"Cheng Pu!" Sun Quan shouted, "Tell me, what is the bounden duty of a soldier?"
Cheng Pu's expression changed slightly, but he still answered truthfully,
"obey!"
"Very good, then nothing will happen to you." Sun Quan waved his hand to Cheng Pu.
"But my lord..."
Without waiting for Cheng Pu to say anything, Sun Quan turned to Zhang Zhao again. Seeing this, Zhang Zhao took the initiative to answer,
"My lord, the place where civil servants go is to die as a remonstrance."
"Ha!" Sun Quan smiled, "You have learned to answer quickly, but that is not my question. I don't ask where you are going, I ask where you came from."
"Where are you from?" Zhang Zhao was puzzled.
"That's right, where did you come from and why did you come? In the peaceful and prosperous times, literati had no choice, either to be an official or to live in seclusion. But now in troubled times, good birds choose trees to roost. When I choose you, you You are also choosing me." Sun Quan said, "This initial choice is where you come from."
"When I come to Jiangdong, I naturally believe that my lord can achieve hegemony!" Zhang Zhao replied.
"You chose me because you believed in me, so why don't you believe me now?" Sun Quan asked, "Do you think I am no longer capable?"
"I'm just worried that my master is not thinking carefully. A wise man may make a mistake even if he thinks a lot." Zhang Zhao said.
"That's right." Sun Quan nodded, "A person can indeed be careless, that's why I need you. But have you ever thought about why I still insist on doing this after you reminded me of all the mistakes?" Sun Quan asked.
Yes, if Sun Quan didn't think of this, it's understandable that he would do this. But since Sun Quan knew all the disadvantages and still insisted on doing it, it can only mean that he had other considerations.
"Why?" Zhang Zhao asked subconsciously.
"What decisions do I have to explain to you clearly? Are you the lord or am I the lord?" Sun Quan said.
Zhang Zhao broke into a cold sweat and quickly raised his hands.
"Don't dare! Don't dare!"
"Isn't that right! This matter has been settled. Don't discuss it anymore. You must be serious and think more about how to benefit the people and how to deal with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao." Sun Quan said, got up and walked out.
"By the way, there's one more thing. The people who oppose me here today are all——"
Amidst everyone's nervous and frightened expressions, Sun Quan said:
"All officers will be promoted to one level!"
In the main hall, everyone looked at each other. Those who had just plucked up the courage to stand up immediately cheered loudly, while those who had not yet come forward felt regretful.
Cheng Pu came to Zhang Zhao and was very puzzled.
"Lord, what on earth do you mean?"
"My lord is afraid that because of his willful behavior this time, no one will dare to remonstrate in the future. That's why my lord uses this to encourage remonstrances. Of course, this is also a disguised way to appease the military morale, lest we and others become dissatisfied." Zhang Zhao said.
"In that case, why does my lord insist on having his own way?" Cheng Pu asked.
Zhang Zhao glanced at Cheng Pu, "Didn't you just listen to what the lord said? You know, you might as well be the lord."
"Since the Lord doesn't want us to know, he has his reasons. At least we can be sure now." Zhang Zhao said.
"What?"
"My lord is still the same lord as before, and the means just now are not something that ordinary people can do. So, you and I don't have to worry, my lord knows what he is doing." Zhang Zhao patted Cheng Pu.
Here, Sun Quan returned to the inner courtyard, and Mrs. Wu was already waiting for him in front of the courtyard.
"Mom, why didn't you accompany your child today?" Sun Quan asked proactively.
Mrs. Wu smiled angrily,
"Back and forth, there are three more at once, you are afraid that you want to exhaust me to death! You can't even take a day off as a mother?"
"Mom, who do you think is to blame for this? You feel pain and happiness at the same time." Sun Quan said with a smile.
"Well, you little boy, your wings are strong, whatever you say makes sense!" Mrs. Wu scolded, then suddenly stopped smiling and asked in a low voice, "I heard that you made Zhou Gongjin the governor and gave him full authority over Yizhou? "
"Mom, let's go inside and talk about this," Sun Quan said.
"Um."
The two came to the inner room and waved the servants away. Mrs. Wu spoke,
"Wang gave birth to a son, and your eldest brother named him Sun He, which meant that you two brothers were in harmony. Then Xie Ji gave birth to a son, and you named him Sun Ba, which meant that you had never forgotten your eldest brother, Sun Ce, the little overlord of Jiangdong. You brothers are in harmony, and the two of you are in harmony. As for the children, there is no distinction between them and they can be raised together. It is enough for you to let Sun He inherit the title. Your elder brother understands what you mean, so why do you want to separate Yizhou?"
"Mother, could it be that you still can't trust Zhou Gongjin?" Sun Quan said.
Mrs. Wu was silent for a long time, then she said to Sun Quanzhi,
"...I'm afraid that your eldest brother will think too much. In fact, it doesn't make any difference to my mother who is in charge between you two brothers. The only thing that my mother doesn't want to see is for the brothers to turn against each other."
"Mom, I understand what you mean. Are you worried that eldest brother will mistakenly think that I want to separate the family?" Sun Quan thought.
Indeed, if you think about it carefully, it is no wonder that Mrs. Wu has such worries. Yes, if Sun Quan really wants to give up his throne, you can do it when Sun Ce comes back one day. The current situation will only make people think that Sun Quan wants to split the current Jiangdong in two, and he and Sun Ce will be half!
Those who didn't know that Sun Ce was still there just thought that Sun Quan was confused, while those who knew that Sun Ce was still there probably had the same idea as Mrs. Wu.
"Of course, this is a woman's opinion. Quan'er, you must have your own ideas. I just hope that Quan'er, you can always think about this matter. If you really have anything, you can tell your brother clearly, so as not to attract some Just let the unnecessary misunderstanding go away." Mrs. Wu said.
"Mom, don't worry. What I'm worried about is never that my eldest brother will come back. What I'm worried about is that he won't come back. Now the situation in the world is gradually becoming clearer. Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in Guandu, but the foundation of the Yuan family is still there, and they can't be separated in a short time. There is no victory or defeat. At this time, we are the only ones who are in chaos, but we may still have a chance." Sun Quan said.
Mrs. Wu shook her head in confusion.
"Mom doesn't quite understand. We now have the strongest military force and the largest territory. From Xuzhou to Yizhou, I have the world's granary in my hands. There is also the natural danger of the Yangtze River. We can advance, attack, retreat or defend. As long as we fight steadily, why worry about the instability of the world? What about you? Why go to the army to make dangerous moves?"
After being married into the Sun family for so many years, Mrs. Wu knew a little bit about the art of war, but she couldn't understand Sun Quan's current behavior.
"Mom, it's the king's way to fight steadily, but if we take the king's way now, we may force Cao Cao and Yuan Shao to form an alliance. Once the situation develops to that point, I'm afraid we won't be able to dominate the world in twenty years. In twenty years, The variables are too great, and the people of the Central Plains cannot bear the hardships of these twenty years. If we are finally taken advantage of by foreigners, then we will be sinners," Sun Quan said.
"Twenty years? That's not enough, right?" Mrs. Wu couldn't believe that with Jiangdong's current strength, it would take twenty years to unify the world?
"Since ancient times, the northern army has often been better at fighting than the southern army. Even if we don't talk about combat power, just in terms of population, the south is far inferior to the north. We must not give them a chance to breathe, otherwise, this battle will be difficult to win. ." Sun Quan replied.
