Zhang Zhao was about to open his mouth to tell the reason for his judgment, but another guard came to report to him. Zhuge Jin returned from Xichuan, passed by the house but did not enter, and came directly to ask for his lord.

When Sun Quan heard Zhuge Jin come back, he proudly said to Zhang Zhao:

"Zibu, what's the word of the Lone?"

Zhang Zhao looked like he had done something wrong, his eyes were drooping, and he was ashamed, and he quickly bowed back.

On the surface, Zhang Zhao was extremely embarrassed, but in fact he was extremely proud.

Zhang Zhao (156-236), whose courtesy name was Zibu, was from Pengcheng, Xuzhou.

Xuzhou was originally a place for four battles, and with a dissatisfaction with Tao Qian, Zhang Zhao traveled south to Yangzhou in the name of avoiding war. Because of his outstanding talents, he soon established a great reputation in Yangzhou.

When Sun Ce started his business in Jiangdong, he came to recruit Zhang Zhao. At that time, although Sun Ce had many talents, most of them were military generals who charged forward and lacked political talents.

After obtaining Zhang Zhao, after a period of investigation, Sun Ce highly recognized his military and political talents and appointed him as the Chief Secretary and the General of the Army.

When Sun Ce went out to fight, he appointed all civil and military affairs to Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao did the matter properly and ensured the logistics supply of Sun Ce's army. Only then did Sun Ce pacify most of Jiangnan in a short period of time.

Sun Ce was injured by an assassin and was delayed. Before his death, he regarded Zhang Zhao as a minister of his life, and his status was still above Zhou Yu, and entrusted his younger brother Sun Quan to him.

Zhang Zhao lived up to his expectations and led his staff to support Sun Quan, appeased the people, attacked the rebels, and helped Sun Quan stabilize the situation in Jiangdong. His prestige in Jiangdong was unparalleled.

When he was in Xuzhou, Zhang Zhao was once imprisoned by Tao Qian.

Tao Qian is known as a humble gentleman, and even so disregards the rules, he has gained a new understanding of the superiors. He does not want to be imprisoned again by the wise ruler he is optimistic about.

As the saying goes, being with the king is like being with a tiger. Zhang Zhao is afraid that his achievements will shock his master and arouse Sun Quan's fear.

He is very responsible in his work and never forms cliques with other civil and military officials.

Only after Sun Quan received the support of Zhang Zhao, did he firmly take up the position of the Lord of Jiangdong and respect Zhang Zhao very much. But Zhang Zhao still saw a deep fear in his eyes.

Therefore, Zhang Zhao dressed himself up as a straight minister, and even deliberately sang against Sun Quan's important officials Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Gan Ning and others, so he became enemies and finally eliminated Sun Quan's vigilance.

It is not that easy to be a straightforward and honest official who is willing to lose his official position and dismiss his post. Although it is easy to be famous in history, it may also be possible to die at any time.

Zhang Zhao was fond of learning when he was young and was good at official script. He studied "Zuo Chunqiu" with Bai Hou Zi'an. He was famous in the village with Zhao Yu, a native of Langya and Wang Lang from Donghai. He was also friendly to each other.

After becoming an adult, Zhang Zhao was recommended as a filial and honest person, but he refused to accept it.

He once discussed the past taboos with Wang Lang, and Chen Lin, a talented man from the state, praised him quite well.

Xuzhou Governor Tao Qian was famous for his recommendation as Maocai, but was rejected by Zhang Zhao.

Tao Qian believed that Zhang Zhao despised him and found an excuse to imprison Zhang Zhao. Later, he was released after being rescued by his friend Zhao Yu.

Zhang Zhaojiang went to the east to take refuge in Tao Qian. He was favored by Sun Ce and thought that Sun Quan was a rare wise ruler, so he played a role as a straight minister who was not popular.

Zhang Zhao is not young anymore and doesn't care much about his own safety, but he is still very worried about the safety of his family and wants to find someone to entrust him secretly.

Just when Zhang Zhao was at the height of his life in Jiangdong, Zhuge Jin came to Jiangdong to find a wise master.

Of course, he knew Zhang Zhao's status in Jiangdong, so he found an opportunity to meet Zhang Zhao.

After a detailed discussion, Zhang Zhao praised Zhuge Jin's knowledge and character, and they happened to have some differences in political views.

Zhang Zhao felt that Zhuge Jin was a reliable candidate and his future was limitless. He was a person who could trust his family's safety.

He was able to recommend Zhuge Jin to Sun Quan at random and get a good position.

But in that case, Zhang Zhao was very kind to Zhuge Jin, and it was easy to be labeled as Zhang Zhao by Sun Quan, which would become a shared good fortune and even implicated each other.

This kind of relationship is not what Zhang Zhao hopes for, and it is difficult to achieve his goal.

Zhang Zhao and Zhuge Jin made an open and honest announcement, revealing their original intention of entrusting each other with their family safety.

Zhuge Jin is also a smart person who understands it.

Therefore, Zhang Zhao himself did not date Zhuge Jin, but instead sent his son Zhang Cheng to get along with Zhuge Jin.

Zhang Zhao was eighteen years older than Zhuge Jin, and his eldest son Zhang Cheng was only five years younger than Zhuge Jin. They were very happy to get along with each other, and those who were close to them were Bu Zhi, Yan Yan and others.

According to Zhang Zhao's plan, he asked Zhuge Jin to gain a reputation in Wu Zhongbo first.

In the sixth year of Jian'an (201), Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi and Yan Yan traveled to various parts of Wuzhong, gradually becoming famous and known as the heroes and talents who are as famous as the world.

Zhang Zhao made a clever arrangement and asked Sun Quan’s brother-in-law Qu Ahongzi to meet Zhuge Jin.

After a conversation, Hongzi was amazed by Zhuge Jin's talent and immediately recommended him to Sun Quan and stayed with Lu Su and others for guests.

Since then, Zhuge Jin and Zhang Zhao have become colleagues and dissidents, and were used by Sun Quan as important pawns to check and balance each other.

Zhang Cheng and Zhuge Jin talked about friendship with each other as younger generations, and often visited their homes, and fell in love with Zhuge Jin's eldest daughter.

This was originally something that Zhang Zhao and Zhuge Jin were happy to see, but because they wanted to avoid suspicion, Zhang Zhao did not support it.

The two of them once had a disagreement due to the marriage, and finally Sun Quan came forward to lead to the marriage.

Therefore, Sun Quan was used to attacking Zhuge Jin behind Zhang Zhao.

But Zhang Zhao chose to meet Sun Quan at this critical moment, so he naturally knew Zhuge Jin's itinerary.

On the surface, Zhang Zhao attacked Zhuge Jin, but in fact he increased his weight in Sun Quan's mind, which he deliberately did.

Zhuge Jin happened to pass by Zhang Zhao when he entered the door. The two exchanged glances, but did not stop to talk, keeping the distance between dissidents.

When Zhuge Jin saw Sun Quan, he didn't want to waste the good opportunity Zhang Zhao created for him. He truthfully reported the meeting with Liu Bei from beginning to end, and conveyed Liu Bei's intention to reconcile.

After hearing this, Sun Quan had made up his mind, but he still summoned a group of officials and announced to them:

"Ziyu went to Baidi City to meet Liu Bei, but Liu Bei refused to discuss peace. If the two sides started a war and Cao Pi was still eyeing him, Jingzhou would be in danger!"

As soon as Sun Quan finished speaking, the next person came out and asked Sun Quan for his order:

"I have a plan to solve this danger."

When Sun Quan saw that it was Zhao Zi, he knew that he wanted to go to the State of Wei, so he pretended to ask:

"What are the good strategies for virtue?"

Zhao Zi replied:

"The lord can make a statement. I am willing to go to see Emperor Cao Pi of Wei, and tell us about the pros and cons. If I send him to Hanzhong, then Xichuan will be in danger."
Chapter completed!