Chapter 146: The Gap between Han and Wu
Although there is no two suns in the sky and no two rulers for the people, there were three different calendars in use at that time: the first year of Taihe in Wei, the sixth year of Huangwu in Wu, and the fifth year of Jianxing in Shu Han.
Yizhou, Chengdu.
After Liu Bei captured Chengdu, proclaimed himself the King of Hanzhong, and ascended the throne as the emperor, the city of Chengdu, originally a county seat, began a large-scale transformation, and it took more than a year to build palaces and government offices of various central agencies.
In the spacious courtyard of Shangshutai in the south of the city, some weeds sprouted from the cracks in the floor tiles. Even in the morning, there were not many people moving around in the huge Shangshutai.
Li Yan, the Minister of the Secretariat, was sitting in his office in the Secretariat. He was practicing calligraphy while sitting behind his desk. On the shelf next to him were two bamboo scrolls, waiting for the ink to dry before being put away.
Li Yan had already written most of the bamboo slips spread out on the table.
There was a sound of footsteps coming from far away in the courtyard. The person coming was Shangshu Chen Feng. The door of Li Yan's duty room was open. Chen Feng knocked gently a few times, but there was no response from inside, so he walked in as usual.
Li Yan looked up at Chen Feng and said calmly, "Bo Ming, if you have anything to say, wait until I finish writing."
"Yes, sir." Chen Feng stood beside Li Yan's desk with his hands behind his back.
From Chen Feng's perspective, Li Yan's calligraphy is truly unique. His style is elegant and powerful, and he can almost be called a great calligrapher.
While writing, Li Yan recited the article silently.
"I truly cannot be on par with these gentlemen, so I remain silent and guard my Tai Xuan alone." As Li Yan finished reading this sentence word by word, the brush finally made a dot of ink on the bamboo slip, completing the word 'Xuan'.
Seeing that Li Yan had finished writing the last word, Chen Feng cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency's official script is becoming more and more majestic. I think even the calligraphy of Zhong Yuanchang of the Wei State is similar to this."
Li Yan sneered, "Zhong Yao is the Grand Commandant, and I heard that he was promoted to Grand Tutor last year, which is a level higher than the Three Dukes. Even if I can write calligraphy as well as Zhong Yao, how can my position compare to Zhong Yao's?"
"Bo Ming, look at this Shangshutai. I am the only Shangshuling guarding you Shangshus, and there are less than 20 clerks in the Tai. " Li Yan said with some indignation: "There were hundreds of people in the Tai in the past."
"This..." Chen Feng showed some frustration and tried to change the subject: "Perhaps the power and responsibility will gradually be returned to the Shangshutai, so don't worry too much. What article did you write today?"
Li Yan said: "Yang Xiong's Jiechao. Sitting in the Shangshutai all day with nothing to do, I could only write Jiechao to relieve my boredom."
"By the way, Bo Ming, what do you want from me?"
Li Yan looked up at Chen Feng.
Chen Feng bowed and said, "Sir, the Prime Minister's Office sent someone to tell you that the Prime Minister wants you to go to the Prime Minister's Office to discuss the matter."
Li Yan slowly stood up, snorted, and stretched. Chen Feng had been Li Yan's confidant for many years, so there was no need to hide his attitude in front of him.
"We are both ministers entrusted with the care of the emperor, but Zhuge Kongming can call me to the Prime Minister's Mansion to discuss matters, while no one cares about me in the Shangshutai. All government orders come from the Prime Minister's Mansion, and I am just a fake Shangshuling."
Chen Feng nodded and responded, "It has been almost four years since the Prime Minister opened his office in the first year of Jianxing. The number of people in the Shangshutai has been decreasing, while the number of people in the Prime Minister's Office has been increasing. The Shangshutai has become an empty shell."
"Your Excellency," Chen Feng looked at Li Yan, "I heard that among the ministers entrusted with the care of the orphan of Wei, Chen Qun and Sima Yi have already established their own offices."
"Humph," Li Yan said, "More than just opening a government office? The four ministers of Wei were entrusted with important tasks, while I, a minister of Han, sit idle all day. Zhuge Kongming wants me to go there today, and I must explain everything to him."
Half an hour later, Li Yan arrived at the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion and got off the carriage.
Military officer Ma Su met Li Yan at the door, bowed and said, "I am honored to meet you, Your Excellency. The Prime Minister has been waiting for you for a long time. Please come in and discuss matters with us."
Li Yan stood at the door of the Prime Minister's Mansion, but he did not have the frustrated and dissatisfied look he had just had at the Shangshutai. He asked kindly with a smile on his face, "Thank you for waiting for me at the door in person, but I wonder what the Prime Minister wants to discuss today?"
Ma Su said with a serious face: "Sir, the news of the war between Wei and Wu has reached Chengdu, and Wu has sent envoys to our Han Dynasty to ask for an alliance. The Prime Minister asked you to come here today for this matter."
"Oh? What was the outcome of the war between Wei and Wu?" Li Yan looked at Ma Su.
"The Wu army was badly defeated, but the Wei army had few ships and could not take advantage of the situation to cross the river." Ma Su shook his head slightly: "Please let your lord come in."
Li Yan nodded. Ma Su led Li Yan in from the front, and Li Yan followed Ma Su and walked slowly into the lobby of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Prime Minister Zhuge Liang sat in the hall with a serious expression. All the subordinates in the prime minister's office sat on both sides of the hall, and the front seat on the right was still empty.
Seeing Li Yan coming, Zhuge Liang stood up and said, "The righteous party is here, please take a seat." "Greetings, Prime Minister." Li Yan bowed and then took a seat.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhuge Liang no longer hesitated and began to speak: "Now the result of the war between Wei and Wu has come out. The Wu army was defeated and the Wei army won. In the past few years, our Han and Wu sent envoys to each other several times to make peace. Now that Wu has been defeated, what should we do? I want to hear your opinions."
Zhuge Liang pointed to Xiang Lang, the chief secretary of the prime minister, who was sitting opposite Li Yan and said, "Juda, you can tell everyone the whole story."
"As you wish." Xiang Lang stood up and said slowly, "In the second year of Jianxing, Wu sent Zhang Wen and Zhang Huishu to Chengdu as envoys. And last December, Zhang Wen came as an envoy for the second time."
"Zhang Wen came to Chengdu for the second time to inform our Han Dynasty that Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu was about to use military force against Wei, and that he wanted to continue the alliance with our Han Dynasty. After Zhang Wen completed his mission, the court sent Deng Zhi to Yong'an to escort Zhang Wen back to Wu.
"But before Zhang Wen reached the border, Wu sent another messenger to find Zhang Wen, informing him of the war between Wei and Wu and the great defeat of Wu, and asking Zhang Wen to seek a formal alliance with the Han Dynasty and ask the Han Dynasty to send troops to Liang Province to attack Chang'an."
"Zhang Wen and Deng Zhi knew that this matter was of great importance, so they returned to Chengdu from Yong'an as quickly as possible. Now that Zhang Wen has arrived in Chengdu, he wants to know the Han Dynasty's opinion on this matter as soon as possible, so the Prime Minister summoned you all here today to discuss the matter."
Zhuge Liang nodded while sitting in the hall. "That's right. Cao Wei has a vast territory and a large population, and Han and Wu combined are not as powerful as Wei. For several years, I have been trying to bridge the gap between Han and Wu, and you all know this."
"Prime Minister," Ma Su stood up and bowed, "It is the general trend for Han and Wu to form an alliance, but the people of Eastern Wu have repeatedly provoked the Han Dynasty, which is very hateful. Until now, Eastern Wu still calls our Han Dynasty 'Shu' and is unwilling to call it 'Han'."
"Now that the Eastern Wu has been defeated, they are trying to make peace with the Han. If we agree to Sun Quan's request, what will happen to the dignity of the Han?" Ma Su said sternly, "Please consider this, Prime Minister."
Li Yan watched Ma Su speak silently. What Ma Su meant by this was nothing more than seeking a reputation. But since Zhuge Liang said so, how could this matter not be accomplished?
After Ma Su said this, Deng Zhi stood up immediately.
"Prime Minister, when I was on a diplomatic mission to Wu, Sun Quan spoke rudely to the Han." Deng Zhi said, "At that time, Sun Quan said he was willing to make friends with the Han, but he was afraid that the Han was small and weak and could be taken advantage of by Wei, so he hesitated."
Deng Zhi continued, "Last year, the Prime Minister went on a southern expedition and subdued the rebellion in the south in less than a year. This is a remarkable feat. In addition, Sun Quan was defeated in Wancheng this time."
"With one increase and one decrease, I'm sure Sun Quan will no longer have any doubts."
Zhuge Liang nodded in response, "That's right. There are three factors that affect the alliance between Han and Wu."
"First, Eastern Wu was afraid that Han would be weak and taken advantage of by Cao Wei. Now that Nanzhong has been settled and has sufficient military equipment, and Sun Quan is protecting himself along the river, there is no big gap in strength between Han and Wu."
"Secondly, Sun Quan stigmatized Han as 'Shu'. Since Sun Quan intends to form an alliance, let Sun Quan change the name himself. This should not become an obstacle."
"Third, Your Majesty is the Emperor of Han and Sun Quan is the King of Wu. After the Battle of Yiling, Sun Quan wrote a letter to the late emperor, saying that Emperor Xiaomin was no longer alive, and he wanted the late emperor to remove his imperial title and change it to King of Hanzhong."
Zhuge Liang said calmly: "Since the status between Sun Quan and Your Majesty is so different, then either Sun Quan is willing to submit to the Han Dynasty, or Sun Quan declares himself emperor, or the Han and Wu can decide on reality regardless of status."
"Bo Miao," Zhuge Liang looked at Deng Zhi, "Go and invite the Eastern Wu envoy Zhang Wen over. I want to ask him in person."
Deng Zhi took the order and left.
Zhuge Liang's eyes moved to Li Yan. As a minister entrusted with the care of the emperor, Li Yan still had some status and influence in the court. Although all political affairs were now in the hands of the prime minister, he still had to strive to reach an agreement with Li Yan on such national affairs.
"Zheng Fang, what do you think about the alliance with Wu?" Zhuge Liang asked.
Li Yan thought for a moment, then said, "Prime Minister, Wei is a usurping enemy, and Dongwu is an enemy that repeatedly broke the alliance and caused the previous emperor's defeat. Both Wei and Wu are actually enemies of the Han Dynasty, it's just a matter of priority."
"I think it would be better to report this matter to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to make the final decision. Everyone knows that Soochow and the late emperor are enemies. This is a national feud. Let's see if Your Majesty is willing to put this feud aside."
Zhuge Liang frowned slightly.
It is the general trend to unite with Wu.
If the Eastern Wu had really waited until it was weak and surrendered to Wei again or was destroyed by Wei, the Han Dynasty would now only have Yizhou. Even if Jiang Shang and Sun Wu were reborn, it would probably be difficult to reverse the situation.
Although Li Yan's words did not express opposition, they were actually between agreement and disagreement. However, what Li Yan had just said, "Your Majesty, please make the final decision," was so correct that no one could find fault with it.
Zhuge Liang nodded slightly and said, "What Zheng Fang said is absolutely right. I will explain this matter to Your Majesty."
(End of this chapter)
