The news that Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor reached Yecheng and Cao Pi was furious. When it reached Chengdu, Liu Bei was also very angry.
Like Cao Pi, Liu Bei really couldn't think of any reason for Sun Quan to proclaim himself emperor.
However, these are troubled times, and the world is divided into three parts. Sun Quan really has no reason to proclaim himself emperor. However, he has been in Jiangdong for a long time and has sufficient troops and food. He does have the capital to separate and proclaim himself emperor.
And things have already happened. Liu Bei knew very well that Sun Quan could not remove his title just because of other people's objections. If he did, the people in Jiangdong would lose their hearts and Sun Quan would not live long.
The problem Liu Bei has to face now is actually the same as Cao Pi - how to deal with Sun Quan's move to proclaim himself emperor.
At the beginning, Liu Bei and Cao Pi had similar ideas. Sun Quan's proclaiming himself emperor was considered a rebellion. As the orthodox emperor of the Han Dynasty, he should raise troops to fight against the rebellion.
But Ji Han's problem was more serious than Cao Wei's.
The first is that Ji Han's economic size and population cannot be compared with Cao Wei.
Although the last Northern Expedition captured the northern areas of Liangzhou and Yongzhou, one thing is that these two places have never contributed large amounts of taxes and settlements, especially Liangzhou. That place has to subsidize money to maintain stability. And development.
Therefore, after the last Northern Expedition, the losses on Ji Han's side seemed to be much smaller than those of Cao Wei. However, the Cao Wei family had a great cause and could recover 7,788 in one year of rest. However, Ji Han's side, if counted, The investment in developing Liangzhou will not be recovered within three years.
It is now just over a year since the last Northern Expedition. Even if Liu Bei wants to conquer Sun Quan in Jiangdong, the current food and grass logistics will not support him.
Second, Jihan had just been established. After its establishment, the central official system was reformed. Many things were being adjusted. If a massive army was raised to conquer Jiangdong, at least half of the senior central officials would go with the army, and the reform and adjustment of the central official system would become Procrastination is ineffective and is not conducive to the completion of reforms.
Therefore, Liu Bei also encountered a similar situation to Cao Pi, or Liu Bei's situation was more difficult than Cao Pi.
Cao Pi sent troops to attack Jiangdong, but there were difficulties and there was no guarantee of victory. He could still send troops. But Liu Bei did not have the capital to send troops to attack Jiangdong at all.
But it doesn't matter if you don't respond to Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor. There must be a certain response, otherwise Liu Bei's Ji Han's status in the eyes of the world will collapse and become just a local separatist regime.
A regime that cannot guarantee the territorial integrity of its own country will not be highly evaluated at any historical stage.
Liu Bei had no choice but to be extremely anxious during this period. He quickly convened a meeting with officials from three provinces and six ministries and military representatives to discuss how to face the current situation.
Fighting cannot be fought, so this problem can only be solved from a political perspective. How to define Sun Quan.
Even Zhuge Liang is confused about this problem.
This has deviated from the situation and environment when he formulated the "Longzhong Dui". Zhuge Liang did not expect that Sun Quan would brazenly proclaim himself emperor.
In Zhuge Liang's view, the current situation is actually the most beneficial to Sun Quan. He is to keep the title of Han Wu King and make a fortune silently. He neither accepts Cao Wei's reward nor treats Liu Bei perfunctorily. He just sits and watches the Wei and Han families. Fight.
In this case, although there is a danger of Sun Quan becoming powerful, Zhuge Liang believes that as long as the Han side can suppress Cao Wei and occupy the Central Plains first, they can continue to suppress Sun Quan and cut off the possibility of Sun Quan and Cao Wei joining forces.
But now that Sun Quan is proclaimed emperor, all plans are in chaos.
Not only Cao Wei could not tolerate Sun Quan's proclaiming himself emperor, but the Han Dynasty could not tolerate it either.
But if the Han Dynasty also sends troops to attack Sun Quan, then Sun Quan will never be able to withstand the joint attack of Cao Wei and the Han Dynasty.
Once Sun Quan is destroyed and the Liu Bei Group cannot seize the Yangtze River defense line, it will be too difficult for the Cao Wei family to fight against Cao Wei alone with the economic and military strength of the Liu Bei Group.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang's suggestion is that the legitimacy of Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor cannot be recognized, and at the same time, he cannot sit back and watch Sun Quan's demise.
Zhuge Liang's suggestion is similar to Jia Xu's suggestion, which is to send envoys to rebuke Sun Quan for "arrogating the emperor", but there are also differences. Zhuge Liang just suggested that Guan Yu and Wang Ji in Jingzhou strengthen their control of Jiangling, Wuling, and Ling. The troops of Ling and the four counties of Jiangxia were deployed as if they were going to attack Jiangdong, but in fact they stood still and watched the battle between Jiangdong and Cao Wei.
Jia Xu suggested that Cao Pi really fight, but how to fight requires careful planning, but the Han Dynasty really didn't have the ability to fight, so he put on a posture to show the world, and looked back at Sun Quan's reaction to see if he could use politics means to solve this problem.
Liu Bei thought about it over and over again, and after weighing the pros and cons again and again, he reluctantly accepted the suggestion.
Zhuge Liang, the Zhongshu Ling, made the decision and Liu Bei, the emperor, adopted it. Then the rest was left to the Minister to implement it and the Menxia Sheng to supervise it.
After receiving the order, Fazheng called Liu Ba, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Zhang Xi, the Minister of War, to discuss with them the issue of changing the deployment of Jingzhou's troops.
This question is actually just a formality. After all, Guan Yu is a general, and he is also the governor of Jingzhou's military and political affairs. As long as Liu Bei issues an imperial edict to Guan Yu, Guan Yu can decide what to do.
But isn't it true that the central government system has been reformed? There are still necessary procedures. Without the endorsement of Liu Ba and Zhang Xi, the imperial edict of Menxia Province cannot be issued.
This is a matter of process, so Liu Ba and Zhang Xi just went through the motions and stamped their approval on the Zhongshu Province's decision-making document.
Liu Ba doesn't care. As long as it's not really about using troops, he won't object. When you are the Minister of Household Affairs, there is no one who is not stingy. When you reach this position, you can't do it without being stingy.
If we really want to send troops to attack Soochow, Liu Ba will definitely be the first to write a letter to object, saying that the Ministry of Household Affairs is short of money and food, they are short of money for everything, and the people don't have enough to eat. Now is definitely not the time for a war. But now it is just to mobilize the troops. , the food and grass that needs to be consumed is very small, so there is no need for Liu Ba to cry over this matter.
As for Zhang Xi, to be honest, Zhang Xi still has no real sense of reality. Why did he become the Minister of the Ministry of War? !
Although the position of Minister of the Ministry of War does not really need to be filled by the first person in the military, is it a bit inappropriate to leave it to yourself? !
Zhang Xi thinks that he is a person with no future, and his qualifications and experience are not enough. Is it too risky for him to be the Minister of the Ministry of War and in charge of a country's military? !
Well, when Zhang Xi learned the news, he went to Zhuge Liang and wanted Zhuge Liang to help tell Liu Bei. Is it really okay to leave such an important position to him? !
Then Zhuge Liang looked at Zhang Xi with a half-smile, and asked Zhang Xi a question - if he doesn't give it to Zhang Xi, then who can he give it to so that Liu Bei can really feel at ease? !
Zhang Xi was stunned for a moment by this question, but then he thought about it for a while and realized that he really could only do it by himself.
The position of Minister of War is very important and can only be filled by someone whom the emperor trusts. However, this person cannot be too involved with any force in the court and must have a certain degree of independence.
There are actually only three people under the Liu Bei Group who fit this profile - Zhuge Liang, Zhang Xi, and Xu Shu.
Not even Fazheng and Pang Tong. Although Fazheng is from the Dongzhou faction, in the overall situation, he is the representative of the Yizhou wealthy family, while Pang Tong is the proper representative of the Jingzhou wealthy family.
Even if these two people are trustworthy in their own right, their decisions in important positions will inevitably be affected by the group they represent.
It doesn't matter if it's just daily government affairs. Liu Bei is not so stupid as to leave the post of Minister of War, which determines the country's military affairs, to these two people.
In terms of ability, Fazheng and Pang Tong are actually better at military affairs than government affairs, but Liu Bei would rather put them in the two important government decision-making units of Shangshu Ling and Shizhong than let any of them Taking up the post of Minister of the Ministry of War, there is no such consideration.
Among the three people selected, Zhuge Liang has to take on the more important responsibilities of Zhongshu Ling, and Liu Bei is unlikely to let him be the Minister of War. Xu Shu needs to stay in Jingzhou to assist Guan Yu. After all, the situation in Jingzhou is much more complicated than that in Chengdu. Liu Bei was also afraid that Guan Yu could not handle it alone, so Xu Shu had to stay in Jingzhou.
After all this calculation, wouldn't Zhang Xi be the only one who can be trusted by Liu Bei, but at the same time has no interests involved with either the Jingzhou faction or the Yizhou faction to be the Minister of War? !
Besides, the older generation of generals of the Han Dynasty are still there. Liu Bei is also the emperor. Zhang Xi's Minister of War is only responsible for handling some omens of county soldiers and garrison soldiers. There are no major decisions that require him to make decisions. .
This period of time is also the time for Zhang Xi to slowly learn and become familiar with the responsibilities of the Minister of the Ministry of War. If Zhang Xi needs to take charge of it alone in the future, he will not be in a hurry.
Liu Bei's ability to look after people and employ people can be said to be unique in the world, and even Cao Cao may not be able to match this.
After Zhuge Liang's persuasion, Zhang Xi finally understood why he became the Minister of War and his responsibilities. But to be honest, the Minister of War really has nothing important to do now.
Zhang Xi left all the matters of recruiting soldiers into the army and mobilizing corvee troops for the garrison to his two assistant ministers, Zhang Yi and Jiang Wei.
Zhang Yi is a senior civil servant. He has also been out of town and has achieved outstanding political achievements. His only shortcoming is probably that he has a big temper and will complain about things he doesn't like. However, he also became enemies with Liu Bei, the leader of the Yizhou faction, Yang Hong. It was probably because of this that Zhang Yi was allowed to come to the Ministry of War as the second-in-command of the minister.
As for Jiang Wei, it is obvious that this is a signal that Jiang Wei has entered Liu Bei's talent recruitment, and Liu Bei intends to vigorously train Jiang Wei.
Of these two people, one is capable and experienced, and the other, although not experienced enough, is talented and capable. With the help of these two, Zhang Xi only needs to focus on major issues.
But now in the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei has just proclaimed himself emperor, and all the ministries are very busy. The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry are even more busy. Only the Ministry of War is relatively free. No one will start a war as soon as he becomes emperor. Now is the time to recuperate. .
In this case, Zhang Xi actually feels that it is not unacceptable.
(End of chapter)
