Chapter 13 3. Lu Su conspired

Sun Quan was watching. In fact, after the Jingzhou Incident, Sun Quan went to Chaisang (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi).The attitude is very clear: support your own self-respect, wait and see success or failure. This is not surprising.After all, Cao Cao didn't come for him, and Liu Bei was not related to him.Of course he knows that Liu Bei is not Cao Cao's opponent, so the account he has to settle is: if Liu Bei is defeated, will Cao Cao continue to advance eastward?If you help Liu Bei resist Cao Cao, what good will it do you? However, this can be taken slowly. Yes, Sun Quan is a calm person.Later, Cao Pi and Liu Bei became emperor successively, but he waited until three years after Cao Pi's death, and he was willing to wear the crown until he saw that everything was safe.What is the result?Among the Three Kingdoms, he became the emperor the latest, but Guo Zuo was the longest.Therefore, Sun Quan would never cast a hawk if he could not see the rabbit.

Zhuge Liang's mission is difficult. In fact, it was not Zhuge Liang who really contributed to the Sun-Liu alliance, but another person, because he was better at settling accounts than Sun Quan.After he settled all the accounts with Sun Quan, Sun Quan made a decision. This person is Lu Su. Lu Su defected to Sun Quan under Zhou Yu's suggestion and recommendation, and there was a secret talk of "couch and drink" when they met for the first time.This secret talk is as significant as Mao Jie's persuasion to Cao Cao, Ju Shou's persuasion to Yuan Shao, and Zhuge Liang's persuasion to Liu Bei. It can be called the "Lu Su version" or "Soochow version" of "Longzhong Dui".

Sun Quan asked: Now the Han Dynasty is in danger, and there are disturbances in all directions.Sun Mou was fortunate to inherit Yu Gong from his father and brother, so he also wanted to establish a hegemony like Qi Huan and Jin Wen.Since Mr. Sun thinks highly of him, is there any way he can teach me? This is the same as Liu Bei asking Zhuge Liang. Lu Su poured cold water on the spot: I am afraid that the general will not be able to be Qi Huan and Jin Wen.Back in the day, Emperor Gao also wanted to honor Emperor Yi to achieve hegemony, but Xiang Yu disagreed.The Cao Cao of today is the Xiang Yu of that year.With Cao Cao around, how could the general succeed Qi Huan Gong and Jin Wen Gong?

If you can't do Qi Huan and Jin Wen, what should you do? be emperor. Lu Su said: The current situation in the world is that the big man has no hope, and Cao Cao is strong.Therefore, as a general, the only way to see the world is to stand on the east of the river.When the north is in an eventful autumn, march westward and take the entire Yangtze River Basin as its own, and establish the title of emperor to map the world.This is the achievement of Emperor Gao! This is certainly a grand blueprint.But in October of the fifth year of Jian'an, when Cao Cao had just defeated Yuan Shao, whether Lu Su or Sun Quan, I am afraid they could only talk and listen.So Sun Quan responded lightly: Sun did his best, just to assist the Han Dynasty.What Mr. Sun said was not what Sun Mou dared to think about.

In fact, Sun Quan listened to Lu Su's words, especially the two sentences "The Han Dynasty cannot be revived, and Cao Cao cannot be killed (suddenly) eliminated".The mystery is self-evident: the Han Dynasty cannot be revived, and it is possible to become an emperor from hegemony; Fighting against the North is inevitable. However, the south is weak and the north is strong.If the South wants to fight the North, it must unite.This is the fundamental reason why Lu Su strongly advocated an alliance with Liu Bei, and Sun Quan finally went to the battle of Chibi to wade through the muddy waters.

Therefore, not only did Zhuge Liang know three points of the world before he came out of Longzhong, but Lu Su also knew it, and it was seven years earlier than Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Dui". Of course, their ultimate goal is also to dominate the world. Let’s look at Lu Su’s trilogy: the first step is to consolidate Jiangdong and stand upright with the Central Plains (Cao Cao) and Jingzhou (Liu Biao); the second step is to capture Jingzhou at the right time, and then occupy the entire Yangtze River Basin, and fight against the north; The third step is to proclaim the emperor and build a country, seeking to unify the world.

This is surprisingly similar to Zhuge Liang's plan for Liu Bei.In other words, they all advocate "unification after three divisions", and they all need "the South against the North".It's just that the three families mentioned by Lu Su are Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Biao; Zhuge Liang's are Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei. However, the three legs of the Ding Li are the same, namely the Central Plains, Jiangdong and Jingzhou.Jingzhou is in the hands of Liu Biao, that is, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Biao.Jingzhou is in the hands of Liu Bei, that is, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei.In fact, Lu Su and Sun Quan also made adjustments later: Liu Biao was replaced by Liu Bei, and the confrontation became a union.

The alliance was also facilitated by Lu Su. After Liu Biao died of illness, Lu Su, who was extremely politically sensitive, immediately realized the importance of this matter, so he went to Jingzhou in the name of condolences.Went to Jiangling and heard the news of Liu Cong's surrender, and immediately went north to meet Liu Bei at Changban, Dangyang. For the embarrassed Liu Bei, Lu Su was really a living fairy who fell from the sky.Therefore, when Lu Su proposed an alliance, neither Liu Bei nor Zhuge Liang had any objections.So Lu Su accompanied Liu Bei and his party to Xiakou, and later moved further east to Fankou (now where Fangang enters the river in Ezhou, Hubei).

However, Sun Quan hesitated. Sun Quan hesitated because there was an uneasy account: if you don't help Liu Bei, Jingzhou belongs to Cao Cao; if you help Liu Bei, Jingzhou belongs to Liu Bei.If neither of them help, it is still impossible for Jingzhou to become his own, otherwise the flames of war will burn to the door of the house instead.It’s not good to help, and it’s not good not to help. It’s really not a good decision. So, why did Sun Quan decide to join forces with Liu Bei later? Because the question has changed, it is no longer whether to help Liu Bei, but whether to surrender to Cao Cao.Sun Quan's intelligence department got the news that after Cao Cao captured Liu Bei, he would march into Jiangdong.Another unreliable historical source claims that Cao Cao also wrote a letter to Sun Quan, the full text of which is as follows:

Sun Quan immediately held an emergency meeting to solicit opinions, and as a result, there was a lot of downplaying Cao's arguments.They said that Cao Cao used his name as Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, like a tiger like a wolf, and coerced the emperor to conquer the Quartet, how could he resist?What's more, after he took Jingzhou and occupied Jiangling, even the natural danger of the Yangtze River was shared with me.It is better to surrender. Only Lu Su remained silent. Sun Quan had no choice but to get up to go to the bathroom, and Lu Su followed him to the eaves.Sun Quan immediately realized that Lu Su had an extremely important private message to say, so he took his hand and asked: "Is there anything Ai Qing wants to say to me?"

Lu Su said: Yes.Surrender is not impossible, but it depends on who it is.For example, I, Lu Su, can do it; you, the general, can't do it.why?Because after Lu Su surrendered, he could be promoted step by step, and it would not be a problem to be a county sheriff or state shepherd.If the general surrenders to Cao Cao, where can he go? This is of course a whisper, but it touched Sun Quan's heart.In fact, Sun Quan took Lu Su's "Longzhong Opposition" very seriously.He also knew very well that only by uniting with Liu against Cao Cao would it be possible to preserve Jiangdong now, and to become lonely in the south in the future. So Sun Quan sighed and said: "Their comments are very disappointing. Only Aiqing thinks the same as me. This is God gifted me with Aiqing!" If you don't surrender to Cao, you have no choice but to unite with Liu. United with Liu against Cao, the arrow is on the line. But what if you can't win? Lu Su didn't say anything, and Sun Quan didn't ask either.For the result of defeat is no different from surrender, but far more honorable.At least for Sun Quan, this is the case. So, can Sun Quan make a decision? cannot.Because he still has something to ask two people. These two people are Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu.