Chapter 68: The Minister's Intentions (Please Read) Lu Xun has always been a cautious person. When Lu Xun suggested sending out 50,000 troops, that must mean leaving enough garrison troops in various places, and then stationing part of the Eastern Wu central army and garrison troops from various places near Wancheng. But can 50,000 men really defeat Cao Xiu? Is Lu Xun really so conservative? How many troops should be sent to Wancheng? Sun Quan said 100,000, while Lu Xun said 50,000. Such a huge disagreement caused Sun Quan's mood, which had improved after Cao Xiu's reply, to drop again. Seeing that the atmosphere between the two people's conversation was gradually becoming cold, Zhuge Jin tried to smooth things over: "Your Majesty, there is one more thing about Zhou Cang." Sun Quan raised his head and glanced at Zhuge Jin: "Ziyu, what happened to Zhou Cang?" Zhuge Jin cupped his hands and said, "It wasn't Zhou Cang, but the minister Lang Huaixu whom the king sent to Poyang to reprimand Zhou Cang for the third time." "A few days ago, the guards reported that Huaixu was at the west gate of Poyang City and forced Zhou Cang to kneel down and apologize in public. The people of Poyang were watching." "And... and Huaixu also used the king's name to insult Zhou Cang too much, saying that Zhou Cang was 'not as good as a pig dog', forcing Zhou Cang to cut off his hair in exchange for his head." Sun Quan's eyes turned cold: "Huai Xu has been back to Wuchang for many days, why didn't you tell me?"
Zhuge Jin replied: "Huai Xu was too anxious to report this matter because he had pushed Zhou Cang too far. It was not until today that Huai Xu, in agony and fear of the matter being leaked, came to me to explain the matter." Sun Quan stood up angrily: "Huai Xu almost ruined my plan! He is so smart and stupid. I just let him reprimand him in public. Who made him force Zhou Cang to such a degree!" "Where's Lu Yi! Ziyu, tell Lu Yi to come over here!" The Eastern Wu also had a system of supervising officials and local affairs, and the person in charge of the Eastern Wu's review agency was Lu Yi, the reviewer of the Zhongshu. It was obvious that Sun Quan was angry about Huai Xu and wanted Lü Yi to interrogate Huai Xu. However, for Lu Xun, an important official, or Zhuge Jin, the left general, the powerful supervisory official like the school official was not what they wanted to see. Zhuge Jin quickly pleaded for Huaixu: "Your Majesty, although Huaixu is bold and reckless, his crime is not serious enough to warrant an investigation by the school officials. It is not worth getting angry with someone like Huaixu." Lu Xun also knew that his words of not suggesting to send out 100,000 troops had displeased Sun Quan, so he stood up and saluted: "Zhou Cang is quite sensible. Although Huai Xu acted recklessly, he was ignorant of the situation after all. Your Majesty only needs to punish him slightly." Sun Quan saw Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin pleading for mercy. One was the governor of Jingzhou and the other was the left general. This was enough for him to back down, so he said, "In this case, let's deal with Huaixu after the war." After Sun Quan finished speaking, he turned and walked into the back hall. Seeing Sun Quan leaving, Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin had no choice but to bow and leave. …… Two days later, Xiakouwu. During the Three Kingdoms period, the most important place to fight for was Jingzhou. Jiangxia was the most important place in Jingzhou. The first person to guard Jiangxia was Huang Zu, a general under Liu Biao. In the third year of Chuping, when Sun Quan's father Sun Jian besieged Xiangyang, Huang Zu led his army from Jiangxia and shot Sun Jian to death. This marked the beginning of an almost endless struggle in Jiangxia. Sun Ce and Sun Quan attacked Jiangxia four times for ten consecutive years. With the help of Gan Ning, a general under Huang Zu who surrendered, they finally defeated Huang Zu and captured Jiangxia. But after Sun Quan withdrew his troops from Jiangxia, Jiangxia was captured by Liu Qi, the son of Liu Biao. After Liu Biao's death at the Battle of Chibi, Jiangxia was returned to Liu Bei. Liu Bei was unable to occupy Jiangxia for long. Sun Quan sent Cheng Pu to advance to the southern part of Jiangxia, Cao Cao sent Wen Pin to occupy the northern part, but Liu Bei still occupied Xiakou in Jiangxia. To divide the world into three parts, let’s start by dividing Jiangxia into three parts. Xiakou is the core area of Jiangxia, located where the Han River merges into the Yangtze River. Because the Han River was originally called Xiashui, this place was named Xiakou. Xiakou is a large area, and a small area along the coast where the Han River is about to enter the river is called Miankou.
Xiakouwu, where Sun Quan convened the meeting of his ministers, was located on the south bank of the river Xiakou and was an important base of the Eastern Wu in Xiakou. On the parade ground in Xiakouwu, Sun Quan stood on the stage, with officials of the Eastern Wu and generals of the central army gathered below him. Xiakouwu is right next to the river. The river breeze makes the flags on the wall of the wharf flutter, and the winter sun brings a touch of warmth to the ministers. Sun Quan looked at the ministers from the stage and said: "I am holding a court meeting here today to discuss with you how our Great Wu should defend itself if the Wei invaders attack Xiakou from the south." "Officials and generals, please do not be bound by your official rank. If you have any plans, please feel free to speak up. I will consider them." Hearing what King Sun Quan of Wu said, the ministers below began to discuss among themselves. After a while, a man came out and saluted Sun Quan. Sun Quan looked over and saw that the man was Yuan Li, the secretary of the imperial court. Yuan Li bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think the Han River is very narrow where it flows into the Yangtze River. If we set up a wooden fence at the mouth of the Mian River to block the passing ships, wouldn't the Wei thieves' navy be unable to enter the river?" Yuan Li's strategy was too conservative. If the Han River was blocked with wooden fences, Cao Wei's navy would not be able to move south along the Han River. Could it be that the Eastern Wu navy could rest easy? This is to show weakness to the enemy. Just when Sun Quan was about to explain to Yuan Li in public the inappropriateness of this strategy, unexpectedly a captain named Chen Feng stepped out from the audience. Chen Feng had a very loud voice. After bowing, he spoke loudly, "Your Majesty, I think the Secretary's plan is inappropriate." Sun Quan wanted to refute Yuan Li himself, but Chen Feng stood up. So Sun Quan smiled and said, "Then tell me why Yuan Li's strategy is inappropriate?" Chen Feng said loudly: "How can we stop the ships with wooden fences? It is easy to put up wooden fences, but it won't take much effort for the enemy to remove them." "I think that the Mian River is only 300 steps wide. We should set up iron chains across the river on both sides and build forts at the ends. This will make it extremely difficult for the Wei bandits to pass through, and they will no longer be able to enter the river from the Han River." The ministers began to discuss again, and many people said that iron locks were better than wooden fences. Isn't it obvious which one is stronger, iron or wood? Another clever move! Are iron locks better than wooden fences? What Sun Quan wanted to hear was how to defend along the river and how to occupy the waters, not these conservative words that had lost the spirit of attack. Sun Quan looked down at the audience and saw that most people were talking about the situation. Important officials such as Lu Xun, Gu Yong, Zhuge Jin, etc., knew that this meeting was not prepared for them, so they kept silent. Sun Quan suddenly discovered that a young general in a far corner was shaking his head. Judging from his clothes, he should be a famous general. Sun Quan smiled and pointed at the young general: "I see that this young general doesn't agree with this. Come to the front and tell us what you think." Sun Huan, the governor of Jiangxia and a member of the royal family, who was not far from Sun Quan, stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, this man is Zhang Liang, a general under my command. I think he has a lot of insights into military affairs." Zhang Liang walked up to Sun Quan, knelt on one knee and bowed. Sun Quan smiled and said, "Stand up. I see you have some ideas. Share them with us." Zhang Liang looked at Sun Quan, then at his own prefect Sun Huan. After seeing Sun Huan nod, he began to speak respectfully. Zhang Liang said, "Your Majesty, I think whether we build wooden fences or iron locks, we can only wait for the enemy to attack." "Your Majesty, why don't you set up a reward and punishment system? Send people to patrol the Han River all year round by boat, and frequently go ashore to attack and harass. If the Wei soldiers dare to enter the Han River, quickly mobilize the navy from Wuchang to defeat them." "If this is the case, even if we invite Wei soldiers, they won't dare to come!" Thank you for reading, if you have extra tickets during the new book period, please vote. If you don’t have tickets, please read it every day. Thank you~ (End of this chapter)