Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1453 Argument
Yuan Xi did not expect Guan Yu to leave as soon as he said so. He originally thought that he would stay with Guan Yu for a while until the New Year. Now that plans have changed, it is impossible for him to return to Shouchun immediately. So after discussing with the officials, he temporarily stayed in Nanchang to survey the political achievements of Nanchang officials over the past few years.

When he chose Nanchang as the construction center south of the Yangtze River, rather than Moling, which later became Nanjing, he had realistic considerations.

From a geographical point of view, Nanchang was located at the head of Wu and the tail of Chu in ancient times. It not only occupies an important position on the Poyang Lake waterway, but also connects to Jiaozhi in the south and Baiyue in the east. The Chidao built during the Qin Dynasty to connect to Lingnan still exists today, connecting the north and the south. Since the Han Dynasty, it has always been a place suitable for both land and water transportation.

In comparison, the location of Moling today is a bit awkward, because if we consider the geographical location of the Wu State in the future, Moling is undoubtedly very suitable. But now the Jin State occupies the entire Jiangdong and is in a period of rapid expansion. Naturally, the closer the city is to the border, the more important it is.

Today, Moling is located in the hinterland of Jiangdong. In comparison, Nanchang is located in the southwestern border. Dong'an is a distant port in Lingnan and is naturally more valued. Under this circumstance, it is obviously not a very urgent matter to invest a large amount of manpower and material resources in the construction of Moling's city. Today, the role that Moling is suitable for playing is to develop the economy and ports and exist as a transportation transit station for Jiangdong.

As an important frontier town, Nanchang also had the obligation to aspire to expand. Its main direction was to go south to Jiaozhou, expand its influence to Jiaozhi, and then enter the Zhanghai Sea to open up the coastline and shipping routes starting from Dong'an.

Of course, Jiaozhou was also located in the south of Hannan State, so Hannan's expansion of territory would inevitably intersect with Jin State. Of course, officials headed by Zhang Hong and Gan Ning would not suffer any loss. Relying on the powerful logistics of Jin State, they unreasonably expanded rapidly southwards from Nanchang waterway, much faster than Hannan State.

Under such circumstances, although the two countries have not yet come into conflict, in the long run, Hannan will inevitably suffer, as its routes to the east have all been cut off by Jin. The wild forest routes to the south are even more difficult to travel than those in Jin. If it now turns to expand to the southwest, it will be blocked by the Nanzhong region with increasingly higher altitudes.

It was when Xu Shu saw this that he realized that if he continued like this, he would sooner or later be blocked by the State of Jin in this wild and remote southern land. Once the other side even occupied the offshore sea routes, Hannan would have no choice but to live with the local barbarians. The land here was far less fertile than that in the Central Plains, and decline was only a matter of time.

This is also why Xu Shu was so eager to negotiate peace with the State of Wei, but he keenly realized that the biggest obstacle was Guan Yu.

Guan Yu has always been a staunch anti-Cao faction. In recent years, whenever there was an attack on Wei, his entire family would go into battle without hesitation. Xu Shu had also sounded out Guan Yu's attitude and found that as long as Guan Yu was by Liu Chan's side, Hannan Kingdom would never negotiate peace with Wei.

So he sent Guan Yu out through Liu Chan, hoping to use Guan Yu to temporarily delay Yuan Xi. He took the opportunity to contact officials in Changsha and jointly wrote a letter to Liu Chan to put pressure on him, striving to make the matter a fait accompli before Guan Yu returned.

Xu Shu's idea was good, but he did not expect Guan Yu to come back so soon. So when the day of submitting the joint petition came, when the officials found Guan Yu standing in the court, they were all stunned.

Over the years, they naturally knew Guan Yu's attitude, and for a while no one dared to take the lead. Finally, Xu Shu looked at the ranks of civil servants, and then someone took the lead and stood up.

The person who came out was Sun Qian, who had a lot of seniority. One of Liu Bei's most trusted men during his lifetime was Sun Qian and Jian Yong, who were even older than Mi Zhu.

Although there was a period of time when Mi Zhu's status was higher than others, with the loss of Xuzhou and the departure of Mi Fang, the power in the court gradually shifted to officials from Jing and Yi. Mi Zhu gradually faded out, and after Liu Bei's death, he rarely participated in court meetings.

Among the civil servants nowadays, there are roughly two factions. One is Liu Bei's old subordinates headed by Jian Yong and Sun Qian, and the other is the Jing Yi faction headed by Xu Shu and Ma Liang, etc., which are the newly rising forces. Usually, these two factions live in peace with each other, and only have differences on major issues. For example, they have been arguing for months about peace talks and ceasefire with the Wei State, but Xu Shu's faction agrees, while the majority of Jian Yong's faction opposes, resulting in an unresolved issue.

However, this time when Sun Qian, the General Bingzhong, spoke, it was beyond many people's expectations that he actually agreed to the peace talks!
Sun Qian started by talking about the current taxes in Hannan, then the conscription of labor, the conscription of soldiers, and finally the grain harvest. He believed that these aspects were all stretched to the limit. If it were not for the continuous support of materials from the State of Jin, Hannan's economy would have collapsed long ago.

He believed that Hannan's current prosperity was a false one, and there was a huge collapse hidden behind it. If Hannan continued to fight with Wei, its national strength would hit rock bottom. If something unexpected happened at that time, such as Jin suddenly cutting off its support, Hannan would collapse instantly and suffer from famine and riots. By then, Hannan would be in danger of destruction before Wei could attack.

These words were extremely serious, and there was a hidden meaning in them. Everyone understood that Sun Qian was hinting that there was a possibility that the State of Jin would take advantage of the situation and reap the benefits.

Then Ma Liang stood up. As the Palace Attendant and Left General, he said that the non-stop confrontation with the State of Wei in recent years had caused great losses in the army. Now people's hearts were unstable, and they needed to recuperate for a while.

After these two men set the tone, the remaining officials also felt confident and they all came forward to agree. As they spoke, they unconsciously glanced at the generals in the opposite army, but saw that the leader Guan Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, with an expressionless face, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

All the officials took turns to speak. After two hours, no one stood up. Liu Chan listened to the end of the speech, then turned to Guan Yu and Xu Shu and said, "I want to hear the general and the prime minister's thoughts."

Seeing that Guan Yu across from him did not make any move to speak, Xu Shu waited for a moment before speaking out, "I think the officials' suggestions just now make sense."

"Hannan no longer has the energy to continue fighting Wei. Right now, the country is weak and is like fish on the chopping board. We must consider how to survive first, as long as we don't collapse before Wei."

"Hannan had already given up the Fangling-Shangyong Pass. Now that Jin has taken it, they can surely advance from both directions and capture Hanzhong. Hannan has done its utmost."

"As for the road to Baidi City, as long as we guard the water forts along the way, Wei will never be able to reach Changsha. In addition, the Jin army will definitely capture Hanzhong next year, and Xiahou Dun will have to return to defend Chengdu, so the Wei army also intends to withdraw."

"Under this situation, it is the best opportunity for peace talks, and it can also gain the greatest benefits and space for Hannan."

"Therefore, I think that we should stop the war immediately and negotiate peace with the State of Wei." His words made everyone present nod their heads frequently, because no matter how they thought about it, this should be the best option at the moment.

A group of officials, including many generals, unconsciously looked at Guan Yu, who had not said a word so far, and thought to themselves that now that a consensus has been reached in the court, can you, as a general, stand up and oppose everyone?

Seeing that Guan Yu still did not speak, Liu Chan had no choice but to ask, "What do you think, General?"

It was impossible for him to spare Guan Yu, not only because Guan Yu's prestige in the army was too high, but also because he married Guan Yu for this reason. Moreover, before Liu Bei's death, he said that when Liu Chan met Guan Yu, he should treat him as a father. Everyone in Hannan knew this, and it was impossible for Liu Chan to openly ignore Guan Yu.

This is also what Liu Chan is struggling with. Guan Yu has a close relationship with the State of Jin. This time he went to Nanchang and returned immediately. Is there something he cannot reveal?
When Guan Yu heard Liu Chan asking questions again and everyone present turned their eyes to him, he slightly opened his eyes. The gleam in his eyes in that instant made Liu Chan unconsciously look away.

Guan Yu said, "This time I went to Nanchang and met with the King of Jin. We only exchanged a few dozen words."

"King Jin's words were simple, but they touched Yu deeply."

He repeated Yuan Xi's words and concluded, "Running for the lives of the people, no matter if the King of Jin is a saint or a treacherous hero who deceives the world, it is extremely rare for him to say this."

"If we go back ten years ago when my eldest brother was still alive, he would definitely be able to do it, and he could also do it himself, but who else can do it in today's world?"

After hearing this, everyone was silent, with mixed expressions on their faces.

Xu Shu said, "It is because we, the ministers, have the aspirations of the late emperor in mind that we will first preserve the survival of Hannan. Otherwise, if the country is destroyed, how can we be worthy of the late emperor?"

Guan Yu said in a deep voice: "Then I would like to ask the Prime Minister, when the late emperor was alive, he said that he always acted in opposition to Cao, so that he could achieve the success at that time. Why was that?"

Xu Shu was stunned for a moment, and could only say: "Times have changed, and Cao Cao is dead. The present is different from the past, so we must make temporary changes."

Guan Yu snorted coldly, "The Wei Kingdom today is still heavily taxed, and the people are suffering. Wasn't the reason why the late emperor attacked the Wei Kingdom in order to save the people and restore the Han Dynasty?"

Xu Shu finally found an opportunity and immediately said, "We have been working so hard to restore the Han Dynasty and to ensure the survival of Ji Han!"

"If Ji Han dies first, how can we restore the Han Dynasty?"

Guan Yu said in a deep voice: "Can Ji Han, who is drinking and talking about peace with Cao Wei, still be considered to be carrying on the will of the late emperor?"

"If we can associate with these villains, even if Ji Han survives, can it still be called the Han Dynasty?"

"Is Ji Han's spirit the same as the late emperor's, that of seeking virtue and morality, or is it about cooperating with the enemy?"

"I know that the Prime Minister is loyal and has worked hard for Ji Han, but I just want to ask one question. If he goes against the will of the late emperor, can Ji Han really convince the people of the world in the future?"

Everyone, including Xu Shu, was speechless for a moment. Liu Chan said in a hoarse voice, "What do you think, General?"

Guan Yu said in a deep voice: "As the Prime Minister said, Hanzhong of Wei is threatened, Xiahou Dun must be anxious to return to Chengdu, so they are more eager to withdraw than us."

"It is they who are in a hurry to negotiate, not us. It is possible that they are already planning to withdraw their troops and are just posturing."

"Yu, please lead 3,000 soldiers and horses to attack Baidi City. We will know the strength of Wei after a test."

"I, Ji Han, must fight for my future with my own hands, not by relying on others!"

(End of this chapter)