jdhmnovel Chapter 130 The biggest fear is that a friend will become successful.
Chapter 130 The biggest fear is that a friend will become successful.
Upon learning of Zhang Zhi's rebellion, the faces of the aristocratic generals were filled with envy and regret.
Their families and businesses were all in Jiangdong, and it was impossible for them to abandon their homes and businesses to follow the Green-Eyed Bandits to the death. If Sun Quan won, they would naturally follow behind, waving flags and singing praises. But if Sun Quan lost, they would not hesitate to kick him when he was down.
Therefore, as soon as Guan Yu captured Jianye, most of the people present had the idea of opening the Ruxu Pass, inviting the King of Wei to settle in Jiangdong, and thus gaining the greatest merit.
However, the situation was still unclear at the time. In addition, Zhang Zhao stepped forward and worked hard, and Lü Meng returned with his troops in time, giving the gentry hope of restoring Jianye.
The aristocratic families therefore dared not act rashly, and all thought they should wait and see, and make a decision when the situation became clearer.
This is a matter of life and death. What if Lü Meng recaptures Jianye as soon as I raise the banner of rebellion? Wouldn't that be playing with my entire family?
To put it bluntly, the aristocratic families only wanted to add to the glory of the already prosperous, not to offer help in times of need; they only wanted to profit and not take risks. As a result, the slogans of welcoming the King of Wei were shouted loudly, but no one actually carried them out.
The main reason was that none of them expected Zhang Cheng to be so incompetent, being captured by Guan Xing twice in such a short period of time.
Now things are much better. The situation is clear, and the conditions for welcoming the King of Wei are ripe. But those two old geezers, Zhang Zhao and Lü Meng, have made their move first. What kind of situation is this?
It's okay if they fail, the problem is that others shouldn't succeed. Why is it that they were placed under house arrest while Zhang Zhi rebelled?
If the Wei army marches south in this way, wouldn't Zhang Zhi steal the credit?
My own poverty is insignificant, but my friend's success keeps me up at night.
Moreover, without them watching over Jiangdong, wouldn't Zhang Zhi be able to do whatever he wanted in Jiangdong?
It's estimated that it won't be long before their land and estates fall into Zhang Zhi's hands, and their beautiful wives and concubines will be in Zhang Zhi's bed...
Damn Guan Anguo, why did you release Zhang Zhi?
The aristocratic generals were all deeply worried because of Zhang Zhi's rebellion, but Lü Meng remained calm as if it had nothing to do with him.
It really has nothing to do with Lü Meng. He's already preparing to withdraw his troops, so what else is there to care about? Jiangdong is now Guan Yu's territory. Guan Yu should be the one to worry about Zhang Zhi's rebellion. All he needs to do is successfully lead this group of people to Jingzhou.
But to successfully lead them to Jingzhou, we must first appease them, lest they become desperate and turn on us.
Lu Meng coughed to draw everyone's attention back to himself, and said leisurely, "It seems that you all envy Zhang Zhi and want to die with him?"
He Qi asked with displeasure, "What does the Grand Commander mean by this?"
He already looked down on Lü Meng, who came from a poor family, and now that Lü Meng was so threatening him, he naturally wouldn't be in a good mood towards Lü Meng.
Lu Meng didn't mind and continued, "It's nearly 300 li from Ruxukou to Jianye. It would take the Wei army at least seven or eight days to get there from Ruxukou. That's assuming they're traveling light and heading straight for Jianye. General He, do you think the Wei army would disregard their rear and drive straight for Jianye? Answer me."
Without hesitation, He Qi replied, "No, if Guan Yu hadn't occupied Jianye, the Wei army would have marched swiftly and taken Jianye before Guan Yu could. But the problem is that Jianye has already been occupied by Guan Yu."
"Guan Yu has occupied Jianye for several months and has already made the city's defenses impregnable. Even if ten times the number of troops were sent, it would be impossible to take it down in a short time. The Wei army must also know this, and they would not risk cutting off their retreat by advancing straight in."
"If I were the commander of the Wei army, after crossing the river, I would definitely occupy the nearby cities of Danyang, Wuhu, Liyang, and Wanling, the county seat, to establish a foothold for myself. Then I would advance steadily and step by step. In that case, it would take at least a month to reach Jianye."
The Yangtze River is thousands of miles long, and theoretically, one can cross it from anywhere. No matter how strong the defenses of the Eastern Wu were, it was impossible to keep watch over the entire Yangtze River. Guan Yu's successful smuggling is the best example of this.
If that's the case, why didn't Cao Cao cross the river from another location instead of choosing to fight to the death at Ruxukou?
Because crossing the river is easy but establishing a foothold is difficult, once the Wei army crosses the Yangtze River, they will be surrounded by enemies. If the Wu army then sends its navy to cut off the supply lines on the river, the Wei army that has crossed the river will only be waiting to die.
Guan Yu was willing to gamble everything with the mindset of "either succeed or die trying," but Cao Cao didn't need to do that.
Moreover, the Wu army at Ruxukou was there to guard against Cao Mengde. He was dreaming if he thought he could sneak across the Yangtze River and launch a surprise attack on Jianye.
Lu Meng spread his hands and said, "That settles it. Zhang Zhi raised the banner of welcoming the King of Wei, but instead of going to Ruxukou to greet the Wei army, he went to Wu County. What was he planning to do? He just wanted to seize Wu County first, and then hand it over to Cao Cao when the Wei army came, in exchange for high-ranking positions and generous salaries."
"But you also said that it would take the Wei army at least a month to get to Jianye. Jianye is more than 400 li from Wu County. If the Wei army takes a steady and methodical approach, it will probably take another month. Do you think Guan Yu can't deal with the little Zhang Zhi in two whole months?"
He Qi fell silent, and the others also fell silent.
They then remembered that Guan Yu lived in Jianye City. To say "welcome Cao Cao" in front of Guan Yu would be tantamount to courting death.
The thought of Zhang Zhi being beaten into a pig's head by Guan Yu, and even being cleaved in two by the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, instantly made everyone feel much better.
They could accept Guan Yu taking control of Jiangdong, but they couldn't accept Zhang Zhi, who had once shared their interests with them, selling their business to Cao Cao and then turning around and bullying them.
Seeing that no one spoke, Lü Meng waved his hand and said, "You all go with General Han to Jiangling first. You don't need to pack anything. Just leave now. I will go to Jiangling to meet you in a few days."
"As for your families, you don't need to worry. Guan Yu's reputation is still guaranteed, and I believe he won't make things difficult for your families."
Since Lü Meng had already said that, what else could they say? They could only obediently follow along.
After seeing off these potential threats, Lü Meng stood up and said, "Now there's only one problem left: how can we ensure that Guan Yu doesn't leave the city to pursue us, allowing us to retreat smoothly to Jingzhou?"
The retreat involved a lot of supplies, and Lü Meng even planned to empty all the towns near Ruxukou, including the population, leaving nothing for the Wei army. But this would take time.
If Guan Yu were to launch a surprise attack outside the city during their retreat, let alone carrying their supplies, whether they could even escape barefoot would be a matter of luck.
Zhang Zhao said, "The letter to Guan Yu has been written. Send someone to shoot it into the city."
Lu Meng picked up the letter and was about to send someone to deliver it when the messenger rushed into the tent again, handing over a crossbow bolt as thick as an arm and 1.5 meters long, and said, "Strategist, Grand Commander, a crossbow bolt was just shot out of the city, with a letter wrapped around it."
Lu Meng took the arrow, tore open the letter, read it, and handed it to Zhang Zhao, cursing, "That damned Guan Yu! He actually made us leave behind a million shi of grain as tolls. As long as we leave the grain, he won't pursue us."
"A million bushels of grain? Why doesn't he just rob it? Does he think my grain comes from the wind?"
Lu Meng's expected income was 200,000 shi, but Guan Yu immediately asked for 1 million shi. How could Lu Meng accept that?
Zhang Zhao took the letter to Guan Yu and casually threw it into the brazier. He stroked his beard and laughed, "It seems that Guan Yu has guessed our intention to withdraw our troops and is willing to let us go. This makes things easier. Perhaps we won't even have to pay a single grain of food."
Lu Meng was overjoyed and quickly asked, "Strategist, tell me quickly, what is your plan?"
Zhang Zhao waved for the messenger to leave, then said, "Zhang Zhi has gone to Wu County. Wu County is the seat of Wu Commandery. If Zhang Zhi takes it, Guan Yu will have to go through a lot of trouble to take it back."
“Send an envoy to Guan Yu and tell him that we are willing to exchange Wu County for our retreat. We will not stop him from attacking Wu County, and he should not stop us from retreating.”
“Wu Commandery is the stronghold of the Jiangdong gentry. The combined grain reserves of the major gentry estates are more than a million shi. A month or so is enough time for Guan Yu to transport the grain from Wu Commandery to Jianye.”