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WARNING: IF JESUS WERE HERE, HE'D CUT YOU. :P
Last chapter saw a whole lot of debate about whether or not the Southland should go to war against Cao Cao, and now, in Chapter 44, that war draws ever nearer. For Sun Quan has decided to leave the decision in the hands of his Foreign Policy advisor, (and Commander-in-Chief of his armies), Zhou Yu, and now all the officers, civil and military, in Wu know that it is Zhou Yu, rather than Sun Quan, that they must sway to their various conclusions.
Zhuge Liang knows this, as well, and probably knew it before anyone else did. It's entirely possible, given the representation of the character of Zhuge Liang thus far in the novel, that he knew it would all come down to Zhou Yu even before he left Liu Bei to travel to the Southland. And Zhuge Liang, as proven quite adequately in the previous chapter, has more than enough of an edge over his rivals in the Southland to achieve his goals without much difficulty.
Zhou Yu, the shining strategist of the Southland (in all the novel, there is arguably none better at the Arts of War-making in the state of Wu than Zhou Yu, though Lu Xun would come close to attaining that level) is, quite simply put, a genius.
In the comments on threekingdoms.com, at various points, a topic arises concerning the "character assassination" of Zhou Yu in this particular version of the novel. One of the primary points brought up in said comments is that, historically, Zhou Yu was actually a pretty fine and virtuous man, who actually achieved much more than is credited to him in this version of the novel. My own studies seem to support this. However, in the novel, Zhou Yu is portrayed thus: While still extremely talented, he displays at times a pettiness and short-sightedness which does not seem to fit a man of his wisdom and intelligence.
What I think, though, and this is only my personal opininion, is that Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang were not really meant to be compared and contrasted. Both men were absolutely brilliant, probably more intelligent than any military or civil leader in our world today, both had their shining triumphs and their debilitating weaknesses. No one is perfect, and the more power any one individual has, the less perfect they become. If you have been listening to my audiobook, by the way, you might notice that it is not, in fact, perfect. Every once in a while, it slips up. Just a bit. Not much, but just enough for you to notice. I do that on purpose, just as I do my very best to make the REST of the audiobook a masterpiece, just to emphasize and demonstrate this very point:absolutely nothing is perfect, but we as a species must work to make it so, even knowing that what we work for is and always will be unattainable. Society must ever develop, ever evolve, or stagnance will kill everything. There is a word for those who do not evolve. And that word is "extinct".
Zhou Yu was far from perfect, but in the particular spheres of his expertise, he was one who could only be matched, but never surpassed. Even by Zhuge Liang. Humans across the planet could stand to learn a lesson from that.
Fortunately for Zhuge Liang, he was aware that one of Zhou Yu's weaknesses was a quite common one. Any man, when told that another man is coming to take his wife, would seek to stop that from ever happening. Cao Cao's expressed intent (which still remains in question historically) to seize the Qiao Sisters, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao, delivered into Zhuge Liang's hands a means of setting Zhou Yu against Cao Cao, and once that happened, victory became sure. Cao Cao might very well have conquered the Southland had it not had Zhou Yu determined to defend it.
Once Zhou Yu was convinced of the proper course to take, it did not take long to convince Sun Quan to make war with resolve against Cao Cao. And when that happened, it made inevitable the Battle of Chi Bi, the Red Cliffs, and the Era of the Three Kingdoms.
By the way, a character of note in this chapter is Zhuge Jin, who appeared previously but has not spoken until now. Zhuge Jin was the older brother of Zhuge Liang, and quite a capable and intelligent man in his own right. Zhuge Jin is one of my favorite characters in the story and when I was young I used to call him "Huge Chin". :p
Anyways, enjoy this, the umpteenth (or forty fourth) chapter in the Sanguo Yanyi audiobook. Thanks for listening.