Chapter 506: A moment of bright light
Since Yu is born, how can Liang be born! --------Ming Dynasty. Luo Guanzhong's "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Zhou Yu's death-defying words
In the swaying boat, Zhuge Liang mentioned Sun Ce's plot, but Lu Su was speechless for a moment. There are bright stars below Jiangdong Sun Ce, but Zhou Gongjin is undoubtedly the brightest star.
Lu Su gathered his thoughts and smiled and said: "Speaking of this person, he is indeed a young talent. He is extremely talented. He is a little older than Kong Ming. He is a good opponent for Kong Ming!"
Zhou Gongjin was a descendant of the eunuch family, a descendant of a prominent member of the Lujiang gentry clan, the son of Luoyang Ling Zhou Yi, his grandfather Zhou Jing and his uncle Zhou Zhong, both of whom had risen to the rank of Taiwei.
In the official history, Zhou Yu is tall and strong, handsome and unrestrained. He is also good at music and is an idol-level talent. He became good friends with Sun Ce when he was young. From the age of 21, he followed Sun Ce to the battlefield to pacify Jiangdong. Later, Sun Ce was assassinated and Sun Quan succeeded him. Zhou Yu sent troops to the funeral and took charge of everything together with Zhang Zhao as the Central Protector. In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (AD 208), Zhou Yu led his army to join forces with Liu Bei and defeated Cao Cao in the Battle of Chibi, thus laying the foundation for the "three-part world". He also led his army to defeat Cao Ren, worshiped as a partial general, and became the governor of Nanjun.
Zhou Yu was not only unparalleled in resourcefulness, but also suave and charming. Sun Quan praised Zhou Yu as having "the qualifications of a king's assistant", and Fan Cheng praised him as "a heroic man in the world and a romantic and beautiful husband on the left side of the Yangtze River". During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he also honored him as Pinglubo, and he was ranked among the 64 generals in the Tang Wumiao Temple and one of the 72 generals in the Song Wumiao Temple. Following his magnificent story, from borrowing troops from Danyang, to occupying important positions as an official, and then to becoming an important minister of Anbang, he joined forces with Liu to defeat Cao Cao, defeated Cao Ren, and finally died of illness at Baqiu at the age of thirty-six, which is very touching.
In official history, Zhou Yu and Lu Su were close friends for years. Zhou Yu met Lu Su when he was the magistrate of Juchao County. He thought he was extraordinary and took the initiative to make friends with him. The two established an unbreakable friendship like Gongsun Qiao and Jizha in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In the third year of Jian'an (198 AD), Zhou Yu and Lu Su returned to Wu County together. When Sun Ce heard about Zhou Yu's return, he went out to welcome him personally. He appointed Zhou Yu as a Jianwei Zhonglang General and assigned him 2,000 soldiers and 50 war horses. In addition, Sun Ce also gave Zhou Yu a drumming band and built a residence for Zhou Yu. The rewards were so generous that no one could compare with them. Sun Ce said in the order: "Zhou Gongjin is majestic and talented, and he and I have a close relationship and a close relationship. When he was in Danyang, he led his troops and dispatched ship provisions to help me so that I could When great things are accomplished, merit is rewarded, and the reward is far from repaying the support he gave me at the critical moment!" Zhou Yu was twenty-four years old at the time, and everyone in Wu County called him Zhou Lang.
Because the scholars and people in the Lujiang area always admired Zhou Yu's kindness and trustworthiness, Sun Ce ordered him to guard Niuzhu, and later he also served as the chief of Spring Valley.
In the fourth year of Jian'an (A.D. 199), Sun Ce wanted to attack Jingzhou. He appointed Zhou Yu as the central protector and also served as the prefect of Jiangxia to accompany the army on the expedition. In December, Sun Ce led Zhou Yu and others to attack Wancheng and captured Yuan Shu's Liu Xun family and their male and female relatives. Among them, the two daughters of Qiao Gong were both beautiful and beautiful. Sun Ce took in the big Qiao, and Zhou Yu took in the small Qiao. Sun Ce said to Zhou Yu: "Although the daughter of Lord Qiao has suffered from being displaced by war, she is very lucky to have two of us as her sons-in-law." Then he attacked Xunyang and defeated Liu Xun. At the beginning of the next year, he attacked Jiangxia and again He returned to pacify Yuzhang and Luling. Zhou Yu stayed to guard Baqiu.
In April of the fifth year of Jian'an (200 AD), Sun Ce was assassinated. He was only 26 years old at the time. Before his death, he entrusted Sun Quan with military and state affairs. When Sun Quan took charge of the industry, he was still young, and there were only a few counties in Kuaiji, Wujun, Danyang, Yuzhang, and Luling, and the remote and dangerous places were not yet fully included. The heroes were scattered in various states and counties, and they did not establish an interdependent relationship between the king and his ministers with the Sun family. Zhang Zhao, Zhou Yu and others believed that Sun Quan could achieve great things together with them, so they devoted themselves to serving him.
Zhou Yu brought troops from other places to attend the funeral, and stayed with Sun Quan in Wu County as a guard in the army. He and Zhang Zhao, the commander-in-chief, were in charge of military and political affairs. At that time, Sun Quan was just a general, and the guest etiquette was very simple. Only Zhou Yu expressed his support for Sun Quan with the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers. Zhou Yu once said to Lu Su: "In the past, Ma Yuan replied to Emperor Guangwu and said, 'In today's world, not only the king chooses his ministers, but the ministers also choose the king.' Now my master Sun Quan trusts the wise and wise, and accepts extraordinary talents. I heard According to the mysterious argument of ancient philosophers, those who inherit the destiny and replace the Liu family must start in the southeast. After careful calculation and observation of the situation, the emperor's foundation will eventually be built in line with the destiny, and it is also in the southeast. It is the people with knowledge and ambition who join The age of heroes. I understand this!" He recommended Lu Su to Sun Quan, saying that he was talented and could be an assistant minister. It is suggested that Sun Quan should search for talents like Lu Su in many ways to achieve great achievements and not let them disperse to other places.
After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, in the seventh year of Jian'an (AD 202), he issued a letter instructing Sun Quan to send hostages to Cao Cao. Sun Quan convened a meeting with his ministers. The ministers had different opinions. Zhang Zhao, Qin Song and other important ministers hesitated and could not make a decision.
Sun Quan originally did not want to send hostages. So he took Zhou Yu alone to his mother to discuss the matter. Zhou Yu analyzed: "When Chu Jun was first sealed to the edge of Jingshan Mountain, the place was not enough for a hundred miles. His descendants were capable, expanded the land, opened up the territory, established their foundation in the capital of Ying, and occupied the land of Jingyang all the way to the South China Sea. Descendants It has been passed down from generation to generation for more than 900 years. General, you have inherited the legacy of your father and brother and ruled the six counties. The troops are well-prepared and the morale of the soldiers is strong. Moreover, you can cast mountains into copper and boil the sea into salt. People's hearts are stable and the morale of the soldiers is high. We are strong and can be said to be invincible, so why give hostages to others? Once the hostages are in Cao Cao's hands, we have to echo Cao Cao and are bound to be controlled by the Cao family. At that time, the greatest benefit we can get is also It's just a Hou Yin, a dozen servants, a few cars, and a few horses. How can it be compared with our own achievements and being alone? For the current plan, it is best not to send hostages and wait and see Cao Cao first. The trends and changes in the world. If Cao Cao can abide by morality and save the world, it will not be too late for us to join him. If Cao Cao is arrogant and plays with fire in order to make a living, he will die. General, you can just wait for fate, why should you give away pledges to others? What?" Zhou Yu's words touched Sun Quan's heart. Sun Quan's mother also believed that this should be done. She said to Sun Quan: "What Gong Jin said makes sense. He is only one month younger than your brother. I have always treated him as a son. You should treat him as an elder brother." Sun Quan then No hostages were sent to Cao Cao.
Every time Sun Quan gave Zhou Yu a hundred pieces of clothing throughout the year, no other general could compare with Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu can also be said to be loyal to the Sun family. "Jiang Biao Zhuan" records that Cao Cao wanted to use Zhou Yu for himself, so he sent Jiang Gan, who was good at arguing, to lobby Zhou Yu, but Zhou Yu resolutely rejected Jiang Gan. Scholars all over the world admired Zhou Yu even more.
In the autumn of the thirteenth year of Jian'an (AD 208), Cao Cao led his army to invade south, occupied various counties in Jingzhou, and advanced towards Sun Quan. When the army was approaching, Sun Quan wanted to fight Cao Cao and asked for his strategy. However, Sun Quan's ministers were divided into two factions: peace advocates and war advocates. Important ministers and counselors Zhang Zhao and Qin Song even supported surrendering to Cao Cao. So Lu Su persuaded Sun Quan to recruit Zhou Yu who was training troops in Poyang.
Zhou Yu returned to Sun Quan and analyzed to Sun Quan the key to the victory or defeat of Cao Cao and Sun Quan's armies. He first pointed out: Cao Cao's army traveled a long distance and was exhausted; the weather was cold and the horses had no grass to eat; the northerners were used to land warfare and were not good at water warfare. Not convinced; Ma Chao and Han Sui are still in Guanxi, causing Cao Cao's future trouble. Then he further analyzed the actual strength of Cao's army and pointed out that Cao's army from the Central Plains only numbered 150,000 to 60,000, and that Liu Biao's new surrender of 70,000 to 80,000 people did not support Cao. Sun Quan sighed: "Cao Cao has wanted to abolish the Han Dynasty and establish himself on his own for a long time, but he just taboos Yuan, Lu Bu, Liu Biao and me. I am the only one left. Cao Cao and I are at odds with each other. What you said is very suitable for me. This is God's choice for you." It was given to me!”
Sun Quan finally made up his mind, drew his sword and chopped off a corner of the table, saying: "Anyone who dares to surrender will be like this table!"
Sun Quan ordered Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu and others to lead 30,000 people to fight against Cao Cao. On the way, they met the two armies at Chibi. Cao Cao's army was defeated in the first battle because of illness and not accustomed to water. Cao Cao led his army to the north of the Yangtze River. Zhou Yu and Liu Bei's army set up camp on the south bank and the two sides faced off. Zhou Yu's general Huang Gai suggested using fire tactics to defeat Cao's army. Zhou Yu thought it was feasible and ordered Huang Gai to surrender. As expected, Cao Cao fell into the trap and all his ships were burned. Cao Cao returned from the north to Nanjun.
Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu marched into Nanjun again and held a stalemate with Cao Ren across the river. Before the two armies clashed, Zhou Yu first sent Gan Ning to occupy Yiling. Cao Ren sent some troops to surround Gan Ning, and Gan Ning asked Zhou Yu for help. Zhou Yu adopted Lu Meng's strategy and left Ling Tong to guard the rear. He led his army to rush to the aid of Yiling and defeated Cao's army at the gate of Yiling, killing more than half of them. Cao's army fled at night, passing through dangerous roads blocked by firewood, and all the horsemen abandoned their horses and walked. Zhou Yu led his troops to pursue and intercept, and obtained more than 300 horses, which greatly boosted the military power.
Zhou Yu led his troops to garrison on the north bank and agreed on a date to fight Cao Ren. Zhou Yu personally rode on horseback to supervise the battle, but was shot in the right side by a flying arrow. He was seriously injured and retreated back to the camp. Cao Ren heard that Zhou Yu was ill in bed and personally supervised the soldiers to attack Wu soldiers. Zhou Yu stood up and inspected each camp, motivating the soldiers to kill the enemy.
After a year of fighting, Zhou Yu killed so many people on Cao Ren that Cao Ren had to abandon the city and leave. Sun Quan appointed Zhou Yu as a partial general and the prefect of Rennan County, and made the three counties of Xiajun, Hanchang, and Zhouling his counties, and asked him to station troops in Jiangling. After the Battle of Chibi, Zhou Yu proposed to Sun Quan a plan to place Liu Bei under house arrest and directly manage the military subordinates in Liu Bei's camp. Sun Quan believed that Cao Cao still needed to be restrained in the north and that Liu Bei might be difficult to control, so he did not adopt it.
In the fifteenth year of Jian'an (AD 210), Sun Quan approved Zhou Yu's plan to conquer Yizhou. Zhou Yu returned to Jiangling, where he was stationed, and suddenly died of illness while traveling to Baqiu. He was only thirty-six years old. When Sun Quan heard this, he cried and said: "Gong Jin has the qualifications to be a king's assistant, but his life span is short. What else can I rely on?" He also put on mourning clothes in person to mourn Zhou Yu, which moved everyone around him. When Zhou Yu's coffin was transported back to Wu County, Sun Quan went to Wuhu to welcome him personally. After Sun Quan became emperor, he said to his ministers: "Without Gong Jin, I would not have been able to become emperor."
The boats of Zhuge Liang and Lu Su drifted all the way to Jiangxia. After passing through the waters of Xiangyang, a large number of warships appeared on the water of Han River. From a distance, they looked like a sea of cloud sails, which was particularly spectacular. Zhuge Liang stood on the bow of the boat, still thinking about Lu Su's evaluation of Zhou Gongjin. Zhou Gongjin was so eager to meet him. Whether he is a friend or an enemy, Zhou Gongjin is undoubtedly the most worthy person to take seriously.
Lu Su suddenly pointed forward and saw a flagship coming against the wind and waves. A general stood steadily on the bow of the ship. His face was unshaven, his body was covered with water and his leather armor was wet, but he exuded the charming charm of a savage, laughing. He shouted loudly: "Commander Zhuge! Commander Zijing! Gan Xingba has come to greet you two on orders from the Lord!"
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
