Tiger Owl

Chapter 148 Chain Reaction
Ten days after Jiangxia County changed hands, Jia Xu arrived in Shouchun.

At this time, Sun Ben had already received news of Huang Zu's destruction, and he was truly anxious. He was very worried that Gan Ning's next target would be him.

Since last year, Sun Ben has been actively preparing for war. His target is Danyang County, which is his stronghold. Although he was forced to exchange Danyang County for Lujiang County, Sun Ben is always thinking about how to take back Danyang County.

At this moment, Gan Ning launched the Battle of Jiangxia, disrupting his plans and causing Sun Ben great distress.

At this moment, a soldier announced from below the hall, "Military Advisor Jia has arrived!"

Sun Ben was startled and quickly came out to greet him.

"Welcome, Military Advisor Jia, to Jiujiang County!"

Jia Xu said coldly, "I'm just passing through Shouchun and on my way back to Xuchang, so there's no need for formalities."

"Strategist, please!"

Jia Xu was traveling by boat to Xuchang, and happened to pass through Shouchun.

The two sat down in the main hall. Sun Ben had his men serve tea, and Jia Xu slowly said, "You should know about what happened in Jiangxia County, right?"

Jia Xu nodded. "I understand, and I'm also very worried. Gan Ning's next target is likely Lujiang County."

"Not this year!" Jia Xu said with certainty.

How did the strategist know?

"He only seized Jiangxia County, but he has no foundation there. It's still a long way from completely swallowing Jiangxia County! Besides, Liu Biao will not let Jiangxia County go. He will definitely launch an offensive to take it back. There is still a war between Gan Ning and Liu Biao, so at least this year, Gan Ning will not consider Lujiang County."

Sun Ben breathed a slight sigh of relief, "Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Strategist Jia!"

Jia Xu waved his hand and said, "I came to see you not for this matter, but because I have an idea that I need you to implement."

"Please enlighten me, Strategist Jia!"

Jia Xu said slowly, "I heard that Gan Ning did not kill Huang Zu, nor did he send Huang Zu to Jiangdong as agreed. Instead, he released him. This is an opportunity. You should use your influence in Jiangdong to persuade the Marquis of Wu to abolish the Gan-Sun alliance."

Sun Ben nodded. "That's quite possible!"

“Abolishing the Gan-Sun Alliance will benefit you; at least they won’t join forces against you.”

Sun Ben's eyes lit up. "I understand. I will implement it as soon as possible."

Jia Xu stood up and said, "I came here to talk about this matter. I have to rush to Xuchang now, so please wait!"

After seeing Jia Xu off, Sun Ben paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back. He finally made up his mind, wrote several letters, and ordered them to be sent to Jiangdong.

Half a month had passed since the Battle of Jiangxia, and many details had reached Jiangdong. In particular, Huang Zu, whom Jiangdong had been eagerly anticipating, was released by Gan Ning and allowed to return to his hometown. This caused an uproar in Jiangdong, with everyone condemning Gan Ning for breaking his promise and violating the alliance.

"boom!"

Sun Quan slammed the teacup against the wall, shattering it. With a forceful push, everything on the table was thrown to the ground, leaving a mess.

Sun Quan stood by the window with his hands behind his back, his chest heaving with anger, his eyes blazing like fire.

At this moment, Zhang Zhao strode to the door and saw the mess on the ground. He waved his hand, telling the servants to clean up quickly.

After the servants finished tidying up and left, Zhang Zhao entered the room and sighed, "What's the use of the lord being angry now that it has already happened? We need to deal with this matter quickly."

Sun Quan nodded silently, then sat down again. After a while, he asked, "I heard there's another petition being signed outside?"

"It's probably the same group of officials who opposed the alliance before. They finally found an opportunity and jointly demanded the abolition of the alliance. Although the momentum is huge, the influence is not great. My lord, don't take it to heart."

Sun Quan said angrily, "Now even I want to abolish the alliance, it's the hatred of killing my father!" "My lord, the alliance can be abolished, but we can't just abolish it like children throwing a tantrum. We have to do it step by step. We have to make Gan Ning understand that abolishing the alliance is not our responsibility, but his problem."

Sun Quan nodded. "The strategist is right. So what should we do?"

"I suggest we use both soft and hard tactics. The soft tactic is to send an envoy to Chaisang to demand that Gan Ning abide by the alliance and hand over Huang Zu to us. We should take the moral high ground."

"And what about the hard one?" Sun Quan asked again.

"The toughest approach is to cut off their salt supply. Lord Wu can publicly announce that, effective immediately, salt will no longer be supplied to Yuzhang County. This is their Achilles' heel. Once we have their Achilles' heel, we can then reason with them. This will also give us an explanation internally, so that no one will criticize Lord Wu for being weak and incompetent."

Sun Quan nodded slowly, "The strategist is right, the best approach is to use both soft and hard tactics!"

Sun Quan immediately issued a decree to the Marquis of Wu, publicly announcing that since the Yuzhang government had violated the alliance, Jiangdong had the right to respond and would cease supplying sea salt to Yuzhang County from that day forward.

This news was like a boulder thrown into a lake, sparking widespread discussion.

Inside the Lu residence in Dantu County, Lu Ji was reporting the situation to his uncle, Lu Yu.

"Lord Wu must have felt the pressure, so he just issued the Lord Wu Decree to stop supplying salt to Yuzhang County. This decree has earned Lord Wu a lot of praise, and many officials who were preparing to petition have temporarily put their minds at ease."

Lu Yu nodded and asked his grandson Lu Xun, "You've been in Yuzhang Commandery for two years. Did Lord Wu's move work?"

Lu Xun bowed and said, "Reporting to Grandfather, as things stand, this move has directly blocked the vital point, but I feel there is something strange about it."

"What's weird?"

"Given the foresight of Lu Su, Jiang Wan, and others, how could they not know that their lifeline was in the hands of Jiangdong? They certainly knew, but why did Gan Ning dare to break the alliance regarding Huang Zu?"

"Are you saying that Gan Ning is fearless and has nothing to fear?"

Lu Xun nodded. "I suspect they have already solved the salt problem, which is why they are not afraid of being held hostage by Jiangdong. They deliberately used the Huang Zu incident to break the alliance and prepare for the next attack on Lujiang County."

Lu Yu squinted and said, "You see things very clearly, more clearly than most Jiangdong officials. We all underestimated Gan Ning. His methods are much more sophisticated. I also misjudged him before."

Lu Yu had originally intended for his grandson Lu Xun to serve Gan Ning, but when they formed an alliance, he discovered that Gan Ning refused to form a marriage alliance with Jiangdong. Lu Yu then felt that Gan Ning was nothing special and sent his grandson back to Jiangdong.

Now it seems that Gan Ning is actually willing to break with Jiangdong for the sake of Huang Zu. Lu Yu suddenly realized that from the beginning, Gan Ning had never maintained a long-term alliance with Jiangdong. He only allied with Jiangdong to attack Changsha County. Of course, he did not want to be bound by marriage, so he found an excuse to refuse Sun Jing's daughter and gave up the marriage.

Lu Yu then realized he had misjudged Gan Ning; Gan Ning was a master!
Lu Yu regretted it a little, but if he sent his grandson to apply for the Yuzhang Prefecture now, it would definitely not have the same effect as it had two years ago.

He said to Lu Ji, "Nephew, you should go ahead if you have something to do!"

Lu Ji stood up, bowed, and left first.

Lu Yu then slowly asked his grandson, "Are you willing to follow Gan Ning?"

Lu Xun nodded slightly, and Lu Yu sighed and said, "You probably won't get a very high position. You'll have to take it slow and be able to endure the loneliness."

"My grandson is still young!"

Lu Yu sighed and said, "Alright! You choose for yourself. I'll handle Wu Hou's side. He might expel you from the family. Be prepared. But I promise you, one day I will make sure you return in glory."

Lu Xun nodded silently. He knew he had to make sacrifices for his family, otherwise his family would be implicated.

"Your grandson has no regrets!"

That very evening, Lu Xun packed his bags and quietly left the Lu family, ostensibly to travel and study again, but he went to the distant Yuzhang County to make his life choice.

(End of this chapter)