To the west of Wu County is the vast Zhenze (Taihu Lake) of the smoke waves, there are hundreds of miles in a radius, there are three large islands in the lake in the middle of the lake in a triangular distribution, and there are many small islands that are exposed to the water surface dotted in the meantime.

On this day, an official ship slowly sailed out of the wharf of Wuxian County and slowly rowed towards the largest island in the southwest of Zhenze. In addition to Zhouzi and a few personal guards on the boat, only Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu sat on the top floor of the boat, drinking the osmanthus thick wine that was a specialty of Wuyue, while talking about the customs and customs of this place since Goujian, the king of Yue, and the indescribable comfort and peace.

"People say that the land of Wu Yue is a gentle township, the beauty is like weaving, the beauty is beautiful, the tourists will not miss their hometown after arriving here, today I am convinced. After saying this, Zhuge Liang picked up a piece of crispy bamboo shoots, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly.

Brother Kong Ming was only half right, the land of Wu Yue not only has more beautiful women like Xizi, but also men who are as talented as King Yue. Zhou Yu said seemingly casually.

"Hehe, Brother Gongjin is true, after meeting Jun recently, I feel that Wu Yue's land is really outstanding and talented. After praising it without pretentiousness, Zhuge Liang raised his glass and motioned for Zhou Yu to drink together.

Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang drank a cup together, turned their heads to look at the island that had emerged in the distance, and said thoughtfully: "Brother Kong Ming has come all the way from Luoyang, he must have seen Cao Cao in Yanzhou, Liu Yan in Yuzhou and Yuan Shu in Yangzhou?" Zhou Yu asked this sentence, as if he had watched Kong Ming lobby all the way, but in fact it was from his analysis and judgment.

When Zhou Yu asked him like this, Zhuge Liang's expression did not change, but nodded slightly, also raised his eyes to look into the distance, and said calmly: "The situation in the Han Dynasty has been chaotic to this point, although I am not talented, but I was invited by the emperor's uncle Xuande Gong to enter the court, but I also want to do my best for the country. ”

Zhuge Liang's answer did not directly admit that he came from a round of lobbying, but he was much smarter. not only acquiesced to his identity as a lobbyist, but also showed his heart, and did not let Zhou Yu find any excuse to ridicule or make fun of.

If anyone makes fun of a loyal minister who wants to contribute to the society of the country, he is tossing around with a disgraced face, it is estimated that Zhou Yu will not be the first to agree, so Zhou Yu naturally will not laugh at Zhuge Liang for working so hard. Zhou Yu raised his glass to invite Zhuge Liang to drink together, and said: "Brother Kong Ming has a noble character and has the world in mind, Yu deeply admires it, and respects this cup!"

Because the two people on the ship are of the same age, they are all talented people, and there is no obvious rivalry and competition between the two forces that are loyal to them now, so the more they talk, the more speculative they are, as the conversation continues to deepen, Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu can reach a consensus on many judgments about the situation in the world, and gradually there is a feeling of sympathy for each other.

Zhuge Liang asked Zhou Yu: "What does Brother Gongjin think of Zhao Guochang in the North?"

Zhou Yu replied: "This person came from a humble background and rose for a short time, but he was able to call for wind and rain in the north of the Yellow River, and he subdued all the nomadic tribes of the grassland who had plagued the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years, and he was really a generation of heroes." If it weren't for the fact that he was holding the young son of the first emperor and respecting himself, and gradually revealed his ambition to rule the world, and even more so that he was heavy on business and profit-seeking in the north, did not respect Confucianism, had no imperial power, and was arrogant in supporting the army, if he was in charge of the world alone, wouldn't he be Wang Mang and his ilk?"

Thinking from Zhou Yu's perspective and background, Zhao Xing was really like what people said, not only changed the social atmosphere of valuing agriculture and suppressing business at that time, but also directly overturned the officials and fans of all sizes who were deeply influenced by Confucius's "learning and excellence" to the ground, not only in the Jin Kingdom actually abolished the backward talent selection method of "promoting filial piety and honesty", but also launched a new way to select talents by the four major subject examinations, which made the useless scholars hate Zhao Xing and hated him.

As a scholar, Zhou Yu was deeply influenced by Confucianism, so he was naturally very uninterested in Zhao Xing's advocacy of "deposing Confucianism and encouraging a hundred schools of thought to contend". In addition, the scholars at that time all regarded loyalty and filial piety as the fundamental bottom line to measure character and morality, and were deeply affected by the of "the whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister", so Zhou Yu was also very disgusted by Zhao Xing's practice of holding the princes Liu Rong and Liu Qian hostage to play with power. With this prejudice in it, Zhao Xing's advantages such as "strategizing, proficient in military affairs, and good at commanding troops" considered by his generals became what Zhou Yu called "no imperial power and arrogance in supporting troops".

Zhuge Liang also thought deeply of Zhou Yu's comment, or he would have gone to Zhao Xing, who was eager to seek talent. Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Even if Brother Gongjin judges this person fairly, but now he has a huge momentum, and the Jin Kingdom, Youzhou and Liang Kingdom have fallen into his hands one after another, and there are more than six million people in the three places, and they are willing to be bewitched by it, and regard him as a reborn parent. ”

Zhou Yu also said with emotion: "This person is really a demonic existence, he knows everything and knows everything. Although the knowledge is mixed, and many of them are unheard of, they are deeply loved and recognized by the people, and they can be regarded as the top masters of demagogy. If it hadn't been for his instigation of many people in the north to follow him with all their hearts, how could he have survived when Captain Lu led his troops to fight the year before last?"

Zhuge Liang asked again: "Brother Gongjin, does you know about the snowflake salt of the Jin Kingdom?"

Zhou Yu nodded and replied: "At present, although the people of Wuzhou eat well salt transported down the river from Yizhou, many local merchants who have returned from the north have brought back some Xianyang snowflake salt, which has been robbed by the people of Wuzhou. ”

"Brother Gongjin, what do you think about this?" Zhuge Liang then asked.

"Without the permission of the imperial court, the Jin State sold self-produced salt in the world, which obviously touched the taboo of the imperial court. Although Zhao Guochang is arrogant and domineering, judging from his ability to use troops to fight in the past, he is definitely not a scheming person, and of course he knows what the consequences of such an action will be. Since Zhao Guochang dared to blatantly sell salt, there was only one possibility, he was deliberately provoking the imperial court and forcing the imperial court to act against the Jin State!" Zhou Yu did not hesitate to say his analysis, which was surprisingly consistent with the result of Zhuge Liang's discussion with Liu Bei that day!

"What Brother Gongjin said is extremely true, and Liang also thinks so. It's a pity that he knew that Zhao Xing was using a strategy to throw bricks and lead jade, but the imperial court couldn't be indifferent, after all, the benefits of salt and iron were huge, and it was a very important tax revenue for the central government. If you sit back and watch the snowflake salt of the Jin Kingdom squeeze the salt pond in Hedong, then Zhao Xing's strength will increase a few points in the future, and the imperial court will be a few points weaker, and in the long run, how can you resist Zhao Xing's pace of going south?" Zhuge Liang sighed deeply and expressed the worries in his heart.

"Brother Kong Ming came to Wuzhou, presumably to persuade the lord of my family to work with the imperial court to resist Zhao Xing, right?" Zhou Yu looked at Zhuge Liang with a smile, and then asked.

"Mingren didn't tell lies before, and it was this thing that Liang did here. Zhuge Liang saw that Zhou Yu said his intentions for himself, and he didn't hide it, and admitted it calmly.

Zhou Yu then said: "Presumably Brother Kong Ming also understands that Wuzhou is far away from the Central Plains, even if it is in a safe corner, it should be able to protect itself. And the price of confronting Zhao Xing of the Jin State, the nearly 10,000 Wuzhou sons who died under Jiguan and Gaowolf City the year before last is a lesson. In this way, it is really difficult to convince the state pastor. ”

Zhuge Liang nodded and agreed with Zhou Yu's analysis, but he didn't stop there, but continued: "It's a thankless thing that only contributes to it, don't say that your lord is unwilling to do it, if it were me, I would also have a lot of worries, after all, everyone is facing Zhao Xing of the Jin Kingdom." However, Brother Fang Cai Gongjin also said that although Wuzhou is far away from the Central Plains and can temporarily avoid the scourge of war, it is only a corner of peace after all, and once Zhao Xing conquers the Central Plains, sooner or later he will definitely drink the Yangtze River. At that time, Zhao Xing will bring the power of the ten northern states, Chen Bing million and the north of the Yangtze River, and Wuzhou can block the Hu?

Without waiting for Zhou Yu to answer, Zhuge Liang said again: "The land of Jiaozhou south of Wuzhou, although it is remote, the area is vast, and it is difficult for the Shixie clan to govern. If Brother Gongjin can say that Sun Wentai is still of one heart and one mind with the imperial court this time, he can take most of Jiaozhou's land south in the future. ”

Zhuge Liang said this, and it was in place. Playing with Sun Jian, who has many strategists, Kong Ming no longer has that mind, it is better to show the hole cards generously, how to weigh the trade-offs depends on Sun Jian's vision and strategy.