Chapter 109 Dongwu Comes

For Liu Hou's words, Zhuge Liang also had to admit that it was very reasonable, this kind of truth is based on facts, this little emperor turned to fight thousands of miles, from Nanzhong to Lingnan, and then out of Chu to Jingzhou, the troops fought more and more, and later the number of people was ten times that when he set off from Chengdu, and the logistical pressure was so heavy, he did not transfer a grain of grain from Chengdu.

Although Zhuge Liang didn't know how he did it, he did it when the facts were in front of him. Not only was he able to get the food needed by the army, but he was also able to ensure that the local people's livelihood not only did not deteriorate, but got better and better, and there were no large numbers of displaced people because of the war where the army passed, so it can be seen that this little majesty did not rely on plundering the people to supply military supplies.

Since he didn't plunder the people and didn't do those evil things that shook the country's foundation, Zhuge Liang naturally didn't want to say anything more. The discussion continued, and now the topic of discussion is that if you fight that country first, both Wei and Wu must be destroyed, and Cao Pi and Sun Quan are both traitors who have stolen the Han Dynasty and must be defeated.

However, the two countries can't fight together, there must be a sequence. In the original history, after Liu Bei's death, Shu and Wu formed an alliance again, at least on the surface, so Zhuge Liang went out of Qishan to fight Wei and did not fight with Eastern Wu again.

But now it's different, to Liu Hou with a large army from the south to the north all the way to attack the past, pulling out countless cities, Shu and Wu have long torn their faces, for Shu, Wei and Wu are both ordinary enemy countries.

At this time, it is necessary to choose which country to fight first and which country to fight later, and sometimes if you choose the wrong one, it is likely to lead to a situation where you will lose everything. Guo Youzhi was in favor of fighting Wu first, he followed Liu Hou all the way over, fought with Wu State# army many times, and had a better understanding of the army of Eastern Wu and the current situation in their country.

He believes that now Soochow has been basically disabled, the elite has been lost, although there are still many troops, but there are not many that can be of great use. Just take advantage of the weakness of Eastern Wu now, annex Wu in one fell swoop, and then concentrate on the northern expedition to Cao Wei, this is the policy of "persimmon first pick soft to eat", Liu Hou also quite agrees with this point of view.

Zhuge Liang has a different point of view, he believes that although Dongwu is weak now, the hundred-legged insect is dead but not stiff, especially Dongwu is known for its water army, relying on the super lake of Yunmengze, it is difficult to completely destroy it.

If Dongwu saw that there was nothing to do on land, he withdrew his troops into Yunmengze, broke them into pieces, turned the official army into bandits, and constantly harassed the coast, then the Shu army would fall into the endless quagmire of banditry, and it would be easy to drag down the Shu country, which was not very strong in the first place.

I have to say that Zhuge Liang is still very discerning, and Dongwu does have plans to retreat to Yunmengze if he can't beat him on land, not only Yunmengze, but Sun Quan even found a way out of Yizhou (Taiwan). So if Liu Hou made up his mind to destroy Eastern Wu first, Zhuge Liang's worries would most likely come true.

However, it is not an easy thing to fight Cao Wei, when the Battle of Chibi was fought, Cao Cao claimed to have an army of 800,0001, although it is said to be exaggerated, but it can also reflect the prosperity of Wei's army from one side.

The Battle of Chibi has been more than ten years away, and after so many years of recuperation, it is estimated that the troops lost by Wei have long been replenished and restored, and now Wei's military strength is only stronger than when Chibi was at the beginning.

In fact, according to some intelligence, Zhuge Liang estimated that the total number of Wei's troops reached a staggering one million2, and although these troops were scattered on all sides, especially in the north, because of the need to guard against the invasion of ethnic minorities, a considerable number of troops were also involved, but there were still quite a few troops that Wei could take out to fight a decisive battle with Shu.

In this way, Wei Guo is a real hard bone, it is not so easy to gnaw, and a few teeth will be broken if you are not careful.

Just as the monarchs and ministers were discussing and deciding whether to attack Wei first or kill Eastern Wu first, the little eunuch Huang Hao came to report: The envoy of Eastern Wu asked to see him.

Everyone couldn't help but be stunned, Dongwu is now sending envoys to Chengdu to ask to see the emperor of Shu, do they want to negotiate peace? Liu Hou, in particular, was particularly surprised by this. You must know that you have destroyed their army of more than 200,000 people, invaded a large amount of their territory, and captured several of their generals.

The two sides should be on fire and water now, is there room for negotiation? Liu Hou has never been a qualified politician, and his understanding of the ancient Zongheng family is not deep enough. In ancient times, it was too common for countries to fight and make peace, and for a while they were like enemies, and then they were close to each other, and it was too common for countries to pay attention to interests, but not many people talked about your feelings.

As the iron-blooded prime minister of the West said: "There are no eternal friends and no eternal enemies in the world, only eternal interests." "Between countries, we can't just go on willfully, sometimes we have to know how to take into account the overall situation, in addition to war, there are actually many diplomatic means available.

It was also Liu Hou who made a fuss, in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Gong was killed by Lu Xun's trickery, and later Liu Bei led 700,000 3 people to avenge it, and was defeated by Lu Xun in the battle of Yiling, and 700,000 horses were almost wiped out, and Liu Bei also died of illness due to shame and anger after the defeat of the battle. As a result, the two countries have formed a mortal enmity.

However, after Liu Chan succeeded to the throne, Zhuge Liang and other people negotiated peace with Eastern Wu, and Liu Chan seemed to have forgotten that he had a deep blood feud with Eastern Wu, and even agreed to send someone to Dongwu to negotiate peace, and the two countries have since re-formed an alliance to jointly resist Wei.

This situation, just like two children who have played with each other, today you scold me, I scold, tomorrow you beat me, I beat you, maybe the day after tomorrow they are still good friends, and they play together again, and this is precisely the true portrayal of the relationship between countries.

The monarchs and ministers had to temporarily end the discussion of state affairs, and the envoys of Xuandong Wu came to meet them. Soon, the envoy of Dongwu entered the hall, Liu Hou looked up and saw that the person who came was about half a hundred years old, with gray hair, a face as long as a donkey, and a vague resemblance to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang was also stunned when he saw the person coming, and hurriedly got up and saluted: "I didn't expect that my brother has arrived, since my brother has come to Chengdu, why don't you let someone inform my brother in advance, so that my brother can go out of the city to meet my brother?" ”

Zhuge Jin said: "My brother came from Dongwu day and night, and because he was in a hurry, he didn't have time to inform his second brother. Let's let my brother see His Majesty first, and then talk to you about my brotherly feelings. ”

After saying that, Zhuge Jin bowed down to Liu Hou and said, "Foreign Minister Zhuge Jin has seen His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and I wish His Majesty good health." ”

"It turned out to be the prime minister's brother, Mr. Ziyu (Zhuge Jin's character) is talented, I have been looking up for a long time, hurry up and be exempt, Huang Hao, go and move a chair over and give me a seat!" Liu Hou took two steps forward and helped Zhuge Jin to straighten his waist.

During the Three Kingdoms period, there were also many relics of the pre-Qin courtesy scholars, and the ministers at that time were still very dignified, and the ministers had seats in front of the emperor.

It wasn't until the Song Dynasty that the status of ministers began to decline, and they could only stand under the emperor and reply. After the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, under the influence of the Hu slave society, the minister's slave attribute increased, and his status continued to decline, so he changed to kneeling.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang and the others have to sit when discussing with Liu Hou, and because of Liu Hou, they are now sitting on chairs, instead of kneeling on the futon. Now that Zhuge Jin is here, Liu Hou still gave him a chair to sit on, and he was honest and polite, and after thanking Liu Hou, he sat down.

As for why Zhuge Jin did not kneel to Liu Hou but gave it up, this is because Zhuge Jin is not Liu Hou's courtier, he is a foreign minister, and he kneels to his own monarch but not to the other party's monarch, which is called neither humble nor arrogant.

At this time, the minister needs to bow when he sees the other party's lord, which is the basic etiquette of life, but he generally does not kneel, and it is enough to bow his hand. The lord of the other party will not force the minister to bow down, unless he has the intention of humiliating the other party.

Legend has it that a certain emperor of the Qing Dynasty, an envoy from the West came to ask for a meeting, because Westerners were unwilling to bow down, so he preferred not to see each other. Such a stubborn and rigid form, such a strange idea will never happen to the lord at this time.

Of course, at this time, the relationship between the monarch and the minister was not so antagonistic, people's minds were not so imprisoned, and likewise, people's servility was not so strong.

In fact, now that Liu Hou meets with the ministers, the ministers basically do not need to bow down, Liu Hou asked the ministers to kneel three times and bow to the emperor only during the court meeting, and usually only need to bow their hands.

"I often hear the prime minister mention Mr. Ziyu, but he misses Mr. Ziyu very much, and Mr. Ziyu has time to come to Chengdu to walk around more often to relieve the prime minister's longing.

Since you are here this time, don't be in a hurry to leave, I will let the prime minister take a few days off, and your three brothers (Zhuge Liang's third brother Zhuge Jun served as the captain of Changshui in Shu) have a good time. Also, let the prime minister take Mr. Ziyu to visit the places of interest in Chengdu. Chengdu is a historic city with many monuments, such as ......"

After everyone sat down, Liu Hou talked endlessly, what he said was about Zhuge Jin's three brothers, and Zhuge Jin was also treated with the attitude that he was Zhuge Liang's brother, and he didn't mention a word about Dongwu in the whole article, nor did he say anything related to business.

He deliberately said this, of course, there was a purpose, he meant to sue the other party, I am to save face, you are the prime minister's brother, but I didn't talk to you for the sake of you being the envoy of Eastern Wu.

At the same time, I also want to convey a meaning, that is, I am in control, I disdain peace talks with you Soochow, you are welcome to visit relatives in a private capacity, I can also talk about my personal feelings, want to come to peace talks? No way!

Zhuge Jin, as an important minister of Eastern Wu, is of course also a capable person, although he is not as smart as his second brother Zhuge Liang, but he is also a well-educated person, so it can not be seen that this Shu Han emperor is enthusiastic on the surface, but in fact it implies the meaning of rejecting people thousands of miles away. But he wasn't discouraged at all.

The reason why Soochow sent him to the peace talks, instead of sending others, was precisely in anticipation of this situation. After all, Soochow was the defeated party, and his coming to the peace talks was in the nature of seeking peace, and Soochow was psychologically prepared for the difficulties of this peace talks. He was sent to open up the situation with the help of his relationship with Zhuge Liang.

Note 1: Some people may only have more than 100,000 of them.

Note 2: For the sake of the novel, the population was exaggerated, and it was estimated that there were only a few million people in the country at that time, and it was impossible for one country to have a million army.

Note 3: Some people may only have 50,000 yuan.