The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 88
General Zhuge Liang opened Lu Su's handwritten letter, read it carefully, then slowly put it away, and said with a smile, "How is Lu Zijing?"

Zhang Cheng shook his head and smiled wryly: "To tell you the truth, General Hengjiang is overworked and in poor health."

The smile on Zhuge Liang's face froze for a moment, and he sighed a little ashamedly.Lu Su was only in his 40s, and he was so tired, not only because of the heavy burden on his shoulders, but also because of his psychological pressure.It was Lu Su who advocated the alliance with Liu Bei at the beginning. As a result, Liu Bei not only borrowed Jingzhou and refused to return it, but also fought with Sun Quan because of it.In Jiangdong, Lu Su is now the most prestigious general in name, but in the past few years, Lu Meng, Jiang Qin and others have been vigorously cultivated by Sun Quan, and the trend of replacing Lu Su has become very obvious. Lu Su's status is in jeopardy. One can imagine.

I am really ashamed of my old friend.

"However, if the marriage is settled and the two sides form an alliance again, then General Hengjiang may be able to rest in peace for a while." Zhang Cheng took advantage of the situation and said: "The general is in charge of the affairs of General Zuo, so he must know the current situation. General Zuo wants to seize Berkshire. If we want to take Hanzhong, my general will have to deal with Cao Cao, if both sides can help each other, Jingzhou will be safe and we will be able to defeat Cao together.”

Zhuge Liang waved his hand: "There is no need for Zhong Si to say more about this matter. General Zuo understands it. I believe he will deal with it correctly. I just hope that you will not do something like Mrs. Sun this time." Zhuge Liang was a little worried He looked at Zhang Cheng: "General Guan loves his daughter very much. Even if he is willing to obey General Zuo's arrangement and marry his daughter to Jiangdong for the sake of the overall situation, if he gets angry there, I'm afraid this marriage is not a good thing, but a bad thing." gone."

Zhang Cheng nodded quickly: "General, please rest assured that this will definitely not happen."

Zhuge Liang sighed: "I hope this is the best." He paused, and then said: "Actually, besides General Guan's daughter, General Zuo also has quite a few suitable women in his tent. You might as well discuss it again, whose daughter is not important, what matters is the sincerity of both parties."

Sun Shao, who had been following behind and listening, laughed secretly. He heard uncertain factors from Zhuge Liang's words. It seemed that Zhuge Liang was not optimistic about this marriage. Could it be that he was worried that Guan Yu would not even listen to Liu Bei's words?

Seeing a smile flash across Sun Shao's face, Zhuge Liang frowned inadvertently before disappearing without a trace. "What advice does Captain Sun have?"

Sun Shao smiled slightly: "Shao's nature is poor, how can there be any good ideas, this matter depends on the general's success." He waved his hand, and asked someone to bring in two jars of new wine, put them on the desk in front of Zhuge Liang, and said with a smile : "These two jars of wine are newly produced in Wuzhong. They were intended to be given to General Zhang Yide, but he is fighting in Berkshire, so he cannot present them in person. Please pass them on to General Zhang Yide."

Zhuge Liang looked at the two jars of wine in front of him and smiled: "I heard that Captain Sun sells wine in Wuzhong. Could it be this kind of wine?"

Zhang Cheng's face was a little red. In his opinion, Sun Shao's business was a matter of contempt and self-deprecation. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang knew about it, so he was really embarrassed.But Sun Shao didn't take it seriously. He knew that although Zhuge Liang was a scholar, he was not that kind of pedantic scholar. On the contrary, he had a very high talent and interest in technological transformation, and he didn't despise business. At that time, he also vigorously promoted business, but it was all official business.

"The general is right, it is this wine."

Zhuge Liang looked at Sun Shao for a long time, and suddenly said: "Did the captain just bring two altars?"

Sun Shao looked at Zhuge Liang, and there were two smiles on his lips: "Does the general want to drink it himself? Or do you want to sell it? If the general drinks it himself, I still have some on board. I can send two altars to the general." It’s okay, if the general wants to distribute it, we can sit down and discuss cooperation matters.”

Zhang Cheng was a little annoyed, I'm talking about business here, what are you talking about selling wine, it's nonsense.Just as he was about to stop Sun Shao, Zhuge Liang also said with interest: "I want to drink and see first. If it is really good, I also want to sell it. I wonder if the captain is interested?"

Sun Shao laughed loudly, cupped his hands and said, "Okay, I'll send someone to deliver the wine to your house right away, you can taste it first, and then we can talk about other things."

Zhuge Liang nodded again and again: "Then thank the captain first."

Zhang Cheng was dumbfounded, Sun Shao was self-defeating in business, why did Zhuge Liang also want to do business?He is a dignified military division general.

It wasn't until he went out that Sun Shao put away the smile on his face, turned his head to look at Zhang Chengdao: "Brother Zhong Si, do you really want to do business as Zhuge Liang?"

"Could it be..." Zhang Cheng's words came to his lips, and he felt that something was wrong again. Sun Shao's face was very serious, and he was completely different from the way he was chatting and laughing just now. Obviously, he had something else to say. He thought for a while, and suddenly thought of something: "Bong First, do you mean that our new wine arouses his suspicions?"

Sun Shao nodded: "Zhuge Liang is an extremely smart person. More importantly, he is not a scholar who talks about benevolence and morality. He is more sensitive to new technologies than ordinary people. Although we hide the new wine workshop in the winery, we can It has been hidden from the eyes and ears of many people, but it may not be easy to hide it from him."

"He will notice these things?" Zhang Cheng still didn't believe it.

"Hey, he's just an awl hidden in his pocket right now, far from showing his true sharpness." Sun Shao said with a smug voice: "Zhong Si, although you are a rare talent, but you only pay attention to tactics , but do not pay attention to technology, compared with him, you lack a lot."

Zhang Cheng didn't take it seriously, he thought it was Sun Shao's exaggeration, and he didn't care too much.Sun Shao saw that he was careless, so he couldn't say anything more, he couldn't tell Zhang Cheng that Zhuge Liang would invent the Liannu and Liuchu Qishan in the future.

In General Zuo's mansion, Liu Bei, the left general with half-white hair, sat high in the middle, and Fazheng and Zhuge Liang sat beside him, with different expressions.

Liu Bei took another look at Guan Yu's letter on the case, put it down lightly, and raised his head to look at Fazheng: "Xiaozhi, what do you think should be done?"

Fazheng raised his eyelids, and said bluntly: "I think it's a marriage." Then he closed his lips and paused for a while, and then said: "The last time Cao Cao personally conquered Hanzhong and returned to Yecheng, it's not that he didn't have the strength to benefit from it. State, but he has an internal problem, so he rushed back to deal with it, otherwise, it is hard to say whether the lord can still sit here to discuss matters. This year he pretended to be the king of Wei, and he was going to fight for glory. Now the army is sent to Hefei. If a war breaks out, he will not be able to come to Hanzhong again in the short term. This is a great opportunity for us to seize Hanzhong. If we do not seize this opportunity, Yizhou may be uneasy when Cao Cao draws his hand and conquer Hanzhong again. Married to Sun Quan, It is in our interest to let him worry about entanglement with Cao Cao."

Liu Bei nodded again and again, and said with some embarrassment: "It's just that Yun Chang is arrogant, and he regards that daughter as the apple of his eye, and refuses to let others easily. Besides, Sun Deng is still a child. How can Yun Chang agree? I'm worried that even if I agree, He will also refuse."

Liu Bei's worries were not unreasonable.He knows Guan Yu's temper very well. Although they are called monarchs and ministers, they are as close as brothers, and Guan Yu has always been loyal to him, but Guan Yu is arrogant. The last time he named Ma Chao as General Pingxi, Guan Yu was very upset and wrote a special letter. The letter came to question, but thanks to Zhuge Liang's answer, no trouble was caused.It's no wonder he isn't popular now that he wants to marry his precious daughter to a snotty child.

Fazheng disagreed: "Although General Guan is rebellious, does he even disobey the Lord's words? This matter is related to the Lord's great cause, how can he be allowed to make his own decisions? Last time he refused to marry and insulted the Jiangdong envoy. It is said that Jiangdong did not inform the lord first, but now Jiangdong's envoy has arrived in Chengdu, and the lord ordered the intermarriage, if he disobeys again, it will be unreasonable."

Liu Bei smiled wryly, Guan Yu was arrogant, and Fazheng was also arrogant. He was one of the few people who was not afraid of Guan Yu. What he meant was right, but it might not be useful to Guan Yu.He turned his eyes to Zhuge Liang again, "Kong Ming, what do you think?"

Zhuge Liang bowed respectfully: "What Xiaozhi said is true, but my lord's worry is justified."

Liu Bei was a little upset, aren't you slick?
"However, I think that this matter needs to be flexible." Zhuge Liang looked at Liu Bei carefully, hesitant to speak.

Fazheng looked at him with displeasure, Zhuge Liang seemed to agree with him, but Fazheng was not a fool, what Zhuge Liang really meant was that he was wrong, and he had other better ideas.

Liu Bei also heard Zhuge Liang's voice, and slightly narrowed his eyes: "How to change?"

"I... think it is okay to get married, but not with Sun Deng." Zhuge Liang's voice was very soft, but he was very firm: "General Guan is an important general of the country, and Sun Deng is the eldest son of Sun Quan. For the sake of the country, they cannot get married, otherwise There must be something to discuss."

Liu Bei raised his brows, but Fazheng suddenly realized what he meant, and his expression turned ugly.I have recently put all my energy into studying the battle situation in Hanzhong, but I didn't even think of this simple truth, and Zhuge Liang showed his face in vain.

(End of this chapter)