I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 562: Jia Xu surrenders with courtesy

"Sima Lu, please calm down. I have offended you before, but it was out of necessity. I hope you can forgive me."

Jia Xu raised his head, smiled slightly, and bowed to Su Yao and said:

"The traitor Dong Zhuo has brought chaos to the imperial court, and the whole nation is outraged. Although I am a subordinate of Dong Zhuo, I have long despised what he has done."

"Now the Champion Marquis is so famous and has raised an army of justice to fight against the enemy. I am deeply moved, so I am here to lead the people to surrender."

"I hope you can give me a chance to join the cause of justice."

Su Yao looked at Jia Xu in front of him silently, and believed it a little bit in his heart.

After all, considering that Jia Xu was able to rise from a despised general of Dong Zhuo to one of the three high officials of Cao Wei, his ability to adapt to circumstances and change sides according to the situation was obviously extraordinary.

However, considering that he had tricked Lu Bu once before, Su Yao couldn't be completely reassured.

After all, this is different from simply letting Zhang Ji and one or two others go, which would not matter much.

Jia Xu surrendered with more than a thousand troops.

It would be no problem to accept these people now, but I have sent out almost my entire army.

If Jia Xu was fighting with Niu Fu in front of him, whether he attacked his home town by surprise or attacked him from both sides, there might be hidden dangers.

Just as Su Yao was weighing his options, Guan Yu rode out, pointed his sword at Jia Xu and said:
"Captain Jia, I'm afraid this may not be from your heart."

"You said you had long despised what the thief Dong had done, but why did you only think of surrendering now?"

"You could just follow the example of Yuan Shao and Minister Zhong and leave the country."

"You don't think you have the same prestige as Lord Lu, so the thief Dong will not let you go, right?"

Every word Guan Yu said hit the nail on the head, and Jia Xu closed his eyes upon hearing it.

However, Guan Yu was obviously not going to let him go, and continued:

"You have helped Zhou to commit many atrocities. If you hadn't planned to ambush Sima Lu before, your bandits would have been destroyed long ago. Why do you need to come and pretend to surrender tonight?"

After saying this, Guan Yu clasped his fists towards Su Yao and said:
"Lord Su, I don't think this man can be trusted. We should make a quick decision."

As soon as Guan Yu finished speaking, the soldiers around him echoed him and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

However, Su Yao did not make a decision immediately. Seeing that Jia Xu looked submissive but not panicked, he asked:

"What else do you have to say?"

Jia Xu nodded:

"I didn't expect that Lord Su is not only a man of both virtue and talent, but his subordinates are also such righteous people."

"This general's words are sharp, and I have no intention of engaging in a verbal battle here."

"It's just that Jia wants to tell two stories. Please listen to them and then make a decision."

Seeing Su Yao nod, Jia Xu said slowly:
"I think you should know the story of how the famous prime minister Guan Zhong assisted Duke Huan of Qi in achieving the hegemony of the Spring and Autumn Period."

"But I wonder if you know that Guan Zhong was originally a minister of Duke Huan of Qi's mortal enemy?"

"Oh? There is such a thing?" Su Yao raised his eyebrows.

You know what, this is really his blind spot in knowledge.

"Yes."

Jia Xu nodded and said:
"At that time, Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya assisted Prince Jiu and Prince Xiaobai respectively."

"At that time, the two princes' brother, Duke Xiang of Qi, passed away, and the two princes rushed to the capital to fight for the throne."

"Guan Zhong, who assisted Prince Jiu, set an ambush on the way and personally shot and killed the future Duke Huan of Qi - Prince Xiaobai."

"That arrow was extremely dangerous. It hit Duke Huan of Qi's belt hook directly and almost took his life."

"Duke Huan of Qi was forced to pretend to be dead in order to escape Guan Zhong's assassination, and finally ascended to the throne in a narrow way." "However, Duke Huan never bore the grudge and always treated Guan Zhong as a stately man, eventually making Qi the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period."

"This is not because Duke Huan was unaware of hatred, but because he understood the principle of 'trust people when employing them, and do not employ people when you are suspicious of them.'"

"This was true of Guan Zhong and Duke Huan of Qi, and of Shang Yang and Duke Xiao of Qin."

Seeing that Su Yao did not interrupt him but listened attentively, Jia Xu slowly stood up and continued:

"When Shang Yang first entered Qin, he changed the old system with harsh laws, offending countless powerful people."

"However, Duke Xiao of Qin did not abandon the law because of people's opinions. He overcame all objections and eventually made Qin rise among the great powers, laying the foundation for the later Qin Shi Huang's hegemony of swallowing up the world."

After saying this, Jia Xu bowed deeply and said:

"Jia is not talented, and I know I am far inferior to Guan Zhong and Shang Jun."

"Now that you have raised the banner of justice, those who wish to accomplish great things should have the ambition to embrace all rivers and seas."

"I now sincerely surrender and am willing to pledge my life to you. From now on, I will assist you wholeheartedly and sacrifice my life to repay your kindness."

After saying this, Jia Xu took off his sword and presented it with both hands:
"If you still have any doubts, please cut off my head."

At this moment, Zhao Yun on the side coughed lightly, stood up and said:
"Lord Su, I think Captain Jia's words are sincere and don't seem to be false."

"Although he has past misdeeds, no one is perfect. If he can truly repent, why can't we give him a chance?"

"Accepting these people is also a way to show the world your generosity."

"If you can tolerate someone like him who once caused us trouble, the other soldiers of Dong Zhuo's army can surrender with confidence."

Zhao Yun's words undoubtedly provided Su Yao with another angle of thinking.

He looked at Jia Xu, then glanced at the generals around him. He saw that although everyone had different expressions, there was no overly radical opposition.

So, Su Yao pushed Jia Xu's sword away, nodded and said:

"Since you are willing to surrender, I will give you a chance."

"But trust is not something that can be built overnight."

"From now on, you need to prove your loyalty with practical actions. If you have any disloyalty, I, Su Yao, will never let you off easily!"

"I understand!" Jia Xu agreed solemnly.

Seeing this, Su Yao nodded slightly, then turned to Lu Bu and others and said in a deep voice:

"Everyone, now that Captain Jia has surrendered, we should strike while the iron is hot and quickly pursue the remnants of Niu Fu's army and make sure to annihilate them in one fell swoop!"

Everyone responded in unison.

At this moment, Jia Xu immediately stepped forward to show his value.

He directly provided the marching route and combat deployment of Niu Fu's army. After Su Yao checked his map and found that what he said was correct, he laughed and asked Jia Xu to go along.

The army galloped on horseback, running through the wilderness under the cover of night with torches lit.

"Lord Su, please come this way. Niu Fu and his men are trying to cross the river from Luopu. We can take a shortcut, intercept them first, burn the ferry and capture them all in one fell swoop."

Jia Xu's voice sounded slightly proud.

As a surrendered general, tonight is a great time for him to demonstrate his value and establish meritorious service.

Jia Xu, who already had his own troops, had a clear plan. As long as he could make great achievements here again, his important position in the Su Yao Group would be unshakable.

However, Su Yao didn't listen to him at all, he just laughed:
"Wenhe, don't worry. We must first clean up those little devils that are in the way before we get down to business."

"What?!" Jia Xu asked in surprise.

(End of this chapter)