Of course Sun Wu knew that his appearance in today's battle would definitely bring some trouble to Li Ran.
After all, if the King of Chu gave him a large reward, it would run counter to Li Ran's intention to distance himself from the Chu State.
But before he could speak, Li Ran waved his hand slightly towards him, motioning for him to sit down.
Then he heard Li Ran talk to him very plainly:
"Tonight's battle was a beautiful one. For Chang Qing, this is your chance to become famous all over the world."
When Sun Wu heard this, he was shocked and wanted to stand up and kneel down to express his feelings. But Li Ran reached out to stop him again:
"Changqing, you don't have to be like this... You don't have to feel ashamed because of my brother. Changqing's future achievements will definitely be much better than my brother, who is hiding in a dark corner and playing tricks."
Yes, this title alone is enough to influence Chinese civilization for thousands of years. Why should he, Li Ran, be compared with Sun Wu?
"gentlemen……"
"Don't worry, just listen to what I have to say."
When Sun Wu heard this, Li Ran's words seemed to have a different flavor than before. Therefore, he couldn't help but be a little anxious. He thought that what Li Ran said was an irony out of displeasure.
But Li Ran continued to speak very calmly:
"No matter how the King of Chu awards you a reward, Chang Qing, you can accept it. There is no need to refuse. This is what Chang Qing deserves. And isn't this what Chang Qing has been pursuing all these years?"
"As a human being, you must have some pursuits. It's just that everyone has their own ambitions, so everyone's pursuits are different."
"So don't worry about Brother Wei. If Brother Wei wants to keep a distance from Chu State, hehe, Brother Wei still has a way."
Li Ran thought very clearly, and he had no reason to stop Sun Wu from moving towards a broader future.
"Mr. Wu Jinji's teachings!"
When Sun Wu heard this, he immediately fell to the ground and kowtowed heavily to Li Ran.
He knew in his heart that Li Ran was untying himself so that he could let go.
"Ouch! What is this for?"
"You and I should be treated as brothers, how can we accept such a great gift from the chief minister as a brother? Get up quickly! Get up quickly!"
Li Ran hurriedly helped him up.
"It's just... Wu is still worried that Mr. Wu will be coerced by the King of Chu because of Wu's achievements today..."
"It doesn't matter. If the King of Chu wants to award you a reward, I will not object to it. But if he wants to award it to me, then I will have ten thousand reasons to refuse. Haha, those thoughts of the King of Chu, As a brother, how can you not know?"
In fact, at this time, Li Ran was not worried that Sun Wu's reward would affect him. What he was worried about now was actually something else.
And the reason why he looked so solemn when facing Wu Ju just now was actually for this reason.
Now that Zhufan was defeated, Shu Jiu would fall into the hands of the Chu people sooner or later.
And if the Chu State takes advantage of the victory to pursue it, it will definitely fight with the Wu State.
So, of course, he, Li Ran, had to get involved in the war between the Chu State and the Wu State, a country with the surname Ji.
Although he could resign to the King of Chu, saying that this was a violation of their original agreement.
But at this point, he had already participated in the battle between Wu Ju and Wu King Zhufan. Wouldn't it be a little too pretentious to mention the previous agreement again?
But what if he doesn't refuse in this way? What about Zheng Guo? What about Jin? Can Zichan, Yang Yanji and others really help him resolve this matter in their respective countries?
"Then what's your plan, sir?"
After hearing this, Sun Wu immediately frowned.
Of course, he also knew that Wu and Jin were in a strategic alliance. Once Li Ran participated in Chu's war against Wu, Li Ran's relationship with the Central Plains countries would become quite delicate.
Coupled with the relationship between Jin and Zheng, Li Ran's tainted effect will be transmitted to Zheng sooner or later.
Li Ran heard Sun Wu ask this, but he could only shake his head and sighed sadly. He did not answer this, but his face was covered with a layer of gloom.
It was obvious that this matter was indeed a bit difficult for him.
…
As the Chu army launched a massive attack, the Wu army stationed at Shujiu had no power to resist.
Within three days, the city of Shujiu was destroyed. The Chu army not only recaptured Shujiu, but also took this opportunity to move the king of Shujiu to the capital of Chu, Ying, completely annihilating Shujiu, and directly conquered Shujiu. Incorporated into the territory of Chu State.
This also corresponds to what Wu Ju said when he ordered his troops. Although Shujiu is not his land of Chu, it will eventually become his land of Chu. In fact, it all sounds the same.
As for Wu State, because it directly lost Shu Jiu, a key stronghold, Wu State no longer had any advantage when facing Chu State. Wu King Zhufan had no choice but to lead the Wu army to retreat decisively, and broke most of them into pieces, and launched a guerrilla fight with the Chu army in the Jianghuai area.
When it comes to understanding war, Wu Wang Zhufan is definitely ranked high.
Although the Wu State has lost the opportunity now, when it comes to their control over the Jianghuai region, especially the connection between Qunshu and the Wu State, they actually do not have no chance at all.
Zhufan knew this very well, so instead of feeling upset about losing Shu Jiu, he became more actively involved in dealing with Chu.
The Jianghuai area is full of high mountains and rivers. The various states of Qunshu and Wu itself have a large number of boat soldiers. These boat soldiers were originally useless for such a large battle between the two armies. Useful.
But now it plays a very crucial role in the guerrilla war between Wu and Chu.
Whenever the Chu army was about to wipe out one side, these boat soldiers would always appear in time, pick up the Wu infantry on the boat, and then retreat calmly.
Therefore, even though Wu Ju tried every means to pursue and intercept them, he was still unable to catch up with these boat soldiers as they came and went freely in the Jianghuai River Basin. Therefore, this gave him a headache for a while.
…
One day, Li Ran finally received a reply from Zichan.
In fact, this letter should have arrived long ago.
Just because Li Ran traveled around with the Chu State camp and changed his residence almost every day, this letter was naturally a long time late.
Zichan didn't say much in the letter. After all, he knew that Li Ran was being targeted by the King of Chu, and he had to do many things as a last resort.
However, he also reminded Li Ran indirectly that the strategic alliance between Jin and Wu was the most critical line of defense for maintaining the stability of the world.
Once the Wu State is unable to contain the Chu State in the south, the situation in the entire Central Plains will become very dangerous.
He also mentioned in the letter that Jin's central military commander Zhao Wu and the marquis of Jin were dissatisfied with Li Ran's follow-up to Wu Ju's expedition to Wu.
Even Yang Yangui, who had always had a good relationship with Li Ran, was implicated because of Li Ran's incident, and became the target of public criticism in the Jin court.
Therefore, Zichan wanted Li Ran to grasp the balance carefully, not only to save his own life, but not to destroy the balance of the current situation.
In fact, how could Li Ran not know what Zichan said? If he really has such ability now, then why is he asking for trouble now?
So, he quickly replied to Zichan with another letter...
Then, he summoned Sun Wu and discussed countermeasures together.
"Sir, are you calling me?"
"Oh, Chang Qing, the reason why I called you here is because I want to advise you on how to end the confrontation between Wu and Chu as soon as possible?"
After hearing this, Sun Wu knew it well. Wu and Chu fought fiercely here for a day, and Li Ran couldn't feel at ease.
Moreover, Sun Wu knew very well that there was actually a subtext behind Li Ran's words, which was: how to make both sides stop fighting at the minimum cost.
"Sir, in my opinion, if you want to end the war with Wu as soon as possible, you might as well..."
Sun Wu stopped suddenly in the middle of his words, and then a look of solemnity appeared on his face.
Seeing this, Li Ran couldn't help but frown and said:
"Are you sure?"
But as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt that his question was a bit unnecessary.
——
Chapter 244_Methods to end the war
What exactly does Sun Wu mean?
In fact, it is simple to say.
If we want to quickly end the fierce battle between Chu and Wu, there is only one way to go - decide the winner as soon as possible!
The Wu people are absolutely unable to control them. The only bargaining chip they have is the Chu army.
Therefore, the only plan for now is to give Chu a "big victory."
In this way, the Chu army will naturally return to the court and end the war with Wu.
Otherwise, with the current guerrilla strategy formulated by King Wu Zhufan, Wu and Chu could fight in this area for several years without a truce.
Because, since it was a guerrilla war, Wu State did not invest much troops. And relying on the relationship between Qunshu and the Wu State, the Wu Army has a mass base after all. With only those boat soldiers to support it, the Wu Army's guerrilla losses will naturally be minimal.
Therefore, the Wu State does not need to care about the heavy burden brought to the country by successive years of war. On the contrary, such battles can still contain the Chu State or even bring it down.
And what about Chu State?
The King of Chu had just ascended the throne, and he had gained the throne improperly. Now he needed a reasonable excuse to divert domestic conflicts about the succession of the throne.
As the saying goes, "respect yourself if you stay with the invaders", and the ongoing war with Wu is obviously a very suitable reason.
Therefore, for a while, the King of Chu may also hope to continue to consume like this with Wu. Anyway, now that Shu Jiu is a stronghold, he will be able to be self-sufficient sooner or later, so the next supply dispatch will become a trivial matter for Chu State.
It was just a game of hide-and-seek with Wu Guo in the Jianghuai area. At most, Wu Ju would suffer more.
Therefore, once the two countries cannot decide the outcome, it is really not a problem to fight for several years.
What about the end? As a result, Qunshu's people's livelihood has been in decline, and it has become a site of mutual tug of war. And his "reputation", Li Ran, will be ruined sooner or later.
And now the only way to end this war is for one side to win completely. Only in this way can Li Ran withdraw from this war.
"It's just that if this happens, sir, I'm afraid he will be more severely criticized by the Jin State..."
Sun Wu also understood that once Wu was defeated, Li Ran would definitely be blamed by Jin.
"Then... what if Wu takes the initiative to withdraw his troops?"
Li Ran thought of another possibility.
"Is it possible... to capture Zhufan alive so that Zhufan can retreat on his own initiative?"
If the Wu State took the initiative to withdraw its troops and gave up the fight for territory with the Chu State in the Jianghuai area, the war between the two countries would not continue.
But obviously, if you want to do this, it is definitely not that simple.
When Sun Wu heard this, he immediately became interested.
"Sir, if you say this...it's not wrong!"
Sun Wu thought about it and suddenly had an idea.
"Oh? What do you want, Chang Qing?"
Li Ran asked hurriedly.
Just listen to Sun Wudao:
"Wu and the Wu people have fought against each other several times. According to Wu's experience, in any big battle, and it is a big battle that they think they are determined to win, the king of Wu and Zhu Fan will definitely appear in person, and even rush to kill them. At the forefront.”
"The Battle of Shujiu is the best example."
"Well, King Wu Zhufan was quite disapproving of the Chu army before, so he personally led the troops to the forefront several times. If he hadn't been protected in the valley and escaped, I'm afraid he would have been killed by now. He was captured by the Chu army."
At this point, Sun Wu immediately paused and did not continue.
But even if he didn't say anything, Li Ran already understood.
As Sun Wu had been on the front line, he naturally knew the fighting habits of the Wu people.
Doesn’t he, King Wu Zhufan, like to charge into battle the most? Don't you like to take control of the inevitable war?
Then why not give him a chance? Lead him into a trap?
"A few days ago, news came from Shu Jiu that the Chu army was robbed of food routes three times. It seems that Zhufan personally led the army in all three cases."
"It can be seen that it does not seem to be a difficult task to attract Zhu Fan."
After Li Ran heard this, a smile immediately appeared at the corner of his mouth:
"If we can capture Zhufan alive and force him to retreat voluntarily, this battle will naturally not continue and we will be able to escape unscathed."
The method was available and feasible, so the two of them agreed on it. But in the end, Li Ran emphasized one more point:
"But we must not let Zhufan make any mistakes!"
Yes, capturing Zhufan alive and forcing him to retreat is the best result.
But once Zhufan has three advantages and two disadvantages, when Li Ran faces the Central Plains countries, he will not be able to clear himself even if he jumps into the Yellow River. Secondly, this seed of hatred in Wu State will be a source of disaster sooner or later.
"So, this matter needs to be done personally by Chang Qing."
"Promise, Wu Dingran will live up to your trust!"
The only person Li Ran can trust now is Sun Wu.
Afterwards, Li Ran immediately turned around and left the camp, and came to the camp of Wu Ju's general, saying that he had a way to capture Zhufan alive.
Of course, he would definitely not tell Wu Ju the real intention of capturing Zhufan alive and forcing him to retreat.
Wu Ju was naturally very happy when he heard that Li Ran could capture Zhu Fan alive.
After all, this battle had taken him several months, and it was freezing cold at the moment. The Chu army and the Wu people kept dealing with each other, but he still couldn't get an inch of success, and his morale became very low.
If Zhu Fan could be captured alive, not only would this battle be ended, but Wu Ju would also be able to achieve great success. Therefore, he couldn't wait for Li Ran to speak more clearly.
Li Ran immediately explained the entire plan that had been agreed upon before, and specifically emphasized that the last part of the plan could only be left to Sun Wu.
"Oh? Why can we only let Sun Wu go?"
Wu Ju couldn't help but feel a little vigilant, and couldn't help but frown and ask.
After all, if he hadn't been there in person, the credit for capturing Zhu Fan alive would naturally be much lighter to him.
"Haha, the doctor should also know what Chang Qing is capable of, right? I would like to ask, who among the doctors can take on such an important task now?"
Indeed, just thinking about it makes you realize how difficult it is to capture Zhu Fan alive.
But among the current Chu army, except Sun Wu, who else can do this?
Wu Ju thought about it carefully and agreed.
After all, Sun Wu's ability is there, whether it was the battle between his grandson Wu Yuan and Sun Wu, or the previous battle between Shu Jiu. Sun Wu is top-notch both in terms of his personal ability and his ability to command troops.
If this matter had happened to anyone else, he would really be a little worried.
After some thought, Wu Ju immediately made up his mind.
"good!"
"Then let Chang Qing accomplish this unparalleled feat!"
"How many men does he need?"
Wu Ju immediately asked again.
Li Ran was extremely calm at this time and stretched out five fingers.
"Five thousand is enough."
These days, he has been following most of the Chu army to encircle and suppress the Wu soldiers. Naturally, he also knows the current strength of the Wu army.
The Chu army of 5,000 was able to lure Zhufan to fight in person.
"Hmm... when are you going to take action?"
"In twenty days."
It turns out that twenty days later will be the birthday of the first king of Wu State, that is, the memorial day of Wu King Zhufan’s biological father. The reason why Sun Wu chose to take action on this day was to anger Zhufan and give Zhufan a reason to lead his troops to fight in person.
"Okay! This is a great plan! Let's do it like this!"
After Wu Ju heard this, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, and his face showed a rare look of joy.
Yes, when faced with the military exploits at his fingertips, he had no reason to refuse at all.
But he was not dazzled by joy. When he happily agreed to Li Ran's request, the smile on his face gradually became unpredictable.
"Haha, if this happens, I won't dare to be greedy for credit. And your name will definitely be known to everyone in the world... Hahaha."
