Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 265 259. Become Emperor
"..."

Sun Quan's face was also livid at this time, but he still suppressed his anger and inserted the three incense sticks in his hand into the incense burner, forcibly completing the ceremony.

After the ceremony, Sun Quan announced the establishment of a new country while everyone below was absent-minded. The country was named Wu, the reign was called Huanglong, and all civil and military officials were rewarded and promoted.

As a result, the Three Kingdoms trend emerged nearly seven years earlier.

Of course, Sun Quan's coronation ceremony and his self-declaration of emperor were not deliberately concealed, and both the Han and Wei families knew about it within two days of Sun Quan's ascension to the throne.

Cao Wei's reaction was relatively calm. They just followed the convention and declared that Dong Wu was a false emperor and not orthodox. There were no other insignificant punishments.

But it was different on Ji Han's side. The roads in Sichuan were difficult to travel, and the news had not yet reached Sichuan. However, when Feng Xi learned the news for the first time, he immediately wrote an article himself, smearing Sun Quan's entire family.

First, let's talk about how Sun Jian secretly stole and hid the imperial seal when he entered Luoyang during the 18-way war against Dong Zhuo. Yes, Feng Xi exaggerated it a little bit, changing "unintentionally obtained" to "intentionally stolen". Although there is only one word difference, the nature is completely different.

After stealing the imperial seal, Sun Jian became uneasy and found an excuse to "escape" back to Jiangdong. Fortunately, he was discovered by Liu Biao, a relative of the Han Dynasty, who shot him to death in Fancheng.

Later, Sun Jian's son Sun Ce traded the imperial seal to the traitor Yuan Shu like a commodity in exchange for troops to fight for Jiangdong. He then attacked and killed Liu Yao, a relative of the Han royal family and the governor of Yangzhou appointed by the court, and seized Yangzhou.

Now, Sun Quan openly attacks Jingzhou and blatantly rebels against the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that since Sun Jian, the three members of his family have no regard for the Han Dynasty and have long had the intention of rebellion.

Now Sun Quan is going against the will of heaven. Heaven has responded with strong winds and thunder, but Sun Quan remains unmoved. Sooner or later he will be punished by heaven.

Feng Xi's lengthy article almost took up the entire page of this issue of "Secret Stories", smearing everyone from Sun Quan to Sun Quan. Not only did he include conspiracy theories and malicious analysis, but he also added superstitious content unique to feudal society to make his words more convincing.

In addition, the strange phenomenon on the day Sun Quan ascended the throne was no secret. Combined with the rumors that Feng Xi deliberately spread in the territory of Eastern Wu, it further confirmed the claim that Sun Quan's accession to the throne was not legitimate.

The situation in Dongwu, which was already under pressure both internally and externally, became even worse.

However, the most bizarre thing is that the person involved, Sun Quan, was extremely calm, to a terrifying degree.

Sun Quan did not show any anger or anxiety in the court these days. Apart from handing over important military and political affairs to Zhuge Jin, the rest was to build palaces and select beauties.

This made many ministers feel that a disaster was imminent. Wasn't Sun Quan's behavior purely to make himself emperor when death was imminent and then take everyone with him to die?
However, there are still many people who work diligently to do their jobs, such as Bu Zhi, Lu Dai, and Zhuge Jin.

After Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, Zhuge Jin met with Sun Quan privately and asked him how to deal with the enemy now, whether to shrink the defense or take the initiative to attack. However, all Sun Quan said in return was "You can decide for yourself."

Self-determination? How could Zhuge Jin decide on his own with such a small number of troops? Zhuge Jin had no choice but to let He Qi take 5,000 veterans and 20,000 new soldiers to Chaisang to support Sun Shao. Chaisang was a strategic location anyway. Lu Dai and the remaining troops could only intensify their training in the rear.

In fact, Zhuge Jin also felt that the future was bleak. Even if He Qi and Sun Shao were gods and stopped the Jingzhou army in Chaisang for a few months, what would it matter? Jiangdong now had only one in ten main generals left, and the military force was stretched to the limit. In addition, Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, almost completely blocking the way for surrender. There was really no hope.

However, since he was now receiving a salary from the Sun family, Zhuge Jin also planned to bow his head and stand guard for Sun Quan for the last time, doing his best to resist the Han army. "Why is my father so worried these days?"

A sturdy young man saw Zhuge Jin sitting at the desk with a frown on his face, and came in and asked in a silly voice.

Zhuge Jin looked up and saw that it was his eldest son Zhuge Ke. Zhuge Ke was almost twenty years old now. He was very strong and had been known as a child prodigy in Jiangdong when he was young.

Zhuge Ke also got married very early, so Zhuge Jin is now a grandfather.

"Alas, what else can I do? Jingzhou is already gathering a large army, and they will soon be at the gates of the city. As the commander-in-chief, I don't know how long I can hold off the Han army."

Zhuge Jin sighed. He knew his own level. He was naturally confident if he could fight against the Shanyue natives. However, Lu Xun and Xu Sheng, who were much more talented than him in military, were defeated by the Han army. Zhuge Jin did not think he could do what they could not do.

"Father, why do you have to worry about this? I am willing to share your worries! I am willing to lead an army myself, defeat the Han army, delay the time, and buy time for you."

When Zhuge Ke heard that it was such a simple question, he immediately patted his chest and volunteered.

"You? That's not right. You have no battle experience and have never led troops. How can you lead troops right now? And your opponents are veterans like Feng Xi and Zhang Nan. How can you defeat them?

Not to mention you, General Zhou Youping, Xu Wensheng, they are ten times more powerful than you. In the end, they were all annihilated. You should just stay at home."

Zhuge Jin snorted in annoyance. The young man was too arrogant. Although his son was indeed very capable, he was only limited to the Jiangdong area. Those Jiangdong generals who were better than him had all failed. Wouldn't he be asking for his death if he went there?
"Father, please don't underestimate me. I dare to sign a military order here. If I fail, I am willing to die."

Zhuge Ke also had a hot temper. When he heard that his father seemed to be looking down on him, he was determined to issue a military order.

Zhuge Jin suddenly felt overwhelmed.

"Well, you should follow General He Qi to Chaisang and resist the Han army for a while. You can learn how to march first, and you can lead the troops after you are proficient in it."

Finally, Zhuge Jin had no choice but to propose a compromise. Zhuge Ke was overjoyed and readily agreed. So Zhuge Jin had no choice but to personally write a letter to He Qi. After all, he was his eldest son, so he had to give him some instructions.

Two days later, Zhuge Ke changed into tight clothes, rode a fast horse, carried a bag of luggage and held his spear, and headed southwest.

All Zhuge Ke had in mind was the idea that the world is vast and the sky is high enough for birds to fly freely. At the same time, he had already begun to imagine that he would be able to defeat the Han army in the future and make He Qi, his father and even Sun Quan look at him with new eyes.

Feng Xi naturally had no idea about the unexpected events that had taken place in Soochow. After half a month of preparation, the army of Jingzhou was ready and could march to Jiangdong as soon as Feng Xi gave the order.

(End of this chapter)