"I don't know that the river today is a virtuous man hiding his wisdom and hiding his courage to avoid evil?" [Notes with Taiwei Tao Kan]
When Sun Ce came down the hill with red eyes, Zhou Yu had been waiting at the bottom of the slope for a long time.
Seeing him coming down, Zhou Yu first tightened the reins and made the mount turn around. Then when Sun Ce came to his side, Zhou Yu said in a calm tone: "Let's go."
He consciously did not mention Sun Ce's gaffe just now, and Sun Ce seemed unwilling to talk about it too much. The two walked silently in the direction of Shouchun for a while, and Sun Ce suddenly asked: "What kind of person is the emperor?"
?”
Zhou Yu thought about this question very seriously. It seemed that even he, a former minister who had served the emperor for a long time, had not thought about it seriously. This is difficult to answer, because the complexity of human nature often cannot be solved in just one or two words.
It was described, but Sun Ce seemed to be eager to know the answer. He stared at Zhou Yu with piercing eyes, and he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief: "Countries are different in the eyes of different people."
"Why is this?" Sun Ce asked in confusion, then shook his head and said, "I don't want to know the emperor in other people's eyes. I just want to know what kind of person the emperor is in your eyes."
"In my eyes..." Seeing that he could not avoid the topic, Zhou Yu responded lightly, looking far and far away, as if he was trying to remember something. He recalled that when he first met the emperor, he couldn't help but feel curious.
Looking secretly, he found that the emperor was also observing him with great interest. That time the emperor gave him the impression of a wise and independent young emperor; the other time he was deeply impressed was by the Wei River, when the emperor scolded him for going against his will.
When he entered the court, he was concerned about the east of the Yangtze River. At that time, the emperor was standing on the shore, his face half-hidden and half-revealed by the setting sun. His confidence, as if he had everything in his hands, was the second person after Sun Ce to break Zhou Yu's heart.
people.
He wanted to say that the emperor was a very far-sighted man, very courageous and well-mannered in his administration, and managed Guanzhong in an orderly manner at a young age. But as soon as the words reached his throat, Zhou Yu suddenly remembered that he had almost lost his temper because of Sun Ce's incident.
Cigan took the risk to express his stance to the emperor and asked for his orders. The scene at that time was also unforgettable for him. Thinking of this, Zhou Yu changed his tune and simply said: "The country is tolerant and smart, and he is a man who values loyalty."
"Tolerant?" Sun Ce quickly caught these two words, and he said in disbelief: "I didn't realize it. If you are really lenient to me, why do you need to be on guard so often? Now, as a general, I have soldiers and horses in my hands.
It’s only a thousand more than Zhang Xiu’s lieutenant general. When I was in Jiangdong..."
"Don't mention the past again, Bo Fu." Zhou Yu frowned, and the hand holding the reins couldn't help but tighten: "You are now the rebellious general officially worshiped by the imperial court. Not only you, but also those under your command
Everyone must obey the imperial edict. If one day you see them starting to only listen to the court's words, don't be frustrated and resentful, but feel happy... Have you forgotten how Cao Cao abandoned the ban, and Li Dian and other subordinates just ignored it and just
Those who left the family members to go west? There are also Liu Bei and Liu Biao's soldiers and generals. How many of them are willing to say a word about their old master now?"
Sun Ce remembered that the emperor's splitting and disintegration of the surrendered separatist forces was not just for him. If he thought about it from his perspective, he could not accept that there was another group besides him in his army.
"You're right." Sun Ce had actually accepted this fact for a long time. He just didn't want to admit it: "People like Jiang Qin have not been with me for long, and there are still places for them to be used. The farther they are from me, the harder they will be in the future."
The farther it goes.”
Seeing that he understood, Zhou Yu felt much more relaxed. He turned around and looked over, and saw that Lu Fan was also listening quietly on the other side. He did not hesitate: "I entered the court a few years earlier than you, although I dare not say that I know the emperor well.
Although you have a good temper, you can still be considered knowledgeable. The emperor is generous to others, mainly because when someone makes a mistake, as long as there is forgiveness, he will give someone a second chance... Bo Fu, now is the second chance the emperor gives you.
, then why don’t they belong to Duke Cheng and Duke Han?”
The three of them rode away together and talked some more along the way, and Sun Ce came out of his melancholy mood. He was not Cao Cao, a senior with rich experience like Liu Bei.
He has established a foundation and his subordinates are well-equipped with civil and military skills. Now, when I think that I will no longer be able to be powerful and independent, but will have to be controlled by others, I feel unhappy. Fortunately, Zhou Yu and Lu Fan are there to mediate, and Sun Ceying adapts quickly.
The gap caused by the change of identity.
They walked around Shouchun City and watched the disbanded field soldiers starting to reclaim the fields not far away. Sun Ce suddenly thought: "There is something I don't understand very well. Li Tong from Runan was the same as Xu Ding when he came to Huainan."
He is a captain, so why is Xu Ding now serving as General Zhennan’s army, while Li Tong is being transferred to Zuo Fengyi as a Dian Nong school captain?”
"Xu Ding's younger brother is Xu Chu, the most useful warrior in front of the emperor. He is also brave enough, so it is appropriate to be appointed as his own." Zhou Yu didn't seem to care much about this, and just said lightly: "As for Li Tong,
I think there are other appointments." Li Tong is the only general under Xu Huang who was transferred to Guanzhong. Soon he will go on the road with Zhou Yu. Thinking of Li Tong's thin and shrewd face and Jiang Xia's powerful identity, Zhou Yu seems to
What did you think about?
"Oh." Sun Ce was just curious to inquire. Seeing that Zhou Yu didn't know the details, he didn't ask any more questions. Several people walked through the gate of the military camp and were about to enter the tent. Sun Ce suddenly said: "Yes, sir.
Jin, I got something recently, and you can use it as a toy for your kid."
"What is it?" Speaking of the son he had never met, Zhou Yu said funnyly: "The child is still young, so we can't give him swords or anything like that now."
"Don't worry, I've thought everything through." Sun Ce chuckled. His son Sun Shao was exactly one year older than Zhou Yu's son. They grew up together and became brothers. He still took advantage: "This is my nephew.
I will teach him how to ride a horse and dance with a sword in the future."
Zhou Yu laughed helplessly and was about to speak when there was a sudden commotion behind a tent.
"Lu Ziming! You are not allowed to stop me today!" His tone was angry, sharp and loud, somewhere between childlike and teenage.
"Hey!" Someone laughed at him: "This kid is so brave that he dares to call his elders by their names."
"He is only a few years older than me, so he is not considered an elder!" A young man with a heroic appearance held a sword in his hand and spat menacingly.
"Is he Ling Tong?" Zhou Yu stood behind the tent and looked at it for a while, then asked quietly.
Sun Ce glanced at the young man and said, "He is the son of Lieutenant Ling. Gan Xingba crossed the Yangtze River and led his troops to attack Chaisang Water Village at night and killed Ling Tong with his own hands. This kid Ling Tong narrowly escaped death.
, my cousin brought him back with him when he withdrew the army from Yuzhang. I saw that he was pitiful and had some courage, so I stayed in the army, and Ling Cao's old troops were also given to him."
"Ling Tong's old department?" Zhou Yu seemed to know the reason for the boy's rage. Seeing Ling Tong's face turning red with anger, he asked again: "How many people are there in his old department? How can you trust a child to take care of them?
Ling Cao is your subordinate. Since he is dead, you should freely mobilize the troops under his command. Is there any principle in the army that the father dies and the son succeeds?"
"Gong Jin has not been in Jiangdong these years, so he doesn't know anything." Lu Fan saw that Sun Ce looked a little embarrassed, so he explained in a low voice: "General, the number of soldiers has increased rapidly in recent years, especially after entering Jiangdong. Everywhere he went, he
Someone raised troops to accompany them. These soldiers and horses are all members of their own family. They only obey the orders of their masters. In fact, the generals can mobilize only these people, not these soldiers. Although Ling Cao started from a humble beginning, he also followed him
Since the general has implemented this method for many knights, he cannot only give preferential treatment to generals with powerful backgrounds. Therefore, when an ordinary general like Ling Cao dies, his subordinates must also be left to his son after his death... Otherwise, everyone else in the army will
I won’t feel at ease.”
"So once a general dies, if he wants to prevent his tribe from disbanding and continue to serve Bo Fu, he can only hand it over to his orphans?" Zhou Yu felt a little ridiculous, because he had never heard of it in the emperor's army or anywhere.
I have seen this kind of 'inheritance'. In this way, Sun Ce seems to be a strong general, but in fact there are independent warlords inside, all united by Sun Ce's personal charm and bravery. This is no wonder Xu Huang's military order
Suddenly, those who had better options left immediately.
Zhou Yu wanted to ask Sun Ce why he didn't change this subtle rule, but when he thought about Sun Ce himself, he was just a general. It was not easy to reunite so many people, let alone to unite his subordinates.
Transform 'private' into 'public'.
Sun Ce sighed softly and deliberately avoided Zhou Yu's sight: "Ling Cao's troops were defeated by Gan Ning in Chaisang. There are only more than 80 people left. Ling Tong is precocious, so let him take care of him. As long as he doesn't go into battle,
It doesn't matter. Those people are Ling Tong's old subordinates, and they can teach Ling Tong how to fight on weekdays. This can be regarded as inheriting his father's ambition."
Zhou Yu had mixed feelings in his heart. He only felt that Sun Ce seemed to have achieved great success in recent years, but the hardships were very well known. Fortunately, although this kind of trivial system that did more harm than good was not abolished, it will not return to Sun Ce from now on.
Although they were worried, they left it to Xu Huang. Huang Zhong and others were relieved of their worries: "I heard Ling Tong scolding here. Is he unwilling to transfer the old troops left to him by Ling Cao?"
"If it were not forced by military orders, I would not want to transfer anyone in the army." Sun Ce's implication was that he had tried his best to keep the elite and backbone under his command, leaving the others who were not strong enough or loyal enough.
Take it into consideration.
"No wonder he is so extreme." Zhou Yu understood. He looked at Ling Tong like an angry calf. His delicate and childish appearance reminded him of Ling Cao. He remembered that he seemed to have met Ling Cao a long time ago.
Lu Fan suddenly looked troubled and said, "Actually... it's not entirely because of this."
"Huh?" Zhou Yu glanced at Lu Fan in surprise, and even Sun Ce looked over in surprise. Sun Ce didn't take it to heart at all that such a transfer of more than 80 people was happening. But now that Lu Fan talked about it, it seemed like
There is something else hidden.
"If you want revenge, I have no reason to stop you, but you have to think clearly about whether it will be useful and how many people will be killed in the end!" The speaker was a young man wearing ordinary crimson clothes.
Wearing a colorful military uniform and a tall figure, he was preaching to Ling Tong, who was two heads shorter than him: "If the matter is done, General Sun and we will be implicated; if the matter is not done, not only will we be implicated and die... you deserve it."
Your dead father?"
"This is Lu Meng, Deng Dang's brother-in-law." Lu Fan introduced several people present at the side.
Zhou Yu said "Oh" and said nothing. Perhaps it was because of his eyesight. He was very interested in Lu Meng because of his meticulous dressing. He held down Sun Ce who was about to walk out, and prepared to continue listening to the three or four people in front of him.
say something.
Ling Tong burst into tears but did not answer. The dagger in his hand was trembling.
The general who was making noises just now came over, reached out and patted Ling Tong on the shoulder, like an adult coaxing a child: "Are you done scolding? After scolding, we are about to leave. The governor sent by General Gan is already at the ferry.
It's been a long time. You have to be more honest when you get to the river. Other people's boats are not as good as the camp here, and you can scold them as much as you want."
This man's name was Xu Sheng, a native of Ju County, Langye. Because his hometown was in chaos, he went south to live in Wu. He joined the army when Sun Ce led his troops to invade Wu. Since he had only been under Sun Ce's account for a short period of time, he could not be considered a close confidant.
This time, he also pretended to be a Sima and led hundreds of soldiers selected from the army who were good at water warfare, preparing to join Gan Ning's tent.
"I won't go!" Ling Tongtong threw Xu Sheng's hand away and said angrily: "He killed my Aweng and then wants to steal my people. Why is this!"
"Hey." Xu Sheng scoffed unceremoniously: "What others want is a sailor. Do you think they just want a guy like you? You don't have to go if you don't want to go. Just go home and study for more than ten years."
A book, or a few years of sword practice, you should be able to avenge your father."
Zhou Yu felt something was wrong when he heard this. Xu Sheng seemed to be motivating Ling Tong to advance, but also seemed to be deliberately instigating. As one of the earlier generals to submit to the emperor, Gan Ning was also a general of the building and ship, and was ordered to command the Jiangdong Navy.
, if Ling Tong, who had an enmity with him, did something drastic under Gan Ning's command, there was no guarantee that Sun Ce would not be implicated by someone with ulterior motives.
"No!" Ling Tong said stubbornly: "If I don't go, my old subordinates left behind by Aweng can't leave either!"
"This kid doesn't make sense." Xu Sheng shook his head. The other person was actually quite smart, but it was a pity that he was blinded by hatred.
Lu Meng squatted down and said to Ling Tong: "Then tell me, why do you want to keep them? General Sun has no shortage of people under his command. No matter how he is mobilized, unless they are separated, they will eventually be separated.
It belongs to others, not to you."
Ling Tong had tears in his eyes. He still couldn't forget the fire on the river that day and the scene when his father was shot by Gan Ning's arrow. He looked directly into Lu Meng's eyes. People said that he was precocious, but he showed his childishness.
His nature: "You are not the one who has a grudge against him. How can you understand? I really don't understand. The imperial court also killed many of us, why did he become a murderer in the blink of an eye..."
"I don't understand?" A hint of ferocity suddenly appeared on Lu Meng's calm face. He stretched out his hand to squeeze Ling Tong's shoulders and said sternly: "How could I not understand? I lost those people around me who were good to me earlier than you.