Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1321 Sincerity
Cui Jun entered the tent and sat opposite Zhuge Liang. He told Zhuge Liang the peace terms proposed by Wei State. He thought Zhuge Liang would flatly reject them because Wei State's terms were insincere. Except for handing over Liu Xie, the emperor of the former Han Dynasty, the other terms were almost impossible to fulfill.

Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang said: "Handing over the emperor of the former Han Dynasty is indeed one thing, but it is not enough."

"If you can agree to these three small conditions, we can talk."

Cui Jun was a little surprised. He thought he would return empty-handed this time, but judging from Zhuge Liang's tone, he was actually willing to negotiate terms. Didn't the other party care about Xu Du at all?

He couldn't help but ask: "What conditions?"

Zhuge Liang said, "First, Xin Zuozhi was also imprisoned this time, right?"

Cui Jun was shocked, "You even know this?"

Xin Zuozhi is Xin Pi. After he defected to Cao Cao, he was highly valued. He once took Sima Yi to participate in the Battle of Chaohu, and escaped unscathed, which was highly praised by Cao Cao.

Afterwards, he did not participate in the Battle of Yecheng, but assisted Chen Qun in the defense of Xudu. After Cao Cao returned, he died of illness. Although Xin Pi did not squeeze into the core circle, he was also an important figure in the Yingchuan faction. However, after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi seemed to be quite disgusted with Xin Pi. Not only did he not use him, but he marginalized him.

It happened that the abdication ceremony caused a big mess, and the Wei State was in disgrace from top to bottom. Cao Pi suspected that someone had bewitched Liu Xie, so he launched a large-scale search for traitors.

Under such circumstances, officials of Cao Wei reported on each other for various purposes. Dong Zhao, Liu He and others were imprisoned one after another. Although they were not convicted, they found it difficult to escape. Not long after, someone reported that Xin Pi was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Jin, and that as an old minister of the Yuan family, he had secret communications with the Jin State.

Cao Wei officials have had a lot of personnel dealings over the years, and if you really investigate, no one will be clean. Xin Pi was unlucky because of his dirty background. After an investigation by the School Affairs Office, they actually found some ambiguous evidence. After reporting to Cao Pi, they temporarily detained Xin Pi.

The matter of Xin Pi was actually not very important information. Now that Cui Jun heard Zhuge Liang talking about it, it showed that the other party knew Xu Du in extraordinary detail, so he was naturally extremely surprised.

Zhuge Liang said: "The king's condition is to hand over Xin Pi."

Cui Jun blurted out: "Is he really one of yours?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and waved his feather fan, "Who knows, maybe the king has a grudge against him and wants to punish him personally."

Cui Jun smiled bitterly. When Zhuge Liang was a friend, he didn't feel anything. But now that he was sitting opposite him in the negotiation, he was overwhelmed by the pressure. Because he couldn't understand the intention of Zhuge Liang's words, it was naturally difficult for him to gain an advantageous position in the negotiations.

Just like the case of Xin Pi, Zhuge Liang did not reveal his purpose at all, so the Wei State was unable to find out Xin Pi's identity. If Xin Pi was really a traitor, he would be rescued if he agreed to the conditions, but if not, it would be very troublesome. This would be equivalent to handing over an important figure of Cao Wei to the hands of a traitor. If he guessed wrong, the consequences would be very troublesome no matter what.

He could only ask: "What about the second one?"

Zhuge Liang said calmly: "Wei will accept the title of Jin and become its vassal. My lord, please promise Wei to keep one state. Then the two sides will stop fighting and never fight again."

Cui Jun frowned and said, "Kong Ming, His Majesty will never agree to such a condition. You are too insincere."

Zhuge Liang waved his feather fan and pointed in the direction of Yecheng. "Zhouping, it is precisely because of your sincerity that the lord gave Wei this way out."

"Zhou Ping should have heard about how the Lord has treated the people in recent years. He made such concessions because he didn't want the soldiers and the people to die in vain. Otherwise, with the strength of Jin, wouldn't it be possible to destroy Wei?"

"Zhou Ping should be able to see clearly what the current situation of Wei State is. Do you really think that one day you will be able to turn the situation around and defeat Jin State?"

Cui Jun gritted his teeth and said, "How do you know if you don't try?"

"A few years ago, who would have thought that the late emperor would also be defeated by a fierce tiger?"

Zhuge Liang sighed and said, "Since you think so, it's really hard to talk about it. But it's true. The good situation has come to this point. If I were you, I would not be willing to give up. I will definitely hold on to the last moment to see if there is a chance to turn things around."

"But in this case, the people will suffer. If Wei continues to resist, I'm afraid that many people will die."

Cui Jun was speechless. After a while, he said, "Although I don't think the king will agree, I will still convey this message."

"What about the third one?"

Zhuge Liang replied, "Wei cannot maintain an army of more than 5,000 men. The current King of Wei must abdicate."

Cui Jun laughed out loud after hearing this. "I think it's worth talking about the first condition, but I won't mention the second one. Aren't you asking the king to surrender with the third one?"

"Since you have no sincerity in negotiating, why did you ask me to come here?"

Zhuge Liang said: "Zhou Ping, you should be able to see now that the strength of the two sides is not equal. Now it is not Jin asking Wei for help, but the other way around."

"Guess, at this time, can Xiahou Shang, Ma Chao and others really defend Luoyang?"

"If Jin attacked from Hedong to the interior, cut off the retreat route of Sanfu area, and cut off the passage from Xudu to Liangzhou, would you really dare to stay in Xudu?" Cui Jun's face changed, "Is your main attack direction Luoyang?
"I understand. No wonder the Jin State sent so many troops but didn't bring many siege equipment. It turns out that you were pretending to attack Xu Du but actually attacking Luoyang!"

Zhuge Liang fanned himself and smiled without saying anything. It would be more accurate to say that Yuan Xi and he were attacking hearts rather than attacking the city this time.

A forceful attack on Xu Du would not be worth the cost, so the series of strategies used by the State of Jin were all aimed at breaking through the opponent's defenses, with the main goal of confusing the State of Wei and thus causing it to lose its composure.

The best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans, and the next best strategy is to attack their alliances. Zhuge Liang's move was to attack their alliances first and then their plans. The reason he could do this was that Jin's previous victories had accumulated enough momentum to force Wei into a dilemma.

Cui Jun thought about it again and again, and finally gritted his teeth and stood up and said, "Okay, I will report to the king right away."

He also knew that he was just a messenger. Whether the two sides could reach an agreement would ultimately depend on the intentions of the two lords. Although the conditions of Jin State were very harsh, the conditions of Wei State were also not sincere. Both sides were of the same opinion and were just in the early stages of negotiations to test each other.

Zhuge Liang escorted Cui Jun out of the camp and said, "Zhou Ping, Mr. Shui Jing has passed away. What future do you have in Wei?"

"Why not find an opportunity to come here and persuade Guangyuan Gongwei and the others to come to Jin to serve as officials, wouldn't that be good?"

Cui Jun smiled bitterly and said, "I will tell them both this, but I can't do it myself because of my ancestors. I can't get away."

Zhuge Liang was silent. Cui Jun's father was the Grand Marshal Cui Lie. He was originally a famous scholar in Jizhou and was highly respected by people all over the world. But later his reputation was not very good because he spent five million yuan to buy his initial position as a disciple of the Three Companies, and was therefore ridiculed by people all over the world.

Even Cui Jun looked down on his father Cui Lie. Cui Jun once mocked Cui Lie's behavior of buying an official position in person, which made Cui Lie so angry that he chased and beat Cui Jun, cursing: "You damn soldier! You ran away after your father beat you. Is this a filial son?!
While running, Cui Jun said words that made people all over the world praise him, "Shun treated his father by taking small beatings and running away when faced with heavy beatings. He never put his father in any unjust position!" From then on, Cui Jun's reputation surpassed that of his father.

But later, when Dong Zhuo rebelled, Cui Lie was able to stand up and rebuke Dong Zhuo. At the same time, Cui Jun joined Yuan Shao's Guandong coalition in Bingzhou to fight against Dong. Cui Lie was imprisoned and almost killed by Dong Zhuo, so his reputation improved.

After Dong Zhuo was killed, Cui Lie was released from prison and appointed as the captain of the city gates, in charge of the four gates of Chang'an. Later, Li Jue and Guo Si broke through Chang'an, and Cui Lie died in battle defending the city, which somewhat cleared his stigma of buying an official position.

Cui Lie was originally from Jizhou and had some kinship with Cui Yan's branch. Logically speaking, regardless of the experience and background of Cui Jun or Cui Lie, Cui Jun should be more inclined to join the Yuan family. This is why Zhuge Liang invited him. However, Cui Jun now works for the Cao family. It has to be said that there must be many difficulties involved.

Zhuge Liang saw Cui Jun off to the carriage and said, "Zhou Ping, after this farewell, the Wei Kingdom will definitely not let you come back. Take good care of yourself and wait for the day when we will meet again."

After hearing this, Cui Jun felt unhappy. He bowed to Zhuge Liang and let the carriage go.

Zhuge Liang bowed and saw the carriage off until it disappeared. Then he sighed and went back to report to Yuan Xi.

After hearing what Zhuge Liang said about their conversation, Yuan Xi said, "I'm afraid Cui Jun can't bear to leave his family."

"He must feel guilty because his father died because of his rebellion against Dong. Now his family is probably in Wei. He can't escape with his family. He can only persevere and keep going."

"I can understand his mentality. When Benchu ​​Gong... my father was alive, I also regretted not talking to him more. When he was dying, it was too late to regret it."

Zhuge Liang remained silent, knowing that Yuan Xi also felt guilty. If he proclaimed himself emperor, he would sooner or later return to Yuan Shao's lineage, but this would create another problem.

He had no choice but to remind them, "It is said that King Cao Pi of Wei accepted Cao Cao's concubines, one of whom was Madam Liu. After much investigation, it is very likely that she was the wife of Duke Benchu ​​who disappeared in the Battle of Yecheng."

"My Lord, what do you want to do?"

Yuan Xi asked in return, "What do you think the Prime Minister should do with me?"

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and said, "I thought that the conditions proposed by the lord would include the return of Madam Liu, but since there is no such condition, I probably guessed what the lord was thinking."

Yuan Xi sighed, "I am not a filial person, and I am narrow-minded. I am afraid that the Prime Minister also thinks that what I did is inappropriate."

"The way I dealt with Sun Quan is now being used against me by Cao Pi. I have to say it is very ironic."

"But I won't change my mind. When my biological mother was alive, Madam Liu didn't treat him well. Filial piety should put my biological mother first, and everything else should take a back seat."

Zhuge Liang had to admit that Yuan Xi was right. The Han Dynasty, because of the precedents set by several emperors, really valued the birth mother. He said, "Since the Lord has made up his mind, I will not make any further comments."

Yuan Xi asked, "Prime Minister, do you think that the Kingdom of Wei will agree to our terms?"

Zhuge Liang said: "Let's not talk about anything else. The Wei Kingdom will definitely be eager to return the former Han emperor. After all, they want to use this to provoke internal strife between us and Hannan."

As Zhuge Liang expected, news came the next day that the State of Wei did not agree to the conditions at all, but was almost impatient to send the seriously ill Liu Xie out of the city.

(End of this chapter)