mtl008 Chapter 140 Zhu Huan Wants to Surrender to Wei?
Chapter 140 Zhu Huan Wants to Surrender to Wei?
Zhu Huan was completely stunned after hearing the report. That damned Lü Meng had blocked the road to Ruxukou from his own people.
It's not about what he's after, but what he's afraid of, and what he's afraid to let the garrison of Ruxu know.
A series of questions flooded Zhu Huan's mind. Before he could figure it out, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he hurriedly asked, "What did you just say? Lü Meng placed the aristocratic generals under house arrest and ordered the abandonment of Jiangdong and retreat to Jiangling?"
Zhu Sheng nodded and said, "Yes, our Zhu family's private soldiers and many officers have been taken away. Now the clan is left with only orphans and widows."
"What?!" Zhu Huan was so angry that his face turned ashen and he almost screamed.
It should be noted that most of the family's private soldiers were from tenant farmer backgrounds, and those who were incorporated into the army were mostly young and strong, the pillars of their families.
Now that these pillars of society have been taken to Jiangling, what will happen to their parents, wives, and children? They can't expect their families to take care of them, can they?
And who will farm the family's land after they leave? We can't expect the clan leader to carry a hoe and dig it up, can we?
The rich man's greatest wealth is the poor man, and the gentry's greatest wealth is the tenant farmers. Without these tenant farmers, what use is so much land to them?
That damned Lü Meng actually took away the family's most valuable tenant farmer; it's utterly despicable.
Wait a minute, if Lü Meng withdraws his troops and abandons Jiangdong, what will happen to the Zhu family's legacy? Will they just hand it over to Guan Yu for nothing?
The Zhu family is the head of the four major families in Wu County. They own tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. If Lü Meng leaves, won't Guan Yu take all of this land and confiscate it?
That was the family fortune accumulated by the Zhu family for more than ten generations. Without it, what kind of aristocratic family would the Zhu family be?
Zhu Huan grew increasingly alarmed and furious as he thought about it. His hand gripping the letter clenched so tightly that the veins stood out, and he gritted his teeth as he cursed, "Lü Ziming, you've gone too far!"
Although Zhu Yong's name contains the character "Yong" (勇), he is not known for his bravery; rather, he is Zhu Huan's strategist.
Zhu Yong squinted and calmly analyzed, "I understand why Lü Meng blocked the road to Ruxukou. Jianye suffered repeated defeats, and he was afraid that the news would affect the morale of the army at Ruxukou, or more precisely, he was afraid that it would affect your morale, Master. Lü Meng was guarding against you."
"Lu Meng was afraid that you would have a change of heart after receiving the bad news and turn to Guan Yu or Cao Cao, so he kept you from knowing the news from the front."
"Now Lü Meng has ordered you to return to Jianye. What is he trying to do? He clearly wants to lure you away from the army and then take you to Jiangling. I bet Zhou Tai has also received a letter to guard against you."
“But patriarch, the foundation of our Zhu family is in Jiangdong. If we go to Jiangling, we will have nothing left, unless our lord can fight his way back to Jiangdong. But do you think our lord can do that?”
Zhu Huan sighed and said, "Impossible. Don't you understand, my lord? He's good at maintaining the status quo, but offense isn't his forte. Besides, the Wu army is in a state of panic right now, and everyone is thinking about how to protect themselves. How many of them are willing to risk their lives for you, my lord?"
People are considered worthless when they leave their hometowns. With the Jiangdong gentry gone, who would have the mind to consider starting a business?
Hoping that Wu's army could return to Jiangdong is like hoping a sow can fly.
Zhu Huan continued, "More importantly, Lü Meng has taken all the core members of the Jiangdong gentry to Jiangling, which is equivalent to solving a major problem for Guan Yu. Without the Jiangdong gentry's restraint, Guan Yu's orders in Jiangdong will be unimpeded."
"I heard that Guan Yu is planning to implement something called 'equalizing land tax and land ownership,' which involves re-measuring the land and distributing it to the people. If that's the case, even if our lord reclaims Jiangdong, the family's legacy will have nothing to do with us."
Sun Quan and the Jiangdong gentry were both partners and competitors. Their biggest rival was land. Sun Quan dreamed of dividing land rights equally, thereby striking at the gentry and preventing land annexation.
Unfortunately, Sun Quan had neither the courage nor the ability to do so, and could only rely on the so-called balancing act to eke out a living as a warlord.
However, if Guan Yu had handled the land distribution, Sun Quan would certainly not have been foolish enough to reclaim the land that had already been distributed to the common people and return it to the gentry if he were to retake Jiangdong.
In other words, regardless of whether Sun Quan can defeat Guan Yu and reclaim Jiangdong, it will not have a significant impact on aristocratic families like Zhu Huan.
To put it simply, there are no benefits to following Sun Quan. Since the risks and rewards of following you are not proportional, why should I follow you, right?
Zhu Yong nodded and said, "The patriarch is right. Since Lü Meng has already retreated to Jiangling, there is no need to defend Ruxukou anymore. It is estimated that he will also retreat to Jiangling soon. Zhou Tai may have already received the retreat order. In that case, what should we do? Should we retreat with Zhou Tai?"
Zhu Huan angrily cursed, "Withdraw my ass! Going to Jingzhou would just mean living under someone else's roof. Besides, if Guan Yu really distributes the land, even if our lord reclaims Jiangdong, we won't be able to get the land back."
"The key issue is that I see no hope for our lord to reclaim Jiangdong. Our current lord is just like Liu Biao back then; he only wants to maintain a small corner of the country and has no intention of unifying the world. What future is there in following him?"
Zhu Huan also wants to improve himself. Since you, Sun Quan, are unwilling to improve yourself, then there's nothing wrong with me going to associate with someone who is willing to improve himself, right?
Zhu Yong nodded and said, "Master is wise. Since that's the case, all that's left for us is to surrender. Master, do you think we should surrender to Han or Wei?"
Zhu Huan laughed and said, "Isn't that obvious? What benefits could Guan Yu, who surrendered to the Han, possibly give me?"
"Surrendering to Wei would be different. As long as we help the Wei army capture Ruxukou, it would be a great achievement. If we also help the King of Wei take Jiangdong, it would be difficult not to be ennobled. In addition, the King of Wei's base is in the Central Plains, and he cannot invest too much effort in Jiangdong. To stabilize Jiangdong, we must rely on the locals. Only by surrendering to the King of Wei can our Zhu family achieve even greater glory."
"Immediately contact the Wei army spies in the army and tell Zhang Liao that I will start an uprising at dawn tonight, and ask him to send troops to meet me."
Both the Wei and Wu armies have spies for the other side. Among these spies are both invisible and visible. In this situation, contacting Wei's spies is the most efficient, because only Wei's spies can deliver intelligence to Zhang Liao as quickly as possible through their exclusive channels.
Zhu Yong exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't tonight a bit too rushed? We should at least prepare for two days."
Zhu Huan shook his head and said, "Absolutely not. If I'm not mistaken, Zhou Tai will soon force me to report to the Grand Commander. I can only delay until tomorrow morning at most. If I delay any longer, Zhou Tai will become suspicious and then take action against us."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the guard outside the door called out, "General, Governor Zhou requests your presence."
Zhu Huan called out, "Understood, I'll be right there."
Then he whispered, "What did I tell you? We're out of time. Contact Zhang Liao immediately. If we don't succeed tonight, we'll have no chance tomorrow. Contact the Wei army spies right now and then inform the brothers you trust."
After speaking, he got up, straightened his clothes, left the tent, and headed to the command tent where Zhou Tai, the governor of Ruxu, was located. Upon entering the tent, he found that Lieutenant General Sun Shao was also there. While inwardly scoffing, he bowed without showing any emotion and said, "Greetings, Governor. May I ask what important matter you have summoned me for?"
Zhou Tai said, "The Grand Commander ordered you to return to Jianye immediately. You've received the transfer order, haven't you?"
Zhu Huan nodded and said, "I just received it and was just about to come and report to you. I'll pack up and leave tomorrow."
Zhou Tai shook his head and refused, saying, "The military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed. Let's leave today. If you need anything, I'll send someone to deliver it to you later."
Damn Zhou Tai, you really can't wait.
Zhu Huan felt a surge of anger, but instead of refuting, he pondered and said, "Alright, I'll go back and pack quickly, and we'll set off in half an hour."