My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 85 Zhou Yu's Hesitation

That's right. During Sun Ce's time, a large part of Lujiang belonged to the Sun family. Sun Ce planned to launch a surprise attack on Xuchang from here.

But who knew that Sun Ce would die so easily? After taking power, Sun Quan consolidated his forces, secured his position, and it was very difficult for him to avoid dying of illness.

By then, the Zhou family had already staked everything, and had no choice but to continue supporting the Sun family.

But now, Zhou Yu hasn't even boarded Sun Ce's ship, let alone Sun Quan's, so he can easily bet on both sides.

Zhou Yu was very familiar with Lu Su's abilities.

The fact that Liu and his son were able to subdue Lu Su was something that no ordinary warlord could accomplish.

Reading Lu Su's letter, one feels as if fish are in the vast ocean and birds are soaring in the blue sky. The resentment in one's heart has vanished, replaced only by the expectation of achieving great things and the anticipation of establishing great achievements.

Zhou Yu was truly very clever, clever enough to glean so much from a single letter.

But it was precisely this intelligence that made Zhou Yu hesitate.

At this point, Zhou Yu had already persuaded the elders of his clan, which gave him the right to come to Danyang to persuade his uncle, Zhou Shang.

Although Zhou Shang is still hesitant and has not yet made a decision.

After all, a family is a family, and Zhou Shang also has his own ideas and pursuits.

Liu Yao currently relies heavily on him and has never transferred him away from Wanling, which shows his sincerity.

Once Liu Yao truly secures his position as Governor of Yangzhou, Zhou Shang's status will inevitably rise accordingly.

If he listened to Zhou Yu's advice, not to mention the difficulty and risk of betraying him, even if he succeeded, how could he guarantee his personal position?
Yuan Shu was more magnanimous before, but after several betrayals, he has become only willing to rely on his own protégés and former officials, as well as the followers of the Sun family.

Zhou Shang and his family were neither protégés of the Yuan family nor surnamed Sun, so after surrendering, they were truly at a loss.

Therefore, no matter how Zhou Yu tried to persuade him or how he tried to convince him with the interests of his family, Zhou Shang still refused to agree.

Zhou Yu had already made a plan. He was just waiting for Zhou Shang to be persuaded before he would agree on a date with Sun Ce, then launch an attack from Wanling, heading straight for Niuzhu, coordinating an attack from within and without.

However, Zhou Shang's attitude remains unchanged, and Lu Su's letter has brought a great shock.

Moreover, Lu Su's letter also included a letter from Liu Feng.

If Lu Su's letter only caused Zhou Yu to waver slightly, then Liu Feng's letter was like an earthquake, completely shattering his already firm resolve.

Liu Feng wrote it very clearly in his letter.

Yuan Shu cannot be trusted, Sun Ce cannot be surrendered to, Liu Yao cannot be betrayed, and Niuzhu cannot be attacked.

Furthermore, it was asserted that if the Zhou family surrendered to Sun Ce, Sun Ce would surely sweep across Jiangdong. However, once Sun Ce gained power, Zhou Shang's position as the governor of Danyang would inevitably be taken by Yuan Shu and replaced by Yuan Shu's protégés and former officials, or even generals from the Sun family.

Yuan Shu was a very strange person; he and Sun Jian were truly in love.

The only warlord Yuan Shu ever protected was Sun Jian; it was already a stroke of luck that the others weren't swallowed up by him.

Of course, Sun Jian also truly loved Yuan Shu. For Yuan Shu's sake, he killed many famous scholars and important officials along the way, including three prefects and governors with a salary of two thousand shi. Not to mention the vast territories he conquered for Yuan Shu in his campaigns.

For this reason, Yuan Shu only considered two things when appointing officials: first, whether they were his protégés or former subordinates; and second, whether they were from the Sun family.

At the height of his power in 196, Yuan Shu was hailed as the number one warlord in the land, surpassing Yuan Shao in the north. At this time, Yuan Shu controlled eight commanderies and kingdoms spanning the three provinces of Yu, Xu, and Yang, and had allies such as Lü Bu, Zhang Ji, and Zhang Yan who were also under his jurisdiction.

Of these eight commanderies, four were prefects of Yuan Shu, who was a protégé and former subordinate of Yuan Shu. The other four were Wu Jing, Sun Ce's maternal uncle; Sun Ben, Sun Ce's elder brother; Zhu Zhi, Sun Jian's former subordinate and protégé; and Sun Ce himself.

Even now, the Sun family still holds a high percentage of prefectures in Yuan Shu's territory, which is enough to prove that Liu Feng's words are true.

Zhou Yu was a clever man, and Liu Feng's words immediately exposed his weakness, causing him to waver and doubt his own choices.

As for the last two sentences, "Liu Yao must not rebel, and Niuzhu must not be attacked," they are even more blatant threats.

I told Zhou Yu directly that I had my father write to Liu Yao, warning him to be wary of you trying to persuade your uncle. Putting aside everything else, just considering Liu Yao's relationship with the Chen family, even if they don't trust Liu Bei, they still have to give the Chen family of Xiapi some face.

Niuzhu will definitely be on high alert, so don't think you can easily succeed in your attack.

As long as Niuzhu is not lost, even if Zhou Shang rebels, it will be useless; Sun Bofu will still only be able to sigh at the river.

By candlelight, Zhou Yu read the two letters from Lu Su and Liu Feng over and over again, unable to sleep all night.

If Liu Feng knew that his idea had actually made Zhou Yu hesitate, he would probably laugh out loud.

He actually had little confidence that he could recruit Zhou Yu. Putting aside the difference in social status between the two families, the Zhou family's wealth and influence in Lujiang meant that it was impossible for the Zhou family to side with Liu Bei at present.

Liu Feng's goal was simply to establish a relationship with the Zhou family and get to know them better. If things went better, he hoped to shake Zhou Yu's resolve to invest in Sun Ce, or at least slow down the process a little.

Otherwise, considering the timeline of the collapse of the river defenses in Liu Yao's history, even if Liu Bei hastily stationed himself in Guangling, he might not have had enough time, and Yuan Shu might even have been able to take advantage of the situation and wait for him to finish him off.

In retrospect, Liu Feng's wishful thinking has actually come to fruition.

Zhou Yu was having trouble sleeping, and Liu Yao was also having a hard time.

Liu Feng was an honest and reliable person who never cheated anyone, young or old.

He said he would write a letter to Liu Yao, and he actually did.

Even the contents of the letter were personally drafted by Liu Feng, and then his father affixed his seal to it.

It was then sent along with a letter from Chen Yu, the cousin of Chen Gui, the uncle of Chen Deng, and the former governor of Yangzhou.

Chen Yu's letter was alright; he praised Liu Yao and his son extensively and then strongly urged Liu Yao to form an alliance with Liu Bei. In this way, the Xu-Yang alliance would support each other and they would no longer fear foreign invasion.

Liu Bei's letter mainly mentioned three things.

The first thing is to highlight the childhood friendship between Zhou Yu and Sun Ce, who were sworn brothers since they were young.

Sun Bofu is currently unable to exert his strength across the river and is finding it difficult to break through Liu Yao's river defenses. At this point, he might switch from military attacks to underhanded tactics, using Zhou Yu to persuade Zhou Shang to turn against him. Liu Yao must be on guard.

The second thing was to inquire about the health of Xu Zijiang and Liu Yao.

The letter detailed the scorching climate of Jiangnan, the rampant infestation of poisonous insects, and the outbreak of epidemics. It expressed concern that Liu Yao and Xu Zijiang might disregard minor illnesses and avoid seeking medical treatment. The letter claimed that there was a renowned physician named Hua Tuo in Xuzhou who ran a school, and that if Liu Yao and Xu Zijiang were to feel unwell, they could immediately travel to Xuzhou for diagnosis and treatment.

The third thing was something that Chen Yu had already laid in advance in his letter: the alliance between the two Lius.

(End of this chapter)