"This old minister obeys."
Zhang Zhao lowered his head and bowed. So Sun Quan is finally going to set things in order? With the Huaisi generals steadily withering away, the Jiangdong aristocratic clans truly wield far too much power. This old man is willing to hand you the knife.
Lu Fan's letter had been urgently worded. He was especially worried that if matters in the rear took too long, Guan Yu would learn the news and send reinforcements, preventing Eastern Wu's invasion from achieving its best possible result.
When profit was at stake, Sun Quan did not slack off either. After arranging everything in Jianye, he donned armor and left the city, leading the right division of Hu Zong's Jiefan Guard to Ruxu Dock.
Sun Quan had brought his personal troops to see Lu Xun partly out of concern for his own safety, and partly because he feared Lu Xun would not cooperate. Even a slight delay could cost them the fleeting chance of war.
For a ruler of this age, the greatest reliance could only be a cold-blooded army. Sun Quan vaguely remembered that when he had succeeded to the throne, Zhou Yu had returned for the funeral at the head of a great army, thereby taking away part of Zhang Zhao's authority as regent.
After Sun Quan left, Hu Ke immediately became the real power in Jianye. In the name of supervising military grain transport, he took control of the ports, using Yu Family Trading Firm cargo ships to carry provisions to the front. News along the Yangtze River waterways was sealed off.
Everything in Jianye appeared orderly: public security was good, and the people lived in peace and contentment. Yet a tremendous upheaval was brewing.
As Hu Ke waited for news from Ruxu and Chaisang, he compiled