Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 527 The battle of choices
A few days ago, Sun Quan had just turned 15 and had his hair tied. Men of this age are eligible to participate in family affairs. Therefore, whenever Sun Ce discusses domestic and foreign affairs, he always asks Sun Quan to follow him, clearly to train this younger brother. .

Sun Quan has a big mouth, eyes and a very tall figure. Although he is not very old, his figure is not short, and he is already similar to a 20-year-old adult man.

Tang Zhou Yu and Lu Su were still arguing. After hearing Sun Quan's words, Sun Ce asked with great interest: "Why did Zhong Mou say this?"

After hearing this, Sun Quan cupped his hands and said, "Brother, I know that the evil tiger has serious ambitions and has a fierce name. If he conflicts with me, he will definitely be a hindrance to me in the future."

"Now it is clear that he wants to divide the north and south equally with his brother, but once he is allowed to occupy Yuzhou and then take Jingzhou, Jiangdong will be surrounded by enemies on both sides, and he will be harassed and attacked from the east and west, and it will be impossible to defend against it."

"Qi Quan heard that Liu Xuande's whereabouts are unknown. If he recruits the two powerful generals of Guan and Zhang, no one in the world will be able to control him. It is best to take action as soon as possible to eradicate this serious trouble."

After hearing this, Sun Ce turned his head and said without comment, "Listen to what Gong Jin and Zijing said first."

The debate between Tang Zhou Yu and Lu Su became more and more intense. The two were good friends, and Lu Su was recommended by Zhou Yu, but they had always had some differences on how to treat the princes in Jiangbei.

But before, the two were limited to private debates. Now that Yuan Xi's secret letter requesting Sun Ce to send troops arrived, Sun Ce asked his subordinates to discuss it, but Zhou Yu and Lu Su put forward completely different opinions.

Lu Su said: "Gong Jin, Jiangdong and Fierce Tiger now rely on each other. If they can capture Xuzhou and Yuzhou, they can block the enemies from the Central Plains going south for us. Jiangdong will have less worries. Isn't this also in line with Gong Jin?" Is it Jin’s strategy to divide the world into two?"

Zhou Yu spoke out: "Erfen Tianxia can be someone else, but it is definitely not a fierce tiger!"

"He has Yuan Benchu's back. Looking at what he has done in the past few years, his ambitions are not small. Who knows if he wants to replace Yuan Shu's position and share the world equally with Yuan Shao?"

"When the time comes that he defeats Yuan Shu, he will definitely plot against Jiangdong. Where will there be a place for us?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was shocked. Zhu Zhi, the governor of Wu County, said: "Gong Jin thinks that the fierce tiger will be a serious problem in Jiangdong?"

Zhou Yu said decisively: "The two Yuans are the most powerful in the world now."

"Cao Mengde came second. Although he was at odds with Yuan Benchu, he was still his vassal."

"The rest is Bo Fu."

"If the fight between these two Yuans comes to an end, one side will definitely become stronger and cover the Central Plains. How will Jiangdong fight against it then?"

Lu Su took the opportunity and said: "So according to Gong Jin's strategy, we just took the opportunity to pacify Yangzhou, march westward to Jingzhou, then attack Yizhou and occupy Hanzhong."

"Jingzhou and Yizhou are extremely difficult to conquer. With the strength of Jiangdong, even if it is difficult to capture Yizhou, how can there be any spare power to capture Jiangbei?"

"Now, wouldn't it be good for Fierce Tiger to help Jiangdong block Yuan Highway's intention to go south?"

Zhou Yu heard this and sneered: "Zijing, don't forget, the prerequisite for attacking Jingzhou is that no one will bother you!"

"Now we are going up the river, first to settle in Yuzhang, and then to take Jingzhou and Jiangxia. Now Yuan Shu in the north has too much to take care of himself. It is a great opportunity. Why are there so many complications?"

Zhou Yu sneered: "Zijing's thinking is too simple!"

"To attack Jiangxia, of course we need to rely on naval forces, but to break the city and seize the land, we need a large number of infantry!"

"Jiangxia is connected to Nanyang, the gateway to Jingzhou in the north. If we attack Jiangxia, Liu Biao will dispatch Zhang Xiu from Nanyang to the south to assist!"

"Zijing thinks that our Jiangdong infantry can resist it?"

After hearing this, Lu Su stood blankly for a long time and shook his head.

Zhang Xiu inherited the Liangzhou Army of his uncle Zhang Jizhang. Both the infantry and cavalry were well-known as strong soldiers in the world. There were few cavalry in Jiangdong, and the infantry was not as fierce and tall as the opponent. There was no chance of winning in a fight.

He then said unwillingly: "It's good to capture a few cities. You can't shrink back just because the enemy army is strong, right?"

"Zhang Xiu is not easy to fight, but Yuan Gongli is easy to fight?"

"Besides, Yuan Jiujiu is considered the lord and the leader. If he attacks openly, he will be criticized by others."

Zhou Yu smiled and said: "So that fierce tiger created a great opportunity for us."

"To divide the world into two parts, we don't just occupy the states south of the Yangtze River, but the states north of the Yangtze River. At least we have to move several hundred miles north as a buffer!"

"Otherwise, when the Central Plains is pacified and the navy is allowed to occupy the north of the Yangtze River to train the navy, it can go south at any time. How can we live in peace in the east of the Yangtze River?"

"So if we want to fight, we should try our best to start the war in Jiangbei!"

Lu Su wanted to argue, but Zhang Zhao stood up and said to Sun Ce, "Gong Jin's words are wonderful!"

"The wealth in the east of the Yangtze River will be the source of money and food for my lord to move north in the future. If he is constantly harassed by enemies, the people flee, and the riversides become desolate, how will he be able to fight for the world?"

"Now Gongjin's plan is to keep the enemy outside Jiangdong. Even if they fight, it will not affect the people's livelihood in Jiangdong. It is really wonderful!" Zhang Zhao, Zibu, was from Pengcheng, Xuzhou. During the turmoil in the Central Plains, he fled to the south of the Yangtze River. , and the other three Jiangbei scribes Zhang Hong, Qin Song, and Chen Rui were all reused by Sun Ce as the masterminds, one in the south and one in the north with Zhou Yu, and their status was only lower than Zhou Yu.

When Zhang Zhao said this, several of Sun Ce's subordinates expressed their agreement.

Lu Su was very anxious after hearing this. He thought, isn't this using his own shortcomings to attack the enemy's strong points?

Jiangdong soldiers are not good at land warfare. How can these people have the confidence to occupy hundreds of miles of Jiangbei?

Do Jiangbei people like Zhang Zhao really don’t understand?

He always felt that there was a hidden meaning in Zhang Zhao's words, but he could not figure out the flavor.

Zhou Yu heard that Zhang Zhao stood up to support him, but his face was not very happy, but he was slightly afraid.

He actually didn't like Zhang Zhao and other people from Jiangbei very much. He thought they were all opportunistic people who would run wherever the country became stronger. They didn't really plan for Sun Ce at all.

Although Zhang Zhao's words just now were a sign of goodwill to him, Zhou Yu always felt that they had something to say, and he praised him openly and actually criticized him. He secretly thought that the people in Jiangdong were greedy for life and feared death in war, so he moved the battle line to Jiangbei.

Zhou Yu subconsciously wanted to ridicule Zhang Zhao, but thinking that Zhang Zhao was highly regarded by Sun Ce, he held back and said nothing.

Zhang Zhao is now worshiped as a long history, a lieutenant general in the Fu army, and Sun Ce treats him with great courtesy. Almost all important domestic affairs are handled by Zhang Zhao. Zhang Zhao also lives up to expectations and makes great contributions to Sun Ce's pacification of Jiangdong, even more than Zhou Yu. Even bigger.

And Zhang Zhao is indeed very talented, so much so that when Liu Biao wrote to Sun Ce, he first showed it to his famous scholar Mi Heng to read, but Mi Heng mocked him because the letter would be laughed at by Zhang Zhao. This shows that even Mi Heng admired Zhang Zhao. Talent.

Because of this, Zhang Zhao was deeply respected by the northern gentry. Because the gentry from Jiangbei had difficulty establishing themselves in Jiangdong and were forced to stick together for warmth, these scholars implicitly regarded Zhang Zhao as their leader and became a force that cannot be underestimated among Sun Ce's subordinates.

But instead of doubting Zhang Zhao, Sun Ce compared him to Guan Zhong and regarded him more highly than Duke Huan of Qi. It is impossible to say that the Jiangdong nobles headed by Zhou Yu did not have some grudges in their hearts.

Sun Ce turned around at this time and lowered his voice to Sun Quan: "Second brother, do you see anything else?"

Sun Quan keenly grasped the key points in Sun Ce's words. He stared at Zhou Yu and Lu Su in the hall, and then turned to Zhang Zhao, thinking hard.

Suddenly his eyes lit up.

Zhou Yu and Lu Su were furious when they argued, but Zhou Yu didn't have much displeasure on his face. But why did Zhou Yu show a look of fear as soon as Zhang Zhao stood up to speak?

Moreover, Zhang Zhao clearly supported Zhou Yu, but why didn’t Zhou Yu say a word?

The debate was clearly between Zhou Yu and Lu Su, but why did the situation on the court and the positions of the subordinates start to become clearly different as soon as Zhang Zhao spoke?
Moreover, Zhou Yu is obviously a good friend of Sun Ce, so why does Sun Ce support Zhang Zhao more than Zhou Yu in many recent matters?
Sun Quan thought of this, took half a step forward, and whispered: "It is difficult to reconcile the gentry in Jiangdong and Jiangbei. Brother, you want to check and balance?"

Sun Ce was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then smiled and said, "Zhong Mou will be far better than me in internal affairs in the future."

"When I was my second brother's age, I only knew how to fight. I used to be a ghost of people's hearts, and I didn't know why. Now, although Jiangdong is rich, the local nobles are helping me, but it is also a stubborn problem."

"These people will not be devoted to us, so I want to kill a group of them and let the Jiangbei nobles gain power. Only then will these Jiangdong nobles be more honest and be used by us."

Sun Ce sighed inwardly. Although he felt a little sorry for Gong Jin, as the lord, he could not act based on his own likes and dislikes in order to achieve great achievements.

He believed that Zhou Yu would understand his painstaking efforts sooner or later, but before that, he thought that the group of Xu Gong who had been killed earlier could also serve as a warning to the Jiang clan.

Just like Yuan Benchu ​​used foreign nobles to check and balance the Jizhou nobles, suppressing the local nobles to prevent them from becoming a big threat to the lord is what every prince must do. Otherwise, like Liu Biao who is completely dependent on the Jingzhou nobles Cai, he wants to go abroad. No one supports it, and nothing is accomplished.

At this time, Lu Su was still a little unwilling. He said, "Does Gong Jin want to take advantage of the fierce tiger to attack Yuzhou along the river and sneak attack behind it?"

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Why not?"

"Yuan Tan didn't sit back and watch Cao Ca attack Liu Bei the day before yesterday, and then take advantage of Liu Bei's defeat to occupy the East China Sea?"

"Looking forward, when we attacked Xuzhou, Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi joined forces to force us to leave, and finally divided Xuzhou. Who knows if they also used this method to use our hands to take away Liu Bei's territory? "

"We can't attack Yuan Jiujiu directly this time, but we can let the fierce tiger act as the vanguard. When the other Yuan Jiujiu fights, both sides will be hurt, and then we can reap the benefits. This can be regarded as a courtesy to the fierce tiger."

Lu Su was a little dumbfounded, "But this is treachery, we..."

Zhou Yu said decisively: "The fight for the world, the fight of life and death, how can we have such worries?"

"The so-called morality and justice are all spoken by the winner in the end. The loser doesn't even have a chance to speak!"

He was holding back a fire in his heart. By now, Zhou Yu had guessed that Mrs. Wu was very likely to fall into the hands of that vicious tiger.

Thinking of Fierce Tiger's obscene name, Zhou Yu felt like a knife was twisting his heart. He would fight Fierce Tiger to the death in both public and private matters!

(End of this chapter)