Chapter 1008: Is it Jun Lusu? Is it Zhang Zhao?

Chapter 1008: Is it Jun Lusu? Is it Zhang Zhao?

Chapter 1008: Is it Jun Lusu? Is it Zhang Zhao?
After Zhang Jun took the letter, he finished reading it quickly.

Since everyone couldn't see the letter, they could only look at Zhang Jun, trying to figure out something from his expression.

Zhang Jun looked very angry, as if he had been insulted. But the letter was written in a gloomy tone, and the words used were probably very euphemistic, but it still made him angry. It seemed that the conditions offered by Emperor Liang Shao Xun were very bad, and he even said something very unpleasant. Even though it was embellished in every possible way, it still made Zhang Jun angry.

Song Ji also looked at Zhang Jun with burning eyes, with implicit expectation.

But Zhang Jun didn't say anything and lowered his head to read it a second time.

This time I looked at it more carefully and spent longer time, and the changes in facial expressions were very interesting.

Song Ji felt a chill in his heart, he was tempted.

If you have never considered surrendering, you won't even read it a second time. You can just refuse directly and express your determination in public.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Jun was wavering inside.

On the one hand, he was reluctant to abandon the foundation passed down by his ancestors, and on the other hand, he felt pessimistic about the situation. At this time, any slight disturbance would affect him, and he would make a decision to hold on to the end or leave the city and surrender.

The other staff members also did not say anything and just watched quietly.

After a long while, Zhang Jun put down the letter, glanced at everyone, and said, "When Cao Cao's army came to Jingzhou, Dongwu still had Lu Su and Zhou Yu to lead the battle. Now there is only General Song. Why is that?"

After saying that, he stood up suddenly, snorted coldly, and said, "Even if you want to surrender, Zhang Zhao and others will tell you the whole story slowly. Why don't you say a word?"

Still no one spoke, and an unspeakable silence filled the hall.

"Chief Clerk Fan, the two Simas, and General Song stay, and the rest of you can disperse." Zhang Jun sat back at the desk and said angrily.

Silence is more painful than scolding him, because it shows that they look down on themselves and have a completely different attitude.

"I'll take my leave." Everyone left the table.

After the last figure disappeared around the corner, Zhang Jun looked at Fan Xi, Yin Yuan, Han Pu, and Song Ji, sighed softly, and handed the letter to the four of them for them to circulate.

Fan Yu finished reading it first. There was nothing unusual on his face, as if he had thought of it a long time ago. He then handed the letter to Yin Yuan.

After reading it, Yin Yuan put it on the table, stroked his beard and pondered. He looked like he was thinking about his lord, but in fact he felt quite out of the matter.

Song Ji stood up and walked to the other side, picked up the letter, scanned it quickly, and then snorted coldly.

Han Pu coughed and gestured with his hand.

Song Ji pretended not to notice and cursed, "Shao, do you think there is no one in Liangzhou?"

Han Pu stood up, grabbed Song Ji's hand, took the letter under his angry gaze, and returned to his seat to read it.

After a moment, he sneered three times, but no one knew who he was laughing at.

"Have you finished reading it?" Zhang Jun suddenly said, "Now that you have finished reading it, you can express your opinions freely."

The Chief Secretary Fan Xi pondered for a moment and said, "My Lord, the Liang Emperor has taken over the northern lands, and the situation is set. Liang Province is only a small corner of the world, and it is absolutely difficult to resist. Now you are hoping to delay the situation by taking advantage of the high mountains and long roads, which are difficult and long. I think this is a bad idea."

"If a king who is in a peaceful and stable situation is constrained by the dissuasion of his ministers or suffers from a shortage of money and food, and is unable to continue the siege after a long time, there may be a glimmer of opportunity for peace talks."

"However, Emperor Liang started out as a soldier and has experienced many battles. He is tougher than ordinary people and braver than his peers. If we fail to defeat them once, they will attack again next year. There will be no peace in Liangzhou forever."

That’s all I have to say, but the meaning is clear.

If you, my lord, are facing the second, third or fourth generation of Shao Liang, you may be able to hold on and counterattack by relying on the high mountains and long roads.

These monarchs rely mainly on political intrigues to control the court and implement their own will. Once the cost is too great and the gains do not outweigh the losses, they will attract a lot of opposition. They may indeed agree to your semi-separatist status with a pinch of their noses, as long as you change the flag and surrender on the surface.

But the one he is facing now is the founding monarch, and the most outstanding founding monarch who has fought his way out in the troubled times.

This kind of hero in troubled times has a strong will, ruthless methods and high prestige.

They simply don't bother using so-called sophisticated political tactics to achieve their own goals, but instead just stand there and let others naturally carry out their orders.

If there is any opposition, we will do our best to overcome it.

You can't expect this kind of person to give up unless there is an internal rebellion, or a large-scale attack from external enemies - such as Sima Rui of Jiangdong or Murong clan of Liaoxi - or he suffers a great defeat and is truly unable to win, and there is no force in the court that can check and balance him.

Although Zhang Jun was a so-called "king who maintained the status quo", in this chaotic world, even a king who maintained the status quo was different from the kings who maintained the status quo during the heyday of the unified dynasty. He could deeply understand Fan Yu's words. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Jianye has the Prince of Langya as regent. After the abdication, he might be called the Prince of Jin or even ascend the throne to become the emperor. How could he not have the intention of launching a northern expedition?"

Fan Xi shook his head and said, "The King of Langya is trapped in a net. He can still protect himself, but the Northern Expedition is extremely difficult. We can't count on them."

Zhang Jun put himself in the Jiangdong environment and thought about it, and it was indeed true.

I heard that when Zu Ti led the northern expedition to Xuzhou, the Jiangdong nobles were only willing to provide a small amount of food, equipment, and soldiers. Once they crossed the Huai River, they lost interest and seemed to be satisfied with defending the Huaiyin line. It was really too much to expect them to cause much trouble to Shao Xun.

"The Chief Secretary has been to Luoyang. Do you know what kind of person Emperor Liang is?" Zhang Jun asked again.

"Brave and resolute, with a strong will." Fan Xi said without much thought, and it was obvious that he had been thinking about this person for a long time.

Zhang Jun glanced at him with a strange expression on his face, then looked at Yin Yuan and asked, "What do you think, Sima Zuo?"

Yin Yuan stood up and bowed, saying, "My lord, I hope you will come down soon."

Although Zhang Jun had the idea of ​​surrendering, he was still a little overwhelmed by Yin Yuan's directness and asked, "Why are you so timid?"

"I am acting on my lord's behalf." Yin Yuan stood up and said, "Until now, Wuwei has become an isolated city, but Wuxing and Xijun are nearby. Their reinforcements number no more than a thousand people, and they were intercepted by local nobles. My lord, have you seen the reinforcements from Zhangye, Xihai, Jiuquan, Jinchang, Dunhuang, and Gaochang?"

"Maybe it's because the journey is too long and he hasn't arrived yet." Zhang Jun said.

"My lord, if you think like this, you may miss a good opportunity." Yin Yuan said, "To be honest, before the Jin and Liang dynasties abdicated, they once summoned dozens of young men from Liangzhou to serve as officials, including many from Dunhuang, Jiuquan and Zhangye. In the eyes of the nobles in the counties, the Emperor of Liang trusted them very much and would continue to rely on them in the future." "My lord just mentioned Cao Cao's expedition to the south, which is true. If Lu Su and Zhang Zhao surrender to Cao, Cao will return them to their fellow villagers and evaluate their reputations. They will still be able to serve as Cao's assistants, ride in calf carts, follow officials and soldiers, make friends with scholars, and have accumulated official positions so that they will not lose their prefectures. In this case, it is better to surrender to Shao."

These words directly lifted the veil of tenderness and revealed the realistic and ugly side underneath.

After they surrendered to Shao, they could still "advance in official positions without losing their prefectures and counties", and local affairs were still decided by them. There might be a few loyal and righteous people, but the vast majority of people had no reason to resist.

In Yin Yuan's opinion, among the western counties, only Zhang Su might be willing to send troops to rescue, because he is a "royal member" and they do not want to see the Zhang "dynasty" destroyed - in many cases, they know that it is easy to cause trouble if they reuse royal family members, but they have to use them, and this is the reason.

After hearing Yin Yuan's words, Zhang Jun looked at him deeply and asked, "Is this Jun Zhang Zhao? Or Lu Su?"

Yin Yuan bowed again and said, "I am still in Guzang. I have not left without saying goodbye like Qu Hu did. My lord, you know what I mean."

Zhang Jun's expression eased slightly, but then became a little depressed again.

Cao Cao did not reach Sun Quan's doorstep, but Shao Xun had already surrounded Guzang. At this time, there would probably be Zhang Zhaos everywhere but no Lu Su.

He turned to look at the two warriors, first passing by Song Ji and then looking at Han Pu, and asked, "What does Sima Han have to say?"

"If you don't surrender, I will die with you. If you surrender, I will not say anything." Han Pu sighed, and there seemed to be some dissatisfaction in his words. He said with a little emotion, "It's just that I owe you, the Zhang family. Before I die, I will repay this favor and go to the netherworld cleanly. But - that's it, some things have already been said by Fan Changshi and Yin Sima, so I won't say much."

Zhang Jun felt extremely complicated after hearing this.

Han Pu is a veteran. He was a general in the army during his grandfather's time, and was promoted to Sima during his father's reign. It has been ten years since then.

He was not very respectful to him on weekdays and kept saying strange things, which made him think that this man wanted to surrender.

Unexpectedly, at the moment of life and death, he was actually willing to die for the Zhang family.

You can't just judge a person by their appearance. Some people have perverse and unruly personalities, but they are really willing to fight for you.

Some people are extremely submissive, but secretly wish you dead.

It’s a pity that he only realized this now. Isn’t it too late?

"Han Pu, what are you talking about?" Song Ji glared at him and cursed, "You are complaining and discouraged. With such an attitude, how can the army not be defeated?"

Han Pu just glanced at him, sneered twice, and said no more.

With such people who don't know the general situation, it's no wonder that it has come to this. If he had surrendered earlier, it wouldn't have come to this? But now he has caused the Han family to be destroyed as well.

"My lord," Song Ji said, "It is time to grit your teeth and persevere. You must not be indecisive. Han Pu is incompetent and full of complaints. I ask you to lead the army to defend the three cities."

Han Pu had originally decided not to speak, but unexpectedly Song Ji insulted him directly, and he was immediately unhappy. He started to say "strange things" again, "General Song is afraid that Emperor Liang will not use your Song family, right? Yes, what is the reputation of the Song family? If it weren't for the promotion of Duke Xiping, the Song family would not have a chance to rise even after another hundred years."

The Song family of Dunhuang was a local tyrant, famous for their military prowess, but they remained unknown during the Jin Dynasty.

During the reign of Emperor Wu, Song Zhi was appointed Gongcao of Dunhuang County, which was the highest position the Song family could reach.

At that time, the prefect Yin Yu died, and Yang Xin, the governor of Liangzhou who had participated in the war to destroy Shu, recommended Liang Cheng, the prefect of Dunhuang, to be the prefect.

Song Zhi refused to obey, so he dismissed Cheng and recommended Linghu Feng as governor. Yang Xin sent troops to attack, but was defeated by Song Zhi.

As a result, Linghu Feng really became the prefect. After Feng's death, his younger brother Linghu Hong succeeded him as prefect. It was not until four years later that Yang Xin got back at the scene and killed Linghu Hong. Song Zhi disappeared.

This was an attempt by the Song family, who were restricted everywhere and were angry, to break the situation violently. However, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin, the chances were slim and the family ultimately failed.

After Zhang Gui settled in Liangzhou, the Song family finally got their chance, so they really didn't want to see Liangzhou change hands.

Han Pu actually hit the nail on the head when it came to Song Ji’s heart.

Song Ji turned around and stared at him fiercely, as if he wanted to bite him.

"Why are you looking at me?" Han Pu sneered, "I told you to stop practicing martial arts and read more books, but you didn't listen. Your father, Song Xian, is quite talented and is a rare scholar among the thousands of Song family members. If you have time, why don't you study with him? I heard that he lives in seclusion in the Nanshan Mountains of Jiuquan, annotating the Analects and writing poems. Many people have wanted to see him but have not been able to."

"Reading more is good for you. Emperor Liang was born into a family of scholars, even poorer than you, the Song family. Do you think he would make use of the local tyrants and poor people?"

"If you surrender earlier, Song may be able to be employed. If you speak nonsense here, do not know your destiny, and offend Emperor Liang, it will be a huge loss that the Song family cannot recover from."

"Do you understand what I said?"

Song Ji was dumbfounded and wanted to say something, but was speechless.

Zhang Jun was a little confused.

I just had some good feelings towards Han Pu, but now I hate him for being too talkative.

Song Ji is a rare advocate of war, but his resolve has been shaken by your few words. Which side are you on?
Han Pu noticed Zhang Jun's gaze, but he didn't care. He just cupped his hands and said, "Emperor Liang has great talent and strategy, and people from far and near admire him, but he has my illness. My lord, make a decision early."

Zhang Jun was choked and speechless.

I want to be angry, but I feel powerless.

He had been married for only a few years, and they loved each other deeply. If his beloved wife was abducted by Shao Xun, she would cry softly and tenderly under him, and he couldn't bear the thought of it.

Fan Xi observed the man's expression and said, "My lord, at this moment, I would like to leave Guzang at night and go to the Liang army camp to meet the Liang army generals."

Zhang Jun didn't say anything.

After a long time, he nodded imperceptibly.

(End of this chapter)