After sensing something was wrong, Zhang Xi began to carefully observe the performance of everyone in the cultural gathering.
Yu Fan, Yu Zhongxiang, people from Kuaiji County, this is the Jiangdong gentry.
Therefore, Yu Fan seriously asked Liu Bei if he had no chance of winning against Cao Cao. Why did he think that Jiangdong and Jiangxia could fight against Cao Cao if they formed an alliance.
Bu Zhi, Bu Zishan, a person from Huaiyin County, Linhuai County. This is a person from the Huaisi Group.
Therefore, Bu Zhi asked Zhuge Liang whether he wanted to imitate Su Qin and Zhang Yi in lobbying Jiangdong. This was aimed at Zhuge Liang and had nothing to do with Liu Bei at all.
Xue Zong, Xue Jingwen, people from Peijun. This, this is a pig teammate, and the Huaisi Group does not want to recognize that this is one of their own.
When they came up, they said that Han Zuo was about to die and Cao Cao was about to take over the Han Dynasty and stand on his own. Whether it was the Jiangdong Family or the Huaisi Group, they all looked at this guy with disgust.
It’s okay to talk about some things in private or discuss them with friends, but in this formal occasion, everyone is still receiving a salary from a big man. Cao Cao emphasized that he was “serving the emperor’s orders but not submitting to them.” When this guy came up, he said that Han Zuo was about to die. This is not ungrateful.
No wonder he was scolded by Zhuge Liang and didn't dare to say anything.
As for Lu Ji, Lu Gongji, a native of Wu County, Wu County, is the current head of the Lu family, one of the four great families in Jiangdong.
But this guy is obviously not at the same level as his nephew. He actually used blood relationship to try to prove that Liu Bei's legitimacy is not as good as Cao Cao's. As a result, he was scolded by Zhuge Liang. If it weren't for the fact that he had "pregnancy" With the reputation of "Tangerine Presents Mother", the end is probably not much better.
The last ones to appear were Yan Zhen, Yan Mancai, and Cheng Bing and Cheng Deshu. These two were both famous people in the world. It was hard to say which group they were from, but the questions they asked were even more outrageous. Yan Zhen asked Zhuge Liang what previous works he was studying. Cheng Bing questioned Zhuge Liang's lack of knowledge, which led to Zhuge Liang's theory of "gentleman Confucianism" and "little man Confucianism", which made everyone in Jiangdong dare not reply.
But these two problems have nothing to do with Liu Bei at all. They are just questioning Zhuge Liang's lack of academic excellence.
After watching the whole war of words, Zhang Xi suddenly discovered that only the representatives of the Jiangdong Family were seriously questioning Liu Bei's intentions, while the Huaisi Group was clearly here to cause trouble and would try their best to question Zhuge Liang. Even if he won the question, It has nothing to do with Liu Bei.
So, is the purpose of this cultural meeting to destroy the Sun-Liu alliance, or is it to question Zhuge Liang's talents? !
Zhang Zhao, Zhang Zibu, what position does this person hold? !
The funniest thing is that Huang Gai didn't come in to disrupt the literary meeting, but the Jiangdong Zhang family advocated gentleness and Gu Yong, the head of the Gu family, was planning to say something to question it. Zhang Zhao immediately announced the end of the literary meeting impatiently, saying that he was afraid It hurt everyone's peace and so on. No matter how Zhang Xi looked at it, he felt that this was Zhang Zhao trying to shut up and block the opportunity for the representative of the Jiangdong Family to continue asking questions.
This literary meeting finally gave Zhuge Liang the reputation of "tongue-in-cheek with all the Confucian scholars" and did no good to Jiangdong.
Zhang Xi really couldn't understand this. After returning to Guanyi, he took out his doubts and analyzed them with Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang actually noticed this, but at that time he was busy talking, and even though he felt something was wrong, he really didn't think much about it for a while.
When I came back to discuss it with Zhang Xi, I found that Zhang Xi also noticed that there was something fishy in this, so he was not the only one who had the illusion.
As for Zhang Zhao's position, Lu Su once said that Zhang Zhao advised Sun Quan more than once that it would be better to temporarily surrender to Cao Cao to avoid the edge.
Zhuge Liang thought carefully for a long time, and suddenly it dawned on him.
"Zhang Zibu is a lonely and important minister entrusted by Sun Ce. He should not persuade the Lord to surrender, but it is probably an expedient measure." Zhuge Liang thought for a while and made a judgment on Zhang Zhao's position.
What Zhuge Liang meant was that although Zhang Zhao also advocated surrender, he was different from the Jiangdong family's true surrender. He should have wanted to persuade Sun Quan to fake surrender and temporarily avoid the attack of Cao's army.
Zhang Xi found it a bit unbelievable that Zhang Zhao was the famous leader and French strategist.
Such a person doesn't really want to surrender? !
Facing Zhang Xi's question, Zhuge Liang just smiled slightly, and then told Zhang Xi a past incident about Zhang Zhao.
It is said that before Sun Ce died, he chose his younger brother Sun Quan as his heir for the sake of a stable inheritance of the family business. However, Sun Quan was only a teenager at the time, and Sun Ce was worried, so he told Sun Quan, "If you don't decide on internal affairs, ask Zhang Zhao." ".
Yes, there is only this sentence, without the second half of the sentence "Ask Zhou Yu about foreign affairs." At that time, Sun Ce only had Zhang Zhao in front of him, and Zhou Yu was still leading troops outside. Sun Ce's only person was Zhang Zhao.
But Sun Ce then said something else to Zhang Zhao in front of Sun Quan: "If Zhongmou doesn't do anything, you will take it yourself. If Zhongmou can't defeat Jiji, he will slowly return to the west without any worries. .”
That means that if Sun Quan can't do it, then you, Zhang Zhao, can just take his place. If it doesn't work, we can go back to our hometown in Huaisi and we won't be unable to live.
Zhang Xi was stunned when he heard this. These words are very familiar, aren’t they, Prime Minister Zhuge? !
The current Zhuge Liang is certainly not the later Prime Minister Zhuge, and he will certainly not find this sentence familiar. On the contrary, he just believes that Zhang Zhao is under the care of the Sun family and cannot really persuade Sun Quan to surrender to Cao Cao.
Therefore, according to Zhuge Liang's understanding, Zhang Zhao's surrender here is different from the Jiangdong family's surrender.
If the Jiangdong family wants to surrender to Cao Cao, it is a real surrender. Just like Lu Su said, if they surrender, their official status will not be lower than that of a state or county in the future, and it will be no different from their current life.
But Zhang Zhao persuaded Sun Quan to surrender because he wanted Sun Quan to imitate Gongsun Du of Liaodong and ostensibly surrender. After Cao Cao's army returned to Xudu, it would be Sun Quan who had the final say in Jiangdong.
The purpose of surrender between the two is different, so although Zhang Zhao is considered a "surrender faction", he does not want the surrender faction of the Jiangdong family to succeed. Therefore, this cultural meeting is also a "real opportunity" for Zhang Zhao to suppress the Jiangdong family. .capitulationists” opportunity.
Zhang Xi's brain ached a little when he heard this.
There are too many things going on in Jiangdong, too complicated, right? !
There are two factions within a surrender faction. If the main fighting faction is like this, it will be a shame that Sun Quan, the lord of Jiangdong, can survive.
But in Zhuge Liang's view, this is good news. It proves that Zhang Zhao can actually win.
Zhang Zhao did not really want to surrender. His suggestion of fake surrender also misjudged the situation. He was frightened by Cao Cao's so-called "800,000" army and Cao Cao's record of consecutive victories over the years.
As long as Sun Quan is determined to resist Cao Cao, there will be no possibility of Zhang Zhao holding back and stumbling.
Once the first civil servant in Jiangdong no longer resists resisting Cao Cao, the only thing left is to convince the first military general in Jiangdong.
The number one general in Jiangdong was on his way back to Chaisang from Poyang.
Zhou Yu went to Poyang for a very important matter.
It is said in the novel that Zhou Yu was sent by Sun Quan to train the navy at Poyang Lake, but this is nonsense.
If you don’t practice naval warfare on the Yangtze River, how can you practice naval warfare in the lake? !
In fact, Zhou Yu went to Poyang to suppress an unrest that might have occurred but did not occur in the end.
Sun Quan had a cousin named Sun Bi, who was the governor of Yuzhang County, and his daughter married Cao Cao's son Cao Zhang.
When Cao Cao went south to Jingzhou, he contacted Sun Bi and promised him the position of general to conquer the captives. At this time, Sun Quan was only a general to conquer the captives and the prefect of Kuaiji.
Sun Ben was unstable, and of course Sun Quan was worried. If his brothers surrendered first, how could they convince the Jiangdong families to send troops to fight against Cao Cao, and there would be no need to fight this battle.
So he hurriedly ordered Zhou Yu to station troops in Poyang to deter Sun Bi, and then sent Zhu Zhi to Yuzhang to persuade Sun Bi, while he stayed at Chaisang just in case.
Sun Bi did not choose to surrender to Cao Cao in the end, so Sun Quan could urgently send Zhou Yu to Chaisang to discuss matters.
However, it took some time for Zhou Yu to arrive. In the meantime, Sun Quan summoned Zhuge Liang privately and discussed with Zhuge Liang about Cao Cao's army. The focus was to understand Cao Cao's true military strength and combat power.
When Zhuge Liang met Sun Quan, he still did the same thing, settling accounts.
First, he introduced the combat power and record of Cao's army in a positive way, and pointed out that it would be difficult to stop Cao's army from going south by relying on Jiangdong alone. He suggested that Sun Quan make an early decision and fight if he can. If he can't, it would be better to surrender as soon as possible.
Sun Quan was not happy when he heard this, and asked why Liu Bei didn't surrender. Zhuge Liang replied that Liu Bei was a clan member of the Han Dynasty, and he could not surrender to anyone who surrendered. He could only follow the example of Tian Heng of Qi and fight to the death.
This is actually telling Sun Quan in disguise that you can't surrender.
Liu Bei has the status of a clan member of the Han Dynasty and the title of a hero in the world. He cannot surrender and can only fight to the death.
You, Sun Quan, are a second-generation Jiangdong official. Your ancestors were not high-ranking officials and have no legacy to you. However, you have not achieved much since you succeeded to the throne. You are not even a hero.
Once you surrender, regardless of whether it is true or not, the Jiangdong family and the veterans of the Huaisi Group who support you behind you will really fall apart.
This is Zhuge Liang's calculation for Sun Quan, calculating what would be the consequences if he surrendered.
Sun Quan obviously knew this, so he said, "I can't take the whole land of Wu. A hundred thousand people are controlled by others. I have a plan."
Here Sun Quan has understood that if he wants to continue to be the master of Jiangdong, he cannot surrender. He can't even listen to Zhang Zhao and pretend to surrender.
Cao Cao is not his son who has high ambitions but low abilities, and will not give Sun Quan a chance to make a comeback.
Then the remaining question is - does Liu Bei still have the confidence and qualifications for the alliance.
At this point, Zhuge Liang truthfully stated Liu Beijun's current power.
Liu Bei at this time is indeed in a much better situation than he was on the historical line.
With the entire territory of Jiangxia in hand, there are still more than 10,000 navy troops and 20,000 to 30,000 army troops, and they are still capable of fighting.
Sun Quan calculated the troops he had on hand and found that although Liu Bei's current strength was not as good as his own, it was not much different.
If you don't count the private soldiers in the hands of the Jiangdong family, then what he can directly command is the 30,000 navy troops still in Zhou Yu's hands, and the 20,000 to 30,000 land troops currently stationed in Chaisang.
Of course, it would be very difficult for any of the two to face Cao Cao, and they might even be destroyed at any time.
But if the two families join forces, there will be nearly 100,000 troops in an instant.
If Sun Quan can really mobilize the Jiangdong family in the later period, it is not impossible to gather another 100,000 troops.
Although he is still not as good as Cao Cao, he at least looks capable of fighting.
At this point, Sun Quan has the courage to fight, but whether he can win this battle, Sun Quan still has to ask the opinion of Zhou Yu, the first person in Jiangdong's military.
And now Zhou Yu, counting the days, it's almost time to arrive at Chaisang.
(End of chapter)
