Chapter 175

"Jingzhou people will not submit to Sun Sun Jian, and it is even more impossible for them to accept a Yangzhou person leading the people of Jingzhou."

These past two years, he, Guo Jia, had not been idle; he traveled every year, visiting and touring the various commanderies of Jingzhou.

He couldn't say he knew the situation in Jingzhou completely!

But he knew seven or eight out of ten.

Jingzhou people were very xenophobic.

Especially toward Yangzhou people.

This seemed very strange, but it was very reasonable.

"Hmm? There is such a thing? Jingzhou people are very xenophobic? Why don't I have this feeling when I govern Nanjun?"

Tian Feng was slightly stunned after hearing this.

"Hehe!"

Xi Zhicai laughed knowingly: "That is because we are all the Lord's people!"

"And the Lord is a native of Jingzhou. The Su clan of Nanyang is also a fairly famous gentry family in Jingzhou, having had intermarriages for generations with the Huang, Pang, Kuai, and Cai clans of Jingzhou."

"It was just that the Su clan where the previous generation of the Lord resided gradually declined, which is why their reputation was not prominent before."

"But the connections are still there."

"Now that the Lord has emerged, the Su clan has risen again, and their relationship with the major gentry families of Jingzhou has naturally been fully restored, or even advanced further!"

"How could they possibly make things difficult for us?"

"Conversely, Sun Sun Jian is different. He is a true native of Yangzhou, and it is very, very difficult for him to integrate into the gentry and powerful families of Jingzhou."

"Especially if the Lord were to oppose or target him."

As he spoke, Xi Zhicai and the others all looked at Su Xuan.

"Hehe!"

Su Xuan smiled lightly: "There is no need to target Sun Sun Jian for now!"

"Anyway, even without us targeting him, he will be unable to integrate or develop and grow in Changsha in the short term."

"And there is not much time left for His Majesty; the time when the Great Han falls into true chaos is not far off!"

"By then, we won't need to drive him away; he will leave Changsha under the instigation of the Lord Yuan clan to help them fight for the world!"

"At that time, Changsha will naturally be vacated."

"We should also be able to take advantage of the situation to take the entire Jingzhou and begin my path to hegemony."

Three more years—to be precise, a little over two years.

Finally, he was about to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Of course, saying "enduring" wasn't entirely accurate.

The development time of these past few years had been quite precious to Su Xuan.

Whether it was military strengthening, commercial development, preparation of money and grain, the development of Nanjun, or the cultivation of talent.

Without these few years, if he wanted to defeat other feudal lords in the future, he would inevitably have to spend more time and energy.

The difficulty would also increase.

How could it be as relaxed as it was now?

"Hmm? Is this Sun Sun Jian also a man of the Lord Yuan clan?"

Xun You and the others were stunned: "Isn't he a man of Zhu Jun?"

Su Xuan teased with a smile: "Then, Gongda, how do you know that Zhu Jun is not a man of the Lord Yuan clan?"

"My Lord, please stop joking!"

Xun You looked at Su Xuan speechlessly: "Zhu Jun absolutely cannot be a man of the Lord Yuan clan. His rise had nothing to do with the Lord Yuan clan; I am clear on this point."

Speaking of this, Xun You stroked his beard and pondered: "It seems that this Sun Sun Jian has too much ambition and seeks too much, so he chose to secretly defect to the Lord Yuan clan and Grand General He Jin."

"It's just that it hadn't been discovered before!"

"Otherwise, it would not have been easy for him to pass His Majesty's gate to secure the position of Administrator of Changsha."

Cheng Yu narrowed his eyes slightly: "This man is truly profit-seeking and disloyal! To actually abandon Zhu Jun for the sake of his future—that is somewhat unwise, isn't it?"

Although he himself was a somewhat utilitarian person, once he had identified his Lord, he would absolutely never betray him.

Therefore, he looked down on people like Sun Sun Jian who were profit-seeking and disloyal.

"Not necessarily!"

Su Xuan shook his head with a smile: "Zhu Jun did indeed have the grace of promoting and recommending Sun Sun Jian, but Sun Sun Jian is not Zhu Jun's retainer."

"Leaning toward the Lord Yuan clan to climb higher does not mean he has fallen out with Zhu Jun!"

"I have dealt with this man a few times. It is true that he is very ambitious, but whether he is profit-seeking and disloyal is not certain."

"He is a relatively typical soldier."

"The name 'Tiger of Jiangdong' is not undeserved."

Su Xuan still admired Sun Sun Jian quite a bit.

At the very least, he was not a hypocritically arrogant person like Lord Yuan Shu or Lord Yuan Shao.

Unfortunately, this man's ambition was too great; there was no possibility of recruiting or subduing him.

Otherwise, Su Xuan wouldn't mind having a few more fierce generals under his command.

"That is also true!"

"The Lord's words are reasonable!"

Cheng Yu and the others nodded in realization and stopped saying anything more.

Since the Lord had already given his definition, there was no need for them to slander or speculate here.

"In that case, we should just let him go and annihilate Qu Xing?"

Tian Feng asked with a slight frown.

"Hmm! Just watch the show!"

Su Xuan nodded and continued: "Of course, there is no need to stop secretly eroding and developing our influence in Changsha."

"Just be more secretive about it!"

He didn't mention that he was also waiting for two years from now, when Cao Yin would provoke Sun Sun Jian into killing the Inspector of Jingzhou, Wang Rui, as well as the future Administrator of Nanyang, Zhang Zi. Then, he would be able to take advantage of the situation to actually occupy the commanderies of Jingzhou and plot for the position of Governor of Jingzhou.

If Wang Rui didn't die, he would become a trouble when the world fell into chaos.

It would certainly be inappropriate to kill him directly himself; it would easily ruin his reputation and lead to exclusion by the gentry.

A mere Wang Rui was not worth such an action.

Therefore, this matter would be left to our brave classmate Sun Sun Jian.

Even if Cao Yin, due to his appearance, was not prepared to do so, Su Xuan would have the secret guards lurking around Cao Yin remind and incite him to do it.

In any case, because Wang Rui had moved the Inspector's office to Linyuan over the past few years and constantly expanded his influence, encroaching on Cao Yin's power, the relationship between the two had become increasingly hostile.

It was already reaching a point of life-and-death struggle.

If it weren't for the fact that neither dared to strike directly at the other, they would have already started fighting.

A few days later,

Sun Sun Jian led his own hundreds of personal guards south, specifically passing through Nanjun and arriving at Jiangling city.

He paid a visit to Su Xuan.

Su Xuan naturally did not turn him away, but invited him in and treated him well.

"Brother Wentai! It has been several years since we last met, hasn't it?"

"Reuniting after a long time is truly a joy! Come! Cheers!"

Su Xuan smiled and raised his cup to Sun Sun Jian first.

"Haha! Cheers!"

Sun Sun Jian also smiled, gestured with his cup, and drank it all in one gulp, reminiscing: "Indeed! The last time we met was after the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled, when we went to Luoyang to receive our titles."

"It has been over 3 years since then!"

"Back then, Brother Su Boyuan, you were already appointed as a general and enfeoffed as a marquis, achieving great success. I was so envious at the time!"

"Fortunately, through hard work over the years, I have finally made a name for myself and become a commandery administrator!"

"Although it is still far from your achievements, Brother Su Boyuan, it has at least not disgraced the prestige of our ancestors!"

Ever since he became famous, Sun Sun Jian had always claimed to be a descendant of Sun Wu.

— Author's Notes —

PS: Requesting first subscription, self-subscription, requesting support!