I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 291 Sun Quan seeks peace and the war between Han and Wei escalates?

From the dialogue between Lu Xun, Sun Quan, and Gu Yong, we can see the relationship between Sun Wu and his ministers.

Lu Xun and Gu Yong were both from prominent families in Jiangdong.

Lu Xun was in charge of military affairs on the western front, and Gu Yong was in charge of court administration.

Lu Xun was tricked by Sun Quan, Sun Quan apologized, and Lu Xun consciously gave Sun Quan face.

Sun Quan continued to apologize, but Gu Yong consciously changed the subject and gave Sun Quan face.

This is a kind of pulling relationship between the Sun family and the Jiangdong gentry.

Sun Quan: Seize the opportunity, I will definitely get you! It's over, the boat has capsized!

Kodong Gentleman: Are you going to play like this? Okay, you have the final say! Now that the boat has capsized, do you admit your mistake and know that you should be more respectful? OK! I’ll give you face and help you remember better in the future!

In essence, Sun Quan and the Jiangdong nobles had a relationship of confrontation and common interests.

Sun Quan definitely didn't want to be the king of Wu in the Wei Dynasty anymore, and the Jiangdong nobles also wanted to keep the high-ranking officials in Wu and multiply their families.

The Kingdom of Wu was still there, and the Gu family, the Lu family, and the Zhu family were all the first-class families in the court.

Wu Guo is gone, these families are local families at best and have no say in Luoyang.

The ministers were also silent.

Everyone became quiet again, and their eyes fell on Lu Xun.

Sun Quan said: "Please be quiet and listen to what the Governor has to say."

After a while, Sun Quan said: "Everyone, please be patient."

"If we fail to seize Jingzhou by force and start another war with Shu, even if we defeat the Shu army, we will suffer more losses. At that time, Cao Wei will take the opportunity to go south to seize Jingzhou, and our fight will be in vain."

"What do the Governors think?" Sun Quan's eyes fell on Lu Xun and he looked at Lu Xun expectantly.

"Your Majesty, Li Jian kept saying that we were allies against Cao Wei, but then he turned around and attacked us while we were on the Northern Expedition to Cao Wei. This behavior is really shameless and outrageous!"

Liu Ji also stood up and said.

Pei Xuan's words resonated with some ministers.

Everyone looked at each other and started talking again.

"Why not unite the Kingdom of Shu externally and build up the people's power internally to prepare for the future?"

Sun Quan sat on the main seat and remained silent. He had suffered from insomnia for many nights and his complexion was very poor.

"This matter must be told to Kong Ming. Kong Ming claims to be a great man in the world, but he unexpectedly does such a shameless thing!" The person who spoke was the censor Zhongcheng Ge.

"Li Jian captured Jiangling, defeated Xia Houru, and took the opportunity to go north to Xiangyang. He has provoked a war with Cao Wei. Cao Wei will not let it go. And the Shu Kingdom is fighting on two fronts in Guanzhong and Jingzhou, which requires huge amounts of money, food, and soldiers, and it cannot last long. By the time Li Jian's troops are trapped and the people are exhausted, our army has also completed its recuperation and can move west again, and Jingzhou can be restored."

I don’t know how long it took before Dahong Pei Xuan came out and said: "Your Majesty, I think that this time Yizhou has betrayed its trust and raided its allies. I should send an envoy to Chengdu to reprimand them for this despicable and shameless behavior and ask them to withdraw from Jingzhou!"

Lu Xun said: "Reporting to your Majesty, I believe that we have suffered heavy losses this time and it is not appropriate to have another stalemate with Shu. We should focus on the overall situation."

The ministers slowly became quiet.

Sun Quan asked: "When will that take place?"

As long as Wu Guo still breathes, they will definitely be able to protect it.

More ministers joined in and launched a moral trial thousands of miles away against Ji Han, especially Li Heng.

Lu Xun’s tone was calm and gentle, giving people a sense of security.

Sun Quan then said: "Li Jian used the new salt to earn a lot of money from us and Cao Wei to supplement military needs, and also recruited a large number of troops using the government army system. I am worried that he will become bigger in Jingzhou."

"He wants to grow big in Jingzhou, but Cao Wei doesn't agree." Prime Minister Gu Yong took over the words, "If he captures Xiangyang, the Wei master will definitely dispatch troops and generals. A fierce battle between Shu and Wei is inevitable."

Sun Quan nodded. Lu Xun added: "The current plan is to cut off Li Jian's new salt, just like cutting off the military supplies of the Shu army. It is imperative."

"The Governor is saying that we want to cancel the new salt trade with Shu?" Sun Quan asked.

"This is what I mean. If we lose trade with us, Li Jian will lose at least half of his military supplies."

Lu Xun's words made the other ministers' expressions change slightly.

Liu Ji immediately stood up and objected: "Absolutely not. If Li Jian loses military supplies and is defeated by Cao Wei, the Wei army will surely capture Xiangyang and Jiangling in one fell swoop. If Jiangling falls into the hands of the Wei army, our country, Wu, will be in danger of subjugation!"

Immediately a group of ministers came out to agree with Liu Ji's point of view: Your Majesty! How can we stop trading with Li Jian! If this is the case, how can we make money... Oh no, if this is the case, Dawu is in danger!

Sun Quan couldn't help but nod again.

"Your Majesty, I think we can continue to maintain trade relations with Li Jian, but the amount must be strictly controlled." Gu Yong came out at the right time and said.

"How to strictly control it?"

"Once the imperial court establishes a special government office in Wuchang, private individuals are not allowed to operate new salt."

Sun Quan nodded again: "That makes sense."

Then he looked at Lu Xun: "What do you think, the Governor?"

"I second the proposal."

Sun Quan paused for a moment and said: "Next, we should recuperate. Considering the overall situation, I will send someone to see Li Jian and maintain an alliance with Shu. As for the Northern Expedition to Hefei, let's give it up. The court should encourage farming and weaving."

The ministers said: "Your Majesty is wise."

The Sun Wu court rarely reached an unprecedented consensus.

In essence, both the Jiangdong clan and the former Yizhou clan showed a conservative attitude toward the Northern Expedition.

It's just that the interest chain of Yizhou's wealthy family was deeply transformed by Li Heng, from manor agricultural interests to commercial interests.

Business is all about expansion, and its bottom layer contains the most primitive bloodthirstiness of capital.

For example, you in Luoyang are closed to the country and don’t buy my new salt from Yizhou, right?

Sorry, load up the heavy artillery and open the trade!

This is the barbarity of primitive capital, which generates the driving force of devouring within itself.

This kind of devouring will, in the early stage, bring the aristocratic classes of both Han and Wei, or Han and Wu, to a rare state of common prosperity.

Ji Han earns the original profit of the goods as the producer, while the nobles of Cao Wei or Sun Wu earn the price difference as the middle party.

But the business market is limited, and it is impossible for all nobles to make money.

If someone sucks money, someone will naturally pay for it.

Liu Fang and Cao Shuang are making a lot of money, what does Sima Yi think? What does Master Sima think?

Liu Ji made a lot of money in it, what did Lu Xun think?

Facing Li Heng's combined export of commerce and force, Cao Wei and Sun Wu had different national policies due to their different national strengths.

Cao Wei has a strong base and a large population. If it is politically strict, it can implement a large-scale blockade. It also has the confidence, but it needs a strong political person to take over.

Sun Quan, on the other hand, stayed in a corner, lacked legitimacy, did not have such commercial output capacity, did not have the force output to open up trade routes for commerce, and did not have the ability to immediately influence the war situation.

Therefore, Sun Wu's national policy, no matter how high-spirited it was during the Northern Expedition, would eventually return to the art of checks and balances among the three kingdoms.

At this moment, the checks and balances policy was almost unanimously adopted.

This is also Sun Quan’s optimal solution.

After all, the Han and Wei Dynasties are indeed engaged in a fierce military conflict in Jingzhou, and this military conflict cannot stop in a short time.

On May 13, Li Heng received a piece of news: Luoyang issued a decree. In view of the escalation of the war in Jingzhou, 300,000 troops were transferred from Yuzhou to Nanyang to strengthen the front line.

(End of this chapter)