After the meeting at Xianshan, Sun Ce was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he first went to the Liqiu camp to wait for a while. After Zhou Yu led his navy to join him, the two of them took a boat together to Yunmengze, and then arrived at the garrison in An. In Lucheng.
After Jiangxia was captured, Anlu became the northern gate of the Wu army's Jingzhou territory, adjacent to Suixian County occupied by the Westerners. At this point, Sun Ce not only considered preparing for Anlu's defense, but also wanted to observe the strength of the Western Army.
Speaking of which, Sun Ce is thirty-three years old and is the youngest among the heroes in the world today. Like Cao Cao, who was already fifty years old and knew his destiny, Liu Fan was younger and had no doubts for a long time, and someone like Sun Ce, who was only in his thirties and had already experienced hundreds of battles, was truly unique except him. Therefore, the world regarded him as an unparalleled talent. Even if Sun Ce was not, as Chen Chong often said, privately he was still saddened by his breakup. The three Wu children also said: "The phoenix tree grows on the left side of the river, and the phoenix favors Sun Lang."
After Sun Ce arrived in Anlu, he was in no rush to reveal his identity. He first inspected the public security of the city with Lu Su incognito, and found that the city was in good order and the people were as safe as before. Then he went to visit the camp outside the city and saw that the soldiers' sentries were as usual, and they were on guard. He couldn't help being very happy, and smiled at Lu Su: "I Remember, this is under Lu Boyan's rule. I never thought that a descendant of a family of poets and calligraphers could have some martial demeanor. I underestimated him!"
Then return to the navy and let the entourage enter the city first to prepare. Please wear deep ceremonial clothes, ride out of the city in a chariot, and come to pay homage to Sun Ce with the courtesy of a high official meeting the princes.
In the past few years, Sun Ce ordered Lu Su and Liu Ye to establish a new official system based on Zhou rites. Although in name they did not significantly change the Han Dynasty's hundreds of years of county and county system, great changes had taken place internally. The most important of these was that local county soldiers were no longer set up. The original county soldiers were divided into various tribes. Sun Ce then awarded the generals in the name of Yangzhou Mu, promising that they would be hereditary. As a result, the generals in the state were no longer ministers of the state, but became princes entrusted by Sun Ce. In order to establish the principles of monarch and ministers, Sun Ce also made a fuss about etiquette, so this scene of retro-style meeting etiquette among princes appeared on the Jianghan Plain.
But having said that, the Lu Yi family has lived in Wu County for a long time and has produced many talented people. Their family status is much higher than that of the Sun family in Fuchun. After decades of hard work, they have become one of the four surnames in Jiangdong together with the Gu family, the Zhu family, and the Zhang family. There is really no distinction between princes. Even when Yuan Shu was in Huainan, he relied heavily on Lu Yi and once had the idea of getting married to him!
However, in the early years, Sun Ce was ordered by Yuan Shu to fight in Chao City with Lu Kang, the head of the Lu clan. Sun Ce besieged the city for several months. Finally, he defeated Lu Kang and spread it to Shouzhou County, causing more than a hundred people in the Lu clan to suffer from starvation and misfortune. Half. Therefore, the Sun and Lu families can be considered to have a blood feud. However, Sun Ce did not take this seriously and still recruited Lu Yi and other juniors of the Lu family to join the government and entrust them with important tasks. When he came to Anlu at this time, he stayed at Lu Yi's mansion that day and feasted all day long. He asked all the Lu family members to come out to pay homage and each received a reward.
At that time, Lu Ji, the direct grandson of Lu Kang, was accompanying Sun Ce. Lu Yi specifically pointed out that Lu Ji said to Sun Ce: "This is the future master of my family. He is profound in knowledge. He can be said to be a dragon and a phoenix among people, and he is not inferior to the dragon head."
Sun Ce couldn't help but look at Lu Ji, and saw that he had slender eyes and long eyebrows, and a face like a crown jewel. Although he was not tall, he had an air of sincerity and was extremely approachable. Sun Ce deliberately asked: "Now that the world is not at peace, we must use force to bring peace. How do you think we should use force?"
Lu Yi was shocked when he heard this. He knew that Lu Ji was not good at military strategy and was thinking about how to smooth things over. Unexpectedly, Lu Ji did not show any fear and said loudly: "Master, why did you say this? When I was in charge of Yi, I was Qi Huan Gong, and the nine princes united to rule the world without using any military chariots. Master also said: 'If people from afar are not convinced, then they will cultivate virtue. "Now my lord only talks about martial arts, but not about the art of morality. Although I haven't been in Yuan for a long time, I still haven't settled down." Sun Ce laughed it off.
Sun Ce stayed at Lu Mansion that night. Lu Yi was frugal as an official. The house in his mansion was cramped and the quilt was old, but Sun Ce didn't take it seriously. He and Zhou Yu stayed on the same bed and talked at night. He laughed and said, "I'm not happy that I got the land of three counties, but I'm happy that I got the land of scholars." Heart."
The next day, after Sun Ce had breakfast, he planned to lead a few people northward to observe the situation in Suixian County. Lu Su was dissatisfied with this move and immediately admonished: "The Ming Dynasty is too Meng Lang! If a husband is not important, he will not be powerful. Do I need to say more about this truth? In ancient times, there was a white dragon that turned into a fish and was trapped by the fisherman Yu Qie. Bai Di It became a snake and entered the forest, and was killed by Liu Ji. If the Ming Dynasty makes a small move, it will lead to catastrophe sooner or later!"
Sun Ce sighed and said: "What Zijing said is true. But as a king, I must always think about all civil and military matters. However, sitting in a dry room with many people, I often feel that I have no idea. I can only gallop like a dragon, and spread out When the bowstring is used as a thunderbolt, one can feel the spirit flying infinitely!" Since he said this, Lu Su could not stop him without saying a word.
On that day, Sun Ce rode his horse to Suixian County, claiming to be a descendant of the Zhao family in southern Jingnan, and was planning to move north to the Central Plains. Since he had a famous ultimatum in his hand, the soldiers did not believe him and immediately let him into the city. After Sun Ce entered the city, he inquired about the administration of Du Ji, the city lord, and learned that he was going to the countryside to encourage farmers, and that half of the county officials from the government were accompanying him. He also heard that Du Ji's administration paid great attention to details. From picking mulberries, herding cattle, feeding horses, to raising chickens, ducks, dogs and hogs, there were all rules and regulations.
Sun Ce was very emotional about this. After he left the city, he said to his entourage: "Uncle Shi is guarding Nanyang with this person, and Liu Fan may not be able to trick him!" When he returned to Anlu, he summoned Lu Yi and said: "You are in Anlu, Du Ji is in Nanyang, it can be said that we are rivals in chess, and both are rising stars in the country, so don’t fall at a disadvantage!"
After Anlu and his party ended here, Sun Ce led his troops eastward again, passing by the intersection of Han River and Dajiang River, which is Xiakou. Sun Ce saw a rolling mountain here, shaped like a snake, so he made an impromptu decision and ordered Lu Su to build a city here. Then he slowly returned to Xiling, where Huang Zu had been stationed for several years and repeatedly blocked Sun Ce's army from advancing westward. Now that Sun Ce had conquered Jiangxia, he used it as his temporary capital to conduct military operations in Jingchu until the people's support.
However, what he didn't expect was that as soon as he returned home, Zhang Zhao, who had stayed behind, came to report that the imperial court had sent two groups of envoys to ask for an audience. When the first group of envoys arrived, they happened to miss Sun Ce who was heading north. It's almost twenty years since we arrived in Xiling.
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Due to the initial agreement with Liu Fan, Sun Ce had no intention of meeting him at first. But Zhang Zhao advised: "Since ancient times, the most important thing is the status. Even though Duke Ming is determined to be an enemy of the imperial court, his relationship with Longshou has not been severed. It would be too desperate not to see him. Moreover, in order to win over people's hearts, he should still see him. On the one hand, it is also good to promote the name of Duke Ming in front of the scholars of the Central Plains."
Sun Ce smiled and said, "Zibu exaggerated!" However, he still listened to Zhang Zhao's opinion and waved his hand: "Then let them all come in!"
There were two people who entered Sun Ce's house, and they were both young. They were Zhuge Kongming and Deng Bomiao. Kong Ming was first sent by Chen Chong to reconcile with Wu Chu when he was in Guanzhong, but the situation changed suddenly and Chen Chong was unable to recall him in time. After arriving in Fancheng, he had to send Deng Zhi as an envoy, hoping to change Sun Ce's mind.
But when they met Sun Ce for the first time, they were both surprised. At this time, Sun Ce was wearing a bright crimson armor and a red ocher cloth scarf on his head. He was holding a three-foot-long frost-covered sword, and he was facing the mirror and slowly wiping the sword's edge. There were more than a dozen fully armed soldiers standing on both sides of the hall, all standing with swords. The hall was filled with the flash of swords and shadows, which could be described as murderous. But both of them were well-educated. After being startled, they quickly returned to their calm demeanor.
When Sun Ce saw this, he secretly admired him. After the two of them reported their names and identities, he asked straight to the point: "What can Ambassador Chen say to me?"
Kong Ming arrived first, so he walked up first and said: "Teacher sent me here because I wanted to keep in touch with the monarchs and reaffirm the great justice of the country. The story of returning to the Han Dynasty became a beautiful story of Duke Zhou (Dou Rong)."
Kong Ming paused here. Just when others thought he was trying to beg for a favor, he unexpectedly said a bunch of frightening words: "You can see the emperor's posture today. It's because he wants to practice fighting." Wings fly with gratitude, Liang has no words to advise. This time I ask to see you, just to see the king's grace. When we meet on the battlefield in the future, I won't let the king go by blindly."
When the soldiers on both sides saw that Kong Ming was provoking the emperor, they were about to take action, but they were immediately stopped by Sun Ce.
Sun Ce's original intention was to use his sword to establish his power, but he was provoked by Kong Ming. However, seeing that Kong Ming was so young and remembering his own past, Sun Ce was inspired to appreciate him for a moment. Therefore, he put down the sword in his hand and asked with a smile: "I remember that you are Ziyu's younger brother. Ziyu is very important in my house. When we meet on the battlefield in the future, don't you miss the brotherhood?"
Kong Ming could have avoided it with clever words, but after he thought deeply, he still replied sonorously: "If my brother has a sincere heart and life and death are not easy, how can I dare to let my brother be more beautiful than me?"
When Sun Ce heard this, he couldn't help but laugh heartily and said, "You are such a boy who is not afraid of death." Then he turned to look at Deng Bomiao and asked, "What did the dragon head say when he sent you here?"
Deng Zhi replied: "I was ordered by my teacher to come here, just to say two things to you."
"What two things?"
"The first thing is to warn the princes. The king of Shu is so fake that it seems true. It is difficult to trust others. I hope you will think carefully about it."
Sun Ce said "Oh" and didn't take it seriously, and asked: "Then what is the second thing?"
"I hope you will release Xiangguan and let generals Liu Hu and Han Xi lead their troops back north."
After hearing this, Sun Ce observed Bo Miao carefully and saw that he was not joking, so he asked: "Is it possible that the envoy did not understand the situation of the battle, so he said this? These two men have many soldiers, why don't I slaughter them in southern Hunan at this time? Are you going to send me back to Mianbei? Do you want them to attack me again in the future?"
Deng Zhi replied calmly: "The soldiers of Jingnan County are all Jingchu people. Many of the clan members are in the hands of the king. Now they do not want to disperse and return to their hometowns, but prefer to return to the north. It shows that their ambition is firm. If they go to fight in the mountains of Hunan and Guangxi, the king will If Hou Ding cannot be defeated, it will be a success. How many casualties will there be? How much waste will be wasted?"
These words made Sun Ce silent for a long time, and finally he promised: "For the sake of my uncle's love, I agree to this matter."
In this way, both of them had completed their mission as envoys, and they saluted and bid farewell to Sun Ce. Before leaving, Kong Ming suddenly asked: "I dare to ask you, if you follow the imperial court, the world's general trend has been decided, you will be able to enjoy a hundred generations of wealth and fame, why are you paranoid about temporary hegemony?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Ce stared at Kong Ming and replied decisively: "Success or failure has not yet been determined, so why say more? Besides, if you hear the Tao in the morning, you can die in the evening. If you compete with the heroes of the world, why regret even if you die?"
