Three Kingdoms: I, Ma Su, just want to die

Chapter 675 The Prime Minister intends to leave
"I need an explanation, Youchang."

Zhuge Liang's face was calm and his tone was gentle, but judging from the way he tapped the table lightly, he was obviously not that calm.

Zhuge Liang was known for his gentleness and was a typical example of a man who would let others live if he wanted to. In history, even though Li Yan ruined the Third Northern Expedition, he only exiled him instead of executing him.

Therefore, it was still difficult to get such a moderate prime minister to accept Ma Su's way of weakening Guandong.

Ma Su knew this very well, but he still planned to explain it.

"Prime Minister, the capture of Ruxu Fort was a complete surprise. It was not in the original strategic deployment at all." Ma Su explained to Zhuge Liang in a serious manner with a serious face.

"Because of this, our army was not prepared at all to cross the Yangtze River to the south. We were not prepared at all from strategy to tactics, and the risk of rushing south was too great."

"In your words, I am now a general after all, and I am the one who decides the fate of the three armies. Faced with such a situation, I have to consider it carefully..."

"If you don't tell the truth, I will beat you now." Zhuge Liang said expressionlessly, directly interrupting Ma Su's performance.

This was fine for fooling the people below, but it was too naive to fool Zhuge Liang. Even Zhuge Zhan could sense that something was wrong, so how could Zhuge Liang not see it?

After being told this by Zhuge Liang, Ma Su finally stopped talking nonsense. After a moment of silence, he honestly confessed,
"Okay, Prime Minister, I will tell you the truth... My initial goal this time was indeed to consume the power of the Kanto nobles. I planned to let them fight with the Jiangdong forces to achieve a win-win situation..."

"Go on, I'm listening." Zhuge Liang nodded and stroked the chicken feather Zen statue that he had picked up at some unknown time.

"Ahem... But I didn't expect the Wu army's fighting power to be so weak. Ruxuwu fell after a short period of time."

"But although this seems to be the best time to attack Wu, it is actually not the case."

Ma Su handed several battle reports from the front line to Zhuge Liang and gave Zhuge Liang a reasonable conclusion based on them.

"The forces in Jiangdong are complicated and complex, and it is located south of the Yangtze River, which is extremely suitable for separatism. Jiangdong is also home to many surrenderists. If we advance southward too early, we may end up swallowing up the Guandong region in one go."

"This will make Jiangdong's problems even more complicated. If they unite with the forces in Guandong, it is likely to shake the Han Dynasty's rule in Guandong."

"Moreover, the Prime Minister certainly doesn't want to see me slaughtering people in Yangzhou again without considering my identity. So for the sake of the Han Dynasty, this is not a good time to destroy Wu."

Ma Su reluctantly gave a reason, which finally sounded reasonable. Zhuge Liang's expression softened a bit, but he still pointed at Ma Su's military order, the meaning of which was very clear.

Before the war, you said that the goal was to destroy Wu, and you even wrote down the military order. But now you tell me that destroying Wu was not part of your strategic plan from the beginning?

To entertain me?

Ma Su was somewhat embarrassed by this, and the explanation he finally gave was that it was to confuse Cao Wei in the north.

After Ma Su tried his best to explain, Zhuge Liang could not help but sigh softly. Obviously Ma Su's explanation made sense, but Zhuge Liang was not an idiot, and he also understood Ma Su's core idea.

"You Chang, I can understand that you want to solve the Guandong issue as soon as possible. I can also understand your anxiety, but... no matter what, Guandong is also a citizen of our Han Dynasty!"

"Even if some of them are dissatisfied with the imperial court, that is our internal matter. Besides, it's not like I can't handle it. Why do you have to take such radical action?"

It is true that Zhuge Liang sometimes used radical methods, but as long as there was a little room for maneuver, Zhuge Liang was unwilling to take such radical actions.

They are all Han people, and have already submitted to the imperial court. Is there anything that cannot be solved by gentle internal reforms?
So Zhuge Liang was very dissatisfied with Ma Su's action this time, and even a little angry. Ma Su remained silent and did not respond. It was not because he was wrong, but simply because of different ideas that could not be argued.

Zhuge Liang also knew that Ma Su was stubborn, and seeing Ma Su's attitude, he could only shake his head.

"Forget it. I can't convince you. You have always been so determined in your own ideas... But the next time I march south to Jiangdong, I will personally take part in it. I can't let you continue to act like this."

"The Prime Minister is going to lead an expedition to Jiangdong again?" Ma Su was stunned by Zhuge Liang's words and asked subconsciously.

"Otherwise, if I don't step down, how many more people will die in Guandong because of this struggle?" Zhuge Liang shook his head slightly, looking helpless.

Ma Su is a representative of the radical faction, but that does not mean he is the only one. On the contrary, many people in the court are happy to see Ma Su use such means to weaken the forces in Guandong.

Therefore, he had to personally step down and show his attitude as the prime minister. Through his own prestige, he could suppress the thoughts of people other than Ma Su.

If everyone follows Ma Su's example, wouldn't it be like Guanxi systematically persecuting Guandong? After all, not everyone is like Ma Su who weakens you and keeps restraint.

"Therefore, I will personally lead the battle in the next southern expedition. Before that, you'd better stay in Shouchun and farm there!" Zhuge Liang glanced at Ma Su and said calmly.

"Does the general have any objection to this arrangement?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Ma Su replied quickly and firmly.

"The Prime Minister has spoken. If anyone dares to object, I, Ma Su, will be the first to stop them!"

Zhuge Liang glanced at him, then raised the chicken feather Zen in his hand.

"Don't think I'll let you off the hook just because you say a few nice words! You really went too far this time!"

"If I don't punish you for three days, you'll tear off the roof of the house! I haven't punished you for such a long time, I think you're itching for trouble!"

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In the end, Ma Su still couldn't escape Zhuge Liang's punishment. After being beaten in the Prime Minister's Mansion, he finally left Luoyang under the eyes of a group of officials in the Prime Minister's Mansion who were watching the fun.

I have to say, the Prime Minister was really ruthless!
At the same time, Zhuge Liang also took back some of his power and personally assisted the prince in governing Guandong. The prime minister of the Han Dynasty, who had restored the vitality of Shuzhong in five years, now began to spread his glory in Guandong.

As for Ma Su, he needs to return to Shouchun and continue to organize people to cultivate land in Lianghuai, hoping to gather all the chips as soon as possible, and then he can conquer the entire Jiangdong in one go.

As soon as Ma Su returned to Shouchun, he received a report from Deng Ai.

There's news from Jiangdong!

(End of this chapter)