Chapter 696

"Indeed!"

Others nodded in agreement, all with expressions of shared hatred.

"If we really submit to Su Xuan, our families will have to cede most of our interests;"

"Furthermore, according to Su Xuan's methods in Jingzhou, a significant number of people in our families will have to face public trial; either they will be executed, or they will have to join engineering teams or mining areas to build roads and dig mines, and their lives will likely be ruined!"

"That's right! Therefore, we must stop him!"

"Heh! Easy to say! How to stop him? Su Xuan's army is already at the gates! Sun Ce is determined to defect to Su Xuan; what do we have to stop him with? Our heads?"

"And you, little brat, you are Sun Ce's brother Sun Quan, right? You actually came too? It seems you also have opinions about your big brother's ideas! Tell us! What do you plan to do? You must know that this matter was caused by your big brother! Your Sun family must give us an explanation!"

"..."

Hearing this, everyone looked at Sun Quan, preparing to vent their anger on him.

Facing everyone's menacing glares, Sun Quan scanned the room calmly and said: "We are at such a life-and-death moment, yet you are still thinking about infighting and targeting me; it truly makes me laugh!"

"Are we not gathered here for our respective futures?"

"Is infighting really appropriate at this time?"

"Furthermore, my Sun family is currently under my big brother's full control; what say does a child like me, who hasn't even reached the age of capping, have to convince my big brother not to do this?"

"If it weren't for the future of my Sun family, and if I weren't unwilling to sit by and watch my big brother make mistake after mistake, would I have come here today?"

Sun Quan indeed did not approve of Sun Ce's approach.

Because if this happened, he would have to rely on himself from scratch if he wanted to get ahead in the future.

The family would likely be unreliable.

Furthermore, if he wanted to become a warlord in the future and inherit his big brother's foundation, it would become a moon in the water and a flower in the mirror.

He had been preparing and working hard for many years; how could he sit by and watch this happen?

What?

He is his big brother's brother, and his big brother has sons; how could he inherit his big brother's foundation?

As long as one plans, there will always be an opportunity, right?

In short, Sun Quan was never someone content with mediocrity or willing to live under others.

His ambition is huge!

"This..."

The others were stunned.

It must be said, what this little brat Sun Quan said was indeed reasonable.

This is really not the time for infighting.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

Zhu Zhi looked at Sun Quan and asked.

Sun Quan didn't speak, but looked at Zhang Zhao on the side.

Zhang Zhao cleared his throat and said: "Young Master Quan has already secretly contacted those within the Sun family who oppose Sun Ce's decision and has secretly taken control of over 20,000 troops in Chaisangcheng;"

"Furthermore, over 20,000 troops in other parts of Yuzhang Commandery have also been brought under control by Young Master Quan's people!"

"Also, as far as I know, a portion of the troops in Yuzhang Commandery and Chaisangcheng are composed of your own private soldiers, right?"

"All these troops added together are no less than 100,000!"

"And Sun Ce's remaining strength in Yuzhang Commandery is less than 30,000; we have an absolute advantage!"

"Taking Sun Ce is as easy as turning over one's hand!"

"But this is far from enough; our true enemy and crisis do not come from Sun Ce, but from Su Xuan and the Su Xuan army outside the city;"

"Only by defeating them can we secure Jiangdong, and even invade Jingzhou, completely erasing the possibility of Su Xuan conquering Jiangdong;"

"This..."

Zhu Zhi and the others were stunned, then frowned and said: "That logic is sound! But Su Xuan is not easy to deal with; we don't have much chance of winning!"

"That is under normal circumstances!"

Zhang Zhao nodded dismissively: "Under normal circumstances, facing Su Xuan with over 200,000 troops, we indeed have no chance of winning; after all, the Su Xuan army is famous for being elite and fierce;"

"But this time, it is precisely Sun Ce's three-battle gambling agreement that gives us the opportunity and hope for victory!"

"Because of the gambling, the troops Su Xuan brought to Chaisang are no more than 30,000; even adding the navy in the husband's waters, it won't exceed 20,000!"

"And we have over 100,000 troops! More than twice the number of Su Xuan's troops;"

"The most critical point is that Su Xuan has personally come to Chaisangcheng;"

"This is our opportunity; as long as we defeat the Su Xuan army outside the city in a short time and capture Su Xuan alive, Su Xuan's remaining troops will inevitably collapse without a fight;"

"By then, we can not only resolve the crisis in Jiangdong but perhaps even swallow Su Xuan's Jingzhou, assisting my Lord Young Master Quan to become a warlord occupying the entire Jiangnan region in one fell swoop; what do you all think?"

As a gentry member, Zhang Zhao's creed has always been the order established by the gentry.

He naturally cannot tolerate Jiangdong falling into Su Xuan's hands.

This is not him betraying Sun Ce; it is Sun Ce betraying him and the entire gentry class.

"This... seems to have potential!"

"Indeed! The key to success is actually capturing Su Xuan alive; with him, everything else is not a problem!"

"Capture Su Xuan alive? I heard he is a Heaven-Man divine general; is such a person really someone we can capture alive?"

"Huh? You believe such nonsense? Is the Heaven-Man Realm so easy to achieve?"

"It might not be groundless!"

"Whatever, I don't believe it anyway!"

"Wait! Are you focusing on the wrong thing? Isn't the real point that Zhang Zhao is preparing to support Sun Quan to become the future Lord of Jiangdong? He is a Sun family member; how can he?"

They have already been backstabbed by the Sun family once; they are not willing to do it again.

"Heh!"

Zhang Zhao sneered: "Jiangdong belongs to the Sun family; what is wrong with my Lord Sun Quan choosing to set things right?"

"And, in terms of the troops currently in hand, we have to rely on my Lord Sun Quan; otherwise, relying on yourselves, is it possible to succeed?"

"Don't get the point wrong; the premise of this cooperation is that you all support my Lord Sun Quan to become the new Lord of Jiangdong; otherwise, there is nothing to talk about!"

"At worst, we do nothing and follow Sun Ce to defect to Su Xuan; with my Lord's status and my talent, I believe we can live very well even if we go under Su Xuan!"

"But those of you from the great Jiangdong gentry families might not be so lucky!"

"Unless you can abandon most of your family's interests and abandon those clansmen who have committed crimes, you have no choice but to support my Lord."

Everyone fell silent.

Zhang Zhao was not in a hurry.

The choice has been given; how they choose depends on them!

"Good! I represent the Zhu family and agree!"

"I represent the Gu family and agree!"

"I represent..."

Soon, representatives of the Jiangdong families began to express their stance, overwhelmingly supporting Sun Quan.

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