In May of the fifth year of Jianxing, Chang'an.
After four months of pacification, the Qiang rebellion in Qinzhou was basically calmed down.
During this period, Zhuge Liang chose a variety of strategies, including but not limited to moving the Qiang tribe inland, living together with Han and Hu people, teaching Qiang people to farm, and intermarriage between Han and Qiang people.
On the one hand, it stabilized the hearts of the Qiang people and eliminated the barriers between Han and Qiang. On the other hand, it also obtained enough productive labor for Qinzhou's post-war recovery.
It is just like the measures Zhuge Liang took in history after pacifying Nanzhong, but the battle of Nanzhong in this time and space does not require Zhuge Liang to take action, so now Zhuge Liang uses these measures to appease the Qiang people.
What's left is that Jiang Xu continues to implement rest and recuperation to appease the people and carry out post-war reconstruction work in accordance with the policies left by Zhuge Liang.
After completing these things, Zhuge Liang temporarily handed over the Northern Army to Wu Yi's control and continued to stay in Qinzhou to intimidate the Qiang people while concealing his identity. However, he secretly went south to Chang'an with more than a dozen followers.
We need to start preparing for the Northern Expedition in advance.
Since he rushed to Chang'an secretly, Zhuge Liang did not disclose his whereabouts to the outside world. As an old friend of Zhang Xi, he directly moved into Zhang Xi's Yongzhou Governor's Mansion and controlled everything behind the scenes.
Zhang Xi also understood Zhuge Liang's intentions and told Fei Yi to keep it secret. In the entire Yongzhou, no more than five people knew that Zhuge Liang had arrived in Chang'an.
Except for Zhang Xi, only Wei Yan, Jiang Wan, Chen Zhi and Fei Yi, who was in charge of intelligence work, knew about it. Even Huang Quan didn't know about it.
In this way, Zhuge Liang temporarily settled down in Zhang Xi's governor's mansion, and took Zhang Xi together to discuss the arrangements for the Northern Expedition.
Regarding this matter, Zhang Xi actually has a lot to say.
"Soochow has betrayed its trust several times, why did the prime minister still send people to form an alliance with it, even at the cost of ceding Jiangxia County?!"
This is the most unacceptable thing for Zhang Xi, and it is also the first place where Zhang Xi wants to question Zhuge Liang.
As a modern soul, Zhang Xi is extremely sensitive to the matter of ceding land, and it is easy for him to think of some bad memories.
Land ceding, compensation, opening of Fu, and sailing. These eight words have almost appeared as a package in the history books.
Therefore, Zhang Xi is very disgusted with this kind of behavior of ceding territory, let alone the other party is a Soochow rat.
Zhuge Liang really didn't understand why Zhang Xi had such a big reaction to the cession of territory. At least in Zhuge Liang's view, this was just a temporary measure. Sooner or later, he would bring the world under the control of the Han Dynasty.
However, Zhuge Liang also sighed regarding Zhang Xi's accusation of Soochow's betrayal.
"I don't know that Soochow is not trustworthy." Zhuge Liang explained helplessly to Zhang Xi, "It's just that now, the world is divided into three parts. If we don't use extraordinary measures, when will we be able to revive the Han Dynasty and let His Majesty return to the old capital? ?!”
Zhuge Liang didn't need to say some words in too much detail. He believed that Zhang Xi could understand what he meant.
There have been disputes for decades in the late Han Dynasty. Now the world is divided into three parts, and the forces of the three families have gradually stabilized. It is impossible for any family to launch a war to destroy the country in a short period of time.
In fact, if one family wants to destroy another, the third family will inevitably choose to hold back. Unless there is a very coincidental change, it will be too difficult to dominate the world.
This is also true historically.
No one expected Deng Ai to sneak into Yinping, and Liu Chan surrendered so quickly, which Soochow did not expect. Soochow's reinforcements to rescue Shu had not even arrived in Yong'an, and Liu Chan had already surrendered.
It's not that Soochow has to take advantage of the situation, but that Liu Chan has surrendered. In order to ensure the integrity of the Yangtze River defense line, Soochow must capture Yong'an, so that it can have the capital to defend itself on the Yangtze River.
Facts have also proved that in addition to Du Yu's contribution to the final destruction of Soochow, Wang Jun's navy fleet heading south from Yong'an was also a very important factor.
Well, I'm going too far again.
Returning to the current topic of the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang actually knew that Soochow was not trustworthy, but he had no choice. The current situation forced Zhuge Liang to win over Soochow's favor so that the Han Dynasty would not be held back by Soochow on the issue of the Northern Expedition.
Zhuge Liang really didn't expect Soochow to send troops to the eastern front to help the Han Dynasty share the pressure of the Wei army. It is not only people from Soochow who can think of such things as fishing for a living.
What Zhuge Liang really hopes is to stabilize the Soochow Group through Jiangxia County, so that they will not be hindered by backstabbing when the Jingzhou Army goes north to attack Wancheng.
After all, in Zhuge Liang's plan this time, the Jingzhou Army was to be the main attacker.
But the problem is that if the Jingzhou Army is to serve as the main attack, it must help the Jingzhou Army get rid of too many unstable factors, otherwise the Jingzhou Army will not be able to move north with all its strength.
The biggest instability factor for the Jingzhou Legion is the threat from the southeast to Soochow.
If Jiangxia County can make Soochow temporarily stand still, then it is not a price that the Han Dynasty cannot pay.
Unfortunately, Soochow's reaction was somewhat different from what Zhuge Liang thought.
According to Deng Zhi's report, Soochow was unwilling to renegotiate the alliance with the Han openly, but was only willing to reach an agreement in private, and the way of reaching an agreement was different from what Zhuge Liang thought.
Soochow hoped that the Han people would "retreat" from Jiangxia County.
Although in this way, it is indeed possible to deceive others. Wenpin's Jiangxia Army was transferred to Xiangyang for use. Together with the Kou Feng Army from Dongsan County, Xiangyang had enough troops to go north to attack Wancheng.
But the problem is that Zhuge Liang really can't completely believe that after occupying Jiangxia County, Soochow will really stay there obediently, let alone launch an attack on the eastern front in Runan.
Not only did Zhuge Liang not believe this issue, but even Deng Zhi found it untrustworthy. Therefore, Deng Zhi had to suspend negotiations with Soochow and return to Jingzhou first. He immediately informed Zhuge Liang of this condition and asked Zhuge Liang to make a decision.
Deng Zhi really didn't dare to make the decision on such a major matter. Although he was on a mission with integrity, he actually had the right to make an emergency decision, but this matter was really too big.
This is what Zhuge Liang wants to discuss with Zhang Xi today.
Zhang Xi's answer was not what Zhuge Liang expected.
"Sun Zhongmou is capricious, why should we trust him?!"
This was Zhang Xi's answer, very disdainful.
Given the behavior of those bastards in Soochow, they really want to conquer Jiangxia. It would be better if the Jingzhou Army did not go north. If they really go north, believe it or not, they will recreate a white-clad crossing the river in minutes for you to see! ! !
Anyway, Zhang Xi really doesn't have a good impression of Soochow.
But Zhuge Liang still hesitated a little, thought about it, and said, "According to what Deng Bomiao said, the person who came forward to contact Soochow this time was Zhou Gongjin. I also understand.”
Is Zhuge Liang a person of this era, or is he limited by the mainstream thoughts and values of this era? Sometimes, reputation is more important than life.
Especially a world-famous general like Zhou Yu must be someone who cherishes feathers.
The first two times Soochow betrayed its alliance, one was led by Lu Meng, and the other was led by Sun Quan and Sun Sheng. Zhou Yu never participated in it. From Zhuge Liang's point of view, it can be proved to some extent that this kind of betrayal of alliance, Zhou Yu's behavior All the famous generals in the world will not participate in it.
Since Zhou Yu took the initiative to approach this matter this time, it is possible that Soochow would not use Zhou Yu's reputation as a guarantee that they would abide by the covenant this time.
After all, this time we reached an agreement secretly and could not form an alliance openly. And even if we form an alliance openly, Zhuge Liang is not so assured. After all, Sun Quan's credibility really doesn't have much left.
Compared with Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang is more willing to believe in world-famous generals like Zhou Yu.
Don't worry, Zhang Xi felt somewhat reassured when he heard that Zhou Yu was actively involved in this matter. Having lived in this era for more than ten years, it is impossible not to be affected by the ideological values of this era.
In addition, her daughter-in-law has always admired her brother Gong Jin, but she has never been very fond of her second brother, which led to Zhang Xi's perception of Zhou Yu being biased towards the positive side.
However, Zhang Xi is notoriously cautious. To put it bluntly, he is prone to overthinking.
Although Zhang Xi still recognized Zhou Yu's character and character in his heart, Zhang Xi would overthink many things. What if Zhou Gongjin, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, also rebelled? !
Besides, if you carefully recall the historical records, Zhou Gongjin is indeed elegant and elegant, but he is not the kind of person who follows the rules and takes his reputation very seriously.
When Sun Ce just died, this guy dared to risk his reputation as a "rebellion" and lead troops to attend the funeral. This is not something ordinary people can do.
If Zhou Yu hadn't first determined the master-slave etiquette with Sun Quan, Sun Ce's designated successor, then Zhou Yu's nature of leading troops to the funeral would not be as simple as dividing Zhang Zhao's rights.
This guy, for the sake of Soochow's foundation, may not really care about his reputation.
Therefore, Zhang Xi persuaded Zhuge Liang out of caution.
"Although Zhou Gongjin is elegant and elegant, he is by no means a person who is inflexible. He and we belong to different families. If he only thinks about Soochow, he may not be credible!!!"
Zhang Xi said this.
When Zhang Xi said this, Zhuge Liang, who had always been cautious, suddenly began to be vague.
Sometimes, really, I have to say something - people are divided into groups.
There is a reason why Zhang Xi and Zhuge Liang can get along so well even though they are almost ten years apart in age.
When Zhuge Liang heard what Zhang Xi said, he immediately began to think in his mind. Once Zhou Yu also chose to betray the alliance, then letting him lead troops into Jiangxia County would be a bit troublesome.
After all, this is Zhou Gongjin!
Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin defeated Cao Cao in Chibi and preserved Jiangdong's foundation. They defeated Cao Xiu in Huainan and established the territory of Soochow.
It's not something Lu Meng, Sun Sheng and others can compare to.
(End of chapter)
