Chapter 208: In terms of political schemes, Cao Cao has to kowtow too! If this man is not removed, he will be stabbed sooner or later! He must be killed!
You are threatening, but Liu Bei's threat is more severe than yours.

What does it mean to lead the Jingyang Volunteer Army north to Xuchang?
Isn't it just saying that you, Cao Cao, are a traitor to the Han Dynasty, and the soldiers under my command, Liu Bei, are the righteous army that is fighting against the traitors?

The meaning of this whole speech is to say that sooner or later, I, Liu Bei, will lead my army to capture Xuchang and destroy you, the Han traitor Cao Cao.

When the time comes, I will welcome the emperor back to the old capital of Luoyang. For my contribution in supporting the Han Dynasty and defeating the rebels, I will petition the emperor to confer the rank of Three Dukes on me, Military Advisor Xiao. How can the emperor not give me face?
This tone is even more arrogant than Cao Cao.

"you--"

Dong Zhao was speechless and was so frightened by Liu Bei's tyranny that he didn't know what to say.

Xiao Fang smiled and waved his hand:
"Envoy Dong has finished his decree, and my lord is just in time to hold a celebration banquet to celebrate the victory of defeating Sun Ce."

"Envoy Dong, you must have come all the way here. Why don't you sit down and have a couple of drinks?"

Although Dong Zhao came with Cao Cao's private goods, he was still the emperor's envoy after all, so it was enough to confront him roughly, and some face had to be given.

Xiao Fangbian changed the subject and gave Dong Zhao a way out.

Dong Zhao was also a seasoned man, and naturally knew that under such circumstances, it would be the most unwise move to completely break off relations with Liu Bei.

So he had to swallow the bitter water, forced a smile on his face, and walked down the steps given by Xiao Fang in a dignified manner.

The celebration banquet begins.

Old Liu acted as if nothing had happened and was drinking and chatting happily with Dong Zhao.

Their lord had been highly conferred an honor by the Emperor and had conquered the city of Nanjing. Xiao Fang and his advisers and generals were naturally delighted and drank heartily.

Dong Zhao did not enjoy the wine, feeling unhappy, but he had to put on a smile.

After the banquet, all the necessary formalities were completed, and Dong Zhao left that day despite Lao Liu's repeated attempts to keep him.

Old Liu naturally wanted to do his best to be a good host, so he took a group of advisers and generals and personally sent Dong Zhao to the ferry and put him on the boat.

"General Zuo, I hope that one day, when Cao Sikong and General Zuo meet for a hunt along the Yangtze River, I will be lucky enough to have a drink with General Zuo."

"We'll see you later."

Dong Zhao stood at the stern of the boat, bowed to Liu Bei and said goodbye, and did not forget to make a few verbal attacks before leaving.

"Sikong Cao is from the north and is not used to the heat and humidity in the south. So there is no need for him to travel thousands of miles to the Yangtze River, so as to avoid falling ill in the south."

"When my lord goes to Xudu to welcome the emperor, he will drink plum wine with Cao Sikong and Dong Shi and discuss the world."

Without waiting for Lao Liu to react, Xiao Fang responded to Dong Zhao with verbal attacks.

Dong Zhao didn't get the upper hand with words, so he could only laugh awkwardly, turn around and leave, hiding in the cabin.

"Jinglue, what do you think Cao Cao will do when he learns that I have taken Nanjing and defeated Sun Ce?"

After Liu Bei watched Dong Zhao go away, he turned his gaze to Xiao Fang.

Xiao Fang gently waved his feather fan and said slowly:

"According to the current intelligence, Yuan Shu's old ministers are afraid of being punished by Cao Cao for treason, so most of them support Lu Bu as the new ruler of Huainan."

"Lü Bu took advantage of the danger of the Huai River and refused to fight. Cao Cao was unable to do anything to him for a while."

"This is exactly why Cao Cao sent his trusted confidant Dong Zhao to announce the decree. He simply wanted to use the announcement as an excuse to investigate the progress of the lord's attack on Jiangdong."

"Now that he knows that the lord has conquered Nanjing, he can either intensify his attack on Lu Bu at all costs, or withdraw his troops in time to stop the loss, so that Lu Bu can free up his hands and turn his troops around to stop the lord from advancing north."

Xiao Fang pointed his feather fan to the north and analyzed it, then pointed to the south:
"No matter what Cao Cao chooses, our primary goal is to continue advancing southwards and take Wu County!"

"Although Sun Ce is dead now, his brother Sun Quan, the remnant of the Sun family, has fled to Wu County first."

"Although this thief is not as brave and skilled in fighting as Sun Ce, he is very good at stabbing people in the back. If we leave him alone, he will become a serious threat sooner or later."

"My lord, you can only take Jiangdong if you destroy this thief, take over Wujun and Kuaiji counties, and completely eliminate the remaining forces of the Sun family."

"After that, we can go north to seize Huainan without any worries and incorporate the entire Yangzhou into our territory."

Xiao Fang gave Lao Liu's next goal for deploying troops:
Eliminate Sun Quan and take over Jiangdong!
"What the military advisor said is correct. Only by taking all of Jiangdong can we have no worries and go north to take Huainan with all our strength."

Liu Bei nodded slightly, but then asked curiously:
"But I heard that Sun Quan is neither good at civil nor military. He is the one who is least like his father among all the sons of Sun Jian."

"Is Sun Quan really as Jinglue said, a serious threat sooner or later if he is not eliminated?"

Xiao Fang smiled.

At this time, Old Liu had obviously never experienced how powerful Sun Shiwan was, and he looked down on him.

In terms of military talent and strategy, Sun Quan was at best a bronze level, otherwise he would not have been defeated by Zhang Liao in Hefei for most of his life, and directly pushed Zhang Liao into the Temple of Martial Arts.

But when it comes to political tactics, insidiousness and cunningness, even if Cao Cao came, he would have to kowtow to Sun Quan.

Old Liu, you killed Xiahou and took Hanzhong and defeated Cao Cao. Your brother Guan Yu flooded seven armies and shocked China. You are about to reach the peak of your life.

It was Sun Quan who suddenly broke the alliance and stabbed you in the back, knocking you, Old Liu, down from the peak of your life.

If Sun Ce is an open spear, Sun Quan is a hidden arrow. It is easy to dodge an open spear, but it is hard to defend against a hidden arrow...

If you don't get rid of this hidden arrow, how can you, Old Liu, sit firmly in Jiangdong?
"My Lord, don't worry about whether Sun Quan has the ability or not. In short, we must root out the Sun family and not leave any hidden dangers for Jiangdong."

Xiao Fang didn't explain much to Lao Liu, he was very firm in his decision.

Liu Bei has always known Xiao Fang's ability to judge people. Since he said that Sun Quan was a hidden danger, there must be no doubt about it.

"Okay, let's do as the military advisor says. We'll rest for a day and then head straight to Wu County to completely wipe out the Sun family!"

Liu Bei then made a decision.

So after the army rested in Jinling City for a day, Lao Liu left all the naval troops behind to guard Jinling and take over the Danyang counties.

He personally led the main force of infantry and cavalry, marching southeast from Jinling and attacking Wu County, the capital of Wu County.

…Wu County, within the county seat.

Sun Quan was hosting a banquet and drinking with his two cousins, Sun Fu and Sun Ben.

Most of the Sun family's descendants followed Sun Ce to guard Jinling.

The two cousins, Sun Ben and Sun Fu, were ordered to garrison Wujun and Kuaiji counties.

After Sun Quan arrived in Wu County, the two men each led their county troops to meet up in Wu County.

"The two of us brought nearly three thousand county soldiers with us this time. Although our combat effectiveness is not strong, we can still make up the numbers."

"I heard that you, Zhongmou, have recruited more than 2,000 new soldiers, so we have at least 5,000 troops in total."

"Zhongmou, when are we going to set off north to help Bofu in Nanjing?"

After counting on his fingers, Sun Ben couldn't wait to go north.

"Well, ahem..."

Sun Quan coughed a few times, raised his glass and pretended to take a sip, then thought about how to delay with reasonable reasons.

If he doesn't go to Nanjing, these 5,000 soldiers will be under his command.

Not long ago, news came from Nanjing that Sun Ce's surprise attack on Liu's camp failed, and he lost nearly 10,000 soldiers. He had only 5,000 new recruits left to retreat to the inner city.

This means that the troops under Sun Ce's command are equal to those under his command.

Soldiers and horses represent power!

But if he took all these 5,000 soldiers and horses to Jinling, it would be tantamount to handing them over to Sun Ce. Wouldn't he be left with nothing and become Sun Ce's follower again?

"These five thousand soldiers..."

Sun Quan rolled his eyes and was about to speak to evade the question when heavy footsteps were heard outside the mansion.

A middle-aged scholar covered in blood stumbled into the main hall with the help of soldiers.

"Zhongmou, Zhongmou..."

The middle-aged scholar burst into tears and fell to his knees on the ground.

Everyone in the hall was startled, and turned their surprised eyes to that man.

When Sun Quan recognized the scholar, his expression changed drastically.

"Zibu?"

"Zhang Zibu?"

Sun Quan called out the scholar's name, and hurried forward to support him, asking in surprise:
"Aren't you in Jinling helping my brother defend the city? How come you suddenly come to Wu County, and you look like this?"

Zhang Zhao knelt on the ground, weeping in grief and anger:

"Lu Xun, Gu Yong and others rebelled, and the big-eared thieves invaded Jinling, and the city of Jinling fell!"

"My lord was forced to lead us to abandon the city and retreat eastwards, but we were intercepted by the big-eared thieves halfway. My lord was shot through the heart by thousands of arrows from the big-eared thieves and died!"

"I was shot with an arrow and fell among the dead. I faked my death and managed to escape with my life to come and tell you the news!"

"Master Zhongmou, our lord was killed by Liu Bei!"

"Your brother Zhong Yi and other members of the Sun family in Jinling were all killed by Liu Bei!"

"The Jinling defenders were completely wiped out—"

Zhang Zhao was extremely grief-stricken and told the whole bad news with hatred.

Sun Quan's body swayed, and he froze in place for a moment, his face frozen in shock.

The whole hall was in an uproar.

Sun Ben and Sun Fu, the two surviving descendants of the Sun family, immediately fell into endless grief and indignation. They beat their chests and stamped their feet, filled with hatred and rage.

Zhou Tai and other pure military generals were all shocked and stunned by the sudden bad news.

Even Lu Meng had a look of deep suspicion in his eyes.

He was naturally very clear about how strong Jinling City was.

When Sun Quan talked with him before, he estimated that even if Sun Ce failed to defend Jinling, he could at least hold on for about three months.

These three months were enough for Sun Quan to recruit and train an army of about 10,000 people.

He even offered advice to Sun Quan, using the promise of fiefdoms as bait to lure the Shanyue people to surrender and be used by Sun Quan. In this way, he could gather another Shanyue army of more than 10,000 people.

However, they did not expect that Sun Ce was so vulnerable and lost Jinling in less than a month.

He himself failed to escape from Jinling and died at the hands of Liu Bei!

This drastic change happened too suddenly, completely beyond Lu Meng's expectations, and really made him confused for a moment.

"Zhongmou, you must avenge Bofu, and avenge your Sun family~~"

Zhang Zhao tightly grasped Sun Quan's hand and screamed in grief and anger with gnashing teeth.

"Zhongmou, Zibu is right. We must avenge Bofu and our Sun family!"

Sun Ben and Sun Fu also shouted in anger and indignation.

now.

Sun Quan recovered from his shock, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and a barely perceptible hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)