The fourteenth year of Jian'an has not yet begun, and for Sun Quan, it is already a mixed blessing.
The good news is that he was blessed with a son at the beginning of the year. Sun Quan was overjoyed to become a father for the first time.
Although he was born to a concubine, he was still his own flesh and blood, so he was named "Deng" in the hope that he would be promoted in the future and be raised by Mrs. Xu as his eldest son.
Mrs. Xu was originally Lu Shang's wife. After Lu Shang's death, Sun Quan hired her as a concubine in order to win over the Lu family. She was criticized because she and her father Xu Kun were cousins. Mrs. Xu took advantage of the arrogance of her relatives and often called Sun Quan uncle, so she did not Favored.
Sun Quan was depressed and had long wanted to marry another concubine, but the old lady was very strict in his discipline and told him to put his great career first. Now that the old lady died, he started to think about it again.
Recently, the fourth brother Sun Kuang was also injured during the expedition against Shanyue in Jingxian County. He became bedridden at a young age and invited many doctors to diagnose and treat him, but to no avail.
This was Sun Ce's most beloved younger brother. He gave up the title of Marquis of Wucheng to Sun Kuang that year. In order to appease Sun Ce, Cao Cao even married the Cao family's daughter to Sun Kuang as a sign of goodwill.
Family matters came second, and state affairs made Sun Quan uneasy. Zhou Yu was seriously injured, Cheng Pu was killed in battle, and Taishi Ci died of illness. In just two months, three generals were lost. These were all ministers who had a strong stake in Jiangdong, which had a huge impact on the morale of the entire army. .
Huang Gai went to Chaisang to visit Zhou Yu, and then received a letter from Zhou Yu, saying that he wanted to go to Xiangyang in person to talk to Liu Qi. Sun Quan was shocked and it was too late to stop him, so he had to wait patiently.
On this day, Zhou Shan was finally expected to return from Jingzhou, and Sun Quan hurriedly took him to the study to inquire about the situation in detail.
Zhou Shan reported that he had just sneaked into the medical school disguised as an apprentice and had not found a chance to get close to Taishi Ci. One day he heard his screams in the hospital. He died of anger because of the unbearable pain and being unable to serve the country.
When Sun Quan heard this, he sighed loudly and said with tears: "Ziyi has been loyal and loyal all his life, but I... Fortunately you never succeeded, otherwise this matter will make me regret it for the rest of my life."
Zhou Shan clasped his fists and said, "My mission has not been accomplished, so I dare not be careless. I personally watched General Taishi being laid to rest, and followed him to Xiakou for burial before returning to life. I hope your lord will forgive me."
"What crime are you guilty of?" Sun Quan took back the ancient ingot sword and said with emotion: "You are my trusted minister. God knows this and the earth knows it. You know it and I know it. You must never mention it to a third person again."
Zhou Shan bowed and said, "Don't worry, my lord, my subordinates will definitely keep their mouth shut."
Sun Quan sighed with emotion, stood for a long time, put the ancient ingot knife back into the secret compartment, poured a glass of wine and handed it over: "Thank you for your hard work on this trip to Jingzhou!"
"Serve the lord, and my subordinates will not hesitate to die!" Zhou Shan was greatly moved, took the wine glass with both hands, and drank it without hesitation.
"Very good!" Sun Quan patted him on the shoulder and smiled: "You go down and rest first. I have important military intelligence reports to send to Huainan tomorrow. You will hand them over to Governor Lu personally."
"Follow your orders!" Zhou Shan said goodbye.
After wandering around Jianye for a while, after eating and drinking in the evening, I returned to my residence, washed my body with hot water, and then lay down calmly on the bed, closing my eyes and waiting to die.
From the moment he insisted on leaving Xiangyang, he already knew his fate, but in order to redress Sun Ce's injustice, he had no hesitation.
If he does not come back to report the news, Sun Quan will definitely become suspicious and all arrangements will be in vain.
I drifted off to sleep and heard the chirping of birds in my ears. When I opened my eyes again, it was already the next morning. I turned over and sat up in bed to see that my body was intact.
"Did the Governor and Mr. Wolong both predict wrongly?" Zhou Shan murmured to himself.
He frowned and touched his arm, confirming that it was flesh and blood. Remembering Sun Quan's instructions, he got out of bed, washed up, and came to the house to see him again.
Sun Quan had ordered people to prepare rewards such as silk cloth, gold and silver, and handed him a secret letter, ordering him to leave for Hefei immediately.
Zhou Shan received the reward and went home. He rushed to the river without stopping, hired a boat to cross the river and headed north. As soon as he reached the middle of the river, suddenly there was an undercurrent in the water, the waves rolled, and a group of pig dragons roared in and attacked the boat.
Zhou Shan was shocked, raised his knife and fought with the sailors, but more than a dozen pig dragons rushed forward and smashed the boat. Everyone fell into the river. No matter how powerful he was, he could not resist the attack of the beasts.
"Marquis Wu, forgive me for my incompetence and failure to complete the task!" At the last moment, Zhou Shan tore the secret letter into pieces and was dragged into the river by a pig-shaped dragon.
The pieces of paper drifted with the tide, but there was not a word on the letterhead, just two pages of blank paper. Unfortunately, Zhou Shan could no longer see it.
In Wuhou's mansion, Sun Quan was accompanying Wu Guotai, playing with the baby and enjoying family happiness together.
Wu Guotai saw that Sun Quan was occasionally distracted and asked, "Is Zhongmou worried about Gong Jin's safety?"
Sun Quan smiled and said: "My little sister is in Xiangyang, so I can protect Gong Jin. I'm just worried that he will discuss with Liu Qi to defeat Cao Cao. I don't know whether he can succeed."
Wu Guotai sighed softly: "Gong Jin was seriously injured. He should have rested and led the troops to work for the state. He is really loyal and good!"
Sun Quan comforted and said: "Don't worry now, Hua Tuo is practicing medicine in Xiangyang. When Zhou Tai rescued me from Xuancheng, he suffered more than ten wounds and was dying. My brother invited this man and used medicine to cure me in a month. He is truly a miraculous doctor in this world. Gong Jin went to Xiangyang to heal his wounds. With the help of this person, he may be able to recover early."
"Miracle doctor? That's good, that's good!" Wu Guotai nodded slightly and suddenly said: "My son has been in charge of Jiangdong for several years, but he has not made any progress. Liu Qi took Yizhou and Jiaozhou in just two years, and Cao Cao The Central Plains has been stabilized for a long time, but with the turmoil in the Central Plains in the past, Bo Fu's bravery still cannot advance, how easy is it to go north at this time?"
When he mentioned Jiaozhou, Sun Quan became furious and snorted: "Old Shixie, if you go to Qin and Muchu, sooner or later you will regret it."
It turned out that Shi Xie had frequent contacts with Sun Quan and expressed his intention to surrender. Bu Zhi secretly planned with him in Kuaiji, preparing to remove Lai Gong, the governor of Jiaozhou, and take over all of Jiaozhou.
Seeing that the plan was about to come true, Shi Xie saw that Liu Qi was growing stronger, stabilizing Jingzhou, and taking Yizhou, so he turned to Liu Qi. Lai Gong immediately strengthened his defenses in the Cangwu and Nanhai areas, leaving no chance for Zhao to make concessions.
Wu Guotai said: "On the east side of the Yangtze River, boats are used for profit. We are invincible on the water, so why should we stick to the Central Plains?"
Sun Quan sighed helplessly: "Although Jiaozhou can be used for expeditions across the sea, the land is remote and the road is long. Just like the land of Wuyue, it is vast and sparsely populated, so it is useless to know."
Wu Guotai said with a smile: "What I'm talking about is not Jiaozhou, but in the southeast of Kuaiji. There are still many islands with a very large population. Jiangdong is weak because of the small number of people. If they can be moved to the land of Wuyue, there will be no more than ten people there." Years, it is comparable to Jingzhou and the Central Plains."
Sun Quan was surprised: "Mother actually knows about the South China Sea Islands?"
Wu Guotai sighed with emotion: "When my two sisters were young, they often fished and cooked meat along the coast of Wu County. People who went to sea often talked about this matter. It is said that those people were from Baiyue, pre-Qin and early Han Dynasties." , the Yue people had many battles with the Central Plains, and when defeated, they fled into the deep sea and hid here."
Sun Quan frowned slightly and said, "Are they those pirates?"
"There are also heroes and martyrs among pirates!" Wu Guotai took out a smooth and round shell from his arms and said in a deep voice, "One time, two of my sisters went to sea to collect shells. The tide was high and they were stranded on an island. They were rescued by a group of pirates. "
Sun Quan sighed: "The deep sea is vast and full of dangers. Now is the time to start a business, how can I have the energy to be distracted?"
Wu Guotai said: "You can first send people to explore the surrounding sea areas. If they can succeed, my son will be a pioneer, and he will be as famous as the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty!"
Sun Quan's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded and said, "Thanks to my mother's guidance, my child has learned a lesson."
