Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3278 Touching Conscience

Perhaps when every dynasty is about to fall, there will always be someone who will be alarmed and shout loudly to warn, such as shouting, "The Han Dynasty is about to end! It's over!"

But even if everyone hears this voice, they will still do different things.

Then in each dynasty, there are all kinds of different people who will shout when they sense danger, but still no one listens.

Perhaps it is because the wolf has been cried too many times, and it will also cause a lot of ridicule.

Look, that idiot!

Sun Jian died halfway, and Sun Ce died before he rose. Perhaps it is a coincidence to some extent, but for the Shandong gentry who admire prophecies very much, these literati in Jiangdong, this may represent a meaning-

The Sun family does not have that destiny!

In fact, from the perspective of an observer, the things that Jiangdong is arguing with each other are not a big deal, but more like a farce. But in the eyes of the people involved at the time, these are the most correct things.

Was the atmosphere of "factional strife" in Jiangdong entirely caused by the Sun family?

Obviously not.

In the early days of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang had insufficient knowledge and did not know how to govern the country. Even though he understood people's hearts and human nature, he could not rely on him to keep an eye on the rules and regulations every day, so he was bound to become a peach in the hands of the children of the gentry.

Emperor Wu of Han wanted to solve this problem, but he didn't know how to solve it, so Dong Zhongshu gave him a crutch. Emperor Wu of Han suddenly felt that walking on three legs would be stable, but he didn't expect that although walking on three legs was indeed stable, he would never be able to run, and even forgot how to walk on two legs.

During the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, he also wanted to curb the increasingly expanded local aristocratic families, but the party imprisonment instead triggered greater party strife. The so-called clever strategy of some keyboard warriors in later generations to pull one faction against another is actually nothing but a fool's dream without an advanced program. Just like the Guo Party in later generations also shouted the heroic slogan of "100,000 youths and 100,000 bloods", there are also a few people who are concerned about governing the country with integrity, but they cannot get rid of the shackles of class, so they can't jump up.

The struggles in Jiangdong are generally limited to verbal battles.

But occasionally there is blood.

When scholars quarrel, they basically fight if they don't agree, and they can still kill people.

The general way is to occupy the moral high ground first, regard oneself as a gentleman, and position the opponent as a villain. Regardless of whether there is evidence of a crime, first say that the opponent has bad intentions. This kind of heart-piercing argument makes people speechless. When scholars act like hooligans, they use the most high-sounding reasons to do the most dirty and despicable things, just like some experts say that air pollution is caused by bicycles, and that farmers can buy houses in the city and drive back to the countryside to farm...

The key is that these scholars and aristocrats, similar to the experts in later generations, still more or less hold the power of the country and affect the allocation of resources in the country, so the harm is very great.

So, can this kind of literati and aristocrats who could not be killed or eliminated in later generations be eliminated in Jiangdong under the Han Dynasty?

So it is not surprising that Sun Quan has such an extremely contradictory attitude towards Zhou Yu. Sun Quan's extreme lack of security caused him to suspect that everyone was trying to harm him, and also made Sun Quan hold the power in his hands tightly and unwilling to let go, because this was his last straw.

Sun Quan is completely different from Liu Bei.

Liu Bei had a rough life and only gained power in his old age. He could take and let go of power. After Sun Quan died, would he leave power to his children or his brother's posthumous son?

Obviously, Sun Quan couldn't let it go. Even though Sun Quan's power was inherited from his brother, he also believed that this power was his own and must be left to his children, and he regarded this as a criterion.

If Sun Quan was not helpless and desperate, he would not dare to give up power to Zhou Yu.

Because he was afraid, he was afraid that what Sun Ce said before would really become a reality.

He was afraid of losing power and everything. Although he would say that it was for the foundation of the Sun family, he knew in his heart that it was just for himself!

When Sun Ce fought Jiangdong in the early years, it was undoubtedly a brilliant move.

But soon, Sun Ce made a stupid move.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is said that Sun Ce exchanged Yuan Shu's troops with the imperial seal, but in fact, the reason why Yuan Shu agreed to Sun Ce's going to Jiangdong was that Sun Ce said that his father had done a favor to the Jiangdong gentry before, and he could take Jiangdong for Yuan Shu without any effort, and Yuan Shu didn't have to invest much, so Yuan Shu returned Sun Ce's troops to him without giving him extra troops.

So from this perspective, conquering Jiangdong was the highlight of Sun Ce's life.

But Sun Ce was too realistic...

Perhaps in later generations, being more realistic is a good thing, and it can even become a praised advantage. Unfortunately, loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness are emphasized in the Han Dynasty.

So in the eyes of the literati and aristocrats in Jiangdong, Sun Quan's father killed the governor for no reason, and his brother killed the aristocrats for no reason. Who would believe this Sun family bastard who now says he wants to be honest and true, good and beautiful?

Perhaps when Sun Ce was dying, he also knew that he was leaving a mess for Sun Quan, so Sun Ce once said to Zhang Zhao, "If Zhongmou is not in charge, you can take it yourself!"

In fact, it is the same as what Liu Bei said in Baidi City. The reason why Mr. Luo deleted Sun Ce's words was to make this sentence Liu Bei's copyright, otherwise there would be no shocking effect of entrusting the orphan in Baidi City.

On this basis, Sun Quan's ambivalence towards Zhou Yu is very easy to understand.

The same is true for Sun Quan and Zhang Zhao.

He both trusted Zhou Yu and was wary of him.

Not be wary of Zhou Yu as a person, but be wary of all the military forces represented by Zhou Yu.

Sun Quan knew very well that if these military generals were allowed to expand in strength, they might be able to control it now that Zhou Yu was alive, but what if Zhou Yu died? When the arrogant soldiers and generals with excessive military power unite and elect Zhou Yu's son to the throne, will Sun Quan obediently step down?

If such a situation really occurs, what will Sun Quan do to confront the military?

Take Tian Ling Gai?

Even if Zhou Yu is indeed trustworthy and will not betray the Sun family, what about Zhou Yu's brothers, children and relatives? Sun Quan was afraid. He felt that the word "Zhou Yu" was not just one person, but a large group of people!

Both Sun Ce and Liu Bei have the courage to tell the world that if their heir fails to live up to expectations, then "you will take it yourself!" 』

But Sun Quan didn't have the guts. He only dared to shout, "Touch your conscience!" 』

In fact, Sun Quan still has a chance to regain the confidence of the Jiangdong nobles even now.

Is it just...

…

…

Zhou Yu was touching his chest right now.

It's not really because of his conscience, but because his condition has been recurring for a long time.

As the saying goes, men are afraid of coughing and women are afraid of diarrhea.

In order to cure his illness, Zhou Yu also took a golden elixir. Although it stimulated his body's potential for a while, it actually drained his vitality. Once the effect of the medicine wore off, it became more serious.

Taking medicine indiscriminately can really kill people!

At this moment, in the study room in the inner courtyard of the mansion, Zhou Yu was sitting opposite Lu Su, who had hurriedly arrived. Both of them looked ugly.

Zhou Yu was ugly and sick, while Lu Su was ugly and worried.

The decoration expenses in the Zhou family's study are naturally among the best in Jiangdong. Whether it is hanging on the wall, placed on the desk, or the most inconspicuous dust collector in the corner, they are all exquisitely carved. Carve carefully.

But at this moment, the two of them turned a blind eye to these artifacts, leaving only sadness and sadness in their eyes.

"Jiangdong..." I don't know how long it took before Lu Su let out a long sigh, "How could these people do this!" How could this be? 』

Sun Quan knew what Zhu Zhi was doing, how could Zhou Yu and Lu Su not understand?

Zhu Zhi is protecting himself and the Zhu family's status.

But in order to protect himself, Zhu Zhi's current approach is equivalent to selling Jiangdong.

He gave up Jiangdong's future just to make the Zhu family live a better life.

Speaking of which, of course there is something wrong with Jiangdong's system.

This is also a problem left over from the previous generation of the Sun family.

Because Sun Jian didn't understand politics, Sun Ce didn't understand either. It wasn't until his head was badly bruised that he finally managed to turn around, but it was already hard to come back.

Zhou Yu is also aware of the flaws in Jiangdong's system, so he has been trying to reduce the influence of the older generation as much as possible, including himself.

There is nothing wrong with everyone being selfish, but if you use the saying that everyone is selfish as a shield to do sneaky things, then whose problem is it?

Whether Zhou Yu has selfish motives or not, he does.

But Zhou Yu at least did not put his selfishness above the Sun family's foundation.

Lu Su also has selfish motives, but similarly, he will not abandon public service for selfish reasons, so Zhou Yu and Lu Su can chat and get along well.

But the problem is that Zhou Yu and Lu Su met their lord Sun Quan who also had selfish motives.

"I'll go find my lord..." Zhou Yu coughed twice and said softly.

His body was actually very weak, and he couldn't even speak louder, otherwise it would easily cause severe coughing.

According to this situation, if Sun Quan had any difficult questions, he should come to his door to "ask for advice", but now it was Zhou Yu who had to take the initiative to come to his door to "ask for advice".

"Gong Jin!" This body of yours... you can rest here with peace of mind! I'll go first! Lu Su stood up and walked out without saying a word, "Here comes someone!" Prepare your horse! 』

Zhou Yu stretched out his hand to call out, but was left coughing. When the coughing was over, Lu Su also left, and he could only close his eyes and sigh.

Sigh faintly.

…

…

"Zijing wants to meet someone?" 』

Sun Quan frowned.

After a moment of silence, Sun Quan nodded, "Please!" 』

When Lu Su saw Sun Quan, he fell to the ground and said, "My lord!" It’s difficult! 』

Even if Sun Quan pretended to be calm, his heartbeat would jump and his face would twitch when he heard these words. You Qiang pretended to smile and said, "Is Zijing joking?" Jiangdong... What's so difficult about Jiangdong? 』

Lu Su raised his head with a serious face, "It's not Jiangdong who's in trouble, it's our lord who's in trouble!" 』

Sun Quan finally changed his expression, "But someone is plotting rebellion?" ! 』

Lu Su shook his head and said, "There is no rebellion." 』

"Oh..." Sun Quan sat down again, "Then...where do you start with these difficult words?" Come on, come on, Zijing, sit down first and then talk after you sit down. 』

Lu Su thanked him, then walked aside and sat down, "Now that Fei and Cao are fighting, what do you think of your lord?" 』

Sun Quan was silent for a moment, shook his head and said, "The jury is still out." 』

"My lord, who do you think can win?" Lu Su asked again.

Sun Quan sighed, "I thought that Prime Minister Cao had millions of people and could use the name of the Emperor to conquer Guanzhong without any disadvantages." But now... it seems that, well, Fei Qiao is really tenacious on horseback and has taken control of Hedong to fight against Cao's army. As Cao's army goes on an expedition for a long time, it may be difficult to sustain food and grass... Now it seems that Fei Hussar has a better chance of winning..."

Lu Su said in a deep voice: "In this case, Zhu Junli attacked Jiangling. On the surface, he won the county, but in fact he harmed the lord!" 』

"This...how do you say this?" Sun Quan felt a little proud when he saw Lu Su impeaching Zhu Zhi. After all, Zhu Zhi represented the military's senior system. Lu Su made it clear that Zhu Zhi was guilty, which meant that Lu Su would not fight with Zhu Zhi. Wear the same robe.

That's good.

Lu Su added: "Zhu Jun takes control of Jiangling, which means that his lord's retreat is cut off." This incident is not just an offense against the prime minister, but also the lord's betrayal of his promise and his oath and alliance, which makes the lord bear the name of injustice. If there is a crisis in the future, who can help? Now if the world is united, everyone in Jiangdong can surrender, but the Lord cannot surrender. 』

Sun Quan let out a long breath.

Just like the Battle of Chibi in history, the literati in Jiangdong did not want to see Sun Quan, so they did not care about Sun Quan's future.

"What's the plan now?" ” asked Sun Quan.

"My lord, I will fight against Fei with Cao Cao!" Lu Su said in a deep voice, "Many princes in the world have perished, but only Feicao lives in the north of the Yangtze River." Now Cao has been unable to fight for a long time, and Fei's power has become stronger. If the Lord wants to conquer Jiangdong, he should join forces with Cao Cao. 』

Sun Quan frowned and said, "Now in the battle between Fei and Cao, if Cao's army wins, they can advance into Guanzhong and capture Longyou in the north. After it is calmed down, Jiangdong will be in danger. How can we resist Cao Hu by then?" 』

In the previous strategic layout, Jiangdong actually had the intention of stabbing Cao Cao in the back. The purpose was to let Fei and Cao fight each other in the north and give Jiangdong the opportunity and time to develop.

But the problem now is that Cao Cao is far from being as powerful as he seems on the surface.

Although Zhou Yu's initial estimate was wrong, he was a first-class figure after all. Based on various intelligence, he quickly judged that Cao Cao was now at a great disadvantage. Especially the news passed back by his informants in Yuzhou made Zhou Yu feel that Fei Qian was too deep. It is estimated that he is actually a powerful enemy in this world.

In the current era of the Han Dynasty, there are really not many nobles who understand the sense of confidentiality.

Although the information Zhou Yu received was already unknown, and the timeliness was very poor, it still allowed Zhou Yu to detect some of Fei Qian's clues.

Especially the Shanshan Treaty matter made Zhou Yu even more embarrassed.

At first, Zhou Yu, like the sons of the Shandong gentry, thought Fei Qian was bragging, but to his surprise, he actually received Shanshan's letter of surrender and the signed treaty under the city of Shanshan.

Then the Duan clan of Longyou brought people from the Western Regions to Xu County, causing a sensation.

The Jiangdong spies naturally witnessed and heard it with their own eyes.

Zhou Yu judged that the matter in Shanshan was not that Cao Cao did not want to cover it up, but that he could not cover it up at all.

And from a certain perspective, when the Shanshan Kingdom's treaty was delivered to Xu County, it was proved that Fei Qian was actually prepared...

This preparation is not just for the Western Regions.

Therefore, Zhou Yu pretended that if he were Cao Cao, after learning the news, the first thing he would consider was to withdraw his troops.

But Cao Cao just refused to withdraw his troops!

So Zhou Yu understood that it wasn't that Cao Cao didn't want to withdraw, but it was very likely that Cao Cao had difficulty withdrawing at all!

Zhou Yu also understood the urine properties of the Jiangdong gentry, so after asking about the situation of the gentry and literati in Shandong, Zhou Yu determined one thing.

If Cao Cao loses this battle, he may end up in Heluo for the rest of his life...

For Jiangdong, having a big river is a natural hazard. But for Shandong, is there any place like the big river that can stop Fei Qian's cavalry?

No, no!

So Cao Cao could only grit his teeth and hold on. Cao Cao sent Shanshan and others from the Western Regions to Xu County. Perhaps some of them wanted to let the Shandong gentry and literati know that now Feiqian's soldiers and horses are strong, and the country can be destroyed in a matter of seconds. Only loyalty and unity can resist.

But it is obvious that the children of the Shandong gentry are exactly the same as the Jiangdong people...

If you have full points in internal fighting skills, you will be embarrassed to meet people if you are one level below. But if you are a pair of outsiders, if you have full points in knee skills, saving a foreign penis is worthy of a lifetime honor medal as a medical student or an official.

"Prime Minister Cao..." After hearing Lu Su's analysis, Sun Quan still hesitated, "Is it really so... um, so decadent?" 』

This can't be done, right?

It's no wonder that Sun Quan is suspicious, because whether it is Shandong or Jiangdong, these counselors like to come up first and say that Sun Quan's Yintang is darkened and a disaster is coming. At first, Sun Quan was frightened for a moment, but later he discovered that these idiots regarded Sun Quan as an idiot, so his suspicion naturally became more and more serious, and his immunity to the so-called catastrophe was getting higher and higher. .

Moreover, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu, Lu Su and others focused more on military considerations. Sun Quan's thinking mode focused more on politics.

"So, what should Yi Zijing mean?" 』Sun Quan did not express his thoughts directly.

Lu Su said in a deep voice: "My lord, please immediately remove Zhu Junli from the post of governor and return Jiangling to Cao's army!" Rebuild the covenant and fight against the Hussars together! 』

Sun Quan stood up and walked around the hall with his hands behind his back.

It is not difficult to depose Zhu Zhi, because Zhu Zhi himself suffered a defeat, and he did not obey orders and attacked Jiangling without permission. Sun Quan had some ideas to get rid of Zhu Zhi, but the problem was how to restore old friendship with Cao Cao and reunite...

Isn't this like stabbing Cao Cao in the anus and then saying sorry, my hand slipped?

"If my lord has this intention, Su Yuan will serve as an envoy and go north to renew the alliance!" Lu Su said with cupped hands.

"Well..." Sun Quan pondered, and after a moment, he asked with slight hesitation, "Captain...how is his condition?" 』