"Those who were good scholars in ancient times had subtle and profound knowledge that cannot be discerned." [Tao Te Ching·Chapter 15]
Xu Huang gave five days to encourage his soldiers to break through Shouchun City, capture Yuan Shu, and completely end the Huainan War. After hearing the news, Sun Ce immediately set off from Hefei and rushed to Shouchun to meet Xu Huang. In order to show his sincere attachment, he only brought
He had hundreds of men and horses, and his only trusted followers were Lu Fan, Chen Wu, Zhang Zhao, Qin Song and others. They quickly arrived at Shouchun City in a light carriage. I heard that Xu Huang was busy reorganizing and dismantling Yuan Shu's more than 20,000 surrendered troops, so he had no time to invite
Seeing this, he only sent Zhou Yu to come out to receive him, which played into Sun Ce's plan.
Sun Ce rode on his horse with his head held high, standing out from the crowd and walking at the front of the team. Even Lu Fan and others missed him. At this time, fine snow began to fall from the sky. He was wearing light armor and no raincoat.
There was no guard to hold an umbrella for him. His whole body was covered with a layer of white felt in the fine snow, and he walked freely in the snow.
Zhou Yu thought about how to face Sun Ce countless times in his mind, but it wasn't until the other party actually came that he realized that all his mental preparations were in vain. Without even bothering to say a word to his colleague Guan Ping, Zhou Yu subconsciously urged him
Move your mount and drive quickly towards Sun Ce.
"Captain Zhou." Guan Ping suddenly stopped him and said, "The Lord has something to ask you."
Zhou Yu turned his head to look at Guan Ping on horseback. His expression was natural and calm, his brows were straightened, and his eyes were as deep as a pool. The falling fine snow did not disturb his expression.
Guan Ping cleared his voice and recounted word for word: "Loyalty and righteousness are like bear paws and fish. What if we can only get one of them?" Junhou believes that with Zhou Xiaowei's wisdom, he will be able to achieve both.
Get both and live up to expectations."
"Thank you, Junhou, for your teaching." Zhou Yu said with a solemn expression and respectfully bowed his hands, then turned his horse and walked in the direction of Sun Ce.
Guan Ning watched the two people walking together quietly, holding hands and facing each other, without saying anything, turned around and left, as if they were just passing by.
"Gong Jin!" After Sun Ce said in a deep voice, he immediately got off his horse and bowed deeply to Zhou Yu: "It's all my fault that you have been wronged."
Zhou Yu took a deep breath, then lowered his head and looked at Sun Ce's upturned face. He saw Sun Ce's sincere eyes, standing solemnly in the snow. Years of being on his own made him gradually develop the demeanor of a general. Fine snowflakes fell on his head.
The straight bridge of the nose and the outline of the brow bone are as tough as a mountain rock: "I have no grievances, but things in the world are not easy. You just know it now, right?"
Sun Ce suddenly felt something was wrong. He raised his spirits and said, "Yes! Without Gongjin, I would almost always be in danger. Now that you and I are back on good terms, I'm not afraid anymore. It's up to you and me to work together."
Something big has happened!" At this moment, a trace of familiar mischief flashed through his eyes, making Zhou Yu feel warm in his heart, as if he was back to the past again.
Zhou Yu smiled helplessly and motioned for Sun Ce to mount his horse. The two walked side by side, and Zhou Yu took him to a camp: "Your Majesty, you have been busy lately, so I asked you to stay here to rest, and I will see you again when the snow stops.
"
"It just so happens that I also have a lot to say to you. You don't know that since you and I parted..." Sun Ce was about to speak, but was interrupted by Zhou Yu.
"I know everything." Zhou Yu didn't see Guan Ping when he turned around, his eyes changed, and then he smiled gently at Sun Ce and tightened the reins in his hands: "I saw it all.
"
Sun Ce knew that he felt something was wrong. Zhou Yu was too polite to him. He was so polite that welcoming him this time didn't feel like a reunion with old friends, but like a business matter. He suddenly panicked, and quickly grabbed Zhou Yu's horse rein, and hurriedly grabbed Zhou Yu's horse rein.
Said: "Gong Jin, are you still blaming me?"
"What are you talking about? Why should I blame you?" Zhou Yu turned around funny and looked at Sun Ce inexplicably, his eyes gradually becoming serious: "If I want to blame you, will I come to rescue you?"
Sun Ce's hand on the opponent's horse's rein tightened and then loosened, and he said softly: "It's me, Meng Lang."
"Bo Fu has gone through a lot of experience, and he has become calm." Zhou Yu couldn't help but praise, his expression was as usual, and he whispered: "The prince has reported to your majesty that the war here is over, Bo Fu and Huang Zu,
Where will Cai Mao and others be dispatched? If my prediction is correct, we will have an idea in a few days. You only brought a few hundred people here this time, which shows your sincerity. I think things may be a lot easier."
Sun Ce immediately cheered up. Since Zhou Yu was willing to talk to him about this, it meant that the other party was still willing to think about him. The strange feeling just passed through his mind only once, and was forgotten by him in an instant. The two of them returned to the arranged place together.
In the camp, Sun Ce formally introduced Zhang Zhao, Qin Song and others to Zhou Yu one by one. They were all famous Jianghuai scholars and had been admired for a long time. Zhou Yu felt deeply that Sun Ce had grown rapidly in power over the years. He also heard that Sun Ce and some scribes
The military general was still in the Hefei army, and he couldn't help but think that if Sun Ce had accompanied him to Chang'an, he would have been a general like Tai Shici at best, how could he have been like this?
The two cooperated internally and externally to integrate Jianghuai's powerful forces and establish Jianghuai forces with Zhou Yu as the core. This was Zhou Yu's initial goal. Although the Zhou family in Lujiang is a rare family of public officials in Yangzhou, it still requires a lot of effort to lead a group of powerful people.
Less effort. So Zhou Yu chose to get ahead of other Jianghuai powerful men and rushed to the court to open up the situation, leaving Sun Ce to develop in Jiangdong.
Now that Zhou Yu had made the right bet, the imperial army went south to conquer Yuan Shu. If those Jianghuai tycoons who were one step behind wanted to continue to ensure their existing interests under the imperial rule, they would inevitably move closer to the Zhou family, and even dominate it. In the world, not only are there
You Yingshi scholars should also have a place as Yangzhou scholars.
Thinking of the grand plan he had planned for himself, Zhou Yu's worries immediately dissipated, his spirit was lifted, and he exchanged surnames with Zhang Zhao and others enthusiastically.
These people have lived in Sun Ce's court for a long time, and now they have taken refuge in the imperial court. Naturally, they have to rely on Zhou Yu's help to find a place in the imperial court, so they often talk to Zhou Yu with flattery. Among these people, Zhang Zhao has long been famous.
He is becoming more and more neither humble nor arrogant. He is from Pengcheng, Xuzhou. He is over 40 years old. He is shrewd and capable. He is well-read and has good relations with Wang Lang and others of Donghai. Now Wang Lang is the prefect of Hanzhong. Relying on his past relationships, Zhang Zhao can completely
He wanted to find a way out, so when facing Zhou Yu, he had a very calm attitude: "Zhou Lang is indeed outstanding and extraordinary. I have heard about it for a long time."
"How dare you." Zhou Yu bowed to Zhang Zhao respectfully and said, "Mr. Zhang is a scholar and a sage, how can this kid compare to him?"
Zhang Zhao waved his hand politely, but only said: "Now that the southeast has been decided, we are worthy of being called ministers of the Han Dynasty anyway. It's just that there is no war in the southeast, and there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers gathered in Huainan, so the imperial court is bound to have
I wonder if Zhou Lang has heard anything about the abolition?"
He asked around and asked Sun Ce whether Huang Zu's troops would be reorganized after the war. In fact, he was still asking where he and others would go. Although Zhou Yu had just given the official answer to this question, Zhang Zhao
The others still wanted to get some gossip from Zhou Yu. After all, it was the emperor who made the decision, but the suggestions given by Xu Huang would definitely have a certain influence.
Sun Ce also looked at Zhou Yu with burning eyes. The other party naturally needed to say that in public just now. Now in private, whether Zhou Yu has a heart-to-heart relationship with him seems to be evidence of whether the other party is still close to him: "Jiang Huai is just like Gong Jin in everything."
I have arranged everything as mentioned above, but what did Gong Jin mean by where he wanted to go?"
"The serious trouble in Huainan has been eliminated, but we still need to discuss where to put the soldiers who came to join Bo Fu." Zhou Yu glanced at Zhang Zhao, who seemed to still have some friendship in his heart. Although he had plans for himself when he spoke,
But Sun Ce was not thrown away entirely: "The army must be cut down from the weak and the best. The monarch has recently recruited tens of thousands of Yuan's soldiers, and he must first cut them down. In the future, the food and grass here will be greatly reduced and transferred to Hebei."
, the same goes for soldiers."
"What will be done with the disbanded soldiers and horses?" Lu Fanfa asked: "Bo Fu's subordinates are all descendants of Jiangdong, and they are relatives and friends of each other. If they are not handled properly, won't it only lead to resentment?"
"In these years, Yuan Shu has been tyrannical and desolate, and the rivers and Huaihe Rivers have been flooded and droughted for many years. The villages are empty and the people are eating each other. The soldiers they have laid off can be stationed on the spot to strengthen the army." This is not really a secret. The emperor is the emperor.
The policy started at the beginning of the pro-government, from Henan under Zhu Jun's rule to Yingchuan and Runan, wherever the Han army went, they would gather refugees and reclaim wasteland for farming. Until now, there have been countless land reclamations, and more than one million grains are harvested every year. This is also
The reason why the emperor had the confidence to open up multiple battlefields at the same time.
The settlement of Huainan was a long-established strategy. In the short term, it was to support Hebei, but in the long term, it was to lay a solid foundation for the large-scale conquest of Shanyue and the development of Jiaozhi. Zhou Yu thought in his mind and said calmly: "The military settlement can just give some generals some opportunities."
The resettlement place will not be idle, and there will also be a military career. Now according to the battle report, the emperor led the army to a great victory. Yuan Shao fled to the Bohai Sea. The battle of Hebei will follow Huainan and then win. I think it will be very cold this winter. Yecheng
If it is not defeated, the army will need to gather and rest. To collect all the achievements, it will have to wait until next spring or the end of summer. By then, if there is a small success in the Huainan field, they may be rewarded along the way."
The implication is that Sun Ce can use this rhetoric to comfort those generals who have been laid off from the front line, so that those who are eager to make achievements will not be disappointed and slack off. Sun Ce nodded and obeyed Zhou Yu's words: "At that time, I will supervise the generals and cooperate with them.
." After saying that, he added: "Yuan Shao's army has gathered in the Bohai Sea. When the court arrives, it will gather troops from all parties and attack it at once? Then... where is the best place for me to go?"
If you go to Hebei, you will certainly be able to make great achievements again, and you may even be favored by the emperor, but this will make you far away from Jiangdong, and your influence on Jiangdong will become weaker and weaker. But if you still stay in Jiangdong, there seems to be nothing to do in front of you.
This was something Sun Ce was hesitant about, and something Zhou Yu was also thinking about. He frowned: "As I said before, whether to stay or go depends on the emperor's intention. If the emperor is willing to facilitate you and me to act in Huainan, then of course
I can stay, but if I don’t want to..."
"Has this matter changed?" Sun Ce frowned and waved to the others. Lu Fan and Zhang Zhao saw this and stepped back one by one.
"Yeah." Zhou Yu glanced around lightly and said softly: "Liu Ziyang worked with Bo Fu for a while, but today he didn't say anything about coming to greet me, and he didn't ask me to tell him anything. It shows that this person doesn't dare to talk to Bo Fu.
Fu is too close. This man is a famous scholar in Huainan and has a lot of intelligence. He is enough to conquer the hearts of Yangzhou on my behalf."
The plan for the two of them to join forces to reunite the Jianghuai scholars and form a force of their own seemed to be a matter of course for Sun Ce. He never thought that Liu Ye would pose a huge threat to it. But based on Sun Ce's understanding of Liu Ye, he had no choice but to
I believe that Zhou Yu can do it, and Liu Ye can do it too. He subconsciously retorted: "How is it possible? He is a member of the clan!"
"Don't underestimate the emperor's ambition." Zhou Yu reminded: "For talented clan members, the emperor often uses more precautions than defense. It's not that Liu Ye has no chance in Huainan, and it's not that the emperor doesn't have that idea, otherwise he wouldn't send Liu Ye to follow him south.
It’s just that there is still something to be done. The emperor has only known Liu Ye for a short time, so he can’t be considered a close confidant. In addition, there is Yingchuan... I don’t expect this to be an accident.”
"This is the best." Sun Ce couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhou Yu looked at Sun Ce's frightened and anxious look, and suddenly laughed: "Bo Fu's planning is still the same as before."
"What's it like?" Sun Ce knew that he remembered the stories of previous friendships, so he was happy to recall the past with him and establish friendship.
It was getting late, and Zhou Yu had no idea of going back. Sun Ce held a banquet in the army, called Lu Fan, Zhang Zhao and other people, and took Zhou Yu to drink and have fun. Sun Ce mostly talked about what he had encountered while leading his troops in the Jiangdong campaign.
During this period, Sun Ce drank too much and mentioned the death of Wei Jie, the former governor of Yangzhou, and expressed his regrets. Lu Fan alertly used wine to help him, saying that if Zhou Yu was here at that time, how could there be any follow-up?
Various accidents?
Until the end, Sun Ce's eyes were reddened, and he regretted his mistake. Zhou Yu kept drinking in silence. He understood the opponent's difficulties. If he hadn't just sat back and watched the opponent's defeat, it would have been Gan Ning, commanded by Wei Jie, who attacked Yuan Shu from behind.
, Huang Zu and other armies, and Sun Ce's strategic significance will be reduced to a minimum anyway.
The idea was correct, and the approach was correct, but who told Sun Ce to be one step behind others? Zhou Yu shook his head inwardly, looking at Sun Ce's regretful look, and knew that he was really not to blame for his difficult situation in Chang'an, and in his heart
It seems that the last piece of ice is beginning to dissolve.
Compared with Sun Ce reminiscing about the past and feeling guilty, what Qin Song and others wanted to hear more was the situation in the Chang'an court. Zhou Yu cherished words like gold and chose to talk about things that were neither trivial nor serious. Many of these people had already gotten rid of Sun Ce and devoted themselves to
Zhou Yu could see clearly the thoughts of the imperial court, and he wanted to use this banquet to distinguish them one by one.
Sun Ce was so drunk that he hugged Zhou Yu's shoulders and said drunkenly: "Gong Jin! I was marching all the way, and many of Yuan Gong's old men kept in contact with me. I also married the daughter of Lord Qiao to win over the generals. So from now on.
Liu Ziyang can't do this... By the way, speaking of Qiao Gong's daughter, she is really a beauty from the South. I have already thought about it. Her eldest sister belongs to me, and her younger sister belongs to you. You and I each deserve a sister.
, it can be said to be a good story.”
Zhou Yu's somewhat confused eyes suddenly woke up, his shoulders shook, and he said hurriedly: "Bo Fu's kindness, I have accepted it with my heart, but the eldest princess is in the house, and I really can't carry my wife. I heard that Bo Fu's younger brother has not married yet, otherwise
Just give it to him."
"He is not worthy enough! He would be lucky to marry a daughter of the Bu family." Sun Ce waved his hand and categorically denied: "If you don't mind, I will keep it for you first and go back to ask the princess for permission. I won't be a concubine."
You can stay with me and accompany you."
Zhou Yu sighed silently, raised the wine and was about to drink it. Suddenly he thought of the eldest princess who was far away in Chang'an. He counted the time and it was time for his first child to be born.