Seeing that everyone was quiet, Sun Quan continued to speak.
"The situation is critical now, how can we waste time arguing here?"
Ma Liang didn't know Sun Quan, but when he saw Sun Quan standing next to his wife, she didn't stop him, so he had to put his question in his mind and said with his hands.
"Although this is reasonable, you must have an idea. Whose advice should you listen to? Let the madam make the decision."
Everyone looked at each other and said what needed to be said. They really couldn't argue any longer and waste time, so they agreed.
"Please make your decision, Madam."
However, Mrs. Wu fell silent when she saw everyone, unable to speak for a long time.
Sun Quan turned to look at his mother, took two steps to block everyone's view with his body and patted Mrs. Wu's hand gently. If others don't understand, how can his son not understand? Despite Mrs. Wu's calm appearance, she was actually panicked.
"Mom, my eldest brother is going on an expedition. Do you have any message for mother about the important events in Chu State?"
Mrs. Wu's eyes lit up, she leaned close to Sun Quan and whispered.
"If you are unsure about foreign affairs, ask Huang Gai; if you are unsure about internal affairs, ask Zhang Zhao."
Sun Quan nodded.
If this is the case, it is absolutely impossible for Sun Ce not to leave someone whom Mrs. Wu can rely on. This is not a test of the heir.
Zhu Zhi and Huang Gai are both veterans who have served the Sun family since Sun Jian. They are loyal and experienced in battles. One of them is in charge of Chaisang and the other is in charge of Jianye. I am afraid that Sun Ce has considered this.
Sun Quan looked at Huang Gai. As Huang Gai was a general in the army, his subordinates would naturally obey his orders. As long as it was his idea, no matter how the civilian officials disagreed, the military must be united.
"Uncle Huang, where do you think we should send troops?"
Huang Gai looked at Sun Quan kindly, sighed with emotion, and answered with clasped fists.
"The veteran also agrees with what Zhuge Jin said."
As soon as Huang Gai finished speaking, Sun Quan said decisively without asking everyone for their opinions.
"Okay! Then send troops to Guangling without further discussion."
Several young generals had already retreated when they saw Huang Gai talking. The other civil servants looked at each other and no one objected.
At this time, Zhang Hong stood up and said.
"Zhang Hong has no objection to what General Huang said. There is just one thing I need to ask the Second Young Master here. If the Lord dies, will the Second Young Master intend to compete for the throne?"
One stone stirs up a thousand waves.
Second Young Master?
Some ministers looked at Madam Tai and then at Sun Quan, and then they realized that the person in front of them was Sun Ce's younger brother, Sun Quan.
The silence in the hall became eerie, and the Tai Fu and Sun Quan were also stunned.
Yes, if Sun Ce dies and leaves only a three-year-old child, will he be able to shoulder the burden of the Chu State's foundation? This can't help but make people suspicious, and Sun Quan's status will make people think a lot more.
No one expected that Zhang Hong would put the most feared thing in everyone's mind in advance. Some people closed their mouths and had inexplicable things in their eyes, but Zhang Hong didn't change his expression and directly asked Sun Quan.
"I would also like to ask the Second Young Master to answer my questions."
"Hehe, hehehe~~"
Sun Quan couldn't help but laugh. He walked down the steps in a few steps and reached Zhang Hong. He pulled out the sword from his waist and grabbed it with his left hand. He immediately started bleeding.
"Quan'er!"
Mrs. Wu was shocked, and all the ministers could not help but be stunned.
Sun Quan glanced at everyone and said loudly.
"Sun Quan hereby swears an oath in blood, and I invite all the ministers to bear witness."
"Sun Quan will never ascend the throne. If there is any violation, there will be such a table."
As he spoke, Sun Quan cut off the corner of the table in front of Zhang Hong with one sword, then he withdrew his sword and bowed to everyone with clasped fists.
"If something happens to my eldest brother, please do your best to help my nephew."
Hearing this, everyone quickly stood up and bowed to each other.
Mrs. Wu smiled and nodded, and quickly asked the maid to come forward to bandage the wound on Sun Quan's hand.
Sun Quan asked the maid to bandage the wound and whispered to Zhang Hong.
"So, is Mr. Zhang still satisfied?"
Zhang Hong cupped his hands and said.
"In this case, Zhang Hong is willing to listen to the Second Young Master's orders."
After hearing Zhang Hong's words, Sun Quan turned around and walked up the steps and asked everyone again.
"Do you still have any objections?"
Everyone looked around, with no doubts in their eyes, and answered in unison.
"I am willing to listen to the Second Young Master's orders."
"good."
Sun Quan nodded and asked.
"How many soldiers and horses are there in Jiangdong?"
Huang Gai answered with cupped fists.
"Chaisang and Lujiang villages have 10,000 soldiers and horses, and Zhu Zhi is in charge. Jianye, Wujun, Kuaiji, and Jian'an garrisons have a total of 10,000 soldiers and horses, and they are in charge of veterans."
Sun Quan frowned. It would take a lot of time to mobilize soldiers and horses in other places. He only needed to know two things.
"Uncle Huang, how many soldiers and horses are there in Jianye and Qu'agang?"
"Three thousand for Jianye and one thousand for Qu'agang??????"
After hesitating for a moment, Huang Gai continued.
"The princess has just established a female army of three thousand people."
Too little! Too little!
There are only 4,000 elite soldiers that can be mobilized as soon as possible, and including the female army that Sun Shangxiang has just formed, which has unknown combat strength, there are only 7,000 soldiers.
Only then did Sun Quan understand why Zhang Zhao was so angry just now. How could he divide his troops?
Sun Quan's palms were sweating. Are these soldiers and horses really enough?
But if we want to mobilize soldiers and horses from other counties, it will definitely take more than 3 days to go back and forth. These 3 days are enough to be fatal.
Sun Quan gritted his teeth and said.
"Seven thousand is seven thousand! Mr. Zhang, please prepare the food, fodder, ordnance, and ships needed for the army within one day."
Zhang Hong nodded in agreement and said again.
"Second Young Master, you still need to act in secret. If the news spreads that the king is in danger, it will inevitably lead to unrest among the people and the Chu Kingdom into chaos."
Sun Quan was shocked. What Zhang Hong proposed was indeed another hidden danger. If Sun Ce is well, even if he is not in the country, the people will be at peace and the ministers will be at home. But if something unexpected happens to Sun Ce, the people will definitely be panicked, and there is no guarantee that the aristocratic families that were once suppressed by Sun Ce will not take the opportunity to cause trouble.
Sun Quan pressed his hand on the sword at his waist and said sternly.
"My ministers must not pass on what is said in the palace to a second person. If anyone finds out who is exposed, he will be killed without mercy!"
Everyone agreed in unison.
"slow!"
It was Zhang Zhao who raised the objection. He stood up and said disdainfully.
"What my brother said is too ridiculous. Let me ask you all, do you know that Liu Bei said that his lord has formed an alliance with Dong Zhuo?"
Everyone looked at each other and said they had never heard the king talk about it. Zhuge Jin and Kuai Yue looked confused and said they didn't know.
Seeing everyone speaking in unison, Zhang Zhao walked to the middle of the hall and smiled.
"Yes, even we don't know about the alliance with Dong Zhuo. This shows that Liu Bei is hypocritical and framed my lord!"
He opened his arms again, looked at everyone in a circle, and said.
"Liu Bei betrayed my lord and harmed my lord. If we concealed it, wouldn't it be true in the future?"
Zhang Zhao said decisively.
"You don't have to worry about the unrest in the country, you should spread the word to the world!"
"Liu Bei's betrayal of the alliance has put our lord in danger! If you publish a widespread proclamation to denounce Liu Bei, it will surely arouse the anger of the whole country. The people's hearts are like water, and their anger is like a torrent. Who dares to rebel!"
"You can also take advantage of the excitement of the crowd and post a list to recruit troops to add more strength to the rescue of the lord."
Everyone couldn't help but fall into deep thought, and Sun Quan's eyes even brightened.
Zhang Zhao's position is still slightly lower than Zhang Hong's, and he usually keeps a low profile, but unexpectedly outperforms his brother at critical moments. Sun Quan then remembered the words Sun Ce left for his mother, and couldn't help but sigh.
What? If mother could calm down, there would be no need for me to appear.
Sun Quan nodded.
"That's it! Let Zhang Zhao handle the announcement of the list and the recruitment of troops. Lord Zhang Hong is still responsible for handling the issues of grain, ordnance, and ships. Remember, you only have one day. If necessary, others need to do their best to assist, so don't neglect!"
Everyone accepted the promise, and the meeting dispersed.
Sun Quan breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Madam Wu. Madam Wu pulled Sun Quan to sit beside her, her eyes full of relief and joy.
"By the way, mother, how is Xu Sheng's injury?"
"I heard that Xu Sheng fell into a coma after writing the letter."
"Xu Sheng is my eldest brother's confidant. Please ask Mr. Hua Tuo, the dean of the medical school, to go to Lujiang to have a look."
"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you. Quan'er, go pick up your eldest brother and take him home."
Sun Quan stood up and bowed gently.
"My son takes orders."
