There is a word in this world called split peach love.
The protagonists of the story are Wei Linggong, the king of Wei during the Spring and Autumn Period, and his male favorite, Mi Zixia.
When Mi Zixia was favored, he once learned that his mother was ill, so Jiao Zhao drove the monarch's car back to visit her mother.
Duke Ling of Wei heard this and said virtuously: "How filial! You committed the crime of mutilation for the sake of your mother!"
It means, alas, Zi Xia is so filial. For the sake of his mother, he is not even afraid of the punishment of having his feet cut off.
Because according to the law of defending the country, anyone who steals the monarch's car will be punished with mutilation, which means having both feet cut off.
Another time, the two of them were visiting an orchard together. Mi Zixia picked a peach and ate a few bites. He felt it was very sweet, so he turned around and handed the peach he had chewed to Duke Wei Linggong.
The king said: "You love me so much that you forget your words and think of me!"
It means that you love me so much that you endured the craving and gave me the delicious peach.
This is the so-called split love.
When Mizi's beauty faded and he loved to relax, he offended the king. The king said: "You try to drive my chariot, and you try to eat the rest of my peaches."
When Mi Zixia became old and beautiful, he began to be disliked by Wei Linggong.
Later, Mi Zixia accidentally offended Duke Linggong of Wei.
This made Wei Linggong couldn't help but think of the past, and he felt even more angry:
"This guy used to falsely convey the emperor's orders and use my car without authorization; he also showed no respect for the emperor and gave me the leftover peach he bit off."
So, when there is true love, even the shortcomings of the other person will be seen as advantages.
When love disappears, even the other person’s strengths will be seen as weaknesses.
Sun Quan's attitude towards Lu Xun was probably similar to that of Wei Linggong towards Mi Zixia.
Lu Yi changed his name to Lu Xun, most likely to express humility.
Of course, he might even be flattering Sun Quan.
Xun means working hard to serve the Sun family.
Lu Xun also personally explained to Sun Quan that he named his son Kang to resist thieves.
Sun Quan also expressed his appreciation at that time.
Unexpectedly, times have changed, and now Lu Xun is disgusted by Sun Quan, so his resistance to thieves has turned into a protest.
It can be said that love the house and the crow, and hate the house and the crow.
Lu Xun was one of the ministers of Wu State whom Feng paid close attention to. Mi Shiyilang, who was in Jianye, would naturally not miss his observation.
After learning about Lu Xun's movements, he went to look for Lu Yi and asked with some worry:
"I heard that the general wanted to persuade your majesty to change the tariff. Will there be any changes in Jingzhou Yi City?"
Lu Yi smiled confidently and said with great confidence:
"Mi Langjun, don't worry. Are you being selfless when the general knocks on the door to ask for advice? In fact, it is just for his own selfishness. Your Majesty is so wise and powerful, how can you be deceived by him?"
When Mi Shiyilang heard this, he saw Lu Yi's expression again, so he tried to challenge him with words:
"I once heard that the senior general was born in the planning school. He was born in a country-worshiping family and had a reputation as a bandit. Your Majesty has great trust in you. How could you deceive your Majesty for your own selfish interests?"
Lu Yi couldn't help but snorted when Mi Shiyilang was so excited:
"This is all reported by outsiders, and it cannot be believed sincerely. Why did he advise His Majesty to change the tariff? It was just to let him lead the army to attack Hefei!"
"It is said that Xiangyang has fallen, but Hefei remains. Once Hefei is destroyed, the shackles of Wu will be gone."
"So he intends to let you, Han, take Luoyang, then send your troops south to cooperate with him to take Hefei!"
Hearing this, even a man like Mi Shiyilang who was good at dealing with people didn't know how to speak.
Before coming to the Kingdom of Wu from Chang'an, my brother analyzed the situation in the Kingdom of Wu with him.
Coupled with the various signs observed after coming to Wu Kingdom, they all coincide with my brother's previous judgment.
This made him feel frightened and awed, and at the same time he understood some of Sun Quan's thoughts.
Hefei can be said to be the inner demon of Sun Quan.
Lu Xun not only went to Xiangyang, but also wanted to personally lead the army to attack Hefei. Didn't he consider Sun Quan's feelings?
Mi Shiyilang didn't know what to say, but Lu Yi said angrily:
"Don't His Majesty know what he said? But what about the money? What about the food? Why didn't he mention it at all?"
"Without money and food, even if there are 100,000 elites, what's the use? The year before last, when the whole country of Wu marched northward, how much food did they consume with so many soldiers and horses?"
"Does he think that the victory of Xiangyang is his alone? Without us transferring money and food from the Han Dynasty, what would he do to conquer it?"
Although he received benefits, he never cared about the good deeds of the university and even scolded himself and others every day for being traitors and harming the country.
Just thinking about it makes me angry!
In fact, over the years, Wu's treasury has been unable to make ends meet.
Otherwise, it would not be possible to make big money repeatedly.
It was only through Sun Quan's subsidy from the Young Mansion - that is, the emperor's personal treasury subsidizing the state - that he was able to send troops north every year.
Most of the money for the Young Master was obtained through the hard work of the School Affairs Office.
As a foreign minister, Lu Xun was naturally not qualified to know how much money the emperor's young mansion still had.
But when he thought about it, in the early years, His Majesty went north to attack Hefei every year. Didn't he always come here like this?
What's the harm in hitting him one more time now?
Moreover, as long as Hefei is captured, coupled with Han's offensive in the north, Wu can take advantage of the opportunity to take over the Huaihe River.
At that time, Da Wu will have the greatest room for maneuver.
At the same time, luring Han to take the land south of the river first would not only help Han to plot the Central Plains, but would even put Han into a dilemma:
When Han and Da Wu join forces to carve up the land of Guandong, they will find that they have Da Wu who controls the Yangtze River and Huaihe River to the south, and Sima Yi across the river to the north.
And the land of Qingxu happens to be caught in it.
No matter whether the Han Dynasty sends its troops northward or betrays its alliance and goes southward, it will face the embarrassing situation of being attacked from both sides.
Therefore, losing Luoyang may not be all bad for Sima Yi who occupied Hebei.
Lu Xun believed that with Sima Yi's eyes, he would definitely see this.
Just like the battle the year before last.
In Lu Xun's own opinion, his plans were all based on loyalty to the country and had no selfish motives.
Only then did he risk the possibility of offending Sun Quan and come to knock on the door.
It's just that the reason there are countless disputes in this world is precisely because people have different positions and different interests.
What Sun Quan wants now is to first stabilize the internal situation, rebalance the various forces within Wu State, and pave the way for those who come after him:
This is also the reason why I transferred you, Lu Xun, back from Xiangyang and even refused to let you return to Wuchang.
Now you actually want me to allow you to lead the army out to attack Hefei?
is it possible?
Besides, even if I trust you to lead the troops out, how can you guarantee that Hefei will be captured?
I've been fighting for so many years and haven't been able to win.
Not to mention Hefei, the last time I asked you to fight in Lu'an, weren't you forced to retreat overnight by an eighty-year-old pawn (i.e. Man Chong)?
This is still unbeatable.
If I really want to defeat you...
Let’s not talk about my face, but what should I do next?
Otherwise, this position of the Sun family will be given to you, the Lu family!
Naturally, Lu Yi didn't know the true thoughts of Sun and Lu.
Moreover, he had not yet had a chance to tell Sun Quan about Lu Xun's plan, and it was even less possible for Lu Yi to know Lu Xun's true intention.
But all he needs to know is that His Majesty hates Lu Xun.
And he also has his own position:
Wu's palace is cleaner than his face. You are a great general, and you also act as prime minister. Are you really not knowing or are you pretending not to know?
To put it bluntly, don't you just want to take money from the Shaofu to support yourself in attacking Hefei?
Do you know where the money came from?
Do you really think it was brought by the strong wind?
What a beautiful thought!
Seeing Lu Yi swearing so firmly, Mi Shiyilang felt relieved.
Lu Yi was still complaining about Lu Xun privately, but someone above the court was already planning to secretly target Lu Xun.
The incident of the general knocking on the door caused quite an uproar in the court.
However, as the first person in charge of knocking, the Governor Quan Cong watched the whole process with a cold eye, without any emotion in his heart, and he even wanted to laugh a little.
Luoyang is more than two thousand miles away. Even if you don't want to be occupied by Han, can you still fly over and snatch it back?
During the Battle of Shiting, the Marquis of Jiaxing (i.e. Zhu Huan) suggested cutting off Cao Xiu's retreat in advance at a dangerous location.
If we can succeed, we can take advantage of the victory to pursue Shouchun, separatize Huainan, and then plot Xu and Luo.
In hindsight, this strategy had a high probability of success.
Not to mention plotting against Xuchang and Luoyang, we can at least try to capture Shouchun.
We had captured Shouchun long ago, why did we cause so much trouble now?
Faced with Han's occupation of Luoyang today, why should Wu be so embarrassed?
If you want to blame, blame me, you, the great general, were too cautious and did not accept the opinions of the Marquis of Jiaxing back then.
Shouchun, Shouchun, when it comes to Shouchun, Grand Governor Quan Cong gets very angry.
Soon, his opportunity came.
In November of the sixth year of Yanxi, Prime Minister Gu Yong was finally convinced by Zhang Quan that he could not survive the winter of that year and died of serious illness.
When Sun Quan learned of this, he was very sad and went to mourn him in plain clothes, giving him the posthumous title of Marquis Su.
After handling Gu Yong's funeral affairs, who can take over as prime minister has become a top priority.
According to the understanding of the ministers, the position of prime minister should naturally be taken over by the general.
The position of Acting Prime Minister is just missing the name.
But for some reason, Sun Quan was uncharacteristically reluctant to reveal his attitude.
Princess Quan, who wanted to go to the palace to find out the news, came back happily that day and quietly said to Quan Cong:
"Alang, your majesty is very dissatisfied with Lu Boyan. I heard it with my own ears. Your majesty scolded him in the palace for not knowing how to show appreciation. Why are you trying to be so cruel and ugly and only take advantage of your disapproval!"
Although he had a grudge with Lu Xun, Quan Cong was still surprised when he heard this: "Is this true? Your Majesty would say this to Lu Boyan?"
"I heard it with my own ears, can I be wrong?" Princess Quan persuaded with some excitement, "Alang, it's time to clarify the matter of Shouchun's military exploits!"
The case of Shouchun's meritorious service was originally controversial.
A letter from Lu Boyan forced the whole family to submit to Zhang and Gu.
In the past, Lu Boyan had a high reputation in the army, and His Majesty also listened to his words.
Now that His Majesty has been angered, if the Quan family does not take this opportunity to overturn the verdict, how long will it take?
Quan Cong's heart also moved.
After thinking for a moment, he said:
"Let me think about it and find a good opportunity..."
Princess Quan interrupted him directly:
"Alang, what else do you want to think about? I have made an appointment with Mrs. Pan, and your Majesty will probably come over."
"You are His Majesty's son-in-law, so you accompany me into the palace, pay your respects to His Majesty, and take the opportunity to mention Shouchun's military exploits. What's the problem?"
Quan Cong hesitated for a moment and finally nodded.
December of the sixth year of Yanxi's reign was destined to be a cold month for Wu Guochatang.
When Prime Minister Gu Yong passed away, the Gu family fell into grief and busyness and had no time for him.
The Grand Governor Quan Cong took the opportunity to speak to Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, and mentioned the Shouchun meritorious case.
It reveals how Chen Yun, the Dianjun at that time, deceived the emperor and falsely increased his merits, which resulted in unfair rewards and punishments for the army's lieutenants.
Quan Cong not only took out his merit book and pointed out the fallacies of many of the military achievements mentioned above, but he also found former military lieutenants to prove his claims.
Over the past few days, Sun Quan had been very angry because of Lu Xun's knocking on the que, and the death of Gu Yong made him sad and sad.
With grief and hatred mixed together, I couldn't control my emotions when I learned that Gu Yong's descendants were so unbearable.
He first angrily issued an edict to put Chen Xun to death, and then ordered a secretary to imprison Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu.
Prime Minister Gu Yong's body was still cold, and the Gu family suffered such a disaster.
Even if the Gu family is one of the four families in Wu County, there is still some confusion.
After Gu Yong's death, General Lu Xun became the most important official in the Wu Dynasty.
At this time, he had no hesitation to stand up and plead for the Gu family. Sun Quan, who had long been unable to control his temper, rebuked Lu Xun in front of all the ministers:
"In the past, when Shouchun was discussing his merits, the court had no final conclusion. If it hadn't been for your letter, saying that the merits of stationing the enemy were great but the merits of retreating them were small, how could we have made such a mistake today?"
"I have no scruples and let you get close to me. I didn't expect that you would make such a comment because you wanted to do something for your nephew."
(Note: The Gu brothers are Lu Xun’s nephews)
"When today's incident happened, you didn't think about your own mistakes. Instead, you became even more incompatible with him. You simply did everything for personal gain!"
After Sun Quan's curse words, not only Lu Xun was shocked and couldn't believe it, but also all the officials were dumbfounded.
But seeing Lu Xun standing blankly, although there were colleagues sitting on both sides, he felt as if the surroundings were shrouded in mist, as if he was standing alone on an island.
He stood there blankly like a stone pillar, staring at the ground with his head lowered.
I just feel lonely, surrounded by shadows, my body is bound by the sudden fatigue, unable to move, and full of sadness and anger, swirling and conflicting in my body.
After a long time, Lu Xun raised his head and looked at the emperor above. His eyes were dull and empty, and he murmured:
"Your Majesty, I...I am guilty...guilty!"
With the last "guilty" sound, Lu Xun fell to the ground with a thump, his whole body trembling, and his head hidden deep between his arms.
Seeing General Shang like this, Gu Tan, who had been silent because he was avoiding suspicion, finally stood up uncontrollably:
"Your Majesty, although my brother is stupid and cowardly, I dare to guarantee it with my life and will never do anything greedy for merit."
"The general is loyal to the public and serves the public, and he is definitely not someone who will seek personal gain for his in-laws and children."
"I sincerely request your majesty to order a supervisor to review the matter of Shouchun's meritorious service, so as to prevent your majesty from being deceived by treacherous and sycophantic people."
Seeing Lu Xun's appearance, Sun Quan finally felt that he might have spoken a little too harshly.
Although he had the intention of weakening the Gu family, he still cared about Gu Yong's past achievements.
Moreover, Gu Yong's body was still dead, so he couldn't do too much. This time, taking the opportunity to beat Gu's body was enough.
So he said to Gu Tan:
"Why don't I investigate clearly the merits and demerits? The good relationship between Chen Xun and your younger brother is not private. Who knows?"
"In the Battle of Shouchun, I also have evidence that Chen Xun falsely claimed military merit. According to law, your younger brother should be killed. However, I think the Prime Minister has great pity for your brother."
"Well, as long as you apologize to the Governor here in front of everyone, I'm sure the Governor will not pursue it too much."
When Gu Tan heard that Sun Quan actually asked him to apologize to Quan Cong, he was immediately furious, his blood was boiling in his body, and he clenched his fists tightly.
Quan Cong was so greedy that his brother was unjustly imprisoned.
Now Your Majesty actually wants him to apologize to this treacherous villain?!
Gu Tan turned his head and stared fiercely at Quan Cong who was sitting in front, then turned his head again and roared like thunder after being humiliated:
"Your Majesty, you are slandering me!"
As soon as these words came out, Quan Cong, who was secretly proud of the setback of the Lu family and Gu Er family among the four surnames in Wu County, couldn't sit still for a while.
He stood up suddenly, pointed at Gu Tan and cursed:
"Who are you talking about?"
Sun Quan, who was sitting at the top, had a gloomy face.