Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 1179 Surrender
Chapter 1179 Surrender
When Hao Zhao saw the bright white blade coming towards his throat, he thought to himself that his life was over. His foot was in great pain and he could not move. He could only barely raise his spear to block. The next moment, there was a click, and the spear shaft was also chopped off by the Qinglong sword.
Hao Zhao was about to die, but at the critical moment, the Qinglong Sword went around his throat, and then the blade hit Hao Zhao's chest hard, knocking him off his horse.
Hao Zhao fell to the ground, dazed and knocked unconscious. His foot was shot and he could not stand up to fight again. Soldiers had already surrounded him and tied Hao Zhao up and took him away.
Wen Pin on the other side did not hold out for long. His martial arts were originally on par with Huang Zhong, but after being injured by Guan Yu, he was already dizzy. Huang Zhong took the opportunity to shoot an arrow in the shoulder. Wen Pin could no longer sit still and fell off his horse. He was also captured by the Jin army soldiers.
When Yuan Xi heard the news, he was naturally overjoyed. The two Five Tiger Generals of Shu Kingdom in later generations joined forces and indeed achieved immediate success. The reason why the other side was so formidable when they joined forces was all thanks to the personal abilities of Wen Pin and Hao Zhao. Now that they were both captured, it meant that the fall of Jiangling City was only a matter of time.
Yuan Xi set up a temporary camp by the river. Guan Yu and Huang Zhong came back to report, and Wen Pin and Hao Zhao were also brought up. Yuan Xi first welcomed Guan Yu and Huang Zhong to their seats and said, "The two generals are so brave that they were able to capture the opposing generals. They are truly great generals."
The two men exchanged a few polite words, and then the soldiers pushed Wen Pin and Hao Zhao forward. Seeing this, Yuan Xi said to Guan Yu, "This battle is largely due to your contribution. In your opinion, how should we deal with the two men?"
Guan Yu was rarely humble and said: "Without General Huang's help, I might not be able to defeat both of them at the same time."
"It's just that." He paused, pointed at Hao Zhao and said, "This man is quite arrogant. I hope King Jin can show some leniency."
When Yuan Xi heard this, he knew what Guan Yu meant, and said happily: "In this case, let's hand this man over to General Guan for punishment."
Guan Yu was startled, then he clasped his fists and said, "Prince Jin is so righteous. I thank you on behalf of my elder brother."
Since he had already won over Hao Zhao, it was inappropriate for him to ask for a gift of paper. He immediately ordered the soldiers to take Hao Zhao out for a private talk, fearing that he was trying to persuade him to surrender.
Yuan Xi didn't care about Hao Zhao. After all, if it weren't for Guan Yu, the two of them might have escaped back to the city long ago. Moreover, in his heart, Wen Pin's overall strength was much stronger than Hao Zhao's.
He walked over to Wen Pin, untied him, and asked a doctor to treat his injuries. He took the opportunity to say, "General, you have the talent of a great general, but you are confined to Jingzhou and it is difficult for you to display your abilities. Liu Cong's surrender to Cao Cao has ruined Liu Jingsheng's career. What will happen to you in the future if you follow such a person?"
Wen Pin stood there in a daze. Seeing Yuan Xi's action, he was too embarrassed to hit the smiling man, so he could only say stiffly: "Pin is a Jingzhou native, and cannot protect Jingzhou. Now you want me to betray the young master, but I really can't do it."
Yuan Xi said, "I heard that when Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao the day before yesterday, the general said that he could not preserve the land of this state. He should only be punished for such dereliction of duty. Even though Cao Cao summoned him, the general still did not go."
"General, I'm afraid you were dissatisfied with Cao Cao before, right?"
Wen Pin remained silent. Yuan Xi was right. Wen Pin had been quite opposed to what Cao Cao had done in the beginning. He felt that there had been a lot of killings when Cao Cao attacked Jingzhou and that he was too ruthless. He was not someone who could be trusted. But at that time, the Cai and Zhang clans had already decided to surrender to Cao, and Wen Pin, as his subordinate, was helpless.
Yuan Xi first asked Wen Pin to sit down, and then said: "General, supporting Liu Cong is also Liu Jingsheng's last wish. You have never left him, which shows your loyalty."
"But have you ever thought about what you would do if Cao Cao wanted to kill Liu Cong one day?"
Wen Pin was shocked and blurted out: "Impossible!"
Yuan Xi asked someone to take out a letter and said, "This is the news my spies got from Xudu."
"After Cao Cao took over Yizhou, the position of Jingzhou became very awkward. Moreover, he and I were fighting in the Central Plains. Regardless of victory or defeat, it was impossible for a force as powerful as Liu Cong to exist in Jingzhou."
"So he had already begun planning how to kill Liu Cong by accident."
Wen Pin's face changed several times after hearing this. He gritted his teeth and said, "This is all groundless and unfounded. How can we know whether this letter is true or false?"
Seeing that Wen Pin was already wavering, Yuan Xi smiled slightly and said, "I can make a bet with the general. If Yiling is lost, Liu Cong will definitely lead his men to flee to Jingbei. By then, he will have lost his usefulness and will not be far from death."
"If something unexpected happens, it may be disguised as an accident, but I'm afraid that the reputations of you officials and generals who surrendered to Liu Cong will be criticized by the world."
Wen Pin snorted coldly, "King Jin said so much, isn't it because he wants to seize Jingzhou that he wants Pin to surrender and serve as the King Jin's vanguard to seize the city of Jingzhou?"
"If Wen Pin does this, wouldn't that be betraying his master?"
Yuan Xi laughed, "General, you are wrongly accusing me."
"I am sending troops this time to help Lord Xuande. Since he is the King of Hannan as decreed by the Emperor, it is legitimate for him to seize Jingzhou from Cao Cao."
"As for me, I just want to seize the passage from northern Jingzhou to Yuzhou and cut off Cao's logistics in Yuzhou."
"Otherwise, with the wealth of Jingzhou as my backing, it would be difficult for me to defeat Cao Cao."
"Besides, I have a legitimate reason for sending troops this time."
Wen Pin was somewhat surprised and asked, "Did the Prince of Jin also receive the secret decree from the Emperor?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "No, but I was entrusted by Lord Jingsheng." He took out another letter and handed it to Wen Ping. Wen Ping took it and read it, and the expression on his face became extremely complicated.
This letter was written more than a year ago when Yuan Xi and Liu Biao were exchanging correspondence. The reason was that Yuan Xi advised Liu Biao to seriously consider the issue of establishing an heir and not to repeat the mistakes of the Yuan family. At the same time, he hinted that Liu Cong would be coerced by the Cai and Zhang clans, and if he surrendered to Cao Cao in the future, he would be abandoned.
In Wen Pin's hand was a reply from Liu Biao, in which he implicitly stated his own difficulties, saying that if he chose Liu Qi, Jingzhou would probably be in chaos sooner rather than later.
But he also knew that Liu Cong was young, and that after his death, the Liu family might encounter a conspiracy that they could not deal with. So Liu Biao made a request, saying that if Liu Cong took the wrong path or encountered danger in the future, he hoped that Yuan Xi would help Liu Cong because of the long-term friendship between Liu Biao and Yuan Shao.
To be fair, Liu Biao may not really expect Yuan Xi to be able to do anything. After all, Jingzhou is not close to Yuan Xi's territory. No matter how powerful Yuan Xi is, he may be out of reach. Therefore, Liu Biao's wording is more like lowering his posture to curry favor with Yuan Xi to avoid being killed in the future.
But this letter undoubtedly gave Yuan Xi an excuse to interfere in Jingzhou, leaving Wen Pin speechless. However, Wen Pin was still unwilling to accept it. He said, "If Cao Cao really wanted to harm the young Lord and his wife, could the King of Jin stop him?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said to Wen Pin, "I don't want to lie. Actually, I am not completely sure. I can only do my best."
"If I can do that, it would be like repaying Liu Jingsheng's favor on behalf of the general. How about the general come to help me then?"
"If I can't do it, I will let the general go. Whether the general wants to join someone else or live in seclusion in the mountains, I will not interfere."
"Before that, I will not force the general to fight or surrender the city. How about that?"
Yuan Xi had said so much, so Wen Pin had no choice but to respond: "If everything goes as the King of Jin expected, I will accept the loss and obey the King of Jin's orders!"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Okay!"
"Let's wait and see!"
While the two were talking, Guan Yu came in and said that he had persuaded Hao Zhao to surrender, and ordered him to go to the city of Jiangling to solicit surrender. Seeing this, Hao Zhao's former subordinates would probably not continue to resist.
Now Guan Yu is waiting for Liu Bei's army to arrive, and then he will take Hao Zhao with him to the city of Jiangling.
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I knew that General Guan was reliable!"
"I am waiting for good news from the general!"
He thought that on the one hand, Hao Zhao should be grateful to Guan Yu for saving his life, and on the other hand, Hao Zhao should not be very welcome in Cao's camp, because they were in a disadvantageous position on the front line. Unless it was a key city, Cao's generals were generally not assigned to guard the city. It was generals from other families who came to fill in the gaps, even Yu Jin was the same.
In later generations, Hao Zhao also defended the city for decades and was frustrated until he successfully blocked Zhuge Liang's army, and then he became famous. But he didn't have this opportunity in this life.
Therefore, Hao Zhao was also clearing out the surrendered subordinates in Jiangling City for the sake of his subordinates, but this left Wen Pin a little stunned.
Because Yuan Xi had just said that there was no need for Wen Pin to surrender, Hao Zhao took over this role. Could it be that King Jin had already anticipated this situation?
Once this seed was planted in Wen Pin's heart, it gave rise to self-doubt that made him lack confidence. Could he really win the bet between him and the King of Jin?
While Wen Pin was struggling with his thoughts, a guard came up and said that Zhang Fang had returned to report.
Yuan Xi personally came out of the tent and welcomed Zhang Fang in. He asked Zhang Fang to sit down at the top seat opposite Wen Pin, and praised him, "You really played the most crucial role this time."
"If you hadn't led people to hide in the woods for so many days without making any noise, Hao Zhao wouldn't have been fooled and led his troops out of the city, and then had their retreat cut off."
"Your achievements this time plus your previous ones are enough to earn you a promotion to a general of an army. How about you temporarily serve as a lieutenant general and lead 5,000 troops?"
Sun Li, who was standing by, also showed envy when he heard this. Zhang Fang had finally surpassed him. He had made several contributions before, but had never received any reward. It was only natural for him to be promoted to general now.
Moreover, although Sun Li was envious, he was not jealous. Zhang Fang's decision this time could be said to show his ability to respond to emergencies on the battlefield, and he deserved the reward.
Only then did Wen Pin understand why Hao Zhao had been deceived, and that his opponent was actually just a guard under Xiong Hu!
Zhang Fang grinned and said, "My lord, I would like to follow you for a while."
Yuan Xi asked curiously: "Why?"
Zhang Fang smiled and said, "Following my lord, I can learn a lot."
"Besides, the lord always goes to the battlefield in person. If there is a mistake, the balance of the world and the happiness of the people will be in vain. Therefore, I have to protect the lord in person to feel at ease."
"When the lord controls the world and sits on the throne, I can devote myself to expanding the territory for the lord!"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and patted Zhang Fang on the shoulder and said, "Okay!"
"We, the king and his subjects, are united in purpose. Let this day come soon!"
(End of this chapter)
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