At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 393 Four Conditions
"Your Majesty, you must not do this!"

When all the generals saw this, their faces turned pale with horror. The senior officers even stepped forward and firmly grasped the sword in Yuan Shao's hand. Even though the blade cut into his palm, blood slowly flowed out, still as if unknown.

"Your Majesty is a man of wealth, how could he commit suicide just because of some setbacks?"

Feng Ji and others also hurried forward to hug Yuan Shao, and advised: "Although our army was defeated, Your Majesty still occupies the seven northern states. As long as we can return to Hebei, we will surely be able to make a comeback in the future!"

Yuan Shao, who was stopped by everyone, gradually lost the courage to commit suicide. Looking at his nephew's injured and bleeding right hand, he couldn't help feeling a little distressed.

He let go of his sword and said to the senior official: "I'm not committing suicide any more, Yuan Cai, please let go."

When the high official saw Yuan Shao let go of his sword, he felt the pain coming from the wound on his palm. He hurriedly threw away the sword, and then signaled to his subordinates to help bandage the wound.

Yuan Shaoyao pointed to the swaggering dragon flag with the word "Zhou" on the river, and said to his subordinate Wen Wu: "Zhou Qi personally led the troops to cut off the Huaihe River. Soon, the Chu army will be surrounded from all directions. How can we escape? "

When everyone heard this, they looked at each other, but they didn't know how to respond.

"Your Majesty, the envoy from the State of Chu wants to see you!"

If the other party really made a condition, this matter would be more authentic.

Chu Shi said categorically: "Of course it is true, but there are additional conditions."

Seeing that the other party was not aggressive, Yuan Shao couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked: "Why did Zhou Ziyi send you here?"

After the Chu envoy saw Yuan Shao, he was not as arrogant as everyone imagined, nor did he ask for surrender. Instead, he was very respectful to Yuan Shao.

Feng Ji looked at the furious Yuan Shao, but his heart moved slightly, and he hurriedly advised: "Now that our army is troubled internally and externally, it has almost reached a desperate situation. Your Majesty might as well summon the Chu State envoy first to see why the other party is here."

Even in their dreams, they never thought that Zhou Qi would be willing to let Yuan Shao cross the Huai River safely when he had an absolute advantage.

The Chu envoy said with some respect: "The King of Chu is also a disciple of the Yuan family, and he does not want to be an enemy of Duke Yuan. However, the two sides have different political views, and it is inevitable that they will fight against each other in the end."

Not long after, the Chu State envoy was brought over.

"If he really came here to humiliate His Majesty, I will kill him before it's too late!"

If Zhou Qi really didn't mention any conditions, they would be a little unbelievable that such a good thing would happen.

"The foreign minister pays homage to Mr. Yuan!"

At this moment, a Zhao soldier came in a hurry and paid homage to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao then calmed down his anger, and then said: "Summon the envoy of Chu State to see you!"

Everyone thought that Zhou Qi would take advantage of his great victory to kill Yuan Shao, then send his troops northward to destroy Zhao in one fell swoop.

Yuan Shao's face darkened and he shouted: "Is that guy from Zhou Qi planning to send an envoy to humiliate me? Go and kill the Chu envoy and return his head to Zhou Qi!"

"Is this true?"

When Yuan Shao and Zhao Guowen heard this, instead of being angry, they breathed a long sigh of relief.

Chu Shi's words immediately stunned everyone present.

Before Yuan Shao could answer, Xin Pi couldn't wait to stand up and ask.

"His Royal Highness the King of Chu, considering the old kindness of the Yuan family, is willing to send warships to escort Mr. Yuan across the river and return to the north. From now on, we will shake hands and make peace, and the grudges will be eliminated. I wonder what Mr. Yuan thinks?"

The Chu State did not agree with the emperor Yuan Shao, so the envoy of Chu called him "Gong Yuan" instead of "Your Majesty".

Xinpi asked: "What are the conditions?"

The envoy of Chu said: "First, the two sides stopped fighting and the war ended. Duke Yuan married his young daughter to the three sons of His Highness the King of Chu. From then on, the two countries became friends of Qin and Jin."

In the past, Yuan Shao would have disdained to marry his daughter to Chu State, let alone Zhou Qi's third son. It would be reasonable to let Zhou Qi marry his daughter.

After all, although it is good to marry Qin and Jin, marrying a daughter still seems a bit inferior.

But things are different now. Yuan Shao has fallen into a desperate situation, and the Zhao State has been severely damaged after this battle. If peace can be obtained by marrying a daughter, the entire Zhao State would be happy for it.

"I agree to this!"

Yuan Shao was not ignorant of current affairs, and he immediately agreed readily.

The Chu envoy continued: "Secondly, the Yuan family and even Mr. Yuan were kind to His Royal Highness the King of Chu in the early years. Now that the Zhao Kingdom is defeated, the King of Chu could have left Mr. Yuan behind and then went north to destroy the Zhao Kingdom. However, His Royal Highness the King of Chu still has I am willing to let Mr. Yuan go and repay the Yuan family for their great kindness."

"After this incident, the kindness that the Yuan family and Mr. Yuan gave to His Highness the King of Chu in the past years has been wiped out. I wonder what Mr. Yuan thinks?"

Zhou Qi built his life on "faith" and "righteousness". Although he was now in the south and held a high position of power, there was no need to care too much about these things, but if he really wanted to kill Yuan Shao, he would still be criticized to some extent.

Zhou Qi originally planned to let Yuan Shao leave, and it would be a good thing if he could completely repay Yuan's kindness through this incident.

Yuan Shao couldn't help but have a complicated expression when he heard this. The reason why he looked down on Zhou Qi a little before was that after all, Zhou Qi had a bad background and had to rely on the Yuan family in his early years.

Without Yuan's help, Zhou Qi may not be able to achieve what he has today.

However, even Yuan Shao did not expect that Zhou Qi really valued love and righteousness so much that he was willing to let himself return to Hebei when he had an absolute advantage, and formed a good relationship with Zhao Guo between Qin and Jin.

At this moment, Yuan Shao's last sense of superiority towards Zhou Qi disappeared without a trace.

He said in a slightly hoarse voice: "If I can really return to Hebei safely, Ziyi's move will be enough to repay my Yuan family's past kindness!"

A slight smile appeared on the Chu envoy's face and he said: "Thirdly, Mr. Yuan can only lead his subordinates and three thousand confidants to cross the Huaihe River. As for the other soldiers, they need to issue an edict to order them to lay down their weapons and surrender to Chu!"

"boom!"

This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, which immediately made Yuan Shao furious and shouted: "This is absolutely not allowed!"

Although Yuan Shao was defeated and hundreds of thousands of his subordinates fled in all directions, there are now only more than 30,000 people following him.

However, Yuan Shao also knew that if he abandoned these troops, horses and defeated troops, it would be equivalent to leaving almost all the young and middle-aged men of Zhao State in Chu State.

By then, even if Yuan Shao can return to Hebei safely and loses hundreds of thousands of young people, the current Zhao State will be like the Zhao State after the Changping War in history. Almost only the old, weak, women and children are left in the country. How can it hold on like this? A vast land?

Seeing Yuan Shao's reaction, Chu Shi said calmly: "If Mr. Yuan refuses, you and I can just continue fighting. If this is the case, I'm afraid Mr. Yuan won't even be able to bring back three thousand soldiers!" "

"you……"

Yuan Shao stretched out his right hand and pointed at the Chu envoy angrily, but he had no way to refute.

Yuan Jun is now a lamb to be slaughtered. If he really continues to fight, even if the Chu army just besieges but does not attack, Yuan Jun, who has almost exhausted his food and grass, will starve to death.

Yuan Shao took a deep breath, tried to calm down the anger in his heart, and then gritted his teeth and said: "I can agree to this condition, but the food and grass for the three thousand people under my command to go north will need to be supplied by Chu."

The envoy of Chu gently stroked his beard and said: "This condition is not too much. I can promise it to Duke Yuan on behalf of His Highness the King of Chu!"

Yuan Shao's anger subsided slightly, and then he gritted his teeth and said, "Are there any other conditions?"

The envoy of Chu smiled slightly and said: "The fourth and last condition is that Zhao will cede Runan, Pei and Xuzhou to Chu as compensation for the invasion of Chu!"

Yuan Shao was furious again, his eyes wide open, and he shouted sternly: "Don't go too far!"

However, the envoy of Chu said calmly: "The four conditions have been put forward. If Mr. Yuan agrees, you and I can call a truce and sign a new peace treaty. If he does not agree, then we can only do it on the battlefield. The difference is clear."

"I also believe that even if Duke Yuan does not agree to cede Runan, Pei and Xuzhou, Chu will still be able to obtain these places on the battlefield."

After listening to Chu's words, although Yuan Shao was extremely angry, he still retained some sense.

Just as the envoy of Chu said, the Chu State was indeed capable of gaining those territories on the battlefield, but Yuan Shao really refused to cede the territory. In the end, not only could he not save these places, he could not even save his own life and that of his subordinates.

"I agree!"

Yuan Shao said these three words almost word by word with red eyes.

that's it.

After receiving Yuan Shao's edict, hundreds of thousands of Yuan's troops dispersed in Guangling County and even Yangzhou. Under the surrender of Zhang He, Gao Lan and others, and with the temptation of food and cotton clothes, these people were quickly gathered together. Together.

It is no exaggeration to say that without Yuan Shao's edict, hundreds of thousands of soldiers scattered in various places would have turned Guangling County and even the entire Yangzhou upside down.

Even if they can't escape back to Hebei, they can turn into bandits and plunder villages and even cities, causing endless military disasters.

By then, even if Zhou Qi pays a huge price to quell the disaster, Guangling County and even half of Yangzhou will be in ruins. These people will most likely die in this cold winter, and at least most of Yuan's army will freeze to death or starve to death.

Zhou Qi's goal is to compete for the world, not to devastate the Nine Provinces continent.

If he can recruit these hundreds of thousands of young men, as long as there is enough food and grass, Zhou Qi can train them into an army at any time, and he can greatly preserve the vitality of the entire China.

With Yuan Shao's edict, the troops sent by Zhou Qi easily occupied Runan, Pei and Xuzhou, and Chu's territory expanded again.

Zhou Qi, who had received enough benefits, naturally did not break his promise. Not only did he allow Yuan Shao, his men, and three thousand soldiers to return to Hebei, but he even gave them enough money and food for them to use on the way, which can be described as the most benevolent and righteous.

However, most of the civil and military officials in Chu State did not understand Zhou Qi's move of letting Yuan Shao go.

Especially in the military, many grassroots generals and colonels have criticized this.

In their view, Yuan's army has been defeated, and Yuan Shao has become a turtle in the urn. As long as Yuan Shao is captured, it will be easy to overthrow the entire Zhao Kingdom.

At that time, it became an undisputed fact that Zhou Qi unified the world. They, the lieutenant generals, became the founding heroes of the country, and they would definitely be able to have wives and children.

But now, the King of Chu let Yuan Shao go for no apparent reason, which naturally made many people suspicious.

(End of this chapter)