Chapter 283: Cao-sun Negotiation
Zhou Yu is stationed in Wuhu Town. Jiangdong’s navy logistics base is gone. He wants to attack the Liyang County camp north of the river, but he discovers his army’s morale is low. If he forces a battle, it will instead lead to a crushing defeat.
Zhou Yu is helpless and can only withdraw his army to Wuhu Town to consider the next countermeasure.
Zhou Yu is also very confused now. He cannot see the future. He originally went ashore to attack and besiege the Cao Army in Dantu, but he suddenly received orders that the Marquis of Wu is negotiating with the Cao Army and he is not allowed to act rashly and sabotage the negotiations.
Zhou Yu is in a very bad mood. His most severe problem now is that supplies are cut off and grain will not last a few more days. He now needs to find a way to get grain.
That afternoon, as Zhou Yu was preparing to go ashore, a soldier suddenly came to report, “Western Chu strategist Lu Su has arrived!”
In the council cabin, Zhou Yu finished reading the personal letter Gan Ning wrote to him. Gan Ning is not asking him to surrender, but inviting him to station in Pengze to discuss joining forces against the Cao Army.
Zhou Yu has enough emotional intelligence. Of course he knows Gan Ning wants to recruit him, just using a tactful and indirect method: cooperate first, then pledge allegiance. Leaving aside whether he can accept this approach, the urgent grain shortage makes it impossible for him to refuse.
He pondered for a moment and said, “I can station in Pengze, but I need grain supplies urgently!”
“Of course!”
Lu Su paused, then said cautiously, “Gongjin, aren’t you going to ask more?”
Zhou Yu smiled faintly, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked to the porthole. His gaze deeply fixed on the view outside the window. After a long time, his voice became extremely weary, “Zijing, you don’t really think I am loyal to Jiangdong, do you!”
Lu Su’s eyes widened suddenly. He never expected Zhou Yu to say such words. “But… but…” Lu Su was at a loss for words for a moment.
Zhou Yu said softly again, “I am only loyal to Bofu, loyal to the mutual appreciation between him and me. But ever since he was assassinated by a group of people, my heart has grown cold. I am willing to be marginalized, willing to be forgotten by Sun Quan. All my service to Jiangdong is merely out of lingering affection for Bofu’s former cause. But since the Bu Zhi incident, even this lingering affection has completely vanished. I have seen through Jiangdong’s essence and long foreseen Jiangdong’s fate.”
At this point, he turned back and said firmly to Lu Su, “Go back and tell the Marquis of Chu that if he can defeat the Cao Army, I, Zhou Yu, am willing to serve him with utmost effort for life. But if he cannot…”
Zhou Yu turned back to gaze at the river surface and let out a long sigh. “Then I, Zhou Yu, will retire to the mountain forest and never involve myself in politics again!”
That afternoon, Zhou Yu ordered the fleet to set sail and head majestically toward Pengze County.
Dantu County is Jiangdong’s second capital city, which took a full year to build. Its city walls are extremely high and sturdy, the moat is deep and wide, the city gates are cast from pig iron, and no matter how strong the battering ram, it cannot break them open. Moreover, inside the city there are 1.5 million shi of grain, hundreds of thousands of strings of copper coins, and various supplies filling the warehouses. These are all Jiangdong’s solid foundations.
There are also 80,000 troops inside the city, personally commanded by Lv Fan, who has the strongest will to resist Cao. Of course, the real military power is in Sun Quan’s hands; if he wishes, he can dismiss Lv Fan at any time.
But Sun Quan’s will has never been controlled by Lv Fan. The foundation of his rule is the Jiangdong noble families, and their attitudes determine his attitude. On one hand, Sun Quan is carried along by the powerful peace faction and sends Zhang Zhao out of the city to negotiate. On the other hand, out of fear for his own life, he appoints Lv Fan as city guard commander to lead 80,000 troops in defending the city and resisting Cao.
These two completely different attitudes reflect the split and anxious mindset in Sun Quan’s heart, but his true inner desire is for the besieging army to suddenly withdraw for some reason.
This is Zhang Zhao’s third time leaving the city to negotiate with Cao Zhi, or rather with Xun You. Cao Zhi has always stayed behind the scenes, while Xun You is pushed to the forefront.
“Strategist Xun, both you and I know full well that if you could take Dantu County, I would not even have the chance to sit here, would I?”
Zhang Zhao spoke frankly, “We have enough grain and strong city defenses to hold out for one or two years without issue, but you cannot afford to drag this out. However, the Marquis of Wu does not wish to see the citizens inside the city suffer from the siege disaster, so I come with the greatest sincerity to find a plan acceptable to both sides.”
Xun You stared at Zhang Zhao for a moment before smiling faintly, “Before today’s formal talks, I will first respond to the question from General Zhang or the Marquis of Wu last time. You questioned why we tore up the previously reached seven-year agreement. The last clause of that agreement states clearly that if either side substantially violates the agreement, it can be terminated at any time.”
Zhang Zhao sneered, “Does Strategist Xun mean that we violated the agreement?”
Xun You nodded lightly, “Article three of the agreement states that Jiangdong Army’s total troop strength cannot exceed 80,000, but in reality you have 160,000, exactly twice the stipulated amount. Is this not a substantial violation of the agreement?”
Zhang Zhao was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly explained, “But the agreement does not specify a timeline for demobilization. We plan to reduce the army to 80,000 within a year.”
“As General Zhang said, the agreement does not specify a demobilization timeline, but we consider one month sufficient. We believe one month is enough time to disband 80,000 troops.”
“Fine…”
“No buts!”
Xun You firmly interrupted him, “It is precisely because of your substantial breach that we decided to abolish the agreement. This is our formal response to Jiangdong!”
Zhang Zhao was speechless for a moment. Without a specified demobilization time, it was a loophole they had deliberately left, but now he realized it was a trap dug by the other side.
After a while, he sighed and said, “Arguing about this now is meaningless. Let us continue negotiating how to resolve the current crisis!”
An hour later, Zhang Zhao took his leave. Their negotiations made no progress, but both sides left room for maneuver, agreeing on the next negotiation time and Xun You’s buffer of needing to report to the Chancellor.
After seeing Zhang Zhao off, Xun You went to Cao Zhi’s tent.
Cao Zhi’s tent is a plum blossom tent, with one main tent and five sub-tents, and two beautiful concubines in the main tent.
Cao Zhi is very tall and can be called handsome and elegant, like a jade tree in the wind. The two concubines’ eyes were full of adoration for him.
His elder brother Cao Pi is stationed in Yecheng, so he followed his father on the southern campaign. This time, his father sent him to lead the Jiangdong campaign. He is the true supreme commander, and even Xun You must obey his orders.
“What did Zhang Zhao say?” Cao Zhi asked with hands clasped behind his back.
“Their conditions are unrealistic. They demand we withdraw our army, and in return, they are willing to fully pledge loyalty to the Imperial Court and the Chancellor, that is, a second Sun Ben.”
Cao Zhi sneered, “The fish is on the chopping board; they can only ask to be made into soup or steamed.”
“This subordinate proposed to him that Sun Quan can nominally keep his position as Marquis of Wu, but army, finance, and local official appointments must all be handed over to us, but Zhang Zhao rejected it outright.”
“Not even a little consensus reached?” Cao Zhi asked again.
“A little was reached. I proposed we can open the south city gate and let citizens leave the city freely, and Zhang Zhao agreed.”
This is the psychological attack stratagem proposed by Jia Xu. As long as one breach is opened, it’s like opening a bleeding wound in the body; the spirit and will to resist of the soldiers, civilians, and officials inside the city will soon drain away.
This is also the method Bu Zhi used to attack Jiaozhi Commandery, and it is very effective.
Cao Zhi smiled slightly, “This method is very good. We will implement it proactively!”
