mtlumby2d Chapter 529 Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
Chapter 529 Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
Unexpectedly, this tremendous achievement fell on his head the moment he surrendered.
Zhong Hui reached out and took the letter from Zhang Liang's hand.
"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will certainly live up to Your Majesty's expectations!"
"Then you may go and rest first. You may set off again when you are fully rested. I will wait as long as it takes."
"I will depart first thing tomorrow morning!"
If you're not proactive in making contributions, then you've got something wrong with your head!
The first half of this mission was not difficult at all!
He only needed to borrow Sima Zhao's identity as a strategist to meet Sun Chen; he didn't even need to forge the letter. What difficulty could there be?
It's all thanks to finding it for free!
Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
This is like a huge pie falling into your mouth, and the emperor himself is feeding it to you!
Clutching the letter, Zhong Hui left the palace with a heart full of joy.
Watching his retreating figure, Zhang Liang breathed a slight sigh of relief.
This is the final piece of the puzzle they've been waiting for.
Not only did they need to have Sima Zhao under their control, but they also needed someone trustworthy enough to deliver the letter to Sun Chen.
Zhong Hui is the best candidate!
"However, Your Majesty, why not choose Jia Chong? Between the two, Jia Chong is clearly more foolish and easier to control."
Zhang Liang could see that Zhong Hui was capable, but also ambitious.
In contrast, Jia Chong was a short-sighted coward from beginning to end, only able to see the gains and losses in front of him.
Such a petty person should be very suitable for this task.
Ultimately, to be precise, once the letter was delivered to Sun Chen, the matter would be considered complete.
This applies to both Jia Chong and Zhong Hui.
"I just want to see if my judgment of people is still as accurate as before. If I am right, I will choose him. When the army is about to attack Eastern Wu, he will make great contributions."
If he's mistaken, he'll just accept it.
"...His Majesty still enjoys gambling as much as ever."
What else could Zhang Liang say?
"In that case, once Zhong Hui departs tomorrow, will we be able to truly begin to reorganize the local powerful clans?"
"If we let them continue to act so recklessly, it won't be long before they become the next generation of powerful clans, even more threatening than the aristocratic families."
"After all, the gentry still know propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame. They know what they can do and what they can only do in secret. If it were those local tyrants who haven't learned many words, they probably wouldn't know what they can only do in secret."
In the past, the aristocratic families were definitely a greater threat because they held more power.
But now the threat from various powerful clans is obviously a hundred times greater. Not only are they no longer suppressed by the aristocratic families, but they also have various centurions and chiliarchs appointed by the emperor himself, which makes it easier for them to exploit the people in a legitimate way.
If this continues, public discontent will soon erupt!
"Don't worry, Zifang, your edict has already been written. As soon as Zhong Hui sets off tomorrow, I will have it announced to the world!"
"What's written here will definitely drive those rich tycoons crazy."
After going crazy this time, one will be weak for a long time.
That would be the perfect time to deal with all those people at once!
As he spoke, Liu Bang picked up a scroll of imperial edict from the table behind him.
Zhang Liang reached out and took it, hesitated for a moment, and then opened it.
With such trust between them, he didn't need to be too formal.
But he was shocked when he saw the contents of the imperial edict.
"Your Majesty, what... what does 'one word, 'Shoulder to Shoulder with King' mean?"
"If someone can truly capture Tianshui Commandery and drive the Han army out of Wei, are you really going to give them half of the country?"
He used to think that it was already quite extraordinary that Liu Bang was able to enfeoff a King of Han at the end of the Wei Dynasty.
I never expected it to get even more outrageous.
The King of Side by Side?
Unheard of!
This kind of thing is simply impossible to exist, okay?
"Zifang, you don't actually think those lousy fry can take down Jiang Wei, do you?"
Seeing Zhang Liang's surprise, Liu Bang simply smiled and said...
"To put it another way, even if someone really did manage to defeat Jiang Wei and take back the several counties that had been captured by the Han army."
"What difference would it make if I granted such a talented person a few days of sitting side by side with him on the throne?"
Zhang Liang: “…”
He certainly knew that Liu Bang was right.
However, he was somewhat unaccustomed to Liu Bang's recent tendency to speak recklessly.
Although Liu Bang in the past also liked to make empty promises, he almost always delivered on his promises.
But now, most of the time, these are just empty promises that can't be fulfilled.
"In addition, send someone to deliver a letter to Jiang Wei, saying that your lord has prepared a great gift for him, and that he should not be too careless."
"Although the local strongmen are just a disorganized bunch, if they were to truly unite, he might not be able to handle it."
Beyond the sky.
As Liu Bang made one arrangement after another, some people were amazed, while others said they still didn't understand.
"Wait, did Emperor Gaozu make a mistake?"
"Why would he leak information to Jiang Wei? Logically speaking, if the local powerful clans were truly willing to send troops to help him reclaim the three counties of Tianshui, wouldn't that be an excellent outcome?"
"But if this news gets leaked to Jiang Wei, it will not only arouse the Han army's defenses, but it may also lead to a counter-strategy!"
"As long as the Han army sends out scouts in advance and lays ambushes along the way, no matter how many troops the powerful clans mobilize, they will most likely be easy prey!"
"To be honest, I may not understand every decision Emperor Gaozu made in the past immediately, but I can at least understand it afterward. The only one I don't understand is this one."
"I am about to fight to the death, why does Your Majesty surrender first?"
"Under the circumstances of a surprise attack, reclaiming those counties in Tianshui would have been almost effortless, but..."
But who could have imagined that Liu Bang would deliberately abandon his advantage of launching a surprise attack against the Han army?
In the eyes of many, this is an extremely bad behavior.
"I can understand that they want to use Jiang Wei in Shu to get rid of these unnecessary powerful clans."
"What I don't understand is something else. If we really want both sides to suffer heavy losses, we should send some information to the various powerful figures along with Jiang Wei."
"If Jiang Wei is only informed of the military movements of the powerful clans, while the Wei army remains completely unaware of him."
"Then let alone a mutually destructive outcome, Jiang Wei might not only suffer no losses, but also gain more troops that he can recruit!"
After all, powerful people have no loyalty; they will be loyal to whoever treats them well!
Or if someone drives them to their death and then gives them a chance to live, they will choose to do so without hesitation.
"That's true."
Li Er rubbed his beard, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Unless he wants to support Jiang Wei?"
"But that shouldn't be the case. Jiang Wei isn't one of our own, and there's absolutely no way he would switch allegiance to the Great Wei!"
Did he support Jiang Wei?
That impure brain is full of bubbles!