SFS Chapter 410 Fei Yi became the biggest variable?
Chapter 410 Fei Yi became the biggest variable?
Jia Kui already had the answer to Zhang Liao's question in his heart, and calmly smiled when he heard it: "Relatives are even more reluctant to see each other do well."
"Don't forget that Sun Quan betrayed Liu Bei at the crucial moment when Liu Bei declared himself king and Guan Yu launched his northern expedition. It was like kicking Liu Bei, who had just climbed to the top, into the abyss. With such a huge grudge, how could Liu Bei not hold a grudge, and how could Sun Quan not be worried?"
"Surrendering to Wei would be different. No matter what, Sun Quan is still the General of the Cavalry, a position equivalent to the Three Dukes, personally appointed by His Majesty in the name of the Emperor. In Luoyang, he will not only not lose his position as one of the Three Dukes, but will also be treated as an honored guest by His Majesty. Moreover, the stronger Liu Bei and Guan Yu's military power, the higher the courtesy Sun Quan will receive in Luoyang. May I ask, General Zhang, if you were Sun Quan, what would you choose?"
Zhang Liao couldn't help but put himself in Sun Quan's shoes and was surprised to find that the possibility of Sun Quan surrendering to Wei was very high.
Firstly, although Sun Quan and Liu Bei were relatives, they had a history of conflict. Sun Quan had also ruled Jiangdong for decades. If Liu Bei were to reclaim Jingzhou and regain control of Jiangdong, he would never allow Sun Quan to continue to exist. At the very least, he would imprison Sun Quan in Chengdu, just as he had done with Liu Zhang and his son when Liu Zhang was moved to Jingzhou, causing Sun Quan to die in depression. This was definitely not what Sun Quan wanted.
Surrendering to Wei would be different. Cao Cao has not yet obtained Sun Quan's stronghold, Jiangdong. Therefore, instead of imprisoning Sun Quan, he will give him the highest level of treatment to win over the people of Jiangdong until Cao Cao defeats Liu Bei and Guan Yu and recovers Jiangdong, at which point Sun Quan will have no further use.
In other words, if Sun Quan surrendered to Liu Bei, he would be imprisoned and die by his brother-in-law Liu Bei. If he surrendered to Wei, he would receive preferential treatment from Cao Cao because of Liu Bei's presence. The more severely Liu Bei defeated Cao Cao, the greater Sun Quan's value to Cao Cao would be, and the higher his status would be on Cao Cao's side.
Sun Quan's political skills far surpassed his military prowess, so it's impossible that he couldn't have overlooked this.
Many things in the world go against human nature, especially in the political and economic spheres. The more logical and reasonable something seems, the more it will do the opposite of what you expect.
Following Jia Kui's train of thought, Zhang Liao put himself in Sun Quan's shoes and tragically discovered that if he were Sun Quan, he would definitely surrender to Cao Cao rather than Liu Bei in this situation.
If Sun Quan were to surrender to Cao Cao, the benefits to the Wei army would be immense. In that case, the Wei army could peacefully take over Jingzhou, using the land to block Liu Bei in the west and Guan Yu in the east, ensuring that Liu Bei and Guan Yu would never meet again, and making Jiangdong a permanent enclave of Liu Bei.
Conversely, if Sun Quan surrendered to Liu Bei, Liu Bei could connect the Jiangnan region into one area, dividing the country with Cao Wei across the Yangtze River, which would pose a great threat to the Wei army.
Who was Liu Bei? He was a jackal who fought his way up from the very bottom. When he only had Jingzhou and Bashu, he was able to suppress the Wei army in Hanzhong. If he had occupied the entire area south of the Yangtze River, what would he have become?
In other words, with Lu Xun's defeat, Jingzhou has become the key point on the chessboard. Sun Quan, the loser who is about to be eliminated, has become the person who can most influence the situation of the world. Sun Quan's attitude will directly determine the direction of the world. Whoever Sun Quan surrenders to will gain the upper hand in the next great battle.
Compared to Sun Quan's terrifying influence, whether or not to fight Guan Yu seems to have become irrelevant.
Therefore, we must adjust our strategy and shift our attention from Guan Yu to Sun Quan, and persuade Sun Quan to surrender as soon as possible so that we can peacefully take over Jingzhou.
Otherwise, if Sun Quan surrendered to Liu Bei, what would be the point of them defeating Guan Yu and recovering Jianye? Wouldn't they still be driven out by Liu Bei in the future?
This matter had escalated to a strategic level, exceeding Zhang Liao's capabilities. Unable to offer any solutions, Zhang Liao could only ask in bewilderment, "But how can we persuade Sun Quan to surrender?"
After some thought, Jia Kui's thoughts gradually became clear. He said, "Throughout history, any power has only split under two circumstances: one is when they part ways due to unequal distribution of spoils after victory, and the other is when they go their separate ways due to loss of hope after defeat. Sun Quan currently belongs to the latter. In addition, Sun Quan's foundation is not stable since he has just arrived in Jingzhou. Therefore, I am certain that once the news of Lu Xun's defeat reaches Jiangling, Sun Quan's civil and military officials will inevitably split into two factions: one surrendering to Liu Bei and the other surrendering to Cao Cao."
"I dare not speak for those who surrender to Liu Bei, but those who surrender to Cao Cao are obvious. First and foremost are Mi Fang and Fu Shiren. These two are the main culprits behind Guan Yu's defeat at Maicheng. Liu Bei would never forgive them, no matter who he spares. So they are definitely more anxious than Sun Quan right now. As long as we extend an olive branch, they will definitely surrender."
"Secondly, there was Pan Jun (Huang Chengyan). Pan Jun was personally appointed by Liu Bei as the Chief Administrator of Jingzhou. He was Guan Yu's most capable assistant when Guan Yu was guarding Jingzhou, second only to Guan Yu. Guan Yu also trusted Pan Jun very much, and during the Northern Expedition, he had him stationed in Jiangling to coordinate the rear. But how did Pan Jun repay this trust?"
"When Wu Jun crossed the river in white robes and Mi Fang surrendered the city, Pan Jun, who was Mi Fang's superior and the Chief Administrator of Jingzhou, did nothing. What does this mean? It means that Pan Jun had been secretly colluding with Wu Jun for a long time and just pushed Mi Fang out as the scapegoat."
"Huang Chengyan was Zhuge Liang's father-in-law and a representative of the Jingzhou gentry. He remained neutral during the Wu army's crossing of the Yangtze River in disguise, allowing the Wu army to seize Jiangling. Afterwards, he gladly accepted Sun Quan's investiture and rewards. What does this show? It shows that this old man also had rebellious intentions long ago."
"When two armies are locked in a decisive battle, the enemy's neutrality is considered support, while one's own neutrality is considered opposition. When the white-clad gentry of Jingzhou crossed the river, their collective neutrality was tantamount to rebelling against Liu Bei. If Liu Bei regains control of Jingzhou, he will definitely purge these people. Mi Fang and Fu Shiren will undoubtedly die, and even if Pan Jun, Huang Chengyan, and others don't die, they will be exiled. If you were them, would you be afraid?"
Cao Ren and Zhang Liao both remained silent.
Can you not be afraid?
It should be understood that traitors are the most hateful than enemies, and the methods used to deal with traitors are the cruelest. No matter how badly a traitor is tortured, no one will sympathize with him. No matter how Liu Bei dealt with Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, people would only say that the two deserved it and would not say that Liu Bei was cruel.
Traitors like Mi Fang and Fu Shiren must have been aware of this, which is why they urgently needed to find a new way out.
Jia Kui continued, "And then there's Gu Yong. Gu Yong and Guan Xing have a blood feud over the killing of his son. Given a choice, he would never serve as a minister in the same court as the Guan family father and son. You know, Gu Yong's eldest son died young, and his second son, Gu Mu, who was killed by Guan Xing, became Gu Yong's eldest son. The family heir was killed. Could you tolerate that?"
"Given this, Sun Quan's mind is definitely wavering at the moment. However, Mi Fang, Fu Shiren, Pan Jun, Huang Chengyan, and even Gu Yong are definitely going to turn against Liu Bei and surrender to Cao Cao. We must win these people over first and then have them persuade Sun Quan to surrender to Wei so that we can peacefully take over Jingzhou."
"And then there's Zhu Huan. Zhu Huan has already surrendered to the court, but his younger brother Zhu Ju and son Zhu Yi are still with Sun Quan. We can have Zhu Huan write a letter to them to persuade them to surrender."
"General, we must act quickly to win over the gentry of Jingzhou and persuade Sun Quan to surrender. Delay will only lead to unforeseen changes. Don't forget that Liu Bei's envoy Fei Yi is still in Jiangling. If he makes the first move and promises to win over the gentry of Jingzhou in Liu Bei's name, the difficulty of taking over Jingzhou will increase infinitely."
When Fei Yi was mentioned, Jia Kui couldn't help but curse Jiang Ji in his heart. Why did you have to hit Fei Yi for no reason?
The frontline army maintained constant communication with the imperial court in the rear, so Jia Kui knew about recent events in the court, including Jiang Ji's mission to Jiangling, where he abused his authority and beat Fei Yi under the guise of an imperial edict.
At first, Jia Kui thought that beating Fei Yi was no big deal. He thought, "What's wrong with beating a mere envoy of Liu Bei?"
However, it now seems that this matter will become the biggest variable in the struggle between Cao Cao and Liu Bei for Jingzhou, because if Jiang Ji had not attacked Fei Yi that day, Fei Yi would definitely have completed his mission and returned to Bashu by now.
However, Jiang Ji beat Fei Yi, and beat him particularly badly, causing Fei Yi to be bedridden and have been recuperating in Jiangling recently.
Fei Yi is currently in Jiangling. If he knew about Lu Xun's defeat, would he just stand by and do nothing?
Damn Jiang Ji, why didn't you just kill this guy back then?