My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 598: Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to do it

"What? Shi Yuan and Xiao Zhi... actually decided and did such a thing behind my back! Isn't this putting me in an unjust position?"

A few minutes later, after reading the secret letter sent by Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei couldn't help but slam the table and stand up.

This was not because Liu Bei was being hypocritical, but because the incident really happened suddenly. Liu Bei's subconscious reaction was to reject it.

He has emphasized unity among brothers, keeping promises and being righteous for so many years that it has become a habit for him to think like this.

It is impossible for a person to do things that go against his own sense of right and wrong for a long time, as that will lead to psychological disorders. This is a well-known psychological common sense in later generations. If a person sticks to a value or sense of right and wrong for a long time, he must also sincerely believe in it.

It's like even if a thief or robber has been doing his job for a long time, he will psychologically suggest that he is doing justice and robbing the rich to help the poor, so that his conscience will feel better. No one can know that he is doing something wrong and bad and persist in doing it for a long time.

Therefore, Zhuge Jin was not surprised by his lord's reaction. He knew that no matter how he tried to persuade him, he had to let Liu Bei vent his anger first.

I have scolded everyone who should be scolded, and I have hated him for not fighting back. Only after I have calmed down can I continue to persuade him.

Liu Bei, on the other hand, saw that Zhuge Jin remained silent and just listened to him venting and following his words. He gradually calmed down and finally showed a wry smile:

"Zi Yu, are you waiting for me to vent my anger enough before trying to persuade me? Okay, no need to wait, just tell me what you want to say. Can I just sit back and watch someone who came here to seek me out get hurt?"

Liu Bei also knew Zhuge Jin too well. He could read Zhuge Jin's intentions from his silence.

Zhuge Jin stopped hiding and said in a businesslike manner: "I just read these letters and immediately sent them to you, my lord. Why don't you call the messenger in and tell him all the details you know, and then we can discuss it."

Zhuge Jin's words may seem simple, but they actually contain a lot of considerations.

In fact, after receiving the letter, he could have asked Deng Zhi in detail to learn more details and then report to Liu Bei.

But he would rather lay all this out in front of Liu Bei. This would not only give Liu Bei more time to calm down, but also give the minor official Deng Zhi a chance to show up. It would also make it appear that everything was indeed sudden and that he was being pushed by the people below. He hoped that Liu Bei would subtly consider the situation more.

Those talented people hiding in Shu who want to achieve success have little chance.

Liu Bei did not think too much about it, but understanding the situation of the people was something he was willing to do. He had come from the bottom of society since he was a child and had witnessed the sufferings of the people, so he quickly summoned Deng Zhi.

When Liu Bei first met Deng Zhi, he didn't have a very deep impression of this man's appearance, but after chatting with him for a few sentences, he found that this man was quite capable and spoke in a very organized manner.

Liu Bei first asked Deng Zhi about the whole process of delivering the letter and whether Zhuge Liang and others had any verbal explanation. Deng Zhi naturally told him the truth.

When Liu Bei learned that Zhuge Liang had said, "I have discussed this matter with Shi Yuan. Although it was not my original intention at first, in order not to hurt the admiration of the ambitious people in Shu for my lord, I agree with it now that things have come to this."

Liu Bei's attitude further softened.

After all, Zhuge Liang hoped that he would act in an emergency.

After asking Zhuge Liang for his message, Liu Bei felt that this man answered fluently, so he asked more details about the current situation of the reform of the labor service fee in Shu, wanting to hear what Deng Zhi had seen and heard with his own eyes and ears.

Deng Zhi immediately pulled himself together, summarized his actual experiences, talked about the most important points, and finally gave a brief analysis of the details he had observed.

After hearing this, Liu Bei could not help but nod his head frequently, thinking that such a minor official actually had some ability. At least his thoughts were clear and his words were organized. He turned to Zhuge Jin and asked, "What position does this person hold now?"

Zhuge Jin: "He originally worked in the Jiangxia County Magistrate's Office for about three years. Last year, by chance, I found that he was quite capable, so I transferred him to be a subordinate. Now, of course, he is a subordinate of the Situ Mansion."

Liu Bei nodded: "He is a talented person. Since he has only been a member of Cao for one or two years, and was transferred to the Situ Mansion this year, then let him work harder. However, if he can make meritorious contributions this time and successfully take over Sichuan in the future, he will be a Cao official."

Deng Zhi thanked him hastily, and finally realized that today was an opportunity for Situ to give him a chance to show off. He couldn't help but feel more loyal and grateful to Zhuge Jin.

Liu Bei didn't think much about it. He waved his hand to signal Deng Zhi to leave, then closed the door and had a private chat with Zhuge Jin.

Now Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong are in Yizhou, and Lu Su has returned to Xuzhou. The important people around Liu Bei can only talk to Zhuge Jin, and the rest of them, such as Xu Shu, cannot participate in the "fight or not" issue.

As long as the two of them agree, the matter will be settled.

"Now that things have come to this, if Xiaozhi really instigated Liu Jiyu to provoke our army, or at least took the opportunity to force our army to lower the price of money and grain, then this battle must be fought. Otherwise, wouldn't I be putting Xiaozhi and Ziqiao to death? Even if it slightly damages the reputation of righteousness, I can't let the people who come to surrender be betrayed for my own good name."

After pondering for a while, Liu Bei sighed, broke the silence on his own initiative, and expressed his determination to Zhuge Jin.

Liu Bei wanted a good reputation and a good reputation, but in his heart, he could not betray his brothers and friends, which was definitely a higher level pursuit than fame.

For example, in history, after Guan Yu died, Cao Cao also died. In fact, if they had taken advantage of the panic of people in the north who were still loyal to the Han Dynasty when Cao Cao had just died and Cao Pi had just usurped the throne, and quickly expanded their victory, they would have had a chance. Even if they did not go to Jingzhou, they could have gone to Hanzhong to cross the Qinling Mountains to the north and learn from Liu Bang and Han Xin to attack Chencang. With the blessing of the fluctuating people's hearts, the result is still unknown.

Many people only saw that Guan Yu died and Jingzhou was lost, which caused Liu Bei's camp to collapse a lot of its strength at its peak. But they didn't see that Cao Cao's death on the other side was definitely more fatal than Liu Bei's loss of Guan Yu. (So the words of Zhao Yun persuading Liu Bei to march north were actually correct and the most righteous from the perspective of a rational person)
However, history has already told the world about Liu Bei's final choice. So it can be seen that in his heart, justice and reputation are not as important as "not betraying his brothers".

Although Fa Zheng and Zhang Song are not his brothers, nor do they have such a close relationship with him, after all, they have spared no effort to come to you, thinking that you are the hero who can accomplish things, and the foundation for leading everyone to promotion, wealth and honor, and leaving a name in history.

Then Liu Bei could not hurt the hearts of those who came to him because of his reputation, and he could not let their plans be exposed and they would be killed.

From this point of view, Liu Bei still has quite a bit of "Emperor Gaozu's style" - although Liu Bang killed many meritorious officials in history, if we only look at his entrepreneurial stage, he basically adopted the "Xinling style" towards those who came to surrender to him. Liu Bang's idol when he was young was Xinling Jun, and he even thought about surrendering to Xinling Jun, and always took Xinling Jun as his role model.

The noblemen of the Warring States Period who raised scholars, represented by Xinling Jun, emphasized the principle of "Whoever comes to me for help must think highly of me, and I cannot let down those who come to me for help."

Zhuge Jin did not say much about the motivation issue throughout the process. He just waited for Liu Bei to express such an insight before he struck while the iron was hot and immediately discussed the execution issues with Liu Bei.

He took the opportunity to hint, "Since the Lord is people-oriented and is committed to rallying the hearts and minds of those who come to surrender, I will do my best to help the Lord perfect the specific strategy."

When Zhuge Jin said this, he was very solemn and formal, and he also hoped to strengthen Liu Bei's determination.

In his wording, he no longer referred to himself as "subordinate", but only said "I", and still called Liu Bei "Lord". All this seemed awkward, but it was all to strengthen the formality of the conversation.

Liu Bei was indeed his lord, but from the perspective of the court, he could not call himself a subordinate, because Liu Bei's Taiwei and his Situ were of the same rank, both of them were officials of the Three Dukes. Zhuge Jin was the only person in Liu Bei's camp who could not call himself a subordinate in front of Liu Bei in formal occasions.

Seeing his formal words, Liu Bei also took it more seriously: "Please teach me, Ziyu, how should our army deploy troops, generals, money, food and weapons for this matter. And how should we deal with the timing?"

Zhuge Jin: "I think that this battle should be won quickly, but we cannot openly deploy too many troops. We have withdrawn 40,000 troops stationed in Shuzhong. But the remaining troops, including Wu Yi, Fei Guan's troops and the Cao army's surrendered soldiers last year, still total more than 100,000.

To deal with Liu Zhang, 100,000 men are enough, even if we leave some troops to defend the territory and guard against Cao Cao in the north. The key is how we use them.

My idea is that if we want to move fast, we should not care about temporary destruction and damage, but make sure to establish our authority right from the start and attack on all fronts. This way, no matter which route is slow or temporarily frustrated due to an accident, it doesn't matter. As long as any route advances straight ahead, Liu Zhang's demise is imminent.

If we have to transfer troops from Jingnan to Sichuan, it will easily alert Liu Biao, which will not be conducive to Liu Biao's continued trust in our army when he is seriously ill. Secondly, it will also easily alert Cao Cao and he will seize the opportunity to create conflicts in other directions.

So my suggestion is to only transfer strong generals, not troops. Yide must of course enter Sichuan again, but he can do it quietly. The lord can even let him make a few more public appearances and have excessive feasts, and then spread the word that he is ill or use other excuses, it doesn't matter. As long as he enters Sichuan quietly, the civil and military officials in southern Jing will get used to Yide not showing up for a few months.

In addition to Yide, Xingba was stationed in the Sanxia Yufu area, so it was easy for him to go to Jiangzhou to prepare for war. On the northern front, Wenchang could first gather his forces in Zitong and wait for Yide to arrive.

At that time, Yide and Wenchang will attack the northern route by land, and attack Fucheng and Mianzhu directly from Zitong. Xingba will select a few capable lieutenants to take the Yangtze River waterway, attack Liu Zhang's soft belly, and divide the troops to capture various counties. In this way, even if Chengdu or Luocheng is difficult to capture for a while, it will not delay the important matter.

Moreover, Shi Yuan and Xiao Zhi chose September and October to start the rebellion, which is actually a good time for us. In addition to the convenience of obtaining food from the enemy mentioned in their letter, there is another advantage that they have not mentioned yet, that is, it is approaching winter, and heavy snow will block the Qinling Mountains again, completely cutting off the Cao army on the northern line from going south to Hanzhong.

Our army has kept more than 30,000 troops stationed in Hanzhong all year round to guard against Cao Cao's invasion in summer and autumn. There are also many soldiers left in Jiameng Pass and other places. In winter, there is actually no need to keep so many troops. Most of them can be transferred to the southern line to deal with Liu Zhang.

In this way, our army has not transferred troops from outside Shu, but as long as we fight in winter, we can have an extra 30,000 or 40,000 troops that can be directly deployed in battle. If we don't make good use of this advantage, wouldn't it be a waste? My lord, you can give orders now to quickly move the troops in Hanzhong to Zitong. Even if Cao Cao gets the news in the future, the heavy snow will have blocked the Qinling Mountains. "

Liu Bei thought for a while, then slammed the table and said, "This is the only way. I will ask Yide to prepare and hold a few banquets to help him get rid of his addiction. From now on, he must give up drinking until Liu Zhang is captured! Then select a few Jiangdong surrendered generals who are good at water battles, and let them follow Xingba to attack via the Yangtze River. Hanzhong will also immediately order Wang Ping to quickly gather troops and march south first."

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PS: You can leave a message to choose which Jiangdong surrendered generals who were conquered during the process of destroying Sun Ce to participate in the Yangtze River naval battle in Yizhou. The names of these extras in my outline are still left blank.

The comment window will be retained for one day, and these two sentences will be deleted tomorrow morning.

(End of this chapter)