Chapter 105: Waves Of Opposition
News that Qiao An was intercepted and captured by Sun Ben on the Yangtze River reached Nanchang, truly shocking everyone.
Lu Su felt especially guilty; this alliance negotiation was entirely under his lead, and he was also responsible for arranging the envoy. He never expected such a major blunder in the end.
Lu Su came to see Gan Ning with heavy steps; for the great mistake he had committed, he had to take responsibility.
Gan Ning stood with hands behind his back in front of the window, silently gazing at the sky outside the window.
Lu Su said in a deep voice: “This mistake is my major responsibility as subordinate. I am willing to resign from the position of strategist.”
Gan Ning gently shook his head, turned to look at Lu Su and said: “The strategist did not know where the problem lay, so why take the responsibility upon yourself?”
“As subordinate, I thought the matter too simply and did not consider Sun Ben, leading to Qiao An being captured by him.”
Gan Ning smiled. “Qiao An will be fine. We have Sun He in hand, Qiao An will return, and Sun Ben will soon send someone to propose an exchange.”
Lu Su breathed a slight sigh of relief; this was the only thing that gave him a bit of comfort.
Gan Ning continued: “This incident tells us that Sun Ben still has strong influence in Jiangdong, and it also proves the importance of the alliance. I used to think that those two Suns joining hands was unlikely, but now I know that those two Suns joining hands is entirely possible.
Within Jiangdong, there is a group of people, or rather a very large force, secretly supporting Sun Ben. As long as Sun Ben has need, they will certainly push for those two Suns to join hands. Likewise, they will also strongly oppose Jiangdong allying with us.”
Lu Su nodded. “My lord is right. There are indeed people within Jiangdong secretly colluding with Sun Ben. Otherwise, Sun Ben would not have intercepted Qiao An so precisely. I am very worried as subordinate that this alliance will be sabotaged by them.”
Gan Ning smiled faintly: “That depends on Sun Quan’s insight. If he is smart enough, or if someone reminds him, he will realize that his position as Marquis of Wu is far from secure, and Sun Ben is the greatest threat to his position, while we will help him secure his position.”
“My lord sees through it clearly!”
At that moment, Zhang Xi walked into the courtyard and reported: “Reporting to my lord, Xu Sheng from Pengze County has sent a carrier pigeon letter. They have received Qiao An’s subordinates who escaped back, and they carry important documents.”
Lu Su was immediately overjoyed. What he worried about most was that Sun Ben had obtained the important negotiation documents for the alliance. It seemed Qiao An was still capable, arranging for his subordinates to bring the documents back at the critical moment.
Gan Ning said gladly: “The strategist may immediately send someone to retrieve the negotiation documents.”
Five days later, Qiao An’s subordinates were brought back to Nanchang County, and Lu Su also handed over Sun Quan’s personal letter and Zhang Zhao’s alliance draft to Gan Ning together.
Meanwhile, Sun Ben’s envoy also arrived at Wan County, demanding that the Yuzhang Army release Sun He and his subordinates, and he would synchronously release Qiao An and his subordinates.
Gan Ning agreed to the exchange, and both sides quickly finalized the exchange plan.
Ten days later, Sun He and over three hundred of his subordinates were released by the Yuzhang Army and returned to Shu County, continuing to serve as prefect of Lujiang Commandery.
Almost simultaneously, Qiao An also returned to Yuzhang Commandery by ship with his subordinates.
Gan Ning then immediately ordered Xu Sheng to lead ten thousand troops and five hundred warships to escort Lu Su to Jiangdong to finalize the details of the meeting between the two lords, while fully implementing all the alliance terms.
This kidnapping incident thus ended, but its influence was far from over.
Voices opposing Jiangdong allying with Gan Ning began to rise gradually in Jiangdong.
The Eight Great Noble Families of Jiangdong all strongly opposed allying with Gan Ning. The reason was simple: Yuzhang Commandery was Jiangdong territory and could not be completely abandoned just because of an alliance.
In the increasingly fierce wave of opposition, more than half of Jiangdong’s officials signed the petition opposing the alliance document.
Even Zhang Zhao began to advise Sun Quan to be cautious, not to cause another split within Jiangdong because of the alliance.
Under immense pressure, Sun Quan became somewhat indecisive.
In the morning, Zhou Yu and Lv Fan came together to the Marquis of Wu’s Manor.
Although Lv Fan had a personal grudge with Gan Ning, in the face of protecting Jiangdong’s interests, his attitude was firm, supporting the alliance with Gan Ning.
“Marquis of Wu must see through the surface to the essence. This fierce wave of opposition to the alliance should be related to Sun Ben. When Qiao An was intercepted by Sun Ben midway, I was very worried. Sun Ben will certainly do everything to obstruct our alliance with Gan Ning, and now it has indeed come. This shows that Sun Ben’s forces in Jiangdong are still very large. These people usually lie low, but once Sun Ben’s vital interests are touched, they jump out.”
Sun Quan was extremely shocked and only said after a long pause: “So this is Sun Ben’s opposing voice? Sun Ben still has such great power in Jiangdong?”
Zhou Yu said from the side: “Sun Ben certainly has supporters, but not this many. For example, Strategist Zhang is definitely not a supporter of Sun Ben, but he also advises the Marquis of Wu to be cautious. This shows that these opponents have great influence, so much so that even Strategist Zhang has to compromise.
There are also many officials who do not support Sun Ben themselves, but their stance is not firm and they can be swept up into cheering along. But in any case, the Marquis of Wu is Sun Ben’s target, so if even the Marquis of Wu abandons the alliance in the end, it will play right into Sun Ben’s hands.”
Sun Quan fell silent. He originally thought he had completely uprooted Sun Ben’s forces, but now he realized that his position as Marquis of Wu was fundamentally unstable and still under severe threat from Sun Ben. Sun Ben still had such great power in Jiangdong. If Sun Ben made a comeback, these forces would become even more rampant.
Lv Fan thought Sun Quan did not believe their words and urgently added: “By rights, as subordinate I should be the most opposed to the alliance, but that is only my personal grudge. But for Jiangdong’s interests, as subordinate I will absolutely not consider personal grudges. If the Marquis of Wu abandons this alliance, once Sun Ben launches a major attack on Jiangdong with the support of Cao Cao’s army, who will come to help us? Will Gan Ning attack north of the river to tie down Sun Ben? No, without the constraint of the alliance treaty, he will not offend Cao Cao and will only take advantage of the fire to occupy our Danyang Commandery.”
Sun Quan nodded. “Your two pieces of advice have enlightened me. I will absolutely not let Sun Ben’s scheme succeed. Please trouble Chief Clerk Lv to go as envoy to Yuzhang Commandery on my behalf to negotiate between our two houses.”
As soon as Sun Quan finished speaking, a guard reported: “Reporting to the Marquis of Wu, a carrier pigeon letter has arrived from Nanchang County, addressed specifically to the Marquis of Wu.”
Qiao An left several subordinates as contacts, so carrier pigeon letters from Yuzhang Commandery were forwarded to Sun Quan by them.
A guard stepped forward and presented the original carrier pigeon letter to Sun Quan. Sun Quan quickly removed the tube, took out the rolled letter from inside, looked at it, and said to the two: “Lu Su has arrived, escorted by five hundred warships. He will not come ashore and asks us to send someone to negotiate the details of the alliance.”
Lv Fan said without hesitation: “Let me go as subordinate!”
Sun Quan nodded. “I originally intended to ask the chief clerk to go as envoy to Yuzhang Commandery. Since Lu Su has come personally, the chief clerk shall fully represent me in negotiating with Lu Su.”
Sun Quan said to Zhou Yu again: “Gongjin must also lead troops to escort the chief clerk. If Sun Ben sends troops to cause trouble, it will be perfect for our two houses to join hands and annihilate them.”
Zhou Yu bowed and said: “As subordinate, I obey the order!”
Lv Fan hesitated for a moment, then said to Sun Quan: “Also please trouble the Marquis of Wu to speak with Strategist Zhang. It would be best if Strategist Zhang goes with me. The other side is Lu Su coming over, possibly to finalize the alliance terms.”
Sun Quan nodded; he did want to talk with Zhang Zhao again properly.
