"The Secretary of the State of Shu ordered Zhuge Liang to meet the general."
Pang Tong's identity was Zhongshu Ling, but he also held several official positions in Chu State. When he was on an expedition, he was a general.
Pang Tong, who was sitting on the main seat, looked at Zhuge Liang who was bowing to him with a proud look on his face, "Kong Ming, I haven't seen you for many years. You are also the Zhongshu Ling of the country, and I am also the Zhongshu Ling of the country, but the two of us are
The Zhongshu Ling, which one is bigger and which one is smaller, which one is stronger and which one is weaker, is just like the comparison between Chu and Shu, it is clear at a glance, don’t you think so?”
Zhuge Liang said with a serious face, "Although Chu is strong, it raises unjust troops and attacks its allies' territory. Although Shu is weak, it is an upright country. It has never let you down, right?"
Pang Tong sighed, stood up and walked towards Zhuge Liang, "Kong Ming, after so many years, your hair has turned gray. We are classmates after all. I think it's not worth it for you. Liu Bei is using you like an animal."
"
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Zhuge Liang curled his lips and said helplessly, "Shi Yuan, are you sure you didn't mean to scold me?"
"Hahaha..." Pang Tong laughed loudly, grabbed Zhuge Liang's hand and said, "You still behave like a humble gentleman. Come and serve wine and food. Kong Ming and I want to renew our friendship as classmates."
"promise."
"Shiyuan, I'm here as an envoy, please wait for me..."
"Okay, don't tell me those pedantic things. Can't we talk while we eat?"
Pang Tong pulled Zhuge Liang to sit down and said, "I really want to catch up with you."
"Hey, it's too late for you to mention it. Yuan Zhi has already joined Chu as an official. My king made him the minister of the Ministry of War, and also made him the prince's teacher. Now it's up to you. Let's meet this time.
, see you next time, I don’t know how many years I have to wait.”
It is true that Pang Tong disliked some of Zhuge Liang's actions, but his friendship with Zhuge Liang as classmates was also true. He really regretted that Zhuge Liang could not come to the Chu Kingdom to serve as a minister with him in the same palace.
"Kong Ming, if you come to the Chu Kingdom, I will give you the position of the Central Secretary of the Chu Kingdom. I will tell the king that I recommend you to be the Central Secretary of the Chu Kingdom. This is better than the Central Secretary of the Shu Kingdom."
If there are more, what do you think?"
Zhuge Liang laughed bitterly, "Shi Yuan, don't talk about this anymore. Our positions have been determined since the time we each came out to choose our lord. If I go to the Chu Kingdom with you now, you will have to look down on me even more.
Me?"
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"Hahaha……"
"You're right, Kong Ming. I'm not as open-minded as you are now."
The soldiers brought food and wine, and Zhuge Liang stopped talking about business. He and Pang Tong ate and drank while recalling the time they had studied together.
"Hey, do you still remember that when I was laughed at by them because of my appearance, you always sat aside and ignored me? Let me tell you, at that time I hated you more than I hated them, so I always
Why do you think you are so noble?"
"My nature is like this. I don't like the excitement, and I don't like to get involved in your affairs."
"So I wanted to punch you in the face to see if you knew it hurt. I held the book for the whole day without even showing an expression, as if everyone else was a mortal and you were just a fairy from the sky.
."
"Well, Pang Shiyuan, you wanted to hit me back then. It turns out that your dissatisfaction with me started from that time."
"Hahaha... you just know?"
…………
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong were almost done drinking and started talking about business again.
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Pang Tong was the first to attack, "Kong Ming, you just said that the Shu Kingdom has not sorry for the Chu Kingdom. When the Chu Kingdom was at war with the Wei Kingdom in Huainan, your lord Liu Bei took the opportunity to go south to attack Nanzhong. Didn't you feel sorry for the Chu Kingdom?"
Zhuge Liang said righteously, "My king was attacking Nanzhong at that time. What does it have to do with your state of Chu?"
"Liu Xun's Shu lord in Nanzhong was pardoned by our king, and Nanzhong is a vassal of our Chu state. Attacking Nanzhong is equivalent to attacking our great Chu state, isn't it?"
Zhuge Liang sneered and said, "May I ask Shi Yuan, whose world belongs to him?"
"Of course you are today?"
"Then who are the ministers of your king, including my king?"
"Of course he is also a minister of the emperor."
Pang Tong drank so much that he regretted what he said. Sure enough, Zhuge Liang continued, "Since you know that in the whole world, is it the land of the king, the shore of the land, and the principles of the king's ministers, how come you are the one who came to Nanzhong?"
What about the statement that Chu is a vassal?"
Pang Tong put down the wine bottle, stared at Zhuge Liang and said, "Okay, Kong Ming, I won't talk in circles with you anymore. Let's talk straight to the point. I marched to Shangyong on the king's order just to ruin your plan to attack Nanzhong!"
Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and said, "I know. Now, I will also tell you that I was also sent as an envoy under the king's order. My king asked me to tell you that if our country is not fighting in Nanzhong, can Shi Yuan withdraw his troops and return the lost land to our country?"
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"Retreat? Hand back your territory?" Pang Tong looked at Zhuge Liang with a red face.
Before Zhuge Liang could answer, Pang Tong laughed loudly and said, "Kong Ming, Kong Ming, you are so naive. In a time of great strife, with all the countries competing for power, how can I, the great Chu, give back to you the territory that I, the great Chu, snatched away with my own ability?"
When he came, Liu Cong told Pang Tong that if it didn't work, he would return the land he got to Liu Bei. Anyway, Shangyong has a population of only 560,000, and Chu State is not short of such people.
Liu Cong's purpose was to prevent Liu Bei from going south, but it was not worth starting a war with Shu just because of this small population. To put it bluntly, he didn't want to push Liu Bei too far.
But when it comes to negotiations, who can express his true thoughts at the beginning? There must be one person asking for a high price and the other person crazily lowering the price. Pang Tong's words are just to test Zhuge Liang's tone and the bottom line of Shu.
Zhuge Liang looked at Pang Tong seriously and said, "Shi Yuan, although the country is big, if it is warlike, it will perish. Although our country of Shu is small, we still have 500,000 tiger warriors. If you are so oppressive, my king will still be the king no matter what you do."
"Do you think a king can still swallow his anger after being humiliated like this?"
Pang Tong looked at Zhuge Liang's serious look, thought for a while and said, "I can withdraw my troops and return the lost land, but I want to move the mediocre people to my great Chu."
Zhuge Liang refused to give in and said, "It's impossible. Those are the people of my country. How can I let you move to Chu State? Shi Yuan, it's not easy for me to persuade my king."
Just kidding, that's more than 60,000 people. No matter how small a sparrow is, it's still meat. It's not much for the Chu State, but it's a lot for the Shu State.
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"You are so aggressive. I can't explain it to the king when I go back. When he wants to send troops again, I may not be able to persuade him. You don't really want to see a war between our two countries, do you?"
Pang Tong waved his hand in displeasure and said, "Then you mean, our Chu army sent hundreds of thousands of troops, and our trip was in vain?"
Zhuge Liang thought for a while and said, "In this way, we each take a step back, and if you retreat, we can give you half of the population."
"Okay, for the sake of you and my classmates, I promise you. Otherwise, let alone the population, I have even occupied the people and the land, and Liu Bei wouldn't have the guts to start a war with me!"
Zhuge Liang didn't care what Pang Tong said. He was used to it. "Now that the matter has been settled, I will go back and return my life to my king."