Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 53.

Last time, Sun Quan's advisor, Liu Su, had brought Zhuge Liang to the Southlands to meet with his master, in the hopes of forming

an alliance between Liu Bei and the Southlands to resist Cao Cao. But when Lu Su went to see

Sun Quan, he found the other advisors all were telling him that Cao Cao was too strong and that it

was in everyone's best interest to surrender.

Sun Quan was nonplussed by this, and while he was taking a bathroom break, Lu Su told him that

while everyone else could surrender to Cao Cao, Sun Quan alone could not.

For the likes of me, Lu Su said, surrender means being sent back to my hometown.

Eventually, I can work my way back into high office again.

But if you surrender, you would not be able to go home.

Your rank would be no more than a marquee.

You would have but one carriage, one horse,

and a few servants. You would be no one's master. Everyone else was just trying to save themselves.

You must not listen to them. It is time to make a master plan for yourself.

Now if you think about it, Lu Su's analysis was pretty spot on.

Look at what happened when Cao Cao took over Jing province.

All the officials and officers who surrendered made out pretty well with nice ranks and titles,

but their former lord, Liu Cong, met an ignoble end.

Sun Quan himself had just been pressed by his own advisors to surrender,

and those advisors were no doubt looking out for themselves.

Lu Su, however, showed his loyalty in placing Sun Quan's interest above his own.

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