Soldiers come to the world

From Jingzhou to Jiangdong, the land route is extremely inconvenient. Most of the areas are inaccessible and blocked by mountains and forests. Only a section of official road appears near the city, and most of the cities in the south are built near water, and travel by water.

Countless rivers and lakes converge, and finally come together to form a broad waterway artery running through the east and west, which is the Yangtze River.

Affected by the war in Jingzhou, there were few ships on the Yangtze River, but after passing Chaisang, the number of ships on the river increased significantly. Cargo fleets lined up everywhere on the river, and three-masted ships carrying people traveled far. Passenger ships, near the river, there are countless fishing boats.

It was already the first ten days of August, and a fleet of more than a dozen warships was cleaving the waves on the river and heading eastward. This fleet was Liu Bei's boat from Jiangling, invited by Sun Quan, Liu Bei came to attend Mrs. Sun's birthday.

Mrs. Sun is the younger sister of Sun Quan's mother, and also married to Sun Jian. She was first called Mrs. Sun in Jiangdong. In the seventh year of Jian'an, Sun Quan's mother died of illness, and her will ordered Sun Quan to treat her aunt as her mother. Sun Quan remembered the last words of his late mother. Respect the second wife, Sun, as the mother of the country, and henceforth be called Mrs. Sun.

This year is Mrs. Sun's 47th birthday. According to Jiangdong customs, birthdays are celebrated on the fifth and tenth for those under sixty.

Although Sun Quan was extremely filial to his mother, on the other hand he practiced thrift, so under normal circumstances, he would not specially celebrate his mother's 47th birthday, but this time, in order to give Liu Bei an excuse to come to Jiangdong, Sun Quan made an exception to celebrate his mother's birthday .

Liu Bei's fleet has already passed Wuhu and is heading towards Dantu. During the Three Kingdoms period, the south of the Yangtze River was not fully developed. Naturally, there was no Grand Canal to go by water. Mausoleum and Wuxi arrived at Soochow, the capital of Jiangdong.

In fact, there is also a waterway, which is to enter Lishui from Wuhu, enter Taihu Lake via Liyang and Yangxian, and cross Taihu Lake to reach Soochow. However, Lishui can only travel [-] stone ships in the end, and Liu Bei's thousand-stone warship cannot pass. A group of people had to go to Dantu by land.

In the cabin on the second floor, Liu Bei sat in front of the window, enjoying the scenery and people along the way. Pang Tong sat opposite him, and the Jiangdong envoy Bu Zhi was on a ship behind.

During this trip to the east, Liu Bei handed over the military and political power to Zhuge Liang instead of Guan Yu. It made many people dissatisfied, even Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also complained.

Pang Tong was also one of those who were dissatisfied. Although he was named a deputy military adviser, he had no real power. He was far inferior to Zhuge Liang and was reused by Liu Bei. He was actually just an aide.

Pang Tong knew very well that the main purpose of Liu Bei not taking Zhuge Liang to Jiangdong was to give him a chance to gain power and build prestige, but he did not have such a chance, which made Pang Tong jealous and dissatisfied.

He kept reminding Liu Bei that Zhuge Liang was inexperienced. If the Xiangyang army made a massive southward attack, Zhuge Liang might not be able to take on the heavy responsibility of counterattack. He hoped that Liu Bei would change his mind and appoint Guan Yu as the general. Liu Bei just smiled when he kept reminding him of "kindness". Let it go.

"This trip to Jiangdong, we call it Birthday Blessing, is actually to win Jiangdong's support and establish an alliance with Jiangdong. If we advance, we will prosper together, and if we lose, we will suffer together. The first step is to let Jiangdong recognize Mr. Qi Shepherd for Jingzhou."

Liu Bei slowly discussed the purpose of this trip with Pang Tong. This was the second time they had discussed it. Pang Tong had already made up his mind. He pondered for a while and said, "This time Sun Quan invited us to Soochow, largely due to the Zhang Zhao faction's efforts. It is obvious that they want to use the opportunity of Liu Jingsheng's death to seek the interests of Jingzhou, which is a bit of a long-distance relationship and a short-term attack. I feel that Jiangdong wants to deal with Liu Jing together with us, so Changsha County will bear the brunt."

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "Kong Ming doesn't think so."

Liu Bei opened his mouth about Kongming, but kept his mouth shut about Zhuge, which made Pang Tong deeply jealous. He just made a suggestion today, but Liu Bei rejected it because of Kongming's disagreement. : "Then what does Kong Ming think?"

"Kong Ming thinks that it's just Zhang Zhao's idea, not necessarily what Sun Quan meant. We are actually just a pawn of Sun Quan, used by Sun Quan to deal with Liu Jing. Sun Quan still wants to form an alliance with Liu Jing, but he wants to get more benefits. , so invite us to Soochow. For us, we must take advantage of this opportunity and do everything possible to obstruct the alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Jing. As long as the negotiation between Liu Jing and Sun Quan fails, then our opportunity will come. So this trip to Soochow , well-informed is the number one priority.”

Pang Tong was speechless, and changed the subject with a smile after a while, "I heard that Uncle Huang and Zhang Zhao are old, is this true?"

Liu Bei nodded and said with a smile: "We have known each other since we were in Xuzhou, and indeed we have friendship. Tao Zhou Mu died of illness, so I should ask Zhang Zibu to write the epitaph for Tao Zhou Mu. This time Zhang Zibu supports Jiangling. A bit of nostalgia, but the key is the benefits, Jingzhou three points, let Jiangdong see the benefits."

Pang Tong was silent for a moment and said: "My subordinates are a little worried that Jiangdong will be unfavorable to the emperor's uncle. Our trip is a bit risky."

Liu Bei chuckled, "I, Liu Bei, am famous all over the world, how could Sun Quan harm me? Shiyuan is too worried."

"Even so, we should bring a general with high martial arts skills. In fact, I think Zilong is pretty good. Why doesn't the emperor refuse to take him?"

When Zhao Yun was mentioned, Liu Bei's face darkened immediately. Not long ago, he heard that Liu Jing sent someone to visit Zhao Yun in Wuling, and gave him a letter and some local products from Xiangyang, which Zhao Yun gladly accepted.

And burn the letter immediately after reading it, what is the content of the letter, so shameful?What annoyed Liu Bei even more was that Zhao Yun actually wrote back to Liu Jing, which filled two pages of letter paper.

Did he think he was unaware that he was in remote Wuling?If Zhao Yun had a clear conscience, why didn't he give the letter to himself for review?

Although Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang also persuaded themselves to reuse Zhao Yun many times, talents are rare, but they didn't know that Zhao Yun and Liu Jing had an extraordinary relationship.

And he, Liu Bei, knew very well that for so many years, Zhao Yun had always refused to break his friendship with Liu Jing, and Liu Bei had long been extremely disappointed in Zhao Yun.

Although Pang Tong also knew that Zhao Yun and Liu Jing had a good relationship, he didn't know the details. However, seeing Liu Bei's face turned gloomy at this moment, he didn't dare to ask more about Zhao Yun.

At this time, a soldier came to report: "Qi report to the emperor, a large Jiangdong ship is coming ahead, and the people on board want to see the emperor!"

Liu Bei was slightly taken aback, he got up and walked quickly to the bow of the ship, the fleet had stopped, and he saw a tall, tall scholar in his thirties standing on a large ship, wearing a high crown and dressed in white Confucianism. He looked elegant in the bow of the boat, he clasped his fists and said with a slight smile: "My lord, Zhuge Jin, is here to meet the uncle of the emperor by order of Marquis Wu!"

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Soochow, Wu Palace, Zhang Zhao hurriedly walked through a long corridor to the study of Wuhou Sun Quan. Zhang Zhaonian was about fifty years old, his beard and hair were already half white, he was tall and tall, with a strange appearance and elegant clothes. Crown Confucian gown, quite a sense of immortality.

Zhang Zhao was a famous scholar in Xuzhou. He escaped the war and fled to Jiangdong.

Zhang Zhao served as the chief historian of Jiangdong and was in charge of government affairs. In fact, he was the prime minister. He was recognized as the second person in Jiangdong and the leader of the Jiangbei faction.

During the civil strife in Jingzhou, Zhang Zhao advocated supporting Jiangling Liu Qi. On the one hand, he believed that Cao Cao would not be able to go south within a few years, so he should take the opportunity to unify the south.

On the other hand, Liu Qi is weak and can use him as a puppet to annex Jingzhou. As for Liu Bei's old friendship, in Zhang Zhao's heart, it has long been replaced by Jiangdong's interests.

In Sun Quan's study, Sun Quan was also discussing military affairs with Zhou Yu and Cheng Jin. Zhou Yu advocated supporting Liu Jing in Jingzhou's three families. I also felt quite humiliated, but considering the overall situation, Zhou Yu still strongly advocated forming an alliance with Liu Jing.

Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao are both ministers of Tuogu. In terms of reputation and official connections, Zhou Yu is not inferior to Zhang Zhao, but Zhou Yu is restrained by military veterans headed by Cheng Jin, so he can only be the third person in Jiangdong .

In the Jiangdong faction, Zhou Yu is the leader of the young and strong faction, and a large number of Jiangdong young talents have gathered around him.

This time, Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao had the same starting point for the Jingzhou dispute, and they were all for the benefit of Jiangdong.

However, they disagreed on the specific plan. Zhang Zhao advocated unifying the south first, and then resisting Cao with all his strength, while Zhou Yu believed that Cao's army would go south soon, and they had no time to unify the south. Now they can only unite with Liu Jing to resist Cao. , The great cause of unifying the South can only be discussed later.

Although Zhou Yu's ideas were more realistic, they were firmly opposed by Cheng Pu, Han Dang and other veterans in the military. They could not forget the shame of Chaisang back then and were unwilling to ally with Liu Jing.

As early as when Sun Quan and Liu Jing reconciled, Cheng Pu and others strongly opposed it. Now when it comes to forming an alliance, their attitude is even firmer.

But within Jiangdong, Zhang Zhao's plan has received widespread support, which makes Sun Quan, who is biased towards Zhou Yu, feel very embarrassed.He called Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu today because he wanted to unify their opinions.

"Please forgive me, Marquis Wu!"

Cheng Pu said firmly: "If there is no choice, for the benefit of Jiangdong, I can forget the shame of Chaisang and support the alliance with Liu Jing, but now we have a choice, we can join forces with Jiangling to destroy Jiangxia and Xiangyang supported Liu Qi as a puppet of Jingzhou and turned to resist Cao. After defeating Cao Jun, Jingzhou will also be in our pocket, and if we follow the river to conquer Bashu, Jiangdong Emperor will be accomplished."

"Chenggong thinks things are too simple!"

Zhou Yu suppressed his disgust towards Cheng Pu, and forced a smile and said, "Isn't it true that General Cheng has never seen Jiang Xia's fighting strength? I heard that they have cultivated a strong cavalry in recent years. Cheng Gong thinks they are so easy to defeat?"

Cheng Pu is not as humble as Zhou Yu. He is a veteran of the three dynasties, a hero who founded the country, and has the highest qualifications in Jiangdong. He does not take anyone seriously except for a little courtier in front of Sun Quan. Zhou Yu is even his younger generation. Zhou Yu's tone of voice was also very arrogant.

"General Zhou, don't forget that we are not what we used to be. We have a [-] elite army and thousands of warships. We have been working hard for three years. I don't believe that Jiang Xia will be our opponent, and the last time was because of the fire oil accident. Also, we have underestimated Liu Jing, if we do our best this time, we will never repeat the same mistakes, General Zhou is too arrogant to belittle himself."

Zhou Yu also sneered and said, "I'm afraid that if the great cause is not accomplished, both sides will suffer, and Cao Jun will take advantage of it for nothing."

"Hehe! Zhou Hujun thinks too much."

Zhang Zhao's laughter came from the door, and Zhang Zhao's tall figure appeared at the door, "Marquis Wu, can I come in?"