While Fei Yi was urging Zhuge Liang to collect debts, Wei Ba sent Wei Xing to Wuchang to discuss the matter of the sea ship with Sun Quan again.

Sun Quan was in a bad mood.

The battle of Luoyang, which had been prepared for a long time, ended hastily, and Wu paid a huge price for it, but he did not get the due return. Lu Xun said that it is time to march into Yanzhou and Qingzhou, push the front to the Yellow River as soon as possible, and cut off Luoyang's retreat from the side. But where is it so easy, if you want to fight, how can you fight without money and food?

Facing Wei Xing, who came to discuss business, Sun Quan was a little impatient, and did not meet Wei Xing, but asked Zhang Wen to negotiate with him.

Seeing Zhang Wen with a smile on his face, Wei Xing immediately understood what Sun Quan meant.

"King Wu wants to break the contract?"

"Where, your envoy misunderstood." Zhang Wen explained without any sincerity: "The Luoyang War has just ended, and the affairs are complicated, and the king has no time to meet with your envoy for the time being, so please wait for your envoy." Your envoy can visit Wuchang for a few days, the spring is just right, or I will accompany your envoy to go out? ”

Wei Xing smiled: "It's okay." I also know that King Wu has been busy lately, so it is not surprising that he has no time to see me. Zhang Jun, are you Wu Di family not interested? Our ships are perfect for going out to sea for business. ”

Zhang Wenzheng has this intention. In order to fight, Sun Quan borrowed a lot of money from the Wu family, but now he has no money to repay his debts, so he can only transfer part of his rights. If they bought a sea vessel, went to sea to do business on their own, or even bought a horse from Liaodong, Sun Quan was unwilling, and I am afraid he could not veto it. What is the most profitable right now? Not jewels, but grain and horses. Agni Bullets are the most profitable. It's a pity that they can't build it, so they can only watch Wei Ba get rich.

Under Zhang Wen's matchmaking, although Sun Quan did not meet Wei Xing, Wei Xing was still very busy in Wuchang. When Sun Quan heard about it, he was very surprised and immediately sent Lu Yi to inquire. After inquiring, I learned that Wei Xing had already done business to the people, and it was only a few days of hard work that more than 30 seagoing ships had been signed.

Sun Quan suddenly became nervous. The shipbuilding industry is one of the pillar industries of Soochow, so the people of Wu went to Hepu Shipyard to buy ships. So where does he collect his taxes from? He urgently summoned Zhang Wen. Ask about it.

Zhang Wen was very calm and explained the original situation, Zuihou said: "King, let's do this." It is also for the king's worries. ”

"Worry?" Sun Quan had a calm face. Very upset. What worries. It's pretty much the same to grab money. Wu has three shipyards, even if the performance of the ship is not as good as that of Hepu Shipyard, there is no problem in transporting goods. You go together to buy a boat from the Hepu Shipyard. Give the money to Wei Ba to earn, this can be regarded as sharing my worries?

"The king, after the minister met with Wei Xing, he found that he was not enthusiastic about meeting the king in person."

Sun Quan was a little confused, not knowing what Zhang Wen was talking about.

Zhang Wen hesitated for a moment and further explained: "King, I heard some news from Wei Xing, but I still don't know whether it's true or not, so I don't dare to report it to the king. However, since the king asked, I had to tell the king first, hoping that the king would send someone to check it out, so that I could be prepared. ”

"What the hell is going on?" Sun Quan tensed.

"It is said that ...... Hepu Shipyard may receive a large order in the near future, and once this order is finalized, Hepu Shipyard will not have time to produce other vessels in three to five years. ”

"What kind of order can be so large that it can be produced by a shipyard for three or five years."

"King, who do you think can have such a big hand?" Zhang Wen smiled bitterly: "Such a big order can only be for official use, and the biggest possibility is for the military." ”

Sun Quan was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but gasp. He understood what Zhang Wen meant, someone was ordering a large number of warships from Wei Ba, and the number of these warships was huge, enough for Hepu Shipyard to produce for three or five years. Since it is a warship, it can only be used by the army, except for Wu, either Wei or Shu Han. It seems that the possibility of Wei is not small, but if you taste it carefully, Shu Han is more likely.

And the decision-maker is likely to be Li Yan. These warships, of course, were not used against the Wei State, but only against the Wu State.

"Dawang, Hepu Shipyard is newly built and has limited production capacity. We ordered so many cargo ships at once, in fact, we didn't want him to build warships. ”

"Megumi, you're thinking too simply." Sun Quan sneered: "If Li Yan really wants to build a warship, even if Wei Ba takes your order, he will put it aside and give priority to the production of Li Yan's warship." ”

"My lord, though your ministers are ignorant, how can they not know the truth in this? However, in this way, the ministers can determine whether Wei Ba really received this order, and at least make some preparations in advance, so as not to wait until three or five years later, when the Shu Han sailors arrived in Wuchang, they suddenly realized. ”

Sun Quan understood, and nodded again and again with satisfaction. Although Zhang Wen's method can't stop Li Yan from going out of the school, he can understand the other party's schedule from one side, and it can provide at least one to two years of early warning time. This time is very valuable and allows him to prepare accordingly.

"So, Wei Xing didn't plan to talk to me at all, he came to Wuchang, but it was just a false story, to paralyze us?"

"That's what the minister thinks."

"Wei Ba is so vicious, no wonder he wants to transfer the Zhao family father and son back to Chengdu." Sun Quan clenched his fists and smashed it on the case with hatred. After Zhao Tong left Linyuan, Sun Luban could no longer deliver relevant news back. If Li Yan is ready to go on an expedition, if he does not mobilize people from Chengdu, then Sun Luban will probably not get the news until Li Yan officially sets off, and at that time, there will not be much time left for Wu Guo to prepare.

It can be seen that Wei Ba's sending the Zhao family father and son back to Chengdu is by no means as simple as promotion, he has a very tacit understanding with Li Yan.

"So what do we do?" Sun Quan held his forehead, feeling that a string in his brain was slowly tightening, making him have a splitting headache.

"Great King, the two countries are fighting for strength. After the Battle of Luoyang, Zhuge Liang retreated to Chang'an, and Li Yan was bound to be powerful. If he mobilizes the army, and then has Wei Ba to help, and goes down the river, the pressure on my Da Wu is not trivial. ”

Sun Quan smiled bitterly in his heart. Not only is the pressure not trivial, but if you don't get it right, you are in danger of losing your country.

"The art of war is cloudy, go to the army to plan, and then fight and fight. To deal with Li Yan and Wei Ba, on the one hand, we should be prepared, the monarch and the ministers should be united to deal with the great enemy, and secondly, we should contact Zhuge Liang, support each other, and clamp Li Yan inside and outside. Let him not act rashly. ”

"How to contact Zhuge Liang? Zhuge Liang was defeated in Luoyang. A sitting duck. ”

"Not really. Although Zhuge Liang withdrew from Luoyang, he took the initiative to withdraw his troops, without major losses, and his strength was still there. If the king is willing to join hands with him. Tide over this together. Li Yan is not sure of victory. ”

"How can I help him?" Sun Quan smacked his lips helplessly: "I'm empty-handed now." ”

"The King. What my Dawu lacks most is war horses, and Zhuge Liang has no shortage of good horses in his hands. If they can work together, the generals will raise money on their own. Buying war horses from Guanzhong, first, can help Zhuge Liang tide over the difficulties, and second, can enhance the strength of our army, so that Li Yan and Wei Ba dare not underestimate our Great Wu, and can have the upper hand in the confrontation with Wei, isn't it the best of all three? ”

Sun Quan glanced at Zhang Wen and understood Zhang Wen's ultimate intentions. Zhang Wen suggested that you raise your own funds to buy horses, and the Jiangdong family, which has the strongest economic strength, will definitely rise rapidly, and they will get more power in the army, further squeezing the living space of the Jianghuai system. With military power, you will be able to make meritorious contributions in the following wars, and if you have made meritorious contributions, you can seize more power.

If this policy is implemented, it won't be long before the Jiangdong family will be in control of the overall situation.

Sun Quan saw through Zhang Wen's intentions, but there was no more way. If you strip Zhang Wen of selfishness, I have to say that this is a good idea, especially in the current situation, this is simply a clever plan.

Sun Quan hesitated, and Zhang Wen did not force it. He knew very well that this ploy would be tantamount to a drain on Sun Quan's rule. If in the past, they only used economic interests in exchange for greater living space in the court, then now they want to use economic interests in exchange for greater liliang in the army. For any monarch, military power is a reverse scale, and no one can easily touch it. Once an allergic reaction is provoked, with Sun Quan's violence, it is likely to be a lose-lose outcome.

Zhang Wen was not in a hurry, in such a situation, Sun Quan had no more choice. He either chose to cooperate more intensely with the Jiangdong family, or chose to sit back and wait. Which is more important, I believe Sun Quan will make the wisest choice.

As Zhang Wen guessed, although Sun Quan hesitated for a long time, he really couldn't find a better way. On the one hand, he sent people to Chengdu to inquire about the news to see if Li Yan really intended to send troops to attack Wu, and on the other hand, he sent Zhuge Jin to Chang'an to see how Zhuge Liang was doing and whether it made sense to ally with him.

Seeing Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang knew his intention.

"What is the situation in the state of Wu?"

"Not good." Zhuge Jin shook his head: "The treasury is empty, the people have vegetables, and they can't afford to support a big war anymore." If Li Yan intends to send troops, it will be difficult for us to resist. If you have no choice but to make peace with Wei State. ”

Zhuge Liang sighed: "I thought too smoothly, I originally wanted to create a situation and force Li Yan and Wei Ba to send troops to help and conquer Luoyang, but I didn't expect it to be successful, but I hurt my vitality and humiliated myself." However, our army is not for nothing, Jiang Wei and Wei Yan are attacking Huguan, if they succeed, they will be owned by me. I can still supply the war horses that King Wu needs. ”

Zhuge Jin was silent. Zhuge Liang's words have both comforting and threatening elements. Make peace with Wei, then you won't be able to save the defeat, but will give Li Yan the excuse to send troops, and force Zhuge Liang to the dilemma of not being able to support. Compared with the two, it is more reliable to maintain an alliance with Shu Han.

"Kong Ming, you should take care of your health." Zhuge Jin looked at Zhuge Liang's pale face: "You are seven years younger than me, but look at it, the two of us are standing together, and you are older than me." If you want to do great things, you can't do it without a good body. Wei Ba is young, so let's not talk about it, Li Yan is the same age as you, and his energy is much stronger than yours. How long can you keep going? If you fall ill, who can afford such a great responsibility? ”

Zhuge Liang's face darkened: "It's a pity, it's a pity that Bo Song left." Brother, I am ashamed that I did not take good care of Bo Song. ”

(To be continued......)