My Father in Law is Lu Bu

“We don’t fight but negotiate? Kongming, did you eat your medicine today?” Liu Mang asked Zhuge Liang skeptically.

“Eat medicine? But Milord, I am not sick.” Zhuge Liang had only just finished saying this when he noticed Xu Shu’s smile. He immediately realized that Liu Mang was saying that he was ill. Zhuge Liang immediately laughed. On one hand, he was angry that this fool of a Lord called him, the High official in the Ministry of Justice sick. What kind of mentality is this?

On the other hand, he was also laughing happily because he felt like one of them. It did not feel like those hypocritical civilities.

“Milord. I initially advised to fight because we can gain popular sentiment with the people and Jiangdong’s troops. But now, we don’t even have popular sentiment and Jiangdong is destitute. Do you want this Jiangdong?” Zhuge Liang asked with a smile. At that moment, the people of Jiangdong hated Yangzhou slaughtered several villages. If it was just that, then it would not be such a huge problem. The real problem is that someone was fanning the flames. News of Yangzhou’s tyranny had already spread throughout Jiangdong.

It was just like the rumor spread by Liu Bei at Yuzhou. He made the people afraid to surrender and fight to the death.

Jiangdong was now in the same state. They no longer had any favorable impression of Yangzhou. If Yangzhou were to attack now, they would need to waste a lot of resources. On top of that, governing Jiangdong after winning would also become a problem. They could not be like Sun Ce who had to station thirty thousand elite troops there. The investment would not be worth it.

“Are we going to let Jiangdong slowly recover?” Liu Mang was dissatisfied. After much difficulty, they had finally cornered Sun Ce. It would be a disaster if Sun Ce recover from this.

“Haha. Even if we do not attack Jiangdong, there would be someone that will help us deal with the Little Conqueror.” Zhuge Liang’s eyes glinted.

“Hm?” Liu Mang frowned. Sun Ce’s only other enemy nearby is Liu Biao. Although it is said that the two cannot reconcile, it was because Liu Biao killed Sun Ce’s father and not the other way around. If Liu Biao had troops then it was reasonable to expect him to annex Sun Ce’s territory. But Jingzhou also did not have much strength to protect themselves.

“It is not Jingzhou Liu Biao. The one that will help us is Sun Ce’s own little brother, Sun Quan Sun Zhongmou.” Zhuge Liang explained.

“Sun Quan? Isn’t he in prison? How can he help us?” Liu Mang did not understand. Sun Quan had already failed and was now in prison. He could not even protect himself so how could he help Yangzhou?

“Haha. He can just come out from prison.”

“So what if he comes out? What can he do alone?” Liu Mang asked.

“But he won’t be alone.” Zhuge Liang added. “Behind him is a force greater than what Jiangdong’s Lord has.”

Someone in Jiangdong who was stronger than Sun Ce? What kind of joke is this? Liu Mang was about to tell Zhuge Liang to take his medicine when Xu Shu spoke up instead.

“Kongming. Are you talking about Jiangdong’s nobles?” Xu Shu knew more than Liu Mang. In a province, the only people who could have more power than the Lord were the nobles. Though it was not possible for each individual family to have that amount of power, it would be a different story if it was ten to twenty different families.

The existence known as nobles never ceased since the feudal era. They were able to determine the continued existence of a dynasty. The establishment of the Tang Dynasty was one such example.

Similarly, if the Huang Family, Cai Family and the Kuai Family were to cooperate, they could also easily send Liu Biao to his ancestors. The same would apply in Jiangdong where the nobles still had influence.

“Kongming. How do you know if Sun Quan will escape and will be supported by the nobles?” Liu Mang had a lot of questions. How was Zhuge Liang getting all this information?

“Haha, Milord. My elder brother told me all of this.” Zhuge Liang replied with a smile.

“Your brother? Zhuge Jin?” Liu Mang was astonished. He did not know much about Zhuge Jin but he knew that Zhuge Jin was a loyal man. As long as his Lord was still around, he would not betray his Lord.

“Does Zhuge Jin want to defect to Yangzhou? If this is the case, I would definitely welcome him!” Liu Mang also wanted Zhuge Jin to become an official at Yangzhou. Zhuge Jin’s ability aside, he was Zhuge Liang’s elder brother. With him around, that evildoer can feel more satisfied.

“Milord. You have misunderstood. My brother is still loyal to Marquis Wu, at least for now.” Zhuge Liang shook his head. Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin went separate ways for a few reasons. One was because they had separate political views. The other was because they knew not to put all their eggs in one basket. If one of them were to lose and be wiped out, the other would be able to survive and continue the Zhuge Family bloodline.

“Then how did you get your information?” Liu Mang was confused. Zhuge Liang said his brother told him this but did not betray Sun Ce. So what was going on here?

“Milord. Please read my brother’s letter.” Zhuge Liang said as he took out a letter.

Liu Mang read it and did not see anything important. Besides the standard greeting, Zhuge Jin simply said that he got promoted and was busy.

“What does this explain?” Liu Mang could not understand. This was just an ordinary letter.

“Haha, Milord. This letter tells us a lot. At the very least, it can tell us that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce have no intentions of surrendering. All this can be seen in this letter.”

“Haha.” Liu Mang felt embarrassed. If he had listened to Zhuge Liang then he would not be facing this problem. So Liu Mang could only grit his teeth with regret.

“Milord. In the letter, my brother said that he was busy.”

“We can tell that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce have no intentions of surrendering from here?” Liu Mang asked skeptically.

“Yes. Please think about what would happen if they had intentions of surrendering. After surrendering, all of this would no longer be their problem. In such a situation, would Jiangdong’s officials be busy?” Zhuge Liang asked.

Liu Mang thought about it and realized that Zhuge Liang was right. If the boss of a company were to change, then everything would no longer be the old boss’ problem. Why would the old boss bother to clean things up for the new boss?

“But what if this is just Zhuge Jin being meticulous?” Liu Mang asked. There were still those people with a sense of responsibility. Even if they were to leave, they would do their best to settle things first.

“Haha. It is true that my brother may do this. But Milord, for my brother to busy himself, he first needs to have things to do! It is really not easy to make him busy as a newly promoted Ambassador.” Jiangdong can already be considered a wasteland. Small matters can be handled by low ranked officials. They do not need to make an Ambassador like Zhuge Jin do the work.

“So the only thing that can make him busy are important things. Milord. What does Jiangdong lack the most right now?” Zhuge Liang said.

“What Jiangdong lacks?” Liu Mang furrowed his brows. “They should be lacking troops the most right now.” Liu Mang replied.

Zhuge Liang nodded. “Yes. Jiangdong currently lacks troops. To establish a new army, they need money and provisions. My brother is currently busy because of this. As for where they are going to get that money and provisions… hahaha.” Zhuge Liang laughed.

“Jiangdong is poor so the nobles are the ones with money!” Sun Ce and Zhou Yu would need to suck the nobles dry to form a new army and also compensate the dead soldiers. This was not a small amount so the nobles are the ones who are out of luck.

The only way the nobles can get out of this without being sucked dry by Sun Ce is to change Lords. In the past, they may not dare to do so. However, Sun Ce now only had ten thousand men at most. The nobles were the ones that hold the advantage. Besides that, the previous Ambassador was the leader of these nobles, Zhang Zhao. Now that Zhang Zhao has dismissed from his post and is going to be sent off to Xudou, the Zhang Family would need to start back from scratch. Zhang Zhao even had Sun Ce’s ‘introduction’. With this, the people at Xudou would clearly assume that Zhang Zhao was a spy from Jiangdong.

“So because of all this, the only choice the nobles have is to change Lords.” Liu Mang came to an understanding. “But why do they not rely on Yangzhou?” Liu Mang was a bit dejected. If they could not rely on Sun Ce, they could still come to Yangzhou. Yangzhou is such a nice place and Liu Mang was a good Lord.

“Hahaha. Milord. You may be a wise Lord but to the Jiangdong nobles, you are not a good person.” Zhuge Liang teased Liu Mang.

“Hmph!” Liu Mang harrumphed. He knew he was a greedy butcher in the eyes of the Jiangdong nobles. He was worse than Sun Ce in their eyes as he killed all those nobles and their personal soldiers along with their family in Wancheng.

The laws Liu Mang implemented at Yangzhou later, such as the land can only be bought and sold by the government, scared the nobles even further.

Every single one of them had quite a lot of land. If all of this land were to disappear how are they going to earn money? One must know that in this era, land tax was more than half their profits. Besides that, provisions were extremely valuable in those chaotic times. It was their livelihood. If you were to take away their livelihood, they would definitely be against you.

That was why to the nobles, Liu Mang was worse. Sun Ce would suck them dry but at least he would leave them a way out while Liu Mang would directly cut off their livelihood.

“Enough. It is not like I would never compensate them. Didn’t I buy those land with money?” Liu Mang said to the others. The others simply rolled their eyes. As if!

Yangzhou was unoccupied in the beginning so Liu Mang just occupied it directly. Lujiang had their owners killed. As for Xinye and Yuzhou, their owners were all too afraid and ran away. So Liu Mang bought nothing.

Liu Mang also suddenly felt as though he said something wrong. But it was no matter. After so many years, even Liu Mang has turned shameless.

“Then Kongming. What would you suggest we do right now?” Liu Mang asked.

“If nothing else, we wait.” Zhuge Liang replied.

“We do nothing?” Liu Mang furrowed his brows. To do nothing and wait was not his style.

“If Milord wants to do something, then dispatch an envoy to negotiate with Jiangdong.” Liu Mang realized that he had fallen into a trap. The hole was already dug. Liu Mang can only choose to jump over it.

“Alright.” Liu Mang nodded and immediately arranged for an envoy to negotiate with Sun Ce.

“Milord. Don’t forget to bring along ten thousand provisions.” Zhuge Liang added.

“Bring provisions? Whatever for?” Liu Mang frowned. He was already unhappy that he has to negotiate with Jiangdong. Why must he bring provisions which Sun Ce lacks the most?

“Milord. Do you not want your high official from the Ministry of Appointments anymore?” Zhuge Liang asked with a smile.

Liu Mang then remembered about Lu Su. Lu Su was still at Jiangdong.

“Sun Ce dares to detain Zijing?” Liu Mang frowned. Even when two sides go to war, they do not kill the envoys. So Sun Ce should not have detained Lu Su.

“Milord. What do you think of Zijing’s talent?” Zhuge Liang asked.

“Without Zijing, my ambition cannot be accomplished.” Liu Mang replied. He knew he was overpraising Lu Su. Lu Su may be talented but he was not so necessary that Yangzhou could not go on without him. That being said, Lu Su was so talented that it made things a lot easier.

“Milord. If you can see Zijing’s talent then do you think Zhou Yu is unable to see his talent?” Zhuge Liang said to Liu Mang. His words were not nice to hear as it meant that Liu Mang was inferior to others.

“Wasn’t he unable to see it last time?” Liu Mang replied defiantly.

“At that time, Zhou Yu was busy with Jiangxia’s affairs.” When Sun Ce took away several hundred thousand men to attack Lujiang, Zhou Yu had to suppress the seventy thousand of the Jiangxia Navy with only forty thousand men. He did not have the time to manage Lu Su.

After Lu Su was defeated, Zhou Yu was unable to speak up for him. Later, Lu Su was sent over to Yangzhou thanks to Sun Quan, allowing Liu Mang to easily obtain Lu Su.

However, things were now different. Jiangdong was in ruins so Zhou Yu would not let a talent like Lu Su leave. If Lu Su rejoins Jiangdong, Jiangdong’s strength would quickly grow.

Zhou Yu and Sun Ce will not kill Lu Su but keeping him there brings them nothing.

“Will they let him go for ten thousand provisions?” Liu Mang asked. Lu Su was easily worth millions of provisions. To only offer ten thousand provisions was like donating to a begger. These ten thousand provision were only a few hundred gold.

“Haha, Milord. Normally this amount is not enough but this is a huge amount in times of famine. Even if Zhou Yu is unwilling, Sun Ce would happily make the trade!” Zhuge Liang sneered. “On top of that, this provisions is not only to redeem Zijing.”

“Hm? These provisions are so valuable?” It was not just Lu Su. According to Zhuge Liang, they can even get more than just Lu Su with these provisions.

“Milord. What if Sun Ce has enough provisions to set up an army? Who does he threaten the most?”

The answer could not be Yangzhou. Otherwise, Zhuge Liang would not have made this proposal. Instead, Sun Ce would threaten Sun Quan and the nobles that support him. So this provisions would not strengthen Jiangdong’s army. Instead, it would sow discord.

“Haha. In that case, I will give Sun Ce twenty thousand provisions!” Liu Mang said generously. He doubled the amount so that Sun Quan would become more anxious.

“Milord. There is no need for that.” Zhuge Liang shook his head. Ten thousand provisions was a lot to the people but when it was not enough for the troops. It was enough to make Sun Ce covet it, yet not enough to quell Sun Ce’s hunger. If they were to give Sun Ce too much, then the disparity in strength between Sun Ce and Sun Quan would be too wide. This would not be good for Yangzhou.

“Alright. In that case, Yang Hong!” Liu Mang nodded and started to order people around.

“This subject is present.” Yang Hong stepped forward and cupped his fist.

“Yang Hong. This is a job for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dispatch someone to Jiangdong and negotiate with Sun Ce. Bring ten thousand provisions and bring Zijing back!” Liu Mang said.

“Milord. There is no need for that. I will go over myself.” Yang Hong said.

“Uncle Hong. You want to go over personally?” Liu Mang furrowed his brows. Yang Hong was already old. He was about the same age as Chen Gong. It would be bad if Yang Hong falls sick from the tiring journey.

Liu Mang treated Yang Hong like a family member as his other father-in-law, Yuan Shu, had died early. This made Yang Hong his wife Yuan Fang’s only remaining relative. Since Yuan Fang treated Yang Hong like a father, Liu Mang’s relationship with Yang Hong was also good.

“Milord. My son is still at Jiangdong. As a father, I cannot feel relieved.” Yang Hong replied.

“Yang Chen?” Liu Mang seemingly knew this person.

“Yes. My son followed High Official Lu and was supposed to protect him. However, he is already trapped in Jiangdong before he was able to complete his mission.”

“Uncle Hong. Once Yang Chen returns, let him take orders from me.” Liu Mang suggested to Yang Hong. To listen to Liu Mang’s orders meant that he did not have an actual official’s position. However, it was filled with boundless prospects. Two such examples were Guan Hai and Zhou Cang. They could not lead troops to battle but their status in the army was quite high.

“This old one thanks the Lord. However, my son is already accustomed to his job. He may not be used to be by Milord’s side.”

“Hm?” Liu Mang could not understand. He offered a good job for Yang Hong’s son but Yang Hong refused. Many people would want this opportunity but could not get it.

“Haha. Your Excellency is truly a strict parent!” Xu Shu suddenly said. This caused Liu Mang to understand that Yang Hong refused because he believed that Yang Chen was still not good enough. Rather than be by Liu Mang’s side as a decoration, it would be better to gain experience before going to Liu Mang’s side.

“If that is what you want.” Liu Mang smiled as he shook his head.