Outside Wuchang City, Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, dressed in brocade royal robes and a white rainbow sword hanging from his waist, stood in front of the civil and military officials with majestic appearance, graceful bearing, and full of kingly demeanor.
Today is the day when Lu Xun and others return to the court in triumph. Sun Quan leads the civil and military ministers ten miles out of the city to personally greet them.
"My minister Lu Xun, together with the governor Zhu Huan on the left, the governor Quan Cong on the right, and a group of soldiers, presented victory to the Supreme. Thanks to the supreme power and the soldiers' orders, I defeated Cao Xiu in Shiting and captured and killed more than 13,000 Wei soldiers. Tens of thousands of cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, and vehicles were obtained, and countless other military supplies and equipment were obtained.
The three Wei thieves were frightened when they heard the news and fled northward in a hurry. They were all defeated. Fortunately, I did not disgrace my orders and won this great victory. Now I have returned in triumph and I have sent my order to the Supreme Being. "
Soon, Lu Xun appeared in everyone's sight with tens of thousands of Wu troops. When he saw Sun Quan standing at the front to greet him, he quickly ordered the troops to stop, and he, Zhu Huan and other generals came forward to kowtow.
Sun Quan laughed loudly and personally helped Lu Xun up in front of him: "Bo Yan, please stand up, all the generals, please stand up. You have not shied away from life and death, you have killed thieves for the country, protected the territory and defended the territory. You have worked hard and made great achievements. Your name will go down in history and be praised throughout the ages."
I have prepared a banquet in the palace and camp to celebrate your success. I will enter the city soon. "
After saying that, Sun Quan took Lu Xun's hand and invited him to ride in the same car with him, but Lu Xun didn't even dare to say so.
Sun Quan advised: "This victory is a great achievement for Boyan. Why can't I ride in the same carriage with Gu? Besides, Gu still has many close friends to tell Boyan, so you don't have to refuse."
"I obey." Seeing that his lord had said this, Lu Xun stopped refusing.
Sun Quan got on the car and looked at Zhou Li on the left side. He saw that the hair on his head was sparse, and he was deeply moved. He asked him to come closer and comfort him, saying: "You have achieved such a great event by cutting off your hair, and your achievements are written on bamboo and silk."
Immediately he said in front of all the officials: "Qing Zhou has made great contributions to the country, and now I can only confer him the title of Marquis of Guannei."
"I would like to express my gratitude to you, Your Majesty, for your kindness, and I will not hesitate to express my gratitude to you!" Zhou Li cried and bowed.
This time the Wu army was able to achieve a complete victory, and Zhou Yi should be the main contributor. If he hadn't deceived Cao Xiu with his superb acting skills, the Wei army on the east route would not have been able to fall into the Wu army's trap alone.
In particular, Zhou Yi was willing to be humiliated and used the hair-cutting strategy to gain Cao Xiu's trust. This was actually the most ingenious part of the false surrender strategy. Without him sacrificing his reputation, the false surrender strategy would not have gone so smoothly.
Zhou Li was filled with emotion when he saw that his months of hard work had not been in vain. Today he was awarded the title in public. It was such an honor. Only then did he cry with joy and kept thanking Sun Quan.
That night, the Wu Palace was decorated with lanterns and colorful banquets. The delicacies were delicious and the silk and bamboo singing and dancing were pleasing to the eye. Sun Quan, Lu Xun and other Eastern Wu monarchs and ministers drank to their heart's content and toasted each other to celebrate this hard-won victory.
On the throne, Sun Quan's cheeks were slightly red, showing that he had drunk a lot of wine. Today was the day when he was satisfied and he should indulge in fun and get drunk.
In so many years of fighting against Cao Wei, the last time he achieved such a hearty victory was the Battle of Chibi twenty years ago.
Although he continued to conquer the north and successfully preserved Jiangdong's foundation, he knew in his heart that his army was not as good as the Wei army in land warfare. The reason why he defeated the Northern army many times was mainly due to the strength of his own navy.
Even in the great victory of Chibi, the Sun-Liu coalition relied on the naval fire attack to force Cao's army of more than 200,000 to be defeated.
But after this great victory at Shiting, he understood that as long as the strategy was used properly, Soochow's army could defeat the Wei army with a large number of cavalry in a land battle. Therefore, this victory greatly encouraged Sun Quan.
In the previous battle of Yiling, the Wu army defeated the Han army. In the current battle of Shiting, the Wu army defeated the Wei army. Sun Quan now has the confidence to fight against the Han and Wei families with the strength of his own family.
Of course, this is the worst plan. He will not easily put himself in the danger of fighting on two fronts unless it is absolutely necessary.
However, now that his strength has greatly increased, he has the confidence to make further plans for his fame. Founding a country and proclaiming himself emperor was his long-cherished wish, but for so many years, due to righteousness, he had not had many legitimate reasons to take this step.
Although Cao Wei usurped the throne, he had gone through the Zen throne process on the surface after all, and Ji Han regarded himself as the continuation of the Han Dynasty, which was also tenable in terms of the righteousness of blood.
Only Soochow is very embarrassed. It has no etiquette endorsement and is not a descendant of the Liu family. If it rashly proclaims emperor, the world will definitely be dissatisfied.
Therefore, if Sun Quan wants to become emperor, the only way is to make a fuss about his achievements. As long as his achievements are unparalleled and powerful, then he has the legal basis to become the emperor. Although this legal basis is only barely reasonable, it is better than nothing. Good.
Now that he first defeated the Shu Han and then the Cao Wei, he could barely claim to the world that he had great merit and prestige. In his opinion, this was enough for him to advance to the next level.
And if the Han-Wu alliance breaks down because he proclaims himself emperor, he will have the confidence to fight against the attacks of Ji Han and Cao Wei at the same time.
Therefore, Sun Quan was now in a good mood and kept drinking and joking with Lu Xun, Gu Yong, Zhu Huan and others.
Just thinking that his proclaiming the emperor would cause a conflict with Ji Han, he worriedly asked Lu Xun: "Bo Yan, although the victory of Shiting was fruitful, it was still not as good as the victory of Jieting in Xishu in the first half of the year. War, let alone the achievement of expanding the territory like the capture of Longyou, if I establish the emperorship of Dongwu and Jin Dynasty, there is no guarantee that Xishu will not accept it?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. This time our army defeated the Wei thieves, which is enough to make everyone in the world know how powerful our army is.
As for the fact that the results of the battle were not as good as those of Western Shu, it was actually because the Wei thieves on the eastern front had more soldiers and generals, while there were only tens of thousands of Wei thieves on the western front. It was easier for the Shu people to win, and the people of the world could clearly see the difference between the two. " Lu Xun analyzed half-truthfully.
He was the most important minister of Soochow, so he knew that Sun Quan had plans to become emperor in the near future, so he understood what his lord was worried about, so he chose nice words to cheer Sun Quan up.
In fact, he knew in his heart that the victory of the Han and Wu families could not be judged simply by the number of Wei troops they faced. After all, although the Wei army on the western front was not as powerful as the eastern front, the Han army only had tens of thousands of troops. people.
Coupled with factors such as topography, food transport, and soldier quality, it is impossible to say clearly in one or two sentences whether Jihan's Jieting victory or Soochow's Shiting victory is more valuable.
Seeing that Sun Quan still had doubts, Lu Xun continued to encourage him: "The supreme being is wise and powerful, the officials are wise and loyal, the people are prosperous and healthy, and the army is well-fed, it is enough to achieve the emperor's cause and build the foundation for a hundred generations.
Please don't worry, Your Majesty. Our king's division has both the advantages of boats and the power of land warfare, which is enough to compete with the Northern Army. This great victory is proof.
As for Xi Shu, it would be best if they could accept this. If not, what would I have to fear about Soochow? It's nothing more than a breakdown of the alliance and a repeat of what happened in Yiling. "
Hearing Lu Xun mention the Battle of Yiling, Sun Quan recalled the heroic deeds of beating Liu Bei with only his own life, and his confidence suddenly increased. He also remembered that he had defeated Cao Cao in the battle of Chibi, and he no longer had any scruples and acted with great courage. He said: "What Boyan said is absolutely true. Liu Bei and Cao Cao were defeated by Gu, let alone Liu Chan and Cao Rui."
"The Supreme Sees You!" Lu Xun praised.
The two of them coincidentally ignored Zhuge Liang, Ji Han's actual head, raised glasses to each other, smiled at each other, and celebrated happily.
