I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 162: You've offended Marquis Qi and you still want to run away?

The main members of the Northern Army were of civilian origin, and among the senior generals, such as Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Yan Xing and others, most of them also rose from humble beginnings.

Therefore, Wang Jing's foundation has always been ordinary people. As for the aristocratic families and wealthy families, he mostly cooperates with them. Wang Jing is willing to share the benefits with the enlightened aristocratic families. After all, if he wants others to accept the new policies, he has to let them taste the benefits brought by the new policies first, right?

Therefore, Wang Jing will try his best to win over those who can be won over, and those who cannot be won over will be resolutely attacked by Wang Jing without any mercy.

It's just that he has no real reason to do so, that is another Dong Zhuo, so Wang Jing needs someone to ignite the fuse of conflict between the New Party and the Old Party, and this person cannot be from the Northern Army.

After learning Wang Jing's plan, it was not difficult for Xu You to reverse the whole incident: "Now the princes of the world are still weak, and they have just experienced a recent defeat and are still in fear of the Northern Army, so it is difficult for them to truly join hands. So for Qi Hou, if you want to deal with internal conflicts, now is the best time!"

Both himself and Yang Hong were used by Wang Jing!

Xu You clenched his fists, his heart filled with anger and unwillingness.

He was always proud and had a high opinion of himself. Even the princes like Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were not really taken seriously by him. He thought that they were able to become famous only by relying on the protection of their family. No matter their wisdom or knowledge, they were not much better than himself.

But today, Xu You suffered an unprecedented blow.

His layout, his calculations, his self-righteous bargaining chips and plans had actually been seen clearly by others long ago. He even became Wang Jing's pawn without knowing it and was still complacent and smug.

For Xu You, this humiliation was more painful than killing him!

After just a few words, Xu You figured it all out. Yang Hong, who was sitting next to him, realized it later and quickly figured it out as well. He suddenly felt blocked in his heart and his head was buzzing.

Plan within a plan, plan outside a plan!
After all this fuss, it turns out that I was the clown!

For a strategist, there is nothing more infuriating and frustrating than this.

"Now that we have spoken and our identities have been revealed, are you two in the mood to eat now?"

Wang Jing was confident of victory, so he was naturally in the mood to play the cat and mouse game. He calmly watched the struggle and resistance of Xu You and Yang Hong.

Facing Wang Jing's teasing gaze, Yang Hong was so angry that his goatee stood up in an upside-down position. "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. Marquis Qi, you can kill me or chop me up as you wish. Why are you pretending to be so hypocritical and teasing us?"

"Actually, I like to talk about reason, not fighting. You two don't have to force yourself to pretend to be heroic. If I take it seriously, wouldn't it be embarrassing for everyone?"

Although the tone was light, the murderous intent was as heavy as a mountain pressing down on their heads, making it difficult for Yang Hong and Xu You to breathe.

Yang Hong and Xu You were both smart people, and smart people are often more afraid of death. They had no awareness of dying for the Yuan family, so Wang Jing's words frightened their hearts so much that they beat faster again and dared not to be tough anymore.

"When two countries are at war, but the envoys are not killed, is Marquis Qi really not afraid of being laughed at by the world?"

Yang Hong looked up and made eye contact with Wang Jing, still wanting to use his eloquence to gain a glimmer of hope for himself.

However, he chose the wrong opponent. Wang Jing looked at him coldly: "From what you said, is Yuan Gonglu going to declare himself emperor and establish a country?"

Yang Hong was frightened and quickly retorted: "That's not true, Lord Qi, don't frame me!"

"Since there is no country, then there is no war between the two countries. Killing you two rebels who disobeyed the court can't be considered as killing envoys, right?"

Wang Jing sneered, he was really not afraid of anyone when it came to talking.

It's bullshit that two countries don't kill envoys when they are at war. Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao don't even dare to declare themselves emperors now. Wang Jing can easily use the emperor to control the princes and crush him to death in the name of righteousness.

Even if the two Yuans really dared to risk the wrath of the world, it would be even simpler to just declare them rebels against the imperial dynasty and call on all the princes in the world to rise up and attack them.

The princes were not united. For example, Gongsun Zan would probably be happy to annex Yuan Shao's Bohai County, and Liu Biao would certainly be happy to obey the imperial edict to attack Nanyang County and seize Yuan Shu's territory.

The reason they did not take action before was only because of their reputation. If the imperial court really issued a declaration of war, they would definitely not be polite to the two Yuans.

In General Wei's mansion, the banquet was not a good one. Wang Jing showed his true colors: "Now, surrender or die. This is the choice I give you two."

After going through so much effort, it is impossible to just invite Xu You and Yang Hong to dinner.

"This……"

Xu You and Yang Hong wanted to show that they would never obey, but when they met Wang Jing's cold and emotionless eyes, they could not utter the word "no".

Because once you tell it, you will most likely die.

Yang Hong was afraid of death, and although Xu You was brave enough, he did not want to die in vain.

So in the face of Wang Jing's aggressiveness, they all fell into deathly silence.

Wang Jing looked at their expressions and knew that after the series of psychological blows just now, they had begun to show signs of surrender in their hearts.

The reason he did not surrender immediately was simply because he was worried that his family would be retaliated against by Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Therefore, Wang Jing said: "Don't worry, I don't want you two to surrender immediately. What I need is two hidden pieces in the camp of the two Yuans as hidden pieces."

Using spies is not a new thing in military strategy. Although Wang Jing now has an intelligence force like the Secret Guard, his control over information is limited to the area under his rule.

As for the sphere of influence of other princes, it is beyond its reach.

Therefore, Wang Jing urgently needs to place pawns around other princes to gain an advantage in intelligence.

Now, apart from his own Northern Army, the two most powerful princes in the world are Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. Compared with them, even Cao Cao, the future overlord of the Three Kingdoms, is now just a worker in Yuan Shao's faction.

Xu You and Yang Hong had no choice but to kneel down and said, "We are willing to surrender."

Seeing their wandering eyes, he knew they were playing tricks and trying to fool him.

But am I so easily fooled?
Wang Jing felt disdainful in his heart, and immediately asked someone to bring two documents to Xu You and Yang Hong: "Come, one for each of you, sign them all."

"Marquis Qi, what does this mean?"

"Nothing. After all, I like to put things in writing. I just want you two to sign a letter of commitment."

Wang Jing's words were light, but after Xu You and Yang Hong saw the "letter of surrender" in their hands, they felt that it was even heavier.

People can't be so shameless!

Xu You and Yang Hong were screaming in their hearts, and their emotions were broken. What Wang Jing sent was not a letter of allegiance at all, but a death warrant from the King of Hell.

There was nothing remarkable in the letter of allegiance. It was nothing more than a curse upon Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu's ancestors for eighteen generations as well as themselves.

If you really sign this, you will be on Wang Jing's pirate ship and there will be no way off.

With the tolerance and broad-mindedness of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, they would be dead if Wang Jing released these two things!
Even if they were not dead, with such a dark history, would Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu still use them?

How would their colleagues view them?

There is fierce competition among the Yuan brothers. If they dare to sign today, their colleagues will inevitably use it as negative material to attack and criticize them in the future.

When three people become a tiger, what will be my fate? Do I need to say more?

But do Xu You and Yang Hong dare not sign?
If you sign it, you will die in the future.

If you don't sign, you will die now.

The most helpless thing in life is knowing that there is a dead end ahead but you have no choice.

The two men held the brushes and tremblingly signed their names on the letter of allegiance. Then, they had a look of despair on their faces and closed their eyes tightly.

"Don't worry, you two. We are all family members from now on. I have plenty of time to use you two, so why would I harm you?"

After receiving Yang Hong and Xu You's letters of surrender, Wang Jing felt relieved. He had finally planted two thorns in the camps of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Xu You and Yang Hong also gave up resistance at this moment, and bowed to Wang Jing dejectedly: "Greetings, my lord." After swearing to surrender, Wang Jing did not make things difficult for Xu You and Yang Hong. He let them go as agreed. Before leaving, he gave them a large sum of money as funds for collecting intelligence and buying off people. He was really generous.

After the two men left, Yang Xiu stepped forward to remind them: "My lord, I see that Xu Ziyuan and Yang Shuda have strange expressions. Even if you have evidence in your hand, I'm afraid they haven't really submitted."

Yang Xiu was a man of extraordinary wisdom and amazing observation skills, able to see the big picture from the details.

Xu You and Yang Hong thought they were hiding well, but they didn't know that their thoughts and actions were all seen by Yang Xiu and nothing could escape their detection.

"It doesn't matter. Whether they surrender sincerely or not is not important to me. I just need some information about Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu."

Wang Jing was very open-minded. He thought that arranging spies was just a convenient thing to do. As for Xu You and Yang Hong, as long as he could continue to maintain his strength, even if these two people were just pretending to surrender now, they would actually surrender in the future.

On the contrary, if he could not withstand the counterattack of other princes, even if they were willing to share life and death with the Northern Army, could they turn the tide of the war?

You don’t have the ability to know.

Therefore, for Wang Jing, the so-called absolute loyalty is actually meaningless. After all, human hearts are unpredictable. Only strong strength is the foundation that is truly unshakable.

Under the "escort" of the secret guards, Xu You and Yang Hong left the General Wei's Mansion through the back door and got on a carriage heading out of the city.

In the carriage, the two men sat steadily, silent to each other, and neither spoke for a long time.

Finally, Yang Hong lost his temper and said, "Now that things have come to this, how are we going to explain it when we return?"

Xu You had a gloomy face. This time he came to Luoyang to carry out the mission assigned by Yuan Shao. He lost both his wife and his soldiers and got himself into trouble.

However, Xu You was also a very realistic person, and he knew that complaining at this time was useless: "The mission failed, and I will certainly feel guilty when I return. But as the saying goes, a blessing in disguise. In fact, if you think about it carefully, joining Qi Hou is not a bad thing. At least you and I have an extra way out."

The corner of Yang Hong's mouth twitched. Although he also felt that Yuan Shu was a bit useless and not capable of doing great things, he did not have the nerve like Xu You to speak of selling out his master for fame and fortune as if it were a matter of course.

As a scholar, you still have to have some dignity and be reserved when necessary.

In fact, even though both of them agreed to be Wang Jing's hidden pawns and even signed letters of allegiance, neither of them intended to work for Wang Jing sincerely.

Just now, Wang Jing forced the ox to drink water, which was only a temporary expedient. They were still thinking about how to deal with the task after returning.

In the eyes of the two, no matter how powerful Wang Jing is, he is so far away, how can he fly over to monitor whether we are slacking off?
Just as they were thinking this, a few pigeons landed outside the carriage, flapping their wings and landing on the hand of one of the secret guards.

The secret guard rode up to the carriage and said, "You two, I have received the pigeon message from the lord. This is your first mission."

Xu You and Yang Hong widened their eyes after receiving the secret order.

Shit, looks like there’s no way to slack off!
…………

The first year of Chuping, late autumn in October.

Since the death of Emperor Ling, the killing of He Jin and the defeat of Dong Zhuo, the situation in the capital has become turbulent again because of the assassination of Wang Jing.

The aristocratic families and powerful clans were divided into different factions. The contradictions became increasingly acute, and strong emotions of opposition arose among them.

In particular, the struggle between the New Party and the Old Party is showing signs of turning from a verbal fight to an armed fight.

Finally, an armed conflict broke out in Pingyin County, which was under the jurisdiction of Luoyang.

"Charge into the city and kill Zhai Jie, that bastard official!"

Yang Da, a local nobleman, was dissatisfied with Zhai Jie's land inventory under the pretext of registering property, so he gathered more than a thousand servants and guards to start a rebellion.

Fortunately, a young soldier guarding the city reacted quickly: "Quick, close the city gate!"

In the county government office, Zhai Jie was still reorganizing and recording the data in the fish scale book when his subordinates suddenly rushed in: "Your Excellency, something terrible has happened!"

"Why are you so panicked?"

"The wealthy family Yang Da has gathered tens of thousands of rebels and is now besieging the county. The situation at the South Gate is critical!"

"what!"

Zhai Jie was so frightened that he stood up suddenly, dropped the book in his hand and rushed towards the city gate.

Before you get close, the noisy sound sweeps over you, making you shudder.

Once they reached the city gate, fierce shouts and screams accompanied by a strong smell of blood filled the air.

A young general was leading dozens of soldiers, fighting bravely to resist an enemy that was ten times their number and defend the city walls. His bravery amazed Zhai Jie.

Zhai Jie was about to step forward to ask, but the officials and runners around him were trembling with fear. Their faces turned pale and they were even more terrified. Even the county lieutenant Gao Dong, who was in charge of the city defense army, advised Zhai Jie, "Your Excellency, the enemy troops are now numerous and powerful, and we only have 300 soldiers in the city. Why don't we leave from the east gate first and ask for help from Luoyang. When the reinforcements arrive, we can come back at any time."

"You mean to ask me to abandon tens of thousands of people in Pingyin County and flee without a fight?"

Zhai Jie glared at the county lieutenant Gao Dong and shouted, "There has never been anyone in the Mohist school who is afraid of death. If anyone dares to say that he will abandon the city again, I will kill him with my own hands!"

After saying this, he put his hand on the hilt of the sword, his eyes showing murderous intent.

In the pre-Qin era, the Mohists were not weak scholars, but a group of heroes who traveled the world with swords. They even raised the banner of overthrowing tyranny many times and killed officials from various countries who were causing trouble in the local area.

In addition to being well-versed in Mohist classics, Zhai Jie has also practiced swordsmanship since childhood. He has mastered the "Non-Offensive Sword Technique" to a high level and has already entered the third realm of martial arts. Combined with some Mohist mechanical hidden weapons such as the Tianzhi Crossbow, even a master of the fourth realm of martial arts may not be able to withstand his sword.

Now Zhai Jie was glaring with murderous intent, so naturally no one dared to offend him again.

Coincidentally, after the proposal to abandon the city and flee was rejected, the battle on the city gate had also ended. The Mohists were best at defense, while the rebels lacked the means to attack the city. Seeing that the attack was fruitless, they retreated like the tide.

However, they did not go far. Yang Da led more than 10,000 people to set up camp in a riverside area three miles away, intending to lay siege for a long time.

"I pay my respects to the county lord!"

The young general turned around and saw Zhai Jie coming in person, and hurriedly saluted.

Zhai Jie helped him up with a smile on his face: "No need to be polite in an emergency. By the way, what's your name?"

"My surname is Wei, and my given name is Yan."

Wei Yan was very excited, just because Zhai Jie was Wang Jing's trusted subordinate, which made him feel like he saw an opportunity to achieve success and fame.

I remember when Wang Jing recruited soldiers in Luoyang, he invited heroes from all over the country and did not judge heroes by their background.

After hearing about Wang Jing's heroic deeds of pacifying the Huns in Hedong and finally killing Dong Zhuo single-handedly, Wei Yan admired him so much that he left his hometown of Yiyang alone and went to Luoyang to join the army.

However, because he was only sixteen years old, his body had not fully grown yet, and he came from a poor family and had never practiced any martial arts, his assessment results were not ideal. After joining the army, it took him more than half a year to get a position as a team leader. This made Wei Yan, who had great ambitions to accomplish something big, very depressed.

However, the treatment within the Northern Army was good, and there were many free skills for the soldiers to practice and comprehend, so Wei Yan made rapid progress.

When Zhai Jie was appointed as the magistrate of Pingyin County, Wei Yan was also selected and assigned to serve as a garrison commander to guard the city gate.

I thought Pingyin County was located in the heart of the country and it would be impossible to gain military merit, but I didn't expect that today I would encounter rebels attacking the city. Others were almost scared to pee their pants, but Wei Yan's eyes were filled with excitement!
"This is a godsend opportunity, I must seize it!"

Wei Yan clenched his fists, his eyes seemed to be burning with wildfire, and were filled with high morale.

Seeing Wei Yan's expression, Zhai Jie was very curious: "Aren't you afraid at all?"

Wei Yan opened his mouth wide, revealing two rows of white teeth, and smiled in a very heroic manner: "Since ancient times, everyone has to die. I am not afraid of death. I am only afraid that I will live a mediocre life and not leave my name in the history books."

"Well, at such a young age, you have such great ambitions. You are really brave and courageous!"

Zhai Jie was originally a disciple of the Mohist school who was not afraid of death. The more he looked at Wei Yan, the more he admired him. Then he thought of the cowardly county lieutenant Gao Dong, and suddenly he had an idea and asked Wei Yan, "The enemy army has more than 10,000 soldiers. Do you think the county can hold out until the reinforcements arrive?"

(End of this chapter)