Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 615: Kong Ming’s Disillusionment
Guan Yu finally received a letter from Liu Ji in Pingling. He wanted to burn it directly, but fortunately Zhuge Liang took it and read it...
"Hmph, what's so good about that little beast's letter? Kong Ming, if you are really curious, just burn it after reading it and don't bother me!" Guan Yu said disdainfully.
After reading it, Zhuge Liang first showed a look of relief, and then... looked at Guan Yu strangely.
"Second Brother Guan, you really don't want to watch it?" Zhuge Liang asked curiously.
Guan Yu felt depressed when he heard this - I thought that after we have been working together for a while, you would know me very well!
Am I the kind of person who doesn’t keep his word? His face showed joy... Could it be that the boy has repented? That’s useless!
"Did he admit his mistake?" Guan Yu asked like a domineering president.
"No, he said that General Guan had mistaken him... and said that he is now the Marquis of Qi." Zhuge Liang told the truth.
Guan Yu became even angrier when he heard this: "Wait until I capture Chang'an and avenge my brother, then I will go back and clean up the mess for him!"
"But there is a second letter that needs to be read by Brother Guan."
Zhuge Liang was halfway through his speech when Guan Yu interrupted him and said, "No! Burn it!"
"This... I don't know my lord's handwriting as well as Second Brother Guan, and Second Brother Guan should be able to tell whether there is any secret message in it, right?" Zhuge Liang said with a smile.
Guan Yu was stunned when he heard this, then he appeared in front of Zhuge Liang in an instant and snatched the letter away!
Upon seeing this, Zhuge Liang suppressed his joy, sighed, shook his head, and then walked out of the military tent - after all, if the tough guy Guan Yu shed tears later, he would most likely be "blacklisted" if he saw it.
As for the reason for "sighing", it was because Zhuge Liang was sighing at himself...
This was really good news for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and it was not bad news for other generals and civil officials under Liu Bei.
Of course, except for Han royal family members like Liu Yan who had great ambitions but little talent, the value of the identity of Han royal family members dropped sharply after they surrendered to Chu.
But leaving aside this kind of trash, the other biggest "victim" is Zhuge Liang!
For Zhuge Liang, this almost completely ended his life ideals...
As a supporter of orthodoxy and Duke of Zhou, Zhuge Liang believed that if he could assist Liu Bei successfully, no matter whether Liu Bei retreated to become Duke of Zhou or went on to become Liu Xiu, he would have achieved the ideal of reviving the Han Dynasty.
Even after Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang did not completely despair.
If Guan Yu could really make a desperate effort to break into Chang'an, or even break through Guanzhong and join forces with the Qi army in Qingxu, the Qi army would still have a chance to rebuild the country!
Naturally, in Zhuge Liang's mind, when it came to Liu Bei's successor, he only considered Liu Chan.
As for Liu Ji and the like, just keep them as a backup and appease them first...
Otherwise, after the restoration of the Han Dynasty, you can't let a stepson become emperor, right?
This is also the reason why, although Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu had huge differences in grand strategy, Zhuge Liang was still willing to assist him wholeheartedly.
However, Liu Ji's letter made Zhuge Liang very happy at first. After all, he was also open-minded to the benevolent Liu Bei.
In front of Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang did not show anything, but... Zhuge Liang knew in his heart that if 90% of his dream line was cut off before, now the last 10% was also completely cut off!
After all, Liu Bei is now clearly under the control of the Chu State. No matter how things develop, it is impossible for him to reach the ending that Zhuge Liang expected.
The only possibility that can be thought of is that he would assist Liu Bei in lurking in the State of Chu, just like Sima Yi, and ultimately achieve success through internal strife?
However, this thought only flashed through Zhuge Liang's mind, not to mention whether the State of Chu was so easy to be "taken over".
Such a revival of the Han Dynasty had no meaning to Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang's entanglement with the Han Dynasty was not blind loyalty, but a hope to once again strengthen the sacredness of the "Han Dynasty". If another Later Han appeared after the Former Han and Later Han, the sacredness of the Han Dynasty would be more solid, and the eternal dynasty would not be a falsehood.
Otherwise, we never know when we will fall back into the chaotic world of the pre-Qin period where warlords fought for supremacy!
By then, alternating chaos and order might be the best outcome. After all, the demise of the Han Dynasty, the first unified empire, would mean that the dynasty would no longer have any sacredness.
Therefore, compared with Bai Tu and Cao Cao, Liu Bei, who was mediocre before, met Zhuge Liang's requirements so well that he even avoided Bai Tu who came to Nanyang and took the initiative to go north to join Liu Bei.
Although the State of Chu was strong, in Zhuge Liang's view, it was not sacred enough after all. Its temporary unification of the world was just a small ripple.
However, although Zhuge Liang's logic was stubborn, he was not paranoid. He knew very well that it was meaningless to continue the Han Dynasty by "occupying the magpie's nest" - if the country was not obtained in a legitimate way, what sacredness could it have?
Instead, it would bring shame to the Han Dynasty and become a "warning" to future generations that if they wanted to rebel, they must kill all of Liu's descendants...
As for finding another descendant of the Liu family who can be relied upon and start over?
Even more impossible!
Seeing that the Chu State and the Wei State were about to confront each other from the north to the south, it was too late to help anyone now!
Although Sima Yi still maintained the Pseudo-Han Dynasty in name, Zhuge Liang was already clear that the Han Dynasty... was destined to be a thing of the past.
Not to mention the blow of his life ideals being far away from him, to be more utilitarian, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other old ministers might still be employed by the State of Chu, but Zhuge Liang would not be able to be reused.
After all, his thoughts had already been "exposed" almost a long time ago, and he hadn't tried to hide them.
This is incompatible with Chu learning. No matter how capable he is, Chu will not use him...
In fact, it was not that the State of Chu was harsh, but that Zhuge Liang's ideals had already reached the level of "the foundation of the country". Except for Liu Bei, who already met the requirements, no other party would shake or trim their "foundation of the country" for the sake of Zhuge Liang.
This is indeed the case. After consulting Zhuge Jin, Bai Tu and Dian Ge's opinion of Zhuge Liang was that if he could not accept Chu learning, the upper limit of his appointment would be "Minister of Civil Affairs".
He has no military power or government power, and is only responsible for coordinating civil engineering projects across the country...
If one wants to live in seclusion, the court can provide support for them, but they will also be under special surveillance and will not be allowed to run schools without a license.
Zhuge Liang waited for more than an hour before Guan Yu called him over again.
From the time, Zhuge Liang knew that Guan Yu must have been very agitated before, but fortunately he managed to hide away.
There were indeed secret words, but they only told Guan Yu that he was safe and reminded him to be careful when retreating.
After learning that Liu Bei was still alive, Guan Yu did not continue to attack Chang'an with a small force, but instead prepared to withdraw.
Zhuge Liang also tried to be strong and prepared to stand guard for the last time. His ideals were gone, but he still wanted to repay Liu Bei for his kindness. At least he wanted to bring Guan Yu's Qi army back as much as possible...
