Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang brought back by Zhang Fei, and he was surprised at the same time.
They were originally going to Linju to find Zhuge Liang, but suddenly they met Zhuge Liang who was assassinated outside the city. It was a coincidence, and the coincidence made Liu Bei suspicious and vigilant.
"Mr. Wolong also knows about me? Does he know that I'm coming?"
Liu Bei asked hesitantly.
Zhuge Liang had no choice but to say: "Yuan Zhi said it. He said that Emperor Liu was coming to invite me to come out. I thought about it. Uncle Liu is a clan member of the Han Dynasty and is determined to pacify the world and help the Han Dynasty. How can I let you come to invite me?" I just want to take the initiative to see the emperor's uncle. Yuan Zhi must have told the emperor's uncle to ask you to be more polite. If you can't invite him once, please invite him several times, right?"
Xu Shu really said this.
Hearing that Zhuge Liang could still say these words, Liu Bei's suspicion of Zhuge Liang was relieved a lot.
"yes!"
Zhang Fei said: "Mr. Yuan Zhi did say so."
It was precisely because of this that he became dissatisfied. Is a scribe worthy of being invited by his elder brother several times?
However, seeing that Zhuge Liang was so sensible and took the initiative to come to see his elder brother, he didn't think it was a big deal.
"It's Yuan Zhihu who's here."
Zhuge Liang smiled. He still lied about this. He originally wanted to avoid Cao Cao, but he didn't want to take the initiative to find Liu Bei. He took the initiative to find Liu Bei. It was a last resort.
"Then Mr. Wolong, why is this..."
Liu Bei asked again.
Zhuge Liang shook his head in distress and said: "I don't know why. Cao Cao's people have been staring at me. They even found Linju. When I was going to find the emperor's uncle, Cao Cao's people happened to find this place. If General Zhang hadn't arrived, , I’m afraid I’ve been taken away.”
Guan Yu said sternly: "That thief Cao is disgusting!"
Liu Bei thought about it carefully and believed 80% of the Zhuge Liang in front of him. He took the remaining 20% back to Xu Shu and solved the problem. He said: "Fortunately, I asked Yide to go forward to explore the way and rescued Mr. Wolong. fortunately!"
Zhuge Liang bowed and said: "My intention is the same as the emperor's uncle, to pacify the world and help the Han Dynasty. Among the capable people in the world, the only one who regards the Han Dynasty as the most important is Uncle Liu. If Uncle Liu doesn't believe it, you can take me back to Xinye." , just let Yuan Zhi take a look."
Even if Liu Bei still didn't believe it by 20%, he couldn't show it and said quickly: "It's my honor to be helped by Mr. Wolong. I also ask Mr. Wolong to follow me back to Xinye."
"It is also an honor for me to be valued by the emperor's uncle!"
Zhuge Liang bowed, thinking that he was finally safe.
Liu Bei was like this. He didn't even need to go to Linju, so he found Zhuge Liang and took him back.
On the other side, Cao Gu was hit by Zhang Fei and was seriously injured, but he endured the pain and asked people to send the things here back to Cao Ang.
——
Youzhou, Ji County.
Yuan Xi took Yuan Shang and fled all the way back here, and then immediately concentrated his troops and collected food and grass to prepare to attack Cao Cao.
However, Youzhou's population and food had been almost depleted by the Yuan family in successive defeats. Now it would be difficult to collect more.
The entire Youzhou is now in difficulty and gloomy.
Yuan Xi forcibly conscripted troops and food. The people were miserable and didn't know what to do.
Jiao Chu was from Youzhou. He felt a little uncomfortable seeing that Youzhou was in such a state and that Yuan Xi was forcibly recruiting troops. However, at this time, he received a letter from Cao Cao urging him to surrender, asking him to capture Yuan Xi alive. He hesitated to surrender to Yuan Shang.
Zhang Nan was also from Youzhou and had a good relationship with Jiao Chu. When he received the letter persuading him to surrender, he went to Jiao Chu first. In fact, he did not want to see Youzhou destroyed by the Yuan family.
"What do you think?"
Jiao Chu asked.
Zhang Nan hesitated for a long time and said: "I think we can surrender to Cao Cao. I heard that the generals in Bingzhou have basically surrendered and have been reused by Cao Cao. The Yuan family is already like this. There is no benefit in following them in the war. It will only bring You You The state is being dragged down."
Jiao Chu agreed with these words.
It is useless to follow Yuan's side, and Yuan Xi cannot be Cao Cao's opponent.
"Surrender may be the best way out."
Jiao Chu said.
Zhang Nan said: "Then, let's contact Cao Cao first, and when Cao Jun arrives, we can open the gate of Ji County."
After a brief discussion, the two of them agreed that they could surrender.
Surrender is the only real and best way out. I really don’t want to struggle with the Yuan brothers to the end.
——
Cao Cao was stationed in Wuji County for several days.
The deal with the Zhen family was almost concluded. Cao Cao gave Zhen Yao several official positions. Zhen Yao also convinced Mrs. Zhang that he was willing to marry Zhen Mi to Chen Zhou and officially left with his troops.
Cao Cao's only regret during this trip is probably that he was unable to have an in-depth communication with Mrs. Zhang. He can't forget Mrs. Zhang in his heart. It is difficult to forget such a beautiful and mature woman. If it were not for Chen Zhou's relationship, he would never Let it go.
However, Chen Zhou had not met Zhen Mi yet and was about to follow Cao Cao's army north.
"As promised, help me with Zhen Mi!"
Chen Zhou felt that they were all liars.
Where is my Zhen Mi?
Can't even meet in person.
After marching north for several days, the army finally arrived at the edge of Jizhou and Youzhou. They could see that Yuan Xi and others had deployed troops here to build a defensive line, preparing to resist the incoming Cao army.
The guard was Tian Yu who was transferred back from the border.
"How about crossing it?"
Cao Jun did not order an attack, nor did he attack this line of defense. Instead, he asked Chen Zhou to come over and ask what to do.
Chen Zhou thought for a while and asked, "My lord has done what I said before to persuade him to surrender, right?"
Cao Cao said: "Send a letter of persuasion to surrender to Zhang Nan and Jiao Chu, but Tian Yu and Qianzhao haven't yet."
Chen Zhou said: "There is no need to fight, just persuade Tian Yu to surrender. Tian Yu and Qian Zhao cannot use the surrender letter, they need to send people there."
The two of them are different from Zhang Nan.
But he was confident that he would surrender.
"Lord, I can go on."
After Cheng Yu instigated Guo Tu and Guo Tu, he was full of confidence in himself and felt that he could instigate others to rebel.
Cao Cao pondered for a moment and agreed: "I will leave Tian Yu to Zhongde. You must remember to be careful."
Cheng Yu nodded and said: "Don't worry, my lord, I know what to do. Even if the persuasion fails, it's not difficult to come back safely!"
The task of persuading Tian Yu to surrender fell to Cheng Yu.
"uncle!"
At this time, Xia Houjie walked in and said, "Zhang Nan and Jiao Chu have replied to their letters."
After Cao Cao opened it and read it, he laughed loudly and said: "Zhang Nan, Jiao Chu and the two of them are indeed willing to surrender, and they are right to give in to the transfer. Okay!"
"But in the letter, he asked about the plan."
"How to prepare for the crossing?"
he asked again.
Chen Zhou thought for a while and said: "We will wait until Tian Yu is successfully persuaded to surrender, then let them take action. While we are attacking the city, let them capture Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang and bring them out."
If Tian Yu surrenders, Yuan Xi and others will definitely be in chaos.
Then just catch people in the chaos. The effect should be good!
"Follow the arrangements made by Watanabe!"
Cao Cao made the decision without hesitation, and then asked Cheng Yu to persuade Tian Yu to surrender.
