Tiger Owl

Chapter 52 Brothers Fight for the Throne
Although Sun Quan became the new Marquis of Wu, he still had a huge hidden danger to deal with, namely his third brother Sun Yi. Sun Yi was appointed by his elder brother as the governor of Kuaiji and had 20,000 elite troops under his command.

Sun Quan has received news that Sun Yi has led 20,000 troops to Wu County to offer condolences. The army has already passed Youquan County. This is not an offer of condolences; it is clearly an attempt to seize the throne from him.

This was another piece of news that Sun Quan had received: Sun Ben had led 10,000 troops to Yangxian, clearly to support Sun Yi.

Youquan County is today's Jiaxing. After Sun Yi's army passed through Jiaxing, they were very close to Wu County.

Yangxian is today's Yixing, located on the west side of Taihu Lake.

What troubled Sun Quan even more was that the seal of the Marquis of Wu was still in his mother's hands and had not been handed over to him. His mother had only verbally agreed to his succession and had not signed it in writing.

The reason why the mother could take back her verbal promise at any time was that Sun Yi's power was still there, and the mother had not given up hope. Moreover, there were people like Zhang Hong, the governor of Wu Commandery, and Hua Xin, the commandery magistrate, who supported Sun Yi.

Having exhausted all other options, Sun Quan had no choice but to order someone to invite Zhang Zhao over.

Zhang Zhao replaced Lü Fan as military advisor. This was because Sun Quan was not very comfortable with Lü Fan, so he let Lü Fan manage the political affairs and gave the position of military advisor to Zhang Zhao.

Only after Zhang Zhao became the military advisor did Sun Quan truly gain control of his elder brother's military power.

When Zhang Zhao arrived at Sun Quan's residence, he saw that Sun Quan looked worried and said with a smile, "The Marquis of Wu has already taken the throne, so why are you still so unhappy?"

Sun Quan sighed and said, "Sun Yi's army has already crossed Youquan and entered Wu County. Sun Ben's army has stationed itself in Yangxian, echoing Sun Yi. How can I be happy? Could it be that a civil war is really about to break out?"

Zhang Zhao smiled slightly and said, "Sun Yi is simple-minded and has a bad temper. He is not a big deal. I can take him down with a little trick. The real trouble is Sun Ben. However, although Sun Ben is cunning, his elite troops have been wiped out by Gan Ning. He is like a clever woman who can't cook without rice. Don't be fooled by his 10,000 troops. In reality, he only has 5,000 elite soldiers. The other 5,000 are newly recruited soldiers."

He also knew his own strength was insufficient, which explains why his troops were stationed in Yangxian. Nominally, he had entered Wu Commandery, but he was also very close to Danyang Commandery, allowing him to retreat at any time. This put him in a position of flexibility, showing that Sun Ben was there to encourage Sun Yi, and would not provide any real support.

Zhang Zhao's analysis relieved Sun Quan, who then asked, "How should I deal with Sun Yi?"

Zhang Zhao now realized that the new lord before him was extremely cunning and had been playing dumb all along. A month ago, he had used a thousand-year-old ginseng to save Chen Wu's mother's life, thus bribing Chen Wu. Chen Wu commanded 10,000 city defense troops in Wu County, meaning Sun Quan had already taken control of these 10,000 troops.

This also shows that Sun Quan knew his brother was going to be assassinated and made arrangements in advance. As soon as Wu Hou died, Lu Ji of the Lu family and Gu Yong of the Gu family immediately expressed their loyalty. What does this mean?
It's laughable that Sun Ben spent so much time working on this project, only to end up benefiting Sun Quan instead.

Once he had military power, Sun Quan immediately dismissed Lü Fan from his position as military advisor, demonstrating his ruthlessness and willingness to show no mercy in his pursuit of power.

Having figured these issues out, Zhang Zhao no longer dared to underestimate this young new lord.

Zhang Zhao whispered, "Sun Yi's only support is from the old lady and Zhang Hong, among others. Marquis Wu can feign illness to lower Sun Yi's guard, and then..."

Sun Quan nodded repeatedly, then hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm afraid Zhang Hong won't easily change his stance."

Zhang Zhao stroked his beard and smiled, "I already had a backup plan, so Zhang Hong's attitude doesn't really matter."

Zhang Zhao whispered a few words, and Sun Quan sighed inwardly, thinking, "This old fox is indeed cunning."

..........
At noon that day, news spread from the Wu Marquis's residence that Wu Marquis Sun Quan had fallen ill due to overwork.

At this time, news came that Sun Yi had led his army north. In an instant, people in Wu County were filled with panic, fearing that a power struggle between the two brothers would break out and bring annihilation to the people of Wu County.

At the same time, Zhang Zhao visited Zhang Hong, the governor of Wu Commandery.

The carriage slowly came to a stop. Zhang Zhao stepped out of the carriage, and Zhang Jing, Zhang Hong's second son, who was waiting at the door, hurriedly came forward to greet him. "Nephew greets Uncle!" "Is your father here?"

"Father is waiting in the VIP room, Uncle, please!"

Zhang Zhao entered the main hall, and the two exchanged greetings. Zhang Hong then invited Zhang Zhao into the inner hall, where they took their seats as host and guest.

Zhang Zhao cut to the chase: "Sun Yi is leading his troops north, and it seems the two brothers are about to turn against each other. Brother, do you have any good plans to stop this impending human tragedy?"

After a long pause, Zhang Hong said calmly, "The Marquis of Wu has always thought that his third brother looks very much like himself. The old lady hopes that Sun Yi will succeed him. I personally believe that Sun Yi can lead Jiangdong to become the hegemon of the south. I just don't understand why Sun Yi is not allowed to inherit the position of Marquis of Wu?"

Zhang Zhao shook his head and said, "The Marquis of Wu is only twenty-six years old. Of course, he believes he can still fight for at least twenty more years, and he will naturally let his son inherit the throne. He will never consider Sun Yi as his successor. He only praises Sun Yi because Sun Yi supports his northern expedition. Sun Yi is simple-minded and has a volatile temper. How could he possibly lead Jiangdong to become the hegemon of the south? I dare not praise your ability to judge people, brother!"

Zhang Hong sneered, "Being hot-tempered is just a matter of personality. Wasn't Lord Wu hot-tempered back then? But at least Sun Yi is much simpler than Sun Quan, and at least more trustworthy. If he were to take the throne, he would definitely let Sun Shao inherit his position. Would Sun Quan do that? He kept promising Lü Fan that he would let Sun Shao take the throne in the future, but as soon as he took the throne, he dismissed Lü Fan from his position as military advisor. My brother believes his promise, but I don't. As for the overlord of the south, it's not that I look down on Sun Quan, but he is definitely no match for Gan Ning!"

Zhang Zhao sighed, "I respect my brother's choice, but the most urgent thing is for the two of us to sit down and talk. No matter who comes to power, we must not fight each other, otherwise it will be a catastrophe for the people of Wu County!"

Zhang Hong supported this point. He pondered for a moment and said, "I will write a letter to persuade Sun Yi to exercise restraint and not to recklessly launch a military campaign."

"Sun Yi's army has already entered the border of Wu County. When will you write, brother?"

"I'll write it now!"

Zhang Zhao rose to take his leave, and Zhang Hong asked his second son to see the guest off on his behalf.

Zhang Jing saw Zhang Zhao off at the gate of the mansion. After Zhang Zhao got into the carriage, he whispered to Zhang Jing, "I'll be waiting for you at the Sanwu Restaurant!"

Zhang Jing nodded slightly and respectfully saw Zhang Zhao off.

When Zhang Jing returned to his study, Zhang Hong had already written a letter and handed it to him, saying, "Go see Sun Yi immediately and give him this letter. Don't linger there; return immediately."

"Your son obeys!"

Zhang Jing took the things from his father and left, but he didn't go to the south of the city. Instead, he went to the Sanwu Restaurant first, told his men to wait for him downstairs, and went upstairs.

Although Zhang Hong was exceptionally talented, his two sons were quite mediocre. His eldest son, Zhang Xuan, barely managed to obtain the position of county magistrate in Liyang, while his second son, Zhang Jing, never had the opportunity to enter officialdom.

Zhang Jing was already twenty-six years old, and his greatest dream was to enter officialdom. Zhang Zhao secretly found him and gave him hope of entering officialdom.

Upon entering the elegant room, Zhang Jing bowed to Zhang Zhao and handed him his father's letter.

Zhang Zhao opened the letter, read it once, and immediately picked up a pen to rewrite it in Zhang Hong's handwriting. He then put the letter in an envelope, sealed it, and handed it to Zhang Jing. He gave him a few more instructions and said with a smile, "Go! After you succeed, Lord Wu will agree to appoint you as the Assistant Magistrate of Wucheng County!"

Zhang Jing was overjoyed and bowed, saying, "This junior will certainly live up to Uncle's expectations!"

Zhang Jing then put away the letter and hurriedly went to deliver it to Sun Yi.

(End of this chapter)