Soldiers come to the world

Factional struggles have always been a chronic disease of the Jiangdong regime. Not only are official factions fierce, but military commanders are also the same. Of course, Sun Quan did this deliberately.

But on the other hand, it is also related to Jiangdong’s political structure. Jiangdong’s journey from Sun Ce to the south has been like a broken bamboo, and it quickly wiped out Danyang County, Wu County, and Kuaiji County. The fundamental reason is that it has the support of the Jiangdong family. They entered the newly established Sun regime one after another.

But Sun Ce was afraid that the Jiangdong gentry would be too powerful, so he introduced the northern gentry and Jianghuai gentry, such as Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Zhou Yu, Lu Su, etc. After Sun Ce died, Sun Quan succeeded to the throne, and the Jiangdong regime began to further expand. The mutual introduction made the influence of the Jiangdong gentry continuously enter the Sun regime.

At the same time, Sun Quan continued his elder brother's technique of balancing, and set up a recruiting hall in Jiangbei, so that Zhuge Jin, Xu Sheng, Lu Meng and other northern talents went south to be recruited.

Northern talents going south will inevitably be resisted by the local gentry in Jiangdong. Because the local gentry are married to each other and have been friends for hundreds of years, the relationship has long been intertwined. It is easy to form an alliance in the officialdom, and the boycotted northern gentry also come together, thus forming a faction. conditions are created.

Under Sun Quan's deliberate help, Jiangdong quickly formed the Northern faction, Lujiang faction, and Wuyue native faction, while Jiangdong moved the capital to Jianye and hit the local factions hard. The Wuyue faction split into Gu Lu Wu faction and Yu's Kuaiji faction. , the Lujiang faction declined, and the northern faction continued to grow. In order to check and balance the northern faction, Sun Quan began to reuse his relatives, which led to the rise of the foreign relatives faction headed by Bu Zhi.

There are also many factions in the military. There are veteran faction, middle school and young strong faction. The so-called old and strong faction refers to a group of veterans who followed Sun Jian, such as Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang, and the middle school refers to following Sun Ce to open up Jiangdong. The brave generals of the foundation include Zhou Yu, Tai Shici, Jiang Qin, Chen Wu, Dong Xi, Pan Zhang, Ling Cao, Zhou Tai and other generals.

The young and strong faction is a rising star after Sun Quan came to power, including young generals such as Lu Meng, Lu Xun, Ding Feng, Xu Sheng, and Ling Tong.

During the period of Sun Ce and the early days of Sun Quan, the Jiangdong Army was dominated by the middle school, but as Sun Quan's position gradually stabilized, he began to deliberately remove the influence of his elder brother Sun Ce in the army and establish his own authority. The middle school also gradually began to lose power, especially when After Zhou Yu, Tai Shici, Chen Wu, Pan Zhang, Ling Cao and other mid-level generals died of illness or died in battle, the middle-level faction completely lost power, replaced by the rise of the veteran faction and the young-strong faction. Metropolitan Governor.

Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai were from the same hometown, and they joined the Jiangdong Army at the same time. In the early days, the two had a deep friendship, but things in the world are like this, and those who have a deep friendship tend to turn against each other, so Confucianism advocates that the friendship between gentlemen is as light as water.

Because Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai embarked on different official careers, they eventually drifted away. Jiang Qin is currently a representative of the middle school, while Zhou Tai has left the middle school and become a special Conglong faction, that is, Sun Quan's confidant .

Of course, the two have different ways and do not conspire with each other. The relationship between the two is only estranged, not against each other, but what happened tonight is enough to make them turn against each other.

Dozens of Jiang Qin's subordinates were arrested, and Zhou Tai's attitude was strict and he wanted to execute them. How could Jiang Qin ignore this? He is a veteran who has followed him for many years, how could he refuse to save him.

Jiang Qin had no choice but to soften his body and plead with Zhou Tai: "Can You Ping give me some face and hand over these soldiers to me?"

"It's not impossible to hand them over to General Jiang, but I want to know how General Jiang plans to deal with them?"

"This... I will punish severely!"

Jiang Qin spoke very reservedly, and spoke very vividly. Beheading is a severe punishment, and beating him with a military stick is also a severe punishment. This is the usual official language. According to common sense, Zhou Tai would just say haha, A few words of praise for Jiang Qin, no favoritism, etc., and then hand over the criminal to Jiang Qin, and the favor is also obtained, and the matter is over.

If in the past, Zhou Tai might have done this, there was no need to offend Jiang Qin, but now the situation is critical, and the soldiers must be strictly restrained, otherwise it will trigger a wave of soldiers fleeing, and it will be difficult to end at that time, so Zhou Tai decided to make an example. The heads of dozens of soldiers served as a warning to the armed forces.

It's just that these soldiers are Jiang Qin's subordinates, Zhou Tai also needs to reach a consensus with Jiang Qin, it is best to let Jiang Qin do it himself, so he sent someone to invite Jiang Qin.

Zhou Tai's face darkened immediately, and he asked coldly, "I don't know how General Jiang plans to deal with them?"

He yelled 'General Jiang' one after another, which made Jiang Qin very uncomfortable. He held back the annoyance in his heart and replied: "I will take them back to the barracks, and naturally I will deal with them according to military regulations."

"very good!"

Zhou Taiyi counted ten people and said: "Why do you want to go back to the barracks? Just behead here and send the heads to patrol around to warn the soldiers!"

Jiang Qin was furious, stared at Zhou Tai fiercely and asked, "Why is General Zhou so hard to force you?"

"It's just that I don't give General Jiang face. Now is an extraordinary period. Military discipline must be strict, otherwise it will trigger a wave of soldiers fleeing, and Moling City will be finished. Kindness does not control the soldiers. I also ask General Jiang to put the overall situation first."

"you!"

Jiang Qin was extremely angry, and shouted angrily: "Everyone knows that Jiangdong's general situation is gone, and the collapse is only a few days away. At this time, we should show compassion for the lives of the soldiers, let them reunite with their families, and stop making unnecessary sacrifices. Why did General Zhou do this? Are you ruthless?"

Jiang Qin was so angry that he made a slip of the tongue, which aroused Zhou Tai's fury. He drew his sword halfway and shouted sharply: "Jiang Qin, if you dare to talk nonsense and shake the morale of the army, I will cut off your head!"

Jiang Qin also knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, but he couldn't let go of his face. He snorted heavily, turned around and got on his horse, urged the horse to go, and ran a dozen steps. it's up to you!"

He urged his horse to gallop towards the barracks, and dozens of tied soldiers kneeling on the ground cried out, "General, save our lives!"

Jiang Qin had gone away, Zhou Tai slowly put his sword back into its sheath, but his anger was hard to dissipate, he turned his head and glanced coldly at dozens of deserters, waved his hand and shouted: "Push them down and behead them, and show their heads to the three armies!"

"General! Spare me! Spare me!"

No matter how many soldiers on both sides shouted and begged for mercy, they dragged them down and chopped off their heads one by one. Zhou Tai finally calmed down his anger and ordered: "Send the heads to the three armies. Those who dare to escape will be guilty of the same crime!"

A general next to him was a little worried: "General, I'm afraid it will be difficult for General Jiang to explain?"

Zhou Tai snorted coldly, "Didn't you hear what he said just now? In desperation, he spoke his mind. This kind of person is the most unreliable at critical moments. If he dares to act recklessly, I will seize his military power."

Having said that, Zhou Tai was a little worried, he summoned a few confidants and ordered them to monitor Jiang Qin, if Jiang Qin made any changes, he would report immediately.

Watching the soldiers go away, Zhou Tai's expression was a little cloudy, he was definitely not a reckless person, let alone stupid, he would never fight with the lieutenant at a critical moment.

He actually got Sun Quan's secret order to do this. Jiang Qin and Dong Xi conspired many times, and their intentions were unknown. Sun Quan ordered Zhou Tai to test Jiang Qin. If Jiang Qin disagreed, he would be arrested immediately. Sure enough, Jiang Qin's true heart was tested. Although he was not dissident, at least he was weak in will. This kind of person would surrender when he lost a little, which became the key to the failure of the entire defense.

Zhou Tai slowly clenched his fists. Jiang Qin must not be allowed to lead the army again. He must seize his military power tomorrow at the latest. He wrote another secret letter and sent his confidants to Jianye Palace as soon as possible.

........

Jiang Qin went back to his camp and drank sullenly by himself. He had no confidence in Jiangdong. The reason why he didn't surrender to the Han army was because he didn't want to bear the reputation of a traitor and did his best.

But what happened tonight really annoyed Jiang Qin. Zhou Tai didn't give him face, so he must behead his subordinates. Although he didn't know how Zhou Tai would deal with the fugitive soldiers in the end, Jiang Qin also wanted to know that these soldiers must be more dangerous than good. .

Jiang Qin secretly clenched his earcups, if Zhou Tai was too aggressive, he wouldn't need any fame. At this time, a soldier from outside the tent reported, "General, Mr. Cheng Zi, please see me!"

Jiang Qin was startled, what did Cheng Zi ask him for, Cheng Zi was Cheng Pu's son, and had nothing to do with Jiang Qin, why did he come to see him so late?But after thinking about it, Jiang Qin understood that this must be Cheng Pu looking for him, and he immediately ordered: "Please come in!"

After a while, the curtain was lifted, and a 30-year-old man in a brocade robe walked into the tent. It was Cheng Pu's son, Cheng Zi. He stepped forward and gave a deep salute, "See General Jiang!"

Jiang Qin hurriedly stood up and returned the salute, "Mr. Cheng is polite, please sit down!"

Cheng Zi was also polite, and the two sat down as guests and hosts. Jiang Qin found out that there was still a jug and wine glass on the table. He quickly put it away, and said with a embarrassed smile: "I made you laugh!"

Cheng Zi smiled lightly, and didn't take this matter to heart, but said in a low voice: "When I came here just now, I heard that General Zhou killed dozens of deserters at the south gate, all of them were General Jiang's subordinates. Does the general know about this?"

Jiang Qin was furious, but Zhou Tai still made a move. He was so angry that he slapped the table and cursed, "You poor Zhou Tai, you bullied me too much!"

Cheng Zi sighed, shook his head and said, "If the general hates Zhou Tai for being vicious, then he is wrong. Does the general know whose order it is?"

Jiang Qin was stunned, of course he could understand Cheng Zi's implication, who else but Sun Quan?He suddenly pushed the table, stood up, and looked at Cheng Zi in surprise, "I don't understand what you mean, young master?"

Cheng Zi smiled wryly and said: "It's a big taboo of course to talk shallowly and deeply, and I wouldn't act recklessly like this in normal times, but the situation in Moling is critical, so I don't care so much. My father asked me to tell the general, the general and Dong Xi. The general was monitored by Eagle Beak for three plots, Marquis Wu no longer trusts the general, the appointment of the general as the deputy general of Moling is just to stabilize the faction, what happened tonight is by no means accidental."

"Your father?"

Jiang Qin was even more surprised. Could it be that Cheng Pu had secretly surrendered to Han?Cheng Zi seemed to understand Jiang Qin's suspicion, he sighed softly and said: "The Jiangdong Building will fall, how can my father not feel sad, but the situation is irreversible, we can only follow the will of heaven, and my father's original intention is not to betray Marquis Wu only wanted to protect the 20 people in Moling. Once the city was destroyed and Zhou Tai refused to surrender, it would inevitably lead to fierce street fighting. At that time, the people of Moling would be in a catastrophe. Since the Sun family could not be protected, why didn't the general protect the people in Jiangdong? "

Jiang Qin bowed his head and pondered for a moment. He knew that Cheng Pu would not use tricks to test himself. He said it was very reasonable. Thinking of Sun Quan's suspicion and ruthlessness, Jiang Qin finally gritted his teeth and said: "Young Master Cheng, you need to speak out. What is Jiang Qin doing?"

. ..