The last three kingdoms

Chapter 971 The Bottom Line
Xia Houxian said: "No. Wu people are capricious and cannot be trusted. What's more, although Lu Kang is the governor, he has the final say on the affairs of the court. The ministers always kill as soon as they say, if the king goes to such a tyrant, he might not be happy that day, and his life will be in danger. And the Shu Kingdom has always had a tradition of treating the surrendered ministers kindly, so it would be a good policy for the King to join the Shu Kingdom.”

Wang Mai snorted coldly, and said, "It's easy to say, where is Jiang Wei from the Kingdom of Shu now? You can't wait for him to die when the city of Xiangyang is destroyed, right?"

Xia Houxian ignored him, and cupped his hands to Zhong Hui, saying: "Your Majesty, I beg you to go to Shuying again. If you don't invite reinforcements, I will swear not to return."

Zhong Hui pondered for a while, but he really has no better way now, surrendering to Wu State unconditionally, Zhong Hui is definitely not happy, but if Xiangyang is captured by Yang Hu, then Zhong Hui's end will be even worse, Now that there are only two choices between Wu State and Shu State, Zhong Hui will still lean towards Shu State.

Zhong Hui nodded and said, "Okay, then I will trouble General Xiahou to make another trip."

Xia Houxian said: "Your Majesty, forgive me for speaking bluntly. This time I will go to Shuying, and I will definitely have a showdown with Jiang Wei. Then I must know the king's final bottom line in order to bargain with Jiang Wei."

Xia Houxian's request is not too much. After all, he is going to negotiate with Jiang Wei, so he must know what Zhong Hui's hole card is, so that he can hold the bottom line when bargaining with Jiang Wei, otherwise Jiang Wei will be full of sky. When asking for the price, Xia Houxian had no way to pay back the money on the spot.

Zhong Hui pondered for a moment, and said: "Okay, this is the end of the matter, this king will give you a solid background, you can call yourself a minister and donate land, but you can't lose the military power of the king, just give the title of general to the Shu Han, as long as It is enough to allow this king to still command this army. If Jiang Wei does not agree to this request, then let it go, this king would rather die in battle in Xiangyang City, than live under the fence of others and linger."

Zhong Hui has fought for so many years, and the most profound experience is that if he loses his military power, he is really useless. Only when he firmly holds the military power in his own hands, can he have the right to speak, no matter whether he is a minister to Wu or Xiang Shu It doesn't matter if you are a minister, without military power, you can only be the meat on the chopping board to be slaughtered, and it is absolutely uncomfortable to control your life and death in the hands of others.

Because of this, Zhong Hui refused Sima Yan's summons and rebelled recklessly in Xiangyang. Didn't Zhong Hui know the consequences of the rebellion?Of course he was very clear, but at that time, Zhong Hui had no choice. If he gave up his military power and went to Luoyang, then he would tie his own life and death to Sima Yan's thoughts. Sima Yan let him live, and he could live. If Sima Yan let him die, then he will have no way out.

Zhong Hui, who was not willing to let his fate be controlled by others, could only revolt brazenly. In this case, he no longer needed to rely on people's breath and look at people's faces.But the consequence of doing so would be Sima Yan's crazy revenge, and Zhong Hui was naturally very clear about it, but after weighing the pros and cons, he still walked on this road without hesitation.

Now he is facing the same decision again. No matter who he surrenders to, handing over military power is the first choice of the other party. It is very difficult for any party to let his subordinates have an army that does not belong to the imperial court. Wu The country has already taken the lead in expressing its attitude. It is okay for Zhong Hui to surrender, but he must surrender his military power. All troops are under the unified command of Soochow.

In Zhong Hui's view, the seemingly reasonable request was extremely harsh. It was impossible for Zhong Hui to hand over the military power and put himself in danger, so he has been delaying in agreeing to Lu Kang's request.

It is still unknown on the side of Shu Kingdom. Whether Jiang Wei and even the emperor of Shu Kingdom can tolerate Zhong Hui's continued support of troops is still unknown, but as Zhong Hui's bottom line, this point must be adhered to. No matter what, It is impossible for Zhong Hui to put his fate in the hands of others. As long as he has military power, Zhong Hui still has real power no matter who he surrenders. If he loses his military power, Zhong Hui would rather choose to live and die with Xiangyang than suffer Coercion by others.

Xia Houxian heard Zhong Hui's request clearly, and immediately left Xiangyang, went to Fangling, and asked to see Jiang Wei.

Due to Xiangyang's special geographical location, surrounded by water on three sides and only one side on land, the offensive of the Jin army was completely concentrated on the west, so that Xia Houxian could calmly leave Xiangyang by boat on the Han River, detour through Yicheng, and head for Fangling .

Although this road is relatively long, it is a relatively safe road that can completely avoid the blockade of the Jin army and allow Xia Houxian to reach Shuying smoothly.

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After Jiang Wei successfully took down the three counties of Shangyong, Zou Yudi did not march eastward again, not only because Du Yu of the Jin army led a force to block the Shandu area, trying to intercept the eastward advance of the Shu army.

Jiang Wei really didn't pay attention to Du Yu's troops. If Jiang Wei made up his mind to march into Xiangyang, Du Yu would definitely not be able to stop him.

The main reason why Jiang Wei lingered in Fangling and did not advance was that Jiang Wei was waiting for an opportunity.

If he marched at this moment, it would not be a big problem to break the siege of Xiangyang, but the question is, even if Jiang Wei broke the siege of Xiangyang, would he be able to get more things from Zhong Hui?
Obviously it is not possible. Zhong Hui ceded the three empty counties of Shangyong to the Kingdom of Shu in name, which is tantamount to paying a price. Before the two sides reached a further agreement, after Jiang Wei sent troops to rescue the siege, it would be difficult to obtain any actual benefits. up.

So Jiang Wei was not in a hurry to march, but waited and see, now Yanghu's army has all crossed the Han River, and launched a final siege to Zhonghui's army, if as expected, Zhonghui insisted It is only the end of the battle, if Zhong Hui is not willing to sit and wait to die, then he can only choose a way out.

There is not much choice left for Zhong Hui. Apart from the Wu Kingdom in the south, the main one is the Shu Kingdom in the west. Jiang Wei judged that the conditions of the Wu Kingdom are too harsh, so Zhong Hui will try to make friends with Shu country.

So what should be done to make Zhong Hui surrender?
Jiang Wei narrowed his eyes, secretly thinking that sometimes the fierce confrontation at the negotiating table is not inferior to the real confrontation on the battlefield. The contest here is more of a contest of wisdom.

At this time, Jiang Bin strode into the tent and said: "General, the former Xia Houxian is here again, and he is waiting outside the tent."

(End of this chapter)