Chapter 89 ulterior motives
General Zhuge Liang opened Lu Su's handwritten letter, read it carefully, and then slowly put it away. He smiled and said, "How is Lu Zijing's health?"
Zhang Cheng shook his head and smiled bitterly: "General, to tell you the truth, General Hengjiang is overworked and in poor health."
The smile on Zhuge Liang's face stiffened and he sighed with some shame. Lu Su is only in his forties, and he is tired like this, not only because of the heavy burden on his shoulders, but also has a lot to do with his psychological pressure. At the beginning, it was Lu Su's alliance with Liu Bei. As a result, Liu Bei not only borrowed Jingzhou and did not return it, but also fought with Sun Quanda. Lu Su, the initiator, would certainly be difficult to be a man. Now in the name of Jiangdong, Lu Su is the most prestigious general, but in recent years, Lv Meng, Jiang Qin and others have been vigorously cultivated by Sun Quan. The trend of taking Lu Su to replace him has been very obvious. Lu Su's status is precarious, and his pressure can be imagined.
I'm really ashamed of my old friends.
"However, if the marriage is completed and the two sides form an alliance again, then General Hengjiang may be able to rest at ease for a while." Zhang Cheng took the opportunity to say, "The general is in charge of General Zuo's office. He must know the current situation. General Zuo wants to seize Ba County and take Hanzhong. My general also needs to deal with Cao. If the two sides can work together in the same boat, Jingzhou will be safe and will be able to break Cao together."
Zhuge Liang waved his hand: "There is no need to say more about this matter. General Zuo also understands it. I believe he will take the right thing to deal with it. I just hope you don't do things like Mrs. Sun this time. Zhuge Liang looked at Zhang Cheng with some worry: "General Guan loves his daughter. Even if he starts for the overall situation, he is willing to follow General Zuo's arrangement and marry his daughter to Jiangdong. If he is angry there, I'm afraid this marriage is not a good thing, but a bad thing."
Zhang Cheng nodded quickly: "Please rest assured that this will not happen."
Zhuge Liang sighed: "I hope so." He paused and said, "In fact, in addition to General Guan's account, there are many suitable women under General Zuo's account. In case something is not harmonious, you might as well discuss it again. It doesn't matter whose woman is, but the sincerity of both sides."
Sun Shao, who had been listening behind, laughed secretly. He heard uncertainties from Zhuge Liang's words, as if Zhuge Liang was not optimistic about this marriage. Was he worried that Guan Yu would not even listen to Liu Bei's words?
Zhuge Liang saw a smile on Sun Shao's face, and then disappeared without a trace, frowning inadvertently. What's Captain Sun's opinion?"
Sun Shao smiled and said, "Shao's surname is rude. There is no good opinion. This matter depends on General Yucheng." He waved his hand and asked people to send the two altars of new wine in, put them on the bookcase in front of Zhuge Liang, and said with a smile, "These two altars of wine are Wu Zhongxin's new wine. It was originally intended to be given to General Zhang Yide, but he was fighting in Ba County. He can't present it face to face. Please hand it on to the general."
Zhuge Liang looked at the two jars of wine in front of him and smiled: "I heard that Captain Sun sells wine in Wuzhong. Is it such a wine?"
Zhang Cheng's face was a little red. In his opinion, Sun Shao's business was a contemptuous thing. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang knew it. He was really embarrassed. However, Sun Shao didn't think so. He knew that although Zhuge Liang was a scholar, he was not a pedantic scholar. On the contrary, he had a high talent and interest in technical transformation, and he did not despise business. Later, when he ruled Shu, he also vigorously promoted business, but it was just official businessmen.
"The general is right, it's this wine."
Zhuge Liang looked at Sun Shao for a long time and suddenly said, "Did the captain bring two altars?"
Sun Shao looked at Zhuge Liang and picked out two sharp smiles from the corners of his mouth: "Does the general want to drink by himself? Or do you want to distribute it? If the general drinks by himself, I still have a little drink on the ship, and it's okay to send two altars to the general. If the general wants to distribute, we can sit down and talk about cooperation.
Zhang Cheng is a little annoyed. I'm talking about business here. What are you talking about selling alcohol? It's really nonsense. Just as he was about to stop Sun Shao, Zhuge Liang also said with interest, "I want to drink it first. If it's really good, I also want to distribute it. I don't know if the captain is interested?"
Sun Shao laughed and arched his hand and said, "Well, I'll send someone to send the wine to your house immediately. You can taste it first, and then we'll talk about something else."
Zhuge Liang nodded repeatedly: "Then thank the captain first."
Zhang Cheng was stunned. It's okay for Sun Shao to do business. Why does Zhuge Liang have to do business? He is a military general.
It was not until he went out of the door that Sun Shao took the smile on his face, turned his head and looked at Zhang Cheng and said, "Brother Zhong Si, do you really want to do business as Zhuge Liang?"
"Is it..." Zhang Cheng's words came to his mouth and felt something was wrong. Sun Shao's face was very serious, which was different from the way he talked and laughed just now. Obviously, there was another way to say. He thought about it and suddenly thought of something: "Feng Xian, do you mean that our new wine has aroused his suspicion?"
Sun Shao nodded: "Zhuge Liang is an extremely smart person. More importantly, he is not a scholar who talks about benevolence, righteousness and morality. He has far more ** on new technologies than ordinary people. Although we hide the new wine workshop in the wine shop, which can be hidden from the eyes and ears of many people, I'm afraid it's not easy to hide it from him.
"Will he notice these things?" Zhang Cheng still doesn't believe it.
"Hey hey, he is just an awl hidden in the bag now, far from revealing his real sharpness." Sun Shao said very magically, "Zhong Si, although you are also a rare talent, you only pay attention to power, but you don't pay attention to technology. Compared with him, you lack a lot."
Zhang Cheng didn't think so. He thought it was Sun Shao's exaggeration and didn't care too much. When Sun Shao saw that he was careless, it was not easy to say anything else. He could not tell Zhang Cheng that Zhuge Liang would invent the crossbow and six out of Qishan in the future.
In the left general's mansion, the half-white-haired general Liu Bei sat high in the middle, and Fa Zheng and Zhuge Liang sat aside with different expressions.
Liu Bei picked up Guan Yu's letter on the case and took a look, put it down gently, and looked up at Fa Zheng: "Xiaozhi, what do you think?"
Fa Zheng raised his eyelids and said bluntly, "I think I should be a kiss." Then he closed his lips and paused, and said, "The last time Cao Gan personally conquered Hanzhong and returned to Yecheng, it was not that he did not have the strength to take all of Yizhou, but that he had internal problems, so he rushed back to deal with it. Otherwise, it is difficult to say whether the master could still sit here and discuss the matter. This year, he claimed to be the king of Wei and wanted to go out to fight against the army. Now the army is sent to Hefei. If this battle is fought, it is impossible for him to come to Hanzhong in a short time. This is a great opportunity for us to seize Hanzhong. If you don't seize this opportunity, I'm afraid Yizhou will be uneasy when Cao Xiu pulls out his hand and conquers Hanzhong again. It's good for us to get married to Sun Quan and reassure him that he is entangled with Cao Wei.
Liu Bei nodded repeatedly and said with some embarrassment, "It's just that Yun Chang's surname is Ao, and he regards his daughter as the pearl of his palm and refuses to allow others easily. What's more, Sun Deng is still a child. How can Yun Chang agree? I'm afraid that even if I agree, he will refuse.
Liu Bei's worry is not unreasonable. He knows too much about Guan Yu's temper. Although they are called Junchen and close as brothers, Guan Yu has always been loyal to him, but Guan Yu's surname is Ao. Last time he wrote Ma Chao as General Pingxi, Guan Yu was very unhappy. He specially wrote a letter to question. Thanks to Zhuge Liang's correct reply, he did not cause trouble. Now he is going to marry his baby daughter to a child with a runny nose. It's no wonder he's not angry.
Fa Zheng didn't think so: "Although General Guan is unresistible, does he even disobey the words of the lord? This matter is related to the great cause of the lord. How can he make his own decisions? Last time, he refused to marry and insulted the envoy of Jiangdong. It can also be said that Jiangdong did not inform the master first, but now the envoy of Jiangdong has arrived in Chengdu and ordered the lord to marry. If he disobeys again, he can't say it.
Liu Bei smiled bitterly. Guan Yu was arrogant, and Fa Zheng was also arrogant. He was a rare person who was not afraid of Guan Yu. What he meant was right, but it may not be useful to Guan Yu. He turned his eyes to Zhuge Liang again, "Kong Ming, what do you think?"
Zhuge Liang bowed respectfully: "What filial piety said is very true, but what the lord is worried about is also reasonable."
Liu Bei is a little unhappy. Aren't you a slippery head?
"However, I think this matter needs to be flexible." Zhuge Liang looked at Liu Bei carefully and stopped talking.
Fa Zheng looked at him with some displeasure. Zhuge Liang seemed to agree with him, but Fa Zheng was not a fool. Zhuge Liang really meant that he was wrong, and he had a better idea.
Liu Bei also heard Zhuge Liang's voice and gently narrowed his eyes: "How to be flexible?"
"I... I think it's okay to get married, but I can't get married to Sun Deng." Zhuge Liang's voice was very soft, but he was very resolute: "General Guan is the most important general of the country, and Sun Deng is the eldest son of Sun Quan. For the country, they can't get married, otherwise there must be something to discuss."
Liu Bei frowned and didn't hear what it meant, but Fa Zheng suddenly realized, and his face suddenly looked a little ugly. Recently, I have devoted all my energy to the study of the war situation in Hanzhong. I didn't even expect this simple truth, which made Zhuge Liang show his face in vain.
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