Chapter 327: Humble Tribute, Private Mission
Because of the panic in his heart, Sun Quan quickly summoned a group of ministers to discuss the matter.
Under Sun Quan's urgent summons, all the ministers currently in Yong'an City came to Sun Quan's side.
The defender of Yong'an City was originally Lu Xun. Later, as Liu Bei withdrew his troops from Jingzhou, Sun Quan also transferred his most trusted general to Lujiang County to guard it.
After all, there is a covenant, and with Liu Bei's faith in the world, he will not rashly tear up the covenant and attack Yong'an.
But it is not certain whether Cao Wei in the north will take advantage of the situation and attack Lujiang.
After Sun Quan transferred Lu Xun to Lujiang County, the Jiangdong general who is now responsible for guarding Yong'an is Han Dang, a veteran of three dynasties in Jiangdong.
Some time ago, after Sun Quan learned the news of the Han army's victory in Jianye, when he set off from Jianye to Yong'an, he also took many ministers from Jianye City with him.
Therefore, currently in Yong'an City, except for some ministers who guard important local areas, most of the famous officials from Jiangdong are in Yong'an City.
Seeing the ministers who rushed from all over Yong'an City because of his summons, Sun Quan's panic calmed down a little.
These ministers in front of him are all famous talents in the world, and they are also loyal ministers who protect the rule of the Sun family.
From Zhang Zhao's words, it can be seen that Zhang Zhao attaches great importance to Zhang Wen.
The reason why Zhang Wen was unable to defeat Fei Yi was not because he was less talented than Fei Yi. Zhang Wen lost because he lacked a Mi Yang in Jiangdong.
The bounden duty of an envoy is to accept the appointment rather than refuse. I hope you will not disappoint me."
But when Sun Quan learned that Zhang Liao was in the army, he actually told the generals: "Although Zhang Liao is sick, he is not worthy of being treated as such, so be careful!"
After Sun Quan took charge of Jiangdong, because Jiangdong's sword forging craftsmanship was unparalleled in the world, he ordered Jiangdong's skilled craftsmen to search for Jiangdong's fine iron and forge six swords that were as sharp as clay.
But now he still had something to gain from Zhang Wen, so he suppressed the discomfort in his heart for the time being.
After saying this, Sun Quan was worried that Zhang Wen, who was always quiet and aggressive, would refuse, so he hurriedly said to Zhang Wen:
"You are the treasure of Jiangdong, and it is not suitable for you to travel far away. I am just worried that the emperor will not understand my previous hardships, so I feel sorry for you to travel.
When Sun Quan's order came out, not only Yi, but also other Jiangdong ministers were very surprised.
After all the ministers retired, Sun Quan asked Zhang Wen to approach.
So the ministers present all admonished Sun Quan one after another:
"Jiangdong has been paying tribute to the imperial court in accordance with the rules before. Now that the Supreme Lord has presented so many treasures at once, it is not in line with etiquette and may be regarded as a routine by the imperial court in the future. It will waste our country's national power. Your Majesty, please think twice."
I hope you will say it clearly in front of the emperor:
Seeing that the ministers he relied on fell silent in the face of his inquiry, and no one took the initiative to offer him advice, Sun Quan sighed with a look on his face.
After saying this, Sun Quan watched Zhang Wen take the Qingming Sword from his hand, but he grabbed Zhang Wen's hand, pulled him to his ear, and whispered something to him.
And the rare and exotic beasts that Sun Quan is now paying tribute to are undoubtedly far beyond the ordinary specifications.
He said with some regret: "If Mr. Zhang were here, how could he not teach me any countermeasures?"
In the words of later generations, it was a bit licking.
Sun Quan felt that sending famous ministers like Zhang Wen might not be enough, so he issued an order to his close minister Yidao in public:
"Let all places quickly collect tributes such as bird's head incense, shells, pearls, ivory, rhinoceros horns, tortoiseshells, peacocks, jade, etc., and send them to Yong'an as soon as possible."
But despite the hint of request in Sun Quan's words, now that he has reached this point, if he still refuses, it would be a shame.
He looked at the minister in front of him who came out to speak with admiration.
When all the officials in Jiangdong understood Sun Quan's concerns, they fell into silence for a while.
"Moreover, although the Han army won the battle at Xiangfan, the Han army had no intention of continuing the Northern Expedition. This shows that the Han army also suffered heavy losses."
Sun Quan handed the Qingming Sword into Zhang Wen's hand, and then said to Zhang Wen:
"Take this sword to Xinye and tell the champion that a sword matches a hero. I am willing to earn this reputation."
This minister was Zhang Wen and Zhang Huishu who were ordered to make things difficult for Fei Yi when he was on his mission to Jiangdong.
Qingming Sword.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Jiangdong has many talents.
After all the ministers had arrived, Sun Quan took out the information in his hand and gave it to the ministers to read one by one.
After all, they were all worried that Mi Yang would lead troops to attack Jiangdong!
Sun Quan recognized Zhang Wen's knowledge, and Zhang Wen's advice dispelled Sun Quan's fears to a great extent.
Sun Quan's move made Jiangdong officials feel that Sun Quan was a bit too humble.
As Zhang Wen expected, after Sun Quan took the Qingming Sword from the guard, his eyes flashed with a strong sense of reluctance.
“The emperor has profound knowledge and a profound understanding of the great righteousness, and he must understand the Supreme Being’s thoughts and expediency.
The traitors in the country have not yet been cleared and they turn to attack the Han officials. The emperor and the prime minister are both outstanding men, so this matter must not be done."
Sun Quan's move was obviously to give so many rare and exotic animals as tribute to Liu Bei.
In Jiangdong, sometimes "Wu Liujian" represents Sun Quan.
Precisely because of this special meaning, Zhang Wen showed a look of surprise on his face after seeing Sun Quan ordering people to get this sword.
At that time, Sun Quan was able to rely on Jiangdong to compete with Cao Cao and Liu Bei because of the assistance of many talented people in Jiangdong.
If Gu Yong's praise was partly selfish, then even Zhang Zhao, who had always been indifferent to Jiangdong scholars, also valued Zhang Wen very much.
Sun Quan explained: "Our country is confronting Cao Wei in the north, and the people in the south of the Yangtze River rely on the protection of the Han to protect themselves.
This Qingming Sword used to be his favorite among the six swords.
This proverb fully reflects the fear of Mi Yang by Jiangdong ministers, but compared to Jiangdong ministers, Sun Quan is as afraid of Mi Yang as the people of Jiangdong.
Under Sun Quan's orders, Zhang Wen kept approaching Sun Quan. After getting very close to Sun Quan, Sun Quan revealed his purpose of keeping Zhang Wen.
It's just fear. Just like in history, although Sun Quan was afraid of Zhang Liao, he had experienced many storms and could not completely lose his temper because of fear.
Today, in the battle of Xiangfan, the Han army won a great victory. It was a time when morale was as high as a rainbow.
"You are on an envoy to Jingzhou this time. After you have paid an audience with the Emperor, you can go north to Xinye to pay a solitary visit to the Champion."
In addition, the Emperor is surrounded by good ministers, so I speculate that the Emperor will not have any suspicions. I hope Your Majesty can rest assured."
Information was quickly transferred from minister to minister.
Dozens of ministers were present, but Sun Quan missed Zhang Zhao who was far away in Jianye. This was a silent accusation by Sun Quan against the incompetence of the ministers in front of him.
Sun Quan was nominally a foreign vassal of the Han Dynasty, and it was in line with etiquette for him to pay tribute to Liu Bei, but etiquette had clear regulations on the items to be paid as tribute.
When Sun Quan was waiting for Minister Jiangdong in the palace to read the contents of the intelligence, the look of panic on his face was not concealed at all.
Moreover, he spoke elegantly and answered questions fluently, and onlookers admired him. Even Sun Quan changed his appearance and became more polite.
After explaining this, Sun Quan ignored the advice of the officials and insisted on letting Shiyi send his orders to various places.
These rare treasures are like stones and tiles to me, nothing to begrudge.
Although Zhang Zhao missed Sun Ce, he could not fully gain Sun Quan's trust.
As Sun Quan expected, Zhang Wen originally wanted to refuse.
However, unlike Liu Bei's behavior of forging swords and giving them to his subordinates, Sun Quan forged these six swords solely for his own collection.
Under such circumstances, it was not a big deal for Sun Quan to send an envoy to visit Mi Yang.
So what is very strange is that even though it was known that Mi Yang was not the governor of Jingzhou, even though Mi Yang only used words to shock him in his eulogy.
The Supreme Being was conferred the title of Taiwei by the Han Emperor. Since Guan Yu's death, he has become the highest-ranking Han official in the world today.
If all the troubles in Shanyue are eliminated, our army will launch a massive attack on Cao Pi.
They all also experienced some of Sun Quan's mood at this moment.
After hearing what the minister said, the panic on Sun Quan's face lightened a lot, and some joy also appeared on his face.
Sun Quan now misses Zhang Zhao in front of all the ministers. It's not that he really misses Zhang Zhao that much. He just wants to stimulate the ministers here through this move.
Because Mi Yang’s army is currently in the upper reaches of Jiangdong!
If Sun Ce were alive to see this scene, he would probably be angry to death again.
And because of the tragic results of the Public Security War, Sun Quan's fear of Mi Yang would only be fainter than Zhang Liao's.
Then Sun Quan asked his ministers to retire first, leaving only Zhang Wen alone.
It's just that under the influence of Sun Quan, even some Jiangdong ministers who originally only had fear of Mi Yang are now slowly turning into fear.
Gu Yong, a famous minister in Jiangdong, even praised Zhang Wen, saying: "Wen has no equal today."
However, Zhang Zhao was called "Zhang Gong" by Sun Quan, not only because of his huge reputation in the world, but also because his position in Jiangdong was irreplaceable.
"I'd like to ask you for your advice, please let me know."
This shows how deep the psychological shadow Zhang Liao caused on Sun Quan, and by comparison, we can also know how much Sun Quan was afraid of Mi Yang.
It's just that although the Jiangdong ministers read the information very quickly, after reading the contents of the information, they all had dark and unclear looks on their faces.
Sun Quan asked his guards to take out a sword from the inner hall. When he saw the sword, Zhang Wen's eyes narrowed tightly.
Besides, our country has made mistakes in the first place. If I don’t pay tribute in excess of the amount of treasures, how will the emperor understand my loyalty?”
Fortunately, Zhang Zhao, whom Sun Quan missed, was not here, otherwise he would have scolded him with his bad temper.
Since the emperor regarded the restoration of the Han Dynasty as the foundation of his country, his top priority was to attack Cao Wei in the north to rectify his orthodoxy.
All the ministers knew that Sun Quan urgently summoned them for something important, and that matter was probably closely related to the information in Sun Quan's hand.
"For these two reasons, Your Majesty does not need to worry too much."
It's just that Sun Quan used himself to save others. He felt that Liu Bei might not immediately send troops to attack Jiangdong as Zhang Wen said, but he would definitely have a grudge against his previous actions.
This proverb has spread throughout Jiangdong after the public security war that year, and with the fermentation of time.
Just for the sake of Jiangdong, Sun Quan now has to reluctantly give up his love.
As the saying goes, the Lord is worried about the humiliation of his ministers. Under Sun Quan's sigh, many Jiangdong ministers present had guilty looks on their faces.
Under this layer of worry, Sun Quan said to Zhang Wen: "You have a high reputation in this world, and I hope that you will go to Jingzhou as an envoy for Gu, and explain Gu's aspirations in front of the emperor."
Sun Quan's panic expression greatly affected the psychology of Jiangdong ministers present.
Hearing Sun Quan's request, Zhang Wen raised his head and looked at Sun Quan in surprise.
Among the vast Jiangdong, only Zhang Zhao could be honored as "Zhang Gong" by Sun Quan.
Sun Quan was worried about whether Liu Bei would send troops to attack Jiangdong because of his previous "slow edict" behavior.
"The Six Swords of Soochow, Qingming is the first."
But the Jiangdong monarchs and ministers in the entire hall gradually fell into a fear of Mi Yang.
Sun Quan's natural words made all Jiangdong ministers speechless.
How do you think I should deal with myself at this time?"
After Zhang Wen listened to Sun Quan's whisper, the look of surprise on his face became even stronger.
Perhaps this proverb is not enough to express Sun Quan's deep fear of Mi Yang, but it can be vividly reflected from an example in history.
At that time, Zhou Yu had made such great achievements that even if he wanted to ask Sun Quan for one of the swords, he could not get it, let alone other officials.
Since they are talented people, if they say that the ministers of Jiangdong will all be as afraid of Mi Yang as Sun Quan, it would be to underestimate them.
Zhang Wen's words meant that he had accepted this mission, but Sun Quan felt uncomfortable listening to Zhang Wen's words of praise for Liu Bei.
Zhang Wen cultivated his integrity since he was a child, and when he grew up, he had a strange and majestic appearance.
Then a minister came out and said to Sun Quan: "Cao Pi is a traitor to the Han Dynasty by usurping the Han Dynasty and establishing himself on his own.
Now, Sun Quan took the initiative to take out one of the Qingming Swords, and its meaning is self-evident.
But what surprised Zhang Wen even more was what happened next.
As most Jiangdong ministers read the contents of the intelligence, they all realized why Sun Quan had summoned them.
He was thinking about what to say to remonstrate with Sun Quan, but he thought that now Sun Quan and Mi Yang were both nominally ministers of the Han Dynasty, which was different from the previous relationship where they were allies.
So when they got the information, they could read the contents very quickly.
Zhang Zhao is Zhuge Liang of Jiangdong, and he will always be the most capable minister in stabilizing Jiangdong.
"Zhang and Mi stopped crying together. The white deer of Han Dynasty chased the Wu people."
So Zhang Wen just bowed to Sun Quan and replied:
Sun Quan's question was quite tactful, and he seemed to want to openly maintain his dignity as the lord of Jiangdong.
But none of the Jiangdong ministers present here are human beings. They all heard Sun Quan’s true meaning from his euphemistic words.
Faced with the same panic look on the faces of Jiangdong's ministers, Sun Quan slowly asked: "The emperor had previously issued an edict for Gu to attack Hefei, but Gu was delayed because Jiangdong's national power was weak.
Faced with the remonstrances of his ministers, Sun Quan did not take it seriously.
Historically, when Cao Pi went south to conquer Jiangdong, Zhang Liao was already seriously ill, and Zhang Liao was still controlled by Cao Xiu.
Faced with Zhang Wen's shock, Sun Quan seemed a little anxious. Finally, he solemnly told Zhang Wen:
"Zhang Qing, don't let me down."
Sun Quan's solemn entrustment put great pressure on Zhang Wen's heart.
But as a subject of Sun Quan, he could only bow to Sun Quan in the end:
"I will fulfill my mission."
Just one chapter today.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!