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Liu Bei is indeed very embarrassed, his own body knows that since the Battle of Hanzhong, he has not recovered, as for what supports him to live to this day, even he himself is a little unclear. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info son Liu Chan is eighteen years old, although Liu Bei has some calf protection, but he is not stupid, knowing that although Liu Chan is not stupid, he is definitely not a smart person, and he will not be smarter than him Liu Bei. Because of this, Liu Bei was very uneasy about him and wanted to choose a safe and reliable auxiliary political team for him. Zhuge Liang is a smart person, but his desire for power is too strong, if he can't control it, it is almost inevitable to go to the minister, of course, Liu Bei also knows that although Zhuge Liang is good at power, but he is a scholar after all, loyalty, filial piety, etiquette and righteousness still understand, usurpation is possible, but usurpation is not enough.

If he is an outsider, Liu Bei sometimes feels that it is not a good thing to let Zhuge Liang take power to assist Liu Chan. However, Liu Bei is not an outsider, he can't bear that his son is a puppet in the hands of others, so he wants to pave the way for the Shu regime after his death, and the most important thing is to find someone who can balance Zhuge Liang.

Originally, Guan Yu was the most suitable candidate, he had prestige, military exploits, he trusted the old minister, and his loyalty to him was obvious to all, he could be the king of Shu, and Guan Yu made great contributions. However, Guan Yu is too arrogant, so arrogant that the relationship with the monarch and ministers is very poor, others are very polite to him, but it is just polite, but Guan Yu himself can't figure out the situation, and still feels that he is the well-deserved first minister in Shuzhong, a model admired by thousands of people, and the chief auxiliary minister.

Guan Yu will not be Zhuge Liang's opponent, Liu Bei knows this very well, a person who despises an opponent, and a very clever opponent, even if he is a real master, he will never be the final winner. What's more, Guan Yu is too arrogant, he is even stricter to the crown prince Liu Chan than he is the legitimate father, Liu Chan is not afraid of his father, but when he sees Guan Yu, his calves tremble.

Liu Bei didn't blame Liu Chan, because there were indeed few people in Shu who didn't tremble when they saw Guan Yu, and even those old ministers were nervous when they saw Guan Yu, not to mention that Liu Chan had a child. However, Liu Bei also gave up on Guan Yu because he also could not accept a great general who was extremely domineering - despite his loyalty.

If you don't accept it, you don't accept it, if you want Liu Bei to kill Guan Yu, he can't do it, Guan Yu has been with him for forty years, and the friendship between them is as he himself said, although they are monarchs and ministers, they are really no different from brothers. If you want Liu Bei to kill his brother, he can't do it. Although some people have explicitly or implicitly put forward similar suggestions, they have all been vetoed by Liu Bei without exception.

The best way at the moment is to wait for Guan Yu to die first, so that they can not only know each other, but also leave no root cause, but unfortunately, although Guan Yu is two years older than Liu Bei, Guan Yu eats a lot of food, and his body is very good, in comparison, Liu Bei is much worse. Liu Bei was very worried, it was estimated that he had hung up twice, and Guan Yu was still alive and well.

This is very troublesome, you can't kill and kill, you can't stay and stay, so is there a third way? For this matter, Liu Bei was very entangled, and his body was getting worse day by day.

Seeing Guan Feng, Liu Bei regretted it very much, it was a stupid move to marry Guan Feng to Sun Shao in the first place, if Guan Feng was the crown princess, whether it was Princess Wu or Princess Shu, it would be better than the current situation. But then again, who would have thought that Sun Shao, a guy who obviously has no future, would be a blockbuster.

"Yinping, I heard that you are commanding the army in Yuenan and cooperating with the Wu army to defeat the elephant soldiers of the Funan people, which is really majestic." Liu Bei held Guan Feng's hand and smiled kindly, clearly a gentle elder. Guan Feng smiled: "Rumors stop at the wise, how can my uncle also believe these words?" I am a woman, fortunately I have the trust of my husband, let me take some men and horses to cooperate with Wu Taizideng to fight, where is the command of the army, the essence of the battle is commanded by Zhuge Ke. ”

"Zhuge Ke?" Liu Bei's white brows furrowed, and some doubts appeared in his eyes. He heard the news that it was commanded by Lu Dai, and Guan Feng cooperated with the Vietnamese army, and subconsciously thought that it was for Sun Deng's fame, so Guan Feng, who actually commanded the battle, gave credit, but now he heard Guan Feng himself say that it was Zhuge Ke who actually commanded the battle, and he couldn't help but be a little worried. Zhuge Ke's father and son are now in a very delicate position in Wu, Zhuge Jin lost in the competition for the position of prime minister with Gu Yong, but he did not fall out of favor, on the contrary, he won the trust of Sun Quan, Zhuge Ke was young, and he became the deputy general of the Western Front army, which can be described as a promising future. However, for Liu Bei, this is not good news, Zhuge Ke's father and son have a very adverse impact on the balance of power in Shu.

"Yes, Zhuge Ke is a natural general." Guan Fengfeio couldn't see Liu Bei's worries, talked eloquently, praised Zhuge Ke well, and finally said: "Uncle, King Wei is old, and now he basically doesn't care about government affairs, and he is handed over to a few sons to take care of, although King Wu is in the prime of life, he also focuses on cultivating the crown prince, why doesn't uncle bring Adou out to experience and practice?" It is necessary to know that good iron also needs to be practiced by famous teachers, and young people who have not experienced the world, even if they are geniuses, have very limited achievements. Wu Taizideng has experienced two wars, and now he has been reborn. ”

Liu Bei was silent. He is a man of the world, and of course he knows this. But if he wanted to let Liu Chan and Sun Deng go out to practice, he was reluctant. Of course, he knew that it was not a good thing for Sun Deng to be sent out by Sun Quan to go through the training, but the result was very real, as Guan Feng said, Sun Deng had changed from a piece of mortal iron to refined iron after two trials, which shows that exercise is still very necessary. Is it for safety, continue to protect Liu Chan by his side, or be ruthless and send him out to experience the wind and rain? Liu Bei hesitated.

"It's dangerous out there, isn't it?" Liu Beiqiang laughed.

"Hehehe......" Guan Feng laughed softly: "Uncle, when you were Adou's age, you had already fought against the Yellow Turban Thief, right?" ”

Guan Feng's words immediately brought Liu Bei back to that era of passion and blood, and he was stunned for a while before he nodded and said: "Yes, that year, I was also eighteen years old, and your father, as well as your uncle Yide, and Zou Jing, the captain of the school, fought against the Yellow Turban Thief, I can't remember how many times I escaped death." If it weren't for your father and Yide, hehe, I probably wouldn't be where I am today. ”

"Uncle and noble people have their own natural appearance, how can a mere yellow turban thief hurt my uncle." Guan Feng took out a hand and patted the back of Liu Bei's hand gently, just like a junior comforting the old man: "If my uncle hadn't gone through so many dangers, how could there be a talent like General Zhao to follow and achieve a career?" A sapling that does not go through wind and rain cannot become a towering tree. ”

"Reasonable, reasonable." Liu Bei nodded frequently, and Guan Feng's words suddenly laid down his train of thought. Experiencing the world is one thing, on the other hand, it is to establish his own team, Sun Deng after two wars, accumulated a team including talents like Zhuge Ke, and laid a solid foundation for him to succeed King Wu in the future, if Liu Chan wants to be a king of Shu who can be his own master, it is not possible to always hide under his wings. He glanced at Zhao Yun beside him and said with a smile: "Zilong, do you think Yinping's words make sense?" ”

Zhao Yun's jaw said: "What Queen Yue said is very true. It's just the son of a daughter, who can't sit down, and the lessons of the ancients are still reasonable. It's one thing to go through the ordeal, but the safety needs to be properly arranged. ”

Liu Bei secretly said to himself, Zhao Yun has never said much, but he can always say the point. If you really want to arrange for Liu Chan to come out to practice, this safety is really a big problem. However, perhaps while he can still support himself for a few years, select some people from the younger generation to follow Liu Chan and protect Liu Chan, which not only ensures Liu Chan's safety, but also gives him the opportunity to exercise, which is the best of both worlds.

It seems that this should indeed be considered. Liu Bei secretly made up his mind, and a pleased smile appeared on his face: "Yinping, how about letting Adou go out with you to see the world?" You have loved him since you were a child, and now you are the queen of the Yue Kingdom, so you must have no problem taking care of Adou, right? ”

Guan Feng smiled, stretched out his hand and stroked a strand of hair on his cheeks: "If my uncle trusts me, I am willing to discuss it with the king, and when the time comes, you will definitely be able to find a good way to consult in person." ”

Liu Bei's eyes flashed, and he nodded yes, but he didn't take it seriously in his heart. That is to say, of course, it is impossible to take the initiative to send Liu Chan to Sun Shao as a hostage. He gossiped with Guan Feng, Guan Feng roughly introduced him to the matter of Funan, Liu Bei listened to it with relish, the situation of Shu is different from Wei Yue, but it is somewhat similar to Wu. To the east is the state of Wu, to the north is the state of Shu, to the south is the southern frontier of the land of smoke miasma, to the west is the big snow mountain, his space for development is very limited, of course, it is not so easy for others to attack him, and because of this, he dared to start a war with the state of Wu for the sake of Zhang Yi's affairs, although he can't control the area of Yizhou County for the time being, but he can't let the state of Wu reach out.

"Yinping, I heard that Zang Ba and Sun Guan both have a deal with the Yue State?" Liu Bei talked about it for a long time, and finally got to the point.

"Yes, they are trading partners with my country." Guan Feng said with a smile: "The silk of Linzi and the iron of Xuzhou are very popular commodities. The embroidery of Xiangyi and the Shu brocade of Chengdu are more straightforward than Linzi, although the quality is on the top, but the quantity is too far behind. I've always wanted to ask my uncle, why is Chengdu's Jinjiu famous, but it has never been able to do Linzi? ”

Guan Feng asked knowingly. There are many places where there are sericulture in Dahan, but the famous places for silk weaving are Linzi, Xiangyi and Chengdu. Linzi is famous for silk, in the early Han Dynasty, it was known as the crown belt clothes and shoes in the world, and Xiangyi is known for its fine embroidery, has been supplied to the royal and ministers, the number of which is certainly not comparable to Linzi, and although Chengdu's brocade is famous, but it became famous late, and Linzi can not be compared with the industrial base. What's more, the reason why Linzi is so prosperous now is that the new looms funded by the Vietnamese country also have a great credit.

However, Liu Bei didn't know this, and he was also wondering why Shu Jin was so famous, but the trading volume had not been able to go up, and he couldn't get more money for him.

"This ...... I don't know very well. Liu Bei said very nerve-wracked: "Chengdu is now full of silk from Linzi, the merchants of Shu can't compete with the merchants of Qi at all, a large amount of copper money outflows, plus the means of making money by your Yue merchants is all strange, my king of Shu is now so poor that I am tinkling, are you helping my uncle?" ”

Guan Feng smiled: "Isn't it to discuss this matter by inviting my uncle?" ”

"Is this the thing?" Liu Bei was also a little surprised, he only knew that the Son of Heaven wanted to mediate for them, but he didn't expect that there was such a thing as doing business. knew that this was the case, so I let Zhuge Liang come. But he was relieved again, the Elk family was born as a businessman, and they were also good at talking about business.

Liu Bei immediately called Lu Zhu and asked them to negotiate with Sun Shao. Elk Zhu father and son and Sun Shao had dealt with each other when they were in Wancheng, and the relationship was good, Elk Wei also taught Sun Shao's men how to ride, this time they met again, Sun Shao was very polite, including Cui Qian and others, many of them came forward to greet Elk Wei, jokingly called him a teacher, and made Elk Wei very embarrassed. However, this is also conducive to the next negotiations, Lu Zhu has no other skills, but it is his housekeeping skill to treat people and things, and he soon talked warmly with Sun Shao and others. As soon as he sat down to talk, Zang Ba gave a gift first. He told Lu Zhu that the ancestral tomb of the Elk family in Qu County, Donghai is well protected, and the damage that was destroyed by the Yellow Turban Thieves a few years ago has also been repaired, and Zang Ba also found some people from the Elk family and asked them to go back to their old homes to sit and take care of the ancestral tomb. As soon as he heard this, Lu Zhu's tears fell, and he couldn't cry, and he thanked Zang Ba again and again. Zang Ba said that this was the order of His Royal Highness the King of Yue, and it was also handled by someone sent by Su Thick, the governor of the East China Sea. Lu Zhu knew that the sea in the east of Quxian County was Yuzhou Mountain, and now it was renamed Lianyungang, which was the seat of the governor of the East China Sea of Yueguo, and he believed in what Zang Ba said, and thanked Sun Shao again.

Sun Shao said a few words modestly, and then sat down to talk about business. He first asked Lu Zhu to introduce the main business projects of the merchants coming and going from Funan, and then talked about the problem that the trading volume of Shu has been limited, and suggested that Lu Zhu think about it carefully and find out the reason why the trading volume in Shu cannot come up. Lu Zhu sighed and said that this reason is actually simple, there are roughly two things. First, the strength of the merchants in Shuzhong is not as good as the merchants of Wu Yue Wei, and they have been at a disadvantage in the competition, and many merchants have fallen into trouble while the rapid development of Wei Yue business in recent years, and the scale has gradually decreased, and even many people have become agents of Wei Yue merchants. Local competition is already like this, where is the financial resources to develop outward? Second, Shu and Wu have always been in a semi-hostile state, if the merchants of Shu want to go to the Zhuya area, one is to take the land route, through Jiaozhou, the other is to take the water route, through the river and into the sea, no matter which way, they have to pass through the boundary of Wu. The Yue State is famous for its protection of merchants, the people of Wu do not dare to provoke, the strength of Wei is strong, and the people of Wu do not dare to provoke easily, so only the merchants of Shu can be provoked. The merchants of Shu were originally in a competitive disadvantageous position, and then they were blackmailed by the garrisons of Wu along the way, where was there any profit, and over time, the trading volume would naturally shrink.

Not only that, in recent years, because the profitability of local businessmen has been greatly insufficient, the outflow of copper coins has also been very serious, and Chengdu has had many money shortages. The difference from the past is that now these copper coins have flowed out, you just want to mint big money to circle the copper coins back, it is basically impossible, businessmen in other places do not accept big money at all, everyone knows that this big money is a fraud, and it cannot be used in other places, so several times the big money is issued, and in the end it is gone.

When Sun Shao heard this, he also scratched his head a little, the merchants were blackmailed by the garrisons in various places, such things happened everywhere, but the situation of Wu was the most special, because the army raising system practiced by Wu was different from the other three countries. The soldiers of Wu are closer to private soldiers, most of the support of these soldiers is funded by the generals themselves, part of it is produced by the food given by Sun Quan, and part of it comes from business, and other merchants are competitors to them, they must spare no effort to fight, Wei and Yue dare not provoke, and most of Wu's own merchants have a deep family background, at this time, only the merchants of Shu can be bullied.

"Mr. Zizhong, you also saw it." Sun Shao said sincerely: "This time Wu Shu fought evil, although it was only a confrontation, there were some small frictions, and there was no real vicious battle, but the Wei State was already eyeing it. Cooperation is beneficial to both sides, and division is two injuries, this truth does not need to be said, you all understand. There is only a limit I can help with the affairs of you and the State of Wu, but since the King of Shu has deigned to be here, why not go one step further and go to Jianye to discuss this matter with the King of Wu? If the two sides can reach an agreement, it will not be a good thing that such a thing will not happen again in the future. ”

Lu Zhu was a little hesitant, he knew that Liu Bei's psychology was actually very strange. The four kings of the Han Dynasty, he only served Cao Ying, the king of Wei, because Cao Ying's strength was the strongest, he was not his opponent for the rest of his life, and he was unwilling to go against Sun Shao, because Sun Shao did not have a direct contradiction with him, and being good friends with Sun Shao would only bring him benefits and not disadvantages, but he looked down on Sun Quan too much. Maybe people always have to find someone who is not as good as their own to balance, Liu Bei was angry about bowing his head to Sun Quan in order to resist Cao, which may be the reason why he repeatedly teased Sun Quan later. At this time, it seems that it is not an easy task for him to bow to Sun Quan.

"General Zuo back then, for the sake of a scholar, looked at the thatched house, and now for the benefit of Shu, it is not difficult to show favor to King Wu." Sun Shao smiled: "Don't worry, I will mediate from it, and I think King Wu will not embarrass him." Our four kings are the four pillars of the Han Dynasty, no one is stronger than the other, no one is weaker than the other, everyone must support each other, not tear each other down. Sun Shao paused for a moment, and then said: "I have a big plan, which can only be done by the four countries joining forces, and since I want to be a partner, of course I don't want everyone to have any trouble." If there is a contradiction, it is better to say it. ”

Lu Zhu asked: "What is the king's plan, he actually wants the four countries to join forces?" ”

Sun Shao smiled weirdly: "Overseas treasures are like mountains, and I can't swallow them alone, so I have to organize a group to grab them." Are you interested in Shu? If you're not interested, then forget it, I don't care about the affairs between you and Wushu. ”

Elk Zhu's eyelids jumped and he groaned for a moment. Among the four countries in recent years, the fastest growing is Vietnam. King Yue had no interest in the war in the Central Plains at all, and he had used troops abroad for many years, and he had gained a lot, which had already made everyone red. Now he wants to take everyone to make a fortune together, and with the strong maritime strength of the Yue country, it is indeed very tempting. Among the four countries, Wei and Wu all border with Yue, and it is very convenient for them to cooperate, while Shu is isolated from Yue, whether there is Shu or not, it does not have much impact on Yue, but in this way, Shu, which is already weak, will soon be forgotten, which must be the result that Liu Bei does not want to see.

"I will report to the king immediately, and ask His Royal Highness King Yue to mediate." Lu Zhu discovered the stakes and didn't dare to let it go easily.

"Don't worry, I can't mediate, there is still Wei State, and there is still the Son of Heaven." Sun Shao said with confidence: "Your general is my father-in-law, just for his sake, I can't sit idly by." ”

Lu Zhu was stunned for a moment, smiled bitterly, and left in a hurry.

Liu Bei listened to Lu Zhu's return, and also smiled bitterly. He had such a headache for Guan Yu because Sun Shao was making trouble inside. Now Sun Shao used this to remind him not to do any harm to Guan Yu, he was both annoyed and helpless. Sun Shao is Guan Yu's son-in-law, from his point of view, it is indeed a face for Guan Yu, otherwise he would not need to pay attention to Shu at all.

Leaving aside Guan Yu's matter first, Liu Bei thought about it for a long time, but still followed Sun Shao's suggestion, and sent Lu Zhu to Jian Ye first, in order not to eat Sun Quan's deflatedness, he asked Lu Zhu to go to see Zhuge Jin first, and met Sun Quan through Zhuge Jin. Sun Quan and Liu Bei did not have much psychology at this time, and also felt that Wu Shu's discord was harmful to both sides, and now Liu Bei took the initiative to show goodwill, and he was also happy to see it, and met with Lu Zhu with a high standard, and then authorized Zhuge Jin and Lu Zhu to discuss the relevant details, and finally he took the initiative to rush to Guangling to meet Liu Bei. Of course, his name was not to meet Liu Bei, but to welcome the Son of Heaven - the New Year was approaching, and the Son of Heaven's car would soon arrive in Guangling.

The past few days before the arrival of the Son of Heaven were the busiest days in Guangling, the four kingdoms of Wei, Yue and Wu Shu had their own thoughts, all wanting to get more benefits from the upcoming alliance, they connected each other, talked and laughed, and put aside all the unpleasantness that had happened before, the most obvious is Liu Bei and Sun Quan, the former allies, the enemies not long ago, Sun Shao and Cao Zhang, who appeared in pairs, are like a pair of lovers in love, not enemies who just fought a battle not long ago.

Sun Shao laughed at their behavior, Cao Zhang scoffed, he disdained to sit with such a person, and mixed with Sun Shao or his subordinates when he had time, at the same time, he ordered someone to send Sun Shao's proposal back to Yecheng quickly, before the Son of Heaven arrived, Cao Ying's reply arrived, only eight words: wait and see what happens, go to fame and profit.

Cao Zhang's heart comprehended, this is Cao Ying's agreement to the condition of not fighting for the general, but he can't give it in vain, he must use this false name in exchange for enough benefits. And the most affordable benefit, of course, is that Yue Guo financed his Northern Expedition.

On the night before the arrival of the Son of Heaven, Sun Shao held a banquet and invited Cao Zhang, Liu Bei and Sun Quan to dinner, and there was no one else, only the four of them sitting together. When the wine was half-drunk, Sun Shao put down a wine glass and made a suggestion, as soon as he spoke, the faces of the three people changed, and they all put down the wine glasses, lowered their heads, and no one refused to speak first.

(To be continued)