sbdcsierra Chapter 488 The balance of power between Fazheng and Zhuge Liang resulted in Li Yan being injured!
Chapter 488 The balance of power between Fazheng and Zhuge Liang resulted in Li Yan being injured!
Su Yu, Zhong Yao, and Ma Chao were all scheming for control of Hanzhong.
Liu Bei was no exception.
Yizhou
成都
Former Liu Zhang Prefecture Governor's Office
Liu Bei sat at the head of the table, with Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng on his left and right respectively. The three were discussing how to take Hanzhong.
Fa Zheng has now become the number two figure in Liu Bei's camp, with a status far higher than Zhuge Liang.
There was no way around it; one was the leader of the Dongzhou faction, and the other was an up-and-coming socialite from Jingzhou.
Even though Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang had a life-or-death friendship, it was impossible for Liu Bei to make Zhuge Liang the number two and for Fa Zheng to be relegated to the number three.
Otherwise, the Dongzhou faction would show Liu Bei what it means to be a "chameleon" in no time!
As for Wu Yi, under Fa Zheng's pressure to abdicate, he retained some dignity and temporarily retreated to the second line.
Once the marriage between Liu Bei and the Wu family is finalized, Wu Yi will become a maternal relative.
Fa Zheng slid his finger back and forth across the map, then turned to Liu Bei and said:
"My lord, we are now bordering Zhang Lu, and the same is true for Cao Cao."
"If we can take Hanzhong, we will be able to keep Cao Cao out of the mountains of Hanzhong from now on!"
"On the contrary, Cao Cao, who has occupied Hanzhong, can launch an attack on our Shu region at any time."
"In my opinion, we must take Hanzhong, and we must win a great victory that will crush Cao Cao's main force!"
"I have finished stating my opinion. What is Kongming's opinion on this matter?"
Zhuge Liang frowned slightly and shook his head, saying:
“Liang is not as proficient in military affairs as Xiaozhi.”
"But if we go to war with Cao Cao's camp, I will do everything in my power to support my lord and Xiaozhi!"
Fa Zheng's eyes narrowed slightly.
Kongming, you really are someone who doesn't compete or fight.
That's fine, it's best not to fight or compete. The front line will definitely be my stage to shine.
The rear was originally intended to be entirely handed over to Li Yan.
But after thinking about it, I realized that Li Yan is very ambitious, so it would be better for you and Li Yan to each be responsible for half of the government affairs.
Fa Zheng himself used the method of "subordinates overthrowing superiors" to oust Wu Yi from the throne of the Dongzhou faction leader.
Those who frequently rebel know that what they fear most after a rebellion is that their subordinates will use the same methods to rebel against them.
For details, see Zhao Kuangyin's "releasing military power over a cup of wine".
Li Yan is now the number two figure in the Dongzhou faction, and Fa Zheng, the new leader of the Dongzhou faction, naturally has to be wary of Li Yan.
after all.
Not everyone is Ju Shou, the Celestial Dragon.
When Ju Shou was still alive, Shen Pei was a completely loyal minister, right? Ju Shou didn't need to be wary of Shen Pei at all.
But with Ju Shou dead, Shen Pei was no longer the same Shen Pei.
Therefore, seeing how sensible Zhuge Liang was, Fa Zheng also had the idea of recruiting Zhuge Liang into the Dongzhou faction.
The Zhuge Liang of today is quite different from the one of history.
Historically, he was considered the leader of the Jingzhou faction under Liu Bei, on par with Fa Zheng, or even slightly superior.
But now, as a "homeless person," he is no longer bound by so many constraints.
Instead, he became someone that Fa Zheng could win over and use to check Li Yan.
Liu Bei laughed and said:
"What Xiaozhi said is very true."
"In that case, the entire plan for conquering Hanzhong shall be devised by Xiaozhi."
"Kongming, you must do your best to assist Xiaozhi!"
"Here!"
Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng nodded in unison.
After the two left, Liu Bei smiled.
As a monarch, he naturally had to ensure that he had sufficient autonomy.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang should be sent to the Dongzhou faction so that Fa Zheng and others would willingly accept him.
Yuan Shao's example is enough to make all the warlords in the world reflect on their actions.
Don't be fooled by Liu Bei's current pleasant cooperation with Fa Zheng, and their seemingly exemplary relationship as ruler and minister.
But some people say that Yuan Shao and Ju Shou were a model of ruler and minister!
To prevent such a scenario from happening again, Liu Bei needs to take certain measures to maintain a balance of power in advance.
Honestly, Sun Quan should open a class on checks and balances, and everyone can sign up to learn how.
In warfare, Sun Zhibing is definitely no match for Cao Zhibing and Liu Zhibing.
Only Sun Quan achieved a high degree of centralization of power, suppressing powerful clans and even causing bloodshed.
The Eastern Wu regime, under Sun Quan's rule, was never completely controlled by powerful clans.
Even after Sun Quan's death, his lingering influence remained, and there was even a brief period of the strange phenomenon of members of the imperial clan, Sun Jun and Sun Chen, holding power.
It was not the result of a backlash from powerful families that led to its demise during the reign of Sun Hao.
However... Sun Zhibing's combat skills are simply too amazing.
It's even more beautiful than a Kundan egg; its beauty is beyond description.
This results in individuals having power but being forever stuck in a phase of checks and balances rather than expansion.
As for Sun Hao, he lost Sun Zhibing's ability to keep the balance, but unexpectedly awakened Sun Ce's volatile temper. However, he still lacked Sun Ce's ability to fight, which ultimately led to his complete downfall!
……
"What!?"
"Zhuge Liang wants to stay with me in the rear to oversee the allocation of supplies?"
Upon hearing this news, Li Yan felt like his world had collapsed!
Fa Zheng was a scoundrel who discarded his tools after they were no longer needed; he did so far too quickly, so quickly that Li Yan didn't even have time to prepare before Zhuge Liang took office.
As for the other members of the Dongzhou faction, they were also just watching the show.
Anyway, we can't get the second place ourselves, so let Li Yan and Zhuge Liang fight it out!
Li Yan visited Fa Zheng, but was unsurprisingly rejected.
They claimed they were busy plotting in Hanzhong and that others should stay away.
Good guy!
Li Yan has actually become an idle person!
Back at his residence, Li Yan launched into a tirade of curses:
"Damn it, Fa Xiaozhi, you really know how to hold a grudge!"
"When you dragged me and the Mianzhu garrison to surrender, you didn't say anything like that!"
But Li Yan ultimately couldn't do anything about Zhuge Liang's appointment.
Compared to Li Yan, Zhuge Liang seemed to know better how to get along with people and how to maintain good relationships with colleagues.
He possessed a natural talent for socializing and quickly became close friends with the middle and upper echelons of the Dongzhou faction.
Even Fei Guan, the fourth most important figure in the Dongzhou faction, had his nephew Fei Yi acknowledge Zhuge Liang as his teacher!
Fei Guan was originally from a prominent family in Jingzhou. His sister was Liu Yan's principal wife and Liu Zhang's biological mother.
Therefore, the Fei family previously served as maternal relatives.
However, like Liu Zhang, the Fei family did not possess much real power and were practically invisible.
Now that Liu Zhang has fallen from power and Liu Bei has taken over, the Fei family has lost its status as a maternal relative.
But even a starved camel is bigger than a horse; the Fei family was once powerful.
In order to counterbalance Li Yan, Fa Zheng specifically brought Fei Guan into the Dongzhou faction.
In any case, the members of the Dongzhou faction are all from prominent families outside the region.
Winning over Fei Guan and Zhuge Liang are both compliant operations.
But Fei Guan is old and his son Fei Yi is still young, so they can't be relied on.
We need to find another young and capable person to work with Fei Guan to check and balance Li Yan!
Therefore, this explains the entire process of how Zhuge Liang was drawn into the Dongzhou faction.
But neither Fazheng nor Zhuge Liang realized this.
Fei Yi is no simple character.
……