Ji Han Liu Zhang

When he learned that Li Jue's troops were divided into two groups and knew Li Jue's whereabouts, Zhang Xiu felt that as a general who had recently surrendered, he should not covet the credit of capturing and killing Li Jue. That was not something he could get, nor did he dare to get.

So Zhang Xiu asked Zhang Ren for orders, and asked him to pursue the bandit army heading to the northeast, while as for Li Jue's troops heading to the northwest, it would be Zhang Ren, the commander-in-chief, who would pursue them. He generously gave the credit for capturing and killing Li Jue to Zhang Ren.

Facing Zhang Xiu's request, Zhang Ren pondered for a moment or two, then nodded and expressed his agreement: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Zhang, to follow the trail and kill the bandits heading northeast. Don't let any of them escape."

"Yes." Zhang Xiu bowed and accepted the order. Then he called his close followers and headed towards the northeast.

Zhang Xiu led a group of troops to the northeast. Zhang Ren did not stay for long. He pointed his spear to the northwest, and his elite cavalry immediately followed his direction and headed northwest.

After running several hundred steps with his personal guards, Zhang Xiu heard a puzzled voice coming from beside him.

Hu Che'er said in a muffled voice: "Young General, Liu Yizhou has issued a proclamation stating that whoever captures and kills Li Jue and Guo Si will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and be made a marquis... Why don't you go to the northwest to hunt down Li Jue, but instead ask for permission to go to the northeast? The bandits in the northeast are just a bunch of shrimps, how can they compare to the big fish Li Jue?"

Zhang Xiu did not answer for a moment. Hu Che'er said to himself, "If the young general can capture and kill Li Jue, he can avenge General Zhang and get a huge reward, such as a title of nobility. This is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone. Why do you ignore it?"

Zhang Xiu smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "A huge fortune, a title of nobility, these are not things that a new surrenderer like me should covet..."

"I just lost my uncle, and was hunted by Li Jue and Guo Si. I surrendered to Liu Yizhou. To Liu Yizhou, I am neither a close friend nor an old minister. If I am not careful and cautious, I am afraid that danger is not far away."

"Although I am interested in the merit of capturing and killing Li Jue, I don't have the heart to do so. Or, how dare I have such a thought?"

Zhang Xiu's eyes were bleak. Since the death of Zhang Ji, who was like a father to him, he had devoted himself to Liu Zhang's camp and did everything according to his orders. He did not dare to overstep the line. He could be said to be a henchman who advanced when he heard the drum and retreated when he heard the gong. He was the most obedient hawk and dog. Only in this way could he feel at ease.

Hu Che'er was not impressed by Zhang Xiu's cautious attitude. He retorted, "Young General, Liu Yizhou is not a mean person who cannot tolerate others. If Liu Yizhou was unwilling to accommodate you and me, he would not have accepted us when we joined his camp."

"I think Liu Yizhou has a broad mind, like the ocean. He will not have any different opinions or attitudes towards you just because of your background... Please don't worry too much, General."

Zhang Xiu's complexion improved. He smiled and said, "I know Liu Yizhou's character, but I am committed to Liu Yizhou's account, and I still need to handle the relationship with many colleagues well."

"Li Jue is now a fugitive, fleeing northwards, and will be captured sooner or later...Whoever captures Li Jue will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and be made a marquis. Such a great achievement would make everyone in Liu Yizhou's camp jealous. If such a great achievement were stolen by a surrendered official like me who had just entered Liu Yizhou's camp, I'm afraid others would be unhappy."

"Let others be unhappy if they want to. It's a pity to let such a great achievement go to others." Hu Che'er just shook his head. In his opinion, it was a pity that Zhang Xiu ignored the obvious achievement and gave it to Zhang Ren.

Zhang Xiu waved his hand, his smile still on his face: "Hu Che'er, you must know that being a general requires not only bravery, but also brains. Without brains, you will be a reckless man all your life, and the best you can do is to be a captain."

"This time I will give the great achievement of capturing and killing Li Jue to Zhang Ren. Zhang Ren is a famous general in Shu. If you make friends with Zhang Ren, you will make friends with all the generals in Shu. If you have friendship and relationship with all the generals in Shu, why should you worry about not having the opportunity to make achievements?"

Hu Che'er was confused. He didn't understand this logic, but he heard Zhang Xiu say it was true, so he couldn't refute anything. "What the young general said is right. I hope Zhang Ren will remember the young general's kindness and not become an ungrateful villain."

Zhang Xiu laughed loudly, shook his head and said, "Zhang Ren is a fair and honest man who upholds benevolence and justice. He is definitely not an ungrateful person. I am willing to hand over Li Jue to him today and give him great wealth. If it were someone else, I would not necessarily give it up."

Zhang Xiu believed in his own judgment. He admired Zhang Ren, who had the same surname as him. Zhang Ren was of first-class quality in both martial arts and character. He could be called a great man and a talented person in Shu. There were few such people in the world.

At this time, Zhang Ren, who was heading northwest, looked at the scattered flags, armor and leather of the bandits on the ground, as well as the smoke and dust raised by the fleeing bandits from Liangzhou in the distance.

Zhang Ren narrowed his eyes, and the gleam in his eyes condensed into a line. He looked into the distance at the smoke and dust ahead. Li Jue was not far away from him. From the defeated look in front of him, one could tell how panicked Li Jue was.

There was just one thing that Zhang Ren did not understand. Among the flags scattered on the ground was the bandits' banner. On the banner was embroidered the word "Li" with gold and silver threads. The banner was once extremely glorious, but now it was buried in the dust. Zhang Ren could not help but feel strange.

Under normal circumstances, a general, a famous general, would never throw his own banner and flag on the ground like a piece of trash. After all, to some extent, the banner is sometimes more important than the general's life.

Zhang Ren couldn't help but feel confused. After all, Li Jue was a famous general from Liang Province. He had been rampant in Guanzhong for a long time. Many people in counties and prefectures across the country had heard of Li Jue's name. Why would a man like Li Jue do such a thing as abandoning the great banner?

If Li Jue's troops abandoned their weapons and armor in order to speed up their escape, it would be understandable. However, it was unreasonable for them to blatantly abandon their banners in order to escape faster.

"I just can't figure it out." Zhang Ren couldn't figure it out, but the truth was that he didn't want to confirm a guess he had made, a guess that was churning in his mind, and he actually already had an answer in his heart.

The answer is that the Liangzhou troops he was hunting had Li Jue's golden helmet and Li Jue's large banner, but Li Jue was not among them. This group of Liangzhou bandits were just bait released by Li Jue to lure Zhang Ren and the others to hunt them down, while another group of Liangzhou bandits, with Li Jue disguised among them, could escape.

"Li Jue is cunning, Guo Si is honest and straightforward."

Zhang Ren murmured the comments of his wise master and others, including the Chief Clerk and Military Advisor General Xun You, the Military Advisor Fa Zheng, and the Liangzhou famous scholar Jia Xu on Li Jue and Guo Si. Among the Liangzhou generals, Li Jue was famous for his cunning and should not be taken lightly.

With this thought in mind, Zhang Ren looked towards the northeast. He guessed that Li Jue was among the Liangzhou bandits fleeing to the northeast. Perhaps at this moment, he should make a decisive decision and lead his troops to the northeast to hunt down the big fish Li Jue and let the shrimp in front of him go. 'Reward a thousand gold coins and make him a marquis.'

Li Jue's reward was churning in Zhang Ren's mind, rising and falling, making it difficult to settle down. But in just a moment, Zhang Ren withdrew his gaze from the northeast and concentrated on the smoke and dust raised by the Liangzhou bandits in front of him.

At this point, Zhang Ren knew that even if he turned around and headed northeast, he would not have much hope. After all, Zhang Xiu's troops had been chasing him for a while, and it was possible that Zhang Xiu had captured and killed Li Jue.

Secondly, the art of war says, if the enemy is empty, make him strong, and if the enemy is strong, make him empty.

Zhang Ren was also unsure whether Li Jue was among the Liang Province bandits fleeing in front of him. After all, Li Jue was so cunning that he might abandon the banner and confuse Zhang Ren.

Ten birds in the forest are worse than one in the hand.

Zhang Ren made a decision. No matter whether the Liangzhou bandits in front of him were Li Jue or not, he planned to go forward and kill this group of Liangzhou bandits. He would first eliminate the Liangzhou bandits in front of him and then deal with him.

"Step forward." Zhang Ren called out to his personal cavalrymen, and then he squeezed his legs together, urging the divine horse "Yue Xi" under him to gallop out and kill the Liangzhou bandits in front.

Soon, relying on the outstanding performance of his divine horse 'Yue Xi', Zhang Ren caught up with the fleeing Liangzhou bandits. He gripped the spear tightly in his hand and pointed the spear tip a few times. Several Liangzhou cavalrymen who were trying to bully the few were stabbed to the ground by Zhang Ren. Their bodies fell off the horse's back in an unshapen state and rolled into the dust, raising a cloud of dust.

Zhang Ren's miraculous fighting skill caused several Liangzhou cavalrymen who were about to turn around to meet Zhang Ren to turn their horses around in an instant and gallop forward without looking back. The Liangzhou cavalrymen knew that they were no match for Zhang Ren, so the only right thing to do now was to run away.

But the Liangzhou cavalrymen did not dare to confront Zhang Ren and left their backs to Zhang Ren. This was a very wrong decision. Zhang Ren, who rode forward, had no concerns about attacking the Liangzhou bandits from behind or being considered unethical. He just swung the spear in his hand, and each shot was as powerful as a dragon, taking a life.

"How can there be such a cavalry general in Shu?" Li Ying, Li Jue's cousin, heard the movement behind him and looked back. He saw Zhang Ren's superb operation of knocking people off their horses. He was shocked. He didn't expect that there was a cavalry general with great horsemanship in the remote Shu.

"Li Jue, you have caused me so much trouble!" At this moment, Li Yingbu cursed Li Jue in his heart. If Li Jue had not asked him to disguise himself as the main force, he would not have been chased by the ghost-like Shu general behind him. This Shu general should have chased Li Jue.

Thinking of this, Li Ying gritted his teeth. He planned to betray Li Jue. He stopped his cavalry from fleeing and also stopped the good horse he was riding.

Faced with the sudden halt of the Liangzhou bandits, Zhang Ren adopted a cautious attitude and also stopped the pace of his divine horse "Yue Xi". He wanted to see whether the Liangzhou bandits in front of him were brave enough to fight him to the death.

Just when the Liangzhou cavalrymen who followed Li Ying thought that their commander Li Ying was going to fight to the death with the Shu army, they saw Li Ying turn around, dismount, drop his weapons, walk out of the team on foot, and kneel down to the Shu general who was standing alone with his spear at hand.

"General, I am willing to surrender." Li Ying said loudly.

At the same time, Li Ying did not forget to call out to the Liangzhou cavalrymen behind him: "Now that things have come to this, we cannot fight, we can only surrender... Besides, dying for a heartless and ungrateful villain like Li Jue is not what a man should do. You all should dismount and surrender together to save yourselves, wouldn't it be wonderful?"

Encouraged by Li Ying's words "Isn't it wonderful?" and thinking of Li Jue's despicable act of using them as bait, the Liangzhou cavalrymen dismounted one by one and surrendered to Zhang Ren.

"That's it?" Zhang Ren, who was ready to fight, couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He thought the Liangzhou bandits were going to fight him to death, but he didn't expect that under the leadership of the Liangzhou general in front of him, they actually surrendered.

Zhang Ren, however, paid no attention to Li Ying's request for surrender. He perfunctorily said, "Since you are willing to surrender, you will be spared death."

Then, when the Liangzhou cavalrymen were beaming with joy, Zhang Ren asked Li Ying a question, which he said a little anxiously: "Who are you, and where is Li Jue?"

"I am Li Ying, Li Jue's cousin. Li Jue is not among this group of people, but has gone to the northeast." Li Ying replied with a bow.

"Oh." A trace of loneliness flashed across Zhang Ren's face, but he quickly put it away, and calmly called out to the personal guards who had caught up from behind. He gathered the group of Liangzhou cavalrymen in front of him, removed their weapons, tied them up with ropes, and took them back to Chang'an as prisoners.

While Zhang Ren was doing these things, Zhang Xiu, who was heading northeast, also rode his horse to catch up with the fleeing bandits from Liang Province.

However, what puzzled Zhang Xiu was that he saw Li Jue among this group of Liangzhou bandits, the same Li Jue who was supposed to appear in front of Zhang Ren.

"I was wondering who it was. It turns out to be my nephew Zhang." When Li Jue saw that the person coming was Zhang Xiu, he calmly stepped out of the crowd and greeted Zhang Xiu.

Zhang Xiu did not respond for a while. He was wondering why Li Jue appeared here. After a while, he figured out the connection. Li Jue had betrayed his brothers again. The northwest-bound Liangzhou Army was just Li Jue's bait, while the northeast-bound Liangzhou Army had Li Jue's real body.

"Traitor, evil villain, rebellious traitor, who is your nephew?" After realizing what was going on, Zhang Xiu cursed at Li Jue. Although Zhang Ji, who was killed by Li Jue and Guo Si, was only his uncle, he was no different from his biological father. When he met the enemy who killed his father, Zhang Xiu did not rush forward to fight immediately, as he had already stabilized his emotions.

Li Jue shook his head and said, "My dear nephew, have you forgotten our friendship in the past? When you were little, I held you in my arms."

"Haha." Zhang Xiu just laughed, and sneered: "Old villain, you and Guo Si conspired to murder my uncle. I will never forgive you. I swear to capture you alive, eat your flesh, and sleep on your skin!" (End of this chapter)