Three Kingdoms: Heir of Wolong, my father-in-law is Guan Gong

Cao Pi's sudden death did not cause turmoil in the puppet Wei court and everyone.

Although Cao Rui is only a young man, his scheming and strategies are far superior to ordinary people.

Cao Rui, who often followed Cao Cao to various occasions when he was young, inherited 70% of Cao Cao's ruthless determination and 80% of his ability to control people.

Not only the close ministers who were close to Cao Pi, such as Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Liu Ye, Cao Zhen, Wu Zhi, Zhu Shuo and other civil and military officials praised Cao Rui, but even the brothers Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi, who were not close to Cao Pi, were convinced of Cao Rui.

Cao Zhang even publicly stated: I will be rude to anyone who is rude to my nephew.

The agents Liu Bei sent to the Puppet Wei in the past two years and the Puppet Wei officials he bribed had just wanted to come forward to support Liu Bei, but they were suppressed by Cao Rui's forceful methods.

Cao Rui coincided with Sima Yi's idea and only deployed heavy troops to defend the prefectures and counties where Liu Bei might attack.

Especially at Hulao Pass, Zhang He led 30,000 soldiers and warriors from the Wuwei and Huben battalions to garrison.

He also gave Zhang He a holiday and a banquet to see him off, and favored him as much as Cao Cao did when he was there.

Cao Rui's order to Zhang He was also simple and straightforward: delay!
Wait until Liu Bei runs out of food and withdraws his troops!

The more Liu Bei wants to fight, the less he will fight with Liu Bei!
There was Zhang He at Hulao Pass to defend Liu Bei, Cao Xiu in Yingchuan to defend Zhuge Qiao, Man Chong in Hefei to defend Sun Quan, and Cao Zhang in Bingzhou to supervise the Xiongnu cavalry to attack Hulao Pass.

Cao Rui also vigorously promoted young generals Wang Ji, Xu Zhi, Hu Zun, Wang Jing, Chen Tai, Wang Ling, Guanqiu Jian, Zhuge Dan, Zhuge Xu, Deng Ai, etc.

Even Liu Bei, who was far away in Luoyang, couldn't help but praise Cao Rui.

Compared with Cao Rui's strength, Jianye's Sun Quan was deeply hurt.

Not only did the sneak attack on Jingzhou fail to gain any benefit, but Hefei, which they had fought hard for more than ten years, was also lost.

Only three days!

In three days, Manchong took back Hefei!
This is a huge mockery of Sun Quan!

Looking at the broken right finger, Sun Quan felt ashamed when he recalled his former heroic words: "I will lead a hundred thousand troops east of the Yangtze River, kill Zhang Liao, defeat Cao Ren, retire Wenpin, capture Hefei, and gain Changchang."

Outside, Zhuge Qiao and Man Chong were eyeing him, and inside, there were intrigues among the Jiangdong nobles. Sun Quan doubted for the first time whether he had the talent to be emperor.

Barefoot dancers, covered with gauze, are singing and dancing.

The graceful singer was playing the bamboo flute and singing.

Sun Quan picked up the wine bottle and drank it all in one gulp.

During these days, Sun Quan drank and had fun during the day, returned home with beauties at night, and paid no attention to political and military affairs.

Rapid footsteps sounded.

General Wu Zhang Zhao arrived.

Zhang Zhao was originally writing books and sayings at home and ignored what was going on outside the window.

Even though Lu Xun was killed and Hefei was captured, Zhang Zhao did not leave the government.

Zhang Zhao has no real power when it comes to major affairs in the DPRK.

Naturally, it's not Zhang Zhao's turn to take care of it.

It was only after hearing that Sun Quan was drunk and ignorant of government affairs that he couldn't sit still at home.

Sun Quan is like this, how can the military and political affairs of Wu still operate?
Considering that his nephew was still an official in Da Wu and Da Wu could not be destroyed, Zhang Zhao dragged his old body to find Sun Quan.

Seeing Sun Quan's arrogant appearance, Zhang Zhao was so angry that he beat the dancing girls with his stick and drove all the dancing girls and singers out.

"Why aren't you playing music?"

"Keep playing music, keep dancing!"

"If I am happy, I will be rewarded!"

Sun Quan was drunk and his eyes were dim, and he did not see Zhang Zhao coming.

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Zhao called softly.

Sun Quan grinned: "Where is this old man from? Whose name is he? Answer me and I will give you good wine!"

Zhang Zhao frowned, picked up a glass of wine and threw it at Sun Quan.

Sun Quan was agitated and shouted: "Who is that bastard——"

After seeing Zhang Zhao clearly, Sun Quan quickly swallowed up the rest of his words to his only son, and said in a nonchalant manner: "Why did the teacher come here suddenly?"

Zhang Zhao snorted coldly: "If I don't come again, I'm afraid you will be tied up like Lu Bu and sent to ask for merit."

"How could I have such an incompetent disciple like you!"

Sun Quan said sadly: "Teacher, my army of 100,000 people now only has less than 40,000 left."

"Lu Xun is dead, General Han is dead, Pan Zhang is dead, Quan Cong is dead."

"Nearly all the elites I have trained over the years were wiped out in this battle."

"Not only that, my most trusted friends, the Zhu family and the Zhuge family, blamed each other for the loss of Hefei."

"Zhu Huan blamed Zhuge Ke's soldiers for not obeying orders, so Hefei was lost; Zhuge Ke blamed Zhu Huan for being incompetent, and losing Hefei also damaged the elites he had cultivated for many years."

"Another Lu family member, Lu Ji, sued Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Ke's father and son for collaborating with the enemy, hoping that they would be severely punished."

"Shi Xie's son Shi Hui took the opportunity to raise an army again. He claimed to be the Grand Administrator of Jiaozhi and wanted to recapture Jiaozhou."

"External worries are hard to eliminate, and internal troubles are hard to eliminate."

"What else can I do in Jiangdong?"

Zhuge Qiao had been in Jingzhou for two years and had been infiltrating Jiaozhou.

Shi Xie, who originally supported Wu, gradually began to weigh in on the Han Dynasty established by Liu Bei after Zhuge Qiao provided a large number of farm tools and imitation machines suitable for Jiaozhou for free.

It is said that people become better with age. Shi Xie has been in charge of Jiaozhou for more than 40 years and lived for more than 90 years. He has a thorough understanding of the situation.

Especially after Lu Xun was defeated and killed, Shi Xie immediately declared Jiaozhou as the Jiaozhou of the Han Dynasty and sent his son Shihui to Jingzhou.

Sun Quan heard the news and sent Lu Dai to attack Jiaozhou.

Shi Xie sent his sons Shi Zhi, Shi Qian, and Shi Song to resist Lu Dai. He never thought that his nephew Shi Kuang, who was close to Wu, would lead Lu Dai through the barrier.

Shi Kuang persuaded Shi Xie and his son to surrender with clever words.

After Lü Dai entered the city, he concluded that Shi Xie and his son were pretending to surrender and wanted to make meritorious deeds, so he simply killed Shi Xie and his son and demoted Shi Kuang to common people.

Shi Hui heard the bad news and vowed to kill Sun Quan for revenge.

Zhuge Qiao would not give up the opportunity to beat Sun Quan, a lost dog, and took the opportunity to let Wu Dang and Zeng Xia lead troops to help Shi Hui and confront Lu Dai in Jiaozhou.

After that, Shanyue people in Jiangdong frequently raised armies because they were dissatisfied with being squeezed.

If the prime minister Gu Yong hadn't had some skills, Sun Quan would have perished long ago.

Faced with Sun Quan's frustration, Zhang Zhao was furious: "No matter how difficult it is to face external and internal troubles, is it as difficult as when your brother first died?"

"Where have your former bold words and calmness gone? Is it time for you to feel confused now?"

"You think you have nothing to do in Jiangdong. What will the officials of the imperial court think? What will the officials in various counties think? What will the soldiers who fought bloody battles for you think?"

"If you really don't want to take care of it, you might as well follow Cao Pi and let the prince supervise the country."

"Prince Li Xian, Corporal, the East Palace is full of talents, I don't believe it can't save Dawu from its current predicament."

Sun Quan was silent.

After a while.

Sun Quan said: "I will issue an order for the crown prince to be in charge of the country."

Zhang Zhao suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Sun Quan in disbelief, as if he couldn't understand that Sun Quan really wanted Sun to be the prisoner of the country!

a long time.

Zhang Zhao walked on the ground with his staff, turned around and left angrily.

Sun Quan called his attendants and issued an edict for Prince Sun to go to the prison. Then he waved his hand and shouted: "Keep playing music, keep dancing!"

In July of the sixth year of Zhangwu.

Sun Quan ordered the crown prince Sun to be in charge of the country and live in a deep palace without asking anything about state affairs.

Seventeen-year-old Sun Deng, with the support of Gu Yong, Zhang Zhao, Zhu Ran, Zhang Wen and other civil and military officials, handled state affairs as the prince in charge of the country.

Although they were both princes overseeing the country, compared to Liu Chan and Cao Rui, Sun Deng had less experience and had almost no opinions on state affairs.

"Dear ministers, Wu is in trouble internally and externally. How should we deal with it?" Sun Dengsao asked Gu Yong and other civil and military officials humbly.

It was the first time that he became the prince of the prison state, and it was also the time when Wu's survival was in critical condition. Sun Deng was very panicked.

Zhu Ran came out and said: "Prince, you can order Zhuge Rong to be arrested."

Sun Deng was surprised: "General Chariot and Cavalry, why do you want to arrest Zhuge Rong?"

Zhu Ran's attitude was harsh: "Zhuge Rong set up workshops in Jiangdong on a large scale, and all the crafts and skills in the workshops were purchased from Zhuge Qiao in Jingzhou."

"Zhuge Rong and Zhuge Qiao have been interacting frequently in recent years. I have enough reasons to believe that Zhuge Rong and Zhuge Qiao are secretly colluding!"

"The general will be defeated in Jingzhou, and Zhuge Rong will definitely have something to do with it!"

"By apprehending Zhuge Rong, we can win the support of the Lu family in Wu County and the support of the powerful nobles in Jiangdong who are dissatisfied with Zhuge Rong's fight for land."

Zhuge Rong had more and more workshops in Jiangdong, and his voice became stronger and stronger.

Some people even recommended Zhuge Rong as a general to be a master craftsman, responsible for the civil construction of palaces, ancestral temples, mausoleums, etc. as well as the production of gold, jade, weaving, embroidery and other handicrafts throughout Wu.

If this really makes Zhuge Rong the general master craftsman, then with the productivity of Zhuge Rong's workshop, other powerful merchants from the noble clan will not be able to get involved.

How could a workshop under the manor economy be as good as a workshop under the budding state of big business?

In addition, Zhu Huan wanted to get rid of Zhuge Ke, and all kinds of old and new hatreds accumulated. Zhu Ran decided to arrest Zhuge Rong first.

After arresting Zhuge Rong, it will be much easier to convict Zhuge Ke.

As for Zhuge Jin, Zhu Ran would not move for Sun Quan's sake, as long as he was expelled from the center of power, it would be enough.

Sun Deng hesitated.

Zhuge Ke is Sun Quan's son-in-law and Sun Deng's brother-in-law.

The relationship is too complex.

Gu Yongben was dissatisfied with Zhuge Rong's enclosure of land in Jiangdong, and seconded: "Prince, the country has national laws."

"Even if he is Zhuge Jin's son, he cannot be tolerated."

"Zhuge Rong's crimes can only be borne by him alone; the prince's benevolence can treat Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Ke and his father well."

"In this way, the country's laws will be strict without losing benevolence."

Sun Deng breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What the Prime Minister said makes sense! General Chariot and Cavalry, I leave the matter of arresting Zhuge Rong to you!"

"The people in those workshops are innocent, don't embarrass them."

Zhu Ran had no intention of embarrassing the people in the workshop.

After arresting Zhuge Rong, wouldn’t Zhuge Rong’s workshop also belong to the Zhu family?
Why bother your own servants?

"I will obey the prince's order!" Zhu Ran promised loudly.

Sun Deng asked about other countermeasures.

Gu Yong, Zhang Wen and others all responded one by one.

For Gu Yong, Zhang Wen and other local nobles in Jiangdong, Sun Quan's direct lineage is almost dead, so isn't it the local nobles in Jiangdong who have the final say?

It is easy for Gu Yong, Zhang Wen and others to support Sun Deng who is obedient.

Just when Zhu Ran led his troops to arrest Zhuge Rong, some scholars from the Prince's Mansion who had been bribed by Zhuge Rong secretly came to report the news.

Hearing that Zhu Ran wanted to convict him of "collaborating with the enemy", Zhuge Rong was furious: "Zhu Ran, a thief, don't think that I don't know what your intentions are!"

"If you want to rob my workshop, just say so and you will be charged with 'collaboration with the enemy'!"

"You and I have nothing to do with each other!"

Zhuge Rong was about to become the number one wealthy businessman in Jiangdong, and his business territory was about to blossom in all the counties in Jiangdong. However, he was slandered by Zhu Ran as a collaborator.

Zhuge Rong was about to go find Sun Quan, but then he thought about it and stopped again: "No, that's not right."

"His Majesty is involved in my workshop. Why would His Majesty let Zhu Ran convict me?"

"Although the prince oversees the country, he is manipulated by Zhu Ran and others. He is no different from a puppet now."

"I went to see the prince and your majesty, but they couldn't solve the problem." "I can only go to see my brother!"

Zhuge Rong asked someone to pretend that he was leaving the city, and at the same time he went to find Zhuge Ke who had been deprived of military power at home.

Zhuge Rong was very proficient in business matters.

When it comes to military affairs, you have to ask Zhuge Ke.

Fuzhong.

Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Ke were sitting playing chess.

The current situation in Da Wu made Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Ke very sad.

Zhuge Ke was even more angry: "That idiot Lu Xun has to mess with Bo Song."

"If you have this ability, wouldn't it be better to sneak attack Shouchun? After attacking Shouchun and then taking Xuzhou, Your Majesty will be able to control the Jianghuai area."

"The cause of overlordship is complete!"

"Now not only has the sneak attack failed, but they have also killed themselves in the Han River, leaving tens of thousands of soldiers unable to return."

"Zhu Huan is also a waste. If I were in Hefei, how could Man Chong win Hefei?"

"Conquer Hefei within three days, and Zhuzi Tu will make Manchong famous!"

Zhuge Jin also sighed.

Unlike Zhuge Ke, Zhuge Jin lamented that Sun Quan ignored state affairs in the palace. Even if Zhuge Jin went to ask for an audience, he was rejected.

In the midst of grief.

Zhuge Rong came hurriedly: "Brother, father, something big has happened! Zhu Ran is going to lead troops to arrest me!"

Zhuge Jin was surprised: "What did you do?"

Zhuge Rong cried and said: "Father, what can I do? Your Majesty knows everything about what I did in Jiangdong."

"But that guy Zhu Ran actually said in front of the prince that I was a collaborator with the enemy and wanted to arrest me for questioning!"

Zhuge Ke frowned: "Prince? How can the prince have the right to mobilize Zhu Ran?"

Zhuge Rong said: "Brother, I don't know, the prince has taken charge of the country! After taking charge of the country, he directly summoned Zhu Ran, Prime Minister Gu and others."

Zhuge Ke's expression changed: "Prince in charge of the country? Why didn't the prince in charge of the country summon my father?"

Zhuge Jin was about to speak but stopped and remained silent.

Zhuge Ke reacted instantly and cursed: "Zhu Ran and Zhu Huan must be colluding to get rid of the Zhuge family while His Majesty is ignoring state affairs!"

"What a Zhu family. They first seize my military power in Hefei, and then seize Rong's brother's workshop in Jianye."

"Collaborating with the enemy? Haha, if you want to incriminate yourself, why bother?"

"Father, we can't sit still and wait for death!"

"Zhu Ran's move must be directed at my brother."

"First arrest Rongdi, and then beat Rongdi to death, then you can accuse me."

Zhuge Jin raised his head: "What do you want to do?"

Zhuge Ke's eyes were stern: "Either I surrender to Wei or to Han, I can't die here!"

Zhuge Jin sighed: "Yuan Xun, isn't this the first day you had this idea?"

Zhuge Ke snorted coldly: "Father Mingjian, I had this idea after I was deprived of military power by Zhu Huan."

"Sun Deng, although he is talented and learned, has no scheming intentions. He even mocked me with horse dung in public."

"If Sun ascends to the country and does not invite his father, his power will be stolen by Zhu Ran and others."

"Even though my father and your majesty have a close relationship, your majesty has given up on himself now and cannot protect the Zhuge family at all."

"Zhu Ran may not dare to kill his father, but Brother Rong and I will never escape."

Zhuge Jin looked moved: "I will go find your majesty right away."

Zhuge Ke sneered: "Father, do you think you can see His Majesty? When father returns, Brother Rong and I will be two corpses!"

Zhuge Jin said again: "How about asking the princess for protection?"

Zhuge Ke shook his head: "The princess and I are in harmony for the sake of mutual benefit. What's more, the second princess is married to Zhu Huan's cousin."

"If Your Majesty doesn't come forward, no one can protect me!"

Zhuge Jin looked at Zhuge Ke blankly, then looked at Zhuge Rong: "Uncle, are you leaving Dawu too?"

Zhuge Rong glanced at Zhuge Ke and said, "I listen to my brother."

Seeing that his two sons were about to leave, Zhuge Jin sighed again: "Are you going to surrender to Wei or Han?"

Zhuge Ke said without hesitation: "Survey to Wei."

Zhuge Jin asked in surprise: "I thought you wanted to defect to the Han, why did you choose to defect to the Wei?"

Zhuge Ke snorted coldly: "If you surrender to the Han, not only will there be heavy encirclement and suppression along the way, but Rongdi will also be convicted of collaborating with the enemy."

"If we defect to Wei, I can easily reach Hefei City."

Zhuge Jin said: "How can Man Chong believe you?"

Zhuge Ke said: "Now it's not a question of whether you believe it or not, but a question of whether you can survive."

"If you stay in Jianye, you will definitely die. If you go to Hefei, you will still have a chance of survival!"

Zhuge Jin only felt helpless.

How could the good Da Wu evolve into a situation like this?

"Pseudo-Wei is not a place to stay forever. If you have a chance, go to Jingzhou to find Bosong." Zhuge Jin closed his eyes and acquiesced to Zhuge Ke's choice.

Zhuge Ke did not hesitate, and after saluting Zhuge Jin, he hurried out of the city with Zhuge Rong.

Since Zhuge Rong had arranged for a substitute to leave the city in advance, Zhu Ran did not want to disturb too much and did not block the city, which gave Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong the opportunity to escape Jianye.

By the time Zhu Ran realized something was wrong, Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong had already left by boat.

As Zhuge Ke expected, Zhu Ran concluded that Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong went to Jingzhou to look for Zhuge Qiao, so he arrested Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong brothers at the pass up and down the river and along the way.

Hefei.

Man Chong saw the brothers Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong who had surrendered, and was extremely wary of them.

"Zhuge Jin is the general of the Wu Kingdom. The general's two sons have come to surrender. It's hard for me to believe you!" Although Man Chong was old, his eyes were like an eagle.

Zhuge Ke snorted coldly: "If my father were still a general, I would lead the troops to attack Hefei right now."

The deputy general behind Man Chong shouted angrily: "They are all lost dogs, and they dare to be so rampant!"

Zhuge Ke glanced at him and said: "The bereaved dogs often refer to unknown people with little talent. Talented people like my brother are hidden in the mountains. Why can't they be rampant?"

The lieutenant was immediately speechless.

If you want to fight, you won't be able to fight; if you don't, you won't be able to get angry.

finally.

The deputy general could only stare at Zhuge Ke angrily.

Man Chong looked at Zhuge Ke: "I won't believe you easily. If you want to enter the city, you must let me detain you for a few days."

Zhuge Ke didn't take it seriously: "Don't say how many days, it's no problem to detain him for a month."

"I just wanted to see if Man Chong, the former general of Wei, was as proficient in intelligence spying as rumored."

"To be able to defeat Hefei in three days, we will definitely not just use forceful attacks."

Zhuge Ke mainly turned against his guests.

You can investigate as you please, but I can withstand the investigation anyway.

If the check is slow, don't blame me for being sarcastic.

Man Chong frowned: "You are so sharp-tongued, I will let you understand."

After Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong were detained, Man Chong immediately sent Xizuo to Jiangdong to investigate.

Man Chong guessed Zhuge Ke's thoughts when he learned that Sun Deng was in charge of the country and that Zhu Ran wanted Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong along the river to Jingzhou.

"Brothers Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong may want to take advantage of Hefei to sneak to Jingzhou."

"I don't have any sincerity towards Da Wei."

"Having said that, these two people can't be killed yet."

"Not only cannot he be killed, but he must be supported by high-ranking officials and generous salaries."

Man Chong quickly came up with a countermeasure. On the one hand, he asked Yecheng for orders to make Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong lords, and on the other hand, he used the deeds of the two men to surrender and be made lords to publicize it.

This was used to attract the people of Jiangdong who wanted to surrender.

In this regard.

Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong cooperated with Man Chong tacitly.

As long as you can save your life, you still have a chance.

Cao Rui was also overjoyed when he heard that Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong brothers had surrendered.

Immediately, an imperial edict was issued to Man Chong, asking Man Chong to grant officials and titles to the surrendered Jiangdong people as appropriate.

This reduces the complex process of back-and-forth application.

As Man Chong, Cao Rui was not worried that Man Chong would bend the law for personal gain or abandon national interests.

The news in Jiangdong was not hidden from the spies in Jingzhou.

Zhuge Qiao's eyes narrowed when he heard that Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong went to Hefei.

Zhuge Qiao doesn't care whether Zhuge Ke goes to Hefei or not.

Whether it is the Han Dynasty or the pseudo-Wei Dynasty, there is no shortage of generals like Zhuge Ke.

But Zhuge Rong is different.

A person who caused the budding of big business in Jiangdong came to Pseudo-Wei, which has a larger population and a larger market. Can he leverage the gentry manor economy of Pseudo-Wei?
Zhuge Qiao is looking forward to this!
If Zhuge Rong comes to Jingzhou, Zhuge Qiao will still have to worry about how to arrange Zhuge Rong.

But Zhuge Rong removed the pseudo-Wei, which was tantamount to letting go of his hands.

What Zhuge Qiao has to do is to secretly support Zhuge Rong's rise in the pseudo-Wei and impact the entire economic market of the pseudo-Wei.

"Send a message to Mi Fang, stop doing small business like sugar, we want to be a big one!"

"Let Mi Fang be responsible for the exclusive sales of Dahan's various mechanical creations."

"We only sell to Jiangdong businessmen!"

"As for whether Jiangdong merchants want to sell to fake Wei merchants, I don't care at all!"

"I want Han's mechanical creations to appear in the thirteen states of the world!"

The reason for not selling it directly to the pseudo-Wei was to prevent Cao Rui and the senior officials of the pseudo-Wei from noticing the clues.

Going to Jiangdong is to let Jiangdong merchants and pseudo-Wei merchants form a certain scale among the people first.

In this way, even if Cao Rui finds out his intentions, Cao Rui can't control it!
The torrent of the market will make it difficult for Cao Rui to resist!

After defeating Sun Quan's main force, Zhuge Qiao's desire for the Northern Expedition was no longer so strong.

Zhuge Qiao now just wants to completely eat away Jiangdong.

Letting Wu Dang and Zeng Xia go to Jiaozhou is only the first step.

Selling large quantities of mechanical creations to Jiangdong merchants is the second step.

As for the third step, he has to wait until Zhuge Qiao has completely digested the results of the Jingzhou defense battle, and then uses his absolute superiority in force to devour Jiangdong!

"My father once said that unless Sun Quan is eliminated, the Northern Expedition will not be successful."

"Sun Quan, even if you let your son supervise the country, it will not help!"

Zhuge Qiao looked at Jiang Dong with a smile on his lips. (End of chapter)