Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 202: Lü Meng's Quick Wisdom
Seeing that Zhang Xiu was becoming more and more interested in Cao Cao, Zhu Zhi realized that the sooner the better, so the next day he brought Lu Meng and the woodcutter to ask for an audience with Zhang Xiu.
At the entrance to the main hall, Zhu Zhi noticed that there were other people's shoes, so he asked the waiter, "Does General Zhang have other guests?"
"Lord Liu from Xudu is here too." The waiter did not keep it secret.
Lu Meng's face darkened when he heard this. Although Zhu Zhi was much more experienced, he could still see that he was unnatural for a moment...
When meeting the envoy from the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion, he actually allowed people from the Prime Minister's Mansion to be present. Could it be that... Zhang Xiu has already made up his mind?
Sure enough, when Zhu Zhi and his two companions came in, they were first given a warning - Zhang Xiu, Jia Xu and Liu Ye were having a very pleasant conversation!
Zhu Zhi had also seen Liu Ye. When he was on a diplomatic mission to Jiangdong before, he had visited the leaders of various major families, and Zhu was naturally among them.
As for the other two, Liu Ye was somewhat disappointed but also relieved - Liu Ye had originally been expecting to see some "acquaintances" so that he could get back the food he had eaten when he went to Jiangdong before!
Who would have thought that the two young men who came here were actually not very scholarly, and one of them was wearing… a woodcutter’s outfit? Was there a woodcutter among them?
At the same time, Liu Ye also breathed a sigh of relief. Wanting to "seek trouble" was just an emotional and subconscious action. Rationally, Liu Ye still hoped that nothing would go wrong.
"Master Zhu, who are these two?" Zhang Xiu looked over in confusion.
"My assistants." Zhu Zhi smiled confidently, as if these two people were really powerful reinforcements.
However... in fact, Zhu Zhi didn't understand what these two people were here for!
Lü Meng already knew him, but why would Bai Tu send a young general from the army to Wancheng? The other woodcutter... He vaguely guessed that it should be the one from Shouchun, which means he should be considered an expert, but how would it help in the negotiations? Was he going to assassinate him?
Lu Meng also took advantage of the situation and, through "unspoken" hints, made Zhu Zhi really believe that he was specially sent by Bai Tu to assist him.
Of course, no matter how confused he was in his heart, Zhu Zhi would not show any weakness on the surface.
At this time, Lu Meng observed Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu respectively. The former was a rough man who had just started to grow a beard and looked a bit awkward if he were a young or middle-aged man.
Compared with the woodcutter, Zhang Xiu has rough facial features, but he is actually quite attractive if you look at him for a long time.
And the woodcutter... Lu Meng had to admit that if that guy was willing to tidy up, his facial features were actually quite handsome.
The other is a middle-aged scholar, who looks a little sleepy, and his pupils occasionally show no spirit. His high cheekbones somewhat destroy his beauty. If he was wearing the clothes of a woodcutter, he would look like an old man.
In the world of Cheng Ji, she was still wearing a scholar's robe and a bun, looking very "honest", and her clothes were washed so much that they looked starched...
However, Lu Meng did not dare to underestimate these two people. He had also read their information when he was in Jinling before.
Zhang Xiu was the nephew of Zhang Ji, the great general of Xiliang. Zhang Ji followed Dong Zhuo into the Central Plains and ranked second after Li Jue and Guo Si.
After Dong Zhuo's defeat, Wang Yun presided over the government. Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji wanted to surrender but were not pardoned. Jia Xu, who was a fellow villager of Zhang Ji, appeared in front of the four generals of Xiliang and analyzed the pros and cons for them. Finally, the four of them made a plan - instead of waiting to die, it is better to fight!
So... Li Jue and Guo Si's miraculous counterattack on Chang'an was successful, not only forcing Wang Yun to death, but also regaining control of Chang'an and the court.
Under this series of schemes, the Han Dynasty's last hope of revival and revival was destroyed.
After Dong Zhuo was gone, all the generals in Xiliang wanted to fight on their own. Because Zhang Ji's troops were weak, he failed to gain the opportunity to take charge of the government, and instead stationed his troops in the Hongnong area...
Later, because Guanzhong was ravaged by the Xiliang princes' plot to drain the pond and catch fish, farmland was abandoned, the population was declining, and the unproductive Xiliang army was unable to be self-sufficient. Zhang Ji decided to send troops to Nanyang to grab food, but ended up sacrificing himself. Afterwards... Zhang Xiu, who inherited his troops, emerged as a local prince.
However, the Fengbuwei also possessed some confidential information, such as... the "Zhang Xiu" mentioned by Lu Bu. When Lu Bu was under Dong Zhuo's command, he had also seen Zhang Ji, his nephew with superb martial arts!
Although Zhang Xiu was still young at the time, Zhang Ji refused to let him lead the troops alone, and did not dare to let him be the vanguard, but... Zhang Xiu secretly asked Lu Bu for advice.
This is probably "confidential information" that even Zhang Ji doesn't know...
Before killing Dong Zhuo, Lü Bu had always had an average relationship with the Xiliang generals. He would never give guidance to the younger generation of the other side, but Zhang Xiu used his potential to prove to Lü Bu that he was worth some guidance.
Therefore, Lu Bu also knew some of Zhang Xiu's background, but that was nine years ago. Lu Bu's evaluation of Zhang Xiu at that time was "if the armor is not taken into account, he is not weaker than Ji Ling", and the current Zhang Xiu should be even stronger!
To put it more intuitively, if we only consider personal bravery, Zhang Xiu can rank among the top five in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion.
As for Jia Xu, this person is very interesting...
From the perspective of reviving the Han Dynasty, Jia Xu's crimes are too numerous to list, but it is undeniable that Jia Xu was indeed very talented. With just one move... he broke Wang Yun's hundreds of moves, and in strategic terms, he directly changed the course of history.
However, before offering advice to the Xiliang generals, Jia Xu had always been unknown. Li Jue and Guo Si were even a little dissatisfied at first when he offered the advice. Why was a minor official in the army causing trouble at this time? Fortunately, Jia Xu was a fellow villager of Zhang Ji. With the help of this relationship, Jia Xu successfully met Li Jue and Guo Si, and persuaded them to counterattack Chang'an!
You know, even during the Chang'an Rebellion, Jia Xu was already nearly forty years old. Considering his age, he now looks very "young".
Lu Meng simply could not understand why such a capable person, almost forty years old, had not yet shown his abilities. In fact...if he had not been pushed into a corner, would Jia Xu have remained unknown?
When Zhang Ji died, he entrusted Jia Xu to look after his nephew. Jia Xu was also Zhang Xiu's most important adviser. It can be said that whether Zhang Xiu could be persuaded mainly depended on Jia Xu, and Liu Ye...was the one who first conquered Jia Xu for Cao Cao.
"Mr. Zhu, you are here on behalf of Mr. Bai this time. I wonder why?" Liu Ye asked knowingly.
"Mr. Bai heard that General Zhang of Wancheng is brave and proficient in military affairs, so he ordered me to come here, hoping to recommend General Zhang as the prefect of Wan County." Zhu Zhi said frankly.
"Haha, this is a coincidence. However, the Prime Minister already knows General Zhang's talents without the need for Lord Bai's recommendation, and specially recommended General Zhang as 'General Yangwu'. At that time...if Lord Bai had suggested dividing the northern part of Nanyang County to form Wan County, the Prime Minister and other officials in the court would have considered it." Liu Ye said.
What I want to say is that the court is ultimately the prime minister's court, and whatever Bai Tu can give, Cao Cao can also give.
At this time, Zhang Xiu seemed not to hear anything, or rather... he was pretending not to hear anything. In fact, he wanted to talk several times, but was stopped by Jia Xu's secret look.
Obviously, the reason why Liu Ye is here today is that Jia Xu wants Liu Ye to be a "shield". While accepting Cao Cao's advice, he also wants to prevent Zhang Xiu from being hated by Bai Tu!
"That would be the best. Lord Bai only values talent and has no other intentions... General Yangwu? Lord Bai did say that if General Zhang hopes to continue to be a general, he can also lead a separate unit in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's mansion. In the future, he will have the opportunity to make achievements and establish a career just like Marquis Wucheng."
Zhu Zhi secretly pointed out two points - compared to Cao Cao, Bai Tu might not have given Zhang Xiu the highest treatment, but... Bai Tu was not as eager for quick success as Cao Cao . It was obvious which of the two was more trustworthy.
The title of Marquis of Wucheng is now inherited by Sun Ce.
"Now that the world is not at peace, there are opportunities to make achievements in the Prime Minister's Office." Liu Ye said lightly.
"But there seems to be some misunderstanding between Prime Minister Cao and General Zhang?" Zhu Zhi narrowed his eyes and said directly to Hongxing without beating around the bush.
Zhang Xiu felt a little embarrassed when he heard this - it wasn't that he felt guilty for killing Cao Cao's son, but... he felt embarrassed that Cao Cao had had that kind of thing with his aunt, but he still chose Cao Cao.
However, what Jia Xu and Liu Ye were thinking about at this time was not Zhang Xiu's aunt, but the death of Cao Ang.
"Hey, Mr. Bai said it well. When soldiers fight on the battlefield, there is no right or wrong in the fight between you and me... and as Mr. Bai said, only trust can change the world. Naturally, the Prime Minister is willing to trust General Zhang, and he also hopes that General Zhang will trust the Prime Minister." Liu Ye could also say that.
Moreover, Cao Cao has promised to marry one of his daughters to Zhang Xiu's underage son, which shows his sincerity.
Zhang Xiu also thought about this and nodded slowly. Zhu Zhi understood that Zhang Xiu really believed his lies - in fact, from a historical perspective, Cao Cao did truly employ Zhang Xiu afterwards, and he neither left him idle nor took revenge on him.
Lu Meng was anxious and didn't care about anything else. He turned his eyes and asked, "It may be a good thing to forgive the murder of a son, but I wonder if it is the same for the murder of a brother? How old is Prime Minister Cao this year?"
Seeing this young man speaking directly about this matter, Liu Ye and Zhang Xiu's faces darkened slightly, and Zhu Zhi also looked at them with some blame - bringing up this matter would only make Zhang Xiu and Liu Ye embarrassed, but... it would reduce Zhang Xiu's favorability towards them!
Instead, I pondered over Lu Meng's words carefully afterwards...
Cao Cao was able to ignore the revenge for his son's death and make use of Zhang Xiu, which would be praised in the future. Naturally... Cao Cao would also keep his promise to Zhang Xiu and would be less likely to break it than others.
This is what Jia Xu said to persuade Zhang Xiu before, but...
Lu Meng suddenly mentioned the "revenge for killing his brother", which stunned several people. After thinking for a while, they figured out what he was talking about - Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao had a hatred for killing their son, but... didn't he also have a "revenge for killing his brother" with Cao Cao's other sons?
Even if Cao Cao became his relative, it would not change this.
However, in mainstream values, the meanings of revenge for the murder of a son and revenge for the murder of a brother are completely different.
Just like if a son reports his father breaking the law, that is extremely unfilial and the government will punish the son as well. But if a father reports his son breaking the law, that is putting the interests of the nation above his own and the government will reward him instead!
Yes! If Cao Cao wants to take revenge on Zhang Xiu in the future, people all over the world will definitely poke his spine, and other surrendered generals who have grievances against Cao’s army will also be frightened and distracted...
But if Cao Cao's son wants to avenge his brother in the future, no one in mainstream public opinion will condemn such behavior, and no one except Cao Cao will stop it.
Even... having Zhang Xiu here is a free "fame" for Cao Cao's descendants. The more they step on him, the greater the benefit to themselves!
It would be fine for other descendants, but for Cao Cao's heirs, or descendants who want to become heirs, they probably will not remember Zhang Xiu's favor of helping them kill the previous eldest son, but will only use him as a tool to boost their reputation.
How old is Cao Cao this year?
Zhang Xiu also wants to ask the same question now... He feels that if he dies behind Cao Cao, his life will be miserable!
Lü Meng's words in a hurry directly created a deep rift between Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao in his heart...
