[五年，策薨。权统事。瑜将兵赴丧，遂留吴，以中护军与长史张昭共掌众事。
{江表传曰：曹公新破袁绍，兵威日盛，建安七年，下书责权质任子。权召群臣会议，张昭、秦松等犹豫不能决，权意不欲遣质，乃独将瑜诣母前定议，瑜曰：“昔楚国初封于荆山之侧，不满百里之地，继嗣贤能，广土开境，立基于郢，遂据荆杨，至于南海，传业延祚，九百馀年。今将军承父兄馀资，兼六郡之众，兵精粮多，将士用命，铸山为铜，煮海为盐，境内富饶，人不思乱，汎舟举帆，朝发夕到，士风劲勇，所向无敌，有何逼迫，而欲送质？质一入，不得不与曹氏相首尾，与相首尾，则命召不得不往，便见制于人也。极不过一侯印，仆从十馀人，车数乘，马数匹，岂与南面称孤同哉？不如勿遣，徐观其变。若曹氏能率义以正天下，将军事之未晚。若图为暴乱，兵犹火也，不戢将自焚。将军韬勇抗威，以待天命，何送质之有！”
权母曰：“公瑾议是也。公瑾与伯符同年，小一月耳，我视之如子也，汝其兄事之。”
遂不送质。}]
Trans:
[During the fifth years of Jian'an, Ce died. (Sun) Quan assumed leadership and Yu led his troops for mourning. Hence after, he remained at Wu and presided over every decision as the Central Protector of the Army together with Zhang Zhao, the Grand Secretary.
{Accounts of Jiangbiao: Duke Cao had just defeated Yuan Shao and his might was growing daily. During the seventh year of Jian'an, he sent a writ rebuking Quan and demanding his son as hostage. Quan sought his vassals' counsel,yet the likes of Zhang Zhao and Qin Song remained indecisive. Quan then chose to seek his mother and Yu's advice.
Yu said: "When the state of Chu was first established by the side of Mount Jing, the area was merely few hundred li. Yet, by gathering worthy talents, its borders soon expanded swiftly, its prosperity lasting nine centuries and more. You, Milord, have inherited your father and brother's fruits of success, the people of six counties, plenty of grain, and soldiers willing to die. Our region is rich, the mountains giving us much ore and the sea giving us plenty of salt. Why then, should you accede to the enemy's threat given your unrivalled might? If you give in, you'll only be the Cao clan's second. By then, you will not be your own master, others can decide whether you live or die. At most, you will merely gain a marquis' seal, a score or so of servants with a few steeds and carriages. Is this really better than your current life where you're still the lord of the south? Let us not act, but observe first. If the Cao clan is able to set right every wrong under a righteous banner, it won't be too late for Milord to pledge your allegiance. If he's out to cause trouble, he must know that fighting a war is akin to fighting a fire. He will not dare to play with fire. Via bravery, you, Milord will await the mandate of Heaven. Why, then, must you send your son as hostage?"
Quan's mother agreed, adding thus: "What Gongjin said makes sense. He is of Bofu's age, but only younger by a month. I viewed him as my own son, you must respect him like how you respected your brothers."
Hence, Sun Quan decided to reject Cao Cao's demand}]
Is this about football? Sorry, Tobias. I'm not gonna say anything on Bournemouth b/c I've witnessed first hand on what had happened to every previous opponent Boro has played so far this season. I did analyse our opponents so far this season and all shit broke loose. Wigan was the only team getting 3 points last weekend and it would have been a miracle if not for Ipswich at the receiving end.
So let me talk about my beloved Boro instead.
Historical point 1-Cao Cao threatened to hold Sun Quan at ransom.
My point 1-So far, we got held to ransom by unfavourable results. 1 win so far will never cut the cake for me. Sun Wu, at that time, was in some major upheaval. Can you imagine Apocalypse announcing his grand entrance without Cable standing firm? If Sun Quan is Cable and Cable is Mogga, then current season form will be every SSB's Apocalypse. Sun Quan had never wanted to be hijacked, I know Mogga will never want himself hijacked. It's that simple.
Historical point 2-Sun Quan asked everyone what to do, either everyone true bodoh or (worse still) buat bodoh.
My point 2-I'm not gonna liken any of Mogga's backroom staff with Zhang Zhao, Qin Song, etc. Have you ever tried employing some économiste to coach Man Utd? Utter bollocks and I'm sure David Moyes would rather do a noble sacrifice ala Nightcrawler vs Bastion. What I'm trying to say is this: If you got your team into a sticky season form, who should be your number 1 help? Sun Quan's greatest ally is NOT Zhang Zhao or Zhou Yu, but rather himself. He knew what he must do, it's only down to a lack in self-confidence doing him in. If you're in Mogga's shoes, would you say "**** it, I'm gonna solve this shit even if it costs me a limb and more"? Try Google search for Bill Shankly's famous quotes, I'm sure there's a certain one making my words count.
Historical point 3-Because Zhou Gongjin says so.
My point 3-Firstly, your team got itself into a sticky patch, people are wondering whether you will be King Hughton II. Secondly, you know what should be done, but you're still trying find solutions to make everything count...
["When the state of Chu was first established by the side of Mount Jing, the area was merely few hundred li. Yet, by gathering worthy talents, its borders soon expanded swiftly, its prosperity lasting nine centuries and more.]
Above statement highlights the importance of having a sound transfer policy. You have only this much of a budget, you ended up signing players like George "BFF" Friend, Mustapha "Muzzy" Carayol, Kei "that black Yank" Kamara, and Jacob "will hype butter him up?" Butterfield. Muzzy costed us next to nothing, Kamara seems like some daylight diamond heist atm. Verdict's still out on Butterfield (due to Josh "Ao no Takumi" McEachran) while Albert "or-beh" Adomah deserves a fine mention.
Am I hyping up all our attacking players?
Am I all for black footballers being better and white chicks being hotter?
Hey, people! I'm yellow, not black or white, okay?
[You, Milord, have inherited your father and brother's fruits of success, the people of six counties, plenty of grain, and soldiers willing to die.]
Well, I know this comparison will seem totally balmy, but hey! I never said this is literal!
[Our region is rich, the mountains giving us much ore and the sea giving us plenty of salt. Why then, should you accede to the enemy's threat given your unrivalled might? If you give in, you'll only be the Cao clan's second. By then, you will not be your own master, others can decide whether you live or die. At most, you will merely gain a marquis' seal, a score or so of servants with a few steeds and carriages. Is this really better than your current life where you're still the lord of the south?]
Okay, I know ppl are still saying Middlesbrough is the shittiest place in UK to live in, that the entire club is the shittiest in whole of North East. But do I care? If you want see everything in literal terms, it's not my problem. Want to anti-fan-wank, go fanwank over the correct Utd team instead.
The key point here is pride. Now let's see how many SSB will start spamming #spiritofteesside on Twitter.
[Why then, should you accede to the enemy's threat given your unrivalled might?]
What is the Boro made of? When we invoked the term Typical Boro, it's NOT about lack in quality. What makes us Typical Boro? What should be the REAL Typical Boro?
[If you give in, you'll only be the Cao clan's second. By then, you will not be your own master, others can decide whether you live or die.]
Should this be our lot? To be mocked by SGB, SMB, and all them ****ing dirty Leeds? It's one thing to play inferior and quite another to show ourselves as inferior. A match only lasts for 90 minutes, our pride should worth a million times more.
[At most, you will merely gain a marquis' seal, a score or so of servants with a few steeds and carriages.]
It's a tough league, but should we say "hey, let's wait for seven more years lol!" or must we take seriously the fact that football is our only light?
[Our region is rich, the mountains giving us much ore and the sea giving us plenty of salt.]
I'm taking the first line again b/c I've accounted for the rest basically. Ignoring sneering retards over that "R" word, allow me to do an interesting analogy on mountains and sea.
Firstly, what is Teesside famous for? Steel, that's our local produce. It can't be eaten, but it can be used in other ways. Secondly, Mogga's a local lad. Sounds generic? Wanna laugh? Sorry, you all failed geography.
Back to mountain ore and sea salt. Interestingly enough, the geography layout on Jiangdong was all about having mountains stretching across the mainland border with the Yangtze River being the only way in. This is also why when Cao Cao wanted to go further south, everyone in Jiangdong pressed the panic button (will touch on this in later parts).
As for the sea, it's actually just next to Jiangdong. Know how to spell C-O-A-S-T-A-L? Good, you all pandai.
If we're to relate ore and salt with our current team (since linking this with our fans will be total folly atm), then what kind of players should be our ore, who should be our salt? Ore is a raw resource for making weapons and armour, salt is used to preserve food. Back during our super-great-grand-ancestors' time, only Bill and Ted are qualified to bring stuff like smartphones, tablets, and guns. Soldiers needed arms and armour to fight, every person needs food to survive. Without salt, there would be no means to preserve food, sustaining any and every person would be impossible.
To me, Boro's ore lies only in one area: Attack. Bournemouth was a roller-coaster ride, but if there's anything we did correctly, said thing would be our ore.
However, we also need the "salt" players equally. They belong to our backline. If I am to liken 90 minutes to a battle fought, then what truly sustains us will be our defence.
Eddie Howe had brutally exposed our weakness, I'm talking about how our backline react to continual pressure.
Not in terms of applying zonal pressure, but rather pressure at break neck speed. Championship football is extremely competitive, this kind of attack is what led us to concede what Mogga referred to as "Championship goals". So is there any remedy to the whole thing?
Let me have a hand at problem solving...
...or fail miserably while trying. Firstly, remember the Word of Yu:
[Is this really better than your current life where you're still the lord of the south?]
Number 1-Can it get any worse? I can't answer this question for every fellow SSB, but my own answer will be no, it won't get any worse. Why? Because we only have one thing to lose-top flight football.
What will we gain by promotion? Only one:
Number 2-If we're to think out of the box, should the fans be the team's salt or ore? I'm not encouraging blokes, ladies, and kids to waste their precious money, but rather what should the team give to every long suffering SSB? 3 points? Promotion? A fine footballing feast despite biting the dust 3 goals to 4?
Number 3-Let there be both steel and salt. I'm talking about trust in Mogga, a duty which only Mogga must be held accountable to. They tend to say midfield is every team's engine, the heart and brains of all things 90 minutes. Therefore, my question to Mogga is this: How are you going to allocate the salt and steel accordingly? How will you define your own salt and steel?
[Let us not act, but observe first. If the Cao clan is able to set right every wrong under a righteous banner, it won't be too late for Milord to pledge your allegiance. If he's out to cause trouble, he must know that fighting a war is akin to fighting a fire. He will not dare to play with fire. Via bravery, you, Milord will await the mandate of Heaven. Why, then, must you send your son as hostage?"]
Number 4-Let's not give up the ghost, shall we? Mr Eric Soh, you're right last Sunday when saying that it will be hard for us to get promoted, you're also right many years ago that the season is a marathon, not a sprint. If there's any reason behind Liu Bang's imminent victory over Xiang Yu, it's not down to how many you've won, but how MUCH you've won. Meanwhile, it's every player, backroom staff, and Mogga's duty to keep an open eye out for noteworthy things. For the season is dark and full of terrors.
P.S: Wait, why this seem so self-familiar huh? Why ah?
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