Yang Huiyu said it straight away, and the general meaning was:
Our Shandong Yang family only rose up after being honored by the Han Dynasty. When Cao Wei usurped the Han Dynasty, did you see anyone in the family stand up?
How old is Cao Wei?
You haven't even become an official yet, and you're already thinking about becoming a loyal minister of the Wei Dynasty?
Have you never thought about why the family has only promoted your reputation for so many years but not allowed you to become an official?
Isn't it because the situation is unclear?
Not to mention not being optimistic about Cao Wei now.
It's a good thing for you, you actually started to worry about what will happen to Cao Wei's family in the future?
Don’t know how much you weigh?
If we really have this intention, we might as well prepare for the future of our Yang family now.
Yang Hu felt dizzy.
After a while, he said a little bit:
"Sister, I must have forgotten that Feng Wenhe..."
Yang Huiyu's eyes widened: "Feng Wenhe?"
"Oh, no, what I mean is that Feng Mingwen is known for his clever words, seductiveness, cruelty, and ruthlessness. Well, he also has foresight."
Yang Hu hesitated and said, "Besides, I also know that the Han Kingdom has always been unkind to wealthy families."
"Especially the suppression of our Central Plains aristocratic family is even more severe."
The riots in Hedong and the relocation of Shangdang, which one of them doesn't make the big families in Guandong feel lingering fear?
Yang Huiyu sneered:
"I also heard that some wealthy families in Liangzhou were exterminated!"
At the beginning of the Shangdang battle, many Guandong aristocratic families applauded and celebrated. Among them, Guo Xun, wasn't he a descendant of the Guo family who was exterminated in Xiping, Liangzhou?
"And the Li family, the largest family in Shu, I heard that the children of his family are almost as good as the common people?"
"But so what? Did it influence the Jiang family from Liangzhou to sneak across Sangchoyuan to attack Hanguguan? Or did it influence the Zhang family from Shu to sneak across to Maojin to attack Shaanxi?"
The Jiang family is one of the four surnames in Tianshui.
The Zhang family is the tenth generation grandson of Zhang Liuhou (namely Zhang Liang).
Aren't they descendants of the rich families in Shu in Liangzhou?
As he spoke, Yang Huiyu stared at Yang Hu and said:
"No one wants to be exterminated, and no family wants to decline, but the general trend of the world is vast. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish."
"One day, if the Han army reaches Guandong, what do you plan to do? Or do you think there is a way to prevent the Han army from going east?"
Yang Hu was speechless.
After a long time, he said dullly:
"You always have to think of something, right?"
Yang Huiyu said unceremoniously:
"Mencius said: Those who give orders do not stand under a rock wall. Those who die while doing their best are righteous lives; those who shackle the dead are not righteous lives."
"You have repeatedly refused the Wei Dynasty's conquests, and you have never even eaten at Wei Lu. The Wei Dynasty is not your way."
"Now we want to go against the general trend and go towards the Wei Dynasty. This can be said to be standing under the rock wall. Why not die in chains?"
"There is also a saying in the Book of Changes: A gentleman works hard all day long and is vigilant at night. There is no fault. Instead of reflecting, you complain all day long and do nothing. This is not the behavior of a gentleman."
"You don't understand the world, and you don't know the general trend, let alone working hard all day long and vigilant at night. Compared with the children of the Liangzhou and even Guanzhong aristocratic families in Shu, you are far behind!"
Yang Hu retreated with shame on his face.
After returning to his residence, Yang Hu seriously reflected on himself according to what his sister said.
Over the years, I have never shied away from suspicion, and I have been courteous to my uncle's family. Although outsiders dare not say anything, many people secretly praise me.
In addition, he escorted my maternal aunt to Chang'an, and the Han Dynasty received much praise.
Especially when he went to the Xin clan in Longxi to deliver a letter, he was warmly welcomed by the Xin clan chief and clan elders.
You are young and promising, your virtues are strong, and your conduct is far-reaching...
From east to west, and then from west to east, many praises were added to me, which seemed to make me feel a little elated.
After figuring this out, Yang Hu looked up to the sky and sighed:
"Sister is right, I am much worse than others. From today on, I should close my door and concentrate on studying and immerse myself in my mind."
Travel thousands of miles and read thousands of books.
Now that I have returned from my travels, I should sharpen my knowledge again and strive for excellence.
——
In the sixth year of Yanxi, there was no war in the Three Kingdoms.
The only one who was restless was Zhuge Ke who was stationed at Wankou of Lujiang River.
After Zhuge Ke pacified Shanyue, he took the initiative to lead his troops to farm at Wankou of Lujiang River.
After he arrived at Wankou, he took advantage of the Wei army's inattention and sent light troops to attack Shu County on the Wei border, captured the people in the county, and then returned to the army.
In the previous period, Quan Cong, the commander-in-chief of the Wu State, was able to lead a surprise attack on Shouchun. It was precisely because Zhuge Ke worked carefully with many factions, observed different things, and knew the roads well.
Over the years, although the state of Wu repeatedly failed to attack Hefei, Zhuge Ke had repeatedly succeeded in causing harm to Wei, and he had accumulated a lot of military exploits.
Over time, Shu County, a border county originally used to guard against the Wu army, became increasingly disturbed.
Xie Shunying, the defender of Shu County, had no choice but to appeal to Wang Ling, the general who was in charge of Yangzhou's military affairs. He said that Shu County was too close to the border of Wu, the defenders were too few, and the terrain was unfavorable.
It is recommended to evacuate soldiers and civilians and abandon the city.
If Wang Ling can get revenge, he won't allow it.
He ordered Wen Qin, the governor of Lujiang, to increase his troops in Shu County. At the same time, once there was a police force in Shu County, reinforcements must be sent immediately.
Although Wen Qin and Wang Ling were at odds, he would eventually be controlled by Wang Ling.
What's more, Wen Qin was named the champion general by Cao Shuang and had a rather false reputation in the army. He wanted to show off his bravery and meritorious service on weekdays to prove that he lived up to his reputation.
So this time Wang Ling asked him to send troops to Shu County, but he agreed without any hesitation.
The movements of the Wei army could not be hidden from Zhuge Ke, who had been paying attention to the movements in the north.
Zhuge Ke reported to Jianye to warn that the Wei army was planning to go south, and at the same time he reorganized his troops and prepared for battle.
They even sent a team of troops to guard Shiting in advance.
Jianye, across the river from Wankou, quickly received a warning from Zhuge Ke, and Emperor Sun was in the court, intending to send troops to respond.
However, it was strongly opposed by Lu Xun.
Wuchang borders Jingzhou to the west and Lujiang River to the east. In addition to the Battle of Shiting, Lu Xun has been in Wuchang for a long time and is most familiar with the terrain around the Lujiang River.
He pointed out that if the Wei thieves really wanted to go south from Shucheng to invade the border, they could only take the stone and trailer to Shiting. This road is extremely dangerous.
When Cao Xiu led an army of 100,000 people to take this route, they all had to be defeated and returned.
Now the traitors have only ten or twenty thousand soldiers, and the generals are even more unknown. How dare they come from this way?
As the actual commander of the Shiting Battle, coupled with his status as a general and his high prestige in the army, Lu Xun's words were quite convincing.
Although Sun Quan had long been dissatisfied with Lu Xun, in terms of military matters, he had to seriously consider Lu Xun's opinions.
After Lu Xun finished his analysis of the Lujiang River, he revealed to Sun Quan a phenomenon in Wu's border army:
Border generals are very happy to invite war criminals to the north. This seems to be for the sake of the country, but in fact it is more for personal gain.
One is because they can accumulate military merit, and the other is because they can rob the border people into tribes.
A win will not damage the foundation of Wei, but will only strengthen the generals; a defeat will damage the majesty of your majesty, and it will be a waste of the country's food, grass and soldiers.
I hope your Majesty will check it out.
This remark was just about naming Zhuge Ke and saying that he had been harassing the north for many years. Apart from enriching himself and his generals, it had no benefit to the country at all.
The battle the year before last could be regarded as the most devastating battle for Wu State.
On the east and west fronts, almost all the troops were sent out one after another.
Not only did it consume the last grain of grain in Wu's treasury, it even borrowed a lot of foreign debt from Han.
If not, why would all the customs duties in Jingzhou be mortgaged?
Even after taking Xiangyang, Emperor Sun tacitly approved the conversion of rice to mulberry in Nanjun.
There is no way!
In addition to paying off foreign debts, our own family must also find ways to increase revenue as much as possible, or in other words, as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, the treasury would be empty, and anyone else would be in a panic.
Without the continuous support from the Han State, even if the large spring was cast to 5,000, it would still be too much!
The 5,000 cavalry army being formed alone has not yet started fighting. The money and food consumed in a year is equivalent to a 50,000 infantry army - and this is before the war.
The cost of raising one war horse is at least equivalent to raising six or seven soldiers.
Plus the cost of cavalry.
There are also weapons, armor, etc. that need to be equipped.
Raising one cavalry can raise ten foot soldiers, it’s really no joke.
This is still a saving.
If you really want to follow the Han culture, it would be even higher.
With the Wu State's foundation, it would have been necessary to cast a thousand springs just to support the navy infantry in the country.
Now we have to raise such an additional cavalry force. Without the support of the Han State, financial collapse will be a matter of a blink of an eye.
Sun Quan did not expect that the burden of raising such a cavalry army would be so heavy.
To say that he has no regrets in his heart would be a lie.
But now, no matter how much he regrets and bleeds in his heart, he can only bite the bullet and continue to hold on.
After all, he put in so much effort and gave Han Dynasty shipbuilding technology and taught him the method of ship warfare.
The cavalry was disbanded before the last battle was fought. That would really mean losing both the wife and the troops.
The sunk costs are too high!
Not only is the treasury of the State of Wu not supporting the State of Wu to fight another war, but the domestic situation in the State of Wu also does not support the State of Wu being able to send out large armies to the north every year as it did in the early years.
The sneak attack on Shouchun the year before last almost succeeded, but in the end it failed, and then the prince Sun Deng suddenly fell seriously ill and died.
For Sun Quan, who was over sixty years old, this was indeed a big blow.
Nowadays, undercurrents are surging in the Wu Kingdom. Sun Quan has felt that time is tight and has no choice but to turn his focus to rectifying the internal situation. He does not have much energy to deal with the outside world.
Therefore, Lu Xun's memorial at this time actually coincided with his intention.
So he pretended to accept the advice, suspended sending troops across the river, and asked Yusi to divine things in the north.
Soon, the fortune tellers predicted that it would be unfavorable to send troops.
Sure enough, not long after, news came from Jiangbei again that the Wei army had increased its troops in Shu County, but it was to strengthen defense and had no intention of going south.
The ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government all praised Lu Xun for his foresight.
Sun Quan also praised it, but in fact he became more and more afraid of it.
However, after this incident, Sun Quan felt that Zhuge Ke had indeed provoked the northern border too frequently as Lu Xun said.
If it were in the past, it would still be okay.
But at this time, the state of Wu was different from the past, so Zhuge Ke was transferred to Chaisang.
Zhuge Ke was transferred away from the front line and lost the opportunity to perform meritorious service. He also learned that Lu Xun was responsible for this matter. He knew that the general had always disliked him, so he wrote a letter to Lu Xun personally:
Yang Jingshu passed down the Qing Dynasty theory and believed that nowadays, the number of people is withering away, and there are not many people who uphold morality, so it is appropriate to be around them. He is also a auxiliary chariot, and he is responsible for state affairs at the top and cherishes the prime minister at the bottom. The disciples who are about to enter do not want to laugh. Hearing this, he sighed and sincerely attacked the festival alone.
A fool thinks that a gentleman does not want to be prepared by one person. Among the three thousand disciples of Confucius, he saw seventy-two. As for the seventy disciples such as Zizhang, Zilu, and Zigong, they all have the virtues of a sub-sage, but they still have their own shortcomings. How can they be given or not given orders?
…
Husbands will not let go of small mistakes, and they will blame each other for the smallest things. Over time, it will lead to resentment in every household, and a country will not be able to regain the integrity of its people.
The general idea is that the country has withered away its talents over the years and should boldly promote them. There are 3,000 disciples of the saint, but only 72 are outstanding. And these outstanding disciples also have their own shortcomings.
This is still the case for disciples of saints, let alone us people?
I just hope that the general will not hold on to small mistakes and demand perfection. Otherwise, over time, everyone will just blame each other and no one in our Da Wu will be promoted.
Zhuge Ke's letter was delivered to Lu Xun, but after reading it, Lu Xun just put it aside and did not reply to Zhuge Ke's letter.
Because he has more important things to deal with.
Prime Minister Gu Yong's condition has further worsened and he is bedridden.
As acting prime minister, he has more and more affairs to deal with.
Not to mention that the incident between the prince and King Lu is getting more and more intense, and now some courtiers have begun to get involved.
To be precise, there were sons of courtiers who either openly or secretly took refuge with the prince and King Lu respectively.
In Lu Xun's view, these children wanted to go out privately to seek glory and profit. If they did not do well, they would eventually bring disaster, and if they got lucky, it would also be detrimental to the country.
What's more, the prince and King Lu have these children as their wings. The two palaces are powerful enemies, and they must have each other. This is a taboo of the ancients.
All kinds of things made Lu Xun deeply worried.
Quanji, the son of the Grand Governor Quan Cong, was in contact with Sun Ba, the king of Lu, which pushed the dispute between the two palaces to a dangerous stage.
Lu Xun did not write to Zhuge Ke. Instead, he wrote a letter to Quan Cong.
The letter said: If you do not learn from Jin Rixi, but stay with Ah Ji, you will eventually bring disaster to your family!
To learn from Jin Rixi means to learn from Jin Rixi.
Jin Rixi was one of the auxiliary ministers appointed by Emperor Xiaowu of the Han Dynasty before his death.
During his lifetime, Emperor Xiaowu of the Han Dynasty trusted Jin Rixi very much and loved the house and the crow. He also loved Jin Rixi's son very much.
His eldest son has been with Emperor Xiaohan Wu since he was a child. It can be said that he grew up in the palace.
One time, Jin Rixi saw his son playing with the palace maids, and thought that he was messing with the palace.
Moreover, this son is too frivolous and does not know the importance of dignity. Sooner or later, he will bring trouble to the family.
So Jin Rixi killed his eldest son.
Lu Xun asked Quan Cong to "learn from Jin Rixi", which meant that he should learn from Jin Rixi to kill his son so as not to "bring disaster to the family".
When Quan Cong received Lu Xun's letter, he cursed on the spot:
"How dare Lu Boyan bully me!"
When a father says that his son is a dog, that is called self-effacement.
If other people really want to accept this and say that your son is a dog, who will be happy if you change it?
He even said that this dog is not only evil, but will also bring disaster to your family. It is better to kill him early and have peace of mind.
What’s the point!
Can you speak?
"I have never approached you to settle the matter concerning Shouchun's military exploits. It is because of the sake of your being the great general."
"Not only do you not know good from evil, you actually dare to let me kill your son? Do you really think that I am easy to bully!"
The more Quan Cong thought about it, the more he couldn't restrain the rising anger in his heart.
