Chapter 247: Two Envoys
Gan Ning slowly said: “This is Cao Cao’s method, using a soft knife to destroy Jiangdong’s will to resist, confusing them, deceiving them, and breaking up the cooperation between Jiangdong and us.”
“It should be like this!”
Lu Su also acknowledged his lord’s inference, “They will definitely try every means to sabotage any possible alliance between us and Jiangdong, defeating us one by one!”
Gan Ning paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and after a while, he looked at the ceiling and said: “Disrupting the cooperation between our two houses is not difficult. Sun Quan himself has no sincerity toward cooperation between the two houses. What I worry about is not this.”
Gan Ning lightly sighed, “What I worry about is that Jia Xu’s real intention is to persuade Jiangdong to join forces against us.”
Lu Su drew in a sharp breath of cold air, “Marquis of Chu, is that possible?”
Gan Ning smiled faintly, “Entirely possible. I know Jia Xu’s methods too well. He will use us as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Jiangdong, forcing Jiangdong to send troops. Especially if Jiangdong’s navy coordinates with the Cao Army, they can concentrate their troop strength to annihilate us, then turn around and swallow Jiangdong in one bite.”
“But Jiangdong’s navy may not agree, especially Zhou Yu—he is not that foolish. There are also Lv Fan and Zhang Zhao; they will see through the Cao Army’s intentions and will not easily agree to join forces with the Cao Army against us.”
Gan Ning nodded, “There is that possibility, but we must prepare for the worst case.”
On the day before Lv Fan arrived in Chaisang, Cao Cao’s envoy Jia Xu also arrived in Dantu County. Sun Quan sent his strategist Zhang Zhao as his full representative to welcome Jia Xu at the dock.
Zhang Zhao also invited Jia Xu to the guest house. Jia Xu had made ample preparations and basically understood the stance of every major Jiangdong minister.
The Anti-Cao Faction only has Lv Fan and Zhou Yu, the Surrender Faction has a large group of civil officials, and this Zhang Zhao is in the Middle Faction. The Xu Family and Lady Wu are also in the Middle Faction. The so-called Middle Faction means no bloodshed, resolving Jiangdong’s affiliation through negotiation, which plays right into Jia Xu’s hands.
The two sides took their seats as host and guest in the hall. Jia Xu slowly said: “Strategist Zhang, let us talk openly and sincerely!”
“This is also our expectation!” Zhang Zhao smiled on his face; although this smile was not flattering, it was a show of weakness.
Jia Xu saw it in his eyes and understood clearly in his heart. A barely perceptible smug smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he continued: “I believe you have also heard that Chancellor Cao is preparing to muster an army of five hundred thousand for the southern campaign. One hundred thousand vanguard troops have already arrived in Hefei, and the remaining armies will all arrive before next spring.”
Zhang Zhao was shocked and suspicious in his heart. He did not know what Jia Xu meant by these words, nor did he even know the purpose of Jia Xu’s mission to Jiangdong.
Zhang Zhao merely nodded silently. Jia Xu continued: “In fact, we are preparing to attack Gan Ning and are not considering Jiangdong for the time being.”
“Wait a moment!”
Zhang Zhao suddenly reacted, “I do not understand what you mean, sir. If you are preparing to attack Gan Ning, why take the Hefei route instead of Xiangyang? Shouldn’t attacking Yuzhang Commandery go through Xiangyang?”
Jia Xu shook his head, “That is because the warships we built in Xuchang cannot reach Xiangyang, so we can only take the Hefei route. Also, large amounts of grain and supplies can only be transported to the Yangtze River via the Hefei route. Additionally, all our warships in Nan Commandery have been completely lost, so we cannot take the Xiangyang route.”
“I see!”
Zhang Zhao muttered to himself, then asked: “So how do you plan to attack Gan Ning?”
“First unify north of the river, then the army will directly attack Chaisang on the opposite bank of the Yangtze from Lujiang Commandery.”
Zhang Zhao half-believed Jia Xu’s words. He frowned and asked: “I still do not understand. Why does the Cao Army have no intention of attacking Jiangdong?”
Jia Xu smiled faintly, “Because Jiangdong is too weak. We look down on you. You scheme all day long and cannot achieve great things. A single Sun Ben is enough to tie you down, so there is no need to rush.
But it is different with Gan Ning. He has grown too fast. In just a few months, he has captured Jiaozhou. If we do not annihilate him now, we will have no chance.
Also, there is Liu Bei. He has always been a major threat in Chancellor Cao’s heart. The urgency to annihilate him far exceeds that of Jiangdong, even exceeding Gan Ning. So you in Jiangdong can only rank behind Liu Bei and Gan Ning—consider it in five years or ten!”
Jia Xu unceremoniously humiliated him, making Zhang Zhao’s face slightly flush. He suppressed his strong inner dissatisfaction and said coldly: “Sir Jia has humiliated enough. Now can you tell me the purpose of your trip?”
“Negotiation!”
Jia Xu lightly uttered two words. Knowing both oneself and the enemy, he was very clear about Jiangdong’s various political demands. The Surrender Faction accounts for half, mainly the Jiangdong Noble Families. High officials like Yu Fan, Gu Yong, Lu Ji, and others representing Jiangdong Noble Families’ interests all advocate surrender.
The Middle Faction accounts for thirty percent, with key figures like Zhang Zhao, Xu Zhen, Lady Wu, and others. They advocate resolving the crisis through negotiation.
The War Faction accounts for twenty percent, mainly Lv Fan, Zhou Yu, and military generals. These people advocate resolute resistance against Cao Cao, but even among the advocates, not everyone is willing to ally with Gan Ning.
The target of Jia Xu’s mission this time is the Middle Faction. As long as he grasps the Middle Faction, he also grasps the Surrender Faction, which of course is also willing to negotiate.
Sure enough, upon hearing the word “negotiation,” Zhang Zhao’s eyes lit up, and most of his earlier dissatisfaction immediately dissipated. Compared to negotiation, a bit of humiliating rhetoric was nothing?
“Why negotiate?” Zhang Zhao still asked somewhat puzzled.
“We want to fully attack Yuzhang Commandery and fully annihilate Gan Ning!”
Jia Xu said indifferently: “We do not want Jiangdong to stab us in the back. This is the same reason Gan Ning allied with you before attacking Changsha Commandery.”
Zhang Zhao fell silent. He had enough political experience to know that once the Cao Army annihilated Gan Ning, they were more likely to turn and deal with Jiangdong, rather than attacking Liu Bei.
But the temptation of negotiation made Zhang Zhao know this might be a cup of sweet poison, yet he still could not help but accept it. Perhaps there was a sliver of luck in Zhang Zhao’s heart, or perhaps negotiation really could resolve the issue?
His own political stance amplified this sliver of luck into a possibility, into a feasibility.
Zhang Zhao slowly nodded, “Please rest well, sir. I will contact you again as soon as possible!”
Zhang Zhao left hurriedly. Jia Xu watched his back with hands behind his back, a clear cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. They actually believed the words he casually made up.
Zhang Zhao found Sun Quan and reported that the Cao Army was considering negotiating with Jiangdong. Sun Quan perked up and hurriedly said: “Is he serious?”
Zhang Zhao nodded, “They want to fully deal with Gan Ning and need to stabilize us to prevent us from stabbing them in the back. He said it is just like how Gan Ning allied with us before attacking Changsha Commandery. This subordinate believes there is some truth to this statement.”
Sun Quan was somewhat worried, “What if he annihilates Gan Ning and then turns to deal with us?”
Zhang Zhao smiled, “Gan Ning is not so easy to annihilate. His navy is far stronger than the Cao Army’s. It is very likely that Gan Ning will completely destroy Cao Cao’s navy, making Cao Cao lose the ability to advance south. Would we not be safe then?”
Sun Quan suddenly understood and nodded lightly, “The strategist’s negotiation is actually to temporarily stay out of it and watch Cao Cao and Gan Ning fight like the mantis and the cicada!”
Zhang Zhao nodded, “Exactly right.”
Sun Quan narrowed his eyes and sneered: “If Gan Ning discovers the Cao Army is targeting him, he will definitely ask me for aid. At that time, will he hand over Bu Zhi to us?”
“Then should we negotiate with Cao Cao?” Zhang Zhao asked again.
Sun Quan nodded decisively, “Negotiate. Tell me any news at once!”
