The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 329
"No!" Zhuge Ke turned pale in shock, and blurted out, "Prince, how could you have such an idea?"

"Then what should I do? Must my father issue an edict to deprive me of the crown prince?" Sun Deng couldn't help tears from the corners of his eyes: "I know he can't bear it, although he thinks I'm not an ideal successor The king, but the love between father and son is still there, he will not do such a thing. If I don't die, wouldn't he be in a dilemma?"

"If you die, wouldn't it be more difficult for him?" Zhuge Ke half straightened up, almost roaring: "The king has been fascinated by that woman, and now he can't listen to anyone, he only believes in that woman, you If you die like this, it is not the king's will, but the woman's will, which in turn makes the king bear the name of forcing the prince to death. Prince, you can't do this!"

Sun Deng raised his head and looked at Zhuge Ke, who was in a state of despair, in a dilemma: "Then... what should I do?"

Zhuge Ke took a few breaths, gritted his teeth, clenched his fists with both hands, and pressed them on the table. Because of too much force, his joints were white. He thought for a long time before he vomited. In a weak tone, he said: "If the crown prince really only wants to die, then it is better to go to the court to report illness, please resign from the position of crown prince, and recuperate in Yuzhang from now on, and no longer get involved in government affairs, so at least one life can be saved. "He paused, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything. He just looked at Sun Deng with pity. He was disappointed, regretful, and unwilling.

"I have already asked to resign, but my father has never agreed, I'm afraid..."

"This moment, that moment, this time I will definitely agree." Zhuge Ke interrupted Sun Deng's words with a wave of his hand, feeling very happy, and no longer interested in discussing with Sun Deng.Before coming, his father, Zhuge Jin, said that Sun Deng would endure humiliation instead of fighting back, and that his visit to Yuzhang would only be in vain.He has always refused to believe it. After all, the great general Bu Zhi and his father, the prime minister Zhuge Jin, still support Sun Deng. As long as Sun Deng does not give up, Sun Quan can't find his faults. Sun Deng's crown prince just looks thrilling , In fact, there is not much suspense.With Sun Quan's intelligence, it is impossible for him not to see the problem of doing so. More importantly, Sun He is only 13 years old now. Even if Sun Quan has ideas, he will not rush to let Sun Deng abdicate and make Sun He the prince.Wait a few years, maybe there will be a turnaround.But Sun Deng himself has no fighting spirit, so no matter how hard they try, it will be useless.

Zhuge Ke regretted it a little. Maybe he should have known Sun Deng's weakness in character long ago, and he shouldn't pin his hopes on him.Sun Deng is a good man, but he is not a qualified king. He lacks the necessary contingency ability and believes too much in Confucian ethics.

Sun Deng looked at Zhuge Ke who seemed to have been stripped of his backbone, sighed silently, got up and wrote a letter of resignation to the prince in his study, and then handed it to Zhuge Ke: "One thing does not bother the two masters, this letter Shangshu, please ask Yuan Xun to pass it on for you."

Zhuge Ke didn't refuse either. Since he couldn't continue to assist Sun Deng, his second purpose of coming here was to make a contribution to this matter, solve a problem for Sun Quan, and thus draw closer the relationship with Sun Quan.It's just that his original purpose was to hope that Sun Deng could persevere, but now he can only settle for the next best thing.

Zhuge Ke took Sun Deng's Shangshu back to Jianye and handed it over to Sun Quan.Sun Quan looked at Sun Deng's handwriting that seemed to have been stained by tears, and felt a little sad. He sighed for a long time, put it away, but did not give any reply.

"Yuan Xun, the King of Yue is fighting for thousands of miles, and there is not enough troops. Now Wei and Shu are actively preparing, and even Luoyang is preparing to support. Do you think I, Wu, will also support some?"

Zhuge Ke was overjoyed, but his face remained calm: "I think it's wrong."

Sun Quan showed doubts on his face, but there was an expression of approval in his eyes.

"The king of Yue sent troops thousands of miles away, and he relied on the navy. However, based on my experience in the conquests of Wu and Wei and Shu for many years, relying on the navy alone is more than enough to protect itself, but not aggressive enough. I heard that Sassan ruled the roost with cavalry. If you want to To compete with such an opponent, the only way to effectively imitate Wei Huo's method of using cavalry is to control cavalry. That is to say, Wei's support is the most important thing. It's not very useful. What's more, the king has already supported him with 3 horses, which is far more than that of Wei and Shu, so there is no need to increase it."

Sun Quan nodded again and again, looking at Zhuge Ke with a smile on his face.

Zhuge Ke licked his lips, and then said: "Besides, Wei and Shu are gathering troops, but whether they want to support the Yue Kingdom, or have other ideas, it is still difficult to decide, we have to guard against it. The King of Yue is far away, The country is empty, and our country Wu, as the country of the same clan as Yue, needs to assist him when he is attacked by the enemy."

Sun Quan's eyes flickered, he blinked, raised one hand and gently twirled his beard, and said with a smile, "Is there anyone else who can attack Yue?"

"You must guard against it." Zhuge Ke didn't laugh, but said more cautiously: "The king of Yue is not in Funan, and the important affairs are entrusted to Yu Fan and others. Wei and Yue have always had a close relationship. Going through Funan, if something unexpected happens inside, who can guarantee what will happen? With me, Wu Guo, by my side, even if the people of Wei have any ideas, they have to think twice."

Sun Quan's face froze, then he laughed again, nodded and said, "What Yuan Xun said was, what Yuan Xun said was that Feng Xian went far away. As an uncle, I have to help him look after his home. Alas , Fengxian is still a young man, he is too reckless. Not to mention his own expedition to thousands of miles, but also let the prince go out to travel, and there will be no news once he goes there. If something happens, then what to do."

The corner of Zhuge Ke's mouth twitched, and he quickly regained his composure.Sun Feng, the prince of Yue, went out for a trip as usual, and lost his trace as soon as he left the Temu City. It is said that no one knows where he is now, and no one knows whether he is alive or dead.According to Zhuge Ke's understanding, when the prince travels, he must not only guard against external dangers, but more importantly, guard against internal dangers. If he wants to get rid of the prince without showing any traces, the best time to take action is when he is traveling.Perhaps knowing this, Sun Feng's whereabouts are unknown, but there is no impenetrable wall in the world, no matter how concealed Sun Feng is, it is difficult to guarantee that no one will know his whereabouts and keep himself safe.

In general, Sun Quan's evaluation of Sun Shao's actions was very appropriate, but he knew the hidden meaning behind Sun Quan's words, so he could only keep silent.Seeing that he was silent, Sun Quan just nodded his head in agreement, smiled slightly, and didn't say anything else.

After Zhuge Ke bid farewell and left the palace, Sun Quan returned to the harem with Sun Deng's Shangshu. Mrs. Wang got the news early and was already waiting impatiently.When she saw Sun Deng resigning from the crown prince, she just smiled, and then pouted unhappily.Whether Sun Deng’s resignation as the crown prince is true or not, as long as Sun Deng is alive, it will be a threat to Sun He. Sun Deng has a high prestige among the subjects of Wu, and being demoted to burn porcelain in Yuzhang these years has caused a lot of trouble. There are rumors that now that Sun Quan is here, those courtiers dare not jump out, but once Sun Quan dies, Sun Deng will raise his arms and shout, and there will probably be crowds of people, and the government will immediately change color.

It's not time to celebrate yet.Thinking of this, Mrs. Wang put on a coquettish smile again, hugged Sun Quan and walked back, asking as she walked, "Your Majesty, what do you want to eat today?"

……

In the winter of the 15th year of the Republic of China, there was another dispute between Guishuang and Sassanid who had just been quiet for a few months. The Sassanian king Ardashir sent an envoy to Guishuang King Bo to send an emissary on the pretext that several Sasanians were killed in Guishuang. To be fair, if the two sides disagreed with each other, they immediately fought.Bodiao seems to have been prepared for a long time. Since the four-nation alliance, the defense pressure on the eastern front has been much less, so he has transferred most of his troops to the western front, and has also stockpiled a large amount of food, grass and ordnance. At that time, although Guishuang was not as good as before, he still fought several bloody battles with Ardashir, and did not let Ardashir take advantage of it.Ardashir originally thought that this was just a destructive battle, but it turned into a tug of war. Although the Sassanians had the upper hand, it became a dream to win easily.

Ardasil took a deep breath and made up his mind to defeat the fighting spirit of the Guishuang people. After a period of rest, the late Guishuang was able to recover a lot of fighting power. Wouldn't it be unnecessary for him to face the Romans? Sure of winning?He dealt with Bodiao patiently, gathered strength, and prepared to hit Guishuang people hard.

Bodiao is not an idiot either, he knows that he has the upper hand by being able to fight like this, and in the long run, he will definitely not be a match for Ardashir, therefore, as soon as he got the news of the provocation from the Sassanids, he sent the envoy Cobra Many sent to Axum.

"A fight?" Sun Shao was very surprised, as if he couldn't figure out why things turned out like this: "You...have just signed an alliance and want to live in peace, why are you fighting again before half a year has passed?"

Cobrado gritted his teeth and said: "The Sassanids are brutal wolves. How could he be willing not to swallow our Guishuang with bones and flesh? The last time he killed Venerable Maming, he failed to provoke the relationship between us and the king. , this time they used the excuse that a Sasanian died in our Guishuang country, and asked my king to hand over the murderer and compensate them a sum of money. He thought that we didn't know his mind, and he just wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble. My family Your Majesty was prepared long ago, that's why we blocked their attack. However, if we want to defeat them, we still need your Majesty's help."

"Did Ma Ming die at the hands of the Sassanids?" Sun Shao stood up in horror. After receiving Cobrador's affirmative answer, he immediately became angry and scolded the Sassanids for being shameless.Cobrado quickly persuaded him, and said gratefully: "Thanks to the king's understanding at the time, he took the initiative to give in, and did not let their trick succeed. Otherwise, we would have fought each other. Now that the Sasanians are coming out from behind, our Guishuang will be killed." The country will perish."

"We are friends, and we should support each other." Sun Shao waved his hand and said generously, "Since the Sassanids are loyal, we can't be polite to him." With one hand behind his back and the other stroking his beard, he walked back and forth After two steps, he suddenly stood still in front of Cobrado: "How long can you support?"

Cobrado hesitated for a moment, and stretched out a finger: "With our current national power reserve, we can support it for at most one year. After one year, the tax may not be able to be supplied."

"Well, let's find a way to make him tired. Can't he run? Let's let him run and break his legs."

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

"The Sasanians are good at cavalry. They have enough advantages in field battles. Although you Guishuang are also good at cavalry, you are seriously short of troops. Therefore, I hope you will not be impulsive and fight with them in the field, but rely on your native land The advantage in combat, use the strong city to fight against him. In this way, their cavalry advantage will not be able to be used, and they can only confront you under the strong city."

"However, it won't work after a long time." Cobrado said worriedly.

"It won't be long. At most three months, the Romans will send troops to attack their backs. At that time, can he still besiege Guishuang? Once he leaves, you will be relaxed, and you will have enough time to rest and wait After half a year, when they are exhausted from fighting the Romans, you attack his back and let them run back and forth across the east and west borders for thousands of miles, and within two years, they will be dragged to death."

Cobrado thought for a while: "How does the king plan to deal with them?"

Sun Shao smiled ashamedly: "You also know that I am good at navy, and I can't go ashore, so I may not be of much help on the frontal battlefield." He raised his hand, expressing his disappointment Cobrado said, "However, I will do a good job in your supply work. I can assure you that the entire Yue Kingdom and Tianzhu will become your base camp. I will supply you with food and weapons at cost prices." , so that you can deal with the Sasanians without any worries."

After hearing this, Cobrado breathed a sigh of relief.He secretly calculated that what Sun Shao said was true. The Yue Kingdom is dominated by powerful navy and wealth. It is indeed a bit embarrassing for them to go ashore to fight the Sasanians. I'm worried that they won't leave.Now he is willing to supply Guishan people with food and weapons at cost price, which is beneficial and harmless to Guishan people.And with the help of the Romans, no matter how powerful the Sassanians are, there is nothing he can do to deal with the two big countries of Guishuang and Rome at the same time.If Sun Shao's plan can be implemented, at most two years, the Sasanians will be exhausted to death like a wolf following a camel.

While Cobrado was negotiating with Sun Shao, Quintus came to Axum with Alexander's secret decree.As expected by Sun Shao, when he heard that the Sassanians and Guishuang people were exhausted, Alexander was very happy to see the hunting, and very much hoped to take advantage of the emptiness behind the Sassanids to recapture Armenia and avenge the previous year.What he is worried about is that the economic situation in Rome has just eased. If a war is launched rashly, the nobles of the Senate will definitely oppose it. He took the Senate seriously, so he could only seek Sun Shao's support.

The arrival of Quintus was in Sun Shao's arms. With less money, Guishuang and Rome could be tied together to fight against the Sassanids, which was in line with his strategic intention.As long as the battle reaches a certain position, be it Rome, Guishuang, or Sassanid, the national power will be severely weakened. At that time, he will become an indispensable force in controlling the situation. Almighty make up.

The three parties hit it off, and Cobrado and Quintus left happily. Coralado wanted to go back and tell Bodiao the news of the three-nation alliance. , don't attack hastily.And Quintus wanted to go back and tell Alexander that Sun Shao had lived up to his hopes. When he needed help the most, Sun Shao extended a helping hand without hesitation.

Alexander was overjoyed by Quintus' return. He immediately prepared his army and expanded Escanomi's new army to 16 people. Because the number of citizens willing to join the new army in Rome was insufficient, Alexander adopted the more common policy in Rome. The method was to recruit barbarian mercenaries. Attracted by favorable conditions, Germans, Gauls, and Goths flocked in one after another, and [-] elite soldiers were quickly formed.After more than three months of preparation, in February of the [-]th year of the Republic, Alexander led an army of [-] to conquer Armenia.

The Sassanids apparently did not expect the Romans to attack so soon. Shapur, who stayed behind in Taixi, had no time to inform Ardashir, and rushed to fight with the 2 people who stayed behind. In front of the prepared Romans, he still didn't take advantage of it, and the two sides fell into a stalemate.

Alexander let out a long sigh of relief. He won the first time he led an army alone, and he finally proved his ability.With Escanomi's new army in hand, Maximus, the former domineering guard, became much more obedient. He no longer refuted him face to face like before, but listened to him respectfully.What made him even more happy was that the new army showed considerable power in the first battle. In the process of confronting the Sassanids head-on, the phalanx mainly composed of Roman noble citizens blocked the attack of the Sassanids, while the barbarians The human-dominated cavalry successfully defeated the Sassanid flank, forcing Shapur to retreat early to avoid being encircled by the Romans.

It can be said that this is the first time since the Romans and the Sassanians have won an upright victory. Not only Alexander felt happy, but the morale of the entire Roman legion was greatly boosted.

Only Maximus felt very uncomfortable.

Maximus was not a Roman. He was a Thracian mixed-race barbarian. His father was a Goth and his mother was an Alan. In that year, Emperor Severus joined forces from the Eastern battlefield and temporarily stayed in Thrace for his youngest son. To celebrate his birthday, Maximus took the initiative to ask to participate in the wrestling competition. As a result, he defeated sixteen strong guard soldiers in one fell swoop, won the favor of Emperor Severus, became a mounted guard, and accompanied him in Seville. After the death of Emperor Severus, he served Caracalla again, and Caracalla was murdered, and he became the general of Elagabalus' guard.After the death of Elagabas, Alexander succeeded to the throne. He was favored by Momia because of his support for Momia's mother and son.For a barbarian, his past 30 years can be said to be smooth and smooth, and his wishes have been fulfilled. If someone told him a year ago, he would die like this. Very satisfied.

However, he is very dissatisfied now.

It's not because of Momia—although Momia no longer invites him to serve in the palace, but he doesn't care about it. Although Momia is extremely beautiful, for the strong Maximus, it is impossible for him to sleep on the bed. She was no better than a strong barbarian woman - but because of the king of Yue.That day outside the posthouse in Axum, he was frightened by Tu Hu, the bodyguard of King Yue. The feeling of being out of breath, as if he had encountered an enemy he could not defeat, this feeling made him even more angry after recalling it.

Because of his dissatisfaction with Tu Hu, he turned his anger on Sun Shao. Now that Alexander formed a new army with Sun Shao's help, he further deprived him of his rights, and he hated Sun Shao even more.The victory of the new army slapped him hard in the face, making him feel an unbearable shame.

As soon as he got back to his big tent, Maximus kicked over a table, gasped heavily, and turned around in the big tent like a trapped animal. Nomi's proud smile appeared in front of his eyes from time to time, making him unable to control his emotions even more.

"Father." Aurelinus, the son of Maximus, came in with a silver jug ​​in his arms. He glanced at the messy tent. He frowned, motioned for the soldiers to tidy up, and then stood at the table. He sat down, took two silver bowls, poured two glasses of wine, and handed a glass to the furious Maximus.Maximus took the wine and glanced at Aurelinus: "Your mother asked you to come again?"

Maximus's wife is Paulina, a very gentle woman, and only she can persuade the furious Maximus.

"No." Aurelinus smiled: "My mother is far away in Rome, how could she know that my father is so angry. In her mind, my father only has the possibility of making meritorious deeds, so how could he be bullied like this."

"Huh!" Maximus said through gritted teeth, "he has forgotten who helped him to this position, he forgot who is his benefactor, he thought he had grown up and could fly high , no longer need my help."

"However, without the help of his father, I'm afraid he would just fall from the blue sky." Aurelinus took a sip of his wine with a smile: "A person like this who doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth will not know if he doesn't teach him a lesson." who should be respected."

Maximus frowned, turned around and went outside the tent to give some instructions, then walked back into the tent, sat down in his seat, patted his thigh, pointed at Aurelinus and shouted: "What do you have?" Just say what you think, don't beat around the bush."

Aurelinus lowered his head and took a sip of his wine, and was silent for a moment, then raised his head to look at Maximus again, his eyes were piercing, and there seemed to be a fire burning inside, Maximus couldn't help being startled.

"Father, instead of waiting for Alexander to remove father's rights, it is better to establish another emperor while the rights are still in hand, or simply..."

(End of this chapter)