Inside the city.
Due to the strong enemy outside, Liu Zhang tossed and turned, restless, and did not sleep at all that night. Suddenly he heard the roar outside all day long, and he realized something in an instant, and his face was as pale as a sheet of paper.
Liu Dun rushed in hurriedly: "Father! Liu Ba and Changyu rebelled and surrendered to the enemy. Open the south gate, and Jing's army has already entered!"
"What?"
I didn't expect that my momentary weakness would lead to such a big mistake. Instantly, I was so angry that I felt like I was about to faint.
Liu Dun had quick eyes and quick hands, and immediately rushed over to help him.
After slowly recovering, I heard a lot of people coming next to me, and their voices were familiar.
Seeing Liu Zhang open his eyes, Dong He couldn't wait to say: "Your Majesty, I am ready. Let's go to the north gate and leave the city."
Liu Zhang said weakly: "My father and son have been in Shu for more than 20 years. They have no kindness to the people. There have been wars for many years. They have donated their flesh and blood to the grass and fields. It is all my fault. How can I feel at ease? It is better to surrender to the people."
Everyone cried when they heard it.
Liu Dun cried bitterly and said: "Father, the world is being threatened by Cao's thieves. Liu Bei has ulterior motives. I am the only Liu family in the world. If we lose, Liu Han will have nowhere to go!"
When Liu Zhang heard this, he closed his eyes and shed tears.
Dong He cried and said: "Your Majesty, it is better to escape from Beicheng. Yizhou prefectures and counties are very vast, and Zhang Xiu is persecuting the nobles. We can gather our strength and fight."
Liu Zhang shook his head: "Don't let more people bleed to death. This is my last kindness to the people of Yizhou. Surrender!"
Everyone bowed their heads and shed tears.
At this time, the Shu army in the city could no longer resist the Jing army's offensive, and they abandoned their swords and surrendered. Li Yan took the lead and rushed straight to the Shu Palace.
After Li Yan was captured, he prepared to commit suicide, but was finally persuaded by Yan Yan to join the Jing army. This battle was his first battle under Zhang Xiu's tent, so he naturally wanted to show his prestige and worked very hard when attacking the city, speeding up the pace of Chengdu's destruction.
Facing the former king, Li Yan's heart was very complicated. On the one hand, he was about his own achievements, and on the other hand, he was his savior. After weighing the situation, Li Yan decided to return to the Shu palace as soon as possible to persuade Liu Zhang to surrender, so as to avoid the danger of death and be treated well. This was the best effort he could do for his old master.
What he didn't expect was that when he rushed to the vermilion gate of the Shu Palace, he saw that the Shu King had led all his officials and went out to surrender.
Seeing the former king's miserable state, Li Yan had mixed feelings in his heart.
Turn over and dismount from a distance.
When Liu Zhang saw that Li Yan came first, he felt relieved and stepped forward: "Zhengfang, are you here to kill me?"
Li Yan's eyes were red, and he clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, please be at ease. My old minister would rather die to save the lives of you and your family."
At this time, Gan Ning came on horseback.
Seeing Liu Zhang and others surrendering, there was no difficulty. After all, Liu Zhang was still a king, and it was not his turn to surrender. So he said: "General Li, send the King of Shu and others out of the city to rest first, and then send them to Chang'an tomorrow to wait for the king." Up and down.”
Gan Ning's words saved the lives of Liu Zhang and others.
Li Yan was very grateful, cupped his fists and shouted: "Here!"
With Liu Zhang's surrender, all the Shu troops gave up resistance, and the city of Chengdu fell.
After occupying Chengdu, Gan Ning immediately ordered troops to occupy other counties and counties, and strictly ordered all generals to attack the noble manors directly if they encountered resistance from the nobles. The tribesmen would be imprisoned and their assets confiscated.
And Liu Zhang was already on his way to Chang'an.
…
Chang'an City, inside Prince Jing's Palace.
The day after secretly returning to Chang'an, Zhang Xiu ordered Qi Zhu to go to Jia's, Li's and Liu's mansions and secretly invite the three chief ministers and assistants to the harem.
Jia Xu and others were surprised.
The harem is a forbidden area for foreign ministers. Who dares to invite them in? And she entered the palace secretly, could it be Princess Huang Yueying? Even with the princess's order, they did not dare to enter. The three of them stood in front of the palace, their eyes touched each other, and they all saw the confusion in each other's eyes.
At this time, the palace door opened, revealing Qi Zhu.
"Three adults, please come in quickly!" Qi Zhu made a gesture of invitation.
The three of them looked at each other, and Jia Xu asked, "Qi Weihu, who invited me to protect you?"
Qi Zhu said stubbornly: "Please come in."
Seeing this, Jia Xu frowned and looked at Li Ru and Liu Ye. Liu Ye thought for a moment, seemed to have thought of something, and said tentatively: "But the king..."
Qi Zhu didn't speak.
The three of them understood instantly and walked in.
Sure enough, Zhang Xiu was wearing a white silk robe and sitting at the side of the hall. Seeing this, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time they were very different. After entering quickly, they knelt down to pay respects.
Zhang Xiu smiled and said: "You all stand up and sit down. Are you surprised to see Gu?"
Jia Xu said: "Your Majesty, the battle of Guandu is now leaning towards Cao Wei. If something happens, it may be detrimental to our army. I didn't expect you to come back at this time."
Zhang Xiu told Yan Xiang's plan.
Li Ru stood up immediately and said: "He, Yan Bobang, is so brave. He actually used the king as bait. He is really bold."
Zhang Xiu waved his hand and signaled Li Ru to do it, and said with a smile: "It's nothing, just think about my Dajing. Kuang Bobang's plan hit Cao Cao's seven inches, so it is a good plan."
Liu Ye said: "The plan is a good one, but it is very dangerous. Fortunately, Bo Bang knew the importance and asked someone to replace him. When Cao Cao was surrounded by heavy troops and found out that he had fallen into the plan, he would probably be furious."
Several people laughed.
Zhang Xiu smiled and said: "The lonely king would like to see Cao Cao's ugly expression!"
"Your Majesty," Jia Xu said, "we are determined to win Yizhou now, but the cost of Dajing is not small. Moreover, Yizhou's gentry are deeply entangled, and it may be difficult to govern in a short period of time. During this period, I am afraid that we will not dare to fight again." , the national treasury’s grain, grass and silver can no longer be spent.”
Jia Xu is telling the truth.
Since Liangzhou and Hetao were included in the territory, a lot of financial and material resources have been invested in developing the economies of the two places, but it is difficult to achieve results in a short period of time. Coupled with the troops in Nanyang, Guanzhong and Hanzhong alone cannot support it at all. .
Of course Zhang Xiu knew this, but he didn't know the specific situation, so he asked: "Do Liangzhou and Hetao still need economic support?"
Li Ru said: "The construction of roads and canals the year before last has led to the rapid development of Xiliang's farming. Now it no longer needs funding from grain and grass, but economic development still needs support. This item costs 10 million taels of silver every year; The economy is developing fairly well, but it costs five million taels of silver every year to support the merchants in the two places. The annual income of Guanzhong and Hanzhong is only 20 million taels. In addition, the loss of troops and horses, the national treasury is very tight. "
It’s not that I don’t know, it’s a shock.
The economic pressure is so great that the loss of troops and horses exceeds five million taels every year, and there is also a huge gap in military pay. However, Zhang Xiu does not regret increasing military expenditure. After all, soldiers also have families and need to survive.
The only way it can survive until now is by conquering an area and confiscating the wealth and trade income of the nobles.
Zhang Xiu put his fingers on the table, tapped it gently, and asked after a moment: "Do you still have enough food and grass?"
Liu Ye smiled and said: "There is still plenty of food and grass. Opening canals to divert water will facilitate farming. Except for the Hetao area, there is no need to worry about insufficient food and grass in other areas."
Zhang Xiu nodded and said: "After this battle between Wei and Jin, there will definitely be a shortage of grain and grass. We can raise the price of grain and grass and buy half of it."
