Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 32. Court Meeting
"The king is here!"

Following the eunuch's loud shout, the noisy voices in the court suddenly quieted down, and the civil and military officials returned to their respective positions.

Liu Bei, surrounded by eunuchs and maids, strode to the top seat, sat down on his throne and looked at the ministers below.

Feng Xi joined everyone in paying homage, and after the ceremony Liu Bei immediately and eagerly put forward his ideas.

"My dear ministers, you may have heard that news came from Yecheng a few days ago that Cao Cao's son Cao Pi succeeded to the throne at Cao Cao's funeral, and his brothers seemed dissatisfied with his succession. Cao Pi forced his brother Cao Xiong to death, exiled his brother Cao Zhi, and confiscated Cao Zhang's military power...

From all these, it is not difficult to see that Cao Wei was not stable at the moment. Cao Pi succeeded to the throne in a hurry and did not have the support of all the ministers in his court. He would have to spend time to rectify the internal situation. "

When Liu Bei came up, he first analyzed the situation of Cao Wei. Feng Xi had no objection to this. After all, what Liu Bei said was basically right. Cao Pi was indeed not very popular, and he spent a lot of time eliminating dissidents after taking office.

"Therefore, Cao Wei will definitely have no time to look south. Cao Ren, Xu Huang, Wen Pin and other generals can only defend Xiangyang. Therefore, I intend to attack Jingzhou and Jiangdong in the east at this time!"

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but sigh in his heart. His lord had been holding it in for several months and it finally came to this moment.

"Your Majesty, you can't do that. Although Cao Wei has no time to look south at this moment, Jiangdong has the geographical advantage of rivers and lakes, and the Jiangdong navy is well-known throughout the world. It is difficult for us to win in a hurry. If we are in a stalemate with the Marquis of Wu, it may give Cao Pi a chance to take advantage."

Zhuge Liang would definitely be the first to object. After all, attacking Wu was inconsistent with his grand strategy of dividing the world into three parts, and the dangers were indeed as mentioned just now.

"I agree with what the military advisor said. Attacking Wu at this moment will only bring pain to our relatives and joy to our enemies."

Among the generals on the side, Zhao Yun immediately stepped forward and spoke, agreeing with Zhuge Liang's words.

"General Zhao, Military Advisor Zhuge, are you going to let your lordship go just like that after being ambushed by Wu Gou and dying with hatred?! I beg the king to send troops to avenge your lordship!"

However, Liao Hua and Liao Yuanjian, the chief clerk under Guan Yu, stood out from the queue, knelt down and kowtowed, weeping and complaining about the actions of the Eastern Wu, and begging Liu Bei to take revenge.

"Brother, Liao Yuanjian is right. My second brother was attacked and killed by Wu Gou. If we brothers don't avenge him, when will we do it?"

By chance, Zhang Fei came to see Liu Bei from Langzhong and happened to meet the military competition. Since then, he stayed in Chengdu and did not return to Langzhong. So he could catch up with this important court meeting.

Zhuge Liang carefully chose his words. After all, the fact that the king had sworn brotherhood with the third and second generals was known to the world, and it was difficult to dissuade him out of friendship.

"Third General, it's not that we don't want the king to avenge you, but although Cao Wei is too busy right now, with Cao Pi's ruthless style, he can settle the court in less than a year. If we are held back by Dongwu, I'm afraid we will be attacked by both Wu and Wei."

Zhuge Liang still tried his best to persuade Zhang Fei. Of course, these words were meant to persuade Zhang Fei, but in fact they were also meant for Liu Bei.

"Don't we have the right to attack today or to raise an army tomorrow? Must we wait until Old Zhang is lying on his sickbed before we can fight? The military advisor's words are totally unreasonable!"

Zhang Fei was so angry that he even questioned Zhuge Liang's words. You should know that since Bowang Slope, Zhang Fei has been obedient to Zhuge Liang. But this time, more than ten years after Zhuge Liang came out of the mountains, Zhang Fei questioned Zhuge Liang's words again because of Guan Yu's matter.

"Third General, it's not that I don't want you and the three generals to attack the Eastern Wu. It's just that we should go north to attack Wei at this moment. Cao Wei is in turmoil, and the border guards and officials will be full of doubts about the new King of Wei, Cao Pi, and will wait and see.

At the moment, Cao Wei's defenses in Guanzhong and Liangzhou are weak compared to when Cao Cao was alive. If we can defeat them in one blow, we can slowly take over Jingzhou and Yangzhou in the future. "Zhuge Liang made his meaning clear again. Since Cao Wei has no time to take care of other things now, we might as well bite off a piece of meat from Cao Wei, and when we have eaten Cao Wei almost completely, it won't be too late to deal with Dongwu.

Zhang Fei didn't care about what Zhuge Liang said. After all, he couldn't refute Zhuge Liang's words. He could only look at his elder brother. If his elder brother agreed, he would have to agree.

"What the military advisor said makes sense. Logically speaking, advancing northwards and attacking Liangzhou and Guanzhong from Hanzhong would be the best option at this moment."

Liu Bei spoke slowly, seeming to agree with Zhuge Liang's words, but Zhuge Liang knew that it might not be so easy for his lord to change his mind.

"But if we take Liang Province and Guanzhong in the north, Cao Wei will definitely complete its internal integration as quickly as possible. Our army's northern expedition will even speed up Cao Pi's move to seize power. It is not impossible to wait for the attack on Wu in the future, but I don't know when this 'later' is? A few months later? A few years later? Or... a dozen years later?"

Liu Bei really wanted to praise someone by first suppressing him, and the last question also made Zhuge Liang not know how to answer. It is hard to say what will happen to the forces of both sides after the stabilization of Guanzhong. Even if Zhuge Liang has a plan for the world, he is not omniscient and omnipotent about the future, and he cannot predict it.

"Kong Ming, I will be sixty in one year. Although I am a few years younger than Cao Mengde, the difference is not far."

Liu Bei's eyes were a little blurry, and his words were filled with the vicissitudes of life that only an old man can have.

"Since we swore brotherhood in Peach Garden, my second and third brothers and I have fought against the thieves of the world together. It has been more than 30 years. Although my second and third brothers and I have been separated from time to time, we have spent most of our time together."

Liu Bei looked at everyone in the hall. Everyone was silent and listened to what Liu Bei said quietly.

"I naturally know that what Kong Ming said is reasonable. If we act accordingly, we will surely be able to gradually conquer Wei and then destroy Wu."

Liu Bei stood up, slowly walked down from the seat, and paced among the ministers.

"However, if we act this way, it will take several years at the fastest, ten years at the slowest, or even several dozen years to see the day when Wu is destroyed and Yunchang is vengeful for his blood."

Liu Bei turned back to Zhuge Liang, looked at him, and said in a low voice:
"Kong Ming, I can't wait any longer. I don't know if I have another ten years, or even five years."

Zhuge Liang was silent. Cao Cao's death had already made his lord feel a sense of crisis about time, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to dissuade him.

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but look at the place where Fa Zheng used to be.

"My lord, why don't we contact Dongwu first? If Dongwu is willing to return Jingzhou, we can still divide the two states into three parts and attack Cao Wei together."

Zhuge Liang thought quickly for a long time and could only come up with this compromise. However, before Liu Bei could reply, a man stood up from the ranks of generals, greeted him, and asked loudly.

"I have something to say, which is why we still have to act according to the three-part strategy?"

Everyone in the court was shocked and looked at this person.

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(End of this chapter)