Chapter 248 One of the Four Prime Ministers Sun Quan gives in
Although with Zhuge Liang's advice, Liu Bei decided how to reward Sun Quan, he still needed an envoy to go to Jiangdong to convey his reward.
But this messenger was hard to find.
Sun Quan was a Han official in name, but in fact he was an ambitious man with independent military power.
Although Zhuge Liang's suggestions are comprehensive, people's hearts are unpredictable, and no one can guarantee that Zhuge Liang's strategy will succeed.
If Sun Quan lost his mind and was furious because Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, then it would not be impossible to kill Liu Bei's envoys.
Therefore, if cowardly people are sent to Jiangdong, and when the envoy makes some actions that are disgraceful to the country under the threat of Sun Quan's death, then this will undoubtedly cause a huge blow to the authority of the New Han Dynasty.
In addition to ensuring that the messenger must be courageous and not afraid of the threat of death, the messenger must also have the ability to respond intelligently.
Because according to common sense, Sun Quan may not be cruel to the envoys sent by Liu Bei because of his own strength.
However, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang knew Sun Quan's character very well. With his character, it was very likely that he would make things difficult for the Han envoys after they arrived in Jiangdong.
Under such circumstances, if the envoy of the Han Dynasty performs poorly when facing Sun Quan's difficulties.
Then Sun Quan would definitely take the opportunity to publicize the matter widely in order to undermine the prestige of the Han Dynasty established by Liu Bei.
From a political sense, this was the first time that Liu Bei, in his capacity as Emperor of the Han Dynasty, sent envoys to foreign vassals of the Han Dynasty.
Any action of this messenger is related to the majesty of Xinhan, and will also affect the world's view of Xinhan to a certain extent.
Therefore, there is nothing careless about the selection of the envoy.
Finally, after various considerations, Liu Bei chose Deng Zhi as his envoy to Jiangdong.
In terms of character and talent, Deng Zhi was both wise and courageous. After Liu Bei's appointment, Deng Zhi was promoted from Shangshu to Shizhong. This kind of official position was suitable for him to serve as an envoy to Sun Quan.
Moreover, after the previous Battle of Public Security, it was Deng Zhi who went to Yong'an to sign an alliance with Sun Quan on behalf of Liu Bei.
After deciding that Deng Zhi was the envoy, Zhuge Liang recommended Fei Yi to Liu Bei as the deputy envoy.
Fei Yi, courtesy name Wenwei, was from Jiangxia County.
Fei Yi lost his father when he was young and lived with his clan father Fei Boren. Later, Fei Boren took Fei Yi to study in Shu.
After Liu Bei pacified Shuzhong, Fei Yi stayed in Yizhou and became as famous as Xu Shulong from Runan and Dong Yun from Nanjun. These three people were praised by Yizhou people as: "Three Heroes of Shu County."
Originally, the reputation of the three heroes of Shu County was among the three, but after an incident, Fei Yi's reputation became the highest among the three heroes.
When Xu Jing lost his son, Dong Yun and Fei Yi were about to attend the funeral together. Dong Yun asked his father, Dong He, for a ride, and Dong He sent a deer cart to them.
Dong Yun looked troubled when he saw this, but Fei Yi calmly got into the deer cart before leaving.
When they arrived at the funeral home, Zhuge Liang and all the nobles from Yizhou had gathered together, and most of them were traveling in gorgeous vehicles.
Seeing this scene, Dong Yun looked hesitant, but Fei Yi was calm and composed.
When the driver returned to his home, Dong He learned about the incident and said to Dong Yun: "I have often suspected that you have not distinguished between the good and bad of Wen Wei, but from now on, I understand."
Because of Dong He's evaluation, Fei Yi began to become famous.
Because of Fei Yi's performance at the funeral, Zhuge Liang began to pay attention to Fei Yi from then on.
Liu Bei also heard about Fei Yi's reputation, so when he heard that Zhuge Liang recommended Fei Yi, he agreed to let Fei Yi serve as deputy envoy to Jiangdong.
After selecting the chief and deputy envoys for the envoy to Jiangdong, a few days later a delegation of hundreds of people began to march towards Jiangdong.
Jiangdong, Jianye.
On the official road outside Jianye City, a mighty man in regular clothes was inspecting the rice fields outside the city with his entourage.
In addition to hundreds of personal guards surrounding this man, there were also two children, a boy and a girl.
This man is Sun Quan, the lord of Jiangdong.
The two children were named Sun Lu and Sun Luban. They were Sun Quan's second son and eldest daughter respectively.
Originally serving as the administrative seat of Jiangdong, the security of Jianye City has always been very good.
And perhaps due to the influence of family genes, when Sun Quanfan traveled before, he would not lead too many personal guards and entourage.
But this habit of Sun Quan completely changed after meeting two famous generals.
One of the two famous generals was named Zhang Liao and the other was named Mi Yang.
Among these two people, Mi Yang undoubtedly cast a deeper psychological shadow on Sun Quan.
The humiliation of cutting off his beard and abandoning his robe that night is still fresh in Sun Quan's memory.
With his tragic past, Sun Quan completely changed his frivolous behavior.
Today, Sun Quan brought his two children and hundreds of personal guards to the outside of Jianye City, not for an outing.
As the Lord of Jiangdong, he came to inspect the harvest of the rice fields outside the city.
Due to regional differences, the crops grown mainly in the north and south are also very different.
Although the current main staple food of the Chinese people is corn, for Jiangdong, which is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the most important crop has always been rice.
Rice cultivation has a long tradition in Chinese history.
The reason why Jiangdong uses rice as its main crop is because rice is so suitable for planting in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Although much of the southern region at this time was in an uncivilized stage, it was vast and sparsely populated.
In addition, advanced farming technologies are all in the north, so the current rice planting method in Jiangdong is still based on "fire farming and water farming".
However, because the land and climate in Jiangdong are so suitable for the growth of rice, the grain output in Jiangdong has always been high.
This is a gift from God.
Precisely because of Jiangdong's unique advantages, Cao Wei and Ji Han both missed many opportunities for food in history, but Soochow has never had such troubles.
Sun Quan could even use Jiangdong alone to raise an army of 100,000 to conquer everywhere.
Food is the most important thing for soldiers and civilians, and food can be said to be the foundation for ensuring the prosperity of a force.
However, during the previous public security war, several years of Jiangdong's grain reserves were burned by Mi Yang, which severely damaged Jiangdong's vitality.
That's why Sun Quan, who was worried about the people's livelihood in the country, went out of the city to inspect the rice fields in person during the autumn harvest this year.
Sun Quan stood on the official road and looked at the endless rice fields below, and his face finally showed some joy.
From Sun Quan's perspective, the entire rice field was covered with rice ears, and each rice ear looked very full.
When a breeze blew, Sun Quan could smell the aroma of rice ears in his nose, and his face became even more joyful.
It looks like there will be a good harvest this year.
As long as there is food, Jiangdong's vitality can be restored quickly.
Sun Quan pointed to the rice fields under him and said to Sun Lu beside him: "Li'er, remember, rice is the foundation of my Jiangdong country."
There was an obvious hint of instruction in Sun Quan's tone.
After the pale-faced Sun Lu listened to Sun Quan's education, he obediently bowed to Sun Quan in a decent manner and said to Sun Quan: "My child, remember."
Seeing Sun Lu's well-behaved look, the smile on Sun Quan's face became even more beautiful.
As he said, rice is the foundation of Jiangdong's country, but Sun Liu, the only son by his side now, is not the foundation of Jiangdong's country?
Sun Deng, the eldest son Sun Quan had cultivated with great devotion, was sent to Jingzhou by him. Although in Sun Quan's mind, Sun Deng was still his best successor.
In order to protect and train Sun Deng, he also sent four young talents to Jiangdong as Sun Deng's companions.
All these arrangements represent the importance he attaches to Sun Deng.
But as the master of Jiangdong, Sun Quan would not put all his eggs in one basket.
In his heart, he had always been preparing for the worst.
Sun Lu has been smart since he was a child. Although his performance is not as good as Sun Deng, it is not much worse.
The reason why Sun Quan had never thought of training Sun Lu before was mainly because Sun Lu had been in poor health since he was born.
In today's world, it is difficult for such a child to grow up to adulthood.
For this reason, it was impossible for Sun Quan to place Jiangdong's future on Sun Liu before Sun Liu passed the ten-year-old mark.
Therefore, Sun Quan's current plan is to give Sun Liu some advice at the right time when Sun Deng is not in Jiangdong.
In his current mind, Jiangdong's future is still Sun Deng.
As Sun Quan's eldest daughter, Sun Luban, after hearing Sun Quan's words, she immediately pouted, pulled Sun Quan's clothes and said:
"Father, why do you only teach Brother Lu and ignore Lu Ban?"
Sun Luban, the eldest daughter of Sun Quan, is only nine years old this year.
Although Sun Luban is young, she has inherited her mother's excellent genes and is very cute.
When the petite and cute Sun Luban pulled Sun Quan's clothes and said jealous words, Sun Quan's loving heart flourished.
He picked up Sun Luban, pinched her little nose and said with a smile: "Lü'er is a man, and he will help his father achieve great things in the future."
"And you are a woman who will marry a husband and raise children in the future, so naturally you don't need to know this."
Unexpectedly, after Sun Luban listened to Sun Quan's words, her little face seemed to squeeze together to express her displeasure.
Sun Luban, who was in Sun Quan's arms, seemed to be explaining his ambition and said: "Women can also do great things!"
Sun Quan couldn't help laughing when he heard what Sun Luban said.
What a girl under ten years old said, Sun Quan only regarded as a joke.
But what Sun Quan didn't know was that in the future, her daughter Sun Luban would actually use her own actions to fulfill the ambition she had made today.
Just when Sun Quan was immersed in the joy of a good harvest and family happiness, his close minister Shiyi quickly came behind Sun Quan with a piece of intelligence in his hand and reported to him:
"Your Majesty, Liu Bei ascended the throne in Chengdu a few days ago and proclaimed himself emperor, continuing the Han Dynasty."
Shi Yi's voice was not loud, but when these words fell into Sun Quan's ears, Sun Quan's face, which was still smiling, suddenly turned gloomy.
Somber and terrifying.
Seemingly aware of the change in Sun Quan's mood, Sun Luban, who had dared to act coquettishly to Sun Quan just now, now immediately became extremely well-behaved in Sun Quan's arms.
The coldness in Sun Quan's eyes was gathering rapidly.
He placed Sun Luban on the ground, and then asked the waiters on the side to take Sun Luban and Sun Lu away.
When Sun Luban and Sun Lu both left, Sun Quan finally couldn't bear the emotions in his heart anymore. He said with a coldness in his words:
"Han Emperor? Is he worthy?"
After Sun Quan returned from Yong'an, he had been working hard in Jianye City, hoping to restore the vitality of Jiangdong as soon as possible.
Of course, keeping a closed door would not work, so after Sun Quan returned to Jianye, he sent a large number of spies to the north and Chengdu.
Because of the existence of spies, Sun Quan knew beforehand that Cao Pi had proclaimed himself emperor through abdication.
Compared to Cao Pi's proclaiming himself emperor, Sun Quan felt even more angry when Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor.
Because Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor on behalf of the Han Dynasty, he could not pose a threat to Sun Quan in name.
Sun Quan could have refused to recognize Cao Pi's status as emperor as a Han official.
But Liu Bei called him Emperor of Han!
The Han Dynasty has ruled the world for four hundred years. Who has not been a Han citizen?
Now that Liu Bei calls his empire Han, what does Sun Quan mean to him? Is he Liu Bei's subordinate?
The more Sun Quan thought about it, the angrier he became, and his hands clenched unconsciously.
But because there were others around, Sun Quan still maintained the last trace of his sanity.
Because of the anger in his heart, the coldness in Sun Quan's voice became more and more intense. He asked Shi Yi in a cold tone:
"Other than that, what other news is there?"
Shi Yi knew about Sun Quan's tone, and Sun Quan was very angry now.
But there was one piece of news that he had to report.
So after hesitation, he hesitated and said to Sun Quan:
"According to the information reported by the spies, just last month, Mi Yang defeated Cao Ren and beheaded tens of thousands of Wei troops by pretending to surrender!"
Sun Quan did not arrange many spies in Hanxing County before, because the terrain of Hanxing County was difficult and it was not easy to convey the information.
In addition, not much time has passed, so the news of the battle in Xicheng has not spread widely.
When the news of the Battle of Xicheng spread in Chengdu, Jiangdong's spies learned about it.
Then Jiangdong's spies hurriedly transmitted two major news to Jiangdong: Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor and the battle in Xicheng.
When he heard the news, Sun Quan's eyes showed great shock.
He turned his head and looked at Shiyi with suspicious eyes, as if to verify the importance of this news.
Since Cao Cao raised his army, the Wei army's reputation for being good at fighting has long been known throughout the world.
Moreover, since ancient times, the South has been discriminated against by the North.
Under such circumstances, Mi Yang's ability to kill tens of thousands of northern soldiers was considered a great victory that shocked the world.
As for the fact that Cao Ren was killed by Mi Yang, Sun Quan felt even more incredible.
Cao Renna was a general who followed Cao Cao and made many military exploits as early as the time of Cao Cao.
After Cao Cao's death, Cao Ren became Cao Wei's top general by virtue of his qualifications and status.
The status of such a figure in Cao Wei can be said to be only lower than that of Cao Pi.
But even such a character died at the hands of Mi Yang?
Facing Sun Quan's surprised and questioning look, Shi Yi nodded firmly.
Although when he received the news, his reaction was even worse than that of Sun Quan.
But this news had already spread inside and outside Chengdu, so it was unmistakable.
After confirming that the news was correct, Shi Yi could only express a heavy sigh in her heart - it was indeed him.
After Shiyi nodded, Sun Quan couldn't believe it, but he had to accept this fact.
It was this fact that made Sun Quan's clenched hands immediately loosen, and the anger in his heart quickly dissipated.
The coldness in his eyes disappeared in an instant.
Then there was the Yi report: "Liu Bei has sent an envoy to reward the Supreme Being. I wonder how I, Jiangdong, should respond next?"
how to respond?
How else to deal with it?
Sun Quan suppressed the shock in his heart and said to Shi Yiyan: "Carefully explore the whereabouts of the emperor's envoy. When the envoy arrives, I will be alone ten miles away to greet him."
If it had not been for Mi Yang's battle at Xicheng, Sun Quan would have been furious when he heard that Liu Bei dared to send an envoy after claiming to be Emperor of Han.
But now he has changed his name to Liu Bei as emperor.
Although Sun Quan's character has many aspects, he has always had a very distinctive character trait.
Gou Jian's Qi: In plain Chinese, if you can't beat someone, you will give up.
It's obvious that Jiang Dong just can't beat Mi Yang now.
So he gave in decisively.
Chapter 2 today~
I want a monthly pass~
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!