Finally, the relationship between Liu Bei and Jiang Dong that had broken down since Red Cliff returned to its original, or even higher, heights on this day because of a piece of covenant.
Similarly, after the two parties entered a new stage of cooperative relationship, it can be regarded as representing that Jiangdong has officially become another vassal force that cannot independently complete internal unification.
Once upon a time, Sun Quan, who was almost on the same page as Cao Cao and Liu Bei, fell behind early.
Zhang Zhao, who replaced Sun Quan as the new sovereign controller of Jiangdong, can be said to have boldly taken advantage of Liu Bei's military strength and prepared to forcibly complete the internal integration before making other decisions.
But at the same time, because of the existence of the covenant, the relationship between the two parties is actually unbalanced.
Judging from the fact that he can choose to send troops to Jiangdong, Zhang Zhao has undoubtedly completely exposed his back to Liu Bei.
As for what Liu Bei had in mind - he could even betray his own brothers, Zhang Zhao didn't seem to have much chance of making Liu Bei hesitate.
What's more, because Liu Zhang is now working behind closed doors, although it has put Yizhou's economy into an extremely difficult situation, it has also almost blocked the possibility of Liu Bei taking advantage of it.
During this period, if there is no interference from external forces or some major events that can affect the regional structure, I am afraid this will last for a long time.
Therefore, under such circumstances, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong chose to focus on competing for Jiangdong. It can be said that they have made the most appropriate choice.
But the same thing is that Cao Cao will naturally not watch Jiangdong fall into Liu Bei's hands.
So when Yi Xiaotian came this time, he even said that he had already anticipated the current situation after staying in Jiangdong for such a long time.
After making sufficient preparations, the victory or defeat of both sides will depend on the subsequent encounter.
——
At least, after receiving confirmation from Liu Bei and others, Zhang Zhao was confident.
"I would like to ask you to station troops in Chaisang for the time being. I don't want to completely break my skin until the last day."
"If necessary, please wait until my notification."
"This is naturally what Mr. Yige meant."
In the afternoon of the day after signing the covenant, Zhang Zhao made preparations to leave Wuchang.
He told Liu Bei and others that Chai Sang was waiting, and as long as he brought the army there, the handover would be smooth.
And Zhuge Liang didn't show any complacency - on the surface, the alliance between the two parties was still extremely healthy. No matter when the knife was struck, when both parties knew it well, no matter how late it was, it would not be too late.
"May I ask how many troops you can mobilize this time?"
"A total of 30,000 elite navy troops and 50,000 elite infantry cavalry should be enough, right?"
Pang Tong followed Zhang Zhao's question and quickly answered the number. This number was almost without adulteration.
After all, in order to stabilize Zhang Zhao, they were unwilling to lie for the time being.
Zhang Zhao was a little surprised:
"Well... there are so many soldiers and horses. I just don't know if Cao Cao has left an informant in Jiangdong. If possible, I will settle the trivial matter as soon as possible. As long as the election plan of Lu Xun and others is ruined, what will happen next?
We can justifiably defeat them——"
"Well...this needs to be confirmed again."
Zhang Zhao murmured to himself that in his opinion, a total of 80,000 soldiers and horses would not only crush Lu Xun and others, but would also be difficult for him to resist.
Although he has been wary of Liu Bei, he believes that, at least at this stage, if the other party suddenly attacks, it will be the worst result for both parties.
Because Jiangdong has not yet been completely integrated, if they fight together, it will actually give Cao Cao an opportunity.
For Cao Cao, crossing the river was always a questionable issue. Although they attacked Hefei several times that year, Cao Cao also faced the same difficulty.
The Yangtze River is a natural hazard.
So in the final analysis, they still have an advantage.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao had an idea for his next action.
He said to Liu Bei and others:
"Next, there are still three days. Once three days are up, please be ready to send troops no matter what."
Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang nodded, and Zhang Zhao got in the car and left.
However, his departure was not actually heading directly towards Wu County.
After leaving Wuchang, he went down the river and reached Poyang in less than half a day.
The reason is also very simple. From Zhang Zhao's perspective, the so-called voting is nothing more than a struggle for financial resources in the name of election.
The simplest and most direct way to beat the opponent on that small ticket is to rely on money.
He felt that the reason why Lu Xun had been preparing for so long and kept silent and did not reveal any flaws was because he knew that in terms of financial resources, even with the combined strength of everyone in the New Sect, in terms of financial resources, they were all
Defeat is inevitable.
That's why he needs time to expand his advantage.
Zhang Zhao admitted that he was lagging behind in early preparations.
So he needs more financial resources to overwhelmingly defeat the opponent.
This is Zhang Zhao's intuition and Zhang Zhao's pride.
Just narrowly defeating a young man like Lu Xun was not enough to show his strength.
He needed to completely defeat the opponent, leaving Lu Xun and others completely defeated, and making Sun Quan completely lose hope of making a comeback.
Therefore, Zhang Zhao, who clearly had financial resources, still chose to "attract investment" from the reclusive wealthy businessmen in Jiangdong.
Yes, combined with the influence of the old school, it is easy to get in touch with these wealthy businessmen who are hidden among the people and watch the show all the time.
And he was going to Poyang this time just to meet with a wealthy businessman who he heard was still hesitant.
According to the news sent back by Zhu Ran, this man has been doing business in Guiyang, Changsha and other places for many years, and he is truly the richest businessman in Jiangxi.
If they could win him over to their side, they could almost complete a decisive victory over Lu Xun in terms of votes.
The common people are destined to be just a group of poor people who exchange a free vote in their hands for hundreds or thousands of dollars, or dozens of kilograms of grain. I believe that as long as the common people are not stupid, they will choose the latter.
This is the essence of Zhang Zhao's thinking. He simply does not recognize the human rights preached by Sun Quan and others. In this troubled world, those who talk nonsense about human rights have already died in the smoke of gunpowder.
——
However, there was one thing that made Zhang Zhao a little confused.
When he met the so-called richest man in Jiangxi in Poyang City, he always felt vaguely familiar to him.
However, the other party's willingness to cooperate made Zhang Zhao very happy.
He handed over the unified votes in the Poyang and Lujiang areas to Zhu Ran, and after agreeing with the wealthy businessman on the remuneration upon completion, he finally completed all his arrangements.
