My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 428: None of the Paradox players are innocent

After Zhang Song finished speaking, he handed the map and notes to Liu Bei, and defended himself as not selling out his master for personal gain. Then he remained silent, waiting for Liu Bei to slowly digest the information.

Fortunately, in this life, Zhang Song presented the map to Liu Bei in the side hall of the Xuzhou Mu's Mansion in Pengcheng. There was no one around, so it was not too embarrassing.

Zhang Song also knew that after saying this, he couldn't appear too eager to move forward, otherwise he would be considered a traitor and would be looked down upon.

Liu Bei was obviously aware of this. He also knew that if he responded too quickly, it would seem that he had ulterior motives in his hospitality to Zhang Song over the past ten days or so.

The side hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. After more than ten breaths, just when Zhang Song was feeling nervous and ashamed, Liu Bei slowly continued:
"Zi Qiao, why do you have to worry so much? How could I regard you as someone who betrays his master and seeks glory?

I have had a friendship with Mr. Ji Bo, who left the day before yesterday, for several years. How can I say that he betrayed his master when he asked me for help with Qi'er's matter?

My nephew Xiansi of Qingzhou came to the meeting and made me the leader. How can this be considered as abandoning himself? If this is the case, why should Ziqiao worry too much?
What I want is for all the relatives and loyal ministers in the world to unite and fight against the rebellion together. As long as they can do it, I will naturally be willing to ensure the local governance, titles, and wealth of Qingzhou, Jingzhou, and Yizhou. What belongs to them is still theirs, why should they betray me?
But if someone betrays the alliance and colluded with Cao, and is unwilling to work hard for the Han Dynasty, I would have no choice but to seize his power.

Moreover, Jing and Yi are of the same clan after all. If he made a mistake and colluded with Cao, as long as he repented in the end, I can still keep him rich and noble and let him reflect on his mistakes and reform himself. "

Liu Bei spoke these lines very slowly. At the beginning, he was reciting the political principles taught to him by Zhuge Jin. Later, as he got better at it, he began to improvise.

His final wording was also very clever: for the relatives who had accidentally colluded with Cao, he could keep their "wealth and honor", but the method of "depriving them of their power" mentioned in the previous sentence must also be retained.

In other words, if they remain stubborn, they will be deprived of both power and wealth and will be severely punished.

If you just take one wrong step and eventually regret it, you can just keep an empty title, or even a noble title and fiefdom, and live like a rich man.

After listening to this very detailed and heartfelt analysis, Zhang Song's original tension and shame gradually dissipated.

The matter of presenting the map was the final way to clear things up and put all the grudges aside.

Zhang Song finally understood a truth: indeed, Lord Xuande's status and power far exceeded those of the Jing and Yi Fangbo, and far exceeded those of other clan members. So they were not equals in the first place.

Liu Biao and Liu Zhang did not have the strength to fight for the world. When Cao Cao controlled the court, they were a local force. Even if Liu Bei could regain the court in the future, they would still only be a local force.

What's wrong with the princes submitting to the imperial court? It's not like the princes are submitting to the princes.

Since Liu Bei could tolerate Yuan Tan holding the title of Qingzhou Mu for the rest of his life, as long as Yuan Tan respected him.

It would also allow Liu Qi to live with the title of Governor of Jingzhou for the rest of his life.

Both of them can do it, so why can't Liu Zhang do it?

Therefore, there is no such thing as "betraying the master for glory" here. As a Han minister, he is loyal to both the emperor and the governor. Is there anything wrong with that?
After all, it was because when Zhang Song came to present the map in this life, Liu Bei's power was much greater than in the same period in history.

Liu Bei did not need to make a small investment to achieve a big goal, and he also had the reputation of being a righteous person, so naturally the resistance from local forces was much smaller.

The moral burden of those who want to join him is not as heavy as it was in the same period in history.

……

The two sides talked it out thoroughly and cleared away the obstacles of saving face. Liu Bei and Zhang Song were finally able to be honest with each other.

Zhang Song decided to go all out and began to help Liu Bei plan how to take over Sichuan in the future.

In particular, he revealed to Liu Bei the true colors of those separatist factions in Yizhou who hoped that "Yizhou people would be officials in Yizhou, and that outsiders would not be allowed to gain benefits and that Yizhou's money and grain would not be allowed to return to the outside world", and those "local interest-first" people who forced Liu Zhang to be a guard dog.

Liu Bei listened very carefully, and roughly understood why Liu Zhang's rule in Yizhou was so weak, why he was unable to centralize power and develop the military, and why every time he sent people out to attack Ba County or Hanzhong, he would eventually raise new semi-independent generals who were too powerful to be controlled.

However, Liu Bei had no immediate plans to enter Sichuan. Even if he did, he couldn't discuss the details directly with Zhang Song - wouldn't that make it seem like he had planned it all along?

So, after talking about the situation for a while, when it came to specific action plans and strategies, Liu Bei stepped on the brakes at the right time and said to Zhang Song gently:
"Don't worry, sir. I have never intended to seize the foundation of my clan, so I have never considered entering Sichuan. Now that things are urgent, why not summon Zi Yu to discuss the follow-up plan together? Don't worry, sir. I know that it is a secret and will never let a fourth person know that you have secretly joined our army."

Liu Bei said that he would not let Zhang Song fall into danger of leaking the secret, and only let Zhuge Jin know, and at most Zhuge Liang would be added in the future. Other confidants with lower ranks would be kept completely secret, and even Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun would not know.

This is not because Liu Bei trusted the Zhuge brothers far more than Guan Yu, but because Liu Bei knew very well that those generals were only responsible for executing strategies and did not need to interfere in the formulation of strategies.

Besides, although Guan Yu was careful, Zhang Fei was not very reliable. If only Guan Yu knew about it, or even Zhao Yun knew about it, but Zhang Fei was the only one who kept it a secret, that would be bad, and it would easily cause internal unhappiness. It would be better to just keep all the generals in the dark.

Zhang Song heard that Liu Bei had raised the confidentiality level so high, so he naturally didn't mind, and humbly asked Liu Bei to do as he pleased.

Everyone in the world knows how intelligent and resourceful the Zhuge brothers are. It is an honor for me to have my own affairs known only to them.

After a while, Liu Bei sent a maid to invite Zhuge Jin, and then he sent the maid away, leaving only three people in the room.

Liu Bei explained Zhang Song's situation to him. Zhuge Jin stroked the fan bone, thinking about something. After listening, he added a question:
"Zi Qiao's joining the lord, this matter must be kept secret, right? If he returns to Yizhou in the next few days, he won't be in danger, right?"

Liu Bei: "Only the three of us know about this."

Zhuge Jin nodded: "That's good, it means that we can still hold back. In this case, I will also tell you directly that I will make plans for you. Last year, there were many battles. Cao Cao destroyed Yuan Shang and our army took the three counties of Xu and Huai. Both the enemy and our army were exhausted. This year, Cao's army has just retreated. It is estimated that both sides will not use troops easily. We must rest and recuperate."

Zhuge Jin paused here to let the two of them accept this consensus.

Liu Bei and Zhang Song also nodded naturally, feeling that this was indeed the case.

It has been four years since the Battle of Guandu. If we exclude the half year of fighting during the Battle of Guandu, it has been two and a half years since the end of the Battle of Guandu. During these two and a half years, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Yuan Tan have been fighting at a high intensity without any breaks. Bones were exposed in the wild, civilians and soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and a large number of people migrated.

After all, as the border between the two armies continued to change, in order to prevent harassment by the enemy, Cao Cao was creating new border areas.

Although Liu Bei did not need to create a wasteland on the border, Yuan Tan, who was surrendered to Liu Bei, could not avoid these troubles - especially the Jizhou Bohai County which Yuan Tan used to maintain Qing and You. Because it was located in a plain, only Nanpi City and the surrounding areas of Tianjin City, which was newly built last year, could organize production. In addition, some arable land along the coast of the lower reaches of the Zhangshui River estuary could be used for military settlement under the protection of the army.

Other places had no choice but to relocate their people because they had no strategic location to defend. If Yuan Tan did not relocate, the people would be captured by the invading troops such as Cao Hong.

As a result, Bohai County, which was said to have a population of more than two million at its peak, now has less than 30% of its population left.

Some of them were moved away by Yuan Tan himself, or Liu Bei ordered Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci's navy to move to other places via the Zhangshui-Bohai water route.

Those who remained west of Nanpi City were captured by Cao's army and were not left to Yuan Tan.

Such large-scale and continuous war and migration will definitely require a whole year of recovery, especially for the immigrants to resettle and resume production. If the war continues, there is a possibility that millions of civilians will starve to death.

Cao and Liu had a tacit understanding: if the war could not be continued, both sides would stop fighting before the autumn harvest of the ninth year of Jian'an. After three years of continuous bloody battles, they had to rest for a year.

On Liu Bei's side, there is another thing that must be paid attention to, that is the cultivation and promotion of Linyi rice.

Because the seeds bought from Linyi by sea were only a few thousand dan in size, even if we continued to buy thousands or tens of thousands of dan every year, it would still be a drop in the bucket. Therefore, the promotion of early rice mainly relied on local planting in the south, keeping as much of the harvest as possible as seeds, and then spreading it slowly.

At this rate, only a few township-level fields can be used to grow Linyi rice as early rice this year.

Even with intensive farming and sufficient water and fertilizer, the seed reproduction rate can reach more than ten times a year. By the tenth year of Jian'an next year, the planting area will at most expand to the county level.

In the eleventh year of Jian'an, it might be possible to expand to the county level, and in the twelfth year of Jian'an, it could expand to the state level.

Moreover, when the area becomes larger, it cannot be guaranteed that all harvests can be carefully planned and kept as seeds, and sufficient water and fertilizer cannot be guaranteed for intensive cultivation. The subsequent expansion speed will only be slower.

According to this expansion rate, it would take at least the 13th year of Jian'an for early rice to be grown in major areas of Jiangnan. If it were slower, it might be the 14th year of Jian'an.

Liu Bei's army was under the pressure of farming and developing territory, so a temporary truce became even more necessary.

Zhuge Jin sorted out the timeline and finally analyzed to Liu Bei and Zhang Song: "Before the autumn harvest this year, there will be no use of troops. After the autumn harvest until next year, if there is a chance, we can take a look at the situation of Gongsun Du in Liaodong. It is not yet our turn to go south.

Because if Cao's army wants to go to war with us again next year, Cao Cao will definitely not focus on the Xuhua area.

Cao Cao knew very well that the land of Xu and Huai had mountains and swamps. We did not even want to occupy the plains such as Qiao and Lu. We only wanted to rely on the mountains and rivers to fight against Cao Cao. Then he would definitely not do what we wanted.

He will definitely do the opposite and look for those plains where the enemy and our armies meet to attack our army in order to consume our army. At that time, the main battlefield will most likely be Bohai County in Jizhou, and will take place in Yuan Tan's territory.

And if we want to keep Yuan Tan and swallow him, it is very important to kill Gongsun Du who obeys Cao Cao first to prevent Qing and You from being attacked from all sides. Moreover, I heard that Gongsun Du is old and sick, so we should take advantage of the opportunity when Cao is resting and strike first.

Therefore, whether to manage West Shu may be a matter of one and a half or even two years later, that is, first rest, then Liaodong, and then formally annex Yuan Tan, and then consider entering Sichuan. Moreover, Liu Zhang is a relative of the Han Dynasty after all. If he does not show any faults of being close to Cao and resisting the alliance, we directly threaten him, which may also be detrimental to the righteous reputation of the lord.

If we wait and see, if anything had happened to Cao Cao, Zhang Lu or Han Sui in the past two years, any of them would have threatened Liu Zhang, causing him to be afraid of being invaded by the northern princes and choose to keep quiet and send envoys to surrender.

Once we get hold of evidence against him, we can have a legitimate reason to condemn Liu Zhang for trying to appease the anti-Han princes, and say, "If you are worried about not being able to defend Yizhou, our army can do it for you and help you on the front line."

If Liu Zhang agreed, our army would have the opportunity to enter Sichuan. Even if we could not get the Chengdu Plain, as long as we could reach Jiangzhou and cross the dangerous Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, then whether we were helping Liu Zhang defend Zhang Lu or Cao Cao or Han Sui, we could just wait and see and wait for new opportunities.

If Liu Zhang refuses to agree, and does not allow our army to help him defend the city, and tries to appease the anti-Han princes, we can punish Liu Zhang for breaking the alliance in the name of justice. Although this is more difficult than the first situation militarily, our army can better take the name of justice. "

After hearing Zhuge Jin's well-thought-out plan, Liu Bei and Zhang Song's eyes lit up and they secretly exclaimed that it was indeed a great idea.

The core of Zhuge Jin's thinking is this: Liu Zhang is living too well now, and no one threatens him, so he can just play it safe and not express his opinion.

Therefore, in this case, there is no urgency to enter Sichuan. We can wait until Liu Zhang shows signs of being threatened by others, and then Liu Bei can go forward. This way, it will be much easier to gain the reputation of being righteous.

When Liu Zhang is sitting safely on guard, if you take the initiative to come to him, you are the invader.

Liu Zhang has been threatened again and again by others, and you are the second one to come to him, so you are the protector.

In this case, Liu Bei's camp will not be idle in the next one or two years, so Yizhou should be put on hold for a while until the excuse of "self-defense" appears.

During these two years, Zhang Song was not without things to do. He could further collect diplomatic intelligence and dirt on Liu Zhang's camp.

For example, Zhang Song came to Pei County on behalf of Liu Zhang to attend the alliance. After Cao Cao read the coalition's manifesto, he would definitely be angry. If Cao Cao sent an envoy to condemn Liu Zhang, would Liu Zhang secretly surrender?

Perhaps Liu Zhang felt that this kind of private surrender was just a matter between the two parties, that the third party would not know about it, and that it could be done very secretly. Given his temper, he would most likely give in.

But with Zhang Song around, he could create an unexpected coincidence and leak out Liu Zhang's secret play of playing both sides, so that Liu Bei would know about it. When Liu Bei wanted to hold him accountable, he could send someone to condemn him:

As a relative of the Han royal family, how can you sway between the two sides and give in to the thief Cao?
This way we can get more evidence against Liu Zhang and keep it regardless of whether it is useful or not.

When Liu Bei really wanted to take action, he had sufficient reasons, and it would not ruin his character or destroy the unity of the Han royal family.

Regardless of whether to fight or not, spend a year or two secretly accumulating various claims. This is the usual thinking of Paradox's war dealers.

(End of this chapter)