Three Kingdoms

In the eighth year of Taixing, autumn.

Koto.

The weather in Autumn Tiger is so sultry, it's like putting everything in Jiangdong into a pot, covering it, and simmering it over high heat.

In Jiangdong and Wu County, all kinds of people are paying attention to the situation on the front line. It's just that the high-level people who can participate in the war discussions are silent and obscure. On the contrary, the soldiers and generals at the lower level are arguing fiercely in this gloomy atmosphere. Some of them even quarrel with each other because of their disagreement. He was spitting and his face was red and his neck was thick, but he didn't do anything.

Not only were there repeated news of the march ahead, but also the worries caused by Cao's army going north and not attacking Heluo in accordance with the covenant. These messy messages gradually spread to all parts of Jiangdong, not only spreading among the army, but also spreading Arriving at Minfang, it stirred the hearts of everyone in Jiangdong.

If we say that the march into Jiangdong was fruitful, that's not to say there was none, but if we were to say how big a harvest it was, that's hard to say.

Anxiety, restlessness, fear, confusion and other complex emotions are like dark clouds above our heads, getting bigger and bigger.

Whether to move forward or retreat, continue to increase investment, or cut off the market and leave the market, these are questions that almost every guy who puts his bets on the gambling table must consider. Is the defeat of Sichuan and Shu a false good news? Is the defeat of the general a temporary shock or a dangerous signal? Everyone in Jiangdong has his own idea, and no one can convince anyone.

It's like a meeting with a bully.

Some people are confirming whether the matter is true or not, while others are cooperating with more people to discuss countermeasures.

Some people ignore the facts, and some people just want to find an outlet to vent their emotions...

Under such circumstances, the news of Chen Wu's death reached Jiangdong, like a thunderbolt, and then a heavy rain fell, causing chaos in Jiangdong.

A generation of rangers has fallen.

In the Han Dynasty, large-scale burns were considered terminal illnesses.

Extensive infection leads to sepsis, which then leads to internal organ failure, and even gods cannot save him.

When Chen Wu was alive, not many people liked him.

After he died, many people began to talk about Chen Wu's death...

Let’s talk about what kind of chivalry Chen Wu did in Jiangdong, what kind of justice he did, who he saved, and what he did. As for the embarrassing things Chen Wu did in his daily life, it seems that everyone has forgotten it in an instant. , kept silent.

All these rumors actually mean the same thing. Chen Wu died unjustly!

Sun Quan secretly twitched his face, and then expressed his sadness outside, and then sent someone to comfort him first, and then promised to go to express condolences in person, so he could barely suppress these voices...

The uneasy mood spread inside Jiangdong, like boiling foam in a pot. It seemed to be agitated very high, but in fact it was just bubbles. But it is precisely because of these bubbles that it is difficult to see what is in the pot.

It's like Sun Quan knew that Jiangdong's pot was filled with dirt, but looking at the bubbles on the surface, it seemed to be very pure.

Sun Quan also didn't believe that "one generation can only do the things of one generation". He even knew that everyone in the Jiangdong gentry, as long as they had any brains, were thinking about family inheritance and matters passed down from generation to generation. It was impossible to think about it. What a "generation"...

Fools like Chen Wu are the real "generation", and then they are gone.

Does Chen Wu not think about the next generation?

Obviously not.

But what is certain is that Chen Wu definitely didn't think much about it, and he didn't even make arrangements to do anything.

Because after his death, almost everyone gave Chen Wu various honors, names, and praises on the surface. In fact, they divided up the fat left by Chen Wu...

Who told Chen Wu not to think more about it?

He himself doesn't even think about the next generation. If he doesn't do the things to arrange for the next generation, how can he still expect others to do it for him? Expecting others to be his cheap parents, godfather and godmother?

Since Chen Wu didn't make any arrangements in advance, he couldn't blame others for being rude.

Sun Quan is welcome.

When Sun Quan expressed his condolences, he was so grief-stricken that he lost his voice in pain while holding Chen Wu's coffin. Of course, Chen Wu's coffin did not actually contain Chen Wu's body, only his clothes. Chen Wu's body was burned because it had rotted in Zigui, and the remaining ashes were still slowly floating on the road. Perhaps Along with other wounded soldiers, they will not be able to arrive in Jiangdong until next month, or the month after that.

But the funeral cannot wait.

Sun Quan sadly wiped away tears that may or may not have occurred, and asked Chen Wu's wife what she wanted. Don't be polite, just tell the truth. Whatever he can do, he will definitely do it...

Chen Wu's wife glanced aside with cold eyes, then prostrated herself on the ground, begging Sun Quan to let Chen Wu still feel the warmth of the world and the nourishment of love while underground.

On the side was Chen Wu's concubine, who was trembling with fear. Before she could say anything, she was slapped to the ground by the strong woman behind her, knocking her head and fainting.

It was obviously the strong woman under Mrs. Chen Wu who bowed her head to report. Chen Wu's beloved concubine kowtowed to die and asked Sun Quan to fulfill her wish.

Sun Quan looked at Chen Wu's concubine who had fainted with joy, what else could he say?

Complete it, complete this love.

Then Sun Quan made Chen Wu's child a school captain, who was not even a school captain with a miscellaneous title, and allocated 500 miscellaneous soldiers, and then left with the gratitude of Mrs. Chen Wu and his children.

Five hundred miscellaneous soldiers, that is, Shanyue garrison soldiers.

Soldiers like this can survive by eating, farming, and doing chores, but do they want to go into battle...

So generally speaking, when Sun Quan rewards these miscellaneous soldiers, it won't take long for that person to report that they are missing, running away, or escaping. Then, they can no longer occupy a certain person's private soldier quota, and they can replenish the quota. Some soldiers who can really go to the battlefield.

But after Chen Wu died, his children not only did not let these miscellaneous soldiers disappear and run away, but even kept these miscellaneous soldiers well and reported them every year. There were many of them, so naturally there was no need to fill the vacancies.

Because both Mrs. Chen Wu and Chen Wu’s children understand one thing: Lujiang Shangjia has nothing to do with them, and there will no longer be the name "Lujiang Shangjia" from now on...

Although Mrs. Chen Wu and her children may not really be willing to do so, what can they do?

Chen Wu died too early, and no follow-up measures were arranged. Mrs. Chen Wu was able to take advantage of the situation to clean up the inner house and eliminate the hidden dangers of family separation. As for Chen Wu's children, they protected five hundred miscellaneous soldiers every year to show that they would not be involved in military affairs and let Sun Quan return There is peace of mind about having other people.

As Chen Wu's funeral ended, those voices praising Chen Wu for his great life and his chic death gradually disappeared, as if they were buried underground together, leaving only the sound of chewing.

After Chen Wu's death, most of the projects that had not been explained clearly and had no follow-up arrangements were divided up. After getting the benefits, of course there is no need to say any more polite words.

In a few days……

Who is Chen Wu?

After attending someone's funeral, Sun Quan met with some people, but most of them would not say anything substantive. Even if military affairs were mentioned, they would only talk superficially. .

Except for one person.

Lu Xun.

Sun Quan and Lu Xun talked for a long time.

It’s grown to the point where everyone knows about it.

But no one knew exactly what they talked about. They just knew that when Sun Quan sent Lu Xun out, he stood at the courtyard gate, held Lu Xun's hand, and said sincerely, "When we were at Chaisang, Brother Gong Jin was very kind." I value you... At this point, I can leave it to Boyan... Go ahead and proceed with caution..."

This scene was seen by many people and spread immediately.

Some were cursing, some were gibbering, and some were beeping. Under such circumstances, Zhu Zhi became the commander-in-chief of the third batch of Jiangdong, and Lu Xun became the military advisor, gathered the army, and went to join Huang Gai.

At the same time, there were also rumors that Huang Gai would be dismissed from his post due to unfavorable results in the battle.

There is a very interesting thing in Jiangdong, that is, all rumors will not be officially recognized. The official notices are always inconsistent with the rumors, but in fact there must be one of the rumors, or part of it is true...

Zhu Zhi knew in his heart that he had to use all his strength this time, otherwise he would end badly.

After all, someone's example dangles in front of him, his concubine wailing underground.

Zhu Zhi was to succeed Huang Gai as the new commander-in-chief of the Jiangdong army.

This is not a good thing.

Huang Gai's defeat and the loss of his general seemed serious, but in fact, it was not a big deal.

Are you going to fight? Who is the victorious general?

Huang Gai was indeed defeated, but Huang Gai also captured Yidao, Zigui and other places. This is a fact that no one can deny. Therefore, even if someone dies, Huang Gai cannot be blamed for it, because Huang Gai There is evidence that he reminded someone, and that someone himself violated Huang Gai's military orders again and again. Even if he did not die on the battlefield, he might be subject to military law.

After all, some street gangsters, knight-errants, and libertines, who only think about the present and don't know how to think about the long-term, really think that after gathering together and electing a leader, they can go to the table and eat?

Not bad for being eaten.

"I finally understand that if Huang Gong resumes this battle, he will definitely lose." "Zhu Zhi sneered, sitting in the hall, "Even if there is no defeat in Zigui, someone's death will probably be defeated for other reasons at some point, and then return to Jiangdong..."

Zhu Ran frowned, "Father, what do you mean..."

Zhu Zhi also frowned and remained silent.

Zhu Zhi had five sons, but only three survived.

Zhu Ran is the eldest, but Zhu Ran is not his father, but his nephew, who has changed his surname, and is considered his eldest son. After all, everyone had their heads tied to their waistbands when they followed Sun Jian. No one knew whether he would be alive or dead the next day. So at that time, in order to have a successor, Zhu Zhi asked Zhu Ran to be adopted. to his knees.

This is normal for big men. After all, the average lifespan is forty years, so most people will face death almost as soon as they have some vitality. If they don't give birth earlier and don't give birth to more children, then they will have to wait for the death of heirs. Zhu Zhi never imagined at the time that after he asked Zhu Ran to come over, he would have several sons later. However, the reproductive conditions of the Han Dynasty are still very poor, especially in Jiangdong, which has not developed much, and there is no specialist doctor like the Chang'an Baiyi Medical Center. Therefore, Zhu Zhi's fourth and fifth sons naturally died in infancy. .

Zhu Zhi now has two biological sons, but they are younger than Zhu Ran, and for some reasons, their personal talents cannot match Zhu Ran...

This made Zhu Zhi feel both relieved and uneasy.

Zhu Ran has the ability, which is good. At least when Zhu Zhi is still alive, he can help Zhu Ran get on the horse and run for a while, and then let Zhu Ran get some authority by himself, without having to worry about the three melons and two dates of the old Zhu family. , so that Zhu Zhi's title can be successfully passed on to his biological son.

But the problem is that Zhu Ran is too capable. From now on, the Zhu family may be dominated by Zhu Ran, but his biological son becomes a foil...

Some time ago, Zhu Zhi consciously asked his biological son to do more things and reduce Zhu Ran's affairs. The purpose was to enable his biological son to grow up, and arranged some relatively simple military tasks for suppressing bandits for him to complete. Then his own son did a good job, but it was not enough.

At least not enough to get involved in this time's conquest of Sichuan and Shu.

This time, it's very dangerous.

Therefore, Zhu Zhi could only take Zhu Ran with him.

After thinking about it, Zhu Zhi also shared some matters with Zhu Ran that only high-level officials could know.

"The third batch of reinforcements is mainly composed of people with the surname Jiangdong gentry..." Zhu Zhi said slowly, "This group of people will be led by Lu Boyan..."

Zhu Ran was stunned for a moment, then realized, "This... will Lu Boyan agree?" 』

Zhu Ran was asking about Lu Xun, but actually he was not asking about Lu Xun, because Lu Xun was probably just a spokesman for the powerful Jiangdong noble clan at the moment. If the powerful Jiangdong nobles wanted to get a share of the pie, they would have to give something away. But if these people and their property were to be handed over to Sun Quan, the powerful Jiangdong nobles and others would definitely be worried. Therefore, Lu Xun was relatively unscrupulous. His family had been ruined before. It became a candidate that both parties could barely accept.

Zhu Zhi sneered, "Lu Boyan... looks obedient on the surface, but in fact he has a deep mind... However, this time I can't help him... After all, he is the only one who is the most suitable." 』

In Jiangdong, everything is business.

Since it is a business, of course it is a transaction.

Some people buy their lives, and some people sell their lives.

Lu Xun didn't want the Lu family to be a little transparent all his life, so he would inevitably take risks. Once Lu Xun succeeded in taking risks, Zhu Zhi's position would be very embarrassing...

"This is a conspiracy! Zhu Ran said in a deep voice, "Father, this is a conspiracy against you!" 』

Zhu Zhi snorted coldly, "You are half right...this is not a conspiracy, this is a conspiracy..."

Conspiracy? Zhu Ran was silent. That's really the case. The conspiracy is afraid of being exposed, but for conspiracy... please feel free to do so.

Zhu Zhi was a bridge launched by Sun Jian to collude with the powerful Jiangdong gentry. One end was rooted in the torso of the Sun family, and the other end was soaked in the color of the Jiangdong gentry. However, this bridge has been in disrepair for a long time. It doesn't matter, it may be said that it has become a spirit after absorbing the essence of the wind, sun, and moon. Anyway, it has its own ideas. From the beginning, it was free, but now it is charged in both directions.

"Two-way charging"? It's a traditional art. Many people at home and abroad know it, but at the same time they will never admit it.

The judge in a capitalist country suddenly changed his expression, coughed a few times, and said calmly that he was fair, just and open, and there was absolutely no way he could eat the plaintiff and eat the defendant. At the same time, platform companies in capitalist countries also started to protest, angrily accusing this of slander. They are also fair and voluntary, free to operate, and will never eat the merchants or eat the customers...

Zhu Zhi was naturally very angry and thought this was just a rumor!

How could the Zhu family do such a thing?

It's just charging both parties some promotion fees, publicity fees, recommendation fees, labor fees, material fees, water and electricity fees, etc. Which of these is not a cost? Even the Zhu family put money into it themselves and didn't make any money! Really, really not making money!

However, it is now obvious that Sun Quan's face was as dark as water and the Jiangdong nobles sneered at the Zhu family's statement that they did not make money at all.

If it is true that the Zhu family does not make money, then why did the Zhu family raise so many private soldiers on the south mountain who grew up drinking the northwest wind? The Zhu family suffers losses every year, and the losses are other people's money, but the Zhu family's territory is getting more and more big...

Therefore, both Sun Quan and the Jiangdong nobles felt the need to form a new bridge.

For Sun Quan, it would be best if a new bridge is born, but if not, it can also be used to beat Zhu Zhi and the Jiangdong nobles. Anyway, Sun Quan's attitude at this stage is sufficient.

On the other hand, the Jiangdong nobles do not want Zhu Zhi to use their power to show off their prestige, and then get no benefits at all. Moreover, if they can conquer Sichuan and Shu, it will naturally be very good. They can extend their tentacles to Sichuan and Shu. If It doesn't matter if you can't win. Who said that only victory is the mode of war? There is still a method of defeat, which is not unusable.

Everyone on the left and right is not losing money, but the only one who is losing the most is Zhu.

Zhu Zhi couldn't refuse yet.

Because Huang Gai was defeated, Cheng Pu had to guard against Cao Cao.

Wu Jing is an important core strength of the Wu family. As long as Wu Jing does not move, no one dares to touch him.

In addition, the Sun family has been in turmoil recently. Sun Bi, the older generation of the Sun family, must be in charge of Jiangdong, so it is impossible for him to go to the front line. Therefore, Zhu Zhi is the only one left among the many veterans...

He is relatively young, and there are people with soldiers and strength. Zhu can't rule, no matter what, it can't be justified.

Unless Zhu Zhi hands over all the authority in his hands.

Is that possible?

Huang Gai retreated, and the navy was assisted by Jiang Qin. If Zhu Zhi wanted to gain merit, he was forced to fight hard on land with the Sichuan and Shu troops. Now there are two ways in front of Zhu Zhi. One way is not to give Lu Xun troops and horses, but to use Lu Xun as a military advisor, but this means that the main responsibility lies on Zhu Zhi. Anyway, Lu Xun only suggested and decided Zhu Zhi is the one who implements it. Any merit is a great merit, and any fault is a big fault. Moreover, all the easy-to-beat Huang Gai in the previous stage have been defeated, and the rest are hard bones!

Another way is to give Lu Xun some military power...

"In that case..." Zhu Ran said tentatively, "Soldiers are in danger. if……"

Zhu Zhi squinted his eyes and pondered for a while, "I've thought about it too. However, if you really have to give it away...if it happens, you can't take it back! 』

"Then... what should your father think?" ” Zhu Ran asked.

Zhu Zhi was silent for a long time, and then he slowly exhaled, "Now...only the Master is following every step, and the Master is following suit!" Word spread that a certain person only wanted to be loyal and dedicated, not to inherit the family from generation to generation. For the sake of Jiangdong's inheritance for hundreds of generations, it would not be a pity for everyone in the Zhu family to die! 』