Zhuge Jin's rhetoric sounded very familiar to Zhang Xi. Isn't it a replica of what Deng Zhi said to Sun Quan when he was on a mission to Jiangdong in history? !
It's just that Zhuge Jin said it in more detail, and the facts and truth he presented were more convincing.
But if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem strange.
Zhuge Jin's personal ability is much stronger than Deng Zhi. Like his younger brother, he is also an all-rounder in both civil and military affairs. The first general of Soochow, he also commanded troops and fought in battles.
Well, the winning rate is just a bit ugly.
The rhetoric that Deng Zhi could think of was impossible for Zhuge Jin to think of, and it was just a candid expression in his rhetoric, so it was not unexpected.
Furthermore, the current strength comparison between Soochow and Ji Han is actually different from that in history.
Historically, when Deng Zhi was sent as an envoy to Soochow, it was Liu Bei who lost almost all his family property in Yiling. Zhuge Liang finally put up the air again after several years of hard work. It was when Ji Han was relatively weak.
At that time, both Sun Quan and Cao Pi believed that Ji Han could only suffocate to death in Shu. Neither side looked at Ji Han seriously and regarded the other as a formidable enemy.
So at that time when Deng Zhi went as envoy to Soochow, Ji Han was actually the weaker party. Apart from saying such frank words, it was unlikely that he would be recognized by Soochow.
And now, although Liu Bei only occupied Liangzhou, which was vast and sparsely populated, while Sun Quan occupied Qingxu and Huainan in the Central Plains, everyone knows that Liu Bei's occupation of Liangzhou is a permanent act. As long as Cao Wei cannot defeat it, If you go to Longshan, you will no longer be able to interfere in Liangzhou affairs.
As for Qingxu occupied by Sun Quan, no one knows whether it can be defended in the end. After all, between Huainan and Qingxu there is Xiapi, which belongs to the forces of Cao Wei, and is surrounded by Yanzhou and Yuzhou, the former core areas of Cao Wei. , whether Sun Quan can defend Qingxu is still unknown.
Not only Zhuge Jin knew this, but Sun Quan also knew it, so when he came this time, Zhuge Jin adopted a low-profile strategy to gain Liu Bei's approval of Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor.
In the end, Liu Bei had to acquiesce, at least without any apparent opposition.
During this period, through conversations with Zhuge Liang and interactions with various officials and local families in Chengdu, Zhuge Jin was basically certain that Liu Bei would not recognize Sun Quan's status or even acquiesce.
Even Lu Fan brought the edict to canonize Sun Shangxiang, which was actually a test by Zhuge Jin and Lu Fan on Liu Bei's important minister Zhang Xi.
Sun Quan is not so kind. He even named his own brother Sun Ce, the founder of Jiangdong's foundation, only the title of King Huan of Changsha. How do you expect him to think about naming his sister who married to Shuzhong as the eldest princess? !
This edict was written by Lu Fan at his suggestion to Sun Quan, with the purpose of testing Zhang Xi's reaction and inferring Liu Bei's group's attitude toward Sun Quan becoming emperor.
And Sun Quan did not take his sister Sun Shangxiang's position to heart. As long as it was beneficial to him, he would write such a tentative edict.
If Sun Shangxiang accepts the canonization, it means that Liu Bei's group is not opposed to Sun Quan becoming emperor, and can at least talk about it. However, although the actual result embarrassed Lu Fan, it also made Zhuge Jin immediately adjust his mission goals.
Since Liu Bei is unwilling to recognize the legitimacy of Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor, then adjust it to strive for Liu Bei not to oppose Sun Quan's proclaiming emperor.
After making adjustments, Zhuge Jin used the same rhetoric as before to try to persuade Liu Bei when facing Liu Bei.
Of course, Liu Bei could not agree with Sun Quan proclaiming himself emperor, but Zhuge Jin's remarks, Liu Bei also admitted, were very reasonable.
First of all, in terms of the situation, Liu Bei agreed with Zhuge Jin's judgment. Sun Liu is still weak and Cao is strong. This is the most critical factor.
In addition, Liu Bei himself knew that he did not have the ability to raise troops to attack Jiangdong, and he also hoped to resolve the impact of Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor through political means.
The example Zhuge Jin cited just gave Liu Bei a way to deal with the impact of Sun Quan's proclaimed emperor through political means. It was just a matter of expediency to follow the example of his ancestors, and it would not be considered a loss of face.
In the end, Zhuge Jin made his attitude clear, which Liu Bei admired very much. Zhuge Jin told the truth, which made Liu Bei feel that Jiang Dong was discussing this matter with sincerity, so the previous series of rhetoric became easier to accept. .
There is a saying that before he had enough strength to completely fall out, Liu Bei felt that Zhuge Jin's remarks were not unacceptable.
Anyway, the Han Dynasty does not recognize the legitimacy of the Soochow regime, but it is not unacceptable to Liu Bei to call each other by name and treat Sun Quan like the leader of a party.
Zhuge Liang did not express any attitude towards this, just for the sake of two words - to avoid suspicion.
Therefore, Liu Bei had to call together officials from the three provinces and six ministries to discuss what attitude would be better to adopt towards Soochow.
After Pang Tong and Fazheng listened to Zhuge Jin's remarks relayed by Liu Bei, they were silent for a long time and did not speak for a while.
Liu Ba, the Minister of Household Affairs, was the first to jump out and express his acceptance - as long as there is no war and the money is used for people's livelihood, then Liu Ba will definitely support it unconditionally.
War is a bottomless pit.
Although he was in charge of the economy in the past, he didn't care about the accounts, so Liu Bei could go to war if he wanted to. Anyway, it wasn't him who had to worry about money and food.
But now that Liu Ba has become the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he not only has to manage the economy, but also the accounting books. With a lawsuit on his forehead, Liu Ba wishes to fight less or even no wars.
Moreover, Liu Ba did not oppose for the sake of opposition, but listed a series of benefits of making peace with Soochow.
The biggest benefit is of course that it saves money and food. At the same time, trade with Jiangdong, whether it is Shu brocade, paper, or copper coins, is now the bulk of the official trade of the Han government.
Needless to say, Shu brocade is only found in central Shu. Regardless of whether it is transported to Jiangdong, the Central Plains, or even Hebei, Shu brocade is a very popular luxury product.
Although the price of a single sheet of paper is not high, it cannot support the huge quantity. Whether it is Jiangdong or Cao Wei, the demand for paper is astonishingly large. The papermaking workshop in Sichuan has been expanded many times, and the production capacity is still a little behind. superior.
Shu paper, which only cost five cents a piece in Shu, would sell for at least fifteen cents when shipped to Jiangdong, but would sell for about thirty cents a piece when shipped to the Hebei area of Cao Wei.
Just like that, paper is still in short supply.
As for copper coins, let alone them.
With the large-scale mining of Nanzhong copper mines, Shuzhong and Jingzhou now have less and less shortage of copper coins. The five-baht coins forged by Liu Bei Group are also very popular in Jiangdong and Guanzhong areas because of their heavy weight. It even replaced the original five-baht coin and became the current currency in circulation.
Liu Ba, who is good at economics, sees this, but doesn't he know what it means? !
Liu Ba may be limited by the amount of knowledge in this era and cannot write any economics masterpiece, but in terms of practical operations, our ancestors have very rich experience.
Liu Ba vaguely realized that he could even control the circulation of copper coins and artificially create a money shortage in Jiangdong or Guanzhong to raise prices to combat the local rule of the Jiangdong and Cao Wei governments.
Therefore, Liu Ba is the most opposed to the direct use of troops now. This will not only cause a large loss of food, grass and soldiers, but also cause very large economic losses.
After Liu Ba stated his position and brought out a lot of advantages and disadvantages with reasonable evidence, Qin Mi, the Minister of Personnel, and Xu Jing, the Minister of Rites, also immediately chose to follow up.
Although these two people said a lot of high-sounding words, Xu Jing even flipped through his memories in a short period of time, shamelessly providing another legal basis for Liu Bei to make peace with Soochow. Not only Emperor Guangwu and Gongsun Shu, but also the Han Dynasty The relationship between Gaozu and the Xiongnu Chanyu can actually be regarded as two emperors standing side by side.
The Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu is actually the honorific title of the Xiongnu monarch, but the expression is different from that of us Han people. At that time, the Han Emperor Gaozu and the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu also called each other the lord of the country instead of the emperor.
But in fact, these two people said this entirely out of their own interests.
Xu Jing is a famous person in the world, and he is very old. After the death of great scholars such as Lu Zhi, Zheng Xuan, and Kong Rong, Xu Jing is basically one of the few famous people in the world.
And this celebrity happens to be in Chengdu, and he is still the Minister of Rites, in charge of various etiquette regulations and paper wholesale matters. Isn't that just a matter of a word from the Minister of Rites? !
A few years ago, the wealthy families in Jiangdong wanted to obtain the right to wholesale paper from Shu. They would basically send people to visit Xu Jing. The Xu family, together with the Yang family and Li family in central Shu, already controlled nearly 70% of the paper wholesale rights. Wholesale rights to paper shipped to Koto.
If the two families were to fight, wouldn't the losses be huge? !
Qin Mi's purpose is even simpler.
As one of the leaders of the Shuzhong family, he must seek benefits for the Shuzhong family no matter what.
Paper is a matter that is decided once every ten years, and not every aristocratic family can participate, but Shu brocade and copper coins are two things in which almost all aristocratic families in central Shu have interests entangled.
Although it is not impossible to go to war, these things are hard currency anyway, and we are not afraid that no one will want them after the war is over. But if we can avoid the war and sell more, wouldn't it be better? !
Of the nine important central officials, one did not speak, three expressed support for the peace talks, and the remaining five will see if they can raise objections.
Pang Tong and Fazheng, who were the most important, still did not express their opinions, while Jian Yong, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, just came to join in the fun and listen to whatever Liu Bei said. Then the only ones who have not yet expressed their opinions are Zhang Xi, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Dong, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. And.
Dong He actually didn't want to fight. After all, Shuzhong has been fighting all these years. If this continues, when will the people live a good life? !
But this kind of thing is related to etiquette and the legitimacy of the political power. Dong He is not as shameless as Xu Jing, and he can't tell so many lies, so he can only keep silent for the time being and see what others say.
This time, all eyes were turned to Zhang Xi.
Zhang Xi was confused at the time. I have to avoid suspicion, okay? My wife is Sun Quan's sister. Have you forgotten? !
Zhang Xi still wanted to explain his awkward position, but unexpectedly, Liu Bei spoke first.
"How do Yuan Chang think this matter should be resolved?!"
Yes, the emperor has spoken and asked, and there is no point in not answering.
(End of chapter)
