)

Liu Bei was of course unwilling to accept the situation that once he got his family back from Lu Bu, he still had to "resist pressure and wait for changes", so he was eager to find out.

But when Liu Bei heard Zhuge Jin's opinion that this "change" might actually be "Yuan Shu declaring himself emperor", he was shocked and did not dare to think about it for the time being.

Of course, Zhuge Jin's words were a bit blunt and contained a bit of the prophecy of a time traveler.

But if you look closely, he did leave room for it - he only said "for example" becoming emperor.

The addition of "for example" gives more room for maneuver. It can be seen that this is just one of the assumptions about the means, and it does not say that Yuan Shu must become the public enemy of the world in this way.

After Liu Bei figured out the key, he wasn't so shocked anymore.

Over the past twenty days, Zhuge Jin has accumulated so much credibility in his heart that no matter how shocking it is, he is willing to listen to the analysis patiently.

Liu Bei took a deep breath, bowed his hands solemnly and asked: "Sir, please tell me in detail why you think Yuan Gonglu is likely to risk the wrath of the world?"

Zhuge Jin then confidently analyzed: "At present, Yuan Shu has not reached the point where he must proclaim himself emperor. But given his arrogance and inability to tolerate grievances, if things continue like this, it is possible that he will proclaim himself emperor in a year or two.

The reason is simple: the Yuan brothers have always been unwilling to be constrained by the court. When Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang and the world was shocked, Cao Cao was still able to pursue the enemy fiercely, while the two Yuans led other princes to hesitate.

It can be seen that the two Yuans were just using the fight against Dong Zhuo to expand their own power. If the emperor was really welcomed back, they would be tied up. Later, when Dong Zhuo died and Jue Si held the emperor hostage for three years, Cao Cao even submitted a petition to the emperor to ask for an official position, disregarding his dignity to please Jue Si, while the two Yuans had completely ignored the court.

Yuan Shao tried to establish Liu Yu as the Grand Chancellor, while Yuan Shu arbitrarily detained the envoys of the three highest officials sent from Guanzhong, such as Ma Ritian, and used the imperial seal and staff to convey his own ideas.

They had so many old debts to the court after such actions that in the same month when Cao Cao welcomed the emperor back, he appointed the general as the General Guarding the East and sent him to fight against Yuan Shu.

Although the general's campaign was not fully successful due to Lü Bu's attack from behind, he still defeated Ji Ling and Liu Xun. Now that the emperor has been controlled by Cao Cao for three months, will Cao Cao also issue an edict to other princes to legitimately allow them to campaign against Yuan Shu?
If the decree reached Liu Biao, what would Yuan Shu do? Recently, it was heard that Zhang Ji of Liangzhou tried to advance eastward, but was shot and killed in Nanyang. In the midst of despair and confusion, would the remnants of Zhang Ji's army reconcile with Liu Biao and obey the imperial decree to atone for their sins?
Moreover, although both Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were guilty of not respecting the imperial court, Yuan Shao was Cao Cao's ally, old friend and superior. After Cao Cao became emperor, he recommended Yuan Shao as the general and himself as the general of chariots and cavalry. It can be seen that Cao Cao was smart and had already thought that he could not break with the two Yuans at the same time, and still respected Yuan Shao.

In this case, the imperial court will use all its strength to suppress Yuan Shu. If Yuan Shu does not break away and set up a new central government, he will be overwhelmed by the endless imperial edicts. In this case, with Yuan Shu's intolerant temper, he will definitely think, "If I don't rebel, I will be cut by a blunt knife and slowly die. It's better to rebel with a legitimate reason and let go and do it."

Zhuge Jin's analysis was based half on prediction and half on real talent and knowledge, and was completely in line with the situation at the time.

Historically, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor in February of the next year, which is exactly half a year from now. Although history has changed and may be delayed, the logic remains unchanged.

Liu Bei thought about it and found it to be reasonable. However, he also keenly noticed some uncertainties and asked:
"What you said does make some sense. But since ancient times, I have never seen a rebellious person who dares to claim to be a king or an emperor when he is defeated.

Just like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in the late Qin Dynasty, and the Green Forest and Red Eyebrows in Wang Mang’s time, they all took advantage of their victories to become kings. Yuan Shu has just been defeated, how dare he advance rashly? "

When Zhuge Jin heard this question, his eyes lit up and he gained a deeper understanding of Liu Bei's political awareness.

Because Liu Bei's worry really happened to be about the butterfly effect of history.

Historically, before Yuan Shu became emperor, he defeated Liu Bei and almost destroyed him. Then he nominally obtained the surrender of Lu Bu, which made him feel that "most of the world is in my hands". In addition, he never wanted to be disgusted by Cao Cao's will. These two factors worked together and led to his becoming emperor.

"Not wanting to be disgusted by the emperor controlled by Cao Cao" was Yuan Shu's internal motivation for becoming emperor, which solved the problem of "whether he wanted to or not".

"A series of victories had just been achieved in military and diplomatic fields" was the external basis for Yuan Shu to become emperor, which solved his problem of "whether he dared or not".

You must have both the desire and the courage to become emperor, and neither of them can be missing. Therefore, Liu Bei's victory that changed history will inevitably delay Yuan Shu's process of becoming emperor, but it is not known how many months it will be delayed.

The reason is simple. Yuan Shu's courage was slightly reduced by Liu Bei's battle.

He must make up for it in other ways before he can naturally fill up his "courage tank" again.

Therefore, Zhuge Jin had to remind Liu Bei: Don't provoke Yuan Shu again at this time, as that would only result in mutual losses and waste of resources, and it might even reduce Yuan Shu's energy accumulation progress bar.

However, these words could not be said directly, so Zhuge Jin had to embellish them a little:
"…Therefore, Yuan Shu's arrogance must be compensated in other directions, which will eventually make him the public enemy of the world. And we must guard our positions carefully and not let Yuan Shu see any flaws. Then, there will be very few targets left for Yuan Shu to compensate.

In my estimation, Sun Ce is still a member of Yuan Shu's army. If Sun Ce makes more progress in Yangzhou, such as destroying Wang Lang next year, this may completely arouse Yuan Shu's arrogance and make him dare to risk the wrath of the world.

If Sun Ce is not enough, Lu Bu is also an option. I also said that Lu Bu may reconcile with us now, but it is impossible in the long run. When Lu Bu completely controls Xuzhou and has no worries, he will definitely expand outward, and at that time he will definitely become enemies with us again.

Once Lu Bu becomes hostile to us, it is inevitable that he will nominally ally with Yuan Shu, which will then encourage Yuan Shu.

Furthermore, if the general can keep the secret well enough, and borrow troops from my uncle to take over Yuzhang County in the future, it may also cause Yuan Shu to become even more arrogant.

I am ashamed to say that although my uncle was recommended by Liu Biao as the governor of Yuzhang, he had worked for Yuan Shu for a while in his early years. If my uncle actually controlled Yuzhang, he would have sent a secret letter to Yuan Shu privately, hinting at his intention to make friends and seek support.

Yuan Shu might also think, "I finally controlled Yuzhang from the imperial court and the bandits through the Zhuge family." But this requires the general to be humble and not to publicize that the Zhuge family is on good terms with the general, nor to publicly expose that the troops and horses that the Zhuge family used to recapture Yuzhang were borrowed from the general.

Otherwise, Yuan Shu would know that our Zhuge family had long since severed ties with him, and this strategy of fanning the flames and strengthening his arrogance would not work. "

After hearing this, Liu Bei's eyes widened and he was speechless for a long time.

It was the first time for him to hear Zhuge Jin discuss such a far-reaching strategic prospect and deduce the evolution of the enemy-friendly relations among the princes of the world.

I didn't expect that Tzuyu not only had such a wealth of military strategies and on-the-spot tactics in small battles, but also had such a clear overall macro perspective of the world!

Liu Bei was stunned for a long time before he sighed: "I originally thought that given the friendship between Wang Lang and us, we would have to rescue him if Sun Ce attacked Wang Lang in the future. Now after listening to your analysis, Ziyu, are we going to sit back and watch Wang Lang perish?

Couldn't Yuan Shu have taken direct action to curb Sun Ce before he risked the world's disapproval? Was all this just to give Yuan Shu hope and strengthen his rebellion? "

Zhuge Jin said that there was no other way. "Although Yuan Shu and his direct allies cannot be touched for the time being, the world is so big that there are countless places where we can suppress the rebellion. Guangling and Yuzhang are enough for the general to spend a year to stabilize the local area. Around Yuzhang and other places in Jiangdong, there are also corners that Sun Ce cannot take care of for the time being, and there are various Danyang bandits who have established their own regimes.

As the saying goes, haste makes waste. Sometimes, slow is fast. As long as we can quickly catalyze Yuan Shu to become the world's public enemy, even if we move slowly for a while, we will move faster later."

Liu Bei thought about it again and again, and finally made up his mind. He bowed to Zhuge Jin and said, "Since this is the case, I have no doubts. In the next one or two years, our army's foreign peace and war attitude will all depend on your planning! Whatever you say, it will be the truth!"

After finishing speaking, Liu Bei stood up and stated that all foreign affairs were formally entrusted to him for coordination. Then he sent Zhuge Jin out and officially embarked on the journey of reconciliation with Lu Bu.

　It’s a new week, and I have all kinds of requests. I want to get on the new book list again to increase exposure. Thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)