Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 58: Several Humiliations (Please Read)

Sima Yi put down the letter in his hand and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the forms of attack and defense are always relative. Attack can be transformed into defense, and defense can also be transformed into attack."

"If what Zhou Qian said in the letter is true, then Sun Quan intends to attack from the north. Xiangyang, Hefei, and Guangling are all on alert. If we attack these three places, I'm afraid Sun Quan will send out no less than 100,000 troops. How Jingzhou and Yangzhou respond is something we must consider."

"If what Zhou Qian said was false, then if Wei believed his words, Sun Quan would still launch offensives in Xiangyang, Hefei, and Guangling to create the appearance that the heartland was empty."

"But I'm afraid that Sun Quan is just faking momentum in these three places, so the real purpose of using troops is all in the army that Zhou Cang led the Grand Marshal to the south."

Cao Rui nodded. Sima Yi's analysis was indeed reasonable. "Sima Qing is right. Sun Quan has given us a difficult problem and forced us to continue gambling."

"Whether what Zhou Qian said is true or not, we must prepare for war at the border. It's just a matter of whether we should respond to Zhou Qian's request or not."

Cao Zhen said at this time: "In this case, Your Majesty might as well let the Grand Marshal respond for a while, and then we can see how Dongwu reacts."

Cao Rui chuckled and said, "General, you are using the opponent's strategy against us! Let's follow your advice and see what tricks Zhou Cang and Sun Quan can come up with."

……

Just now in the meeting, Cao Rui and his ministers reached a consensus that Sun Quan's intention was to attack Wei in the north, and Wei must also respond.

The key to the problem is where both sides place their real heavy troops!
If Cao Xiu really led 10,000 people south as Zhou Yu said, then the heavy troops of Eastern Wu would definitely be deployed on the way Cao Xiu went south.

If Cao Wei did not respond to Zhou Yu's request, it would have no choice but to wait for Sun Quan to attack and receive support from the central army, and would have fallen into the same old path it had been on for many years.

At this time in Poyang, Sun Quan and Zhou Cang were still acting out a play in perfect harmony.

In Wuchang, the capital of the Eastern Wu, only Sun Quan, Lu Xun, Gu Yong, Zhuge Jin and other important officials around him knew about Zhou Cang's false surrender. As for Poyang, only Zhou Cang and Hu Zong knew about it.

Dong Cen and Shao Nan, two family members Zhou Cang had sent to Cao Xiu, also believed that Zhou Cang had truly surrendered. Zhou Cang did not tell the truth to anyone except Hu Zong.

Sun Quan and Zhou Cang were also hiding this from everyone in Jiangdong.

As the saying goes, if a ruler is not discreet, he will lose his ministers; if a minister is not discreet, he will lose his life; if a few things are not discreet, harm will occur. Using troops for warfare is a national affair, so Sun Quan had to be extremely cautious.

At this time, Zhou Cang was sitting in the prefectural governor's mansion. Just now, Zhou Cang heard from his men that the envoy of King Wu from Wuchang was waiting outside the city gate, so he sent someone to the gate of the prefectural governor's mansion to ask Zhou Cang to leave the city.

Even though Zhou Cang knew in his heart that this was a show between him and King Sun Quan of Wu, the feeling of being scolded was indeed unbearable.

Just the day before, the envoy sent by Sun Quan from Wuchang went directly to Zhou Cang's Poyang Prefecture Mansion. After summoning all the officials in the mansion, he read out Sun Quan's edict in public, questioning Zhou Cang why he fought so poorly.
Zhou Cang knew that Sun Quan was just putting on a show, but it was true that Zhou Cang was not good at fighting! The Shanyue led by Peng Qi had been in chaos in Poyang for more than two years. When the government troops entered the mountains, Peng Qi went into the lake, and when the government troops withdrew, Peng Qi returned to the mountains. Peng Qi was extremely cunning and could not be pacified by Zhou Cang.

Zhou Cang had no choice but to kneel down in public and confess his guilt to the envoy, saying that he had indeed fought poorly and would work harder in the future, hoping to redeem himself with merit.

Zhou Cang was clearly pretending to confess his guilt, but was blamed by Sun Quan for his real poor fighting performance. For a moment, he couldn't even tell whether Sun Quan was really blaming him or was just pretending to surrender.

When the envoy who came for the first time saw Zhou Cang confess his guilt, he smiled and said, "Lord Zhou, there is no need to blame yourself too much. The king sent me to Poyang to ask you to cheer up." Zhou Cang could only nod repeatedly.

Yesterday, the envoy sent by Sun Quan for the second time stood outside the prefectural governor's mansion without even entering. Unlike the last time, the envoy not only summoned all the officials in the Poyang prefectural governor's mansion, but also made a big show of it, attracting a crowd of passers-by to watch.

The second envoy's rebuke was much more severe. He read out Sun Quan's edict in public and questioned Zhou Cang for being disloyal to the King of Wu and negligent in doing what the King had told him to do, which resulted in Peng Qi not being wiped out after two years.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Zhou Cang could only kneel down and apologize to the envoy in public outside the gate of the prefectural mansion, swear his loyalty to the King of Wu, and guarantee with his life and property that he would completely pacify Peng Qi within half a year.

This kind of scene is quite immersive, and Zhou Qiang felt quite stressed at this moment.

The day before yesterday and yesterday, Sun Quan's two envoys' escalating criticisms of Zhou Cang were already too much humiliation for a prefect.

When he heard that another envoy from Wuchang was coming to Poyang today and asked Zhou Cang to go to the city gate to apologize in person, Liao Xing, an official in Zhou Cang's mansion, almost burst into tears.

Liao Xing cried, "My Lord, why is the King of Wu so harsh on you? Peng Qi has been in rebellion for two years. The King of Wu personally sent Jie Fandu to come, but he didn't do anything. Why did he only humiliate you, my Lord?"

Zhou Cang looked at his loyal servant, Liao Xing, who had followed Zhou Cang for more than ten years from Danyang to Poyang. Zhou Cang's eyes also had some tears flashing at this time, but Zhou Cang still held back the words he wanted to say.

Zhou Cang sighed: "If the king does not believe me, transfers me away from Poyang, or demotes me, I will have nothing to say."

"If the king thinks I am disloyal, then why not just kill me according to the law? Why do you have to send people to humiliate me repeatedly?"

Zhou Cang stood up and looked at Liao Xing: "Come on, follow me to the west gate of the city and see what the envoy of King Wu has to say today."

Half an hour later, Zhou Cang, in accordance with the messenger's request, summoned all the officials in the government office, the garrison troops in the city and many civilians to the west gate of Poyang City.

The envoy of the King of Wu at this time was the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Huaixu. Huaixu was sitting on a horse, followed by four knights. They stood quietly outside the west gate, waiting to question Zhou Cang.

Huaixu looked at Zhou Qian who was kneeling on the ground. He neither dismounted nor took out the King of Wu's edict. Instead, he began to scold him on his horse.

Huaixu loudly rebuked him in public, "The King of Wu is raising you as if you were a pig or a dog! You have been in Poyang for two years and have done nothing. Could it be that you are colluding with the bandit leader Peng Qi? Could it be that you are also colluding with the Wei bandits?"

After saying this, Huaixu seemed still not satisfied, and took out a horsewhip and whipped Zhou Qian above his head out of thin air.

Zhou Qian only felt a loud explosion above him. The feeling of being humiliated made him burst into tears instantly.

Zhou Cang kowtowed repeatedly: "The King of Wu scolded me, and I have nothing to say. I also ask Zhou Cang to die to atone for his sin."

After saying that, Zhou Qian drew his sword from his waist, and everyone around him exclaimed.

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(End of this chapter)