Sun Quan had a reason to proclaim himself emperor, and this reason could not be refuted by Zhou Yu and others.
Moreover, everyone is a smart person. From Sun Quan's reasons, Zhou Yu and others have already heard Sun Quan's determination to become emperor, and know that any unreasonable opposition at this time will actually arouse Sun Quan's rebellious mentality.
Since there was an urgent political reason to proclaim himself emperor, Zhou Yu also chose to give in. After all, strategy was just a continuation of politics and could be adjusted.
Zhou Yu just asked Sun Quan a question - how to define the relationship between Cao Wei and Xi Shu after becoming emperor.
Once he proclaims himself emperor, there will no longer be any issues of alliance and disagreement. Although Liu Bei is benevolent, it does not mean that he is weak. He will not continue to maintain an alliance with Sun Quan, a "rebellious person".
As for Cao Wei, they had just "relied on their own behalf on behalf of the Han Dynasty" and would certainly not tolerate Sun Quan's behavior of "proclaiming himself emperor", let alone Cao Wei who wanted to take back the Qingxu and Runan areas as soon as possible.
How to seek the most beneficial foreign policy for Jiangdong in this complex situation is very important to Jiangdong now.
In fact, Sun Quan had not thought about this issue well, so he had to ask Zhang Zhao for advice.
There is really no saying in Jiangdong that "if you are not sure about internal affairs, ask Zhang Zhao, and if you are not sure about foreign affairs, ask Zhou Yu." There is no such division of labor between Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu. Both of them are people who can make suggestions on internal and external affairs, and Zhang Zhao as a The chief steward of Jiangdong still has a relatively strong say in government affairs.
Zhang Zhao thought about it and suggested that after Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, he should send envoys to both families at the same time to test their reactions first.
If the reaction of both families is poor, then don't say anything, just let Zhou Yu and Lu Xun do the defense of Huaihai and Qingxu, and let Zhu Ran, Sun Shao, Sun Huan and others do the defense of the Yangtze River to guard against the other side at any time.
But if one of the two parties responds well, then try to deal with some things vaguely and give up some benefits. It is not impossible to form an alliance with one of them and at least stabilize the situation first.
Among the Cao and Liu families, Zhang Zhao is actually more inclined to form an alliance with Cao Wei.
It's not that Zhang Zhao's French counselor problem has recurred, it's mainly that Zhang Zhao really feels that Cao Wei is actually easier to bully now.
Although Cao Wei currently ranks first among the three countries in terms of economic size and army size, to be honest with Cao Pi, not to mention Sun Quan looking down on him, even Zhang Zhao thinks this person is not good.
He suffered such a big defeat in Yongliang not long after he took the throne, but he still had the nerve to stand on his own behalf for the Han Dynasty when he returned to Yecheng. Apart from being thick-skinned, this man's other abilities were really far behind Cao Cao.
On the contrary, on the Western Shu side, Liu Bei is still alive, and Guan Yu of Jingzhou is not easy to mess with. He has strong soldiers and horses, and many counselors and generals. He has just annexed the two states of Yongliang. Although he needs to rest and digest for a while, once Liu Bei has finished digesting Yongliang, The strength of Erzhou must be improved to a higher level.
The current strength comparison has changed a lot from the beginning. Didn't you see that even Zhou Yu no longer mentioned the Sun-Liu Alliance?
Compared with Cao Pi, who is easy to bully, Liu Bei is the most terrifying hero in this era. Once this hero is allowed to capture Chang'an or Wancheng and gain access to the Central Plains, then Cao Pi and Sun Quan will not form an alliance in name only. Maybe it will be a real alliance. They have to unite to fight against the hero Liu Bei.
From a long-term perspective, Zhang Zhao actually suggested that Sun Quan form an alliance with Cao Wei.
Zhou Yu did not raise any objection to this. In Zhou Yu's view, Zhang Zhao's proposal was not wrong.
Ten years ago, when he was in Baqiu, Zhou Yu had a secret discussion with Lu Su, who was still alive at the time. Once Jiangdong could send troops to Huainan and capture Qingxu, and Liu Bei could send troops out of Qinchuan and attack Chang'an, the alliance between the two sides would also be over. There is no need to exist anymore.
Now that the time has come, Zhou Yu does not particularly insist on the Sun-Liu alliance.
The current situation has become more and more complicated, and the relationship between the two parties can no longer be bound by a piece of covenant.
Furthermore, Zhang Zhao's consideration was right. After all, in Zhou Yu's view, the cunning Liu Bei was indeed much more difficult to deal with than the foolish Cao Pi.
As for what Cao Pi thinks, let's talk about it at that time. Anyway, we already have a response plan. How it actually works depends on how we adapt to it.
After clearing the last obstacle, Sun Quan's decision to proclaim himself emperor reached a consensus within the small circle.
After that, Sun Quan also had to make some preparations.
It doesn’t mean that I can ascend the dragon throne and become the emperor just because I issued an order today saying that I want to proclaim myself emperor. Many things also need to be prepared in advance.
For example, Cao Pi and Liu Bei both made a lot of preparations. Cao Pi even prepared a year in advance in order to create a sign of "auspiciousness."
No matter how anxious Sun Quan was, he couldn't just say that he wanted to be emperor.
What kind of auspiciousness, what kind of prophecy, what kind of invitation to the officials to present the seal of the Jin emperor's throne, all need to be specially arranged for people to do it, and the various rituals required for proclaiming the emperor also need to be arranged for people to prepare, this It all takes time.
In this way, after Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor, Liu Bei and Sun Quan's preparations for proclaiming themselves emperor were also in order.
The twenty-seventh year of Jian'an was also April of the second year of Huangchu in Cao Wei.
Liu Bei ascended the throne of the emperor south of Wudan Mountain in Chengdu, inherited the Han Dynasty, and declared "the second ancestor of Siwu", that is, he succeeded Liu Bang and Liu Xiu to the throne. The reign name was "Zhangwu", which was changed to the first year of Zhangwu in the Yuan Dynasty.
Han belongs to the virtue of fire, and Liu Bei's reign name "Zhang Wu" also belongs to fire, which means that Liu Bei inherited the Han Dynasty, which means that the Han Dynasty is still there and has never been destroyed.
After Liu Bei succeeded to the throne, he immediately announced the implementation of new official positions, replacing the "three ministers and nine ministers system" with the "three provinces and six ministries system", and establishing three provinces: Zhongshu Province, Shangshu Province, and Menxia Province. At the same time, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment were established under Shangshu Province. The six ministries, namely, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Ministry of Rites, were jointly in charge of government affairs.
The Zhongshu Province is the decision-making body, and the Zhongshu Ling has the function of assisting the emperor in making decisions, so Liu Bei appointed Zhuge Liang as the Zhongshu Ling.
The Shangshu Province is the executive agency, and the Shangshu Ling is the person responsible for the execution of specific affairs. Liu Bei promoted the former Hanzhong King Shangshu Ling Fazheng to the Shangshu Ling of the Shangshu Province, the prime minister of the six departments.
The Menxia Province is a deliberation body, and the Menxia Province Shizhong is a close official of the emperor. It helps the emperor review the implementation of decisions, jointly formulates national policies with the Zhongshu Province, and has the right to refute the edicts of the Zhongshu Province and the emperor.
Liu Bei appointed Pang Tong as his subordinate minister.
In addition, Liu Bei also reset the Yushitai, restored the duties of the Yushitai, and ordered the Yushidao to lead the censors to supervise hundreds of officials, supervise the operation of state affairs, and be directly responsible to the emperor, thus increasing the power of the Yushitai.
Liu Bei appointed Yu Fan, who had just arrived from Jingzhou to Chengdu, as Ji Han's first censor.
Speaking of Yu Fan, in fact, his mood can be said to be ups and downs.
Sima Hui asked him to come to Chengdu to compete with Xu Jing for the position of Minister of Rites.
Although Yu Fan is not too fond of the Minister of Rites, he has always disliked Xu Jing. He came to Chengdu for no other reason than to spite Xu Jing - you dare to be the Minister of Rites? !
But Xu Jing is not a fool. How can everyone not know what your reputation is? !
You came to Chengdu at this juncture and made it clear that the carriages and horses were coming for me, Xu Jing. How much face would you lose if you, a bad mouth like you, slapped me? !
At this critical moment when winning the title of Minister of Rites, Xu Jing did not want to cause complications.
Therefore, when Yu Fan arrived in Chengdu and before he formally visited Xu Jing, he heard that Xu Jing had caught a cold and was bedridden.
Xu Jing is already over 70 years old this year. A person of this age is still infected with wind and cold. Yu Fan is a scholar after all. He definitely can't criticize an old man in his 70s at this time.
So Yu Fan temporarily stayed in Chengdu, planning to wait until Xu Jing recovered from his illness before making any plans.
Could Xu Jing, an old fox, let Yu Fan just sit idle in Chengdu? !
The old fox directly wrote a memorial to Liu Bei, recommending Yu Fan to Liu Bei, and praised Yu Fan. He said that Yu Fan had an upright character and dared to speak out when making mistakes. He was a rare upright person in the world. He hoped that Liu Bei could understand Yu Fan. The ability to translate and reuse it.
At this time, Liu Bei was also considering whether to reset the Yushitai and establish a complete supervision system. After all, the official supervision system of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the "Provincial Governor System", had completely collapsed due to Liu Yan's request to "abolish the history and establish the Mu".
At this time, the governor was more of a proxy for the chief official of a state and no longer had the role of supervising local administration.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi proposed to Liu Bei at the same time to restore the censorship system. Zhang Xi even moved out the censorship system of later generations and proposed the concept of patrolling the censorship, which made Liu Bei's eyes light up.
But if this system is to be implemented, then the censorship doctor who leads all inspections of the censorship is a very important position. This position requires not only a reputation, but also a person with an upright nature.
Liu Bei had not been able to find a suitable candidate to be the imperial censor. However, Xu Jing wrote a memorial saying that there was a man named Yu Fan who was not only famous but also upright. Most importantly, who was he? Dare to spray.
Liu Bei's eyes suddenly brightened, and he quickly sent someone to invite Yu Fan, and talked with Yu Fan several times.
Liu Bei has also heard of Yu Fan, who has a great reputation, and what he has heard the most is that Yu Fan has trolled so and so again. Liu Bei has no doubt that Yu Fan dares to troll.
But when Liu Bei set up the position of imperial censor, he did not simply want to find a troll. This position was to help him supervise the execution of government affairs by hundreds of officials, and at the same time monitor the character and style of officials. Just being able to troll is not enough, you You have to spray to the point and spray for national affairs.
After talking with Yu Fan, Liu Bei discovered that this person was not only good at teasing, but also had outstanding talents.
Originally Zhang Xi just proposed a concept of the Yushitai system, but during several discussions between Liu Bei and Yu Fan, it gradually took shape.
Yu Fan even put forward his own ideas on the internal supervision of the Yushitai, and said that the Yushitai and the Yushitai, as supervisors of hundreds of officials, must also have the obligation to accept the supervision of hundreds of officials, so as to ensure that the Yushitai It's really about fulfilling your duties, not just for the sake of trolling.
Liu Bei appreciated this very much and immediately decided to let Yu Fan take the post of Yushi Dafu, which was half a level higher than the Minister of Rites.
Afterwards, Yu Fan was quite puzzled as to why I came to Chengdu? !
Why did he become a censor doctor in such a muddle-headed manner? !
But why am I still vaguely excited about this position? !
(End of chapter)
