Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Although Cao Rui was completely unaware of the military situation of Huan Fan's troops at this moment, if he knew that Sun Quan had personally gone to Poyang to gather the strength of the local counties to annihilate Huan Fan, he would have to admire his courage.

Sun Quan was indeed brave, but if he forced the ruler of a country, an emperor, to the point where he had to rely on his personal courage, it also shows that the country had made a complete strategic and military mistake.

With Wu and Kuaiji successively transferring troops northward, the Wu army along the Jianye-Dantu line was reinforced to around 20,000. Of course, the strongest troops were taken by Sun Quan westward along the river to pursue Huan Fan and relieve Wuchang.

At this point, if calculated carefully, the Wu army's forces deployed along the Yangtze River, from Xiling in the upper reaches to Dantu in the lower reaches, had reached as many as 140,000. Undoubtedly, this was a considerable number on paper.

But behind the impressive figures lie hidden concerns.

This is the result of Wu drawing all its mobile forces.

The Wu Kingdom's army was officially designated as 180,000, but in reality, there were fewer troops in some areas, some were missing, and there were instances of soldiers receiving salaries without actually fighting. In reality, the number of troops truly capable of fighting was only slightly over 170,000. These discrepancies were only discovered when Sun Quan consolidated the troops of his generals and simultaneously dispatched imperial censors to inspect various armies and counties, promising not to investigate further.

If such a private military system as the Buqu can exist, what's the big deal about falsifying headcounts and drawing salaries for no one? Great Wu has its own national conditions.

Of these 170,000 troops, about 140,000 were already deployed along the river. Of the remaining 30,000, 10,000 were to be kept to guard Jiaozhou, while the other 20,000 troops were scattered throughout the vast and relatively undeveloped counties of Wu.

If these 20,000 troops were withdrawn, the river bandits, mountain bandits, and Yue tribes who had been suppressed by Wu for many years, or the ambitious local clans, would probably immediately rise up and do their own thing. Wu is different from Wei. The territory it controls requires high-intensity suppression and internal conquest, which is far less secure than the well-established land in the north that has been cultivated since the Zhou Dynasty.

With the war having progressed to this point, it was no longer possible to conceal it, and Sun Quan mobilized all available forces. Gu Yong, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat who was in charge of defending the capital Jianye, was one of them.

After being assassinated by the Imperial Guards in Wuxi and then having his entire Zhu family executed, Sun Quan finally realized his mistake when he tolerated Gu Yong.

This assassination attempt was most likely a sudden mutiny triggered by Sun Quan's unexpected trip to Wu County amidst the political turmoil in the capital, Jianye. Having known Gu Yong for over thirty years, Sun Quan knew that Gu Yong was not the type to be blindly loyal, nor was he a pure minister like Yi Xu Xiang. Rather, he was a sensible and discreet scholar, far superior to Zhang Zhao.

Even Zhang Zhao wouldn't attempt to assassinate the king, let alone Gu Yong.

The important question is, if even Gu Yong could not be trusted, then which scholars could Sun Quan trust?
Therefore, it can be seen that the interests of the state and the interests of individuals are not entirely aligned.

When the state of Wu was in dire straits, it surprisingly reinstated Gu Yong.

January 12th, Wu Kingdom, Jianye.

The ministers of the Imperial Secretariat and all the officials, large and small, in the capital naturally welcomed Gu Gong's reinstatement with great enthusiasm. In their eyes, this meant that the emperor had recognized the error of his harsh approach to scholars and had successfully corrected it.

Gu Yong himself showed absolutely no joy or delight.

There's no other reason than that the situation facing the Wu Kingdom at this moment is simply too dire.

In the Ministry of Personnel, a middle-aged clerk entered Gu Yong's study and bowed respectfully.

"Reporting to Lord Gu, Master Ge has sent a message to the Ministry of Personnel, saying that he wishes to see Lord Gu."

"What does Master Ge want with me?" Gu Yong had just asked when he suddenly remembered the meaningful look Ge Xuan gave him when Sun Quan returned to Jianye from Dantu at the end of December. He was ordered to escort Ge Xuan at the dock.

The official scholarship of the Later Han Dynasty was the study of the classics, which everyone was required to learn, with only varying degrees of specialization; there was no one who did not study the classics. One of the core issues of the study of the classics was the study of the Book of Changes (Yi Jing).

The Yuan clan of Runan, to which Yuan Shao belonged, rose to prominence through their study of the *Mengshi Yi* (孟氏易), and thus, theories of natural disasters and apocryphal texts became widely popular among the gentry. Through the continuous suppression by Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Rui of the Wei dynasty, these theories of natural disasters and apocryphal texts had completely disappeared from the realm of classical education and mainstream scholarship. During the Taihe era, Wang Su, with the full support of Cao Rui, comprehensively promoted his own school of thought. Even Zheng Xuan's doctrines were utterly defeated; how much less could these theories of natural disasters and apocryphal texts, even more decadent than Zheng Xuan's, be defeated?
Whether it was Sun Quan of Wu, Liu Bei of Shu, or Zhuge Liang, they all seemed to lack interest in classical studies and were more concerned with practical methods of governing the country. They did not take any action to establish an official doctrine and followed the tradition of the Han Dynasty.

The lands of Wu and Shu remained a haven for traditional Confucian classics.

Gu Yong was a man in his sixties, and his teacher was Cai Yong, a great Confucian scholar of the Later Han Dynasty. In short, Gu Yong himself truly believed in these theories of the Book of Changes, and he was also a quintessential Confucian scholar with considerable knowledge of them.

In Gu Yong's view, Daoist Ge Xuan, who specialized in the Book of Changes, had a far superior understanding of the Book of Changes than Gu Yong himself, who was well-versed in the Five Classics.

Gu Yong took a deep breath and nodded in acceptance of Ge Xuan's invitation: "Where is Master Ge now?"

The middle-aged clerk remained respectful and courteous: "Reporting to Lord Gu, His Majesty ordered that Ge Tianshi be released and escorted out of the palace before leaving Jianye, and Lady Bu was to do this. After His Majesty left, Lady Bu found Ge Tianshi and wanted to send someone to escort him back to Wuchang, but Ge Tianshi refused."

"Madam Bu handed over Princess Zhu's former residence to Master Ge for temporary lodging."

Gu Yong suddenly realized.

When it comes to such supernatural and supernatural talk, women are far more emotional and fearful than men. This was the case with Lady Wu, Sun Quan's mother, when Sun Ce killed Yu Ji, and now Bu Lianshi feels the same way when Sun Quan falls ill.

If we're going to see each other, then we'll see each other. What else can we do?

Ultimately, Gu Yong was uneasy after accepting the position of garrison commander of Jianye. He himself hadn't kept a clean record, having sent his clansman Gu Tang to the State of Wei and leaking some intelligence.

At the time, Gu Yong was very dissatisfied with Sun Quan. But Sun Quan invited Gu Yong back to take power!

How to make decisions in this world mostly depends on one's perspective.

Gu Yong left the Ministry of Personnel by carriage, keeping his eyes closed the whole way to calm his mind, until the carriage arrived outside the former residence of General Zhu Ju, at which point he opened his eyes.

Gu Yong had just gotten out of the carriage when he saw Ge Xuan, who looked like a hermit, waiting at the entrance of the Zhu residence.

"Greetings, Master Ge." Gu Yong bowed slightly.

"How have you been, Master Gu? It's been more than ten days since we last met." Ge Xuan gestured for him to enter: "I am the only one inside. There's no need to worry. Master Gu, you may also come in with me."

“Alright.” Gu Yong had that much composure, and calmly followed Ge Xuan inside. The two passed through two courtyards and stopped in the courtyard of the main hall of the mansion.

Zhu Ju's entire clan was killed, and Zhu's princess, Sun Luyu, was also overwhelmed with grief. She stayed in Jianye Palace with her mother, Bu Lianshi, and never left the palace. There were even rumors that she had tried to commit suicide on several occasions.

Zhu Ju's former residence had been abandoned for a long time, and weeds sprouted unevenly from the cracks in the brickwork of the courtyard, almost reaching knee-high. It seemed that crows were building nests in the trees, their cries sounding mournful. (End of Chapter)