Farmer of Shu Han

In the first month of the tenth year of Yanxi, Quan Cong, who had already been promoted to the position of Right Grand Marshal of Wu, was lying on the bed with his last breath.

Princess Quan sat beside the bed, crying secretly.

The children of the Quan family all stood by, looking sad.

Quan Cong's eyes were half open and half closed, and his eyes seemed to have both reluctance and indifference to the upcoming unknown.

Occasionally, those eyes would try to focus, as if looking for something, or looking forward to the last look of the relatives around him.

The lips were slightly cracked due to long-term dryness, and every difficult breath was accompanied by a subtle but clearly audible gasp, like a candle swaying in the wind, which could go out at any time.

Seeing Quan Cong move, Princess Quan, who was closest to Quan Cong, quickly stopped crying and called softly:

"Alang?"

Although Princess Quan was narrow-minded and cruel, after becoming a widow and marrying Quan Cong, she actually had a temper with Quan Cong.

Otherwise, they would not have given birth to two sons, Quan Yi and Quan Wu.

Not to mention that the couple fully supported Sun Ba and even tried every means to frame the crown prince Sun He.

So the two of them were in love on weekdays. How could they not be sad to see their husband like this?

"Xi...Xi Jun," Quan Cong's cloudy eyes swept around and moved his lips.

Princess Quan leaned down and wanted to listen carefully, but she didn't hear Quan Cong make another sound for a long time.

She couldn't help asking:

"A Lang, do you have anything to tell me?"

Quan Cong made two "ho ho" sounds in his throat.

Princess Quan finally came to her senses and turned around and ordered:

"You all go out."

Quan Cong's hand, which was held by Princess Quan, moved again, and Princess Quan understood:

"Da Lang, you stay."

So all of Quan Cong's sons, except the eldest son Quan Xu, withdrew.

The room was dead silent.

After a long while, Quan Cong seemed to have gathered up his strength, and tried to open his eyes, calling out again in a hoarse voice:

"My wife?"

Princess Quan hurriedly shook Quan Cong's hand:

"Alang, I'm here."

"I'm afraid I can't do it."

"Alang, don't say that..."

Quan Cong wanted to shake his head, but found that it was extremely difficult for him to do such a movement. He couldn't help but smile bitterly:

"Don't comfort me, I know my body."

As he said that, he looked at the eldest son Quan Xu behind Princess Quan, with a complicated look in his eyes.

There was another dead silence.

Finally, Quan Cong asked in a low voice, but it was something he didn't expect:

"What's going on in the palace?"

Princess Quan then understood why Alang wanted to send all the children except Quan Xu out at this time.

She glanced at Quan Xu and said hesitantly:

"Your Majesty has recovered and held a court meeting the day before yesterday..."

Quan Cong naturally didn't want to hear this.

He stared at Princess Quan without saying anything.

Princess Quan had to continue to say vaguely:

"Mrs. Pan has been favored by Your Majesty more and more recently. In the palace, Your Majesty openly calls her a fairy companion, and everyone in the palace calls her a goddess."

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Quan Cong coughed violently.

"Alang!"

Princess Quan hurriedly rubbed Quan Cong's back.

"It's okay." Quan Cong coughed a few times and recovered his breath. He seemed relieved, but also a little disappointed. "It seems that the prince is really going to lose power?"

Princess Quan remained silent.

"Fortunately... What a pity..."

Fortunately, the prince is finally going to be finished.

If not, if the prince can really ascend the throne in the future, the whole family will be afraid that the whole family will really die.

"Alang, the King of Lu... can't he really take the throne?"

The couple had been plotting for so long, and Princess Quan naturally understood what Quan Cong was regretting.

She still asked with some reluctance.

"No."

Quan Cong closed his eyes, his tone was weak, but his tone was very sure.

As Sun Quan's most trusted son-in-law, he was also one of the most important supporting forces in this battle for the throne.

Although Quan Cong didn't quite understand from the beginning, why His Majesty indulged and even deliberately provoked the dispute between Nanlu.

But when General Lu Xun was forced to death, he had completely woken up.

In this dispute between Nanlu, the Jiangdong children who originally had the most political prospects were either dismissed or exiled.

And the death of the general represented that the Jiangdong aristocratic families, mainly the four surnames of Wujun, had been greatly weakened again, and even affected the balance of power in the court of Dawu.

It can even be said that if the King of Lu is made the Crown Prince, it means that Your Majesty will go a step further:

To exterminate all the noble families of Jiangdong.

This will only provoke fierce resistance from the noble families of Jiangdong.

Based in Jiangdong, but wanting to exterminate all the noble families of Jiangdong - King Huan has proved that this is an extremely stupid approach.

Your Majesty has spent so many years, and has not been able to completely bridge the rift between the Sun family and the Jiangdong noble families.

If such a thing happens again, without external enemies, the internal situation of the Great Wu will fall apart.

Therefore, Your Majesty will never do this.

The King of Lu will never ascend to the throne, but this does not mean that the Crown Prince Sun He can keep his position.

The same reason.

If Sun He really ascends to the throne one day, he and the Jiangdong noble families behind him will only retaliate more crazily against those who support the King of Lu today.

By that time, the Jiangdong family will become the dominant family, and the emperor will only gradually be held hostage. For the Sun family, this is definitely not a good thing.

Quan Cong didn't believe that His Majesty couldn't see this.

Therefore, based on the information that Princess Quan got from the palace, Quan Cong has reason to believe that His Majesty will most likely choose a third prince.

This is a compromise acceptable to all forces in Dawu.

As for who it is...the answer is almost ready to come out.

The night before Mrs. Pan gave birth to the seventh prince, she dreamed about the dragon's head, which had already spread a lot in the government and the public. Could it be that someone was secretly testing it?

But it is impossible for Quan Cong to explain these words clearly to Princess Quan.

Spying into the emperor's mind is already a crime that risks death, let alone spreading the word after spying, even to the emperor's daughter. This is undoubtedly asking for death.

Although Quan Cong knew that his life was short, he did not want all the Quan family members to be buried with him.

Princess Quan naturally didn't know that Quan Cong was about to die and would still think about it so much. She just reminded:

"But Ah Ji..."

Ah Ji is Quan Ji, Quan Cong's second son.

With Quan Cong's acquiescence, Quanji attached himself to Sun Ba, King of Lu, and could even be regarded as one of King Lu's most trusted guests.

If King Lu fails in his bid for the throne, one can imagine the fate of Quanji.

Quan Cong did not answer immediately, but turned his attention to his eldest son Quan Xu:

"After I die, if Aji's life is in danger, you can decide and choose one of the brothers' children to adopt him, so that he will not lose his incense."

The tone was calm, but in Quanxu's ears, it made his body tremble slightly:

"Here."

Then he asked with some worry:

"Sir, if my second brother is in trouble, I can still help you. But if this matter involves our whole family, what will happen to my son?"

In this battle of Nanlu, important ministers and generals died, got sick, got sticks, and went into exile...

In his entire life, he has never seen such a huge formation.

When I think of my second brother being trapped in this situation and unable to be saved, I feel terrified.

"No matter how big the matter is, at most it will only be limited to your second brother, and the rest will not be punished without reason. For the sake of your father's past achievements and your mother's sake, your majesty will never increase the crime."

His Majesty's most beloved wife is none other than Mrs. Bu, and even Mrs. Pan is now incomparable.

The eldest princess's face is quite similar to that of Mrs. Bu, so among all the children, she is also the most favored by His Majesty.

After the death of Mrs. Bu, His Majesty gave the Eldest Princess a longer princess number. It can be seen that the Eldest Princess holds a high position in His Majesty's heart.

Without the support of the eldest princess, Quan Cong would not have dared to get involved in the Nanlu dispute - even if he had, he would not have dared to get involved so deeply.

"After my death, you and your brothers must carefully serve your aunt and daughter, be careful in the morning and dusk, and not slack off in the slightest."

Quanxu responded quickly.

In the first month of the tenth year of the reign of Emperor Yanxi of the Han Dynasty, Quan Cong, the great Sima of Wu State, died of illness.

Lu Xun and Quan Cong were each one of the leading figures representing the forces on both sides in the Nanlu dispute. Their deaths also hinted that the battle for Wu's reserve position had finally cooled down.

In May, Bu Zhi, who originally replaced Lu Xun to guard Xiangyang, was transferred back to Jianye from Xiangyang to serve as prime minister in September last year. Quan Cong died of serious illness shortly after.

Lu Xun, Quan Cong, Bu Zhi, and Zhuge Jin, who died of illness in Jingzhou a few years ago, were all important generals of the Wu State and the mainstay of the Wu army.

Now watching them die one by one, Sun Quan, who almost went to hell after a serious illness, felt an increasing sense of urgency.

He summoned his ministers and discussed:

"It has been more than twenty years since Wu and Han formed an alliance to defeat the bandits. During this period, the Han State first left Qishan and took Liangzhou in Longyou, then left Hanzhong to take Guanzhong and merged the prefectures, and then crossed Han Valley to take Luoyang and Henan. The soldiers are heading to Hebei, hoping to capture the land of Youji."

"On the other hand, although our country, Wu, has sent out troops many times, and its soldiers have been rewarded with many merits, except for the capture of Xiangyang, they have achieved absolutely nothing. Every time I think about this, I feel sad."

Sun Quan said with a sad look on his face, "Especially the land in Luoyang and Henan. I, Da Wu, had an agreement with the Han State. The east of Han Valley was designated as the land of Da Wu, so it should belong to me, Da Wu."

"But now the Han Kingdom has taken the lead, so why? The soldiers in Western Shu are strong, but the people from Jiangdong are weak?"

"If this is really the case, how can I, the Great Wu, defeat Cao Cao's northern troops at Chibi, and defeat Liu Bei's Western Shu troops at Yiling?"

Facing Sun Quan's questioning, the ministers looked at each other in silence.

Some people even muttered in their hearts:

The Battle of Chibi was mainly commanded by the Governor of Zhou; the Battle of Yiling was the result of the General.

But where is the son of Governor Zhou now?

Where is the great general now?

Now Wu's only elite cavalry, its leading general (Zhu Ju) is still banned!

The Jiangdong family has many marriages, and their relationships are extremely complicated. Sun Quan used the Nanlu dispute to suppress the Jiangdong family, which has made many people in the Jiangdong family feel dissatisfied.

Especially for the four surnames in Wu County, one is prosperous and all suffer.

Zhang Wen was deposed before, and Lu Xun was forced to death later. Most of the remaining main descendants were also exiled, which aroused the grief of the Jiangdong family.

Alas, I thought that after the Sun family was elected emperor, everyone's status in the world would also improve.

Who would have expected that King Wu would become Emperor Wu, and everyone's life would become even more hopeless than before.

Not to mention anything else, the Jingzhou natives, who also belonged to the Wu State, not only did not suffer any losses in this Nanlu battle.

On the contrary, because it is adjacent to the Han State, it can actually trade with the Han State, and life becomes more and more comfortable. Who can explain this?

Not worried about the scarcity but the inequality, coupled with the dissatisfaction in his heart, when he heard Sun Quan's question, he couldn't help but murmur twice, which was naturally inevitable.

Sun Quan saw that all the ministers were bowing their heads and said that they were all ashamed, so he continued:

"Therefore, this time the Han Dynasty invades Hebei in a large scale. I intend to lead the army north to attack Hefei and take over the land of Shandong. What do you think?"

ah?

Your Majesty, are you going to Hefei again?

This time, everyone could no longer bear it and persuaded one after another:

"Your Majesty, the dragon's body is recovering. It's better to rest and rest it. It will be a lot of hard work for you to go to war personally. If you are too tired, where will our ministers be placed?"

"Yes, yes, our country, Wu, has been in continuous wars in recent years, and the people have long been in poverty. In the past, the Han Dynasty and the people lived and prospered, and then they were prosperous. Your Majesty should also rest your troops, recuperate, and wait until there is chaos in the Wei State, and then raise your troops to go north. , do twice the result with half the effort.”

…

When Sun Quan saw that the ministers did not support him, he became furious:

"Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about 'Sun Shiwan', mocking me for repeatedly conquering Hefei without success. As ministers, you don't want to avenge your humiliation, but instead persuade me to stop fighting. You all think that I deserve this." No!"

When all the ministers heard this, they all thought "I am Cao" in their hearts.

How come your Majesty even knows this?

I don’t know which of the Wei thieves gave birth to a son without an asshole, so he sent a spy to spread rumors in Jianye:

Sun Quan repeatedly proposed that 100,000 elite troops should be sent north to attack Hefei, but failed each time and returned. It was really unwise, so he might as well have changed the word 十万 to Sun Shiwan...

Listen, Sun Shiwan!

The guy who could come up with such a name is simply extremely vicious!

If His Majesty does not capture Hefei in his lifetime, I am afraid that someone with bad intentions will mention it in the history books in the future. By then, even the entire river will not be able to clean it.

Therefore, not to mention that His Majesty's body has recovered, even if he is lying on the hospital bed, it is not incomprehensible to pick up the knife directly despite being sick when he hears this call.

Just thinking of the name Sun Shiwan, many people twitched their mouths, or maybe they just grinned...

Then I didn't dare to speak anymore.

Because any further dissuasion would be equivalent to persuading His Majesty to nail himself to the pillar of shame in history.

Sun Quan saw that no one tried to persuade him, so he settled the matter.

News that Wu Jun was preparing to cross the Yangtze River and march north quickly spread.

Wang Ling, who was originally guarding Yangzhou, was transferred back to the court by Cao Shuang because he was favored by Cao Shuang and because Hebei was in emergency and Sima Zhao came to rescue him.

The person who temporarily succeeded him was Zhuge Dan, the governor of Yangzhou.

When Zhuge Dan got the news, he didn't dare to neglect and immediately sent a horse to Qiao County to deliver the message, and then summoned everyone to discuss countermeasures.

Some people suggested sending more troops from Qingxu, while others suggested asking the court to send more soldiers.

Only Wang Jili, the governor of Anfeng, overcame all other opinions and persuaded Zhuge Dan:

"Sun Quan has gathered a large number of troops in Jianye for more than a year, but there has been no movement. Now he suddenly launches an attack, which is inconsistent with the art of war."

"I heard that there was a fierce party struggle in Wu's imperial court, and there was a worry of breaking up the country. In order to prevent the trouble, Quan gathered his troops. Even if I don't believe this statement, it can still be seen that Wu's country is worried about instability."

"In the past, Sun Quan personally went to Hefei, Lu Xun went to Jiangxia, and then Quan Cong left Lujiang, but they all returned without success. Now Lu Xun and others are dead, but Quan is old, has no virtuous heirs, and no mastermind."

"When power comes out, there will be fear of domestic provocations, and ulcers will break out; when generals are sent away, the old generals will be exhausted, and the new generals will not be trusted. This is just to make up for the branch, but also to protect one's own ears."

"The Chariot and Cavalry General (i.e. Wang Ling) had nothing to do in Yangzhou for many years. As soon as Junfu took over, he only heard that Wu soldiers were about to arrive, but without seeing the truth, he went into a big fight, which would have made him appear inferior to others."

"If we don't order the tribes along the river to conduct close inspections to take precautions, and then order the counties and counties in Yangzhou to strengthen their defenses to prepare for thieves, the city of Hefei will be strong. As long as we are prepared, thieves will not be able to break through it in a hurry."

"When the thieves arrive, it will not be too late for you to send troops to rescue them."

Zhuge Dan praised him for his kindness.

Wang Ji, courtesy name Boyu, was from Qucheng, Donglai. Shao Gu lived with his uncle Weng. Weng raised her very devotedly, and Ji was also called filial piety, and he was quite talented.

At that time, Cao Shuang was in power, and the atmosphere in the Wei state was very bad. Wang Ji wrote "Shi Yao Lun" to satirize it, which Cao Shuang did not like.

When Cao Shuang received Zhuge Dan's letter, he was surprised at first, and then saw Wang Ji's analysis of Sun Quan's advance, which was sent over by the back foot, and said with some concern:

"Qiao County is not Xuchang, let alone Luoyang. It is adjacent to Yangzhou. What will happen if Sun Quan really comes with a large army?"

Ding Mi, the leader of the Three Dogs in Taichung, smiled and said:

"This is called God helping the general. Why is the general worried?"

When Cao Shuang heard this, he was immediately startled:

"Does Yan Jing agree with what he said?"

Ding Mi smiled:

"Isn't the general worried about sending troops to rescue Hebei? When this news comes, won't the general's worries be solved?"

Sima Zhao knelt down in front of the general's mansion, finally forcing Cao Shuang to agree to send troops to rescue Hebei.

It was just that the harsh winter made it difficult to send troops and the war had not started yet, so Sima Zhao was asked to wait.

After the beginning of spring, they used the excuse that the snow had just melted, the roads were muddy, and spring plowing was the most important thing, so it was not suitable for people to work, so they waited again.

It was summer now, and the military situation in Hebei began to become anxious. Naturally, Cao Shuang had no excuse to delay.

But he was unwilling to be led by Sima Yi. When he heard that Sima Yi had received help from 50,000 elite cavalrymen from the frontier, he was even more unwilling to send troops at this time.

Even if he sent troops, it would be best to do so when Sima Yi was in danger.

But for a while, he had no good solution.

At this time, when he heard Ding Mi's words, Cao Shuang's fat face suddenly smiled:

"I actually forgot about this!"