After a year and a half, Deng Zhi was sent as envoy to Jiangdong again, but he stayed in Jiangling for a while as usual.
Actually, Deng Zhi also knew that this time he went to Jiangdong to argue, there would basically be no good results, but the emperor wanted to send people to Soochow to "account" him, as an old acquaintance. , but don’t we just have to make one more trip?
And when Deng Zhi arrived in Jiangling and met the so-called support envoy sent by Soochow, he actually knew in his heart that his mission to Jiangdong this time would most likely be just a formality.
Zhang Xi could see things clearly, so how could Deng Zhi, who was often on the diplomatic mission to Soochow, not see it.
Therefore, during the private communication with Zhang Xi, Deng Zhi really couldn't help but complained to Zhang Xi.
The core point is just one - are we big men a little too polite to Soochow? !
People have arrived at our door. No matter what strategic considerations there are, is it ridiculous to send envoys so frequently to communicate, and if communication fails, we can only let it go? !
Doing this will only make Soochow more emboldened, and also make the envoys like him feel aggrieved in front of Soochow.
Deng Zhi really complained and even said it. If it didn't work, he hoped that Zhang Xi could ask Prime Minister Zhuge for his life and let him go to the front line of Luoyang to confront the Wei thieves. It would be better to go to Jiangdong to talk to Sun Shiwan. Come on with your words.
It can be seen that Deng Zhi was really annoyed about his mission to Soochow.
But there is nothing we can do.
Neither Zhang Xi nor Zhuge Liang want to continue to accommodate Soochow, but with the current general trend of the world, it is true that Cao Wei has weakened, but Soochow has also taken advantage of the situation to rise a lot.
Apart from anything else, the Soochow in history never set foot in Huainan, let alone occupied the entire Xuzhou and half of Qingzhou.
Soochow's current strength is much stronger than that in history.
Moreover, Sun Quan is only in his forties now. According to his historical life span, he is still in the prime of life and his brain is not completely confused. If he falls out with Soochow now, the risk is still relatively high.
Especially here in Jingzhou, in order to support the Northern Expedition in the past few years, all strategic arrangements were tilted towards the north. Now even if they want to attack Soochow, they need to make some strategic adjustments and focus on the south.
At least, Jiangling is not yet ready to become a base for the Southern Expedition.
The navy has just formed an army. Although Yang Xi has recently engaged in a beautiful naval battle and suppressed the Baqiu navy of Soochow, this was more of a training exercise and a focus on avoiding the main force of the Soochow navy at Lukou. It does not mean that the Jiangling navy has the ability to fight against the Soochow navy.
As for the army, Zhang Xi is now looking for ways to recruit and expand troops as soon as possible. However, due to the loss of Dingkou in the four counties southeast of Jiangling, the first thing Zhang Xi needs to do now is to restore production in the four counties and expand the county troops. , can only move back.
After all, if you want to fall out with Soochow, you still need time to prepare. So, when going to Jiangdong this time, Deng Zhi needs to try his best to maintain the relationship between the two countries no matter how difficult it is.
It is not required to return to the previous alliance to fight against Cao Wei. At least it cannot completely break the relationship between the two countries. We must fight with Jiangling to buy time to resume development and accumulate strength for the southern expedition.
After listening to Zhang Xi's reasons, Deng Zhi could only sigh. With things like this, what else could he, an errand boy, do?
After complaining about this matter, Deng Zhi brought up another matter while chatting.
In May of this year, Pang Tong, the servant, returned to Chengdu from Luoyang. He not only brought Zhuge Liang's memorial report on the success of the Northern Expedition, but also brought a memorial from Zhuge Liang requesting the emperor to move to Chang'an to oversee the Northern Expedition.
In this memorial, Zhuge Liang described in detail the necessity for the emperor to move to Chang'an, especially emphasizing that once the emperor Liu Chan moved to Chang'an, the people of Guanzhong and Heluo would definitely eat pots of pulp to welcome the emperor, and the soldiers of the Northern Expedition would inevitably be grateful for the emperor's presence. The thing about fighting bravely.
In fact, to put it bluntly, Zhuge Liang told Liu Chan that moving to Chang'an could gain a lot of military and people's support, which would be of great benefit to Liu Chan in establishing his prestige as emperor.
This alone was enough to tempt Liu Chan.
Liu Chan is not really a fool. He just has a clear understanding of himself and knows that he is inferior to Zhuge Liang and others in terms of government and military affairs. It is impossible for a big man to betray his loyalty. If this is the case, then it is not a bad thing to leave the government affairs to Zhuge Liang and others, so that he can be free.
But this does not mean that Liu Chan does not want to become an emperor with real power.
If the emperor wants to have real power, two things are essential - military morale and popular morale.
If it were an auxiliary minister like Cao Cao, Liu Chan would never touch these two things in his life. The best choice would be to be a mascot in the palace.
But Liu Chan's auxiliary minister is Zhuge Liang. Have you ever seen any powerful official who does not stay in the court all year round, does not cultivate cronies in the court, let alone promotes his own relatives to gain real power? !
On the contrary, in these years, whether Zhuge Liang was stationed in Chang'an or stationed troops in Luoyang, he never forgot to tell the emperor to have his own ruling team and to win over the people and the military. He looked forward to the emperor ascending to the throne and holding real power.
This is the fundamental reason why Liu Chan can trust Zhuge Liang. What Zhuge Liang does is always for the sake of the Han, not for himself.
This time Zhuge Liang wrote to Liu Chan, hoping that Liu Chan could move to Chang'an. In fact, the subtext was to ask Liu Chan to go to Chang'an. On the one hand, he could win over the military morale and popular sentiment in Guanzhong, Heluo, Qinzhou, Liangzhou and other places. On the other hand, he could also get rid of the Chengdu family. The wealthy family restrained the government and formed its own ruling team.
Even Zhuge Liang made it clear that he would stay on the front line in Luoyang to block the possible counterattack of Cao's thieves, and would not return to Chang'an. This made it clear that he was telling Liu Chan that if something goes wrong, I will help you take care of it.
You think Liu Chan can't be moved?
But it was useless for Liu Chan to be excited. The courtiers in Chengdu were about to explode.
Yes, Zhuge Liang didn't even mention moving the capital, but the emperor's move to Chang'an to lead the Northern Expedition is actually no different from moving the capital, right? !
If others don't talk about him, the courtiers from the Yizhou family must be directly opposed.
Qin Mi, the Minister of Rites, directly reported to the emperor, saying that Chengdu was the capital of the country, and the emperor would sit in the capital, take charge of the overall situation, and control the four directions. This is what a wise emperor should do.
As for foreign conquests, this is what the ministers and generals should do. If they can't do it well, it will be the responsibility of the ministers and generals. Why should the emperor personally conquer it? !
Furthermore, the emperor is the foundation of the country. It will be of no benefit to the country to easily command the emperor. If it suffers setbacks, it will easily shake the foundation of the country. Therefore, Qin Mi strongly opposed the emperor's move to Chang'an.
As for the rising star of the Yizhou faction, the prime minister's office encouraged him to study and engage in Qiao Zhou. He directly borrowed the theory of astronomy and astrology, and emphasized that the stars would move abnormally, and the emperor should not leave the capital lightly, otherwise there would be disaster.
All in all, the Yizhou faction definitely didn't want Liu Chan to move north to Chang'an. Today's step was relaxed. Later, Liu Chan might directly announce the capital move to Chang'an. In that case, the Yizhou faction would lose nearly half of its interests.
The Jingzhou faction and even the Dongzhou faction in the court showed a strange calmness about this matter.
For the Jingzhou faction, it was actually good for the emperor to move to Chang'an.
After all, the distance from Chang'an to Jingzhou is definitely much closer than the distance from Chengdu to Jingzhou, and the distance is much easier. Moving the capital to Chang'an is actually beneficial to the Jingzhou faction.
But the problem is, after all, Chang'an is located in Guanzhong, and Jingzhou is still farther south. Although the Jingzhou faction can get more benefits than when the emperor was in Chengdu, in reality, this benefit is not too great.
It’s not like moving the capital to Luoyang! ! !
Yes, the Jingzhou faction actually hopes that the emperor can move the capital to Luoyang rather than moving the capital to Chang'an. The distance from Luoyang to Jingzhou is much closer, and the Jingzhou family, the Yingchuan family, and the Heluo family have never moved there. In terms of historical origins, they actually developed from the same line of development and have friendship with each other.
If the emperor moved the capital to Luoyang, the Jingzhou faction would not mind supporting it and having a try with the Yizhou faction, but moving the capital to Chang'an. The Jingzhou faction believed that offending the Yizhou native faction would have no practical benefits.
As for the Dongzhou Faction, in fact, for the Dongzhou Faction, they are the most uncomfortable faction now, and they are the most inhumane faction inside and out.
In terms of overall interests, the Dongzhou faction has been in Sichuan for too long, and their interest disputes are completely in Yizhou. However, the Yizhou local faction still did not accept them at that time, so they stayed together to keep warm.
However, in recent years, with the growing strength of the Jingzhou faction in the court, and the distrust of the Yizhou native faction by the two emperors Ji and Han, the Yizhou native faction had to cooperate with the Dongzhou faction to unify their external stance, which was considered beneficial. Zhou Faction, in order to counter the growth of Jingzhou Faction.
Therefore, when it comes to moving the capital, if the Dongzhou faction is purely motivated by interests, they should stand with the Yizhou native faction.
However, there is another factor for the Dongzhou Sect that needs to be seriously considered.
How did the Dongzhou sect appear back then? !
The war in Guanlong led to a large number of Guanlong people and aristocratic families taking refuge in Sichuan. At that time, Yizhou Shepherd Liu Yan used these people and aristocratic families who fled to Guanzhong to form Dongzhou soldiers to fight against the local aristocratic families in Yizhou.
Yes, the Dongzhou sect is the earliest, and they are all representatives of the Guanlong family.
Although some aristocratic families like the Deng Zhi family who fled from Jingzhou and took refuge in Yizhou were later included, the overall power was still dominated by the aristocratic families whose ancestral home was Guanlong.
Now the emperor is about to move to Chang'an. If everything goes well, then for the Dongzhou sect, at best, it will be an opportunity to get rid of the Yizhou local sect and become independent and strong. At worst, these Dongzhou sect's aristocratic families will , at least I can return home in fine clothes.
I didn't go back to Guanzhong before because I had been in Sichuan for too long and my family's interests had already taken root in Shu. But if the emperor really moved the capital to Chang'an, then compared with the benefits that could be obtained in Guanzhong, this Yizhou family business would also be lost. It’s not that you can’t give up.
It's just that there is a certain risk involved. After all, the emperor just moved the emperor and did not explicitly say that he wanted to move the capital.
If there is too much opposition in the future and the emperor does not move the capital to Chang'an, and at this time the Dongzhou faction puts pressure on the emperor to move the capital to Chang'an, then the Dongzhou faction will really be a different person inside and outside.
Therefore, the Dongzhou faction hesitated. They tried their best to find suitable evidence to prove that the emperor did intend to move the capital.
Just at this time, Deng Zhi was sent as an envoy to Soochow and was passing through Jiangling.
(End of chapter)
