Everyone present was also stunned. Sun Quan tightly grasped the wine glass with a slightly stern look in his eyes. Xu Shu observed secretly and Zhuge Jin was anxiously rubbing his hands.
Zhang Zhao was the most respected person in the Eastern Wu and had a stubborn temper. Even Sun Quan had to show him some courtesy. It was too much for Liu Qi to speak ill of him in public.
"Since you are disrespectful to your elders, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Liu Qi slowly stood up and looked around at everyone. Gu Yong and other peace-seeking people all lowered their heads, fearing that they would also be scolded.
If we don't deal with Zhang Zhao and other old stubborn people today, this fire will never start.
Pointing at the stunned Zhang Zhao, he said loudly, "Thinking back to when Cao Cao slaughtered Xuzhou, weren't there your elders and fellow villagers among those who died in vain? You were roaming around Jiangdong in panic, and were fortunately taken in by the Sun family. Now you don't know how to be grateful and help, and want to take revenge, but instead want to surrender to the enemy. Isn't that a laughing stock for the world? Even if you take in a stray dog, you will guard the door diligently. You are actually going to give away the Sun family's foundation for three generations. Aren't you worse than a dog with a broken spine?"
"You... you little brat, Liu Qi—you are shameless, boring, and rude..."
Zhang Zhao was so shocked and angry that he was speechless. He couldn't help but stand up, rolled up his sleeves and shouted: "Liu Qi, I want to fight you in a duel..."
"A gentleman should talk, not fight!" Liu Qi calmed down and chuckled, "I think you don't have much time left. You should go home and take good care of your old spirit! Otherwise, how can you face General Sun who entrusted you with important matters in the afterlife?"
"Liu Biao actually gave birth to such an unworthy son!" Zhang Zhao was so angry that he almost passed out. He beat his chest and said in a trembling voice, "This boy is not worth having a say with!"
He stumbled away from his seat, bowed to Sun Quan, and staggered away.
Liu Qi folded his hands and didn't care. He thought he didn't have the eloquence of Zhuge Liang, who was good at quoting from ancient and modern times, but he was still good at scolding people directly and directly.
Influenced and tempered by keyboard warriors of later generations, who can stop it from coming from the west with just one click
For a famous scholar like Zhang Zhao, using the most vulgar words is the most effective. This is what is called "killing the master with random punches."
Liu Qi had long been displeased with the surrenderists of the Eastern Wu. Whenever he read a book or watched TV, he would want to slap them across the screen.
Now that they had the chance to meet face to face, he scolded him out of respect for Sun Quan. Not hitting the old man was already very restrained.
Although Sun Quan felt relieved, Zhang Zhao was still his loyal minister after all, so he said unhappily, "General Liu, you are insulting my subordinates, isn't that too much?"
Liu Qi bowed and asked, "General, do you know how I was able to recapture Nanyang and defeat Cao's 500,000 troops when I first took control of Jingzhou?"
Sun Quan couldn't help but think of the Battle of Hefei. His eyes twitched slightly, and he lowered his head to fiddle with his wine glass: "I don't know."
Liu Qi said: "There are also many Cao surrender factions in Jingzhou, led by the Cai family. The ringleader must be punished to serve as a warning to the rest. Only when the top and the bottom are united and the three armies work together can we win."
Sun Quan snorted coldly: "General, you came to help me, but you asked me to kill the ministers before I even used the troops. Do you have other intentions?"
Liu Qi laughed up to the sky and said, "I only talked about the matter of Jingzhou. The Marquis of Wu has his own decision! Cai Mao and others are all for themselves. If they surrender to Cao, they can still sit firmly in Jingzhou and even be promoted. But if I surrender, I will be suspected by Cao and will be killed by him sooner or later! Since there is no other choice, for the sake of the Han court and my own safety, I can only fight to the death!"
Sun Quan's eyes flashed, he pursed his lips and lowered his head in thought. Liu Qi was talking about him, so wasn't the situation in Jiangdong the same
Liu Qi added: "Jiangdong has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food, and has the advantage of the Yangtze River. It is already in an invincible position. What is there to fear? Guanzhong is in chaos now. I predict that Cao Cao will withdraw soon. This is the time for Jiangdong to take Huainan. We must not listen to Zhang Zhao and others' talk and miss the opportunity."
Bu Zhi asked: "Now that the north is stable, and Cao has just gained Yuan Shao's troops, he has a strong army and horses. How can we resist the enemy?"
Liu Qi smiled and said, "Ma Teng and I raised the imperial edict to fight against the enemy, and the alliance between Sun and Liu also responded. Together, we will eliminate cruelty for the country and promote benefits for the people. Just like when the princes fought against Dong Zhuo, the people are in favor of us, so why worry about not achieving great things?"
"What a great statement!" Sun Quan was so excited by these words that he stood up and raised his cup, saying, "Bo Wei's plan to connect the east and the west coincides with mine. This is a great opportunity given by heaven. We should work together to defeat Cao."
Liu Qi also raised his glass to toast, and everyone drank together. Seeing that Sun Quan had made up his mind again, Zhuge Jin also breathed a sigh of relief.
As they were discussing the plan to march north to fight against Cao, a man at the table suddenly burst into tears, drew his sword, and stabbed Gan Ning.
Gan Ning was drinking from his glass when he was caught off guard and dropped the glass in shock, causing him to fall backward.
Seeing the sword approaching, everyone exclaimed. A cold light flashed beside them, and with a clang, the man's sword flew out of his hand.
"How dare you!" Sun Quan was horrified and shouted, "Ling Tong, how dare you be rude to a guest?"
Ling Tong looked at the sword tip pointing at his chest, knelt down on the ground and cried, "Gan Ning is the enemy who killed my father, how can I not avenge him?"
"Well done, well done!" Liu Qi threw the wine glass hard to the ground.
In the midst of everyone's astonishment, he walked over and signaled Zhao Yun to put away his sword, helped the embarrassed Gan Ning up, glanced coldly at Ling Tong, and clasped his fists to Sun Quan, saying, "Goodbye!"
"Let's go!" He waved to Xu Shu and others and strode out.
"General Liu..."
"Young Master—"
Sun Quan and others were all dumbfounded. Zhuge Jin was stunned for a moment, then quickly chased out, stopped them and tried to persuade them.
Liu Qi sneered, "I thought Jiangdong had many heroes, like the General who Suppressed the Rebellion, Lu Su and you, who had great ambitions, were loyal and generous. Who knew they were all ignorant people who didn't know the big picture? If we stay here, it will only cause more trouble. It's better for us to fight on our own."
Liu Qi at this time was no longer like the homeless Liu Bei who had to compromise and depend on others everywhere.
He has enough confidence and strength. If he can't even maintain the dignity of his subordinates, how can he talk about dominating the world
He came with good intentions to help, but Zhang Zhao was sarcastic and mocking, and Ling Tong was taking revenge on him. What's the point
Zhuge Jin hurriedly advised: "Sir, you are here for national affairs. If you break the alliance because of a momentary anger, won't Cao Cao laugh at you?"
"It doesn't matter whether Cao thief laughs or not!" Liu Qi snorted coldly, "I share honor and disgrace with all the generals, and we are of the same mind. We will never allow anyone to bully us! Today, it is precisely because of the friendship between our two families that I don't want to start a war. Otherwise, Zilong's move just now would have made the Ling family extinct."
Gan Ning behind him was so moved that he gritted his teeth with red eyes. Zhao Yun and others also held their heads high. Such a lord is worth following until death!
Zhuge Jin was getting anxious because he could not stop him. Sun Quan also hurriedly chased him out and said with a fist: "Bo Wei, please wait. It is my fault for not keeping a close watch on my subordinates and frightening General Gan. I apologize to you all!"
As Sun Quan spoke, he actually bowed to Liu Qi and his entourage, and all the civil and military officials in Jiangdong were shocked.
But Liu Qi nodded secretly. Sun Quan's action showed that he was adaptable and flexible, demonstrating the demeanor of a hegemon.