Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 238 The Art of Control
Wuxian County.

Pan Jun, who was assisting Sun Quan in managing the civil and financial affairs of Jingzhou, finally received the first imperial edict from the Emperor of Wu after his ascension to the throne.

Pan Jun, the General of the Vanguard and Minister of the Imperial Treasury, was appointed as the General of the Vanguard and concurrently Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He was later promoted to Marquis of Liuyang and given the authority to oversee military affairs at Wuguan Pass. In the event of war, officials of the rank of 2,000 shi or below were authorized to execute without prior approval.

Upon receiving the imperial decree, Pan Jun was not pleased; instead, he broke out in a light sweat on the cold spring day.

Because along with the imperial decree bestowing this honor, a secret report and a memorial impeaching him were also sent to Pan Jun.

The secret report came from a spy agency of the Great Wu that had infiltrated the Shu Kingdom.

This happened a month ago.

That is, Bu Zhi and Zhuge Jin had just been captured by the Shu Kingdom not long ago.

The spy learned that after Pan Jun moved his troops to Wu County, he sent a secret envoy to secretly contact Jiang Wan, the chief secretary of the Shu Kingdom's prime minister.

After Bu Zhi and Zhuge Jin were defeated and surrendered, Pan Jun once again sent envoys westward.

Bu Zhi's close friend, General Wei Jing, who was stationed in Zigui, presented this secret report to Sun Quan, who was then the emperor, half a month ago, and also submitted a memorial impeaching Pan Jun.

The impeachment memorial essentially stated that Pan Jun was Jiang Wan's cousin and had been highly valued and favored by Liu Bei. Although he did not hold the title of Governor of Jingzhou, he effectively served as Governor of Jingzhou.

Now that Shu has defeated Wei in its northern expedition and also managed to defeat Wu, Pan Jun, such a two-faced and opportunistic man, is undoubtedly planning to surrender Wu County to Shu by sending a secret envoy to contact Jiang Wan.

The memorial was written with unwavering conviction, leaving no room for doubt. It asserted that Pan Jun was indeed having secret dealings with the Shu Kingdom and strongly advised the Emperor to investigate thoroughly and not to appoint Pan Jun to guard the border, lest unforeseen circumstances arise.

"My lord, what's wrong?" asked Liao Shi, the subordinate general of Wuguan.

This man had been sent as an envoy to the Han Dynasty some time ago, but when he brought the news of "ceding territory to seek peace" to Sun Quan, he made inappropriate remarks and offended Sun Quan. He was severely interrogated by the Imperial Secretary, but Pan Jun eventually saved him.

He was certainly aware of the fact that the Supreme Emperor of Wu had chosen an auspicious day to ascend the throne and become emperor.

At this time, Sun Quan had already ascended the throne, and an imperial edict suddenly arrived from the east. It was obvious even to a fool that it was an edict to reward the officials.

He just didn't understand why Pan Jun was worried instead of happy after seeing the imperial edict.
Pan Jun finally snapped out of his daze when he heard Liao Shi's question. A smile immediately appeared on his face, and he handed the imperial edict to Liao Shi.

The imperial edict did not only reward Pan Jun alone. All civil and military officials, regardless of rank, who were responsible for guarding Wu County and could not personally go to Wuchang to congratulate the emperor were also rewarded, with different levels of recognition for each.

Although Liao Shi only led a private army of over two thousand men, he was still given the miscellaneous title of General Who Annihilates Bandits by the imperial court.

In addition, he was also bestowed with one hundred bolts of Shu brocade and five fine horses.

Compared to the unremarkable promotions and titles bestowed upon his peers of equal status and strength, his reward stood out conspicuously.

Although there was no further explanation, it was clear that this was the emperor's way of compensating him for the injustices he had previously suffered.

"Congratulations, Shize," Pan Jun said with a smile.

What did I say to Shize earlier?
“When loyal and devoted men have made contributions, the nation will never forget them.”

"Now His Majesty favors Shi Ze greatly, and the grievances Shi Ze suffered before can be offset."

Liao nodded, pursing her lips.

Seeing that Liao seemed to have taken it to heart, Pan Jun then spoke earnestly:
“Shize, we who are subjects will inevitably encounter times of injustice. Only by enduring hardship for the sake of the country, and by devoting our utmost loyalty and wisdom, can we have the opportunity to realize our ambitions, leave our names in history, and live a life without regrets.”

After speaking, Pan Jun handed the secret report and Wei Jing's impeachment memorial to Liao Shi for review.

As the head of the scholars in Jingzhou and the link between Sun Quan and the scholars of Jingzhou, Pan Jun indeed believed that he had a responsibility and obligation to safeguard the interests of the scholars of Jingzhou and their relationship with the imperial court.

For him, this was a subconscious, or rather, a political instinct.

After reading the secret report and the impeachment letter, Liao Shi immediately understood.

Pan Jun and Bu Zhi had been at odds for a long time.

However, the discord between the two was not necessarily due to personal grudges, but rather to the complex and intertwined power struggles within the Great Wu.

Pan Jun wanted to protect the interests of the natives of Jingzhou, while Bu Zhi represented the violent group Sun Quan used to suppress the people of Jingzhou. If the two could get along harmoniously and stage a peaceful coexistence, then it would be Sun Quan himself who would have a headache and be worried.

Just last year, Bu Zhi moved his garrison to Oukou and submitted a memorial to Wuchang, requesting the court's permission to recruit able-bodied men from various prefectures to increase military strength.

Sun Quan asked Pan Jun for his opinion, and Pan Jun said:
The powerful generals are causing chaos and harming the people. In addition, Bu Zhi has been stationed in Jingzhou for a long time, and his martial arts are renowned and his power is unparalleled. This time, his request for reinforcements must be due to the persuasion of his sycophants. We must not agree to it.

Although the words were said to be the persuasion of a sycophant, the real target was Bu Zhi and the violent gang surrounding him.

After weighing the options carefully, Sun Quan seemed to think that Bu Zhi's power was too great and worried that he would become too powerful to control. Therefore, he disagreed with Bu Zhi's request to send reinforcements. As a result, Bu Zhi not only suffered a defeat this time, but also lost his own life.

This way.

Regardless of how Bu Zhi's defeat was perceived by Sun Quan, Lu Xun, Pan Jun, Zhu Ran, Lü Dai, and other factions.

At least within the interest group led by Bu Zhi, they would blame the defeat on Pan Jun for preventing Bu Zhi from sending reinforcements.

If Bu Zhi had an extra ten or twenty thousand men, how could he have been defeated by the Shu people?
Then Bu Zhi's close friend Wei Jing stepped forward.

As for the intelligence gathered by spies and the secret letters they send, who knows whether they are true or false?
However, if Sun Quan had even the slightest intention to suppress Pan Jun, he could openly remove Pan Jun from power and let him experience the eighteen kinds of torture instruments of the Imperial Household Department.

"My lord, this must be a trick by the people of Shu!" Liao Shi said angrily, gripping the secret letter and the memorial impeaching Pan Jun tightly.

"After the Shu people captured Bu Zishan, they knew that Bu Zishan had a long-standing grudge against you, so they fabricated a secret letter claiming that you were communicating with Jiang Gongyan!"

"They intend to use Wei Ziqi to sow discord between you and His Majesty!"

Pan Jun stroked his beard and nodded.

Compared to Wei Jing's fabrication out of thin air, he was indeed more willing to believe that this was a tactic of the Shu people, and that the warriors led by Bu Zhi were merely pushing Wei Jing forward to make a fuss.

Thinking of this, he didn't have any particular ill will towards Wei Jing, or rather Bu Zhi's faction. On the contrary, he felt quite resentful towards the Shu people who devised this ugly scheme to sow discord.

Just then, Liao suddenly spoke up:

"My lord, the Shu people's strategy of sowing discord reminds me of an old story from the Warring States period."

"Oh?" Pan Jun frowned.

Liao pondered for a moment and said:
“When Bai Qi attacked Zhao, he was most afraid of Lian Po, but he deliberately ordered someone to spread rumors that he was not worried about Lian Po, but was really afraid of Zhao Kuo.”

"As a result, King Zhao believed him and changed generals before the battle."

"Replacing Lian Po with Zhao Kuo led to the great defeat at Changping."

"Now the people of Shu are devising a vicious scheme to sow discord and frame you, my lord. This is clearly a ploy by Bai Qi to eliminate Lian Po, and they want to force you to leave Wu County."

"This is a strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain. The more the people of Shu do this, the more it shows that they fear you, my lord."

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty is extremely discerning and would never fail to see through the Shu people's schemes!"

Upon hearing this, Pan Jun snorted coldly:
“If His Majesty could not see through this, it would not have been the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat who delivered the decree to me today, but rather those vicious dogs under Lü Yi’s command.”

Everyone in Wu knew that the person who resented Lü Yi the most in the court was Pan Jun. When Lü Yi was in power, Pan Jun repeatedly asked Sun Quan to kill him, but his requests were denied. He even thought of killing Lü Yi himself at a banquet.

Upon hearing the name Lü Yi, Liao Shi frowned and spat out a curse.

Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Pan Jun's face. This Liao Shi was not only like-minded with him, but had also won his heart. In the end, all his efforts had not been in vain.

Although Liao Shi wasn't particularly capable, and gaining his loyalty wasn't a big deal, it indirectly proved that his skills in managing subordinates had reached a level of perfection.

Thinking of this, Pan Jun then told Liao Shi the information he had just obtained from the scouts:
"Shize, the scout just reported back."

"There are two or three thousand people from Shu traveling through mountains and valleys on the south bank of the Yangtze River, clearing forests and making roads. It seems they are heading towards the Iron Chain Pass. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)