Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 500 494. A plan within a plan

Zhu Huan's behavior made Cao Yi very happy, but he still had a serious look on his face. He stroked his long beard a few times and paced a few times as if he was thinking.

"Alas, General, your current situation is extremely dangerous. It would be better to make the fake play real."

Cao Yi put down his arms after a while, with a resolute look on his face.

"how do I say this?"

Zhu Huan now seems to be obedient, but he is still a little confused about Cao Yi's thoughts.

"Since Feng Xi believes that the general has ulterior motives, then why not go all out and rebel against him! The general is now at the gate of Hefei. I'm sure he didn't send an envoy here to reminisce about the past, right?"

Zhu Huan nodded. He sent Zhu Fu over originally because he wanted to make contact, but he had not made a decision yet and wanted to see Cao Wei's attitude. However, he did not expect that Cao Yi would be so decisive.

"Although you have been excluded by the Han generals, you still know all kinds of military affairs, right? Why don't we cooperate with the Grand Marshal and defeat this Han army? It will be regarded as General Zhu's token of surrender, and he will naturally be granted the title of marquis when he comes to the Wei Dynasty."

Cao Yi saw that Zhu Huan seemed to have been shaken, and thought that these Eastern Wu surrendered generals had not yet been won over by the Han army, so it was so easy to persuade them.

"But I have a condition. I can pretend to be captured and go to Hefei first, but Yi'er cannot be captured. He needs to go back to his hometown in Wujun to change the mind of my Zhu family."

Zhu Huan thought about it and put forward his own opinion. After all, the Zhu family's roots are in Wujun. It would be easy for him and his son to defect, but those people would have a hard time saving their lives.

"I have neglected this matter. I need to report it to the Grand Marshal. I wonder if General Zhu has any good ideas to help the Grand Marshal defeat this Han army?"

Cao Yi was only vague about this matter. After all, for Cao Wei, they hoped that the entire Zhu family would be killed by the Han army. In that case, Zhu Huan would have no room for retreat and would have to fight the Han army to the death.

"Well... I have a plan. This is where our army stores food, and the location is secret. Grand Marshal can send a group of soldiers to attack first, and I will persuade others to set up an ambush and surround and destroy this group of soldiers with all their strength. Then Grand Marshal will send the main force to attack us and annihilate us all. This way, there will be no loopholes, and outsiders will only think that Grand Marshal has discovered our plan."

Zhu Huan thought for a while and repeated his thoughts to Cao Yi. Cao Yi didn't know anything about military affairs, so he could only nod and prepare to go back and tell Cao Xiu later.

"Then I will go back and tell the Grand Marshal about this. I hope General Zhu will not forget the vengeance of the King of Wu. Let's work together sincerely to defeat the Han army."

Cao Yi had originally just given some routine instructions, but he did not expect that Zhu Huan's eyes would light up when he heard the word "King of Wu".

"Don't worry, Your Excellency. I, Zhu Huan, cut off my hair as a pledge of allegiance. I hope the Grand Marshal will not disappoint my father and I!"

As Zhu Huan spoke, he actually pulled out a dagger, cut off a lock of his hair, and handed it to Cao Yi.

Cao Yi was frightened by Zhu Huan's sudden decisiveness, but on second thought, it seemed that Zhu Huan was indeed being suppressed too tightly by the Han army, and he actually cut his hair as a pledge of allegiance.

After a few polite words, Zhu Huan summoned Zhu Fu and asked him to send Cao Yi back. He then returned to his tent and slumped on the couch as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.

"Father, has the envoy from Wei left?" Zhu Yi saw that only his father was left in the tent, so he carefully opened the curtain and came in.

"Well, Yi'er, remember this. The past is like smoke. Although the King of Wu treated your father well, it has nothing to do with you. Since you are highly valued in the army, you don't have to worry about the grudges of the older generation like your father. You have a bright future, understand? Don't have any inappropriate thoughts."

Zhu Yi nodded, knowing what his father meant. Zhu Huan had been living in seclusion in Wujun since he surrendered to the Han Dynasty. What Zhu Huan had just said to Cao Yi about offering sacrifices to Sun Quan was all true. However, Feng Xi and Li Yan were not petty people. Knowing that Sun Quan had done Zhu Huan a favor, they acquiesced.

Including Zhu Huan's initiative to ask to retire, there was also a sense of anger in his thinking. He was just thinking, "I can't beat you, but I will also practice non-violence and non-cooperation," which is a bit childish.

However, Zhu Huan saw that after several years of development of the Han Dynasty, although several aristocratic families in Wu County had inexplicably fallen apart, the lives of ordinary people had indeed improved visibly. Reading, writing, and reading newspapers were no longer a luxury, and he no longer had much resistance to the Han Dynasty.

Zhu Huan's only hope now is that Zhu Yi will be more honest and follow the Han Dynasty. Even if he can't be crowned king, he can still hope for a title of nobility or a general.

Zhu Huan was willing to accept Feng Xi's proposal this time, and was willing to destroy his own reputation and take the initiative to serve as bait to lure Cao Xiu, in order to pave the way for Zhu Yi's future.

"How's the situation? Have you seen Zhu Huan?"

It didn't take Cao Yi long to return to Hefei City in a bamboo basket and report to Cao Xiu.

"Sir, I saw Zhu Heng, he said..."

Cao Yi told Cao Xiu almost word for word about the conversation he had just had with Zhu Heng. Cao Xiu was a little skeptical at first, but when he heard Cao Yi say that Zhu Heng was so angry that he shaved his head and swore an oath, and Cao Yi showed Cao Xiu the hair he had taken back, Cao Xiu finally believed that Zhu Heng was truly loyal to him.

It has to be said that Cao Xiu was too trusting of others. In the original timeline, Zhou Cang's reason was simpler than Zhu Huan's. He was investigated for corruption and wanted to betray in fear. However, Zhou Cang cut off a lock of hair at the city gate, so Cao Xiu felt that Zhou Cang was really humiliated. After all, the body and hair are given by parents. In this era, cutting hair in place of the head is not an empty talk.

Now Feng Xi designed a scenario for Cao Xiu in which the country was destroyed and the family was ruined, and a loyal old general was plotting revenge. This scenario was even more credible. In addition, Zhu Huan's act of shaving his head to show his determination also made Cao Xiu believe Zhu Huan.

"Then follow General Zhu's instructions and make arrangements. First, send out some scouts to pretend to explore the Han army's food storage areas to alert them. Then, according to General Zhu's idea, we will set a trap within the trap for them."

Cao Xiu figured out the key and was overjoyed. If he could defeat the invading Han army, he would be able to report to the new emperor when he ascended the throne. After all, he had been so disrespectful that he did not go to Luoyang, and no matter who ascended the throne, he would probably have complaints against him.

In the following days, the Han army discovered that scouts from the Wei army were often sneaking around Hefei to spy on the situation, and some were even less than ten miles away from the grain storage areas.

"General Hu, it's obvious that the Wei army has discovered where our army is storing food. Why don't we move the food to another place before we have time?"

Ding Feng was quite sensitive to this kind of information and proposed it to Hu Ji. Although the three of them were all generals in command in theory, Zhu Yi and his son and Ding Feng were all surrendered generals from the Eastern Wu, so they were psychologically inferior to Hu Ji, who was born in the Han army. Therefore, even when discussing matters, they were always inferior to Hu Ji.

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

Before Hu Ji could say anything, a voice suddenly came from outside. The two looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhu Huan walking in carelessly, followed by Zhu Yi.

(End of this chapter)