The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 191 Hefei! Hefei!
Wu State, Jianye.

"I come here on orders from the General Guarding the East to purchase food and supplies from the State of Wu."

The ministers stood on both sides, and the young emperor Sun Liang sat on the upper seat.

Sun Liang was one year younger than Cao Mao.

His current situation was not much better than Cao Mao's. He was also under the control of powerful officials and had no power at all. However, the difference was that he could attend court, but he had no say and could only sit in the upper seat, like a decoration.

Sun Liang was handsome and had the majesty of a king.

He sat in the upper seat, looking quite respectable.

In fact, Sun Liang had no right to inherit the throne. Sun Quan's crown prince Sun Deng died early, so Sun Quan appointed the more favored Sun He as the crown prince. As a result, Sun He and Sun Ba competed for the position of crown prince, which caused a huge political turmoil and implicated all the civil and military officials in the court.

At this time, Sun Quan himself was basically in a semi-crazy state. He directly executed Sun Ba, dismissed Sun He, and made his youngest son Sun Liang the emperor.

Two years ago, Sun Quan died and Sun Liang officially became the emperor of Wu.

However, this emperor did not have any real power. After finally sending Zhuge Ke away, he welcomed Sun Jun.

Historically, this emperor had the same tragic fate as Cao Mao. He was first deposed by powerful officials and then poisoned. He died at the age of eighteen.

Sun Liang looked at the envoy in the distance, but his eyes were fixed on the tall and mighty man not far away.

A trace of loneliness flashed in his eyes.

How can I get rid of this guy?

This tall and mighty man is the current Prime Minister and General of Eastern Wu, Sun Jun.

Sun Jun listened to the messenger's words with a smile, his eyes sparkling.

This envoy was sent by Guanqiu Jian to the State of Wu to purchase grain.

Contrary to what everyone thinks, during the Three Kingdoms period, countries often interacted with each other, and Sun Quan had always been in contact with Fei Yi, Zong Yu, Deng Zhi and others.

Cao Pi also wrote letters to the ministers of Shu Han.

Cao Shuang even sent ministers to the State of Wu to do business.

When there was no formal war, there was still a lot of contact between them. After all, it was an era when aristocratic families were rising, and there were children of big families in each country, and these people would often interact with each other.

Guanqiu Jian sent envoys to purchase supplies from the State of Wu this time because he had made preparations for a comprehensive defense, and Huainan was short of food. In order to prevent Sima Shi's army, he sent people to purchase food everywhere, including the State of Wu.

After Sun Jun heard the envoy's words, he immediately said, "Guanqiu Jian is an enemy of our Great Wu. Countless soldiers have died at his hands. Does he think we will help him now?!"

The envoy said loudly, "In war, each should serve his master. Now that Sima Shi controls the government and deposes and enthrones emperors, many loyal and righteous people are dissatisfied. That is why the general has sent us to ask for help. We only hope that the general of Wu will put the interests of the world first and provide us with help!"

What's the righteousness of the world? Of course it's all bullshit. It's just a slogan.

Sun Jun sneered and said, "Since Sima Shi is rebelling, why doesn't Guanqiu Jian surrender to Wu? If he is willing to surrender, I can let him lead the army to kill Sima Shi."

The envoy continued, "General, my general is deeply favored by the Emperor of Wei. How could he dare to defect to Wu?"

"Then why should I help you? Just for the sake of justice?"

"General, isn't civil war in Wei beneficial to Wu? My general has an army but no food. If you could give us some food, we could inflict heavy damage on Sima Shi, which would be a good thing for you."

"If we lose, Sima Shi will easily take over Huainan, and then he will attack Wu, right?"

Sun Jun said unhappily, "So Guanqiu Jian doesn't want to give us anything, and just wants to cheat us out of our food supplies?!"

"General, if you are unwilling to help, why do you have to humiliate my general?"

The envoy looked a little angry. He said, "My general thought you were a righteous man and that you would put justice first, so he sent me here. But you are asking for benefits from us. Is this the way of a moral person?!"

Sun Jun narrowed his eyes and said, "Go and have a rest."

"I will discuss this matter with the ministers at home."

The envoy didn't say much, just bowed to them and strode away.

Sun Jun pondered for a moment before looking at the young general sitting next to him.

This general looked much more majestic and heroic than Sun Jun. Sitting next to Sun Jun, he looked more like a general than Sun Jun did.

"Youth. What do you think?"

And this person is none other than Lu Kang, the mighty general of the Wu State.

He was the son of Lu Xun, the prime minister of Wu.

As the son of Lu Xun, this man did not live up to his father's reputation. He was upright, kind-hearted, and a very good person.

Later, he became the pillar of Eastern Wu, known as the last capable minister and famous general of Eastern Wu, who turned the tide. Like Zhang Hua of the Western Jin Dynasty, he was a very tragic hero.

But at this moment, he was just a general of miscellaneous rank.

Because of his father, even the general Sun Jun valued him very much.

The great families of this era had their own private armies. Wei State law prohibited the great families from raising private armies, so they usually hid these private armies in the name of slaves. As a result, the number of slaves of some great families could reach tens of thousands, which was very terrifying.

The Shu Kingdom had never prohibited the big families from raising private soldiers. Their laws were not very perfect, which led to the local big families in Yizhou becoming extremely powerful and not taking the outsiders seriously at all.

As for the State of Wu, they were the most straightforward and directly recognized that the big families had legal private soldiers.

For example, Lu Kang directly inherited the 5,000 elite soldiers left by his father after his father's death.

General Sun Jun valued both his talent and his strength.

When Lu Kang heard Sun Jun's question, he immediately said, "General, this is not a bad thing for Wu. We are not short of these grains. Although Guanqiu Jian has a grudge against us, the civil war in Wei is indeed beneficial to us."

"The more fiercely Guanqiu Jian resists, the more the power of Wei will be weakened."

"Cao Wei has become extremely powerful under the governance of Cao Pi and Cao Rui. It would be a good thing to use this opportunity to weaken them. Once they are both defeated, it will be a good opportunity for us to profit. At that time, perhaps we can accept Guanqiu Jian and use him for our own benefit."

Sun Jun nodded, he had the same idea.

Although he killed Zhuge Ke and took control of the government, he had no outstanding achievements and could not win the support of the people. He could only maintain his rule through his relationship with Sun Luban.

If he could defeat Cao Wei this time and achieve results, his position as general would be extremely secure.

He desperately needs a win.

"Okay! Then give him food!"

But at this moment, someone stood up and said loudly: "I think it is not possible!!"

Sun Jun was stunned and looked up, but it was a young boy.

Sun Jun asked angrily, "Who are you?!"

"Counselor Zhou Chu!"

The young man replied.

Someone immediately whispered in Sun Jun's ear, "He is the son of Marquis Ji De Kechang. He was previously appointed as the Eastern Palace's Chief Secretary and was promoted to Counselor this year."

"Oh, Zhou Qian's son."

Sun Jun nodded, then looked at the young man, "Why do you object?"

Zhou Chu said loudly: "I believe that Guanqiu Jian is a famous general of Cao Wei and would never defect to Wu."

"However, the officers and soldiers of Huainan may not all be on the same page with him. At this time, Guanqiu Jian did not rush to attack, but insisted on holding on. This must mean that there was something wrong with the Cao Wei government, and he felt that it was enough to bring down the Cao Wei army."

"I believe Sima Shi will be eager to resolve Huainan. We might as well join forces with him, launch a two-front attack, and carve up Huainan. If Sima Shi is truly faced with a major crisis and doesn't want to delay, he will certainly accept it."

"Nonsense!"

Sun Jun was very dissatisfied and interrupted him directly. Then he snorted coldly and ordered the court meeting to end.

Zhou Chu wanted to say something but stopped himself and could only sigh.

Zhou Chu was the son of Zhou Cang, a general of the State of Wu. Zhou Cang had tricked Cao Xiu into coming by faking a defeat, causing him to suffer a crushing defeat in the Battle of Shiting, thus making him famous in the State of Wu.

Zhou Chu was very strong and powerful when he was young. He was very good at fighting and had extraordinary arm strength.

But he was a dissolute person who indulged in lust and always bullied the people in the village. Everyone was made miserable by him and often cursed him in private.

Later, Zhou Chu realized that he was disliked by others, so he decided to change himself.

From then on, he began to sharpen his will, study hard, improve his literary talent, develop a kind and righteous character, learn the principles of loyalty and trustworthiness, restrain his rudeness, and soon became famous in Dongwu. At a young age, he was recruited by the local government.

Well, this incident also gave rise to an allusion, "Zhou Chu eliminates three evils."

At this moment, Zhou Chu's face was full of displeasure. He turned around and was about to leave, but Lu Kang followed him.

"Ziyin, why are you angry?"

"General, I'm not talking nonsense. The general..."

"Okay, I understand what you mean, but submitting a memorial requires skill. How can you do that? The general has just given an order, and you're already objecting. How can a memorial like that be accepted?"

After hearing the other party's words, Zhou Chu was silent for a moment before nodding.

"You're right, it's my fault."

"You do have some truth in what you said, but remember, Sima Shi considers Cao Wei his base. He wants to replace it, and there's no way he can defeat Guanqiu Jian by collaborating with Wu. Don't underestimate this man. Sima Shi will definitely be Wu's greatest enemy."

"Now, we just hope Guanqiu Jian can hold him off for a while, and then we can seize the opportunity to attack, if we can capture Huainan."

Lu Kang's eyes were full of anticipation.

The Shu Kingdom attacked Yongliang for years, and the Wu Kingdom attacked Huainan with its large army several times. After several generations, countless people were killed and injured, and were exhausted, but the destination was always out of reach.

(End of this chapter)