Chapter 515: Betrayal and separation
After learning of Sun Quan’s plan, Liu Fan still chose to cooperate and even increased the speed of his attack.

There was no way. With Tian Ze, the big Buddha, guarding him, he dared not have any other thoughts.

Even though he was plotted against, Liu Fan had no choice but to accept it.

Moreover, Sun Quan had a good grasp of the scale in this regard, which was within Liu Fan’s psychological expectations.

Sun Quan also sent Zhuge Jin to apologize, with a very correct attitude and explained the pros and cons clearly.

The world is big, there is no need to waste time in the small southeast. Only by ending the war in the southeast as soon as possible can we have a chance to squeeze into the next feast.

If you delay for too long, I’m afraid it will be difficult to get in.

What Sun Quan said made sense, especially since the envoy who came was Zhuge Jin.

There is no need to say much about Zhuge Jin’s talent and character. The most important thing is that Zhuge Jin is Zhuge Liang’s brother!
As Zhuge Liang’s reputation has grown day by day since he took power in the Northeast, it is almost certain that he will be the core figure of the second generation of the Great Qi Dynasty, and the most important one, no doubt about it.

This identity alone was enough for Liu Fan to worship him.

Don’t give face to the monk, give face to the Buddha. You still have to save face.

Although the children of noble families each serve their own masters, they are brothers from the same mother and even if their bones are broken, they are still connected by tendons. How could Liu Fan and others not take this into consideration?

Amidst a chorus of praise and harmony, the matter was simply blown away.

Afterwards, Liu Fan thought back and couldn’t help but sigh.

“Sun Zhongmou is truly an extraordinary person!”

In terms of diplomacy, politics and other aspects, Sun Quan’s talents are truly admirable.

Even though he was plotted against, Liu Fan could not feel any resentment towards him.

In fact, Liu Fan should be thankful for the current situation.

Otherwise, Sun Quan would definitely take on more benefits, and he would be forced to accept the debt.

Although Sun Quan in history was despised for his tolerance and internal strife, he was absolutely skilled in diplomacy and politics.

Although he may seem like a fence-sitter, who benefited the most from the diplomacy of the Three Kingdoms? It was undoubtedly Sun Quan.

The humiliation of the King of Wu in Wei resulted in a life-and-death struggle between Wei and Shu, with Wu reaping the benefits and always maintaining a delicate balance.

If it weren’t for its weak military capabilities, internal strife and the bad nature of the powerful families in Jiangdong, the Wu State would probably have benefited even more.

There were 100,000 soldiers under the city of Hefei, and every time the enemy was weak inside, what a good opportunity! And it happened more than once.

From this perspective, although Sun Quan and Sun Ce each have unique talents, they also have fatal flaws, and only by complementing each other can they accomplish anything.

In this way, Sun Quan stabilized the situation in the southeast by making a small investment for a big gain.

Tian Ze was naturally delighted.

The better these people perform, the better. They are “our own people” and the better they develop, the more beneficial it is for us.

Moreover, most of the development results were swallowed up by himself, the “mastermind”.

The princes of the Central Plains had different thoughts on this.

Sun Ce was happy but also quite melancholy.

It was not because of Sun Quan’s excellence that gave him a sense of crisis, but because the benefits of the southeast war were too great, and the civil and military officials under his command and the powerful families in Yangzhou were becoming increasingly restless.

Fighting in Zhongyuan and Tianze will only result in losses, and even if you win you will still be a loser. There will be no benefit at all, it’s a complete waste of time.

Let’s look at the southeast, with a population of 300,000 per month. Even if all the people in Hetian and Ze were replaced by Han people, there would still be 50,000 people. How profitable? There is almost no cost, all profit. Every month, the power of Sun Quan and the aristocratic families under his command will increase by nearly 10%.

Some of the powerful families who remained in Jiangdong were so jealous that they wished they could transfer all their family forces there immediately.

But fortunately, there were Zhou Yu and Sun Ce to keep the situation under control, and they also knew Tian Ze’s attitude and did not dare to act rashly.

Even so, the hearts of the civil and military officials and the powerful families in Jiangdong were completely dispersed.

He had no intention of fighting and was just waiting for Tian Ze to send troops to attack before surrendering.

Sun Ce was truly powerless at this time.

For the first time, he deeply felt that many battles were not fought on the battlefield, and that he had already lost before the battle even started.

Even if he has the courage of a king, what can he do if no one under his command is willing to support him?

Zhou Yu and Zhang Hong had already seen the situation clearly at this time, and were busy preparing for his “retreat”.

It was not about preparing for war, but about counting the population and supplies, mobilizing the people through propaganda, and preparing for “moving” in the future.

At the same time, he cleared out the bad families and powerful people, and completely copied and implemented the reforms of Da Qi, in preparation for Tian Ze to take over in the future, leaving a good impression.

At this time, the powerful families had completely given up resistance. They had made their transformation early and began to “prepare” so that they could charge into battle for Sun Ce in the future.

Everyone was working hard for Sun Ce, and while Sun Ce was pleased, he was also depressed.

Because everyone wanted him to surrender.

Everyone is “loyal”, but he feels “abandoned by everyone”.

Of course, everything is comparable.

Sun Ce was depressed, and Yuan Shao was even more depressed than him.

Sun Ce at least expanded his power and got the upper hand, but Yuan Shao has now fallen from being the leader of the alliance to the one with the smallest territory among the princes in the Central Plains, and his population has also been greatly reduced.

He got nothing, but the situation of his subordinates was similar to that of Sun Ce.

Many aristocratic families and powerful people actually had a lot of resentment towards Yuan Shao.

It’s not about blaming Yuan Shao’s ability or choice, but rather blaming Yuan Shao’s luck.

What exactly did you go through?
Among all the princes in the world, he starts with the best resources, the largest population, the strongest armaments, and the best civil and military lineup.

As a result, he played with Tian Ze for the whole game!
He could have dominated the area, but he was taught a lesson from the beginning to the end. How can this be justified?
If he didn’t surrender, he might become Tian Ze’s best opponent.

However, despite their complaints, these powerful families did not betray Yuan Shao at all, and some even supported him.

True gold is refined in fierce fire. Yuan Shao was able to fight with Tian Ze from beginning to end. Although he was defeated repeatedly, he never lost and even had the upper hand. This is enough to show the “gold content” of Yuan Shao.

Except for his bad luck, Yuan Shao was the best among all the princes in the world in all aspects.

He is not inferior to Cao Cao in character and courage, not inferior to Liu Bei in personality charm, and not inferior to Sun Ce in brotherhood…

Judging from comprehensive strength, Yuan Shao is still a well-deserved role model among the princes of the world, and even if he has the worst ability in all aspects, he is still second.

It means that he was unlucky to meet Tian Ze, but if he can make his way out of the Central Plains in the future, he will definitely still be the brightest star and the absolute most promising stock.

Sun Ce and Yuan Shao were depressed, while Cao Cao and Liu Bei were desperate.

The rise of Sun Quan meant that the alliance of princes was completely in name only. Sun Ce and Yuan Shao could no longer provide any help other than containment, so they could only rely on themselves.

(End of this chapter)