My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 309: Bu Zhi's exorbitant price was his own deception, and had nothing to do with Zhuge Jin
"Brother Ziyu seems to be very dissatisfied with Xin Pi?"

After returning to Qiantang City and leaving Xin Pi aside to rest, Bu Zhi, who had rushed over from Shanyin County on the other side of the river that day, asked Zhuge Jin this question behind closed doors.

Bu Zhi has been traveling between Shanyin and Qiantang recently. This time Zhuge Jin has important official business to deal with, so he naturally cannot refuse and hurried over.

In theory, Qiantang County belonged to Wu County in the Han Dynasty, and Yan Jun, the county magistrate of Wu County, should have been in charge of internal affairs, including water control and river repair.

But Yan Jun was more pragmatic, and his mathematics and management skills were not good. In order to ensure that he could do things reliably and manage things properly, Zhuge Jin seconded Bu Zhi to use him more. Anyway, it was just across the Zhejiang River, and the south bank of the river was Kuaiji County.

Bu Zhi didn't catch up with the first half of today's meeting, but only the end and the final stage of arranging the envoys. But he and Zhuge Jin had been classmates for two years and had worked together for many years, so he knew Zhuge Jin too well.

"Is it so obvious? You only watched for a short time, and you figured it out? Could Xin Pi have figured it out too?"

Zhuge Jin couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. He didn't expect that his ability to act in a good manner had been seen through.

In his heart, he was not just dissatisfied with Xin Pi, he was extremely dissatisfied.

"It's not obvious. Xin Pi should not be able to see it, but I can see it. In the past, when you received envoys from other princes, you were more stubborn than Xin Pi and protected the interests of their masters. I have seen many of them. Even Yi Ji and Yi Jibo, who fought hard for the interests of Liu Biao, did not seem to despise them. Why did you treat Xin Pi so..."

Bu Zhi did not try to be polite with Zhuge Jin and spoke directly to the point.

Zhuge Jin couldn't help but laugh.

Why was he particularly dissatisfied with Xin Pi? Of course, it was because he knew history and knew that Xin Pi was not a loyal and righteous person.

If you are a tough guy who argues with reason or doesn't release the eagle until you see the rabbit, and you try your best to protect your former master, Zhuge Jin will definitely respect you.

The problem is that in history, Xin Pi was sent by Yuan Tan to ask Cao Cao for help, hoping to exchange Cao Cao's help in fighting Yuan Shang in exchange for "recognizing Cao Cao's court". But when Xin Pi arrived at Cao Cao's place, he turned around and sold out Yuan Tan.

Since you were able to sell Yuan Tan when you were on a diplomatic mission to Cao Cao, why can't you sell him when you are on a diplomatic mission to me? Why did you try to blackmail Liu Bei morally?

You knew Cao Cao was a bad guy, so you voted for him? You knew Liu Bei had a good reputation, so you flattered him?

Isn't this bullying the honest people? Should the honest people be assisted for nothing?

Of course, many people in later generations also felt that Xin Pi could be considered a "loyal and righteous man", but "a good bird chooses a tree to roost in, and a virtuous minister chooses a master to serve."

Zhuge Jin had his own judgment on this issue before he traveled through time. He felt that whether to choose a new tree to live in and remain loyal to the righteous could not be simply stopped after seeing the new master.

Because many people simply admire the strong, and the "Three Kingdoms" has to judge all those who admire the strong and show loyalty by their deeds rather than their hearts, so they are assumed to be loyal. When reading the book, you must realize that there are many opportunists mixed in.

Cao Cao was the most powerful force at that time. If you thought Cao Cao was powerful, you would vote for him and not vote for anyone else. Even a disloyal person could do this.

Even if he is disloyal, what else can he vote for when he has reached the most powerful force? A person who converted to the United States in the 20s, no matter how unpatriotic he was, would not have voted for another country at that time (if the United States is no longer the most powerful country on earth decades later, that would be another matter)

Since ancient times, the strong have used false letters to spy on the weak, and the weak have used false surrender to spy on the strong. This is a natural law.

Because behind every successful fake letter or false surrender, there are ten real letters or real surrenders, which are enough to dilute and cover up the fake and false cases.

Zhuge Jin has always believed that Xin Pi and Pang De were just free riders. Since it cannot be confirmed or disproven, he would not hesitate to speculate the worst case scenario.

Even if Pang De insisted on not surrendering despite the threat of "surrender or death", it does not prove that he was not a speculator. Unless "Cao Cao was about to be destroyed, Pang De still refused to surrender", then his loyalty can be fully proved.

It can be seen from Pang De's last words that he was betting that Cao Cao's camp had a high probability of having a future, and that Liu Bei and Guan Yu could not turn the situation around with their abilities, and at most they could only cause some minor troubles for Cao Cao.

As long as Cao Cao's camp still has hope, his sons and grandsons can also enjoy wealth and prosperity after Pang De's death, which can only prove that he is a familialist.

In later generations when the country was strong, many people seemed to be patriotic, but it is worth asking ourselves whether they were really patriotic or just admiring the strong power. Many of them were speculators who had infiltrated the country.

For example, a classic form of admiration for the strong is to like to be a fan of ancient tyrants. These people are patriotic only when they are born in a strong country, which can give them a sense of pride in military power. What if they were born in an era of poverty, weakness and national difficulties? Maybe they would be the first to surrender and could not fight against the wind.

(Note: I emphasize again that the headwind here refers to the headwind of the country, not the headwind of the individual. For example, Wen Tianxiang's "When times are tough, loyalty is revealed" means that the whole country is in trouble, but he still insists on persisting.)
Therefore, to deal with opportunists like Xin Pi, one should try one's best to exploit him, tap into his potential for rebellion, and let him sell out more of Yuan Tan's interests. There is no need to treat him as a loyal and righteous person.

……

Unfortunately, Zhuge Jin was unable to convey his thoughts to Bu Zhi verbatim.

He couldn't say that he was a time traveler and knew what Xin Pi would do in the future.

But fortunately, Bu Zhi knew him very well. Even though Zhuge Jin's words were rather indirect and rigid, Bu Zhi still roughly understood them:
Brother Ziyu has determined that the other party has the potential to be a speculator, and wants to try his best to exploit the benefits, but he doesn't want to be too greedy. In this case, I should help Brother Ziyu share his worries.

Bu Zhi then said tactfully, "How difficult is this? Since Xin Pi feels that the lord is so righteous, and you Zhuge family members are all 'gentlemen who talk about righteousness rather than profit', and it is not convenient to discuss terms, then let me go and discuss it privately.

If the talks fail, it is because I am greedy for merit and took the initiative to use your reputation to force Xin Pi. You know nothing. If the talks fail, the lord can still send troops to help for the sake of justice. It has nothing to do with anything else. "

After hearing Bu Zhi's frank words, Zhuge Jin finally felt relieved.

It’s convenient to have someone close to you to act as your white glove.

Zhuge Jin: "Thank you for your hard work, brother. But do you know what our army needs?"

Bu Zhi: "Do you want Yuan Tan to pay money, food, weapons, and horses? Or cede counties?"

Zhuge Jin: "Don't think so generally, when the time comes, you can just say it like this..."

……

Xin Pi refused to accept the toast and was punished. It was Bu Zhi's turn to make arrangements for him, and the situation soon changed.

The next day, Xin Pi wanted to ask for a meeting again, but was told that Zhuge Envoy had other important official business and could not get away.

Then by chance, Bu Zhi was in charge of reception work. Xin Pi wanted to find out the truth, so he started chatting with Bu Zhi.

Bu Zhi said, "I am only a local official in Kuaiji County and have no say in the central decision-making of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's shogunate."
At the same time, he did not forget to hint to Xin Pi that "Although the casualties during the pacification of Jiangdong by the General of Chariots and Cavalry were not great, the consumption of supplies was extremely huge. Moreover, the south is vast and sparsely populated, so it is very inconvenient to dispatch and assemble. The transportation losses are much higher than those in the northern plains, so mobilization is difficult."

Xin Pi was not quite convinced at first, so Bu Zhi presented all the evidence of Zhuge Jin's river repair and flood control:
"Brother George, you are in the north and don't understand the situation in the south. Hebei has thousands of miles of fertile land and is flat, so it is naturally convenient to gather supplies. Therefore, during the Battle of Guandu, the general had hundreds of thousands of troops and was not worried about insufficient food and grass supplies.

There are many mountains and hills in the south, and the plains suitable for large-scale farming are scattered. If the river is not regulated, if two or three stones of military rations are collected in the south of Kuaiji, only one stone may be left when it is transported to the north of the river, and the rest will be consumed by people and horses along the way. That is why the envoy has been working hard on river regulation in the past six months, so that sharpening the knife can not delay the work of chopping wood, and in the future, the waste of money and rations can be reduced when dispatching people, horses, and money. "

Xin Pi was getting a little impatient, and he didn't want to guess, so he took the initiative to ask: "Does the General of Chariots and Cavalry need my lord Yuan Qingzhou to provide money and food for the Northern Expedition Army? Although the General of Chariots and Cavalry will capture the prefectures and counties of Cao thieves, they must be governed by officials sent by the General of Chariots and Cavalry, but after all, it is for the general to share the burden, so it is reasonable for us to bear the money and food."

Bu Zhi had received Zhuge Jin's instructions last night, and he pretended to put himself in Yuan Tan's shoes and said with emotion, "No, no, if that's the case, wouldn't it be that the General of Chariots and Cavalry is greedy for money? We are all for the king's business, so there is no difference between these aspects.

Besides, Qingzhou is not rich. If money and grain are transferred from Jizhou, Master Yuan may not have the final say, and the transportation will be equally wasteful. The money and grain from Qingzhou have to be transported to Xuzhou over the Yimeng Mountains. Isn't this a waste of money and labor?

Therefore, why don't the Qingzhou Army change its mindset? Let the Qingzhou Army fight the battle, and the Chariot General can provide some weapons and warships for the Qingzhou Army as reinforcements. Our army's sea transportation is already well developed, and if we only transport weapons and not personnel and food, the losses along the way are completely acceptable.

However, originally our army only rented the port of Huangxian County in Donglai as a springboard to Liaodong. If the rest of the coastal ports and counties in Donglai can be handed over to us for management, it will definitely be easier for subsequent reinforcements and transportation. Our ships can also carry less supplies at sea, call at ports more often, replenish supplies on the shore, and save space to load more cargo. "

Xin Pi no longer cared about these small interests. He had been worn out by the past two days and felt that these reasons made sense. Yuan Tan should be able to agree to them after returning, so he nodded:

"This is all as it should be. It's just a few counties. Now the situation is urgent, even if it means taking over the entire Donglai County... it's all as it should be."

Bu Zhi added: "This is just my humble opinion, I just said it casually, Brother George, don't take it seriously. But since Brother George trusts me, I do have a little more humble opinion..."

Xin Pi: "Please give me some advice!"

Bu Zhi: "Empress Zhuge was made a vassal by the Emperor's edict, and his fiefdom was in the counties of Langya. I'll say something inappropriate. When Xuzhou was divided, the Yidaizhao case had not yet been exposed. The General of Chariots and Cavalry did not want to anger Cao Cao by occupying Langya, so he asked Yuan Qingzhou to occupy the counties of Langya and Yidong on his behalf, so that Cao Cao would not dare to covet them.

But now the General of Chariots and Cavalry has not actually started a war with Cao thieves. Now it is Cao thieves' turn not to want to go to war with the General of Chariots and Cavalry, because he has already started a war with the general. Therefore, the counties of Langya and Yidong, in the hands of the Yuan family, are more likely to become a weak point and be attacked by Cao's army.

If Master Yuan is willing to return the counties to the princes and let them rule their fiefs, Cao Cao will certainly be afraid and will not dare to plot against Langya. The princes are always trusted by the generals, and their words will be accepted. If Master Yuan makes friends with the princes, is there any fear that he will not succeed? "

Xin Pi's pupils shrank rapidly, and he whispered tentatively: "Is this... what the princes meant?"

Bu Zhi: "It's just my humble opinion."

In the end, Zhuge Jin would definitely explain all of this to Liu Bei. He was not asking for his own fiefdom, but indeed wanted to gain more benefits for his camp.

Besides, even if it was taken back, the part of Xuzhou controlled by Liu Bei would still be under the jurisdiction of Guan Yu - the county marquis of the Han Dynasty had no governing power and only collected rent and taxes from a county.

Moreover, Bu Zhi hasn’t finished making all the demands yet.

(End of this chapter)