Chapter 892 Zhang Lu Surrenders

Yuan Shu is having a really hard time now, even though he had previously formed an alliance with Liu Bei and Liu Biao to fight Cao Cao together. But the so-called joint resistance was nothing more than the three parties not attacking each other, but attacking Cao Cao from three directions.

But they couldn't stop Cao Cao from attacking anyone he wanted. Cao Cao was naturally quite dissatisfied with Yuan Shu. He had been attacking him before, and now he would definitely fight back after crossing the river. Moreover, he also planned to win over Liu Bei and Liu Biao, and let people see his full strength. Isn't it that Yuan Shu deserves a fight?

So for Liu Bei and Liu Biao, he just divided his troops to resist and defend, and for Yuan Shu, he fought with all his strength. From crossing the river in the spring, he fought until the autumn, a full six months of fighting, with continuous victories. Yuan Shu has been beaten from Chaisang in the north of Yuzhang to Ganxian (Ganzhou City) in the south. Further south is Jiaozhi, which is Shi Xie's territory. It can almost be said that there is no way to retreat.

Moreover, because of his failure, there were few Yangzhou nobles who supported him. The civil and military officials were okay, but they also had their own thoughts. There were not many troops in his hands, and Yuan Shu knew very well that he was finished.

However, his current situation was much better than Yuan Shao, and considering the situation of his descendants, he finally chose to surrender. At this time, he had nothing left. The civil and military officials were divided, and the troops were not many, and Cao Cao did not look down on him. But there was one thing that could guarantee his wealth, and that was the imperial seal that Sun Ce used to exchange troops.

Sun Ce was of course very unhappy, and even had the idea of ​​killing Yuan Shu. However, considering the reputation problem, he did not do so in the end.

He wanted to be independent before, but was beaten back by Liu Bei. With the war in the past few years, Sun Ce's position became higher and higher. Now he has retreated all the way to Gan County. It can be said that among the remaining troops, his strength is the strongest.

It would be fine if he had never made his own decisions before, but he had been the boss himself, and he was not as successful as Yuan Shu, and then he was beaten back by Liu Bei, so of course he was not convinced.

Once ambitions grow, it is basically impossible to take them back. Cao Cao is a man of great talent, which Sun Ce admits, but he is under Cao Cao, and his life is over, which Sun Ce knows even more.

So he naturally left Yuan Shu, taking more than 10,000 soldiers under his command, as well as his father's old subordinates, and his good friend Zhou Yu who wanted to start a business with him.

They continued to go south to attack Shi Xie.

They wanted to start a business in Jiaozhi while Cao Cao had no time to pay attention to them.

Cao Cao really had no time to pay attention to them, after all, he wanted to establish a united front against Wang Yan and study how to force Liu Biao and Liu Zhang to surrender. More importantly, he worked diligently to farm and trained his troops honestly to deal with Wang Yan's southward march. There was no word about Sun Ce's taking his troops to fight Shi Xie.

As for the surrendered Yuan Shu and his civil and military officials, except Yuan Shu, no one else was treated harshly, and they were reused. It is certain that he has a vision, but the more important reason is that if they don't work well for Cao Cao, or if they repeat it later, they will have no chance.

Because in the world today, Cao Cao has only one opponent, that is Wang Yan in the north. These people, one by one, will die with Wang Yan. This is a truth that everyone understands. Otherwise, why would they go to Cao Cao? They are all capable, and the treatment they get with Wang Yan is actually better.

No one will deny that Wang Yan is a great leader of a generation. He has a big vision and is an absolutely good boss. This is naturally not said for no reason. Lu Bu is there. Such a player can now lead an elite guard alone, so why should we question it...

Chaisang (Jiujiang City) is the real Jiangnan, but even if the river water is not frozen, it is not very warm. What's more, it is an ice age today, and the overall temperature is falling. Therefore, even if it is the real Jiangnan, it is not warm in winter, and it is still very cold. And because of the sufficient water vapor, it rains frequently, and it is not easy to see the warm sun.

The dampness and coldness made the body uncomfortable. Lao Cao was not used to it and was not very comfortable with the local climate, so he caught a cold and had a headache, which was very uncomfortable.

In the prime minister's mansion, all the rooms were heated by the floor. Someone was burning a fire to keep warm and dry the room. Lao Cao was wearing a single Shu brocade dress and lying on the couch. He was playing with something in his hand. It was the size of his palm and one corner was inlaid with gold. It was the famous Heshi Bi and the imperial seal.

At Lao Cao's point, he naturally didn't care about the seal. He understood better than anyone that power ultimately comes from strong soldiers and horses. After all, Liu Xie was in his hand as a mascot, so how could he not understand such a simple truth. Having this seal would not make him stronger, and not having it would not make him lose power.

But people in this era tend to believe in ghosts and gods, and there are also big and small charlatans who promote these. So when this legendary seal came into his hands, Lao Cao was still very happy, because it represented the destiny.

No one would not like nice words, and no one would not like nice meanings. Just like the left eye twitching means fortune, the right eye twitching means the orbicularis oculi muscle and facial nerve controlled by the brain have intermittent, involuntary clonic twitches. The left eye is superstitious, the right eye is scientific, people just like good omens, and bad omens must have reasons.

Lao Cao is no exception, and he is even more confident because he controls absolute power.

Xun Yu kneeled on the side, drinking strong liquor in small sips and eating peanuts to go with the wine...

How can Wang Yan only enjoy good things? They must be enjoyed by other wealthy people. Even if the current production of peanuts is not high, it still has to be sold, and it is quite expensive. This is overseas fairy food and must be hyped. Lao Cao and others were taken advantage of and used their money to subsidize agricultural doctors’ funds for improving seeds. From this point of view, Lao Cao and others are all meritorious.

In fact, there are fewer and fewer copper coins in circulation now. Businessmen are increasingly recognizing the general's money under the rule of General Wang. It is lightweight, stable and highly recognized. After all, all the generals' money is used in the north. With the exchange of business and trade, the general's money is naturally more and more recognized.

It's not like the original princes never thought about printing their own money, but now they can't even print paper, let alone the special paper used to make money. Even if they did it, it would be in vain if the wealthy family didn't approve it and Wang Yan didn't exchange it with them.

Therefore, General Wang has now controlled the economy of various places to a considerable extent, but he has not used financial harvesting, because it will eventually be passed on to the people. Life is already difficult, and General Wang naturally cannot make the people's life even more difficult.

He took another sip of wine and ate a peanut. When the burning sensation in his chest and abdomen passed, he saw that Lao Cao had finished thinking and his mental state was much better. He was not as depressed as before. Xun Yu spoke.

"My lord, neither Liu Biao nor Liu Zhang are decisive people. Now that we have won over the Jing Yi wealthy family, all the hearts of the people are towards the lord. Although they are hesitant, they are forced by internal and external forces and have no choice but to comply sooner or later. Yu thinks, Things can be decided before spring.

As for Liu Bei, he did not reuse the powerful clans and had the support of the Mi family. However, although the powerful clans could not blackmail Liu Bei into acting, they had already shaken the people's hearts. However, Liu Bei had a sign of surrendering to Wang Yan. Wang Yan sent a warship to Guangling (Yangzhou City) and envoys crossed the river to secretly meet Liu Bei. Moreover, Liu Bei worked for Wang Yan in the past and had great hopes for the world. Liu Bei has not communicated with his lord until now, so he must want to join Wang Yan. "

Cao Cao squinted his eyes, tapped Tutu's temple with the warm horn of the jade seal, pondered for a long time, and said: "Wen Ruodang united with the Yangzhou wealthy families to cause trouble and forced Liu Bei to make a quick decision. In addition, Cao Ren and Cao Hong of Guizhou led 50,000 troops and marched eastward. Danyang.”

"Yes, my lord."

"How about Zhang Lu, Hanzhong?"

Xun Yu shook his head: "I received a letter this morning. He said that Wang Yan's subordinate Guo Jia contacted him to persuade him to surrender, and led the army to pass Sanguan, and then went down to Yangping Pass in a battle to get a glimpse of Hanzhong. Therefore, Zhang Lu will surrender, and if he does not surrender, he will die. Now it is time to It is unknown whether he is asking for preferential treatment from Wang Yan or whether he has already surrendered."

As he spoke, he sighed, "We can't march into Yizhou yet. Hanzhong is really far away. And it will be really difficult to control the Bashu gate. If the Northern Expedition is to be carried out in the future, Wang Yan said, "Don't worry, my lord, I have gone to Xinyizhou, and I want it to be guarded." There are no opportunities for Wang Yan to take advantage of Jianmen and other passes.”

Even if Wang Yan doesn't have vision, he still has capable people under his command, and they all should know the importance of Hanzhong. Therefore, Cao Cao's camp had expected Zhang Lu's surrender to Wang Yan, but it was just a bit regretful.

The importance of Hanzhong is there. If they control Hanzhong, they can use Hanzhong as a springboard to take Chang'an directly. Even if Wang Yan is tightly guarded, they can also go north to Bingzhou and look for opportunities to enter the Central Plains. As for the food problem, it is not a problem. As we all know, the people are the most prosperous under Wang Yan's rule. Every family has a surplus of food. Life is good, and there are supplies all the way.

In the original process, when Zhuge Liang went on the Northern Expedition and left Qishan six times, he used Hanzhong as a springboard to break through in an attempt to penetrate Cao Wei's rear defense, but failed. If it succeeds, it is impossible to say that there will be a real comeback, the Han Dynasty will be rejuvenated, and the country's destiny will continue for another two hundred years.

Lao Cao didn't say anything. He just said "yes" and said he understood. Then he waved his hand and told Xun Yu to step back, leaving him to suffer alone.

Although he is getting stronger and stronger, Lao Cao no longer has the confidence he had when he just killed Yuan Shao. This is because when he retreated, Wang Yan lightly sent out capable generals. After a brief exchange, he defeated Yuan Shao across the board. lose. But when he was about to mobilize troops to teach Wang Yan the art of war, they just launched a simple siege and advance, leaving him no room to display, and no troops from either side dared to mobilize.

That feeling was too suffocating. Sometimes when I think about it carefully, it’s really disappointing.

Fortunately, Lao Cao is very strong. He has a strong heart and has not yet been defeated by the horror in front of him. The only people who can kill him are the army and push...

The fact is indeed as Xun Yu said, Liu Bei wanted to surrender to Wang Yan, and Zhang Lu had even arrived in Luoyang.

Compared with Liu Bei who had friendship with Wang Yan, Zhang Lu had to surrender purely due to the situation. Because Guo Jia was very ungrateful in martial arts, he first sent Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun to capture Yangping Pass. The soldiers and horses first stationed themselves in the small basin of Hanzhong, and then sent a letter to Zhang Lu. What should Zhang Lu do?

If he asked Liu Zhang for help, why did he rebel against Liu Yan? In addition to Liu Zhang, there are barbarians in the mountains, and those barbarians are naturally even more hopeless.

Guo Jia's letter to him was not very gentle. It was very clear. The general meaning of the translation was that the general heard that he was quite lenient towards the people and gave him a chance. If he didn't surrender, he would fight quickly or surrender. What nonsense, your patience is limited, if you don’t get a reply within a month, you won’t fight, and you won’t vote, then start attacking and kill him directly.

He had to vote.

After experiencing serious damage, Luoyang is not prosperous today. Even after some repairs, it still looks dilapidated. Even the traces of Dong Zhuo's burning of Luoyang can still be seen.

However, new hope is sprouting here. General Wang moved the capital to Luoyang and made it clear that he would make it the capital in the future. A new round of construction is starting here. Merchants from all walks of life have already bought land and built shops in Luoyang. There is a big construction site on the east and west sides of the imperial city, and the sound of clanging has never stopped.

There are also various buildings under construction on both sides of Zhuque Street facing the imperial city. It is said that this will be the office of officials from various departments in the future. There are also various other half-finished sculptures, which are majestic at first glance. Even on the walls of the imperial city, a lot of wall skin has been peeled off, as if to make reliefs.

In short, there are construction sites everywhere inside and outside the city, and people working and transporting goods everywhere. Even in the snowy winter, there are people working everywhere. Although people are cold, they work enthusiastically and noisily.

The noise of the people is incompatible with this dilapidated city, but it is also particularly harmonious.

Zhang Lu walked out of the huge inn, stepped on the thin snow on the ground, and got on the horse with a soldier. The horse trotted on the wide Zhuque Street, the iron-nailed horse hooves stepped on the large bluestone, and clattered towards the imperial city.

Zhuque Street is nine miles long, running east-west, leading directly to the imperial city, and the inn is at the end of the nine miles. Just looking at the buildings on both sides of the street and the half-finished sculptures in the middle of the street, Zhang Lu has already thought about how shocking and spectacular this road will be in the future, and what a powerful empire it will be.

He has been to Luoyang before, the imperial capital, and he always feels that he has not seen the world if he doesn't come to take a look. That was when he was young. In comparison, he feels that the current Luoyang is more magnificent...

Zhang Lu looked at the tall palace wall of the imperial city and saw that the wall was dilapidated, with only simple repairs and no signs of renovation. He was very puzzled. "May I ask why no one has renovated this city wall?"

"The outer city wall has not been renovated either." The soldier smiled and said, "The general has long said that we must fight outside the territory and not cause chaos inside. The city wall only protects nobles, not ordinary people, so it doesn't matter if we don't have it."

Feeling the endless pride in the soldier's words, Zhang Lu very tactfully bowed to the imperial city: "General, you are so righteous."

The soldier gave Zhang Lu a look that said you are sensible, turned around and rode his horse into the imperial city: "Follow me into the city."

Zhang Lu looked up at the city wall again, clamped his legs around the horse's belly, and followed the soldier into the wide-open vermilion gate. In his heart, he also sighed that Wang Yan was born in the countryside, and there was really no rules for riding an armed horse in the imperial city...

As the soldier rode to the hall with the word "study room" written on it, the warmth of spring came as soon as the door was opened. In the southeast corner, he saw General Wang, who was wearing a single piece of clothing and had his hair loose, sitting there alone, flipping through a book.

Immediately, he walked over quickly and said, "Zhang Lu from Hanzhong, I pay my respects to General Tianwu."

Wang Yan had already looked at Zhang Lu when he came in. He was a fat man with a height of more than 1.7 meters and good maintenance. After all, he was the tenth-generation grandson of Zhang Liang and the grandson of Zhang Daoling, the Taoist master of heaven. He had a legitimate inheritance, and it was wrong not to take good care of himself.

It was just that his eye bags were a little swollen and his eye circles were a little dark. It was obvious that he had not rested for a long time. You could figure out the reason with your feet. It was because he was scared by General Wang.

"Get up, sit down and talk." Wang Yan waved his hand and put down the scroll in his hand.

"Thank you, General." Zhang Lu thanked him loudly, and sat down carefully and upright on the chair opposite Wang Yan, looking at his nose and heart, holding his breath, and sweating on his head.

"Why is Gongqi sweating so much?" Wang Yan smiled and poured a cup of tea and put it in front of him.

"Replying to the general, the general is a celestial being, and Lu is a mortal. It is difficult to bear the pressure of the heaven, so he sweats profusely."

Zhang Lu did not lie. As soon as he came in and met Wang Yan's calm eyes, he felt the overwhelming power and too much pressure.

Of course, Wang Yan did it on purpose. Zhang Lu is a cultivator, and his mysterious sixth sense is much stronger than that of ordinary people. Wang Yan is just trying to scare him, and he hasn't released his murderous intent yet. With the sins he has committed, maybe the King of Hell will have to light a cigarette for him.

It is definitely not that magical. To put it bluntly, it is just that Zhang Lu cannot control his own destiny. He is uneasy, restless, restless, and unstable. Wang Yan put on airs, and his strong self-confidence is a shock to Zhang Lu. If he shows hostility, it means releasing murderous intent.

"Don't worry. Since you have understood the situation and surrendered to me, I will definitely give you wealth and peace." Wang Yan drank a sip of tea and continued, "You are the descendant of Liu Hou and the grandson of Zhang Ling. You govern the people of Hanzhong with doctrines, and there are many believers among the people. I intend to establish Huashan and your Zhang family. The funds for building the Taoist temple need to be raised by your Zhang family. Zhang can do business and enter the Wenchang Pavilion, but cannot be an official or join the army. What do you think?" Zhang Lu stood up, took a few steps back, and knelt down and kowtowed: "Zhang thanks the general for his kindness." "Gongqi's Taoist heart is unstable, so he is a little anxious." Wang Yan's voice sounded faintly, "Your religious rules and doctrines should be modified until they are in line with my laws." "The general is right, it must be so." "All the books in Zhang's collection will be sent to Luoyang. At that time, the bookstore will print them into books and give you a copy." Wang Yan was indeed a little curious and wanted to see what the Zhang family tradition could do. "Zhang will obey the orders of the general." What else could Zhang Lu say? He had no choice.

"Go."

Zhang Lu, who had never raised his head, kowtowed again: "Thank you, general."

He stood up, stepped back, and then turned around and left.

Going out of the door, looking at the sky covered by snow, feeling the coldness of snowflakes falling on his skin, Zhang Lu let out a long sigh...

Thanks to the good brothers who voted for the monthly tickets,

Thanks to the brothers who voted for the recommendations,

Thanks to the big brothers who read the books silently.