"Eight thousand gold coins? What do you mean? "Liu Bei's eyes lit up when he heard the words. Eight thousand gold coins for Zhang Xiu! Originally, after giving Zhang Xiu four thousand gold coins, they would say that the gold coins were robbed by the Lvbu's Army on the way. This way, Zhang Xiu and Lü Bu would start a war. But now, it seemed that they still had to give Zhang Xiu the eight thousand gold coins. Liu Bei had been in the business world for so many years. He naturally knew that the greater the effort, the greater the reward. He was not puzzled by the eight thousand gold coins. He, Liu Bei, had lost too many things. Compared to the entire Xuzhou, eight thousand gold coins were nothing.
"Now is not the best time! What we need is to use Zhang Xiu as a knife to stab Lü Bu in the chest. Now, we need Zhang Xiu to become a shield in front of us and block Lü Bu's counterattack for us! Only at that time can my lord truly occupy the Central Plains and establish himself as a tripod! " Pang Tong said to Liu Bei. Pang Tong had already thrown away his feather fan. After being awakened by Liu Bei, Pang Tong insisted on his own style instead of blindly imitating Zhuge Liang.
"It's not the right time, it's not the right time. When is the right time?" Sun Qian changed his tone again. It was not Sun Qian's fault. He was a good counselor who had been praised by Liu Bei everywhere. Now, he could only be regarded as a vague character. No one could forget him. However, some people could endure it, while others could not.
"Hmm?" Liu Bei frowned. He also heard the dissatisfaction in Sun Qian's words. However, he did not immediately stop Sun Qian. After all, Sun Qian was an old man. He had been following Liu Bei since Xuzhou. After Liu Bei lost Xuzhou, all the fence-sitters had left. Only Sun Qian and Jian Yong had been following Liu Bei. It would be a lie if he said that he was not moved.
Sun Qian was not without talent. He was once recommended by the great scholar Zheng Xuan. If he was not talented, Zheng Xuan would not have taken a fancy to him. However, Sun Qian was at most a second-rate counselor. This person could be said to be similar to Yang Hong. He was good at diplomacy. In terms of strategy, he was simply not as good as top counselors like Guo Jia, Chen Gong, and Jia Xu. Therefore, every time Sun Qian came up with something, it could be seen through by others. However, Liu Bei still valued Sun Qian as always. That was because there was no better counselor than Sun Qian under Liu Bei's command. But now, there was one more person, Chick Feng.
Chick Feng took over the position of military counselor. A military counselor was in charge of military logistics. It was like a staff officer in modern warfare. A military counselor like Liu Bei could be said to be the second in command of internal affairs. Besides Liu Bei, Pang Tong was the second in command. Liu Bei did not want to say anything, but he hoped that Sun Qian would stop here.
However, Sun Qian did not seem to see Liu Bei's eyes. He was still talking. "Military counselor, this is already 8,000 gold. Even if my army has a deep background, it can't afford this kind of spending. You must know that we have already sent 7,000 gold. Adding this 8,000 gold, it will be 15,000 gold. It is enough to support tens of thousands of troops. "
"Governor Sun does not need to think about this. As the saying goes, if one is not in position, one should not meddle in politics. Governor Sun should know this. "Pang Tong was not a person who would not talk back. Governor Sun? Normally, Pang Tong would call him Brother Gongyou. But now, he called him Governor Sun. This was a sign that he was treating Sun Qian with his position. Even if Sun Qian was a veteran of Liu Bei's Army, he was still just a governor. Compared to Pang Tong's position as a Military Advisor, Sun Qian's position was nothing. A governor should take care of his own subordinates. Naturally, there would be someone else to take care of the country's affairs.
"You!" Sun Qian was directly hit by Pang Tong. He was no longer the military counselor of Liu Bei's Army. He was just a small governor. His military counselor position had been removed. These matters were not something that Sun Qian should be worried about. He only needed to be the governor of Runan. Although this was the case, Sun Qian could not swallow his anger. Why did he lose his military counselor position? It was because of Pang Tong's arrival. He was the one who caused Sun Qian to give up his military counselor position and become a governor. If it was only before, Sun Qian might not have such a big complaint. After all, being a governor was not a small honor. Did you not see that Bofu Sun of Jiangdong was only a governor? Even Zheng Xuan's evaluation of Sun Qian was that he was an expert in governing a county. He was able to protect the public order and bring prosperity to the people.
However, Sun Qian had been demoted from a high position. Demoting someone with a high position was not a good feeling. It was simply telling others that Sun Qian was not capable. Some people even speculated that Liu Bei had a problem with Sun Qian. This was why Sun Qian was removed from his military counselor position. Although Liu Bei's subordinates did not dare to speak these words directly, their eyes were still pointing at Sun Qian. This made Sun Qian feel annoyed.
Sun Qian took a deep breath. He was not a commoner, nor was he an ordinary person from a mountain village. He directly jumped up and slammed the table to scold Pang Tong. He calmed his mind and said, "That's right. If one is not in a position, one should not meddle in politics. Sun Qian is not talented and can only be a governor. I am not like a military counselor who can govern a country." Sun Qian emphasized the words' govern a country '.
These three words caused Pang Tong's gaze to freeze. A trace of coldness appeared in his eyes.
Govern a country! These words came from the 60th chapter of Laozi's Tao Te Ching: 'Governing a country is like cooking a small fish.' When Yiyin saw that Shang Qian was a virtuous ruler, she proposed her idea of governing a country to him. Once, when Yiyin saw Shang Qian asking about food, she said, "The food cannot be too salty or too bland. You have to mix the seasonings well. Governing a country is like cooking. You can't be too hasty or slack off. Only when the timing is right can you do things well." When Shang Qian heard this, he was very inspired and wanted to put Yiyin in an important position. After talking with Yiyin, Shang Qian felt regretful that they had not met earlier. He immediately appointed Yiyin as' A Heng '(Prime Minister). Under Shang Qian and Yiyin's management, Shang Qian's power began to grow. He wanted to attack Xia Jie.
This was a way of governing a country. If it was just used, it would be a compliment. However, he only used three words to hide the other four words: cooking! If one thought about it carefully, they would know that Sun Qian was actually insinuating that he had obtained a famous dish from Huainan, the braised turkey! This was Pang Tong's biggest humiliation since he became an official. As the saying goes, don't hit someone's face. Sun Qian was exposing Pang Tong's scars.
"Enough!" Liu Bei quickly stopped him. He originally wanted Jian Yong to speak, but Jian Yong did not say anything. He did not know if he really did not see it or if he was pretending not to see it. In desperation, Liu Bei could only stand up.
"Gongyou, Sir, you are both my right-hand men. You are both my confidants. Why do you have to face each other like this?" Liu Bei did not want to offend either of them, so he could only praise them. "Gongyou, you are really too much. Sir is thinking for our army. Don't you know that the more you get, the greater the price you have to pay?" Although Liu Bei was very fair to the two on the surface, he was actually biased towards Young Feng. After all, Young Feng was now Liu Bei's number one strategist.
"Yes, Gongyou understands!" Sun Qian glanced at Liu Bei and then at Pang Tong and apologized first.
"Yes, Shiyuan also understands. Brother Gongyou, Shiyuan was wrong just now. Please don't take offense!" Pang Tong also smiled and made an apologetic expression, but his eyes were still filled with coldness.
"Well, Sir, please continue!" The reason why Liu Bei was biased towards Pang Tong was because Liu Bei knew that Sun Qian was a person who could see the big picture. This time, he did not get along well with Pang Tong. After he finished speaking, the knot in his heart would naturally be untied. It would not have a negative impact on Liu Bei's Army.
"Yes! Milord, if we tell Zhang Xiu that the gold was robbed now, Zhang Xiu may not believe it! " Pang Tong also recovered and said to Liu Bei. Previously, Pang Tong's plan for Liu Bei was to use Zhang Xiu's knife to kill Lü Bu's tiger. However, Zhang Xiu was not a fool. This batch of gold was only 8,000 gold. Would Lü Bu start a war with Zhang Xiu for such a sum of money? One had to know that Lü Bu had received tens of thousands of gold as compensation in the previous battles with Jiangdong and Jingzhou. Although it was written in the agreement that it was only the money for the ballistae and warships, anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was just a fig leaf.
Moreover, Sun Ce sent a letter to Liu Bei. It was possible that Zhang Xiu also had it. Sun Ce was scheming against Lü Bu. How could Zhang Xiu not think about it? Moreover, the strength of the Lvbu's Army was not small. Would Zhang Xiu really make a move for 8,000 gold?
Since there were so many loopholes, they would delay it. If 8,000 gold was not enough, they would delay it until 16,000 gold. Even the rich Jingzhou and Yuan Shao would be jealous of this sum of money. Pang Tong was going to delay it until half a year later. During that time, Sun Ce's plan would succeed. The riots of 200,000 people would cause chaos in Shouchun and Lujiang. If Zhang Xiu was involved at this time, Zhang Xiu would definitely be willing to be the one to add insult to injury. No matter how weak Lü Bu was, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. He would be able to make Lü Bu and Zhang Xiu suffer. At that time, it would be Liu Bei's world.
"Mister is really talented!" Liu Bei's eyes lit up. It was also Pang Tong's idea to send the memorial to the Emperor of Han. However, he still felt the pinch for 8,000 gold. After all, it was more than 10,000 gold. However, it was worth it to use 10,000 gold to exchange for the entire Central Plains. Whether it was Lü Bu, Zhang Xiu, or that Sun Ce. Hehe, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. But did they know that there was a hunter behind the oriole?
Liu Bei was so happy that he did not notice the gloominess in Sun Qian's eyes. Pang Tong also looked at Sun Qian with resentment and killing intent.
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