Chapter 263 Lu Xun: I seem to see the empire being destroyed
Chapter 263 Lu Xun: I seem to see the empire being destroyed
Ma Su stayed up all night,
When he finished all this and took care of Lu Meng, the sky had begun to turn pale. Ma Di carefully covered himself with the quilt, then opened the door and went out to take a breath of fresh morning air.
Today is the third day of March in the 10th year of Jianxing (232). He finally won a crucial territory two years before Zhuge Liang's deadline.
The four major generals stayed outside the room all night, listening to the "clang-clang-clang" sound inside for most of the night, and each had his own thoughts.
When they saw Ma Su limping out, holding on to the wall, they all cast ambiguous and admiring glances.
Ma Su shook his head with a wry smile.
Things were not as imagined by the four generals. Ninety percent of the reason why he was limping was because he was beaten by Lu Meng, not because he was tired.
At this time, the door of the wing next door was pushed open, and another Miss Lu, Lu Yusheng, came out with two dark circles under her eyes. When she saw Ma Su, she said "Oh" in panic, and quickly turned around and retreated into the room.
Uncle Ma suddenly felt a little pain in his head.
These two Miss Lu San are so difficult to deal with,
Fortunately, despite all the trouble and anger, the two women also understood the importance of maintaining the alliance between the two families and acted in a measured way.
The next step was to recruit and train troops, alienate Lu Xun, and wait for Sun Quan to make his move.
Losing a continent out of thin air is equivalent to a heavy blow to Sun Quan's prestige. As long as Sun Quan can't swallow this breath and wants to regain his prestige, then he will definitely send troops to Jiaozhou.
Jingzhou, Jiangling City.
Lu Xun, who had been deprived of his military rights and had nothing to do, was wandering aimlessly on the street.
Dozens of steps behind him, a pair of soldiers hung far behind, claiming to be protecting, but actually monitoring.
Lu Xun sighed, feeling that he had fallen into an invisible political conspiracy, with nowhere to focus and no way to escape.
Frankly speaking, if it was a march and a war, he would be confident that he could see through any plot. But if it was politics, his political talent was very average, and he really didn't know what he should do at this moment to get rid of Sun Quan's suspicion.
In other words, beware.
Judging from the fact that Sun Quan only deprived him of his military power but did not arrest him, Sun Quan has probably found out that this time (the Jiaozhou Incident) had nothing to do with him. The deprivation of his military power was to prevent him from turning to Jiaozhou and Shisan.
Jiaozhou, Shisan.
Who exactly is Shisan?
There was so little information that Lu Xun could not guess Shisan's true identity.
If we must say that Shi San’s behavior is most similar to that of anyone in the world today.
That must be Ma Su, the general of the Shu Han Dynasty conquering the west!
Could it be Ma Su?
Lu Xun wasn't sure.
"My lord, would you like to buy a piece of fish? A freshly caught Yangtze River tuna."
A sudden sound interrupted Lu Xun's thoughts.
A majestic-looking seafood vendor stood up from his stall, rubbed his hands, and looked over expectantly.
Lu Xun waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need it, and was about to leave when he suddenly saw a fine spear standing straight next to the fish stall. The tail of the spear was deeply inserted into the ground, and the head of the spear was shining brightly in the spring sun.
It emits the most dazzling light. There is a small flag hanging on the neck of the gun with the four characters "Wei fisherman" written on it. The small flag flutters in the wind and makes a hunting sound.
Wei fisherman?
Lu Xun was suddenly startled, as if struck by thunder and lightning, and thought to himself: Could this mighty man in front of him be Shu general Wang Ping?
He sorted out his scattered thoughts for a while, glanced at the soldier who was parked twenty steps behind him, and looked at him carefully.
This fish stall is very small, with only a small bamboo basket lined with leak-proof oil paper. There is only one tuna weighing about four or five kilograms in the whole bamboo basket. The fishing equipment is also extremely amateurish, even if it is a little bigger
There were no fishing nets. There was only a fishing rod lying casually aside.
"Sir, please buy a fish."
The majestic man diligently picked up the bamboo basket and handed it to Lu Xun for him to see.
Lu Xun did not evade. He glanced at the fish casually, and then looked up at the man. The man was about thirty or forty years old, with a weather-beaten face showing perseverance and sharp eyes.
"How to sell this fish?" Lu Xun asked.
"Fifty thousand dollars," the man replied.
"Fifty thousand? Why is it so expensive?"
"Haha, you don't know something. Firstly, our Soochow money is worthless; secondly, this fish has a treasure in its belly, a night-glow pearl!"
Lu Xun was startled again. With his intelligence, it was impossible not to hear what this sentence meant.
Without turning his head to look back, he took out ten large springs and five thousand from his sleeves, took the bamboo basket, turned around and left.
Recently, Lu Xun was also thinking about the disadvantages of minting large coins in Soochow. He was about to write to Sun Quan to state the pros and cons, but he encountered the Jiaozhou Rebellion and suddenly forgot about the matter.
The fish seller's words today reminded him again.
Currency matters cannot be delayed.
When Liu Bei entered Sichuan twenty years ago, because his treasury was empty, he adopted a legal strategy and ordered officials to mint a large number of Shu direct hundred coins (one coin is worth one hundred five baht coins), plundering all the wealth in Shu, leaving the national treasury
surplus.
In recent years, there have been frequent wars, the treasury of Soochow has been tight, and the major families are tired of the war, and their enthusiasm for handing over materials and money has been greatly reduced. Therefore, Sun Quan decided to cast Daquan iron coins, similar to Liu Bei's story, to plunder and harvest the wealth of Wu.
The "Daquan" iron coins cast in Soochow were of very large denominations and were divided into four types.
Daquan five hundred, the official guide price is five hundred Han five baht coins (after the Wei Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, the Han five baht was renamed Wei five baht, which is legal tender and can circulate unimpeded in Wu and Shu);
One thousand Daquan, the official guide price is one thousand Han five baht;
Daquan two thousand, the official guide price is two thousand Han five baht;
Daquan five thousand, the official guide price is five hundred Han five baht;
The issuance of Soochow's "big spring coins" had a strong impact on Soochow's economy. On the one hand, these four kinds of fictitious money greatly stimulated inflation, making the people of Soochow miserable. At the same time, local wealthy families and speculators took the opportunity to illicit money on a large scale.
The casting of counterfeit and inferior coins will further impact the market.
On the other hand, in the trade with Wei and Shu, this kind of Daquan currency with legal value of five baht, "five hundred", "one thousand", "two thousand" and "five thousand" is not recognized by the two countries at all.
(Once approved, it would be equivalent to Wu Guo reaping wealth with nothing, and the most important thing is that this method of issuing additional currency is a leftover trick played by Shu and Wei. How can Wu Guo reap wealth in turn?)
.
Sometimes, Daquan currency can only be traded with the currencies of the two countries at a ratio of 1:1 (i.e. one Daquan five thousand can be exchanged for one Shu straight hundred, or one Wei five baht coin).
When people from Wei and Shu came to Wu to trade after holding "Daquan five hundred", "Daquan equivalent to one thousand", "Daquan two thousand", and "Daquan five thousand", it was often because this was the "legal tender" of Soochow.
, and you can buy items at original price and make huge profits.
Although this monetary policy has only been issued for more than four years so far, and has filled Soochow's treasury in a short period of time, the fiscal deficit, currency depreciation, and inflation caused by this move to Soochow are huge and irreparable.
Although Lu Xun was a representative of a wealthy family and did not agree with Sun Quan's idea of a northern expedition to Cao Wei, but as the supreme general of Wu State and also the teacher of Prince Sun Deng, he did not want the Soochow regime to collapse in the first place.
Because the Soochow regime collapsed, it would do more harm than good to the wealthy families.
But now, he can no longer think about currency issues.
The situation before him and his Lu family was already very serious. Life and death depended only on Sun Quan's thoughts.
The two Lu families in Jiaozhou turned their backs on Wu and took refuge with "Shi San", which directly made his situation very embarrassing.
Based on Lu Xun's understanding of Sun Quan, just because Sun Quan has not taken action against him now does not mean that he will never take action against him.
So, it's time to think about a way out.
After returning home, Lu Xun took a dagger and opened the belly of the fish. Sure enough, he saw a roll of letters wrapped tightly in oilcloth.
He wiped the blood on his hands and couldn't wait to open it and found it was a letter from his nephew Lu Kai.
The letter was very short. It simply explained the reasons why the Lu family took refuge in "Shisan", and the core content was noted in the last sentence: "Shi and Lu share the world."
After reading the contents of the letter, Lu Xun remained silent for a long time.
Frankly speaking, the conditions offered by "Shisan" to the Lu family were much more generous than those offered by Sun Quan.
Although Sun Quan made him a great general, inferior to one man and superior to tens of thousands of people, when Sun Quan wanted to take back his military power and status, it was only a matter of words.
This is completely different from the way "Shi San" treats the Lu family.
"Shi San" not only married two women from the Lu family, but also handed over all the power in Jiaozhou, except part of the military power, to the Lu family. Strictly speaking, Jiaozhou is the Jiaozhou of the Lu family, not "Jiaozhou"
Jiaozhou of "Shi San".
Faced with Shi San's huge financial resources, who can resist the temptation?
Lu Xun felt that if he and his nephew Lu Kai were in different places, he might end up making the same choice as Lu Kai.
The most important thing is that Shi San's military ability is extremely excellent, and the Lu family's cooperation with him is like a strong alliance. I dare not say that they can unify the world and dominate Jiangdong and Chu.
At the moment, Lu Xun's only worry is, is this Shisan Ma Di? If it is Ma Di, then in what capacity does he cooperate with the Lu family?
Is it a Shu minister or an independent identity?
If it is a Shu minister, then the cooperation prospects are worth discussing; if it is an independent identity, then the cooperation prospects are indeed good.
With this in mind, Lu Xun wrote a letter in reply.
In the letter, Lu Xun neither signed his name nor mentioned Lu Kai's name. He just gave an ambiguous reply and vaguely mentioned that he asked Lu Kai to first rescue the Lu family members stranded in Jiangdong.
It would be best to rescue his family as well.
Although Lu Xun had reservations about the prospects of cooperation between the two companies, he also understood that there was no way out at this moment.
Once Sun Quan learned that the real people responsible for Jiaozhou's power were the Lu family, it was absolutely impossible for him to survive.
Therefore, it is necessary to think about a retreat as soon as possible.
While he was deep in thought, seven-year-old Lu Kang ran in, tilted his head, and asked like a young adult: "What is father worried about?"
The fifty-year-old Lu Xun looked at his smart son and did not tell him about the danger he was facing. Instead, he stretched out his hand and stroked the little guy's head, and said kindly: "In a few days, dad will take you back to Wu County."
Okay? Do you want to go home?"
Lu Xun originally had a son, the eldest son Lu Yan, but the eldest son died of illness before he was twenty years old. Lu Kang was his second son when he was forty-three years old, so he could be considered a son of old age, but,
However, he did not dote on Lu Kang and always educated his son with the strictest requirements.
Xiao Lu Kang nodded his head, said something, and then brought the topic back:
"Then will father go back together?"
Lu Xun shook his head and said nothing, but what he was thinking about was: From Sun Quan's recent arrangements, it can be seen that since he lost Jiaozhou, he has been under the strictest surveillance. Once he makes any changes, Sun Quan will not rule out that he will immediately
Possibility of killing someone.
Sun Quan is not a kind-hearted person.
Lu Xun suddenly thought of something and hurriedly sent Lu Kang out to play. He quickly came to the bookcase and found out the information that the intermediary had sent back from Wei and Shu. He quickly read through it and quickly stopped at a mark.
The information is dated half a month ago.
At that time, Jiaozhou had fallen, and intermediaries lurking in Shu and Wei had been investigating "Shisan" for half a month, but no clues about the identity of "Shisan" were found in either country.
However, a piece of information in this intelligence caught Lu Xun's attention.
"Ma Di, the general of Shu's expedition to the west, has been hiding behind closed doors since he resigned from his post and returned home two months ago. No one can see him."
When Lu Xun saw this information for the first time, he thought it just meant that Ma Di was away fighting all year round and rarely took a break, so he stayed at home to enjoy family happiness.
But now combined with the situation of the fisherman Wang Ping, after comprehensive consideration, he realized that Shi San was probably Ma Di, and Wang Ping did not rebel against Shu. The two went to Jingzhou and Jiaozhou respectively, and there was probably a hidden target in them.
Wu Guo’s shocking plan.
In other words, Ma Su was brewing a shocking plan at first, but later had to change the plan temporarily because the situation changed too quickly.
Otherwise, how can a great future be allowed to serve as an information transmitter?
Isn't this overkill?
After repeated deliberation, Lu Xun quickly figured out the ins and outs of the whole matter.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Since it has been speculated that Shi San's true identity is Ma Su, he is relieved.
He was already certain that although Ma Su captured Jiaozhou as a Shu minister, 90% of Ma Su had changed his mind.
It's one of our own!
Because after taking Jiaozhou, Ma Su's contribution to Shu Han was so great that he could not be rewarded.
The Shu Han originally had only one state, which was as weak as a candle in the wind. Now including Jiaozhou, the Shu Han has five states in name, two of which were captured by Ma Su alone (Liangzhou and Jiaozhou).
There were two states that Ma Su won with Zhuge Liang (Yunzhou and Qinzhou, namely Nanzhong and Longyou Seven Counties).
If Zhuge Liang's position is used as a reference, how should Ma Di be rewarded for his tremendous achievements?
Unable to reward!
Therefore, Ma Su should also be thinking about his retreat, and joining forces with the Lu family to control Jiaozhou is likely to be the beginning of Ma Su's change.
This change is beneficial to the Lu family.
For Lu Xun, who was in a life-and-death crisis, there was only one way to survive, and that was to abscond.
Absconded to Jiaozhou.
Before it got dark, Lu Xun ran to the street again to find Wang Ping. He angrily threw the fish he had just bought back to the latter, and accused him fiercely that there was no treasure like a pearl in the belly of the fish.
, and also asked for 50,000 yuan back.
Wang Ping seemed surprised and argued for a while, explaining that "there is no reason to return the fish sold", but in the end he couldn't resist and refunded the money.
The two broke up unhappy.
At midnight.
In Jiangling City, a harsh flute sound suddenly sounded, which made people feel excited. After a while, it became quiet.
At the same time, Lu Xun stood in the backyard of his mansion, staring at a black eagle soaring from the city and disappearing into the southern sky, feeling slightly disturbed in his heart.
