Wuchang, Wu Palace.
Sun Quan leaned on the couch with a drunken look on his face, and behind him were two palace ladies who were rubbing his back and shoulders. The palace ladies' techniques were extremely skillful, and they made him feel quite comfortable, and he fell into a deep sleep within a short while.
"Supreme, supreme..."
Sun Quan was sleeping soundly when he suddenly heard someone calling softly in his ear. He opened his eyes and saw that it was his personal servant.
"What's the matter?"
The chamberlain replied: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister, General Fuguo, General Zuo, General Fenwu, and General Suinan would like to see you."
"Oh, it seems the banquet has broken up."
Sun Quan nodded and said, "Bring me some sobering soup."
A palace maid hurriedly presented the warm sobering soup. After drinking it, Sun Quan felt much more awake. He changed his clothes and went to the front hall to meet the ministers.
"I will see you, Your Majesty." Seeing Sun Quan appear, Gu Yong, Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, Zhu Huan, and Quan Cong quickly bowed and saluted.
Sun Quan walked to the main seat and sat down. He waved his robe sleeves and said with a smile, "Without courtesy, please take a seat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After Gu Yong and others took their seats, Sun Quan asked, "Have Fei Wenwei and Chen Xiaoqi gone back?"
It turned out that just this morning, Fei Yi and Chen Zhen came to Wuchang as Ji Han's envoys and reported to Sun Quan the details of the successful conclusion of the Han Army's Second Northern Expedition. In the evening, Sun Quan and his ministers held a grand ceremony for them. The wind-receiving feast.
Sun Quan was a little excited tonight and drank too much involuntarily, so he left the banquet early and returned to the back hall to sober up.
It's just that the end of Ji Han's second Northern Expedition was a big deal. He couldn't wait to discuss it in court tomorrow. He had to discuss it with his trusted ministers tonight before he could rest in peace. So before leaving, he asked his chamberlains to discuss it one by one. Inform Gu Yong, Lu Xun and others to come to the back hall to meet him after the banquet.
"Back to the Supreme Being, Bu Zishan has sent the two of them back to Guanyi to rest." Gu Yong replied.
Sun Quan nodded and said: "That's good." After a pause, he continued: "My lords, the Second Northern Expedition of Western Shu is over. Zhuge Liang led the main force of the Shu army back to Hanzhong. This year, our three families of Wu, Shu and Wei should have no more wars. I don't know. What do you think our next strategy for Soochow will be?"
"Your Majesty, although the Northern Expedition to Western Shu was initiated by Zhuge Liang based on the changes in the world situation, on the surface it was in the name of fulfilling the obligations of an ally and containing the Wei army on the western front for our Soochow. This time they won and returned triumphantly. We Soochow must not lose its etiquette, and must send envoys to Chengdu to congratulate the Lord of Shu no matter what." Gu Yong was the first to say.
Sun Quan stroked his beard and said thoughtfully: "Well, it is proper to send an envoy to Xishu. However, the selection and gifts must be carefully considered, so as not to lose the face of Soochow."
This time Fei Yi and Chen Zhen were on their mission to Soochow. In addition to some ordinary treasures, the most precious gift they gave Sun Quan was the five hundred horses. Even though there were countless rare treasures hidden in Sun Quan's palace, when he saw When he arrived at the five hundred horses, he was still full of praise and quite satisfied.
After all, Soochow lacked horses and could not form a large-scale cavalry. Even though Sun Quan and his ministers tried every means to buy and plunder horses from the north, under Cao Wei's strict blockade, there were still not many horses in the country.
Although Ji Han also lacked war horses like Soochow before, but now that he has obtained all of Liangzhou and half of Yongzhou, horses can no longer be a problem restricting the growth of the Han army's combat power.
This time Ji Han sent 500 horses to Soochow at once, and they were fine horses from the Yongliang area. Therefore, the weight of this gift is not unimportant, and the return gift from Soochow must be equally reciprocal, otherwise It is very likely that Ji Hanjun and Chen will laugh.
"Who do you think should be sent as envoy to Western Shu?" Sun Quan asked.
Gu Yong smiled and said, "I thought this matter was none other than Ziyu's."
"Haha, the Prime Minister is right. Tzuyu is the most suitable choice."
Sun Quan smiled, looked at Zhuge Jin and said, "Tzuyu, what do you mean?"
"I am willing to go." Zhuge Jin responded with cupped hands.
Sun Quan then asked Lu Xun and the others, "Bo Yan, what do you think?"
Due to the relationship between Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin has served as a messenger between the two families many times since the Liu Bei era, so this matter is very familiar to him.
Lu Xun and the other three also knew this and all agreed. Sun Quan nodded and said, "Okay, the matter has been settled. Ziyu will go to Xishu for a visit. As for the selection of deputy envoys and congratulatory gifts, they will be discussed in court tomorrow. Let's not talk about it tonight."
"Yes." Five people responded in unison.
Sun Quan's expression changed and he said solemnly: "My lords, although the victory of Western Shu's Northern Expedition is also beneficial to us, Soochow, the combat power of the Shu army this year must have been too strong.
Not only were Liangzhou and Longyou captured by Western Shu, but even the three cities of Wugong, Yicheng and Chencang in Guanzhong were also occupied by the Shu army. Compared with them, our harvest in Soochow this year is not much! "
Gu Yong, Lu Xun and others exchanged glances with each other after hearing this. They all knew that their lord's old habit had returned. This was due to jealousy after seeing other people's great achievements in battle. It was not a gentleman's behavior to be jealous of others.
However, although they were complaining in their hearts, they still had a look of concern on their faces.
Lu Xun asked: "Is the Supreme Being worried that the powerful combat power of the Shu army will threaten Soochow?"
"This is just one aspect. The more important thing is that the two alliances jointly defeated Wei, but one achieved a greater result and the other suffered a smaller result. This seems a bit unfair.
Of course, Gu is not jealous or jealous of Xishu. It's just why every alliance with the West has this result. I don't understand. The reason behind this is worth pondering for you and me. " Sun Quan said.
Lu Xun thought to himself: "What is this if not jealousy? Most of the results achieved by others are due to their abilities. It is useless for us to be jealous and jealous. We still have to take care of our own side. The only way is to enrich the country and strengthen its troops, accumulate national strength, and open a gap on the Eastern Front. , can truly reverse this situation.”
He thought so, but did not dare to say it out loud. He comforted tactfully: "Supreme Lord, the Shu army's combat power has indeed become stronger in the past two years, but the fundamental reason why they were able to capture cities and territories and kill enemies this year is It's because I, Soochow, have contained most of the Wei soldiers on the eastern front.
Cao Wei has always regarded Soochow as its number one enemy, and this has been even more true since Liu Bei's death. Cao Wei has deployed more than 100,000 troops to confront our army on the borders of Jingzhou and Yangzhou for many years, but only deployed two or three troops in the Guanlong area on the western front. Thousands of people and horses will only increase to 50,000 or 60,000 in the second half of this year.
With such a small force, the Shu army can naturally achieve greater results in a surprise attack. The same is true for our Soochow army. Therefore, the Supreme Lord does not need to worry about this. I predict that Cao Wei will send a large number of troops to Guanzhong next year. By then, it will not be so easy for Zhuge Liang to achieve such great results as this year. "
"Yes, what Boyan said is very reasonable. Your Majesty, the Shu army only achieved such great results by taking advantage of Cao Wei's lack of precautions. It's not like we fought the Wei army in a big battle with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses and achieved such great results. Although we have achieved less victory, our combat power and national strength are not comparable to those of the small country of Western Shu." Zhu Huan also agreed.
Hearing what the top generals in the country said, Sun Quan finally felt better and said with a smile: "Well, what you said is right. Zhuge Liang will not have such good luck next year. We have to wait and see when he conquers Cao Wei." We are from Soochow."
"Supreme Saint!" Seeing that their lord's expression finally softened, everyone quickly gave him a light flattery.
