Sun Deng was frightened and uneasy, his face was pale, his hands were tangled together, and he didn't know where to put them.
"Sure enough, sure enough." He said repeatedly.
A trace of disappointment flashed in Zhuge Ke's eyes. In the face of the crisis, Sun Deng's performance was really unsatisfactory. As his uncle said, Confucians are graceful, but they cannot handle major events. They can only bring peace but not chaos. A monarch like Sun Deng,
In a peaceful and prosperous time, he would be a wise king, but in this troubled world where the weak are preying on the strong, he is a pitiful lamb who will only become food for others.
There is indeed a reason why the king doesn't like him.
"Your Highness, this is a serious matter, so it is best to report it to the king as soon as possible, so as not to be caught off guard."
Sun Deng nodded repeatedly.
Gu Tanqing coughed: "Yuan Xun, how do you think you should deal with it?"
Zhuge Ke turned to look at Gu Tan, a little unhappy with the indifference in Gu Tan's words. He raised his voice and said with emotion: "Of course I would like to ask your Majesty to contact all ministers, especially Zhang Gong and veteran ministers like Gu Gong, to express my gratitude.
We must be kind and righteous to avoid being defeated by Wei Ba one by one. If the Zhang family and the Gu family are seduced by Wei Ba like the Lu family and the Zhang family, then our great Wu will be destroyed without attack, and will perish if we don't attack."
Gu Tan nodded calmly and remained silent. When Zhuge Ke saw this, he sighed secretly, turned around, bowed his hand to Sun Deng, and left.
Sun Deng thought about it for a long time, and then said to Gu Tan calmly: "Zimo, you will be the one to write this memorial."
Gu Tan's eyes flashed: "Your Highness, do you really believe what Yuan Xun said?"
Sun Deng was stunned and raised his head. He stared at Gu Tan and realized that Gu Tan's expression was not right today. He hesitated for a long time: "Zimo, what do you mean..."
Gu Tan sighed: "Your Highness, what Yuan Xun just said just now, I think it can be discussed."
"What does this mean, Zimo?"
"Your Majesty, you have been studying with His Majesty for several months, and have listened to the Prime Minister's lectures to His Majesty every day. Do you think the Prime Minister is leaning towards the survival of the state of Wu or the death of the state of Wu?"
Sun Deng raised his eyebrows, thoughtfully. Zhuge Liang practiced the methods of Legalism. Legalism did not want anyone to divide the power of the emperor. The existence of kings with different surnames contradicted the centralization of power in Legalism. The first one to use law
Qin Shihuang, who had a unified family and a unified family, did not even grant the title of king to his descendants, let alone kings with different surnames. Zhuge Liang accepted the existence of the Wu Kingdom now, but he just had no choice. He must not tolerate the long-term existence of the Wu Kingdom.
Gu Tan asked again: "Your Highness, does Wei Ba want the Kingdom of Wu to perish?"
Sun Deng shook his head. Wei Ba himself wanted to be a king with a different surname, so how could he be so keen on destroying a king with a different surname? With the Sun family having a king with a different surname, he had reason to ask for the title of king. What's more, now he wants to force Cao Rui to surrender.
Grant another king with a different surname. At this juncture, he cannot be in a hurry to destroy Wu.
"In this case, how can we believe what Yuan Xun said? It is not so much that Wei Ba wants to take the opportunity to divide the Wu State. It is better to say that the Prime Minister wants to take the opportunity to divide the Wu State. The Wu State currently only occupies a few counties in Jiangdong, which is not as big as Wei Ba's.
is strong, and Wei Ba has
With heavy troops in hand, he can expand to Liaodong and capture Qingzhou. There is a lot of room for use of force, so why should he squeeze the state of Wu? The Zhang family and the Lu family rely on Wei Ba. They also followed him to make achievements. If they were to deal with the state of Wu, they could
Will it be beneficial?"
Gu Tan took a sip of water and sneered: "On the contrary, the Prime Minister is hiding in Chengdu, with no achievements to make and no land to expand. If he wants to increase his strength and fight against Wei Ba and Li Yan, he can only encroach on Wu State and borrow Wu State's
Strength to strengthen myself. My entry into the Prime Minister's Mansion and Lu Hao's entry into the palace as a minister are just one of the Prime Minister's measures to win over Jiangdong. But your Highness, don't forget how he dealt with the Yizhou family."
Sun Deng looked at Gu Tan in surprise. He felt that something was not right with Gu Tan today. He seemed to have a lot of resentment towards Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Ke's uncle and nephew. Is it really because Zhuge Ke didn't mean what he said?
"The Prime Minister wants to be a powerful minister, so he naturally has to eliminate other competitors. Wei Ba is not willing to give up, so he naturally has to gather everyone's strength to deal with the Prime Minister. For now, the winner has not yet been decided. But the Prime Minister is on the defensive, and he has to take a lot of precautions.
People, those who have the strength to help him are likely to become powerful officials, because
This must be used and defended at the same time. In this case, who else can be of the same mind as him? Wei Ba is not the case. He is on the offensive. He wants to win over everyone he can win over. Even if they may turn against each other in the future, now they have
The reason for the alliance. From this point alone, the Prime Minister is at an absolute disadvantage."
"The reason why he can still hold on and not be completely defeated is because he has the legacy of the late emperor. He is your majesty's father-in-law. He is qualified to be Huo Guang. He has always held power and refused to return power to your majesty. Even if he had
If you are suspected of taking power, you can also use the late emperor's last order as an excuse." Gu Tan Leng
He laughed and said, "However, Zhuge Liang is already over fifty and in poor health, so he cannot persist for long. He tried his best to train Yuan Xun, and Yuan Xun also wanted to inherit the prime minister's legacy, but he forgot one thing, he did not have the legacy of the late emperor.
, he cannot be Huo Guang, the most he can do is Liang Ji."
Sun Deng took a breath of air. Gu Tan compared Zhuge Liang to Huo Guang, so that was fine. Comparing Zhuge Ke to Liang Ji, the domineering general who had a bad end, was too serious. However, when he thought about it carefully, he realized
I have to admit that Gu Tan's analysis is very reasonable. Zhuge Ke cannot replace Zhuge Liang. Once Zhuge Liang dies, the person who is qualified to be a powerful minister may be Li Yan or Wei Ba, but it cannot be Zhuge Ke.
Sun Deng and Gu Tan exchanged glances and nodded silently.
He knew what to do.
…
In Wuchang Palace, Sun Quan was pacing back and forth on the terrace with his hands behind his back, feeling heavy in his heart.
The news that Cao Rui sent envoys to Jiangling to contact Fei Yi has reached his ears, making him worried and unable to sleep at night. If Wei Guo is a cunning rabbit, then he is a lackey. Until now, he can still
Continue to be King of Wu
, largely because the Shu Han needed a role model to keep Cao Rui from jumping over the wall in a hurry. Once Cao Rui surrendered and the Shu Han unified the world, it was really uncertain how long the title of King Wu could be retained.
Without Wei as a strong opponent, the Shu Han could free their hands to speed up the erosion of Wu and devour Wu one by one. Now Wei Ba is in the east, Wei Yan is in the north, Chen Dao is in the west, and Meng Da is in the west.
Jin Dongliu and Deng Ai were in the southwest, but they surrounded Wuchang in the middle.
Sun Quan felt that the pressure was so great that he could hardly bear it.
There was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and Fei Yi appeared at the door. Sun Quan quickly squeezed out a smile, went up to him, and said with a fake hearty smile: "Wen Wei, in spite of your busy schedule, I'm really sorry to bother you to come here in person.
.”
Fei Yi took off his shoes, entered the main hall, saluted, and said with a smile: "Your Highness, what you said is wrong. I live in Dahonglu, and the affairs of the princes from all directions and the barbarians returning to Yiyi are my responsibility. Your Majesty is uneasy.
, I came here to explain, it’s my job, why bother?”
Sun Quan's eyes twitched, feeling a little embarrassed. Fei Yi's tone was that of an envoy from the Kingdom of Heaven. In his eyes, although he, the King of Wu, was a king, he was actually on the same level as the princes and even the barbarians who returned to Yi.
People under low eaves have to bow their heads. A man can bend and stretch, and Sun Quan knows this very well. He pretended not to hear what Fei Yi said, invited Fei Yi to sit down in the hall, exchanged a few pleasantries, and said straightforwardly
He asked: "I heard that Cao Rui wants to surrender. Is this possible?"
"Yes, but whether he surrendered in real or fake way, we can't tell yet." Fei Yi didn't hide anything, and said simply: "What the king is worried about must be that Wei has surrendered, and Wu's role has weakened, and the interests of the state have weakened.
Will it be damaged?"
Sun Quan looked at Fei Yi in embarrassment and laughed dryly: "Wen Wei, your words are getting sharper and sharper now."
Fei Yi smiled and said: "Your Majesty is ridiculous." He pondered for a moment and then said: "I have known each other for a long time and know each other very well. There is no point in testing each other in secret. It is better to tell me directly. What do you think, Your Majesty?
?”
"That is, that is."
Fei Yi raised his eyes and looked directly into Sun Quan's eyes: "Your Majesty, it has been half a year since the cavalry general left the army. Will Wu benefit or suffer?"
Sun Quan hesitated for a moment, and it was really hard to say. From a purely economic perspective, there is no benefit or loss. Wei Ba collected some grain from Wu, but the quantity was limited, and most of it came from Jiaozhou.
, transshipped from Jingzhou, but it was not an official transshipment, but was resold by the private sector. Private merchants made a profit
From the price difference, Wu obtained the tax, which should be said to be a win-win situation. After Jiangnan broke down the trade barriers, there were fewer tax collection checkpoints along the way, the cost of merchants was reduced, trade was naturally active, and the official income increased. Only those stationed along the way
The generals could no longer set up cards to collect taxes at will as before, so they could not help but complain.
However, from another perspective, the losses of Wu State are really not small. The most obvious one is the source of troops. Wei Ba stationed in Guangling and set up the banner of the divine general. On the one hand, the barbarians in the surrounding mountains were afraid of his divine general.
On the one hand, they were greedy for his generous treatment and went to join the army one after another. As a result, the source of Wu army's troops was greatly reduced, and the strength of the generals became weaker and weaker.
But he can't say that these losses were caused by Wei Ba, because Wei Ba didn't force him, he just used better terms to attract the people, and there was no intention of coercion. It must be said that it was just him relying on his own financial resources.
Bullying, that's all. You can't complain that Wei Ba is rich and more popular than you.
"Your Majesty, General Chariot and Cavalry cares about the world. He will not care about Jiangdong's interests. You can see that he is not even interested in Nanhai County now." Fei Yi smiled, then frowned: "
However, regardless of whether Cao Rui's negotiation is true or not, he must use the State of Wu as the standard, and when necessary, the king may also need to cooperate with the court and set an example."
Sun Quanxin immediately asked: "I don't know how to cooperate with you?"
Fei Yi said solemnly: "Your Majesty, Cao Wei originally came from the Kingdom of Wei. If he takes the imperial title, he will naturally be the King of Wei. The King of Wei will naturally make Wei County his capital. Luoyang is the city of the Emperor, and we cannot let him
The King of Wei lives there, so can the King set an example and move the capital to Wu County?"
Sun Quan was furious: "Fei Wenwei, what do you mean? And who means it?"
Fei Yi bowed and bowed: "Your Majesty, this is no one's intention, it's just my suggestion. Your Majesty, do you feel at ease living in Wuchang?"