Chapter 497
“The Second Lord was caught?” The whole of Jiangdong became alarmed. The nobles all had very good opinion of Sun Quan as the man was an intellectual who can easily make friends. If he ruled the world, all of his benefits would be shared with the nobles.
On the other hand, Sun Ce was different. While Sun Ce was generous towards the nobles, he was not as good as Sun Quan. Sun Ce was a military leader that despises court affairs. Sun Ce also hated some of the nobles. He did not say it outright but his inner feelings was displayed in the way he asked the nobles for money. While Sun Ce did not start a recruitment order like Liu Mang, he was also someone who gives jobs to his own people instead of the nobles. The nobles would have long placed Sun Quan as Lord if it was not because Sun Ce pressured them.
Despite the fact that they were being pressured by Sun Ce, the nobles were still quite lively in private. As a matter of fact, they were the ones that raised the money needed to fund Sun Quan’s expedition. They did it with malicious intent.
These very same people jumped in shock when they heard that Sun Quan was captured. They wanted to quickly go to Sun Ce and ask for Sun Quan to be redeemed.
“Calm down.” The head of Zhang Family, Zhang Zhao said. “We must definitely save the Second Lord but we must carefully consider how we are going to do it.” Zhang Zhao initially came from the South and shouldn’t have been in Jiangdong. However, he was talented and had followed Sun Ce for a long time.
Zhang Zhao was the person that tried to benefit from both sides. He vowed loyalty to both Sun Ce and Sun Quan. At the same time, he offended neither. Zhang Zhao was also helpless in this case. He secretly supported Sun Quan but now he had no choice but to step forward. This is because Sun Ce gave the order for him to collect money from the nobles. This was a job that required him to offend people.
“What do you mean carefully consider? Second Lord must currently be suffering in hardship right now! We must rescue him!” Another noble replied. Zhang Zhao looked at this person and noted that this person came from Huiji. Sun Quan had taken care of him while he was still a county magistrate at Huiji. That was why this person would always support Sun Quan.
“That’s right!” All those who received Sun Quan’s favor stood up and agreed.
Zhang Zhao looked at all of these people who can’t live without Sun Quan and gave a cold harrumph. “Milord have already sent an envoy to negotiate with the enemy!”
“Milord is righteous! The Second Lord and Jiangdong is like Lord Jiang and the King of Zhou1!” They can only benefit under Sun Quan while they can only be suppressed under Sun Ce.
There were plenty of talented people in Jiangdong. If all the positions were occupied by talented people, the nobles will suffer.
“Milord have already dispatched an envoy but Yangzhou is greedy and Lu Bu is a vicious tyrant. The ransom for the Second Lord is thirty thousand gold.”
“Thirty thousand gold!?” The nobles all gasped. These were their life savings.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Ziya Also King Zhou refers to King Wen of Zhou, not King Zhou of Shang. Its like saying one can’t survive without the other.