Chapter 62 You Have Only Two Choices

  "I don't quite understand what you mean."

  Zhou Yu drank half a cup of tea in one gulp, spat out the tea leaves on the ground, and slowly raised his head to say to Liu Zhang: "To me, Zhang Lu's 100,000 troops are just a group of ants on a stone slab. Whether I step on them or pinch them depends on my mood. But it seems that this is no longer up to me, sir has already thought of a way to deal with it?"

  "Keeping me here at midnight to listen to your military secrets, isn't it just to bind me to Xichuan? But I'll tell you frankly, sir, don't waste your efforts. Under the heavens, I haven't found anyone who can be my master yet. You are one of the few heroes in this world, but still not."

  "Ah~~" Liu Zhang let out a sigh, for the first time discovering that talking to someone with an IQ much higher than his own was really a blow to his confidence. His opponent had seen through his intentions like the back of their hand, and as a result, his actions and words seemed especially foolish in retrospect.

  "I have thought of breaking through with Panhu's method, but it is not entirely reliable, and I dare not try to speak of it."

  "If I don't speak, will the adults kill me?" Zhou Bu Yi lowered his head and gazed at the tea leaves swirling in his cup.

  Liu Zhang was taken aback, and Zhou Bu Yi glanced around the grape arbor, smiling lightly: "When I walked in here, I knew that tonight I would have only two outcomes - either surrender to you, sir, or die. And your killing intent had already emerged when I defeated Xu Jing today. The chill on your high platform was truly felt by me."

  Liu Zhang finally knew that he couldn't outsmart this guy, so he decided to be straightforward: "Zhou Bu Yi, you're very clever, but your cleverness is too much for your own good. What you said is correct, today you defeated Xu Jing in a battle of wits, and I've indeed harbored murderous intentions towards you. From now on, you'll become famous throughout the land and will be an object of contention among all the lords."

  "To put it bluntly, I'm afraid if you serve another lord, so as you said, tonight you have only two options: either pledge allegiance to me or die."

  Zhou Bu Yi's fingers stroked the teacup as he calmly said, "I choose the second option."

  Liu Zhang stared intently at Zhou Bu Yu, under the bright moonlight, Zhou Bu Yu's tender face shone with a white glow, but there was not a hint of fear, and instead, he wore a calm smile. At this moment, Liu Zhang, who had been hiding his killing intent, suddenly found it surging up uncontrollably.

  "You have a wealth of talent, are you willing to let it go to waste and not make something of yourself?" This was Liu Zhang's final effort.

  Zhou Bu Yi burst out laughing and said with a laugh: "I had long calculated that I wouldn't live past the age of 20, it's a life destined to be cut short. I don't aspire to greatness or seek to leave my name in history, what does it matter if I live long or short? If you want to kill me, now is the time."

  Liu Zhang gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and Zhou Yiyu's smile had already made it clear that this divine child would never be used by him. Such a person falling into the hands of any powerful warlord would be no less than Cao Cao getting Guo Jia, Sun Ce getting Zhou Yu, or Liu Bei getting Zhuge Liang - it would be a nightmare for Western Shu.

  But Liu Zhang ultimately did not pull out the sword, such a prodigy, was killed by his own hands, and he himself became a sinner in history. Liu Zhang knew that to survive in troubled times, one could not have mercy like a woman, but he still couldn't bring himself to do it.

  Forget it, Zhou has been unknown in history, it should be as he said, destined to die young, this is also the most common ending of ancient and modern child prodigies.

  Liu Zhang comforted himself, slowly releasing his grip on the hilt. Zhou Bu Yi smiled and said: "Your killing intent has dissipated, I've managed to save my life. However, this also shows that you have a weakness in your character. Throughout history, many great leaders have paid a heavy price for their weaknesses, especially those in positions of power like yours. You shouldn't have such a soft spot, it's not becoming of someone in your position."

  "What situation am I in?" Liu Zhang asked with curiosity.

  Zhou Bu did not hesitate to drink the tea in his cup, and called out to He Hua who was waiting on him from a distance to refill it. Only then did he speak slowly and deliberately: "Considering that Your Excellency has spared my life, I will tell you about your situation. When I arrived in Yizhou, I heard that Your Excellency had slaughtered the aristocratic families in Jiangzhou, and thought that the weak ruler of Western Shu had become a brainless tyrant. But after arriving in Western Shu, I discovered that I was wrong."

  Adults are not brainless, and give adults a sentence of evaluation for me. Adults are too smart, I know that when you slaughtered the Jiangzhou clan, you have foreseen the difficulties to come, and have been working hard to overcome these difficulties. However, I really don't know how long adults can persist. The enemies faced by adults are more terrifying than Cao Cao's current enemy, Yuan Shao's army. If there is a slight mistake, it will be a crushing defeat.

  Zhou Bu did not doubt, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and continued: "As the governor who holds the military and political power of a state, making such a completely uncertain gamble can be evaluated in two words: arbitrary. The self-willfulness of adults is similar to that of Sun Ce in Jiangdong. Sun Ce is also a wise lord, but unfortunately, his temperament is too strong, which makes it difficult for him to govern the complex and intertwined Jiangdong clan society.

  Don't look at Sun Ce's current unification of Jiangdong, with the spring breeze in his favor. The Sun family is also from a prominent family in Jiangdong. I reckon that within one year, Jiangdong will surely collapse. Although you are slightly wiser than Sun Ce, your outcome will be roughly the same. If you don't abolish the four categories of official selection and the land decree, there will definitely be great disaster within two years, and it cannot be avoided."

  Fa Zheng stared at Zhou Yu in surprise, thinking that he was also a talented person, but now he realized that not one of the children had seen through it. Now that he thought about it, with Sun Bofu's temperament, how could he have coordinated the complex interests of the Jiangdong aristocratic families? If he couldn't coordinate them, he would provoke the aristocratic families, and provoking the aristocratic families would lead to their resistance. It was easy to imagine that someone like Sun Ce would definitely kill anyone who resisted him, and the outcome was also predictable.

  Liu Zong thought of Zhou Bu's words, from a historical perspective, Zhou Bu's prediction was wrong. Sun Ce was assassinated, and later the cunning Sun Quan took over Jiangdong, making it prosperous. It seems that no one will ever know what would have happened if Sun Ce had continued to rule Jiangdong.

  However, history cannot verify Zhou Yu's words, but it is not contradictory either. Sun Quan and his brother were different in their straightforwardness, and he was more tolerant and secretive, which is also the type that Zhou Yu thought could dominate Jiangdong.

  Liu Zong thought to himself, why did Sun Ce lead a large army on a hunting trip, and those several hundred of Xu Gong's brave warriors happened to appear at the hunting grounds. Could it be ruled out that there was a possibility that the Jiangdong aristocrats led by Zhang Zhao had intentionally done this?

  Before this, Sun Ce had thought of taking advantage of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao's confrontation to steal Xuchang. From ancient times to the present, the Jiangdong aristocracy has always loved "peace" the most and hated northern expeditions the most. If Jiangdong could be independent, they would support independence; if faced with a powerful enemy, they would surrender, which had almost become a habit. Sun Ce wanted to cross the river, but the Jiangdong aristocracy would not agree.

  Zhou Yu's prediction, compared to Guo Jia's prediction that Sun Ce would die at the hands of an assassin, is much lower in level but more grounded (Guo Jia is a genius, and geniuses don't need grounds for their predictions).

  If Zhou Yu's prediction about Sun Ce is accurate, then his own prediction that he will encounter great difficulties within two years should also be taken seriously.

  Fa Zheng sipped his tea, mouthful by mouthful, and had long since forgotten its flavor. He had never thought that there would be someone like Zhou Yibou who was so comprehensive in every aspect: able to outdo the great scholars of the world with his eloquence, perceptive about all things under heaven, knowledgeable about both ancient and modern times, able to discern people's hearts, skilled at fortune-telling, and regarding Zhang Lu's 100,000-strong army as nothing more than ants on a rock. His talent and strategy were probably only matched by Guiguzi of the Spring and Autumn period.

  If Fa Zheng knew that Zhou Bu Yi would still be deceived and cheated, I don't know what kind of mood he would be in.

  The tea in front of him was undrinkable, Liu Zhang let out a deep sigh and said: "I already know where my shortcomings are, but I don't plan to give up on the efforts I'm making now, so I understand that it's impossible for me to gain your loyalty.

  But I'm very curious, what kind of lord do you have in mind? I believe that a person with great talent, even if they don't seek high office or wealth, and don't seek to leave their name in history, must still have an ideal lord in their thoughts.

  Normally lazy to vote, can you vote for me today? -_-】