Shuhan

Chapter 254
Xuzhou.

Xiapi.

Xiapi City, which had just experienced the baptism of war, was no longer the tranquility and comfort it once had, but was full of trauma and vicissitudes of life.

The bluestone bricks on the city wall have been cracked by the flames of war, the originally tall and solid city gate was smashed to pieces by the car, and many houses in the city were also damaged.

Entering the city, what you see and hear is full of traces of war.

The messy streets were full of rubble and rubble, the windows of the shops were broken, the stalls were overturned, and most of the houses on both sides of the street had been swallowed up by flames, leaving only ruins.

Bodies and bloodstains were everywhere on the streets, and the cries and calls for help were heartbreaking.

The laughter of children no longer, and the chatter and laughter of the elders also disappeared, replaced by whines and silence.

The fields outside the city also suffered serious damage. The farmland was flattened, the crops were burned, and it was a mess.

The hoofbeats of war horses once galloped across this land, but now only ashes and desolation remain.

From the brutality inside and outside Xiapi City, we can know how intense the war was not long ago.

But the winner, after all, is his Zangba!
In Xiapi City, in the blood-stained hall of the government office, he was finally able to put down his blood-stained ring head knife.

Sitting slumped on the main seat, Zang Ba laughed loudly on his weathered face.

"Hahaha~"

After this battle, he was able to defend Xuzhou.

of course
It's just a temporary defense. If you want to truly seal the king and break the ground, relying on this battle is far from enough.

After many days of preparation for this battle, Zang Ba pretended to divide his troops to take back Langya County and Donghai County in order to attract Yi Li to attack. Unexpectedly, Yi Li was really fooled and attacked the city. Then, he was ambushed by him. In the bloody battle, Yi Li was defeated. Let's go, there is not one out of ten troops under him, and now there is no one who can replace him in Xuzhou.

Although Wei Jun also wants to enter Xuzhou, Wei Jun is an outsider after all, and Xuzhou, only Xuzhou people rule, those people will feel at ease.

At the very least, no matter how vicious Xuzhou people are, they will not slaughter their own people.

And Wei Junhui!

That's the difference.

"Report~"

Youbiao stepped forward with an old man in a brocade robe. He saluted Zang Ba first, and then said, "My lord, I caught a big fish. This person is Jiang Gan, the envoy of the King of Wei!"

The envoy of King Wei?
Zang Ba's eyes lit up and he sat upright.

He moved his gaze to the old man who was tied up.

At this moment, Jiang Gan is being tied up, his former style has disappeared, his figure is slightly rickety, and deep wrinkles are carved on his forehead and the corners of his eyes.His hair was gray and scattered sparsely on the top of his head, and the old color highlighted the vicissitudes of time.

Even though he looked embarrassed, Zang Ba still recognized him.

"It's Jiang Gan!"

Zang Ba stood up with the knife in hand, walked up to Jiang Gan, looked at it carefully, and then laughed up to the sky.

"Hahaha~"

Jiang Gan's robe was already worn out, and the corners were torn, revealing some tattered fabric.His wrists were tightly bound with ropes and could not be stretched freely.Even so, his back remained straight, showing no sign of weakness,
"The traitor, if you want to kill him, kill him, why do you need to say more?"

Originally, Yi Li didn't dare to attack Xiapi, but Jiang Gan kept persuading him, and finally Yi Li made up his mind to attack Xiapi.

If you don't want to attack, you will fall into Zang Ba's trick.

"Why should I kill Mr. Jiang? You have done great service for me. Without you, how would I have achieved this victory today?"

"you!"

Jiang Gan stared angrily, his chest heaved violently, his eyes turned white, and he almost passed out without slowing down.

"Then Yili is used to being cautious, and if he dared to attack the city, you must be the one pushing it, isn't it?"

Jiang Gan turned his head away, not wanting to have a word with Zang Ba.

"Untie Jiang Gong! Jiang Gong is a celebrity, known for his talent and debate, and he is alone in the river and Huaihe River. Don't fight against him. How can such a celebrity be tied up? Isn't this humiliating him?"

The general was stunned for a moment, and immediately said: "Untie, quickly untie!"

The rope was untied, but Jiang Gan looked at Zang Ba coldly, and said coldly: "The traitor's move, do you want me to worship you? Huh! I, Jiang Gan, will not serve as the second master. , give me death!"

Originally, he wanted to help the king of Wei take Xuzhou back, to wash away the shame many years ago, but unexpectedly, this shame was not washed away, and another layer of shame was added to it.

I don’t have the face to meet the king!
It's better to just die and forget it!
"Jiang Gong is a celebrity, why would I want to kill you? However, just now, Jiang Gong made a mistake in saying something."

Seeing that Jiang Gan kept his eyes closed, Zang Ba smiled and said softly: "I'm not a traitor, I'm really a loyal minister! It's only because I was instigated by Yi Li and Wu Dun and deceived by them that I turned against Wei. Now these two All defeated, I want to clean up my grievances and return to Wei Wang's account."

Ok?
Jiang Gan was stunned.

He opened his old eyes, stared at Zang Ba with a smile on his face, and asked, "What are you planning?"

Zang Ba sighed, and said: "I am loyal and loyal, doesn't Mr. Jiang know?"

loyalty?

I know the heart of a wolf.

Seeing that Jiang Gan didn't speak, Zang Ba also made it clear.

"Now that Xuzhou is in my hands, when the Wei army comes, can you really defeat us? If you defeat us, can you really take back Xuzhou? Not to mention that Jiangdong Sun Quan is watching the tiger, and he is the prince of Hanzhong. His ambition is better than mine. , what's more, I am not Wei's great enemy."

Yes.

Zang Ba intends to show the enemy his weakness first.

After he took tens of thousands of people to search in Feishui, his cronies decreased a lot.

In Xuzhou, there are many people who disobey him.

His ability to gather a large army now was entirely supported by the savings from the previous business alliance.

However, now that the war is not going on, and he and Wei are at loggerheads, the benefits of the business alliance are no longer in his hands.

Without money and silk to buy people's hearts, those people will not obey him.

Even if he obeys on the surface, he won't work for him anymore.

He has to spend time to really subdue these people.

To conquer them with money and silk alone, you can only get the superficial support of these people. Only by fighting with each other and letting them know how brave I am, Zang Ba, can we truly conquer these people.

is the reason
He needs time.

And if Wei Jun comes, he will definitely suffer from both sides, and may even give up his life.

Seeing Jiang Gan this time, he wanted to "surrender".

"I would like to hand over the list of Xuzhou people to welcome the king's teacher. Please ask the king of Wei to order me to be the governor of Xuzhou and supervise all the military forces in Xuzhou."

In fact, Zang Ba still wanted to add Qingzhou in his heart, but considering the temperament of Wei Wang Cao Pi, he might not be the governor of Xuzhou, let alone Qingzhou.

Of course Jiang Gan could see that Zang Ba didn't accept the surrender sincerely, but just wanted to provide time for himself.

but.
The current state of Wei also needs time!
Why did he urge Yi Li to attack Xiapi?

It's not because Shouchun is in a hurry, he has nothing to do!

It can be seen that the king is very anxious. Since it is impossible to regain Xuzhou with swords and soldiers in a short period of time, it seems that it is not impossible to return Xuzhou to its original state.

Although Lizi didn't get it, at least he got the face, right?

Zang Ba saw Jiang Gan's thoughtful expression, and hurriedly continued on the sidelines: "With this merit, Mr. Jiang's trip is not a return for nothing. We can even discuss the conditions. As long as it is not too much, I will agree to it." .”

Seeing that Jiang Gan still didn't speak, Zang Ba's voice became a little colder at the moment.

"If Mister agrees, I will reward you with a thousand gold immediately, send ten Meijis to serve Jiang Gong, and send Mister to Shouchun immediately. If Mister doesn't agree, then I, Zang Ba, will just be a minister against Wei. What is more important, which is more important?" Whether it is right or wrong, let Jiang Gong decide!"

Zang Ba's words already contained a hint of threat.

Jiang Gan gritted his teeth and said, "I may be able to convey your message to the king's ears, but I am not sure whether this will happen."

"As long as Jiang Gong does it, it will be a great favor to me Zang Ba. A thousand gold rewards will not be small. If this can be done, you will be my great benefactor. Tyrant will never refuse!"

"Never mind."

This move, no matter for Zang Ba, himself, or Wei Guo, seems to be a win-win choice.Everyone has selfishness, and Jiang Gan is no exception.

Dying outside is still a meaningless death that cannot bring any benefit to his family. It is not worth it to die like this.

"I'm going to meet with the general right now to make this clear."

Cao Ren led the troops, and they had already arrived at Pengcheng.

"With Mr. Jiang's words, the matter will be stable."

clap~
Jiang Gan clapped his hands, and someone immediately came up carrying three boxes.

It's all just found out from the treasury.

Zang Ba asked people to open all the boxes.

One box was filled with glass objects, another box was filled with beautiful porcelain, and the last box was filled with gold and silver.

The contents of these three boxes cannot be measured by thousands of gold, and can even be described by ten thousand gold.

"These things are all thanks."

Jiang Gan shook his head.

"No merit and no reward."

"It's not entirely for Mr. Jiang. To go to Shouchun, we will need some money to manage all the way. Three boxes are really not enough for a gift."

Jiang Gan knew that Zang Ba was bribing him.

"This is absolutely impossible."

"If you don't accept it, then I will kill myself here."

As he said that, Zang Ba raised the knife in his hand horizontally, intending to commit suicide.

"Your Majesty, you must not do this!"

Jiang Gan said with a serious face of righteousness: "In order to save the general's life, then I have no choice but to accept these yellow and white things reluctantly. Don't worry, general, I will do my best when I go."

After seeing Jiang Gan accept the things, Zang Ba was finally relieved.

After the fighting in Xuzhou stops, let's do the next thing.

Guangling County.
Prince of Hanzhong.
Zang Ba's eyes flickered.

This borrowed [-] soldiers from the Crown Prince of Hanzhong. If Guangling County is really cut off, he will feel distressed!

But if Guangling County is not cut off, wouldn't he, Zang Ba, become a man of dishonesty?
Am I a Jiangdong rat?
so!

Wei Wang, you go and beat him!
If you can hold up and beat Liu Gongsi, Prince of Hanzhong, and seriously hurt his vitality, I will have the confidence not to give Guangling County, but to give other things.

If not.

How dare I disobey such a powerful Liu Chan?
But not rebellious?
Could it be that Guangling County was really handed over to others?
Temporarily surrendering to Wei State, Zang Ba didn't have his own little thoughts in his heart.

After bidding farewell to Jiang Gan, another guest was welcomed in the city of Xiapi after the war.

Compared with Jiang Gan who was tied up by five flowers, this person looks much better.

He is wearing a Confucian robe, which is quite chic. If Liu Chan were here, he would definitely recognize this person.

That can be said to be Liu Chan's old acquaintance: Zhuge Jin.

"I pay my respects to General Zhendong."

At this moment, Zang Ba has changed his outfit, at least the blood and blood stains on his body have been washed clean.

"Sir, what are you doing here?"

Zhuge Jin thought for a while and said, "I came here to save the general."

help me?

Hehehe!
Zang Ba had an unceremonious look of sneer on his face.

"When I was in Chengde Wuying that day, why didn't your lord save me? Instead, I went back to Xuzhou and came to save me? How ridiculous!"

Being sprayed on, Zhuge Jin didn't show any strangeness on his face.

I am really used to it.

When facing Liu Chan, he was sprayed even worse, but he still survived.

"Before was before, now is now. Your Excellency is now attacked by the Wei army, and was defeated by the Wei army at Feishui before. Don't you want to avenge your shame and defend Xuzhou?"

"This is not for Zhongmou to worry about."

Zang Ba sneered and waved his hand at Zhuge Jin, as if to shoo away flies.

"Forget about the alliance. Who dares to trust your Jiangdong's credibility now? As for the others, I, Zang Ba, have already made an idea. Why do I need to rely on your lord's power? Please return, envoy."

"This"

Zhuge Jin had a bitter look on his face. He originally thought that Xiapi had just gone through a bloody battle, but his coming this time would be more able to convince Zang Ba. Unexpectedly, his strong will made him unable to say a word.

As for the reason, he naturally knew it well.

It can only be said that things like reputation are still useful, but my lord threw it too fast.

"My lord's intention is to form an alliance with Your Excellency. The general will involve the main force of the Wei army in Xuzhou. I will lead the army straight into Shouchun, so that it can't be bothered. How about it?"

Ha ha.

The sneer on Zang Ba's face became even worse.

To put it nicely, it's an alliance.

To put it bluntly, isn't this treating him like a fool?

I'm here to attract the main force of the Wei army, and you will benefit from coming later?

Could it be that you, Sun Zhongmou, have all the good things in the world?
Have a child like Sun Zhongmou?
If I gave birth to this thing, wouldn't I strangle it to death on the spot?
Bad luck!

"Envoy, please go back, Wei Jun, don't worry about your master."

"I"

Zhuge Jin still wanted to insist on saving one or two, but Zang Ba no longer wanted to listen to what he had to say, and immediately waved his hand, and his personal guards came to surround Zhuge Jin.

"Sir, please."

The intention of seeing off guests is very obvious.

"In that case, I will take my leave."

Zhuge Jin saluted Zang Ba, then turned and left.

The failure of this mission is not a crime of war.

At least, it has nothing to do with Zhuge Jin and me.

His performance as an envoy was not good in the first place, but now it is even worse.

Hey ~
I'm afraid I won't even be given the task of being an envoy in the future.

Zhuge Jin thought with some pity.

And on the other side.

Lu County.

This is now the place where Yili defeated and retired.

Located between Pengcheng and Xiapi.

Yi Li, who was demoralized and lacked troops, also welcomed a messenger.

This messenger is not Jiang Qian or Zhuge Jin, but someone else:

Zong Ziqing!
He came with Liu Chan's mission.

(End of this chapter)