SFS Chapter 432 The discord between the ruler and his ministers in Eastern Wu
Chapter 432 The discord between the ruler and his ministers in Eastern Wu
Yidao City was the last gateway for Jiangling to defend against Liu Bei. Once it fell, Liu Bei's eastern expeditionary army could rush straight to the city of Jiangling.
Zhu Ran was no longer trusted because of Zhu Zhi's surrender to Guan Yu. What difference was there between letting Zhu Ran defend Yidao City and giving Yidao City to Liu Bei for nothing?
Chaisang was the gateway for Jiangling to defend against Jiangdong. Once it fell, the enemy would quickly seize Hankou, cross the Yangtze River and rush straight to Jiangling.
Sun Quan's decision to recall the troops stationed in both locations at this moment clearly indicates that he has no intention of staying.
Sun Quan replied, "To repel external threats, we must first secure internal stability. What's the point of holding Chaisang and Yidao if we lose Jiangling?"
"Since surrender is inevitable, we must preserve our most crucial bargaining chip before surrendering. Only then will we have the right to negotiate with Cao Cao and Liu Bei. What is our most crucial bargaining chip? It is Jiangling City. As long as Jiangling is not lost, everything else can be abandoned. We might as well just hand it over to Cao Cao and Liu Bei and let them fight like dogs."
"Understood, I will send someone to convey the order to Commander Zhou Tai and General Sun Huan immediately."
Hu Zong accepted the order first and then asked, "What about Mi Fang and Fu Shiren? What about the gentry of Jingzhou? These are all potential threats to the defense of Jiangling."
Sun Quan smiled bitterly and said, "We can't turn against them yet. We can only wait for Zhou Tai to return. As soon as Zhou Tai leads his troops into the city, we will immediately drive out all these potential traitors and defectors. Then we will defend the city to the death and watch Cao Cao and Liu Bei fight it out. Whoever wins will surrender."
Sun Quan has given up the struggle and now only wants to protect Jiangling as a last bargaining chip to get better treatment from Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
But he also understood that a strong fortress is most easily breached from within, and he wanted to do what Guan Yu did when he occupied Jianye: drive out all the hidden dangers in the city, then close the city gates and wait for the predetermined outcome.
It should be noted that Jiangling was personally supervised by Guan Yu. The city walls were high and thick, making it extremely sturdy. Without the cooperation of traitors within the city, Zhou Tai's garrison at Ruxukou could have held out for at least a year and a half, which would have been enough time for him to negotiate with Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
Thinking of this, Sun Quan wished he could drive Mi Fang, Fu Shiren and other potential threats out of the city right now, but he dared not. He only had five thousand troops brought back by Zhou Cheng, the eldest son of Zhou Tai, and this force was not enough for him to turn against the Jingzhou gentry.
Five thousand soldiers could easily drive out Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, or even kill them, but what would happen after that?
Expelling the two men would surely cause panic among the Jingzhou gentry. If the Jingzhou gentry united to rebel, Zhou Cheng's five thousand men might not be able to withstand their combined attack. Once he was driven out of the city by the Jingzhou gentry, he would truly become a homeless dog.
So, to be on the safe side, let's wait for Zhou Tai to return before expelling them. Until Zhou Tai returns, we can only treat these potential threats like royalty and appease them.
Hu Zong continued, "Should we transfer General Bu Zhi back to Jiangling first? General Bu is in Gong'an, which is closest to Jiangling. He can be back in two days at most."
Sun Quan shook his head and said, "No, if Lu Xun is captured, Bu Zhi's eldest son Bu Xie is probably captured as well. More importantly, Bu Zhi is Lian Shi's cousin, and Lian Shi's daughter Xiao Hu is married to Guan Xing. With this relationship, do you think Bu Zhi can still be trusted?"
Husbands and wives are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately. Although he and Bu Lianshi were husband and wife, in a time of crisis, what does being husband and wife mean?
In the current situation, Sun Quan trusts no one, not even his wife and children, except for Zhou Tai.
He didn't even fully trust Zhou Tai, so he recalled Sun Huan, who was stationed in Yidao City, so that Zhou Tai and Sun Huan could check and balance each other and possibly keep Jiangling from falling.
It has to be said that it is truly tragic for a person to end up like Sun Quan in this life.
Hu Zong rose and bowed, saying, "My lord, please rest first. I will go and deliver the order immediately."
Sun Quan said, "While we're at it, let's investigate the whereabouts of Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, and the others to confirm my suspicions."
"Here..." Hu Zong got up, poured Sun Quan another glass of water, and then turned to leave.
……
After Zhang Zhao, Sun Shao, and Gu Yong left the hall and exited the general's mansion, Gu Yong, disregarding Sun Shao's presence, directly questioned Zhang Zhao: "Strategist, why did you choose to surrender to Liu Bei, this traitor, instead of surrendering to the emperor?"
Zhang Zhao advocated surrendering to Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs, but now he wants to surrender to the big-eared bandit who weaves mats and sells shoes. This is something Zhang Zhao really can't understand. Is it just because his son Zhang Cheng surrendered to Guan Yu?
He understood Zhang Zhao to be a different person than such a superficial one. Besides, Zhang Cheng had only surrendered, not died. These days, it was common for fathers and sons to be on opposing sides. Why bother with that?
Therefore, Gu Yong was certain that Zhang Cheng was not the main reason for Zhang Zhao's surrender to Liu Bei.
Zhang Zhao retorted, "The King of Hanzhong is a member of the Han imperial family. As a Han official, how can I surrender to the traitor Cao Cao when the country is in peril?"
"I'd like to ask you, Gu Yuantan, why do you keep talking about the emperor? Don't you really know that the emperor has become a plaything in Cao Cao's hands, and that surrendering to the emperor is just a fig leaf?"
Gu Yong bowed and said, "Since our philosophies differ, we can only part ways and not work together. Farewell."
After saying this, he got into the carriage and left, but instead of returning to his residence, he went straight to Mi Fang's residence.
The Gu residence and the Mi residence were in opposite directions. Zhang Zhao could tell what Gu Yong was planning just by looking at the direction he was walking. He turned to Sun Shao and asked, "Changxu, are you also planning to surrender to Cao?"
Sun Shao spread his hands and said, "I don't care. Since we're all surrendering, what difference does it make who we surrender to? Is surrendering to Liu necessarily more noble than surrendering to Cao? We've all surrendered, so why bother distinguishing between high and low status? Therefore, I've decided to close my doors to guests from today onwards. How you fight is your business, don't come to me. Farewell."
After saying that, he left gracefully, giving Zhang Zhao no chance to stop him.
Zhang Zhao stood there stunned for a long time, and after much deliberation, he decided to go find Fei Yi.
He was loyal to the Han Dynasty. The reason he disliked Liu Bei in his early years was because Liu Bei was too weak. Although Liu Bei shouted the slogan of restoring the Han Dynasty loudly, he could not see any hope of restoring the Han Dynasty in Liu Bei.
But times have changed. Liu Bei has now occupied Bashu and Jiangdong. As long as he takes Jiangling, he can connect the south of the Yangtze River and divide the country with Cao Cao. After a few more years of recuperation, he will surely be able to launch a northern expedition to recover the Central Plains.
More important than territory are people. Although Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei are old and may not be able to succeed in their northern expedition in their lifetime, the second generation of Shu Han has grown up.
First, there's Zhuge Liang, a master strategist who was much younger than Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. Second, there's Guan Ping, whose character and abilities are worthy of the title of a scion of a military family, and who will surely become a leading figure in the Shu Han dynasty in the future.
Of course, the most important one is Guan Xing. He is a military genius like Han Xin and Wei Qing. Although Cao Wei has many talents, Zhang Zhao counted all the gentry in the Central Plains and could not find a young hero more outstanding than Guan Xing. How can Cao Wei resist such a Guan Xing?
What made everyone even more desperate was that Guan Xing was too young. Even if he died as young as Huo Qubing, he would still have six or seven years to live. Six or seven years would be enough time for Guan Xing to have several earth-shattering battles with Cao Wei. As long as Guan Xing could help Liu Bei win one or two decisive battles like Guandu and Chibi, it wouldn't matter if he died before Guan Yu.
Therefore, no matter how Zhang Zhao looked at it, he felt that Liu Bei had a greater chance of winning than Cao Cao. In addition, he himself was loyal to the Han Dynasty, so he naturally wanted to help Liu Bei against Cao Cao since Liu Bei had a chance to defeat Cao Cao.
Zhang Zhao thought this way and naturally did this. On his way to the post station to find Fei Yi, he began to think about how to deal with Gu Yong, Mi Fang and other staunch Cao Cao faction members, drive them out of the city and seize Jiangling.
However, the post station was quite far away, and before he could even reach the post station to see Fei Yi, Gu Yong had already driven to Mi Fang's residence.
After getting out of the car and entering the gate, Gu Yong forcefully pushed aside the gatekeeper who was trying to stop him and said, "I have important business to attend to and need to see General Mi Fang immediately. Don't stop me or announce my arrival. Take me there right away."