mtl008 Chapter 430 Who to Surrender, That Is the Question
Chapter 430 Who to Surrender, That Is the Question
What else can be done?
Given the current state of things, what can be done?
Zhang Zhao smiled bitterly and said, "We're already out of the game of vying for the Central Plains, so there's no point in struggling anymore. Let's think about how to save our lives. I think we should contact the King of Hanzhong as soon as possible to discuss surrender while we still have some leverage."
After this battle, although Eastern Wu lost the capital to contend for hegemony, it still had the bargaining chip of surrender negotiations. With Jingzhou as a bargaining chip, it could at least get a decent retirement after surrendering.
Hearing this, Sun Quan felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow. He, Sun Zhongmou, had taken over Jiangdong at the age of eighteen and had never dared to relax for twenty years. He had worked hard for decades, but in the end, he had to surrender. How could he face the spirits of his father and brother in heaven?
Sun Quan couldn't help but recall the first half of his life. When he was eighteen, his elder brother Sun Ce suddenly passed away, leaving him a mess that was so bad that he wanted to just give up.
It should be noted that Sun Ce followed the same authoritarian policies as Cao Cao. During his rule over Jiangdong, he wiped out countless aristocratic families. Even the Lu family of Wu Commandery, where Lu Xun lived, was almost wiped out by Sun Ce. Not to mention other aristocratic families, Jiangdong at that time was full of enemies of the aristocratic families. Even Sun Ce himself was killed by the aristocratic families.
Although Sun Ce was killed by Xu Gong's retainers, Xu Gong's retainers had no power or influence, so how could they have known Sun Ce's travel route and sneaked up to him undetected?
Anyone who has ever been an assassin knows that the hardest part of assassination is not eliminating the target, but getting close to them. Without information channels and a large number of support personnel, it is impossible to ever get close to the target, since assassins can't teleport.
Therefore, even a three-year-old wouldn't believe that no aristocratic family was involved in Sun Ce's assassination, let alone Sun Quan.
Sun Quan knew that Sun Ce's death was suspicious, but he dared not investigate it in detail, because with Sun Ce's death, his Sun family would face a backlash from the gentry.
The more ruthless Sun Ce was in suppressing the gentry during his lifetime, the more severe their counterattack became after his death. If they were not careful, the Sun family would be wiped out by the combined forces of the Jiangdong gentry, and even the earthworms in their house would be split in half vertically.
Sun Quan made countless compromises to appease the resentment of the gentry. Just when he had finally stabilized Jiangdong, Cao Cao led an army of 800,000 to attack Red Cliffs. 800,000 men, a dark mass that blotted out the sky, was more terrifying than locusts. Sun Quan was so frightened that he wanted to surrender on the spot.
He finally managed to defeat Cao Cao by marrying off his sister to forge the alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei, but was then humiliated by Guan Yu every day. In a fit of anger, he crossed the river in white robes and destroyed Guan Yu's stronghold. However, Guan Yu turned around and destroyed his stronghold, turning him into a homeless dog with no way to return home.
If I had known this would happen, why did I bother with all this? Wouldn't it have been better to just go and take a quiet job with Cao Cao after my brother passed away?
Sun Quan tragically realized that his twenty years of tireless work had been a joke. He thought to himself that he should have just given up long ago and at least avoided messing with his mindset.
Sun Quan sighed and was about to agree to Zhang Zhao's suggestion to surrender to Liu Bei when Gu Yong said, "No, even if we are to surrender, we should surrender to Cao Cao, not to Liu Bei, a traitor."
"My lord, don't forget that you are now the General of the Cavalry, a position equivalent to the Three Dukes, appointed by the imperial court. Since Jingzhou is no longer safe, you should surrender to Cao Cao and return to the court, instead of joining Liu Bei, this traitor, and aiding and abetting evil. Moreover, Jia Kui's arrival in Jiangling at this time must be for this matter. Even if you are unwilling to surrender to Cao Cao for the time being, you should at least meet with Minister Jia before making a decision. You cannot make a decision blindly."
Gu Yong would never surrender to Liu, for a simple reason: he had a blood feud with the Guan family.
Damn Guan family father and son, I have no objection to your land reform in Jiangdong, I have no objection to you seizing my Gu family's fertile fields, manors and other property, but you shouldn't have killed my son, he was my only legitimate son.
Although I, Gu Yong, cannot avenge my father, I will never bow down to my enemy. Since the surrender of Eastern Wu is a foregone conclusion, I will simply offer Jingzhou to the King of Wei and let him avenge the murder of my son.
Zhang Zhao knew the reason why Gu Yong surrendered to Wei, but he did not point it out. Instead, he continued, "My lord, you must not. Cao Cao is no longer the Prime Minister Cao of yesteryear. He has openly violated the White Horse Alliance of Emperor Gaozu and ascended to the throne as king. His ambition to usurp the throne is obvious. It will probably not be long before he becomes the second Wang Mang. Wouldn't surrendering to Cao Cao at this time be criticized? Don't forget that we are Han officials."
"On the contrary, Liu Bei is a true member of the Han imperial family. He will surely carry the oath of great victory to rebuild the Han Dynasty three times. As a Han subject, why don't you join the King of Hanzhong and help him restore the Han Dynasty at this time? Are you going to follow Cao Cao and aid the wicked? If you do that, how will we face the emperors of the Han Dynasty, the Duke of Wentai and Bofu a hundred years from now?"
The reason he advocated surrendering to Cao Cao during the Battle of Red Cliffs was because Cao Cao was only the Chancellor of the Han Dynasty. Although this Chancellor was quite powerful and manipulated the emperor, Cao Cao was not the only powerful minister in the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty. Everyone was already used to it.
After all, surrendering to a powerful minister is considered following tradition.
But times have changed. Cao Cao is now clearly no longer content to be just a powerful minister and wants to emulate Wang Mang by usurping the throne and becoming emperor. He has even started going through the formalities. Under these circumstances, surrendering to Cao Cao would truly be a betrayal of the Han Dynasty.
Gu Yong said, "Although Cao Cao has declared himself king, he is still the King of Wei of the Han Dynasty. My lord, don't forget that the emperor is still in Luoyang. As long as the emperor is still alive, Liu Bei is a traitor without any redemption. As Han officials, is it appropriate for us to go to Liu Bei, a traitor, instead of going to the emperor?"
Gu Yong's tone changed, and he began to advise Sun Quan to submit to the emperor rather than Cao Cao.
Now everyone knows that the emperor is a puppet, and Cao Cao calls the shots in the entire court. But as long as the emperor is still alive, there will be a platform for advancement. Anyone who has pledged allegiance to Cao Cao can openly say that they have pledged allegiance to the emperor and are serving the Han Dynasty.
Indeed, this is true. Yang Biao, Xun Yu, Sima Yi, and the civil and military officials under Yuan Shao—weren't they all loyal to the emperor?
Although these people were actually working for Cao Cao, weren't they nominally all loyal ministers and generals of the Han emperor?
Even a three-year-old knows that the emperor is Cao Cao's fig leaf, but without this fig leaf, he really can't do anything. Without the fig leaf, Cao Cao can't recruit people, and even if the gentry wanted to join Cao Cao, they wouldn't have the guts. After all, the gentry value their reputation the most, and no one wants to land hard and face down first.
For example, if Sun Quan surrendered to Cao Cao now, he would be cursed by the world and even be infamous for eternity, but if he surrendered to the emperor, it would be perfectly legitimate and justified.
Zhang Zhao said urgently, "What time is it? Stop deceiving yourselves, okay? Cao Cao's intention to rebel and usurp the Han throne is as clear as day. What's the point of deceiving yourselves?"
"Besides, Liu Bei is your brother-in-law, and Guan Xing has become your son-in-law. Sun and Liu are one family. Whether from a moral or emotional point of view, surrendering to Liu is the only option. How can we abandon our relatives and turn to outsiders?"
Gu Yong retorted, "That's precisely why we can't surrender to Liu Bei. Our lord already offended Liu Bei once by recalling Miss Shangxiang under the pretext of attending the old lady's funeral. This time, crossing the river in white has offended both Liu Bei and Guan Yu to death. We have become irreconcilable enemies with Liu Bei. If we surrender to Liu Bei now, do you think Liu Bei will let you off? Even if Liu Bei doesn't pursue the matter, can you bear Guan Yu's ridicule?"
"Moreover, once Liu Bei occupies the area south of the Yangtze River, you will become the biggest threat to Liu Bei's rule over Jiangnan. Do you think he will let you live in peace? Have you forgotten how Liu Biao's eldest son, Liu Qi, died? Do you believe Liu Bei when he said that Liu Qi died of illness? Don't forget that Liu Qi was in his prime at the time. How could a simple cold kill him?"
"Even if we take a step back and assume that Liu Bei spares your life out of consideration for Miss and Guan Xing, he would certainly not let you stay in Jianye or Jiangling. He would most likely move you to Chengdu and place you under house arrest, just like he did with Liu Zhang and his son, so that you would die of depression."
"On the contrary, surrendering to the emperor is a different story. Cao Cao has not yet conquered Jiangdong and still needs to rely on your prestige to win over the Jiangdong gentry and attack Liu Bei. He certainly will not and dare not treat you unfairly, so surrendering to Cao is the only option."
"My lord, you must understand that whether a subject is valued by the monarch does not depend on the blood relationship between the subject and the monarch, but on the value to the monarch. Do you think you are more valuable to Liu Bei or to Cao Cao?"
"My lord, you are now only a threat to Liu Bei, but of no value. A person of no value is just a rag. Even his own son doesn't like him, let alone Liu Bei, his brother-in-law with whom he has a grudge. What do you say?"
"On the contrary, you are only of value to Cao Cao and pose no threat. Instead of siding with Cao Cao, who is of value but no threat, you run to siding with the big-eared thief who is of threat but no value. Isn't this like an old man hanging himself?"
Sun Quan, clutching the hem of his robe, was caught in a internal struggle. After much deliberation, he couldn't make up his mind and finally turned to ask, "Changxu (Sun Shao's courtesy name), what's your opinion?"
Sun Shao said, "Liu Bei's Northern Expedition is not yet over, and Guan Yu and Cao Ren have not yet determined a victor. Therefore, my lord, there is no need to rush to make a decision. Let's wait and think it over in two or three days, or wait until Liu Bei and Cao Cao, and Guan Yu and Cao Ren, have determined a victor. What do you think, my lord?"
Sun Quan had not yet recovered from the shock of Lu Xun's capture, and his current thinking was not very clear, so he really needed time to consider it. Therefore, Sun Shao's suggestion was exactly what he wanted to hear, and he agreed without thinking.
Gu Yong also did not object. He still had people like Mi Fang and Fu Shiren to utilize, so there was no need to force Sun Quan to make a decision now.
So as long as Sun Quan doesn't clearly stand on Liu Bei's side, he still has a chance. Since he has a chance, he shouldn't push Sun Quan too hard, otherwise what if it backfires?
So let's put it off for now and wait until Jia Kui arrives.
Zhang Zhao wanted to stop it, but the vote was now three to one. Sun Quan, Sun Shao, and Gu Yong all agreed to drag him down. What could he do? He couldn't just roll up his sleeves and fight Sun Quan head-on. What if this provoked Sun Quan's rebellious mentality and made him surrender to Cao Cao in a fit of anger?
Helpless, they could only agree to delay for now, and together with Sun Shao and Gu Yong, they bowed and respectfully saw Sun Quan off as he rose to leave.