Last year, when Sima Zhi was sent as an envoy to Wuchang and brought the news that Sun Luban had been captured by Cao Wei and taken as a concubine by Cao Rui, the rulers and ministers of Eastern Wu at that time were quite puzzled.
Now that Sun Luban is pregnant, it adds a lot of uncertainty to the volatile situation.
How to do?
What else can I do! I can't let Sun Quan disown his daughter!
Seeing that Gu Yong and Zhang Zhao were silent, Sun Quan sighed and said, "The relationship between our Sun family and the Cao family is becoming more and more complicated."
Gu and Zhang remained silent.
This is a sensitive and complicated matter, and as it is a dispute between the kings of Wu and Wei, as a minister, you cannot help but avoid it, so how can you take the initiative to make suggestions?
Sun Quan hinted twice, but the two important officials sitting beside him did not respond. Sun Quan was embarrassed for a moment and could only cough and say, "Yuan Tan! How do you think I should reply to Cao Rui about this matter?"
"Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I will think about this for a moment." Gu Yong responded with a bow, then lowered his head to think.
Sun Quan did not urge them, and Zhang Zhao was in a good mood. The three of them just sat opposite each other in the hall without saying a word.
When it comes to the marriage between the Cao and Sun families, it was Cao Cao who started it.
When Sun Ce was still alive, the Cao and Sun families completed two marriages.
Cao Cao's son Cao Zhang married the daughter of Sun Quan's cousin Sun Ben. According to this theory, Cao Cao and Sun Quan were of the same generation.
Sun Quan's younger brother, Sun Kuang, married Cao Cao's niece. In this way, Sun Quan was of the same generation as Cao Pi.
Although these two marriages happened more than 20 years ago, they can still be used as evidence if we want to discuss them.
now……
Gu Yong coughed lightly and said, "Your Majesty, I think we should send some gifts to Luoyang as we did last year."
"Since we are unable to send troops to attack the north right now, it is better to take a long-term view."
While Gu Yong was saying this, Sun Quan was also observing the facial expression of his prime minister.
It may be said to be a national affair, but in essence, it is actually Sun Quan's own personal affair.
Before the Battle of Red Cliffs, when Lu Su advised Sun Quan to fight Cao Cao, he used the example that he could surrender but Sun Quan could not.
But twenty years later, it seemed that Sun Quan himself had become the father-in-law of the Wei emperor? Sun Quan himself could not get rid of this suspicion no matter what.
Gu Yong's words made Sun Quan satisfied. At least the matter was not beyond his control.
Sun Quan nodded and said, "Since we are already sending gifts to Wei, why not go all out. Tell Yangzhou Governor Lü Ziheng to also send a gift to Cao Xiu in Shouchun."
"I remember that Cao Xiu's birthday is coming soon. It's a good opportunity for Lu Ziheng to have a better personal relationship with Cao Xiu."
"Yuan sighed," Sun Quan looked at Gu Yong, "Please draft a reply letter for me to Cao Rui. By the way, please ask me, the trade between Wei and Wu has been cut off for a long time. Can the two sides lift the border ban and restore the trade route that was cut off seven years ago?"
"Your Majesty is wise," Gu Yong said with a look of surprise, "If Wei can agree, it would be best if we can buy some horses through the trade route."
Zhang Zhao coughed lightly and said, "I don't think this will be easy, but we can ask Wei to send some horses to Wu under the pretext of paying tribute."
Sun Quan's heart moved.
Under the guise of paying tribute? The last time Sun Quan exchanged horses from Wei under the guise of paying tribute was when Cao Pi appointed him the King of Wu. Now he is using this old trick again. Could it be that Zhang Zhao meant to acquiesce in Wu's vassalage to Wei?
Sun Quan was not wrong in his guess. Zhang Zhao was just testing Sun Quan's inner thoughts.
It is a pity that Zhang Zhao, as a veteran minister for decades, can only use this method to test the king's mind.
But three feet of ice does not freeze in one day.
If Sun Quan's previous actions had not completely hurt Zhang Zhao's heart, how could Zhang Zhao have been able to understand Sun Quan like he is today, only through testing?
Sun Quan's expression gradually turned cold: "Don't mention this matter again. Yuan Tan, didn't an envoy from Liaodong send a ship to Jianye a few days ago? Then send someone to Liaodong on the ship to discuss the matter of buying horses with Gongsun Yuan!"
"Write another letter to Liu Chan in Chengdu, asking him on my behalf about the battle situation on the front line. Also, why Cao Rui has already sent the battle report to Wuchang, but I have not received any news from Zhuge Liang!"
After all, walk away.
Zhang Zhao is now old and virtuous, so naturally there would be no sign of anything wrong with his facial expression.
But my inner disappointment with Sun Quan increased.
If you want to save face, why do you send gifts to Wei? If you don't want to save face, why can't you even talk about the old story of buying horses?
……
Three days later, in Shanggui, in the afternoon.
"This is my personnel arrangement for Yong, Qin, and Liang. What do the general and the minister of work think?"
After Cao Rui finished speaking, he looked at Cao Zhen and Sima Yi.
"There is one thing I don't understand, and I hope Your Majesty can help me clear it up." Cao Zhen said with a bow.
"It's okay, General, just ask." Cao Rui said.
Cao Zhen paused for a moment before asking, "I really don't understand why Your Majesty values this place so much?"
"Military commanders have never stationed troops in such a remote place! Moreover, the place is remote and mountainous, and there is no major transportation route." "I have thought about it for a long time, but I still can't figure it out."
Cao Rui looked up at Cao Zhen for a moment, and for a moment he was not sure whether Cao Zhen really didn't understand or was pretending to be confused in order to "praise" him.
Cao Rui then turned to look at Sima Yi: "Where is Sikong? What does Sikong think of this Dazhong?"
Sima Yi glanced at Cao Zhen, then looked up at the emperor, opened his mouth, but no sound came out for a while.
In the past year and a half since he served His Majesty, Sima Yi had also had many times when he did not understand His Majesty's decisions. But looking back, he was able to prove that His Majesty's ideas were correct.
Now this Dazhong...
Your Majesty values Dazhong so much, could it be that you want to conquer Shu through this place?
Sima Yi replied: "Dazhong can go south to Yinping, which can be used as a route to attack Shu."
Cao Rui smiled and nodded: "That's basically the truth, but my specific thoughts are more complicated than this."
"Sikong, do you know why Zhuge Liang wanted to invade Longyou to the north?"
Sima Yi was familiar with this kind of question and answered immediately: "It is to take advantage of the fact that the reinforcements of Wei are far away in Luoyang to swallow up Longyou and then advance to Guanzhong!"
Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi with a hint of appreciation: "What Sikong said is half right."
"What does the general say?"
From a military perspective, Sima Yi was not wrong at all.
Cao Zhen followed suit and said from another perspective: "Could it be that because Guanzhong is difficult to attack and the roads are cut off, they chose Longyou as their strategic destination?"
"No, no."
Cao Rui stood up and walked to the front of the map, pointed in the direction of Hanzhong and said:
"General and Minister of Works, please take a look. During the Jian'an period, Emperor Wu attacked Hanzhong twice, either starting from Guanzhong or from Chencang Road. But no matter which route was taken, the strategic destination was Hanzhong."
"Hanzhong is surrounded by mountains and has many passes. Zhuge Liang is not a fool like Zhang Lu. In terms of defense alone, if I go to Hanzhong now, I don't have much chance of winning."
Cao Zhen and Sima Yi also came to the map together.
Cao Rui continued, "If we follow the previous deployment of Wei in Longyou and Guanzhong, no matter how the battle was fought, Zhuge Liang would defend both places with Hanzhong alone. Wei had to divide its troops, but Zhuge Liang did not."
After saying this, Cao Rui pointed to Lintao on the south side of Longxi County, and then to Dazhong on the south side of Lintao:
"I just want to open up another front in the west, so that we can have another strategic standoff with the Shu army."
"From then on, the Wei Dynasty changed from Longyou and Guanzhong facing Hanzhong to Qinzhou's Yinping and Wudu facing Hanzhong and Zitong."
"But if this is the case, how can Qinzhou survive in such poverty? How can it afford to support so many soldiers?" Cao Zhen asked with a little confusion.
"This is what I will say later." Cao Rui said: "If we want to use Qinzhou County to properly defend Yizhou County, then we must naturalize the Qiang people as soon as possible."
"After Zhuge Liang withdrew his troops from Longyou, the Qiang and Di people in Wudu, Yinping, Nangan, and Tianshui had already begun to feel resentful towards Shu."
"Lu Xun told me about this a few days ago."
Cao Zhen nodded and said, "We can win over the Qiang chieftains with titles and positions, and keep the Qiang people by farming. If all the millions of Qiang people can be used by Wei, why do we need the central army to come to our aid this time?"
"That's what I meant." Cao Rui said with a smile, "So I promoted Lu Xun to lead the Qiang troops for me, and planned to have him pacify Dazhong, and then lead the Qiang people to cultivate land in Dazhong to intimidate Yinping and Zitong."
Cao Zhen wanted to ask the emperor why he knew that Da Zhong could be used for military farming, but after thinking it over, he did not ask, as it seemed that he, a great general, was too ignorant of the geographical advantages.
But Cao Zhen didn't know that Cao Rui himself didn't know much about the geographical advantages of the place. The reason why he knew that Dazhong could be used for farming was thanks to Jiang Wei, the Minister of the Imperial Guards who served in the hall.
After hearing the emperor's words, Cao Zhen nodded and sighed, "Your Majesty, the establishment of Qinzhou is great!"
"Since Emperor Wu withdrew from Hanzhong, Wei had no idea how to attack Shu, so they had to wait until Zhuge Liang led his troops to attack."
"First, establish Qinzhou and confront Hanzhong in Wudu. Then attack Dazhong and Yinping to contain the military power of Yizhou."
"Attack and defense have changed!"
Cao Rui laughed and said, "Besides this Da Zhong, do the General and the Minister of Works have anything else to ask me?"
Sima Yi hesitated for a few moments, but still asked, "Your Majesty, would you consider the position of your humble brother Sima Shuda?"
Cao Rui shook his head: "Reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have made mistakes. I am not a person who is stingy with official positions and seals. Let this matter be settled like this."
Sima Yi clasped his hands and said, "I thank your majesty for his grace on behalf of my brother."
Cao Rui, however, waved his hand and said, "Call all the ministers in!"
"Just now I had a heart-to-heart talk with you two, and I will do the same with them!" (End of this chapter)
