Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 575 Scapegoat
Xuanchi Water Fort, on the north bank of the Han River, northeast of Fancheng.

Sun Quan was invited here, and when he entered the camp, he saw many officers and soldiers trimming their hair and beards in the camp.

He just looked at it a few more times and then followed the messenger quickly inside.

In the water fort barracks, Pei Qian, the governor of Jingzhou, was reading letters.

When Sun Quan entered, Pei Qian stood up to greet him, extending his arm to lead the way: "Most of the general's former subordinates are in the Southern Army, I wonder if it is possible to recruit them?"

Sun Quan looked embarrassed and said, "Most of the loyal men were killed by Cheng Pu and his men during the mutiny. Even if there were some who managed to escape, they would not be valued."

"Then, General, do you dare to take my letter to see Cheng Pu?"

Pei Qian handed a stack of letters to Sun Quan: "The Grand Marshal has cleared the northeast, captured and killed more than 100,000 rebels and the Hu coalition forces, and will move a million rebel soldiers and civilians to strengthen Guanlong."

"The Grand Marshal is wise and brave, and is truly a blessing to the country and the people."

Sun Quan sighed as he flipped through the official documents sent to Pei Qian, including the court report from the beginning of the month.

He was now isolated from the news and read these precious messages eagerly, but he still said: "Cheng Pu is decisive. Although he dare not kill me, he is also concerned about the past and worried that the shogunate will not tolerate him."

"That's easy to say."

Pei Qian took out another letter and handed it to Sun Quan: "This is an order from the shogunate, ordering the Marquis of Wu to recruit his father's former subordinates. If he can establish meritorious service, the shogunate will restore the Marquis of Wu's fiefdom and allocate ten thousand acres of good farmland in Guanzhong."

Ten thousand acres of fertile farmland is already the upper limit that the ministers can own at present, especially since it is fertile farmland in Guanzhong.

After all, Sun Ce's title of Marquis of Wu was conferred by the Jian'an court, and his son should inherit the title of marquis and the taxes and rents of the fief.

According to Pei Qian, Cheng Pu and others were still the old subordinates of Sun Ce and his son. It was just that Sun Shao was young before, and his uncle Sun Quan was in charge of affairs. Therefore, Sun Quan only took over the affairs as the governor of Kuaiji County and general, instead of directly inheriting the title of Marquis of Wu.

In this way, the betrayal of Sun's former subordinates can be understood as dissatisfaction with Sun Quan rather than dissatisfaction with Sun Shao, and the image of these people as loyal ministers can still be maintained.

Sun Quan was thinking about the key point, and said: "I heard that the southern army was infected with the disease. If we invite them, won't it affect the northern army?"

"It's hard to tell whether the infection is true or false, but if we continue to fight, the Grand Marshal will send Gan Xingba south. If Gan Xingba arrives, we won't be able to report to the Grand Marshal if we haven't done anything."

Pei Qian sat down to drink tea and warned Sun Quan: "This is the last chance for Cheng Pu and others, and also the general's chance. If Gan Xingba is released from the cage, there will be no such opportunity again."

Sun Quan nodded seriously. This was probably Pei Qian's greatest authority.

Pei Qian added: "After Cheng Pu raises his army, he can help Xu Kun to capture the new city of Jiangling. Xu Kun, who is stationed in Dangyang, has also sent people to lobby, and the response is quite positive. There are also people in Jiangling city to support him."

Looking at Sun Quan's surprised expression, Pei Qian smiled and said, "While it is hard to tell whether the epidemic is true or not, it has disturbed the morale of the various units of the Southern Army. Not only the Southern Army, but also all units of our army are worried. If Gan Xingba arrives, I am afraid he will not accept a single surrendered soldier because of the epidemic in the Southern Army."

The new city of Jiangling was Pei Qian's concern. Half a year had passed and Lu Yi had almost finished building it.

Now that he has it back, Pei Qian can give an explanation to the shogunate.

Future wars will revolve around the control of Jiangling City and the Yangtze River Basin.

After thinking for a while, Sun Quan cupped his hands and said, "If that's the case, I'm willing to go as an envoy to persuade Cheng Pu to surrender. But my cousin's children are all in Jiangdong, how can he dare to leave them?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, his children will be here soon."

Pei Qian couldn't help but smile complacently as he spoke: "General Xu is very easy to talk to, and his demands are not many. After surrendering, he is willing to follow the example of the generals in Guanzhong. The shogunate will recognize his county marquisate, restore his fief, grant him land to build a manor. In addition, his daughter will be selected to serve his wife in Dongxiang."

Sun Quan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he felt that he could also find a way to get his niece over there.

Seeing Sun Quan's expression, Pei Qian continued to encourage him, saying, "Sima Zihua is my best friend, and he has a very good personal relationship with the Grand Marshal. There are many things that still need Sima Zihua's mediation. I just hope that the general will not make mistakes. Otherwise, Gan Xingba will lead his army south, and the Grand Marshal will lead the army to follow. By then, the southern army will be completely crushed, and it will be too late to regret."

With this network of contacts, Pei Qian couldn't do what he promised, but Sima Zhi could.

If he could get things done now, he could also deal with the disobedient Sun Quan in the future. Sun Quan naturally understood, but he was really at his wit's end.

The Sun family troops brought to Nanyang basically only recognized Sun Shao, because Sun Shao was the Marquis of Wu. With this identity, he could obtain various preferential treatments from the shogunate and protect many people.

Even Sun Quan was protected by this identity and had to repay the favor he received.

Now he has nothing but a few dozen people around him... He owes Sun Shao a favor to support these people.

Once the situation in Jingzhou is settled and Sun Shao's influence fades, Sun Quan might not even be able to support the dozens of people around him.

He might even have to farm to make ends meet, and this kind of life is too humiliating for him.

If there is an opportunity to serve as an official and make achievements, one should naturally seize it.

With his father and brothers as references, Sun Quan has realized that he is not very good at fighting.

Since it is difficult to make up for the shortcomings, let’s try another approach and become a strategist or lobbyist.

Then find a way to become a county magistrate and pursue a proper official career. Even if you cannot become a minister in the future, you can still live a comfortable life as an idle official of two thousand stones.

As for surrendering to the Southeastern Court... he hated those people to the core, second only to Cheng Pu and others. He would rather return to his ancestral business as a melon farmer under the rule of the Grand Marshal than have any dealings with the Southeastern Court.

Seeing that Sun Quan agreed, Pei Qian immediately took out the letter to persuade Cheng Pu to surrender.

After Sun Quan had read it, he sealed it with lacquer.

Sun Quan did not dare to delay and left immediately, going upstream along the north bank of the Han River, then crossing the river to go to Longzhong, going south from the west of Jingshan, and taking the mountain road to Maicheng to meet Cheng Pu.

Former Sun clan members like Cheng Pu were not valued and were placed along the rear line to collect grain and establish military settlements. From time to time, they would also send troops to Jiangling City to participate in the city-building work.

Every time troops were sent to Jiangling to build the city, the elite troops would be detained by the court officials in charge of the construction.

They continued to use the blunt knife to cut the meat, and Cheng Pu and others had no choice but to accept it.

After Sun Quan set off, Pei Qian came to Fancheng to see Zhou Yu again.

The two exchanged intelligence together, and Zhou Yu had more face and connections among the old subordinates of the Jiangdong Army than Sun Quan.

As the two drank, Pei Qian couldn't help but ask, "Will Cheng Pu really lead his troops to return?"

"He won't lie to me. What I'm worried about now is Xu Kun."

Zhou Yu closed his eyes and shook his head gently, listening to the melody of the piano. He spoke slowly, "Xu Kun has always been rough and frivolous, similar to Bo Fu. If the news leaks out and Jiangling City is prepared and ambushed, Xu Kun will have a hard time escaping."

But death is death. After inciting the old generals of Jiangdong to rebel, the siege of the Southern Army will collapse.

He was similar to Pei Qian and really didn't want Gan Ning to come to Jingzhou.

Once Gan Ning arrives, he will be in charge of both military and political affairs, which will make him very uncomfortable and he will also lose the opportunity to plan independently and achieve success.

Zhou Yu was not used to the decisive battle style of play of Black Bear and Gan Ning. It was not that he did not like it, but that he could not learn it.

No matter how much he tried to deduce, he just couldn't figure out the other party's secret to victory.

Therefore, the offensive of the Southern Army must be resolved before Gan Ning sends out his troops. Whether it is Xu Kun or Cheng Pu, the success or failure of the rebellion is not important, as long as the offensive of the Southern Army is disintegrated.

As for whether to pursue and kill the retreating Southern Army, that depends on Liu Qi's thoughts.

And there is Sun Quan. If Sun Quan didn't go to see Cheng Pu, how could Cheng Pu surrender?

(End of this chapter)