Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 107.

Last time, Liu Bei was crushed by the Dongwu forces,

as his impressive line of camps went up in smoke,

along with any hope of avenging his brothers.

Sensing an opportunity, Cao Pi, the emperor of the kingdom of Wei,

began entertaining thoughts of attacking one of his rivals.

To figure out which one, he turned to one of his most senior officials, Jia Xu.

My goal is to reunite the empire, Cao Pi said.

Which should I attack first, the kingdom of Shu or the kingdom of Dongwu?

Jia Xu, however, chose Xi none of the above.

Liu Bei is a prodigious talent, and Zhuge Liang, a capable administrator, Jia Xu said.

As for Dongwu, Sun Quan has a keen eye for appraising his enemies.

Lu Xun has garrisoned troops in key places. With the river and the lakes

giving them protection and mobility, there is no obvious play to be made. In my opinion, none of our

officers are a match for Sun Quan or Liu Bei. Even if your highness personally led the attack, it would still not guarantee

victory. Thus, our only course of action is to fortify our defenses and wait for the situation

with the other two states to change. Cao Pi, however, was not so keen on this.

I have already dispatched three large armies to attack Dongwu.

How can I not achieve total victory? he asked.

But another senior official, Liu Ye, chimed in to agree with Jia Xu.

Lu Xun and Dongwu just defeated a Shu army of more than 700,000.

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